Spurs lose series to the better Lakers but not themselves
The Los Angeles Lakers gave the defending champion Spurs one last deficit they would not overcome. After playing history and defying the odds for a season and most of the playoffs, the Spurs fell hard 100-92.
When they look behind them, they will see the emotional wreckage that is the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns, the defensively deficient Utah Jazz, the immature Denver Nuggets, the Yao-less Houston Rockets and the rising New Orleans Hornets. Most sportswriters picked the Suns to end the champs' title defense after the addition of Shaquille O' Neal and then picked the younger Hornets. The Spurs sent both teams home early and know they are good enough to beat any of those other teams in six games.
They will also look at the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics and know they could have beaten either team. What may sting them most will be reviewing this series and knowing that with their defense holding the Lakers to 91 points per game-almost 20 below their playoff average-they should have won in five. It will hurt even more when the Lakers lose to the Pistons or Celtics in the NBA Finals. The last two teams that eliminated the Spurs in the playoffs got the bad karma they deserved and there is no reason to believe otherwise for the Lakers this year.
When they see missed layups, uncontested threes and jumpshots, the Spurs will kick themselves and know they let a great opportunity slip away. The Lakers were the better team in this series for many reasons and the no excuses Spurs said nothing but after the game. They will now boast another conference championship and will likely face the Celtics in David Stern's dream Finals matchup.
This loss hurts much less than the 2006 second round ouster to the Dallas Mavericks. The Spurs lost in the conference finals to best player on the planet in Kobe Bryant. There is no reason to believe any other team in the West would have forced a different result.
The Lakers said in private they believed the Spurs were the only team that could beat them. The four-time champions will have an entire summer to think about the one they let get away. They should have beaten the Lakers and reached their first consecutive Finals but many season-long problems caught up with them.
In the end, the veteran Spurs had a shot to win the series but couldn't make any.
SPURS REIGN FAR FROM OVERIn the coming weeks, analysts and sportswriters will tip caps and sing to the demise of the Spurs' dynasty. I feared such drivel all season long but I can stand it because it is far from the truth.
The Spurs lost to a great offensive team that struggled to score but had the best athlete in the world to bail them out. If the Spurs could have beaten any of the 29 other teams in a playoff series, how is their run over? The current roster had a chance to beat these Lakers and could keep the team intact and still have a shot when Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza return.
As far as losers go, the Spurs have a lot going for them. They can look back at the two teams they eliminated and the four others left in the wake and say thanks.
The Houston Rockets have to wonder if Yao Ming will ever stay healthy enough for a full season and playoff run. They also have to question if Tracy McGrady will ever find the mettle or competitiveness to lead a team past the first round. The Enver Nuggets do not play defense and are led by a talented scorer who enjoys drunk driving, speeding and calling out his teammates. After making one of the boldest trades in league history, the Phoenix Suns are stuck with a $20 million former superstar who cannot make a free throw, defend the pick and roll or score with regularity. They also know their hall of fame point guard might be aging beyond his incredible value to the team. No way can the Dallas Mavericks win another playoff series with the same core of players who participated in the two of the greatest playoff meltdowns in NBA history. Not even Rick Carlisle can fix that current bunch of jumpshooting underachievers.
There are ample reasons to believe the Utah Jazz and New Orleans Hornets will be championship caliber teams in the next few years. That should also hurt the Spurs when they think about this series loss.
Will the Spurs return next season as a title contender? There is no question the road to a championship will still run through San Antonio. They might need another year of roster moves to get back to the Finals again but they will get there.
Charles Barkley said it best: these cockroaches don't die.
SCORING DRAUGHTS DOOM SPURS FOR THE FINAL TIMEThe Spurs finished one game behind the top seeded Lakers and returned to the Western Conference Finals to face them. They held leads of 20 and 17 points had 12 easy opportunities to take a lead and even the series in game 4, and won game 3 by 19 points. How did they lose this series?
The answer was there the entire season and an early spring game against the Atlanta Hawks was a microcosm of the problem. Then, the Spurs scored 5 points in the first quarter and still managed to win by 20 points. The reason they won? The Hawks scored only 16 points in that period.
When the Lakers mounted a furious run in game 5, the Spurs had no answer. Against a weak Eastern Conference team like the eighth-seeded Hawks, the stretches of five-10 minutes without a field goal did not mean a death sentence. Against the Lakers, it did.
The Spurs somehow survived a 7 and a half minute scoring drought to beat the Hornets in game 7 91-82. This disturbing trend says two things about the defending champs: 1) they are still a damn good defensive team 2) they could not put the ball in the basket.
General Manager R.C. Buford and Popovich will determine ways this summer to tweak the roster and find younger, better scorers to aid the Big Three. You trust these men that they will get it done.
NO MANU = NO CHAMPIONSHIPManu Ginobili refuses to use his injury as an excuse for his putrid play, so I will. Ginobili managed four great games in the playoffs, but in the rest, he looked like an ankle-injured D-League player who could not get around the guy selling beer and popcorn to score a basket.
The Spurs know this Manu gives them no chance to win a championship. He will play for Argentina in this summer's Olympic games and his apparent arthritic injury will worsen. That puts more pressure on the front office to find scorers to relieve some of the pressure on Ginobili.
No Manu = no championship.
SPURS SHOULD KEEP VETERAN CORE AND MAKE MINOR CHANGESMuch to the chagrin of sportswriters tired of the same, the Spurs will not overhaul their roster and will not get significantly younger. Old will still win out over young and inexperienced. So the young Lakers just beat them? Their best player, also the best in the league, is almost 30 and already has three championship rings. The soul of the team, Derek Fisher, is 31 and also has three championship rings. That's experience.
It made sense to do a player-by-player report card of the Rockets, since they have not won a playoff series in more than 10 years and do not have a proven nucleus. It does not make sense to do so for the Spurs who can still win three or four more championships with the current Big Three.
I'll make this short and sweet. The bulk of the Spurs roster should return next season and can still play.
Here are the players Popovich, Buford and owner Peter Holt need to keep around next season.
Tim Duncan
Tony Parker
Manu Ginobili
Bruce Bowen
Kurt Thomas
Brent Barry
Ime Udoka
Fabricio ObertoComments: The reasons to keep the Big Three plus Bowen and Oberto are obvious. The Spurs traded for Thomas and finally got him after three seasons worth of attempts. He showed Popovich every reason the coach wanted him with his gritty production. The Spurs wanted him for so long and should not let him get away now that they have him. Udoka allowed Bowen some valuable rest, became a reliable scorer in many games and defended his ass off. He may be "over the hill," but he can still play. At 35, Barry can still do one hell of a Mark Price in a three point shooting competition impersonation. Unlike Finley, he can score reliably and also has the versatility and speed to run the motion offense and facilitate fast break opportunities. They traded him once to get Thomas and managed to get him back. They should not trade him again.
These players should retire. Their poor playoff production explains why.
Robert Horry
Michael FinleyComments: What a sad way for Horry to bow out. In perhaps the final game of his career, next to his name in the boxscore is a DNP. I did not see such a lucky, clutch player going down this way, but then again, seven rings ain't bad. Finley has been reduced to a spot-up shooter and he cannot shoot. He should leave gracefully and cherish his championship ring. I do not see his spotty play helping the Spurs or any other team in the hunt for a championship.
That leaves these guys as questionable assets. They will not fetch much in the trade market and do not figure to impact future Spurs' playoff runs.
Matt Bonner
Jacque VaughnComments: Vaughn is Popovich's kind of back up point guard and that's why the Spurs shipped out the more talented Beno Udrih. His hustle and ball handling can win the Spurs some key regular season games. He did not play much in the postseason and in many games was sent in merely to hack a poor foul shooter. Matt Bonner is another under 30 player with some regular season value. He can shoot from long-distance, plays solid defense and rebounds. He was not a factor in the Spurs' botched title run.
These young big men should join the fold next season and become rotation players.
Tiago Splitter
Ian MahinmiComments: Popovich may not like developing two raw talents in one season but these two big men are worth the work. Mahinmi was a monster in the D-League averaging a double-double and could easily fill Horry's role next year. Splitter is a great post player who brings toughness and rebounding. He may turn out better than his Tau Ceramica teammate Luis Scola as an NBA player.
