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11-10-2006, 01:12 AM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA111006.07D.BKNspurs.notebook.3021272.html
Spurs: Deciding when to foul late in games can be tricky
Web Posted: 11/09/2006 10:32 PM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
Most teams with a foul to give in the closing seconds of a quarter will use it to make their opponent inbound with less time on the clock rather than risk having the ball handler penetrate for a high-percentage shot.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, however, doesn't see the decision as that cut-and-dried.
Clinging to a one-point lead with 5.9 seconds left in Wednesday's fourth quarter, the Spurs didn't immediately foul after Phoenix inbounded on the left sideline. Raja Bell took the ball and drove past Fabricio Oberto into the lane until Oberto fouled him at the last moment to disrupt his layup.
Because Bell was shooting, he was awarded two free throws. Had he made both, the Suns almost certainly would have won.
The question is whether the Spurs should have tried to foul sooner to make the Suns run another play with about half as much time remaining.
"When you're in the heat of the battle and you're the player on the court, you have to make a decision as to whether he's about to shoot, get in motion or whether he's really on the dribble and the referee just gets to use his judgment," Popovich said. "When you have to depend on all that, it gets a little bit scary. There are times when it's appropriate.
"There was one point when we should have used (the foul), asked to use it and it didn't get used. But other than that, there were three or four other situations where none of us had the guts to do it."
The risk when facing a quick-shooting team like the Suns is that when a player reaches in to foul, the ball handler — who is usually expecting exactly that — might be savvy enough to rise in time for a shot attempt.
"Coaches stay up all night long talking about that, whether to do it, whether not to do it," Popovich said. "It's a long, long thought process."
The sequence worked out well enough for the Spurs, but only because Bell missed his second free throw.
Ginobili's revenge? Manu Ginobili took two hard shots to the face against Phoenix, but he was feeling better when he visited the Spurs' practice facility Thursday.
And he was certainly feeling better than Bell, who clubbed Ginobili across the nose at least once. Bell bruised his ribs after Ginobili plowed into him late in overtime for an offensive foul.
Bell couldn't play Thursday against Dallas and is expected to be out at least one more game.
Some of the Suns wondered if Ginobili's foul was in retaliation — "Make your own conclusion," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said — but Bell said he thought he was injured because he landed wrong.
Barry still looks impressive: Brent Barry, who didn't play in the season opener against Dallas, took Michael Finley's place in the rotation Wednesday.
Barry has made 12 of 15 3-pointers and is averaging 12.3 points. Finley has missed 29 of 38 shots.
Popovich thinks Finley — like Barry has in the past — sometimes has a tendency to press when he's not shooting well.
"He worries too much when his shot doesn't go down or when two in a row don't go down," Popovich said. "The good thing about it is they care, but I have to get him to not care so much and realize that that's going to happen and he has to keep firing."
Finley, who endured a much longer slump last season, doesn't seem to have lost his aggressiveness. Nor is he the only player struggling with his shot. Robert Horry is 1 for 13 for the season, Beno Udrih is 9 for 29, Bruce Bowen is 10 of 26 and Ginobili missed nine of his first 10 attempts Wednesday.
Spurs: Deciding when to foul late in games can be tricky
Web Posted: 11/09/2006 10:32 PM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
Most teams with a foul to give in the closing seconds of a quarter will use it to make their opponent inbound with less time on the clock rather than risk having the ball handler penetrate for a high-percentage shot.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, however, doesn't see the decision as that cut-and-dried.
Clinging to a one-point lead with 5.9 seconds left in Wednesday's fourth quarter, the Spurs didn't immediately foul after Phoenix inbounded on the left sideline. Raja Bell took the ball and drove past Fabricio Oberto into the lane until Oberto fouled him at the last moment to disrupt his layup.
Because Bell was shooting, he was awarded two free throws. Had he made both, the Suns almost certainly would have won.
The question is whether the Spurs should have tried to foul sooner to make the Suns run another play with about half as much time remaining.
"When you're in the heat of the battle and you're the player on the court, you have to make a decision as to whether he's about to shoot, get in motion or whether he's really on the dribble and the referee just gets to use his judgment," Popovich said. "When you have to depend on all that, it gets a little bit scary. There are times when it's appropriate.
"There was one point when we should have used (the foul), asked to use it and it didn't get used. But other than that, there were three or four other situations where none of us had the guts to do it."
The risk when facing a quick-shooting team like the Suns is that when a player reaches in to foul, the ball handler — who is usually expecting exactly that — might be savvy enough to rise in time for a shot attempt.
"Coaches stay up all night long talking about that, whether to do it, whether not to do it," Popovich said. "It's a long, long thought process."
The sequence worked out well enough for the Spurs, but only because Bell missed his second free throw.
Ginobili's revenge? Manu Ginobili took two hard shots to the face against Phoenix, but he was feeling better when he visited the Spurs' practice facility Thursday.
And he was certainly feeling better than Bell, who clubbed Ginobili across the nose at least once. Bell bruised his ribs after Ginobili plowed into him late in overtime for an offensive foul.
Bell couldn't play Thursday against Dallas and is expected to be out at least one more game.
Some of the Suns wondered if Ginobili's foul was in retaliation — "Make your own conclusion," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said — but Bell said he thought he was injured because he landed wrong.
Barry still looks impressive: Brent Barry, who didn't play in the season opener against Dallas, took Michael Finley's place in the rotation Wednesday.
Barry has made 12 of 15 3-pointers and is averaging 12.3 points. Finley has missed 29 of 38 shots.
Popovich thinks Finley — like Barry has in the past — sometimes has a tendency to press when he's not shooting well.
"He worries too much when his shot doesn't go down or when two in a row don't go down," Popovich said. "The good thing about it is they care, but I have to get him to not care so much and realize that that's going to happen and he has to keep firing."
Finley, who endured a much longer slump last season, doesn't seem to have lost his aggressiveness. Nor is he the only player struggling with his shot. Robert Horry is 1 for 13 for the season, Beno Udrih is 9 for 29, Bruce Bowen is 10 of 26 and Ginobili missed nine of his first 10 attempts Wednesday.