THE TRUE TEST OF TRUST & TEAMWORK

With 1.7 seconds left on the clock and down by three, the Spurs season would be decided by their next shot attempt.  Greg Popovich drew up a play for a 3-pointer, and surprisingly, it wasn’t for one of the experienced “Big 3” that had hoisted four championship trophies in the past seven years, but instead for undrafted rookie Gary Neal.

Say what?

“It’s kind of a great feeling; Coach Pop draws the play up and you see you’re going to get the shot and nobody looks around and questions it or anything like that,” Neal said.  “It was great walking out of the huddle and your teammates are happy with you getting the shot and expecting you to make it.”

“I think it was a very good call by Pop,” Manu Ginobili said.  “It was the kind of play that's designed for him to take a shot like that because he’s the one with the quickest release.”

As a sidenote, Ginobili said after the game "It was mid-September and I was working out and he showed up one day.   They told me that this was the new shooter we had.  I’m not lying when I say that I saw him miss the first 20 shots he took.” 

Says a lot about the Spurs chemistry and trust in each other by giving him the final shot without any objections from the team.

(Thanks Andrew McNeil of ESPN)