duncan228
10-25-2008, 09:44 PM
Hornets equipped to survive West grind (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Hornets_equipped_to_survive_West_grind.html)
Mike Monroe
As the Spurs stewed on the tarmac at Louis Armstrong International Airport last May, prisoners of Champion Air's flight to nowhere, Byron Scott chewed on some of New Orleans' best French Quarter cuisine and plotted a course intended to get his team past the Spurs and the rest of the elite teams in the Western Conference.
Scott and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had shared a heartfelt few minutes in a back hallway at New Orleans Arena after the Spurs beat the Hornets in Game 7 of their Western Conference semifinals series. Popovich confessed to Scott how fortunate he felt to escape Game 7 with a victory. Then, he shared the truth with a handful of reporters: He wasn't at all sure how his team had managed to beat Scott's team on its own court.
Scott understood what happened that night in The Big Easy. When Spurs responded to a desperate situation with the sort of steely-eyed resolve that had helped them win four championships, he looked into the eyes of his players and saw doubt.
“There was a timeout in the second quarter, and I turned to my assistant coaches and said, ‘We're (in trouble). We are playing tight for the first time in 100 games, and I can see it in our eyes,'” Scott recalled.
“I could see the tension, guys knowing this was the last game of a seven-game series. And then I looked at San Antonio. Those guys looked like it was Game 1. No different. So I knew why we lost that game. It was lack of experience.”
There is no substitute for such playoff experience, which is the reason Popovich enjoys reminding the world the Spurs are older than dirt. Now the Hornets have the sort of big-game understanding that can carry them through a tight situation such as they faced against the Spurs in May.
“I'm sure a lot of people will think I'm crazy,” Scott said. “But to be honest, that (loss) might have been the best thing that could have happened to us. Because, if you get to the NBA Finals and have that dream season, what are you going to shoot for next year?”
The Lakers are the smart pick to win the Western Conference title again this season. Andrew Bynum, a 7-footer with All-Star potential, returns from an injury that cost him last season's playoffs.
Pau Gasol gets a whole season in purple and gold. Kobe Bryant is still Kobe Bryant.
Other experts believe the Rockets took the very step required to make them a championship contender by trading for Ron Artest.
The Spurs are still the Spurs, of course, and Sports Illustrated has picked them to beat the Celtics in the NBA Finals in June.
First, though, they must survive the first 20 to 25 games this season without Manu Ginobili, a player capable of willing victory in tight circumstances.
The Mavericks, with a new coach who is taking the clamps off a team built for speed, will be back among the Western elite.
In a conference race that is going to be even tighter and tougher than last season's amazing run, I believe the Hornets are the team best situated to survive the brutal Western grind.
Popovich looks older and wiser with a gray beard. This basketball guru knows how good the Hornets can be this season.
“They're a major contender to get out of the West, that's for sure,” he said. “They were last year, and perhaps just not quite ready, in the sense of flat-out experience, of having been there.”
That Game 7 loss put them there, and they have learned from it.
“With that under their belt, and the motivation that could provide, and what they've done in the offseason, and understanding their system a year longer, they can be a real monster in the West,” Popovich said.
What the Hornets did in the offseason was wrest James Posey from the Celtics. This might not seem like a championship game-changer, but Posey hit some of the biggest shots of the Heat's run to a title in 2006 and was a key figure in the Celtics' title run last season.
“He's always been able to do good things defensively,” Popovich said. “And he enjoys taking big shots. In essence, he's their Robert Horry.”
Posey is five championship rings behind Horry, and at age 31 he probably doesn't have time left to catch him. For this one season, though, he may have a shot at getting one ring closer.
Mike Monroe
As the Spurs stewed on the tarmac at Louis Armstrong International Airport last May, prisoners of Champion Air's flight to nowhere, Byron Scott chewed on some of New Orleans' best French Quarter cuisine and plotted a course intended to get his team past the Spurs and the rest of the elite teams in the Western Conference.
Scott and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had shared a heartfelt few minutes in a back hallway at New Orleans Arena after the Spurs beat the Hornets in Game 7 of their Western Conference semifinals series. Popovich confessed to Scott how fortunate he felt to escape Game 7 with a victory. Then, he shared the truth with a handful of reporters: He wasn't at all sure how his team had managed to beat Scott's team on its own court.
Scott understood what happened that night in The Big Easy. When Spurs responded to a desperate situation with the sort of steely-eyed resolve that had helped them win four championships, he looked into the eyes of his players and saw doubt.
“There was a timeout in the second quarter, and I turned to my assistant coaches and said, ‘We're (in trouble). We are playing tight for the first time in 100 games, and I can see it in our eyes,'” Scott recalled.
“I could see the tension, guys knowing this was the last game of a seven-game series. And then I looked at San Antonio. Those guys looked like it was Game 1. No different. So I knew why we lost that game. It was lack of experience.”
There is no substitute for such playoff experience, which is the reason Popovich enjoys reminding the world the Spurs are older than dirt. Now the Hornets have the sort of big-game understanding that can carry them through a tight situation such as they faced against the Spurs in May.
“I'm sure a lot of people will think I'm crazy,” Scott said. “But to be honest, that (loss) might have been the best thing that could have happened to us. Because, if you get to the NBA Finals and have that dream season, what are you going to shoot for next year?”
The Lakers are the smart pick to win the Western Conference title again this season. Andrew Bynum, a 7-footer with All-Star potential, returns from an injury that cost him last season's playoffs.
Pau Gasol gets a whole season in purple and gold. Kobe Bryant is still Kobe Bryant.
Other experts believe the Rockets took the very step required to make them a championship contender by trading for Ron Artest.
The Spurs are still the Spurs, of course, and Sports Illustrated has picked them to beat the Celtics in the NBA Finals in June.
First, though, they must survive the first 20 to 25 games this season without Manu Ginobili, a player capable of willing victory in tight circumstances.
The Mavericks, with a new coach who is taking the clamps off a team built for speed, will be back among the Western elite.
In a conference race that is going to be even tighter and tougher than last season's amazing run, I believe the Hornets are the team best situated to survive the brutal Western grind.
Popovich looks older and wiser with a gray beard. This basketball guru knows how good the Hornets can be this season.
“They're a major contender to get out of the West, that's for sure,” he said. “They were last year, and perhaps just not quite ready, in the sense of flat-out experience, of having been there.”
That Game 7 loss put them there, and they have learned from it.
“With that under their belt, and the motivation that could provide, and what they've done in the offseason, and understanding their system a year longer, they can be a real monster in the West,” Popovich said.
What the Hornets did in the offseason was wrest James Posey from the Celtics. This might not seem like a championship game-changer, but Posey hit some of the biggest shots of the Heat's run to a title in 2006 and was a key figure in the Celtics' title run last season.
“He's always been able to do good things defensively,” Popovich said. “And he enjoys taking big shots. In essence, he's their Robert Horry.”
Posey is five championship rings behind Horry, and at age 31 he probably doesn't have time left to catch him. For this one season, though, he may have a shot at getting one ring closer.