DieMrBond
05-06-2007, 09:03 PM
Suns, Spurs have plenty to fix for Game 2
Charley Rosen / FOXSports.com
Posted: 22 minutes ago
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/6783330
This is exactly what we hoped for from the Spurs-Suns series.
And what's the best aspect of the Spurs' stirring 111-106 win over the Suns? That there's plenty more of the same to come.
Meanwhile, let's focus on the key players and key plays from this monster of a ball game.
Although Amare Stoudemire played surprisingly quick and powerful defense on Tim Duncan, TD still got the better of the matchup. Stoudemire was especially effective when Duncan started his offense upon receiving an entry pass in the low-post (almost always on the left box), but the resourceful Spurs were able to change tactics late in the game. That's when repeated foul-line screen/rolls put extreme pressure on Stoudemire to make correct decisions — which he didn't. The result was a couple of unattended layups for Duncan, plus a sweet backdoor dive-cut that also led to a layup.
Duncan and the Spurs sure do know how to play.
At the other end, Stoudemire only shot 2-for-5 on his mid-range jumpers, missed a total of six layups, and wound up with 6-for-19 from the field. (He did, however, make a clutch pair of free throws to bring the Suns to within a single digit of the Spurs with 26.7 on the game clock.) But the most crucial of his misses was a slightly complicated layup with Phoenix down by three points and less than ten seconds on the game clock.
At the same time, without Stoudemire's 18 rebounds and five blocks, the Suns would never have been in the game. But perhaps the best thing that Stoudemire did was to execute a sharply spinning right-to-left move for a layup early in the fourth quarter. If he can safely change direction that quickly without tweaking his surgically repaired knee, then he can be more of a creator (as opposed to a finisher) for the rest of this remarkable series.
Curiously, the Suns continued to go under virtually every S/R involving Tony Parker. They obviously believe that Parker's outside shooting isn't very dependable, and that by playing him so softly they're at least keeping him out of the lane.
It turned out that Parker was able to hit his perimeter shots and zip to the hoop — to the tune of 14-for-22 and 32 big points. Unless Mike D'Antoni still thinks that Parker's shot is unreliable, the Suns must double him in S/R situations. There's simply no other option.
Robert Horry hit a brace of treys, rebounded like a youngster, and made several timely defensive rotations. Mike Finley hit his jumpers only when they seemed to sting the Suns the most.
Manu Ginobili, however, had trouble putting the ball through the hoop — 2-for-9 for only eight points. He redeemed himself to a certain degree by capturing nine rebounds and distributing four assists. Still, Ginobili will have to function at a higher level for the Spurs to take the series.
Jacque Vaughn's play was nearly a disaster for San Antonio. During his brief stints he missed two open jumpers, traveled, charged twice, threw a lazy pass that was easily intercepted, and was obliterated by high S/Rs.
What did he do right? Hit a mid-range jumper, and make several accurate entry passes into Duncan.
The considerable difference between Parker's backup (Vaughn) and Steve Nash's backup (Leandro Barbosa) could conceivably be a fatal one for the Spurs.
For the most part, the Spurs' excellent transition defense curtailed the Suns' fast break. (Although when the Suns opened the second half, Nash was able to go undisturbed from coast-to-coast for a layup.) But, at least in the first half, Phoenix was still able to run their offense to great effect.
Having to play more half-court basketball than they wished, however, essentially limited Shawn Marion's performance. The Matrix converted seven hoops on only 12 shots and needed to have his number called much more often.
San Antonio sought to play Nash as softly as Phoenix was playing Parker, likewise hoping to curtail the reigning MVP's ball penetrations. They were successful to a certain degree. While Nash took more shots than he wanted to, going 11-for-18 from the field, he was only able to fashion eight assists.
Many of those dimes were dropped in the first half when the Spurs' perimeter defense was generally too loose. One of the major half-time adjustments made by San Antonio was to refine its interior rotations and keep an extra defender in position to close-out the Suns' trey-makers. For the game, the home team was 6-for-14 from beyond the arc, while the visitors were 7-for-16.
In the second half, Nash confounded the Spurs' multiple defenders (which variously included Bruce Bowen, Parker, Vaughn, Ginobili, and even Horry) by finding his way hoopward for a series of nifty lefty layups. In other words, Parker and Nash just about cancelled each other out — which was a huge plus for San Antonio.
