stéphane
05-11-2005, 08:00 AM
Hope its cool to post this here. Nice article imo.
http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/8462126/1
Through two games, the Spurs made beating down Seattle look awfully easy.
Looks can be deceiving, as nothing could be further from the truth. Fact is, San Antonio works hard to hammer the SuperSonics, a good team that finds itself completely overwhelmed.
The second round of this year's playoffs have been all about separation, which is why there have been so many blowouts. The pretty good and really good are running into the truly great.
What makes the difference? San Antonio never takes a play off.
Tuesday night's 108-91 rout of Seattle provided a blueprint for how championship basketball should be played. Like anything that looks like it comes off so naturally, it takes a remarkable amount of work. It's impossible for fans to catch all the nuances of what makes the Spurs special unless you catch them live, as there are simply not enough camera angles to do them justice on television.
If you consider yourself a basketball purist, plan to catch the Spurs at your nearest arena or make a trip southwest and watch them go to work. Feel free to bring a pillow, as you might need a rest just watching them.
Offensively, the Spurs are always cutting, always looking up, looking to run. Ball movement relies on quickness -- both physical and mental. One player is always trying to do something to free up another.
Defensively, everyone is in unison, guarding opponents with their feet, a basketball staple that has been perfected in San Antonio. The Spurs are always active, constantly gyrating in front of opponents and making themselves the most nagging nuisances imaginable -- in-laws, telemarketers and clueless drivers included. Bruce Bowen might get the most attention for his in-your-face, never-let-you-breathe relentlessness, but it's clear his teammates have become quick studies.
"We have a defensive camaraderie. If someone beats one of our teammates, we go help them," said center Nazr Mohammed, thrilled to be a championship contender after spending the early part of his career with the Hawks and Knicks. "Every possession counts. You have to make people work for what they do."
The amazing consistency frustrates opponents into losing their own identity. Seattle has gone from averaging 106 points against Sacramento to mustering 20 points less in San Antonio.
"This team is not Sacramento," Sonics center Jerome James bluntly pointed out. "This team is much more defensive-minded."
That's like saying Emeril Legasse or the Iron Chefs are much better cooks than you or me.
San Antonio's dish of choice is a defense that has held Seattle to 6-for-25 shooting from 3-point range by simply closing out and contesting shots. The Spurs have so frustrated the Sonics that the team has resorted to begging for foul calls as ways to put points on the board, rather than just rearing back and utilizing what got them here.
Reggie Evans is putting together some of the more outrageous flops this side of Gigli, and Ray Allen's open campaigning against Bowen paid dividends in five fouls being called on the Spurs' top bulldog in just 17 minutes.
"It is what it is. There's nothing I can do about that," said Bowen, who added that the referees probably don't read the papers. "Still, it builds character for our team to step up in my absence because you never know what can happen.
"Basketball is not a one-person game. You need your teammates. You need them to pay attention to details and know how to help and stay ready and be ready at all times."
Brent Barry and Manu Ginobili did a nice job in limiting Allen while Bowen rode the pine, holding the All-Star to 14 shot attempts and making him get most of his points from the free-throw line. He wasn't allowed to slip into a groove, which is a reason Seattle was kept at an arm's distance almost the entire way.
After opening up a 10-point lead with 4:04 left in the first quarter, the Spurs put a vice grip on that edge, allowing Seattle to get within single-digits for all of two minutes after that. They led by at least 10 over the final 15 minutes.
"That's tough to do. It's a coach's worst nightmare to get a big lead that early. In this league, that's almost always going to change," coach Gregg Popovich said of maintaining the advantage. "With the 24-second shot clock and a team just as talented as you, there's always going to be a run. I thought we kept our focus, and for us to keep that lead was gratifying."
A large part of why San Antonio maintained its focus can be attributed to timely timeouts. The veteran coach made sure to baby-sit his cushion, stopping play every time he felt momentum might be shifting. The team gets its next play during those intervals, and a reminder from the perfectionist and his staff to stay intent on defending and executing.
San Antonio's team has a motto, one of those marketing ploys every team unveils at the start of the season. In the Spurs' case, it's quite fitting: One team, one goal. Like the team itself, it's simple and yet effective. That's why Manu Ginobili, an All-Star himself, comes off the bench without reservation. Even Glenn Robinson, a malcontent in Philadelphia as recently as a few months ago, has caught the bug and understands the team's defensive concepts.
"We had him hypnotized about two weeks ago," Popovich said of his reserve forward, who had probably played about 48 minutes of defense in his 10 years in the league before joining the Spurs in March. "Glenn is trying to buy in to the defense and what we're trying to do here. He's responded really well in the short time that he's been here.
"We didn't bring Glenn in to be a defender. With Devin Brown out, we needed another scorer. We didn't know if he'd be able to come in and adjust having been out 10 months, but he's been great. We've been thrilled with how he's played."
"No one really cares who shines here. It's just the atmosphere that's bred," Mohammed said. "Play like a team. That comes from the coaches. You play defense or you don't play, and everyone wants to play."
C'mon. It really can't be that simple. If that's the case, wouldn't everyone be doing it?
