Dex
05-27-2008, 09:55 AM
Spurs: Tale of Big Threes key to series
Web Posted: 05/26/2008 11:03 PM CDT
By Jeff McDonald
[email protected]
There was a box score on the table at the interview podium after Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, but Gregg Popovich didn’t need to look at it.
No sheet of paper, no set of numbers, could tell him any more about how his team had defended Lakers guard Kobe Bryant than his eyes already had.
The Spurs had done a good job on Bryant. He only had 30 points.
“We’re never going to stop him,” Popovich said. “We just want to make him work.”
It is a series that no man — not even the Popovich-proclaimed “best player on the planet” — can win alone. The Spurs’ plan, much as it was with New Orleans’ Chris Paul in the conference semifinals, has been to try and turn Bryant into an island.
Bryant is averaging 26.3 points in the series so far, which is actually a good seven below what he had been netting in the playoffs before the conference finals began.
“He’s going to get his numbers regardless,” said Bruce Bowen, the Spurs’ stopper most often super-glued to the league MVP. “You want to make sure you do your best as far as paying attention to their 3-point shooters and not allowing easy baskets for their other guys.”
For each team so far in this series, which the Lakers lead 2-1 heading into Game 4 tonight at the AT&T Center, the best things have most often come by their Big Threes.
The Lakers were at their pinnacle in Game 2 in Los Angeles, when Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom joined Bryant in greatness. The Spurs, meanwhile, earned their lone victory of the series — a 103-84 romp in Game 3 — with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili in top form.
The contrast between Games 2 and 3 was as stark as the black and white of the Spurs’ uniforms.
In the Lakers’ Game 2 victory, Odom had 22 points and 12 rebounds, Gasol had 10 points in 29 minutes, and the Spurs’ high-scoring trio combined for just 32 points.
The script reversed in Game 3, with Ginobili going off for 30 points, Duncan scoring 22 to go with 21 rebounds and Parker providing 20 points as the cherry on top.
It marked the 14th time that all three had topped at least 20 points in a postseason game, joining the Philadelphia trio of Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer and Chet Walker for second-most all-time. The Boston trinity of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Dennis Johnson accomplished that feat together on 15 occasions.
“When it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter what the game plan is, it doesn’t matter how you draw it up,” Duncan said. “People have to show up, and people have to put performances on the floor.”
Two-thirds of the Lakers’ version of the Big Three, meanwhile, flopped in Game 3. Odom and Gasol combined for 22 points and shot 9 of 29, as the Lakers endured their lowest-scoring night of the postseason despite Bryant’s 30-point game.
“There’s no way I can play like that for us to be successful,” Odom said afterward, mimicking Ginobili after Game 2. “I’ll take the blame on that. I know I can play better than that.”
The Spurs’ defensive blueprint begins with letting Bryant have his points. It is about turning the Lakers’ Big Three to just one.
That’s not to say the Spurs are laissez-faire about it.
They want Bryant to work hard for his money, and so far, he has been forced to bring his lunch pail and hardhat with him.
“You know Kobe’s going to get his shots, Kobe’s going to get his points,” said Bowen, an eight-time member of the NBA All-Defensive team. “If he gets 27, so what?”
Bird-dogging Bryant can be a thankless job.
At one point in the fourth quarter of Game 3, Bowen wasted almost an entire shot clock chasing Bryant through one screen and over another, to one side of the lane and back again, always moving, always pumping ... only to have Ginobili whistled for a foul off the ball.
It can also be an impossible job.
Bryant seemed destined for a ho-hum night in Game 3 before exploding for 12 points in a span of 21/2 minutes of the fourth quarter. All of them came on 3-pointers, all of them with Bowen strapped to him like a life vest.
Bryant’s final 3-pointer seemed to come right out of the Michael Jordan playbook. He drove left, stuck a forearm shiver into Bowen to create some space, then stepped back for the jumper.
Popovich didn’t stand up and applaud that play, but he probably should have. Bowen at least made Bryant earn it.
“I don’t think we ever have stopped him, but we’ve always made him work,” Popovich said. “As long as we’re doing that, we’re at least in the ballpark."
