By Percy Allen
Seattle Times staff reporter
Remember the Los Angeles Lakers.
That's what Jerome James wants everybody to do.
Remember when San Antonio won the first two games on their home court in last year's Western Conference semifinals.
Remember when guard Tony Parker was tormenting Los Angeles' Gary Payton and Kobe Bryant in Games 1 and 2.
And remember how the Lakers made one simple defensive adjustment, which allowed them to win four straight games and advance to the Western Conference finals.
"If we stop Tony Parker from getting to the paint, that shuts this team down," said the Sonics center while referring to the Lakers' success. "That's where all of their offense comes from — penetration. ... If we stop Tony Parker, that's the key to this game."
If it were only that simple.
James forgets the Lakers also had Shaquille O'Neal and Karl Malone to go along with Bryant and Payton and a miraculous game-winning shot by Derek Fisher in Game 5.
Still, every defensive strategy must begin somewhere and the Sonics will start with Parker tonight at KeyArena, trailing 2-0 in the best-of-seven series against the Spurs.
When everyone else had long since vacated the practice court, there was Sonics coach Nate McMillan instructing James in a private tutorial on the art of defending the pick n' roll, which has dumbfounded Seattle in this series.
A few moments earlier, McMillan pulled Rashard Lewis to the side and spoke to the All-Star small forward about the importance of his role in tonight's game.
"I talked to a few guys," McMillan said. "They haven't been through anything like this before. This is a learning experience for these guys and we'll be better for it."
Sonics players spoke in soft tones yesterday, and the disappointment from lopsided defeats in Games 1 and 2 in San Antonio seemed to have dissipated.
If the Sonics are indeed grief-stricken, then they appeared to have skipped the first four stages of the classic definition — denial, anger, bargaining and depression — and gone straight to acceptance.
Yesterday, they spent an inordinate amount of time praising the Spurs and downplaying their dire position in the series.
"This is an excellent team," McMillan said. "This team was picked to win the le. This is a great team. We're going up against the best in the NBA right now.
"... The way they are playing, it would be tough for anybody to beat them. As hot as Denver was, they cooled them off. As much success as we had in the regular season, this is not the regular season. We're dealing with a different beast now."
Perhaps the flattery was intended to soften the Spurs and make them overconfident. Or maybe McMillan is witnessing a maturity in playoff-tested San Antonio that he doesn't see in his Sonics.
"Those players went through the same things my young players here are going through," he said. "Tony Parker learned how to become a stud in the playoffs and we just have to come in and re-adjust, keep working and see if it works."
The adjustments McMillan spoke of will likely involve a three-guard lineup the Sonics employed at various times in Game 2, which worked with varying degrees of success.
With rookie reserve Nick Collison at center and 6-foot-10 Lewis at power forward, Seattle used a lineup which reduced an 18-point deficit to nine late in the third quarter.
The small lineup puts the Sonics at a disadvantage against All-Star forward Tim Duncan, but it allows them to keep pace with quick-footed guards Parker and Manu Ginobili, who are averaging 25.5 points and 19 against them in the playoffs, respectively.
"I get caught up trying to defend Tim Duncan so much that I'm on the wrong side of the pick n' roll," James said. "I got to play Tim Duncan like I play everybody else. I can't give him the respect that I've been giving him. No doubt he deserves it, but you can't respect anybody at this time of the year. You have to play everybody the same."
Fortson ruffled
Danny Fortson played a pivotal role in two regular-season victories over San Antonio, but he has only played a total of 10 minutes in this series. He has two rebounds, zero points and six fouls in the two games.
The bruising power forward gives the Sonics a fear factor unlike anyone else on the team, but he believes a riff with McMillan has carried over from the regular season and is the cause for his limited role.
"It's very odd," Fortson said. "I don't want to say anything stupid. It's a business. The NBA is a business. I've been through it before. You have to play through it."
Fortson said McMillan has allowed other power forwards, including Reggie Evans and Collison, to remain on the court after collecting a few fouls, but the coach has a quick hook when it comes to him.
Even if he were to receive extended minutes tonight, Fortson said it would be difficult for him to be effective against Duncan because of his long layoff.
"Don't expect me to do it [today]," he said. "If I did, thank you Jesus, but c'mon now. That was then. That's when I was playing. This is the Western Conference semifinals. ... I'm not even really in great shape. I don't feel like it. You need your rhythm to play and I'm a rhythm player. When I have a rhythm, I'm very tough to stop."
