1Parker1
04-19-2008, 10:45 PM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA042008.01C.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.387b55b.html
Shaquille O'Neal still talks a good game. Give him that.
"Hopefully, those guys will compete," he said of the Spurs, "rather than just fall down."
The Spurs were falling down, usually after bouncing off of Shaq for layups. The Spurs scored a remarkable 72 points in the paint, just as they have in past playoff series against the Suns.
The blockbuster trade changed Phoenix, all right.
Now they have a 325-pound, sweaty, bald man watching as the Spurs score.
Shaq's postgame tone differed from his coach's. Mike D'Antoni wasn't frustrated or angry or defensive, and he's been all three before.
"I guess they are not going to go easy," he joked of the Spurs.
D'Antoni understood it took a few mini-miracles to beat his team. D'Antoni also felt what he felt last year — that the Suns should have won.
The Suns had double-digit leads as Tony Parker stumbled around with a quasi-concussion, and they seemed as in control at the end of regulation. Then Gregg Popovich went against his usual strategy when behind by three points, and what followed with Michael Finley was planned.
What came at the end of the first overtime wasn't. Tim Duncan? With his first 3-pointer of the season?
"We were telling him," Brent Barry said, "it's about time you did something like that." :lol
Duncan from long is what this game will be remembered for, when it was really about Duncan from close. He scored with his left, with one-step drives, with offensive rebounds. Along the way, he put the Phoenix frontline in foul trouble and did just as much damage to the pre-series theme.
O'Neal, after all, was brought in to solve the Duncan problem for Phoenix, and two games against the Spurs said as much. Then Duncan was 15 of 40.
Shaq has had this effect on Duncan at times in the past, too. In his prime, Shaq was an amazing combination of power and quickness, and he made a few all-defensive second teams.
But Shaq has also been notorious for not defending pick-and-rolls, and he wasn't always a Duncan stopper. When the Spurs eliminated the Lakers in Game 6 of the 2003 playoffs, in Los Angeles, Shaq moved over to Duncan — and Duncan scored 11 straight on his way to 37 points.
He would have had 40, as he did Saturday, but a late 3-pointer wasn't necessary.
Now Shaq is slower, as likely to get a block as he was a goaltending call that made good a Finley 3-pointer. Going by the latest results, Duncan's aging process is going in the opposite direction of Miguel Tejada's.
But it wasn't just what Duncan did inside. As the game went on, and the Spurs stuck to their pound-the-rock mantra, Manu Ginobili and Parker took turns making layups, many of them around Shaq.
Shaq's excuse Saturday was foul trouble, as well as the Spurs' style. "The floppers prevailed," Shaq said.
Phil Jackson used to spin the officiating the same way. Jackson also tried to protect his center; Shaq rarely guarded Duncan in those days until the fourth quarter because the Lakers were afraid he would get in foul trouble.
The fear is real. In the two games earlier this season, when Shaq held down Duncan, Shaq finished with a combined nine fouls.
Shaq likely suffered a foul he didn't deserve Saturday, but in the final minute of regulation he should have had his sixth. Then Ginobili drove and Shaq got away with a shove. When the Suns scored, going up by three, the no-call appeared critical.
Then came the first of two Amare Stoudemire brain locks. First, he held on to the ball as the 24-shot clock expired.
Finley's three followed and, at the end of the first overtime, Stoudemire had a similar chance. With the Suns again ahead by three points, with the ball at the free-throw line, Stoudemire chose to lunge at the basket.
Kurt Thomas, playing the role of the smart veteran, took the charge. Oh, those floppers.
Duncan's three followed that, and Steve Nash matched that at the end of the second overtime. Would this be the day that Nash, the recipient of both the bloody nose and the hip-check, got back at the Spurs?
Ginobili instead took the ball and drove, with Stoudemire fouled out and Shaq on the bench, and the Suns reacted Saturday as they have in this era. No one came over to help.
