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crzymdups
Posts: 52018
Alba Posts: 0
Joined: 5/1/2004
Member: #671
USA
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The Spurs are incredibly depressed after trading Malik. It makes me think that maybe he could be a quality addition, someone to build a little commradery...also, it just shows that the Spurs team (again) is probably the ultimate TEAM.
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Spurs feeling blue after trade: Teammates, already missing Rose, welcome Mohammed
Web Posted: 02/26/2005 12:00 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
The Spurs shot free throws at the end of Friday's practice as they usually do. They just did it without the laughter that usually fills the gym.
Nazr Mohammed, acquired in a trade Thursday, will be worked into the Spurs' rotation slowly.
Most of the players didn't feel like joking around. Even assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo was quiet, for a change. The Spurs simply shot and went home.
It was as if someone had pulled the plug on their party. Which, in effect, someone had.
Malik Rose, whose wit could cut through even the darkest of moods, was in New York, preparing for his first day as a Knick. He had gone from playing for the team with the NBA's best record to the back page of New York's tabloids.
No one with the Spurs, from the players to coach Gregg Popovich to general manager R.C. Buford, saw that as reason to celebrate.
"It's very difficult because you're losing someone you're close to," Spurs forward Bruce Bowen said. "When someone goes, there's a period of mourning. But in this business you can't mourn too long."
As much as the Spurs eulogized their former teammate Friday, they weren't ready to also bury the remainder of their season. The trade — which sent Rose and two first-round draft picks to the Knicks for center Nazr Mohammed — sobered several players, but they pledged to move forward, starting tonight against Memphis.
"We are missing a great guy, someone who was really enjoyable to share the locker room with," guard Manu Ginobili said. "But we just have to trust Pop and R.C. that this is the best thing for the franchise. Now we have to welcome Nazr to our home."
Mohammed arrived in town Friday, though Popovich doesn't plan to play him tonight. Because Mohammed is taking over for one of the Spurs' most popular players and needs to earn the respect of his new teammates, team officials will do their best to put him in position to succeed.
"Malik was really intelligent, really well-liked," Popovich said. "But Nazr is just Nazr Mohammed. He can't be anybody else. He has to be who he is.
"It's not on him to replace anything in that regard. It's on our team to continue to do what we've always done and be the group we've always been. I don't have any doubt we'll do that."
Mohammed welcomed the move, leaving a team that appears bound for the lottery for a championship contender.
"It's kind of like if it's not broken, don't fix it," said Mohammed, who is joining his fourth team in seven seasons. "I'm just going to try to fit in wherever I can and rebound and defend. Those are two things you can be selfish at and still help the team."
Mohammed played 54 games with the Knicks this season, starting all of them. He averaged 10.9 points and 8.1 rebounds but was posting bigger numbers before he recently injured his groin.
"He's been playing with pain," Popovich said. "But we'll give him a physical to see exactly what's the status of that (injury)."
Though the trade also sheds more than $21 million in future payroll for the Spurs, Popovich called the decision to part with Rose his toughest in the 11 years since he took over as the franchise's general manager.
"I have a big empty spot down there right now," Popovich said. "It was odd coming to practice without him. I'll always miss him.
"But you don't not trade somebody because they're a good guy. This is about winning."
The Spurs were praised league-wide for the trade, but the mood of the organization — and its fans — matched the color of Friday's overcast skies. Fans flooded radio and TV talk shows to voice their regret over the move. More than a few started crying when they talked about Rose. Some wanted to know if the deal could be undone.
Everyone within the franchise also seemed to be in a funk. The front-office staff. The team's support staff. The coaches.
Said one team source: "They traded part of their soul."
The in-season trade was the Spurs' first in more than nine years. Many of the players had never experienced losing a teammate, particularly one so close to them, in the midst of a playoff drive.
In addition to trading Rose, the Spurs cut rookie guard Romain Sato, who also was popular with his teammates, to get the deal done. Team officials will consider re-signing Sato if he clears waivers and they can't find a suitable power forward to fill their lone roster opening.
"I was surprised because once Karl Malone said he was retiring, I thought that was it," Ginobili said. "I thought this was going to be the team we used to finish the season."
All-Star forward Tim Duncan, who developed a strong relationship with Rose during their eight seasons together, would not speak to reporters after practice. Bowen said he visited with Rose before he left town.
"It's sort of like being in love with one woman for numerous years and she tells you she had to go away because of something she needs to work out," Bowen said. "You're hurt, but you don't hate her.
"She didn't leave because she cheated you. She just had to work some things out that you couldn't control."
Aware some of the players were disappointed, Popovich designed a practice that forced them to communicate with each other. Still, he, like everyone else, looked spent.
"We just have to welcome Nazr now and go for the ring," Ginobili said. "That's still the only goal."
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2/26/2005 10:53 AM