Spurs in six
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said at practice Friday that he gets intimidated watching teams on television. "I don't like to be intimidated till the games start," Sloan said. We can only hope for his sake that he wasn't watching the Spurs in the third quarter Friday.
Starting after Shawn Marion tipped in a miss to make it 59-58 Phoenix with 6:49 left, the Spurs closed out the third on a 23-8 run. They built a 20-point lead in less than 10 minutes. If the 12 minutes after that basket counted as quarter, the Spurs won it 36-21.
What did we learn about the Spurs? For starters, sending double-teams Tim Duncan's direction seems like a bad idea. The Spurs got any shot they wanted when the Suns rushed a second defender at Duncan when he got the ball inside.
Manu Ginobili and Bruce Bowen both knocked down three-pointers on possessions where Duncan was doubled. Carlos Boozer, Paul Millsap and Jarron Collins are going to have to handle Duncan on their own, otherwise the Jazz will be vulnerable.
We learned that Tony Parker has to be denied the ball at all costs. When he takes a step back and gets a running start at the basket, Parker's getting to the rim almost every time. He's that fast, driving and spinning and finishing with 30 points despite going 11 of 27.
The Suns tried to use Marion's length to frustrate Parker. Maybe the Jazz will do the same with Andrei Kirilenko. The Suns tried to save Steve Nash from having to guard Parker by putting him on Bruce Bowen. Might be an option for Deron Williams.
We learned that the Spurs can be a quick-strike team. They came out of a timeout with 5:37 left in the third and stretched a two-point lead to 69-61 in just 39 seconds as Bowen and Ginobili both connected on three-pointers.
It's pretty much a guarantee that the Spurs will be able to find a hot shooter or two out of a cast that features Ginobili, Bowen, Parker Brent Barry and Michael Finley.
Bowen might be the NBA's best defensive player - - Kobe Bryant, for one, thinks so - - but ignore him on offense at your own risk. Bowen scored all eight of his points and made his only three shots of the game in the decisive third quarter.
We learned how frustrating the Spurs can be on defense. They switched to a 3-2 zone once during the third, they forced Leandro Barbosa to take jumpers (missing his last four shots of the quarter) and they drew the curtain on the Nash show.
The Spurs led the league in points differential during the regular season at plus-8.4, which was better even than 67-win Dallas. If you go back to the All-Star break, the Spurs have won 31 of 40 games, counting the playoffs, and are 18-4 at home.
San Antonio held a Denver team that averaged 105.4 points in the regular season to 88.2 in the first round. The Spurs held a Phoenix team that averaged 110.2 in the regular season to 103.6 in the five games Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw played (100.5 overall).
Finally, we learned how important it is to play smart against the Spurs. That means no Raja Bell fouling Ginobili on a corner three-pointer to serve up a chance at a four-point play. That means no Bell carelessly fouling Ginobili to put San Antonio in the bonus with 1:53 to play.
Watching the second half only reinforces my pick: Spurs in six. The Jazz played flawed teams in Houston and Golden State to get to the conference finals. Now they get the NBA's best. What's the shame in losing to the eventual world champions?
PS: It's going to be fun watching Derek Fisher return to San Antonio in the playoffs for the first time since he broke the Spurs hearts with his "point-four" jumper in the 2004 Western Conference semifinals.
--Ross Siler
Starting after Shawn Marion tipped in a miss to make it 59-58 Phoenix with 6:49 left, the Spurs closed out the third on a 23-8 run. They built a 20-point lead in less than 10 minutes. If the 12 minutes after that basket counted as quarter, the Spurs won it 36-21.
What did we learn about the Spurs? For starters, sending double-teams Tim Duncan's direction seems like a bad idea. The Spurs got any shot they wanted when the Suns rushed a second defender at Duncan when he got the ball inside.
Manu Ginobili and Bruce Bowen both knocked down three-pointers on possessions where Duncan was doubled. Carlos Boozer, Paul Millsap and Jarron Collins are going to have to handle Duncan on their own, otherwise the Jazz will be vulnerable.
