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...funny screenname
So here we are- more than week removed from what timvp coined as the second worst playoff defeat in San Antonio Spur history. Save the gaseous emissions that continue to emanate from TPark’s red eye, most of the smoke has cleared and dust has settled here at Spurstalk. I won’t lie though- the last week has been tough. The Mavericks, their vertically challenged, bible-belt coach, their Fire Island gay, outspoken owner and their Haselhoff worshipping superstar got to me. Hats off to them. They had a seasoned veteran fan of sixteen years ripping his hair out, bouncing around the furniture looking like Brad Pitt from Twelve Monkeys. I can’t help but continue to replay those final 21 seconds of game 7 in my head. Manu Ginobili, next to Kobe Bryant the most clutch performer in the world, ball in hand, series lying in the balance, Robert Horry drifting out on the perimeter….ah what could have been…what could have been- a phrase uttered more times by the sports fan than “pass me another beer hon.” Anyways in the last week, I’ve had time to reflect and look back on the season, most importantly the fateful seven games with our interstate rivals and I think that it would be therapeutic for me to get some stuff off my chest. You see Mavs fans, I hate to discredit what you did, because believe me, hearing that pompous worm Phil Jackson tell us our first ever championship should have come with an asterix embedded on it made my blood boil- but Mavs fans, I’m sorry, you didn’t beat the Spurs- the Spurs were betrayed by their leader, their coach, Gregg Popovich and coincidentally I guess you can say that we beat ourselves.
They say the first paragraph of any article or short story should grab the reader’s attention and keep them wanting more. Believe me, that closing sentence was not at attempt at either. It was the truth and Spurs’ fans- you know it. The San Antonio Spurs won 63 games this season- a franchise best. Nearly every single one of those victories, including two over Dallas and three over the Phoenix Suns featured a line-up consisting of two near seven foot pillars occupying the paint. In fact, if you look at last year’s Western Conference Finals, The Spurs started Nazr Mohammed in all five games and guess what? They won four of them, advancing to the Finals. I dare say that last year’s Suns were faster, more athletic, more skilled and downright superior in almost every facet of the game to this years’ version of the Dallas Mavericks. Still, with me? How’s this- Nazr Mohammed had a season high of 30 points and 16 rebounds in a game this season against the Suns. Guess what he did on March 2nd against Dallas-also a Spurs victory by the way? 10 points and 5 rebounds (3 offensive) in 30 minutes? Better than what Diop and Dampier were giving Avery Johnson in their 20-25/game. In fact in the two regular season games that Mohammed played 30+ minutes, the Spurs beat Dallas. In the two he played less than 20, they lost. Did Gregg Popovich forget this? My point is- when in life, in business or in sports does it make sense to abandon what made you successful? Gregg Popovich simply got played- he saw his team get beat by 20 points in game 2 and then for the remainder of the series, he coached as if he were the underdog, amazed that his team was in the mere presence of this unstoppable Dallas Mavericks juggernaut and coached to survive, not to win. Why? When does a favourite throw away what got him to the dance and play the underdog’s game? Did the New England Patriots and Tom Brady play the “I can pass for more yardage than you” with Peyton Manning and the Colts? Never- they showed the world what Manning is and was and will always be- a bridesmaid and never a bride. Bill Belichick doesn’t allow inferior compe ion to tell him how a game is going to be played.
Gregg Popovich apparently has a military background- so how’s about a military alliteration? Let’s say you’re at war (a basketball game) and the object of the war is to capture the other’s King (the NBA le). The Spurs, led to Popovich had a system that had won them a record 63 battles all year- best in their territory (Conference). Their compe ion, the Mavericks, were a quicker, more athletic team but lacked anyone that could really challenge the Spurs main gun (Tim Duncan) in the trenches (the paint). The Spurs, being a slower, yet more experienced team, used a system whereby the younger Maverick may in fact get around his first combatant (defender) but were guaranteed to be met (and slowed down) by either one of two tall warriors in the trenches (Duncan, Mohammed, even Rasho). But guess what? Like any General (no not you Avery) that had fought too much without resting his mind, the Spurs leader miscalculated and played DIRECTLY into the hands of Dallas. Instead of using his highly successful strategy, Popovich went with one whereby the Spurs soldiers were asked to battle the younger, faster Mavericks one on one and the option of funnelling into the bigs was no longer there- he took one of two completely out of the equation. So here you have the Mavericks breezing by the likes of Brent Barry and Michael Finley and guess what? Who’s there to shoulder the ENTIRE defensive burden and guard that aforementioned King? Popovich’s premier soldier- the incomparable Tim Duncan. Weird how Duncan picked up more fouls in these seven games than he did practically all season? Good one Pop- real bright.
Believe it or not, the point of this article is not to bash Gregg Popovich. The guy is a tremendous coach, a great teacher, has the respect of just about every mind associated with the game of basketball but the reality is he was duped in this series. Our entire coaching staff- not just him, was duped. We played Maverick basketball for the final five games of this series and guess what? We lost. We lost a chance, possibly our last to finally repeat as NBA champions. With the Heat about to eliminate the Pistons and the Suns advancing to the Western Conference Finals- that makes me mad.
