Kori Ellis
05-25-2005, 01:48 AM
Buck Harvey: Suns can't get a stop? That's Amare
Web Posted: 05/25/2005 12:00 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA052505.1S.COL.BKNharvey.2a97e2044.html
San Antonio Express-News
PHOENIX — The rims at America West Arena are miked for sound, and for one specific reason.
Amare Stoudemire. When he dunks, it's as fun to hear the slam as it is to watch it.
No one heard much with less than two minutes left, with the Suns behind by three points. Then Stoudemire rolled a lay-up off the rim.
The Suns will excuse him for that one, since Stoudemire was his usual freakish self with 37 points. He's scored at least 35 every time he's played the Spurs this season.
But he's been just as consistent on the other end of the floor. There Manu Ginobili attacked again, when Tony Parker and Tim Duncan weren't, and Stoudemire watched as 6-foot-10 supermen shouldn't.
So what changes when the Spurs and Suns get together in San Antonio?
Not this.
Other things could, especially since the Suns have been a remarkable road team. Besides, it's not as if the Spurs' defense has an answer for the Suns. After giving up 114 points in the opener, those shut-down Spurs allowed the Suns to shoot 56 percent Tuesday night.
"We stunk on 'D,' is that fair?" Gregg Popovich said afterward, smiling. "Part of the reason is Steve Nash, the MVP of the league, and Amare is unstoppable. They are too darn good. Our defense isn't as good as those two guys are."
All true. When Nash plays like this (which he has been for basically the last five months) and Amare is Amare, then all the switching and hedging doesn't matter.
But while everyone knows Nash is a defensive liability, Stoudemire's reputation is less announced. He's so quick inside, exploding to occasionally block shots, that the highlights hide a weakness.
Stoudemire works hard, and he means well. But Stoudemire is still this generation's Shawn Kemp, albeit without the cheaper-by-the-dozen theme going on. He got some poor high-school coaching, as well as none in college.
The Spurs saw the package two years ago in the playoffs. On the same night Stoudemire received his Rookie of the Year award, he threw down several mike-thundering dunks, and the crowd howled. Few were concerned that night that Duncan outrebounded Stoudemire by 21.
Wasn't the kid only 20 years old?
Besides, he can score almost effortlessly, complete with a shooting touch that Kemp never had. He can dominate on that end of the floor, which is why he said something last week. Asked if he had taken any of Duncan's money playing cards during the Olympics, Stoudemire said, "No. But I should have taken some of his playing time."
He didn't in Athens, for the same reasons the Suns lost Tuesday. He struggled with defensive systems, as well as his own concentration. For a man with his size and ability, he should scare shooters in the lane.
Instead Ginobili went by him once Tuesday, dunking with two hands, just as Ginobili did in January in overtime. That's why an NBA exec doesn't call Stoudemire a terrible defender; he calls him an "absolutely terrible" one.
Stoudemire is also coupled with teammates who want to run and play offense. So when the Suns needed to clamp down — when they needed to make the one defensive play that champions make — should it be any surprise they didn't?
Parker has all but said the Suns don't play much defense, and he said as much after Tuesday. "We tried to stay together, run the pick-and-rolls," Parker said, "and get some easy shots."
Easy shots? How many of those come in the fourth quarter of a road playoff game?
Or, as Mike D'Antoni said afterward, "We did not make a stop when we had to."
Ginobili found the cracks, both for himself and for Duncan. And here's one no one can blame Stoudemire for: Robert Horry's 3-pointer.
Horry does that to everyone but the Lakers.
The trend doesn't stop there. The Suns are now 0-8 against the Spurs the past two years when Duncan has played.
That says something about Olympic minutes, and it says something about what will carry over when the series resumes on the weekend. Both SBC Center rims will be rattling.
Web Posted: 05/25/2005 12:00 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA052505.1S.COL.BKNharvey.2a97e2044.html
San Antonio Express-News
PHOENIX — The rims at America West Arena are miked for sound, and for one specific reason.
Amare Stoudemire. When he dunks, it's as fun to hear the slam as it is to watch it.
No one heard much with less than two minutes left, with the Suns behind by three points. Then Stoudemire rolled a lay-up off the rim.
The Suns will excuse him for that one, since Stoudemire was his usual freakish self with 37 points. He's scored at least 35 every time he's played the Spurs this season.
But he's been just as consistent on the other end of the floor. There Manu Ginobili attacked again, when Tony Parker and Tim Duncan weren't, and Stoudemire watched as 6-foot-10 supermen shouldn't.
So what changes when the Spurs and Suns get together in San Antonio?
Not this.
Other things could, especially since the Suns have been a remarkable road team. Besides, it's not as if the Spurs' defense has an answer for the Suns. After giving up 114 points in the opener, those shut-down Spurs allowed the Suns to shoot 56 percent Tuesday night.
"We stunk on 'D,' is that fair?" Gregg Popovich said afterward, smiling. "Part of the reason is Steve Nash, the MVP of the league, and Amare is unstoppable. They are too darn good. Our defense isn't as good as those two guys are."
All true. When Nash plays like this (which he has been for basically the last five months) and Amare is Amare, then all the switching and hedging doesn't matter.
But while everyone knows Nash is a defensive liability, Stoudemire's reputation is less announced. He's so quick inside, exploding to occasionally block shots, that the highlights hide a weakness.
Stoudemire works hard, and he means well. But Stoudemire is still this generation's Shawn Kemp, albeit without the cheaper-by-the-dozen theme going on. He got some poor high-school coaching, as well as none in college.
The Spurs saw the package two years ago in the playoffs. On the same night Stoudemire received his Rookie of the Year award, he threw down several mike-thundering dunks, and the crowd howled. Few were concerned that night that Duncan outrebounded Stoudemire by 21.
Wasn't the kid only 20 years old?
Besides, he can score almost effortlessly, complete with a shooting touch that Kemp never had. He can dominate on that end of the floor, which is why he said something last week. Asked if he had taken any of Duncan's money playing cards during the Olympics, Stoudemire said, "No. But I should have taken some of his playing time."
He didn't in Athens, for the same reasons the Suns lost Tuesday. He struggled with defensive systems, as well as his own concentration. For a man with his size and ability, he should scare shooters in the lane.
Instead Ginobili went by him once Tuesday, dunking with two hands, just as Ginobili did in January in overtime. That's why an NBA exec doesn't call Stoudemire a terrible defender; he calls him an "absolutely terrible" one.
Stoudemire is also coupled with teammates who want to run and play offense. So when the Suns needed to clamp down — when they needed to make the one defensive play that champions make — should it be any surprise they didn't?
Parker has all but said the Suns don't play much defense, and he said as much after Tuesday. "We tried to stay together, run the pick-and-rolls," Parker said, "and get some easy shots."
Easy shots? How many of those come in the fourth quarter of a road playoff game?
Or, as Mike D'Antoni said afterward, "We did not make a stop when we had to."
Ginobili found the cracks, both for himself and for Duncan. And here's one no one can blame Stoudemire for: Robert Horry's 3-pointer.
Horry does that to everyone but the Lakers.
The trend doesn't stop there. The Suns are now 0-8 against the Spurs the past two years when Duncan has played.
That says something about Olympic minutes, and it says something about what will carry over when the series resumes on the weekend. Both SBC Center rims will be rattling.