Ludden: Spurs' Beating Goes On

[Solid D]

Early version of Express-News article. Johnny will probably tweak this article (he needs to).

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA120704.1D.BKNspurs.bulls.gamer.cad26ed8.html

Spurs' beating goes on
Web Posted: 12/06/2004 10:30 PM CST

Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer

CHICAGO — Another night, another rout.

The Spurs breezed through the Windy City on Monday night, running past Chicago 91-75 at the United Center for their eighth consecutive victory. Eleven of the Spurs' 16 victories have been decided by at least 14 points.

The Spurs pulled away so quickly in the fourth quarter that the Bulls' stat crew lost count, momentarily neglecting to credit a basket to Devin Brown.

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 17 points. Brown added 14 off the bench.

The Spurs scored 15 consecutive points to take a 17-2 lead. Parker scored 10 himself and made a nice kickout pass to Bruce Bowen for an open 3-pointer.

Shortly after the flurry, Parker missed a 3-pointer. He didn't take another shot until he drilled a 25-footer at the first-half buzzer to give the Spurs a 41-32 lead.

The Spurs made one basket in an 11-minute, 22-second stretch bridging the first and second quarters. That let the Bulls climb within striking distance, despite their own offensive shortcomings.

After missing 17 consecutive 3-pointers over the previous six games, Brent Barry knocked down a 24-footer midway through the third quarter. Three minutes later, he added a toe-on-the line 22-footer.

Barry's passing also helped get the Spurs a couple of easy baskets.

Tim Duncan made his first trip to Soldier Field on Sunday to see his beloved Chicago Bears beat the Minnesota Vikings. Six of Duncan's teammates and a handful of Spurs' staffers watched the game from the catered luxury suite of Vikings owner Red McCombs.

"I'm sorry his team lost," Malik Rose said of McCombs, "but he did a great job taking care of us."

The Windy City's basketball team wasn't nearly as hospitable to Duncan. He missed eight of his first 11 shots, one of which was swatted into the courtside seats by Bulls center Eddy Curry.

[Kori Ellis]

Johnny will probably tweak this article

I'm sure he'll have a final version in a couple hours.

[Kori Ellis]

Here's the updated version.

Spurs relish time in Chicago
Web Posted: 12/07/2004 12:00 AM CST

Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer


CHICAGO — Tim Duncan made his first trip to Soldier Field on Sunday, and his beloved Chicago Bears didn't disappoint. They beat rival Minnesota to keep their playoff hopes alive as Duncan, six of his teammates and a handful of Spurs' staffers watched from the fully catered luxury suite of Vikings owner Red McCombs.

"I'm sorry his team lost," Malik Rose said of McCombs, "but he did a great job taking care of us."

The Windy City's NBA team wasn't nearly as hospitable Monday night, but the Spurs enjoyed their visit to the United Center just the same. They made a season-high 10 3-pointers, including one from Brent Barry, and beat Chicago 91-75 for their eighth consecutive victory.

The Spurs, who improved to an NBA-best 16-3, have won 11 games by at least 14 points. They led by as many as 26 points in the fourth quarter, avoiding a letdown against a Bulls team with the league's second-worst record at 2-13.

"Every game you want to play against yourself to some degree," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "You shouldn't worry about who you're playing, but that's going to creep into players' heads — what the record is or how teams have been playing.

"I think we pretty well convinced them of how hard they were going to play."

The Bulls played Duncan physically, crowding him and limiting him to 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting. Eddy Curry, Chicago's starting center, blocked one of Duncan's shots into the courtside seats in the third quarter.

Bulls coach Scott Skiles would have preferred Curry show that same effort in the opening quarter.

By the time the Spurs opened a 17-2 lead, Skiles already had benched Curry and point guard Chris Duhon. Two more starters soon joined them on the bench.

Curry totaled only one rebound in 13 minutes. All told, the Spurs outrebounded Chicago 51-38.

Said Skiles of his lineup change: "I was trying not to let it get to 50-2."

