Spurs' Vaunted Defense Looks Sadly Vulnerable

[duncan228]

Spurs' vaunted defense looks sadly vulnerable
David Moore
Dallas Morning News

Dirk Nowitzki is held under 20 points.

Jason Terry squeezes off only eight shots and is held seven points below his average. And still, the Mavericks score 105 points and win the game.

If I'm San Antonio, I'm worried.

The Mavericks must play good defense on Tony Parker to win this series. But what they must do, first and foremost, is make the Spurs work on the defensive end.

The Spurs' championship iden y remains rooted in their defense. But the Mavericks have always given them trouble. Game 1 was no different.

San Antonio's focus this night was on Nowitzki and Terry. They double-teamed Terry off the pick-and-roll to take the ball out of his hands. They never left Nowitzki and sent an extra defender at him from the weakside.

This created space for Josh Howard and J.J. Barea to slash to the basket. It gave Antoine Wright open jumpers on the weakside.

Nowitzki and Terry didn't allow this defense to frustrate them. They adapted. Six players scored in double figures and the team shot 53.8 percent from the field.

"The key was the other guys used their freedom to our advantage," Nowitzki said.

The Spurs will make life tougher on Barea and Brandon Bass in Game 2. Bet on that. But I'm not sure what they can do with Howard.

Michael Finley can't stay with him. The Spurs' insistence on that matchup is the reason Howard finished with 25 points after a slow start. Bruce Bowen is a shadow of his former, defensive self.

My guess is San Antonio will use Ime Udoka on Howard more in Game 2. The problem there is that he won't give them as many points as Finley.

The Spurs are in a defensive bind.

The Mavericks exploited that in Game 1.

[SenorSpur]

This created space for Josh Howard and J.J. Barea to slash to the basket. It gave Antoine Wright open jumpers on the weakside. .

Note to Pop: It is of great benefit for a team to have more than 1 or 2 guys on the team who can create their own shot. Instead of guys whose primary skill set is chucking up 3-pt shots and allowing offensive rebounds to the opposition.

The Spurs will make life tougher on Barea and Brandon Bass in Game 2. Bet on that. But I'm not sure what they can do with Howard.

Michael Finley can't stay with him. The Spurs' insistence on that matchup is the reason Howard finished with 25 points after a slow start. Bruce Bowen is a shadow of his former, defensive self.

The Spurs are in a defensive bind.

The Mavericks exploited that in Game 1.

It's an absolute disgrace that the same defensive woes that plagued the Spurs, in the matchup versus this team 3 years ago, are still prevalent today. The Spurs are in decline defensively because they have several players who in decline. They are either slow-footed, unable to move well laterally and cannot rotate well. They have a roster made up of guys who have NEVER been known for their defensive prowess. Again, this is Pop expecting players to magically excel in areas they've shown no proficiency.

The sickening thing is that the FO had ample time to plan and fix this. They elected not to. In fact, they chose to ignore it. The fact that they won a le in 2007 didn't resolve the roster flaws either. It merely hid them . We saw this on full display again last season versus the Fakers. The Spurs were routinely outhustled, outquicked and outrebounded by a younger, quicker and more athletic team. Yet all that was discussed, both locally and nationally, was Manu's injury and the impact.

Now we're all seeing, firsthand, the results of that roster negligence. The mere fact that Pop actually thought he could continue to trot out a roster of consisting primarily of older players, with similarly declining skills sets, is an indication of organizational and coaching arrogance.

I've used this analogy before and I'll use it again. The best time to put gas in the car is not when you're sitting on the side of the road with an empty tank. In that situation, you're truly behind the curve - as the Spurs are now.

[rascal]

Note to Pop: It is of great benefit for a team to have more than 1 or 2 guys on the team who can create their own shot. Instead of guys whose primary skill set is chucking up 3-pt shots and allowing offensive rebounds to the opposition.



It's an absolute disgrace that the same defensive woes that plagued the Spurs, in the matchup versus this team 3 years ago, are still prevalent today. The Spurs are in decline defensively because they have several players who in decline. They are either slow-footed, unable to move well laterally and cannot rotate well. They have a roster made up of guys who have NEVER been known for their defensive prowess. Again, this is Pop expecting players to magically excel in areas they've shown no proficiency.

