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It doesn't look good, but it's basically impossible without Manu and Gooden playing. Not sure how you can take this game as anything more than just a regular season game given the cir stances.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_yl...yhoo&type=lgns
By Johnny Ludden,
Yahoo! Sports
SAN ANTONIO – Kobe Bryant had just snuffed the life from the San Antonio Spurs, coolly drilling a 3-pointer to send fans streaming into the brisk South Texas night, and even he was not prepared for the response that greeted him.
M-V-P! M-V-P!
MVP? Deep in the heart of Texas? Lakers Nation had taken over the home of one of its most bitter rivals, surprising no less than Bryant himself.
“Especially considering all the battles we’ve had here,” he said.
The Los Angeles Lakers and Spurs added another to their collection on Thursday. San Antonio spotted L.A. an 18-point lead after one quarter, fought its way back, but then watched Kobe deliver yet another MVP moment in the Lakers’ 102-95 victory, which clinched the Pacific Division le for the Lakers. If the resulting chant surprised Kobe, so did what preceded it, and that says something about how this rivalry has changed.
In those tense final minutes, with the Spurs having clawed within two, Bryant looked across the court to see a rookie guarding him. His first thought?
“Bake him.”
Bryant’s old rival, the man who had chased him through so many of those playoff battles, sat on the bench watching. Bruce Bowen doesn’t start games these days and, on many nights, he also doesn’t finish them.
But Thursday was different. With Roger Mason having picked up his fifth foul with two minutes left, the Spurs needed someone to put on Bryant. Gregg Popovich looked down his bench, past Bowen, and called on his rookie guard, George Hill.
“It’s just weird for me,” Bryant said, “because I’m so used to having [Bowen] draped all over me.”
It’s weird for Bowen, too. Two seasons ago, he was the runner-up for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Now, he’s getting passed over for even situational defense.
“I don’t ever remember that happening here,” he said.
The Spurs have changed, and it remains to be seen whether that’s going to help them should they face the Lakers again in the playoffs. They can tell themselves they were missing Manu Ginobili on Thursday. That Tim Duncan’s knees might start to feel better. That they won’t shoot free throws that poorly again. That Tony Parker won’t need a full half to hit full speed. That Drew Gooden might become a valuable addition.
But deep down, the Spurs also left Thursday knowing this: For them, the Lakers are matchup . That doesn’t make the Spurs different from most of the NBA, but it also won’t help them in May. Duncan hasn’t looked right since he took a few games off to rest his knee, but Pau Gasol also has consistently given him trouble since arriving in Los Angeles. The Spurs never have had an answer for Lamar Odom’s athleticism and length. Nor can they match the depth of the Lakers’ bench.
And should Andrew Bynum eventually return healthy and hungry? The last time the Spurs faced the Lakers with Bynum, they lost by 14.
Now, it seems like the Spurs again are searching for a counter to Bryant. Bowen was wise enough never to consider himself a “Kobe Stopper,” but he took pride in making Bryant work. He also is smart enough not to do what Ron Artest did Wednesday in Houston: Talking smack to Kobe always makes for a longer night.
Bowen and Bryant long have had a relationship built on respect. Before the Spurs played the Lakers in January, they sat at midcourt, talking. Ray Allen and Vince Carter always complained about Bowen’s tactics. Bryant only competed, and on most nights, he won.
Bryant won last spring, too. With Bowen guarding him for much of the Western Conference finals, he led the Lakers to a five-game dismissal of the Spurs. Bowen turned 37 one month later, and the Spurs knew they needed to get younger, so they signed Mason.
Mason already has beaten the Lakers once, and his shooting will help in the playoffs. But what he can’t do is defend. He spent most of Thursday reaching, finishing with five fouls, three of which Bryant drew 18 feet from the basket. The most telling moment: With Duncan already running at Bryant, Mason jumped desperately from behind, clipping Bryant just enough for the officials to blow their whistle.
