Game Thoughts: Spurs @ Hornets Game 7

[Budkin]

yeah... I always believed. Always! This is the year of the back to back.

[Spurminator]

I was worried for a minute with Ime because right after coming into the game he made a pretty awful pass that got stolen, and I wondered if Game 6 was a fluke. Then, a few seconds later, he drained a three and was awesome for the rest of the game.

Great performance for Udoka in two must-win games.

[T Park]

Yeah, if Udoka keeps this up, hes the starting 2 guard next year.

All he needs is the 17, and to give the kiss of death to someone.

[samikeyp]

Man, this forum would have thrown Tim and Manu under the bus if they would have lost. I didn't realize they shot so poorly to close out the game. Manu did a good job at the line though.

Nahh....not here!

[LEONARD]

Believe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!

[ducks]

Yeah, not exactly how you want your two closers to finish off a Game 7 ............. but I'll take the victory.

are you sure about manu?

[wildbill2u]

By the fourth quarter I was screaming at Parker NOT to give the ball to Duncan. Something bad--Turnover, steal or missed shot--was sure to happen. Thank God Parker realized this and took the shot himself to put us up by 5.

Chandler may not be better than Duncan at this point in their careers--but you couldn't tell it from this game:

Chandler Duncan
points 15 (6-8) 14 (5-17)
turnovers zero 4
rebounds (4o) 15 (1O) 14
Assists 1 3
PF 3 5

In addition, Chandler played Duncan one-on-one a lot and Duncan was harrassed into a 5-17 shooting performance. The Hornets would let Chandler play Duncan while Tim putzed around with the ball outside and then drop a double team when the clock was running down. Compared to previous series and the season, TD was held in check and Chandler may be a Duncan stopper for the future.

[urunobili]

Congrats to Udoka on his recent graduation as a Spur... big time!

[MannyIsGod]

Your stealing my LJ. I called Ime Mario yesterday on the 2p2 forums during the game. I also think much of the reason Duncan struggled has to be attributed to Chandler. Chandler played him 1v1 better than anyone I've seen in a long time during that 3rd quarter. I think Duncan made the first bucket (which was a hard one) but missed every other look he got. None of those looks were very good but I didn't mind because the game was slowed to a crawl when they were doing this.

[SpurOutofTownFan]

Man, this forum would have thrown Tim and Manu under the bus if they would have lost. I didn't realize they shot so poorly to close out the game. Manu did a good job at the line though.

Up 2 points in the last minute of the game is manu's time to be clutch at the FT line. that's money in your bank always.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Excellent post.

Few people understand NBA basketball, and in particular our Spurs, than LJ.

[DarrinS]

Another great breakdown of the game.


Ime Udoka is starting to become one of my favorite players.

[rAm]

Anyone else think packing up for a road trip after the 4 days rest is a brilliant idea?


I bet Pop told them, "Hey Boys, listen up. We are about to play 3 of the toughest road games of our careers, lets pack enough clothes for a week and take one in Los Angeles."

I think a Playoff Road Trip could be good for the team, and could end up making them stronger as a unit as they will have to overcome so much adversity against two very tough opponents.

[SenorSpur]

Wonderful recap!

Signs point toward a possible repeat!

[2centsworth]

Tim was brutal down the stretch.

Keys to the win were Intensity and 3pt shooting.

[GaryJohnston]

Honestly I think alot of people here should be analyst or coach in some capacity with a team. I recall someone here saying that EXACT thing before this game about possibly going full-court in the 3rd qtr. That turned out to be a great idea!

My thoughts exactly. Shooting well from the line was also key, but the minor contributions from each role player, guys who have been there before, smart veterans, is what was key in this game.

[saSPY]

Our shots FINALLY FELL, that was the key to this WIN!: and our Defense of course, but that's a given when you play the Spurs...D E F E N S E

[Trainwreck2100]

The D was there, and the role players were phenomenal.

[polandprzem]

How to start?

I guess it does not matter, it doesn't matter at all.

When the time has come it was middle of the night, I found myself woke up 15 minuts after the clock alarm, I was like wtf as 3 hours of sleep did not have an impact on my body. I prevailed as the spurs did.

I was ting scared, but you gotta love that emotions.

Okay I think it's enough with personal admiring myself.


Let's go and admire some spurs players.
Guy like Rob Horry - I told him last time not to shoot the ball he didn't listened as he drained very important shots. Now he has 2 good games in a row and he played like he used to - smart. He doesn't looked slower and his D was great. We will need his play against the LA team.

Guy like Mikee Findog - this man was unbelivable. I thought Pop just killed the man, I though he killed his confidence, I thought that you just can't get on the floor cold and shoot the ball so perfectly. His timely shots were so in time and he did not needed much time to dagg them in.

Guy like Ime Udoka - He gave a frickin impact. I knew he could be productive. All in all he is 3rd best rebounder in the team (tim, kurt), he is playing better and better on D. The comparison to Mario hmm I don't know in what aspect, all in all Mario was a starter, Mario was more of a mental leader, and Mario could create.

Guy like Kurt Thomas - Fabulous performance! (Fabioulous?) Damn his pruduction was great. When he was on the court I thought we had every rebound and did not let NO do anything on O. (I got to rewatch it though )

Guy like Tonyy Parke' - He was the best from the big three. He controlled the tempo, he keep up the pace the spurs needed. Damn that was the key. Every action that was rushed gave Hornets a chance to transition and regain confidence and take control of the pace, I was so pissed when manu shoot the ball to early
And did Tony hit monstrous shot?
Yes he did !
He saved me from heart attack or something. (I must to send him flowers)



The rest of the spurs just competed. And you can sum up that game from that above players. (props to Bruce also). It was all around team effort - I said nothing new here.