The sickening thing is that the FO had ample time to plan and fix this. They elected not to. In fact, they chose to ignore it. The fact that they won a le in 2007 didn't resolve the roster flaws either. It merely hid them . We saw this on full display again last season versus the Fakers. The Spurs were routinely outhustled, outquicked and outrebounded by a younger, quicker and more athletic team. Yet all that was discussed, both locally and nationally, was Manu's injury and the impact.

Now we're all seeing, firsthand, the results of that roster negligence. The mere fact that Pop actually thought he could continue to trot out a roster of consisting primarily of older players, with similarly declining skills sets, is an indication of organizational and coaching arrogance.

I've used this analogy before and I'll use it again. The best time to put gas in the car is not when you're sitting on the side of the road with an empty tank. In that situation, you're truly behind the curve - as the Spurs are now.

The spurs front office will waste Duncan's final years if they stubbornly stick with their old ways of building the roster with unathletic, slow over the hill types with no future upside potential.

[Obstructed_View]

The Spurs' championship iden y remains rooted in their defense. But the Mavericks have always given them trouble. Game 1 was no different.

Oh, if only that were true.

I love how the Mavs and their fans dilute themselves into thinking that their success against the Spurs is due to anything other than the players that Pop refuses to put into the game.

[Biggems]

Spurs' vaunted defense looks sadly vulnerable
David Moore
Dallas Morning News

Dirk Nowitzki is held under 20 points.

Jason Terry squeezes off only eight shots and is held seven points below his average. And still, the Mavericks score 105 points and win the game.

If I'm San Antonio, I'm worried.

The Mavericks must play good defense on Tony Parker to win this series. But what they must do, first and foremost, is make the Spurs work on the defensive end.

The Spurs' championship iden y remains rooted in their defense. But the Mavericks have always given them trouble. Game 1 was no different.

San Antonio's focus this night was on Nowitzki and Terry. They double-teamed Terry off the pick-and-roll to take the ball out of his hands. They never left Nowitzki and sent an extra defender at him from the weakside.

This created space for Josh Howard and J.J. Barea to slash to the basket. It gave Antoine Wright open jumpers on the weakside.

Nowitzki and Terry didn't allow this defense to frustrate them. They adapted. Six players scored in double figures and the team shot 53.8 percent from the field.

"The key was the other guys used their freedom to our advantage," Nowitzki said.

The Spurs will make life tougher on Barea and Brandon Bass in Game 2. Bet on that. But I'm not sure what they can do with Howard.

Michael Finley can't stay with him. The Spurs' insistence on that matchup is the reason Howard finished with 25 points after a slow start. Bruce Bowen is a shadow of his former, defensive self.

My guess is San Antonio will use Ime Udoka on Howard more in Game 2. The problem there is that he won't give them as many points as Finley.

The Spurs are in a defensive bind.

The Mavericks exploited that in Game 1.

The Spurs defense played very well, except for allowing all the wide open 3s. Bass was going off last night, but every single one of his shots was contested. He was just ridiculous. We were in Dirk's face all night, but he was making the shots.

We didn't lose cause of our defense. We lost cause we couldn't make layups, missing like 10-12 of them on the night. We lost cause we were careless with the basketball late. We lost because we just stand around and watch Tony dribble instead of moving around through screens and getting open for TP to pass it.

[Obstructed_View]

Funny how all this panic is going to dry up in game two when the Spurs actually get a couple of calls and win the game fairly easily.

[sananspursfan21]

i'm not too worried about last night. the last two times the spurs won it all, they lost their very first playoff game (both times to the Nuggets) the mavs don't scare me and shouldn't scare the spurs. many two point field goals were contested. defense in the first half was great. even when the spurs were burying the mavs, they weren't shooting well. just an off night offensively and the mavs were hot. i don't expect that every game.

brandon bass will not shoot the lights out every night. it made me happy to see that terry and nowitzki were held below standard. guys like brandon bass, jj barrea, and wright don't have a consistent offense. they will come and go. but for the spurs to have been able to hold the constant scorers below standard really makes me happy.

i'm optimistic about game 2. i think the spurs will make adjustments and put it together next game.

