Buck Harvey: The painless Spurs? It just doesn't work that way

[whottt]

Buck Harvey: The painless Spurs? It just doesn't work that way

San Antonio Express-News

The call went the Spurs' way. So did the rebound.


When Devin Brown raced from about 20 feet away, leaping between various Mavericks for Manu Ginobili's missed shot with 17 seconds left, he did what seemingly all the Spurs have done this season.

Brown took what was rightfully his.

That's the kind of season the Spurs are having. No injuries, no players-only meetings, no reason to doubt. "It's a good place to be," Avery Johnson said from the Dallas bench, as well as from the other side.

But AJ knows firsthand that championships aren't won this easily, and he knows things can change.

Such as?

The Mavericks hide in the background today, where the Spurs once were.

The Mavericks will likely keep hiding. They head home to play the Nets tonight, and it won't be easy. Because of injuries — and because they took the Spurs down to the final possession — they will play on Vinny Testaverde's legs. Three Mavericks played 45 or more minutes against the Spurs.

None of the Spurs, meanwhile, played more than 36.

So, the Mavericks might lose at home, and the usual chorus will continue. Is Don Nelson worth his paycheck? Is Shawn Bradley worth his per diem? And did Mark Cuban ruin his franchise last summer, discovering fiscal responsibility at precisely the wrong time?

The ultimate big-money owner — The Benefactor — let Steve Nash walk.

All of it is worth a discussion, especially considering how Dallas played Friday. The Mavericks ended with only 12 assists, a sign of their post-Nash ugliness. It wasn't a one-night fluke, either, since the Mavericks are last in the league in that stat.

Nelson joined the debate himself Friday night. He said, if he had Nash, the Mavericks could be doing what the Suns are doing.

Nelson is right, of course, because the Mavericks did just that two years ago. Then, they started 31-5.

The Spurs were the ones hiding in 2003. They started slowly, working in Ginobili, then a rookie, who was bothered by a chronically sore ankle. The Spurs began 21-13 and were on the verge of being lapped by Dallas.

As for dismissing these Mavericks: They stand today at 22-12.

They've also struggled with more than just a sore ankle. Michael Finley didn't play in the previous two Mavericks-Spurs games, and Friday's injured list was longer. Dallas was without its starting center, as well as two of its young stars, Marquis Daniels and Josh Howard.

Howard is Ginobili-like, and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich knows that. He argued in franchise meetings that the Spurs should draft him in 2003, and the Spurs instead traded their pick to open more cap room for Jason Kidd.

Wouldn't Howard be a nice fit on these Spurs?

He would, assuming there would be room. Popovich again ran his full 10-man rotation at Dallas, all playing at least 12 minutes. At the end, when Popovich wanted to make sure he had free-throw shooters on the floor, he subbed Beno Udrih for Tony Parker, as if they are all interchangeable.

Brown says they mostly are. He played well to begin the season, then lost minutes not because of anything he'd done. Popovich simply wanted to spread the minutes.

It's the stuff of a deep, healthy roster, and it's the stuff of luck. The Spurs have lost just one game to player injury, when Ginobili had a sore neck for a day. That's as remarkable as Popovich going through a game without losing his temper.

But if there's an absolute about the long NBA season, it's that things change. Phoenix saw that Friday night when Nash suffered a thigh injury in Indianapolis and the Suns lost again.

The Spurs likely will feel their own bumps, and there will be nights when a ref will see Tim Duncan touching a ball while it's on the rim. Friday night the refs missed it.

AJ knows that. His Spurs started 6-8 in the mini-season of 1999, and Popovich was under more intense fire then than Nelson feels now. AJ remembers the urgency, and how it created something in the locker room that carried the team through March and beyond.

He leans on that now when he says of his Mavericks, "I like where we're going."

And where is that?

In January, for the Spurs and Mavericks, no one is sure.



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[whottt]

Howard is Ginobili-like, and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich knows that. He argued in franchise meetings that the Spurs should draft him in 2003, and the Spurs instead traded their pick to open more cap room for Jason Kidd.

This is a revelation...several of them actually.

Damn, it's good to know I wasn't the only one that was pissed the night we traded that pick....

Hmmm, I've always thought that the major impetus to bring in Kidd was Duncan more than anyone else, it was hard for me to picture the Spurs being excited about blowing their cap and leaving themsevles with no Center or shooters...but I figured since Duncan was a FA, the Spurs wanted Kidd just as much as he did.


This is a telling article....If Pop was for drafting Howard, then who exactly was it that over-ruled him? It wasn't RC, in fact I'd guess that it was RC that drew Howard to Pop's attention, so who over-ruled Pop? I thought Pop ran this show more than any other.

[ChumpDumper]

My guess is Pop hasn't done the bean counting in a while; the one's who do probably concluded Howard's salary would have been a roadblock to the Kidd+center scheme. There's a good deal of uncertainty about the cap before it's released.

Pity, though -- Howard would've been a great fit. Too bad we -- along with the rest of the league -- missed out on Daniels too, but it's also nice we didn't have to panic sign him this past summer either.

[Duff McCartney]

I still don't think the Mavs of 05 are anywhere near the Spurs of 03. So no they won't be making a comeback anytime soon.

[GoSpurs21]

it pisses me off that Buck had to mention that Tim MAY have tipped Bruces shot in, while he failed to mention that irk was moving on all his offensive screens, and the goal tending BLOCK that I still have not seen a reply that shows the shot was on its way down when Horry send it away from the basket.

[exstatic]

...and the goal tending BLOCK that I still have not seen a reply that shows the shot was on its way down when Horry send it away from the basket.

Uh, that would, in fact, be goaltending.

[pjjrfan]

How about Holt? I would think he would be the only one who could overrule anyone on the Spurs team. I don't see TD sitting in on draft night making personnel decisions. He just doesn't strike me as the type, otherwise someone would've heard about it by now. I know that in the past Pop has gone to him seeking his imput, but I've yet to hear about him giving his input wanted or unwanted.

[GoSpurs21]

Uh, that would, in fact, be goaltending.

Goal tending is defined by the fact that the ball has passed the apex of its trajectory. If their is no replay showing the ball on its way down prior to being rejected by Horry how is it goal tending? I have watched the replays and it looks like Horry got the ball at or before its apex, so again how is this goal tending?

It is also defined as touching the ball after the ball makes contact with the backboard, as well as other situation, but those are not the situation here. Do you have video that shows the ball is on its way down prior to Horry touching it?