Kori Ellis
05-24-2005, 12:13 AM
Buck Harvey: Facing his worst? The reason not to dismiss Marion
Web Posted: 05/24/2005 12:00 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA052405.1S.COL.BKNharvey.2a413e1fa.html
PHOENIX — Shawn Marion talks fast, but his face says more.
Asked about Game 1, and how he scored three points in 38 minutes, and why didn't he do more, the face says there a lot of things he would like to talk about but can't.
Such as?
Why is he the one in basketball hell? How did he end up with Bruce Bowen defending him, then have to turn around to defend Tim Duncan?
The face says that.
Yet it still looks as if it can't wait for tonight.
Marion could easily change Game 2, because he spent this season changing everything. He became only the second NBA player to rank in the top five in rebounding and steals since the league began to track steals, and San Antonio knows about the other. David Robinson did the same in 1992.
But Marion did this while standing about a half-foot shorter than Robinson. And he did this after the Suns tried last summer to trade him.
It wasn't personal. The new owner, Robert Sarver, simply drew a fiscal line in the sand. Sarver said the Suns could re-sign Joe Johnson but only if they moved Marion's max contract.
The Suns failed to find a taker, and the Olympics told them how lucky they were.
Larry Brown went into Athens not wanting to play Marion, figuring he wasn't his kind of guy. Then Marion's attitude and effort, especially compared to others, changed all perceptions.
Marion, at the end, was one of Brown's favorites.
He's still not worth maximum money. Marion is a specialty player who wouldn't work everywhere, and this is not the definition of the $12 million annual salary.
Still, he gave the Suns his maximum this season. Steve Nash made the turnaround happen, and Amare Stoudemire was the power behind it.
But Marion was the one who filled the holes.
A good small forward before, he became great when moved to the power spot. And when Nash closed out the Mavericks with dramatic shots in Game 6 of that series, Marion didn't do badly in a supporting role. He merely finished with career playoff highs of 38 points and 16 rebounds.
Then came Gregg Popovich, who watched a few days worth of tape and made a change directed at Marion.
He moved Duncan on Quentin Richardson, figuring Duncan could rest his ankles standing with a 3-point shooter, and he moved Bowen on Marion.
Bowen didn't know the strategy until he saw the matchups on the locker-room board, and the Suns never saw it coming.
Point for Popovich, and just a couple for Marion.
Popovich knew Marion from the 2003 playoffs. Then, in the first game, Bowen defended a Phoenix shooter, Penny Hardaway, and held him to nine points.
Marion, meanwhile, went for 24, so Popovich switched Bowen to Marion for the next game. The results flipped, with Marion scoring six and Hardaway 17.
It was Marion's second-lowest output that season and afterward, he said, "I couldn't really get in the flow."
That no-flow stuff happened again Sunday. And Marion, to his credit, didn't do a Ray Allen.
"I'm not getting into that," Marion said of Bowen. "We're cool. We just go out and play ball."
Marion instead blamed himself for not being active and for standing too much in the corner.
"How hard is it to defend that?" he said.
Easier than what Marion faced on the other end of the floor. He tried to defend his Olympic teammate, Duncan, without a defensive scheme that called for constant double teams.
Asked how that went, this time Marion said more than his face did.
"Very hard," Marion said Monday.
"He's MVP, plus he's 7-foot tall. Do the math. I am only 6-7, 225 pounds. I am not supposed to be guarding him, but I can."
The Suns also realized Marion really wasn't supposed to be guarding Duncan.
Steven Hunter played 30 minutes Sunday because of that.
The Suns might switch again, but the Spurs won't. Bowen will continue to follow Marion.
But there's another side to this, and it's about a versatile athlete who will plug into the emotion of today. Marion is an energy player for a team that didn't have enough Sunday. Now the Suns have gotten over the Dallas hangover, and they are scared, and they are ready to run for the Phoenix crowd.
And coming off an awful game? After hearing the questions?
