In a close game the Spurs can't let Tim only get 9 shots and expect to win

[TDfan2007]

That is just not going to cut it. In the beginning of the 4th the Spurs ran it to Tim almost every time and they made a comeback. But low and behold when the Spurs stopped going to Tim the Lakers pulled away.

Btw, whoever is bitching about Tim not rebounding this game, the guy had 13 boards in the game, he just can't box out the entire Lakers front line.

[dav4463]

Duncan can take over a game in stretches when the team decides to go to him. I can't understand it either. Nobody can stop Tim when he wants to score, but he is rarely the #1 option.

[Bruno]

Btw, whoever is bitching

Without bitching ST won't be ST.

After each los you will find posts/threads like :
- Pop is a bad coach, he is only successfull because of Duncan and small ball sucks.
- Manu > Parker. Parker is unclutch, he never gives the ball to Manu, he is a chucker...
- End of the world posts : Spurs sucks, Spurs aren't contenders anymore, they don't want to win the title this year...
- Refs sucks.
- Spurs miss a former Spurs player like Malik/jackson/Hedo/Masho...
- Posts/threads make by other teams trolls.

[TDfan2007]

Duncan can take over a game in stretches when the team decides to go to him. I can't understand it either. Nobody can stop Tim when he wants to score, but he is rarely the #1 option.

Exactly, it's not like he was 2 for 9, the guy was 7 for 9 from the field and the Spurs scored almost every time he touched the ball and yet they still didn't go to him very often.

[Shaolin-Style]

Before I got on this board this morning I was thinking about the loss and what runs through my mind as it does with nearly every other game is "Why the hell don't we give the ball to Tim way more than what we do?"

[boutons_]

Lakers executed their game plan well. Deny Tim the ball, double/triple team him, deny Tony's and Manu's drives, basically shut down the paint. Just like when Phil wiped out Pop in the O4 playoffs.

I don't know WTF the Spurs game plan was, but it sure looked like shit, esp the beautiful tactic to yield the paint to the Lakers.

Spurs defense has really sucked this year. Interior defense seems to be way Tim's list of priorities. Denied offense, no defense, very unMVP.

[diego]

I couldnt watch the game, but

duncan is already turning into the 2nd option on Offense, since last season I look at boxscores and he is rarely taking more attempts than tony.

anyways from what i gather rebounding was more important, what happened to oberto and horry? it sounds like we should have tried williams on odom, or putting bruce on odom and manu on kobe.

[diego]

forget that, what is up with the turnovers? manu and tony both stunk it up

would have rather lost to the clips than the lakers

[Texas_Ranger]

Even Finley had 10 shots.

Timmy should start shooting like Arenas. 30 per game.

[boutons_]

esp when Tim was 7 for 9 FG (but only 2/6 FT).

[ManuTastic]

Give credit to the Lakers, yes, but:
-Kwame and Bynum played Tim to a standstill. That's wrong. Tim should rise to the pressure and show them what an MVP looks like.
-Finley sux. Horry sux.
-Spurs really need to figure out how to throw a zone on from time to time. LA is the perfect candidate for it, because everyone from Kobe to Smush Parker was getting to the rack like Jordan last night (yes, a lot of that was on fast breaks from horrible TOs, I know, I know). If you could force LA to be an outside-shooting team, you'd win that game.

Still, LA showed they have come a long way since they were the Shaq-less Kobe + 4 Dwarves circus show. They're a real team, with real players, and they can beat you. And let me coin a new phrase: you can't win 'em all.

[boutons_]

"they're a real team"

... with a real coach who flat out-coached and out-prepared Pop last night, and got his team to out-execute the Spurs.

Was Pop prepared at all last night for the Lakers shutting down Tim and the paint?

[2Cleva]

Give credit to the Lakers, yes, but:
-Kwame and Bynum played Tim to a standstill. That's wrong. Tim should rise to the pressure and show them what an MVP looks like.
-Finley sux. Horry sux.
-Spurs really need to figure out how to throw a zone on from time to time. LA is the perfect candidate for it, because everyone from Kobe to Smush Parker was getting to the rack like Jordan last night (yes, a lot of that was on fast breaks from horrible TOs, I know, I know). If you could force LA to be an outside-shooting team, you'd win that game.

Still, LA showed they have come a long way since they were the Shaq-less Kobe + 4 Dwarves circus show. They're a real team, with real players, and they can beat you. And let me coin a new phrase: you can't win 'em all.

Nice to see some Spurs fans recognize.

LA is for real. They excel in playing half court, playoff-type ball so they will give teams fits in the playoffs. And you nailed their achille's heel - going up against zones. Most smallball teams they can pound inside and they have more size than any power team. Add that with the ace in the hole in Kobe and they are going to be a playoff nightmare for anyone.

[z0sa]

Problem with Tim getting the ball was they were crowding him heavily. He couldnt get to his spots comfortably, but he should have shot at least 15 shots regardless. The Lakers were surging and we needed to play classic spurs ball - slow it down to a standstill, dont turn it over like Parker did countless times, and get it to Tim. Even if we don't score, it stops the Lakers from running over and over and forces them to play a half court set against one of the NBA's best defenses.

[peskypesky]

Lakers are looking pretty good of late. Definitely a threat in the West. But I'm still confident they can't beat the Spurs in a 7-gamer. Unless, of course, Pop decides to stick with the small-ball game plan that lost us the Mavericks series last year.

[T Park]

Pop decides to stick with the small-ball game plan that lost us the Mavericks series last year.

missed the game, due to KLM being stupid and not carrying NbA games.

Elson played 15 mins had 4 fouls, Ludden makes a point of Elson didn't get much PT.

So other than Elson, who do the Spus have, that wouldv've made it a huge lineup.

[boutons_]

"Nobody can stop Tim when he wants to score,"

bullshit.

When he's denied the ball he can't score,

when he's doubled as well as the Lakers did (esp with tall players) he's neutralized,

when he's denied the low block, he's just another (mediocre) jump shooter,

when he gets punk-a-Dunc'd, he goes to the line, ugh.

You'd think after all these years, that Pop and Tim would have figured out out how to fight back, be prepared, esp against coaches like Phil, rather than being bent over anew like babes-in-the-wood each time it happens.

One solution is to hit our outside shots. Guess what, our 2 hot hands, Manu and Brent, yielded excessive, wasted minutes to dead-cold Michael.

[z0sa]

we need the triangle offense ... lol

[v2freak]

I don't think we need Duncan shooting 30x a game to be successful..but I agree that he is taking too much of a backseat. It's like Pop is already grooming the team for Duncan's departure

[dav4463]

"Nobody can stop Tim when he wants to score,"

bullshit.

When he's denied the ball he can't score,

when he's doubled as well as the Lakers did (esp with tall players) he's neutralized,

when he's denied the low block, he's just another (mediocre) jump shooter,

when he gets punk-a-Dunc'd, he goes to the line, ugh.

You'd think after all these years, that Pop and Tim would have figured out out how to fight back, be prepared, esp against coaches like Phil, rather than being bent over anew like babes-in-the-wood each time it happens.

One solution is to hit our outside shots. Guess what, our 2 hot hands, Manu and Brent, yielded excessive, wasted minutes to dead-cold Michael.


I've seen Tim get that scary look in his eyes and just TAKE OVER when the team is in trouble. Remember the Dallas series last year? When Tim wants to score.....he will score. It's like he paces himself and waits for a sense of urgency before he starts going hard to the basket.