Fortson has been suspended once by the Sonics and served a two-game suspension by the league for yelling at a referee, throwing a chair and not leaving the court promptly following his ejection during a victory over Sacramento on Feb. 10.
McMillan said Fortson hasn't played a large role in the series because of matchups.
"Danny has had some foul trouble, but it has been really some matchups for us," McMillan said. "When Danny was out there in the first two games, he was out there with [Vladimir] Radmanovic. ... Being able to have some success with four shooters being out on the floor."
The two met and discussed their differences, but Fortson is still upset about his role.
"I'm the new guy, just remember that," he said. "I don't know anybody. These guys been together for a long time. Sometimes the new person needs a little hug every now and then. Not to say I need a hug, but just some support. I really haven't seen none of that.
"The only support I got was from [team chairman] Howard Schultz and [CEO] Wally Walker during a little meeting after I got suspended. I'm a human being too. You got to support people and make them feel like they are a part of something."
Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or [email protected]
Seattle vs. San Antonio
1 San Antonio 103, Seattle 81
2 San Antonio 108, Seattle 91
3 Today at Seattle 7:30 p.m. (FSN, ESPN)
4 Sunday at Seattle 4 p.m. (TNT)
5* May 17 at San Antonio TBA (TNT)
6* May 19 at Seattle TBA
7* May 22 at San Antonio TBA
*If necessary
TD is licking his chops now.I get caught up trying to defend Tim Duncan so much that I'm on the wrong side of the pick n' roll," James said. "I got to play Tim Duncan like I play everybody else. I can't give him the respect that I've been giving him. No doubt he deserves it, but you can't respect anybody at this time of the year. You have to play everybody the same."
Let the Big Dog eat. They stop the penetration or try to time for a nice breakout 30 point game tonight.
Sonics home in on hope
San Antonio has 2-0 lead, but Game 3 is at the Key
By DANNY O'NEIL
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
It was less an interview than an investigation.
Call it CSI: Seattle, and coach Nate McMillan was under the lights, answering questions designed to pinpoint the cause of the Sonics' demise in San Antonio.
Three-pointers, how come your team isn't making more of them? What about your starts, why have they been so slow? How can you stop the Spurs' guards from turning your defense into a carpool lane, speeding to the hoop two at a time?
Finally, McMillan was asked whether it would be small adjustments or an overhaul for Game 3 after his team had trailed for all but about a minute of this Western Conference semifinal series.
"I'm looking for suggestions," McMillan said through a smile.
The Sonics returned to Seattle for practice yesterday, trailing the Spurs 2-0. The Sonics not only are licking their wounds but are showing the warts that have been theorized about all season as they prepared for Game 3 at KeyArena tonight. Too reliant on 3-pointers, too little post scoring and no lockjaw defenders.
That's a little too drastic, McMillan said, because the Sonics didn't exactly commit hari-kari the first two games. The Spurs haven't won six consecutive postseason games by accident.
"Right now, the way they are playing, it would be tough for anyone to beat them," McMillan said. "As hot as Denver was, they cooled them off. As much success as we had in the regular season, this is not the regular season.
"You're dealing with a different beast here."
It's a beast the Sonics are now trying to catch by the tail. They have never won a best-of-seven series after losing the first two games.
The Sonics will have Ray Allen for the rest of the series after he returned from a sprained ankle suffered in Game 1. He scored 25 points on Tuesday, but only participated in shooting drills yesterday. Off-the-bench scorer Vladimir Radmanovic is out for the series, and the Sonics are searching for answers on both ends of the floor.
McMillan is playing alchemist, ad-libbing different combinations to try and jump-start a perimeter-oriented team that can't get an open shot outside and can't find an alternative inside. Jerome James' feet, so active in the first round against the Sacramento Kings, have slowed. Luke Ridnour has struggled on the offensive end, the team hasn't been able to keep Spurs guards from getting to the basket, and McMillan has tried to pump the gas pedal with liberal backcourt subs ution. He had four guards on the floor at one point in the fourth quarter of Game 2.
"This is a learning experience for these guys," McMillan said. "I understand expectations and wanting to win, and these guys are trying their best to win games, but it doesn't happen that easy."
He pointed to the Spurs' playoff toughness as something that isn't learned so much as earned, providing the scar tissue that cons utes postseason toughness.
"That team and those players went through the same thing that my young players here are going through," McMillan said. "Tony Parker learned how to become a stud in the playoffs, and we just have to come in, readjust and keep working and see if it works."
