Defending Artest and Wells

[timvp]

Has Pop forgotten that Robert Horry is on the team? He needs to be playing in the fourth quarters no matter what kind of lineup the Kings go to.

What doesn't make sense to me is that Pop goes small against the Kings even though Artest and Wells are still on the court. Those guys aren't small and they absolutely destroy Finley, Barry, Bowen, Ginobili or whatever other "small ball" players Pop puts on the floor.

I actually like Duncan and Horry guarding Artest and Wells. If you can turn those two guys into jump shooters, it's a lot better than what they are now. They are scoring easy basket after easy basket. Pop can't go small when Adelman puts Artest at power forward.

I think Pop actually needs to go big against this team to stop their inside play.

How I'd match it up:

Miller/Thomas/SARS -- Rasho
Artest -- Duncan
Wells -- Horry
Martin -- Manu
Bibby -- Parker

Enough of this going super small crap when Sac takes out a big. Artest and Wells are power forwards that look like small forwards. There is a reason that Wells is averaging like 12 boards a game this season verus the Spurs -- they just aren't respecting his game. Put a big on him and he is neutralized.

Does Pop remember what he used to do? He used to put Danny Ferry on Wells and Ferry would own him. Robert Horry can do the same thing.

Time to take Game 4.

Believe.

[Kori Ellis]

Yeah I don't really get it either. Ferry used to be really effective on Bonzi (even before the spitting incident). So I don't get why he doesn't stick Horry on him. And if Pop doesn't want to have Duncan/Rasho/Horry on the floor at the same time, then do this ..

Miller guarded by Bowen (Bruce can guard him on the perimeter and front him in the post)
Artest guarded by Duncan
Wells guarded by Horry
Martin guarded by Manu
Bibby guarded by Tony

Artest and Wells need to be guarded by guys that are bigger than them.

[timvp]

Plus Artest is shooting like 25% on jumpers since he hurt his thumb. In the playoffs, all he's done is bully smaller players to the rim.

Time to adjust.

[Nikos]

Imagine if the team had Hedo Turkoglu.

[Obstructed_View]

I guess I've been watching a different series, because Duncan has not been able to stop Artest or Wells with any regularity, and I would consider Duncan a "big". Artest is as quick as Bowen, and stronger than Duncan. If you put Horry and Duncan on Artest and Wells, they don't become jump shooters, they become guys who dribble around their defenders and score.

[ducks]

pop needs to study film
kori needs to ask pop this question

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

The only thing is if you put Duncan on Artest then he's got to play off of him. All Artest is doing against the Spurs is putting his head down and going to the rack.

I agree about Horry on Wells, it pisses me off to no end watching Pop trying to do this whole small ball on them. Small ball didn't work in the regular season, not sure why he thinks it's going to start working now.

[spurster]

I've been wondering where Horry's been hiding, too. I like Kori's idea.

[timvp]

I guess I've been watching a different series, because Duncan has not been able to stop Artest or Wells with any regularity, and I would consider Duncan a "big". Artest is as quick as Bowen, and stronger than Duncan. If you put Horry and Duncan on Bibby and Wells, they don't become jump shooters, they become guys who dribble around their defenders and score.

You mean Artest and Wells, I assume.

Do you remember the Spurs guarding Wells with Ferry? Ferry was slower than Duncan or Artest.

Duncan just needs to give them some room and make them shoot jumpers with a hand in their face. I'd take Artest and Wells shooting over Duncan all day compared to laying it up over Finley/Manu/Barry/Bowen.

[ducks]

small ball worked some but not against the kings

[timvp]

The only thing is if you put Duncan on Artest then he's got to play off of him. All Artest is doing against the Spurs is putting his head down and going to the rack.

I agree about Horry on Wells, it pisses me off to no end watching Pop trying to do this whole small ball on them. Small ball didn't work in the regular season, not sure why he thinks it's going to start working now.

I like small ball ... when the other team goes small. Miller, Artest, Wells, Martin and Bibby aren't small.

That's three power forwards on the court.

