Marion silenced, confused by Spurs
Web Posted: 05/23/2005 12:00 AM CDT
Mike Finger
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...29eaadb4b.html
PHOENIX — Maybe Shawn Marion was too busy beating Memphis to listen to George Karl. Or too preoccupied with Dallas to pay attention to Ray Allen.
Because on Sunday afternoon in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, not only did Marion prove he wasn't sure how to attack Bruce Bowen, he showed he hadn't learned how to complain about him, either.
Continuing a postseason-long trend for the Spurs, Bowen latched onto a once-hot opposing scorer and took him out of his game. Only this time, his victim eschewed griping about Bowen's tactics and instead vowed to find his own solution.
"I've got to try something different," Marion said after scoring only three points in the Spurs' 121-114 victory at America West Arena. "I've just got to find a way, baby."
Marion has reasons to be confident. Like Denver's Carmelo Anthony in the first round and Seattle's Allen in the second, Marion entered his series with the Spurs on an offensive tidal wave. In 10 playoff games before Sunday, he averaged 22.5 points while making 51 percent of his field-goal attempts and 47 percent of his 3-pointers.
But with Bowen hounding him, that momentum didn't seem to mean much. He went scoreless in the first half and didn't make his first basket until he hit a baseline jumper with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter. Marion finished just 1 of 6 from the field.
"I was trying to take him out of his comfort zone," Bowen said. "Shawn is a guy who's become a very good 3-point shooter with time. If I can try to crowd him a little bit once he receives the ball and make him dribble drive, that's what I want to do."
That Bowen even guarded Marion at all was a bit of a surprise. Even though the 6-foot-7 Marion plays like a small forward, he's usually matched against an opposing center or power forward because the Suns start three guards. But on Sunday, the Spurs assigned Tim Duncan to Quentin Richardson, allowing Bowen to guard Marion.
Marion admitted the Suns weren't prepared for that look.
"We started getting all confused as to who was going to be setting the pick and rolls and stuff," Marion said. "I think that was throwing everybody off a little bit."
Not that the Spurs expect such confusion to continue.
"Whether it threw them off or not," Duncan said, "they'll be ready for it next time."
On that note, Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said he isn't worried about Marion's ability to bounce back and still become a big factor in the series. D'Antoni said he thought Marion was affected by the quick turnaround after the Suns' Game 6 victory over Dallas on Friday.
"I didn't think Shawn had an abundance of energy," he said.
Marion, for his part, downplayed all talk of fatigue. But he said he realizes he can't afford another performance like the one he gave in Game 1 if the Suns hope to even the series.
"We can't win like that," Marion said.
You don't know how irritated I got listening to the announcers drool all over the Suns Playoff stats, I kept saying to myself, that wasn't against us, we are the best defensive team in the league, and knowing what we had done offensively against the Suns in the regular season, and although Phoenix did score a decent ammount of points they were limited to who scored, their bench was nothing as expected, and the Spurs outgunned them.
God, that would have been great. The Spurs would have won by 30.
I hope Q decides the next game that he is the key to the series and starts jacking them up.
Yes, I got so aggravated at the gushing over PHX that I had to turn off the sound for a while. And I usually like Hubie.
That would be great if Q would just launch 3's. Tim has 6 inches on him and can sag off and use his long arms to get a hand up to contest the shot. Quentin should be doing the exact opposite of what you are saying.why didnt Q score more with TIM on him? tim is an awesome defender and all but why didnt Q just stay on the outside and launch threes? probably our incredible help defense is the reason....i dunno
the fact that Duncan is not only slower because he isn't a guard, but is also almost hobbled because he has ankle sprains on both ankles, should make Q drive on him every possesion from the pereimeter.
I hope it was the Spurs D but remember, they showed that before the Game he had a big ass heating pack on his hand.
look I opposed to Suns having 3 representatives to the All-Star games but I respect Marion's game. I think he's the 2nd best player to Nash in that team, if not the best. HE IS THE ONLY PLAYER WHO IS AVERAGING A DOUBLE-DOUBLE in the playoffs until they met the Spurs.
So sad (though I'm happy), he only had 3 pts in game 1. If he could hit 15 we'd be in trouble.
hey, we had not beaten the Suns in double figure, so far.
game 2 111-108 Spurs adv. 3 pts ONLY
game 1 121-114 Spurs adv. 7 pts ONLY
Last edited by milkyway21; 05-26-2005 at 03:44 AM.
He first hurt it against Memphis but Marion re-injured his wrist late in game 6 against Dallas. You could tell it was really hurting him.
How many point blank shots has he missed. More than his share anyway.
Props to Bowen, but like Marion said you just have to find a way.
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