Mike Prada: "Did the Spurs played scared in The Second Half?"

[biba]

Did the Spurs played scared in The Second Half?

by Mike Prada Thursday, Mar 25, 2010

http://www.sbnation.com/2010/3/25/13...ba-score-recap

We think of the San Antonio Spurs as the most composed team in the league. They may not always have the talent, but when the going gets tough, they always find a way to at least execute their offense well enough to get a good shot.

Except that didn't happen last night against the Lakers. The Spurs scored just 35 points in the second half, allowing the Lakers to rally from a seven-point halftime deficit and get a nine-point win. Tim Duncan shot 2-11, and George Hill, who torched the Lakers for 20 first-half points, had just one point in the second half.

This was not your typical bad shooting night either. As SB Nation's Spurs blog Pounding the Rock writes, this was a result of terrible ball movement and scared shot attempts. In other words, the opposite of what the Spurs are known for being.

In the second half, the Lakers turned their game up another level. Especially on defense. The Spurs response was to panic. Instead of moving the ball more. They moved it less. Instead of leaning on their teammates. They went one on one. The Spurs took more forced, contested, and rushed shots then I have seen in any game this year.

The semi-open looks from the first half were now rushed almost contested looks. Instead of moving the ball, the Spurs rushed shots. Everybody was guilty. Manu [Ginobili]. Matt [Bonner]. Roger [Mason]. [Antonio] McDyess. [DeJuan] Blair. I can mentally see all of them rushing shots. Tim [Duncan] and George [Hill]did too. But they deserve their own bits.

Tim got owned last night on our offensive end. The first time I have ever seen it. Ever. Pau Gasol shut Tim down one-on-one and in embarrassing fashion. I can't say any more. I'm just shocked. I'm not shocked that Tim would go 2-11 from the floor. I'm shocked because with the shots he was taking, he'd go 2-11 every game.

George. George disappeared in the second half. I think it is the next step in his growth. He has to find a way to continue to produce offensively when teams give him some real attention. I can't be down on him for the second half, though I'm sure he's down on himself, because it is new territory for him. You just don't carry teams offensively for 48 minutes in a playoff intensity game without a lot of learning.

It was almost like a role reversal. Usually, the Spurs hang back and beat you with their execution down the stretch. Last night, they raced out early, only to be caught from behind by not executing.

In my mind, this truth more than anything displays the reason why the Spurs cannot be taken seriously come playoff time. They're the Spurs only in name, because this year's Spurs team doesn't come close to resembling the Spurs teams of the past.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Usually the Spurs don't have crappy role players like Bogans, Mason, and Bonner.


Horry and Bowen knew what it took to win, knew when it was time to clamp down and get serious.

The only way I see the Spurs getting past the 1st round is by playing a 6-7 man rotation and that'll never happen with the collective age of this team.

McDyess
Duncan
Ginobili
Parker
Hill
Jefferson
Blair
Hairston


Those are the only players who deserve minutes. Too much dead weight on this team. Having said that, it's gonna be great seeing Mason go back to lighting it up next year in a faster paced offense for some other team

[phxspurfan]

Game over. We lost.



We play the 2010 NBA Champ Cavs next. Time to move on.

[Baseline]

Of course we played scared. This is the atmosphere Popovich creates. Always has been. If some players make one mistake (Blair, Malik, Ian, etc.), they get yanked. If other players make a mistake (Dice, Bogans), Pop does nothing.

If you've ever played compe ive basketball, you know very well the atmosphere your coach creates. You're either confident or you're scared, and there's very little in between. Popovich obviously creates a "Oh no, I can't screw up" atmosphere that is often stifling and paralyzing to young players, or as we've seen with RJ, new players as well. The point is, it's an unfair system.

Contrast this to a guy like Rick Adelman, who creates an atmosphere of positivity and belief, and consequently he has a team of overachievers.

Would anybody in the world say that the Spurs have over achieved this year? Of course not. This year, Popovich has sett he standard for underachieving -- of getting the least out of his players. Case in point is RJ. Popovich has gotten the least out of RJ of any coach he's ever had.

Even still, Popovich has accepted ZERO blame for the train wreck. Not once has he taken the blame for the underachievement. Instead, he has blamed missed shots and turnovers, and thrown certain players under the bus. The same bus that he is driving straight over a cliff.

It would be one thing if we were warring with his front office over the people they brought in. But guess what? He is the front office. So he has himself to blame times two.

[in2deep]

I guess he didn't see Duncan, Mason, Bonner, Bogans and RJ crapping their pants in the 1st half.

[taps]

Of course we played scared. This is the atmosphere Popovich creates. Always has been. If some players make one mistake (Blair, Malik, Ian, etc.), they get yanked. If other players make a mistake (Dice, Bogans), Pop does nothing.

