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o geez here they come...
From SI.com - Ian Thomsen
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...me4/index.html
SAN ANTONIO -- Guess who has emerged as the new favorite to win the West? It isn't the No. 2 Mavericks, who lost Game 4 here Sunday 92-89 to fall behind 3-1 in their first-round series.
• The Spurs are suddenly the team to beat. With the No. 1 Lakers struggling to keep up with Oklahoma City, and with No. 4 Denver endangered by the heavily-injured No. 5 Jazz, the No. 7 Spurs have suddenly and firmly reclaimed their long-standing role as conference favorites. No team in the West plays with a more dynamic blend of team defense, offensive firepower, versatility and passion. San Antonio won on a night when its Big Three (a combined 9-of-34 for 31 points) were almost outscored by second-year guard George Hill (29 points on 16 shots). Similar was the outcome of Game 3, won by the Spurs even though they missed all seven of their threes. Take away their right hand and they'll club you with the left. "If you told me before the game that we would hold the Big Three to the numbers they had, I would have said we win the game,'' said a despondent Dirk Nowitzki. After he was held to 17 points on 10 attempts, it was easy to see who had lost.
• Mavs lose composure. Though they were within two scores over the final four minutes, Dallas looked very much like a team staring up at a much larger deficit. A strong second quarter had provided the Mavs with a momentary 15-point lead. They were up 48-37 at the half before yielding an 18-point turnaround in the third quarter while shooting 4-of-17 and commiting eight turnovers. Over the second half, Nowitzki was 1-for-6 with three turnovers, and he didn't make a jump shot over the final 28:56 while growing noticeably frustrated by the persistent appearance of a second Spurs defender who forced the ball out of his hands when he dribbled. All the same, main defender Antonio McDyess wondered why Nowitzki wasn't more aggressive. "It wasn't the defense, he just wasn't taking them,'' said McDyess of Nowitzki's failure to launch. "It looked like he was a little reluctant because we were shifting on him a lot and getting off him. I don't think he ever really knew when to take his shot. He had some open shots, but he just wasn't taking them.''
• Nowitzki's anger flared after he was assessed a technical foul for throwing a high elbow at rookie DeJuan Blair while blocking him out on a Spurs foul shot, and the ensuing free throw by Manu Ginobili gave San Antonio a 62-57 lead with 1:34 left in the third. Then the fourth quarter opened with Mavs forward Eduardo Najera -- a 1996 graduate of San Antonio's Cornerstone Christian Academy -- breaking up a Ginobili drive by spinning him to the floor with his left hand around Ginobili's throat. Najera's Flagrant 2 ejection turned into a four-point play, thanks to Ginobili's technical free throws and a subsequent tip-in by Blair to leave Dallas trailing 70-61 and the crowd roaring for more.
• The name is George Hill. The pressure was on Hill, who had been shooting 8-for-25 over the first three playoff games while starting at point guard ahead of Tony Parker. "I finally have my feet back under me,'' said Hill, who had been troubled by a sprained ankle in recent weeks. That recovery was urgently needed: He made 5-of--6 three-pointers, including one to conclude each of the first three quarters.
Duncan (1-of-9) had four points and didn't make a field goal until he tipped one in with 4:11 remaining. Ginobili was 4-of-16, and Parker was held to 10 points on nine shots. How could Dallas lose while forcing those three stars to miss 73% of their attempts? "Well, when you get another guy going 11-for-16 and hits five threes, it could easily happen,'' said Mavs coach Rick Carlisle. "If you additionally get your (expletive) kicked on 5-to-7 loose-ball plays, that certainly contributes to losing. We played hard, but there's a set of plays in the last couple of games where we've got to get down-and-dirty. We have to come up with balls that are 50-50 balls. That's where the game is being won and lost.''
• The supporting cast. Richard Jefferson had 15 points on nine shots, McDyess had 10 points and eight rebounds and Blair put his 265 pounds to good use with seven points and seven rebounds in 12 crucial minutes. Which is not to forget the night of nights had by George Hill.
While five of Nowitzki's teammates scored in double figures, they didn't produce the big plays needed to either win the game on their own or open the floor for him. "They aren't guarding some of our guys,'' said Nowitzki. Neither Jason Kidd (10 points and five assists) nor Jason Terry (13 points) responded with the necessary big game.
• Is it over? Of course not. As badly as the Mavs have mangled the last three games, they've had chances to steal any or all of them. The margin is so small, they could win Monday to force a Game 6 here that the Spurs could not afford to lose.
To see how the Spurs have succeeded in throttling the favored Mavs -- using a variety of chokeholds to win each of the last three games in a different way -- is to be reminded of them at their championship best over the last decade. Many opponents over those years would look up at the scoreboard with thoughts of how close they'd come to beating San Antonio. In most of those cases, however, they were deluding themselves.
Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...#ixzz0mBPLTvWF
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o geez here they come...
Interesting to hear that from an objective source. No one knows how it will all play out this year for the Spurs, but after the late-season surge and what we've seen so far in round 1, I do believe the Spurs do at least belong in the championship conversation.
Huh? I don't follow.
They're jumping on the bandwagon.
Like the media is. Sorry!
yeah positive press how horrid....
Ah... well, that's how it works, I guess. If we're basing it on what we've seen so far in round 1, it's probably not inaccurate to say the Spurs are the team to beat in the West.
This series is a few missed clutch Parker jumpers (game 3) and a clutch ginobili 3 point shot (game 4) away from being 3-1 in the Mavs favor.
I'd say what I think about our chances but I'd rather not be a debbie downer after a win.
Hopefully, I said it all with my first sentence without having to get too unnecessarily harsh about it.
folks need a slice of humble piethere's still a Game 5
I'm just sayin, Spurs coming out of the West sounds to far fetched right now.
si.com eating their crow already? none of 'em experts picked the spurs.
Whenever you have 2 good teams, that's usually the case. Look at the Kobe-Shaq Lakers series against Sacramento. Classic battles. Every game seemed to be a nail biter. But the better team always came out on top.
Oops! Looks like I took that role.
My first thought exactly
I can't imagine why that would sound so farfetched. I think Ian Thomsen outlined well the reasons why that's not at all farfetched.
I'm just sayin, Spurs coming out of the West sounds to far fetched right now.
Shocker.... a healthy Spurs team is a tough squad to beat in the playoffs.
Every game brings a different story line. I just want the Spurs to finish this series out. Thats all.
All the games have been close and I don't see it any different in game 5. In fact I think the the Mavs fire all barrels right from the start Tuesday. They have to or it might be over before they know it. This team is tettering on the brink and scrambling to find the answers.
And as you said it could be easily a 3-1 Mavs lead but - playing the if game - if the Spurs had cut down on the TOs and made those blown layups in game 1 this series could have been over - Spurs sweep. But like I said that's a what itf scenario and you can make those turn out anyway you want.
I'd rather the media not pick the Spurs. I'm not sure why, I'd just rather them be "under the radar," so to speak.
But I guess thats why its okay for the media and fans to look ahead, as long as its not the players themselves.
Actually, it kind of does piss me off. I don't want Charles anywhere near our bandwagon this year.
I want him to eat his words and continue to do so.
Sadly, he gave up on us last year after riding out the rough times.....not that it wasn't legit last year given the cir stances, but he acted like we weren't a few games from taking the division with a week to go in the season.
I'm sure everyone will be picking the Suns over the Spurs next round, if that indeed is the matchup. So don't worry about bandwagoners too much.
As far as being the team to beat - i don't know. The Jazz appear to be playing as good as the Spurs right now; they kind of scare me.
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