ducks
06-19-2013, 12:45 PM
Spurs Stay With Decisions That Got Them to Finals
By BECKLEY MASON
For half of Game 6 of the N.B.A. finals Tuesday night, Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs dominated more thoroughly than he had in any of his 27 previous finals games. Miami Heat defenders were powerless to dislodge him from his place on the low block and, once there, Duncan bullied and beguiled his opponents with quick turns and authoritative jump hooks. Duncan punctuated his 25-point, 8-rebound first half with a one-handed sledgehammer dunk off a no-look pass from Boris Diaw.
But after that exclamation point of a slam, Duncan began to fade. When the game was on the line, he was not even on the court. The Heat secured two absolutely vital offensive rebounds in the final 23 seconds of regulation as Duncan watched from the bench. The Heat desperately needed 3-pointers, and Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich removed Duncan in favor of a faster lineup better equipped to cover the Heat’s shooters.
In both plays, the Spurs contested the initial attempt with solid defense, but were unable to grab the ball and, out of position after the rebounding scrum, could not recover in time to stop LeBron James, and later Ray Allen, from sinking game-saving 3-pointers in the Heat’s 103-100 overtime victory.
Duncan was, of course, disappointed in the outcome, but stopped short of blaming Popovich for taking him out. “It’s what we’ve done all year, in that situation we’re going to switch a lot of things and it’s just unfortunate the way it happened,” he said. “We get a stop and we get a bad bounce right out to Ray for a 3. Just situational. There’s no questions there. Just the plays we’ve been making all season long.”
Duncan’s words are a faithful reflection of the Spurs’ ironclad belief in process-driven decision-making.
Earlier in the playoffs, Popovich benched Duncan for the last four minutes of the Spurs’ series-clinching victory over the Golden State Warriors. The rational was the same as on Tuesday night: speedier players could smother the 3-point line and snuff out the opposition’s comeback hopes.
A month later, the Spurs followed the same logic to devastatingly different results.
In a game as competitive and, frankly, wild as Game 6, it is foolish to label one or two bounces as decisive: there are dozens of moments that can go either way and are just as worthy of scrutiny. The Spurs might point to a few uncalled Heat fouls at the end of the fourth quarter and overtime that, had they been whistled, would have rendered those offensive rebounds meaningless.
It is also fair to wonder whether Duncan’s presence would have made any difference at all. Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard seemed to have the rebound in his reliable hands with 26 seconds left and his team leading by 5 points moments before the ball squirted out and found James beyond the 3-point line.
On the second Heat offensive rebound, Diaw left Chris Bosh to contest what would have otherwise been an open 3-point look for James. Bosh dutifully sprinted to the basket and snatched the ball above the very same players who would have been on the court even if Duncan was in Diaw’s place.
The greater issue for Popovich and the Spurs is figuring out what to do when Duncan sits earlier in the game. His backup, Tiago Splitter, was the constant target of Heat drives and, while they had no answer for Duncan, the Heat outscored the Spurs by 13 points in the eight minutes Splitter played.
Down the stretch, Duncan’s legs seemed to wobble under the burden of carrying his team for the first three quarters. After snagging 14 rebounds and scoring 30 points in the first three quarters, he claimed just three rebounds and did not score the rest of the way.
It is probably unreasonable to expect a repeat performance from Duncan in Game 7. Still, the Spurs have proved they can beat Miami with a variety of approaches, or maybe it is more accurate to say each of their wins has been a different manifestation of the singular Spurs way.
They can win with Danny Green drilling 7 of 9 3-pointers, Tony Parker going one-on-one, or Duncan scoring like a human drill bit on the low block because the overarching theme is always selflessness and preparation. They have developed multiple ways to succeed, and all five players on the floor buy in to whatever is working in that particular game.
