San Antonio Spurs

[tackielarla]

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Spurs' Bowen keeps showing he hasn't lost a step
By Mike Monroe - SAEN

Most of the Spurs did not know quite what to make of the group yoga class that consumed the final portion of their preseason practice session on Sunday.

Defensive star Bruce Bowen, beginning his 14th season in the NBA and his seventh with the Spurs, knew it wasn't quite hot enough inside the team's practice facility to get the full benefit from the deep stretching.

“Unfortunately, it's on the cooling system right now,” he said. “The heat won't go on until Tim (Duncan) gets cold.”

Bowen added yoga to his offseason training regimen several years ago. When you have made a career of pestering the NBA's most explosive scorers to utter distraction, you do whatever you can to keep aging muscles and joints flexible and pain-free.

Bowen's preferred yoga discipline, though, is the form advocated by Bikram Choudhury, whose yoga classes are conducted in relatively high heat to enhance the stretching process. He is grateful, nevertheless, to have deep stretching incorporated into the team's regular conditioning program.

With Robert Horry retired, Bowen is the oldest Spurs player. He turned 37 in June. Except for 38-year-old Celtics guard Sam Cassell, he is older than any player on an NBA roster.

Unlike Cassell, Bowen remains a starter and a player whose physical skills separate him from most in the league. Last season, he averaged 30.2 minutes in 81 games. The only game he missed resulted not from injury or illness, but a suspension for kicking Hornets guard Chris Paul. The league's head coaches have named him to the All-Defensive first team each of the past five seasons. He was second-team All-Defense the previous three seasons.

Each training camp, the Spurs' coaches expect to see a marginal drop-off in the physicality and athleticism that have made Bowen a defender capable of frustrating players so thoroughly that some insist he steps outside the rules to stop them. Each year, including this one, they shake their heads in amazement that he remains among the team's best-conditioned players.

“When players get in that age realm, we have to discuss it and think about it, but Bruce doesn't even like us to joke about it,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. “He gets very sensitive, because he takes great pride in what he has done to maintain his physical abilities.

“He hasn't lost a step. He continues to do everything we've seen him do over the years. It's just a testament to his professionalism and the regimen he keeps, summer after summer.

“He's an anomaly.”

Bowen doesn't mind being the oldest player on one of the league's oldest teams. With Horry gone, he believes he has to set an example for younger newcomers.

“It doesn't change a thing,” he said of being the oldest Spurs player. “I just know all the jokes fall on me now, instead of Rob. But they do want you to set an example in things, maybe a little thing like wearing a heart monitor.

“I understand more now, being an older guy here, that I can help bring some of the younger guys along.”

Roger Mason, a 28-year-old swingman signed in July, calls Bowen a personal inspiration.

“To see him at 37, still guarding Tony Parker in practice, says a lot,” Mason said. “To be at his age, still doing things younger guys are doing, well, I want to be able to do the same things myself at that age.”

The Spurs signed Mason because they see some of Bowen's traits in him, especially his defensive tenacity and 3-point shooting skill.

Mason, though, has been amazed just watching Bowen's daily approach to defense, even in scrimmages.

“He's a K-Y-P guy — Know Your Personnel. Even out here, he's not defending Tony Parker the same way he defends Michael Finley or Jacque Vaughn or me. That's something you don't really think about. You just know that Bruce Bowen is a defender, but he thinks the game through. That's what makes him the elite defender, and that's huge in this league.”

Bowen's approach, as always, is simple:

“My goal, each and every year, is to be Defensive Player of the Year,” he said.

[tackielarla]

Shaq's Comments on "If Duncan Got #5 Before Him"

"I'd Be Pissed. And then I'd have to try to go out and do something to get number five." - Shaquille O'Neal

ESPN - around the 10:20 mark

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/...t&lid=tab4pos2

Sooo immature and imbecilic, coming from a future HOFer... tsk tsk tsk...

[tackielarla]

Highs and Lows: San Antonio Spurs
By Austin Burton


Tim Duncan (photo. adidas)

The NBA preseason is underway. While we wait for the real games to start, we’re going team-by-team, from 1 to 30, exploring where each team’s ceiling is for the upcoming season and where their basement is. In other words, what are the realistic best-case and worst-case scenarios for each squad?

Additions: PG George Hill, SG Roger Mason Jr., SG Salim Stoudamire.

Losses: SG Brent Barry, PG Damon Stoudamire, PF Robert Horry.

Ceiling: NBA championship

If you’re into quirky stats and neat little trends, the mere fact that we’re going into an odd-numbered year is enough to put the Spurs (NBA champs in ‘99, ‘03, ‘05 and ‘07) high on the list of title contenders worth putting money on. Even if numerology isn’t your style, no matter what digit you tack on to the end of the calendar, you still have to recognize San Antonio as a championship favorite. Is Tim Duncan in the midst of that inevitable athletic decline that manifests itself even faster for seven-footers? Sure. But seeing as he registered 19.3 points, 11.3 boards and 1.9 blocks last season — then bumped those numbers to 20.2, 14.5 and 2.1 in the playoffs — there are still, at best, maybe three ballplayers in the entire world you’d rather have on your side if you needed to win a game today. Some of the other “old” Spurs that were exposed in the playoffs (Barry, Stoudamire, Horry) have been replaced by new blood (Mason, Hill, Ian Mahinmi), while effective vets like Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas, Ime Udoka and Mike Finley are still around. Tony Parker is in his prime at 26, and no one remembers this, but he gave it to Chris Paul in the conference semis just as well as he got it. In typical Spurs fashion, they’ll start slow — especially with Manu Ginobili missing significant time following offseason ankle surgery — but after the All-Star break, San Antone will get the wheels in motion to kick it into that “invincible” gear come playoff time.

