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Does Pop's expression ever change.
That article is Pulitzer Prize material.
http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/inde...520.xml&coll=1
Spurs show signs of doubt about pulling this one out
Peter Finney
His face said it all.
Gregg Popovich didn't have to speak.
After losing Game 2 to the Hornets on Monday by 18 points, the coach of the San Antonio Spurs didn't have to say, "They found a way to sustain the energy and the physical toughness in the second half, something we have been unable to do."
He said it wearing the hangdog expression of a guy asking himself, "I don't know if we have an answer for those people."
It seemed as if nothing in the body language of someone who has coached the Spurs to four NBA championships suggested Popovich felt his defending champions have what it will take to overcome a 2-0 deficit against an opponent playing like a bunch of wild and crazy guys enjoying themselves running up and down the court, but doing it in the manner of troops on a mission to convert a world of nonbelievers.
After losing Game 1 by 19 points, Pop's post-mortem was, "They just kicked our butts," but he said it as if he considered it little more than a throwaway moment in a best-of-seven series.
Now it was a look reflecting a coach's inner thoughts: "Are we good enough?"
Popovich had watched his defense hound David West, who had 30 points in the opener, into 2-of-11 shooting.
He watched Tyson Chandler score five points. He watched the Hornets miss six layups. And he watched his bench outscore Byron Scott's subs 38-20.
So what was the bad news?
The bad news was he also got to watch what Chris Paul later described as, "I just tried to pick my spots," almost from the opening tip, which turned into 30 points on 11-of-20 shooting, along with 12 assists, as he diced and sliced the Spurs, with penetrating dribbles, with the quick pass and the lob pass.
He watched the Hornets go 10-of-17 from 3-point land, including Peja Stojakovic's 5-of-7, and he watched Morris Peterson finish 5-of-5 as Paul kept finding him for perimeter jumpers.
The longer the game went on, it seemed, the Hornets' legs got younger while the Spurs' arteries were hardening.
Peterson began an 18-7 third-quarter run with a 20-footer, and it wasn't long, with the quarter winding down, that a Spur saved a ball headed out of bounds. However, the ball wound up in the hands of Paul, who whipped it to West, who found Peja in daylight behind the 3-point line, resulting in a 26-foot strike and a 76-70 lead, triggering the loudest roar of the night.
"We did a good job turning long rebounds into transition baskets," said Peja, who made a leaping save of another ball headed out of bounds in the fourth quarter during a 12-0 "energy" run that widened the lead from nine to 21 points, a stretch, Peja said, when the Hornets were "running the floor to set up transition baskets," a stretch Chandler remembered as a time the younger Hornets "played like a team that smelled blood."
Think about Chandler for a moment. Occupied making life as miserable as possible for Tim Duncan, he did not take a shot until the fourth quarter when he went 2-of-2, on a layup and an alley-oop dunk.
What Peja saw was Chandler make Duncan work, who pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, who came up with two layup-denying blocks.
What Peja saw in the Hornets defensively was a group that didn't allow the Spurs to peck away at any individual deficiencies by "covering up" with "help."
From his seat in the stands, what General Manager Jeff Bower saw was a defense whose "focus and efficiency has become more and more consistent" in the playoffs.
What Bower saw in Paul was a point guard who made one turnover in almost 41 minutes of playing time. "When you consider the amount of time Chris has the ball in his hands, the decisions he's making," Bower said, "his ratio of turnovers to assists over a very long season has been utterly amazing."
What Scott has seen in two games was "a young bunch of guys playing hungry and, maybe more than anything, playing for respect. There are still a lot of doubters out there."
Does Pop's expression ever change.
That article is Pulitzer Prize material.
NO is a great team theres no doubting that. And they are finally getting the "respect" from the media that they've been seeking. But what I dont get is that they expect people to automaticly give them their due just because of regular season succsess.
, 4 ships later and the Spurs still dont get "love" from the media. Thats just the nature of the media beast.
