He makes some very good points on the game, most noteably:
* Phoenix went repeatedly to Boris Diaw in the low post against either Finley, Parker, or Ginobili — and Diaw came out with zilch. Even so, Mike D'Antoni kept calling Diaw's number. What did Einstein say about someone who tries the same thing time after time without succeeding?
* The Spurs were even able to outrun the Suns! That's because Shaq clearly slowed down the Suns' transition defense.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/8063668/Spurs'-2nd-half-tweaks-do-the-trick-in-Game-2
Any article written about game 2 should have the author questioning the logic behind those plays. I counted 4 post up attempts in the fourth quarter. That traveling turnover on the fourth one was as costly as any mistake made down the stretch, and Diaw had no business touching that ball. It wasn't like he got good looks on the first three and they just didn't fall, he was missing bad, and Mike kept going to the well. Can the 2005 Coach of the Year Award get an *?
Diaw was money in the post in game 1, so I don't think D'Antoni was so dumb for thinking it might work again. If it didn't work in game 1, then yeah, D'Antoni would be a dumbass for sticking with it in Game 2.
Diaw looked incapable in the post today - it's not that hard Boris! One dribble to the middle, hook your right foot around the defender's right to the baseline side and pivot. (Pin with elbow is optional depending on referee.) Lefty layup. It's called a drop-step, son, might want to learn how to do one... after the playoffs are over!
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/8...rick-in-Game-2
Halftime intermissions are always critical, because that's when coaching staffs adjust their game plans. Indeed, it's axiomatic that whichever team changes the tempo and the course of any given game in the third quarter is usually the beneficiary of superior coaching.
So the primary credit for the Spurs' rousing victory goes to Gregg Popovich and his henchmen.
In the 1st half
-Amare Stoudemire went wild, scoring 25 points, running himself into the dunking-end of screen/rolls and making all four of his jumpers, as well as all five of his free throws.
-Shaq got the best of his matchup with Tim Duncan, shooting 4-for-4 and holding TD to 3-for-7 in face-to-face confrontations (2-for-2 in the pivot to go with 1-for-5 when Duncan faced up). Also in Shaq's column were a blocked layup attempt and an induced turnover.
-Boris Diaw abused Fabricio Oberto with 4-for-4 shooting on baseline isos.
-The Spurs had no answer for the screen-and-pops that enabled Steve Nash to knock down three jumpers.
-Kurt Thomas missed a pair of his usually deadly baseline springers
-Robert Horry was a step behind the action at both ends.
-Tony Parker couldn't hit a jumper (0-for-5) to get into heaven.
-Raja Bell dropped a pair of triples on kickouts from Nash and Stoudemire.
-Except for individual efforts by Duncan, Parker and Manu Ginobili, the Spurs offense was arrhythmic.
In the 2nd half
-The Spurs opened up by running Michael Finley (who'd been scoreless in the opening half) off staggered screens, and Finley responded by hitting his first four shots. This was a gutsy move by Pop, and Finley's clutch buckets quickly revived his team.
-Both Parker and Ginobili began to attack the basket, catching both Shaq and Stoudemire out of position and unable to provide adequate baseline help.
-The Spurs' lackluster defenders suddenly became quick-handed snipers, foiling the Suns at virtually every turn and transforming what had previously been dunkers and easy layups into misses in heavy traffic.
-Stoudemire missed his first five jumpers and nailed a 3-ball in the closing seconds when the game was already decided. From the stripe, Stoudemire was 1-for-4.
-At the end of the 3rd quarter, Leandro Barbosa missed a relatively easy fastbreak layup that was rebounded by Duncan and passed ahead to Brent Barry for a breakaway deuce. This four-point play (the two that the Suns didn't get and two that the Spurs did) was huge.
-Also in the waning moments of the 3rd quarter, Bell committed a pair of silly fouls on Ginobili that gifted the Spurs four points.
-Phoenix went repeatedly to Boris Diaw in the low post against either Finley, Parker, or Ginobili — and Diaw came out with zilch. Even so, Mike D'Antoni kept calling Diaw's number. What did Einstein say about someone who tries the same thing time after time without succeeding?
-Bruce Bowen was sicced on Nash, and his bump-and-grind defense proved troublesome for the two-time MVP.
-Shaq was only 1-for-1 in direct confrontations with TD.
-The Spurs were even able to outrun the Suns! That's because Shaq clearly slowed down the Suns' transition defense.
-Most importantly, the Spurs gave the Suns another taste of their own medicine — screen-and-rolling Phoenix to death with high screen-and-rolls, side screen-and rolls, and low screen-and-rolls. It forced either Shaq or Stoudemire to move their feet and make quick decisions — usually the wrong ones. The result was a barrage of layups by Parker and Duncan, and even one by Oberto.
-When Phoenix made their last run in the endgame, the Spurs made the plays they had to make — a jumper by Parker (proving once more that "when" is more important than "how many") and a pair of screen-and-rolls that ended with easy hoops for TD and Oberto.
In short, the Spurs did what they had to do when they had to do it, and that's an unmistakable sign of a championship squad.
How can the Spurs close out the series sooner rather than later?
Keep on keeping on. And don't let the Suns build up an early lead that might be insurmountable.
How can the Suns hold their home-court advantage?
Create open lanes for Stoudemire, so he doesn't have to put the ball on the floor in traffic. Move Shaq across the lane and get him the ball when he's within dunking range. Find a miracle cure for Grant Hill's physical ailments. Convince Barbosa that he doesn't have to play at 100 mph all the time. Get more daylight for the underrated Gordan Giricek. Get Brian Skinner back into the rotation.
Mix more zones into their defensive schemes. The idea is to make it difficult — if not impossible ¹ for the Spurs to run their deadly screen-and-rolls, and to hopefully keep both Parker and Ginobili out of the middle and force the Spurs win Game 3 with their outside shooting.
However, the Spurs are nothing if not resourceful. Too many consecutive sequences of zones will quickly make them comfortable and enable their smart pass-work to exploit the holes that exist in every kind of positional defense. What about showing a man-to-man alignment and then shifting quickly into a zone? This is not as difficult a task as it may seem.
In any case, Phoenix needs to find a way to switch on — and to sustain — its own A-game. Otherwise the sun will set on another dynasty that never happened.
Prior to the series some of us predicted that a runing strategy would work because Shaq has never been able to sustain himself in a running game and he's even worse at this age and state of conditioning.
Note that he missed some FTs late although he was making them in the 3rd quarter during the Hack a Shaq ploy.
Phoenix rebuilt itself into a team that could cope with half-court play--but that left them vulnerable to a running game because they lost Marion in the trade. They obviously forgot we can run too.
Not only does Shaq suck in transition, but he also sucks against the pick-n-roll. Spurs need to give them a healthy dose of both in game 3.
Thomas Edison failed with the light bulb 1000 times before he finally got it right. Maybe D'Antoni should run 996 more plays for Diaw so he can get it right too.
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