Spurs try emerging from L.A.-sized series deficit
The Spurs cannot win the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. Tonight. The Spurs will not make their first back-to-back trip to the NBA Finals. Tonight. There will be no fifth late june river parade or Alamodome celebration. Tonight.
The Spurs face their second elimination game of the playoffs at 8 p.m. in Los Angeles, knowing they are far from competing for a repeat championship. The only thing left for them is to win tonight.
And when they contemplate what landed them in this dreadful 3-1 hole, they need not look anywhere else--Joey Crawford, David Stern or the owners of fully-booked New Orleans hotels--but at themselves. The Spurs dug this hole and only they can get themselves out of it.
Stealing game 5 will prove no easy task. The Spurs have been on the other side of this deficit three times in the last two playoff runs. Against the Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns, the Spurs had homecourt advantage and knew that anything less than a closeout in game 5 could mean a game 7.
Derek Fisher will gaurantee his teammates tonight that they want no part of a game 6 in San Antonio. He is a smart, driven player and that should scare the Spurs. He knows what could happen if the Lakers let tonight's game slip away. If the game is close in the final minutes and a scrum for a loose ball with Michael Finley unfolds, he will not throw a desperate punch.
The player who acts as the team's morter is no idiot. The intelligent Spurs have feasted in the last 10 years on immature squads with stupid players. They will face no such leader tonight.
Kobe Bryant may be this game's best player but Fisher makes the Lakers a contender. If he made Shaq and Kobe work, he can certainly do the same with this team.
But, the Spurs have a shot to extend this series for many reasons. Phil Jackson knows they are the only team that can.
Gregg Popovich runs a no-excuses operation and will not permit his players to think about the Brent Barry-Fisher no-call in game 4. He will offer them the tools to "participate in their own recovery" and they will perform the operation.
The Spurs had golden opportunities to win every game in this series, including the game 2 blowout. The Lakers had no chance to win game 3.
The Spurs blew a 20-point lead in game 1, stopped attacking a porous interior defense in game 2 and botched 12 chances to take a lead in game 4.
They don't have to prove they can play with these Lakers. They have already done that. Now, they just have to win.
BARRY'S NO CALL HIGHLIGHTS NBA'S CHIEF PROBLEMWhen Fisher bumped Barry on a three point attempt at the end of game 4, the refs swallowed their whistles. Replays clearly showed Fisher commiting a foul and the NBA admitted as much Wednesday afternoon.
However, both Popovich and Barry agreed with the no call.
"If I was a referee, I would not have whistled a foul," Popovich said after game 4.
Given the way officials referee the game, not allowing a tweep to decide the game with free throws was a consistent call.
However, the national debate that ensued the next day re-exposed the league's official flaw.
An integral part of the game that should be objective has never been. That bump was a foul and Barry should have been rewarded with at least two free throws!
It is understandable that an official might shy away from giving the team with 11 more free throws another end-of-game break.
The Spurs certainly did not earn the call and got what they deserved for lackadaisical execution out of timeouts and a pathetic rebounding effort. David Stern continues to assert, even after the Donaghy scandal, that the NBA runs the tightest referee ship in the land.
Refs do not fix NBA games, and the team with 11 more free throws losing game 4 proves this. What is a foul? From player to player and series to series, nobody knows. Is it a man's game or a ticky tack contest?
At the end of game 3 in last June's Finals, Bruce Bowen fouled LeBron James before a potential game-tying trey attempt. The refs did not blow a whistle, preserving a Spurs 75-72 victory, but James should have been rewarded with two free throws.
In both cases, national media and other players have said James and Barry could have done more to sell the call. That's the problem. Why do players need to sell a foul if the rules say it is a foul?
If a player steps out of bounds? No sale needed. Why then are players resigned to acting to earn legitimate calls?
Blow the damn whistle, guys!
POOR GAME 4 EXECUTION IS DISTURBINGThe Spurs set up 12 chances to grab a lead in a must-win game 4 and failed every time. The team fans can count on to score out of timeouts never looked worse.
They did not get good looks, they got great looks.
Twice the Spurs trailed by two points and Popovich drew up a play that earned Bowen an uncontested corner three pointer. He missed both from "his spot." The play called was not the problem. Given Bowen's history of making them, if no defender is within 50 feet, I want him taking his signature shot.
For much of the game, normally confident veterans acted tentatively. Robert Horry passed up WIDE OPEN threes, Tim Duncan opted three times not to atack Pau Gasol, who cannot guard him, in a one-on-one situation. Tony Parker quit, for the most part, driving to the basket in the second half. The Lakers nearly gifted the Spurs a series tie. They could never grab a lead to steal the momentum back.
Great defense or poor execution? If the champion Spurs show up tonight, Phil Jackson will know the answer.
LAKER FANS SHOULD NOT BOTHER SPURS.The Spurs do not have home court advantage in that they must play one more road game. In a battle of crowds and fan loyalty, the Spurs win by a mile.
Has Ashton Kutcher supported the Lakers his entire life or does he just attend games as a "cool guy?" I suspect the latter of him and most celebrity "Laker fans." I would say the same for most of the obnoxious clowns who raid the AT&T Center every time purple and gold plays in San Antonio.
I know that Jack Nicholson is a real fan who attends every home game and cares about the outcome. I cannot say the same for other famous fans.
LAKERS-CELTICS OBSESSION HURTS NBA'S CREDIBILITYDavid Stern has spent the last few days in his New York office marveling at the possibility. The NBA's two proudest and most decorated franchises could meet in the 2008 Finals.
Both the Lakers and Boston Celtics are one win away from setting up a series most believe will garner monster TV ratings and "revive" the league. That so many people are fawning over this potential matchup is a disgrace to the game.
It also shows you the poor job the league has done in marketing the other 28 teams. The Spurs should be as popular as the Lakers and have certainly earned it.
The last team to get this much league-sponsored hype was Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls. They had the best player in the world and a sure-fire dynasty in the making.
But wait, the Spurs are also a dynasty. The Lakers could end a four-time champion's title hopes tonight and no one outside of Central Texas will shed a tear. That's wrong. That's bogus.
I take no issue with the 16 championship banners in Boston or the many in L.A. The two teams have earned their proud history. However, the NBA has 30 teams, not two.
The league has done a putrid job of selling small market San Antonio. The NBA created this Celtics-Lakers monster, and if the Spurs lose tonight, may God give Stern everything he and other executives want.
Excuse my language, but fuck this rivalry and the bandwagoners who rode in on its horse.
The Celtics and Lakers have great teams this year, no question. But, the NBA has 30 teams, not two.
SPURS FACE AN OPPORTUNITY, NOT A DEATH SENTENCEIf the Spurs can view tonight's elimination game as an opportunity to silence Laker fans for at least one night, to prevent the sure-to-come drivel about their extinction for one more day, they can steal it.
The motivations to win on the road tonight are self-explanatory.
Tonight is a wonderful chance, not an impossible task. The Spurs know the odds and the numbers. They have won each of their four championships by ignoring them.
All they must do is win tonight.
Happy Birthday Lakers?
The Spurs have to wonder why they left Los Angeles without lighting a cake and serenading their conference final opponent with a heartfelt "happy birthday."
The Spurs just gifted the Lakers two games that were winnable and face yet another must-win game 3 at home on Sunday night. In a game 2 blowout, the second half problems that doomed the team in New Orleans killed them even earlier in Hollywood. When the defending champs don't score and protect the ball, winning is impossible.
Again, tonight, Ime Udoka, Brent Barry, Michael Finley, Bruce Bowen and other role players clanged WIDE OPEN looks. When the Lakers watch film of Friday's game, they will see the piss poor Spurs miss shots from every angle. The Lakers porous defense said "please, do make some jumpshots" and the Spurs said "no thanks."
Now they must do what they did against New Orleans and take the defense up on their offer. Gregg Popovich told Craig Sager after the first quarter he hoped "somebody, anybody" would make some shots. Nobody did. In the span of a few hours, The Spurs went from looking like a champion that blew a 20-point lead to worse than the Los Angeles Clippers minus their entire starting five.
