Hollinger: Despite Star Struggles, Spurs Dominate Lakers

[Blackjack]

Despite Star Struggles, Spurs Dominate Lakers
By John Hollinger - ESPN.com



SAN ANTONIO -- Once upon a time, the formula for beating the Spurs was simple: shut down two of their three stars and their limited role players couldn't score enough to make up for it.

Not any more.

The Lakers erased two San Antonio stars -- an under-the-weather Manu Ginobili labored to just nine points and Tim Duncan mustered a mere two, along with just four rebounds and nary a blocked shot -- but that didn't stop the Spurs from crushing the Lakers 97-82 on Tuesday in a potential Western Conference finals preview.

"We went 4-for-20 between Tim and me. First half, two points between us," Ginobili said. "We were sticking around, [down two at half], so we knew had a big shot at winning it. Defensively we were there and Tony [Parker] was great."

Here's how bad it was: Duncan's 29 minutes were the most he's played in his career while making only one field goal or fewer, while Ginobili hadn't taken at least 12 shots and made a quarter of them or less in more than two years.

And yet San Antonio not only beat the Lakers, they crushed them. (If this is what the conference finals will look like, they might be over quickly.) With Ducan and Ginobili struggling, the Spurs used this game to showcase their mul udes of secondary weapons, most notably power forward DeJuan Blair.

In a game that featured surefire Hall of Fame frontcourt players in Duncan and Pau Gasol and stars like Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom, it was the 6-foot-7 Blair who dominated the paint at both ends. The second-year forward finished with 17 points, 15 rebounds and two deft poke-check steals on Laker guards, and dominated a stretch at the start of the third quarter to open up a working margin the Spurs would never relinquish.

But the hits kept on coming. Tony Parker's 23 points again magnified the difficultly L.A. has with fast point guards, while Richard Jefferson continued his solid season with 15 points and seven boards, even though -- as one rival assistant coach noted to me -- the Spurs hardly ever run any plays for him. (By my count they ran one Tuesday, a beautifully excecuted alleyoop.)

Gary Neal again ably filled his role as a designated shooter off the bench, hoisting nine 3-point attempts in 17 minutes and keeping the defense honest with three makes. Matt Bonner spread the floor when Blair wasn't in the game and nailed two more 3s in three tries, raising his season mark to 51.6 percent.

But most of all, there was the defense. Oh, was there defense.

That's where George Hill comes in. For as much as Gregg Popovich has lamented his team's merely solid defense -- they've rolled to a league-best 27-4 start mostly on the back of a prodigious offensive effort -- the Spurs executed their game plan to perfection, and Hill was a huge part of it.

The plan: bait the Lakers guards into shooting and ignoring their size advantage in the paint, and force Kobe Bryant into tough jump shots. Even after Bryant made four of his first five shots, the Spurs kept after it. And with Hill and Ginobili pestering Bryant, he went on to miss his next 13 shots, commit five turnovers, and generally shoot L.A. out of the game while Gasol and Bynum sat waiting fruitlessly in the post.

"When the game started, I thought it was going to be a long night," said Ginobili. "He made the first four and they were pretty tough shots, but then I could bother him a little more on the catch. [But guarding] Kobe is not one-on-one defense, ever. You need the team to be there contesting and crowding the paint, so we did a great job in that regard."

Gasol took two shots after halftime and didn't add to his total of nine; Bynum had 10 points but was often being guarded by Bonner and Blair and wasn't exploited nearly enough. Meanwhile, Shannon Brown, Odom, and Ron Artest combined for 29 hoists. They made eight of them.

"I don't think we played the smartest game, let's put it that way," Gasol said.

Hill went toe-to-toe with Bryant after a confrontation late in the first quarter that led to technical fouls on both, setting the tone for a spirited evening throughout. (For as much as the players and coaches talked beforehand about this being one game out of 82, the concept seemed laughable once the ball went up; this one of the hardest-fought regular-season games you'll see.)

