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Even when Bowen was getting limited playing time during the regular season, I never doubted that he would reappear in the playoffs. Pop knows what Bowen is capable of and he was simply keeping him fresh for when the games really mattered.
Nice article.
Even when Bowen was getting limited playing time during the regular season, I never doubted that he would reappear in the playoffs. Pop knows what Bowen is capable of and he was simply keeping him fresh for when the games really mattered.
I wasn't even real sure that, that, was what I had just seen.
I was starting to think all those drugs from my past were making me hallucinate.
Dirk actually beat his man off the dribble, got to the cup, was challenged at the rim, but didn't get to the free-throw line?
That must have been some good .
Game 3...
I don't remember the exact numbers but I recall the Spurs playing almost a flawless offensive quarter, shooting something like 70-80%, while the Mav's only made 4 fg's in the entire quarter to go along with 20+ ft's.( IIRC, two of the fg's were put-backs, and one of those two being absolute garbage/luck on Dampier's behalf.)
BTW props to Drew Gooden on that unreal first half.
His defense was fantastic. He bothered Dirk well, he rotated VERY well, and on offense he was smart and agressive with a beautifull up and under to get by Bass.
Hope hes ok and can produce like that in Dallas
He came out with a purpose and a goal to earn some playing time, and I'd say mission accomplished.
He gave the team a much needed spark in a time where a lull seemed to be looming, and a lead was sure to be lost. Again.
They played great, i really enjoyed seeing them play. Tony Parker is a god! Tim is back, he played like we are used to him playing, he did great. It was really beautiful basketball last night. Everything will be just alright.
GO SPURS GO
If Gooden plays Manu-like numbers in the POs, his contributions could be Manu-like. I'm not saying his defence or intangibles are anywhere near a 80% or more Ginobili, but if the Spurs face some big frontlines(Houston/Portland/LAL) he'll be a huge bonus, with the way he generates foul trouble for the other team.
If he continues to perform the way he has the past two games for 8-10 more, I have no clue as to why Pop wouldn't make damn sure he was resigned, unless he really believes Bosh can be whooed over here, or Tiago will actually come in the summer of '10.
After tonight, I'm much less concerned about the front line, particularly if Thomas can get it together and start playing well again.
What I find remarkable is how Pop managed the guys' minutes. Parker played less than 33 minutes and the rest of the guys even less. Really a masterful coaching by Pop.
I loved how they handled Barea. He even had the worse +/- on his team.
We now know that Bonner is at least capable of playing the defense we saw in the first half of the year. For a while it looked like he may have been worn down by the long season. Now Bonner has no excuse to play the soft defense we saw in Game 1.
And now if Gooden is healthy and Thomas can play like he played from January to the first week of April, the front line would be at least as good as it was in 2007.
I'm not sure if it was more the mavs having a bad night or if it was 100% our defense that slowed them down. I guess we will soon find out. Imo it was bit of the two. I'm not fully convinced that Barea will be that ineffective in the games to come. I still see Hill as the Xfactor on him.
IMO what Bowen is doing is godlike.
Anyone who knows anything about the NBA realizes how difficult it is to play good D consistently. Even with Pop having put him in such a difficult position, he still answers the call and gives us some good energy out there.
More Bruce please. He's the real X-Factor.
Unfortunately......
Consistency is the major problem for this group. What's being done on one night isn't usually duplicated the next. Bonner, Mason and Gooden need to bring the same intensity as they did for Game 2 to the next one.
Unfortunately......
The odds on that are pretty remote.
TP was fantastic. We'll need more of this to win 3 more.
Bruce is great. It looks like he can play D in 2 or 3 guys at the same time
The D was much more agressive and the rotatios were the best of the season.
Bonner played more agressive. His scared look from game 1 was gone
I hope Gooden is OK, because he's playing very well
Did anyone notice Dirk gassed by the 3rd? I don't recall Bonner making him work.
Unfortunately he's gonna have 2 days to rest, but there might be something there for us.
That is, if he doesn't get bailed out constantly like in the first half yesterday.
I also thought JHo had his mind somewhere else. As pointed out by Mono in the NBA Forum, that 24 second violation when he had a trey and ended up doing a cross court pass was the epitome of his night. I think if we can get that guy to check out mentally off the game, we can definitely replicate what we did yesterday.
Our boys in blue just lost a game they were supposed to lose, no one has ever expected boys in blue to sweep the spurs after all... We have got to win all the 3 home games in the rest of this series, then the spurs are gonna over in game 6.
Mavs are not a good road team and I will venture to say that they will not win another game in San Antonio in this series. They had better hope a Game 7 is not necessary. I think Dallas has to hold onto HCA to win this series.
Agreed. Normally Bavetta is pretty fair and seems to like the Spurs, but Tony and Tim were getting mauled around the basket with no call.
If, and it's a big IF, the Spurs win it all and Bruce continues to perform by shutting down the opponent (James in Finals), then I think Bowen could be a possible MVP of the Finals. I realize that Tony will get it, but it would be a of a Spurs statement if Bowen got it.
Yes, but apparently he's also an uber Laker homer.Yeah I don't think I've complained about refs before or since those two games. But those two games. Wow.
But watching Dwyane Wade get revenge in the Finals proved that their is at least a basketball god
Gooden was 500Xs better then Bonner. Bonners treys were with us up 20 and had no pressure whatsoever. Gooden on the other hand was key with Parker in helping build the lead.
The spitting up blood at least explains that it wasn't Pops idocy that kept Bonner in and Gooden out.
GHill continuing to be nailed to the bench with the Spurs up 20+ late third and early 4th just validates Poppeds cementhead status. I hope he doesnt get owned again on the coaching front the rest of the series.......
-His effort was better but Kurt Thomas wasn't very good in Game 2 after having a sub par Game 1. He mostly helped out with his physical screens but hurt the team by committing five fouls in less than 13 minutes. Going forward, let's hope Thomas can rediscover his rhythm that made him such a valuable player in the second half of the season.
Believe.[/quote]
I'm surprised to hear that because that's not the effort I saw. I watched Kurt ruff up Dirk. His fouls were well used, it had dirk worrying about where he was rather than where the basket was. Dirk was visibly shook up by his rough play, imo.
With Barea in, the Spurs went to the PnR every time.
Pop also is employing to never go under screens when the Mavs do PnR. That's why he tore Bowen a new one during the 2nd quarter.
Also interesting was Pop putting Udoka on Kidd.
Nah, they swallowed.
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