Solid D
04-27-2005, 10:24 AM
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~90~2836060,00.html
Article Published: Tuesday, April 26, 2005
nuggets
Popovich pointing Spurs back to basics for Game 2
By Chris Dempsey
Denver Post Staff Writer
San Antonio - San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich took nearly three hours Monday to drill his players on what he thought they already knew from the regular season.
Patience. Smarts. Intensity.
Practice was held to a minimum; film study of a Game 1 gone awry took precedence. In the film room, it was Popovich doing most of the talking.
In a meeting with the media, much of the talk turned to the fourth quarter of Sunday's playoff opener against the Nuggets when the Spurs scored just 12 points and missed 17 of their 21 shots. Popovich, however, had other concerns.
"Missing shots doesn't have anything to do with turnovers and rebounding," Popovich said. "We're hoping we can do better in those two areas."
The Spurs outrebounded Denver 45-44 in their 93-87 loss, but Popovich's problem was with the Nuggets' reign on the offensive glass. Denver's 15 offensive rebounds led to 19 second- chance points. Six of the offensive boards came in the fourth quarter, resulting in six points. Carmelo Anthony's offensive rebound and putback layup with 4:34 left gave Denver an 83-81 lead and capped a 7-0 run.
San Antonio, which averaged 13.7 turnovers in the regular season, committed 17 in Game 1. Tony Parker had nearly as many turnovers (five) as assists (six) and field goals (six).
"More important than anything else is coming out and playing the way that you practice," said the Spurs' Bruce Bowen, who had one point in Game 1. "Once the game begins, we get away from the so-called game plan. We tended to do that a lot (Sunday) night, and it kind of bit us where it hurts."
Offensively, the Spurs want to be more aggressive driving the lane but more savvy when they get to the rim. An added emphasis has been placed on using the Denver frontcourt players' aggressiveness against them when the series resumes Wednesday at the SBC Center with Game 2.
Denver's shot-blockers have a reputation of being better weakside than on-ball defenders, which is to say they are good at coming off their man and across the lane to block shots. The Spurs want to identify help defenders and get their man the ball for an uncontested layup or dunk.
The same applies for jump shooters. Driving the lane, the Spurs want to identify open shooters and get them the ball with clear looks at the basket.
"They are going to give us trouble if we continue to drive into the lane and not find that open guy," Spurs forward Glenn Robinson said of the Nuggets. "We have guys that penetrate and do a great job of getting into the lane. When we get into the lane, we've got to find our big man or that guy on the perimeter."
Popovich insists the West's second-seeded Spurs are not down and that they have rebounded from losses.
"They want to win as badly as anybody else," Popovich said of his players. "I'd imagine that they would come back with maybe a little bit more fire, a little bit more juice."
Staff writer Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-820-5455 or [email protected].
Article Published: Tuesday, April 26, 2005
nuggets
Popovich pointing Spurs back to basics for Game 2
By Chris Dempsey
Denver Post Staff Writer
San Antonio - San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich took nearly three hours Monday to drill his players on what he thought they already knew from the regular season.
Patience. Smarts. Intensity.
Practice was held to a minimum; film study of a Game 1 gone awry took precedence. In the film room, it was Popovich doing most of the talking.
In a meeting with the media, much of the talk turned to the fourth quarter of Sunday's playoff opener against the Nuggets when the Spurs scored just 12 points and missed 17 of their 21 shots. Popovich, however, had other concerns.
"Missing shots doesn't have anything to do with turnovers and rebounding," Popovich said. "We're hoping we can do better in those two areas."
The Spurs outrebounded Denver 45-44 in their 93-87 loss, but Popovich's problem was with the Nuggets' reign on the offensive glass. Denver's 15 offensive rebounds led to 19 second- chance points. Six of the offensive boards came in the fourth quarter, resulting in six points. Carmelo Anthony's offensive rebound and putback layup with 4:34 left gave Denver an 83-81 lead and capped a 7-0 run.
San Antonio, which averaged 13.7 turnovers in the regular season, committed 17 in Game 1. Tony Parker had nearly as many turnovers (five) as assists (six) and field goals (six).
"More important than anything else is coming out and playing the way that you practice," said the Spurs' Bruce Bowen, who had one point in Game 1. "Once the game begins, we get away from the so-called game plan. We tended to do that a lot (Sunday) night, and it kind of bit us where it hurts."
Offensively, the Spurs want to be more aggressive driving the lane but more savvy when they get to the rim. An added emphasis has been placed on using the Denver frontcourt players' aggressiveness against them when the series resumes Wednesday at the SBC Center with Game 2.
Denver's shot-blockers have a reputation of being better weakside than on-ball defenders, which is to say they are good at coming off their man and across the lane to block shots. The Spurs want to identify help defenders and get their man the ball for an uncontested layup or dunk.
The same applies for jump shooters. Driving the lane, the Spurs want to identify open shooters and get them the ball with clear looks at the basket.
"They are going to give us trouble if we continue to drive into the lane and not find that open guy," Spurs forward Glenn Robinson said of the Nuggets. "We have guys that penetrate and do a great job of getting into the lane. When we get into the lane, we've got to find our big man or that guy on the perimeter."
Popovich insists the West's second-seeded Spurs are not down and that they have rebounded from losses.
"They want to win as badly as anybody else," Popovich said of his players. "I'd imagine that they would come back with maybe a little bit more fire, a little bit more juice."
Staff writer Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-820-5455 or [email protected].