"Closet Spurs spar on dunks" Brian Windhorst

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Closet Spurs spar on dunks

Devin Brown carves niche on roster with versatility as glue man

Sunday, Jan 13, 2008
http://www.ohio.com/sports/cavs/1374...tml?page=1&c=y


When it comes to talking about his players when the cameras and microphones are on, Cavaliers coach Mike Brown is usually pretty straightlaced or downright vague, but always positive. It's bad business to be negative, and it's just not the coach's way.

Until it comes to Devin Brown, who is not related. Well, at least not by blood anyway. In basketball terms, they are indeed from the same family. And for the Browns, it's OK to rib your own.

Last week after watching Devin Brown throw down a few dunks against the Seattle SuperSonics, the coach couldn't help but have fun at the player's expense.

''When he starts going up for a dunk, sometimes in my mind I say 'noooooo,' '' Mike Brown said. ''Right when you are about to close your eyes you kind of peek and he barely gets that ball over the rim. I'm happy for him. I hope he keeps doing it, I just don't want him to pull a muscle or anything.''

''He said what?'' Devin Brown said. ''Man, tell him to go to the tapes. I've been dunking on people for years.''

''I don't know if you'll find
many tapes, especially from his University of Texas-San Antonio days because those games weren't on TV,'' Mike Brown shot back.

These two Browns might have Cavs' on their clothing now, but deep down they are both San Antonio Spurs. Which is why their relationship is different.

Devin Brown was added to the Cavs roster shortly before training camp, the Cavs only free-agent signing of the offseason. It appeared to be a minor one, a one-year deal for $1.2 million for a journeyman guard who did many things competently but nothing extremely well, including dunk.

Because of the type of player Devin Brown is and the style Mike Brown uses, it has been a key marriage as the season reaches its midway point this week.

Certainly no one could effectively argue that the Cavs' personnel moves have been a success of late and that more was needed during the offseason than a role player such as Devin Brown. Yet, his contributions so far have made it an important move by General Manager Danny Ferry, famously also a former Spur when both Browns were with that organization, too.

The stats are not all that impressive, Brown is averaging 6.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and shooting just 38 percent from the field. But his ability to come off the bench to play several positions has been valuable.

Other than LeBron James, the Cavs' reserves have been their greatest asset this season. Daniel Gibson has been the shooter, Anderson Varejao is the rebounder and energy man, and Devin Brown has been the glue man. Not only is he a versatile defender, his calling card when he was signed, but he sticks to the system.

When the offense stagnates, he drives to the basket. When the Cavs are on the fastbreak, he always fills the proper lane. When there is a defensive rotation needed, he's almost always in the right place at the right time. He has played nearly the whole season with a broken left pinky finger. It's crooked and swollen, and he tapes it up and continues playing without saying a word.

Earlier this season when Mike Brown was changing his lineups wildly, looking for a workable rotation, there was a period of time when Devin Brown rode the bench. He remained calm and cool, not creating waves like others in that position have this season. He waited for his chance and took advantage of it when it came.

Now, suddenly, Devin Brown, a last-minute signing without impressive stats or an impressive skill set, has become an indispensable part of the Cavs' rotation. And a target of jokes, good natured or not.

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An Spurs-related article .

Excercise can be fun with capoeira or Bikram yoga

Midland Reporter-Telegram 01/12/2008
http://www.mywesttexas.com/site/news...d=475591&rfi=6

SAN ANTONIO -- If you find yourself trying to outrun stray dogs at the track or you're still contemplating opening that Pilates book, it's time to discover that exercise can be fun and not something to be dreaded.

It can be capoeira, a Brazilian martial art that incorporates singing, dancing and dynamic activity, or the hot and steamy Bikram yoga.

Capoeira is aerobic and anaerobic at the same time," said instructor "Caranguejo" Brian Thomas, who has played capoeira for more than 12 years and has instructed classes in San Antonio for three years. "You're going to use every muscle and work on every type of flexibility."

A normal class includes practicing movements and drills that tone and strengthen core muscles and increase flexibility; learning how to play the traditional instruments and singing capoeira songs in Portugese. The class ends with a roda, a circle where players take turns integrating the movements in a spontaneous two-person game, while the other players sing songs and play musical instruments around them.

"Capoiera is about community," says veteran player Michael Pleasants. "That is why we have the music, the instruments, everything together in harmony. It takes people to make it happen.

Another fun way to stay fit is Bikram yoga, which is not just for naturally flexible people. It consists of a 90-minute session in 105 degree heat where you sweat and push yourself to do 26 positions and breathing exercises that develop core muscles and increase flexibility.

In any particular class, you could see teenagers to octogenarians.

The workouts are so challenging that even members of the San Antonio Spurs come to practice.

Lisa Ingle-Key, co-owner of the Bikram Yoga studios in San Antonio, recalled the first time Spurs' ace defender Bruce Bowen came to a morning Bikram yoga session, which frequented by grandmothers and working women.


"He told me afterwards that he got his butt kicked by these 60-year-olds," Ingle-Key said.

"You work within the range of flexibility and motion in the postures, and as strange as it sounds, it becomes more difficult as you are able to do more of the posture and hold it. No two classes are ever the same," she said.