Spurs Basketball

The San Antonio Spurs are the best franchise in sports, according to ESPN The Magazine’s annual Ultimate Standings fan poll, an online poll ranking all 92 MLB, NBA and NFL franchises. This marks the second time the Spurs have come away with the honor since the debut of the poll in 2000 - making them the first repeat winner. The top 10 consists of two NBA teams, the Spurs and the Detroit Pistons (last year’s winner), five NFL teams and three MLB teams. The NHL was not included in the poll this year due to the lockout.

In addition to being named the top franchise, the Spurs also took home the No. 1 spot in three other categories - Fan Relations, Ownership and Players. Fans love Coach Gregg Popovich, who has moved up from No. 72 in the Coaching category to No. 3 since the rankings began in 2000. The Spurs finished third in the Bang for the Buck category, which, rather than being voted on by fans, is determined by wins in the past three years per revenues received directly from the fans.

“Fans told us louder than ever this year that they care more about owners who show their appreciation and players who act professionally on and off the field than pretty stadiums or even winning championships,” said Peter Keating, senior writer, ESPN The Magazine. “Our top-ranked teams, including the Spurs, have made fans believe in their commitment and effort. The bottom-ranked teams fall short in that effort.”

More than 30,000 fans participated in the Ultimate Standings poll online through ESPN.com from October to November, 2005, giving grades to their favorite teams. Fans voted in seven categories - Fan Relations, Ownership, Affordability, Stadium Experience, Players, Coaching and Winning. The Bang for the Buck category is based on financial analysis for three years calculated by the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon and ESPN The Magazine.

The Magazine also conducted an online SportsNation poll of more than 1,500 fans with the help of Markitecture, a research and consulting firm, to paint a comprehensive portrait of the State of the Fan. For more information on Ultimate Standings and State of the Fan, log on to www.espn.com keyword: SportsNation.

Top 10 Franchises:
1. San Antonio Spurs (last year’s rank: 2)
2. Detroit Pistons (last year’s rank: 1)
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (last year’s rank: 9
4. Indianapolis Colts (last year’s rank: 3)
5. Los Angeles Angels (last year’s rank: 5)
6. Atlanta Falcons (last year’s rank 7)
7. St. Louis Cardinals (last year’s rank 11)
8. Carolina Panthers (last year’s rank 12)
9. Atlanta Braves (last year’s rank: 16)
10. New England Patriots (last year’s rank: 4)

Bottom 10 Franchises:
82. Los Angeles Dodgers (last year’s rank: 52)
83. Philadelphia Phillies (last year’s rank: 78)
84. Toronto Raptors (last year’s rank: 75)
85. Tampa Bay Devil Rays (last year’s rank: 73)
86. Arizona Cardinals (last year’s rank: 82)
87. Atlanta Hawks (last year’s rank: 88)
88. New York Knicks (last year’s rank: 77)
89. Portland Trail Blazers (last year’s rank: 79)
90. Minnesota Vikings (last year’s rank: 81)
91. New Orleans Saints (last year’s rank: 87)

(** The Charlotte Bobcats are not included in the overall
standings; three full seasons of data is needed to calculate teams’
Bang for the Buck - which is one of the eight categories used to
calculate the Franchise Rankings.)

Biggest Jumps:
— Chicago White Sox, from 70 to 13
— New York Giants, from 71 to 33
— Houston Rockets, from 56 to 21
— Seattle Seahawks, from 59 to 24
— Chicago Bulls, from 74 to 44

Biggest Drops:
— Orlando Magic, from 44 to 77
— Baltimore Ravens, from 22 to 54
— Los Angeles Dodgers, from 52 to 82
— Baltimore Orioles, from 50 to 80
— Florida Marlins, from 25 to 53

In 2002, the first SportsNation poll was held to measure the state
of the fan. Findings from this year’s SportsNation poll include:

— Fans now spend an average of 6.5 hours a week following sports
on TV, up from 5.3 hours from the first SportsNation poll in
2002;
— The most expensive ticket to a sporting event paid for by fans
in the poll was $112- up 67% from $67 three years ago;
— 72% of fans follow sports for “pure entertainment,” leaving
options such as escape from everyday life (47%) and an
appreciation of athletics (44%) far behind;
— 62% of fans say they like to keep up with new technology;
— One-third of fans agree with the statement “the bigger the
television, the better the game;”
— 57% would prefer getting a large-screen TV and satellite
sports package to four season tickets to their favorite team.

