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It was pathetic.
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Victory slides away from Spurs: Popovich calls effort 'pathetic'
Web Posted: 04/01/2007 10:47 PM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News
INDIANAPOLIS — After Jamaal Tinsley banked in the winning shot with a little more than a second to spare, and the Spurs trudged off the floor at Conseco Fieldhouse having quite possibly squandered any chance of catching the Phoenix Suns, coach Gregg Popovich tried his best to put Sunday evening in perspective.
All it took was two "pathetics," two "disappointings" and one "embarrassing."
After watching the Spurs surrender a seven-point lead in the final 2:47 to the Indiana Pacers — who had lost 17 of their previous 19 games and were missing their top player — Popovich didn't need long to express his feelings about his team's 100-99 loss.
"I thought it was a pathetic performance for a team that's trying to get prepared to go into the playoffs and get focused for that," Popovich said. "That was very disappointing. We played the last quarter compe ively, but before that I thought we played embarrassing basketball.
"A lot of it had to do with the energy, the toughness and the defense of the Pacers. A very disappointing loss for us. A pathetic performance."
The Spurs began the day with an opportunity to move within one game of the Western Conference's No. 2 playoff seed. Instead, with Phoenix beating Dallas and the Pacers beating them, the Spurs now trail the Suns by three games with nine to play.
"Every loss hurts," said Manu Ginobili, who uncharacteristically missed three free throws, including a costly one with 6.3 seconds left. "Especially down the stretch."
The Spurs' three losses in the past eight weeks have come against two Eastern Conference teams (Milwaukee and Boston) headed for the lottery and another (Indiana) whose playoff hopes seemed to be on life support. Riding a six-game winning streak that began on March 21 with a 90-72 victory over the same Pacers, the Spurs didn't expect to lose Sunday.
Indiana played without starting forward Jermaine O'Neal, who has been in and out of the lineup the past few weeks with left knee and ankle problems, then lost starting center Jeff Foster to back spasms after he collected eight rebounds in the first quarter.
The absence of O'Neal and Foster might have been the worst thing to happen to the Spurs. Ike Diogu, an athletic, 6-foot-8, second-year forward who hadn't played in the Pacers' previous game, more than made up for his missing teammates with 18 points and a career-best 13 rebounds, eight on offense.
"He wanted the ball more than anyone on our team wanted it," Popovich said. "He went after it consistently and did a great job."
Popovich muted Diogu's impact by going to a small lineup in the second half. That allowed the Spurs to overtake Indiana and open a 96-88 lead on Tim Duncan's dunk with 3:50 left. The Spurs were still up by seven points more than a minute later after Tony Parker's free throw.
Tinsley, however, took over from there. Ejected in the second quarter on March 21 at the AT&T Center for chucking the ball into the stands, he put it to better use Sunday, banking in a shot as Parker fouled him.
Tinsley followed the three-point play with another pull-up bank shot. After Bruce Bowen missed two of three free throws, Troy Murphy tied the game with a 3-pointer with 1:26 left.
An 86.4 percent foul shooter, Ginobili stepped to the free-throw line with just 6.3 seconds remaining. But his first attempt clanged hard off the rim.
The Spurs made just 22 of their 33 foul shots for the game and missed 4 of 7 in the final 2:47. In addition to going 4 of 7 from the foul line, Ginobili also missed 5 of 6 attempts from 3-point range.
"Today wasn't my day, from the 3-point line and the free-throw line," Ginobili said. "That was one of the other reasons why we lost."
Duncan provided a few others. On Indiana's final possession, he switched onto Tinsley on a pick-and-roll, but the point guard bolted by him and made a tough layup.
While Parker totaled 22 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, Duncan struggled against Indiana's swarming defense. He committed seven turnovers and spent more than a little time griping to the officials, one of whom gave him a technical in the third quarter.
"They were allowed to be very physical tonight," Duncan said. "They were able to get away with stuff and they used it to their advantage."
The Spurs had a final opportunity to win, but Tinsley deflected Brent Barry's inbounds pass into the seats, leaving just 0.3 seconds on the clock. Barry then got the ball to Duncan, but his catch-and-shoot attempt fell short.
"I don't know if it was Jermaine being out of the game and we got a little confident, but we just didn't play good," Ginobili said. "We didn't play with the same emotion as the last couple of games, so we really have to be aware of that."
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It was pathetic.
If Ginobili didnt think he was Jason Kapono, and drove the damn ball, things mightve been different.
yep, pathetic coaching.
pathetic everything
exactly
i normally give parker for resorting to his outside shot late in games as oppose to penetrating but tonight manu fell in love with the 3 and his outside shot way too much.
when he finally does decide to take it to the rim he blows the FT, but I would rather have that as oppose to another brick from outside
agreed 1000%when he finally does decide to take it to the rim he blows the FT, but I would rather have that as oppose to another brick from outside
Ginobili's lack of agressiveness was disgusting.
