Reply With Quote
Horry needs to whisper in Wests ear, "I've used one of my gotchas in game 6. I still have one more to use. You guess when it'll come".
Udoka is starting to make a name for himself in this system.
Next year will be even better from him too.
Horry needs to whisper in Wests ear, "I've used one of my gotchas in game 6. I still have one more to use. You guess when it'll come".
When was the last time he did that? He hit a big 3 pointer in Game 1 this postseason, but the 10 games after that he's been subpar. And his defense is absolutely horrible right now, even for him. Spurs desperately needed someone in those 3 NO road games to step up and hit shots outside the Big 3, and Finley's the only option they got.
Pop has put Finley from the starter to the 2nd/3rd swingman off the bench, that's tell you how far off he's fallen. Udoka tookover him minutes.
I think timvp is being a little hard on Thomas. The Spurs scored 22 points in the 2nd quarter when Thomas was in, which was much less than the 1st quarter, but still more than the 3rd and 4th quarters. And his 9 rebounds was more than double any other Spur not named Duncan.
"It seems like both teams have laid all the cards out"
seems?
normally you stay away from such weasel words.
Give me a break, dude...the Spurs BEAT the Hornets last night, plain and simple, just like the Hornets beat the Spurs in Game 5...the refs had nothing to do with the outcome in either game...both were blowouts.
We should try to get Paul and West in foul trouble, though...that is huge.
I think that is the only explanation, too. There was no foul, and the commentators (Van Gundy) said as much. Horry's reputation got him the foul call, not the pick itself. I thought that the fans were chanting Horry's name because they liked him, not that West went down. It would be out of character for the S.A. fans to cheer a downed guy.
Great writing as usual. I hope you're making a living from your talents, because you invariably bring out some interesting ideas and your recaps are spot on.
Cheers.
Ime's been playing so much better than Fin in this series I don't think it should take a second to decide that he should be the 6th man, both for offense and defense over Fin. Maybe last series was different, maybe next series (if there is one) will be different, but right now, in this series, Ime is our best sub.
Pop should go with Udoka like he did in game 6 but I'm amazed how quickly people write off Finley.
Most of Fin's minutes (and missed shots) came in garbage time so not sure what the big deal is.
I think I'm going to enjoy this Spurs win for the weekend. The way this series has been going, it doesn't look good for the Spurs.....History in this series so far says the Hornets win this series BUT it's a Game 7 so the dynamics will change...I hope the Spurs can pull it out though I doubt they could take out the Lakers in the WCF. If they don't, at least I hope they go out fighting.
PS...I did watch some of the second & third quarter at the gym....my man Manu was on fire!!!!!
I hope you stayed for the beginning of the 4th quarter, too...Manu hit back to back threes to open the 4th and put the game out of reach...PS...I did watch some of the second & third quarter at the gym....my man Manu was on fire!!!!!
Main changes is giving Oberto more PT and decide to go stronger on D.
Anyone heard the Wire during game? Pop said - "continue the best defense of the season" That was the mind set and they were doing just that.
To help doing that Finley had to sit at the bench seeing Udoka contribute on both ends of the floor. It is amazing how a spot up shooter can be a better shooter during this series than a guy who comes of the screen.
All said. I do not agree with Thomas statment. He is not a fantastic passer, he is worse passer then Fabio, but he can make teams pay for leaving him open. He is capable to do that and his defense is not as bad as anybody can think esp. when it comes to positioning and banging. Damn I swear that many in here were praising him for his D contributions. Now he is left alone. Good that we had first Horry good play in this playoffs.
Pop said he (Rob) is feeling better so they copuld use him more. All I know is that we need his IQ (where to go and what to do) and passing skills. But please Horry do not shoot the ball. You are worse then me, and I'm not a skilled shooter.
Speed what we need, we need greasy fast speed!
Not only be faster but also quicker then more athletic Hornet squad. I said it before and say again. The spurs must be better (or match) at the best NO's aspects. And transition is the key, and ball movenment is the key, and players movenment is the key.
That with the confidence and translation mental toughness to play great on the floor is what we need.
Good that TD was not whining. There was some calls the spurs were arguing, I once said - you moderfooking SalvatoreBut all in all spurs were concentraiting on play.
Tim played realy good game. He was not forcing too much. In his bad games he was either forcing himself to make baskets and failed or made bad decisions wanting to passs the ball too much.
Once Jordan said , that he let the game come to him and that is one of the most important things. Stay cool, do your job and that will clear you mind to play the game not thinking about decisions you want to make, you just make them.
I hear * all over again. But screw it. Hornest got questional calls twice. On transition Bowen vs. paul and On setting the play Manu vs West.
Btw. Look up the stats the refs called more fouls on Spurs, and spurs made excactly the same amount of FT. So taht was not a big factor. The factor was maybe the pace changed but it is the way it is, esp. in the playoffs. To keep cool. and not get intimidate by anything.
(Damn Pop was not even talking much with refs)
btw. Javie, Bavetta, or Danny will probably ...
Umm, I can write many things. About trapping on Paul or Tims D on West. But for one: Paul will make an instant adjustment on the floor no matter how many diferent looks the spurs will give him. And Pop gambeled a bit wanting to stop Paul more that game.
Second is that West was not 100% and he saw Tim guarding him for the first time in longer stretch. That could easy be exposed. West will be attacking Tim plus he will force him to play on permieter one on one where Tim is not great and that leads to hole inside esp. when fabio is in the game.