Nazr didn't really have an answer for that. He just shook his head and smiled.
http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/8462126/1
Through two games, the Spurs made beating down Seattle look awfully easy.
Looks can be deceiving, as nothing could be further from the truth. Fact is, San Antonio works hard to hammer the SuperSonics, a good team that finds itself completely overwhelmed.
The second round of this year's playoffs have been all about separation, which is why there have been so many blowouts. The pretty good and really good are running into the truly great.
What makes the difference? San Antonio never takes a play off.
Tuesday night's 108-91 rout of Seattle provided a blueprint for how championship basketball should be played. Like anything that looks like it comes off so naturally, it takes a remarkable amount of work. It's impossible for fans to catch all the nuances of what makes the Spurs special unless you catch them live, as there are simply not enough camera angles to do them justice on television.
If you consider yourself a basketball purist, plan to catch the Spurs at your nearest arena or make a trip southwest and watch them go to work. Feel free to bring a pillow, as you might need a rest just watching them.
Offensively, the Spurs are always cutting, always looking up, looking to run. Ball movement relies on quickness -- both physical and mental. One player is always trying to do something to free up another.
Defensively, everyone is in unison, guarding opponents with their feet, a basketball staple that has been perfected in San Antonio. The Spurs are always active, constantly gyrating in front of opponents and making themselves the most nagging nuisances imaginable -- in-laws, telemarketers and clueless drivers included. Bruce Bowen might get the most attention for his in-your-face, never-let-you-breathe relentlessness, but it's clear his teammates have become quick studies.
"We have a defensive camaraderie. If someone beats one of our teammates, we go help them," said center Nazr Mohammed, thrilled to be a championship contender after spending the early part of his career with the Hawks and Knicks. "Every possession counts. You have to make people work for what they do."
The amazing consistency frustrates opponents into losing their own identity. Seattle has gone from averaging 106 points against Sacramento to mustering 20 points less in San Antonio.
"This team is not Sacramento," Sonics center Jerome James bluntly pointed out. "This team is much more defensive-minded."
That's like saying Emeril Legasse or the Iron Chefs are much better cooks than you or me.
San Antonio's dish of choice is a defense that has held Seattle to 6-for-25 shooting from 3-point range by simply closing out and contesting shots. The Spurs have so frustrated the Sonics that the team has resorted to begging for foul calls as ways to put points on the board, rather than just rearing back and utilizing what got them here.
Reggie Evans is putting together some of the more outrageous flops this side of Gigli, and Ray Allen's open campaigning against Bowen paid dividends in five fouls being called on the Spurs' top bulldog in just 17 minutes.
"It is what it is. There's nothing I can do about that," said Bowen, who added that the referees probably don't read the papers. "Still, it builds character for our team to step up in my absence because you never know what can happen.
"Basketball is not a one-person game. You need your teammates. You need them to pay attention to details and know how to help and stay ready and be ready at all times."
Brent Barry and Manu Ginobili did a nice job in limiting Allen while Bowen rode the pine, holding the All-Star to 14 shot attempts and making him get most of his points from the free-throw line. He wasn't allowed to slip into a groove, which is a reason Seattle was kept at an arm's distance almost the entire way.
After opening up a 10-point lead with 4:04 left in the first quarter, the Spurs put a vice grip on that edge, allowing Seattle to get within single-digits for all of two minutes after that. They led by at least 10 over the final 15 minutes.
"That's tough to do. It's a coach's worst nightmare to get a big lead that early. In this league, that's almost always going to change," coach Gregg Popovich said of maintaining the advantage. "With the 24-second shot clock and a team just as talented as you, there's always going to be a run. I thought we kept our focus, and for us to keep that lead was gratifying."
A large part of why San Antonio maintained its focus can be attributed to timely timeouts. The veteran coach made sure to baby-sit his cushion, stopping play every time he felt momentum might be shifting. The team gets its next play during those intervals, and a reminder from the perfectionist and his staff to stay intent on defending and executing.
San Antonio's team has a motto, one of those marketing ploys every team unveils at the start of the season. In the Spurs' case, it's quite fitting: One team, one goal. Like the team itself, it's simple and yet effective. That's why Manu Ginobili, an All-Star himself, comes off the bench without reservation. Even Glenn Robinson, a malcontent in Philadelphia as recently as a few months ago, has caught the bug and understands the team's defensive concepts.
"We had him hypnotized about two weeks ago," Popovich said of his reserve forward, who had probably played about 48 minutes of defense in his 10 years in the league before joining the Spurs in March. "Glenn is trying to buy in to the defense and what we're trying to do here. He's responded really well in the short time that he's been here.
"We didn't bring Glenn in to be a defender. With Devin Brown out, we needed another scorer. We didn't know if he'd be able to come in and adjust having been out 10 months, but he's been great. We've been thrilled with how he's played."
"No one really cares who shines here. It's just the atmosphere that's bred," Mohammed said. "Play like a team. That comes from the coaches. You play defense or you don't play, and everyone wants to play."
C'mon. It really can't be that simple. If that's the case, wouldn't everyone be doing it?
Nazr didn't really have an answer for that. He just shook his head and smiled.