Trip has way of drawing team together
Past squads have bonded, toughened during rodeo.
Mike Monroe
Express-News staff writer
SALT LAKE CITY — The next time the Spurs walk into the AT&T Center for a game, on Feb. 19 against the Charlotte Bobcats, they will have to hold their noses to avoid the stench left behind by events that took place in the building.
The occasional remnants of a cow pie will need to be sidestepped, but that won't be the worst of it.
It is apt to take more than the 24 days since Saturday night's game against New Orleans to erase the odor of the Spurs' worst loss of the season.
Getting blown out in front of their own fans by the Hornets on Saturday night was not the memory the Spurs wanted, fresh in their minds, as they embarked on the first leg of the nine-game, 18-day rodeo road trip that began Sunday with a flight to Utah.
First up on a trip that will cover 8,182 air miles is tonight's game against the Utah Jazz. It will be the Spurs' first visit to Energy Solutions Arena since they beat the Jazz in Game 4 of the 2007 Western Conference Finals.
The rodeo trip popped up on the Spurs schedule after the team moved into its new arena for the 2002-03 season. With the facility booked for the annual stock show and rodeo in late January and early February, the NBA's schedule makers had no choice but to send the team packing.
The trip has been either seven, eight or nine games each year since, and the Spurs have found a way to use it to coalesce their focus and come together for the stretch run.
History suggests the trip has been a positive force. The coaches and players always call it a bonding experience. At some point during the trip, head coach Gregg Popovich is sure to mention the "bunker mentality" his team engenders after such a long time together, without the distractions of family and friends.
Whatever the reason, the results have been good each season.
The first rodeo road trip was a nine-game excursion in 2003 that produced nine wins. The Spurs began the trip at 28-15. They went 32-7 the rest of the way and followed by winning their second NBA le.
In 2004 they began the trip with a record of 31-18, won six of seven on the trip and finished the season with a record of 57-25.
In 2005 they were 36-10 when they left, went 5-2 on the trip, and finished 59-23, setting up another run to an NBA championship.
In 2006 they were 34-10 when they embarked on a trip that produced six wins in eight games, and finished 63-19.
Last season they were 31-14 when the rodeo trip started, went 4-4 on the trip, finished with a 58-24 record and won their fourth NBA le.
This season, the Spurs begin with trip with a record of 28-14 and the need to rediscover the effort and focus that produced victories in 17 of their first 20 games.
Saturday's loss to the Hornets was a setback after a three-game winning streak had seemed to have them back on track.
"We have to use it as fuel for our fire on this trip," veteran Robert Horry said.
Horry understands how important the trip is in what likely is his final season in the NBA. Shooting just 19.5 percent, he knows that Popovich always uses the trip to lock in the player rotations he will use in the stretch run. Of late, Horry has been the third big man Popovich has used in a three-man front court rotation, with Tim Duncan and Fabricio Oberto.
Neither Francisco Elson nor Matt Bonner has played more than nine minutes and 51 seconds in the past six games. Horry's time has been limited, too, but he has continued to be the first big man off the bench most nights.
"This trip is important for me," he said, "but every game is important for me right now. I seem to be feeling good, and then it's like I just start going down."
It may be that no Spurs player needs the trip more than Tony Parker. The team's top scorer (19.6 points per game) has struggled for more than a month with a bone spur in his left heel that has affected his explosion and diminished his effectiveness on drives to the basket.
Popovich also believes Parker will benefit from the enforced focus of the trip.
"Having absolutely no distractions or responsibilities for a certain period of time will be great for him," Popovich said. "Plus, we'll be able to attack that foot with down time and keep him, so to speak, caged — make him do whatever we want him to do every second. So it should be great for him."
The Spurs coach is moderately amazed that Parker has been able to play at a level approaching the one that earned him MVP honors in the 2007 NBA Finals considering his injury and myriad distractions.
"(Tony) definitely doesn't have the same explosion," Popovich said after a recent practice. "He's still trying to find his total focus back and get his heel healthy.
