duncan228
02-12-2010, 12:49 PM
Spurs get a break -- because of the break (http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/buckharvey/2010/02/things-to-do-in-denver-when-yo.html)
By Buck Harvey
A year ago the Spurs had a better record than the Nuggets do now.
Then, in the final game before the All-Star break, a Raptor rookie named Roko Ukic scored a career high in Toronto to beat the Spurs.
"You see it every year," George Karl told reporters in Denver before the Nuggets played the Spurs. "You saw two teams last night get dominated. Houston lost by 30 in a game that I thought was going to be a close game. You had the Clippers get destroyed by Golden State last night. It is a day where sometimes the focus or intensity or the thought of playing for three hours really hard, sometimes it just doesn't show up."
So when trying to measure the significance of Thursday night, factor this into the equation.
Asked before the game if he thought his Nuggets would have a letdown, Karl wasn't worried. "I don't think it's going to happen," he said. "I think my team is going to be ready. It's a national TV game. We also know it's a tie-breaker game with San Antonio. There are a lot of things on the line that about 95 percent of the time my team has responded to really well."
So here's to the other five percent.
Karl had several things working against him. For one, the Spurs were desperate.
For another, the Nuggets had recently beaten the Spurs in San Antonio, and they had won both games there in a season for the first time ever. The Nuggets were also coming off a rout of the Mavericks, and the way they won made the game seem too easy. They shot over 61 percent from the 3-point line.
Then there's the All-Star break. Both Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups will play in Dallas, and Karl and his staff will represent the Western Conference. That means a lot to the franchise. Meanwhile, everyone else had a vacation to look forward to.
Given that, the Spurs ran into something they've rarely seen this season, and that's a flat team. The shorthanded Trail Blazers beat them as the shorthanded Lakers did, with energy and remarkable shooting.
The Spurs deserved their win. "They were hungry," Karl said afterward. "They were intense and angry and had an attitude."
But when Roger Mason Jr. said Thursday night "lets us know how good we can be," he's overstating the moment.
Roko Ukic was likely saying the same a year ago.
___________
The 2007 Spurs would object to this opinion. That February they had lost four of their previous six games when a winter storm delayed their arrival into Detroit until 3 a.m. The Pistons, meanwhile, had won 7 straight.
"Probably none of us expected to win," Manu Ginobili said then.
The Spurs beat the Pistons that night, also as the All-Star break was beginning. Some of the Spurs wondered if the Pistons were already looking forward to a relaxing weekend.
But when the Spurs looked back later in the season at that win, they didn't see it as hollow. "It really gave us something to start from," Ginobili said later.
They went 24-6 the rest of the way. And won their last championship.
By Buck Harvey
A year ago the Spurs had a better record than the Nuggets do now.
Then, in the final game before the All-Star break, a Raptor rookie named Roko Ukic scored a career high in Toronto to beat the Spurs.
"You see it every year," George Karl told reporters in Denver before the Nuggets played the Spurs. "You saw two teams last night get dominated. Houston lost by 30 in a game that I thought was going to be a close game. You had the Clippers get destroyed by Golden State last night. It is a day where sometimes the focus or intensity or the thought of playing for three hours really hard, sometimes it just doesn't show up."
So when trying to measure the significance of Thursday night, factor this into the equation.
Asked before the game if he thought his Nuggets would have a letdown, Karl wasn't worried. "I don't think it's going to happen," he said. "I think my team is going to be ready. It's a national TV game. We also know it's a tie-breaker game with San Antonio. There are a lot of things on the line that about 95 percent of the time my team has responded to really well."
So here's to the other five percent.
Karl had several things working against him. For one, the Spurs were desperate.
For another, the Nuggets had recently beaten the Spurs in San Antonio, and they had won both games there in a season for the first time ever. The Nuggets were also coming off a rout of the Mavericks, and the way they won made the game seem too easy. They shot over 61 percent from the 3-point line.
Then there's the All-Star break. Both Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups will play in Dallas, and Karl and his staff will represent the Western Conference. That means a lot to the franchise. Meanwhile, everyone else had a vacation to look forward to.
Given that, the Spurs ran into something they've rarely seen this season, and that's a flat team. The shorthanded Trail Blazers beat them as the shorthanded Lakers did, with energy and remarkable shooting.
The Spurs deserved their win. "They were hungry," Karl said afterward. "They were intense and angry and had an attitude."
But when Roger Mason Jr. said Thursday night "lets us know how good we can be," he's overstating the moment.
Roko Ukic was likely saying the same a year ago.
___________
The 2007 Spurs would object to this opinion. That February they had lost four of their previous six games when a winter storm delayed their arrival into Detroit until 3 a.m. The Pistons, meanwhile, had won 7 straight.
"Probably none of us expected to win," Manu Ginobili said then.
The Spurs beat the Pistons that night, also as the All-Star break was beginning. Some of the Spurs wondered if the Pistons were already looking forward to a relaxing weekend.
But when the Spurs looked back later in the season at that win, they didn't see it as hollow. "It really gave us something to start from," Ginobili said later.
They went 24-6 the rest of the way. And won their last championship.