SAN
ANTONIO SPURS
by
Antonio C. Antonio
June
15, 2014
In
the National Basketball Association (NBA), the San Antonio Spurs can hardly be
considered an All-American basketball team… others will even argue that the
Spurs is an “all-world” team. Fact is,
only six players are Americans and the other eight are foreign citizens…
- Jeff Ayres – United States
- Aaron Baynes – New Zealand
- Marco Belinelli – Italy
- Matt Bonner – United States
- Austin Daye – United States
- Boris Diaw – France
- Tim Duncan – United States
- Manu Ginobili – Argentina
- Danny Green – United States
- Cory Joseph – Canada
- Kawhi Leonard – United States
- Patty Mills – Australia
- Tony Parker – France
- Tiago Splitter – Brazil
Tim
Duncan was not even born in the US mainland but in the US Virgin Islands while
Tony Parker was born in Belgium but maintains a French citizenship.
Another
peculiar fact about the Spurs is the language barrier among its players. Tony Parker and Boris Diaw spoke French,
Marco Belinelli spoke Italian, Manu Ginobili spoke Spanish, Tiago Splitter
spoke Portuguese while Aaron Baynes and Patty Mills spoke English with an
Australian accent. This should have been
a communications nightmare for Coach Gregg Popovich, the multi-titled coach of
the Spurs. But, luckily, their foreign
players also spoke English (no matter how foreign-sounding it was) and made it
their standard mode of communications.
Coach Popovich could himself be considered a foreign national with a
Serbian father and Croatian mother.
The
San Antonio Spurs’ love for the game of basketball was perhaps their unifying
factor. They typified what teamwork is
all about… they showed everyone that teamwork wins championships. A new basketball offensive science is born… a
drive-draw-pass concept/strategy which more often allowed for simple
uncontested lay-ups and even dunks. It’s
a new approach and variation to the famous Triangle Offense popularized by Tex
Winters (Offensive Coach for Head Coach Phil Jackson’s Chicago Bulls and LA
Lakers). The only difference is that the
Triangle Offense freed players for a shot at mid-range while the Spurs’
offensive concept allowed for lay-ups and three-point shots. Both concepts in offense, however, are
anchored on one word: “TEAMWORK”.
But
more than the new offensive pattern is the emphasis on teamwork. Team sports, like most human collegial
activities and endeavours, cannot progress without teamwork. Strict adherence to teamwork negates
citizenship, language and other forms of divisive barriers.
Just
my little thoughts…
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