San Antonio – Every key member of the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs is back.
All-stars Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili are well-rested after taking the summer off from international competition. All- stars Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel, as well as gold medalist Fabricio Oberto, have been added to the roster.
So what do you say to a team that appears to have everything? Very little, apparently.
“What are you going to do?” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who took his team to Duncan’s native Virgin Islands for training camp.
“I decided the best thing you could do is go to the Virgin Islands and have a couple of drinky-poos out there. Not take it so seriously. Be counterintuitive. I didn’t want to come in there the first day and say, ‘OK guys, here is the deal. Here is the Knute Rockne speech.’
“They are too sophisticated for that. Too intelligent. And it’s too early to get all lathered up about what they’ve got to do to win a championship because they already know that it’s a long journey. They know all the steps you’ve got to go through to get there. They are willing to do that.
“If we don’t win a championship this year, it won’t be because we took it for granted or thought that we already arrived. It was because somebody else played better, somebody else is healthier or a combination thereof.”
The Spurs could gain motivation in trying to become the first team in franchise history to win back-to-back titles. San Antonio also won titles in 1999 and 2003. The last team to repeat was the Los Angeles Lakers, who won three in a row from 2000-02.
“That’s a stupendous achievement,” Popovich said. “They did a good job of just keeping their core together and getting pieces here and there. I’m hoping that’s what we do this year.”
There doesn’t appear to be any immediate threat to the Spurs’ supremacy, at least in the West.
The Phoenix Suns were expected to be their main challenger, but that was before all-star forward Amare Stoudemire was lost for a minimum of four months following knee surgery Oct 11. Denver, Houston and Sacramento are receiving preseason mention as replacement competitors in the West.
Duncan said it’s meaningless chatter.
“There’s nothing to say right now,” he said. “People can pick us as No. 1. That doesn’t mean anything. You have to still go out and play.”
Eleven players return from the Spurs’ title team. Only one of their top-10 scorers from last season is not back: Devin Brown, who signed with Utah after averaging 7.4 points.
“When you look at teams that have had success consistently, the San Antonios, they’ve been together for a while,” Portland coach Nate McMillan said. “They’re not changing their face or their colors or stripes every year.”
What San Antonio added seems to more than make up for the loss of Brown. Finley is a two-time all-star who averaged 15.7 points for Dallas last season. Van Exel fills a much-needed void at backup point guard and adds a veteran presence. Oberto isn’t your typical rookie. He was a key member on Argentina’s 2004 Olympic gold medal team and has played pro ball for 12 years. With those three additions, Popovich calls this team the deepest he has had since taking the coaching job in 1996.
The chance to win a ring is what brought Finley aboard.
“If I had to give up a minute or two here in order to win a championship or put myself in a position to win one, it’s no problem,” he said.
Asked to assess the team that bounced the Nuggets out of the first round of the playoffs last spring, Denver’s Carmelo Anthony said: “They’re stacked up. That’s crazy. They’re going to be the same Spurs.”
About the only thing that appears capable of sinking the Spurs is a lack of focus.
“Our best weapon against that would be Pop,” Duncan said. “He won’t let us get complacent.”
Convincing run
How good were the Spurs during their playoff run last season? They dropped only seven games, four of which were losses of 10 points or fewer. The breakdown:
First round
Denver 93, San Antonio 87
San Antonio 104, Denver 76
San Antonio 86, Denver 78
San Antonio 126, Denver 115, OT
San Antonio 99, Denver 89
Conference semifinals
San Antonio 103, Seattle 81
San Antonio 108, Seattle 91
Seattle 92, San Antonio 91
Seattle 101, San Antonio 89
San Antonio 103, Seattle 90
San Antonio 98, Seattle 96
Conference finals
San Antonio 121, Phoenix 114
San Antonio 111, Phoenix 108
San Antonio 102, Phoenix 92
Phoenix 111, San Antonio 106
San Antonio 101, Phoenix 95
NBA Finals
San Antonio 84, Detroit 69
San Antonio 97, Detroit 76
Detroit 96, San Antonio 79
Detroit 102, San Antonio 71
San Antonio 96, Detroit 95
Detroit 95, San Antonio 86
San Antonio 81, Detroit 74
Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.