Kurt Thomas did a terrific job of Bogarting TD in the pivot — and even knocked down two of three jumpers. Thomas proved that he needs more daylight.
One of the game's most critical sequences chanced to be a nose-to-head collision between Nash and Parker that was rightly called a foul on Nash. Unfortunately for Phoenix, while Parker escaped with only a lump on his noggin, Nash suffered a rather bloody wound high on the bridge of his nose — a wound that simply could not be staunched. Accordingly, Barbosa had to replace Nash in the end-game, and the Brazilian Blur made a pair of monumental mistakes:
Semi-deliberately fouling Ginobili in the backcourt with the Spurs nursing a 2-point lead and the clock still long enough (32.8 seconds) for Phoenix to take their chances by playing straight-up defense. Barbosa and the Suns were lucky that Ginobili split the ensuing free throws.
Clearly (and foolishly) fouling Ginobili while the Spurs were still attempting to inbound the ball. (After Stoudemire's clutch free throws, the Suns were down by only one at the time and 26.2 seconds remained.) This "off-the-ball-foul" was penalized by a free throw (made by Finley) and the retention of possession by San Antonio. Ginobili was eventually fouled again and made one of two
There's no way that Nash would have made these errors. But in a contest between heads and noses, heads will always win.
Another important sequence was when the Suns' assistant coach, Marc Iavaroni, was slapped with a technical foul (by thin-skinned Bob Delany) at halftime. The Suns will deny it, but the home team got the benefit of virtually every marginal call for the duration.
So, then, what does Phoenix have to fix to win Game 2?
Nash's nose. Barbosa's awareness. Their defensive approach to Parker. And Stoudemire's nerves.
And the Spurs?
Vaughn's abject inefficiency (perhaps going back the slow, handle-challenged, but steady Beno Udrih). Parker's careless passes (he had six turnovers). Their defensive approach to Nash. And putting Ginobili in better positions to score.
That's one down, and hopefully six more to go.
Charley Rosen is FOXSports.com's NBA analyst and author of 13 books about hoops, the current one being "The pivotal season — How the 1971-72 L.A. Lakers changed the NBA."
Charley Rosen / FOXSports.com
Posted: 22 minutes ago
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/6783330
This is exactly what we hoped for from the Spurs-Suns series.
And what's the best aspect of the Spurs' stirring 111-106 win over the Suns? That there's plenty more of the same to come.
Meanwhile, let's focus on the key players and key plays from this monster of a ball game.
Although Amare Stoudemire played surprisingly quick and powerful defense on Tim Duncan, TD still got the better of the matchup. Stoudemire was especially effective when Duncan started his offense upon receiving an entry pass in the low-post (almost always on the left box), but the resourceful Spurs were able to change tactics late in the game. That's when repeated foul-line screen/rolls put extreme pressure on Stoudemire to make correct decisions — which he didn't. The result was a couple of unattended layups for Duncan, plus a sweet backdoor dive-cut that also led to a layup.
Duncan and the Spurs sure do know how to play.
At the other end, Stoudemire only shot 2-for-5 on his mid-range jumpers, missed a total of six layups, and wound up with 6-for-19 from the field. (He did, however, make a clutch pair of free throws to bring the Suns to within a single digit of the Spurs with 26.7 on the game clock.) But the most crucial of his misses was a slightly complicated layup with Phoenix down by three points and less than ten seconds on the game clock.
At the same time, without Stoudemire's 18 rebounds and five blocks, the Suns would never have been in the game. But perhaps the best thing that Stoudemire did was to execute a sharply spinning right-to-left move for a layup early in the fourth quarter. If he can safely change direction that quickly without tweaking his surgically repaired knee, then he can be more of a creator (as opposed to a finisher) for the rest of this remarkable series.
Curiously, the Suns continued to go under virtually every S/R involving Tony Parker. They obviously believe that Parker's outside shooting isn't very dependable, and that by playing him so softly they're at least keeping him out of the lane.
It turned out that Parker was able to hit his perimeter shots and zip to the hoop — to the tune of 14-for-22 and 32 big points. Unless Mike D'Antoni still thinks that Parker's shot is unreliable, the Suns must double him in S/R situations. There's simply no other option.
