deepsouth
05-18-2005, 01:48 PM
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Adaptable Sonics cannot adjust to Argentinian Ace
By ART THIEL
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST
SAN ANTONIO -- After having their hats soiled, crushed and handed to them in their lost weekend in Seattle, the San Antonio Spurs were displeased with themselves.
Returning home to SBC Center last night, they figured to deploy much irk. And at least one new trick.
To counter the Sonics' altered lineup of a thousand little people, a hundred fouls and four lugs, the Spurs opened the game by harassing Ray Allen with a double team that chased him to midcourt, from where he threw a 40-foot, crosscourt pass that sailed over Luke Ridnour's head and out of bounds.
In the lexicon of basketball, the tactic is known as jumping the pick and roll, in which the two defenders descend upon the man with the ball, figuring they will get to him before he can find with a pass the unguarded screener.
It took an entire half for the Sonics to figure that one out. But figure it out they did, and were pleased to be tied at 50 at intermission.
For six quarters without co-captain and No. 2 scorer Rashard Lewis, they played the Spurs even in the Western Conference semifinal series, and were still in Game 5 amid the worst road environment in the NBA.
With forward Tim Duncan held in modest check, guard Tony Parker continuing to fade out of the series, and nothing coming from ex-Sonic Brent Barry, what else could the Spurs do?
Unleash El Contusione.
Manu Ginobili, Argentine king of the withering drive and the wily flop, went for 39 points, all of which seemed to come in about a minute and a half early in the third quarter. The Spurs' 103-90 triumph was their third decisive win in three games in South Texas.
"Seventeen free throws shows how aggressive he was," said Sonics guard Antonio Daniels. "He hit a couple of 3s early, and that forces you to respect that shot.
"Then he just started lowering his head."
His bull-rushes, complete with some of the best hang-time acrobatics since Spurs legend George Gervin, rendered nearly inert everything the Sonics had laid out to stay in the series, and reduced the requirement to continue the season to this simple, formidable task: Eight quarters of nearly perfect basketball, starting tomorrow night at KeyArena in Game 6.
It wasn't a surprise that the Sonics lost Game 5 here. How it happened pointed up the truth that the third part of the Spurs' offensive triumvirate was better than a Sonics offense missing two of its three top scorers.
"Maybe it was because of (Parker's weak game)," said Ginobili, who has to be considered one of the NBA's most entertaining, energetic figures. "We get what the game gives us. I started making a lot of shots, so the game came to me.
"It was nothing premeditated."
That's what makes his game so devastating -- it's spontaneous enough that it is nearly impossible to scout against. The only hope is that by thumping him into the floorboards over the course of a game, he will finally stay out of the neighborhood.
The Sonics certainly have the people, the fouls and the attitude for the task. But Ginobili, who returned to the starting lineup for the first time since the first round of the playoffs (replacing the ineffectual Barry), answered the mayhem with 15 free throws, 10 of 15 field goals (four of six behind the arc) and a single turnover in 36 minutes.
It appears he is impossible to discourage.
"You just don't give up layups this time of year," said Sonics coach Nate McMillan, explaining the propensity to send Ginobili to the line. "You don't want to go across the head, but you don't want to allow them to get the shot off. So you put them on the line."
Ginobili's Humvee approach helped create an ill-tempered, out-of-sorts evening that was easily the worst-officiated of the series, both ways. But perhaps the most telling stats were not Ginobili's, but one pointed out by McMillan -- the Sonics started three guards again, yet got only 12 assists.
Ball movement should be this group's specialty. And it worked in the second quarter, which included a lineup so small by pro basketball standards that television viewers needed electron microscopes: Allen, Ridnour, Flip Murray, Damien Wilkins and Danny Fortson, not one player taller than 6-7.
Small ball contributed to a final push early in the fourth when the Sonics closed to 80-75. But down the stretch the shot-making largely failed, with Allen missing on four consecutive quick-trigger possessions that allowed the Spurs to pull away.
"That's not enough ball movement," McMillan said, "We always say if we can't score early (in each possession), try to score late."
Without Lewis, the Sonics have fewer options. Without a fence and a net, at least last night, they had no option for Ginobili.
