We Don’t Need No Water
Tyson Chandler (photo. Brandon Sullivan)Just when you were about to face facts and admit the Hornets weren’t ready to beat the Spurs in the postseason, Chris Paul found his game and led N.O. on a 13-0 run to grab the lead in the second half, then guided the Hornets the rest of the way in what turned into a blowout Game 1 win … The first half was — and we’ve probably never said this before — The Bruce Bowen Show. After he hit his first three of the game, the announcers noted that he didn’t hit one in the entire Phoenix series when he averaged just 0.8 points per game. Next thing you know, Bowen couldn’t miss; he hit four more triples and went into the locker room with 17 points. Bowen was getting and-ones, went to the rack a few times, and we saw him shoot free throws for what felt like the first time ever. It got to the point where San Antonio was running plays to get Bowen his corner three, setting weak-side screens on whoever was guarding him so that when the ball got kicked around to the corner, Bowen’s man had to fight through one of the Spurs’ bigs to get out on the shot … But then the second half belonged to CP (17 pts, 13 asts, 4 stls), Peja (22 pts) and David West (30 pts, 9 rebs). We thought that if any team could find a way to not let West kill them on wide-open mid-range jumpers it would be San Antonio, but apparently the man is just unstoppable. Sometime this summer, the NBA’s other 29 coaches need to hold a clandestine meeting under Byron Scott’s nose and try to get this thing figured out … Scott has reportedly enlisted Melvin Ely to work with Tyson Chandler every day on how to guard Tim Duncan, since Ely played with the Spurs last year and theoretically knows Duncan’s tendencies. Timeout. While Chandler (10 pts, 15 rebs, 3 blks) did an amazing job on Duncan yesterday, holding him to 5 points on 1-for-9 shooting, we wouldn’t go so far as to credit Ely for that. Duncan has been been relentlessly killing the League’s best centers and power forwards for 11 years; and now Melvin Ely’s half-a-season of getting murdered in practice is supposed to make him the expert on how to stop him? Right … Not a good look for whoever plans the Hornets’ gameday atmosphere stuff when the between-quarters entertainment (mascot dunking through a ring of fire) got out of hand and required several fire extinguishers. That led to a bunch of talcum powder-ish stuff being all over the court, which caused a 20-minute delay before the teams could start the second quarter. If you listened to the game on ESPN Radio you might have heard color commentator Will Perdue displaying his expertise on fire extinguishers; it turns out Will’s dad used to collect them … Despite being routed in Game 1 at Detroit, the Magic have no reason to panic. All they have to do is bottle whatever it was they had in the first half — when they played the Pistons pretty evenly and at times looked like the superior team — and keep playing like that throughout the series. (Besides, the Hawks got smoked in their first two road games this postseason, and look where they are today.) … For the first 24 minutes, Orlando was good money. Rashard Lewis (18 pts) was presenting an obvious matchup problem for Detroit, Stan Van Gundy threw a variety of defenders at Rip Hamilton so that no one guy would get too worn out running that marathon, and Dwight Howard was manufacturing points in the paint; he ended the first quarter with a monster dunk and a rejection where he got about 12 feet in the air and spiked Tayshaun Prince’s shot … The second half was a disaster. Dwight (12 pts, 8 rebs) hurt his thumb in the third quarter and wasn’t himself the rest of the night, and the Pistons went on a 19-3 run to shut the door while Chauncey Billups (19 pts, 7 asts) and Rip (17 pts) picked the defense apart … Funny moment in garbage time when Keyon Dooling spun off of Rodney Stuckey and bumped into his own teammate while trying to shoot, but the refs called a foul on Stuckey as the entire Pistons bench went ballistic … On that note, are the Pistons starters in some kind of contest to see who can most creatively use a towel? The next time they’re blowing someone out, check out Chauncey and Rasheed on the bench making terry cloth hats and towel-scarves … Not that there’s anything wrong with Orlando’s current uniforms, but they have to break out the black pinstriped joints at least once this postseason, right? … Side note: Dwight Howard has a younger brother, Jahaziel Howard, who was a standout player at Dwight’s alma mater Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, and last we heard was going to play college ball at Oral Roberts. We found out yesterday that Jahaziel, a 6-4 guard, transferred to Central Florida (which is in Orlando) a while ago and will be eligible next season. We can only assume he eschewed the dorm life and is living in Dwight’s guest house … We’re out like setting your arena on fire …
May 4th, 2008 at 1:10 am
bill says:
yeah about time I made it 1st
May 4th, 2008 at 1:11 am
bill says:
now to wrap up second,
Go Hawks and Hornets!
