http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...n.3972eb1.html
Buck Harvey: Jackson's amazing 40-0 – not an end to the Spurs or the blather
LOS ANGELES — This series isn't over. Kobe Bryant has had a bad back, after all, and Robert Horry is still around.
Manu Ginobili's fingernail on his shooting hand is growing back as this is being typed. The Spurs won't have any problems now with their new charter, since both aisle and window seats will be made by Sealy Posturepedic. And then there is Tim Duncan; he seems to be a changed man without either Tyson Chandler or Joey Crawford around.
But none of these well-researched examples will stop the blather. The Lakers cannot be beaten now, because they won the opener in the final minute on their home court, where they were also favored, and the most twisted reason of all is statistical certainty.
Phil Jackson is 40-0 in playoff series after winning the first game.
How can such a force be stopped?
It's a startling stat, all right, and the string might extend to 41. Bryant proved to be a worthy MVP Wednesday night while his teammates proved their team defense is underrated. If Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom join them tonight, then the Spurs will be going home down 0-2.
It wasn't long ago that 0-2 was more feared in San Antonio than 40-0. The Spurs had never won a series after losing the first two games, nor had they ever won a Game 7 on the road. Reasonable minds had one conclusion then. The Spurs were doomed.
These are the mathematical airballs in sports, where numbers mix badly with history and convention. Blame the media for a lot of this — if not all of it — and sometimes the athletes themselves get caught up in the madness.
Duncan did Thursday. He was leaning against the wall of a conference room in his hotel, fielding media questions, when someone asked him if Game 1 had created “doubt.”
He rolled his eyes. “It was ONE game,” he said.
Duncan should know the drill by now. One game means everything, at least until the next one is played.
Besides, ONE game is often determined by ONE play. If the Lakers had lost, giving away home-court advantage, then the Spurs would be the ones on the cusp of a sweep.
Duncan, still exasperated, went further. “All the Lakers did was hold home court,” he said.
He hesitated and caught himself. “Wait. I hate when people say that. Please scratch that.”
Duncan hates what he had fallen into, the predictable between-game clichés that mean nothing. Holding home court is always prized, after all, until it is lost and regained in the same series. Then everyone credits better basketball.
That's where Duncan comes in, and why this series is far from over. What he did Wednesday, with 30 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks, will be there through most of the Western Conference finals.
Chandler was a better counter, and Shaquille O'Neal gave Duncan 325 pounds of resistance in the first round. Now Duncan is not only the best big man in the series, he's the most intimidating.
These Lakers were far different earlier in the decade. “Then, in the Shaq-Kobe years, it was almost unfair for the whole league,” said one NBA scout. “They had great pieces around them, and they were a cut above for a few years. Now there's a half-dozen teams on an equal plane, and no one is unbeatable.”
Still, too many go back to the past trying to make a connection with today.
They go back to when Jackson coached Shaq, and they go back to the previous decade when Jackson coached Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant.
That's how Jackson built his 40-0 record, after all. Since 2004, without those names, he hasn't been out of the first round.
But 40-0 is still given weight, both by somber ESPN announcers and writers alike, as are other numbers. Did you know the Lakers are now 6-0 at home in the playoffs?
So were the Hornets — until they lost the seventh.
But the blather continues, as if 1992 affects 2008, as if ONE game means that much.
And if the Spurs win tonight?
The Lakers will feel the other side of this.
I've had fingernails and toenails ripped off before and they don't grow back overnight. Typically it takes about a week for it not to hurt when you touch/step on something. If it happened in Game 5 of the Hornets series then Manu should be past the point where the tissue is still tender. He should be okay for the rest of the series.
Joey Crawford, I Love You Come Ref The Games Plz
why dont you sleep with him if you love him that much? Have a baby or two, it wont hurt.
He did game 1 of the other series so if there are 6 crew chiefs, that means the first 3 games for each series will have a different ref. He won't be coming till maybe game 4. I doubt he refs a game in SA so look for him in game 5.
love buck's writing.
Nice Article.
One thing I don't like though is the at ude now that being down 0-2 is ok for the Spurs, as they've shown they can come back due to the last series. Being down 0-2 to the Lakers and Kobe/Phil is not the same thing as being down 0-2 to an inexperienced Hornets team who's best player was playing in his first playoff series. Spurs need to play their hearts out tonight and gain back the momentum they lost in Game 1.
I really dont believe Horry will be a difference maker in this series. In 2004 he chocked big time against LA specially playing at the staples center. I think he was still missing his old team mates. I'm not sure whether he will be able toprovide, maybe im wrong and 4 years have passed...
Time will tell if the last game was a watershed game for this version of the Lakers.
If they beat the Spurs and go on to win the le (which is not unlikely IMO, given how ty the east looks now), they can certainly look back to this game 1 as a kind of turning point.
Same thing for the Spurs. This is our chance to exorcise old demons or to wonder if this series marks the beginning of the inevitable end.
40-0 is nothing to compared to the "Phil Streak" the Spurs broke up in '03 --24 playoff series wins in a row.
I love how the media keeps trotting out meaningless stats like that...most of PJs series wins were with the Jordan Bulls, not the Lakers, and those with the Lakers were with Shaq. It's like the TV guys talking about how good the Celtics' playoff record is...as if the Russell Celtics of the '60s and the Bird Celtics of the '80s have any bearing at all on the current Celtics team.
Buuuut...if you wanna talk stats...a far more meaningful stat is this: The CURRENT coach of the CURRENT Spurs team has lost Game 1 of a seven-game series four times in his career, and has gone on to win all four of those series.
Of course, if the Lakers do manage to win Game 2 tonight, then the series is over, because we all know the Spurs have NEVER come back from down 0-2...oh, wait...
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