duncan228
04-25-2009, 11:52 PM
Big-shot blues — Spurs lose their edge (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Big-shot_blues__Spurs_lose_their_edge.html)
Buck Harvey
DALLAS — Matt Bonner grimaced when asked. He knew the miss in question.
The Spurs had called time with about a minute left, and Gregg Popovich had designed a play for him. Bonner came off the baseline, ran to the corner and launched.
In. Then out.
Every game has that moment, and every championship run has several. So as the Spurs competed as their best teams of this era have, yet couldn't win even as Tony Parker tapped into his inner Ice, they found yet another flaw.
There was a time, after all, when someone else would have been shooting from the corner.
Robert Horry.
First, let's be clear. The Spurs didn't make a mistake with Horry. The expiration date on his seven-ring career had passed, and the Spurs needed to get younger last summer.
This was the league consensus about Horry, too. No other team showed interest in him.
Still, this pained Popovich. He believes in veterans who know how to win. That's ultimately why the Spurs pursued Jason Kidd in 2003 and passed on the same Josh Howard who scored 28 points Saturday. That's ultimately why they would give up a first-round pick for Kurt Thomas, and why Popovich would bench George Hill late in the season.
You win with smart, old guys, right?
Sitting Bruce Bowen never fit with that. And somewhere between games in Dallas, Popovich reversed everything. Bowen started for the first time since November, and Hill played in the fourth quarter, and the Spurs were better for it.
“We win most of these games,” Tim Duncan said afterward, and they used to. On Saturday they had their playoff toughness, and all they needed was that moment.
One came late, when Popovich drew up a play for a tall shooter who has, in effect, replaced Horry. Bonner has stretched defenses, as Horry once did, and Bonner has been statistically better than Horry ever was.
Bonner finished the regular season shooting 44 percent from 3-point range. Horry was never higher than 38 percent in San Antonio, and last season he dipped to 25.
Still, it was never about how many Horry made. It was about when. His Game 5 in Detroit will forever be legend in San Antonio, but he changed first-round series, too. He did in 2007, in Denver, in both the third and fourth games.
That's often overlooked in this era. As dynastic as the Spurs have been, their success could have been derailed by one play in April.
No one mourned Horry's loss this season, especially as Roger Mason Jr. hit big shots in the regular season. Besides, if there's anyone the Spurs have missed, it's been Manu Ginobili.
Then came Saturday. As Parker and Duncan filled up the box score, they were missing more than Ginobili. They were missing the other 10 guys in uniform.
To be fair, there weren't many shots to go around. But Horry lived with the same; it always comes down to a handful of attempts for the Spurs' role players.
Bonner had only four shots, and he remembered all of them. “They all felt good,” he said. “They all looked good.”
None of them were. Bonner and Mason combined to shoot seven times for zero points. Michael Finley, also clutch at times this season, wasn't much better.
And here's the twist that will have Popovich rethinking his logic: Hill threw in two critical 3-pointers, including the final Spurs' score.
Shortly after came the timeout, and then the play, with Bonner open. Had his three fallen, the Mavericks' lead would have been cut to two.
“Wow,” a scout said then, leaning into press row. “That would have changed everything.”
For the Spurs, there was a time when these moments did.
Buck Harvey
DALLAS — Matt Bonner grimaced when asked. He knew the miss in question.
The Spurs had called time with about a minute left, and Gregg Popovich had designed a play for him. Bonner came off the baseline, ran to the corner and launched.
In. Then out.
Every game has that moment, and every championship run has several. So as the Spurs competed as their best teams of this era have, yet couldn't win even as Tony Parker tapped into his inner Ice, they found yet another flaw.
There was a time, after all, when someone else would have been shooting from the corner.
Robert Horry.
First, let's be clear. The Spurs didn't make a mistake with Horry. The expiration date on his seven-ring career had passed, and the Spurs needed to get younger last summer.
This was the league consensus about Horry, too. No other team showed interest in him.
Still, this pained Popovich. He believes in veterans who know how to win. That's ultimately why the Spurs pursued Jason Kidd in 2003 and passed on the same Josh Howard who scored 28 points Saturday. That's ultimately why they would give up a first-round pick for Kurt Thomas, and why Popovich would bench George Hill late in the season.
You win with smart, old guys, right?
Sitting Bruce Bowen never fit with that. And somewhere between games in Dallas, Popovich reversed everything. Bowen started for the first time since November, and Hill played in the fourth quarter, and the Spurs were better for it.
“We win most of these games,” Tim Duncan said afterward, and they used to. On Saturday they had their playoff toughness, and all they needed was that moment.
One came late, when Popovich drew up a play for a tall shooter who has, in effect, replaced Horry. Bonner has stretched defenses, as Horry once did, and Bonner has been statistically better than Horry ever was.
Bonner finished the regular season shooting 44 percent from 3-point range. Horry was never higher than 38 percent in San Antonio, and last season he dipped to 25.
Still, it was never about how many Horry made. It was about when. His Game 5 in Detroit will forever be legend in San Antonio, but he changed first-round series, too. He did in 2007, in Denver, in both the third and fourth games.
That's often overlooked in this era. As dynastic as the Spurs have been, their success could have been derailed by one play in April.
No one mourned Horry's loss this season, especially as Roger Mason Jr. hit big shots in the regular season. Besides, if there's anyone the Spurs have missed, it's been Manu Ginobili.
Then came Saturday. As Parker and Duncan filled up the box score, they were missing more than Ginobili. They were missing the other 10 guys in uniform.
To be fair, there weren't many shots to go around. But Horry lived with the same; it always comes down to a handful of attempts for the Spurs' role players.
Bonner had only four shots, and he remembered all of them. “They all felt good,” he said. “They all looked good.”
None of them were. Bonner and Mason combined to shoot seven times for zero points. Michael Finley, also clutch at times this season, wasn't much better.
And here's the twist that will have Popovich rethinking his logic: Hill threw in two critical 3-pointers, including the final Spurs' score.
Shortly after came the timeout, and then the play, with Bonner open. Had his three fallen, the Mavericks' lead would have been cut to two.
“Wow,” a scout said then, leaning into press row. “That would have changed everything.”
For the Spurs, there was a time when these moments did.