howard2
11-30-2005, 07:56 PM
Hoopsworld.com
By Emmett Shaw
Nov 30, 2005
Link: Hoopsworld (http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_15165.shtml)
SPURS: November to Remember
On what really was a night in which the coaches shone more brightly than most of the players, Phil Jackson made the matter-of-fact concession after the game. The Spurs had emerged last night from a closing quarter they lost 25-20 with a 90-84 win. How did the 5-8 LA Lakers give themselves a chance in San Antonio? “We got them mired into our level of basketball, made a game out of it.”
It’s not a secret that these teams are separated by levels very possibly as different as the NBA Finals is from the NBA Draft Lottery. When it’s San Antonio that has sold out all its home games and the Lakers have had a few hundred empty seats in their last two, the public also realizes it. How did LA keep contact last night? Tim Duncan said, “We played good for two quarters out of those four quarters.”
Part by default and part by hard work, the Spurs might be the premier offensive team in the league right now. With volume dunkers Amare Stoudemire and Shaquille O’Neal sidelined, the field is open for a different team to lead the NBA in FG percentage. San Antonio has stepped into that role with a .478 number. Execution has improved since earlier in November.
Through San Antonio’s first 6 games the Spurs were averaging a poor 21 turnovers per game, but in their subsequent 8 outings the team is a better-than-the-mean 14.4 turnovers per. And the latter number is that large only because of a few sloppy quarters here and there that inflate it.
The Spurs three big stars are the players who try to make a lot of things happen. They’re normally San Antonio’s miscuing culprits because they get blind spots when passing. And in Tony Parker’s case, sometimes he passes to spots on the perimeter he expects to be filled, but his teammates haven’t been where they probably should be at times, boosting Tony’s turnover-per-minute total to 10th worst in the NBA. But Parker has effectively countered that by playing, in effect, like a highly explosive 2-guard. Startlingly, he was #2 in the entire league in FGs made per minute going into the game last night!
A solid contributor to keeping San Antonio’s turnover average in check is Nick Van Exel, who has only lost the ball 13 times this season. Nick’s turnover-per-minute rate is 41% less than Parker’s this season and 15% lower than Beno Udrih’s was last season. Van Exel didn’t have one of his better games against his former team the Lakers last night, but still his plus-minus number in the 4th quarter was one better than Tony’s was.
Nick has really steadied the Spurs, considering he’s on a new team. Unfortunately for Udrih, Beno’s been bumped to the end of the bench. Fortunately for the Spurs, Beno is still at the ready should Van Exel’s arthritic knees need a rest at some point, or if Tony gets hurt. In the right city, like Atlanta, Beno would probably be starting at the point.
Beating the Lakers had a routine feel to it in San Antonio, and that’s too bad. Because Kobe Bryant had been torching the net at 40 per game for his previous 5 games, but was held to “just” 25 on 33 (8 or 10 too many shots!) attempts by Bruce Bowen and Manu Ginobili. Again, Phil Jackson was ready to concede that Kobe coming back to earth against the Spurs was to be expected, because of Bowen’s typical defensive form.
Said Bowen afterwards, “Kobe’s a great player. To have a night like this, I’m happy with that. But you can’t rest on that alone.” Bruce can never rest. He might have to check Dirk Nowitzki next game, in which case Bowen MUST get some help when Dirk puts the ball on the deck or turns his back to the basket.
All-time, the Lakers now lead the Spurs in the regular season by only 62-60. But the playoffs are a different story: LA leads SA 7-3 in series. Since the Robinson-Duncan era began, it’s 3-3. But Phil Jackson is 3-1 in series versus San Antonio, and he said before the game that he feels pretty good about that. If the Lakers make the postseason in 2005-06 the teams could meet in Round One.
Lamar Odom will key whether the Lakers make it out of the lottery. He was great offensively against the Spurs last night with 27 points and 16 boards. He opened the game playing point forward, then settled in at PF for most of the night. “He was a very effective player for us tonight. He found matches that worked for him and we were able to spot him in places that he was very effective out there,” said the coach.
What Phil means is that Odom is forced to the baseline side in the Spurs’ defensive system, and when Lamar is on the left side of the court, sometimes he simply finishes using the glass with his strong left hand when San Antonio’s help isn’t alert enough. “The kid's a talented player,” Duncan said, explaining that executing against Lamar is easier said than done. “Although your goal is to stop him from going that direction, you can’t always do that. We’ve got to do a better job of getting on that hand and playing that hand a little harder.”
As it turned out, Robert Horry was right. A day before the game he said of his former team, “They’re going to find a way to stay in the ballgame.” That way was to use a good full-court press several times and for Smush Parker to contain Tony Parker to 10 points. When San Antonio missed 11 free throws, Tim didn’t often use his advantage in the post against Brian Cook and Odom, and then Lamar had his best game this season, the Lakers had themselves an outside shot at a big upset on the road.
Good thing for the Spurs that Manu Ginobili (22 points) was really up for the game, almost matching Kobe’s output while playing 12 fewer minutes and taking less than half as many FG attempts (14 contrasted with 33). Manu even came from nowhere to reject a Bryant fast-break shot off the window, a favor Kobe gladly returned a couple minutes later. In those dueling moments, the players took the spotlight.
But the excellent coaches set the tone, the Spurs yet again coming out so well-prepared by Gregg Popovich, and Phil fielding a team that defends better than LA’s group of last season and that will find ways to stay in games. Jackson says he now wants a more “positive, polished, and poised” manner of opening games than the Lakers have shown lately. After that, he figures they’ll start winning some of these games they’ve been mostly losing. If he had a little less competitive spirit, he might even tell his team to play more like the Spurs do.