The Spurs have played two of their best offensive games of the season in Games 1 and 2. The Spurs shot better than 50 percent in both games, the first time in four months they've accomplished that in back-to-back games.
They can't keep scoring like that, can they? They can if the middle of Sonics' defense remains exposed.
"They're constantly playing in our paint," guard Antonio Daniels said. "And when they do that, they're very successful and hard to beat."
Parker has made 18 field goals in the first two games. Ten were layups. One was a dunk. Ginobili made 9 of 11 shots in Game 2, and four of those were first-half layins.
While the Spurs' short game has been their key on one end, the Sonics' long-distance connection has come undone at the other. Their 3-point percentage is 24 percent this series, one-third lower than the team's regular-season average.
Part of it is the absence of Radmanovic, who suffered a sprained ankle 15 minutes into the series and won't be back. Rashard Lewis has yet to make a 3-pointer this series. He has been suffering from tendinitis in his left knee since January, and it could be that it has eroded the foundation of that high-release shot that once was sharp as a guillotine.
Or it could be a credit to the Spurs' defense.
"We haven't got a lot of clear looks," McMillan said. "They are really focusing on taking that away and making every effort to stay with our shooters."
The absence of Radmanovic leaves one less shooter for the Spurs to focus on. It also reduces Lewis' effectiveness near the hoop. The hardest thing to do in the NBA is post up a small forward. That's because unless the offensive team's power forward or center is a perimeter shooting threat, there will be three defenders inside when the small forward gets the ball on the block.
Put Radmanovic on the floor, and he sucks one of those interior defenders out to the perimeter, opening up opportunities.
Without him, the Spurs are free to crowd around Lewis, and McMillan's rotations have had to be ad-libbed. At one point Tuesday, Allen, Ridnour, Daniels and Ronald Murray were on the floor with Nick Collison.
Just one more experiment to consider on a day in which everyone was searching for answers.
SONICS VS. SPURS
WHEN/WHERE: 7:30 tonight, KeyArena
TV/RADIO: FSN, ESPN; KJR-AM/950
San Antonio
Pts. Reb. Ast.
G Tony Parker 25.5 2 5
G Brent Barry 10 5 2.5
F Bruce Bowen 2 2.5 0.5
F Tim Duncan 23.5 9 2.5
C N. Mohammed 4.5 8.5 0
Seattle
Pts. Reb. Ast.
G Luke Ridnour 7 2 2.5
G Ray Allen 16.5 3.5 1
F Rashard Lewis 20.5 5.5 1
F Reggie Evans 2.5 9.5 0.5
C Jerome James 6 4.5 0
Statistics from this series
FRONTCOURT: Duncan has scored fewer than 20 points only once in his past eight games against the Sonics, and has had nine or more rebounds in all eight games. ... Lewis has made 7 of 10 field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter. Of his 41 points this series, 27 have been scored in the second half. ... Evans' 12 rebounds in Game 2 were the most by any player in the series. ... The Spurs have blocked 14 shots in each of the first two games. Duncan has seven of those.
BACKCOURT: Parker is the series' top scorer, and 11 of his 18 field goals have been dunks or layups. Only five of his field goals have been on jumpers from outside of 15 feet. Parker is shooting 54.5 percent (18-for-33). ... Allen has made 43 consecutive free throws in the playoffs. ... Ridnour has yet to attempt a 3-pointer.
BENCH: Spurs G Manu Ginobili is shooting 70 percent this series (12-for-17) and has made three 3-pointers. ... Sonics G Antonio Daniels has scored 31 points in the first two games. He's the only Sonic to play all of the fourth quarter in both games. ... Sonics F Danny Fortson has six fouls in 10 minutes. He did not play in the second half of Game 2.
NUMEROLOGY: The Sonics had 10 assists in Game 1 and 12 in Game 2. ... The Sonics' 3-point percentage was 36.5 in the regular season. The Sonics have been below that in six of seven playoff games. ... The Spurs made more than 50 percent of their field-goal attempts in each of the first two games. The Spurs had not shot better than 50 percent in consecutive games since Jan. 10.
POSTSEASON PEDIGREE: The Spurs have won 15 of 16 playoff series that they led 2-0, though five of those series were best-of-five. The Los Angeles Lakers rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the conference semifinals last year to beat the Spurs in six games.... This is the fifth time the Sonics have lost the first two games in a best-of-seven series. The Sonics were swept the first two times it happened, losing 4-0 to the Lakers in 1987 and '89. They lost in five games to the Utah Jazz in '92 and lost in six games in the '96 Finals (they were down 3-0) to the Chicago Bulls.