Looks like Tim, Tony, and Manu might be contending for Best Big Three of All-Time.
Web Posted: 05/26/2008 11:03 PM CDT
By Jeff McDonald
[email protected]
There was a box score on the table at the interview podium after Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, but Gregg Popovich didn’t need to look at it.
No sheet of paper, no set of numbers, could tell him any more about how his team had defended Lakers guard Kobe Bryant than his eyes already had.
The Spurs had done a good job on Bryant. He only had 30 points.
“We’re never going to stop him,” Popovich said. “We just want to make him work.”
It is a series that no man — not even the Popovich-proclaimed “best player on the planet” — can win alone. The Spurs’ plan, much as it was with New Orleans’ Chris Paul in the conference semifinals, has been to try and turn Bryant into an island.
Bryant is averaging 26.3 points in the series so far, which is actually a good seven below what he had been netting in the playoffs before the conference finals began.
“He’s going to get his numbers regardless,” said Bruce Bowen, the Spurs’ stopper most often super-glued to the league MVP. “You want to make sure you do your best as far as paying attention to their 3-point shooters and not allowing easy baskets for their other guys.”
For each team so far in this series, which the Lakers lead 2-1 heading into Game 4 tonight at the AT&T Center, the best things have most often come by their Big Threes.
The Lakers were at their pinnacle in Game 2 in Los Angeles, when Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom joined Bryant in greatness. The Spurs, meanwhile, earned their lone victory of the series — a 103-84 romp in Game 3 — with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili in top form.
The contrast between Games 2 and 3 was as stark as the black and white of the Spurs’ uniforms.
In the Lakers’ Game 2 victory, Odom had 22 points and 12 rebounds, Gasol had 10 points in 29 minutes, and the Spurs’ high-scoring trio combined for just 32 points.
The script reversed in Game 3, with Ginobili going off for 30 points, Duncan scoring 22 to go with 21 rebounds and Parker providing 20 points as the cherry on top.
It marked the 14th time that all three had topped at least 20 points in a postseason game, joining the Philadelphia trio of Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer and Chet Walker for second-most all-time. The Boston trinity of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Dennis Johnson accomplished that feat together on 15 occasions.
“When it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter what the game plan is, it doesn’t matter how you draw it up,” Duncan said. “People have to show up, and people have to put performances on the floor.”
Two-thirds of the Lakers’ version of the Big Three, meanwhile, flopped in Game 3. Odom and Gasol combined for 22 points and shot 9 of 29, as the Lakers endured their lowest-scoring night of the postseason despite Bryant’s 30-point game.
“There’s no way I can play like that for us to be successful,” Odom said afterward, mimicking Ginobili after Game 2. “I’ll take the blame on that. I know I can play better than that.”
The Spurs’ defensive blueprint begins with letting Bryant have his points. It is about turning the Lakers’ Big Three to just one.
That’s not to say the Spurs are laissez-faire about it.
They want Bryant to work hard for his money, and so far, he has been forced to bring his lunch pail and hardhat with him.
“You know Kobe’s going to get his shots, Kobe’s going to get his points,” said Bowen, an eight-time member of the NBA All-Defensive team. “If he gets 27, so what?”
Bird-dogging Bryant can be a thankless job.
At one point in the fourth quarter of Game 3, Bowen wasted almost an entire shot clock chasing Bryant through one screen and over another, to one side of the lane and back again, always moving, always pumping ... only to have Ginobili whistled for a foul off the ball.
It can also be an impossible job.
Bryant seemed destined for a ho-hum night in Game 3 before exploding for 12 points in a span of 21/2 minutes of the fourth quarter. All of them came on 3-pointers, all of them with Bowen strapped to him like a life vest.
Bryant’s final 3-pointer seemed to come right out of the Michael Jordan playbook. He drove left, stuck a forearm shiver into Bowen to create some space, then stepped back for the jumper.
Popovich didn’t stand up and applaud that play, but he probably should have. Bowen at least made Bryant earn it.
“I don’t think we ever have stopped him, but we’ve always made him work,” Popovich said. “As long as we’re doing that, we’re at least in the ballpark."
Looks like Tim, Tony, and Manu might be contending for Best Big Three of All-Time.