[HarlemHeat37]

This logic is so annoying..

IF DIRK DIDN'T HAVE FOUL TROUBLE IN THE 1ST HALF, WE WOULD HAVE LED BY MORE..Bass wouldn't have gotten those shots, and he was the reason that they came back and cut the lead..it's simple as that..

Terry was held in check, because Bowen shut him down..that isn't going to change..

our D ranked 5th in the NBA..it's all up to Pop playing the right players, instead of having a ing Bonner-Mason-Finley combination on D..

[Biggems]

If we could get the home calls that every other team seems to get.....if we could get the cheap calls that Dallas was getting all night, things may have been different.

Still, this isnt about the refs and it isnt even about defense.

We shot great from the line. We shot great from beyond the arc. We sucked right in front of the basket. If we finish better at the rim, we win this game by double digits.

These stupid mediots can criticize our defense all they want, but they are not paying attention to the games. If you look at all of our losses in the second half of the season.......it was our offense that disappeared in almost all of those games, not our defense. Either we were missing layups, FTs, or absolutely atrocious beyond the arc. Only a few times since the all-star break did we lose cause of our defense.

Spurs make lay ups = Spurs win

[Obstructed_View]

Spurs make lay ups = Spurs win

Spurs get a trip to the line when legitimately hit near the basket = Spurs win.

[Biggems]

Spurs get a trip to the line when legitimately hit near the basket = Spurs win.

i agree.....we were getting hacked all night and no call.

first shot of the game, Dirk does a fade away and falls down like always....they call a bogus foul on us.

Bowen was shoved out of bounds from behind by dirk, who got the rb and got the putback basket.....should have been a foul on dirk

dampier shoved Duncan, Duncan caught the pass, Dampier hacked Duncan across the arms and shoved him out of bounds again........all they did was call out of bounds on the Mavs.

barea was moving sideways and flopped, they called Tony for the charge....it was clearly a block...and TP made the shot. should have been an and 1...it would have brought us to within 1 possession if he makes the FT.

Bonner was set, Dampier bowls him over, no call.....Dunk for Dampier.......now this one, I didnt mind as much. I wish they would let the big boys play down low a bit more.....the only reason this no call bothered me, was cause of all the tick tack fouls they called on us all night long.

[Slippy]

Defense is what's going to give the this Spurs team the best chance of winning.

Tony Parker did look tired and Barea may have gotten into his head. What i didn't like seeing is the same approach to defending his man that we have seen all too often this season. Allowing Barea way too much space espcially off the dribble. Tony needs to get on his grill more instead of back-peddling away too far. It's well and good to stay in front of your man but not if it's going to give the oppo PG all the room in the world to do what-ever he chooses especially when he attacking the key-way. Whether to play up on a guy or backoff and when to apply it - every man (team) is different. The balancing act is up to Tony to recognize and adjust to.


My second rant is to Roger Mason. My initial reaction to this guy's D was he in pedestrian mode.. stop cruising when moving around screens and chasing your man. Who-ever Roger was guarding usually got a 1 to 2 step headstart and his response to that was to casually play catch-up. Take a leaf out of Bowen's book, this is the play-offs. Funny part is he showed a lot more determination in foot speed when running up the other end on a fast break attempt.

[BigBinBigD]

i agree.....we were getting hacked all night and no call.

first shot of the game, Dirk does a fade away and falls down like always....they call a bogus foul on us.

Bowen was shoved out of bounds from behind by dirk, who got the rb and got the putback basket.....should have been a foul on dirk

dampier shoved Duncan, Duncan caught the pass, Dampier hacked Duncan across the arms and shoved him out of bounds again........all they did was call out of bounds on the Mavs.

barea was moving sideways and flopped, they called Tony for the charge....it was clearly a block...and TP made the shot. should have been an and 1...it would have brought us to within 1 possession if he makes the FT.