Spurs got the stats against them. I think all of them from the season and form the history book. Excample: 2-6 on games 7. And failure in SA against Dallas. That satys in head.
Hornets were not in a position they are right now as well. But their confidence won't be shaken and Paul is one of the best players when it comes to playoffs games. Looks familiar to Wade AD 2006.
I know that this post is bad and I will take the lessons of basketball (to improve myself) with humility from the Hornet King of basketball fan.
Game 7. Do or die on the road. Heart of a Champion.
Finley will have a great game on monday, book it!
Every time he gets bashed on this forum he instantly starts making shots.
I hope that they will not trigger so many threes on the road. They won't be always falling.
Belive.
We've been bashing him for 6 games this series and so far nothing!
Hornets are a completely different team home and away. Even if the Spurs play at a high level in Game 7, just because the Spurs handily beat them in Game 6, doesn't automatically annoit them as winners or having an edge in Game 7. As these Hornets have shown, they don't feel the pressure and experience doesn't really matter to them....when they're at home.
It seems to me the biggest obstacle with the Spurs playing on the road, not just the 3rd quarter, is the Spurs finding a way to get stops on the Hornets defensively when they turn up gears in the 2nd half. Which they do at home, CP3 lays low the first half, sets up teammates, and just lets loose in the 2nd half. He has been able to get any shot that he wants and the Spurs defense needs to step up. Even if they're not making shots on the road, they still need to get stops and let their defense generate their offense as Pop likes to say.
timvp:
Agreed; I thought that was key. I'm also glad Udoka had such a terrific game; it was definitely needed.Pop’s quick hook on Bowen when Bowen was struggling against Stojakovic paid off as well. Udoka came in and slowed Stojakovic and Bowen played like a man possessed in the second half.
Hey LJ, what do you think about using Brent as the fourth wing instead of Fin?
What about Hack-a-Tyson in the 3rd to slow their momentum?
Great recap timvp - as usual.
Our big problem is the 3rd Q in NO. What are we going to do about it? Like clockwork we get the lead at halftime only to promptly get blown out in the 3rd.
On the way home yesterday ESPN 1250 they had Don Harris on. He thought that maybe the Hornets were purposely playing at a slower pace only to kick it up in the 3rd Q. By doing so this would catch the Spurs off guard and turn the game in their favor. I'm not too sure any team would deliberately give a halftime lead at home to their opponnet only to up the pace in the 2nd half trying to catch the other team flat footed. But so far that seems to be the case. Interesting thought, though.
It's not that the Hornets are deliberately playing a crappy game in the 1st half. Chris Paul is just more focused on setting up his teammates and making sure everyone gets touches and is in some sort of rhythm. The full on blitz doesn't happen until the 2nd half, and by then everyone is ready to go all out.
The Spurs need to be up at least 10-15 by halftime for them to win in Game 7. If it's close, the Hornets will pull away again. Their youth and athleticism are a big advantage in the 2nd half when the Spurs legs start getting heavy.
It can also backfire ... like in Game 1 of the Suns series. Udoka practically single-handedly put the Spurs in that hole that they barely dug out of. Udoka is the Spurs' ultimate feast or famine player right now.
To be fair, Finley was big in the third quarter of Game 2 against the Suns and was decent enough against the Hornets in Game 1, Game 3 and Game 4. His defense sucks but his defense has been bad for the last three or four months. (What's weird is that his D and rebounding was actually pretty good earlier in the season. Not sure what happened.)
It's a scary thought but for the Spurs to win Game 7, they'll likely need Finley to hit some big shots.
In the second quarter, the Spurs struggled to even get those 22 points. Ginobili had to hit three treys, Parker had to hit two contested 20-footers and Thomas had to knock in two jumpers. Duncan didn't get anything close to an open shot with Thomas in the game.
In the last four games, Thomas has had put up the team's worst plus/minus stats in each game ... I just can't say that's a fluke. Both my eyes and the stats are telling me Thomas is hurting the team massively right now. The Hornets made an adjustment early in the series to turn Thomas into a passer and he just can't do it. Early in the series, Thomas wasn't too horrible because the Hornets hadn't figured out how to guard him. Now they know to run him off his jumper and he's stuck trying to make a pass and he just can't do that successfully right now.
I'm okay using Thomas as a spot sub in Game 7 for defense and rebounding but if the Spurs play him for long stretches, their offense will die.
That's accurate. I thought that the Hornets had laid all their cards on the table after Game 4 ... but then they started blitzing the pick-and-rolls. I wouldn't think that Byron Scott will add another wrinkle in Game 7, but he might."It seems like both teams have laid all the cards out"
seems?
normally you stay away from such weasel words.
Pop may also have some cards up his sleeve that we haven't seen yet.
I've advocated Barry getting more minutes for most of the playoffs but it looks like he hurt himself again. In the few minutes he's played recently, he's been really gimpy. I just don't think Barry is healthy enough at this point to help. That said, if the Spurs get down early or the other shooters are bricking, Pop has to give him a chance.
Hack-a-Tyson hasn't worked so far. Chandler hits the free throws and then the Hornets come back attacking the next possessions like nothing happened. It worked against the Suns partly because it got Nash out of rhythm and he'd start walking the ball up the court. Paul doesn't do that -- it just gives him time to rest and he comes back faster and harder.
However, if the Spurs are getting blown out in the third, Pop has to do anything he can to slow the momentum. If that means Hack-a-Tyson, so be it.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
