Padrino
All-Star
[SIZE=+2]Buck Harvey: In trouble, Spurs' hope is in the past
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]Web Posted: 05/01/2006 01:04 AM CDT
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]
San Antonio Express-News[/SIZE] SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Muscled. Shocked. And can you say it — intimidated?
The Spurs were back in Detroit for a night, staring at Ben Wallace's biceps, wondering if they belonged around such tough men. The building was about as loud as the one in June, too.
There was reason for noise. When Bonzi Wells wasn't beating the Spurs to loose balls, Ron Artest was, with Bruce Bowen and Manu Ginobili barely visible in the background.
Rarely have the defending champs looked so weak and beaten, and rarely have any defending champs in any year looked this way against a No. 8 seed. As they go home for a game they have to win, knowing they have to return to Sacramento, knowing these matchups are going against them, they have only one thing to hang on to.
If they can recover in Detroit, they can recover in this series.
The Spurs are in trouble. Then again, seemingly everyone is. The top two seeds in both conferences have lost a combined eight games before anyone has gotten to a Game 5. That suggests the league has never been more balanced.
The same was going on a year ago in the first round for the Spurs. Most don't remember that, because so much more happened afterward on the Spurs' run toward a title. Besides, in that Game 4 in Denver, didn't the Spurs win to go up 3-1 and all but finish the Nuggets?
The Spurs did — in overtime.
So the Spurs have been pressed before. And had Kevin Martin not made the shot of his life Friday night, then Sunday night wouldn't have mattered much.
But the Spurs could also be going back to San Antonio down 1-3. Besides, none of those early series last year gave as much pause as the trends developing in this one. The Spurs went from a 34-point runaway in Game 1 to feeling the same sting Sunday night; charted on a graph, the resulting line shows the Spurs heading somewhere near the lottery.
At least Tony Parker reached deep inside and achieved something special. He could proudly say, this time, it wasn't his fault.
He found his shooting stroke, as well as a few cracks in the Sacramento defense. If not for Parker and Tim Duncan, the Spurs would have given a nice impression of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Parker made the last basket of significance, and the timing is telling. That came early in the third quarter. Then Parker drove inside, felt a Kings body and threw in a layup. That pulled the Spurs within five points at 56-51. From there Wells treated Bowen as he once did Danny Ferry (spit was involved then), and the Spurs never really challenged again.
But Parker and Duncan are also the two matchups the Spurs are supposed to win in this series, and neither was decisive. Parker ended with one assist and Duncan with eight rebounds; considering their teammates, that wasn't nearly enough.
There was a time not long ago when Gregg Popovich would have used the word "soft" to describe such a performance. In those days David Robinson would have stood uncomfortably and answered such a charge.
Popovich didn't use that word Sunday, but others worked for him. "They beat us in about every facet of the game," he said. "They were more physical and more aggressive. And we didn't match it."
Match it? The Spurs didn't approach it, and Artest's work on Ginobili underlines what is going on. Ginobili has usually driven the Spurs, and now Artest is driving him.
Now it's clear why Ginobili starred in Game 2. Artest wasn't there.
"He loves the challenge," Wells said of his teammate. "He wanted to guard Ginobili, and he told us, 'I don't want any help.'"
Artest didn't need any, and this is playing out as the Spurs' staff feared it could. The Kings' strong wings and scoring big men are a perfect answer for how the Spurs play defense.
Can it change? If the Spurs lean on anything, it's their experience. They've been through a lot of playoffs together, and they've been through moment such as these.
One came after another Game 4, this one in Detroit. That game ended with Popovich consoling Duncan with a hand on a knee.
Muscled. Shocked. And you said it then — intimidated.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/...YSA050106.1D.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.dd449c0.html
i thought it'd be nice to give a spurs writer's point of view. the bolded stuff is ace!
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]Web Posted: 05/01/2006 01:04 AM CDT
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]
San Antonio Express-News[/SIZE] SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Muscled. Shocked. And can you say it — intimidated?
The Spurs were back in Detroit for a night, staring at Ben Wallace's biceps, wondering if they belonged around such tough men. The building was about as loud as the one in June, too.
There was reason for noise. When Bonzi Wells wasn't beating the Spurs to loose balls, Ron Artest was, with Bruce Bowen and Manu Ginobili barely visible in the background.
Rarely have the defending champs looked so weak and beaten, and rarely have any defending champs in any year looked this way against a No. 8 seed. As they go home for a game they have to win, knowing they have to return to Sacramento, knowing these matchups are going against them, they have only one thing to hang on to.
If they can recover in Detroit, they can recover in this series.
The Spurs are in trouble. Then again, seemingly everyone is. The top two seeds in both conferences have lost a combined eight games before anyone has gotten to a Game 5. That suggests the league has never been more balanced.
The same was going on a year ago in the first round for the Spurs. Most don't remember that, because so much more happened afterward on the Spurs' run toward a title. Besides, in that Game 4 in Denver, didn't the Spurs win to go up 3-1 and all but finish the Nuggets?
The Spurs did — in overtime.
So the Spurs have been pressed before. And had Kevin Martin not made the shot of his life Friday night, then Sunday night wouldn't have mattered much.
But the Spurs could also be going back to San Antonio down 1-3. Besides, none of those early series last year gave as much pause as the trends developing in this one. The Spurs went from a 34-point runaway in Game 1 to feeling the same sting Sunday night; charted on a graph, the resulting line shows the Spurs heading somewhere near the lottery.
At least Tony Parker reached deep inside and achieved something special. He could proudly say, this time, it wasn't his fault.
He found his shooting stroke, as well as a few cracks in the Sacramento defense. If not for Parker and Tim Duncan, the Spurs would have given a nice impression of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Parker made the last basket of significance, and the timing is telling. That came early in the third quarter. Then Parker drove inside, felt a Kings body and threw in a layup. That pulled the Spurs within five points at 56-51. From there Wells treated Bowen as he once did Danny Ferry (spit was involved then), and the Spurs never really challenged again.
But Parker and Duncan are also the two matchups the Spurs are supposed to win in this series, and neither was decisive. Parker ended with one assist and Duncan with eight rebounds; considering their teammates, that wasn't nearly enough.
There was a time not long ago when Gregg Popovich would have used the word "soft" to describe such a performance. In those days David Robinson would have stood uncomfortably and answered such a charge.
Popovich didn't use that word Sunday, but others worked for him. "They beat us in about every facet of the game," he said. "They were more physical and more aggressive. And we didn't match it."
Match it? The Spurs didn't approach it, and Artest's work on Ginobili underlines what is going on. Ginobili has usually driven the Spurs, and now Artest is driving him.
Now it's clear why Ginobili starred in Game 2. Artest wasn't there.
"He loves the challenge," Wells said of his teammate. "He wanted to guard Ginobili, and he told us, 'I don't want any help.'"
Artest didn't need any, and this is playing out as the Spurs' staff feared it could. The Kings' strong wings and scoring big men are a perfect answer for how the Spurs play defense.
Can it change? If the Spurs lean on anything, it's their experience. They've been through a lot of playoffs together, and they've been through moment such as these.
One came after another Game 4, this one in Detroit. That game ended with Popovich consoling Duncan with a hand on a knee.
Muscled. Shocked. And you said it then — intimidated.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/...YSA050106.1D.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.dd449c0.html
i thought it'd be nice to give a spurs writer's point of view. the bolded stuff is ace!
