The other day I made a wish on what that I wanted from this game. Thank God, they actually came true.
Because of this, the Spurs can breath a bit easier after what they’ve endured in the first two games. Spurs won the game 110-99 but the Hornets still lead the series 2-1.
Manu GINOBILI gave in what arguably his best game in the post season. Tonight the man in the NBA best 6th Man was even a starter. He posted 31 points, 4 rebounds & 6 assists.
“We know that going 3-0—it’s never been done to come back like that,” said Manu, who along with Parker consistently got to the rim. “Today, for us, it was a Game 7. We knew if we didn’t win today, it was almost over. So we had a different approach. We played with more passion, more edge.”
Of course everyone much have been anticipating the third quarter more than anything else. It will be a real test of time to see whether Spurs defense could hold itself strong. And yes they did. In fact the Hornets were well know for dropping 3’s so easily only had 2 shots out of 11 attempt.
Fabricio OBERTO took his game into another notch and was deputizing for Kurt THOMAS, collecting 9 rebounds including 2 points and 2 assists.
“We were waiting for that third quarter, that it would be on our side this time,” San Antonio’s OBERTO said. “I think we did a pretty good job. It’s not the best job we can do.”
Now I want both Manu and Fabricio to keep improving from here, and lets even the series in Game 4.
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Haha, we selected the same video to present. Nice.
Manu and TP were definitely on. They were passing to each other and finishing at the rim like maniacs.
TD has yet to get untracked, but that's coming.
Check out my version of the story :
http://cmnetwork.blogspot.com/2008/05/daily-sports-select-tony-parker-and.html
Regards,
VJ Rabid
cmnetwork.blogspot.com
Manu is great player and Argentina Team is one of favourites to win Olimpic Games. I think Manu is more important than Parker.
nbaroundtable here,
Switching over to my first name Dave. nbaroundtable is getting too long to write each time!
I think the whole story of the game can be told by Popovich changing his defensive matchups.
I was really worried that Pop would do something silly like put Bruce Bowen on Chris Paul before the series started. I don't know where I got a foolish idea like that but you know what, that's what Pop did.
The New Orleans Hornets need a third scorer at about 15-17 points a night to beat top level teams playing at a good level. So to beat San Antonio they need a third scorer, their third best scorer by a big margin is Peja Stojakovic. The Spurs have only one player on their roster capable of defending Peja and that's Bruce Bowen. They need someone discplined, quick, who'll run through screens off the ball, strong enough to handle him in the post, and will stick to him like glue the way Rick Fox used to for the Lakers in the playoffs. Bruce is the only guy capable of shutting down Peja.
On the other hand Bruce can make Paul work hard but he can't really limit him. There's absolutely no point in Bruce defending Paul when he can shut down Peja.
Popovich's blunder cost the team two poor defensive games in New Orleans. But hey he switched, better late than never. Parker on Paul. Manu is on Mo Pete. Bowen is on Peja.
Bowen shut down Peja last night and he should do very well against him for the rest of the series. The effect of this is that New Orleans are effectively playing 2-on-5. The Spurs are coming down and playing as a team where everyone is involved and a scoring threat. The Hornets meanwhile were coming down and couldn't get offense from Chandler (Duncan), Peja (Bowen), Mo Pete (Manu). So they're playing their high screen and roll offense with Paul and West (admittedly their two best players) and those two guys are responsible for about 75-85% of the offense while they're in the game. It's a huge burden. It's very difficult for them to outscore the Spurs.
It's also a lot easier for the Spurs big three to negate Paul and West by themselves, rather than the two and a hot Peja Stojakovic.
That's the story of the game for me and that bodes well for San An because they can repeat it the rest of the way.
...........
Spurs played great offensively also. They switched more focus onto Manu and Paker's pentration off the dribble and shot 44% from three point land. Their ball movement was beautiful with Oberto in particular standing out in the third quarter and early fourth.
It's the defense that allowed them to outscore the Hornets and win the game.
I think the Hornets are going to have to find a third scorer or another way to get easier baskets to combat this change from Pop.
Sad news.. there were no replay of the game so i slept early, but thanks to NBA Live i got to see the highlights of the game!.. and OMG the Spurs were great!.. as i've said on my blog TP [he's actually good in his own way] gets most of credit sometimes but Manu? he's the difference-maker, the X-factor, the Magician, the trouble-maker [from the point of view of oppossing teams]. whether he's a starter or not, he's going to play his hardest! and i'm so happy his returned to the lineup of Team Argentina for the Beijing Olympics.
The Spurs, indeed, didn't stop the Hornets. They matched them, offensively. Kurt Thomas & Fab Oberto combined had 19 rebounds -- brilliant!! =) Game 4 is a few days away, the Spurs gameplan can change and the Hornets will most likely change theirs too. So, i think game 4 will be treated as Game 7 once again.
Go Spurs!!
Hola John,
Gracias por su comentario en mi blog. La verdad es que el partido estuvo muy bien y particularmente Parker y Ginobili (como siempre).
Acabo de añadir un enlace a Mundo Albiceleste en El Quinto Cuarto. Si tiene la ocasión de enlazarme desde su blog se lo agradecería.
Un saludo.
Pedro
Thanks for commenting. Have to be honest, I don't watch the NBA...I can't stand watching the lack of defense and poor fundamentals that goes on. Im a college basketball fan exclusively.
Con este nivel que ofrece Ginobili, no es extraño que haya sido elegido en el tercer mejor quinteto de la NBA
Hey John, thanks for dropping by my blog at 2fansview.blogspot.com. Been a long time Spurs fan and post my share of Spurs stuff there. Manu was a great addition to the Spurs...of course you guys already know that, they mentioned during the broadcast that Manu was voted the most popular person in Argentina.
I felt that Manu should have gotten the MVP over Duncan in the 04-05 Championship. He shot .505 with .438 in threes in that playoffs.
This year Pop needs to come up with some way to slow down the Hornets, who are scoring 101 per game against them. That's not Spurs' defense. Paul is going to get his, he's been amazing thus far. Spurs need to shut down the other guys, namely Peja and West. They shut down West in Game 2 and Peja in Game 3...they need to shut down both in order to have a chance to win the series, since obviously splitting games isn't going to get it done down 2-1.
Para mí el nivel de ginobili es insuperable, me gusta este blog, podrías de cirme, como recien abrí mi blog, que me faltaria o que tendria que onerle a tal. me gusta mucho esto y me gustaria que me enlazaras para que me vea todo el mundo, porfa
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