Robert Horry hit a brace of treys, rebounded like a youngster, and made several timely defensive rotations. Mike Finley hit his jumpers only when they seemed to sting the Suns the most.
Manu Ginobili, however, had trouble putting the ball through the hoop — 2-for-9 for only eight points. He redeemed himself to a certain degree by capturing nine rebounds and distributing four assists. Still, Ginobili will have to function at a higher level for the Spurs to take the series.
Jacque Vaughn's play was nearly a disaster for San Antonio. During his brief stints he missed two open jumpers, traveled, charged twice, threw a lazy pass that was easily intercepted, and was obliterated by high S/Rs.
What did he do right? Hit a mid-range jumper, and make several accurate entry passes into Duncan.
The considerable difference between Parker's backup (Vaughn) and Steve Nash's backup (Leandro Barbosa) could conceivably be a fatal one for the Spurs.
For the most part, the Spurs' excellent transition defense curtailed the Suns' fast break. (Although when the Suns opened the second half, Nash was able to go undisturbed from coast-to-coast for a layup.) But, at least in the first half, Phoenix was still able to run their offense to great effect.
Having to play more half-court basketball than they wished, however, essentially limited Shawn Marion's performance. The Matrix converted seven hoops on only 12 shots and needed to have his number called much more often.
San Antonio sought to play Nash as softly as Phoenix was playing Parker, likewise hoping to curtail the reigning MVP's ball penetrations. They were successful to a certain degree. While Nash took more shots than he wanted to, going 11-for-18 from the field, he was only able to fashion eight assists.
Many of those dimes were dropped in the first half when the Spurs' perimeter defense was generally too loose. One of the major half-time adjustments made by San Antonio was to refine its interior rotations and keep an extra defender in position to close-out the Suns' trey-makers. For the game, the home team was 6-for-14 from beyond the arc, while the visitors were 7-for-16.
In the second half, Nash confounded the Spurs' multiple defenders (which variously included Bruce Bowen, Parker, Vaughn, Ginobili, and even Horry) by finding his way hoopward for a series of nifty lefty layups. In other words, Parker and Nash just about cancelled each other out — which was a huge plus for San Antonio.
Kurt Thomas did a terrific job of Bogarting TD in the pivot — and even knocked down two of three jumpers. Thomas proved that he needs more daylight.
One of the game's most critical sequences chanced to be a nose-to-head collision between Nash and Parker that was rightly called a foul on Nash. Unfortunately for Phoenix, while Parker escaped with only a lump on his noggin, Nash suffered a rather bloody wound high on the bridge of his nose — a wound that simply could not be staunched. Accordingly, Barbosa had to replace Nash in the end-game, and the Brazilian Blur made a pair of monumental mistakes:
Semi-deliberately fouling Ginobili in the backcourt with the Spurs nursing a 2-point lead and the clock still long enough (32.8 seconds) for Phoenix to take their chances by playing straight-up defense. Barbosa and the Suns were lucky that Ginobili split the ensuing free throws.
Clearly (and foolishly) fouling Ginobili while the Spurs were still attempting to inbound the ball. (After Stoudemire's clutch free throws, the Suns were down by only one at the time and 26.2 seconds remained.) This "off-the-ball-foul" was penalized by a free throw (made by Finley) and the retention of possession by San Antonio. Ginobili was eventually fouled again and made one of two
There's no way that Nash would have made these errors. But in a contest between heads and noses, heads will always win.
Another important sequence was when the Suns' assistant coach, Marc Iavaroni, was slapped with a technical foul (by thin-skinned Bob Delany) at halftime. The Suns will deny it, but the home team got the benefit of virtually every marginal call for the duration.
So, then, what does Phoenix have to fix to win Game 2?
Nash's nose. Barbosa's awareness. Their defensive approach to Parker. And Stoudemire's nerves.
And the Spurs?
Vaughn's abject inefficiency (perhaps going back the slow, handle-challenged, but steady Beno Udrih). Parker's careless passes (he had six turnovers). Their defensive approach to Nash. And putting Ginobili in better positions to score.
That's one down, and hopefully six more to go.
Charley Rosen is FOXSports.com's NBA analyst and author of 13 books about hoops, the current one being "The pivotal season — How the 1971-72 L.A. Lakers changed the NBA."