First of all, props to the Knicks. That was a got damn impressive offensive display. Their passing was excellent and their shooting was even better. The 1999 Spurs wouldn't have had much success against the Knicks on this night.
That said, two mystifying defensive decisions seemed to doom the Spurs. First of all, why was the gameplan to go under the screen against Felton? He's a good shooter who became a great shooter once he knew the Spurs were going to dare him to shoot each and every time he was in a pick-and-roll. I realize going over the pick-and-roll would have allowed him to get more penetration ... but with the way he was murdering the Spurs from the perimeter, a change to the plan would have been nice at some point.
The only time the Spurs had moderate success against Felton was when they were switching everything. But when Duncan on the floor, that was no longer possible in the fourth quarter. At that point, going over the screen and forcing him to make plays going toward the basket would have been nice.
The other issue I had was the decision to throw hard double-teams at Stoudemire in the second half. With as hot as the shooters around Stoudemire were firing, it was suicide. I'd much rather Stoudemire take a contested 17-footer than allow an open three-pointer time after time. I know Stoudemire isn't exactly Magic Johnson when it comes to passing but he's a good enough passer to find the open man when he's doubled so far away from the hoop while facing up.
Again, the Knicks deserve a lot of the credit for putting 128 points on the board but those two coaching decisions weren't helping matters. It was almost as if Pop wanted to expose his own team's defensive shortcomings . . .
After reading this it helped me think of something.
I think you are spot on as far as going under the screen on Felton. It would force him to become a driver and normally the easiest pass to make (If the help defense was there to contest at the rim) would be in the corner for a 3.
I believe the Spurs have the footspeed to close out on the corner pretty well considering it will keep Timmy under the basket and free up a guard to close out. What do you think timvp?
Looked to me like Pop came up with a plan, obviously involving the two aspects you outline, and then he panicked during the game as the Knicks' hot shooting continued no matter what he did.
I bet he'll make some major adjustments when they come to SA.
The perimeter D was lazy. They went under screens far too often and didn't rotate to cover shooters either. That keystone cops sequence when 2 Spurs collided and gave the Knicks an easy bucket was the last straw. Pop needs to start benching people for not showing up on defense.
For mine, Chandler presents the biggest worry - we have no-one outside of RJ who even has a hope of keeping up with him.
Like I've said a number of times, the long tweener 3s really present a problem for this roster. It is the one glaring hole. I wonder if James Anderson might have had more success?
That is a good question.
I think he could have done better if he had been playing the whole season. Judging by his pre-injury performance, he might have been outmatched. I am not saying that he would be useless as his size/athleticism really could have helped regardless. Not enough data to really go by.
...yyyyyup.
Pop is a ing moron. At least when it comes to teams that can shoot from outside. The Suns series was ing embarrassing. Pathetic.
Man to man and goddamnit that should be it against the Knicks, why can't anyone play any ing decent defense? Amare is the only player that could cause problems on that roster when it comes to creating offense off the dribble against the defender.
Oddly, that laziness of going under the screen was by design.
I haven't really noticed that weakness. Other examples?
When everybody on a team is shooting, it's tough to find a good defensive plan, other than to have Bruce lock their best player down. I'm afraid if they did come over the screens, they still would have gotten torched on the penetration. And when anyone came over to help tonight, the Knicks were quick to find the next open man to knock a shot down. After a while it feeds on itself.
The Knicks played a perfect game. The Spurs would have had to play a perfect game to beat them. Most teams in the NBA would have gotten blown out against the Knicks, they way they played tonight.
I know Pop always says that defense is the answer, but some nights another team can be impossible to stop. I bet we could look up a few games against the old Suns where they scored just like this. Over 7 games, they won't keep that up. That was always the difference, and will be this year.
Are you sure of that? There was a sequence (as you noted in your OP) where they began to switch. They abandoned that too soon, whether or not Duncan was involved. On a few other occasions they let the ball handler penetrate, but the poor rotations led to easy shots for the NYK.
If they had stuck to any one of those tactics for over 75% of the game, I'd agree it was by design. However, (and this is a rough estimate), they went under the screen about 50% of the time, let the PG penetrate about 35% of the time, and switched about 15% of the time.
I'd be really surprised if Pop intended it to be that way.
When Duncan was on the floor, the Spurs went under the screen because they didn't want Duncan switched onto Felton. When Duncan was on the bench, the Spurs switched.
i agree with gsh. the only way to beat the knicks tonight would have to be with better O. they were straight up monsters.
Who cares....bring on the celtics
Yeah they need to get that guy for the 2 games against the KNicks and 2 against Orlando.
BTW I don't know how supportive Pop was about going under the pick on Felton cause it seemed everytime they did it Pop had a gesture of some sort....
I wouldn't say tweeners, as Ruff suggested, but the lack of size on the perimeter was pretty noticeable when Hill was out. And when I say size, I mean a 2/3 that can move his feet -- it was a domino effect when RJ couldn't keep the man in front or from going middle, or whomever was asked to control the point of attack against legit scorers with size on the perimeter.
That's why I don't believe the Spurs will have any problem finding use for Anderson once he returns. He's not someone they'll just let ride the pine because Neal has proven to be legit (if he's healthy).
The Spurs may not need him to be a huge factor, but they will need him to be a factor -- Splitter as well.
I'm almost convinced the Spurs would've done better without a defensive gameplan. Just form a box around the paint and hold your arms up and the Knicks couldn't have shot much better.
We had a game plan? I thought it was " it, lets see if they can shoot 60% uncontested."
Well said. Good questions. Antonio McDyess showed excellent D on Amare. More of him and guys like him would have been better tonight.
Also, that 3-2 zone in the 4th quarter was just worthless.
Spurs lost this game in the first. They were forcing passes they didn't need to, which led to turnovers, and then their D was sub-par,which led to Chandler and others making the shots that unleashed Fuego Mode.
Once that rock got rollin', there was no way they were gonna stop it tonight. They were going to have to outscore the Knicks, and not even a 115-point night on 54% shooting was good enough to do it.
Tip the cap.
That 3-2 Zone was Pop testing the theory. Worked against the Nuggs.I'm almost convinced the Spurs would've done better without a defensive gameplan. Just form a box around the paint and hold your arms up and the Knicks couldn't have shot much better.
His defense was fantastic tonight. I think he might have been the only player that showed a consistent defensive intensity - albeit it was brief.
if popovich did this on purpose, he's crazier than i thought. he just showed the rest of the league how to beat the spurs.
Felton strategy is hit or miss, I don't mind him shooting jumpers. He just had a good night (along with the rest of their team)
Bringing the double on Amare probably ended up being a bad decision since all their shooters were on fire, but it seems like we do that against pretty much every team these days.
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