Spurs sport a familiar look
Web Posted: 10/05/2004 12:20 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b....ea24af2a.html
Johnny Ludden
San Antonio Express-News
Given the burnt-orange passion of some of the locals, as well as the Longhorn pedigree of one of his own players, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich probably could have picked a better week to show up for work in a University of Oklahoma T-shirt.
After someone questioned his choice of collegiate cotton Monday evening, Popovich said his attire told more about the state of his laundry than any loyalty in this weekend's Red River Shootout.
"It was clean," Popovich said. "We've been meeting all day for I-don't-know-how-many days, looking at film, assessing what we do, cutting up what we did poorly and what we did well.
"It's a lot easier to go through all that without a coat and tie."
Popovich won't need a suit when the Spurs open training camp today nor, unlike recent years, a name tag.
Of the 13 players expected to compete for a spot in the team's regular rotation, nine are holdovers from last season. Provided Manu Ginobili inherits the starting shooting guard job he yielded to Hedo Turkoglu midway through last season, the Spurs' opening-night lineup could look the same as it did a year ago.
"One would assume there's some corporate knowledge there," Popovich said.
That said, they might want to bring along a road map for their travels through the Western Conference this season. With the NBA realigning to add the expansion Charlotte Bobcats, the Spurs now find themselves in the Southwest Division with Dallas, Houston, Memphis and New Orleans.
The Hornets, who left the Eastern Conference, aren't the only ones changing residences. Tracy McGrady was traded to Houston. Steve Nash signed with Phoenix. Dallas overhauled its roster and, much to the delight of Ginobili, Shaquille O'Neal took his sizable shadow to Miami.
"I always had to penetrate against him," Ginobili said. "Those two games we aren't going to play them ... my body thinks it's great."
The Spurs made a few changes of their own, most notably the addition of Brent Barry. A seasoned-yet-still-versatile guard, Barry could help cure the team's well-do ented shooting woes.
"I think our bench is a lot better than last year," Tony Parker said. "We improved at all the positions. Me and Manu have one more year experience. Timmy (Duncan) is going to be very motivated because of what happened this summer. Brent Barry is going to open up a lot of stuff for everybody.
"I just think, overall, the team has gotten better."
The Spurs said the same last year, then watched as Parker twisted his left ankle a week before the opener. Duncan followed by spraining his left ankle three games into the season. A sore left knee later forced him to the bench for almost three weeks.
Popovich, once again, will have to guard against taxing many of his key players too much too early. Ginobili, Duncan and Sean Marks all played in the Olympics. Rasho Nesterovic and Beno Udrih also pulled national-team duty by helping Slovenia qualify for next summer's European championships.
Udrih, the team's rookie point guard, has a bruised knee that figures to somewhat limit him for part of training camp.
"All those guys are going to have to get some attention, as far as not just jumping in and going overboard," Popovich said. "As we all know, this is a marathon."
Over the past month, Duncan found time to both rest and work out.
"I've learned a lot from past years I've played in the summer, so I cut back a lot of the pounding I do on the court," Duncan said. "Actually, I feel really good right now."
He scoffed, however, when someone suggested the Spurs could be the favorites to win the championship.
"The Spurs are never the favorite," he said. "We're never the team to beat. I think our chances are good, but we are going to handle this season the same way we have in the past. We will use each game as experience and, hopefully, peak for the playoffs."
The Spurs will have 18 players on their training-camp roster after signing center Ruben Boumtje Boumtje and point guard Marque Perry to non-guaranteed contracts on Monday. The NBA also has approved the contract of Angolan guard Valter Monteiro.
See, this is what ticks me off about TD. Always with the fatheaded egotistical woofing."The Spurs are never the favorite," he said. "We're never the team to beat. I think our chances are good, but we are going to handle this season the same way we have in the past. We will use each game as experience and, hopefully, peak for the playoffs."
Anybody know when the last time that the Spurs brought back as many as 9 players? That can only bode well. Usually, players don't even ing learn the system, or about each other, until February.
TD says that so he and his teammates won't get caught up with the media and get over confident. He is letting his teammates know that they need to get to work and work hard for another championship.
The degree of continuity is a plus. The bench will be the question mark. If Udrih and LJ3 are capable of providing quality minutes then it will be quite deep. If not, then the Spurs will struggle some.
With 9 players coming back, I don't think I can replicate my 10-10 prediction from last season. They should get off to a much better start and should be able to finish with the best record in the NBA. As long as they can avoid injuries, this team will win plenty of regular season games.
Brent Barry is a very good regular season player. His signing alone is probably worth 5-6 wins. The question with Rick's son will be the playoffs.
I agree. Brent Barry should help the Spurs get off to a better start this year. He will also be able to give Tony a break at the point.Brent Barry is a very good regular season player. His signing alone is probably worth 5-6 wins. The question with Rick's son will be the playoffs.
I can't wait for the season to start !! I'm still angry about the .04 second business
What are you doing?!? We're all still trying to forget that.I can't wait for the season to start !! I'm still angry about the .04 second business
0.4 seconds not .04 seconds..... there is a huge difference...
I'm not trying to be technical or anything... I just don't want a Laker fan up in here saying we're exaggerating the issue.
0.4 seconds not .04 seconds..... there is a huge difference...
I was going to say that, but I have been repeating it since last season and some people still insist on .04
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