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uh oh Gasol, the Tim Duncan stopper.
Spurs notebook: Gasol gets credit for Duncan's long day
Web Posted: 04/13/2008 10:22 PM CDT
Jeff McDonald
Express-News
LOS ANGELES — Tim Duncan didn't even bother to look at the stat sheet waiting for him at his locker after Sunday's 106-85 loss to the Lakers.
He didn't need to see it. He knew it was bad.
Duncan was 6 of 19 from the field, including 1 of 9 in the second half, on his way to 16 points. For that, credit Pau Gasol, the Lakers' semi-new 7-foot center.
Facing the Spurs for the first time since the Lakers acquired him in a February trade with Memphis, Gasol used his length and long arms to deny Duncan many clean looks at the basket.
The result was another bad day for the Spurs' resident All-Star.
"He's 7-foot-1 or whatever," the Lakers' Lamar Odom said. "That's what he's supposed to do."
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich joined the chorus of praise for Gasol's defense of Duncan. He also felt Gasol's presence on the offensive end.
At the time of the trade, Popovich said he would have vetoed it if given the opportunity. On Sunday, Gasol showed why.
He finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, and used his court awareness and passing ability to set up other scorers.
"I think he makes it all come together in the sense that when you have a big guy running the triangle (offense) who can pass, catch and shoot the way he does," Popovich said. "He's somebody who passes great out of it, and I think he just involves everybody."
Ginobili sits again: Manu Ginobili, nursing a strained groin, went through a light workout before Sunday's game, after which he pronounced himself ready to play.
Not so fast, Popovich said.
"He didn't win that battle," Popovich said.
Popovich will continue to play it safe with Ginobili to avoid the risk of aggravating the injury. Ginobili missed his second consecutive game Sunday, and Popovich wouldn't rule out the possibility of keeping him out for the final two games of the regular season as well.
"I'm going to err on the side of being conservative," Popovich said. "We're better off to be a lower seed with a healthy Manu, than to be a higher seed and not have Manu available."
Barry, Horry updates: As for the Spurs' other pair of injured veterans, Popovich reiterated that he hopes to get Brent Barry into at least one of the Spurs' final two games of the season.
However, Popovich was less optimistic about any sort of return for Robert Horry, who has missed the past 12 games with a left knee contusion.
"I'm very concerned about Robert," Popovich said. "I don't know when we're going to be able to get him back at all. His knee has really been bothering him."
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Last edited by some_user86; 04-13-2008 at 11:01 PM.
uh oh Gasol, the Tim Duncan stopper.
Gasol played great today, but historically Tim Duncan has been able to put up his career averages against Gasol. Gasol will never be able to stop Duncan in a 7-gamer, but hopefully he can slow him down some and make his shots more difficult.
no ginobili, no barry, no horry - our three best bench players.
fret not y'all.
Horry probably isn't going to be any use for us in the playoffs. He needs time to be in shape and ready. Postseason starts in a week.
Not likely. The Nuggz are the best possible first round opponent for the Lakers.
Lakers have beaten the Nuggz 3-0 this year by an average of 15 points.
Duncan has gotten owned by Dalembert, Shaq, Okur, Glen Baby Davis, and now Gasol this season.
I can't decide which is the most embarassing. Probably Glen Baby Davis...
lotta of cap room next year
But the owner is pretty cheap and will probably not use any
You can have all the cap rooom in the world and not find the right pieces to spend it on. The Spurs have so many holes (or potential holes due to retirements, etc) to fill.
Stupid article - Duncan missed lots of open looks, and Gasol didn't play much D on him at all (as he never does) - the one who played semi-decent defense on Duncan in the second half was Ronny Turiaf.
When measuring best/worse D in the league - I take it facts need not apply for you.
LA is 20th in points given up primarily because of the tempo they play at (4th in league in scoring).
The best barometer of a team's defense is opponents FG% and 3pt FG%.
LA is 6th in opp FG at 0.445, SA is 5th at 0.444.
LA is 14th in opp 3pt FG at 0.360, SA is 3rd at 0.345. And a closer look will tell you that LA's opp 3pt FG was top 5 when Bynum or Gasol played. They took a beating in those cats when one of their bigs was down.
But sure, the D sucks.
The Laker defense isn't great by any means, but I suspect it will pickup once the playoffs start. Already I'm seeing the guards do a better job of denying penetration and not letting opposing guards break down our defense from the inside out. I thought they did a good job on Parker in the 2nd half.
Tim Duncan looks to the officials too much. He needs to go out there and do his thing. Quit complaining and find ways to make it happen on offense. Whether that's shooting a bank shot, driving for a hook, spinning around for a layup, dunking it, or passing it to the open guy.
Just quit complaining and play.
Sounds like you praying we get beat so yall dont have to face us! ...
LAkers vs. Spurs is great stuff great playoff moments
DFish .03 shot
The sweep with fish bombing 3's
Kobe's rebound putback,
You guys shutting down the FORUM
Kobe and fish crying on the bench as you end the mini dynasty...
Both sides should embrace a matchup they have won 7 of the past 8 les ...
Funny thing is until i moved here I did NOT realize how BIG it was ...in LA it was Boston, Portland & Utah and more recent Sacramento ...but you guys HATE the Lakers so it makes it better when we win!!! LOL
Im so ing glad the Lakers are back. The hate we are getting just puts a huge ass smile on my face. People saying we will get bounced round 1, calling Kobe selfish, wanting Phil Jacksons head, etc etc. It is so ing sweet to be back as the ultimate evil empire!
4, not 3.
Thank you for my new sig.
Gasol didn't stop Duncan. Duncan playing like a pvss stopped Duncan.
^Is it a coindence that Duncan also played like a pvss against Glen Baby Davis, Sammy D, Mehmet Okur, etc??? I'm noticing a trend here with Duncan this season. Team plays physical with him, he's slow to react, complains to the refs, takes himself out of the game mentally, and forces bad shots and misses easy shots.
Actually I like the Lakers (much more than Dallas). Pretty good team and Kobe is unbelievable - the 3 he made at the end of Q3 was a dagger. And the Spurs should get Turiaf as a backup center for TD (with Bynum and Gasol, he will not have much playing time) !
I agree Turiaf will be the odd man out when everyone returns. Although his natural position IS at PF.....so we'll see. He's gonna have to get that jumpshot more consistent though if he wants PT.
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