Spurs blitz Warriors with all-around game

[Spurzilla]

San Francisco Chronicle

Texas hold 'em
Spurs blitz Warriors with all-around game

Janny Hu, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, November 24, 2005

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What better level to aspire to than the San Antonio Spurs, the NBA's reigning champions, because they do it all. The Spurs play halfcourt and fullcourt, shoot inside and outside, post up and put up.

The Warriors, at least on Wednesday, could do none of those. Their 113-89 spanking was decided so early, their mismatch with the Spurs so flagrant, the most interesting moment came way back in the first quarter, when Ike Diogu made his NBA debut.

Diogu, the Warriors' No. 1 pick and ninth overall, was given a partial standing ovation when he checked in with 3:52 remaining in the opening period. Fifteen seconds later, the Spurs gave Diogu the typical rookie welcome.

San Antonio immediately went after him, with Bruce Bowen feeding Nazr Mohammed inside and Mohammed hitting a 7-foot jumper over Diogu's outstretched arms.

But Diogu, who roamed in and out of the post as the Warriors' center alongside power forward Troy Murphy, responded with a 12-foot jumper off an assist from Jason Richardson. He finished with 11 points and three rebounds in 15 minutes.

"I thought you saw glimpses of what Ike can do," Warriors coach Mike Montgomery said. "He's clearly not going to be sure of himself, where he should be. But he went up and made a couple of plays."

Montgomery had predicted before the game that Diogu would "do some interesting things, for sure." The coach simplified the offense when Diogu was in the game, particularly in the fourth quarter, when the Warriors went small and Diogu was instructed just to roll toward the basket.

If the rookie found himself lost on a play, Montgomery armed him with this advice: "When in doubt, go post up -- there's usually not a crowd in there."

The guidance emphasized the biggest difference between the Warriors and Spurs on Wednesday. San Antonio has the ultimate low-post player and perimeter threat in Tim Duncan, who commands so much attention from opposing defenses that the court turns into a playground for guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.

Parker led the Spurs with 26 points on 11-of-13 shooting from the field, while Ginobili had 14 points. Duncan added 19 points and 12 rebounds. The trio simply shredded the Warriors' defense, scoring eight of their first 10 baskets on layups or put-backs.

The Spurs outrebounded Golden State 9-1 to start the game, held a 33-11 advantage at the half and finished with a 52-27 edge. They also outscored the Warriors 60-36 in the paint.

It's there that Diogu figures to be the most help, and in the fourth quarter, he showed some nifty moves inside. He went up-and-under to complete a three-point play against Mohammed, and Mike Dunleavy later hit a cutting Diogu for another layup.

"It was alright," Diogu said afterward. "I messed up a lot of plays on the offensive end and on the defensive end. ... First game, I got a few of the jitters out. Gotta move onto the next game."

The Warriors have posted guards Richardson and Baron Davis in an attempt to create mismatches and draw double-teams, and Murphy has tried to extend his game inside with mixed success.

In the first quarter Murphy took Rasho Nesterovic off the dribble for a driving layup and three-point play. On a similar move in the second quarter, he was stuffed by Duncan, who blocked Murphy's shot attempt, rebounded the ball and started a fastbreak all in one motion.

"What we don't have is a dominant low-post center -- like say, San Antonio with Duncan -- where they can go down there and play off him and run a lot of different things to roll in the low post," Montgomery said. "It's not our strongest point, but we've made some progress."

And to that end, Diogu, who won Pac-10 Player of the Year honors as a junior, gave the crowd of 18,768 at the Arena in Oakland the biggest reason to stick around for the fourth quarter.

If you can't compete in the present, might as well look to the future.

[Spurzilla]

Diogu's debut is Spurred

By Dave Del GrandeSTAFF WRITER
Oakland Tribune
Article Last Updated: 11/24/2005 08:09:11 AM

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OAKLAND — A near-capacity crowd of 18,768 at the Arena will always be able to say they saw Ike Diogu's NBA regular-season debut Wednesday night.
Short of being a San Antonio Spurs fan, however, that might be all they acknowledge about the evening.

While Diogu provided a glimpse of a promising future and Troy Murphy more than held his own with 27 points, their Golden State Warriors teammates showed there are problems in the present, falling behind by as many as 36 points and never truly competing in a 113-89 thumping at the hands of the defending champs.

"They're a better basketball team than we are right now," understated Warriors coach Mike Montgomery. "I'd like to believe the margin is not as great as we've demonstrated."

Here's the irony of losing by 24 to the Spurs: The Warriors walked away from the carnage dreaming even bigger than before.

Their goal no longer is just to make the playoffs. They're now shooting for a 7 seed, which just might allow them to avoid thejuggernaut Spurs in Round 1.

This one was a mismatch in every area: Tony Parker (11-for- 13, 26 points) was too quick for Baron Davis (2-for-9, six points); Bruce Bowen was too tough defensively for Jason Richardson (3-for-10, 10 points); Mike Dunleavy (scoreless until garbage time) was a total nonfactor; and Tim Duncan (19 points, 12 rebounds in 26 minutes) was, well, Tim Duncan.

Not that stopping one guy would have made much of a difference, but the Warriors hope someday Diogu will at least make Duncan, who hit eight of his 12 shots, sweat for his double-double.

The No. 9 overall pick in June out of Arizona State could not have picked a tougher opponent against whom to debut. To his credit, his numbers did not reflect the difficulty of the exam: 4-for-7, 11 points and three rebounds in 14-plus minutes.

"It's kinda tough to be happy (considering) the outcome of the game," the 22-year-old said. "And a lot of the points were scored late. That takes away from it."

Diogu was on the floor for six- and eight-minute stints, the latter much better than the former. But the highlight, in his mind, came before he'd even stepped into action.

"Probably the standing ovation I got when I came into the game," he responded when asked of his favorite part of the night. "Fans are really excited to see me play. It was great."

The 2004-05 Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year did a little of everything in his second-half run — flying down the middle to tip in an Aaron Miles miss, double-pumping to drop in a layup amid tall traffic, drawing a foul after a pick-and-roll with Calbert Cheaney and hitting both free throws, and converting a Dunleavy assist into a fastbreak hoop, on which he was fouled completed his first pro three-point play.

His teammates were impressed.

"I thought he did well for a guy who hasn't played," said Murphy, whose 27 points were a season high. "He came in and gave us a lift."

Added Adonal Foyle, "I remember what I did in my debut. It was great debut for him."

The 11-point output was the highest for a Warriors first-round pick in his debut since Joe Smith, the No.1 overall selection in 1995, dropped in 14 against Houston. Diogu thanked his coach. "Coach Montgomery let me go out there and show what I can do," he assured.

Diogu was last seen pouring in 37 points to go with 12 rebounds in the Warriors' summer-league finale against Phoenix. He suffered the broken left hand on the sixth day of training camp in Hawaii, just 48 hours before he was to make his pro debut in a preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The former Texas high school standout was cleared to participate in his first full-team workout Tuesday, but the team was coming off a back-to-back and did little more than walk through some tactical changes. So he went into his debut about as unprepared as possible.

"I'm still really rusty, especially on the defensive end," he admitted. "It's just one of those things you've got to look past and move on to the next game."

That'll be Friday night at Utah. It'll be like facing Northern Arizona after having opened against Duke.