The Real Defensive Stopper in the Lakers/Spurs Series
Kobe’s going to get his. Whether Gregg Popovich sicks the esteemed Bruce Bowen or Ime “Young Bruce” Udoka on Kobe, he’s not going to be slowed down. Mamba looks too fierce to be really neutralized by anyone right now. Neither Bruce nor his protege will totally shut Kobe down.
But in game one, we watched as a different three-point artist demonstrated a defensive savvy we hadn’t seen before. Sasha Vujacic, who’d been known by everyone outside of L.A. as that guy who wears the headband of a female soccer player, got under Manu Ginobili’s jersey and forced him into a miserable 3-13 night for 10 points.
“No matter who the opponent is, no matter who we’re playing, he finds a way to get under their skin,” Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw said. “He’s the kind of player that you’re happy he’s on your team and not the other team. If he’s on the other team, you probably want to beat him up because of his tactics. But they’re effective. We just call it the `Sasha Factor’ we have on our side.”
Sounds a whole lot like Bowen, right? Well in many ways, that’s been Sasha’s goal. He morphed from a pure perimeter shooter who rarely got his hands dirty on D into an occasionally dirty, and always “annoying” defensive standout. At least that’s what Jordan Farmar called him to ESPN’s Shelley Smith.
“(Coach) Phil (Jackson) told me that was my mission,” Vujacic said. “And I like that challenge. It’s important to me, because defense was the main reason I didn’t play my rookie year, so I’ve really worked on it.”
Vujacic could really solidify himself as an invaluable piece to a championship puzzle if he can keep the clamps on Ginobili tonight.
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Scott says:
Makes sense, he did get elbowed in the throat by Melo this year on what looked like a random elbowing from Melo, apparently he was under Melo’s skin, I remember Sasha get roughed up by someone else too, but I can’t recall who it was.
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Jerry says:
Phear the Machine
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Oscarisalakerfan says:
THE MACHINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:47 pm
karizmatic says:
Yeah I noticed Ginobili seemed really irritated by Sasha’s defense.
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:50 pm
yoda says:
well, the machine is doing that whole year. going body-to-body defense and almost going under shirt of opponent. then he provokes that “rage against the machine” on other side ( like when melo tried to choke him while ago).
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:02 pm
PALakerFan says:
Manu caught him with an elbow in Game 1. Go Sasha!
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:04 pm
DO says:
you can expect plenty of flopping from ginobli in game 2.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Blue says:
he pissed off chris paul something fierce when they played late this season.
i disliked sasha last year mostly because he pretty much sucked, now i can’t stand him even more cuz he got better.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:09 pm
rangerjohn says:
hmmm is his d that good or was manu just very tired? a fresh manu and sasha aint got nothing for him. the question is are we ever going to find out for sure this series considering hte schedule?
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Lady Luck says:
Bowen stuck him with a pretty good elbow in game 1 also. Sasha has been doing this all season. I love when he comes in. He aggravates on D and sticks 3’s on Offense.
One of the reasons that Phil is an exceptional coach is because he really develops his young players and his bench throughout the season. There are times when he will play bench guys in very crucial times and this always pays off in the playoffs. Year after year. Pop also does an outstanding job of this. This year, Flip did this too and now look at guys like Stuckey and Maxiell who get PT in the playoffs because they have been out there and therefore are comfortable and know what to do. The bench, especially in the playoffs, is usually the difference between winning or losing.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:14 pm
rodnets says:
tonight ginobili will toy sasha, like a little barbie doll.
Expect a 30 point night for the King of Flop, last night he overcame a 14 hour delayed flight and the exhausting NO series on his shoulders, today he will score at will.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Mike C says:
Sasha is an underrated on-the-ball defender with a deceptively quick feet. That being said, there’s no doubt that Manu is going to light him up tonight..
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:26 pm
PALakerFan says:
You guys are crazy if you’re expecting big things from Manu tonight. If he gets at all hot, Kobe will cool him down quick. Don’t be surprised if Manu gets abused early on again by Vlad. Manu’s too small to handle him in the post.
I do expect big games from Parker and Duncan though.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:41 pm
JHov says:
I think Sasha figured it out! In the words of the immortal Bill Walton: “Manu Ginobli is left handed and will continue to be so for the remainder of his career”
If you play Manu to his weak hand 80% of the time he will pass..
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:04 pm
rangerjohn says:
people have been trying to stop manu from going left for years now, and sasha figured it out? manu was just really tired (as admited BEFORE the game. i dont expect he will be huge but better. i hope kobe does have to guard manu, thta means kobe has to work at both ends of the floor. the more the spurs can wear on him (and keep the ball out of his hands) the better off they are.
