Posts tagged GregPopovich at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

Do or die. Win or go home. Other clichés. The Champs are up against the cliff, and the Lakers have the spear pointed at their backsides. Manu! The Machine! Kobe! Bonner! Okay, maybe not Bonner. Either way, this should be fun this evening. In the latest in our continuing series, we look at five things to keep an eye on tonight in the Western Conference Finals Game 5 between the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs.


1. Ginobility In Defeat: It's pretty clear Manu Ginobili is not 100%. And with him struggling as much as he has, it puts the Spurs in an even dicier proposition than just being down 3-1. The Spurs offense has eroded into the big three and the occasional shot from the supporting cast, and with a third of that on one leg, it effectively puts the pressure on the Spurs aging bench to produce. Granted, sometimes that results in Brent Barry scoring 23 points and nearly winning the game. But it also forces too many perimeter shots from players that are struggling with confidence in shooting and allows the Lakers to gamble more on pressuring Tony Parker on pick and rolls and attacking Tim Duncan with the double in the post. Ginobili is going to have to have three absolutely knock out games back to back to back if the Spurs are going to have a prayer of getting back in this thing, starting with Game 5.

2. Barry Barry Good To Me: Speaking of Barry, he's emerged as the Spurs' veteran shooter du jour for this round of the playoffs. Greg Popovich has a tremendous amount of respect and confidence in Robert Horry, but Big Shot Bob has lost most of his value, outside of trying to injure the other team's squad or drawing suspensions. Popovich needs energy, speed, and shooting, and Barry is supplying all of the above right now. We'll see if the Lakers dedicate more pressure on Barry with their rotations or continue to roll the dice on whoever is in the second pass shooter spot, Barry or otherwise.

And then there were four. In the latest of our continuing series, we look at the Western Conference Finals, Game 2 tonight between the Spurs and Lakers. Be sure to stop by later for our LiveBlog of Game 1.


1. One Would Think You Wouldn't Forget About Him: San Antonio, Kobe Bryant is not David West. He's not Chris Paul. And he's definitely not Carmelo Anthony. So maybe just maybe, covering him straight up is not the answer. The Spurs didn't bring the double team on Kobe until he'd already lit the fires, and once that happens, you can cover him with flame retardant blankets and you're still getting cinged. Greg Popovich won't fall for the same trick twice. Expect heavy double teams at the wing from Bruce Bowen and Ime Udoka, and for the under side of picks to aggressively trap him. It might work. It might not. In reality, with the way Kobe's playing right now, that's pretty much up to him. The Spurs have a much better chance against...

2. The Pau-Wow: Pau Gasol came to the startling realization in Game 1 that Tim Duncan is a mite bit better than Mehmet Okur. Gasol needs his mid-range working against the Spurs, and in order to get anything inside, he's got be pulled kicking and screaming by Kobe. When Kobe started going ballistic in the fourth, he kept hammering passes at Gasol. He never got angry, even when Gasol dropped them, he just kept tossing them at him and encouraging him. The Spurs need to keep him floating outside of the paint. Gasol's not comfortable getting down and dirty, and the Spurs need to encourage that.

And then there were four. In the latest of our continuing series, we look at the Western Conference Finals, Game 1 tonight between the Spurs and Lakers. Be sure to stop by later for our LiveBlog of Game 1.

1. Seventeen Thousandth Verse, Same As The First: Yes, a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale world. Lakers versus Spurs! Who would have thunk it? Okay, that was my last complaint for this series, I swear. In all honesty, this is a pretty fantastic matchup between the two best teams in the league right now. The familiarity between the two will make for advanced strategy that will make pundits like myself polish their monacles in greedy expectation. Will the Spurs stay with the single man defense against Kobe Bryant, using Bruce Bowen like they have in years past, or has age made that too much of a mismatch, forcing the Spurs into man-help? Will the Lakers bring the curl around double team on Tim Duncan or bring Vlad Radmonovic off of Manu Ginobili? Will the Spurs be able to adjust to Pau Gasol? Will the Lakers be able to adjust to Gasol getting his milkshake drank by Tim Duncan? Questions abound! Who needs different teams?

In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Hornets-Spurs Western Conference Semifinals Game 6 this evening.