May 4th, 2008 at 1:11 am
arturo says:
Numero Uno
May 4th, 2008 at 1:14 am
bill says:
and I would LOVE to see Bowen getting all the shots. Not knocking Bruce but would prefer him to beat the hornets than Duncan, Manu and Parker!
May 4th, 2008 at 1:15 am
OGN says:
CP3 doin his thing aka killing everybody….Hawks about to “Shock the world”
May 4th, 2008 at 1:17 am
Chosen says:
On a postseason low for duncan the broadcasters excused his poor performance on him being emotionaly drained after the suns series. Has excuting/winning postseason or not jaded the spurs veteran team of getting hyped? COY scott thinks veteran are overrated, which could even be considered a silent shot in pops direction. So this postseason seems to be falling the way of momentum, we’ll see who steps up for the east if boston crumbles and lakers make it
May 4th, 2008 at 2:15 am
word says:
god damn david west. guess he really showing people he is a superstar. duncan is crying in tony parkers arms tonight
May 4th, 2008 at 2:18 am
bill says:
adam west > than David West?
May 4th, 2008 at 2:41 am
Three Stacks says:
New Orleans played really good D tonight, did a tremendous job guarding the pick and roll and minimizing Parker’s penetration.
I like Biscotti’s philosophy: take the ball outta Duncan’s hands. The Spurs were hitting their 3’s tonight (like Bowen and Ginobili in the first half), but there’s no way any player can ever keep up such a torrid pace from outside. The Spurs sometimes have a tendency to live and die by the 3, and it hurt them tonight when they went a bit cold in the second half.
Shoutout to Ralph Wiley for the COY’s nickname. Remember Ralph Wiley? What a great journalist. RIP, R-Dub. Just wondering, who are some your favorite sports journalists, Dime?
May 4th, 2008 at 2:52 am
Bobby B says:
Props to Team Dime for covering all aspects of the playoffs; I can’t believe somebody at Dime listens to the ESPN Radio broadcast of games.
Also, Dwight Howard’s bro may have transferred because of the scandal that has rocked ORU. It’s not a good look when the former president was spending school funds on shopping sprees, home improvements, and a stable of horses for his daughters. Also, the school was about $50M in debt until some billionaire recently donated a bunch of money to the school.
May 4th, 2008 at 3:54 am
jamesinva says:
I dont see the Spurs losing Game 2
May 4th, 2008 at 4:07 am
Jerry says:
Can someone please do a flagrant-2 on Pop for the hack-a-whoever strategy? It kills me everytime i see that crap. Chandler hitting his free throws fortunately will put an end to it. Being a Laker fan there was nothing more painful than watching Shaq try to hit those free throws (he’s still the greatest for the dunks, oh yeah and championships). I could feel for Heat and Suns fans when they had to endure those painful moments. I always thought: well he’s your problem now, been there
May 4th, 2008 at 4:26 am
What is this!? says:
Hornets did a good job tonight, but they still ain’t beating the Spurs in this series.
May 4th, 2008 at 5:23 am
imung lolo upaw says:
@jerry- that hack-a-whoever strategy is shit!!! i mean shouldn’t they give like free throws plus possession for that??? especially if the player they are fouling is not holding the ball?? how could that be treated like an ordinary foul??
May 4th, 2008 at 5:43 am
Andy Owens says:
Anyone with any video links with the Pistons players doing their towel thang?
May 4th, 2008 at 6:07 am
nbaroundtable says:
This is going to be a great battle this afternoon, I love game seven’s. Anything can happen.
Kevin Garnett has to step it up for Boston. He killed Atlanta in the post during the regular season, scoring 23ppg on 63% shooting. He’s shot 54% on the season. He’s shooting only 45% now. He’s settling on jump shots. He can tear apart any Atlanta defender on the low block but he hasn’t done it. Time to start.
He’s also averaging his career playoff low for rebounding, snatching only 8.5rpg. Heck as a 20 year old starting small forward he was taking down 9.3rpg over Barkley and Olajuwon. One year in the playoffs he even averaged 18.7, a full 10 rebounds a game more. During his one playoff streak he took down 14.6rpg. KG needs to step up his rebounding. Control the boards, control the game. He’s their best rebounder and the won the league’s rebounding title four years in a row.
So many other things, Boston have to step it up in a hurry.
Three of their four best scorers (Big Three+Rondo) have mismatches every single second on the floor offensively, they can kill Atlanta. All about execution and intelligence now.
So much pressure will be on their heads too. Great game ahead for us today.
May 4th, 2008 at 6:41 am
Jerry says:
@ imung lolo, that’s a good idea, 2 ft’s and possesion, hopefully they ammend the rules for next season.