"I think the combination of his long year and summer last year and a lot going on in his life, with his marriage, and the tabloids and holidays and people all around him, I think those things, combined with the health of his foot, have taken more of a toll than even he imagines. He's doing a great job of just plugging through it and staying upbeat about it.
"I'm positive he'll work his way through it, but I think he's in that process right now."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...n.280f094.html
Sounds like Pop subtly and nicely sending a wakeup call for Parker. Usually Pop would have issued a no comment or just dodged the question.
Luckily Parker usually responds to this kind of thing. If Pop isn't going to use the soft card this year, I guess we'll have to settle for the tabloids card.
Rodeo Road Trip has officially begun
That's pretty awesome. Tony will be pissed off now and probably average 25 and 8 on the trip.
I've been waiting for this time of year
It's TIME baby!!!
God I hope so. We need him at his best.
surprised pop brought up the tabloids but Pop is a mastermind and best coach in all of sports.
Tony really need to step it up. Now that the spurs is missing the services of another guard (barry), scoring would be a bit difficult. The loss against new orleans only shows that, when the roster isn't healthy, the spurs are more likely to lose its chemistry and go into slumps. I hope the road trip doesn't end up the same way. I'm still hoping for Pops sprinkle of magic dust to change this season around.
i think it's unfair for tony it's not his fault for the cheating accusation and tony it's almost 300 games in 2 years
It's not about fairness. It's about Tony playing subpar bb being his personal life + no rest the most probable reasons.
Pop reads the Star?
ahhh yeah....let's go Spurs.
Last edited by VaSpursFan; 01-28-2008 at 09:41 AM.
Well, It's a good thing TP is not going to the ASG.
He needs to rest and refocus
If Parker is hurt, shouldn't he at least try to pass the ball more, rather than force the issue???
driving more is not going to make his injury better and its hurting the team.
I really don't think its the Tabloid stuff that's affecting Parker's game. He's faced worse when he began dating Eva. I think it's a combo of his recent injury and his long summer/last season.
Regardless, even if he does angry, let's hope his injury doesn't prevent him from getting 25 and 7.
It was pretty funny to read Pop's quote though
To me, his heel injury is by far the main reason of Parker being so-so. Parker was great this year until his injury.
One of Parker's biggest flaw is that he doesn't take care enough of himself.
He do very few conditioning work to be ready for his long seasons.
He has a crazy life and doesn't take enough rest.
He isn't really careful about his injuries.
Can you imagine the results if Tony, Manu and Duncan all came into a season well-rested and injury-free?
can't wait for TP to be back on shape... i sense the dark side on this trip... and it will be tougher than ever but we'll get outta this stronger than ever...
Last summer was not just about Tony playing basketball for France. It was not even just about having a wedding. He was jetting all over the world, running around all over the place, and not resting at all. It has taken its toll. I don't think Pop wil be giving him the day off to jet to LA for some awards show this year.
This part of the quote said a lot too...
I would like to mention to all those people who harrassed me when I said that Tony acts a lot like Beno-- and they all told me it did not matter because Tony could handle it. Well, it sounds to me like Pop thinks he can't."Having absolutely no distractions or responsibilities for a certain period of time will be great for him," Popovich said. "Plus, we'll be able to attack that foot with down time and keep him, so to speak, caged — make him do whatever we want him to do every second. So it should be great for him."
Yeah, given Murphy's law, I expect it would mean significant injuries in March...
But it's exactly what they needed. The Spurs win because of their hard work and focus, all of which has been lacking up to this point.Getting blown out in front of their own fans by the Hornets on Saturday night was not the memory the Spurs wanted, fresh in their minds, as they embarked on the first leg of the nine-game, 18-day rodeo road trip that began Sunday with a flight to Utah.
Getting crushed by a good team may wake them up.........it's about time for that anyway.
Give it the F up.
Beno was a loser.
You're a re . Yep, when Tony was filling up the hoop in the Finals he was acting just like Beno back in...
oh wait, nevermind.
Well actually it sounds like Pop thinks he can.
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