.october 8
wow, ron "tru warier" artest's rap song "coroner" is well done!
btw, this new nba ball is really like an orange, it looks like they
play with some citrus or what.
anyway it shines marvellously on the tv-screen, but i'm not sure, is
it really a better type than a previous leather one?
only a time will show.
i'm getting thrilled about an upcoming season, only 25 or so days to
go... man, as if the nba finals were just yesterday... and with
masterpieces like "lost" or "desperate housewives", everything's easy.
recently i thought about a theory of having the nba champion compete
for the gold medal in 2008 instead of putting a team of usa together,
however how it would work with a team like spurs?
i know one san antonian, stan, who's completely hooked on watching
spurs' telecasts, he rather sits on his own couch than in the at&t
center.
why?
he just wanna listen to play-by-play announcers of spurs' games dave
barnett & bill land, to color analyst sean elliott or to fill-in
broadcasters dick stockton & andrew monaco.
*i'm saving for the best seat available in the 2007 finals,* he
explains.
*i wanna hear coach pop when he trashes somebody,* he adds with a grin.
you crack me up stan.
*and ouch, beno udrih is gonna have a tough time climbing out from
pop's doghouse.*
put beno aside, stan is gonna have a very good time because of fsn
southwest's 32 broadcasts, kmys (my35tv)'s 31 and kens 5's 10.
one guy told me that having a training camp in such unique country as
france is like walking trough the pink garden.
i have to prove him wrong.
for a basketball franchise, it's no foreign vacation.
no golf, no guide book, no beach, no girls, no smoking, no drinking,
no squandering, no celebrating, no stupidities.
it's all only work, work, WORK.
it's training time... two-a-days, shooting drills, play learning,
implementing the strategies, running, jelling as a group, sweat, etc.
okay, i'm exaggerating it, but a camp is no relaxation.
work, work, WORK.
82+ games lie ahead and don't retreat.
nba.com's mark wood said it well: *titles may not be won here - but
they can be lost.*
the spurs have the 2006 training camp in france, lyon and paris.
from the team bus with motto "team is everything" have got off these:
brent barry, matt bonner, bruce bowen, jackie butler, tim duncan,
francisco elson, mike finley, manu ginobili, rob horry, fabricio
oberto, tony parker (the main star for french people), mel sanders,
beno udrih, jacque vaughn, eric williams and a t-camp invitees,
charles lee, olu famutimi, rich melzer, jamar smith, jared reiner.
of course, the coaching staff couldn't absent: gregg popovich with
assistants p.j. carlesimo, mike budenholzer, don newman, brett brown,
chip engelland, strength-&-conditioning coach mike brungardt, athletic
trainer will sevening with assistant chad bergman, not to mention gm
r.c. buford with sam presti.
the first preseason game vs. asvel villeurbanne in lyon (what a great
webcast, nba.com, thanx!) was simply an exhibition ga... er, match.
t-park was hot and the spurs routed their hosts, 115:90.
the second match (this looks weird, ain't it?), vs. maccabi tel aviv
was a harder test, 84:97, but results don't matter in the preseason,
after all.
the players begin to lay the foundations of the new season here.
only hard-work + team-work can help come the playoffs 2007 time.
so, when a playoff game will be up for grabs, when td will miss his
bankshot, when tony will turn the ball over, when manu will have no
energy in his tank, when bruce will be beaten off the dribble, when
big shot rob will misfire his corner-3-pointer, when fin will not be
able to sink any shot, when fabio will not be able to grab an
off-rebound, when francisco will be slow in a defensive rotation,
when jackie will be eaten by opponent's center, when matt will pass
in the hands of rival, when brent will lose the ball in his drive,
when jacque will be lost in guarding his man one-on-one or when
whoever will fail, then any prayer or magic won't help.
when td misses - fabricio puts the ball back in the hole, when tony
makes a turnover - manu flings himself on the stealer and makes a
jumpball, when manu is worn out - fin fills in for him, when bruce is
defenseless - jacque stops his man, when rob is out - brent hits the
three, when fin is out - manu is in, when fabio is lost - rob is
there, when francisco is slow - matt makes a flop with charge, when
jackie is routed - td swats the ball away, when matt passes wrong -
tony steals the ball, when brent is stripped - bruce steps in, when
jacque is lost - td scare jacque's man in the paint, when whoever
fails - then (or should come) comes help.
then TEAM IS EVERYTHING.
.october 9
it's 11:08 pm and thus no chance of blogging here today.
it's been a busy day folks... i'll finish this blog tomorrow.
team is everything.
.october 10
i'm not gonna write a lot, just the conclusion: week's french-camp has
been good, the people in france are satisfied as well as me and the
spurs are back home in texas.
and tony parker must be a perpeetum mobile, i suppose.
my next blog will be the 2006-07 nba (abbreviated) preview.
check it out later.
p.s.1: *the people [san antonians] are wonderful... the people are
genuine,* said sam presti, spurs vice president/assistant general
manager.
*there is a real small town feel to the city.*
p.s.2:
artest: *if you have to protect yourself, then you have to protect
yourself.* (-charley rosen)
p.s.3:
some of his defenders claim that he was merely working on his perimeter
shooting.
others that he was actually aiming at a dark cloud and was trying to
make rain. (-charley rosen)
p.s.4: *i'm just lucky that pop loves wine!
every time the nba asks him to go to france he says yes,* said t-park.
p.s.5: /jeff dengate's nba.com spurs-camp-blog/
*... to the match on thursday,* said pop.
wait, did pop just call the game a match?
*we're in europe,* he replied.
*it's not a game, it's a match.*
p.s.6: /johnny ludden/
given his love for lyon's (spectacular) food and wine, pop was asked if
he'd consider moving to the city and coaching the local pro team.
*that wouldn't be a good fit.
i would weigh 340 pounds and be drunk all the time.*
p.s.7: dwight howard said his team is good enough to win an nba title.
this may be proof that dwight is much more religious than people
thought. (-randy hill)
p.s.8: is mr. cuban mad?
read: *i just don't think there's any value in having a training camp
overseas.
i don't think it works for us in any way, shape or form, and it works
against us in 100 different ways.*
nah, he's MAD.
nothing new.
p.s.9: (td on his 10th nba season)
*it's gone by incredibly fast.
too fast.
every time before the season, i talk to malik [rose] and antonio
[daniels] and they both said the same thing: can you imagine it's 10
years?
for malik, it's 11 years.
we're the old guys now.*
p.s.10: (tp on his wax figure in paris)
*it's beautiful.
it's a great honor.
i think the only thing missing is pop standing there yelling at me.
that would make the perfect picture.*
-(pop's joke on wax parker)
*it's the first, and hopefully the last, spurs player to get waxed.*
Posted by Foreigner in CS - Oct 10 2006 8:28PM
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