Johnny Ludden: Spurs not in bad shape at the break

[Bruno]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/stories/MYSA021607.01D.1DSpurs0216.12d51db.html


Web Posted: 02/16/2007 12:35 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News


With two victories in two nights having put a little bounce in their step, the Spurs scattered Thursday for the All-Star break. A few of them headed to Las Vegas, some left elsewhere for a quick vacation and others will spend the four days at home relaxing.

When they gather again at their practice facility Monday, the Spurs have reason to be optimistic about what lies ahead, but also more than 31/2 months of evidence telling them still have plenty of work to do. Yet even that might be the best thing they have going:

The Spurs continue to believe they're not a finished product.

While the Spurs split the eight games of their rodeo travels, they did show some signs of progress. Had they not surrendered an 18-point lead in Orlando last week, their trip likely would have been called a success, particularly for how it ended.

Wednesday's victory in Detroit ranked as one of the Spurs' most important of the past seven weeks given the level of competition. There were a handful of other factors that also pointed to them losing: They were at the end of a nine-day trip, playing for the second consecutive night and didn't arrive at their hotel until 3:30 a.m.

The Spurs instead shook off any fatigue and turned in one of their more complete games.

"We are taking all games seriously right now because we are not playing very well and we are just trying to get back into an upswing," Tim Duncan said. "We wanted to get this one going into the break, especially coming off some games in the last few that we thought we should have won."

While the Spurs appear to have little shot of catching Dallas, which has an nine-game lead in the Southwest Division, they haven't fallen out of the hunt for the Western Conference's No. 2 seed.

Steve Nash's recent absence from Phoenix's lineup has helped reduce the Suns' lead over the Spurs to five games.

The Spurs' schedule also eases a bit after the All-Star break. They have one game apiece against Dallas, Phoenix, Utah and Houston and have already finished their series with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Of the Spurs' remaining 29 games, 18 are at home — though given the team's play at the AT&T Center this season that might not be a positive.

Establishing a comfort level at home is just one objective the Spurs hope to accomplish during the season's final two months.

If they want to pick up any momentum before the playoffs, they have three things to accomplish.

Find some support for their stars.

Duncan is playing significantly better than he was a year ago, Manu Ginobili is having the best season, statistically, of his career, and Tony Parker was again voted to the All-Star team. Each also has remained remarkably healthy considering the lengthy list of other top players to go down with injuries.

But it's become evident the Spurs will have a difficult time surviving in the playoffs if they can't get consistent production from another source. And if coach Gregg Popovich sticks to his contention of not dealing any rotation member before Thursday's trade deadline, that help is going to have to come to from within the roster.

For now, that makes Francisco Elson the team's X-factor. Elson can sometimes be slow to react defensively, but Wednesday's 18-rebound, 12-point performance shows he has the athleticism and length to help considerably on both ends of the floor.

"We need effort on the boards like that," Duncan said after Elson's career-best performance. "We are lacking in that area and we need somebody to step up.."

Sustain their defense.

The Spurs rank second in the league in scoring defense and sixth in field-goal percentage defense, which shows improvement. But Popovich still is concerned about the team's lapses.

Last week in Orlando, the Spurs held an 18-point lead in the second quarter, but lost after the Magic shot 58 percent in the second half. Two days later the Heat shot 60 percent in the second half.

"This is probably the toughest period we've gone through in a lot of years as far as inconsistency, and mostly at the defensive end," Popovich said. "The defense is a bit mystifying because a lot of that has to do with being together for a while and being able to communicate and know the system. We have no excuse because we've been together and know the system."

Gain some confidence against the league's elite.

The Spurs are a combined 5-9 against the Mavericks, Suns, Jazz, Rockets and Lakers. In only one of those nine losses were the Spurs not within reach of victory with less than six minutes remaining.

That's evident of the Spurs' competitiveness, but it also shows the team's difficulty in finishing games. And it helps explain why the league's oldest roster has frequently heard questions about its collective age.

Beating the Pistons was a start for the Spurs, but little else.

"We know we can do it," Ginobili said. "We just have to go forward from this point."

[TDMVPDPOY]

4-4 rrt :( gtfo we are in bad position as can be, we should be warmin up now for last third of the season headin into the playoffs, gettin ready for that first round exit

[ArgSpursFan]

I liked what I saw in Detroit,I think we really need to trade one of the two backup Centers(oberto or butler) for a SF,and we´ll be ok.Vaughn is fine for 15 mins p/game right now and them 10 mpg in the playoffs.
Spurs just need another ¨not too old¨ backup SF to help Manu on some scoring and Defense when the reserves squad is on the floor,cause i don´t think Finley can do that anymore,eventhough He helped the team vs Detriot,He is too slow right now to guard younger athletics forwards.