The team has faced criticism and age jokes all postseasson. They are one loss away from deserving every bit of it.
I'll end this post quickly, as not much needs to be said about another pathetic effort.
This Spurs team has built its championship pedigree on a no excuses foundation. So, there are no excuses for the team's lackadaisical, almost torturous to watch play Friday night.
The team that prides itself on delivering for its fans made every one of those supporters cringe and puke. Is this the best fight the champs have to offer?
There are no moral victories for any of these veterans, especially Manu Ginobili. It's time to find those legs and make some shots or face an early vacation. A game seven ouster to Dallas two years ago should remind them of that horrible option.
If Tim Duncan and company say they are "pissed off" about the team's colossal mistakes in the series' first two outings, now would be a good time to do something about it.
The Spurs didn't purchase or light a birthday cake for the Lakers because this series is not over. They have one game now to find themselves before an old rival leaves them for dead.
Lakers-Spurs: Here we go again
Any real Spurs fan needs no explanation for .4.
Consider it the most horrific moment in the team's 35-year history and a career-defining one for an underrated point guard. But there is much more to this matchup than a Derek Fisher buzzer beater. The two teams have captured seven of the last nine titles - and Shaquille O' Neal or Tim Duncan played in every one of those championship series. The big diesel will not be around for this rematch, as the Spurs sent him packing in the first round, but the same intrigues exist.
Consider this bout Los Angeles versus San Antonio.
The Staples Center hoists the second most championship banners in the NBA. The Lakers play in a city where dreams are made and superstar actors and musicians have summer homes. The Lakers represent glamour and high ratings and may boast more bandwagon fans than the New York Yankees or New England Patriots. Now, that's an accomplishment!
The AT&T Center's East rafters hold four of the last nine championship banners. Gregg Popovich and the Spurs don't care whether you, or Mark Cuban, think the Riverwalk is a legitimate or clean tourist attraction. The Spurs represent the big league villian, a small market team that steamrolls the "more exciting" competition and draws pitiful ratings. You see a few thousand in the Central Texas area jump on the wagon each Spring but you won't hear many in New York or even Wyoming chanting "Go Spurs Go."
Laker fans seem to come from everywhere. Every gullible kid and sports softy can find something to love in the Lakers - whether it's MVP Kobe Bryant, the stars sitting on the sidelines or the television analysts telling them about the greatness of purple and gold.
Just as sure as the Lakers have earned their place in NBA history the Spurs have earned theirs. Something has to give and six or seven games will decide who's left.
The Spurs can win this series in six or seven. They can and should win it.
For Spurs, simplicity wins in game 7
More than two weeks ago, Hugo the Hornet's timeout trick caused a 20 minute, game-delaying debacle. The game 1 fire extinguisher mess happened two weeks ago and a lot changed for the defending champions in that time.
The Spurs are headed to Hollywood for many reasons, and stellar defense is one of them, but the simplest things won them this ball game. They did not beat themselves and they made sure that the only thing that could was the Hornets. There was never anything in the Gumbo, the baskets were not crooked and the raucous crowds did not make the home team unstoppable.
For one night and one deciding game, the Spurs eliminated the extraneous excuses and just played basketball. Then, after righting a third quarter where the Hornets had slaughtered them on the road and fighting through an offensively rough second half, they eliminated New Orleans.
This season's surprise story will now have many months to think about how to get better and deeper. The Chris Paul and David West foundation is not a bad start.
The Spurs will make a quick flight to L.A. to face an old enemy in hopes of securing a second consecutive NBA Finals bid.
The dissenters said throughout the series that the Spurs were too old to conquer a younger, more athletic team. The Spurs gritty game 7 win made that talk seem even older.
The NBA's team of the decade still needs eight wins to grab trophy number five. One of the teams left standing may still derail their repeat hopes. At least they don't play New Orleans again.
SERIES OBSERVATIONS
Reserve of the series: Ime Udoka - the Spurs' lone playoff rookie brought hustle and dead-eye perimeter shooting in San Antonio's four wins. In a game 5 blowout loss, his last three pointer brought the Spurs within eight points, 85-77. Robert Horry hit five shots the entire series and Michael Finley's shooting was erratic, to be kind. Udoka landed in San Antonio after 11 or 12 other career stops. Coach Gregg Popovich played the small forward cautiously in the series' first few contests. As his production soared in games 4, 5 and 6, Popovich handed Udoka the extra minutes his scoring and defense earned him. The Portland State product spent some admirable minutes on monster shooting forward David West and suffocated Peja Stojakovic when Bruce Bowen was guarding Chris Paul or on the bench. The Spurs front office nabbed Udoka from the Portland Trail Blazers hoping he could spell Bowen and provide some extra mettle. His play keyed the Spurs' first ever series win after a 2-0 deficit.
Under appreciated Spurs reserve: Kurt Thomas - A reporter asked Popovich to sum up Thomas' contribution after the Spurs eliminated the Phoenix Suns in game 5. He responded dryly: "was he the guy clanging shots off the rim all night?" Thomas finished that night 3-11 from the field. In game three against the Hornets, a Spurs fan sitting next to me at the game screamed "you suck" every time Thomas touched the ball. That night, he finished 2-4 and nearly fouled out.
His numbers in the box score may appear suspect but Thomas has shown the Spurs and Popovich every reason they wanted him the last three years. What that screaming fan did not notice was Thomas' 10 rebounds in game three.
He rebounds, hammers the opponents' big men and provides enough spotty shooting to contribute on the offensive end.
The Spurs would not be in the Western Conference Finals without Thomas.
Final thoughts on the Hornets: I hope the New Orleans fans can stay off the football soap box and continue supporting their basketball team. The Hornets are young, on the rise and fun to watch. Drew Brees is a top 10 quarterback in the NFL. Chris Paul is the best quarterback on planet earth. With a few more pieces and a reliable bench (that does not include Bonzi Wells), the Hornets can make the necessary jump to win the franchise's first championship. The fans showed up for the playoffs and roared. Now it's time for them to sell out games in November and December and give this team the home court it deserves. Don't know what you got til' it's gone? Maybe a heartbreaking game 7 elimination by the defending champion showed the New Orleans fans the great team they have. I expect to see the Hornets advance further in the playoffs in the next few years and I hope they are in New Orleans when they do it.
Bring on the Lakers. The Spurs love a good ol' rivalry.
Spurs' key to game 7 is a game 3
Two great teams will spar tonight in New Orleans. The one that plays better will advance to the Western Conference Finals for a bout with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Sounds simple, huh? Tonight's game is simple and the Spurs can win it. NBA viewers have watched in boredom as home teams have dominated the second round. The road team is a dismal 2-22. The Spurs needn't pay attention to that useless stat.
The defending champs are too good to let this "winning on the road is tough" mind game control them. Whatever happened to the opportunity winning a road game presents? Shutting up, in this case, an arena of bandwagon fans who only started supporting the team when the promise of playoff success forced them to take notice?
Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and the rest of the crew should transport themselves back a few weeks ago to the hot hell of Phoenix, Arizona. Then, Parker scored 41 points and played the game of his life. The Spurs routed the cocky Suns from start to finish, grabbed a 3-0 lead and stole any hope Phoenix had of winning the series. Where are those Spurs?
The Hornets will not win or lose because of inexperience. The team that plays better and wants it more will win the game. Simple.
The Spurs must stop convincing themselves that there's something in the Gumbo, the baskets in New Orleans Arena are crooked and the crowd makes the Hornets unstoppable. This team won in Utah and Phoenix en route to a 2007 championship. No offense to the city where tragedy still stings, but New Orleans is a piece of cake. If the Spurs can win with Jazz fans hurling sharp objects at them, they can win in a city that hasn't proven it can support two professional sports franchises.
This is the Big Three's chance to right what went wrong in a game 7 two years ago against the Dallas Mavericks. Then, the Spurs fought back from a 20-point deficit at the AT&T Center behind a roaring crowd, only to watch Ginobili negate his go ahead three pointer with a silly foul on Dirk Nowitzki.
If the Spurs can remember the pain of that night, they can win tonight's game.