1. Backs To The Wall: Well, here we are, San Antonio. The Spurs are not very used to having their backs against the wall, they usually are the ones doing the shoving. But tonight at home will either be the last stand of one of the most quietly dominant dynasties in NBA history or the night where the old gunslingers draw the line in the sand. With a raucous (and possibly, maybe sell-out) crowd behind them, the odds are in the favor of the boys in black and silver. However, against a Hornets team that's going to be feeling the momentum and smelling blood, they can't let up. They need to make some of the same adjustments they made in Games 3 and 4, and some new ones to prevent the Game 5 massacre. Like, oh, I don't know, keeping David West from single handedly annihilating you.

2. Feet On The Floor, Head In The Clouds: The health of Tyson Chandler and David West will be of great concern tomorrow night. Chandler's foot was so bad that afterwards he said he probably wouldn't walk on it that night but said he would be "fine." He then reiterated that sentiment on his blog, which was quite lengthy for a guy that just played a bunch of minutes in a playoff game against Tim Duncan, I might add. Meanwhile West was in obvious physical pain and still managed to destroy the Spurs in what can only be described as a symphony of catastrophic moves that had to make Spurs fans wonder if he was Satan himself. Still, injuries are injuries and teams that are beat up usually don't do so well on the road. We'll see if the devil gets paid his due tonight or if Manu Ginobili and Bruce Bowen can fire up the fiddle again.

It might be time to change his nickname to "Big History" Bob. After a plethora of memorable playoff moments, seven championship rings, one memorable hip check, and more three pointers than you can count, Robert Horry has etched his name into the annals of NBA lore for the ages. Tonight he has the opportunity to add another page in the gigantic tome that is his career.

With an appearance on the floor tonight, Horry will become the all-time leader in NBA playoff appearances, after tying the previous record holder Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Game 4 with 237.

It's an amazing feat for a player to just have that many appearances in the games that matter most, let alone to have as many games where said player actually makes an impact as Horry has. He's won championships with Houston, Los Angeles, and San Antonio. He's played alongside Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O'Neal, and Tim Duncan. He's played for Rudy Tomjanovich, Phil Jackson, and Greg Popovich. And he's breaking a memorable record, most likely, tonight, at 37 years old. Horry has drawn his fair share of criticism over the years for his feisty attitude and on the court toughness, but it's no question that he'll go down as one of the most respected veteran performers the game has ever seen. Tonight is just another in a long line of feathers in his cap, in a pursuit of yet another ring for his fingers.

Mike D'Antoni is apparently, like most people, a big fan of lots and lots of money.

After tweaking the Bulls and Knicks into a two-way race, and after a late-night conference call with Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf that apparently dissolved the need for further talks, D'Antoni has made a verbal agreement to become the next head coach of the New York Knicks.

Apparently the sticking point between the two was, predictably, the matter of cold hard cash. The Bulls were rumored to be willing to extend the same amount of control to D'Antoni as the Knicks were, but were hesitant to dish out a huge sum of money to acquire his services. The Knicks, of course, have never really shown such restraint. At least with Donnie Walsh at the helm, the Knicks appear to be committed to throwing around money for the right reasons.

The Knicks deal will play D'Antoni $24 million over 4 years, making him the third highest coach in the league behind Los Angeles' Phil Jackson and San Antonio's Greg Popovich. While the Chicago roster is obviously in better shape than New York's, D'Antoni will be able sleep on a bed of money and still have more control than he would have had in Phoenix.

In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Hornets-Spurs Western Conference Semifinals Game 3 this evening.

1. Choose To Abuse: Bruce Bowen tried to guard Chris Paul. He did. But the problem is, the guy is, well, Chris Paul. The common thought today is that he'll be switching to Peja Stojakovic, who torched the Spurs in Game 2. After saying "As long as Chris Paul doesn't go off, we're good" and then "As long as David West doesn't go off, we're money," apparently the thought is "As long as Peja Stojakovic doesn't go off, we've got this thing." The Spurs seem kind of surprised that the Hornets have more weapons than they originally thought. We'll see if the switch of Bowen allows the Spurs to maintain the same quality double they brought on West last week, and if they can keep their fingers in all the holes.

2. Gotta Rain Sometime: The Spurs talked a lot after Game 2 about the fact that they're getting the shots they want, they're just not going in. Now, I wouldn't necessarily agree with that, unless the Spurs have planned to shoot 10 more threes per game than they did in the regular season. Yeah, you hear right. 10. What's worse is that they haven't fallen since the first half of Game 1. The Spurs are counting on those shots falling in the warm and comfy confines of the AT&T Center, and that's pretty likely. But the Spurs might be better off thinking about ...

In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Spurs-Hornets Western Conference Semifinals Game 2 this evening.