I mean, come on Pops, just play ball! beat them with your team not BS tactics, is this really befitting of a championship team? Kills the flow of the game not just for the other team but the audience as well. SA fans can’t be honestly all for it.
Big game 7 today, pressure is all on Celtics, if the half time score is still close, then it should be very interesting, will Doc get it right? and will C’s have enuf gas for next round?
Cavs have got to be loving it so far
May 4th, 2008 at 6:51 am
Suciniac says:
I’ve followed Garnett since his rookie season and I don’t ever remember KG doing such a weak job on the glass.It’s not like he’s going against the Spurs bigs and getting outnumbered by Duncan and Thomas.It’s the Hawks!!!!!No, offence to Hawks fan but Horford is the only guy on the Hawks big man rotation who is a good rebounder.
With the plenty of rest(by his standards) in the regular season,I thought KG would beast the mediocre Hawks big and average around 25/12/4 with a block and steal thrown in.In fairness to KG however, the whole Celtics(except Rondo)is playing like it was them who lost in the first round to the Warriors last year.
May 4th, 2008 at 7:07 am
Suciniac says:
@Jerry
So,it’s ok if you foul in late game situations but not cool when you do it mid game?Sure it’s a sort of a wussy tactics,boring and kills the flow of the game but has it occurred to anyone that if Shaq(or whomever) could make their free throws Pop/Spurs would abandon this tactic.
Hey every things fair in war and the Spurs are just attacking the free throw weakness of a team.It’s acceptable if people want opposing teams to beat them from outside or inside….why not at the free throw line?We can say it’s boring all we want but the Suns and Warriors are a “Fun” team but one didn’t make the playoffs and the other never made it to the finals.
May 4th, 2008 at 7:22 am
Austin Burton says:
Coaches are supposed to identify and exploit an opponent’s weaknesses, correct? So what exactly is the problem with the Hack-a-Whoever strategy when all it means is that a coach is exploiting his opponent’s weakness?
I don’t have a problem with it because it’s not like anyone’s breaking a rule. The fouls in question are loose ball fouls, just like an over-the-back or a moving screen. What rule are you doing to make? That you’ll get extra-penalized for committing an intentional loose ball foul? If that’s the case, isn’t every moving screen intentional? Isn’t pretty much every over-the-back intentional? And would you then have to do something about when teams intentionally foul at the end of a game, which happens all the time?
There’s only one way to get rid of the Hack-a-Whoever: MAKE YOUR FREE THROWS. These guys are professional basketball players - part of their job is to get better at the game, and part of that is free throw shooting. Steve Nash and Reggie Miller didn’t come out of the womb shooting 90% from the line, they worked their asses off at it. Is it too much to ask for someone like Shaq or Dwight or Chandler to make 70% of their free throws?
May 4th, 2008 at 7:31 am
sans says:
As an official, one of my favorite on-court incidents are same-team fouls. It’s great telling a coach to shut his mouth his stumbling-ass 4 just took out his shooter. Kids knocking each other over, causing turnovers–great moments in life. Also, the L should call INTENTIONAL fouls as INTENTIONAL fouls. 2 shots and ball back at the point of incident. It mucks up the game horrifically to let it going on. And T up flops. I was asked not to, literally, by an assigner friend of mine, for an AAU tourney, after Ting a girl for flopping with about two feet of space between her and the offensive player. I blame Manu. And Vlade. But mostly Manu, because none of these kids have any idea who Vlade Divac was nowadays.
May 4th, 2008 at 7:39 am
Austin Burton says:
Rather than calling techs on flops, how about just not blowing the whistle at all? If guys aren’t getting calls for flopping eventually they’ll stop doing it.
May 4th, 2008 at 7:56 am
Suciniac says:
Interesting idea..calling techs on flops.Would be same as Soccer players who flop but it would create problems when it’s a close call on a charging/block foul.Although I do agree on Ting up a player when he blatantly flops.
May 4th, 2008 at 7:57 am
for real says:
Duncan has 1 bad game a year.
that was it.
watch out
May 4th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Three Stacks says:
They amended the Hack-a-Whoever rules a few years back, making it illegal to do it in the last two minutes of the 4th quarter. You get a free throw + possession, I think.
It just makes no sense that they put it in there for only the 4th quarter. Either make it for all 4 quarters, or get rid of the rule.
And they should totally make a penalty for flopping. Maybe not free throws or possession, but that the player who flopped isn’t allowed to play in the game for 2 minutes. Imagine if the consequences were that you had to replaced by a scrub in crunchtime. No one would EVER flop.
May 4th, 2008 at 8:08 am
for real says:
and thank you AB for post #20.
