San Antonio Spurs 97, Dallas Mavericks 87: George Hill and Manu Ginobili close out the Mavericks
AT&T CENTER–Given a second shot at a closeout game after their disappointing Game 5 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, the only adjustment needed by the San Antonio Spurs between games was to find the energy and focus they lacked on the road.
“Minds are kind of hard to understand sometimes,” Manu Ginobili said. “We went into Game 5 relaxed and we were on our heels the whole game.”
The only clear and collective thought running through the minds of the San Antonio Spurs was how badly they wanted to avoid a return trip to Dallas and a Game 7. After struggling in each of the past two games, Tim Duncan came out aggressive early, scoring seven first quarter points–hitting banks shots, running hooks and generally scoring in every conceivable way except at the free throw line (1-7). But it was his and his teammates collective defense that set the tone.
At every turn there was a defender bumping a Dallas Maverick off their path to the basket, at every shot attempt one or two defenders looking to contest. The San Antonio Spurs set a franchise playoff record by holding the Dallas Mavericks to eight points in the first quarter on 25 percent shooting.
That the 22-8 advantage proved to be not nearly enough is a testament to why Gregg Popovich did not want to see the Dallas Mavericks in a Game 7.
“I hope we never have to play those guys again, I don’t even want to play them in the regular season,” San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said. “Change the rules or whatever you have to do, they’re a hell of a team. We’re even, nobody’s better than anyone else. The whole Western Conference seems to be that way.”
With Dirk Nowitzki saddled with four first half fouls, the last two coming on momentary lapses of judgement while swiping at George Hill, the Mavericks battled back from what was a 41-19 lead on the play of Caron Butler (25 points, 9-18 shooting) and rookie Rodrigue Beaubois (16 points, 7-13 shooting) to trim the Spurs advantage to a manageable 13 points at the half.
In the third quarter, the Mavericks fared even better and when Dirk Nowitzki–who had 15 points in the third quarter and 33 for the game–hit a three-pointer to give his team a one-point lead it appeared all the momentum was in his favor.
“We had an almost perfect 20 minutes and let up the last four minutes of the first half and they started the third quarter hot, making every shot,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. “We didn’t start the third quarter with the right mental approach but we corrected our mistakes and we were able to run a couple times down the court and that helped us execute a little better on offense.”
Immediately after Nowitzki’s shot put the Mavericks up by one, Ginobili had what can only be described as another Manu moment, hitting a three-pointer to regain the lead. Beaubois then missed a layup which led to a Tim Duncan layup in transition.
The Spurs never trailed again, thanks in part to the play of second-year guard George Hill, who is having a breakout season similar to the one Rajon Rondo enjoyed during the Celtics championship run.
Hill failed to hit a field goal in the first half, scoring four points off of free throws. At the half, Gregg Popovich told his “favorite player” to forget about his teammates and go “get his name in the newspaper.”
Hill got going late in the third quarter, hitting an up-and-under move on Jason Kidd, answering a Mavericks layup withe a pull-up jumper and hitting a free throw to keep the Spurs ahead. Hill then hit two corner threes and all four of his field goal attempts in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of his 21 points.
“You dream about playing in big time games like this that really count and that’s the type of person I am,” George Hill said. “I like to compete, I like the pressure, I like the challenge and things like that.”
A year ago the playoffs were not for George Hill. Now, thanks in large part to Hill, the San Antonio Spurs are heading for the second round.
man I still can’t believe how great we played today! Even with all those missed free throws we still won the game! GO SPURS GO
Ball don’t lie! This team has come together at the right time. Let’s hope they can keep this going!
Whether the Spurs win a 5th championship is in question. However, there is no doubt that from this point onward ,throughout the remainder of these playoffs, the Spurs are once again a serious contender for the championship.
“the Spurs are once again a serious contender for the championship.”
agreed, but if that’s so, there’s basically 3 teams we need to start thinking about how we match up with: LA, cleveland, and orlando.
The suns? not terribly worried.
The series against the suns will be very interesting. If it’s anything like series past, Amare will go nuts with a bunch of 30/20 games but they’ll still go down. We need someone to step up as an enforcer, get them rattled again with a hard foul or two – perfect role for Mahinmi in the 2/3 minutes he might get.
Really need RJ and maybe George Hill to put the clamps on Richardson too, he’s scoring in bunches lately.
This is George Hill’s team now haha
How great is it that the spurs get another chance to take on another rival type team in the playoffs.