Basement: Second-round playoff exit

The elements exist for the perfect storm that would result in the Spurs underachieving like they never have in the Duncan era. Ginobili’s long layoff could put San Antonio in an early hole that, as tough as the Southwest Division is (Rockets, Hornets, Mavs), will be harder to climb out of, especially as the Spurs are trying to integrate newcomers into the mix. And what if Mahinmi isn’t as good as the organization thinks he is? What if this is the year Duncan noticeably goes downhill? What if Ginobili is never quite himself after he returns? What if Salim Stoudamire and Mason can’t replace the outside shooting they got from Barry? What if they lost some kind of lucky charm by letting Horry go? If the Spurs end up with a lower seed going into the playoffs (meaning no home-court in the first round), there are definitely a few teams in the West that could take them out. However…Duncan has never in his career lost in the first round of the playoffs. And he still has the NBA’s best backcourt on his side, the NBA’s best coach, and a solid group of vets who know their roles and don’t get rattled. The Spurs-haters would love to see them fall, but this isn’t the year.

[menderouv]

maau jud ang spurs.. see you next season mga spurs fanatic

[tackielarla]

They actually have a preseason game tonight vs Houston. Should be interesting.

[jasonrey]

^^ update us sa results bro

[tackielarla]

Well, we lost. But it's a good loss, mind you. Here's why:

HOUSTON (AP) -San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich didn't care about the outcome of the Spurs' preseason opener against Houston on Thursday night. He was more interested in seeing his new players in action for the first time.

Ron Artest had 18 points and five rebounds and Luis Scola added 13 points as the Rockets beat the short-handed Spurs 85-78 on Thursday night.

By design, Popovich used mostly reserves. Tim Duncan , Bruce Bowen and Michael Finley all watched in street clothes and Tony Parker scored eight points in 14 minutes, all in the first half.
Rookie Malik Hairston scored 10 points to lead the Spurs, while rookies Devin Green and Anthony Tolliver added seven points each.

''This is a fun time of year to watch the young guys play and see how they go up against the big boys, so to speak,'' Popovich said. ''Just watch how they react, that's the fun of it. If we win, nobody cares. If we lose, nobody cares. That doesn't happen during the regular season.''

Houston coach Rick Adelman used his regulars a bit more, keeping Artest, Scola, Yao Ming and Rafer Alston in the game for about 20 minutes each.

Yao scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds in two quarters for the Rockets, while Tracy McGrady was in uniform, but did not play because of a sore left knee. Brent Barry started for McGrady.

The Rockets have talked confidently about making a run at the NBA championship, but chemistry is an issue right now. Houston had 20 turnovers and sputtered at times running Adelman's offense.
''There were flashes of things that we are capable of doing,'' said Barry, who had eight assists. ''Those flashes have to start turning into quarters, quarters into halves and halves have to turn into 48 minutes. We're a very long way from the season getting started and there is room to improve.''
Yao played the first quarter and had one basket and three rebounds. Artest and Scola scored six points each for the Rockets (2-0) in the quarter, but Jacque Vaughn 's pullup jumper with 1.4 seconds left tied it at 22.

Parker played five minutes in the first quarter, then returned in the second, with Darryl Watkins and Green, Tolliver and Hairston rounding out the lineup. At that point, Houston countered with Aaron Brooks , Chuck Hayes , Luther Head , Von Wafer and rookie Joey Dorsey .

Wafer, who signed as a free agent just before training camp began, finished a fast break with a slam and hit a 20-footer to put the Rockets up 31-26. Spurs (0-1) regulars Fabricio Oberto and Ime Udoka rejoined Parker later in the second quarter. Artest also returned and hit two 3-pointers during a 15-0 spurt that pushed the Rockets' lead to 46-30.

Wafer had nine points in the first half and Houston led 50-34 at halftime. Wafer finished with 14 points, but he's still a long shot to make the final roster.

''I keep my head up and I stay confident,'' Wafer said. ''I'm trying to play as hard as I can.''
Houston's starting lineup was back on the court for the third quarter and Scola's three-point play near the 4-minute mark stretched the lead to 66-46. Yao scored six points in the quarter, including a one-handed dunk, before going to the bench for the night.

Alston said the Rockets not only need to improve the offense, but also work on their defense. Last season, Houston had the second-best scoring defense in the Western Conference, behind San Antonio.

''That's one area we're good at,'' Alston said. ''That's something we've got to get back and put an emphasis on.''

Popovich played most of the fourth quarter with a lineup of Green, Watkins, Tolliver, Hairston and rookie George Hill . Rookie Charles Gaines checked in later and the youngsters got within four points.
Mike Harris scored inside to put the Rockets up 84-78 and Brooks took a charge on Hill's drive in the final minute to secure the win.

Notes: San Antonio F Kurt Thomas (strained left hamstring) and G Salim Stoudamire (sprained right ankle) did not make the trip. Popovich said both players would be ready to play again within a week. ... Rockets F Carl Landry , who scored 18 points in the preseason opener on Tuesday, did not play.

[jasonrey]

it's a good result for me too coz even without the regular starters, they lost by less than 10 points. oh well, it's preseason anyway

[tackielarla]

Yep yep. If our scrubs can keep up with Houston's starters (Yao, Artest, Scola, Alston, Head, etc.), I think we'll be just fine this season.

Funny lang sa pikas thread kay seryoso kaayo sa ila "preseason losses" when even their team is clearly taking it slowly. Naman.

[jasonrey]

that's why i mostly stick lang diri sa Spurs thread kay open-minded ang mga fans