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Manu is Manu - good and bad. Tonight mostly good, but bad when it mattered most. Playoff series can turn on one moment, one mistake. Ask Jason Terry...he almost cost the Mavs this series.
Buck Harvey: Bounce gone bad? A truth about Spurs
Web Posted: 05/23/2006 12:31 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News The locker room was dark except for a few lights from TV cameras. Teammates were still heading to the post-game podium to talk to the media. And Robert Horry, already dressed, was leaving.
A year ago he'd taken a Manu Ginobili pass in Detroit, and he changed the seasons of two teams. This time Horry waited in the corner, open again, when Ginobili drove at the end of regulation.
Championships are decided by these moments. The 2006 championship may have been, too, albeit in the second round. And Horry summed it up with a soft laugh and a line.
"The lucky team won," he said.
His teammates put it differently but with similar perspective. The Spurs lost two overtime games in this series, as well a one-point game in Dallas when Tim Duncan fouled out. How much luck would have been required for the Spurs to be the ones celebrating in Texas today?
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Not much. And this idea will comfort the Spurs, as well as those accustomed to seeing these guys play in June. But the Spurs will have to accept something else, too, and that is how this series was lost.
Luck was part of it. But so was a Dallas team that came with more depth, more shooters, more size — and a star who could counter Tim Duncan.
The Spurs needed luck, in the end, to beat the Mavericks.
The Spurs didn't defend a le for a third time, yet this one was different. This time there were no injuries, as there were in 2000. This time there was no Derek Fisher and 0.4, when luck really was part of the equation in 2004.
This time, too, came with no excuses. There were no refs to blame, nor were there travel issues to complain about. Both teams were rested, having made the same short hop from Dallas.
What followed said a lot about what Avery Johnson has done. The Mavericks came out with supreme confidence, as well as Jason Terry and a remarkable shooting touch. Dallas shot 83.3 percent in the first quarter, took a 20-point lead in the second and looked like the same team that had blown out the Spurs in Game 2.
None of it made sense. After all, the Spurs had motivation to silence Mark Cuban, as well as eliminate David Hasselhoff from being mentioned in subsequent NBA playoff series.
The Spurs reacted as champions do, just as they did in Dallas the game before. The Mavericks' shooting percentage began to drop as theirs rose, and Duncan continued to be, well, what he's been.
For those who wonder if the torch has officially passed in Texas — if the Spurs are suddenly a 63-win team heading downward — look at what Duncan did in this series. As the crowd chanted, "MVP, MVP," he re-established himself as a candidate for the award.
AJ reacted to that late, sending double teams at Duncan. And that's when the Spurs bolted ahead. Duncan first found Michael Finley for a 3-pointer, then Ginobili. As Ginobili came off the court, both fists pumping with 32 seconds left and a three-point lead, the Spurs were the Spurs again.
But that's when Dirk Nowitzki drove, and Ginobili made his mistake. The Spurs were told not to foul or allow a 3-pointer, and Ginobili couldn't help himself. He went for the block.
"I don't know how the ball went in," Nowitzki said. "Manu hit my hand. It was a lucky bounce."
That word again. Lucky.
Those who blame Ginobili for the mistake should remember the other side. He's the one who surged in the fourth quarter, just as he's so often done, and he created the cushion he lost.
His surge, however, also defines this game and this series. The Spurs had one chance to win Monday, at home, and it came in the form of a 30-second window, nothing more. When Nowitzki made his play and the window closed, the Mavericks were in charge again.
The Spurs' starters, each of whom played at least 42 minutes, had nothing left.
The Spurs needed something special to win this series, just as they needed something special last year. But this time Horry stood waiting for a pass that never came from Ginobili.
Luck, this time, never had a chance.
Buck Harvey. The way Manu has played I'll take him with the shot anyday over Horry who never bothered to show up this year. Horry played like ass these entire playoffs but what was worse was his body language which told me he never gave a damn.
I'm ready to see that guy retire. He's done.
Manu is Manu - good and bad. Tonight mostly good, but bad when it mattered most. Playoff series can turn on one moment, one mistake. Ask Jason Terry...he almost cost the Mavs this series.
Yeah, I'm going to have a really hard time handling the Manu-bashing around here over the next few days. The guy is the main reason we dug ourselves out of the 3-1 hole to begin with and were able to close the 20-point deficit. His instincts are impeccable, but tonight, for that one split second there, they were off. But why should the game have come down to that in the first place? We should never have put ourselves in that position to begin with, where one possession, one mental error determines the outcome, especially of a Game 7 on homecourt.
very true.
Manu may have ed up at the end, but the man is all heart. He left it all out on the court and I can live with that.
Without Manu, Mavs in 6....maybe 5. He is without question the second-best player on this team.
Fire Buck Harvey...
Fkn hater...
Indeed.
There shouldn't be any Manu bashing, he's not reckless - he plays risky but with heart, soul and serious nad and I'll take that anyday.
Manu did exactly what I wanted him to do on the last possession... attack the ing basket.
No doubt. No one should question anything Manu did. If it wasn't for some of his insane 4th quarter efforts, this series might have gone in Dallas' favor even sooner. I'd hope that none of the Spurs fanbase turns their back on the guy. He can be a warrior out there.
Manu was tired.. you could see rings on his eye's.
We all know who plays with heart..
We have a bench and center problem.. that's it... the core is fine.
They just need a good rest.
to compare the Detroit series and tonight, Ginobili was doubled teamed in Detroit, the Mavs allowed - nearly 50 pts - in the paint, drive to the basket. I liked the call just not the result.
We have a center problem particularly for this "new" style of play. Bench, well, with Finley starting and Horry, from my point of view, out of his element to be effective - my point of view - the production of course went down.
It's not like we have to blow up the team like so many were calling for in the Robinson era.
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