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Buck Harvey - Buck Harvey
Michael Finley arrived in San Antonio as a surprise. Now he leaves the same way.
But there might be more to this. When Finley pulled Gregg Popovich to the side and told him he wanted an opportunity to play elsewhere, was it because Finley still believed in himself?
Or because he didn't believe in the Spurs?
His relocation won't change playoff dynamics. Reports suggest the Celtics and Lakers might have interest, but Finley will most likely be insurance for any contender that signs him.
Maybe that's another reason Popovich said he was “very surprised” when Finley asked to be released. Finley turns 37 on Saturday, and he's gone 2 for 18 since returning from his sprained ankle. Yet Finley thinks there's another playoff team with room in the rotation for him?
If anything, Finley's departure might help Popovich better define his bench. The Spurs beat the Hornets on Monday night with basically an eight-man rotation.
If Popovich thought Finley had anything left, he would have been playing him. He always loved Finley's approach and presence, and he loved what happened in a training camp moment in the fall of 2006.
Then, the entire team had to run extra suicide sprints because two young Spurs didn't finish in the mandated time. After practice was over, Finley took control and made the two run the course again as punishment.
Finley and the other Spurs cheered them on, and they made the time. The coaches, having left the floor, returned to watch. They said they had never seen anything like it.
“He's in that Joe Dumars mold,” Popovich said later of Finley. “He comes to work, he does his job, and he cares about everybody.”
That was Finley, ever the professional. He was durable, missing only a half-dozen games in the previous four seasons, and his shooting could be spectacular. He threw in a franchise-record eight 3-pointers to close out the Nuggets in the 2007 playoffs.
Still, he wasn't like Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry or Brent Barry. Finley had been a scorer and an All-Star before he became a Spur, and he carried himself differently. He took his time after games, wearing suits as his Chicago idol, Michael Jordan, always did, and he waited to talk to the press in his own time.
When his minutes fell this season, however, he was just like Bowen, Horry and Barry had been before. He was unhappy.
Unlike the others, sitting was new for Finley. “He's a competitor,” Henry Thomas, his agent, told a reporter Monday, “who has never been in that position (of not playing) before.”
But Finley's arrival in San Antonio hints at another possible factor in his departure. Then, in 2005, Mark Cuban chose to buy out his contract to save on the luxury tax, and Finley was free to sign with anyone.
Finley could have gotten more money from Miami or Detroit then, or he could have teamed with a friend, Steve Nash, in Phoenix. Instead, he chose the defending champs, where Tim Duncan made winning more likely.
Finley was eventually proven right. After enduring Cuban's taunts that first season in the playoffs in Dallas, as well as Jason Terry's below-the-belt punch, Finley won the championship he came for.
Those who were there in Cleveland at the postgame party remember this image: Finley holding onto the trophy as if he would never let go.
Winning attracts players. Sitting on the bench of a winner is easier, too.
So maybe this is another discouraging sign for the Spurs. They are optimistic today, hoping consecutive wins against Phoenix and New Orleans will turn into something more, but they are still a seventh seed.
When they used to be a destination for those wanting a ring.
bharvey@express-news.net
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Does_Fin_know_He_leaves_as_he_arrived.html
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