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They still need to beat someone worth a damn
Spurs vow to take Nets seriously
By Jeff McDonald - Express-News
The New Jersey Nets make their once-a-year pilgrimage to the AT&T Center tonight, bringing with them the NBA's worst record, fresh memories of a trail-blazing 0-18 start and nothing to lose but just another basketball game.
For the Spurs, this qualifies as sobering stuff.
“It's kind of dangerous when you play against a team that has absolutely nothing to lose,” Manu Ginobili said. “There's extra pressure, knowing you can't allow yourself to lose against a team like that.”
Still smarting from a 112-103 loss to Dallas that was equal parts bizarre and disheartening, the Spurs get a chance to get well against a team that has been chicken soup for the rest of the NBA's soul.
You can count the number of New Jersey victories this season on one hand of a three-toed sloth.
The Nets are 3-33 after a record-setting start that sent coach Lawrence Frank to the unemployment line, having embarked on a 3-15 tear since general manager Kiki Vandeweghe took over coaching duties on Dec. 1.
As it was last week when struggling Detroit came to town, the Spurs are out to prove that fear of abject humiliation can be a powerful motivator.
“You know those guys are still trying to fight and claw and scrape,” guard Roger Mason Jr. said. “All those guys are fighting for jobs. Maybe they're not going to be in the playoffs, but they all have pride. You can't sleep on them.”
Preferring to look at New Jersey's roster, and not its record, the Spurs vow to approach this game with a dose of what Gregg Popovich has termed “appropriate fear.”
The Nets boast a lightning-quick point guard in Devin Harris, an emerging star in center Brook Lopez and, in third-year forward Yi Jianlian, one of the NBA's most improved players.
“Hopefully we're mature enough to respect them, to play hard from minute one to minute 48,” Ginobili said. “You don't want them to take you as a turning point.”
Any chance the Nets had of sneaking one by the Spurs probably evaporated Friday night, when Dallas went on a 42-23 fourth-quarter tear to hijack what looked to be a runaway victory for the Spurs.
In that game, the Spurs built a 13-point lead behind one of their most spirited third quarters of the season, then watched the wheels come off and the wagon catch fire in the fourth.
Dirk Nowtizki, who finished with 26 points, and Jason Terry, who had 21, suddenly became impossible to guard, and the Spurs went the final 4:57 with just one basket.
“It was like night and day,” Mason said. “At one point in the third, I can't remember seeing us play with as much energy. We had so much juice. In the fourth, they made some plays, and we didn't continue to do what we've been doing.”
Due to the Dallas disappointment, Mason said, the Spurs are likely to approach tonight's game against lowly New Jersey with “a bit more fire.” Needing the win, the Spurs promise to take seriously the league's laughingstock — bad news for the Nets in their quixotic quest for victory No. 4.
Vandeweghe, in the midst of his three-win situation, prefers to view at the glass of sour milk he's inherited as half full.
“The way I look at these things, playing against great players at the top of their games can only be good for us,” said Vandeweghe, whose team also lost a heartbreaker Friday night in New Orleans. “You can only learn from that.”
The Spurs have been nearly perfect against sub-.500 teams this season, losing only to Chicago and Toronto. They think they've learned a thing or two as well.
“You want to win the games that you think you should win,” Mason said.
Tonight, by every objective measure, would qualify as such for the Spurs. The pressure is on.
They still need to beat someone worth a damn
Yup. They should have vowed to take the Mavs seriously.
They'll probably destroy the Nets tomorrow and proceed to get hosed by the Lakers on Tuesday.
LOL @ vowing to beat one of the worst teams in the NBA this year.
They are supposed to.
What if... the Nets destroy the Spurs? C'mon, guys! Don't let me down...
You taking 228's role there Blackjack?..
Just lending a hand for the time being.
How about taking teams with winning records seriously?
Or how about being able to beat a team with a winning record???!!!
It's alarmng that the Spurs can't seem to put it together against the top tier teams yet. playoff chances look dim at this point....and that's IF they make the tournament.
They better take the damn Nets seriously...this is my 1st Spurs game this season...
It doesn't matter if they take the lowly Nets seriously or not. They should've played better defense in the 4th quarter against the Mavs.
Just play more consistent game by game.
Spurs Vow to take Nets seriously
This is a bad situation, if the Spurs win they prove nothing and if they lose they just prove that it is still January..
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