Bee: Spurs are a cut above

[VF21]

http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/80122.html

Spurs are a cut above
In physical game, Kings can't cope with Duncan
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 12:18 am PST Monday, November 20, 2006
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C1

A glance at Brent Barry told half the story.

The lanky San Antonio guard looked the part of an "ER" extra, a bandage covering the two-inch gash on the left side of his forehead and held on by a headband that surely was spotted with blood on the inside.

Barry's reaction told the other half of the tale.

With 5:44 left in the fourth quarter against the Kings on Sunday night at Arco Arena, the game-breaking gravitational pull of the Spurs' offense returned the ball to its epicenter: forward Tim Duncan. The two-time MVP rose over Shareef Abdur-Rahim in the paint, hitting a seven-foot jumper that put the Spurs up 97-85. Barry pumped his fist Tiger Woods-style, elated that Duncan had hit his ninth consecutive shot, and his Spurs were well on their way to beating the Kings yet again, 108-99.

The rematch of last season's first-round playoff series featured a better version of Duncan than the Kings saw last April and May. His season-high 35 points on 13-for-17 shooting more than doubled any of his teammates' totals. His 14 rebounds were more than triple the amount grabbed by any other Spur.

San Antonio improved to a franchise-best 5-0 start on the road, while the Kings, who have lost two in a row, dropped their first game in five tries at Arco.

"It's the best shape (Duncan) has been in in the last four or five years," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

All while putting the Kings in bad shape of their own.

Midway through the second quarter, Kings coach Eric Musselman complained when a Duncan swipe resulted in two stitches in forward Kenny Thomas' lip. It would have been Duncan's third foul.

"That just changed the whole complexion of the game," Musselman yelled.

And when Duncan actually was trying to impose his influence, it was even more damaging. Abdur-Rahim said Duncan had plenty of help on the block, where the Kings' best-laid plan was to front him and deny the ball. Duncan's teammates, though, had their clever ways of clearing space for him to operate.

With the Kings ahead 60-59 midway through the third quarter, a 19-5 Spurs run finally benched Musselman. After an animated first half and beyond filled with standing instructions for his crew and plenty of arguing with the officials, Musselman took a seat as the Spurs took off. In the fourth quarter, San Antonio led by as many as 17 points and never by fewer than nine.

The big picture, though, was of a Kings offense that matched the Spurs' physicality but couldn't replicate their offensive flow. Between Thomas' lip and a third-quarter collision between Kings point guard Ronnie Price and Barry, each side had nine collective stitches, prompting Barry to say, "I came to Arco Arena, and a hockey game broke out."

The more concerning number for point guard Mike Bibby was the Kings' season-low 10 assists.

"How the hell do you get 10 assists in 48 minutes?" said Bibby, who had 16 points on 3-for-12 shooting and a team-high four assists. "We need to get back to moving the ball and helping each other on defense, and we'll be all right."

The Kings' one-man offensive approach worked in the first half, enough to spark memories of Bonzi Wells' one-man wrecking crew act against the Spurs in last season's playoffs. Kings small forward Ron Artest hit four of his first five shots, and the Kings led 16-13.

But the Spurs had answers for Artest and everyone else in purple. The Duncan-Tony Parker-Manu Ginobili trio had 24 of San Antonio's 29 first-quarter points. Artest had 19 of his 22 points in the first half, but he missed 10 of his last 15 shots.

"I didn't have a lot of touches in the end of the game and the third quarter, but I felt good," Artest said. "I'm going to let coach and the organization figure out what type of plays need to be in the game, how they want the ball to move. I'm just going to continue to play my game."

About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at samick@ sacbee.com.

 

[VF21]

"How the hell do you get 10 assists in 48 minutes?" said Bibby, who had 16 points on 3-for-12 shooting and a team-high four assists. "We need to get back to moving the ball and helping each other on defense, and we'll be all right."

Now all you have to do is convince the rest of the team, Mike.

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

Now all you have to do is convince the rest of the team, Mike.

Well, there was a rumor that we were the #1 ranked team on defense for the first 5 games of this season...but that obviously was just a rumor, I guess. Hopefully getting Brad back sometime soon, and Salmons, will at LEAST be a little shot in the arm.

 

[Dave McNulla]

Midway through the second quarter, Kings coach Eric Musselman complained when a Duncan swipe resulted in two stitches in forward Kenny Thomas' lip. It would have been Duncan's third foul.

"That just changed the whole complexion of the game," Musselman yelled.

they got the call right, maybe they should have called a foul on kenny. duncan's hands were on the ball and he was taking a shot while kenny's head moved into the path of duncan's hands. muss seems to get really upset over good calls.

 

[Wheeler03]

Bibby telling other members of the Kings team to "play defense" is perhaps the funniest comment of the week. Look in the mirror first Bibby. And if I am not mistaken, you are still the P.G. for this team and therefore criticizing our assist total is akin to criticizing himself. He is, however, correct on both points. We do need to play better defense and most definately need better ball movement on offense. Even though we scored well in the first half there was still very poor ball movement.

 

[SacTownKid]

Notice he didn't say "we need to play better defense." He said they need to help eachother out more on defense. That's what they were doing better before than the last two games. By a mile.

And 10 assists in a game is pretty pathetic. That is almost hard to do.

 

[VF21]

Bibby telling other members of the Kings team to "play defense" is perhaps the funniest comment of the week. Look in the mirror first Bibby. And if I am not mistaken, you are still the P.G. for this team and therefore criticizing our assist total is akin to criticizing himself. He is, however, correct on both points. We do need to play better defense and most definately need better ball movement on offense. Even though we scored well in the first half there was still very poor ball movement.

Bibby didn't tell anyone to play defense. Look again:

"How the hell do you get 10 assists in 48 minutes?" said Bibby, who had 16 points on 3-for-12 shooting and a team-high four assists. "We need to get back to moving the ball and helping each other on defense, and we'll be all right."

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that statement. As a team leader, that's the type of thing Bibby should be saying ... in public. He's lumping himself into that statement. Sometimes you really need to look at Bibby with a little less bias.

 

[Bricklayer]

Notice he didn't say "we need to play better defense." He said they need to help eachother out more on defense. That's what they were doing better before than the last two games. By a mile.

And 10 assists in a game is pretty pathetic. That is almost hard to do.

We've fallen a long way in that aspect. 23rd in the league in assists at this point at 18.2. And you want to hear somehting scary? We're 27th in the league in TOs at 18.1. We're one bad game away from having an Ast/TO ration below 1 as a team. Getting 10 assists in a game isn't as unthinkable as it once was.