some_user86
04-20-2008, 01:47 AM
Buck Harvey: The same drama, the same outcome, and the same Suns
Web Posted: 04/20/2008 12:05 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
Shaquille O'Neal has changed the Suns. Now they complain more than they used to.
"The floppers prevailed," Shaq said.
That's Shaq. He's from the Phil Jackson school of spin, where an analysis of officiating is required after every playoff loss.
"Hopefully, those guys will compete," he said of the Spurs, "rather than just fall down."
The Spurs fell down — usually after bouncing off of Shaq after another successful layup. The Spurs scored a remarkable 72 points in the paint, similar to past playoff series against Phoenix, and that defines how Shaq has changed the Suns.
Now there's 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. This time D'Antoni knew he was part of something special.
"I guess they are not going to go easy," he joked of the Spurs.
D'Antoni might feel worse when he reviews the tape, because the Suns should have won, just as they should have won last year. They had double-digit leads as Tony Parker stumbled around with a quasi-concussion, and they seemed as in control at the end of regulation.
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. A rivalry that had produced the Nash Gash and the Horry Hip-check came with another dramatic nickname. The Tim Trey.
Or, as Brent Barry kidded Tim Duncan, "It's about time you did something like that."
Duncan's first three of the season is what this game will be remembered for, when it was really about what Duncan did inside. He scored with his left and one-step drives, and along the way he put the Phoenix frontline in foul trouble.
He did as much damage to the pre-series theme. O'Neal, after all, was brought in to solve the Duncan problem for Phoenix, and two earlier games against the Spurs said that was happening. Then Duncan was 15 of 40.
Still, Shaq has always been notorious for not defending pick-and-rolls, and he wasn't a Duncan stopper even in his prime. When the Spurs eliminated the Lakers in the 2003 playoffs, 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.
Shaq is still capable of an impressive dunk and a few blocks. But he's clearly slower than he was in 2003, while Duncan isn't. Going by Saturday, 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, many of them uncontested.
Shaq's excuse Saturday was officiating and the Spurs' tactics, and he might have had a call or two go against him. This wasn't a top-tier officiating crew in the AT&T Center.
But just as Jackson taught him this, 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 also finished with a combined nine fouls.
If Shaq suffered a foul he didn't deserve Saturday, then he should have gotten his sixth in the final minute of regulation. Ginobili drove and Shaq got away with a shove. When the Suns scored, going up by three, the no-call appeared critical.
Finley's three followed and, at the end of the first overtime, Amare Stoudemire had a chance to end the game. 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 took the charge, and it was no flop. It was smart taking advantage of dumb.
Duncan's three came after that, and Steve Nash matched him 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 before. No one came over to help.
Just as it was before Shaq arrived.
[email protected]
LINK: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA042008.01C.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.387b55b.html
Web Posted: 04/20/2008 12:05 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
Shaquille O'Neal has changed the Suns. Now they complain more than they used to.
"The floppers prevailed," Shaq said.
That's Shaq. He's from the Phil Jackson school of spin, where an analysis of officiating is required after every playoff loss.
"Hopefully, those guys will compete," he said of the Spurs, "rather than just fall down."
The Spurs fell down — usually after bouncing off of Shaq after another successful layup. The Spurs scored a remarkable 72 points in the paint, similar to past playoff series against Phoenix, and that defines how Shaq has changed the Suns.
Now there's 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. This time D'Antoni knew he was part of something special.
"I guess they are not going to go easy," he joked of the Spurs.
D'Antoni might feel worse when he reviews the tape, because the Suns should have won, just as they should have won last year. They had double-digit leads as Tony Parker stumbled around with a quasi-concussion, and they seemed as in control at the end of regulation.
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. A rivalry that had produced the Nash Gash and the Horry Hip-check came with another dramatic nickname. The Tim Trey.
Or, as Brent Barry kidded Tim Duncan, "It's about time you did something like that."
Duncan's first three of the season is what this game will be remembered for, when it was really about what Duncan did inside. He scored with his left and one-step drives, and along the way he put the Phoenix frontline in foul trouble.
He did as much damage to the pre-series theme. O'Neal, after all, was brought in to solve the Duncan problem for Phoenix, and two earlier games against the Spurs said that was happening. Then Duncan was 15 of 40.
Still, Shaq has always been notorious for not defending pick-and-rolls, and he wasn't a Duncan stopper even in his prime. When the Spurs eliminated the Lakers in the 2003 playoffs, 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.
Shaq is still capable of an impressive dunk and a few blocks. But he's clearly slower than he was in 2003, while Duncan isn't. Going by Saturday, 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, many of them uncontested.
Shaq's excuse Saturday was officiating and the Spurs' tactics, and he might have had a call or two go against him. This wasn't a top-tier officiating crew in the AT&T Center.
But just as Jackson taught him this, 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 also finished with a combined nine fouls.
If Shaq suffered a foul he didn't deserve Saturday, then he should have gotten his sixth in the final minute of regulation. Ginobili drove and Shaq got away with a shove. When the Suns scored, going up by three, the no-call appeared critical.
Finley's three followed and, at the end of the first overtime, Amare Stoudemire had a chance to end the game. 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 took the charge, and it was no flop. It was smart taking advantage of dumb.
Duncan's three came after that, and Steve Nash matched him 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 before. No one came over to help.
Just as it was before Shaq arrived.
[email protected]
LINK: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA042008.01C.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.387b55b.html