But until NO proves them selves a little more then just a 1st round win over Dallas, and a 2-0 lead over us. They're stll going to be looked at as the underdog.
kinda reminds me when the spurs got whooped 2 times in detroit in 2005. the spurs had no answers for why they were losing so badly.
theyll come out of this. i know they will.
No, and it's a ridiculous inference to suggest Pop feels defeated. Homer article.
NO's bubble is about to be burst.
really? what will the spurs do differently?
Bowen on Predrag, start Manu, replace Finley with Barry, and shorten the rotation.
u mean start manu by replacing finley right?
Yes sir. Maybe Fin can start hitting 3s again, but until then you will need Barry in the rotation.
I don't know if it's what the Spurs will do differently as much as the Hornets have had a role player play out of his mind in the first two games. Of course I wouldn't say West is a role player in as much but he did shoot like a 1000% in game one and then in game two it was Peja and Mo Pete. If they can keep it up they win the series. I just don't think they will. After two losses in SA they won't be as confident and SA has played with them 3 out of 4 quarters in the 1st 2. So, I expect that in game 3 with the momentum shifted the Spurs take game 5 in NO because the shots don't fall as much when there is doubt or pressure in your mind. Then we come home and close em out in 6. Yeah, it's an absolutely homer prediction but im sticken to it.
i wouldn't make too many changes, yet. i expect NO to come out a little flat in game 3. save the serious strategy for game 4.
If you can't score, you can't win.
Looks like the Spurs have caught the same shooting flu they had in 04 vs Lakers.
Don't the Spurs know that pulling out is not an acceptable method and is subject to failure...
The role players are putting up the points due to your defensive strategy. Thomas saw a lot more time on West in Game 2 and it showed. Finley on Predrag and Parker on Peterson is not going to work. Bowen is made to shut down soft ass perimeter es like Predrag.
In the Spurs' two wins against NO this season, Predrag scored something like 5 points. If Paul beats you on his own, he's a great player. But the focus should be on shutting down the supporting cast.
New Orleans up 2-0?
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED !!!!
Mark Kiszla wants his article back.
"Dynasty" or "Looms" at the end of name == Guaranteed gay
Last edited by DarrinS; 05-07-2008 at 12:13 PM.
our first strategy was {shut down chris paul- shut down team}, now we know he is virtually impossible to stop. so now we have to revert to shutting down his teammates.
i truly believe that Parker on Paul and Bowen on Peja, and Thomas on West is the formula for victory.
Spurs won 1st half of each game
then lose by 20 points 2nd half.
amazing.
I don't see how the Spurs pull this one out. Sorry.
there's nothing wrong with the defense..everything is forgotten if the offense was making anything happen..there were PLENTY of open shots last game..Manu was forcing way too many turnovers, and don't tell me it was because he was injured..Parker wasn't anywhere to be found..
if we win next game, it's a new series..the Spurs just need to make BETTER DECISIONS and make the open shots..hopefully Pop gives the minutes to the deserving players..Barry over Finley..give Thomas as many minutes as possible..
source = http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/inde...520.xml&coll=1.
nothing else needs to be said.
First off, no kidding Pop is being Pop and saying everything right. He always does when we get handled pretty well out there.
Secondly, of course he doubts. That's why he coaches you know, to get his players to the best they can be in able to perform on the court. At the same freaking time you are human and so are the players. I am sure by this time this post makes it on here all of them have thought about losing and wondered amongst themselves the worst case scenarios.
I don't know about you but I know how bad Manu wants to win. We know he has that fire inside to explode at any given time. I could go through each one of our big four and tell you why they are going to get it done out there but why bother really? Even as fans we together with them now lie in wait.
Anxious and with the taste of blood in our mouth as well I imagine. If there is any real team out there, even compared to the last few years, in this type of situation against these odds, facing these foes, that had any sort of glimmering hope of rejuvenation with pure lightening in a bottle it is these San Antonio Spurs.
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