The best thing the Spurs can do tonight is be themselves. The lethargic team that lost by an average of 20 points in three road games is not the defending champion the world knows and hates. A return to game 3 in Phoenix will help the Spurs quit telling themselves winning tonight will beat the odds. The odds don't matter.
If the real Spurs don't show up, the Hornets will complete a quick turnaround trip to Los Angeles tomorrow morning to face a Laker team brimming with confidence. The real Spurs would be happy to save them the trouble.
Game six unfolds tonight
The San Antonio Spurs face elimination tonight for the first time since 2006 against the Dallas Mavericks. They forced a game seven after a 3-1 deficit then and they can do it now.
This great team was built for these situations. It is not about experience. It is about passion and players with pride who want to win.
The Spurs can get it done tonight at the AT&T Center. We'll see if they win or (stay) home.
My instict rarely fails me and it says: The Hornets will board a plane back to New Orleans tomorrow and the Spurs will go with them.
Spurs' stinky third quarter play lets Hornets grasp series momentum
THE SPURS MOTIVATIONAL TOMBSTONE: THEY CAN AND SHOULD STILL WIN THIS SERIESThe Spurs stunk up the first half of Tuesday night's game five, opting for low-percentage jumpshots instead of ball movement and penetration. They somehow managed a three-point lead at the half for the fourth consecutive game in New Orleans.
Then, the Hornets marched out of the locker and stampeded the Spurs to take a 3-2 lead and control of this Western Conference semifinal series. Another ugly third period-with the Hornets mounting a furious 28-11 run-doomed the Spurs into their third straight blowout defeat in the Big Easy. Every game in this series has been a blowout in favor of the home team.
We know how great the Hornets are, so this post will not talk about what they did right. This piece will address how awful and lethargic the Spurs were in a must-win game. If the guys in black deserve praise for winning four championships in nine years, they also deserve scorn when they play like cow shit.
I was worried this would happen. Winning a championship, especially when your route to the trophy is the rugged Western Conference, requires a hunger no amount of practice can produce. Sometimes, you just have to want it more. Sure, the Spurs played with some passion in games three and four to even the series, but that was supposed to happen. Tuesday night wasn't.
Tim Duncan and crew look more and more like a team willing to accept defeat. Maybe when Steve Kerr said the Spurs don't need any more championships, they took the Phoenix Suns general manager's words to heart.
The Spurs looked like a five titles in ten years squad in the first round against Kerr's Suns. Now, they look like a better team resigned to let a younger, shallower squad of youngsters out-hunger and hustle them.
This series is there for the Spurs if they want it. But, that is the question. How bad do they want it? The Hornets are a talented bunch almost sure to finish the playoffs without a championship (but the Hornets do not and should not think that). They appear to be the Dallas Mavericks of 2006, expending all of their energy just so they can say "we beat the defending champions." The Spurs had a chance Tuesday night to get pissed off about such a scenario and they lost lying down.
If you think Chris Paul doesn't believe he can win a trophy
right now, you haven't watched him play. Consider this post the equivalent of the tombstone the Houston Chronicle published to summarize the horrible first half of the only Astros season to end with a World Series berth.
Tim Duncan - this team plays in the mold of their winning coach Byron Scott and they want what you have. Time to get mad and knock them out. If you want a fifth championship, do something about it.
Tony Parker - if they're not letting you in the paint, force your body in there, kick someone in the balls and pick up the offensive foul. Scott will do anything he can within the rules to punish your penetration, so punch back.
Manu Ginobili - your passion will be critical if this team is to win in seven games. Your excess turnovers are unbecoming of a player who legitimately deserved MVP consideration.
Role players - I know you are tired but this is no time for excuses. It would be nice if you could nail some second half shots on the road.
I write this in hopes that the team will realize it is letting some else deny their repeat hopes. "We just didn't play well. Sometimes, things happen. We need to play better." That will not cut it.
The fiery anger of which I speak is what the Spurs will need if they want to navigate the toughest West in years. This series was never about age or experience. The team that wants it more will head to the Western Conference Finals.
SOME SIDE NOTES
-How many Spurs fans would be satisfied with a series loss if a Spurs big man could block one of those stupid ass Chris Paul to Tyson Chandler lobs? Where the hell do those come from?
I am still convinced those "lobs" are just bad shots by Paul that Chandler intercepts and dunks. I have seen many current NBA duos lob and it looks nothing like what these two do. If Parker tried doing that with Duncan, the officials might call goaltending. It's hard to criticize Chandler for being enough of an athlete to the get the ball up that high and slam it.
-The Hornets have better role players, according to TNT's Charles Barkley. OK, let's compare Chuckster.
Spurs have a Big Three (Parker, Duncan and Ginobili - all of which play on both ends). Hornets have two superstars (that's one less) who play on both ends and a cadre of young and veteran specialists.
Spurs role players: Michael Finley, Brent Barry, Kurt Thomas, Fabricio Oberto, Damon Stoudemire, Ime Udoka, Matt Bonner, Jacque Vaughn, Robert Horry.
Hornets role players: Morris Peterson, Peja Stojakovic, Ryan Bowen, Julian Wright, Bonzi Wells, Janeero Pargo, Mike James, Melvin Ely, Hilton Armstrong.
Edge on paper? Spurs by a mile. Wells played one great series against the Spurs in 2006 and has not done a damn thing since. Ely was on the Spurs 2007 championship roster but did not play in a single playoff game. Gregg Popovich called him a "practice player." He and Armstrong are West and Chandler's only backups. I'll give the Hornets an edge with Pargo and Wright's energy but that's it.
Again, this series has nothing to do with physical talent. Who wants it more? Tuesday night, I saw David West score a career high 38 points with a sore back. The Spurs were just an eyesore in the second half.
If the Spurs play another third quarter like that, the NBA should consider this slogan: "the NBA: where going from defending champs to defenseless chumps happens."
Don't like what I just wrote about you, Mr. Duncan and company? Now is your chance to go out and do something about it.
Get pissed off about it. The Hornets are and it shows.
Spurs do the stinging, for a change, and rout Hornets
The San Antonio Spurs have built a championship pedigree full of accountability and void of excuses.
That's why you won't hear Coach Gregg Popovich or Tim Duncan talk about the 103-degree fever he likely nursed in the first two games. Never mind that such a temperature puts most people in an emergency room hospital bed. Excuses? Duncan was having none of that.
And when the Hornets young squad hopped into game four hoping to score the same 3-1 advantage they enjoyed against the Dallas Mavericks? Duncan was having none of that, either.
A healthier Duncan swatted, dunked on and undressed the Hornets one-on-one defense Sunday night. With a more familiar line from the future hall of famer - 22 points and 15 rebounds - the Spurs got back in the series. All even now, the Spurs head back to New Orleans brimming with confidence and toting a defensive game plan that gives them a chance to win in either arena.
The Spurs can win this series for many reasons, but the biggest ones in no particular order are: Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
The defending champion team that limped into game three, down 0-2 and looking like washed-up old fogies, is once again living up to its title(s) - four of them in nine years).
The Hornets will not lose this series because of inexperience. The spectacular play of MVP runner-up Chris Paul has quelled a ridiculous notion that age predisposes a team to a certain outcome. The Spurs have turned him into a scorer - he managed a pedestrian 23 points and six assists Sunday night - and the rest of the Hornets are feeling the pain.
The Spurs can win this series because they have many more offensive weapons than their upstart counterparts. The Hornets possess a deadly duo but picking the team's third most important player is a chore. The Spurs clearly have three superstars above every other role player on the team. Duncan, Parker and Ginobili are the league's best "Big Three" because each player can do something besides score to help the team. All three stars play invaluable defense, collect most of the Spurs' points in the paint and create great shots for teammates.
The Hornets supposed third best player, Peja Stojakovic, has a well-earned reputation as a lousy defender. His one-dimensional game involves shooting long-distance shots and then shooting more.
To quote Mike Taylor from Sports Talk San Antonio: Bruce Bowen, since Popovich assigned him to guard the Serbian shooting assasin, "got into Peja's pants and set up a campsite."