Everything says Marion will respond.
Just by looking at him.
Web Posted: 05/24/2005 12:00 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA052405.1S.COL.BKNharvey.2a413e1fa.html
PHOENIX — Shawn Marion talks fast, but his face says more.
Asked about Game 1, and how he scored three points in 38 minutes, and why didn't he do more, the face says there a lot of things he would like to talk about but can't.
Such as?
Why is he the one in basketball hell? How did he end up with Bruce Bowen defending him, then have to turn around to defend Tim Duncan?
The face says that.
Yet it still looks as if it can't wait for tonight.
Marion could easily change Game 2, because he spent this season changing everything. He became only the second NBA player to rank in the top five in rebounding and steals since the league began to track steals, and San Antonio knows about the other. David Robinson did the same in 1992.
But Marion did this while standing about a half-foot shorter than Robinson. And he did this after the Suns tried last summer to trade him.
It wasn't personal. The new owner, Robert Sarver, simply drew a fiscal line in the sand. Sarver said the Suns could re-sign Joe Johnson but only if they moved Marion's max contract.
The Suns failed to find a taker, and the Olympics told them how lucky they were.
Larry Brown went into Athens not wanting to play Marion, figuring he wasn't his kind of guy. Then Marion's attitude and effort, especially compared to others, changed all perceptions.
Marion, at the end, was one of Brown's favorites.
He's still not worth maximum money. Marion is a specialty player who wouldn't work everywhere, and this is not the definition of the $12 million annual salary.
Still, he gave the Suns his maximum this season. Steve Nash made the turnaround happen, and Amare Stoudemire was the power behind it.
But Marion was the one who filled the holes.
A good small forward before, he became great when moved to the power spot. And when Nash closed out the Mavericks with dramatic shots in Game 6 of that series, Marion didn't do badly in a supporting role. He merely finished with career playoff highs of 38 points and 16 rebounds.
Then came Gregg Popovich, who watched a few days worth of tape and made a change directed at Marion.
He moved Duncan on Quentin Richardson, figuring Duncan could rest his ankles standing with a 3-point shooter, and he moved Bowen on Marion.
Bowen didn't know the strategy until he saw the matchups on the locker-room board, and the Suns never saw it coming.
Point for Popovich, and just a couple for Marion.
Popovich knew Marion from the 2003 playoffs. Then, in the first game, Bowen defended a Phoenix shooter, Penny Hardaway, and held him to nine points.
Marion, meanwhile, went for 24, so Popovich switched Bowen to Marion for the next game. The results flipped, with Marion scoring six and Hardaway 17.
It was Marion's second-lowest output that season and afterward, he said, "I couldn't really get in the flow."
That no-flow stuff happened again Sunday. And Marion, to his credit, didn't do a Ray Allen.
"I'm not getting into that," Marion said of Bowen. "We're cool. We just go out and play ball."
Marion instead blamed himself for not being active and for standing too much in the corner.
"How hard is it to defend that?" he said.
Easier than what Marion faced on the other end of the floor. He tried to defend his Olympic teammate, Duncan, without a defensive scheme that called for constant double teams.
Asked how that went, this time Marion said more than his face did.
"Very hard," Marion said Monday.
"He's MVP, plus he's 7-foot tall. Do the math. I am only 6-7, 225 pounds. I am not supposed to be guarding him, but I can."
The Suns also realized Marion really wasn't supposed to be guarding Duncan.
Steven Hunter played 30 minutes Sunday because of that.
The Suns might switch again, but the Spurs won't. Bowen will continue to follow Marion.
But there's another side to this, and it's about a versatile athlete who will plug into the emotion of today. Marion is an energy player for a team that didn't have enough Sunday. Now the Suns have gotten over the Dallas hangover, and they are scared, and they are ready to run for the Phoenix crowd.
And coming off an awful game? After hearing the questions?
Everything says Marion will respond.
Just by looking at him.