HEAD-TO-HEAD: In the Sonics' past five playoff losses to the Spurs, their average margin of defeat has been 22 points. The Spurs have scored more than 100 points of all five of those games, which date back to the 2002 first-round series.
-- Danny O'Neil
Wasn't that their much vaunted game plan in game two, stop Tony Parker? They did that to an extent in the first half, but our other guys hit their shots. Manu lit them up. So they adjusted back at half time and TP got his anyway.
As far as last year, Pop is not going to let LA happen again. Jerome James ain't Shaq, and if he backs off of Tim to clog the pick-and-roll, Tim's going to go off. Manu has been hitting his threes well, Big Dog is going to hit the open mid-range. Seattle is ed.
I anticipate this game being like game three in Denver. Seattle will feed off of their crowd and then they'll blow their wad early. The Spurs will muscle their way to another win.
Absolutely my thoughts exactly. Well put.
Spurs G Manu Ginobili is shooting 70 percent this series (12-for-17) and has made three 3-pointers.I hope he can keep it up
That's the conundrum: The Spurs have three players averaging 20+ in the postseason. If you take special interest in one, the other two will go off. That's why the Spurs are effective on defense. They have a scheme and a philosophy, and they don't change it for any team or player. About the only question you ever have to ask is which wing player is Bowen going to guard.
That's one of two shocking stats from this round, the other being that they are limiting the Sonics to 11 assists per game.Spurs G Manu Ginobili is shooting 70 percent this series (12-for-17) and has made three 3-pointers.
They actually tried to limit Tony last game. After halftime, Pop started Manu, since Bruce was in foul trouble, and he handled the ball, with Tony diving off screens. Seattle backed off him in the first half, but you have to try to stay with your man if he's running through screens, and that got Tony back close to his defender where he could use his quickness again. End of problem.
And Pops unique defensive scheme to clog the middle and attempt to force players baseline continues to befuddle the opposing scorers around the league...they take the bait and then the switch comes and suddenly they are surrounded by three Spurs jerseys...damn it's good to be a Spurs fan...the only real weakness in the system is when the opposing big men can shoot well from the field...
or tipin misses at the buzzer.the only real weakness in the system is when the opposing big men can shoot well from the field...
Jerome James is a fool.
Looks like they're gonna go with the Laker lane pack defense, hope we're on from outside.
Wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of zone from Seattle tonight.
To quote Ron White: "next time you have a thought, just shut up. You'll be way ahead of the game."I got to play Tim Duncan like I play everybody else. I can't give him the respect that I've been giving him. No doubt he deserves it, but you can't respect anybody at this time of the year. You have to play everybody the same."
You don't say you're not gonna respect a two-time NBA Finals MVP. That's just stupid.
James is a ing idiot, and a clumsy dolt, and he's got a balla's comprehension of the word "respect" ("whatever I want it to mean").
"He won't 'respect' Tim" is some kind of personal game plan?? Sounds like a winning game plan to me.
James doesn't make any sense, because he has none, no matter what his Mama tells him. He should consider applying to write a column for the Denver paper.
Thank you OV.
If you were Pop and knowing what they'll try to do with Parker, would you start Manu to begin with this time?
Awe. Danny wants a hug.Danny Fortson played a pivotal role in two regular-season victories over San Antonio, but he has only played a total of 10 minutes in this series. He has two rebounds, zero points and six fouls in the two games.
"I'm the new guy, just remember that," he said. "I don't know anybody. These guys been together for a long time. Sometimes the new person needs a little hug every now and then. Not to say I need a hug, but just some support. I really haven't seen none of that.
So that's what his problem is. Of course with their track record they'll probably wind up offering Danny a max contract. Bah, stupid Sonics management, good thing Mac10's contract is up and he decided to run things his way instead of leaving those jokers in charge, or the Sonics would probably be sub-.500 yet again.
they arnt stopping
Gerry, what's your call for the game tonight? You've been spot on so far.
James is what 30 and been playing basketball for how many years and McMillan is trying to teach him how to play the P&R. Good luck Nate.
Jerome James saying he isn't going to guard Timmy as good as he was which wasn't good at all. Timmy will have a field day tonight if thats how he is going to do it.
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