[AFBlue]

Though the Spurs played well in Detriot, I wouldn't use it as a barometer for how they're going to play against top-level teams going forward. The fact is, Detroit got some good open looks and just had an off-shooting night on the whole. Give SOME credit to the Spurs D and rebounding, but again, I wouldn't consider the Spurs as "turned a corner" on the elite teams just yet...

I'm glad the players are more confident, but I hope the last two victories don't dissolusion the FO into thinking the team, as presently constructed, can win it all...

[T Park]

Of course not.

I knew that Pistons game would be looked at upon as just "ok"

[jeffdrums22]

The Lakers, Jazz, and Rockets are not elite teams. They are good, but not elite. Lakers were a pretty decent 30-19, but have lost 5 straight and back where they were before, just average at 30-24. Also, if Houston beats Dallas last night, then you could make a case for them being really good, but now they are 1-3 vs Dallas on the season. Also, Phoenix is not going past the WCF. As I said before, the West is all about SA and Dallas this year.

I expect SA to split the season series with Dallas, 2-2.
Same with Phoenix and Utah (just stop Mehmet Okur from his usual lucky shots)
Houston, no one cares.

[Brutalis]

What an ignorant title for a bad article. Tell us something we are not bored of or, used to.

[td4mvp21]

Of course not.

I knew that Pistons game would be looked at upon as just "ok"
Because that's what it was, if not a little better than that. Our offensive executions weren't exactly stellar and the Pistons did miss several wide open shots. We played pretty good D, but we faded down the stretch a little.

[exstatic]

Because that's what it was, if not a little better than that. Our offensive executions weren't exactly stellar and the Pistons did miss several wide open shots. We played pretty good D, but we faded down the stretch a little.

Spurs shot 51%. That's not stellar?

I also think it's funny that only the OTHER team gets a free pass for missing shots, but the Spurs get excoriated if the same happens.

[td4mvp21]

Because that's what it was, if not a little better than that. Our offensive executions weren't exactly stellar and the Pistons did miss several wide open shots. We played pretty good D, but we faded down the stretch a little.

Spurs shot 51%. That's not stellar?

I also think it's funny that only the OTHER team gets a free pass for missing shots, but the Spurs get excoriated if the same happens.

Ok, we shot a good % but I wasn't impressed with how the plays were being run, they looked sloppy and disorganized, maybe I'm being picky. It was a big win but there were things that the Spurs could have done better, we did have 15 to's.

[T Park]

:lol

Your not picky, your just horribly unrealistic.

[td4mvp21]

:lol

Your not picky, your just horribly unrealistic.
Close enough.

[bobbyjoe]

The Lakers, Jazz, and Rockets are not elite teams. They are good, but not elite. Lakers were a pretty decent 30-19, but have lost 5 straight and back where they were before, just average at 30-24. Also, if Houston beats Dallas last night, then you could make a case for them being really good, but now they are 1-3 vs Dallas on the season. Also, Phoenix is not going past the WCF. As I said before, the West is all about SA and Dallas this year.

I expect SA to split the season series with Dallas, 2-2.
Same with Phoenix and Utah (just stop Mehmet Okur from his usual lucky shots)
Houston, no one cares.

You realize that the "average" rockets are 2-1 against San Antonio and are one game back of the Spurs in the loss column despite not having the services of a 25/10 Center for about half the season right?

Can you imagine the Spurs record if Duncan had missed half the year? Call me crazy, but I don't think they'd be 33-19.

Until SA beats teams like LA/Hou at full strength, it's crazy to dismiss them as average when they have owned SA this yr, considering they've beaten SA shorthanded 4 times and lost only twice.

Phoenix has no shot? They just whalloped the hell out of the Spurs, have a much better record and are much younger and much more athletic.

The Spurs have enjoyed much better health than LA/HOU/PHO (nash, amarae) and yet have losing records against these teams and are not that far from losing HCA in the first round to a couple of these teams.

[Dingle Barry]

you + are = you're


your welcome

[GrandeDavid]

Trust Tim.

[jeffdrums22]

You realize that the "average" rockets are 2-1 against San Antonio and are one game back of the Spurs in the loss column despite not having the services of a 25/10 Center for about half the season right?