With the Spurs having to help on Bryant so much in the final minutes, Gasol and Odom created their own mismatches.
The Spurs haven’t abandoned the philosophy that’s made them so good for so long. They still emphasize defense. But they also don’t play it as well, and some of that is because of personnel. Like Mason, Matt Bonner has improved the Spurs’ shooting and spacing. But when the Detroit Pistons walked onto the floor after a timeout last month against the Spurs, one Piston asked what play to run.
“Just give the ball to whoever Bonner is guarding,” Rasheed Wallace yelled.
Popovich still has hopes for Hill, his long-armed rookie. He praised him for his recent work on Steve Nash, then gave him the ultimate compliment – the opportunity to guard Bryant with the game up for grabs.
So Bryant raised up behind the 3-point line. Hill leaned into him. Bryant faded and released his shot.
Afterward, Duncan shrugged.
“Kobe being Kobe,” he said.
Kobe being Kobe. Should the Spurs see him again in May, they’ll have more reason than ever to worry.
It doesn't look good, but it's basically impossible without Manu and Gooden playing. Not sure how you can take this game as anything more than just a regular season game given the cir stances.
The Spurs are huge underdogs to the Lakers even without Bynum in a 7 game series, Manu or no Manu.
The Spurs legit chances for this season ended when RC hung out stateside while Tiago Splitter was making up his mind in Spain.
The Lakers without Bynum won against the Spurs without Manu.
What's new ?
It was the story of the 2008 WCF.
We need a Manu 100% healthy to have a chance against the Lakers.
The Spurs are not the Spurs without him.
We can only hope we'll see the real Manu in the 2009 playoffs.
And a 18-point deficit to begin the 2nd quarter doesn't help either !
The Lakers played a perfect 1st quarter, and i doubt they can do that in every playoffs games.
They are the favorite, it will be difficult, but the Spurs can do it !
i'm starting to wonder if bowen can be ready for the playoffs. i would think popovich would occasionally give bowen lots of minutes to keep him in top defensive shape. bowen may have actually lost a step. hill on kobe was an extremely weird decision. i don't think popovich would have even tried that combo if he had confidence in bowen. it seemed like a desperate move to find someone capable of slowing bryant.
we can match up with kobe, look at hills job in last bit today, his defense was applauded, we'll work something out
What's our record against the Lakers since the Gasol trade? It must be horrific.
He just changes everything and tilts the matchups so much in the Lakers favor that it's damn near hopeless. If the Spurs don't win this year, that will be the end of the le run and history should note that it all ended for us with the Gasol trade.
dont lose hope yet.
as the old rule would have it, the spurs will never beat the lakers. Lakers, spurs and suns are just like "stone, scissors and cloth."
I dunno about that...
It really really doesnt.
boston will never beat the lakers if lakers cant beat us then hahahaa
we'll find out, wont we, dont count us out yet
Finally someone keeping it real.
Let's face is Spurs fans. The Spurs don't have more than a "heart of a champion" chance of beating LA because both on paper and in the matchups they don't measure up.
1 - Only reason SA came back was Finley playing his best game of the year and LA having tired legs from their 3rd road game in 4 nights.
2 - The Spurs no longer have the defense to jam the triangle like they did in the past. Now, LA can get high quality shots every trip down.
3 - Duncan obviously won't be 100% this season and without his explosion he's not going to dominate at the level the Spurs need. Length bothers him and LA has 3 guys that give him fits in Gasol, Odom, and Bynum.
4 - LA's ability to switch and dare Parker to shoot has Tony in his head. Only 1 layup yesterday iirc. Whats more - he didn't even attack early on because he knew what was waiting for him after that LA game. LA didn't even have to go for the ace in that matchup of playing Ariza on him when he gets going.
5 - 3 games and the only win by SA was when LA was coming off 3 games in 4 nights, and a B2B, and where injuries had them only playing 8 guys. In the game with rest LA ran them out the gym and if it wasn't for tired legs and Finley LA would have ran them out the gym last night.