I couldn’t agree more
May 4th, 2008 at 8:14 am
Jerry says:
@ Suciniac, Austin: fouling late in the game is fine to stop the clock, but you have to foul the guy with the ball. This is fouling the guy without the ball. I know there’s so many great reasons to use a hack tactic, i just feel that it sucks and hate seeing it. I know i’d hate my own team to use such a way to gain an advantage or win a game, no matter how much it would benefit, my own opinion but surely shared by others.
Of course i totally agree that players need to make their free throws, Shaq had it sorta figured out ONE season, some coach with a camera helped him out. But ever since then it’s been downhill, you’re lucky if he hits 1 out of 2. 2 out of 2 u might as well have hit the lottery. So yeah, it’s his own fault that he gets taken advantage of this way, you’d figure 16 years in the NBA he would’ve figured something out by now instead of embarassing himself over and over again. Still, not what i’d like to watch during a game, i really do feel that fouling someone away from the ball isn’t basketball.
Oh hey ref look look i’m hugging him! fweep!
yuck
May 4th, 2008 at 8:15 am
for real says:
the only way to stop flopping is how it is dealt with now.
If you flop (and it’s not called), your man has a wide open look at a jumper. Knock that down and the defender will stop floppin’.
The refs need to go to Floppin’ Skool this summer…..with your professor Manu Ginobil and Special Consultant Vlade Divac.
May 4th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Borgs says:
Yes!!! The goal of my life (or at least the past few years) has been to make the 29th post on Dime. I did it! Brilliant! bill - you’re really a willy. I cast the likes of you in the same well as spam-mailers. Don’t think a smiling emoticon provides your immunity.
Assessing flops as they happen on the floor DOES NOT WORK! sans, clearly the girl you penalised wasn’t a good flopper, as the very nature of the act is to deceive the man/woman with the whistle. It’s now, sadly, a part of the game. Just like it has been a part of football for decades, to a differing degree.
And, as long as it’s been an epidemic in football, it’s still nowhere near completely eradicated. Football referees do sanction the odd dive by dispensing yellow cards, but it’s still a risky proposition for the ref because of the inference cast on the player by the wrong call. Therefore, they routinely err on the side of caution. The only way to reprimand the perpetrators of the flop is to retroactively suspend or fine by video analysis.
May 4th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Borgs says:
Proponents of outlawing the Hack-a-Shaq strategy - I’m with you. And while we’re at it, why don’t we organise a multi-million-dollar lottery for which only billionaires can hold the tickets? Because, like you, I feel the need to nanny $20,000,000 per annum professionals to protect them from the public embarrassment of several consecutive bricks from the free-throw line and a likely losing situation. The poor fellows.
May 4th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Jerry says:
Borgs, you don’t understand, their embarassment doesn’t necessarily mean i’m entertained, for me it’s entirely self-serving.
May 4th, 2008 at 8:59 am
djKianoosh says:
wow, can I say David West is a monster? dude was unstoppable last night. is this the case of the spurs picking their poison between Paul and West? Also, Spurs were getting outrebounded all over the place last night. Not to mention how well they defended Duncan. Great work by NO and great win.
Those of you thinking Spurs have nothing to worry about are fooling yourselves. This Hornets team is for real. I’ve seen a lot of Spurs games, and few to none where Duncan was this out of it and an opposing big that dominant for the entire game. It will be interesting to see the Spurs adjustment on West.
Once Paul gets some range on his jumper, forget about it. If you thought he was MVP this year, man he’ll be divinely ordained once he learns to shoot from outside…
May 4th, 2008 at 9:19 am
aj says:
@ AB
Will you make a blog entry on your feelings towards the hack-a-crap-shooter (which is no different than leaving a PG who can’t shoot a three open at the three point line and sagging off) and the flopping you mentioned as well where it’s simply a charge, block, or no foul?
Set some of these fools talking nonsense straight!!!
May 4th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Suciniac says:
@Jerry
This is kinda cheesy but as they say in accordance to drugs,tiger skins and other illegal products,”When the buying stops,so does the killing”.Same thing with Hack a Shaq…….as Austin said if Shaq could hit even 70% of his FT, we wouldn’t be even talking about this right now.You don’t see many Hack a Duncan tactic.
As for the off the ball foul.Remember in the Rockets/Jazz series, Bobby Jackson’s 3 was waved off in a crucial time in fourth quarter because of an off the ball foul on Scola.Things like that happen all the time and clearly can go either teams way, besides if it’s not violating the rules how can you blame the Spurs.Anyway the Spurs are about winning and they’ll do whatever it takes despite what people say about their style of play.