[ShoogarBear]

The only problem with this is I haven't seen that Duncan is able to stop any bigs off the dribble, so if he picked up Artest too far away from the basket I doubt he could stop him, nad maybe just get into foul trouble.

The positive of this is that the Kings would probable stop their offense just to run isos of Artest against Tim, and that could screw them up.

[whottt]

I did see Horry pulling some minutes on Artest last night. They were limited minutes and Horry didn't stay in the game long but it seemed to work. He looked pretty effective but slow. Not as slow as Ferry...but Artest is pretty fast.

Horry hasn't been getting many minutes and I am trying to figure out why...it's not just because Sac is playing small...because Nazr and Rasho are getting some healthy minutes. Horry should be getting some of their minutes when Sac is playing small, not having his own minutes cut . My guess is that Pop wants rebounding and maybe he feels Nazr and Rasho are better options for that.

Anyway, something definitely needs to be done...I think, with Bonzi, it was kind of a case of the Spurs hoping he was the Memphis Bonzi and not the Portland Bonzi...our worst fears are realized because he's turned the clock back and is playing like Portland Bonzi now...I figure Pop will have this figured out by the next game, and I think Horry will be getting more minutes on either Bonzi or Artest.

At the very least Horry needs to be on the court because he can erase stupid plays by other players and doesn't make any himself...

And his rebounding is a clutch as the rest of his game...when he needs to be a bigtime rebounder he can do it...so I hope the Spurs do realize that.

[CosmicCowboy]

Has Pop forgotten that Robert Horry is on the team? He needs to be playing in the fourth quarters no matter what kind of lineup the Kings go to.

What doesn't make sense to me is that Pop goes small against the Kings even though Artest and Wells are still on the court. Those guys aren't small and they absolutely destroy Finley, Barry, Bowen, Ginobili or whatever other "small ball" players Pop puts on the floor.

I actually like Duncan and Horry guarding Artest and Wells. If you can turn those two guys into jump shooters, it's a lot better than what they are now. They are scoring easy basket after easy basket. Pop can't go small when Adelman puts Artest at power forward.

I think Pop actually needs to go big against this team to stop their inside play.

How I'd match it up:

Miller/Thomas/SARS -- Rasho
Artest -- Duncan
Wells -- Horry
Martin -- Manu
Bibby -- Parker

Enough of this going super small crap when Sac takes out a big. Artest and Wells are power forwards that look like small forwards. There is a reason that Wells is averaging like 12 boards a game this season verus the Spurs -- they just aren't respecting his game. Put a big on him and he is neutralized.

Does Pop remember what he used to do? He used to put Danny Ferry on Wells and Ferry would own him. Robert Horry can do the same thing.

Time to take Game 4.

Believe.

nice post. Bonzi may be a punkass but he is definitely playing ball this series and Spurs haven't found an answer yet. After game 2 when someone asked the question "when did you know the Spurs would win" I still stick by my answer of "when Bonzi fouled out"...

[Dre_7]

I have said it in countless game blog threads this year, and I will say it again, I HATE THE SMALL LINEUP!!!!!!!!!

[Kori Ellis]

The small lineup is actually effective in the right situation. But it's not effective when the Artest/Wells bulls are on the floor.

[E20]

The small lineup is actually effective in the right situation. But it's not effective when the Artest/Wells bulls are on the floor.

That's only for a limited time. Ron Artest and Bonzi Wells are averaging 40 Minutes per Game. Pop should stick to the regular lineup of:
C
PF
SF
SG
G

Throughout the whole game.

[Obstructed_View]

You mean Artest and Wells, I assume.

Do you remember the Spurs guarding Wells with Ferry? Ferry was slower than Duncan or Artest.

Duncan just needs to give them some room and make them shoot jumpers with a hand in their face. I'd take Artest and Wells shooting over Duncan all day compared to laying it up over Finley/Manu/Barry/Bowen.

You must have read my post the same time I did, because I fixed it as soon as I posted it.