Dirk should opt out of his contract and join the spurs. Haha
Hope Popovich doesn’t think that Mason needs to play against the Suns. I hope that Hairston gets activated and gets a chance to play instead of Mason. Hairston should get some of Bogans minutes as well because Hairston can get up and down the floor and attack the rim as well as play good defense.
But I guarantee the Spurs won’t be winning games by holding the Suns under 90 pts. The Suns have too much firepower. 3 of the top 10 3 pt shooters in the NBA play on the Suns. But, they don’t play as good of defense so the Spurs should be able to score easier.
3 days rest until Monday, Go Spurs Go.
This series is perfect for Blair. Suns lack the size that Dallas has. Bonner has had some of his best shooting success against the Suns.
With Hill, you have to cover the corner 3, but if you chase him off of it, he can still hit the shot unlike with Bowen.
You also don’t have the solid defender like Kidd, who was good at swiping at the ball when guys like RJ got to the bucket.
@OliverJ – one thing to add though. Nash can’t hide his defense on Bowen. He’ll have to be matched up with Parker/Hill/RJ.
Spurs beating Mavs is almost better than busting a big n*t.
GREAT WIN! I hate the MAVS, of course they would take the lead after trailing by 22.
Everyone contributed in this series. It was a real team out there. The best thing was the Defense.
I honestly thought that this would be the toughest match up for the SPURS, even over the Lakers.
Now anything can happen.
As far as the SUNS go, just stay on the 3 point shooters. If they’re gonna leave Big ass FRYE wide open hitting threes then its’ going to be tough. They can shoot the three because no one is gaurding them. They aren’t like the MAGIC that can still hit 3s with a man in there face. Stay on FRYE and Dudley and they are non factors.
I think they can pretty much play them like the MAVS. Don’t turn the ball over cover Amare on one, like DIRK. and cover the 3 ball.
Have a stress free weekend everybody. I know I will.
Hill shot 7/8 after missing his first four shots. Impressive.
Phoebus
April 29th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
“The suns? not terribly worried.”
You’re making a mistake to overlook them.
They’re our next opponent. That’s where ALL the focus should be.
lvmainman
April 29th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
“Hope Popovich doesn’t think that Mason needs to play against the Suns. I hope that Hairston gets activated and gets a chance to play instead of Mason. Hairston should get some of Bogans minutes as well because Hairston can get up and down the floor and attack the rim as well as play good defense.”
You’re right about that.
“But I guarantee the Spurs won’t be winning games by holding the Suns under 90 pts.”
Correct. The goal should be < 1oo. We want to score at about our avg. or better, and hold them to 10 points or more under their avg. If we can do a good job controlling the tempo, we should be okay in this regard.
"But, they don’t play as good of defense so the Spurs should be able to score easier."
Actually, that's a bit of a misconception. The Suns are tied with the Spurs for 11th in the NBA in opponent FG%, at 45.2%. And no, you can't look at points per game given up because the Suns are an up tempo team, and led the league in scoring, so of course they're going to give up more points. But they can defend, and opposing FG% is the best marker for that in this case. Plus, their point differential is +4.9; ours is +5.1.
Looked at the 3 matchups vs this year’s Suns, the Spurs never held them under 110 pts in any of the 3 games. We won the one game when Richardson missed the game tying dunk. Spurs got blown out in both games in Phoenix.
Suns have 3 of the top 10 3 pt shooters in the NBA. Suns don’t have lame shooters like Marion, Kidd, and Haywood.
This will not be an easy series.
junierizzle
April 29th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
“I honestly thought that this would be the toughest match up for the SPURS, even over the Lakers. Now anything can happen.”
Have to disagree. LA is our toughest match-up, Mavs the 2nd toughest. The road to the finals still goes through LA.
Of course, the Suns are our most immediate obstacle. If they shoot well, they can be pretty scary, because their “D” is considerably more stingy than in the past. We’ve still got a tough road ahead in the Wild West!
Anthony McDyess also deserves a pat on the back for his staunch defense on Dirk, plus those two timely jumpers in the third period to stymie the Mavs’ uprising. This series has shown why he’s worth his weight in gold.
And while the Suns have lost to the Spurs in the playoffs four straight times, we agree that looking beyond them would be a big mistake, which, fortunately, Pop is not going to make.
We figure that this semis series will also go to six games – in San Antonio’s favor, of course.
lvmainman
April 30th, 2010 at 12:20 am
“Looked at the 3 matchups vs this year’s Suns, the Spurs never held them under 110 pts in any of the 3 games.”
