cheguevara
04-25-2007, 04:04 PM
Spurs need ‘big man’ to bounce back
By Bill Begley
The Daily Times
Published April 25, 2007
SAN ANTONIO — He wasn’t alone, but he was the most obvious.
In big games, the San Antonio Spurs turn to their big man — Tim Duncan — but Sunday, in Game 1 of his team’s Western Conference quarterfinal series with Denver, Duncan was nearly a non-factor, struggling to 14 pedestrian points and 10 rebounds against the physical and aggressive defense of a guy with one name.
Nenę negated Duncan, and that played a big part in the Nuggets’ 95-89 win.
“(Nenę) was solid,” Duncan said. “He didn’t do anything special, just kind of stayed in front of me and kind of relied on the weak side to help. I thought he did a very good job.”
In fact, the entire Denver team did a better-than-expected job on defense — the Spurs managed to hit 37 of 88 shots overall, a below-par 42 percent that would have been worse if not for a strong effort from the bench and Michael Finley.
Robert Horry came off the bench to nail a pair of 3-pointers and finish with 14 points, and Fabricio Oberto — once a question mark after being treated for an irregular heart beat last Wednesday — chipped in eight points on 4-for-4 shooting.
Finley hit three 3-pointers and scored 15, but the heart of San Antonio’s offense — Duncan, Tony Parker and sixth-man Manu Ginobili — were a combined 19-for-52 from the floor, each of them missing a pair of layups.
“I didn’t miss that many layups for a long time,” said Parker, who led the Spurs with 19 points. “Just one of those days.”
It was one of those long days for Duncan, who has been in this spot before.
In Game 1 of the 2005 quarterfinal series with the Nuggets, Duncan had an off night, hitting just seven of 22 shots. But, he came back in Game 2 to score 24 points and lead San Antonio to wins in the next four games, taking the series in the first step to the franchise’s third NBA title.
“The key was the defense,” said Nenę, a 6-foot-11, 260- pound native of Brazil who matched Duncan with 13 points and 12 rebounds. “We defend hard. We denied the ball in transition. We just tried to stay out there on Parker and Ginobili so they couldn’t get into transition.”
“Tim Duncan is a Hall of Fame player,” said Denver’s Allen Iverson, who shook off an 0-for-6 start to finish with a game-high 31 points Sunday. “You can’t stop a guy like Tim. The most you can do is contain him. Nene´ did a great job of stepping up to the challenge of guarding Tim.”
The Nuggets’ one-name wonder denied Duncan in the post, leaned on him when he got the ball, and stripped him at least twice when Duncan did get a ball in scoring position.
Most telling: Duncan got to the line once, missing both free throws, and committed five turnovers.
“Nene´ was terrific,” said Denver center Marcus Camby, who also spent time guarding Duncan. “He did a great job on Duncan early tonight and really set the tone down in the paint.”
A notorious slow starter in the postseason, Duncan also picks his game up when it counts.
On the way to the NBA crown in 1999, Duncan struggled in a loss to Minnesota, but bounced back with a solid performance in Game 3. In Game 1 of a 2003 playoff series with the Suns, San Antonio lost Game 1, but Duncan bounced back with 22 points and six blocks as the Spurs won that series and went on to win the NBA title.
That was the slim glimmer of hope heading into Wednesday’s 6 p.m. Game 2 at the AT&T Center.
“There are no excuses,” said Duncan, who’s averaged more than 24 points in 119 playoff games. “Bottom line — they played better than us. We got to positions and took shots that we wanted to take and they didn’t go down for us. Hopefully, we can change that next game and hopefully knock down those shots.”
A most obvious solution.
By Bill Begley
The Daily Times
Published April 25, 2007
SAN ANTONIO — He wasn’t alone, but he was the most obvious.
In big games, the San Antonio Spurs turn to their big man — Tim Duncan — but Sunday, in Game 1 of his team’s Western Conference quarterfinal series with Denver, Duncan was nearly a non-factor, struggling to 14 pedestrian points and 10 rebounds against the physical and aggressive defense of a guy with one name.
Nenę negated Duncan, and that played a big part in the Nuggets’ 95-89 win.
“(Nenę) was solid,” Duncan said. “He didn’t do anything special, just kind of stayed in front of me and kind of relied on the weak side to help. I thought he did a very good job.”
In fact, the entire Denver team did a better-than-expected job on defense — the Spurs managed to hit 37 of 88 shots overall, a below-par 42 percent that would have been worse if not for a strong effort from the bench and Michael Finley.
Robert Horry came off the bench to nail a pair of 3-pointers and finish with 14 points, and Fabricio Oberto — once a question mark after being treated for an irregular heart beat last Wednesday — chipped in eight points on 4-for-4 shooting.
Finley hit three 3-pointers and scored 15, but the heart of San Antonio’s offense — Duncan, Tony Parker and sixth-man Manu Ginobili — were a combined 19-for-52 from the floor, each of them missing a pair of layups.
“I didn’t miss that many layups for a long time,” said Parker, who led the Spurs with 19 points. “Just one of those days.”
It was one of those long days for Duncan, who has been in this spot before.
In Game 1 of the 2005 quarterfinal series with the Nuggets, Duncan had an off night, hitting just seven of 22 shots. But, he came back in Game 2 to score 24 points and lead San Antonio to wins in the next four games, taking the series in the first step to the franchise’s third NBA title.
“The key was the defense,” said Nenę, a 6-foot-11, 260- pound native of Brazil who matched Duncan with 13 points and 12 rebounds. “We defend hard. We denied the ball in transition. We just tried to stay out there on Parker and Ginobili so they couldn’t get into transition.”
“Tim Duncan is a Hall of Fame player,” said Denver’s Allen Iverson, who shook off an 0-for-6 start to finish with a game-high 31 points Sunday. “You can’t stop a guy like Tim. The most you can do is contain him. Nene´ did a great job of stepping up to the challenge of guarding Tim.”
The Nuggets’ one-name wonder denied Duncan in the post, leaned on him when he got the ball, and stripped him at least twice when Duncan did get a ball in scoring position.
Most telling: Duncan got to the line once, missing both free throws, and committed five turnovers.
“Nene´ was terrific,” said Denver center Marcus Camby, who also spent time guarding Duncan. “He did a great job on Duncan early tonight and really set the tone down in the paint.”
A notorious slow starter in the postseason, Duncan also picks his game up when it counts.
On the way to the NBA crown in 1999, Duncan struggled in a loss to Minnesota, but bounced back with a solid performance in Game 3. In Game 1 of a 2003 playoff series with the Suns, San Antonio lost Game 1, but Duncan bounced back with 22 points and six blocks as the Spurs won that series and went on to win the NBA title.
That was the slim glimmer of hope heading into Wednesday’s 6 p.m. Game 2 at the AT&T Center.
“There are no excuses,” said Duncan, who’s averaged more than 24 points in 119 playoff games. “Bottom line — they played better than us. We got to positions and took shots that we wanted to take and they didn’t go down for us. Hopefully, we can change that next game and hopefully knock down those shots.”
A most obvious solution.