THE South Dragons are not backing away from the big targets as they start assembling a team and coaching staff for the 2007 NBL season.

Former North Melbourne Giants and Sydney Kings coach Brett Brown is on the new club’s hit list, while the Dragons yesterday confirmed they had made an offer to Australian NBA aspirant Luke Schenscher.
While the Dragons admit Brown, on the coaching staff of NBA champions the San Antonio Spurs, is a long-shot to be their first head coach, they are optimistic about signing 216cm centre Schenscher.

“We know Luke’s excited about the prospect of playing with the Dragons, and it’s really just a matter of coming to an agreement that’s acceptable to both parties,” Dragons co-owner Mark Cowan said yesterday.

“Discussions have progressed through a couple of rounds of proposed contracts.”

After four years of strong progress at Georgia Tech, Schenscher was signed and released by the Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings in the NBA pre-season.

He is now playing with Fort Worth in the NBA’s development league.

“The Dragons understand that Luke’s committed to a career in the NBA and would be delighted if he were to use our club as a stepping stone to the big show,” Cowan said.

“Home-grown big men are really starting to become a trademark of Australian basketball. You only have to look at what (Andrew) Bogut’s already achieved in the NBA.”

A former assistant coach at two Olympics with the Boomers, American-born Brown has been with the Spurs for four seasons.

He may be tempted to bring his Australian-born wife Anna and their three young children back home.

While it would be an appealing challenge for Brown to be the Dragons’ first coach, it is likely the NBA package of working with the Spurs will keep him in San Antonio.

Even so, the Dragons will at least ask the question of Brown, who won the 1994 NBL championship with the Giants and took them back to the grand final in 1995.

“We think Brett would be a long shot, but we intend to go through the process,” Cowan said. “Someone like Brett is the kind of coach we want.”

Michael Finley scored 19 points and the San Antonio Spurs shot 56 percent Wednesday night in their 109-96 victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks have lost seven straight games.
Tony Parker added 18 points and 10 assists as the Spurs’ starting guards combined to make 15 of 22 shots against the Knicks’ dismal perimeter defense. Finley was 8-of-12 in another start in place of Manu Ginobili, and Parker was 7-for-10.
San Antonio was shooting 63 percent after three quarters and was easily on its way to bettering its season high of 56.3 percent against Boston on Nov. 11 before its reserves were only 8-of-21 in the final 12 minutes.
Tim Duncan played only 22 minutes and scored 13 points for the Spurs, who rebounded from consecutive losses and salvaged the final game of their three-game trip. They return home Friday to host Toronto before traveling to Detroit for their NBA Finals rematch with the Pistons on Christmas.
Larry Brown’s old team will certainly provide more of a test than his current one.
The Knicks trailed by as many as 32 points, and the only reason they avoided their worst loss of the season was because the Spurs’ starters were on the bench in the fourth quarter. New York trailed by 31 points after the third.
Jamal Crawford scored 16 points for New York, and Channing Frye and Stephon Marbury each added 14.
San Antonio got off to a quick start, a night after losing in overtime at Milwaukee. Finley scored nine points in the first 4 minutes as the Spurs opened a 13-4 lead, and that was essentially it. The Spurs shot 63 percent in the first quarter in building a 29-16 lead.
The Knicks used a brief flurry to close within five points in the second period, but the Spurs scored the next 11 points and had a double-digit lead the rest of the way. They finished the half on a 23-7 run and went to halftime with a 56-35 cushion after Finley’s 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds to go.
The Spurs shot 65 percent in the half and Finley scored 14 points.
The only fight the Knicks put up came from Antonio Davis, who fouled Parker with 8:18 left in the third quarter. The Spurs thought the foul was too hard, and as players from both teams huddled to talk about it, Davis gave Duncan a little shove as he was walking away.
By then, San Antonio already led by 23 points. The lead grew to 86-54 when Brent Barry made a 3-pointer with 2:09 left in the quarter. Barry finished with 13 points.