By Emmett Shaw
Nov 30, 2005
Link: Hoopsworld (http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_15165.shtml)
SPURS: November to Remember
On what really was a night in which the coaches shone more brightly than most of the players, Phil Jackson made the matter-of-fact concession after the game. The Spurs had emerged last night from a closing quarter they lost 25-20 with a 90-84 win. How did the 5-8 LA Lakers give themselves a chance in San Antonio? “We got them mired into our level of basketball, made a game out of it.”
It’s not a secret that these teams are separated by levels very possibly as different as the NBA Finals is from the NBA Draft Lottery. When it’s San Antonio that has sold out all its home games and the Lakers have had a few hundred empty seats in their last two, the public also realizes it. How did LA keep contact last night? Tim Duncan said, “We played good for two quarters out of those four quarters.”
Part by default and part by hard work, the Spurs might be the premier offensive team in the league right now. With volume dunkers Amare Stoudemire and Shaquille O’Neal sidelined, the field is open for a different team to lead the NBA in FG percentage. San Antonio has stepped into that role with a .478 number. Execution has improved since earlier in November.
Through San Antonio’s first 6 games the Spurs were averaging a poor 21 turnovers per game, but in their subsequent 8 outings the team is a better-than-the-mean 14.4 turnovers per. And the latter number is that large only because of a few sloppy quarters here and there that inflate it.
The Spurs three big stars are the players who try to make a lot of things happen. They’re normally San Antonio’s miscuing culprits because they get blind spots when passing. And in Tony Parker’s case, sometimes he passes to spots on the perimeter he expects to be filled, but his teammates haven’t been where they probably should be at times, boosting Tony’s turnover-per-minute total to 10th worst in the NBA. But Parker has effectively countered that by playing, in effect, like a highly explosive 2-guard. Startlingly, he was #2 in the entire league in FGs made per minute going into the game last night!
A solid contributor to keeping San Antonio’s turnover average in check is Nick Van Exel, who has only lost the ball 13 times this season. Nick’s turnover-per-minute rate is 41% less than Parker’s this season and 15% lower than Beno Udrih’s was last season. Van Exel didn’t have one of his better games against his former team the Lakers last night, but still his plus-minus number in the 4th quarter was one better than Tony’s was.
Nick has really steadied the Spurs, considering he’s on a new team. Unfortunately for Udrih, Beno’s been bumped to the end of the bench. Fortunately for the Spurs, Beno is still at the ready should Van Exel’s arthritic knees need a rest at some point, or if Tony gets hurt. In the right city, like Atlanta, Beno would probably be starting at the point.
Beating the Lakers had a routine feel to it in San Antonio, and that’s too bad. Because Kobe Bryant had been torching the net at 40 per game for his previous 5 games, but was held to “just” 25 on 33 (8 or 10 too many shots!) attempts by Bruce Bowen and Manu Ginobili. Again, Phil Jackson was ready to concede that Kobe coming back to earth against the Spurs was to be expected, because of Bowen’s typical defensive form.
Said Bowen afterwards, “Kobe’s a great player. To have a night like this, I’m happy with that. But you can’t rest on that alone.” Bruce can never rest. He might have to check Dirk Nowitzki next game, in which case Bowen MUST get some help when Dirk puts the ball on the deck or turns his back to the basket.
All-time, the Lakers now lead the Spurs in the regular season by only 62-60. But the playoffs are a different story: LA leads SA 7-3 in series. Since the Robinson-Duncan era began, it’s 3-3. But Phil Jackson is 3-1 in series versus San Antonio, and he said before the game that he feels pretty good about that. If the Lakers make the postseason in 2005-06 the teams could meet in Round One.
Lamar Odom will key whether the Lakers make it out of the lottery. He was great offensively against the Spurs last night with 27 points and 16 boards. He opened the game playing point forward, then settled in at PF for most of the night. “He was a very effective player for us tonight. He found matches that worked for him and we were able to spot him in places that he was very effective out there,” said the coach.
What Phil means is that Odom is forced to the baseline side in the Spurs’ defensive system, and when Lamar is on the left side of the court, sometimes he simply finishes using the glass with his strong left hand when San Antonio’s help isn’t alert enough. “The kid's a talented player,” Duncan said, explaining that executing against Lamar is easier said than done. “Although your goal is to stop him from going that direction, you can’t always do that. We’ve got to do a better job of getting on that hand and playing that hand a little harder.”
As it turned out, Robert Horry was right. A day before the game he said of his former team, “They’re going to find a way to stay in the ballgame.” That way was to use a good full-court press several times and for Smush Parker to contain Tony Parker to 10 points. When San Antonio missed 11 free throws, Tim didn’t often use his advantage in the post against Brian Cook and Odom, and then Lamar had his best game this season, the Lakers had themselves an outside shot at a big upset on the road.
Good thing for the Spurs that Manu Ginobili (22 points) was really up for the game, almost matching Kobe’s output while playing 12 fewer minutes and taking less than half as many FG attempts (14 contrasted with 33). Manu even came from nowhere to reject a Bryant fast-break shot off the window, a favor Kobe gladly returned a couple minutes later. In those dueling moments, the players took the spotlight.
But the excellent coaches set the tone, the Spurs yet again coming out so well-prepared by Gregg Popovich, and Phil fielding a team that defends better than LA’s group of last season and that will find ways to stay in games. Jackson says he now wants a more “positive, polished, and poised” manner of opening games than the Lakers have shown lately. After that, he figures they’ll start winning some of these games they’ve been mostly losing. If he had a little less competitive spirit, he might even tell his team to play more like the Spurs do.