Big-shot blues — Spurs lose their edge
Buck Harvey
DALLAS — Matt Bonner grimaced when asked. He knew the miss in question.
The Spurs had called time with about a minute left, and Gregg Popovich had designed a play for him. Bonner came off the baseline, ran to the corner and launched.
In. Then out.
Every game has that moment, and every championship run has several. So as the Spurs competed as their best teams of this era have, yet couldn't win even as Tony Parker tapped into his inner Ice, they found yet another flaw.
There was a time, after all, when someone else would have been shooting from the corner.
Robert Horry.
First, let's be clear. The Spurs didn't make a mistake with Horry. The expiration date on his seven-ring career had passed, and the Spurs needed to get younger last summer.
This was the league consensus about Horry, too. No other team showed interest in him.
Still, this pained Popovich. He believes in veterans who know how to win. That's ultimately why the Spurs pursued Jason Kidd in 2003 and passed on the same Josh Howard who scored 28 points Saturday. That's ultimately why they would give up a first-round pick for Kurt Thomas, and why Popovich would bench George Hill late in the season.
You win with smart, old guys, right?
Sitting Bruce Bowen never fit with that. And somewhere between games in Dallas, Popovich reversed everything. Bowen started for the first time since November, and Hill played in the fourth quarter, and the Spurs were better for it.
“We win most of these games,” Tim Duncan said afterward, and they used to. On Saturday they had their playoff toughness, and all they needed was that moment.
One came late, when Popovich drew up a play for a tall shooter who has, in effect, replaced Horry. Bonner has stretched defenses, as Horry once did, and Bonner has been statistically better than Horry ever was.
Bonner finished the regular season shooting 44 percent from 3-point range. Horry was never higher than 38 percent in San Antonio, and last season he dipped to 25.
Still, it was never about how many Horry made. It was about when. His Game 5 in Detroit will forever be legend in San Antonio, but he changed first-round series, too. He did in 2007, in Denver, in both the third and fourth games.
That's often overlooked in this era. As dynastic as the Spurs have been, their success could have been derailed by one play in April.
No one mourned Horry's loss this season, especially as Roger Mason Jr. hit big shots in the regular season. Besides, if there's anyone the Spurs have missed, it's been Manu Ginobili.
Then came Saturday. As Parker and Duncan filled up the box score, they were missing more than Ginobili. They were missing the other 10 guys in uniform.
To be fair, there weren't many shots to go around. But Horry lived with the same; it always comes down to a handful of attempts for the Spurs' role players.
Bonner had only four shots, and he remembered all of them. “They all felt good,” he said. “They all looked good.”
None of them were. Bonner and Mason combined to shoot seven times for zero points. Michael Finley, also clutch at times this season, wasn't much better.
And here's the twist that will have Popovich rethinking his logic: Hill threw in two critical 3-pointers, including the final Spurs' score.
Shortly after came the timeout, and then the play, with Bonner open. Had his three fallen, the Mavericks' lead would have been cut to two.
“Wow,” a scout said then, leaning into press row. “That would have changed everything.”
For the Spurs, there was a time when these moments did.
Yes there was a time we would hit that shot and maybe pulled this off, but not this year it seems and not with Bonner. Old Spurs would have won this game true indeed, but times change and eras change, and the Spurs as this team is now are done outside of the big three, they need some new role guys who can do that kind of thing and Bonner is NOT one of them IMO. Posey would have been great for this type of situation to name one who we missed on, thats just one example too.
Free George Hill
Puhleeeezzeeeeee...... Horry could play defense. He was smart enough to hang one on one with a bunch of guys in the post. Other than last season, he was always able to jump up and get a blocked shot at the right time. He knew how to draw charges. Horry wasn't just an offensive weapon. He had a sky high basketball IQ.
Harvey is so way off trying to compare these two guys.
Typical Buck Harvey, making excuses for the Spurs and pinning everything on one gotdamn play. And how have the Spurs been anything close to Dynastic? Please explain that . Do Spurs fans even know what the dynasty means? Dynasties rule IN SUCCESSION, for a lengthy period of time.
Fact: The Spurs have only made it past the 2nd round ONE TIME FOLLOWING A LE YEAR. Last year vs. the Lakers was the closest they had ever come to defending a conference le.
Fact: The Spurs have never even sniffed a le defense because they've never made it BACK TO THE FINALS to defend the in thing.
Uh, Dynasties don't flop when it's time to defend THE DYNASTY. They AT LEAST SHOW UP to give themselves a chance to defend the crown.
Even Spurs fans know that the Spurs take every other gotdamn season off and that is the very opposite of what a true, actual-factual, real, authentic DYNASTY does.
So while Buck Harvey makes excuses and has delusions of dynasties in San Antonio, any real Spurs fan knows what this is really about. Tony Parker is on a in Island and the only person that can even see a glimpse of him is Tim Duncan...sometimes. Roger Mason is not a starter and simply put, the Spurs only two starter-quality players are Timmy and Tony. Buck needs to quit making gotdamn excuses for Pop and RC and challenge them to get off of their in ass and do something to secure the FUTURE of this aging, talentless franchise. Waiting on Manu's ankle to magically heal isn't gonna cut it anymore. DO SOMETHING!
Says who?
STFU, Spurs had a of a run by any means, you are not taking away from that here.... They did not win back to backs yes, but they won 4 in 9 years which is alot more than ANYONE will ever win and the 4th most all times after LA, Boston and CHI right? Thats all in one era with Timmay, they are a dynasty, it's that simple.
the Spurs tied the NBA all-time record for most consecutive 50-win seasons in a row this year..throw in 4 les in the mix..that's a dynasty..simple as that..
as for the article..
Bonner will never touch Horry in any way..Big Shot was a very good defensive player, clutch as , a good passer, high basketball IQ, tough as , and brought intangibles..he's been truly missed..his 2005 performance was the greatest clutch performance in NBA history IMO..
this guy has some points... i wouldn't say RC has failed us; since he went out there and got us Drew during the season, our best midseason pickup ever; but pop really needs to step it up; playing bonner just don't cut it; this is worst than having smush parker as the starting pg.
Ex-Bulls, future-Cavs fans trolling Spurs boards after losses. Gotta love it.
Anyways,@ Bonner thinking that those shots had any shot. Bonner hit one clutch three-pointer all year. I would have been abso-finley-lutely shocked if Bonner had made one of those attempts.
Where did this article come from? This season isn't ending because the Spurs can't hit big shots. The Spurs are done because the team is depleted. This game was one of the ugliest games I watched because it was as close to a 2 man team I've ever seen.
Robert Horry probably would have helped this Spurs team in the sense of maybe they win a few more games and have a little bit better interior defense, but the Spurs are light years away from competing with the Lakers right now and probably not that close to Houston and Denver.
I think people really underestimate Horry's value as a Spur..
If anyone does, they should pop in the DVD of the 2005 NBA Finals and pay special attention to Game 5.
Bonner probably has to much going on in his head.... he needs to clear that out and take the damn shot.... actually maybe Mason should take the shot.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
