Spurs Notebook: Elson returns to practice after issues with stomach
Web Posted: 10/12/2007 12:15 AM CDT
Mike Monroe
Express-News Staff Writer
Center Francisco Elson was back on the Spurs’ practice court Thursday, two days after missing the team’s trip to Dallas for the first preseason game against the Dallas Mavericks.
Elson came down with a sudden case of indigestion so bad that some members of the coaching staff didn’t want to hear the details.
“He threw up to the point his stomach muscles are still sore from throwing up that much,” assistant coach Mike Budenholzer said. “I don’t know how it happened. I walked in on the discussion at the end, which I think I’m very thankful for.”
Elson participated in the full practice, showing few lingering effects his gastric distress.
An interesting test: Brent Barry once presented each of his Spurs teammates with a T-shirt adorned with the winning word from the 2005 national spelling bee, “appoggiatura.” But Barry would not even venture a try at pronouncing the name of the Spurs’ next preseason opponent, Panathianaikos, of the Greek professional league.
“I haven’t even tried,” Barry said. “I can barely pronounce Bonner.”
A reporter unfamiliar with Barry’s dry humor asked him to describe the difference between playing another NBA team and a team from Greece.
“One, they’re Greek,” Barry said, when asked the biggest difference between Panathianaikos and an NBA team.
“That’s a fairly major difference.”
In fact, Barry said, playing the Greek team will give the Spurs a chance to adjust to a different style of play.
“They play a little more rugged and play a lot of zone,” Barry said, “so it’s good to adjust on the fly. Pop’s going to change things up and we’re going to have different lineups out there, so it’s more of a game to mentally adjust to things on the fly, to see what they’re doing. But mostly we will just worry about what we do.”