DieMrBond
05-16-2006, 02:50 AM
Mavs go up 3-1 because of their ... defense?
Charley Rosen / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 39 minutes ago
Going into Monday's Game 4 in Dallas, the Spurs were faced with three problems of immense proportions: Keeping speedster Devin Harris away from the basket. Keeping Dirk Nowitzki off the foul line. And controlling the high-flying Josh Howard.
The fact they succeeded on only one of these tasks contributed greatly to the Mavericks thrilling 123-118 overtime win.
JOSH HOWARD was defended by a rotating quartet that included Manu Ginobili, Bruce Bowen, Michael Finley, and Brent Barry—all of whom had terrific success. Howard scored on an offensive rebound, a nifty back-cut on an inbounds play, and two other hoops created by ball movement. For the game he was 4-13, with 2 turnovers, one air-ball, and 8 total points, and was never a factor.
The Spurs did nothing fancy to contain Howard, just gritty man-to-man defense. At the other end, San Antonio tried to attack Howard's over-eager defense—particularly with Michael Finley. In so doing, the Spurs managed to maneuver Howard into early foul trouble, and thereby reduced his playing time to 31 minutes (in a 53-minute game).
Give the Spurs an A for putting Howard's game into a box.
The defending champs didn't do a bad job on NOWITZKI either. For three quarters, the Spurs switched virtually every screen/roll that the Mavs attempted—the vast majority of which involved Nowitzki. On numerous occasions, Nowitzki found himself defended by the likes of Tony Parker, Finley, Barry, and even Nick Van Exel.
As a general rule, big men are discomforted when guarded by smalls—all of that contact around their knees, those quick hands and quick feet, plus the expectation that such mismatches should routinely result in easy baskets. Indeed, Nowitzki only attempted 12 field goals, the fourth highest total on his team, and a disproportionately low number for the Mavs' high-scorer. Actually, the Spurs loaded up their defense to make Nowitzki shoot jumpers—which he did to the tune of 6-of-9. He was also hounded into committing six turnovers.
However, where he was awarded 21 free throws in Game 3, Nowitzki still made 15 appearances on the stripe in Game 4 (making 14). Nowitzki used all of his familiar tricks to great advantage: Drives both right and left. Fakes and pulls. Spins and lefty flips.
In the fourth quarter and beyond, Nowitzki was defended by Bowen, his old nemesis, and was effectively contained—except for one of the most critical plays in the game: The Spurs led by two with the clock ticking down in the fourth quarter, when the Mavs ran Nowitzki into the high-post and let him go one-on-one against Bowen. Nowtizki drove left while keeping Bowen at bay with a hostile right elbow, and Bowen responded in kind—with neither player thusly gaining an advantage. It was nothing more than an instance of dueling elbows that's commonly seen in playoff competition, especially in crunch-time. The referees, however, tooted Bowen for a foul, thereby allowing Nowitzki to tie the game at the foul-line.
A bad call at a bad time.
It should also be noted that while Nowitzki's 12 shots were abetted by 15 free throws, Duncan took 23 shots and was only rewarded 8 free throws. Overall, Nowitzki had 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 28 quiet points.
The Spurs earn a C-minus in their efforts to neutralize Nowitzki.
In Game 3, the Spurs were unprepared to deal with young DEVIN HARRIS. Thrust into the starting line-up by Avery Johnson, Harris simply ran around, through, and past virtually every defender assigned to his case. Something had to be done to clip Harris' wings.
At the start, the Spurs simply unleashed Parker in iso situations, and the second-year player was buried under a barrage of pull-up jumpers and tricky drives. In their mano-a-mano confrontations during the first quarter, Parker scored 12 points to Harris' two. With his clever right-to-left crossovers and his ability to finish in the shadow of the basket, Parker was able to create a good look at his discretion.
Conversely, the Spurs went under on all the S/Rs set up for Harris, and tried to clog the middle when he did manage to turn the corner. Harris also hurt his own cause when he tried to complete a silly behind-the-back pass that was easily picked off.
But if Harris was abused early, he eventually got his revenge. Getting a piece of two of Parker's renowned flip-shots. Throwing a gorgeous lob pass to Jerry Stackhouse. Drawing a charge on Parker. Blowing past Van Exel with a right-to-left crossover for an easy deuce. Beating Ginobili to the basket when Manu was screened and then re-screened. And hitting all three of his mid-range jumpers.
Harris did make some notable errors in the extra period. Twice he was headed nowhere at warp-speed—including a misguided attempt to score on a 1-on-4 fast-break—and turned the ball over both times. But he also scored important baskets on the run, and also by successfully challenging Duncan on a gutsy drive into the paint.