Tony Parker, playing in front of his father, grandparents and two brothers, was primarily responsible for the Spurs' quick start. He helped account for all but two of the team's 15 consecutive points, scoring 10 and making a nice pass to Bruce Bowen for an open 3-pointer.

Parker, who finished with 17 points and five assists, took only one shot in the final 18 minutes of the first half: a 3-pointer he buried at the halftime buzzer.

"I didn't want to take all the shots just because I was playing in front of my family," said Parker, who distributed 30 tickets to family members. "My job is to find everybody. We have a lot of weapons on this team."

Most of them, however, were misfiring. The Spurs made only one basket during an 11-minute, 22-second stretch bridging the first and second quarters.

Barry, who has learned a couple of things about poor shooting the past two weeks, helped wake the Spurs from their slump by ending his own. After missing 17 consecutive 3-pointers over the previous six games, he knocked down a 26-footer midway through the third quarter. Three minutes later, he added a toe-on-the line 22-footer.

Barry and Devin Brown, who had 14 points off the bench, helped get the Spurs running. A seven-point lead ballooned to 26. The Spurs pulled away so quickly that the Bulls' stat crew lost count, momentarily neglecting to credit Brown with a basket.

Though the Spurs shot only 41.8 percent overall, they made 10 of 19 3-pointers. Barry didn't see the end of his 0-for-December slide as reason to celebrate.

"But it's better than the alternative, I can tell you that," Barry said. "It's just a matter of finding my way back into playing significant minutes. Right now, Devin's playing great."

Because of the play of Brown and the other reserves, all of the Spurs' starters played less than 30 minutes. Duncan ended his stay in Chicago relaxing on the bench, only a little less comfortable than how he spent Sunday.

Told that he might have brought good luck to the struggling Bears, Duncan smiled.

"I'll come back anytime they want me to."

[timvp]

Interesting. Barry agrees with me. He has to earn his minutes back.

But I thought whottt and T Park said I was hating on him ...

[T Park]

Never did I disagree with Devin should get the minutes and not barry.

I just thought you were banging on him a tad hard.

Damn...

[whottt]

At no point did I say anything about minutes other than it doesn't bother me if Brown gets more minutes. I said it about 10 times! I said it before you even made that thread.

The question I asked, is why is Barry vs Devin and why is it Malik vs Horry...they all want to win a title and it's not like we are talking about who gets to start....

My point is that you were getting just a tad carried away in your criticism...Barry was a toe on the line away from shooting 50% from 3...Yet you stopped just short of holding him responsible for the holocaust. I can understand Barry being his own worst critic...that's part of the reason he is in a funk in the first place...I thought it was awkward when you did the same...Rick.

It seemed to me you were advocating a deep 6 on the bench for Barry like Kerr got frequently...a huge mistake and undeserved IMO. Barry is a better 3 shooter than Devin and he is a better passer than Devin, he is more of a guard than Devin and I don't want him rusted out come playoff time. Just because Kerr finally figured out how to handle that situation doesn't mean Barry will. Meanwhile, cut Devin loose and let him get his confidence. No need to destroy Devin's confidence trying to salvage Barry's because Barry will straighten his problems out on his own.

And on top of that, I wasn't necessarily directing all of my comments at you, ducksVP...but I did address the guys tearing Barry apart in the collective.

I don't care which one comes off the bench first, but of course you give Devin more minutes...why even debate this? We have this depth...use it. When Barry plays better increase his minutes...last night was a sign of him beginning to come out of his funk IMO.

[whottt]

And hey TimVP...Barry is shooting 62% from 2 point range...nearly a 100 points higher than any one else on the team....

[Jimcs50]

And hey TimVP...Barry is shooting 62% from 2 point range...nearly a 100 points higher than any one else on the team....

That is because if he is not shoting 3s, he is dunking,,,that is a high percentage shot. The Spurs did not sign him to shoot 2s, he knows why he is there.

[whottt]

That is because if he is not shoting 3s, he is dunking,,,that is a high percentage shot. The Spurs did not sign him to shoot 2s, he knows why he is there.