It's no accident that San Antonio's uncharacteristically permissive defense of late coincided with Hill's absence as a result of a sprained ankle. With him out the Spurs allowed four straight opponents to hit the century mark, culminating in the 123 they permitted to Orlando on Thursday. For the season, San Antonio gives up 4.6 points per 100 possessions fewer with Hill on the floor.
"He's our best defender," Ginobili said. "He's the one that's always going to chase the opponent's top scorer. He did great today, showing his hands without fouling, contesting every shot, getting to loose balls, he always there on the help. He was unbelievable."

What stood out this most about this game, though, was the depth and breadth of the contributions up and down the San Antonio roster. The Spurs' two biggest stars had two of their worst games of the season (in Duncan's case, arguably the worst of his entire career), and they still had enough help to smoke the two-time defending champions.

That goes a long way toward explaining how the Spurs are 27-4 ... and of how, with San Antonio now a comfy six games ahead of the reeling Lakers, the le of "Western Conference favorite" may have just changed hands tonight.

[TE]

It's a little premature to say the Western Conference favorite has changed hands. It's just a regular season game, and whatever worth it is, whatever type of statement game it is, it's still just a regular season win.


I will say this though, the Spurs looked scary amid the horrendous night the team had from three and the bad night from both Ginobili and Duncan. Factor the aforementioned with the fact that James Anderson, a talented young athletic player, didn't play, and you have yourself the biggest, "oh ".

[rayray2k8]

It's only December...
These games only matter to the other team...

[TDMVPDPOY]

27-4 i take it

even though we are playin better then what our team record shows, since 3 of the losses were winnable games had pop didnt try to out coached himself playing scrubs to protect leads at the end of quarters...

[TDMVPDPOY]

Despite Star Struggles, Spurs Dominate Lakers
By John Hollinger - ESPN.com

the wrist band ghill3 is wearing, is it a spurs wristband or one of them wrist bands that controls blood flow or energy within the body, cause it has been proven to be a ponzy product by australian authorities

[wildbill2u]

I hope people keep saying: It's only November, It's only December, It's only January, It's only Februrary, It's only March, It's only April... , It's May and June and the Spurs are still playing well.

[ajh18]

It's only December...
These games only matter to the other team...

I think its safe to say this game mattered just as much to the Lakers at it did to the Spurs.

After hearing about Kobe's "pep-talks," the lively practices, and how everyone was motivated after getting blown out by Miami on Christmas?

, even the NBATV folks said the Lakers coaches had circled this game on their calendar as a benchmark for the team.

There's still a lot of work BOTH of these teams can do to get better before the playoffs. While this was far from the Lakers' best game, the truth is it was far from the Spurs' best also. But, I think it's wrong to imply that this game only mattered to the "other team." In this case, it mattered to both.

[LaMarcus Bryant]

Just like LJ Ellis always says. Without Hill we suddenly become incredibly un-athletic and ty on defense.

With Hill we can be pretty dirty though.

[Mark in Austin]

I'll take the win - great game by the Spurs. But it IS only December and until somebody beats LA in the playoffs, as the defending champs they are the team to beat.

[EricB]

Again, why is the "Its only december" arguement valid now for the good record, when it was decried as "homerish" to say the same thing about a bad record at this time?

[ShoogarBear]

Offense is another story. I got a twitter recently and that fake coach pop guy is amusing, but accurate at times. After the game he said: Pathetic. 9 of 32 from 3 point land. 66% from the Free Throw line. Tim was 1 for 7, and Quinn didn't score. C+ tonight. Honestly that's pretty dead on. The Spurs could have played a lot better offensively and still put up 97. What happens if Tim and Manu go off and most everyone produces at the same level as they did tonight? The Spurs could quite possibly put up 150.

Bad news is they shot 9 for 32 from 3. Good news is they did that and won. Even better news from the long-term perspective is that it was Manu and Neal doing most the missing. Those are the two guys I'd be worried the least about in a playoff game.

I don't recall the Spurs ever shooting that many times that poorly from the arc and winning, so I checked it out on basketball-reference:

Before this game, they had attempted 30 or more threes ten times since 1986-1987. Six of those games were in the last three years. They were 5-5 overall in those games.

