Corporate Knowledge: Ring Night
The Spurs are 1-0 despite missing three key players from the rotation on a night where all 14 returning players received their championship rings. You read our side of the story, now here are others from elsewhere inside your computer.
- Ian Dougherty, Pounding the Rock: One thing that is always questioned for a team coming off of a title win is how motivated they will be to try and repeat. “Will they come out hungry for more, or rest on their laurels?” ” Did they work out as hard as they should have over the offseason?” For the Spurs, there has never been a need to worry about motivation.
- Paul Garcia, Project Spurs: Taking the summer off for Parker and Ginobili looked like it paid off, as each player looked refresh in their drives to the basket, as well as their outside shooting. Parker was a perfect 4-of-4 from three point range, while Ginobili added six assists to his 20 points.
- Matt Moore, CBS Sports: Tyson Chandler’s return to Dallas was a huge success. The Mavericks’ defense just looked like a totally different beast and Chandler kept attacking inside. They looked like a well-balanced team on both ends. So what happened? You know what happened. The Spurs. They moved the ball, they found gaps, they hit big shots, and they kept moving the ball, moving the ball, moving the ball until they cracked that rock with the hammer and got the win.
- Dan McCarney, MySA: Indeed, Popovich had joked about getting beat by 30 points and consoling himself with his latest piece of jewelry and a glass of wine. But, despite several stretches of ragged play, the Spurs played relatively well — particularly given the emotion of the evening, and the absence of three key rotation players, including the reigning Finals MVP in Leonard.
- Stephen Babb, Bleacher Report: This is an organization that takes its rings and wins alike in stride. Its aversion in equal parts to highs and lows has become cliche by now, one of the many attributes that’s historically set this club apart. The 2014-15 campaign will have the same ups and downs the Spurs have always weathered—at least another 81 games’ worth of them.
