Kori Ellis
05-15-2005, 12:09 AM
Buck Harvey: How good are the Spurs? Looking beyond the Sonics
Web Posted: 05/15/2005 12:00 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA051505.1C.COL.BKNharvey.27581fa42.html
SEATTLE — If the Spurs are as good as everyone thinks they are, they will win tonight.
They will respond as they did in Denver. Control a team that has already lost one of its 3-point shooters and will have limited access to another. Figure out an answer to Jerome James' renowned two-week career. And take chance out of the equation.
If the Spurs are as good as everyone thinks they are?
Then this night will suggest more of the same will follow — against either the Mavericks or Suns.
There are reasons to believe the Spurs are fine, and Thursday night was one. Then they missed 15 free throws, yet Tim Duncan still had a game-winning attempt in the final seconds.
That's why Duncan said Saturday he can't wait to get back on the floor. That loss, he said, "left a sour taste in our mouths."
The Spurs are allowed a slip, and they are expected to run into free-throw yips occasionally. The way they performed from the line against Denver, in fact, almost doomed them.
They were like the weekend golfer who begins with birdies yet knows the percentages are working against him. Aren't a few double and triple bogeys coming?
So Thursday didn't diminish the Spurs, nor did it suddenly erase what the Nuggets said. "The Spurs are the best team in basketball," Denver general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said after that series. "I don't think there's any doubt. How do we beat San Antonio? Right now, I honestly don't know."
A year ago, the Lakers knew. They came back after being down 2-0 in that second-round series, and the circumstances were similar. The Spurs had won six consecutive playoff games last year before Game 3, just as they had won six consecutive playoff games before Thursday.
The Lakers' reaction was also similar, and even the Spurs saw it coming. Asked how he would stop Tony Parker from penetrating then, Bruce Bowen said: "I'd knock him down a couple times and slow him down. Let him know if he gets by me again, he's going to have to pay the price."
The playoff themes are that obvious and repeatable, and here's the next one if the Sonics win tonight. Given another chance in San Antonio, can they come up with their own .4 shock?
But there are real differences between last year and this year, and one is the Spurs' opponent. Shaquille O'Neal changed Game 3 in 2004 with eight blocks. James, as often as he dunked when left open, is better than Shaq only when talking.
The Lakers weren't injured, either, and the Sonics are. Losing Vladimir Radmanovic is important by itself, and all signs suggest Rashard Lewis' injury will have an impact. For those who think an aggravated big toe isn't a big thing, try jumping without using this part of your foot.
Kobe Bryant jumped with all toes intact, as did the other three Lakers who will someday be in the Hall of Fame.
And after the Game 3 loss last year, Gregg Popovich said: "I thought they were much more the reason for our problems than anything we did or didn't do. Give them credit ... It amazes me. They're talented from their heads to the tips of their toes, and they played aggressively and smart and unselfishly, along with all that talent. People are going to say, 'Pop, what happened to you guys? Simple. They are a team that's very good and they played better than we did.'"
These Sonics aren't talented from their heads to the tips of their toes, and this goes beyond the Lewis injury. The Spurs are deeper, healthier and more experienced.
This is the moment, then, for "the best team in basketball" to show it. And this is the same kind of moment that the team with the best record in basketball faced Friday night in Dallas.
Then Mike D'Antoni, trying to overcome an injury to Joe Johnson, told the Suns, "What do they say? This is where legends are born? You don't get to be a legend in Cleveland during January. You do it here. So go be a legend."
Beating the Sonics won't make the Spurs legends, nor will a loss mean the Spurs' season is in jeopardy.
But if the Spurs don't respond? Coming off a loss? Against these Sonics?
Then there's reason to rethink.
Web Posted: 05/15/2005 12:00 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA051505.1C.COL.BKNharvey.27581fa42.html
SEATTLE — If the Spurs are as good as everyone thinks they are, they will win tonight.
They will respond as they did in Denver. Control a team that has already lost one of its 3-point shooters and will have limited access to another. Figure out an answer to Jerome James' renowned two-week career. And take chance out of the equation.
If the Spurs are as good as everyone thinks they are?
Then this night will suggest more of the same will follow — against either the Mavericks or Suns.
There are reasons to believe the Spurs are fine, and Thursday night was one. Then they missed 15 free throws, yet Tim Duncan still had a game-winning attempt in the final seconds.
That's why Duncan said Saturday he can't wait to get back on the floor. That loss, he said, "left a sour taste in our mouths."
The Spurs are allowed a slip, and they are expected to run into free-throw yips occasionally. The way they performed from the line against Denver, in fact, almost doomed them.
They were like the weekend golfer who begins with birdies yet knows the percentages are working against him. Aren't a few double and triple bogeys coming?
So Thursday didn't diminish the Spurs, nor did it suddenly erase what the Nuggets said. "The Spurs are the best team in basketball," Denver general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said after that series. "I don't think there's any doubt. How do we beat San Antonio? Right now, I honestly don't know."
A year ago, the Lakers knew. They came back after being down 2-0 in that second-round series, and the circumstances were similar. The Spurs had won six consecutive playoff games last year before Game 3, just as they had won six consecutive playoff games before Thursday.
The Lakers' reaction was also similar, and even the Spurs saw it coming. Asked how he would stop Tony Parker from penetrating then, Bruce Bowen said: "I'd knock him down a couple times and slow him down. Let him know if he gets by me again, he's going to have to pay the price."
The playoff themes are that obvious and repeatable, and here's the next one if the Sonics win tonight. Given another chance in San Antonio, can they come up with their own .4 shock?
But there are real differences between last year and this year, and one is the Spurs' opponent. Shaquille O'Neal changed Game 3 in 2004 with eight blocks. James, as often as he dunked when left open, is better than Shaq only when talking.
The Lakers weren't injured, either, and the Sonics are. Losing Vladimir Radmanovic is important by itself, and all signs suggest Rashard Lewis' injury will have an impact. For those who think an aggravated big toe isn't a big thing, try jumping without using this part of your foot.
Kobe Bryant jumped with all toes intact, as did the other three Lakers who will someday be in the Hall of Fame.
And after the Game 3 loss last year, Gregg Popovich said: "I thought they were much more the reason for our problems than anything we did or didn't do. Give them credit ... It amazes me. They're talented from their heads to the tips of their toes, and they played aggressively and smart and unselfishly, along with all that talent. People are going to say, 'Pop, what happened to you guys? Simple. They are a team that's very good and they played better than we did.'"
These Sonics aren't talented from their heads to the tips of their toes, and this goes beyond the Lewis injury. The Spurs are deeper, healthier and more experienced.
This is the moment, then, for "the best team in basketball" to show it. And this is the same kind of moment that the team with the best record in basketball faced Friday night in Dallas.
Then Mike D'Antoni, trying to overcome an injury to Joe Johnson, told the Suns, "What do they say? This is where legends are born? You don't get to be a legend in Cleveland during January. You do it here. So go be a legend."
Beating the Sonics won't make the Spurs legends, nor will a loss mean the Spurs' season is in jeopardy.
But if the Spurs don't respond? Coming off a loss? Against these Sonics?
Then there's reason to rethink.