Tyson Chandler, the feisty rebounder who gets 70 percent of his baskets off Chris Paul lobs, should also be in the running for the Hornets' "Big Three" discussion. Duncan took care of him Sunday night, aggressively going to the hoop and drawing fouls that limited Chandler's ability to play stringent defense.
Either team can still win this second round joust. The Spurs will have to win one game in an arena where they have been stomped in the second halves. As Charles Barkley puts it, the Hornets have home court advantage and do not have to win in San Antonio. This may all be true, but the Hornets should know a few things:
The blowouts in games one and two involved second half meltdowns by the Spurs. The guys in black had a half time lead in both contests. The Hornets handled a "veteran" Dallas team in five games but the Spurs ain't the Mavericks. The Mavs were not a smart team, relied on a terrible shooter and a jump shooting seven-footer to beat an athletic squad and they also did not have a title defense on which to lean. The Spurs spent the end of June celebrating a fourth championship. The Mavericks probably spent that time wondering what the hell happened in a first round ouster to the eighth-seeded Golden State Warriors.
After dropping four in a row in an NBA Finals collapse to the Miami Heat, the Mavs promptly answered with a marvelous 67-win season. Their successive first-round flame outs have some suggesting the Mavericks should join the WNBA and change the team name to the "Dallas My Little Ponies." Insert your own cruel barb here but know that it does not apply to these Spurs.
Some insights on the game:
- Ime Udoka, an easy selection for 1200 WOAI's Impact Player of the Game, logged 23 productive minutes in game four. No statistic could encapsulate his impact on the ballgame. After an atrocious game two in which he committed silly turnovers and missed easy looks, he entered a must-win contest and sank the shots that put away the Hornets. Popovich has given Udoka spotty playing time in the playoffs and that makes his game all the more fantastic.
Numbers: 5-8 fg; 3-5 from behind the arc. He also grabbed five rebounds.
- Can you say healthy Tim Duncan? Hornets Coach Byron Scott will lament his decision not to continue doubling Duncan on most occasions. Expect him to return to the strategy in game five. His re-adjustment might be in vain, though. Timmah looked like a completely different player in Sunday's game. He played two of the worst games in his post season career in the first two games. Now, I question whether Chandler, Melvin Ely or anyone else can stop him from dominating the paint area.
Popovich, showing Scott every reason he should be a first ballot hall of fame coach, made the critical defensive adjustments in game three that allowed the Spurs to tie it up. Parker helped things by deciding to impose his lay-up drill game on the Hornets.
A young New Orleans team will go home Tuesday night and use a fired-up crowd to propel them to victory. This series' early history says they will take flight. That was before Popovich's adjustments.
Second half scoring droughts sting Spurs
The New Orleans Hornets' players said before game 2 they expected the San Antonio Spurs to force them into defensive switches, but for the second straight half, the defending champions made sure their younger mirror-image didn't have to play much on the
other end.
The caustic, abominable offensive lulls that doomed the Spurs in many late season games have shown up again. The Hornets' loose perimeter defense is begging any Spurs player to make an outside shot and the guys in black are telling them no thanks.
The Spurs face a tough task Thursday night, where they will try to use the home crowd and a more familiar court to dig themselves out of a 2-0 hole. The good news? There are easy fixes for the team's ailments. The bad news? This team is screwing up the easy stuff.
At many Spurs games, five companies sponsor a timeout contest where a fan selected at random tries to throw a ball in six different buckets, each one offering a different prize. Most of the participants miss badly and only manage to hit the one offering Whatatburger for an entire year. That about sums up the play of Manu Ginobili and most of the other Spurs.
The supposed "shooters" have been worse than the overweight, hapless fans who participate in those embarrassing on-court contests.
The Spurs are not scoring in this second round series, and against a great Hornets team, that is not good enough. That stifling Byron Scott-instilled Hornet defense? We'll talk about it when the Spurs force them to play some.
18 point and 17 point quarters against a team with the league's best point guard will not get it done. The Hornets three ball threats, mostly Peja Stojakovic and Morris Peterson, are stretching the Spur defense with long distance heaves. When the series shifts to San Antonio, maybe the Spurs can do the same.
The one-sided second half play in this series is not a statement about the age factor. The Hornets are the youngest team still in the Playoffs and have found little trouble outclassing a four time champion. The Spurs shooters would not be draining these wide open looks if they were 10 years younger. An open shot is an open shot.
Talk about the defense all you want and rant about the 36 points the Spurs allowed in the third quarter. If the Spurs made half of their open looks in that decisive period, they could have scored in the 30s, too.
MY DEFENSIVE TWO CENTSGregg Popovich should consider sic-ing defensive ace Bruce Bowen on the Hornets shooting extraordinaire Peja Stojakovic. In the Spurs last win over this team, Bowen suffocated Stojakovic and it damaged the Hornets' offensive flow. Down 0-2 and needing some luck to get back in this thing, Popovich cannot rule out any strategy as a possibility.
I say guard the outside shooters and role players like they stole something and let single coverage allow Chris Paul and David West to do their damage. Let the two All-Stars combine for 80 points but don't let any other Hornets player get a clean look. The Spurs attention on Paul and West in the first two games has opened up easy looks for the role players. Those too-easy-for-comfort baskets are killing the Spurs.
Though Popovich would never admit it, he has tested this against the Phoenix Suns in the 2005 and 2007 series. He let Amare Stoudemire get all he could eat at the rim but closed out on the role players and did not let them get off. It is worth a try in this sinking series.
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLYHere's the bad news first:
-The last time a Tim Duncan-led team fell into a 0-2 hole, in 2001, the Los Angeles Lakers got out the broom and swept them off the court.
-The Hornets defense is cutting off Tim Duncan's post-up game and Tony Parker and Ginobili's drives to the basket. The Spurs can open things up for their Big Three by making some open perimeter shots. Unfortunately, second half stats suggest that's not happening anytime soon.
-David West scored 10 points (he did have 10 rebounds also), by far his worst output in the last two months, and the Hornets still slaughtered the Spurs.
-Ginobili will not admit he is still bothered by a sore left ankle. His God-awful play in game 2 makes it obvious he is. The Spurs need more from Manu, something like the 30-12 performance he turned out against this Hornets team in February. His three consecutive turnovers in the second quarter summed up his rough Monday night.
-No statistic or piece of logic suggests Paul or West will be any less brilliant on the road come Thursday night. The Hornets were a better road team than the Spurs this season. New Orleans lost game 3 decisively to the Dallas Mavericks then showed up two nights later to make the defeat look like a fluke.
-Here's one you knew was coming: The Spurs don't win championships in even-numbered years.
Here's the good news:
-Those open looks for Spurs shooters I keep referencing? They are WIDE open, as in no defender within 50 feet of the shooter OPEN. That's how open these guys are. Of course, if a defense is OK with allowing guys two days to line up a shot, it means they don't think you can shoot. So far the Spurs have not proven them wrong.
-In all four blowout losses to the Hornets this year (two in the regular season, two in the playoffs), the Spurs led at the half. You cannot lead at halftime in a basketball game without doing something right. The Spurs need to figure out what that something is and transfer it to the second half.
-The Hornets bench that was among the least productive during the regular season has remained that way in the playoffs. Energetic youngster Julian Wright is affecting the series with his hustle and a few big shots as is Janeero Pargo. Most of the shredding, though, has come courtesy of the Hornets starters. No numbers in this series suggest the Hornets have more physical talent or a longer bench than the Spurs, who remained in the top three all year in reserve scoring.
-The Spurs are going home, where they lost only seven of 41 games at the AT&T Center
-Popovich is the league's top coach in pressure situations. He will tell his players what he believes they must do to climb back into the series. It's up to them to execute the plan.
Where is the Spurs team that hammered the Utah Jazz 109-80 in a decisive and mega-important final game of the season? Where is the Spurs team that averaged more than 102 points against the high-scoring Phoenix Suns? Where is the team that was out-fastbreaking the best-in-the-business Suns?
Sometimes sports writers overanalyze a playoff series, overlooking the role of intangibles in favor of Xs and Os. The Hornets are playing like a pack of hungry wolves eager to feast on their latest kill en route to the big prize. The Spurs are playing without any heart or passion and look like easy prey offering the wolves no fight.
