Kori Ellis
05-08-2006, 12:16 AM
Buck Harvey: Pattern reinforced, Mavs have reason to wonder
Web Posted: 05/08/2006 12:00 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/bharvey/stories/MYSA050806.1D.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.d447665.html
Bruce Bowen went from being eaten by a bear (Memphis' Bonzi Wells) to being called one.
The NBA world changes with the speed of a 24-second clock, and this series will change, too. On another night, perhaps as early as Tuesday, the mood and the refs will switch, and Dirk Nowitzki will score 30 points to beat the Spurs.
Still, something has stayed around for years between these two teams, and the opener reinforced it. The same Spurs who always seem to be a game ahead in the standings are the same Spurs who always seem to find a way.
After the Mavericks botched the final play and were unable to score a basket in the final four minutes Sunday, do they believe the same?
Avery Johnson will do everything to reverse that thinking, and he started Sunday afternoon. After saying, "We make no excuses," he made some.
Asked about Bowen's defense on Nowitzki, AJ said: "It's what you call 'bearhug defense.' That's the new NBA rule: Bearhug Defense. That's pretty much what's going on. I've got to formulate, or simulate, a drill to help (Nowitzki)."
Someone began to ask, "By bearhug, do you mean ..."
Johnson jumped back in.
"You know what a bearhug is?" he asked. "If a bear comes up to you and hugs you, what is he going to do? It's a bearhug defense. I don't even have to use my New Orleans slang for that description."
Johnson is wrong. Bowen, a half-foot shorter than Nowitzki, plays something closer to teddy-bear defense.
AJ is wrong about the style, too, and he likely knows it. Bowen won't win the league's defensive player of the year (Ben Wallace will for the fourth time in five years), but he's always on the list because he moves his feet and works. A year ago, he slowed a range of players in the postseason, from Carmelo Anthony to Ray Allen to Shawn Marion to 'Rip' Hamilton.
This spring has been more daunting, beginning with Wells. Being both slower and weaker is not a good counter.
Nowitzki, on size alone, should confront Bowen with similar advantages, and two games this season suggest he can. Nowitzki, in the two Mavericks' wins against the Spurs, averaged 32 points.
But Nowitzki also has gone 18 of 48 in the Spurs' three wins. And Bowen's best is what happened at the end of Sunday. Then, he turned Nowitzki into both a driver and a double team. Tim Duncan came over to help.
Stumbling, Nowitzki didn't wait for the play to develop; Jerry Stackhouse was supposed to cut baseline. Nowitzki instead tried to zing a pass to Stackhouse in the corner, and this is not what the Mavericks do well. They have a wealth of one-on-one scorers, but they were next-to-last in the league in assists.
Manu Ginobili got a hand on the pass, forcing Stackhouse to recover, and Stackhouse chose to retreat. With enough time to do something else, Stackhouse panicked as Nowitzki had, settling for a forced 3-point attempt.
"It was just a play that sort of broke down," Stackhouse said.
Sort of like the day. Dallas, given the circumstances, should have won this one.
Tony Parker arrived feeling soreness from his right hip down to his ankle, and he later hurt his good leg. In the fourth quarter, after a steal, Ginobili said he didn't have the legs left to finish a fast break.
But the Spurs hung around, mostly because they had Duncan dominating the way he once did with AJ as his point guard.
Duncan played more minutes only twice this season, but there's a reason he could recover from Sacramento just 36 hours earlier. Gregg Popovich had held down his minutes this season for these very moments.
The Spurs weren't smooth. Ginobili made a half-dozen mistakes he normally doesn't make. But he also ducked inside twice after teammates missed shots, tying up larger Mavericks for jump balls.
The Spurs found a crack toward the end, too, when the Mavericks finally left Bowen in the corner. His 3-pointer created the cushion the Spurs needed, as well as a contrast. Nowitzki scored only two in the fourth quarter — on a breakaway dunk.
Then came the end, with a Bowen press here, a Ginobili tip there. The horn sounded, and teammates grabbed Ginobili, as they've done for several years now, to celebrate.