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:16 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
defensive stopper?…sasha vujacic?…i dont think so. lets not get crazy here. that lil bitch still sucks and he cant even stop matt bonner from scoring.
manu is a puss and was clearly TIRED. even if he wasnt tired….shooting 3-13 does NOT make sasha vuj a defensive stopper.
and what the hell kind of stupid as nickname is…’the machine’?
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Capt.Stabbin says:
“the machine” is almost as bad as “tuff juice”…well, not really….
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:26 pm
jz_smoove says:
sasha ‘barbie boy’ vujacic will get pasted in game 2. stopper? haha. machine? hahahahahahaha
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:53 pm
nate says:
Speaking of nicknames, vladimir “the impaler”. i dont know where i got it from but i sure as hell sticks
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Jay says:
Anybody has got to be joking when they say Sasha has good D. Getting under people’s skin is one thing he can do because of his annoying ass, but defense is a different story. Chalk up a 3/13 game by Manu as an off day, not Sasha’s D. LOL at the thought.
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:33 pm
djKianoosh says:
he may have been irritated, but damn, who doesn’t get easily irritated after having little sleep? i just remember that one timeout they had where they showed manu sitting on the bench trying to keep his eyes open listening to Pop draw up a play.
still, i will give sasha some credit, he did seem to want to make dead sure he wasn’t going to be beat by manu going left. he was shading much more than defenders usually do against manu, but that credit also goes to the double team, cause manu couldn’t split the D too much either. it was good team D on a tired guy.
for sure he is NOT in bowen and kobe’s class defensively.
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:05 pm
JHov says:
I wasn’t saying that Sasha belonged on the all-defensive team..all I was saying is you should crowd him on his catches and stick to his left..Ginobli is a very good player! He won’t get shut down but you can let him attack the basket to his strong hand and Sasha was effective! People can’t complain about the schedule either it was already set..the only way you get an advantage is to end your series quick! The C’s should be more tired than any team left in the playoffs because of their two seven games series!
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Lakers Blog says:
Live Blog of Lakers-Spurs Game 2 at http://www.laballtalk.com
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:54 pm
dh says:
sasha has been annoying opponents the last 2 years. sometimes it really affects them and they want to punch sasha and/ or have a bad shooting night. but isn’t that what bowen does?
i really wish more players in the league would hustle as much on defense. AT LEAST HES TRYING OUT THERE (speaking to denver, suns, dallas, golden state, and all most other teams that didn’t make it this far).
May 23rd, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Three Stacks says:
Sasha Vujacic is not by any stretch of the imagination a defensive stopper. However, he is still the best perimeter defender the Lakers have behind Kobe Bryant. It’s not fair to completely credit Sasha for Ginobili’s bad shooting night, but you can’t take away from it either. Ginobili hasn’t had a single good game against the Lakers all year, so that’s gotta count for something.
If you remember from game 1, Vujacic did a pretty good job of funneling Ginobili toward the help on his weak hand, and Manu had to pass the ball away before the double team came more than a couple times.
AND Sasha has become a pretty clutch shooter. I even saw him make a couple layups this year. Lakers fans know, Vujacic always missed his layups. I guess that’s what confidence does for your game.
May 23rd, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Yoooo says:
Three Stacks u forgot the Derek Fisher is their 2nd best perimiter defender? And then Ariza when he’s healthy.
May 23rd, 2008 at 5:50 pm
rangerjohn says:
manu has not had good games all season against the lakers, then again, 1st game he shot 50% for 17 points, 4 reb, 5 assis and 2 steals, 2nd game BAD but he had not duncan or parker, 3rd he shot bad (3-16 for 12 points) but he had 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 8 steals, and he did not play the 4th game.
May 23rd, 2008 at 5:51 pm
JayTea says:
My name for Sasha is White Kobe. You can see it, he wants to be KB24 sooooo bad…Good one yoda “rage against the machine”
Lakers in 7
May 23rd, 2008 at 5:55 pm
MaMba says:
underrated defender…sasha has quick feet and good hands…he gets in your face and annoys the hell out of you…he will play well against Ginobili again!! GO LAKERS!!!!!
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:55 pm
K Dizzle - Get that quarter out yo' ass cuz you played yourself says:
@ Yooooo/ 3 Stacks
Good point on the defense pyramid being Kobe, DFish, then Ariza. Any info on whether dude will be back this playoffs?
May 24th, 2008 at 2:56 am
la maquina says:
hahahahahha. where’s all the motherf-ckers that predicted manu was gonna light up my boy sasha? sasha outscored manu! ahahahha. la maquina es el mejor.
May 24th, 2008 at 5:26 am
yoda says:
@19 about radmanovic: nickname is probably from his original nickname vlad, and vlad draculo aka dracula is also known as the impaler, for impaling turks during war against them. even so, he got that “trick” from turks, while he was captured.
as for sasha, nice job again.