Overall, Harris was 7-of-10, with 4 assists, 3 turnovers, and 16 points. But his major accomplishment was wearing Parker to a nub. Sure, Parker had a career-high 33 points, but after chasing Harris all game long, he simply ran out of gas in the overtime. That's when Parker missed an easy layup (that Harris converted into a runaway score). And when Parker was presented with the chance to knot the game in the closing moments, he was softly fouled as he missed another chippie, and then missed both resulting free throws. Out of a possible three points, Parker wound up with none.
Give the Spurs a C for mitigating Harris's production in regulation time, but an F in OT.
However, while the Spurs were mostly focusing their defense on Howard, Nowitzki, and Harris, Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse did them in. Whenever Stackhouse could work his way into the paint, he had little trouble spinning, fading and bagging jumpers (10-19 for 26 points). Meanwhile, Terry went left only once, but with his drives and pulls right, with his faking and juking, and with his standstill jumpers all working to perfection (12-25, 32 points), Terry hit every clutch shot.
San Antonio had an easy time scoring. Duncan was a powerhouse in the pivot. Ginobili was scampering all over the court and knocking down treys until he fouled out in the fourth quarter. And, until his wheels began to wobble, Parker was dynamic.
Otherwise, Robert Horry hit zero big shots simply because he couldn't shake himself free to launch one (0-0, for 2 points). Blame his invisibility on the quickness of the Mavs, as well as his being caught from behind by Father Time. Brent Barry was likewise too slow to make a difference (2-4, 5 points). And besides his usual bang-up defense, Bowen was another non-factor (2-6, 5 points). Only Finley's offense was on target (5-10, including a pair of clutch treys, for 14 points).
For the Spurs, push never really came to shove only because on too many occasions they couldn't get close enough to the Mavs to make meaningful contact. Dallas simply had too much team speed and too many offensive weapons for San Antonio to come up with equitable matchups. Whereas opponents once were forced to react to the Spurs relentless defense, the Spurs had to scramble like mad scientists to try to find a way of dealing with the Mavs' quick and varied weapons.
For sure, the reliant Spurs are down, but not yet out. Even so, it's alarming how many mistakes they made in do-or-die spots in Games 3 and 4. Botched handoffs. Failures to complete in-bounds passes. Turnovers that led to breakaway scores. Some of these uncharacteristic mishaps were forced by the Mavs' aggressive defense, but some were not.
In the end, who would have ever expected Dallas to out-deee the Spurs?
Charley Rosen is FOXSports.com's NBA analyst and author of 13 books about hoops, the current one being "The pivotal season — How the 1971-72 L.A. Lakers changed the NBA."
Charley Rosen / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 39 minutes ago
Going into Monday's Game 4 in Dallas, the Spurs were faced with three problems of immense proportions: Keeping speedster Devin Harris away from the basket. Keeping Dirk Nowitzki off the foul line. And controlling the high-flying Josh Howard.
The fact they succeeded on only one of these tasks contributed greatly to the Mavericks thrilling 123-118 overtime win.
JOSH HOWARD was defended by a rotating quartet that included Manu Ginobili, Bruce Bowen, Michael Finley, and Brent Barry—all of whom had terrific success. Howard scored on an offensive rebound, a nifty back-cut on an inbounds play, and two other hoops created by ball movement. For the game he was 4-13, with 2 turnovers, one air-ball, and 8 total points, and was never a factor.
The Spurs did nothing fancy to contain Howard, just gritty man-to-man defense. At the other end, San Antonio tried to attack Howard's over-eager defense—particularly with Michael Finley. In so doing, the Spurs managed to maneuver Howard into early foul trouble, and thereby reduced his playing time to 31 minutes (in a 53-minute game).
Give the Spurs an A for putting Howard's game into a box.
The defending champs didn't do a bad job on NOWITZKI either. For three quarters, the Spurs switched virtually every screen/roll that the Mavs attempted—the vast majority of which involved Nowitzki. On numerous occasions, Nowitzki found himself defended by the likes of Tony Parker, Finley, Barry, and even Nick Van Exel.
As a general rule, big men are discomforted when guarded by smalls—all of that contact around their knees, those quick hands and quick feet, plus the expectation that such mismatches should routinely result in easy baskets. Indeed, Nowitzki only attempted 12 field goals, the fourth highest total on his team, and a disproportionately low number for the Mavs' high-scorer. Actually, the Spurs loaded up their defense to make Nowitzki shoot jumpers—which he did to the tune of 6-of-9. He was also hounded into committing six turnovers.
However, where he was awarded 21 free throws in Game 3, Nowitzki still made 15 appearances on the stripe in Game 4 (making 14). Nowitzki used all of his familiar tricks to great advantage: Drives both right and left. Fakes and pulls. Spins and lefty flips.
