Panathinaikos' schemes intrigue Popovich
Mike Monroe
San Antonio Express-News
Spurs players got a day off Sunday, but coach Gregg Popovich went to work early.
Eager to analyze some of the plays used by renowned coach Zelimir Obradovic to get easy baskets for his Panathinaikos team in Saturday night's preseason game, Popovich was watching film with his morning coffee.
"Coach Obradovic may be the best coach in Europe at this stage and one of the best in the world," Popovich said. "He could easily be over here coaching an NBA team, in my opinion. I can't wait to watch the films and see some of the things they run, because he does a lot of good things."
Thirteen-year veteran Brent Barry likened playing Panathinaikos to facing Phoenix, the NBA's fastest-paced team.
"All of a sudden, we're having flashbacks of playing the Suns," Barry said, "with guys setting pick and rolls all over and guys flying around. It's the way basketball was meant to be played. That's the beauty of the game: ball movement and player movement."
By season's end, expect to see a little bit of Obradovic's frenetic offense added to Popovich's system. That system has been a work in progress through the 12 years Popovich has been Spurs head coach.
"The base is always there," Popovich said before the preseason game between reigning European champion Panathinaikos and the reigning NBA champions Spurs, "but we subtract from it and add to it. It could be something major. It could be a wrinkle. It could be a call out of a timeout or a change in how we run the basic motion, but it evolves every year.
"Sometimes it's based on players' advancements. Sometimes it's based on something they might do that we see and like, something that wasn't planned."
And sometimes it is based on something picked up from a Greek team with a very smart coach.
Popovich has been an admirer of the free-flowing European style longer than most NBA coaches. He has seen NBA teams embracing the motion the European teams use and he believes it has been good for the league and its fans.
"I think the league went through a period where it was obvious players were deficient in skills," he said. "We had started to depend on one guy with the basketball and a good number of people watching.
"I think over the past three or four years it's changed with the addition of foreign players, with the change in rules, by the success of European teams, in getting back to the fundamentals we all used to play with. Fundamentals like throwing the ball ahead, hitting the open man, moving without the ball, first open man gets the pass, all those sorts of things.
"The pendulum is swinging back to the more pure basketball than just the basic dribble the ball and everybody watch a guy go one-on-one."
Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, who came to the club in 2002 after playing three seasons in Italy, saw a dramatic shift in Popovich's offensive approach after the Spurs won the NBA le in 2003. Then, with center David Robinson and power forward Tim Duncan, Popovich ran most of the Spurs' offense through the post. When Robinson retired after that championship run, the Spurs' offense began to expand.
"I think the biggest difference was from my first year to the second and third years," Ginobili said. "My second year I felt it was very different. The offense (before) then was more stagnant, less moving the ball. We were depending a lot on (Duncan). We still depend on him, but not as much. I think with Tony (Parker) and me, we have found other weapons, too, so we are not predictable.
"There is a lot more motion, and the good thing is that Pop keeps asking us to play faster. He wants us to kick the ball and penetrate and pitch. I try to play in transition more. That's a great thing. I am trying to learn to play faster."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...n.319dc9b.html
"All of a sudden, we're having flashbacks of playing the Suns," Barry said, "with guys setting pick and rolls all over and guys flying around. It's the way basketball was meant to be played. That's the beauty of the game: ball movement and player movement."
The Suns play basketball like it was meant to be played? Since the Spurs beat the Suns, what does that make the Spurs?
The homewreckers of the keepers of the true spirit of basketball?
Its refreshing to see a veteran coach like Pop still eager to learn something new.
The Suns play basketball like it was meant to be played? Since the Spurs beat the Suns, what does that make the Spurs?
The homewreckers of the keepers of the true spirit of basketball?I read that, too, and interpreted it as coming from an offensive perspective. Nothing wrong with their offense.
The Suns play basketball like it was meant to be played? Since the Spurs beat the Suns, what does that make the Spurs?
The homewreckers of the keepers of the true spirit of basketball?
I think Barry was referring to the offensive side of the PHX's game, as is the whole article. (edit) I agree with Exstatic. The Spurs' have indeed gone to more variation and movement offensively. The Spurs have also shown they can match the up-tempo game that the Suns play. The difference is the Suns don't emphasize team defense, first and foremost. Getting stops doesn't seem to be their forte. The Spurs do emphasize team D and it's their hallmark, their level-setter.
The Suns are also very different offensively in that they are still reliant on their PG Nash distributing to the cutters with a high percentage of their trips. They screen off the ball a lot and even though they do have players spotting at the arc, it is with more movement. The Spurs have typically used their post players Robinson and Duncan to score and distribute, to read and react. It's more difficult for defenses to lock in on a target like the shifty Nash than it is on a post player in a hub-and-spoke offense. Less predictable, too. The Spurs still go through Timmy a lot but not as frequently as they used to do.
trying to read between the lines: does this mean, that we will see more small ball?
Obradovic like to play a 3 guard lineup along with two forwards. the 3rd guard plays a bit like a point forward (mostly Diamantidis).
compared to the Pana system, Manu would be exactly the player to fill that role.
the traditional Center isn't used much, in the Obradovic system.
(another reason, why Javtokas didn't get much playing time last year. even a good center like Tomasevic doesn't get much minutes in this system).
but he usually has one tall forward in the line up, who can hit 3s. (Tsartsaris, Dikoudis)
this would be the Bonner (or Horry) role.
so I'm very curious, if we will see line ups like Parker-Udoka-Ginobili-Bonner-Duncan. IMO this would be a line up, Obradovic would use much.
It might mean more small ball, but the Spurs really only have one classic post player now and that's Timmy. There are lots of options with player matchups now. I doubt Pop would put in very many new things at once. He won't have time to do so, for one thing, but he's never been opposed to trying new wrinkles, new side-out-of-bounds or special situation plays during the season.
Wonder if this mean Pop is considering the "7 seconds or less" approach to offensive basketball.
I really don't get the connection between what Panathinaikos runs what the Suns run on offense at all. Suns push it and look for early shots and if they can't get them they look for Nash to break down the offense and get open looks or drop offs on P&R. Look at the Suns offense without Nash in the game and you'll see what their offens is, crappy. Panathinaikos's offense is much more sophisticated with screening on and off the ball than what the Suns do imo. What is Barry talking about?
Ive been telling you guys this for a couple of years now.
Im glad Barry agrees with me.
Final Score: Spurs 113, Pana 91.
I guess Barry war riht about the flashbacks
It's not that Panathinaikos plays a lot more like the Suns. It is probably of how the ball is handled and passed.
Popovich's amusement to the plays ran by Panathinaikos can also be attributed to his willingness to study other plays, preferably non-USA teams. Ginobili is intrumental to some Spurs plays derived from the Argentine playbook.
anyone has a LINK of manu's dunk on that game? i've seen everyone talking about it
He agrees with you on how offense should be played. Your defense is still .
I don't actually play for the Suns kiddo.
I didn't say you do.
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