“This will not be an easy series.”
I agree. Just remember, our team defense has reached another level since we last played the Suns. It has just recently come close to peaking against the Mavs. Dice is an entirely different defensive player than he was during the regular season. He must have been saving his old legs! The rest of the team has upped their “D” a notch as well.
Also, in our last game against the Suns, on 4/7, when we gave up 112 pts. in a loss: it was the 2nd of a back-to-back on the road, TP was in just his 2nd game back after breaking his hand, we shot 24% from three, and had 18 turnovers, which totally fed the Suns transition game. In contrast, we had 8 turnovers tonight, holding Dallas to 87. With 8-10 turnovers against the Suns, we should be able to hold them to 97. That’s doable, and it’s what we should shoot for in every game. It would help if we shot decent, and not TOO frequently from three.
Also, Mavs averaged 97 pts./game against us during the regular season. We held them to 92 pts./game in the playoffs. With the Suns, TEMPO is HUGE. Gotta win that battle.
We are not even close to the same team that played the Suns in the regular season.
If Lopez is not back up to pace they are going to have an out of their mind time trying to matchup with Duncan.
Look the key with the suns as previously mentioned by J.H is the tempo.
If we play dominant half court ball and chase the shooters off the three point line we’ll have a very good chance at this series.
I love how we match up right now though. Blair can be really handy here, no way in the world Frye can handle him in the low post, and he’ll eat him alive on the offensive boards so we can hopefully get Tim some rest.
Bonner actually matchs up here well because he doesn’t have to worry about Frye slashing to the hoop when its’ subs vs subs.
Very very excited. Should be a fun time.
It seems the spurs are destined to always meet phonix on our playoff road, and I wouldnt have it any other way, suns-spurs series are awesome *has Tim’s clutch 3 flashbacks*
Unfortunately i was at work so my only access to the game was the refresh button on my phone. Reading the play by play made it seem like tony parker had perhaps the biggest role in the 4th. He was gettin boards and hittin mid rangers.
All these rookies…Good reading though….
Enjoymnet experienced by eliminating this Mavs team is awsome…Not my favorite group.
As for the game…Entire Spurs team and coaching staff should give George Hill thier game check.
Mcdyess. According to many BB geniouses here at the 48…Dice was a bust. Just came to the Spurs and suddenly forgot how to play. Glad that BS has been cleared up. His defensive effort against Dirk speaks for itself,.
And oh yes, I wouldnt leave without making it clear. Pop almost blew another game. Thanks to the mastermind coach, Spur nation spent most of the game with our Testees jammed up into our stomachs. Bogans made an appearance and I almost passed a stone. Brutal stuff….
Besides, lil Roddy came in and took the Spurs to school. It was certainly the cause of severe pucker factor. Phoenix will be no punk.
Hope Pop comes correct, gets Malik out of street clothes, and pencils Blair in for 20 plus minutes per game in this series. May as well leave Mason at Home. He should be a liilte pooped from all of his effort this season to play himself out of the league.
Rocking Win….
Three words: Dallas, Go Fish.
In the Suns Blazers series Phoenix willed the Blazers to shoot the 3 from above the free-throw line extended – often not even putting a hand up to challenge the shot. Long shots lead to long rebounds and transition offense and easy scores for the suns. The most underrated thing about the corner 3 is the statistical likely-hood a miss will be rebounded somewhere close to the baseline and thus doesn’t play into transition offense as well. We can limit our exposure to the Sun’s transition game by being patient on the ball and scoring in the paint or the corner. I think this is one of the reason’s why we’re had such success against the Suns in the past (along with our ability to stick to a game plan and not get suckered into their tempo).
I am enjoying the warm glow of victory the day after. Feels great to have beaten the Mavs…retribution.
Here is a great article by Adrian W at Yahoo.com.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AsDO3SWhUBXeGXexEgLt_cW8vLYF?slug=aw-mavsspurs043010
DeJuan Bear has a PER of 26+ in his 9 minutes a game in the postseaon good for 7th best in the league. It is Almost all of which is from his ridiculous rebound rates (defensive 25, offensive 28.9). Will he get any burn against the suns?
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/statistics?seasontype=3&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2fhollinger%2fstatistics%3fseasontype%3d3
@Tanjavur good link. I think the commentors (myself included) should pass links along more often than we do. A lot of good Spurs reading out there.
@Ballhog should Ian have played more last night?