At this point, there are no guarantees to be made before Game 7, save perhaps this one: The Spurs will continue to play the percentages, to trust the processes and philosophies they have developed over the course of this and many other seasons. Whether the bounce of the ball is cruel or kind, the Spurs’ conviction in their basketball best practices will not waver.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/sports/basketball/spurs-stay-with-decisions-that-got-them-to-finals.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print
By BECKLEY MASON
For half of Game 6 of the N.B.A. finals Tuesday night, Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs dominated more thoroughly than he had in any of his 27 previous finals games. Miami Heat defenders were powerless to dislodge him from his place on the low block and, once there, Duncan bullied and beguiled his opponents with quick turns and authoritative jump hooks. Duncan punctuated his 25-point, 8-rebound first half with a one-handed sledgehammer dunk off a no-look pass from Boris Diaw.
But after that exclamation point of a slam, Duncan began to fade. When the game was on the line, he was not even on the court. The Heat secured two absolutely vital offensive rebounds in the final 23 seconds of regulation as Duncan watched from the bench. The Heat desperately needed 3-pointers, and Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich removed Duncan in favor of a faster lineup better equipped to cover the Heat’s shooters.
In both plays, the Spurs contested the initial attempt with solid defense, but were unable to grab the ball and, out of position after the rebounding scrum, could not recover in time to stop LeBron James, and later Ray Allen, from sinking game-saving 3-pointers in the Heat’s 103-100 overtime victory.
Duncan was, of course, disappointed in the outcome, but stopped short of blaming Popovich for taking him out. “It’s what we’ve done all year, in that situation we’re going to switch a lot of things and it’s just unfortunate the way it happened,” he said. “We get a stop and we get a bad bounce right out to Ray for a 3. Just situational. There’s no questions there. Just the plays we’ve been making all season long.”
Duncan’s words are a faithful reflection of the Spurs’ ironclad belief in process-driven decision-making.
Earlier in the playoffs, Popovich benched Duncan for the last four minutes of the Spurs’ series-clinching victory over the Golden State Warriors. The rational was the same as on Tuesday night: speedier players could smother the 3-point line and snuff out the opposition’s comeback hopes.
A month later, the Spurs followed the same logic to devastatingly different results.
In a game as competitive and, frankly, wild as Game 6, it is foolish to label one or two bounces as decisive: there are dozens of moments that can go either way and are just as worthy of scrutiny. The Spurs might point to a few uncalled Heat fouls at the end of the fourth quarter and overtime that, had they been whistled, would have rendered those offensive rebounds meaningless.
It is also fair to wonder whether Duncan’s presence would have made any difference at all. Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard seemed to have the rebound in his reliable hands with 26 seconds left and his team leading by 5 points moments before the ball squirted out and found James beyond the 3-point line.
On the second Heat offensive rebound, Diaw left Chris Bosh to contest what would have otherwise been an open 3-point look for James. Bosh dutifully sprinted to the basket and snatched the ball above the very same players who would have been on the court even if Duncan was in Diaw’s place.
The greater issue for Popovich and the Spurs is figuring out what to do when Duncan sits earlier in the game. His backup, Tiago Splitter, was the constant target of Heat drives and, while they had no answer for Duncan, the Heat outscored the Spurs by 13 points in the eight minutes Splitter played.
Down the stretch, Duncan’s legs seemed to wobble under the burden of carrying his team for the first three quarters. After snagging 14 rebounds and scoring 30 points in the first three quarters, he claimed just three rebounds and did not score the rest of the way.
It is probably unreasonable to expect a repeat performance from Duncan in Game 7. Still, the Spurs have proved they can beat Miami with a variety of approaches, or maybe it is more accurate to say each of their wins has been a different manifestation of the singular Spurs way.
They can win with Danny Green drilling 7 of 9 3-pointers, Tony Parker going one-on-one, or Duncan scoring like a human drill bit on the low block because the overarching theme is always selflessness and preparation. They have developed multiple ways to succeed, and all five players on the floor buy in to whatever is working in that particular game.
At this point, there are no guarantees to be made before Game 7, save perhaps this one: The Spurs will continue to play the percentages, to trust the processes and philosophies they have developed over the course of this and many other seasons. Whether the bounce of the ball is cruel or kind, the Spurs’ conviction in their basketball best practices will not waver.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/sports/basketball/spurs-stay-with-decisions-that-got-them-to-finals.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print