Kori Ellis
05-23-2005, 01:55 AM
Buck Harvey: America finally meets the Spurs, and a chameleon
Web Posted: 05/23/2005 12:00 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/bharvey/stories/MYSA052305.1S.COL.BKNharvey.29eb366b8.html
PHOENIX — The Spurs wake today as they rarely have.
With both of Tim Duncan's ankles submerged in ice. With Brent Barry feeling good about himself. And on the road, with a 1-0 playoff lead, feeling as relaxed as they've ever felt.
But they wake today with something even more remarkable. A new image. Those who haven't watched the Spurs much — and still think the Spurs are a plodding, defensive-minded team — tuned in to the Western Conference finals to see the opposite.
New Spurs?
Old myth.
The Spurs also wake today joking about nearly everything, as Barry was Sunday evening. Asked the Spurs' defensive strategy on the Suns, Barry said the goal was "to hold them to the temperature outside."
The Suns scored 114, but it was only 108 degrees in Phoenix on Sunday. "We didn't realize there would be a heat wave here," Barry said.
He said the strategy works better in winter. But he was kidding again, because no strategy really works against the Phoenix offense. Mike D'Antoni won coach of the year for installing a small, run-run scheme, and he was adamant about the approach before Game 1.
"You don't change styles," D'Antoni said. "It will be a great contest of wills, and whoever plays their style the best will win."
But that's when the Spurs reacted as not everyone in America knows they can. The Spurs didn't contest anyone's will. They said, simply, let's score.
The Suns accommodated. When Tony Parker weaved inside on a fast break early in the first quarter, passing various Suns as if they were highway cones, one thing was clear: The temperature sure changed from the snow in Denver and the rain in Seattle.
Four Spurs went for 20 or more points. They scored 43 points in the fourth quarter. And when the Suns clung too hard to Duncan — and didn't dig backward toward shooters — there was Barry with the biggest shots of the game.
Imagine this: The Suns, the league's best 3-point shooting team, had fewer threes than the Spurs.
The Spurs don't imagine any of it. They know. Parker and Manu Ginobili love to run, and Duncan, if his ankles are willing, will fill a lane, too.
The Suns saw this in January, when the Spurs scored 128 points in overtime behind Ginobili's 48. Coincidentally, a certain Spurs player threw in two late threes then.
Barry. Whatever he didn't like in Seattle, he likes here.
But it's more than getting past familiar surroundings. It's also about playing a team that doesn't worry as much about defense, and one whose frenetic pace allows for open shots.
"Against Seattle," Barry said, "I might have had two good looks."
Sunday he had more than a handful, and Parker found similar seams when he drove. Then, when Duncan started to wobble inside for an eventual 28 points and 15 rebounds, D'Antoni gave in to this "contest of wills."
He went with big lineups, using Steven Hunter for 30 minutes. Hunter was averaging a little more than 10 minutes in the playoffs.
Hunter didn't embarrass himself, but this also isn't the way the Suns won 62 games this season. In contrast, the Spurs can win either way.
"We're willing to be the chameleon," Gregg Popovich said afterward. "We usually change according to what other people do. We don't try to impose our will too much. We try to see what is out there and do what we think we need to do against what we're seeing. That's usually how we play it."
This time it meant 121 points. And when asked if he could remember the last time a conference finals game produced a combined 75 points in a fourth quarter, Popovich joked: "I know it's likely I wasn't there."
The Suns could be the ones in the 120s on Tuesday. The temperature is supposed to rise here, and Steve Nash's energy will, too. Game 2 will be emotional for Phoenix.
But if Sunday is a sign the Spurs will win the West, then coming next will be Detroit or Miami. Then the scores will drop into the 70s and 80s — especially if Detroit is the opponent — and everyone will wince and wish the game could be faster and smoother.
But blame the Spurs?
After Sunday, America should know better.
Web Posted: 05/23/2005 12:00 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/bharvey/stories/MYSA052305.1S.COL.BKNharvey.29eb366b8.html
PHOENIX — The Spurs wake today as they rarely have.
With both of Tim Duncan's ankles submerged in ice. With Brent Barry feeling good about himself. And on the road, with a 1-0 playoff lead, feeling as relaxed as they've ever felt.
But they wake today with something even more remarkable. A new image. Those who haven't watched the Spurs much — and still think the Spurs are a plodding, defensive-minded team — tuned in to the Western Conference finals to see the opposite.
New Spurs?
Old myth.
The Spurs also wake today joking about nearly everything, as Barry was Sunday evening. Asked the Spurs' defensive strategy on the Suns, Barry said the goal was "to hold them to the temperature outside."
The Suns scored 114, but it was only 108 degrees in Phoenix on Sunday. "We didn't realize there would be a heat wave here," Barry said.
He said the strategy works better in winter. But he was kidding again, because no strategy really works against the Phoenix offense. Mike D'Antoni won coach of the year for installing a small, run-run scheme, and he was adamant about the approach before Game 1.
"You don't change styles," D'Antoni said. "It will be a great contest of wills, and whoever plays their style the best will win."
But that's when the Spurs reacted as not everyone in America knows they can. The Spurs didn't contest anyone's will. They said, simply, let's score.
The Suns accommodated. When Tony Parker weaved inside on a fast break early in the first quarter, passing various Suns as if they were highway cones, one thing was clear: The temperature sure changed from the snow in Denver and the rain in Seattle.
Four Spurs went for 20 or more points. They scored 43 points in the fourth quarter. And when the Suns clung too hard to Duncan — and didn't dig backward toward shooters — there was Barry with the biggest shots of the game.
Imagine this: The Suns, the league's best 3-point shooting team, had fewer threes than the Spurs.
The Spurs don't imagine any of it. They know. Parker and Manu Ginobili love to run, and Duncan, if his ankles are willing, will fill a lane, too.
The Suns saw this in January, when the Spurs scored 128 points in overtime behind Ginobili's 48. Coincidentally, a certain Spurs player threw in two late threes then.
Barry. Whatever he didn't like in Seattle, he likes here.
But it's more than getting past familiar surroundings. It's also about playing a team that doesn't worry as much about defense, and one whose frenetic pace allows for open shots.
"Against Seattle," Barry said, "I might have had two good looks."
Sunday he had more than a handful, and Parker found similar seams when he drove. Then, when Duncan started to wobble inside for an eventual 28 points and 15 rebounds, D'Antoni gave in to this "contest of wills."
He went with big lineups, using Steven Hunter for 30 minutes. Hunter was averaging a little more than 10 minutes in the playoffs.
Hunter didn't embarrass himself, but this also isn't the way the Suns won 62 games this season. In contrast, the Spurs can win either way.
"We're willing to be the chameleon," Gregg Popovich said afterward. "We usually change according to what other people do. We don't try to impose our will too much. We try to see what is out there and do what we think we need to do against what we're seeing. That's usually how we play it."
This time it meant 121 points. And when asked if he could remember the last time a conference finals game produced a combined 75 points in a fourth quarter, Popovich joked: "I know it's likely I wasn't there."
The Suns could be the ones in the 120s on Tuesday. The temperature is supposed to rise here, and Steve Nash's energy will, too. Game 2 will be emotional for Phoenix.
But if Sunday is a sign the Spurs will win the West, then coming next will be Detroit or Miami. Then the scores will drop into the 70s and 80s — especially if Detroit is the opponent — and everyone will wince and wish the game could be faster and smoother.
But blame the Spurs?
After Sunday, America should know better.