Can you imagine the Spurs record if Duncan had missed half the year? Call me crazy, but I don't think they'd be 33-19.

Until SA beats teams like LA/Hou at full strength, it's crazy to dismiss them as average when they have owned SA this yr, considering they've beaten SA shorthanded 4 times and lost only twice.

Phoenix has no shot? They just whalloped the hell out of the Spurs, have a much better record and are much younger and much more athletic.

The Spurs have enjoyed much better health than LA/HOU/PHO (nash, amarae) and yet have losing records against these teams and are not that far from losing HCA in the first round to a couple of these teams.


Some people are really delusional. For SA to struggle so much and still be 35-18 shows you the competitiveness and experience of the team despite hard times. I don't think anyone here buys into Houston or L.A. being a title contender in the West. They are the same old first-round elimination teams we've seen year after year. Kobe hasn't been out of the first round since 2004, McGrady has never been out of the first round in the West and his team folds under pressure (as evidenced last night vs Dallas), even with Yao Ming there they aren't more than an average ball club.

Phoenix has a shot to go far, but won't make it past the Conference Finals. Offense and lucky jump shots can disappear in the playoffs (As Dallas learned in the Finals), Phoenix has never had any kind of solid defense since Nash joined them.

[FromWayDowntown]

Some people are really delusional. For SA to struggle so much and still be 35-18 shows you the competitiveness and experience of the team despite hard times. I don't think anyone here buys into Houston or L.A. being a title contender in the West. They are the same old first-round elimination teams we've seen year after year. Kobe hasn't been out of the first round since 2004, McGrady has never been out of the first round in the West and his team folds under pressure (as evidenced last night vs Dallas), even with Yao Ming there they aren't more than an average ball club.

Phoenix has a shot to go far, but won't make it past the Conference Finals. Offense and lucky jump shots can disappear in the playoffs (As Dallas learned in the Finals), Phoenix has never had any kind of solid defense since Nash joined them.

Some people are really delusional, relying on standings and paying no heed to much of anything that actually occurs on the basketball court when two particular teams match up.

In the Spurs' case, it doesn't really matter if Houston or LA are title contenders -- what matters is whether the Spurs can actually beat either of those teams in a 7 game series. Whether you think they're average or not, both the Rockets and the Lakers have shown an ability to beat the Spurs at home, in the guts of games, when the Spurs were once dominant. What I don't get is this: the Rockets certainly have a more impressive win over the Spurs this year than the Mavericks do -- a 19 point win at the AT&T Center without McGrady. To say that the Rockets aren't remotely formidable is patently ridiculous -- that team plays great defense and, when Yao is healthy, has two potent stars who are capable of dominating games all by themselves. You can rely on tired old assertions about history as your "proof," but when push comes to shove at playoff time, history is almost entirely irrelevant. Just ask the 2006 Spurs and the 2006 Mavericks.

As an aside, if Phoenix reaches the Conference Finals, the Spurs will be there only if they can dispatch the Mavericks in the WCSF -- not something I'd be willing to bet the house on right now. I certainly believe that the Spurs will find a way to be a beast at playoff time, but the notion of beating the Mavericks is not one that I'm going to readily assume just yet.

And by the way, the Spurs might split with Dallas, but I'd hazard a guess that the Mavericks aren't going to put up much resistance in that final game, because by that point, they'll have clinched everything you can clinch in the regular season -- very little different than 2005, when Pop sat Timmy and Manu in Phoenix near the end of the regular season, and in 2003 when the Spurs rested a bunch of guys in the season finale against the Mavericks.

[Obstructed_View]

Some people are really delusional. For SA to struggle so much and still be 35-18 shows you how great their start actually was.

Fixed.

[wildbill2u]

It's irrational, not to mention delusional, to create a winning playoff scenario primarily off of past history.

If past history was the sine qua non of predicting playoff success you would never choose any team against the Lakers or Celtic, then the Bulls and only then the Spurs.

Using the past history scenario, you could never have expected the Spurs to win their first or subsequent championships because they had never succeeded before and had 'choked' in the playoffs.

New Teams come to the forefront in regular season and in the playoffs because they have acquired new and better talent and/or matured the synergy of the team.

In reality, Houston has played extrememly well with a lot of injuries. So have some other teams like the Jazz and the Lakers. Any of these teams has the proven talent to win in a series against the Spurs.

[bobbyjoe]

Some people are really delusional, relying on standings and paying no heed to much of anything that actually occurs on the basketball court when two particular teams match up.