Popovich obviously creates a "Oh no, I can't screw up" atmosphere that is often stifling and paralyzing to young players

Yep classic Pop; from Malik's one blown offensive assignment the other night that'll keep him on the bench throughout the playoffs, despite the fact he was outplaying bogans, to the comments made by the announcers last night: something to the effect of, "Pop said this kid Blair's hit the wall HARD and won't be seeing many consistent minutes anymore" it seems Pop's capricious whim + stubborn conformity to rookie sterotypes is the biggest factor. I honestly think he believes you have to be a hall-of-famer to deserve PT as a rookie, so David, Tim, Manu, Gervin are the only rookies in Spurs history who deserved playing time.

Good thing this kid's got a stronger psyche than any spurs rookie I've seen in a decade and will be better even than Hill. When that happens I wonder if people will credit Pop's "character building" or Blair's history of leadership and constantly succeeding despite everyone else saying otherwise.

Even still, Popovich has accepted ZERO blame for the train wreck. Not once has he taken the blame for the underachievement. Instead, he has blamed missed shots and turnovers.

Agreed, see above comments to the national media essentially declaring Blair a useless scrub the rest of the season (should do wonders for his confidence) as well as his remarks on 'pathetic performances' etc.

I agree with Pop, RJ is pathetic. Pop's belief that he could come in and do things Manu does/carry this team is far more pathetic. The fact he pulled the trigger on the trade so quick, when the second best player of the 03 finals run went to the Bobcats (now recognized as an offseason move on par with Denver's Chauncey acquisition last year) for half the money we spent on RJ and immediately turned that scrub team around, is pathetic.

[KuntryDude]

We didn't play scared. We played like es.....

[DAF86]

Our role players are chokers that's one of the main differences I notice from our championship years: you could count on Horry, Barry, Bowen, Oberto, etc. to perform well (or at least at their normal level) on important matches now you kinda expect Bonner, Mason, RJ, Bogans, etc. to suck on those.

[murpjf88]

We didn't played scared. We played like we have all season. Duncan dissapears in the fourth, G. Hill is defended, Bonner, Bogans, and Mason are missing in action, RJ is being RJ and Manu is left fending for himself. We've been a first half team all year long. No elite team takes us seriously and why should they. The good teams in this league coast in the first half and then step it up in the second. The Spurs come out like gangbusters to start the game and lose all the momentum mid second quarter. By the time the fourth quarter rolls around, they're running on fumes.

[murpjf88]

Yep classic Pop; from Malik's one blown offensive assignment the other night that'll keep him on the bench throughout the playoffs, despite the fact he was outplaying bogans, to the comments made by the announcers last night: something to the effect of, "Pop said this kid Blair's hit the wall HARD and won't be seeing many consistent minutes anymore" it seems Pop's capricious whim + stubborn conformity to rookie sterotypes is the biggest factor. I honestly think he believes you have to be a hall-of-famer to deserve PT as a rookie, so David, Tim, Manu, Gervin are the only rookies in Spurs history who deserved playing time.

Good thing this kid's got a stronger psyche than any spurs rookie I've seen in a decade and will be better even than Hill. When that happens I wonder if people will credit Pop's "character building" or Blair's history of leadership and constantly succeeding despite everyone else saying otherwise.



Agreed, see above comments to the national media essentially declaring Blair a useless scrub the rest of the season (should do wonders for his confidence) as well as his remarks on 'pathetic performances' etc.

I agree with Pop, RJ is pathetic. Pop's belief that he could come in and do things Manu does/carry this team is far more pathetic. The fact he pulled the trigger on the trade so quick, when the second best player of the 03 finals run went to the Bobcats (now recognized as an offseason move on par with Denver's Chauncey acquisition last year) for half the money we spent on RJ and immediately turned that scrub team around, is pathetic.

Pop said this. You mean he's finally come to grips with the obvious.

[KuntryDude]

Out of all seriousness tho, Timmy needs to grow a pair of nuts and start jacking these scrub ass players up. He needs to get in that locker room and throw around some (i.e. Bogans, Bonner, Mason...). I mean, as the leader of this team, he should be the voice as well. I often see Kobe, Lebron, KG, etc. get in their teammates asses when they are not playing up to par and possibly take over coaching.

[My Fault]

Usually the Spurs don't have crappy role players like Bogans, Mason, and Bonner.


Horry and Bowen knew what it took to win, knew when it was time to clamp down and get serious.

The only way I see the Spurs getting past the 1st round is by playing a 6-7 man rotation and that'll never happen with the collective age of this team.

McDyess
Duncan
Ginobili
Parker
Hill
Jefferson
Blair
Hairston


Those are the only players who deserve minutes. Too much dead weight on this team. Having said that, it's gonna be great seeing Mason go back to lighting it up next year in a faster paced offense for some other team

Blair? Hairston? Seriously? I like them both but lets not bull . They have not played a playoff series and have yet to prove anything.