May 4th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Prof. TX says:
I agree that free throws are part of the game, but they aren’t the only part of the game. Why not just do away with dribbling, passing, 3point shots, all defense, and just line teams up to have a big free throw contest? That’s what Popovich is essentially doing, and it makes it hard not to change the channel and just check back to see how the overpaid game of HORSE is going.
It’s not entertaining, and these guys are just paid entertainers, right? Their job is to make people want to watch their games. How many people would watch the Super Bowl if it was just turned into a field goal contest, or if the home run derby replaced the World Series? One dimensional games are not good television, and that might be what gets Stern moving on a rules change: ratings concerns.
May 4th, 2008 at 9:48 am
aj says:
They’re not one-dimensional games. How many possessions are there a quarter and you’re complaining about 2-4 each quarter? Why not complain about the missed freebies, or the ill-advised threes that are jacked or any number of other things.
People are trying to turn the NBA into 1st grade soccer games where the score doesn’t count as long as no ones feelings are hurt. Put in a little practice and make your dang gimmies.
May 4th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Suciniac says:
If you want entertainment there’s the regular season and all-star weekends plus numerous variations of street-ball.It’s not like Spurs won championship after championships just by fouling opposing teams worse FT shooters.It’s just this series Pop shamelessly exploited Shaq’s arrogance regarding FT’s(I will make them when I have to….yeah right).Granted it’s sort of a unmanly tactic to use but hey if there’s something on the opposing teams weakness that can be used to your advantage…..why not???
And no the NBA is not the WWE,Athletes are paid to win not to entertain.If entertainment is the main criteria we would be seeing much more than Skip to my lou representing street ball.
May 4th, 2008 at 9:51 am
girlybballluver says:
I knew SA would lose game one. Now the beast is awake…watch out!! Duncan will NOT have another game like that one. (No mention of him and Tyson getting into it, after that ridiculous flopping act CP3 pulled on Bowen in front of the ref?)
Lakers over the Jazz tonight…as the men in green fight for their lives.
May 4th, 2008 at 10:27 am
rangerjohn says:
i am not going to knock the hornets for their win but i am not going to give them a ton of credit just yet either. 1st half the spurs hwere on (the 20 minute delay i didnt hear dime mention either, maybe i just missed it) and could hit shots with no hands in theior face easy, 2nd half the spurs could not hit those same shots to save their life. they seamed to be in a hurry on every shot, oberto missed a layup on a “hurry” and he didnt even touch the rim while standing right under it. the hornets did an ok job on duncan but i think duncan took himself out more then melvin ely and tyson chandler. (lmao ely knows duncan?? what ever byron scott)
i expect a couple of moves from pop but spurs are going to do to the hornets what they did to the nuggets last year, let them win the 1st then clean them up. parker wasnt scared of anything cp3 can do. pargo gave parker more trouble defensively then paul lmao.
May 4th, 2008 at 10:34 am
SAS Sizzle says:
David West was INCREDIBLE, he swished everything. I thought once he started serving Kurt Thomas and Horry they should have upgraded and put Duncan on him, nope…Oberto? Bad move. He puts up jumpers like nobody is even there, amazing touch. Once he hit the little lefty hook runner you just knew they better watch out.
I too picked SA to lose Game One because of the home atmosphere for the Hornets, now it’s on to what they do best - making adjustments. I think you’ll see Duncan guard West more along with more pick-and-rolls instead of all the low-post feeds. The Spurs would be extremely fortunate to win any game in N’awlins and hope this does not go to Game 7.
May 4th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Philander says:
Hey, wouldn’t “Fire Extinguisher” be a cool ass name for Bruce Bowen? Or any other top notch defender?
May 4th, 2008 at 11:10 am
for real says:
@djk #32
CP3 will get locked down next season by ALL teams - that’s how the league learns and adjusts.
But, having said that, I hope the Spurs learn real quick how to defend his (currently) unstoppable ass
May 4th, 2008 at 11:30 am
nbaroundtable says:
I loved how New Orleans defended Tim Duncan. Constant double teams on the catch down in the post. Hard doubles, forced him to give it up.
San Antonio simply don’t have the shooters to keep up. They’re a distinctly mediocre three point shooting team and it’s been a problem for them all year.
With that in mind taking away Duncan’s post game for three pointers looks the best way to play the odds. Heck San Antonio shot 39% from three last night, well above average for them. It’ll probably get worse from here from three for San An.
Tim Duncan is going to have a very hard time scoring in this series because those double teams aren’t going to stop until the Spurs win 1-2 games on three point shooting alone. Byron Scott won’t allow it. This is how his teams defend top scorers, especially back to basket scorers. Timmy needs to pump his defense and rebounding, that’s how he can control this series, just look like he did against Scott’s Nets in the Finals back in 2003.
