Mr May, Mr June -- http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=211&xlc=1072207 Buck Harvey: Enemy within: Horry changes, but remains the same "Seeing him in a Spurs uniform," wrote a fan, "will make me want to puke!" Hadn't Horry been the enemy in both Houston and Los Angeles? And didn't he, just last May, swat David Robinson in his Spaldings? Sunday evening showed just how influential a Spurs uniform can be. Under the same basket where Horry the Laker doubled over Robinson, Horry the Spur blocked four shots in only 11 minutes. Then, at the other end of the floor, Horry took aim as he couldn't against the Spurs last season in the playoffs, throwing in a trey that caused substantial crowd noise. None of it had the sound of an upset stomach. Horry himself laughs at the change in location, as well as his good fortune. In the past 10 years, every NBA champion has had either Horry or Steve Kerr on its roster, and here Horry is, with yet another contender, replacing Kerr in the locker room. "I'll never be an All-Star," Horry said, "but I make for a good trivia question." That's his personality. He plays with an edge of cockiness, but he has Kerr's self-deprecating humor. Asked how he's managed to go from Hakeem Olajuwon to Shaquille O'Neal to Tim Duncan, Horry shrugged. "I know how to coattail, don't I?" He doesn't take much seriously, and that got him in trouble last summer. Then he joked to the Los Angeles Times, referring to Kobe Bryant and O'Neal as "two of the most ball-hogging people in the world." Horry, one of the rare shooters content with five attempts a game, was kidding. The Times printed it that way, but the quote was cut and passed around as anger. Horry shook his head. Did anyone think he would say bad things about guys he won three titles with? No wonder the Spurs signed him, as they did Kerr, Danny Ferry and Kevin Willis before. They like to spread this kind of experience around the locker room. But they also gave Horry a contract worth about $5 million this season for specific reasons. The Spurs love his basketball IQ and his calm under pressure, and they love the way he matches up with certain teams. Such as Dallas. The team in town Sunday night. Too many times the Mavericks negated Duncan and Robinson on the defensive end, taking their size outside. Dirk Nowitzki troubles enough, when he isn't limping on bad knees and ankles, but this strategy promised to get more dramatic this season. The Mavericks traded for Antawn Jamison. He always gave the Spurs problems when he didn't have Don Nelson's offense. Malik Rose could counter some of that. But Rasho Nesterovic will struggle against these lineups more than Robinson ever did. Enter Horry, able to spread the floor for Duncan on one end, able to chase on the other. Of all the changes the Spurs made in the offseason, none will impact the playoffs as much as adding Horry. Gregg Popovich says he won't be able to give significant minutes to Rose, Nesterovic and Horry every night. But Popovich also says this: Against Dallas or Phoenix, don't be surprised if Horry and Rose line up together next to Duncan. An NBA scout said recently that Horry made sense for the Spurs, but he wondered about Horry's health. He looked stiff. Going by moments last season, when Horry wore down after too many minutes, could it be that Horry had aged? The Lakers went in another direction for a reason, after all. And when Horry's agent called Dallas in the summer and the Mavericks didn't call back, perhaps that was the conclusion. Sunday said something else. Horry entered in the third quarter, subbing for Duncan, with the Spurs ahead by a point. Horry immediately stripped Jamison, followed with a block, then followed that with a soft bank. Duncan returned to join Horry on the frontline, and Horry kept going. He blocked three more shots, twice getting Jamison, and swished a 3-pointer. By the time he left the game, the Spurs had a 17-point lead. No one booed. No one felt ill. Not for Horry the Spur.
$5 million for Horry? I guess the Spurs had to do something with their money. Interesting that he gets a contract like this after such a poor season.
Money or not, it's good for Mr. Will Smith's look-alike. I am happy for Robert Horry. My best memory is the block on Horace Grant in game 1, 2, 3, and 4. Alas, though, he's closer to Calvin.
Cap space yes, stupid overpaying? If Robby baby got 5 mil for one season (not 5) then wow to RH and huh to genius Pop! PS A-Train -- Does Horry not rate into Rox posts, particularly when his Rox rings are treferenced? (Cheeky? That's Mr 'Zicky' to you.)
C'mon cheeky, I was defending you! Any discussion of former Rockets is officially known as falling under the Tracy Murray rule, as stated in the forum index... "Hell, the slower posters can even talk about former Rocket Tracy Murray"
If they were under cap, they can sign player for any amount they want, up to the cap. If the contract makes them go over the cap, they can then use the exception(s) or part of.
I think it's interesting that in the 1995 Playoffs, Mario Elie hit the "Kiss of Death" shot against the Suns in Game 7 of the semis, Robert Horry hit the game-winning jumper against the Spurs with 7 seconds left in Game 1 of the West Finals and Kenny Smith hit the overtime-forcing (and game-saving) three-pointer against the Magic in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. All three players went on to play for the teams that they had hit shots to beat: Elie to the Suns, Horry to the Spurs and Kenny Smith to the Magic.
I don't know...Saying Kenny Smith played for the Magic would be like saying Earl Cureton was part of the 1994 championship team...
I know, this is quite a common thing. Remember, last season in one of the Clippers games who who had the game-wining shot as time expired? That's right, Erick Piatkowski...