6 - Fatigue isn't whats wrong with the Spurs - its old legs combined with lack of athleticism. When Luke Walton can drive easiliy against your team - you got some serious injury issues.
7 - I'm a Gooden fan but he too is obviously hurt. Add him next to Duncan and Ginobili and its trouble. When Roger Mason and Finley have to try to be the Man - you're not beating LA.
8 - No mental advantage for the Spurs over LA because LA took them out last year.
9 - The Spurs execution isn't as tight as previous years because of so many new players. It hurts on both offense and defense and they aren't the well-oiled machine they once were.
10 - Bowen, who has defended Kobe great over the years, is done. Kobe was blowing by him so bad it was out of kindness Pop pulled him out.
There is a hypothetical chance the Spurs beat LA in a playoff series but its no doubt a longshot for good reason. Just a bad matchup for the Spurs.
Ouch, this is just depressing. And he's out starting "Center"But when the Detroit Pistons walked onto the floor after a timeout last month against the Spurs, one Piston asked what play to run.
“Just give the ball to whoever Bonner is guarding,” Rasheed Wallace yelled.
I don't know about that... Kobe was 2-5 when Bowen was on him...
Who Kobe went nuts on was on Mason... and even then it was because he was bailed by the Zebras on three consecutive trips down the floor.
For the record, Kobe shot 2-4 while Hill was guarding him...
This thread after this particular game is re ed, kobe went 9-21 he was'nt the problem. The problem was they shot 70% in the 1st qrt. That's rarely gonna happen for any team. We also came out with very little effort. The only disturbing thing is that Timmy did not make gaysol his like he used to do when pau was with memphis. Makes me wonder how bad his knee is. Anyway calm down it's one regular season game, And how quick we all forget what a big part Manu is. Go back to the 2005 finals against detroit and see the difference he'll make.
Who are you trying to convince? Yourself or Spurs fans?
Didn't shoot as well on Bowen but what he did do was blow by him. Got into the FT line extended area way easier than he ever did before. That collapsed the defense and will lead to easier shots for the Lakers.
Kobe is going to make and miss shots - the key to beating him is making him work hard for each shot - that's what Bowen used to do. Neither Mason or Hill make him work at all. , Kobe shot one shot flat-footed over Hill just because he saw it as a joke that Hill was on him.
I've got my sig:
But when the Detroit Pistons walked onto the floor after a timeout last month against the Spurs, one Piston asked what play to run.
“Just give the ball to whoever Bonner is guarding,” Rasheed Wallace yelled.
Don't worry about the loss, cuz everybody knows just about how soft gasol gets in the playoffs. Same for Vuja . Then, Kobe is left to carry the load by himself, the same reason they lost by 41 in the finals.
LA got soft against the Celtics - no question.
But anyone out West? Please.
The Spurs lost that game in the 1st quarter... Gasol and Odom did most of the damage on silly putbacks. And Ariza's three 1st quarter steals revealed the Spurs' unexpected "deer-in-the-headlights" beginning to the game...
After the Spurs, brought the game to a single-possession deficit, no one expected the tandem of Walton and Powell to hammer the nail on the coffin - with Kobe on the bench.
It is for that reason that I feel Kobe's heroics last night were greatly exaggerated - aside from the 3-pointer he made over Hill.
Besides, the Lakers still don't have an answer for Parker. When he finally snapped out of his funk in the 1st half and decided to attack the Lakers D... he made them pay. He was the best player on the floor in the second half going 9 for 14.
Yeah, and all those second chance points, god knows how many there were. U cant expect to win a game against a good team allowing them to shoot +50 percent from the field while giving them 10 extra possesions on top of it. A rebounding big man, hopefully thats what we bought.
And yes Laker fan, your team is better right now. Happy?!?
Gasol is getting the whistle every time someone touches him, its getting absurd especially compared to the treatment Tim is getting on the other hand. Saying that however, the guy is playing leagues above what he showed in the PO last year. Props to him for that.
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