Wine Matters: Popovich shares love of wine
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Web Posted: 07/18/2006 07:59 PM CDT
John Griffin
Express-News Dining Editor
The sign on the counter said questions should be about wine, not basketball. But, as you might expect, Gregg Popovich’s fans were more interested in the lowdown on the Spurs’ center position than in his opinions on fine Burgundy.
“Oh, yeah, I had at least five people ask about the center,” he said after more than two hours of meeting people and signing autographs at Saglimbeni Fine Wines on Saturday afternoon.
Some folks brought basketballs, caps and other Spurs memorabilia with them, but the majority bought copies of a May 31 Wine Spectator profile of the coach, with proceeds going to benefit Youth Alternatives, a nonprofit agency that helps children in crisis.
A few waiting in the long line did have questions about his favorite wines.
The lengthy list runs from Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc for those sweltering summer days when you just “don’t feel like drinking a red” to German rieslings to any number of Italian reds, especially barolos. California chardonnays and cabernet sauvignons aren’t at the top of his list, but there are exceptions, including the Rudd Bacigalupi Chardonnay and the Ridge Monte Bello.
He’s spoken of his fondness for Sauternes in the past, but he’s equally excited about aged Madeira, which made him forget all about vintage port. The fortified Portuguese wine makes “you feel like you’re back on the ships” that used to transport it in the olden days, he said.
But you get the feel that pinot noir holds a special place for him.
“I’ve said it before, if I had one meal left, (the wine) would be Romanée-Conti,” he said of the famous Burgundy. “It’s the most elegant yet complicated wine there is.”
It’s also the most expensive Burgundy there is, which means most people not on an NBA coaching salary could end up in the poorhouse for buying too much of it.
That’s one reason why the idea of From A to Z Wineworks in Dundee, Ore., was easy for Popovich to buy into. The négociants, who buy grapes rather than grow them, produce what they call “aristocratic wines at democratic prices.” He has been a partner in the venture from the beginning, when 2,600 cases of pinot noir were bottled in 2002. This past year, production level hit 85,000 cases, and the lineup has grown to include chardonnay, pinot grigio, pinot blanc and claret, all in the $14-$18 range.
Bill Hatcher, who manages the Oregon operation, was also on hand to discuss the wines as they were being poured alongside Popovich. He brought along the first bottle of the coach’s private label, the 2004 Rock & Hammer Pinot Noir.
Popovich supervised the blending himself and ordered 50 cases, most of which will go to friends, family and charity events.
“It’s just flat-out fun,” he said of his first effort at winemaking. “It has nothing to do with winning or losing. It’s really kind of a kick.”
To Popovich, “The best thing about wine is sharing it.” Yet he admitted he hasn’t been able to share that love with too many of his players.
His assistant coaches are another matter.
“Every assistant coach is spoiled to the nth degree,” he said. “There’s like this choo-choo train behind me” at restaurants whenever he orders a fine wine to go with dinner.
Sean Elliott is developing a good palate, he said, and “I’ve even got Avery (Johnson) interested.”
U.S. team embraces Bowen’s strengths
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA071906.1C.BKNspurs.bowen.1a199c7.html
Web Posted: 07/18/2006 11:40 PM CDT
Mike Monroe
Express-News Staff Writer
Spurs forward Bruce Bowen, a 10-year veteran who has not been close to an NBA All-Star roster, headed to Las Vegas on Tuesday to begin a quest to represent the United States in the 2006 FIBA World Championships.
There can’t be clearer indication of the different approach USA Basketball, the sport’s national governing body, has taken to rebuilding its program than Bowen’s inclusion in the group competing for spots on Team USA.
Bowen is among 24 players chosen to form the core group from which both this summer’s World Championship team and the 2008 Olympic team will be chosen. With the World Championships beginning in Japan on Aug. 19, Team USA begins a weeklong training camp at Nevada-Las Vegas this morning.
Fifteen players will be selected after the first week to go to Asia. They will re-convene in Las Vegas on July 31 for more training and an exhibition game against Puerto Rico on Aug. 3. The squad then will train and play exhibitions in China and Korea before a 12-man squad is picked for the World Championships.
After finishing sixth in the 2002 World Championships and taking the bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics, the “Dream Team” concept has been scrapped for a team-oriented approach that allows a role player like Bowen, runner-up in voting for 2005-06 Defensive Player of the Year, to be included in the core group.
USA Basketball picked Phoenix Suns president Jerry Colangelo to oversee construction of both the 2006 World Championship and 2008 Olympic teams. Colangelo’s ideas including putting together the 24-player core and getting three-year commitments from all invitees. He also selected Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, rather than an NBA coach, to coach the team.
The group still includes enough stars to be called a Dream Team. Cleveland’s LeBron James, Miami’s Dwyane Wade and the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant are on Team USA, as are All-Stars Gilbert Arenas of Washington, Chauncey Billups of Detroit, Elton Brand of the Clippers, Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire of Phoenix and Paul Pierce of Boston. But there is greater emphasis on versatility, team play, defense and intangible factors.
“We said, from the get-go, we were not picking an All-Star team, that we were going to put together a group of players that represent what a real team is made of,” Colangelo said. "So the composition would have a lot of ingredients: certainly scorers, certainly versatility in athletes, size, shooters that are necessary in the international game, and role players.
“You need people who are prepared to step in at any moment and give you whatever you are looking for. Certainly, someone like Bruce Bowen and (Houston’s) Shane Battier are players who come to mind.”
Bowen is confident he will get a fair shot to make the team that heads to Asia. He has spent the past month getting in what he said is the best mid-summer shape of his life. He worked on his shot with Spurs assistant coach Bret Brown and participated last week in five-on-five scrimmages with members of the Spurs’ summer-league team before that squad headed for the Rocky Mountain Revue.
“I understand that my bread is buttered because I’m a good defender,” Bowen said. “I don’t go into the camp saying, ‘All right, Coach K, let me show you what I can do.’ They already have their thoughts for who is going to do this, this and that. But here’s Bruce, and if he knocks down his shots, that’s what we want him to do. That’s the thing I really worked on more than anything: When I get the shot, knock it down and keep on moving.”
Krzyzewski said his emphasis, from the first practice, would be on defense, which ought to enhance Bowen’s chances.
“This group has been challenged to restore American basketball to its rightful spot in the world,” Krzyzewski said. “You do that by playing all facets of the game to the highest level and also handling yourself in an exemplary manner off the court. We all know that’s what’s expected of us, and it’s my responsibility to make sure that happens.”
Several players picked for the core group are injured and unable to participate in this week’s camp — Bryant, Pierce and recently drafted J.J. Redick of Orlando. Others have family obligations, including Billups, Milwaukee’s Michael Redd and the Lakers’ Lamar Odom.