Not really because Duncan would then be out on the perimeter guarding either Odom or Radmanovic. It's going to have to be Duncan on Gasol for a majority of the time. Thomas on Gasol comes into play when Duncan is on the bench. I don't think we'll see much of Duncan and Thomas on the court at the same time.
The Bryant and Gasol pick-and-roll is difficult to guard but probably not as difficult as the other pick-and-roll tandems the Spurs have faced this postseason. That one play won't beat them.
timvp,
That was a great summary, very well done.
To me, Game 2 is the critical game for both teams. The Lakers won Game 1, but surely can't be happy about being 20 down at home....that isn't a great sign.
The Spurs are smart enough to know Game 2 is essentially a must win for them, there is no way they want to try and dig out of another 0-2 hole without the HCA like they had to in the last round.
I expect a war Friday night.
For anyone that may have missed interviews and wants to see them:
Jackson and Pop post game interviews here:
http://broadband.nba.com/cc/playa.ph...nk&nbasite=nba
Manu, Duncan, Thomas, Bowen, and Horry post game locker room interviews here:
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/playoffs_2008.html
When Bowen came back to defend Kobe, after Ginobili's incapability to check him..the contrast was tenfold. In retrospect, Pop messed up.
Before Ginobili, I think Udoka was put on Kobe to test him out... Pop took our 20 point lead for granted.
Great write up and i agree about Pop, what was he thinking last night??
Wasn't it only a 20-pt lead for a matter of seconds? It was more like a steady 14-16 point lead if I remember correctly. The 20 point lead thing makes me want to throw up.
My keys to Game 2-
Manu and Kurt's defense-don't let Vlad, Sasha, and Gasol go off.
Offensive Chemistry-can't be hurrying and panicking down the stretch again. Take it a possession at a time.
Resurrection of Rob and Brent-they both played well in limited minutes. So give them more.
Finley-Just get your together.
Udoka on Odom-I think it can work.
LJ, dude, your thoughts are right on the money as always. I especially left speechless after your assessment of Udoka and Finley. I would not describe their (non) performances any differently.
I came within a shred of rationality from throwing my effing laptop off my balcony from 18 stories up into the streets of Uberlandia. I didn't do it because I thought it would be decent of me to at least give it to someone in need.
why did pop think manu can defend kobe
spurs usually try to hide manu some on the other teams worse o player
manu can still the ball but he gambles to much to be on kobe
Hm. Bowen's reaction makes me think Pop is up to something here.
Manu sometimes gives Bruce a rest, on perimeter players. Some days he defends better than others due to his lateral quickness.
He had no business checking Kobe yesterday, however.
Thanks.
It's good to have Horry in that locker room.
costas was right about that play when we were up 7 and got a big stop ... kobe stole the ball from duncan i believe about a second after we had possession and went in for the easy lay up.. .insstead of being up 7 with 24 seconds to milk... we're up 5 and gave them an opportunity to score 2 points in basically 1 second of game time.
It was Doug Collins but yeah thanks for reminding me of the horrific Collins/Costas pairing of yesteryear
I was at the game last night and my opinion of the Lakers hasn't changed -- they ain't that good folks. I still think the Spurs win this series.
I just hope the team isn't thinking like that.
I can't tell you how much I agree with you about the Pop/Bowen benching thing. I kept screaming at Pop from my couch but it did no good. WTF was he thinking? Also Horry and Barry were playing well and they never sniffed the court outside of a few minutes. I just don't understand.
That decision was just crazy! If we win this series, it will be forgotten, but if not we will look back and wonder.
Pop seems to be intimidated by PJ? I don't think PJ wastes words, so I reckon he knew what he was doing with his famous "simulator crew" crack.
I don't know if Pop is intimidated, but he might be self-aware of the personal challenge in taking it to Phil Jackson. In the first half , Phil was probably surprised that they were going to possibly lose th game.
Anyway, I trust in Pop, I know he can right the ship, and really get our team to beat Phil's Lakers.
