duncan228
04-21-2008, 11:29 PM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA042208.1DspursMAIN_0422.en.37f7796.html
NBA: Spurs, Suns ready to get back to task at hand
Jeff McDonald
Express-News Staff Writer
The space between Game 1 and Game 2 of any playoff series can be a tense and fascinating time. Given ample occasion to digest film and tinker with schemes, coaches tend to make some significant adjustments during that interim.
With two days to prepare, there's no telling what coach Gregg Popovich has cooked up for Game 2 of the Spurs' first-round Western Conference series tonight against Phoenix — only what he hasn't.
It's a safe bet Popovich did not spend the off days crafting ways to get Tim Duncan another open 3-pointer.
"I don't believe there's going to be a whole lot of 3-point shooting from me," Duncan said Monday, chuckling.
Duncan's improbable bomb sent Saturday's Game 1 into double overtime, from which the Spurs emerged with a 117-115 victory and a paradox. In a game that will be most remembered for a big man's 3-pointer, the Spurs actually won it much closer to the rim.
The Spurs scored 72 points in the paint, including 50 after halftime. Duncan finished with 40 points and got 37 of them from inside the 3-point arc.
At times, Tony Parker (26 points) and Manu Ginobili (24) looked like they never left the pregame layup line.
If Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni could make one adjustment going into Game 2 at the AT&T Center, it would be this: Find a way to interrupt the Spurs' parade route to the basket.
He admits that task to be easier said than done.
"Tony Parker has made a living at the rim," D'Antoni said. "No one's figured it out yet. There are going to be times in the game he gets to the rim, and there are going to be times that Ginobili gets to the rim. That's life."
In all likelihood, the Suns will adjust the way they attack the Spurs' pick-and-roll, and this is where the off-day chess match comes in. It will be up to the Spurs to counter-adjust accordingly.
"They looked at film, we looked at film, everybody goes and looks at film," Popovich said. "You just try to get it as perfect as you can be, I guess."
Even the best-laid plans can't account for some contingencies.
Foul trouble decimated the Suns' stable of big men in Game 1, sending shot-blockers Amare Stoudemire, Shaquille O'Neal and Boris Diaw to the bench for long stretches. Even when one or more was in the game, fouls forced them to play with restraint.
Stoudemire fouled out in the first overtime, though he should be used to this by now. Often, he seems to pick up two just by getting off the bus.
O'Neal and Diaw, meanwhile, finished with five fouls apiece, signaling open season on the Suns' lane.
Part of this was in the Spurs' game plan, and it will be again tonight.
"We're going to try and do the same things," said Parker, who was no worse for wear Monday after taking a knee to the head early in Game 1. "We're going to be aggressive and try to attack the basket and try to get them in foul trouble early."
The Suns' too-full foul ledger came into play at Game 1's decisive moment.
With the score tied in the last seconds of the second OT, Ginobili took the ball one-on-one against Raja Bell. He knew if he could just get by his defender, he'd have an easy finish.
Why?
"I knew Shaq and Amare weren't there," Ginobili said.
Stoudemire had already fouled out. O'Neal had been pulled lest he earn a disqualification of his own.
After Ginobili slipped by Bell, there was nobody to meet him at the rim. His running bank shot with 1.8 seconds to go ended the game.
If not for foul trouble, Bell said, "our bigs can be more aggressive. Sometimes that's the difference in a guy coming in and hitting a floater off the glass."
Then, there is Duncan, who had his way inside when he wasn't shooting 100 percent from the 3-point line.
On Monday, Duncan joked that he's ready to really test his shooting range. He said he'd take a chance from mid-court if need be.
The Suns would just as soon let him try. To them, anything beats the conga line to the basket they witnessed in Game 1.
"We need to do a better job on the pick-and-rolls and on Duncan's post-up," D'Antoni said. "That's no secret. But wanting to do a better job and doing a better job are two different things."
NBA: Spurs, Suns ready to get back to task at hand
Jeff McDonald
Express-News Staff Writer
The space between Game 1 and Game 2 of any playoff series can be a tense and fascinating time. Given ample occasion to digest film and tinker with schemes, coaches tend to make some significant adjustments during that interim.
With two days to prepare, there's no telling what coach Gregg Popovich has cooked up for Game 2 of the Spurs' first-round Western Conference series tonight against Phoenix — only what he hasn't.
It's a safe bet Popovich did not spend the off days crafting ways to get Tim Duncan another open 3-pointer.
"I don't believe there's going to be a whole lot of 3-point shooting from me," Duncan said Monday, chuckling.
Duncan's improbable bomb sent Saturday's Game 1 into double overtime, from which the Spurs emerged with a 117-115 victory and a paradox. In a game that will be most remembered for a big man's 3-pointer, the Spurs actually won it much closer to the rim.
The Spurs scored 72 points in the paint, including 50 after halftime. Duncan finished with 40 points and got 37 of them from inside the 3-point arc.
At times, Tony Parker (26 points) and Manu Ginobili (24) looked like they never left the pregame layup line.
If Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni could make one adjustment going into Game 2 at the AT&T Center, it would be this: Find a way to interrupt the Spurs' parade route to the basket.
He admits that task to be easier said than done.
"Tony Parker has made a living at the rim," D'Antoni said. "No one's figured it out yet. There are going to be times in the game he gets to the rim, and there are going to be times that Ginobili gets to the rim. That's life."
In all likelihood, the Suns will adjust the way they attack the Spurs' pick-and-roll, and this is where the off-day chess match comes in. It will be up to the Spurs to counter-adjust accordingly.
"They looked at film, we looked at film, everybody goes and looks at film," Popovich said. "You just try to get it as perfect as you can be, I guess."
Even the best-laid plans can't account for some contingencies.
Foul trouble decimated the Suns' stable of big men in Game 1, sending shot-blockers Amare Stoudemire, Shaquille O'Neal and Boris Diaw to the bench for long stretches. Even when one or more was in the game, fouls forced them to play with restraint.
Stoudemire fouled out in the first overtime, though he should be used to this by now. Often, he seems to pick up two just by getting off the bus.
O'Neal and Diaw, meanwhile, finished with five fouls apiece, signaling open season on the Suns' lane.
Part of this was in the Spurs' game plan, and it will be again tonight.
"We're going to try and do the same things," said Parker, who was no worse for wear Monday after taking a knee to the head early in Game 1. "We're going to be aggressive and try to attack the basket and try to get them in foul trouble early."
The Suns' too-full foul ledger came into play at Game 1's decisive moment.
With the score tied in the last seconds of the second OT, Ginobili took the ball one-on-one against Raja Bell. He knew if he could just get by his defender, he'd have an easy finish.
Why?
"I knew Shaq and Amare weren't there," Ginobili said.
Stoudemire had already fouled out. O'Neal had been pulled lest he earn a disqualification of his own.
After Ginobili slipped by Bell, there was nobody to meet him at the rim. His running bank shot with 1.8 seconds to go ended the game.
If not for foul trouble, Bell said, "our bigs can be more aggressive. Sometimes that's the difference in a guy coming in and hitting a floater off the glass."
Then, there is Duncan, who had his way inside when he wasn't shooting 100 percent from the 3-point line.
On Monday, Duncan joked that he's ready to really test his shooting range. He said he'd take a chance from mid-court if need be.
The Suns would just as soon let him try. To them, anything beats the conga line to the basket they witnessed in Game 1.
"We need to do a better job on the pick-and-rolls and on Duncan's post-up," D'Antoni said. "That's no secret. But wanting to do a better job and doing a better job are two different things."