Saturday, March 14th, 2009...8:03 pm
The Notebook: Spurs-Rockets, 3-14-09
Tonight’s game in Houston was both a should win and a must win contest. The Spurs came through 88-85. The should win stuff finds its genesis in the Rockets playing the 2nd half of a back to back—their 5th game in 7 days. It was no surprise to see them play in a ragged, haphazard fashion during stretches of the first 24. The must win stuff is all about the standings. The Spurs want to secure the 2nd seed. With this victory, they are now 2.5 games up on Rockets in the Southwest Division. In terms of the postseason, the best case scenario would see the Spurs playing either Denver or Dallas in the 1st round and Houston in the 2nd. If Houston is able to maintain its current 3 seed, this is a likely scenario. With any luck, Utah and NO will finish 4-5, leaving the Lakers with at least the semblance of a Western Conference Semifinals challenge. In fact, some could argue that the Lakers path to the Western Conference Finals would be more difficult than San Antonio’s, if the aforementioned scenario played out. The teams are so tightly clustered, however, that we’ll be waiting until the final night of the regular season to know for sure.
The story of this game was Parker and Duncan’s careful execution during the final minutes. They two players performed magnificently when it counted, looking every bit the savvy, knowing All Star tandem. They played like a couple former Finals MVPs. Simply put, Parker-Duncan out dueled Yao-Artest in the final 5 minutes of the 4th. Ball. Game. From a Spurs perspective, there isn’t much to say here. You’ve seen it before: textbook Parker-Duncan dominance.
For the purposes of this recap, I want to draw your attention to 3 smaller story lines which caught my eye.
- Drew Gooden - When Gooden joined the Spurs, I thought Pop might choose to start him alongside Duncan to mask his defensive shortcomings. But after one game of meaningful run, I think not. Gooden’s line was fine and all, but his presence off the bench transformed the 2nd unit into a potent force. At points Gooden looked lost and maladjusted, but the promise of what he brings-even in these erratic, knock the rust off early moments-was a revelation to me. Offensively, he brings the team’s 2nd best high screen and roll game off the bench. He’s active on the offensive glass. The Spurs can run low post offense through him when Duncan gets a breather. Defensively, his big frame really clogs the lane and is muscle enough to body players like Yao. We’re less than the 20 minutes into Gooden’s sojourn as a Spur and I’m already convinced. He fits the part, and then some.
- Ime Udoka/Bruce Bowen - Ime Udoka’s strong play of late earned him 25 minutes of court time tonight. He responded by playing a gritty, keep me on the court game. And Pop just might. Most fans had written off Udoka a month or two ago. Well, you know what they say about rumors of his demise. The box score will tell you that Bruce Bowen played, but that’s deceiving. Up until the final few seconds, Pop had toe-tagged him with a DNP. It’s too early to pass judgement on this move, or to say whether Pop only leaned heavily on Udoka for this game because of his ability to stand toe to toe with Artest, but I will say one thing. George Hill is Popovich’s No. 1 perimeter defender. I don’t think many of us saw that coming back in October. Or February.
- Michael Finley - How does one say this succinctly? Whooo-hoooo, Michael Finley! Ya! In the past two games, he is 10-13 from the arc. Keep it coming, Mike.
7 Comments
March 14th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
This was not a must win. Rockets can protect home court on their McGradyless streak, but regardless, it was a nice win. Even if Spurs had lost they can still out execute the Rockets in the playoffs. Tony was excellent v
Bad adelman coaching in the final two Rockets posessions, they didn’t do much to run plays.
Rockets will not get past the first round.
March 15th, 2009 at 2:08 am
I agree it was a nice game to watch. Seeing Duncan and Parker executing those plays it seems like they do care enough to win this game. I was comparing it with their performance against the Lakers. The other one was more like business as usual, let’s-tweak-it some-more kind of game.
March 15th, 2009 at 2:49 am
1. Heck yes Drew Gooden is perfect as/for a 2nd unit leader/force!
2. The rhetorical device was clear - this is a must win game. That is, it is a must if the Spurs want more secure footing in the number two spot and home court for two rounds, ChillFAN.
3. Bruce Bowen is on his way out, whether it be this season or in 3 more… but he’s still a great defender. I think Pop is doing his best to preserve Bowen for the playoffs and the future and is simultaneously pumping Hill full of performance-enhancing EXPERIENCE.
March 15th, 2009 at 7:59 am
Getting all the players healthy and adjusted to the system in time for the playoffs is probably the only must for the rest of the season. If we burn out what’s left of Tim to get the 2nd seed, then that isn’t a very enticing situation.
I appreciate this site for its thoughtful approach. I think some ideas get pushed too excitedly (like signing Trevor Ariza) and the tone can be too academic at times, and even misleading (Gooden was “maladjusted”?) but I’m glad you guys are putting in so much dedication.
Spurs fans have a great resource here.
March 15th, 2009 at 11:00 am
I second the praise for Michael Finley. His 3 pt. shooting in March has been freaking ridiculous — .571.
But whither, Matt Bonner? I hope his lack of playing time against the Lakers hasn’t affected his confidence.
March 15th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Hollywood,
Thanks for the compliment.
Two quick disclaimers. First, the only thing I’ve written about Ariza is that I’d favor the Spurs considering him this summer with their MLE money. That’s all. My Ariza commentary doesn’t extend beyond a few sentences in total. I did see that those sentences were picked up on a board, but I think you’ll find that I’ve written very little about him. Almost nothing. And never too excitedly. My use of maladjusted was loose, but the “lost and maladjusted” phrase was an allusion-which seems to have failed miserably-that some of our readers may have caught. Some of my clever moments are better than others… This one fall flat.
March 15th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Thanks for the analysis, Tim. Sorry that didn’t come through in my post.
McShane, great points, especially about Hill. I totally agree that the smoother the path in the playoffs the better. I simply disagree with “must win” language at this point in the season, in an away game against a playoff caliber team, that we will see again in a week. Its both an unrealistic and an unecessary expectation. As Tim argues, its not even clear if the Spurs would be better off facing the Lakers in Round 2 (avoiding accumulating wear-and-tear) OR later (needing time to gel).
Minnesota game at home on the end of back-to-back is a more important game. Lose that one, and others will start to question our stamina to even PLAY in sixteen playoff games, much less win sixteen.
We need “must-stay-healthy” games, not “must win” thinking.
Leave a Reply