That's why you are proud of being a spurs fan.
Damn sure I am.


Now it's gonna be even harder

[RandomGuy]

Unbelievable statistic. That was the most impressive thing about this win. None of the Big Three played particularly well and we still managed to grind out a victory.

Pretty much sums up my thoughts.

The Spurs will dig the hole with their Big Three, then the bench will throw you in it, and bury you.

It would be interesting to see an analysis of the "bench" factor in Spurs' games in general.

[TampaDude]

If the Big 3 had hit some more shots in the 4th, and Bowen had hit at least one of those back-to-back open looks from the corner, this game would've been a 20+ point blowout by the Spurs. The fact that the Spurs won comes down to one word...DEFENSE.

I don't think the Lakers will give the Spurs as much trouble as the Hornets did...Spurs in 6.

[wildbill2u]

My game thought on Ime:

Dude gained my respect in the last couple of games for regaining the confidence to take the shot in rhythm. He even said after one of his poor games that he would do it--and he did. His clutch shooting was needed.

In the 3rd and 4th quarter when it seemed all the rest of the guys were standing around, he was playing tough D and flying to the ball and coming up with important rebounds, once taking the ball right out of the hands of a Horner player.

In game 7 Udoka was a true warrior and showed he wanted this game. I think he can only get better as this game was a test of how he performs under extreme pressure.

[ducks]

ime is one player that has not had playoff success he wants one

[wildchild]

-Tony Parker quietly had a solid contest for San Antonio. He was hesitant and at times it appeared as if the pressure was getting the better of him. But when the Spurs needed him most, Parker stepped up. In the final 18 and a half minutes of the game, Duncan and Ginobili were a combined 0-for-12 from the field. In that time span, Parker was 4-for-8. With 50 seconds to go, Parker hit a jumper to extend the lead from three to five and the Spurs never looked back. That jumper by Parker was one of the biggest shots of his career and definitely the biggest shot of the night for San Antonio. Parker finished the night with 17 points, five assists, two rebounds, one steal and one blocked shot, while shooting 7-for-17 from the floor. Defensively, he was extremely impressive for much of the night. He could play better, much like Duncan and Ginobili, but on this night, Parker kept the Spurs afloat at the end of the game

Ladies and gentlemen MR TONY PARKER!!! To Tony . This jumper came as a great relief.

I had a good feeling about Fabricio Oberto heading into this game and the Argentine bigman didn’t disappoint. Oberto played 32 minutes and finished with four points, nine rebounds and two assists, while hitting both of his shots from the field. He was far from spectacular but he played smart basketball and was steady throughout the contest. With as much as the Hornets were trapping, Oberto’s ability to pass the ball was a vital part of the Spurs winning four of the last five contests. Defensively, Oberto got better as the game went on. He still can’t really defend West – but luckily this series is over, thanks in large part to Oberto’s heady play.

Agree. Fabbs played better in the second half. Smart guy, really smart guy.

Ime Udoka officially became a Spur tonight. In the final four games of the series, Udoka become an instrumental cog in the Spurs machine. He basically transformed into the reincarnation of Mario Elie right before our eyes. In Game 7, Udoka wasn’t scared at all and was instead one of the most aggressive players on the court. He shot with confidence, he defended assertively and rebounded with fervor. On the night, Udoka finished with eight points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals, while shooting 3-for-7 from the floor and 2-for-5 from beyond the three-point arc. Without Udoka stepping up in the final four games of this series, the Spurs would be fishing right now.

-Robert Horry. What can you say about this guy? He’s been ineffective basically the entire season and the entire playoffs but then Game 7 arrives and Horry plays the best game of his season. Amazing. This game is exactly why Pop will live with Horry shooting 18% from the floor. This game is why you can never really discount Horry. When you least expect it, he comes up huge. In 15 minutes, Horry scored six points, grabbed four rebounds and swiped a steal, while hitting 2-of-4 from the field – all from beyond the arc. His defense was by far the best we’ve seen out of him this season. Horry provided the Spurs with a smart, calm presence throughout his time on the court. The two three-pointers he hit were big shots at key parts of the game. Then again, that’s what Horry does.

-Michael Finley, the forgotten and oft criticized Spur, performed brilliantly in his 11 minutes of playing time. It was almost flawless basketball out of Finley, who scored six points, grabbed four rebounds and hit both of his shots, each from three-point range. When Duncan got in foul trouble in the third quarter and the Hornets got within eight points, it was a Finley three-pointer that got the Spurs rolling once again. I was also pleasantly surprised by the effort Finley gave on the boards. He rebounded with more tenacity than we’ve seen out of him in a long time. While Finley wasn’t on the court much, he was a big part of this game

I said before we need 3's. Ime, Robert, Mike didn’t disappoint.3's, rebounds, effort. So good! To Ime, Robert, Mike, Kurt.

Believe.

[timvp]

Actually, the play was called for Gino coming off a "wedge roll" and Pop intended for him to get to the line. TP was the 2nd option to penetrate if possible but when he saw Chandler sag he drilled the jumper. Ice cold.

Edit:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...r.e4a2f3d.html

Yeah, I saw that quote from Pop but I think he's confusing the possessions. Manu wasn't involved in that play. The Spurs ran a low pick-and-roll -- same play they ran countless times against the Suns -- and the only real option on the play is for Parker to shoot a jumper. The Spurs banked on Chandler sagging ... and it worked.