In the games they won, they hit 10, 14, 15, 16, and 16 of the threes. The game they hit ten in was the OT game against the Wolves this year, and they made up for launching so many threes by going to the line 36 times.

In the games they lost, they hit 7, 9, 11, 13, and 13 of the threes. The game they hit 9 was the loss to the Clippers this year. (Interestingly, that means in a little over a month, the Spurs have had three of their 11 games in their history with >= 30 3PA.)

So yeah, the Spurs have never shot so many times and so poorly from the arc and won before.

[AFBlue]

Good article, better pic.

[TDMVPDPOY]

1 game down 3 more to go in the regular season series....

[SenorSpur]

It's a little premature to say the Western Conference favorite has changed hands. It's just a regular season game, and whatever worth it is, whatever type of statement game it is, it's still just a regular season win.


I will say this though, the Spurs looked scary amid the horrendous night the team had from three and the bad night from both Ginobili and Duncan. Factor the aforementioned with the fact that James Anderson, a talented young athletic player, didn't play, and you have yourself the biggest, "oh ".

I get chills of anticipation just imagining the "lift" that Anderson will provide. If it's anything like the 6-game sample we saw earlier this season, then he will pay HUGE dividends for the team and help alleviate some of the heavy minutes Manu is playing. A second unit of Hill, Neal, Anderson, Dice/Splitter and Bonner is just way scary.

[phyzik]

best part of the game: Hill not putting up with Kome's Cryantics and getting right back in that es face.

[greyforest]

the wrist band ghill3 is wearing, is it a spurs wristband or one of them wrist bands that controls blood flow or energy within the body, cause it has been proven to be a ponzy product by australian authorities

haha yeah, he's wearing two of them.

the placebo effect is pretty powerful, though.

[UnWantedTheory]

It's a little premature to say the Western Conference favorite has changed hands. It's just a regular season game, and whatever worth it is, whatever type of statement game it is, it's still just a regular season win.


I will say this though, the Spurs looked scary amid the horrendous night the team had from three and the bad night from both Ginobili and Duncan. Factor the aforementioned with the fact that James Anderson, a talented young athletic player, didn't play, and you have yourself the biggest, "oh ".

[G-Dawgg]

Looks like Hill is taking over Bowen's duty as the Kobe stopper...

[Fireball]

This game just proved again that defense is all that matters. George Hill is the glue to our team defense and Tim Duncan does not hurt the team on the court even if he does not score. Please show 48 minutes of this defense against the Mavs as well ... they are more vulnerable at home.

[ezau]

Hill is a weird matchup for Kobe. You look at him and you'll immediately think that you can back him down because he's only 6'2. Once you pull up jumpers on his face though, you'll realize that those long arms can cover your vision very well.

I like the fact that he's never intimidated at anyone. If he's not intimidated by Kobe, no one's going to get into his head. Hill has matured a lot and I'm loving his play at both ends of the court.

[polandprzem]

GHILL : Kobe choose - In da mouth or in da nose?

[pookenstein]

Good article. Man was it awesome seeing George getting right back into Kome or what?

[buttsR4rebounding]

27-4 i take it

even though we are playin better then what our team record shows, since 3 of the losses were winnable games had pop didnt try to out coached himself playing scrubs to protect leads at the end of quarters...

[benefactor]

Hill's experience against Kobe is starting to pay off. He has really started to figure out Kobe's game and how to play him without getting in foul trouble.

As I have said before...the Spurs aren't going to find another stopper, but if they can find a way to make the other team's best perimeter player average then they have a shot. They did that tonight with Hill and the overall team effort.

[MI21]

Hill is a weird matchup for Kobe. You look at him and you'll immediately think that you can back him down because he's only 6'2. Once you pull up jumpers on his face though, you'll realize that those long arms can cover your vision very well.

I like the fact that he's never intimidated at anyone. If he's not intimidated by Kobe, no one's going to get into his head. Hill has matured a lot and I'm loving his play at both ends of the court.

He is a weird matchup for sure.

I've noticed Kobe seems to be able to shoot from 20ft+ over Hill but when he tries to back him down, penetrate off the dribble or go to the mid-range game, Hill really bothers him.