Kleeman's Last Word

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.

posted by Robert Kleeman @ 1:39 PM