1. Western Aggression: I've been saying it all season. David West is the most offensively versatile power forward in the league this season. There's not a lot this guy can't do. The idea in Game 1 was to try and contain West with Oberto, Horry, Kurt Thomas (snicker). Now, there's a prevailing sense that Tim Duncan manning up on him is the best option. Here's the problem. If you put Duncan on him, you're essentially saying "KT/Oberto/Horry, you have to guard the lane against Chris Paul. Not a good idea. Not only that but the thought is that Duncan can contest some of West's 17-18 footers. But Duncan can't really get that far that fast anymore. He's still an elite defender, don't get me wrong. But he's going to have to come way out on West to contest those. Which means if West gets by him, the other big man for the Spurs has to leave Chandler. That's not good. I think at some point,the Spurs need to adjust accept West is going to have an advantage on this series and focus on the backcourt.

2. Shootout, Manu a Manu?: Manu Ginobili averaged 5.3 three point attempts this season. In Game 1, he took 9. That was a central part of the Spurs' approach, to try and attack the New Orleans defense at the perimeter with their key shooters. Which was all well and good in the first half when they were on fire. But when they cooled? That was when the Hornets kept attacking the basket. I would doubt that Greg Popovich tries to rely on the perimeter shooting as much in this game. Especially from ...

FanHouse's Round Two previews will give you the critical points of every series, so you can talk to your friends like you've been following every team in the Association all season long. Or know what the hell an Udoka is.

Biggest Reason You Should Watch: Because Chris Paul v. Tony Parker is just like Chris Paul v. Jason Kidd, except this time CP3's opponent can shoot and play defense. Oh, and if you really ever wanted a "new - old" rivalry that you could wax all philosophical about by the water cooler, this is it. The Spurs have championships galore. The Hornets won the first divisional championship in the history of New Orleans this year. Plus, we're all a little sick of Manu at his point, no?

New Orleans Can Win If: Well, they can't, if you listen to most of the hating. Paul is going to be otherworldly. Peja Stojakovic has to do what he did last round, which is shoot lights out. It will be tougher this time against Bruce Bowen, who cheats plays hard nosed defense, but CP3 is so good at manipulating defenses that it's entirely possible. Tyson Chandler needs to come up with a little more offense (7.2 against Dallas) to take some of Tim Duncan's heat off of David West too.

San Antonio Can Win If: Tim Duncan can stop the X-man. West averaged 22 plus against Dallas and while Paul makes this team go, if they can't score in the post, it becomes a heck of a lot harder to hit from the perimeter. Duncan's defense is actually still pretty underrated, but then again so is West. Or is he overrated now? I can never remember. Whatever. This is the Spurs. They can't ever not win.

Video Clip to Get You Pumped: Well, I was going to use French disc jockey DJ Hornet (get it?) but I wasn't sure if it was safe for work, and well, frankly it sucked. Instead, a quite possibly irrelevant South Park clip about distinct styles. If Randy Marsh's wail at the end doesn't get you stoked, I don't know what will.

In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Suns-Spurs game tonight.

1. What You Currently Feel Is The Wall Against Your Back. Yes, Still: Okay, let's get this out of the way. I don't think there's any way the Suns beat the Spurs tonight. We've seen San Antonio suck the life out of too many teams, in too many series, to believe they'll even allow the possibility of something exciting to happen. But since I don't want this column to read just about keeping an eye on how many empty seats there are in San Antonio (and there will probably be a few, knowing this crowd), I'll humor the idea. The Suns are against the wall, again. They've been here many times this season, and every time, they've responded. But they also responded last game, and back to back responses is a whole other matter. Especially in San Antonio, versus an embarrassed Spurs club. If the Suns want to win, they can't hold anything back. It all has to be on the floor. No other option. For a Suns team that's known to coast, we'll see if they can hold a consistent energy.

2. Full French > Half-Hill?: The rave on the internet this week is about how Mike D'Antoni finally wised up and started Boris Diaw, and how he's the new savior of the Suns. I got news for you. I'm not buying it. It's fine that Diaw got some good numbers in a blowout game in Game 4. And it's fine that the Spurs let him back down whatever small forward was guarding him in the post. But he won't find that tonight. He's going to find Tim Duncan. At home. Angry. Unless Boris fully embraces the 3, he can't be effective. And even if he does, everyone was so impressed with him guarding Tony Parker. But who guards Manu Ginobili? You really think both of them are going to have back to back bad games? Diaw is not the answer. Someone who can effectively play consistently is.