Bonner was set, Dampier bowls him over, no call.....Dunk for Dampier.......now this one, I didnt mind as much. I wish they would let the big boys play down low a bit more.....the only reason this no call bothered me, was cause of all the tick tack fouls they called on us all night long.

blah, blah, blah....not this again.

There were bad calls both ways and they even out. Maybe if Pop and the Spurs players wouldn't whine so much about calls (second only maybe to Dan Tony), the fans wouldn't think they were screwed by the refs every time they lose a game. Hilarious that Spurs fans would even mention flopping and ticky-tack fouls.

[SenorSpur]

The spurs front office will waste Duncan's final years if they stubbornly stick with their old ways of building the roster with unathletic, slow over the hill types with no future upside potential.

This is what I fear. In that respect, I feel really bad for Duncan.

[Obstructed_View]

blah, blah, blah....not this again.

There were bad calls both ways and they even out. Maybe if Pop and the Spurs players wouldn't whine so much about calls (second only maybe to Dan Tony), the fans wouldn't think they were screwed by the refs every time they lose a game. Hilarious that Spurs fans would even mention flopping and ticky-tack fouls.

You're an idiot, but I forgive you, since as a Mavs fan, you aren't equipped to be able to actually recognize bad officiating when you see it. The most damning evidence is that a Mavs van thinks the calls were even

[tmtcsc]

I have a sick feeling the Mavs win again tonight with a last second shot.

[DPG21920]

I have a sick feeling the Mavs win again tonight with a last second shot.

Indigestion.

[Shank]

i agree.....we were getting hacked all night and no call.

first shot of the game, Dirk does a fade away and falls down like always....they call a bogus foul on us.

Bowen was shoved out of bounds from behind by dirk, who got the rb and got the putback basket.....should have been a foul on dirk

dampier shoved Duncan, Duncan caught the pass, Dampier hacked Duncan across the arms and shoved him out of bounds again........all they did was call out of bounds on the Mavs.

barea was moving sideways and flopped, they called Tony for the charge....it was clearly a block...and TP made the shot. should have been an and 1...it would have brought us to within 1 possession if he makes the FT.

Bonner was set, Dampier bowls him over, no call.....Dunk for Dampier.......now this one, I didnt mind as much. I wish they would let the big boys play down low a bit more.....the only reason this no call bothered me, was cause of all the tick tack fouls they called on us all night long.

In your eyes, does your team ever legitimately lose a game? Or is it always because of the officiating?

[rascal]

This is what I fear. In that respect, I feel really bad for Duncan.

I don't feel bad for Duncan at all. Duncan goes along with the front office and doesn't make a play for more athletic help.

Just this last trade deadline Duncan said the team was all right the way they were and made no push for the front office to make the deal to get Camby, R Wallace or Carter who the spurs had some sort of shot or interest in.

[rascal]

I have a sick feeling the Mavs win again tonight with a last second shot.

Doubt it. Spurs should take game two by a few points because they are more desperate than Dallas.

[Dingle Barry]

Blaming the refs for game 1 is ing weak.

[pimptaddy]

Spurs defense = suns defense.


mavs gonna cut through it like a hot knife through butter

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Spurs are going to adjust and win game 2. Book it.

[tmtcsc]

Indigestion.

I hope you're right. Maybe it was that taco I ate.

[sribb43]

i agree.....we were getting hacked all night and no call.

first shot of the game, Dirk does a fade away and falls down like always....they call a bogus foul on us.

Bowen was shoved out of bounds from behind by dirk, who got the rb and got the putback basket.....should have been a foul on dirk

dampier shoved Duncan, Duncan caught the pass, Dampier hacked Duncan across the arms and shoved him out of bounds again........all they did was call out of bounds on the Mavs.

barea was moving sideways and flopped, they called Tony for the charge....it was clearly a block...and TP made the shot. should have been an and 1...it would have brought us to within 1 possession if he makes the FT.

Bonner was set, Dampier bowls him over, no call.....Dunk for Dampier.......now this one, I didnt mind as much. I wish they would let the big boys play down low a bit more.....the only reason this no call bothered me, was cause of all the tick tack fouls they called on us all night long.

Thats the best you've got....is blaming the refs, weak