And in the absence of other options tomorrow night, they will be out of a season.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/224749_thiel18.html
Adaptable Sonics cannot adjust to Argentinian Ace
By ART THIEL
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST
SAN ANTONIO -- After having their hats soiled, crushed and handed to them in their lost weekend in Seattle, the San Antonio Spurs were displeased with themselves.
Returning home to SBC Center last night, they figured to deploy much irk. And at least one new trick.
To counter the Sonics' altered lineup of a thousand little people, a hundred fouls and four lugs, the Spurs opened the game by harassing Ray Allen with a double team that chased him to midcourt, from where he threw a 40-foot, crosscourt pass that sailed over Luke Ridnour's head and out of bounds.
In the lexicon of basketball, the tactic is known as jumping the pick and roll, in which the two defenders descend upon the man with the ball, figuring they will get to him before he can find with a pass the unguarded screener.
It took an entire half for the Sonics to figure that one out. But figure it out they did, and were pleased to be tied at 50 at intermission.
For six quarters without co-captain and No. 2 scorer Rashard Lewis, they played the Spurs even in the Western Conference semifinal series, and were still in Game 5 amid the worst road environment in the NBA.
With forward Tim Duncan held in modest check, guard Tony Parker continuing to fade out of the series, and nothing coming from ex-Sonic Brent Barry, what else could the Spurs do?
Unleash El Contusione.
Manu Ginobili, Argentine king of the withering drive and the wily flop, went for 39 points, all of which seemed to come in about a minute and a half early in the third quarter. The Spurs' 103-90 triumph was their third decisive win in three games in South Texas.
"Seventeen free throws shows how aggressive he was," said Sonics guard Antonio Daniels. "He hit a couple of 3s early, and that forces you to respect that shot.
"Then he just started lowering his head."
His bull-rushes, complete with some of the best hang-time acrobatics since Spurs legend George Gervin, rendered nearly inert everything the Sonics had laid out to stay in the series, and reduced the requirement to continue the season to this simple, formidable task: Eight quarters of nearly perfect basketball, starting tomorrow night at KeyArena in Game 6.
It wasn't a surprise that the Sonics lost Game 5 here. How it happened pointed up the truth that the third part of the Spurs' offensive triumvirate was better than a Sonics offense missing two of its three top scorers.
"Maybe it was because of (Parker's weak game)," said Ginobili, who has to be considered one of the NBA's most entertaining, energetic figures. "We get what the game gives us. I started making a lot of shots, so the game came to me.
"It was nothing premeditated."
That's what makes his game so devastating -- it's spontaneous enough that it is nearly impossible to scout against. The only hope is that by thumping him into the floorboards over the course of a game, he will finally stay out of the neighborhood.
The Sonics certainly have the people, the fouls and the attitude for the task. But Ginobili, who returned to the starting lineup for the first time since the first round of the playoffs (replacing the ineffectual Barry), answered the mayhem with 15 free throws, 10 of 15 field goals (four of six behind the arc) and a single turnover in 36 minutes.
It appears he is impossible to discourage.
"You just don't give up layups this time of year," said Sonics coach Nate McMillan, explaining the propensity to send Ginobili to the line. "You don't want to go across the head, but you don't want to allow them to get the shot off. So you put them on the line."
Ginobili's Humvee approach helped create an ill-tempered, out-of-sorts evening that was easily the worst-officiated of the series, both ways. But perhaps the most telling stats were not Ginobili's, but one pointed out by McMillan -- the Sonics started three guards again, yet got only 12 assists.
Ball movement should be this group's specialty. And it worked in the second quarter, which included a lineup so small by pro basketball standards that television viewers needed electron microscopes: Allen, Ridnour, Flip Murray, Damien Wilkins and Danny Fortson, not one player taller than 6-7.
Small ball contributed to a final push early in the fourth when the Sonics closed to 80-75. But down the stretch the shot-making largely failed, with Allen missing on four consecutive quick-trigger possessions that allowed the Spurs to pull away.
"That's not enough ball movement," McMillan said, "We always say if we can't score early (in each possession), try to score late."
Without Lewis, the Sonics have fewer options. Without a fence and a net, at least last night, they had no option for Ginobili.
And in the absence of other options tomorrow night, they will be out of a season.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/224749_thiel18.html