Seems like the team was channeling the Spurs of old, as in great defense and horrible free throw shooting. Could have done without the second half of that equation.
I look for RJ, Georgie, and TP to go crazy, scoring in transition in the second round.
@ Grego, I completely agree that Nash will be exposed as a more of a defensive liability than during the past Spurs-Suns series.
Sweet 2nd round, how I missed you last year!
Feels so good to beat the Mavs. Dirk is such a classy individual; as much as I hate playing him, he’s a great competitor and a humble individual. Go Spurs.
Also, while Manu and George Hill carried us (and TP hit some big shots), Timmy’s defense with those blocked shots really helped us. 17pts, 10rbs, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 3 steals. Solid line from TD.
“get his name in the newspaper”
Classic.
As much as we’ve criticized Pop this year, he knows this team better than anyone. He knows how to motivate our guys, knows when to rest them, and knows when to get after them. Even when he kept tinkering and we struggled during the regular season, the team really came together at the right time (albeit slightly later than anyone would have liked). And in the big scheme of things, that’s all that matters – playing our best basketball in the playoffs (kudos to Jim Henderson who touched on this point in an earlier post).
Sure, he’s driven us crazy with all the weird lineups, but all that matters in basketball is the end result. Pretty or ugly, a win is a win.
There isn’t a coach in the game I would rather go to war with.
Jim Henderson,
Actually the Spurs are a much better defensive team than Phoenix. We give up 104.5 points per 100 possesions vs. 110.2 for Phoenix. The problem is they are by far the best offensive team scoring 115.3 per 100. The next best is Atlanta with 111.9. San Antonio scores 110. So our effeciency differential is 5.5, and Phoenix has a differential of 5.1. These are two close teams, with San Antonio having a slight edge and Phoenix having home court advantage. This series worries me.
I do agree with you about the pace. The reason they are so efficient on offense is the way they get out and run. I will not be happy if we start settling for a lot of long jumpers that lead to long rebounds and fast breaks for the Suns. We need to score inside and then get back on D.
@NL
Agreed. I have nothing but respect for Dirk. He’s a classy, gutsy player. Doesn’t make excuses, doesn’t blame the refs, etc. He’ll be the first to take the blame for this loss. I have a ton of respect for him.
This was Hill’s break-out series. He’s practically led the team on the offensive end in two games. That is amazing for a second year guy in such a hard fought series between veteran teams. I think think the guy will be an all star caliber player for his career. And he looks like he’s got that Spurs ice running through his veins. I’m really glad to see that he can be the scorer we wanted RJ to be when RJ has an off night. Actually, he can be the scorer we want Manu, TD, or TP to be when they’re off.
Though this was a great win, I do have a couple of concerns going forward. The smaller concern is that we haven’t seen Tony Parker do the stuff that’s made him great over his career, viz. attack the rim and score layups in the half court. Though he didn’t get too many points, 8 assists, 0 TO’s, 2 stls, and 7 rebounds and all great numbers for him. But I want to see him attacking the rim. His ability to do that was kryptonite to the Suns in 2008. Nash can’t stay in front of him.
The bigger concern is how TD, after having a good first quarter offensively, starting dribbling with his back to Dampier then shooting a tough fade-away. Against big centers, he should be moving more and using his feet. Where’s his drop step? How about a jab step before driving? That got him a bucket on a hookshot close to the net early on. His passing was superb, and he got those three big blocks. But it looked to me like he got tired as the game wore on and started settling for bad shots.
The defense has been great throughout the series. Great rotations, forcing turnovers in crunch time… When we play like that, we can beat anyone. The biggest matchup problems we pose for Phoenix are Duncan and TP. Amare is not a good 1-on-1 low post defender and Nash is bad at defending quick perimeter players. If we can play defense the way we have and get TD and TP going, we should be good.
bduran,
I agree that this should be a close series. However, the numbers you cite don’t reflect a couple of things.
First, matchups. I might be missing something, but I think the matchups favor us. As I said in my previous post, the Suns don’t have a great low post defender (had to double Aldridge in the series vs. Blazers) and if Tony Parker can start attacking the rim like he used to, he’s a match-up nightmare for Nash. The biggest problem for us will be Amare. I expect him to get big numbers. And with all of Phoenix’s 3 point shooters, we don’t want to double him.