That's horse shit...he hasn't dunked yet this season...and he has hit well inside of 3 point range this season, he's got a great mid range shot.....see the Boston game....

[Jimcs50]

That's horse shit...he hasn't dunked yet this season...and he has hit well inside of 3 point range this season, he's got a great mid range shot.....see the Boston game....

I will bet you that he had dunked, deal?

[Jimcs50]

That's horse shit...he hasn't dunked yet this season...and he has hit well inside of 3 point range this season, he's got a great mid range shot.....see the Boston game....

Don't get me wrong, I really like Barry, but have you heard the saying Once bitten Twice Shy? Need I remind you of last year, with Hedo? We were all excited about having a world class shooter on our team for the year and playoffs. We were all patient all year and remained steadfast in our support of him, all thinking that come the playoffs, he would kill LA. Well, we all know what happened to our shooters against LA....it was a brickfest, because the more Hedo missed, the others all caught it from him and they all sucked, and we lost a series we should have won. I do not want that to happen again. Barry needs to step up or we need to deal him away.

[whottt]

I wasn't steadfast in my support of Hedo...you guys proclaimed him the second coming of Jack...and cited his regular season stats...I said, Manu>Hedo, and as for Hedo=Jack...let's wait till the playoffs, and we'll see if he's equal...

Now you guys are wanting to run Barry and citing his regular season stats...and I say...Barry > than he appears to be right now, and as for Barry = Jack, wait till the playoffs, and we'll see if he's equal.

[whottt]

I will bet you that he had dunked, deal?

No fucking way...you still owe me 5 from when you tried to say Wes Unseld was the only guy to win ROY and MVP...

What game did he do it if he did it?

[Jimcs50]

The 4th quarter of the Hawks game at the 7:28 mark. Barry dunked off an assist from Beno.

There are others, but I have to go run now so no time to look them up. BTW, that was the first game I looked up and I found a dunk, so in all probability there are many more.

I did not bet you $5 on any bet. I never bet $5. I might have bet a drink or something, so if I see you at a game, I will buy you some drinks, ok?

[Boulevard1]

Well just to be technical he dunked against Atlanta.

[whottt]

The 4th quarter of the Hawks game at the 7:28 mark. Barry dunked off an assist from Beno.

There are others, but I have to go run now so no time to look them up. BTW, that was the first game I looked up and I found a dunk, so in all probability there are many more.

I did not bet you $5 on any bet. I never bet $5. I might have bet a drink or something, so if I see you at a game, I will buy you some drinks, ok?

No, just consider me having taken you up on this bet and welched back :).

Ok so 1 dunk...I haven't seen him dunk in a game yet and I have seen all but 4 games...That's not the only reason he's shooting 62%...he is hitting his long 2 shots much better than his 3's...and I'm not going to penalize Barry for dunking...more like I'm glad he can...that's a big difference between he and Kerr.

[Jimcs50]

No, just consider me having taken you up on this bet and welched back :).

Ok so 1 dunk...I haven't seen him dunk in a game yet and I have seen all but 4 games...That's not the only reason he's shooting 62%...he is hitting his long 2 shots much better than his 3's...and I'm not going to penalize Barry for dunking...more like I'm glad he can...that's a big difference between he and Kerr.


He has had more dunks, I am sure of it.I am just too lazy to go look.

I did not welch!! The bet was a drink, I will buy you a drink when I see you.

[whottt]

I'll make a bet with any Barry disser...I'm willing to bet that Barry will finish the season shooting much better than he is now...making this silly controversy moot.


Que TimVP post blaming me for his own failure to change my title in
5
4
3
2
1
.........................

[Jimcs50]

I'll make a bet with any Barry disser...I'm willing to bet that Barry will finish the season shooting much better than he is now...making this silly controversy moot.


Que TimVP post blaming me for his own failure to change my title in
5
4
3
2
1
.........................


No bet.

I can shoot better than Barry is now.:)

I too think he will be up to par by allstar break.