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The man in the middle

With little else going on in the NBA due to this lockout business, the folks at Hoopsworld are in the profiling the league’s various owners.

You know, the guys at least partially responsible for the ongoing labor impasse.

The website’s latest offering, on the owners of the Southwest Division, provides another reminder of Spurs chairman Peter Holt’s prominent place at the heart of the lockout.

As head of the league’s labor committee, Holt will have a big say in whatever deal is ultimately worked out with the players — and by extension how long this stalemate lasts.

Unlike one of his, ahem, , Holt prefers to keep a low public profile. We must use our imaginations to project his approach to the boardroom.

Having purchased the Spurs along with a group of 21 investors in 1993, and claiming a majority share in 1996, Holt is one of the league’s more tenured owners. He’s also one of the most widely respected.

“He runs the tractor business,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich once said of his owner, “and we run the basketball.”

Though it could be surmised Holt would support a new collective bargaining agreement favorable to small-market teams — since he owns one — the Spurs chairman is generally considered to be one of the more reasonable voices at the labor negotiating table.

There is hope, when talks resume, Holt might act as a buffer against a hardline faction of small-market owners, believed to include Phoenix’s Robert Sarver and Cleveland’s Dan Gilbert among others, bent on bleeding concessions out of the players’ union at any cost.

All of this will play out behind closed doors in the coming weeks and, most likely, months. The league office has prohibited its rank and file from making public comments on the lockout, by threat of seven-figure fine.

Though Holt is a respected voice with a powerful place within the NBA’s ownership ranks, he doesn’t have the power to end the lockout on his own. In a manner of speaking, however, the path toward ending the league’s latest labor stoppage runs through San Antonio.

Through the guy who runs the tractor business.

Newman to remain on Spurs bench

By Mike Monroe
mikemonroe@express-news.net

Spurs assistant coach Don Newman removed his name from consideration for a position as defensive coordinator for the Phoenix Suns and will remain on Gregg Popovich’s coaching staff.

Saying he was pleased that Newman would continue his tenure with the club, Spurs general manager R.C. Buford confirmed Newman’s decision.

Only Mike Budenholzer has been on Popovich’s coaching staff longer than Newman. One of the most popular figures in the basketball organization, he has focused on coaching defense since being hired on June 28, 2004.

A former head coach at both Sacramento State and Arizona State before taking a job as an assistant on George Karl’s coaching staff in Milwaukee, Newman also played seven seasons in the Canadian Football League.

One word for $1 million? (UPDATE: Or maybe not)

It is the basic rule of thumb for NBA players and coaches when it comes to drawing technical fouls. If you’re going to get teed up, make sure to get your money’s worth.

A tech, after all, results in a fine of at least $2,000.

Then there’s Chad Buchanan, interim general manager of the Portland Trail Blazers, who nearly got his team fined $1 million for saying one word.

“Yeah.”

This, (via ):

Witness a recent interview with Trail Blazers acting General Manager Chad Buchanan. When it was observed that it’s too bad there is no summer league scheduled, Buchanan replied, “Yeah.”

Shortly thereafter, the league threatened Buchanan with a $1 million fine, according to one source.

While the NBA lockout is in effect, the league office has dictated that team employees refrain from publicly talking about any aspect of it. That, apparently, includes agreeing with someone else’s observation. No word yet on how high the fine might have been if Buchanan had simply nodded his head at the Portland Tribune reporter. Or winked. Or offered a pre-arranged series of elaborate hand gestures (“Three claps means, ‘Yeah.’ “)

In the end, it appears the Trail Blazers weren’t actually assessed the $1 million fine. It was just David Stern’s friendly way of reminding team employees to keep their traps shut.

All this is to explain why you won’t be hearing so much as a peep from the Spurs front office for as long as the league’s labor impasse lingers. Not exactly the most gregarious types when it comes to discussing their roster plans with the media, general manager R.C. Buford and his band of mystery men are probably happy to have Stern prohibit them from conducting press briefings for the time being.

As far as we can tell, however, TV analyst Sean Elliott is free to continue to complain about officiating while on the golf course.

THURSDAY UPDATE: Apparently, Buchanan had more to say about the loss of Summer League than just, “Yeah.” , he is quoted three times. Buchanan’s comments are fairly innocuous, but they do amount to a bit more than one word. It appears this story, which made the Internet rounds Wednesday, might be an example of lockout boredom run amok.