milkyway21
05-14-2005, 03:26 AM
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/224173_sbar13.html
San Antonio hits deck hard
James, Collison, Fortson deliver message clearly
By TED MILLER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
In the Sonics locker room before Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals, center Jerome James predicted he'd see bodies on the floor of KeyArena. It sounded like he and his teammates wanted to send an aggressive message, though his audience mostly smirked at the colorful pregame bravado.
After a pair of blowout defeats to the San Antonio Spurs, most folks left the Sonics for dead.
It didn't take long for the Spurs to know differently. Just ask Manu Ginobili, who was battered, banged and blitzed in the Sonics' 92-91 victory last night.
When Ginobili tried to scoot under the basket in the first quarter, Nick Collison gave him the old double-arm to the face.
The foul, which could have easily been tapped as flagrant, likely was intended to send a message: Ginobili's signature throwing his body around would be met with an equal and opposite reaction.
The message wasn't immediately received, though. Ginobili went right back to the basket, driving for a 19-18 Spurs lead, their first advantage of the game with 3:56 left in the first.
Danny Fortson then delivered the message with a megaphone, decking Ginobili on the blocks, drawing a flagrant foul call, but cheers from the partisan crowd.
The pigtailed one offered a hand to the once again grounded Spur, but it was ignored.
It was clear the Sonics wanted to bang on a guy averaging 52 percent from the field and 21.7 points per game during the playoffs, which included 28 points in Game 2 against the Sonics.
"They were tougher, more physical," Ginobili said. "They knew if they lost this game, they were out. That made them play with more determination."
That determination was on display in the paint, where Ginobili, center Tim Duncan and point guard Tony Parker were knocked to the floor repeatedly. The Spurs still got their points -- that threesome combined for 59 -- but they paid with some bruises.
That's what the Sonics were looking for, after hearing about -- and feeling -- the Spurs' lauded defense during the previous two games.
"(Ginobili) plays physical, tried to be a little tough; Bruce Bowen tries to be a tough man," Sonics forward Reggie Evans said. "So let us be a little tough, too. Don't complain. If you're going to dish it out, keep on dishing it. We set an example today."
The banging closed the previously vast gap between the teams. After failing to lead after the first quarter in the first two games, the Sonics traded 17 lead changes with the Spurs in the second half, not to mention 10 ties.
The banging wouldn't have worked if not for terrible free throw shooting from the Spurs. Duncan, Parker and Ginobili were a combined 17 of 31 from the stripe.
"We are not the best free throw shooting team in the league and it was a night off," Ginobili said. "It was a big key of the game."
Duncan certainly doesn't shy away from contact. And he has an added bonus of getting to help interpret what look like neutral, sweaty scrums inside the paint.
After the Sonics cut the Spurs' lead to two with less than three minutes left in the second quarter, Duncan had a little chat with an official under the basket.
It lasted only a few seconds, but Duncan got two quick foul calls against Vitaly Potapenko on the other end -- one while jockeying for position and the second with the ball in his hands, which turned into a pair of made free throws.
Duncan didn't commit a foul until early in the third quarter. By the end of the period, the men charged with defending him -- Evans, James, Collison, Fortson and Potapenko -- had piled up 17.
That's a lot of contact, but that might be what the Sonics needed to do.
"It's a contact sport," noted Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
...i think it's about time for the refs to take a closer look if those fouls against Manu/Duncan were intentional.. if they keep doing that, our Spurs could be on IL before this series is over.:cry
San Antonio hits deck hard
James, Collison, Fortson deliver message clearly
By TED MILLER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
In the Sonics locker room before Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals, center Jerome James predicted he'd see bodies on the floor of KeyArena. It sounded like he and his teammates wanted to send an aggressive message, though his audience mostly smirked at the colorful pregame bravado.
After a pair of blowout defeats to the San Antonio Spurs, most folks left the Sonics for dead.
It didn't take long for the Spurs to know differently. Just ask Manu Ginobili, who was battered, banged and blitzed in the Sonics' 92-91 victory last night.
When Ginobili tried to scoot under the basket in the first quarter, Nick Collison gave him the old double-arm to the face.
The foul, which could have easily been tapped as flagrant, likely was intended to send a message: Ginobili's signature throwing his body around would be met with an equal and opposite reaction.
The message wasn't immediately received, though. Ginobili went right back to the basket, driving for a 19-18 Spurs lead, their first advantage of the game with 3:56 left in the first.
Danny Fortson then delivered the message with a megaphone, decking Ginobili on the blocks, drawing a flagrant foul call, but cheers from the partisan crowd.
The pigtailed one offered a hand to the once again grounded Spur, but it was ignored.
It was clear the Sonics wanted to bang on a guy averaging 52 percent from the field and 21.7 points per game during the playoffs, which included 28 points in Game 2 against the Sonics.
"They were tougher, more physical," Ginobili said. "They knew if they lost this game, they were out. That made them play with more determination."
That determination was on display in the paint, where Ginobili, center Tim Duncan and point guard Tony Parker were knocked to the floor repeatedly. The Spurs still got their points -- that threesome combined for 59 -- but they paid with some bruises.
That's what the Sonics were looking for, after hearing about -- and feeling -- the Spurs' lauded defense during the previous two games.
"(Ginobili) plays physical, tried to be a little tough; Bruce Bowen tries to be a tough man," Sonics forward Reggie Evans said. "So let us be a little tough, too. Don't complain. If you're going to dish it out, keep on dishing it. We set an example today."
The banging closed the previously vast gap between the teams. After failing to lead after the first quarter in the first two games, the Sonics traded 17 lead changes with the Spurs in the second half, not to mention 10 ties.
The banging wouldn't have worked if not for terrible free throw shooting from the Spurs. Duncan, Parker and Ginobili were a combined 17 of 31 from the stripe.
"We are not the best free throw shooting team in the league and it was a night off," Ginobili said. "It was a big key of the game."
Duncan certainly doesn't shy away from contact. And he has an added bonus of getting to help interpret what look like neutral, sweaty scrums inside the paint.
After the Sonics cut the Spurs' lead to two with less than three minutes left in the second quarter, Duncan had a little chat with an official under the basket.
It lasted only a few seconds, but Duncan got two quick foul calls against Vitaly Potapenko on the other end -- one while jockeying for position and the second with the ball in his hands, which turned into a pair of made free throws.
Duncan didn't commit a foul until early in the third quarter. By the end of the period, the men charged with defending him -- Evans, James, Collison, Fortson and Potapenko -- had piled up 17.
That's a lot of contact, but that might be what the Sonics needed to do.
"It's a contact sport," noted Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
...i think it's about time for the refs to take a closer look if those fouls against Manu/Duncan were intentional.. if they keep doing that, our Spurs could be on IL before this series is over.:cry