I think that in every walk of life, when a passionate, intelligent human being entrenches him or herself in their work, ultimately their work gets the better of them and a step back- not a step away is the best course of action. In basketball- look no further than Phil Jackson and Pat Riley as perfect examples of those who took a step back from the game of basketball, recharged their batteries and enjoyed success upon their returns. Gregg Popovich is a basketball genius- he’s worn every hat there is to wear for this franchise and we as fans owe him a tremendous debt of gra ude for that but I think this series showed that Popovich might have- it’s only my opinion- but he might have lost sight of the forest through the tress.
Ironically, with all the anguish associated with this loss and the prospects as to what could have been, I don’t believe there has been a moment where I’ve been more proud of my team. We competed right to the end, the stars played like stars- Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili were an absolute JOY to watch from simply a basketball fan’s point of view in this series but you know what? So was Dirk Nowitzki. Say what you want about the guy but he arrived to the penthouse known as ‘big time’ in this series and I’m glad for him. There’s no arrogance with Dirk, just intense compe iveness and I love that in an athlete.
PJ Carlesimo still doesn’t have a head coaching job…how about a year to showcase his talents?
Until next year,
Walton Buys Off Me
Last edited by Walton Buys Off Me; 05-31-2006 at 10:52 PM.
...funny screenname
...terrible analysis
Wow, quite a rant.. at least he got it off his chest.. I don't agree with him at all
you take pop away and put him as the head coach,PJ Carlesimo still doesn’t have a head coaching job…how about a year to showcase his talents?
the season is over before it begins.
what message are those little animated bits supposed to convey rayray?
It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Wm. Shakespeare
lol@dre7
kthxbai.
Alright.
Pop probably pondered putting post players positioned perfectly, however Pop predetermined propensity for plentiful points and poor positional pairings.
oh no!
this reminds me of games 3 & 7 again
Pop fixed the Special Olympics.
Actually AJ did what Pop taught him to do....win in the post-season.
The Spurs lose in 5, maybe 6, if they dont go small.
You will get bashed Walton, but that was a good post. Everyone loves to point to the fact that the Spurs hung with Dallas for seven tough games.True, but it was a chore, and you, like me, think they did it the hard way against a roster which was basically the same as the one they played four times in the regular season. Pop says it was the matchup with Dirk, so why have we never seen this reaction in the past? After game 2, Pop never even tried to establish an upperhand on the way the series was going to play out. No zones, no bigs on Nowitzki, nothing. Had he tried and failed, I think it would have been easier to accept. The Spurs lost the series because they lost their defensive personality. Hence the second guessing of Popovich.
Actually, I'm confused about one point. I've heard this said many times since the loss that Nazr played 30+ minutes in the two games against the Mavs which the Spurs won. However, didn't Devin Harris miss those games? Also, Avery didn't have the starting 5 out that he did in this series in those regular season games, or did he?
So what? Devin and Terry had a ing layup drill going on all series with Horry and Bowen playing "power forward".However, didn't Devin Harris miss those games? Also, Avery didn't have the starting 5 out that he did in this series in those regular season games, or did he?
The bottom line is Pop never even tried playing Rasho or Nazr to see what would happen.
Pretty ing ironic that Avery has realized already in his series that he can't play small against Phoenix and stuck Diop in there for 30 minutes a night to defend the paint.
Coincidentally, we rolled Phoenix last year with Tim and Nazr in the post, and that Suns squad > this year's Mavs squad as far as small ball goes.
Pop out-thought himself this year. Hopefully he'll learn from it, but I doubt it.
Alright.
Pop probably pondered putting post players positioned perfectly, however Pop predetermined propensity for plentiful points and poor positional pairings.
Awesome Alliteration (as always)!
I think Pop wanted AJ to win the series somewhere in his subconcious, or he wanted to beat AJ at his own game....a pissing contest, if you will.
The Spurs handed Dallas a golden opportunity to win an otherwise unwinable series, and they took advantage.
Word.
I think Pop wanted AJ to win the series somewhere in his subconcious, or he wanted to beat AJ at his own game....a pissing contest, if you will.
Simmer down, I'm not trying to start an argument here. While I definitely agree with you in that Pop should have at least tried to play Rasho and Nazr more, how can people say that it would have been a guaranteed difference maker in the series based on the two games we won and in which Nazr played more minutes, when Avery used a different lineup in those games? I was just pointing out that I don't think that's necessarily a good comparison to make.
Alas, you're right, Pop did end up shooting himself in the foot with this. We'll never know if we could have won that series playing traditional Spurs-style basketball since Pop never really tried it for a long stretch of time. I'd like to believe we would have won that series if Pop had.
It's hard to believe that with Tim, Manu, Tony, and Finley playing the best offensive ball of the season, Spurs still could have lost that series. It did come down to defense. However, our bench is also to blame for not showing up.
I think that was becuase stoudemire was there, if stoudemire was nowitzki we probably would have gone small against Phoenix to, but it is alot easier to guard somebady anchored to the basket rather than chase around a shooter.
If nowitzki wasn't a jumpshooter we would have gone big against them and we probably would of beaten them, but that is what nowitzki creates match up problems.
So we start Nazr and you have him chasing dirk?? Dirk is too quick.
Same deal with duncan.
We stick bowen on him and howard goes nuts, Dallas had to many match up problems and small ball made the series go as long as it did
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