duncan228
04-29-2008, 02:00 PM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA042908.spurs-keystovictory.en.ada3126c.html
Spurs: Game 5 keys to victory
Jeff McDonald
Express-News Staff Writer
Match the desperation: The Suns performed in Game 4 as if their playoff lives depended on it, which of course they did. They will be no less desperate in Game 5.
All the Suns’ resounding victory Sunday afternoon did was give them another elimination game to win.
Mathematically, the Suns still have little chance at surviving this series. It will be up to the Spurs to remind them of such.
The key could be in the start: The Spurs have fallen into a double-digit hole in the first half of three of four games. A start more in line with Game 3, when they led by 14 in the first quarter, might get Suns thinking about their summer vacations.
Be like Bullwinkle: Like the famous cartoon moose, the Spurs have issues with a man named Boris. In the context of this series, that would be Boris Diaw, the 6-foot-8 French Phoenix forward who has suddenly turned into a Tony Parker stopper.
Diaw had success in Game 4 harassing Parker’s drives. He also proved a tough cover on the offensive end, typically posting up the smaller guards sent to defend him. The Spurs need to find a solution to Diaw on both ends of the floor in order to win Game 5. Bullwinkle never had it so tough.
Transition, transition, transition: After the Spurs won Game 3 in a rout, coach Gregg Popovich did what he does best. He grumbled about their defense. Particularly, he thought the Spurs’ performance in transition was “sloppy.”
That didn’t improve much in Game 4, so Spurs coaches will keep harping on the subject. If the Suns can’t score in transition, they can’t win. Plain and simple.
Spurs: Game 5 keys to victory
Jeff McDonald
Express-News Staff Writer
Match the desperation: The Suns performed in Game 4 as if their playoff lives depended on it, which of course they did. They will be no less desperate in Game 5.
All the Suns’ resounding victory Sunday afternoon did was give them another elimination game to win.
Mathematically, the Suns still have little chance at surviving this series. It will be up to the Spurs to remind them of such.
The key could be in the start: The Spurs have fallen into a double-digit hole in the first half of three of four games. A start more in line with Game 3, when they led by 14 in the first quarter, might get Suns thinking about their summer vacations.
Be like Bullwinkle: Like the famous cartoon moose, the Spurs have issues with a man named Boris. In the context of this series, that would be Boris Diaw, the 6-foot-8 French Phoenix forward who has suddenly turned into a Tony Parker stopper.
Diaw had success in Game 4 harassing Parker’s drives. He also proved a tough cover on the offensive end, typically posting up the smaller guards sent to defend him. The Spurs need to find a solution to Diaw on both ends of the floor in order to win Game 5. Bullwinkle never had it so tough.
Transition, transition, transition: After the Spurs won Game 3 in a rout, coach Gregg Popovich did what he does best. He grumbled about their defense. Particularly, he thought the Spurs’ performance in transition was “sloppy.”
That didn’t improve much in Game 4, so Spurs coaches will keep harping on the subject. If the Suns can’t score in transition, they can’t win. Plain and simple.