TDfan2007
04-25-2010, 03:15 PM
This was my first ever playoff game and WOW what an experience. The atmostphere at AT&T was amazing. I've been to 4 regular season games before, but there's just no comparison.
Pregame I've never been able to see Tim in warmups in any of the previous games I went to (since he normally warms up so early), but for whatever reason he was out there about an hour and a half before tip off. When I saw him warming up I spazzed out, ran to the fan shop, bought a picture of him, then ran down to see if I could get an autograph. Tim made sure to sign for just about everyone who was there, but he was very quiet and focused. Btw that dude is straight up gigantic up close. Anyway long story short I got Tim's autograph!
Okay anyway here we go:
The game was EXTREMELY physical. Anytime someone went into the paint there would generally be contact and I think this is the biggest difference between true playoff basketball and regular season ball.
Dampier is incapable of playing Tim without fouling. It's kind of sad, but true. After watching the games and then reading his comments I had to laugh. The guy was straight up mugging Tim in the post. Haywood's defense on Tim was much better and I have NO idea why Carlisle doesn't start him instead.
Tim played a great offensive game, but he seemed a step slow in the second half and was way to fidgety while guarding Dirk. I got a little worried when Tim had Dirk on him, tried some slow dribble move, then just passed it out. That should never happen. Going forward I'd like to see more of him on the right block utilizing that lefty hook and I'd like ot see him hesitate less on the jumpers (he kills the flow of the offense when he does that) and use that bank shot to open up his face-up drives.
Dice and Tim need to learn to stay on their feet when guarding him.
Manu is a straight-up warrior. He was all over the place in the first half and although he didn't score much he played incredible defense and left it all out on the floor. That fourth quarter of his was also a thing of beauty. Tim was gassed and Manu basically took the reigns of the offense and made things happen despite the broken nose.
Tony is back. He's got his explosiveness back, his jumper is back, and he's as deadly as ever with the floater. I was also really impressed with his defense.
George Hill had a terrible night shooting the ball, but did just about everything else well and still ended up with over 15 points. His defense was amazing, which is a welcome sign given how badly he played on that end in games 1 and 2.
RJ was a ghost, but he hit a big basket to get us back after Dallas made its run.
As a team the defense was as good as it's been all year and our guys showed a lot of poise and confidence weathering that Dallas run and executing at the end of the game. They really looked like the Spurs of old and were a joy to watch.:flag:
Overall this was the best sporting experience of my life and I'd encourage everyone to go to a playoff game if you can. My ticket was only 11 bucks!
Pregame I've never been able to see Tim in warmups in any of the previous games I went to (since he normally warms up so early), but for whatever reason he was out there about an hour and a half before tip off. When I saw him warming up I spazzed out, ran to the fan shop, bought a picture of him, then ran down to see if I could get an autograph. Tim made sure to sign for just about everyone who was there, but he was very quiet and focused. Btw that dude is straight up gigantic up close. Anyway long story short I got Tim's autograph!
Okay anyway here we go:
The game was EXTREMELY physical. Anytime someone went into the paint there would generally be contact and I think this is the biggest difference between true playoff basketball and regular season ball.
Dampier is incapable of playing Tim without fouling. It's kind of sad, but true. After watching the games and then reading his comments I had to laugh. The guy was straight up mugging Tim in the post. Haywood's defense on Tim was much better and I have NO idea why Carlisle doesn't start him instead.
Tim played a great offensive game, but he seemed a step slow in the second half and was way to fidgety while guarding Dirk. I got a little worried when Tim had Dirk on him, tried some slow dribble move, then just passed it out. That should never happen. Going forward I'd like to see more of him on the right block utilizing that lefty hook and I'd like ot see him hesitate less on the jumpers (he kills the flow of the offense when he does that) and use that bank shot to open up his face-up drives.
Dice and Tim need to learn to stay on their feet when guarding him.
Manu is a straight-up warrior. He was all over the place in the first half and although he didn't score much he played incredible defense and left it all out on the floor. That fourth quarter of his was also a thing of beauty. Tim was gassed and Manu basically took the reigns of the offense and made things happen despite the broken nose.
Tony is back. He's got his explosiveness back, his jumper is back, and he's as deadly as ever with the floater. I was also really impressed with his defense.
George Hill had a terrible night shooting the ball, but did just about everything else well and still ended up with over 15 points. His defense was amazing, which is a welcome sign given how badly he played on that end in games 1 and 2.
RJ was a ghost, but he hit a big basket to get us back after Dallas made its run.
As a team the defense was as good as it's been all year and our guys showed a lot of poise and confidence weathering that Dallas run and executing at the end of the game. They really looked like the Spurs of old and were a joy to watch.:flag:
Overall this was the best sporting experience of my life and I'd encourage everyone to go to a playoff game if you can. My ticket was only 11 bucks!