In the fourth quarter and beyond, Nowitzki was defended by Bowen, his old nemesis, and was effectively contained—except for one of the most critical plays in the game: The Spurs led by two with the clock ticking down in the fourth quarter, when the Mavs ran Nowitzki into the high-post and let him go one-on-one against Bowen. Nowtizki drove left while keeping Bowen at bay with a hostile right elbow, and Bowen responded in kind—with neither player thusly gaining an advantage. It was nothing more than an instance of dueling elbows that's commonly seen in playoff competition, especially in crunch-time. The referees, however, tooted Bowen for a foul, thereby allowing Nowitzki to tie the game at the foul-line.
A bad call at a bad time.
It should also be noted that while Nowitzki's 12 shots were abetted by 15 free throws, Duncan took 23 shots and was only rewarded 8 free throws. Overall, Nowitzki had 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 28 quiet points.
The Spurs earn a C-minus in their efforts to neutralize Nowitzki.
In Game 3, the Spurs were unprepared to deal with young DEVIN HARRIS. Thrust into the starting line-up by Avery Johnson, Harris simply ran around, through, and past virtually every defender assigned to his case. Something had to be done to clip Harris' wings.
At the start, the Spurs simply unleashed Parker in iso situations, and the second-year player was buried under a barrage of pull-up jumpers and tricky drives. In their mano-a-mano confrontations during the first quarter, Parker scored 12 points to Harris' two. With his clever right-to-left crossovers and his ability to finish in the shadow of the basket, Parker was able to create a good look at his discretion.
Conversely, the Spurs went under on all the S/Rs set up for Harris, and tried to clog the middle when he did manage to turn the corner. Harris also hurt his own cause when he tried to complete a silly behind-the-back pass that was easily picked off.
But if Harris was abused early, he eventually got his revenge. Getting a piece of two of Parker's renowned flip-shots. Throwing a gorgeous lob pass to Jerry Stackhouse. Drawing a charge on Parker. Blowing past Van Exel with a right-to-left crossover for an easy deuce. Beating Ginobili to the basket when Manu was screened and then re-screened. And hitting all three of his mid-range jumpers.
Harris did make some notable errors in the extra period. Twice he was headed nowhere at warp-speed—including a misguided attempt to score on a 1-on-4 fast-break—and turned the ball over both times. But he also scored important baskets on the run, and also by successfully challenging Duncan on a gutsy drive into the paint.
Overall, Harris was 7-of-10, with 4 assists, 3 turnovers, and 16 points. But his major accomplishment was wearing Parker to a nub. Sure, Parker had a career-high 33 points, but after chasing Harris all game long, he simply ran out of gas in the overtime. That's when Parker missed an easy layup (that Harris converted into a runaway score). And when Parker was presented with the chance to knot the game in the closing moments, he was softly fouled as he missed another chippie, and then missed both resulting free throws. Out of a possible three points, Parker wound up with none.
Give the Spurs a C for mitigating Harris's production in regulation time, but an F in OT.
However, while the Spurs were mostly focusing their defense on Howard, Nowitzki, and Harris, Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse did them in. Whenever Stackhouse could work his way into the paint, he had little trouble spinning, fading and bagging jumpers (10-19 for 26 points). Meanwhile, Terry went left only once, but with his drives and pulls right, with his faking and juking, and with his standstill jumpers all working to perfection (12-25, 32 points), Terry hit every clutch shot.
San Antonio had an easy time scoring. Duncan was a powerhouse in the pivot. Ginobili was scampering all over the court and knocking down treys until he fouled out in the fourth quarter. And, until his wheels began to wobble, Parker was dynamic.
Otherwise, Robert Horry hit zero big shots simply because he couldn't shake himself free to launch one (0-0, for 2 points). Blame his invisibility on the quickness of the Mavs, as well as his being caught from behind by Father Time. Brent Barry was likewise too slow to make a difference (2-4, 5 points). And besides his usual bang-up defense, Bowen was another non-factor (2-6, 5 points). Only Finley's offense was on target (5-10, including a pair of clutch treys, for 14 points).
For the Spurs, push never really came to shove only because on too many occasions they couldn't get close enough to the Mavs to make meaningful contact. Dallas simply had too much team speed and too many offensive weapons for San Antonio to come up with equitable matchups. Whereas opponents once were forced to react to the Spurs relentless defense, the Spurs had to scramble like mad scientists to try to find a way of dealing with the Mavs' quick and varied weapons.
For sure, the reliant Spurs are down, but not yet out. Even so, it's alarming how many mistakes they made in do-or-die spots in Games 3 and 4. Botched handoffs. Failures to complete in-bounds passes. Turnovers that led to breakaway scores. Some of these uncharacteristic mishaps were forced by the Mavs' aggressive defense, but some were not.
In the end, who would have ever expected Dallas to out-deee the Spurs?
Charley Rosen is FOXSports.com's NBA analyst and author of 13 books about hoops, the current one being "The pivotal season — How the 1971-72 L.A. Lakers changed the NBA."