Second, Phoenix’s numbers reflect a team that’s been healthy all season. So they reflect the team we’ll be playing. The Spurs’ numbers reflect a team that struggled with injuries, kept its best players to low minutes, and didn’t figure out how to play together. The team currently playing is MUCH better than those numbers, especially defensively. I’ll bet the FG% they held Dallas to in this series was much lower than what they held them to in the regular season.
Spurs should try signing Dirk. It be nice if he would take a huge pay cut and come join us for a Championship run! But that’ll never happen, right?
Great, just great to beat the Mavs. Basking in that is almost good enough.
But not really.
The Suns are unquestionably gonna be tough, but do-able. It’ll be a matter of who wants it more. Which I think would advantage them, because they’ve never had it before, but our unit this year has kept the hungry guys (Ginobili, Duncan, Parker), added a really hungry guy (McDyess), and brought in a bunch of fresh appetites (Hill, Blair, etc.).
This won’t be easy. It will be exciting. In the words of Peter Holt last night, “Go Spurs Go!”
I was hoping to have at least a day of debating Phoenix or Portland, but we’ll take the Suns. Nothing like going through classic rivalries in the playoffs. Dallas, Phoenix, the team from LA not the Clippers.
Phoenix will be tough as some you all have mentioned but if you look at it from the suns point of view, I’ll be tough on them also.
Go Spurs Go!!
Rick Carlisle and a Series of Unfortunate Events
spurs should get some nice rest between now and monday.
cover nash with a combo of hill, parker, and bogans, expose him on the offensive end.
timmy may not have legs to cover amare. hopefully dice can continue his solid low-post defense.
must contain dragic. he is a bigger threat than most think.
hopefully ms. lopez doesn’t return for this series.
GO SPURS!
Apparently after Pop told the team that the next player to miss a free throw would have to buy him a new car, Duncan went up to him and asked, “What color would you like it to be?” Love the casual confidence that the Spurs have.
The Suns are as good a team in the NBA as any. I’m just as worried about this series as I was about the Mavs.
I love hearing commenters say that they were on McDyess’ side the whole year. I don’t recall anyone saying that he was the answer to our Dirk problem. If anything, Jesse, Tim, Andrew and Graydon were the ones telling all of us to be patient with Dyess.
I am not entirely sure that Pop can be blamed for the let down. At least not entirely. Roddy put 40 points up on Golden State at one point this year. He’s an amazing spark plug and I think he’ll probably take JET’s spot as 6th man. I give Pop the benefit of the doubt. I was surprised that Roddy came off the bench with such poise and score so many points.
Pastry pride,
I agree that we are playing better than those numbers since we started playing much better towards the end. Sadly, the Suns also stepped it up at the end. They didn’t have as tough a schedule as us, but I believe they were over +10 for their last 20 games. Of course I’m not saying we can’t win, just that this should be a tough series.
@Tyler. That was good coaching by Popovich. The Spurs really needed George Hill’s aggression in the second half. The guy’s been shooting it real well too. Carlisle couldn’t figure out he needed to play Haywood and Roddy more. Roddy’s like a faster version of Barea that finishes better at the rim.
The second round will be a good series, but I think there is more pressure on the Suns than on us. How many times have we eliminated them? Three or four? How many times have they eliminated us? Zero.
I was on Pop’s case this season about Finley, Bogans, and Bonner, but I think he did a great job in the Mavs series, and he’ll be a genius once again vs the Suns.
Also, three days rest will be great for Timmy’s legs and Manu’s nose.
Go Spurs!
I agree that this series will be very tough. These Phoenix Suns are probably the best version the Spurs have ever seen. With Shaq gone and no huge in season trades, this ballclub has had the benefit of playing together for some time. At the end of the regular season, I thought the Suns were playing the best basketball in the entire west. The Suns ended the season winning 17 of their last 21. Their last 4 losses came against Dallas, Spurs, Lakers, and Utah.
With that said, the Suns have a number of problems with the Spurs, many of which have existed for 5 years or more.
1.) Steve Nash can get torched by whoever he’s guarding.
2.) Front line Size: Without Robin Lopez, the Suns have no true 7 footer. Sure Jarron Collins and Frye are close, but they are far from the frontline trio of Dirk, Damp, and Haywood.
3.) Nash is hurt. He hurt his hip in game 3 and it was really bothering him last night.
4.) Much like the Mavs, the Suns are super reliant upon tempo (I wouldn’t have guessed that about the Mavs heading into that series). If they can be slowed, they are vulnerable.
Keys to the series: (I will probably miss one or two)
1.) Stick it to Nash on the offensive end; make him play defense.