Just as it was before Shaq arrived.
Shaquille O'Neal still talks a good game. Give him that.
"Hopefully, those guys will compete," he said of the Spurs, "rather than just fall down."
The Spurs were falling down, usually after bouncing off of Shaq for layups. The Spurs scored a remarkable 72 points in the paint, just as they have in past playoff series against the Suns.
The blockbuster trade changed Phoenix, all right.
Now they have a 325-pound, sweaty, bald man watching as the Spurs score.
Shaq's postgame tone differed from his coach's. Mike D'Antoni wasn't frustrated or angry or defensive, and he's been all three before.
"I guess they are not going to go easy," he joked of the Spurs.
D'Antoni understood it took a few mini-miracles to beat his team. D'Antoni also felt what he felt last year — that the Suns should have won.
The Suns had double-digit leads as Tony Parker stumbled around with a quasi-concussion, and they seemed as in control at the end of regulation. Then Gregg Popovich went against his usual strategy when behind by three points, and what followed with Michael Finley was planned.
What came at the end of the first overtime wasn't. Tim Duncan? With his first 3-pointer of the season?
"We were telling him," Brent Barry said, "it's about time you did something like that." :lol
Duncan from long is what this game will be remembered for, when it was really about Duncan from close. He scored with his left, with one-step drives, with offensive rebounds. Along the way, he put the Phoenix frontline in foul trouble and did just as much damage to the pre-series theme.
O'Neal, after all, was brought in to solve the Duncan problem for Phoenix, and two games against the Spurs said as much. Then Duncan was 15 of 40.
Shaq has had this effect on Duncan at times in the past, too. In his prime, Shaq was an amazing combination of power and quickness, and he made a few all-defensive second teams.
But Shaq has also been notorious for not defending pick-and-rolls, and he wasn't always a Duncan stopper. When the Spurs eliminated the Lakers in Game 6 of the 2003 playoffs, in Los Angeles, Shaq moved over to Duncan — and Duncan scored 11 straight on his way to 37 points.
He would have had 40, as he did Saturday, but a late 3-pointer wasn't necessary.
Now Shaq is slower, as likely to get a block as he was a goaltending call that made good a Finley 3-pointer. Going by the latest results, Duncan's aging process is going in the opposite direction of Miguel Tejada's.
But it wasn't just what Duncan did inside. As the game went on, and the Spurs stuck to their pound-the-rock mantra, Manu Ginobili and Parker took turns making layups, many of them around Shaq.
Shaq's excuse Saturday was foul trouble, as well as the Spurs' style. "The floppers prevailed," Shaq said.
Phil Jackson used to spin the officiating the same way. Jackson also tried to protect his center; Shaq rarely guarded Duncan in those days until the fourth quarter because the Lakers were afraid he would get in foul trouble.
The fear is real. In the two games earlier this season, when Shaq held down Duncan, Shaq finished with a combined nine fouls.
Shaq likely suffered a foul he didn't deserve Saturday, but in the final minute of regulation he should have had his sixth. Then Ginobili drove and Shaq got away with a shove. When the Suns scored, going up by three, the no-call appeared critical.
Then came the first of two Amare Stoudemire brain locks. First, he held on to the ball as the 24-shot clock expired.
Finley's three followed and, at the end of the first overtime, Stoudemire had a similar chance. With the Suns again ahead by three points, with the ball at the free-throw line, Stoudemire chose to lunge at the basket.
Kurt Thomas, playing the role of the smart veteran, took the charge. Oh, those floppers.
Duncan's three followed that, and Steve Nash matched that at the end of the second overtime. Would this be the day that Nash, the recipient of both the bloody nose and the hip-check, got back at the Spurs?
Ginobili instead took the ball and drove, with Stoudemire fouled out and Shaq on the bench, and the Suns reacted Saturday as they have in this era. No one came over to help.
Just as it was before Shaq arrived.