Pop has yet to unleash the Red Rocket, Matt Bonner.
Be very afraid Hornets, if Pop decides to use him. CP3 will end up impaled in the 3rd row.
They tried everythign on this guy and he still made those extremely tough shots. The ones he missed were almost all uncontested shots. Sometimes good players like West get used to have hands all over their faces so they practice hitting those shots anyway. When you give an open 15 foot jumper to them, they miss them 50% of the time. What you can't allow him to do is post up at the rim. He'll kill you there.
I will say this, the Spurs did the things they needed to do to win last night. The keys to the Spurs winning were:
Getting into the lane and scoring more points in the paint.
Shooting better from outside.
Rebounding better.
The Spurs did all of these things much better than they had the last two games.
What did suprise me:
The defensive matchups. It appears Pop is going to allow CP3 to get his points. Bowen was a mad man on Peja and the outher outside shooters for the Hornets. This was a big key.
The poorus defense by the Hornets in the paint. This was not entirely the Hornets doing, the Spurs attcked the rim much better and were able to shoot from the outside, which lossened the lane up.
Now we will see what happens in Game 4. The Spurs have made signifgant adjustments in Game 3. What will the Hornets do to respond. The question also comes up, how much more can the Spurs change, providing the Hornets match their adjustments.
I think the Hornets will need to do a better job of switching and helping on defense. Does this mean leaving Duncan one on one a little bit more?
On the offensive end for the Hornets, I think they will need to run some screens and mis-direction plays to free Peja up and Mo-Pete. They will need to shoot better from the outside. Does CP3 continue to score like he did in Game 3, or deos he try to get his team more involved? Look for more assists from him on Sunday.
Now the chess match begins...
The Suns were penciled in to win the the last series also. Now where are they at? Same place they have been sent to the past several seasons, gone fishing!
Honestly, it comes down to Duncan because he's such a mismatch for everyone in the league (at least everyone who can shoot free throws above 50%) If the Hornets can contain him without doubling, things get tough on the Spurs.
If Duncan dominates or can pass out of the double, Spurs players can get in the lane and cause a lot of problems.
The Hornets are young and confident, but if they lose Game 4, that could crack a bit.
I don't believe that the Hornets can win this series with only two major scorers - Paul and West. If Peja can't contribute like in games 1 & 2 due to Bowen's D then where is the scoring going to come from? What Hornet role player(s) is going to take up the slack? From an average of23.5 ppg in the first two games to 8 ppg in game 3 doesn't bode well for Peja and the Hornets.
The Spurs have 3 with the role players contributing. In game 3 the role players stuck their shots which they didn't do in the previous ones. When all three contribute - ie... 20+ ppg and the role players are on - then that places tremendous pressure on the Hornets to keep pace. This type of pressure will take it's toll over time. Young teams have to go through the fire in order to understand what it takes to survive in the playoffs. I think Paul and West will do fine but IMO the Hornets role players will be looking to get out of the kitchen.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