2.) Pound the ball into Duncan. The Suns lack size in that department.
3.) Nash and Stat will probably get theirs, but what about J-Rich? I think he is the key. If he can be stopped, the Spurs have a great chance at this.
4.) Big 3+1; The Spurs need George Hill and RJ to come through. I also think that since Phoenix does not have three 7-footers, Blair will see some more run especially if we put him up against Amundson. Those two would physically kill each other.
5.) Health: No more broken schnozes for Manu and Duncan seems to need a bit of rest. I think Parker and Hill are finally rounding back into shape.
6.) 3 pt defense. We need to chase them off that 3 pt line. They LIVE on those.
I think the Spurs will take this series in 6. You heard it here first. While the Spurs were beating one of the most talented teams in the league, the Suns beat a team that was absolutely decimated by injuries. Brandon Roy was only a shadow of his healthy self. The Spurs win in round 1 was FAR more impressive than that of the Suns and I think Dallas was a great warmup for Phoenix. Both teams are similar in strengths and style of play. Good luck Spurs!
Based on what I saw from this team in the reg season, I didn’t see the Spurs capable of holding the Mavs consistently under 100 ppg. The defense rotations look like past Spurs playoff teams and that’s a great sign.
RJ wasn’t sensational in this series but he competed and that’s all the Spurs need from him. Carlisle gambled and took his chances by giving extra attention to Ginobili’s and Parker’s dribble penetration and leaving G Hill alone in the corner and Hill made him pay a substantial price.
Looking forward Timmy and Dyess should command the paint against the Suns especially since the Suns are without Robin Lopez. Amare Stoudamire will get his but he always does and that’s fine. It would be nice to get some contribution from Mason in this series because our spot up 3 point shooters should get a lot of good looks.
Congratulations to the Spurs for this victory.
And now going back to a much more mudane topic. I just wonder if anyone can tell: how much money are the Spurs going to get for going into the Conference Semifinals? I ask this question because this season a guy called Peter Holt has putted a ton of money from his not very deep pockets-for NBA standards-to make this team competitive again. And I wonder how far do the Spurs have to go for him to get his money back.
http://www.48minutesofhell.com/2009/07/09/in-appreciation-of-peter-holt/
Last year I posted around the time the Spurs traded RJ and signed Old Dice. Dallas got Marion about the same time. I said that I was nervous about facing Dallas in the playoffs again as we had just lost to them in 5 games. Glad to know what the end result was.
ESPN analysts had 3/10 Spurs win against Dallas. Now, 8/10 say Spurs will beat Phoenix.
GO SPURS GO!!!!
Dallas was a lot tougher match up for us than Phoenix the mavs are longer and had a more dependable star…we will win the series in 6 again not disrespect to Phoenix but we have a better team than the one that beat them in the playoffs several times and they are basically the same its that simple…Spurs in 6
Some thoughts against the Suns
I like our guard match-ups against the Suns. It can definitely be used to our advantage
Parker/Hill/-Ginobili/Temple?
vs.
Nash/Dragic and Richardson/Dudley (3 pt specialist, OK defender)….forgot about Barbosa, we’ll have to account for him as well.
(Richardson is playing out of his mind right now…I know)
Nash can’t guard anyone of our guards, but will make some shots and create for others….that’s a given…….and Stoudemire’s gonna GET HIS all around…….we know this.
If the Spurs can get:
Temple some minutes against Dragic/Barbosa when the Suns put them in. This Dragic can play and will do some things Spurs fans didn’t know he had in him. Temple WILL outmatch him athletically and make him earn everything while giving Hill/Parker a break when Dragic’s in. Plus Temple is a player who the Suns haven’t seen (I believe) and can potentially create some issues at the defensive end for the Suns as Dragic isn’t a great defender.
Get Blair avging 20 mpg, he will produce. His hustling play was responsible for the game 4 win. He IS a game changer on any given night.
We all know Duncan needs to bring at least B+/A- game to win this series.
Mcdyess to maintain his play…nuff said
Jefferson to neutralize Hill in some form whether it be on defense or working without the ball to slash to the hoop
Run plays to get Richardson guarding Ginobili at the top of the key where Richardson can’t force help….whether its a screen on a switch or 1 on 1 match up. Richardson cannot guard when he is isolated. Just open up the floor and don’t bring any screeners close to him. Hopefully this can take something out of Richardson at the offensive end.
let’s see how this goes down. I like our match-up against the Suns. No, it won’t be an easy series but I think we’ll win.