duncan228
05-14-2008, 10:57 PM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA051508.Hornets.Chandler.EN.ffaf8e15.html
NBA: Hornets laugh at Chandler's injury, but not his play
Mike Finger
NEW ORLEANS — Tyson Chandler sat in a chair at New Orleans Arena on Wednesday morning, having been excused from participating in on-court drills.
But that didn’t mean he was safe.
To his right, Peja Stojakovic was doing a brand-new Chandler impersonation, complete with loud moans and an exaggerated look of agony on his face. To his left, other members of the Hornets were laughing and carrying on about Chandler’s catastrophic-looking fall the night before.
“The way you were acting,” Hornets assistant coach Darrell Walker said, “I thought you tore up your knee.”
As it turned out, Chandler’s only problem was a sprained toe. He suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s 101-79 Game 5 victory when he tripped over Ime Udoka’s feet and stumbled awkwardly to the floor. He stayed on his back for more than a minute and had to be helped off the court by teammates, and Wednesday he was left defending his reaction to the injury.
“You try to calm yourself and allow the pain to pass,” Chandler said. “And sometimes the pain lasts longer than you would like it to.”
The Spurs probably wouldn’t have minded if it lasted a little longer.
Chandler’s presence was one of the biggest reasons for the Hornets’ improved defensive play in Game 5, as he took the bulk of the responsibility in guarding Tim Duncan and allowed the other New Orleans defenders to clamp down on the rest of the Spurs.
The net result was another blowout home victory for the Hornets, a 5-for-18 night for Duncan, three blocks for Chandler and five blocks for David West.
The Hornets mixed up their defense on Duncan throughout the night, but Chandler proved himself capable of playing him one-on-one when he needed to do it.
“I felt like the last two games in San Antonio we did way too much doubling, and he got accustomed to it,” Chandler said. “So I told the guys, ‘Let me play him straight-up for a while.’.”
Seldom has any defender played Duncan straight-up better than Chandler did on a pivotal possession in the third quarter.
With 7:54 remaining in the quarter and the Hornets leading 55-51, Duncan took the ball in the post, made a quick move to his right and appeared to be on his way to an unobstructed layup. But Chandler, stretching his arm wide and over Duncan’s head, blocked the shot attempt from behind.
“That was pretty impressive,” Hornets coach Byron Scott said. “Especially because it looked like Tim was by him.”
The block proved to be the start of the Spurs’ undoing. New Orleans scored the next nine points — including two on an alley-oop from Chris Paul to Chandler — to put the game out of reach.
Chandler said he could have come back to play in Game 5 if he was needed and said he expects to be ready for Game 6.
David West, who suffered from back spasms on Tuesday, also should be ready to play tonight, Scott said.
So with everyone healthy and set to go, Scott was asked if there was anything he could take from the game tapes from earlier in the series to use tonight.
“Yeah,” Scott said. “We can take the tape and throw it away.”
NBA: Hornets laugh at Chandler's injury, but not his play
Mike Finger
NEW ORLEANS — Tyson Chandler sat in a chair at New Orleans Arena on Wednesday morning, having been excused from participating in on-court drills.
But that didn’t mean he was safe.
To his right, Peja Stojakovic was doing a brand-new Chandler impersonation, complete with loud moans and an exaggerated look of agony on his face. To his left, other members of the Hornets were laughing and carrying on about Chandler’s catastrophic-looking fall the night before.
“The way you were acting,” Hornets assistant coach Darrell Walker said, “I thought you tore up your knee.”
As it turned out, Chandler’s only problem was a sprained toe. He suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s 101-79 Game 5 victory when he tripped over Ime Udoka’s feet and stumbled awkwardly to the floor. He stayed on his back for more than a minute and had to be helped off the court by teammates, and Wednesday he was left defending his reaction to the injury.
“You try to calm yourself and allow the pain to pass,” Chandler said. “And sometimes the pain lasts longer than you would like it to.”
The Spurs probably wouldn’t have minded if it lasted a little longer.
Chandler’s presence was one of the biggest reasons for the Hornets’ improved defensive play in Game 5, as he took the bulk of the responsibility in guarding Tim Duncan and allowed the other New Orleans defenders to clamp down on the rest of the Spurs.
The net result was another blowout home victory for the Hornets, a 5-for-18 night for Duncan, three blocks for Chandler and five blocks for David West.
The Hornets mixed up their defense on Duncan throughout the night, but Chandler proved himself capable of playing him one-on-one when he needed to do it.
“I felt like the last two games in San Antonio we did way too much doubling, and he got accustomed to it,” Chandler said. “So I told the guys, ‘Let me play him straight-up for a while.’.”
Seldom has any defender played Duncan straight-up better than Chandler did on a pivotal possession in the third quarter.
With 7:54 remaining in the quarter and the Hornets leading 55-51, Duncan took the ball in the post, made a quick move to his right and appeared to be on his way to an unobstructed layup. But Chandler, stretching his arm wide and over Duncan’s head, blocked the shot attempt from behind.
“That was pretty impressive,” Hornets coach Byron Scott said. “Especially because it looked like Tim was by him.”
The block proved to be the start of the Spurs’ undoing. New Orleans scored the next nine points — including two on an alley-oop from Chris Paul to Chandler — to put the game out of reach.
Chandler said he could have come back to play in Game 5 if he was needed and said he expects to be ready for Game 6.
David West, who suffered from back spasms on Tuesday, also should be ready to play tonight, Scott said.
So with everyone healthy and set to go, Scott was asked if there was anything he could take from the game tapes from earlier in the series to use tonight.
“Yeah,” Scott said. “We can take the tape and throw it away.”