They'd better find some if they want to play more basketball games next week.
A Spurs ultimatum and Grading the Rockets
If the New Orleans Hornets fourth quarter demolition of the defending champion San Antonio Spurs surprised you, consider watching more hoops next season.
That's the great and the ugly the Spurs can take from Saturday's 101-82 defeat. They knew it was coming and also know the Hornets will not change much before Monday. However, does the lost element of surprise matter if you cannot deal with the inevitable?
Tim Duncan played one of the worst games in his decorated post-season career, scoring a measly five points and securing only three boards. The Manu Ginobili who came out firing at his superstar best, looked more like an injured sixth man in the second half.
The solution for the Spurs, who hope to win a fifth championship in 10 years, is simple: figure out what to do with David West or get swept. The power forward that star point guard Chris Paul dubbed his "17-foot assassin" looked every bit the part, as he drained 15- and 20-footers, finished slam dunks, lay-ups and hook shots. He is not a Spurs killer, he is an every team killer.
Let us hope that Mike Budenholzer, game plan master and assistant coach, can help coach Pop figure out how to stop this guy.
The good news after this rout? The same open looks the Spurs nailed in the first half were there in the second. The Hornets did not take those shots away.
The Spurs chance of winning this series will be predicated on Fabricio Oberto, Kurt Thomas, Bruce Bowen, Jacque Vaughn, Brent Barry and Michael Finley knocking down the open looks a doubled Tim Duncan will give them.
The Spurs will not hold this Hornets team in the 70s and 80s, so the players must score. This team is as dangerous offensively as the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns. If the Spurs had forgotten that, the NBA's story of the season offered them plenty of reminders Saturday night.
GRADING THE ROCKETSAfter all the praise and fandom the Houston Rockets earned from a gritty season, the team completed its third unceremonious first round playoff exit in four years on Friday night, and few were in the congratulatory mood.
The 22-game winning streak was this season's greatest story. A team full of reserves and undersized youngsters and aging veterans showed it would not lay down when Yao Ming announced his year-ending injury.
Whipping the Utah Jazz in game 5 was a wonderful memento that Rockets fans can keep of the team that showed how much heart and hustle can accomplish. Unfortunately, the next few stats are the bottom line: Tracy McGrady is 0-7 in the first round, the Rockets have not won a playoff series in 11 years, franchise foundation Yao Ming has battled injury most of the last three years and the competitive Western Conference will only become more so next season.
Before I grade each player on the Rockets roster, here are some sad facts about the team: Without Yao Ming, the Rockets became a jumpshooting squad. On the best nights, players cut to the basket and finished layups, and the shooters made the loose defense pay. In all the others, the Rockets looked like a jump shot happy team with players who could not, um, shoot.
After the Utah Jazz pistol-whipped the resilient Rockets 113-91, the team's weaknesses became even clearer.
1 - New General Manager Daryl Morey spent his first off-season drafting and trading for tough-minded, passionate players. He might want to spend this one finding a player who can make a free throw. When the Rockets were beating teams by an average 17 points per game during the streak, the hot perimeter play and stingy defense masked the awful free throw shooting. I am still amazed the Rockets pulled out an 80-77 victory over the Detroit Pistons at home earlier in the season, despite clanging 16 of 22 foul shouts. Yao Ming's great charity stripe stroke is a start, but you cannot rely on your most oft-injured player to fix the free throw woes.
Against physical, stronger teams like Utah, getting to line is one way to combat the pushing and shoving. When the Rockets cannot make them, as was the case in most games this season and the first round, the strategy blows up in coach Rick Adelman's frustrated face.
2 - The Rockets piled up a supporting cast of players who cannot shoot consistently. Shane Battier and Rafer Alston will never become dead-eye outside threats. The team's best shooter, Steve Novak, cannot do enough of anything else to earn meaningful minutes.
3 - The Rockets as constructed can only contend for a championship if Yao stays healthy and I would hesitate to bank on that ever happening. Rookies Carl Landry and Luis Scola are built to succeed around what Yao does. The double teams he gets open up shot opportunities for Houston's dual power forward machine. The ScoLandry combo have a lot of work to do if they hope to substitute for the Great Wall's inside scoring production.
4 - The players must contend with the pathetic jewelry rattlers and fair weather fans. When the team won its 20th game in a row, those empty baseline seats filled up before tip-off. When the chance at a 23rd consecutive W failed, those seats emptied just as quickly. The Houston fans will support whichever team they believe has a shot to win it all. If the Astros make a run or the Texans nab a great free agent, expect the buzz around those teams to grow. The cheers will fade when they start losing again.
If the Rockets want to become Houston's number one team again, they must escape the first round.
HERE'S THE PLAYER-BY-PLAYER REPORT CARD
Aaron Brooks
Years in the league: 1
Position: point guard
Grade: C+
Comments: When Rafer Alston began his season in usual shooting slump fashion, Brooks' feisty play off the bench turned some heads. The Oregon speed master showed at many other times this season, including the 22-game win streak, that he may be a diamond in a rough of poor point guards. He also proved with his erratic shooting and ballhandling that he lacks the maturity and composure to play major minutes on a championship contender. One minute, you see Brooks glide by New York Knicks' guard Nate Robinson for a nifty layup. The next, he throws an errant pass that almost hits a beer vendor instead of the guy cutting to the basket.
Should the Rockets keep him? At his low price, the Rockets should consider tutoring him for another season. Let's see how good this kid can be. However, if Brooks becomes an essential piece in a trade, Morey should not lose any sleep over letting him go.
Bobby Jackson
Years in the league: 10
Position: point guard
Grade: C
Comments: The Rockets brought in Jackson to back up Alston because Brooks was too green for the playoffs. The team needed his veteran presence and shooting. In a few games such as a key 107-103 late season victory over the Golden State Warriors, he nailed big shots and looked like the seasoned player for which they traded. However, his career low shooting numbers proved not to be a fluke. As badly as the Rockets season ended in Salt Lake City on Friday, it would have been much worse without Jackson. He gets an average grade because of his average tenure with the Rockets.
Should the Rockets keep him? Morey should scale the free agent market and look at all his sign-and-trade possibilities before making a decision on Jackson. It would not surprise me to see Jackson in another uniform next season.
Bonzi Wells (before he was traded)
Position: shooting guard
Grade: As many Fs as possible
Comments: I was thrilled when the Rockets sent this despicable egomaniac packing to New Orleans. I have never heard so many people talk about what a guy did in one playoff series. He has something in common with Rasheed Wallace and it is not a championship ring. If he gave a damn more than once a month, he could be one of the league's top 25 players, its best rebounding guard and a more likeable guy. Happy trails, Bonzi, and don't you dare show up against the Spurs.
Carl Landry
Years in the league: 1
Position: power forward
Grade: A-
Comments: 22 teams passed on the Purdue product in last year's draft. If they knew what they do now about Landry, he would have been a top 10 pick, not the first selection of the second round. The 6-9" forward's terrific season, in which he averaged 8 points and nearly 5 rebounds, meant far more to the Rockets than any number can say. That Adelman was relying on this rookie's health and explosiveness to beat veteran, championship contenders, speaks volumes about his value to the team. He must improve many facets of his game, including his positioning on the offensive glass, his jump shot and his defense at the rim. He earns an A, though, for becoming the hustle-driven, rookie project 29 other coaches would love to have.
Should the Rockets keep him? Thank God for no-brainers.
Chuck Hayes
Years in the league: 3
Position: power forward
Grade: B-
Comments: If great role players must execute then compete like they need a meal ticket, Hayes has mastered the second part but needs tremendous help with the first. It is hard to fault the undersized Hayes' effort when he gives up an average 4-5 inches on the player he guards. Few players dive for loose balls or defend like the Kentucky alumnus does every night. Unfortunately, when Yao exited this season, Hayes' weaknesses became team handicaps. When he misses eight easy layups or fouls out because his man punishes him in the low block, it is hard to appreciate his scrappiness. Oh, and ever seen the guy shoot a free throw? To steal the title of a popular musical number, "That's Entertainment!"--unless you are a Houston fan or his teammate and know his foul shooting (pun intended) can ruin a game.