In the Spurs' case, it doesn't really matter if Houston or LA are title contenders -- what matters is whether the Spurs can actually beat either of those teams in a 7 game series. Whether you think they're average or not, both the Rockets and the Lakers have shown an ability to beat the Spurs at home, in the guts of games, when the Spurs were once dominant. What I don't get is this: the Rockets certainly have a more impressive win over the Spurs this year than the Mavericks do -- a 19 point win at the AT&T Center without McGrady. To say that the Rockets aren't remotely formidable is patently ridiculous -- that team plays great defense and, when Yao is healthy, has two potent stars who are capable of dominating games all by themselves. You can rely on tired old assertions about history as your "proof," but when push comes to shove at playoff time, history is almost entirely irrelevant. Just ask the 2006 Spurs and the 2006 Mavericks.

As an aside, if Phoenix reaches the Conference Finals, the Spurs will be there only if they can dispatch the Mavericks in the WCSF -- not something I'd be willing to bet the house on right now. I certainly believe that the Spurs will find a way to be a beast at playoff time, but the notion of beating the Mavericks is not one that I'm going to readily assume just yet.

And by the way, the Spurs might split with Dallas, but I'd hazard a guess that the Mavericks aren't going to put up much resistance in that final game, because by that point, they'll have clinched everything you can clinch in the regular season -- very little different than 2005, when Pop sat Timmy and Manu in Phoenix near the end of the regular season, and in 2003 when the Spurs rested a bunch of guys in the season finale against the Mavericks.

Good post.

It's crazy to talk about the Rockets, Lakers, Jazz, and Suns of 2006-2007 and act as if they are the same exact teams who havent had much playoff success the last 2-3 years (except for Phoenix).

The Suns who lost to the Spurs 2 yrs ago had a dog of a 2 guard in Q Richardson. Raja Bell helps them to match up much better with SA because he has the ability to pester Manu (who lit them up in the 05 WCF) and is a much better outside gunner than the erratic Q. Barbosa is also much better than the 05 version. The Suns lost 4-2 in the WCF last year to the Mavs without Amare. That's hardly anything to sneeze at.

The Lakers? Kobe is finally making the players around him better this year. Odom looks more comfortable than last year and Bynum is making strides. So what if they haven't won a playoff series than 04? It's a young team that's getting better and is a 30 foot heave from Finley away from having beat the Spurs 3 out of 3 times this yr.

The Rockets? The 05 version did lose in the first round but in a 7 game series to a very tough Mavs team. Why are they better? Yao has gotten better every year, Battier has been a big addition for them. The combo of Yao and Tmac creating double teams and then being surrounded by sharpshooters like Battier and Luther Head with that tough team defense is very formidable.

As for the Jazz, Deron Williams is a much improved player. Okur is becoming the modern day Sam Perkins with the inside/outside combo. He's a big shot maker. Boozer is having a career yr. AK47 is healthier than in past yrs. Comparing them to the Jazz teams of the last 2 yrs is a joke.

Acting as if these teams are the same versions from the 04-06 seasons without acknowledging the improvements they've made and the matchup problems they present for SA is asinine.

Some need to wake up and take a look at the year they are living in in the PRESENT.

[bobbyjoe]

Some people are really delusional. For SA to struggle so much and still be 35-18 shows you the competitiveness and experience of the team despite hard times. I don't think anyone here buys into Houston or L.A. being a title contender in the West. They are the same old first-round elimination teams we've seen year after year. Kobe hasn't been out of the first round since 2004, McGrady has never been out of the first round in the West and his team folds under pressure (as evidenced last night vs Dallas), even with Yao Ming there they aren't more than an average ball club.

Phoenix has a shot to go far, but won't make it past the Conference Finals. Offense and lucky jump shots can disappear in the playoffs (As Dallas learned in the Finals), Phoenix has never had any kind of solid defense since Nash joined them.

Lucky jump shots? lol. The Suns are one of the best jump shooting teams in the league. Nash, Barbosa, and Ball are high % gunners. It's not luck if you do it consistently.

Phoenix made the WCF 2 yrs in a row and had injury problems both yrs which were a factor in them not advancing. Not the only factor, but certainly a factor. They have improved personnel and if they stay healthy it's crazy to write them off. They're going to be a hungry team come playoff time after 2 exits in the WCF.

If you theory is that "lucky" jump shooting teams dont make the Finals, why did SA lose to the Mavs last yr in the playoffs?

[himat]

Bottom line is if Spurs want to get back to the Finals someone besides TD needs to get on fire, and everyone has to be solid.