Spurs Aiming for First Repeat Title

Spurs aiming for first repeat title, and 5th in 10 years, to bolster credentials as dynasty

By ELIZABETH WHITE,
Associated Press Writer

SAN ANTONIO (AP) The San Antonio Spurs seem to have it all.

Four championships in nine seasons, "dynasty talk" that they routinely blow off and a humble but capable team led by a disciplined and winning coach.

This summer they had the big parade and citywide party, their Finals MVP had his storybook wedding, and players' families added little ones here and there. No, they didn't host "Saturday Night Live" last weekend, but in the Finals they swept the team of the player who did.

Still, there's one thing the Spurs don't have no matter how you say it: a repeat, a back-to-back, two in a row.

"If it doesn't happen there will be no suicides on my watch. But you know, you have goals and you reach those goals and there are new goals and you reach those goals and somebody comes up with something else," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said a day before the defending champions opened training camp. "And we're going to try, but it's an even year, so it's tough for us."

Popovich was referring to the fact that all of the Spurs' titles have come in odd years: 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007.

So, with the evens against them for a 2008 title, the Spurs will do what they always do, no matter how deep their talent, no matter how many returning players they boast.

"We go back to the beginning every year. We're really big on trying not to skip steps, realizing it's a long journey and that the building blocks have to be there," Popovich said, moments after referencing the latest banner in the Spurs' practice gym proclaiming them the champions.

The back-to-basics approach is an element often credited with the team's consistency over the years. And while the dynasty debate for some hinges on whether the team can repeat - winning five titles in 10 seasons - Popovich said he simply doesn't care about the label one way or the other.

"I don't know that there are any rules. I don't know what the rules are for a dynasty. And everybody has their own opinions," Popovich said. "We've done a pretty good job of trying to maintain the winning for a long time. We're going to continue to do it. Whatever it brings it brings."

The aging squad had a shortened summer break thanks to all that postseason play, which ended with a four-game sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers and superstar LeBron James.

But the players, first and foremost Tim Duncan, said they got in enough rest over the summer and are feeling healthy. Manu Ginobili, who turned 30 over the summer, skipped playing for Argentina's national team, which qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

"I guess that experience mattered more than youth last year," Ginobili said. "So we're going to try to maintain that, use our experience and our past wins to get another one."

And there won't be time wasted on introductions. Fans will see many of the same faces as last season, including role players like Brent Barry, Robert Horry and backup point guard Jacque Vaughn.

Horry got his seventh title in June and soon after the 37-year-old said he wanted to come back for another year. Veterans Vaughn and Michael Finley, among others, earned their first rings.

"It helps having the same guys coming back this year," said Duncan. "All in all, what it comes down to is we've got the guys that have been through it, that have been through the wars and know what it takes and what it's about. So that gives us an advantage."

Among the few new additions to the team are Ime Udoka, who played 75 games for the Portland Trail Blazers last season, and Ian Mahinmi, whom the Spurs picked in the first round of the 2005 NBA draft but had kept in France.

On Saturday, the Spurs announced that they signed this year's second-round draft pick, Marcus Williams, who spent two seasons at the University of Arizona.

"It's always great to add a new wrinkle here and there," Duncan said.

But the main pieces will remain the same, and that gives confidence to Finals MVP and newlywed Tony Parker - in July he wed actress Eva Longoria in France.

"I think as a team we understand what it means to defend a championship. So I think as long as everybody's motivated and we stay healthy, we'll have a good chance," said Parker, sporting a tattooed wedding band on his left ring finer. "I don't care about what people say. It's just for us. We have to do it for us."

 

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