mcornelio
06-16-2005, 09:33 AM
SPURS CORNER: Protect the ball, save Popovich's hairstyle
June 16, 2005
BY HELENE ST. JAMES AND PERRY A. FARRELL
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITERS
The Spurs don't want a bald coach.
So, tonight, when they play the Pistons in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, they plan to ease Gregg Popovich's level of stress by doing things right, starting with taking care of the ball.
Among the patchwork of reasons the Spurs lost Game 3 was a propensity for the sort of bad passes that can drive a coach to tear out his hair.
"You have some turnovers that just happen," Bruce Bowen said Wednesday. "But then you have those that, coaches just pull their hair out. Why would you try that? What would make you think you could accomplish whatever you're trying to do?"
The Spurs surrendered 23 points off 18 turnovers -- eight turnovers coming during a second half that saw the Spurs get within four points of the Pistons only to wind up losing by 17. The worst offender was Manu Ginobili, who turned it over six times and turned in his worst performance of the Finals.
Ginobili collided with Tayshaun Prince in the opening minutes Tuesday, resulting in soreness just above his left knee. Ginobili said Wednesday that it's an old injury.
"I had it for the first time against Phoenix, I think," Ginobili said. "So if I get kneed again in the same spot, it just hurts me. But I'm going to be fine, doing treatments. It's not going to limit me for tomorrow."
On the whole, the Spurs are looking for a much better effort from everyone save Tony Parker, who continued to abuse the Pistons in the lane and led his team with 21 points. But Tim Duncan shot just 5-for-15, Nazr Mohammed was in foul trouble, and Robert Horry didn't make his usual clutch shots.
"I thought we succumbed to their pressure," Popovich said. "I thought they did a great job. It wasn't like they played a good quarter here and a good quarter there. For 48 minutes, they played like a team that didn't want to go down, 3-0, and it just wasn't going to happen. And we participated in that by not executing, for instance, press offense, by not making an extra pass, playing in the crowd, that sort of thing.
"So there's some things that we can do to help ourselves, whether they impress you or not. It's not like they didn't try to play hard in San Antonio, but we executed. Why didn't we execute here? I don't know. If I knew, we would have done it better."
NAIL-BITER? Will Game 4 be the nail-biter observers expected after the showdown between the best defenses in the NBA was set?
San Antonio won the first two games by a combined 36 points. Tuesday, Spurs were falling all over the Palace floor as the home team scored 96 points and cleaned the boards.
In a series expected to be low-scoring, the games have had no fourth-quarter drama other than one team running away from the other.
On Tuesday, the Pistons used a 21-6 run to spurn the Spurs.
"If we can play with the same type of energy we did this last game, hopefully these games will be decided in the end," coach Larry Brown said.
June 16, 2005
BY HELENE ST. JAMES AND PERRY A. FARRELL
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITERS
The Spurs don't want a bald coach.
So, tonight, when they play the Pistons in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, they plan to ease Gregg Popovich's level of stress by doing things right, starting with taking care of the ball.
Among the patchwork of reasons the Spurs lost Game 3 was a propensity for the sort of bad passes that can drive a coach to tear out his hair.
"You have some turnovers that just happen," Bruce Bowen said Wednesday. "But then you have those that, coaches just pull their hair out. Why would you try that? What would make you think you could accomplish whatever you're trying to do?"
The Spurs surrendered 23 points off 18 turnovers -- eight turnovers coming during a second half that saw the Spurs get within four points of the Pistons only to wind up losing by 17. The worst offender was Manu Ginobili, who turned it over six times and turned in his worst performance of the Finals.
Ginobili collided with Tayshaun Prince in the opening minutes Tuesday, resulting in soreness just above his left knee. Ginobili said Wednesday that it's an old injury.
"I had it for the first time against Phoenix, I think," Ginobili said. "So if I get kneed again in the same spot, it just hurts me. But I'm going to be fine, doing treatments. It's not going to limit me for tomorrow."
On the whole, the Spurs are looking for a much better effort from everyone save Tony Parker, who continued to abuse the Pistons in the lane and led his team with 21 points. But Tim Duncan shot just 5-for-15, Nazr Mohammed was in foul trouble, and Robert Horry didn't make his usual clutch shots.
"I thought we succumbed to their pressure," Popovich said. "I thought they did a great job. It wasn't like they played a good quarter here and a good quarter there. For 48 minutes, they played like a team that didn't want to go down, 3-0, and it just wasn't going to happen. And we participated in that by not executing, for instance, press offense, by not making an extra pass, playing in the crowd, that sort of thing.
"So there's some things that we can do to help ourselves, whether they impress you or not. It's not like they didn't try to play hard in San Antonio, but we executed. Why didn't we execute here? I don't know. If I knew, we would have done it better."
NAIL-BITER? Will Game 4 be the nail-biter observers expected after the showdown between the best defenses in the NBA was set?
San Antonio won the first two games by a combined 36 points. Tuesday, Spurs were falling all over the Palace floor as the home team scored 96 points and cleaned the boards.
In a series expected to be low-scoring, the games have had no fourth-quarter drama other than one team running away from the other.
On Tuesday, the Pistons used a 21-6 run to spurn the Spurs.
"If we can play with the same type of energy we did this last game, hopefully these games will be decided in the end," coach Larry Brown said.