And more Oberto. He played well on Odom and TD and Oberto have good chemistry.
I was thinking about this game all the time.
All the fricking time! All day long. The game1 in my head. The loss. The loss. Won game lost!
RU kidding me?
And as I was thinking about that game I came out with some thoughts.
Ofcourse everybody will say Manu blew it, Pop blew it, Bowen should stay on Kobe etc.
But what was more important? The thing that the spurs match up better with LA then with Hornets. The thing that Spurs played easier (if can you say that at that stage of the playoffs) against LA then NO.
You know - they run out of gas but no excuses. The sport is brutal but I think there is something more to it.
Spurs came up strong and with a good plan and they were doing what they were suppose to do. La were flat, rusty whatever. Tim plyed realy good. If there was a win we could say fantastic. (btw. How good of a defender Chandler is and how good was Orlean in stopping TD - underrated Hornets team).
Someone said that Phil will not double Tim at the begining, the he went to doble him more as the game progressed. Good tactic. Not get shooters a confidence at the begining, shut them down. Then when they will get tired - dig in the % will drop as the shooters 1. do not have the confidence 2. do not have fresh legs anymore. It is always good to have the same tactic through 3 quarters and then make a change in the 4th. It confuses and disrupts a bit. And adjust to that is hard thing to do.
We blame Pop for the loss
Small ball went bad, but how could it as the spurs playing small in one of the contests crushed LA. The moving was there the motion was there and spurs could roll. Pop thought maybe they will click on some point he hold Finley trusting him and thinking maybe he could drain a dagger, he brough up Barry thinking he could bring some motion and smart passing - nothing went his way (IMO). Finley was fighting for some positions but he was unable to do anything and he failed as he could fail the most, guarding Odom was death. I'd rather see Thomas on ODom and stay big cause we need rebounding. Without rebs we are lost.
Gino was lost. And I will come back to the being tired excuse.
Gino excample - he was absolutely out of sync. He made awefull decisions, and he made some horrible decisions and also some bad decisions.
He was mentioning something about the head in the game (Rob said is as well). And when you are tired you just not thinking right. That's why they folded on gameplan, that's why they made some bad passes, that's why they rushed some shots. I remember one situation when Gino went on a drive and LA closed him he decided to pass cross court Turnover, and he had TD right there close to him open.
All in all you can have your body tired and you can prevail with head.
But at some point you are so tired you just not function right.
That was a bad sign. And I was hoping the spurs will survive.
They didn't.
Bright spot was that they were not whining to the refs.
Now the spurs just simply must win next game. And Pop will have to stay sharp and make instant decisions.
If there is possibility to free up Manu and he can manage it he must do it.
TD must to stay TD
Manu must be back
Tony macarony
Bowen own 'em
Beat LA!
It's going to be an awesome game tomorrow. I don't expect SAS to make too many adjustments to be honest. Defensively they shut the Lakers down for 3 1/2 quarters and offensively they were simply ice cold from the field. A few more 3pters go in and they would have snagged the victory.
The Lakers, OTOH, have a lot of work to do. The Spurs are excellent at coming in and taking away your primary offensive options. They shut down the interior and denied LA it's usual layup drill for most of the game. I'm not comfortable with needing Kobe to be super-aggressive all game just for us to get good looks on offense. Phil may have to tweak the starting lineups to insert more speed and shooters to spread the floor and open up the lanes. Sasha, in particular, was very effective against Ginobli and he is our best 3pt shooter.
I put the blame on Manu, he was a big disappointment and was frustrating to watch the whole game. He got outplayed by Vujacic, that can't happened again. He got the best of him offensively and defensively. He played physically against Manu and Manu lost his cool which led to bad decisions.
If Vujacic>Manu, it will be hard to beat the Lakers.
Good recap, although you don't mention the obvious fatigue the players showed from the late-3rd Q onwards. They were all a step slow to every loose ball, stopped penetrating and moving. I think a lot of that was let-down from that huge game 7, and fatigue.
Anyway, we'll see a different team in game 2.
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