Harvey: So Much For Young And Athletic

[duncan228]

So much for young and athletic (http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/buckharvey/2009/06/so-much-for-young-and-athletic.html)
By Buck Harvey

Jameer Nelson backed up as Derek Fisher dribbled toward him. Then Mickael Pietrus drove to nowhere with Orlando's best shooter, Rashard Lewis, open in the corner.

And in various living rooms around San Antonio, Spurs coaches remembered why they have erred on the side of experience these last few years.

How many stupid teams win championships?

Coaches can err, too. Maybe Gregg Popovich should have put a defender on Gary Payton's inbounds pass to Fisher in 2004. Maybe Stan Van Gundy should have instructed someone to foul before a Laker could launch a 3-pointer at the end of regulation Thursday.

But those are basic options that coaches argue in staff meetings, and there's another side even when their way of doing things doesn't work. By pulling a defender off of Payton in order to double Kobe Bryant in 2004, Popovich made sure someone else would take the last shot; Fisher did. And had Van Gundy ordered an intentional foul Thursday night, there was still a lot of time left. Besides, the intentional foul could have turned into a 3-point attempt and three free throws.

What usually decides these moments are the on-court decisions, such as when Nelson stepped back as if trying to prevent Fisher from driving. Stealing an autographed Michael Jordan jersey from Tony Parker and listing it on Craigslist the next day made as much sense. Fisher's only option was a 3-pointer.

When Pietrus followed by panicking with the clock running down, he played to his reputation. The Spurs have been impressed with him in this postseason; at times he has looked exactly like the kind of young and athletic wing the Spurs have needed. But he's never been known as a smart player, and this play confirmed that.

____________

"This is going to sound crazy," a Los Angeles Times columnist wrote about Fisher, "but even Robert Horry never hit consecutive shots this big."

That does sound crazy -- to anyone who saw Game 5 in the 2005 Finals.

_____________

Fisher said this night was "even greater than .4," and he's right. The Lakers didn't win the title in 2004.

They will now.

[Russ]

So much for young and athletic (http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/buckharvey/2009/06/so-much-for-young-and-athletic.html)
By Buck Harvey

When Pietrus followed by panicking with the clock running down, he played to his reputation. The Spurs have been impressed with him in this postseason; at times he has looked exactly like the kind of young and athletic wing the Spurs have needed. But he's never been known as a smart player, and this play confirmed that.

Many brilliant players are watching Pietrus on TV.

[SenorSpur]

...and I supposed Ginobili's foul on Dirk, for an "and-1" opportunity when the Spurs were up by 3, that directly led to an eventual overtime loss in Game 7 of the 2006 WCSF, is considered a brilliant play? Proof that, at times, even great players make dumb plays.

[tim_duncan_fan]

The reason this team has won anything is because of Tim Duncan.

Experience got our asses kicked this past year.

[objective]

more EN excuse making.

Wow, the 5th best player on the court for the Magic made a bad decision in the closing seconds.

Buffoonery.

The Spurs are sooooo much better off with their intelligent old players like Finley and Thomas and Udoka and Mason, those guys were just super in crunch time.

[ulosturedge]

Well its is obvious we still need to get younger, but the point he is trying to make is sound to me. That lack of basketball IQ cost them game 4. I just kept thinking if that was the Spurs there is no way in hell Bowen lets fisher get off an easy shot. Not to mention Dwight Howard's nonchalant free throw attempts. It was as if it didn't really matter if any of those went in or not. Didn't SVG talk in the locker room about Pop saying winning a championship series is the hardest thing to do. And that kind of proves the point. The Magic gave the Lakers just that little bit of hope and they took it and won the game. The Spurs would have known what was at stake the entire time down to the last seconds on the clock. Even Bruce would have took his time and really tried to come out with atleast one make at the line. I just didn't see that sense of urgency from the Magic as the game came to a close. I think basketball IQ and championship experience really count for something and it shows here when watching the Lakers and Magic go at it.

[EricB]

...and I supposed Ginobili's foul on Dirk, for an "and-1" opportunity when the Spurs were up by 3, that directly led to an eventual overtime loss in Game 7 of the 2006 WCSF, is considered a brilliant play? Proof that, at times, even great players make dumb plays.


Wow so your boyfriend Pietrus is now "great" !? :lol Wow...

[ploto]

Wow so your boyfriend Pietrus is now "great" !? :lol Wow...

Hooked on phonics?

[TimDunkem]

Wow so your boyfriend Pietrus is now "great" !? :lol Wow...

You're not very smart are you?

[SenorSpur]

Wow so your boyfriend Pietrus is now "great" !? :lol Wow...

And your continued immature posts are further proof as to what a "village idiot" you really are. :lol

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

So much for young and athletic (http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/buckharvey/2009/06/so-much-for-young-and-athletic.html)
By Buck Harvey

Jameer Nelson backed up as Derek Fisher dribbled toward him. Then Mickael Pietrus drove to nowhere with Orlando's best shooter, Rashard Lewis, open in the corner.

And in various living rooms around San Antonio, Spurs coaches remembered why they have erred on the side of experience these last few years.

How many stupid teams win championships?

