Kori Ellis
04-24-2005, 12:22 AM
Mike Monroe: Defense will make Finals destination for Spurs
Web Posted: 04/24/2005 12:00 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA042405.6C.COL.BKNmonroe.2093f43b0.html
San Antonio Express-News
The NBA rolled out its "Destination Finals" tour a few days ago.
Legendary players George Gervin, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dave Cowens, Walt Frazier, Clyde Drexler, Earl Monroe, Robert Parish, Julius Erving and Moses Malone will be hitting the playoff trail, carrying with them the Lawrence O'Brien Trophy that will go to the NBA champion.
Each of the legends was asked to predict which teams would make the 2005 NBA Finals. Most were pretty wishy-washy, especially when it came to picking the Western Conference champion. There were a lot of responses on the order of, "Well, I think it will be one of three teams."
After filtering through the equivocation, the Spurs were the popular choice in the West. Six legends have them in the Finals. Only three picked the Suns, who won 62 games and will have home-court advantage in every series. And nobody picked the Mavericks.
The reason is evident: Old-school players know defense wins in the playoffs, and they don't believe the Suns play enough.
Maybe they haven't paid close enough attention to the Mavericks since Avery Johnson took over and began emphasizing defense as his old Spurs coach, Gregg Popovich, does.
Beneath the surface of such conviction about the importance of defense in the post-season is the belief that as the playoffs progress, the referees calling the games "let the players play" more. Simply stated, that means they allow the games to get more physical, and that always benefits defensive players who like to push, grab, hold and harass.
In other words, it makes Bruce Bowen more effective, round by round.
League officials always assure us the refereeing is no different in the playoffs than in the regular season, and this year is no different.
There is one difference this season: What Phoenix did might not have been possible had not the league instructed its referees to make sure they cleaned up hand checking on the perimeter and viewed the block-charge call a tad more to the benefit of the offensive player.
It was not a rules change but a new emphasis on two existing rules, designed to open up the game and make for more scoring and more excitement.
But will it hold through the playoffs?
"The referees," assures NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik, "will call the game the same as they have during the regular season."
The players know better. They know that with each new round, only the best referees move on, just as only the best teams advance.
In the NBA, that means veteran referees like Joey Crawford and Danny Crawford and Steve Javie and Bob Delaney, all referees with reputations for letting players play.
"As the playoffs go along, it does get more physical," said Spurs All-Star power forward Tim Duncan. "Referees accept what's going on and let it go. You want the players to decide, and that's the way it should be."
Don't think for a moment that veteran players don't adapt to how the game is being called. The most savvy have mental "books" on referees, knowing what they are more apt to get away with if one set of eyes is watching, rather than another.
Should we expect a major change from a season that was characterized by increased scoring and play that was far more aesthetically pleasing than in recent seasons?
"I think the play that we've seen through the regular season will continue," NBA president of basketball operations Stu Jackson said. "The reason why we've had open play is, in part, because of the style teams are employing, and the way the game is being officiated.
"We have continued to focus in on calling defensive three seconds. We've also focused on the forearm foul and interpreting the block-charge play, having to get your torso in front of the offensive player before he goes into the act of shooting. They have all served to incentivize offensive players to take the ball to the rim, which has created better shots.
"I don't see that changing in the playoffs."
Most of us do. In all likelihood, that includes the nine NBA legends.
Can a team like the Suns survive such a change?
Suns coach Mike D'Antoni gets a tad tight in the jaws when anyone suggests his team plays no defense. You don't go 32-9 on the road unless you play decent defense, he reasons, and he is right.
But Phoenix has only one superior defender in its starting five, Shawn Marion. He is by Steve Nash's evident defensive liabilities. Ditto for Denver. Its only defensive gem, Marcus Camby, is offset by Carmelo Anthony, still learning that defense is spelled with more than four letters.
The Suns can get to the Western Conference finals.
They just can't get past the Spurs once they get there.
Web Posted: 04/24/2005 12:00 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA042405.6C.COL.BKNmonroe.2093f43b0.html
San Antonio Express-News
The NBA rolled out its "Destination Finals" tour a few days ago.
Legendary players George Gervin, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dave Cowens, Walt Frazier, Clyde Drexler, Earl Monroe, Robert Parish, Julius Erving and Moses Malone will be hitting the playoff trail, carrying with them the Lawrence O'Brien Trophy that will go to the NBA champion.
Each of the legends was asked to predict which teams would make the 2005 NBA Finals. Most were pretty wishy-washy, especially when it came to picking the Western Conference champion. There were a lot of responses on the order of, "Well, I think it will be one of three teams."
After filtering through the equivocation, the Spurs were the popular choice in the West. Six legends have them in the Finals. Only three picked the Suns, who won 62 games and will have home-court advantage in every series. And nobody picked the Mavericks.
The reason is evident: Old-school players know defense wins in the playoffs, and they don't believe the Suns play enough.
Maybe they haven't paid close enough attention to the Mavericks since Avery Johnson took over and began emphasizing defense as his old Spurs coach, Gregg Popovich, does.
Beneath the surface of such conviction about the importance of defense in the post-season is the belief that as the playoffs progress, the referees calling the games "let the players play" more. Simply stated, that means they allow the games to get more physical, and that always benefits defensive players who like to push, grab, hold and harass.
In other words, it makes Bruce Bowen more effective, round by round.
League officials always assure us the refereeing is no different in the playoffs than in the regular season, and this year is no different.
There is one difference this season: What Phoenix did might not have been possible had not the league instructed its referees to make sure they cleaned up hand checking on the perimeter and viewed the block-charge call a tad more to the benefit of the offensive player.
It was not a rules change but a new emphasis on two existing rules, designed to open up the game and make for more scoring and more excitement.
But will it hold through the playoffs?
"The referees," assures NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik, "will call the game the same as they have during the regular season."
The players know better. They know that with each new round, only the best referees move on, just as only the best teams advance.
In the NBA, that means veteran referees like Joey Crawford and Danny Crawford and Steve Javie and Bob Delaney, all referees with reputations for letting players play.
"As the playoffs go along, it does get more physical," said Spurs All-Star power forward Tim Duncan. "Referees accept what's going on and let it go. You want the players to decide, and that's the way it should be."
Don't think for a moment that veteran players don't adapt to how the game is being called. The most savvy have mental "books" on referees, knowing what they are more apt to get away with if one set of eyes is watching, rather than another.
Should we expect a major change from a season that was characterized by increased scoring and play that was far more aesthetically pleasing than in recent seasons?
"I think the play that we've seen through the regular season will continue," NBA president of basketball operations Stu Jackson said. "The reason why we've had open play is, in part, because of the style teams are employing, and the way the game is being officiated.
"We have continued to focus in on calling defensive three seconds. We've also focused on the forearm foul and interpreting the block-charge play, having to get your torso in front of the offensive player before he goes into the act of shooting. They have all served to incentivize offensive players to take the ball to the rim, which has created better shots.
"I don't see that changing in the playoffs."
Most of us do. In all likelihood, that includes the nine NBA legends.
Can a team like the Suns survive such a change?
Suns coach Mike D'Antoni gets a tad tight in the jaws when anyone suggests his team plays no defense. You don't go 32-9 on the road unless you play decent defense, he reasons, and he is right.
But Phoenix has only one superior defender in its starting five, Shawn Marion. He is by Steve Nash's evident defensive liabilities. Ditto for Denver. Its only defensive gem, Marcus Camby, is offset by Carmelo Anthony, still learning that defense is spelled with more than four letters.
The Suns can get to the Western Conference finals.
They just can't get past the Spurs once they get there.