TMTTRIO
01-13-2006, 03:57 AM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/bharvey/stories/MYSA011306.1D.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.1d1f3b32.html
Buck Harvey: Minute by minute, the Spurs can see the changes
Web Posted: 01/13/2006 12:06 AM CST
San Antonio Express-News
So how did the Spurs beat the Pistons four times in June?
Then, Tim Duncan had ankle problems instead of foot problems. Nazr Mohammed played. Tony Parker often had games where he had an assist. And Big Shot Rob lined up threes instead of Big Shot Rasheed.
But there was something else then. Manu Ginobili finished games and started them, too, cutting through the same solid, overwhelming Pistons who were solid and overwhelming Thursday night.
The Spurs needed every Argentine bead of sweat then to win the title, and Ginobili averaged more than 38 minutes in those four wins in June.
This season?
He's played a total of 28 minutes in the Spurs' two losses to Detroit.
A healthy Ginobili wouldn't have changed how flat the Spurs were on Christmas Day, and a fulltime Ginobili wouldn't have made up for the rebounding difference against Detroit this season. Maybe a 24-year-old Duncan wouldn't have, either.
Then, there were the Rip Hamilton curls and Ben Wallace blocks and Rasheed Wallace threes. Those happen against everyone, the reason the Pistons are clearly the league's best this season.
The Spurs are only the best in their conference, and the improved play of Parker has made that possible. Parker's layup drill through the league has made him a logical choice to make the All-Star Game this season, and Detroit's Flip Saunders is greatly impressed.
"Ginobili adds more to what they do because of his ability to break you down and make plays," Saunders said this week. "But I still think, no matter what, the key to their team is Tony Parker. I've said that the last couple of years."
The key? Saunders wasn't around in June to see firsthand. Parker competed, and he made critical plays in both Game 5 and Game 7.
But Ginobili was the key, averaging more than 23 points in the Spurs' four wins. He played off Duncan, angled to the basket, changed momentum. Combining what he did against Denver, Seattle and Phoenix, Ginobili was the unofficial MVP of the postseason.
Ginobili has shown similar moments this season, but just moments. An injury slowed him, as has the continued rationing of his minutes.
Using Ginobili as a sixth man isn't the problem. Michael Finley has shown he plays better as a starter and, besides, Ginobili is the consummate force off the bench.
The issue is how many minutes to give him. Gregg Popovich wants to hold him back — to conserve him for later — and the strategy makes sense. Popovich did the same last season.
But that also means the Spurs go without Ginobili at times, and the beginning of the second half showed that. Then, Finley passed up a couple of jumpers, and Popovich talked to him during a dead ball about it. Shoot, Popovich said.
That said a lot about Thursday. The two shooters the Spurs signed last summer, Finley and Nick Van Exel, had the team's only assists of the first half.
Finley listened then, and the next time down the floor, he badly missed a 3-pointer. If there was ever a time to go to Ginobili — to make a switch and charge back at the Pistons — that was it. The Spurs had closed within eight points, after all.
But Popovich didn't want to over-use Ginobili, so he waited to see if Finley would give him something. Finley followed with a drive and turnover, and a Tayshaun Prince fast break expanded the lead.
When Ginobili finally checked in? He scored seven-straight points.
Ginobili would sit again, then come back for a final lunge. When he wasn't finding Duncan inside, he was throwing in a 3-pointer and diving over the scorer's table for a loose ball.
How did the Spurs beat the Pistons four times in June?
With sequences such as that.
But Popovich felt he was pushing it to play Ginobili 28 minutes.
The Pistons handle the grind well. The way they play — with equal parts biceps and touch — makes the Spurs' third championship even more remarkable.
Then, there was a way to beat them.
He's still around, right?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Buck Harvey: Minute by minute, the Spurs can see the changes
Web Posted: 01/13/2006 12:06 AM CST
San Antonio Express-News
So how did the Spurs beat the Pistons four times in June?
Then, Tim Duncan had ankle problems instead of foot problems. Nazr Mohammed played. Tony Parker often had games where he had an assist. And Big Shot Rob lined up threes instead of Big Shot Rasheed.
But there was something else then. Manu Ginobili finished games and started them, too, cutting through the same solid, overwhelming Pistons who were solid and overwhelming Thursday night.
The Spurs needed every Argentine bead of sweat then to win the title, and Ginobili averaged more than 38 minutes in those four wins in June.
This season?
He's played a total of 28 minutes in the Spurs' two losses to Detroit.
A healthy Ginobili wouldn't have changed how flat the Spurs were on Christmas Day, and a fulltime Ginobili wouldn't have made up for the rebounding difference against Detroit this season. Maybe a 24-year-old Duncan wouldn't have, either.
Then, there were the Rip Hamilton curls and Ben Wallace blocks and Rasheed Wallace threes. Those happen against everyone, the reason the Pistons are clearly the league's best this season.
The Spurs are only the best in their conference, and the improved play of Parker has made that possible. Parker's layup drill through the league has made him a logical choice to make the All-Star Game this season, and Detroit's Flip Saunders is greatly impressed.
"Ginobili adds more to what they do because of his ability to break you down and make plays," Saunders said this week. "But I still think, no matter what, the key to their team is Tony Parker. I've said that the last couple of years."
The key? Saunders wasn't around in June to see firsthand. Parker competed, and he made critical plays in both Game 5 and Game 7.
But Ginobili was the key, averaging more than 23 points in the Spurs' four wins. He played off Duncan, angled to the basket, changed momentum. Combining what he did against Denver, Seattle and Phoenix, Ginobili was the unofficial MVP of the postseason.
Ginobili has shown similar moments this season, but just moments. An injury slowed him, as has the continued rationing of his minutes.
Using Ginobili as a sixth man isn't the problem. Michael Finley has shown he plays better as a starter and, besides, Ginobili is the consummate force off the bench.
The issue is how many minutes to give him. Gregg Popovich wants to hold him back — to conserve him for later — and the strategy makes sense. Popovich did the same last season.
But that also means the Spurs go without Ginobili at times, and the beginning of the second half showed that. Then, Finley passed up a couple of jumpers, and Popovich talked to him during a dead ball about it. Shoot, Popovich said.
That said a lot about Thursday. The two shooters the Spurs signed last summer, Finley and Nick Van Exel, had the team's only assists of the first half.
Finley listened then, and the next time down the floor, he badly missed a 3-pointer. If there was ever a time to go to Ginobili — to make a switch and charge back at the Pistons — that was it. The Spurs had closed within eight points, after all.
But Popovich didn't want to over-use Ginobili, so he waited to see if Finley would give him something. Finley followed with a drive and turnover, and a Tayshaun Prince fast break expanded the lead.
When Ginobili finally checked in? He scored seven-straight points.
Ginobili would sit again, then come back for a final lunge. When he wasn't finding Duncan inside, he was throwing in a 3-pointer and diving over the scorer's table for a loose ball.
How did the Spurs beat the Pistons four times in June?
With sequences such as that.
But Popovich felt he was pushing it to play Ginobili 28 minutes.
The Pistons handle the grind well. The way they play — with equal parts biceps and touch — makes the Spurs' third championship even more remarkable.
Then, there was a way to beat them.
He's still around, right?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------