May 4th, 2008 at 11:33 am
nbaroundtable says:
Oh that was a huge blunder by Popovich that possibly cost them the game. You simply don’t glue your best shooter to the bench while your star post player is being double teamed like that.
Brent Barry should have been on the floor, the man shoots 43% from three, easily topping the Spurs. The threat of Brent Barry alone creates spacing for others to work with.
Terrible blunder. One he can’t afford to make again if he has plans of winning in this series. He needs his shooters out there to keep up with New Orleans.
May 4th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Yoooooooo says:
Why is everyone talking about the Hawks bigs like they can’t rebound? Horford rebounds like a man and so does Josh Smith, who is an outstanding rebounder. Mike Woodson has clearly made it a point of emphasis to get on the boards and rebound. All of the Hawks frontcouurt players are stronger than Garnett AND jump either just as high or higher. But beyond that they understand positioning, it isn’t a fluke that Garnett isn’t posting high rebound numbers. Theres definitely a reason behind it.
As far as hack-a-whoever. Basketball coaches are strategist. And if that’s a strategy that works, how can u tell them to stop? You can’t make up dumbass rules to alleviate the pressure of free throws. Just make your freethrows guy who makes MILLIONS of DOLLARS to PLAY BASKETBALL
Austin, Im an AAU coach of a real good team. We placed in the top 3 last week in Rhode Island at Providence College for a Hoop Group tourney. Great kids and everything. Look up a couple of our kids for validation on hsssmtv.com: Jameel Grace & David Laury class of 08. We really need a sponsor and weve been a winning program for years its crazy we don’t have a sponsor yet. Any suggestions?
May 4th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
for real says:
If KG is reluctant to go at ZaZa Patchouli Oil in the 1st quarter, what does that say about the Celtics demeanor in general?
That kind of deferment doesn’t bode well for the C’s
May 4th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
rangerjohn says:
man nbaroundtable you need to go do some more research, spurs shoot 37% for the regualr season so how is 39% “well above their average”? considering the best for the season was 39% by the suns and raps both i would say 39% is not to bad and 37% is not far below that. the biggest 3 point problem, they took to many, the hornets shot 40% from 3 (isnt that pejas nich?) 4 of 10. the spurs just need to attack the rim and stop the 3 balls.
pop didnt put in barry because his defense is, well, suspect and who was he going to slow down? i would think pop knows what he is doing, duncan will bouce back, barry might make it in the game, the only questionmark i had was why did udoka not get any time? he plays very good D and can hit 3s on occasion.
May 4th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
K Dizzle says:
@ post 42, please calm down. Nobody’s doin anythin to Chris Paul. League’s adjusted so well to “shuttin down” Kobe, Bron, Wade, Amare, etc, etc, etc. There are no adjustments made on great players and there’s no stopping Chris Paul short of injury.
Once again, Spurs apologists never cease to amaze.I don’t give a damn about the Spurs or the Hornets, but i do care about the game of basketball. It’s all Lakers, all the time, but anybody know the last time a team fouled off the ball as much as the spurs?
This is embarrassin and a great sign of desperation. Game 1 they already pull this junk?
Now y’all know why a question like why do people hate the spurs get a million posts. We got too many people makin excuses and talkin this “just make your free throws” junk. Please cut the ish. How about play some defense and stop somebody? Spurs aren’t winning the chip cuz they gutless.You can’t even look a dude in the eye when you wrappin them up at their own free throw line. What that says is, ” We know we can’t stop you so we’re just gonna hope you not hittin the free throws today. Yeah, I’m a bytch, but coach thinks this is our best chance to win “. Please. You can’t pull that junk on detroit or boston or even the lakers/jazz IF you get past NO. No entertainment value, no flow, too old to stop anybody so now they resorted to this gimmick junk.spurs costin the l some fans right now. There’s a reason nobody’s emulatin this crap. Teams would rather win with some self-respect. New Orleans needs to hurry up and put this desperate ass team away
May 4th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
rangerjohn says:
lmao spurs cant stop anyone? this is why they where in the top 3 all year in defense %, and points allowed? come on the lakers love spewing is a joke. last i checked kobe was a great player who likes takin little girls from behind, and that is why i for one will never root for kobe. the man has no class, he just has a great pr team.
and yes if a player hits his freethrows then teams would not foul them. the spurs fouled chandler 1 time, he hit his shots and the spurs never did it again. man i love all the people who talk smack about the spurs doing something and they dont even bother to go look up some stats or anything. spurs only fouled 1 more time then the hornets. last i checked shaq doesnt need to worry about being fouled for a few months too.
