duncan228
04-29-2009, 12:41 AM
Spurs could not solve the Mavericks riddle (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_could_not_solve_the_Mavericks_riddle.html)
Mike Finger
Gregg Popovich had done the math, and it wasn't pretty. No matter how he crunched the numbers, no matter how he tried to figure out how the Spurs could beat the Dallas Mavericks without making more 3-pointers and sinking more free throws, he kept coming up with the same conclusion.
It's a vicious cycle, Popovich said.
Still, the Spurs tried just about everything to stop it. During their 4-1 series loss to the Mavericks, which ended with a 106-93 defeat Tuesday night, Popovich's team employed a number of strategies, including:
Shackling the stars: The Spurs' objective heading into the series was to make sure Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry did not beat them, and they accomplished that.
In the first four games of the playoffs, Nowitzki and Terry averaged only 28.3 points per game combined, down 17.2 points from their season averages.
But thanks to the stellar play of supporting players, the Mavs didn't miss their stars' production. And when the Spurs shifted philosophies in Game 5 giving Nowitzki and Terry more room while paying more defensive attention to their teammates Dallas' big duo foiled that strategy by putting up 50 points combined.
Going old: Veterans Bruce Bowen and Kurt Thomas both of whom played sporadically during the regular season became big parts of the Spurs' game plan in the playoffs.
But as well as Bowen and Thomas performed in their primary objective harassing Nowitzki their wealth of postseason experience did not matter in the end. The Spurs lost the only game started by Bowen, and Thomas wasn't quite enough to be a difference-maker either.
Going young: Rookie George Hill, who was proclaimed by Popovich to be not ready for the playoffs heading into the postseason, finally got his chance in the last two games of the series. And even though he showed glimpses of why the Spurs are excited about his future, his late entrance couldn't change the outcome.
Hill played 33 minutes in Game 5, finishing with nine points and four rebounds. But the Mavs outscored the Spurs by five points during the time Hill was on the floor, and he missed two open corner 3-pointers almost identical to the ones he made in Game 4.
Going small: In the second quarter of Game 5, Popovich surrounded Tim Duncan with four perimeter players for the final six minutes of the first half. That group which included Tony Parker, Hill, Ime Udoka and Michael Finley led the Spurs on a 15-5 run that narrowed the Dallas lead to four points at halftime.
But that alignment was difficult to sustain long-term, and also made the Spurs susceptible to giving up rebounds. Popovich sent the same group on the floor to start the second half, but after the Spurs picked up two quick fouls without scoring any points, he reinserted Thomas.
And the cycle continued.
Mike Finger
Gregg Popovich had done the math, and it wasn't pretty. No matter how he crunched the numbers, no matter how he tried to figure out how the Spurs could beat the Dallas Mavericks without making more 3-pointers and sinking more free throws, he kept coming up with the same conclusion.
It's a vicious cycle, Popovich said.
Still, the Spurs tried just about everything to stop it. During their 4-1 series loss to the Mavericks, which ended with a 106-93 defeat Tuesday night, Popovich's team employed a number of strategies, including:
Shackling the stars: The Spurs' objective heading into the series was to make sure Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry did not beat them, and they accomplished that.
In the first four games of the playoffs, Nowitzki and Terry averaged only 28.3 points per game combined, down 17.2 points from their season averages.
But thanks to the stellar play of supporting players, the Mavs didn't miss their stars' production. And when the Spurs shifted philosophies in Game 5 giving Nowitzki and Terry more room while paying more defensive attention to their teammates Dallas' big duo foiled that strategy by putting up 50 points combined.
Going old: Veterans Bruce Bowen and Kurt Thomas both of whom played sporadically during the regular season became big parts of the Spurs' game plan in the playoffs.
But as well as Bowen and Thomas performed in their primary objective harassing Nowitzki their wealth of postseason experience did not matter in the end. The Spurs lost the only game started by Bowen, and Thomas wasn't quite enough to be a difference-maker either.
Going young: Rookie George Hill, who was proclaimed by Popovich to be not ready for the playoffs heading into the postseason, finally got his chance in the last two games of the series. And even though he showed glimpses of why the Spurs are excited about his future, his late entrance couldn't change the outcome.
Hill played 33 minutes in Game 5, finishing with nine points and four rebounds. But the Mavs outscored the Spurs by five points during the time Hill was on the floor, and he missed two open corner 3-pointers almost identical to the ones he made in Game 4.
Going small: In the second quarter of Game 5, Popovich surrounded Tim Duncan with four perimeter players for the final six minutes of the first half. That group which included Tony Parker, Hill, Ime Udoka and Michael Finley led the Spurs on a 15-5 run that narrowed the Dallas lead to four points at halftime.
But that alignment was difficult to sustain long-term, and also made the Spurs susceptible to giving up rebounds. Popovich sent the same group on the floor to start the second half, but after the Spurs picked up two quick fouls without scoring any points, he reinserted Thomas.
And the cycle continued.