duncan228
05-09-2008, 11:20 PM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA050908.06C.BKNspurs.oberto.3519e71.html
Stat sheet doesn't do justice to Oberto's contributions for Spurs
By Mike Monroe
Express-News
Before each Hornets game, assistant coach Darrell Walker fills a whiteboard in the team's locker room with reminders about how to beat the Spurs.
Even after hours of watching videotape, the coaching staff relies on the hand-written word to reinforce the message. Each player's strengths, weaknesses and tendencies are broken down, reiterated with fat Sharpies.
Some Spurs, though, are easier to condense into a few words than others.
Walker's prompt about Spurs center Fabricio Oberto is straightforward and simple.
“That's a player,” Walker said before the Hornets set out Friday morning to tweak their approach after the Spurs, with a big assist from Oberto, scored a 110-99 victory in Game 3 on Thursday night. “A smart player.”
Check the box score from Game 3 and Oberto's contribution is nearly impossible to quantify. In just under 25 minutes of court time, he took only three shots and scored only two points.
But he played solid interior defense against All-Star power forward David West.
He grabbed nine rebounds and kept two more alive by tipping them out to teammates. That helped the Spurs gain a tiny advantage on the boards against one of the NBA's best offensive rebounding units.
He was most proud of his defensive work.
“Sometimes when you see us trying to be more aggressive on defense that is the main factor,” he said. “And when you do a good job on the boards, it just helps each other. Sometimes maybe it looks like you are not part of the team, but it's teamwork. I think the team really focused really well on that.
“Fifty-six (points) I think was a lot for our defense to give in the first half, and that was the main thing we focused on in the second half.”
Yielding only 43 in the second half gave the Spurs the cushion they needed to get their first victory of the series, and Oberto contributed two assists during the fourth-quarter surge that cemented their victory, including a pass to fellow Argentine Manu Ginobili for the biggest play of the fourth quarter.
With strong position in the low left block, Oberto took a pass from Tim Duncan for what most believed would be a move on the basket.
Instead, Oberto glimpsed Ginobili running to an open spot behind the 3-point line.
Passing up a short jumper for a Ginobili 3-pointer, he said, was an easy decision.
“I saw him from my right side running for the three,” Oberto said, “and I saw that Mo Peterson was inside the paint, clogging everything. And so that was it.
“When you pass the ball out to Manu, that is always a good play. Three points instead of two, and I always will want to pass to him out there when he is running alone.”
Ginobili nailed the wide-open 3-pointer and turned it into a four-point play after Bonzi Wells, racing to contest the shot, ran into him after he released the ball.
“That's one thing that I always put up there on the board, that he's a really good interior passer,” Walker said. “That pass to Ginobili, and another one from the top (of the key), a bounce pass to Tim, were great passes.
“Every coach in the league would like to have a guy like that on their team.”
Bruce Bowen, no stranger to having his effort go unnoticed, said all of Oberto's teammates understand his value rarely is reflected in the box score.
“Sometimes his stats don't appear on a piece of paper,” Bowen said. “Then you get in the film session and see the things he's done, you say, ‘Wow, look at Fab. That play was awesome.'
“And then a little later, you're saying it again.”
Stat sheet doesn't do justice to Oberto's contributions for Spurs
By Mike Monroe
Express-News
Before each Hornets game, assistant coach Darrell Walker fills a whiteboard in the team's locker room with reminders about how to beat the Spurs.
Even after hours of watching videotape, the coaching staff relies on the hand-written word to reinforce the message. Each player's strengths, weaknesses and tendencies are broken down, reiterated with fat Sharpies.
Some Spurs, though, are easier to condense into a few words than others.
Walker's prompt about Spurs center Fabricio Oberto is straightforward and simple.
“That's a player,” Walker said before the Hornets set out Friday morning to tweak their approach after the Spurs, with a big assist from Oberto, scored a 110-99 victory in Game 3 on Thursday night. “A smart player.”
Check the box score from Game 3 and Oberto's contribution is nearly impossible to quantify. In just under 25 minutes of court time, he took only three shots and scored only two points.
But he played solid interior defense against All-Star power forward David West.
He grabbed nine rebounds and kept two more alive by tipping them out to teammates. That helped the Spurs gain a tiny advantage on the boards against one of the NBA's best offensive rebounding units.
He was most proud of his defensive work.
“Sometimes when you see us trying to be more aggressive on defense that is the main factor,” he said. “And when you do a good job on the boards, it just helps each other. Sometimes maybe it looks like you are not part of the team, but it's teamwork. I think the team really focused really well on that.
“Fifty-six (points) I think was a lot for our defense to give in the first half, and that was the main thing we focused on in the second half.”
Yielding only 43 in the second half gave the Spurs the cushion they needed to get their first victory of the series, and Oberto contributed two assists during the fourth-quarter surge that cemented their victory, including a pass to fellow Argentine Manu Ginobili for the biggest play of the fourth quarter.
With strong position in the low left block, Oberto took a pass from Tim Duncan for what most believed would be a move on the basket.
Instead, Oberto glimpsed Ginobili running to an open spot behind the 3-point line.
Passing up a short jumper for a Ginobili 3-pointer, he said, was an easy decision.
“I saw him from my right side running for the three,” Oberto said, “and I saw that Mo Peterson was inside the paint, clogging everything. And so that was it.
“When you pass the ball out to Manu, that is always a good play. Three points instead of two, and I always will want to pass to him out there when he is running alone.”
Ginobili nailed the wide-open 3-pointer and turned it into a four-point play after Bonzi Wells, racing to contest the shot, ran into him after he released the ball.
“That's one thing that I always put up there on the board, that he's a really good interior passer,” Walker said. “That pass to Ginobili, and another one from the top (of the key), a bounce pass to Tim, were great passes.
“Every coach in the league would like to have a guy like that on their team.”
Bruce Bowen, no stranger to having his effort go unnoticed, said all of Oberto's teammates understand his value rarely is reflected in the box score.
“Sometimes his stats don't appear on a piece of paper,” Bowen said. “Then you get in the film session and see the things he's done, you say, ‘Wow, look at Fab. That play was awesome.'
“And then a little later, you're saying it again.”