GSH
04-14-2009, 03:24 AM
When a professional athlete is struggling - whether it is hitting a baseball, a golf ball, or a free throw - a good place to start looking for the problem is in their fundamentals. I've thought for a good portion of the season that the Spurs are leaking points in every game unnecessarily; and they could improve by several points per game (net) - by just tightening up their passing.
Several times in every single game, the Spurs have someone wide open for a shot, but a bad pass forces the player to reach for the ball and shoot a rushed, contested shot. Or, worse, it forces him to pass up the shot altogether - and then to try and create something with only a few seconds left on the shot clock. It's also too common to see them lob a weak little pass to another player right after they have crossed mid-court, when they are just starting to set their offense. I can't count the number of times I've complained that they seem to believe that those passes are "freebies". Usually when I complain it's because some hungry young player has jumped out in front of one and taken it down for a dunk on the other end.
I know a lot of fans don't want to hear any comments in defense of players like Bonner, or Ime, or Finley. But a lot of the time when those guys get the ball, it's as an afterthought. And I am convinced that some portion of their missed shots are caused by taking a pass that is way off the mark, and being forced to jack up a rushed, contested shot rather than having time to line up and get their feet under them. The way it looks from the stands is that, too often, the passer is throwing the ball in the direction of the other player, not at a spot.
One of the great golf instructors of all time, Harvey Penick, is famous for telling his students to "take dead aim". Instead of hitting towards a row of bushes, pick out a single bush or limb. In his words, "Once you address the golf ball, hitting it has got to be the most important thing in your life at that moment. Shut out all thoughts other than picking out a target and taking dead aim at it." The science of it is that if you put a conscious effort into focusing on where you want to hit the ball, your effort will contain more quality then if you just set up and hit.
The Spurs need to approach their passes like that. Instead of throwing the ball in the direction of a teammate, they need to focus on putting every pass "on the numbers". And Pop needs to kick their asses and remind them that there are no "gimmes" in the NBA, and that every pass is contested, or should be. It sounds like over-simplification, but even the best athletes tend to fall into the same traps. Harvery Penick's students were among the best golfers in the game, but they all benefitted (more than once) from having him remind them to "take dead aim". The Spurs just look like a group that has grown casual about passing the ball, and I think it's consistently costing them points. One less fast break in a game... a couple of extra uncontested 3-point shots... those things could change a 7 game series.
Several times in every single game, the Spurs have someone wide open for a shot, but a bad pass forces the player to reach for the ball and shoot a rushed, contested shot. Or, worse, it forces him to pass up the shot altogether - and then to try and create something with only a few seconds left on the shot clock. It's also too common to see them lob a weak little pass to another player right after they have crossed mid-court, when they are just starting to set their offense. I can't count the number of times I've complained that they seem to believe that those passes are "freebies". Usually when I complain it's because some hungry young player has jumped out in front of one and taken it down for a dunk on the other end.
I know a lot of fans don't want to hear any comments in defense of players like Bonner, or Ime, or Finley. But a lot of the time when those guys get the ball, it's as an afterthought. And I am convinced that some portion of their missed shots are caused by taking a pass that is way off the mark, and being forced to jack up a rushed, contested shot rather than having time to line up and get their feet under them. The way it looks from the stands is that, too often, the passer is throwing the ball in the direction of the other player, not at a spot.
One of the great golf instructors of all time, Harvey Penick, is famous for telling his students to "take dead aim". Instead of hitting towards a row of bushes, pick out a single bush or limb. In his words, "Once you address the golf ball, hitting it has got to be the most important thing in your life at that moment. Shut out all thoughts other than picking out a target and taking dead aim at it." The science of it is that if you put a conscious effort into focusing on where you want to hit the ball, your effort will contain more quality then if you just set up and hit.
The Spurs need to approach their passes like that. Instead of throwing the ball in the direction of a teammate, they need to focus on putting every pass "on the numbers". And Pop needs to kick their asses and remind them that there are no "gimmes" in the NBA, and that every pass is contested, or should be. It sounds like over-simplification, but even the best athletes tend to fall into the same traps. Harvery Penick's students were among the best golfers in the game, but they all benefitted (more than once) from having him remind them to "take dead aim". The Spurs just look like a group that has grown casual about passing the ball, and I think it's consistently costing them points. One less fast break in a game... a couple of extra uncontested 3-point shots... those things could change a 7 game series.