Chronicle: Uh-oh. The Spurs can run.

[Spurminator]

Houston Chronicle

Spurs off and running
San Antonio adds speed to its stifling defense

By FRAN BLINEBURY
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

SAN ANTONIO - Uh-oh. The Spurs can run.

It was bad enough for the rest of the NBA when Tim Duncan & Co. were simply the best defensive team in the league, making like a family of boa constrictors and squeezing the life out of their prey.

Now the Spurs have the sudden, swift speed of a cobra, capable of the don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it quick strike.

They always were so methodical, so exacting in their offensive methods, working the ball into the low post to their two-time Most Valuable Player. Duncan was part traffic cop, part Swiss watchmaker, able to see through the hubbub and operate with precision.

While the Spurs used to be more interested in executing a game plan as if it came straight from a blueprint, now they are more apt to improvise.

"Yes, yes, we want to run," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "It's definitely a big part of what we do — to try to get that transition behind the big D. We've always been a good defensive club. But now we have an opportunity to run after the stop, and I think that we need to take advantage of that or we'd be missing something with this group."

You watch the ball come off the defensive glass and see Duncan or center Rasho Nesterovic kick it out to Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili, and pretty soon all that's left are exhaust fumes as somebody makes a dash down the court to the hoop.

You see Brent Barry move the ball quickly ahead to Bruce Bowen or the latest overseas sensation, Beno Udrih, and the thinking is that the last thing the other Western Conference contenders needed was an already formidable San Antonio team with another kind of weapon in its arsenal.

The Spurs, now 16-4, had an eight-game winning streak and the NBA's best record undermined by a 102-96 loss to Seattle on Wednesday. Nevertheless, they arrive at Toyota Center tonight playing seamlessly and with confidence.

"We never talk about the importance of a quick start," Popovich said. "But I thought our corporate knowledge — the fact that this team has pretty much been together — would allow us to do that this year."


Speed thrills
What's both eye-opening and devastating is the way the once-plodding Spurs can take their game to warp speed in the blink of a hummingbird's eye. Their scoring is up 4.6 points a game from last year to 96.1, and they are beating opponents by more than 11 points a night.

"With the type of speed that you have with Parker, Ginobili, Barry and Udrih, you'd want to get out and get fast breaks," said Philadelphia 76ers coach Jim O'Brien. "At the same time, you don't want to shoot off your foot and outrun Duncan, but you have to take advantage of those talents. You want to generally find balance."

From balance comes contentment, and to watch the Spurs these days is to practically hear the harmony of a barbershop quartet.

Not that the Spurs are any less ferocious and smothering on defense. When a game is on the line, they can put a clamp on scoring opportunities like the steel teeth on a bear trap.

But rather than use the drip-drip-drip water torture approach of simply trying to wear an opponent down over time, the Spurs have become a team that is having fun and getting everybody involved.

"Passing is one of the most exciting, underrated plays in basketball, and it is contagious," Popovich said. "It's sort of like peer pressure. You don't want to be the guy who's going to throw the damn thing up right away."

The Spurs frequently move the ball inside out and around the perimeter as if it were radioactive. When the bench players jump to their feet to celebrate a play, it is more likely a nifty pass that leads to a dunk rather than the dunk itself.


On the ball
Last week in Dallas, the nonpareil Ginobili was flashing down the left side of the court on a fast break and rose up to gather in a lob pass from Parker. But the ball was coming up a little short, and Ginobili was too far away to score. So he simply cupped the ball with a lefthanded catch and dropped it down to Malik Rose for a layup.

Two nights later, while the Spurs were thrashing Philly, a loose ball bounced off Nesterovic's hands and straight to Ginobili at the left elbow. With barely a glance, he punched the ball and redirected it to a wide-open Parker, who was under the basket for a layup.

Everybody is happy when everybody shares the ball.

"When you have three, four teammates passing the ball, looking for the open shot, everybody starts doing it," Ginobili said. "The same thing is true with the opposite. When you're playing with a lot of selfish guys, you end up saying, 'I'm never getting a shot. Nobody's making the extra pass.' That is the worst feeling on the basketball court."

Said Duncan: "This is a team that really likes playing together. Some of us have been around to win a championship together, and we know what it takes. Other guys have come in here and tried to fit.

"You have to like the way we've been playing, the way we've been able to bring a consistent level of concentration and energy to our games. But look, we've still got things to do to improve. We can get better."

Barry signed on last summer as a free agent and was regarded as the perfect fit for a team that needed outside shooting. But he has been finding playing time restricted because Popovich expects him to stay in front of his man on defense, and so far he hasn't done that.

"It should all come together," Ginobili said. "Look, we've got the best defensive team in the league. We've got two seven-footers. We should be able to eventually play better, to run even more."

Which could leave the rest of the NBA with just one thought.

Uh-oh.

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[tekdragon]

"Passing is one of the most exciting, underrated plays in basketball, and it is contagious," Popovich said. "It's sort of like peer pressure. You don't want to be the guy who's going to throw the damn thing up right away."

...unless you're Malik Rose.

This is why I've been frustrated with Malik this year. I've always been a huge supporter, I was the guy who said Malik should be a Spur for Life after the posterization of Deke in the playoffs (I was excited)...but the simple truth is Malik is a horrible passer. I love his heart, he probably has more heart than anyone on the team (except Manu, and Devin is coming up quick), but he just doesn't seem to fit in with the new-look offense. The ball rotates quickly around the court, gets to Malik, and 9 times out of 10 he's going to take some kind of shot, many forced. When he does try to pass, he's a turnover machine. I really love the guy, but he's bogging down the offense. I won't go so far as to say I'm ready to let him go (that heart goes a long way in the playoffs), but I have to admit I'd be really curious to see how a big man who can really pass the ball would look in our half-court sets. Maybe a big man who can really pass the ball and is a guaranteed first-ballot Hall of Famer. That might be nice.

[boutons]

"the simple truth is Malik is a horrible passer"

more broady, Malik is a weak ball handler, period. just handing off in a screen, taking a pass down low, holding onto a RB, Malik ain't your man.

So I figure his improved mid-range jumper is one of the least damaging things he can do with the ball

[timvp]

Um ... Rose is averaging under one turnover per game. He's also one of the better interior passers on the team.

He doesn't have great hands and he forces shots at times. if he didn't have those two flaws, he'd be Elton Brand.

[tekdragon]

That's in 18.5 minutes. Which makes it closer to 2.5 per 48. For his career, he's closer to 4 per 48.