bigbendbruisebrother
03-31-2007, 09:56 AM
Here's a Spur flattering read...
Jazz: Nothing different in San Antonio
Winning for the 19th time in 21 games, the Spurs earn the admiration of the team from Utah
By Phil Miller
The Salt Lake Tribune
SAN ANTONIO - Since everyone is in a clinching mood lately, the Jazz went ahead and strung police tape around the Western Conference's fourth seed Friday night. Go ahead and paint their names on the parking spot, because the Jazz are not going any higher.
Oh, mathematically that's not actually settled, not for a few more days. But anybody who watched the Spurs' magnificently efficient brick-by-brick 102-93 dismantling of the Jazz in AT&T Center can tell you: This "race" for the third spot is all over but the paperwork.
Deron Williams knows it, and he doesn't even mind that much. The man may be only 23, but he's sophisticated enough in the art of hoops to appreciate quality workmanship. And the Spurs, relentless attackers at both ends of the floor, are real pros.
"They play beautiful basketball," Williams admired after San Antonio repelled two distinct Jazz rallies in the second half and moved five games ahead of Utah with 10 to play. "We can learn a lot from a team like this - the way they share the ball, the way they're unselfish. They make extra passes. They really don't care who gets the glory, they just want to win."
They seem to succeed every time Utah comes to town. The loss was No. 16 in a rather monotonous series that dates back to 1999, but this one at least didn't feel like corporal punishment. It was an actual competition, a genuine test of basketball skills. And it went, no surprise, to a team that has already achieved what the Jazz set out to accomplish when the team's core was formed.
"They're great team and we don't forget it," said Andrei Kirilenko. "I'm pretty proud of our game tonight. For the most part, we fight and we fight hard."
Exactly. C'mon, the Spurs are former champions, and they know how to gear it up come springtime. It's their 19th win in 21 games. There's no shame in losing if they play like that - especially if you're busy taking mental notes all along.
Close your eyes and picture the Jazz's nucleus performing at the level of purposefulness that Tony Parker (23 points, 11 assists), Manu Ginobili (25 points and three steals) and the sublimely effective Tim Duncan (20 points, 14 rebounds) bring to their night's work.
Williams has. He honestly believes it's his destiny.
"We're growing. We're learning. We're still a young team, just together a couple of years," the point guard said. "We've still got a lot of room to improve, but I think we should look at games like this and look at teams like this and see how they play. We should try to take something from it."
He even has a couple of suggestions.
"When something goes wrong for them, they tighten up on defense. Stuff goes wrong for us, we look to offense," Williams said, as though quoting from the Book of Sloan. "Guys start getting selfish, thinking they're going to turn it around with offense, but that's not the case."
It's not a new problem, said the team's chief distributor, who scored 23 points to go with his subpar five assists, but this habit of breaking off plays and seeking shots for themselves - "getting 'me, me, me,' " as he put it - stands particularly conspicuous when the Spurs do just the opposite at the other end.
Say, when the Jazz pull within six points, 83-77, with eight minutes to play. Ginobili, who seems able to change directions three different times while in the air, responded with a sensational driving layup for a three-point play, and that's all the Spurs needed. They quickly embarked upon a quick demonstration of their playbook, converted seven consecutive possessions into points, with five different players contributing a bucket.
* IN SHORT: The Jazz lose their 16th straight in San Antonio, mostly because the Spurs play like championship material.
* KEY MOMENT: Nine quick points trimmed the Spurs' lead to six, so San Antonio simply responded with a Manu Ginobili three-point play, triggering a stretch of seven consecutive successful possessions.
http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_5564235
Jazz: Nothing different in San Antonio
Winning for the 19th time in 21 games, the Spurs earn the admiration of the team from Utah
By Phil Miller
The Salt Lake Tribune
SAN ANTONIO - Since everyone is in a clinching mood lately, the Jazz went ahead and strung police tape around the Western Conference's fourth seed Friday night. Go ahead and paint their names on the parking spot, because the Jazz are not going any higher.
Oh, mathematically that's not actually settled, not for a few more days. But anybody who watched the Spurs' magnificently efficient brick-by-brick 102-93 dismantling of the Jazz in AT&T Center can tell you: This "race" for the third spot is all over but the paperwork.
Deron Williams knows it, and he doesn't even mind that much. The man may be only 23, but he's sophisticated enough in the art of hoops to appreciate quality workmanship. And the Spurs, relentless attackers at both ends of the floor, are real pros.
"They play beautiful basketball," Williams admired after San Antonio repelled two distinct Jazz rallies in the second half and moved five games ahead of Utah with 10 to play. "We can learn a lot from a team like this - the way they share the ball, the way they're unselfish. They make extra passes. They really don't care who gets the glory, they just want to win."
They seem to succeed every time Utah comes to town. The loss was No. 16 in a rather monotonous series that dates back to 1999, but this one at least didn't feel like corporal punishment. It was an actual competition, a genuine test of basketball skills. And it went, no surprise, to a team that has already achieved what the Jazz set out to accomplish when the team's core was formed.
"They're great team and we don't forget it," said Andrei Kirilenko. "I'm pretty proud of our game tonight. For the most part, we fight and we fight hard."
Exactly. C'mon, the Spurs are former champions, and they know how to gear it up come springtime. It's their 19th win in 21 games. There's no shame in losing if they play like that - especially if you're busy taking mental notes all along.
Close your eyes and picture the Jazz's nucleus performing at the level of purposefulness that Tony Parker (23 points, 11 assists), Manu Ginobili (25 points and three steals) and the sublimely effective Tim Duncan (20 points, 14 rebounds) bring to their night's work.
Williams has. He honestly believes it's his destiny.
"We're growing. We're learning. We're still a young team, just together a couple of years," the point guard said. "We've still got a lot of room to improve, but I think we should look at games like this and look at teams like this and see how they play. We should try to take something from it."
He even has a couple of suggestions.
"When something goes wrong for them, they tighten up on defense. Stuff goes wrong for us, we look to offense," Williams said, as though quoting from the Book of Sloan. "Guys start getting selfish, thinking they're going to turn it around with offense, but that's not the case."
It's not a new problem, said the team's chief distributor, who scored 23 points to go with his subpar five assists, but this habit of breaking off plays and seeking shots for themselves - "getting 'me, me, me,' " as he put it - stands particularly conspicuous when the Spurs do just the opposite at the other end.
Say, when the Jazz pull within six points, 83-77, with eight minutes to play. Ginobili, who seems able to change directions three different times while in the air, responded with a sensational driving layup for a three-point play, and that's all the Spurs needed. They quickly embarked upon a quick demonstration of their playbook, converted seven consecutive possessions into points, with five different players contributing a bucket.
* IN SHORT: The Jazz lose their 16th straight in San Antonio, mostly because the Spurs play like championship material.
* KEY MOMENT: Nine quick points trimmed the Spurs' lead to six, so San Antonio simply responded with a Manu Ginobili three-point play, triggering a stretch of seven consecutive successful possessions.
http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_5564235