Should the Rockets keep him? Championship squads need a Chuck Hayes-esque player. The San Antonio Spurs employ Fabricio Oberto because he covers his faults with an incredible fervor and initiative. Morey and owner Leslie Alexander should consider saving Hayes a roster spot for the same reason.
Dikembe Mutombo
Years in the league: 16
Position: center
Grade: A
Comments: The 41-year-old, still ticking Mutombo provided my favorite moment of the season. The Rockets were playing the Washington Wizards the same day Yao had informed them he would miss the rest of the season and the playoffs. Less than two minutes into the contest, Caron Butler drove to the hoop for a scoop but Mutombo was there and sent the shot flying into the fifth row. He swatted two other attempts that quarter and let the Wizards know with his finger wag they would not be getting to the rim. His inspirational play sparked a 94-69 win that showed these Rockets would not wilt without Yao. In game 13 of the Rockets remarkable streak, Mutombo summarized in four minutes what he has meant to the Rockets and the NBA. His always debated age limits what he can contribute offensively but his interior defense and locker room voice made a Rockets playoff run possible.
Should the Rockets keep him? Mutombo has been a wonderful backup for the injured Yao each year of his Rockets career. But, as he admits with frequency, he did not sign up with the intention of starting or tabulating major minutes. The NBA's charitable chief should retire, as his chances of escaping the first round with McGrady are slim. My gut tells me he will.
Loren WoodsPosition: power forward
Grade: Incomplete
Comments: The Rockets signed this guy so the coaches and team execs could examine him in the summer league. It looks like they will have a chance to do that. We'll know a lot more about what he can contribute when training camp begins. You might say the same about ousted guard Gerald Green, if he ends up back in his hometown.
Luis Scola
Years in the league: 1
Position: power forward
Grade: B+: The 27-year-old Scola, like Landry and Hayes, is not lacking in the determination department. The Argentine showed Houston fans at many junctures this year every quality the Spurs saw when they drafted him five years ago. He plays an intelligent game, finds the right spots on the floor and uses his craftiness around the rim to create high-percentage shots. He also clangs too many free throws, misses too many of the aforementioned shots and is a pick and roll defense liability. His man-to-man and help defense must improve leaps and bounds. He should also use his athleticism to dunk more instead of forcing layups against taller defenders.
Should the Rockets keep him? Some numbers lie, this one does not: The Rockets lost only single-digit regular season games after inserting him into the starting lineup in January/February (hey, I don't have all those nifty stats Jonathan Feigen has, so cut me some slack). Morey has to love this no-brainer.
Luther Head
Years in the league: 3
Position: shooting guard
Grade: D-
Comments: Luther Head's failed Rockets career is as much the fault of his coaches as his own. Why both Jeff Van Gundy and Adelman tried molding Head into a point guard escapes me. Whoever coaches the Illinois shooting standout next year must realize that he is a spot-up guy and not a playmaker. He can pass to a cutter every once in a while, dunk or drive for a Tony Parker-like layup on occasion. Maybe a change of scenery would help the youngster find a consistent touch. Last year, he was top three all season in fourth quarter treys. In the playoffs against Utah, his swell shooting percentage nose dived into the low 20s and he became part of the Rockets non-existent bench.
Should the Rockets keep him? His diminishing production would make him a hard sell as a key trade component. Hopefully, Morey can use his GM smarts to bait a buyer. I loved Head's potential but have come to the somber conclusion that he needs to go.
Mike James (before he was traded)
Position: point guard
Grade: F
Comments: He returned to Houston promising he could provide a scoring punch. He failed to deliver the only thing he does well and now his one-dimensional act has him nailed to the end of the Hornets' bench.
Rafer Alston
Years in the league: 8
Position: point guard
Grade: A-
Comments: Say what you want about his shoddy shooting. Call me an idiot for handing perhaps the franchise's rockiest offensive player an A. My bottom line: the front office tried trading him three times during training camp, and instead of complaining, he practiced more than the four others vying for his spot and kicked their asses on the court. No player upped his game more than Alston during the Rockets playoff run. He's not Chris Paul or Steve Nash in his prime, but when he returned in game 3 from injury, the Rockets became the only team to beat the Jazz twice in Energy Solutions Arena. The Rockets do not have enough players to trade for a better point guard. The salary cap will prevent them from finding one in free agency. He rarely turns the ball over like some of his better counterparts do (see Kidd, Jason) and allows the other four starters to play their natural positions.
Should the Rockets keep him? Yes. Alston can be the starting point guard on an NBA Finals-bound team and deserves another chance to try getting the Rockets there.
Shane Battier
Years in the league: 6
Position: small forward
Grade: B+
Comments: Battier, like Spurs' forward Bruce Bowen, earns his paycheck for his man-to-man defense, not his scoring. If the Rockets are relying on Battier to put up points, then the attempt to deepen the offensive talent has failed. Still, unlike Bowen, the Duke-bred Battier has a toolbox of scoring weapons he seldom uses. Adelman brought out a jump hook and an inside game many did not know existed. It's up to #31 to finish more of his open looks and better his free throw shooting.
Should the Rockets keep him? The Rockets would be a crappy defensive team without him and his skill in defending the Kobes and LeBrons makes him invaluable. Keep Battier but find a versatile small forward who can score to share some of his minutes (see Miller, Mike).
Steve Francis
Years in the league: 8
Position: point guard.
Grade: Incomplete
Comments: Like most fans, I hope Francis can offer more than what he showed in his short stint this season. He arrived to training camp out of shape and let the guy the Rockets tried trading three times thoroughly outplay him. He teased us with that game-winning layup against the Phoenix Suns then infuriated us against the Dallas Mavericks when he dished only three dimes and looked about as into the game as the third row jewelry rattlers.
Should the Rockets keep him? Morey will likely give Frances another chance to prove he can still play. It is up to the former "Stevie Franchise" to avoid the dreaded 'DNP - coach's decision.'
Steve Novak
Years in the league: 2
Grade: C-
Comments: Novak will remember his moment of glory against Sacramento-a game-winning three to keep the Rockets' streak rolling-for the rest of his career. No one denies his shooting touch. Every time he enters a game and gets open looks, he drains at least one of them. Question is, can he do enough of anything else-rebounding, defense-to get enough shots to join the regular rotation?
Should the Rockets keep him? His value will not fetch much in a trade and his cheap contract is a low-risk investment. So yes, keep him around, and let the boy shoot.
Tracy McGrady
Years in the league: 10
Position: shooting guard
Grade: C+
Comments: The latest playoff ouster, the seventh in as many tries in his career, is not on him. He played like a superstar should in four of the six games (two near triple doubles) but did not have enough help. However, his body of work as the most talented athlete never to win a playoff series is on him. McGrady never shies away from post- or pre-game interviews (ever notice how every Feigen or Fran Blinebury story has a McGrady quote in it) and I cannot indict him for that. But, sometimes he should just shut up and play. He solidified this season what most already knew-that he lacks the consistent drive or poise of a championship team leader. Given that he refers to himself as a shooter, his horrid free throw percentage is inexcusable. McGrady, like Yao, must always focus on things he can do to help the team when he plays through an injury. Healthy or not, carelessly firing contested jump shot after jump shot will never be one of them.
Should the Rockets keep him? His sticky contract leaves the Rockets no choice, and besides, what young team with talent would want a guy who lost every first round series in which he played? The Rockets are stuck with him and rather than groaning or moping about it, both sides can do the necessary work. For McGrady, that means continuing to trust that his teammates can knock down open shots by feeding them the ball. For Morey and co., that means finding some players who can knock down open shots. Third scoring option, anyone?
