duncan228
05-18-2008, 11:12 PM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA051908.1D.BKNspurs.hornets.adv7.37bc597.html
Spurs-Hornets Game 7: At a fork in the road
By Jeff McDonald
NEW ORLEANS — Maybe it is an adverse reaction to all the seafood gumbo, or a paralyzing aversion to one shade of gold in particular. Or maybe it is the reverse of the Denver effect, something about the rigors of playing basketball below sea level.
The Spurs couldn't begin to explain the cause of their sudden struggles in New Orleans.
“No idea,” point guard Tony Parker said, “especially with this team and all the years of winning championships.”
The Spurs just hope they've got the problem diagnosed by the time they take the court at New Orleans Arena tonight. Otherwise, they will be facing the early demise of their NBA title defense.
Tonight, in a decisive Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals, the Spurs will take their fourth — and final — shot at winning a playoff game in the Big Easy this season.
Both teams have feasted on home cooking in this series, with the home team winning by an average of 18 points. It is in line with what has been happening elsewhere in these NBA playoffs — so far in the second round, the home team is 22-2.
The Spurs' path toward bucking the trend begins somewhere in their own minds.
“We can forget about what's in the stands,” guard Manu Ginobili said. “Inside the court, we are going to be 5-on-5. We've got to make the shots. We've got to guard better than them. That's it.”
With a gold-clad New Orleans crowd “fanned up,” to co-opt a team marketing slogan, there has been no place like home for the Hornets this postseason. They have yet to lose a game in the rowdy confines of New Orleans Arena.
The Spurs have had a hand in the Hornets' home-court dominance: They have averaged 18 fewer points and shot nearly 10 percent worse from the field on the road than at home in the series.
The Spurs have been dominant at home, winning by 11, 19 and 20. They have been dominated in New Orleans, losing by 18, 19 and 22.
“We'd like that trend to end,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “Maybe the percentages will go the other way. They can't keep going this way.”
That idea plays into how the Spurs have always viewed Game 7s — “a lottery,” Ginobili once called them. Anything can happen.
For that reason, New Orleans coach Byron Scott, who played in seven Game 7s in his 14-year career, would have preferred his team finish off the Spurs in Game 6 in San Antonio.
The last thing he wanted was to endure an elimination game against the defending champs, no matter where it is to be played.
“It's like playing with fire,” Scott said, with no Super Hugo pun intended.
The winner of tonight's Game 7 will earn a Game 1 date in the conference finals against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.
For the Spurs, it will be the third Game 7 in the past four seasons. They are 1-1 in them, having defeated Detroit in the decisive game of the 2005 NBA Finals and lost to Dallas in overtime in the finale of the 2006 Western Conference semifinals.
The Spurs never have won a Game 7 on the road, with their last attempt coming in the 1990 conference semifinals at Portland. That loss ended David Robinson's rookie season.
The Hornets' Game 7 résumé runs a little shorter. Only one player on the New Orleans roster — a little-used bench player named Mike James — has played in one.
Of course, to this point, the Spurs' experience advantage hasn't been enough to overcome New Orleans' home-court advantage.
“If we can't keep it close, experience can't help us,” Parker said.
Spurs guard Michael Finley, a veteran of four Game 7s, says the prescription for the Spurs' Big Easy blues is threefold.
“We need a good beginning, good middle and good end,” Finley said.
Popovich agrees.
“As trite as it sounds, it's about playing well for 48 minutes,” Popovich said. “It's about keeping composure, continuing to be aggressive. At that point, players play well or they don't, or you make shots or you don't, and you live with the outcome.”
True to any lottery, fate will have the last word in Game 7.
Still, the Spurs would be wise to avoid the gumbo. Just in case.
Spurs-Hornets Game 7: At a fork in the road
By Jeff McDonald
NEW ORLEANS — Maybe it is an adverse reaction to all the seafood gumbo, or a paralyzing aversion to one shade of gold in particular. Or maybe it is the reverse of the Denver effect, something about the rigors of playing basketball below sea level.
The Spurs couldn't begin to explain the cause of their sudden struggles in New Orleans.
“No idea,” point guard Tony Parker said, “especially with this team and all the years of winning championships.”
The Spurs just hope they've got the problem diagnosed by the time they take the court at New Orleans Arena tonight. Otherwise, they will be facing the early demise of their NBA title defense.
Tonight, in a decisive Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals, the Spurs will take their fourth — and final — shot at winning a playoff game in the Big Easy this season.
Both teams have feasted on home cooking in this series, with the home team winning by an average of 18 points. It is in line with what has been happening elsewhere in these NBA playoffs — so far in the second round, the home team is 22-2.
The Spurs' path toward bucking the trend begins somewhere in their own minds.
“We can forget about what's in the stands,” guard Manu Ginobili said. “Inside the court, we are going to be 5-on-5. We've got to make the shots. We've got to guard better than them. That's it.”
With a gold-clad New Orleans crowd “fanned up,” to co-opt a team marketing slogan, there has been no place like home for the Hornets this postseason. They have yet to lose a game in the rowdy confines of New Orleans Arena.
The Spurs have had a hand in the Hornets' home-court dominance: They have averaged 18 fewer points and shot nearly 10 percent worse from the field on the road than at home in the series.
The Spurs have been dominant at home, winning by 11, 19 and 20. They have been dominated in New Orleans, losing by 18, 19 and 22.
“We'd like that trend to end,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “Maybe the percentages will go the other way. They can't keep going this way.”
That idea plays into how the Spurs have always viewed Game 7s — “a lottery,” Ginobili once called them. Anything can happen.
For that reason, New Orleans coach Byron Scott, who played in seven Game 7s in his 14-year career, would have preferred his team finish off the Spurs in Game 6 in San Antonio.
The last thing he wanted was to endure an elimination game against the defending champs, no matter where it is to be played.
“It's like playing with fire,” Scott said, with no Super Hugo pun intended.
The winner of tonight's Game 7 will earn a Game 1 date in the conference finals against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.
For the Spurs, it will be the third Game 7 in the past four seasons. They are 1-1 in them, having defeated Detroit in the decisive game of the 2005 NBA Finals and lost to Dallas in overtime in the finale of the 2006 Western Conference semifinals.
The Spurs never have won a Game 7 on the road, with their last attempt coming in the 1990 conference semifinals at Portland. That loss ended David Robinson's rookie season.
The Hornets' Game 7 résumé runs a little shorter. Only one player on the New Orleans roster — a little-used bench player named Mike James — has played in one.
Of course, to this point, the Spurs' experience advantage hasn't been enough to overcome New Orleans' home-court advantage.
“If we can't keep it close, experience can't help us,” Parker said.
Spurs guard Michael Finley, a veteran of four Game 7s, says the prescription for the Spurs' Big Easy blues is threefold.
“We need a good beginning, good middle and good end,” Finley said.
Popovich agrees.
“As trite as it sounds, it's about playing well for 48 minutes,” Popovich said. “It's about keeping composure, continuing to be aggressive. At that point, players play well or they don't, or you make shots or you don't, and you live with the outcome.”
True to any lottery, fate will have the last word in Game 7.
Still, the Spurs would be wise to avoid the gumbo. Just in case.