Chris
06-10-2005, 03:04 AM
Three To Go
Posted by Rob Peterson (NBA.com) on June 9 2005, 2:45 ET
http://www.nba.com/media/finals2005/signs_300_050609.jpg
Tres for tres now, folks.
(Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE Images)
Just some final Finals thoughts on Game 1.
This game had two stars and two turning points. First, the turning points.
With his team down two, 55-53, Pistons center Ben Wallace found himself on the wing guarding the Spurs' lighting quick guard Manu Ginobili. Mismatch? Could have been, but Wallace played Ginobili well. He planted himself in Ginobili's path and fell hard when he and Ginobili met.
Charge? No. Block. Big Ben was incensed. He chimed in and promptly received a technical foul. The Spurs promptly went on a 19-4 run, seemingly to put the game away.
The Pistons, as they often do, clawed their way back into the game, getting as close as seven at 74-67 on a Rip Hamilton dunk. On the other end, Bruce Bowen missed a shot and Rasheed Wallace looks as if he has the rebound. But the ball trickled out of his hands and out of bounds. Spurs ball.
What happened next? Manu Ginobili crossed over Hamilton on the wing, cut down the lane as the Pistons made like the Red Sea for Moses and slammed the door shut on the Pistons' hopes to win Game 1.
Which brings us directly to star No. 1. We said it once and we'll say it again: An impressive performance by Manu Ginobili. Before Game 1, we noted that Manu could be the X-factor in the series. We were right, for a game at least. And of course, there was Tim Duncan, who went for -- ho-hum -- 24 points and 17 boards. Think of it as Tim just being Tim.
Then, there was Bruce Bowen's defense on Rip Hamilton. Bowen clung to Hamilton like Tom Cruise to Katie Holmes, and Rip looked about as comfortable as Holmes. Hamilton went 7 for 21 and Bowen had a hand in Hamilton's face at all times.
Also, it looked as if the ball bounced the Spurs way all night. And it wasn't just on the Sheed turning point. No, it seemed as if the Spurs gathered in every loose ball. We saw one play where the ball bounced off Ben Wallace, then Rasheed, then Tayshaun Prince and into Tim Duncan's hands. Pistons coach Larry Brown noticed Detroit's lethargy early.
"I didn't think we," Brown said, "other than the first seven, eight minutes, matched their energy. Their effort was phenomenal. I thought the whole game."
Then the question for Game 2 on Sunday (9 p.m. ET, ABC) is: Will the Pistons be ready for Game 2? And when we say ready, we wonder if will they be hungry, will they be angry, will they be Pistoned enough to make Game 2 theirs? Here's thinking the defending champs won't be played for chumps again.
As for the mood in San Antonio after the Game 1 win? Jovial. Horns honked, headlights flashed and people made impromptu streamers out of toilet paper. Quite a heady celebration for a Game 1 win.
Then again, when you're a Spurs fan, your fanaticism is a birth right. Shortly after the game around 11:30 p.m. CT, we saw a gentleman with a tiny baby in a baby carrier standing in the 200 level of the SBC Center. The child was awake.
How old?
"Three months."
Wow. How did he handle the noise?
"He just woke up," the gentleman said. "He had his noise reduction headphones on the whole time."
The dad tickled his baby's cheeks. The baby smiled.
"See," his dad said. "He liked the game."
Why wouldn't he? For Spurs fans, young and old, there were many reasons to smile.
Posted by Rob Peterson (NBA.com) on June 9 2005, 2:45 ET
http://www.nba.com/media/finals2005/signs_300_050609.jpg
Tres for tres now, folks.
(Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE Images)
Just some final Finals thoughts on Game 1.
This game had two stars and two turning points. First, the turning points.
With his team down two, 55-53, Pistons center Ben Wallace found himself on the wing guarding the Spurs' lighting quick guard Manu Ginobili. Mismatch? Could have been, but Wallace played Ginobili well. He planted himself in Ginobili's path and fell hard when he and Ginobili met.
Charge? No. Block. Big Ben was incensed. He chimed in and promptly received a technical foul. The Spurs promptly went on a 19-4 run, seemingly to put the game away.
The Pistons, as they often do, clawed their way back into the game, getting as close as seven at 74-67 on a Rip Hamilton dunk. On the other end, Bruce Bowen missed a shot and Rasheed Wallace looks as if he has the rebound. But the ball trickled out of his hands and out of bounds. Spurs ball.
What happened next? Manu Ginobili crossed over Hamilton on the wing, cut down the lane as the Pistons made like the Red Sea for Moses and slammed the door shut on the Pistons' hopes to win Game 1.
Which brings us directly to star No. 1. We said it once and we'll say it again: An impressive performance by Manu Ginobili. Before Game 1, we noted that Manu could be the X-factor in the series. We were right, for a game at least. And of course, there was Tim Duncan, who went for -- ho-hum -- 24 points and 17 boards. Think of it as Tim just being Tim.
Then, there was Bruce Bowen's defense on Rip Hamilton. Bowen clung to Hamilton like Tom Cruise to Katie Holmes, and Rip looked about as comfortable as Holmes. Hamilton went 7 for 21 and Bowen had a hand in Hamilton's face at all times.
Also, it looked as if the ball bounced the Spurs way all night. And it wasn't just on the Sheed turning point. No, it seemed as if the Spurs gathered in every loose ball. We saw one play where the ball bounced off Ben Wallace, then Rasheed, then Tayshaun Prince and into Tim Duncan's hands. Pistons coach Larry Brown noticed Detroit's lethargy early.
"I didn't think we," Brown said, "other than the first seven, eight minutes, matched their energy. Their effort was phenomenal. I thought the whole game."
Then the question for Game 2 on Sunday (9 p.m. ET, ABC) is: Will the Pistons be ready for Game 2? And when we say ready, we wonder if will they be hungry, will they be angry, will they be Pistoned enough to make Game 2 theirs? Here's thinking the defending champs won't be played for chumps again.
As for the mood in San Antonio after the Game 1 win? Jovial. Horns honked, headlights flashed and people made impromptu streamers out of toilet paper. Quite a heady celebration for a Game 1 win.
Then again, when you're a Spurs fan, your fanaticism is a birth right. Shortly after the game around 11:30 p.m. CT, we saw a gentleman with a tiny baby in a baby carrier standing in the 200 level of the SBC Center. The child was awake.
How old?
"Three months."
Wow. How did he handle the noise?
"He just woke up," the gentleman said. "He had his noise reduction headphones on the whole time."
The dad tickled his baby's cheeks. The baby smiled.
"See," his dad said. "He liked the game."
Why wouldn't he? For Spurs fans, young and old, there were many reasons to smile.