Ferry may have been slower than Duncan or Artest, but he's quicker than Horry. Any success Ferry might have had in a regular season game has little bearing now. The reason Bonzi moves from team to team is because when he's not interested he's not a good player. He's interested. It'll take a of a lot more from the Spurs than just putting a big guy on him and hoping he stands there and jacks up shots from the perimeter.

What the Spurs probably ought to do is keep their centers in the game and make the Finley/Manu/Barry/Bowen defenders funnel them to the shot blockers. Shocking, I know, but it was a good defensive strategy at one time. I certainly wouldn't take my centers out and put my two power forwards outside the paint guarding smaller, quicker guys.

[whottt]

You must have read my post the same time I did, because I fixed it as soon as I posted it.

Ferry may have been slower than Duncan or Artest, but he's quicker than Horry. .

Uh no...on Horry's slowest day in the NBA he is faster than Ferry was on his fastest...His hands are faster, his feet are faster, he moves faster and his reflexes are faster...But what Ferry was that Horry isn't was physical. Ferry would get into his opponents body and annoy the living crap out of them(he also used to do this to Horry by the way, does anyone remember Horry swiping at Ferry in 02?). Horry is not that physical...and that's probably the only thing Ferry did better than Horry.

No matter what, Horry and his 6 rings need to be on the court when it's winning time.

[CosmicCowboy]

The reason Bonzi moves from team to team is because when he's not interested he's not a good player. He's interested. It'll take a of a lot more from the Spurs than just putting a big guy on him and hoping he stands there and jacks up shots from the perimeter.

That was very ing profound. I have watched Bonzi since he was at Portland and he can be a of a player when he wants to be. You are right. He's interested this series.

[Obstructed_View]

Uh no...on Horry's slowest day in the NBA he is faster than Ferry was on his fastest...His hands are faster, his feet are faster, he moves faster and his reflexes are faster...But what Ferry was that Horry isn't was physical. Ferry would get into his opponents body and annoy the living crap out of them(he also used to do this to Horry by the way, does anyone remember Horry swiping at Ferry in 02?). Horry is not that physical...and that's probably the only thing Ferry did better than Horry.

No matter what, Horry and his 6 rings need to be on the court when it's winning time.

I agree with almost all of that post. We'll leave the part about Ferry guarding Jordan in the playoffs for another day. The thing to remember is that right now is Horry's slowest day. He might be quick in stretches but he has very bad knees. Also, the first round is not winning time. If you grind a commodity like Horry down in the first round you aren't going to beat the Mavs, let alone win a championship.

The Spurs lost the game on a bad turnover and a lucky layup at the buzzer. Horry would not have changed any of that one bit, and Wells wouldn't have had any problem abusing Horry straight up. If the Spurs aren't going to play their base defense against the Kings, they are going to do things to try to confuse Bonzi. I agree that if you had Ferry you could probably just get him to throw a punch and get ejected. That's not going to happen here.

[timvp]

Horry in the game to guard Artest or Wells is such a no-brainer. This is the playoffs. He is Robert Horry. For those who haven't been paying attention, that is a good match.

I bet if Horry was in the game he would have blocked Kevin Martin and the Spurs would be going for the sweep on Sunday. Horry is a basketball genius and one of the clutchest shooters ever.

Play him.

[timvp]

I agree with almost all of that post. The thing to remember is that right now is Horry's slowest day. He might be quick in stretches but he has very bad knees.

Now he's just making stuff up

[CosmicCowboy]

Horry in the game to guard Artest or Wells is such a no-brainer. This is the playoffs. He is Robert Horry. For those who haven't been paying attention, that is a good match.

I bet if Horry was in the game he would have blocked Kevin Martin and the Spurs would be going for the sweep on Sunday. Horry is a basketball genius and one of the clutchest shooters ever.

Play him.

LJ...

Tim ing Duncan was all over LitlKMarts ass and the shot still went in.

I know you are just trolling but BigShotRob wouldn't have changed the ending on game 3.

[Obstructed_View]

Now he's just making stuff up

Horry doesn't have bad knees? You are the one that made him a shot blocker.