Yao Ming
Years in the league: 5
Position: center
Grade: A+
Comments: Yao's competitive fire almost single-handedly turned around a sinking season. When embarrassing losses to the Philadelphia 76ers and the Memphis Grizzlies threatened to destroy a year full of promise, Yao wouldn't let the damn thing implode. He called his teammates "soft" and they deserved every bit of his harsh criticism. When the refs botched the verticality rule and other things they promised to enforce, he knew he needed to rely on himself, not the officiating, to correct those key fouls and turnovers. The Rockets could not have imagined a better franchise player, a guy who wants it more or a guy who is willing to do what it takes to get there than Yao. The melancholic look on his face as the Jazz slammed the Rockets' and their first round hopes off the Energy Solutions Arena floor said all you need to know about how much he loves the game. Unfortunately, Morey must accept that his most reliable scorer will remain injury prone, that the time he missed the last three years is a pattern, not an anomaly.
Should the Rockets keep him? He remains the foundation of the franchise. The Rockets must spend this off-season finding more scoring talent, enough for them to win a playoff series without Yao.
NBA Playoffs balance surprise with more of the same
Why are the NBA Playoffs a must watch? You never know what to expect.
All four Western Conference playoff series were supposed to go at least six games - three of those have ended in five or less. The team still fighting elimination in the stronger conference, the Houston Rockets, is without its best player, sparring with a physically superior team. Those two series in the Eastern Conference most predicted would be the only sweeps in the entire playoffs are headed to a sixth game. The Boston Celtics will try to close out a young Atlanta Hawks team that won both games on its home floor with a roaring crowd and the arrogant Detroit Pistons will try knocking out a Philadelphia 76ers team that swiped game 1 and home court advantage. Sure, you predicted that.
SPURS ARE MORE OF THE SAME
The San Antonio Spurs' gritty closeout win against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night reiterated what any sane person should have already known. The darling Suns were never going to beat the Spurs, with or without suspensions last year, and again this year. Is it a fact the Spurs would not have finished the Suns in six games sans the Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw suspensions? No, but the most reliable parts of history make it unlikely.
After the Spurs eliminated the Suns for the fourth time in the Tim Duncan era, the third since Steve Nash rolled in to the rescue, little had changed.
When it mattered most, there was Tim Duncan treating the Phoenix defense like blow up dolls. Boris Diaw's great defense on Tony Parker in game 4 was a mirage. The French point guard slipped screens and found the rim at will. Sure, this series was much tougher than the five game finish indicated.
I concur with coach Gregg Popovich. I am glad this series is over and the Spurs do not have to face that tough team again. But truthfully, how worried could you get about Phoenix eliminating the defending champions?
Nash and coach Mike D'Antoni again tried pulling the "we're more talented than they are" card. On paper, the Suns roster did seem a bit deeper. That a piece of paper can be torn with bare hands says all you need to know about its value in a basketball game. The New Orleans Hornets and Spurs will remind each other of that when their second round series begins this weekend.
The Spurs were the better team in this series just as they have been since people heralded the Suns as the NBA's saviors. The personnel for the Spurs changed slightly from last year, with Kurt Thomas and Ime Udoka playing large roles in victories, and the Suns roster changed dramatically, with 300-pound Shaquille O' Neal replacing versatile forward Shawn Marion.
Yet, little had changed on the court. After a game five defeat, there was O'Neal in a new system finding ways to be the same old Shaq. Instead of crediting the much better Spurs, he whined to reporters that his team beat itself. The traditional O'Neal rarely loses (in his mind), complains when things fall apart and takes excessive credit when it works. That one-liner about getting mad and winning championships? At least he came through on one of his promises.
Truth is, the Suns reinvented nothing. D'Antoni re-introduced a style that was so 1980s. The 2005 team that lost to the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, even with Joe Johnson, was littered with defensive deficiencies. The Spurs exposed that in game 1, winning 121-114. The Suns could score in bunches then, as it can now even with the Big Diesel, but San Antonio kept pace with them and managed the stops at the end that Phoenix could not.
Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash were the same in Tuesday's game, proving they are two of the greatest scorers in the game but also two of its worst defenders.
Answer this: if the Suns are so exciting to watch because of their up-tempo, transition-oriented game, why did the Spurs kick their asses at it again in a playoff series?
If the Spurs are so boring, why are they beating the league's most exciting team at its own game? Defense wins championships - the Spurs have always known that - the Suns didn't and resorted to defending themselves instead of Parker or Manu Ginobili.
Lament the Hack-a-Shaq all you want, Suns fans. One poster on the Arizona Republic Web site called it crap coaching on Popovich's part. Instead of booing the Spurs for utilizing a tactic every playoff team has used since O'Neal entered the league, why not blame him for missing them? If a gorilla-sized superstar, who lives in the paint, shoots 50 percent from the charity stripe, why wouldn't you foul him?
Credit Popovich for using a proven strategy - Shaq made only 32 of 64 free throws and it threw off Nash's passing and scoring precision.
Truth is, the Suns should never have been worshiped in the way they were the last few years. Sportswriters who mistakenly think racial makeup has anything to do with the league's high or low ratings used the Suns as a tool to hype a really good white guy.
I would give Nash my Hall of Fame vote and have trouble arguing the two MVP trophies he received. He does mean that much to the Phoenix Suns. The Phoenix Suns do not mean that much to the NBA.
I give the Suns all the credit in the world for forcing the Spurs to earn every win. They are a tough team with an above average coach in D'Antoni. The Spurs did earn most of those wins, though.
Yes, much was the same after Tuesday. Stoudemire, who mistakenly called the Spurs a 'dirty' team, admitted he deserved what came to him last year and nearly rescinded his idiotic label.
Then, there was the Spurs - moving the ball, making the extra pass, blaming themselves for miscues instead of the refs or the other team's tactics, and chewing themselves out for defensive lapses.
Those who call the above qualities 'boring' do not like good basketball. Did those writers who said the Suns should win think that team had a legitimate shot or were they closet Spurs haters who don't watch the team?
I would guess the latter, which like most things in this competitive series, is more of the same.
D'ANTONI AND JOHNSON OUSTERS WILL PROVE COSTLY TO SUNS, MAVS
Many NBA players earn far too much annual salary and players on the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns who fit this mold will prevent their teams from improving in a crucial off-season.
Too many owners and general managers subscribe to the quick fix, instant gratification theory. The fans deserve better than an owner telling them one hire or firing will fix a team with serious structural problems!
Speculation has mounted that the two coaches could swap squads and there are arguments why that could work.
However, no coach in the NBA can make the current Suns or Mavs rosters a championship lock if the personnel remains intact.
Think about the Denver Nuggets: if Carmelo Anthony, the prescribed leader of his team and a millions earning athlete, shows his team with lethargic play that he does not care about defense, can any coach, even a re-incarnated Red Auerbach, make a squad of score-first, immature players value the
other end? Unless you're caged in a looney house, the answer is a resounding NO!
Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash are Phoenix's core. They are not great defenders and will never be. They cannot learn what ails their game. A re-tooled Suns roster could win a championship with Nash and Stoudemire as focal points. Hell, Nash could land a Finals MVP trophy with the right team.
Dirk Nowitzki is an incredible competitor but still a defensive liability. Erick Dampier is the most inconsistent starting center in the NBA. Josh Howard looks like a lost cause who cares more about rolling joints than defending on key plays or draining high percentage shots?
How does firing Johnson fix any of those things? It doesn't. Avery was flawed at times but still a great coach. Mavs Owner Mark Cuban will have a tough time finding another coach who demands as much accountability and defense as Johnson did.
Likewise, Suns Owner Robert Sarver will struggle to replace D'Antoni, if he is indeed leaving the team on his own accord.
Cuban and Sarver should shoulder most of the blame, not Johnson and D'Antoni. But those two are just rich guys who own basketball team - don't count on it. The players should also shoulder a large portion, too. D'Antoni and Johnson are far from perfect, and maybe it's time they did part ways with their respective team, but they will not be easily replaced.
SIXERS, HAWKS AND ROCKETS PROVIDE THE UNEXPECTED.
The Sixers and Hawks are still long shots to knock off the presumptive Eastern Conference finalists, the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons. Still, they have forced the NBA's top two seeds into compelling first round series on hustle and determination.
If the Rockets win in Utah on Friday night, two close games in Utah, one a win, providing evidence they have a great chance, the series momentum shifts. If Utah loses again, expect the Rockets to help Tracy McGrady win his first playoff series.
That's the playoffs - things you come to expect and things you don't. Both are worth watching.