[in2deep]

Our role players are chokers that's one of the main differences I notice from our championship years: you could count on Horry, Barry, Bowen, Oberto, etc. to perform well (or at least at their normal level) on important matches now you kinda expect Bonner, Mason, RJ, Bogans, etc. to suck on those.

excellent point

ing es

[boutons_deux]

"Timmy needs to grow a pair of nuts"

He's playing so badly now, he's leader in name only. He's not leading with his game anymore.

[murpjf88]

Out of all seriousness tho, Timmy needs to grow a pair of nuts and start jacking these scrub ass players up. He needs to get in that locker room and throw around some (i.e. Bogans, Bonner, Mason...). I mean, as the leader of this team, he should be the voice as well. I often see Kobe, Lebron, KG, etc. get in their teammates asses when they are not playing up to par and possibly take over coaching.

What's he gonna do, whisper in their ear. Bogans and Bonner are what they are. You can't fix what's broken. They're scrubs that would probably have been released by 28 out of the 30 teams in the league. Yelling at them isn't going to fix their game because theirs no game to fix.

[bdictjames]

You're right. I miss Oberto, Bowen, Kurt, and Horry for their basketball IQ.

[Rebounds]

After halftime the Spurs came out slow and soft w/o a plan. After losing their agressiveness the Lakers took notice and came up with some steals, at times just simply taking the ball away.
Hill shut down for the night, the bricklayers took over, and the Lakers went on a feeding frenzy. Little or no rhythm established, Artest quelled any ideas about restart of our offense, sounds like poor ball movement and shot selection to me.

[HarlemHeat37]

What's he gonna do, whisper in their ear. Bogans and Bonner are what they are. You can't fix what's broken. They're scrubs that would probably have been released by 28 out of the 30 teams in the league. Yelling at them isn't going to fix their game because theirs no game to fix.

Pretty much..

What can ANYBODY possibly say to make these guys better players?..leadership doesn't work that way..yelling at somebody doesn't give them talent or ability that they don't have..yelling at Bonner isn't going to make him shoot better against the good teams in the NBA..yelling at Bogans isn't going to make him a decent player, he just doesn't have any talent or physical ability..

[pjjrfan]

THe Laker's defense did a great job, and the spurs didn't respond. It was a good game because the Lakers came prepared and the spurs were taking it to them in the 1st half. It reminded me of the game a few years back when the Lakers had a 20 pt. lead at halftime and Kobe told the guys to watch out cause the spurs would come back they did and they won, last night Manu said to watch out for Kobe cause he would take control and he did.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Blair? Hairston? Seriously? I like them both but lets not bull . They have not played a playoff series and have yet to prove anything.

They wouldn't be getting a whole lot of minutes but if having to choose between Bonner/Bogans vs Blair/Hairston I think that would be a very very easy decision.

Of course Pop would never let it happen.

[cd98]

The Spurs lost last night because single coverage was good enough to stop a tired Tim Duncan; and L.A. went after Ginoboli and Hill and gambled by leaving Roger Mason and Bonner wide open, which worked perfectly. Mason was 0-5 from three point range despite being wide, wide open. Bonner was 2-7. Those two shoot better from the line, and it is a different game, i.e. the defenders can't cheat by overguarding Ginoboli and Hill.

[HarlemHeat37]

That's the story though..

Mason's 3-point % drops by 5% when the Spurs play against playoff-caliber teams..
Bonner's 3-point % drops by 6% when the Spurs play against playoff-caliber teams..
Bogans' 3-point % drops by a staggering 9% when the Spurs play against playoff teams..
Finley earlier in the season dropped by an amazing 10%..

These guys choke under any pressure, even when it's something as minor as an open shot in the 2nd quarter, as long as it's against a good team..the atmosphere s with them..

[Russ]

The Spurs' problem with the Lakers last night is that their best matchup player (Parker) played no minutes and their worst matchup player (Bonner) played 20+ minutes.

Also, while some naysayer Spurs fans may find this surprising, the Lakers pointed to this game more than most other recent games. You may not respect the Spurs, but the Lakers still do. So does the LA media -- I haven't seen this amount of column space in the LA Times on page 1 (sports page) for a regular season Laker game in quite some time.

Bottom line -- the Spurs need to stay away from the Lakers in the playoffs for as long as possible and hope for an intervention of fate (ala Mavs-Warriors in '07 or an unfortunate injury ala D. Anderson for the Spurs in '01 or K. Malone for the Lakers in '04).

Giving up seems a bit premature to me.

[greyforest]

Did the writer drinked excessively in The Grammar School?

[EmptyMan]

Spurs always play scared against the Lakers.