Coaches can err, too. Maybe Gregg Popovich should have put a defender on Gary Payton's inbounds pass to Fisher in 2004. Maybe Stan Van Gundy should have instructed someone to foul before a Laker could launch a 3-pointer at the end of regulation Thursday.

But those are basic options that coaches argue in staff meetings, and there's another side even when their way of doing things doesn't work. By pulling a defender off of Payton in order to double Kobe Bryant in 2004, Popovich made sure someone else would take the last shot; Fisher did. And had Van Gundy ordered an intentional foul Thursday night, there was still a lot of time left. Besides, the intentional foul could have turned into a 3-point attempt and three free throws.

What usually decides these moments are the on-court decisions, such as when Nelson stepped back as if trying to prevent Fisher from driving. Stealing an autographed Michael Jordan jersey from Tony Parker and listing it on Craigslist the next day made as much sense. Fisher's only option was a 3-pointer.

When Pietrus followed by panicking with the clock running down, he played to his reputation. The Spurs have been impressed with him in this postseason; at times he has looked exactly like the kind of young and athletic wing the Spurs have needed. But he's never been known as a smart player, and this play confirmed that.

____________

"This is going to sound crazy," a Los Angeles Times columnist wrote about Fisher, "but even Robert Horry never hit consecutive shots this big."

That does sound crazy -- to anyone who saw Game 5 in the 2005 Finals.

_____________

Fisher said this night was "even greater than .4," and he's right. The Lakers didn't win the title in 2004.

They will now.

That lefty dunk out of nowhere that seperated his shoulder, and then to make that three, wow. And there's another parallel here:

Jameer Nelson's brain fade was almost identical to Sheed's, although Sheed actually ran away... :lol

[poop]

this is a stupid article because the Lakers are NUMBER ONE when it comes to young talent. Fisher is pretty much the ONLY old, slow guy on the damn team. they have kobe fucking bryant, Ariza, odom, hell Bynum, super quick guys like brown, farmar, even mbenga is young and athletic.

not only that but their guys are high-bbiq as well as being talented and almost all young.

id hate to see how our 'High-IQ' dinosaur team would have fared against the 'young athletic but Dumb' orlando magic....they would have swept us in consecutive rapes.

[vander]

many brilliant players are watching pietrus on tv.

qft

[z0sa]

if we don't get younger and more athletic, this run is over.

Stupid article.

[SenorSpur]

this is a stupid article because the Lakers are NUMBER ONE when it comes to young talent. Fisher is pretty much the ONLY old, slow guy on the damn team. they have kobe fucking bryant, Ariza, odom, hell Bynum, super quick guys like brown, farmar, even mbenga is young and athletic.

not only that but their guys are high-bbiq as well as being talented and almost all young.

id hate to see how our 'High-IQ' dinosaur team would have fared against the 'young athletic but Dumb' orlando magic....they would have swept us in consecutive rapes.

Amen....and amen again. :toast

While the notion of fielding a younger, more athletic team (that includes our Big Three core) may be lost on some, including Harvey, the fact of the matter is a younger, more athletic team is currently sitting on top of the NBA mountain. Unless there is some drastic shift in their personnel or until some emerging team knocks them off, the Fakers could very well be there for a while. It's certainly safe to assume that they will be in championship contention for a while. Arrow up.

[Yuixafun]

No Manu being injured and Tim playing on one leg got our asses kicked this past year, plus the role players couldn't hit a shot to save their lives. Good try, though.

throw in defensive effort replaced defensive execution as being acceptable.

[wildbill2u]

IMO there are certain things that a team does or does not do on the court that are pretty much within their own province. One of the most important is turnovers and a lot of turnovers are the result of brainless players or players without experience.

The Magic could easily have won this series if they hadn't turned the ball over so much with lazy and stupid passes. They looked like amateurs out there sometimes compared to the Lakers.

[Duncan2177]

The spurs are going to have to make some changes and we need to get young and athletic, if we stick with the same old ass team around the big three again were not going to win a championship plain and simple.

[lefty]

if we don't get younger and more athletic, this run is over.

Stupid article.
+2450000000

[pjjrfan]

The Magic are a young team. They don't really have any real playoff tested vets, this team is a lot like the Spurs with DRob as a rookie. And that team had Terry Cummings, and a bunch of young guys. Their talent got them by some really good teams but as a group they were not ready for the finals and all the intensity and pressure that go with it. But I see it as a learning curve for a team that can and probalbly will compete for quite a while. The Lakers had some savvy vets in Kobe and Fisher, two stars who got a monkey off their back and some young aggressive talented guys of which Ariza looks like the real deal. You throw in Jackson and it was going to be a huge mountain for the Magic to overcome. I would've traded some of that young talent from either team for Bonner and Finley for sure.

[itzsoweezee]

intelligence and youthful athleticism are not mutually exclusive. kind of destroys this guy's whole underlying premise.

i'll make it easy for buck harvey and the spurs FO:

productive + high basketball IQ = pick him up

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

What a lame story by Buck.

Buckets had a negative basketball IQ, but having him surrounded by more cerebral guys like Tony, Tim, and Manu did the trick.

Pietrus had Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis, Rafer Alston, and Stan Van Gundy around for support. Gimme a break.