I think he got overconfident in his three point shooting.
I'd really like to see him have his shot selection consist of going for layups,
a good bulk of his shots and FG have been dependent on how many threes he makes.
But I don't think Manu's gonna "not be aggressive" come post-season, but yeah, he definitely should REMEMBER he can drive and hit mid-range jumpers as well at some point in these last few games.
I think Beno should not get any playing time. He just sucks.
I had to work and could not see the game.
If Manu needed to be more aggressive--isn't this where the coach tells him to go to the rim and knock off the 3's?
I think Pop should put that pathetic label on himself and the coaching staff as well as the team.
Probably best to just sit the starters after a few token minutes and rest them for the playoffs and just give up on trying to the get the second seed anyway.
Granted I didn't watch the game, but according to the article, it wasn't small ball that lost the game for us, it was a collapse by the Spurs and the Pacers staying focused and wanting the 'W' more.Popovich muted Diogu's impact by going to a small lineup in the second half. That allowed the Spurs to overtake Indiana and open a 96-88 lead on Tim Duncan's dunk with 3:50 left. The Spurs were still up by seven points more than a minute later after Tony Parker's free throw.
Tinsley, however, took over from there. Ejected in the second quarter on March 21 at the AT&T Center for chucking the ball into the stands, he put it to better use Sunday, banking in a shot as Parker fouled him.
Diogu was a beast. He's a bit undersized, but is long and athletic, crafty around the basket, and has the ability to step out and hit a 15ft shot.....I can see the Elton Brand comparison. Granted it's only one game, but with Murphy/Diogu I can see how the Pacers would shop JO in the off-season.
Murphy and Dunleavy were also uncharacteristically steady with their shot as well....something that's hard to stop with their combination of size and athleticism.
Good win by the Pacers, BAD loss by the Spurs.
I can't give a about the Spurs when they don't give a about their job.
Tim is so ing bored with his job.
pop should call his coaching effort pathetic...because it was
I tend to disagree with the individuals that say the coaching was pathetic. The team was up by 8 points with 3 minutes or so left. Basically, the players thought they had the game won and it sure looked like it to. The players are the ones that had a brain fart.
duncan cared to much about the refs last night
but small ball will be the reason spurs lost according to some here
missing key throws by manu
manu saying it was not his night shootign the three ball
missing 11 free throws
duncan not blocking tinsley with 1.1 on the clock to perserve the victory
tp was the only bright spot on the spurs last night
and they lost by one
2 of the big three need to show up for a w
even when duncan goes off and gets no help spurs usually lose
yeah benching duncan telling him to quit with the ref ing would have helped
Parker wasn't exactly hitting the FTs and making the clutch lay-ups either.
Anyway, what's done is done, time to look forward to the next game.
While I'd love it if the Spurs would play every game like a Playoff game for the next few weeks, I'm less worried about fluke losses to ty teams than I am about losses to teams we could conceivably face in the postseason.
Unfortunately, it seems we are destined for to see SmallBall 2.0 in the Playoffs this year so we might as well get Michael Finley all of the practice that we can at Center. Maybe by reviewing the tape on losses to teams like this one we can improve our approach against Dallas/Phoenix/etc. One would hope doing so would lead the Spurs staff to abandon SmallBall altogether, but it's probably too late for that.
We didn't mute Diogu by going to small ball. The only reason we got the lead was because Indy went away from Diogu and tried to run plays for Dunleavy and Murphy, who suck.
The only reason we slowed down Diogu is because we started doubling him in the post (yay for small ball!), and when he spun around Finley to come face to face with Duncan, he was hosed.
Typical Excuse for News, lapping up anything Pop does and passing the buck to the players.
yep pop made manu miss those threes and free throws
pop made duncan have 7 turnovers
there is plenty of blame for the loss though
players and pop
only one game = prentenders expose
When are one of these SA Express clowns gonna call out Pop for once?
Their writing is about as safe as that of the AP
we are having the same problem...not being aggressive and driving the ball....maybe because its fear of getting banged up too much in the lane and not getting the fouls called.
I just hate it when the refs blow the whistle for the touch on the arm 2 seconds before the shot, instead of calling it for getting banged up in the lane.
two of the games the mavs played with the pacers were scary....they were very athletic and came out of the gate like a horse out of ....
when they play well, they play like the suns or warriors
Pop needs to stop sucking his own balls once in awhile and take a look in the mirror. His coaching was just as pathetic.
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