May 4th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
nsanders says:
zaza is gaaaarbaaaage
May 4th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
JoeGym says:
Parker still had 23/5/5 but West was the unstoppable Hornet last nite. For all the Paul love, he really only scored after the game was over late w/a 12 pt lead.
The Spurs bigs have to keep a body on the Hornets bigs both rolling to the hoop after a pick to cut off the lob & to rebound. Only 2 Spurs made shots after halftime last nite & while West, Peja & Bonzi made them pay.
Anyone see Pop’s face after Stoudemire got up in the air & threw the ball right to CP…I thought Pop was gonna call a TO to take him out of the game right there w/:45 sec left.
May 4th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
K Dizzle says:
oh no. An attack on Kobe that has nuthin to do with basketball.
Desperate team…desperate fans.
May 4th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Austin Burton says:
@KDizzle — You sound like the fan of a team that’s worried about San Antonio. Go ask Steve Nash if they can’t stop anyone. Or ask LeBron. Or Carlos Boozer. Or Carmelo. All of them have been sent home in the postseason because their teams were shut down by San Antonio. And like someone said, you act like they Hack-a-Whoever all game long. They do it for a few possessions per half. And, guess what? The Spurs didn’t invent the idea; I think it was Rick Adelman in Sacramento who started doing it when Shaq was in L.A., or it might have been Larry Bird in Indiana. Also like someone said, it’s no different than letting a weak-shooting guard have open space at the three-point line, or giving a weak-shooting forward an open 15-footer if you know he can’t make it. Quit whining about it. And you talk about manly? I think four championship rings on one hand looks pretty manly.
May 4th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Austin Burton says:
That started out being directed at one person, but I started addressing earlier posts as I went on. Don’t think that was all at you, KDizzle.
May 4th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
rangerjohn says:
hey well said austin
yes fizzle i made a personal attack at kobe, not out of desperation, but more out of dislike. i dont like him, never have, i think he has made bad choices and has been the biggest hypocrit in the game. thee is no denying he is one of the greatest ever and arguably the best PLAYER in the game today BUT that doesnt make him a good person. i find it so funny how lakers fans easily forget the things he has done and said in his carreer both basketball and none basketball related.
now back to the mater at hand, spurs will make the ajustments needed, and that is all that maters.
how about the hawks and their season coming to an end in such an anticlimatic way. celtics showed why they had 66 wins this season in this game. how about the NASTY slam on rondo, kid got up and kept on playing like a man.
May 4th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Joe says:
@ AB post 20
I must respectfully disagree with your post. Over the back is not intentional, they are trying to go for the ball. Moving screens are not intentional, they are trying to pick the defensive player. On the other hand, running down a player 40ft from the ball, wrapping your arms around him, and yelling to the refs ” I’m fouling him! Hey, I’m fouling this guy over here!” That would seem to be the textbook definition of an intentional foul.
May 4th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Austin Burton says:
All three fouls — over the back, moving screen, Hack-a-Shaq — are intentional. The only difference is that on the first two you’re hoping to get away with it, whereas on the third you want the ref to see you. You don’t think when Reggie Evans goes up for a rebound that he can’t see the guy who’s back he’s going over? You don’t think Kurt Thomas knows he’s moving his feet on a screen? Give them more credit than that.
May 4th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Ian says:
lol kdizzle
u r the one that sounds desperate
May 4th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Oscarisalakerfan says:
GO LAKERS WOOOOOOOO
May 4th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
K Dizzle says:
Austin, Ranger, Ian
Support your team, cool with me, but if you’re actually for foulin a dude 80 feet away from the hoop because you don’t wanna play defense, that’s embarrassin. If any you guys were playin organized hoops and some opposin player started wrappin up your worst free throw shooter, you’d laugh at him, not your teammate cuz nobody shoots 100% and the wrap up intentional is the ultimate sign of surrender. That’s not basketball.
Ranger, here’s some shock for you. I don’t like Kobe as a person. I’m a Laker fan. I met dude once. Didn’t come across as an a-hole or the nicest guy, just a dude with the world at his feet. i wasn’t happy when we traded Shaq, wasn’t happy DWade wasn’t in the trade, wasn’t happy Kobe pulled bitch against the Suns and didn’t shoot in the 4th quarter, wasn’t happy he was rippin his 19 yr old teammate to some dudes with a camera phone, but I support the team. I been there since Magic, Worthy, Kareem, Coop. Lakers are bigger than Kobe. I was there durin the Ceballos years. I own 17 Laker jerseys. kobe ain’t one. I appreciate you don’t like dude, that’s cool, but that whole colorado fiasco was more than just kobe.