We learned that Tony Parker has to be denied the ball at all costs. When he takes a step back and gets a running start at the basket, Parker's getting to the rim almost every time. He's that fast, driving and spinning and finishing with 30 points despite going 11 of 27.
The Suns tried to use Marion's length to frustrate Parker. Maybe the Jazz will do the same with Andrei Kirilenko. The Suns tried to save Steve Nash from having to guard Parker by putting him on Bruce Bowen. Might be an option for Deron Williams.
We learned that the Spurs can be a quick-strike team. They came out of a timeout with 5:37 left in the third and stretched a two-point lead to 69-61 in just 39 seconds as Bowen and Ginobili both connected on three-pointers.
It's pretty much a guarantee that the Spurs will be able to find a hot shooter or two out of a cast that features Ginobili, Bowen, Parker Brent Barry and Michael Finley.
Bowen might be the NBA's best defensive player - - Kobe Bryant, for one, thinks so - - but ignore him on offense at your own risk. Bowen scored all eight of his points and made his only three shots of the game in the decisive third quarter.
We learned how frustrating the Spurs can be on defense. They switched to a 3-2 zone once during the third, they forced Leandro Barbosa to take jumpers (missing his last four shots of the quarter) and they drew the curtain on the Nash show.
The Spurs led the league in points differential during the regular season at plus-8.4, which was better even than 67-win Dallas. If you go back to the All-Star break, the Spurs have won 31 of 40 games, counting the playoffs, and are 18-4 at home.
San Antonio held a Denver team that averaged 105.4 points in the regular season to 88.2 in the first round. The Spurs held a Phoenix team that averaged 110.2 in the regular season to 103.6 in the five games Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw played (100.5 overall).
Finally, we learned how important it is to play smart against the Spurs. That means no Raja Bell fouling Ginobili on a corner three-pointer to serve up a chance at a four-point play. That means no Bell carelessly fouling Ginobili to put San Antonio in the bonus with 1:53 to play.
Watching the second half only reinforces my pick: Spurs in six. The Jazz played flawed teams in Houston and Golden State to get to the conference finals. Now they get the NBA's best. What's the shame in losing to the eventual world champions?
PS: It's going to be fun watching Derek Fisher return to San Antonio in the playoffs for the first time since he broke the Spurs hearts with his "point-four" jumper in the 2004 Western Conference semifinals.
--Ross Siler
11:38 PM
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6 Comments:
Carlos Boozer, Paul Millsap and Jarron Collins are going to have to handle Duncan - SPURS win in 4
I think it's stupid to say that the Jazz don't have a shot on the Championship, I think that Fisher and Deron williams will handle Parker well, Suns didn't defend Parker, he shots when ever he wants where ever he wants, I don't think that will be the case with Utah Jazz. This series will be so phyiscal, and the Jazz players welcome that, not like the suns players crying out loud.
it will be interesting, and I think it will be Jazz in 6.
This is going to be a tough physical series. Sloan is an excellent coach who will make adjustments as the series goes on, unlike D'Antoni. If anything it was the Suns inability to adjust to the Spurs style of play that ultimately doomed them. Both teams can run or play half court. It eill probably come down to the intagibles - bench scoring and who gets hot and when. good to see AK back from MIA. I always liked his game and Deron has really developed this year. Great draft choice Jazz! Boozer finally paid off for you. Going to be agreat series but I predict the Spurs in 6
That Raja Bell reach wasn't as dumb as you're making it out to be. You don't come back against the Spurs without playing aggressive defense, and it's not like they were down by 3 when he made that play, it was 6 or 7 with two minutes left. Should he have just let the clock run out? Ginobli was more than willing to make them wait until 1:30 to go for a shot. It was ticcy-tac anyway, Bowen was getting away with a lot more on Nash.
All that playoff experience plus one of the greatest players ever equals a foregone conclusion, I'm afraid. It would have to be considered one of the biggest upsets of all time if the Jazz came out of this one alive.
My fondest hope for this series is that the Jazz come away with the confidence that they are right there, right on the verge of being championship-calibre.
good evening everyone, although i am a spurs fan for live i do expect this to be a very interesting series. may the best team win..
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