Spurs readying for Sonics’ pick-and-roll
Seattle forward Lewis ‘50-50’ for Sunday’s Game 4
The Associated Press
SEATTLE - Ridnour-to-James?
It sure doesn’t have the same ring as Stockton-to-Malone, and that’s what Manu Ginobili and the San Antonio Spurs are reminding themselves going into Game 4 against Seattle on Sunday.
Jerome James scored 15 points on 7-for-7 shooting as the SuperSonics used the pick-and-roll with devastating efficiency in a Game 3 victory that pulled Seattle within 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
The Spurs spent Saturday installing defensive adjustments. If they have their way, it will be more difficult for Sonics point guards Luke Ridnour and Antonio Daniels to find James for easy baskets.
“It’s not impossible,” Ginobili said. “We just didn’t execute well in the third game. We did it in Games 1 and 2. It’s not like Karl Malone and John Stockton out there. They’re good, but we can defend it.”
The Sonics had Reggie Evans back at practice after he sat Friday with a sore back. Rashard Lewis, however, said he’s “about 50-50” for Sunday with a sprained toe and didn’t practice for the second straight day.
“We’ll see come Sunday,” Seattle coach Nate McMillan said.
The pick-and-roll is a staple of every NBA offense: Pick, roll, pass, easy basket. Stockton and Malone, the retired Utah Jazz superstars, mastered the play and worked it to perfection for years.
Seattle succeeded with the pick-and-roll in Game 3 by exploiting San Antonio’s tendency to steer opposing offenses to the sides, which provides less room to operate.
To counter, McMillan moved Lewis from the wing to the corner, pulling his defender from the lane. It cleared the way for James to throw down six dunks on feeds from Ridnour and Daniels.
“They scored on a lot of easy dunks,” San Antonio’s Tony Parker said. “We just need to talk with our bigs, make sure we know when to switch and when to stay on your man. It’s definitely one of the adjustments we’re going to make.”
Tim Duncan and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, not surprisingly, wouldn’t discuss how they plan to keep James in check. But the theme at San Antonio’s practice was that the pick-and-roll wasn’t something new or unexpected.
“We’ve been doing it all year,” Ginobili said. “We did it against Phoenix and we did it against Seattle before.”
Added Duncan: “We changed our game plan a little bit and we’ll see if it works. It’s minor. It’s the same stuff we’ve been doing.”
The Spurs face two other challenges. They must improve their 55 percent free throw shooting from Game 3, and they need to make sure they can still defend on the wing if they fall back to clog the middle.
“They’ve hugged up with us on the perimeter, which opens up some of our bigs rolling to the basket,” McMillan said. “We’re seeing them on tape not leaving certain guys when we are spacing. That’s part of the game they’ve been able to defend and pretty much take out.”
The Sonics ranked fifth in the NBA, hitting 36 percent of their 3-pointers this season. They’re due for a better game, too, after shooting 2-for-16 from 3-point range in Game 3.
“Other teams are really focusing in on that,” Lewis said. “They know we’re a 3-point shooting team and they know we live and die by the 3-point shot. They’re not leaving our guards. They’re leaving our bigs.”
It’s no secret there’s a big risk in leaving Lewis and Ray Allen open outside. That was the focus of Sacramento’s defense on Seattle in the first round, and it’s been a priority for the Spurs in this series.
“If you let those guys have a field day, their energy really gets going,” Popovich said. “They get very confident. Everything rolls from that. We’ve done a decent job on that but we haven’t done a good job when their big guy rolls.”
The Spurs still believe they’re the better team, and they’re tired of questions about Allen’s rivalry with San Antonio defensive ace Bruce Bowen or about James saying after Game 3 that the Sonics won’t respect them.
“We don’t care what they say in the media,” Duncan said. “We’re here to play the games. We’re worried about playing better, getting the four games and getting out of the series.”
The way to stop the pick-and-roll is to make Ridnour score. He's not that good of a finisher and he doesn't shoot well on the move, so the Spurs' bigs should just stay with their man and the point guard for the Spurs should go under the screen. If Ridnour hits a few jumpers, that's better than giving dunks and getting fouls on top of it.
Are they still trying to put out all this injury misinformation?
Gimme a break.
How do you stop a pick and roll with allen handling the ball?
That's a little tougher.
But you just have to make sure the help defense is there. Make Allen swing it to the weakside. You trap Allen and then have the other big rotate and then force Allen to pass it cross court. If they make that tough pass and then hit that shot, they deserve to win.
Jerome James (and Amare Stoudemire in the next round) is too athletic to try to cover him off a pick-and-roll with the same man who has to show on the pick. You have to rotate over the other bigman.
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