Ian - Not desperate. Annoyed and disgusted.I wanna see hoops. U guys keep sayin your team plays defense, how you guys come out here and defend this heartless intentional foul gimmick? trust me, if the Lakers pulled that junk, I wouldn’t be happy about it either. It won’t happen to my Lakers cuz they can all make free throws so we’ll see what the strategy is.
Austin - over the back is not an intentional foul. If I go for the ball and I outjump you and get the rock and the ref calls me on an foul, then you got lucky. Noone’s tryin to waste a foul climbin a back, you tryin to get the rock
Lakers 1 - jazz 0, 3 to go
May 4th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Austin Burton says:
So it’s still considered basketball to wrap up a guy and foul at the end of a close game, but not in quarters 1-3?
May 4th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Austin Burton says:
And about the over-the-back, that’s like saying MJ was “just trying to get his shot off” when he shoved Byron Russell out of the way in the ‘98 Finals. He knew what he was doing, he just hoped the refs wouldn’t call it. When you go up for a rebound and you see that you’re jumping over someone’s back, you know what you’re doing, you just hope the ref doesn’t call you for it.
May 4th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Oscarisalakerfan says:
lakers in 6……….sike just playing i wont make any predictions because its pointless to make them
May 4th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
rangerjohn says:
fizzle
i apreciate you dislikeing kobe and all your team support, that great for you, and while there was more to the colorado thing, he was still the largest and center focus of the entire thing. he would have to buy me more then a $4,000,000 ring to buy my affection. the guy raped a 19 yr old or not he still cheated on his wife with a kid. he still tried to hide it, he still tried to buy the fans and his wife. the guy is a prick. i remember last season he was here in houston and the rockets where blowing his team out, he was not injured was not even hurt a little and with 6 minutes left he got up and walked out on his team not to return.
that to me is more gutless then the spurs fouling off the ball.
i dont think there are very many people who will agree with you on the spurs not having defense. they have been the best defensive team of the last 10 yrs EASY. if pop wants to foul chandler off the ball (the one time he did it backfired and was about 10 feet from the basket so come into the here and now and get out of the suns spurs series) well we are not in any possition to question pops strategy. the guy has 4 rings, a COTY, and a damn good record (best record in any sport in the last 10 yrs)
his winning % in the playoffs is impecable and he is arguably a top 5 coach ever. i think i will stick with him over a guy named after a piece of japanese meat and somebody who is bias against his team regardless of what they do.
May 5th, 2008 at 3:50 am
Jimbo says:
thank the lord that rangerjohbn is a little racist so no one actually reads his drivel.
New Orleans 2008 champs
“As the hearings began, the prosecution accused Bryant’s defense team of attacking Katelyn Faber’s credibility.It was revealed that Faber wore underpants containing another man’s semen and pubic hair to her rape exam the day after the alleged incident.Detective Doug Winters stated that the yellow underwear Faber wore to her rape exam contained sperm from another man, along with Caucasian pubic hair. Bryant’s defense stated that the exam results showed “compelling evidence of innocence.” The accuser was also hospitalized as a “danger to herself” four months before the alleged sexual assault. Lindsey McKinney, who lived with the accuser, said Faber twice tried to kill herself at school by overdosing on sleeping pills. Before the alleged incident, Faber, an aspiring singer, tried out for the television show American Idol with the song “Forgive” by Rebecca Lynn Howard, but failed to advance. Prosecutors dropped the case after spending at least $200,000 preparing for trial after Faber informed them that she was unwilling to testify.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:19 am
rangerjohn says:
yep you got me jimbo i am a racist i hate everyone equally.
i am as racist as everyone else on this board.
what you posted only shows that she was a crazy little white girl who was not good at lieing, that does not change the fact that kobe ADMITEDLY had sex with her. it also doesnt proove that the CRAZY little white girl didnt AGREE then CHANGE HER CRAZY LITTLE MIND. semantics is all we are argueing here and while i can go pull up some notes from any part of any case debated, it doesnt put to rest the guy is a real prick who cheats on his wife, and then spends more money then most people will ever see on a bulshit ring to “make it up to her”
but i guess you lakers fan let him buy you guys back too only you didnt get any expensive ring, you just got a few good games and to this point more let down. (this is not to say they will not win it all this year, who knows they might but there are several other teams who have something to say about that and we will just see)
oh and jimbo, i am glad to see you obviously took the time to read my racist “drivel” or you would have never known what the hell the conversation was about! try again big boy and next time you gonna have to try harder then “rangerjohn is a racist”