It looked like, well, a bearhug.
Web Posted: 05/08/2006 12:00 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/bharvey/stories/MYSA050806.1D.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.d447665.html
Bruce Bowen went from being eaten by a bear (Memphis' Bonzi Wells) to being called one.
The NBA world changes with the speed of a 24-second clock, and this series will change, too. On another night, perhaps as early as Tuesday, the mood and the refs will switch, and Dirk Nowitzki will score 30 points to beat the Spurs.
Still, something has stayed around for years between these two teams, and the opener reinforced it. The same Spurs who always seem to be a game ahead in the standings are the same Spurs who always seem to find a way.
After the Mavericks botched the final play and were unable to score a basket in the final four minutes Sunday, do they believe the same?
Avery Johnson will do everything to reverse that thinking, and he started Sunday afternoon. After saying, "We make no excuses," he made some.
Asked about Bowen's defense on Nowitzki, AJ said: "It's what you call 'bearhug defense.' That's the new NBA rule: Bearhug Defense. That's pretty much what's going on. I've got to formulate, or simulate, a drill to help (Nowitzki)."
Someone began to ask, "By bearhug, do you mean ..."
Johnson jumped back in.
"You know what a bearhug is?" he asked. "If a bear comes up to you and hugs you, what is he going to do? It's a bearhug defense. I don't even have to use my New Orleans slang for that description."
Johnson is wrong. Bowen, a half-foot shorter than Nowitzki, plays something closer to teddy-bear defense.
AJ is wrong about the style, too, and he likely knows it. Bowen won't win the league's defensive player of the year (Ben Wallace will for the fourth time in five years), but he's always on the list because he moves his feet and works. A year ago, he slowed a range of players in the postseason, from Carmelo Anthony to Ray Allen to Shawn Marion to 'Rip' Hamilton.
This spring has been more daunting, beginning with Wells. Being both slower and weaker is not a good counter.
Nowitzki, on size alone, should confront Bowen with similar advantages, and two games this season suggest he can. Nowitzki, in the two Mavericks' wins against the Spurs, averaged 32 points.
But Nowitzki also has gone 18 of 48 in the Spurs' three wins. And Bowen's best is what happened at the end of Sunday. Then, he turned Nowitzki into both a driver and a double team. Tim Duncan came over to help.
Stumbling, Nowitzki didn't wait for the play to develop; Jerry Stackhouse was supposed to cut baseline. Nowitzki instead tried to zing a pass to Stackhouse in the corner, and this is not what the Mavericks do well. They have a wealth of one-on-one scorers, but they were next-to-last in the league in assists.
Manu Ginobili got a hand on the pass, forcing Stackhouse to recover, and Stackhouse chose to retreat. With enough time to do something else, Stackhouse panicked as Nowitzki had, settling for a forced 3-point attempt.
"It was just a play that sort of broke down," Stackhouse said.
Sort of like the day. Dallas, given the circumstances, should have won this one.
Tony Parker arrived feeling soreness from his right hip down to his ankle, and he later hurt his good leg. In the fourth quarter, after a steal, Ginobili said he didn't have the legs left to finish a fast break.
But the Spurs hung around, mostly because they had Duncan dominating the way he once did with AJ as his point guard.
Duncan played more minutes only twice this season, but there's a reason he could recover from Sacramento just 36 hours earlier. Gregg Popovich had held down his minutes this season for these very moments.
The Spurs weren't smooth. Ginobili made a half-dozen mistakes he normally doesn't make. But he also ducked inside twice after teammates missed shots, tying up larger Mavericks for jump balls.
The Spurs found a crack toward the end, too, when the Mavericks finally left Bowen in the corner. His 3-pointer created the cushion the Spurs needed, as well as a contrast. Nowitzki scored only two in the fourth quarter — on a breakaway dunk.
Then came the end, with a Bowen press here, a Ginobili tip there. The horn sounded, and teammates grabbed Ginobili, as they've done for several years now, to celebrate.
It looked like, well, a bearhug.