Posts tagged TimDuncan at FanHouse

Earlier today, Ziller mentioned how the Celtics wasted no time in offering recent Clippers castoff Corey Maggette a place on their championship roster, but it now appears that another title contender is likely to land him instead. Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the San Antonio Spurs are the front-runners to land Maggette, with a multi-year contract offer for the mid-level exception expected to be forthcoming.

The Spurs seem like a better fit than the Celtics for Corey. If he's taking less money to compete for a title -- and unless he wants to go somewhere like Golden State or Philadelphia for substantially more money, that's what he's doing -- he's going to want to see the floor. Maggette is a legitimate starter in this league, and with the Spurs more than happy to bring Manu Ginobili off the bench, Corey will get plenty of minutes and plenty of shot attempts. I don't think that would necessarily be the case in Boston, where he'd undoubtedly have a tough time cracking that starting five.

The naysayers point out that Corey has been a defensive liability at times in his career, and that, specifically in the Spurs' offense, he'll need to dramatically improve his three-point shooting from the corners. To both of these assertions, I say: hogwash.

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

San Antonio has a solid foundation with Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, but for the most part, the rest of their roster has gotten very old all of a sudden. That's what happens I guess when you've been competing for titles for the last nine years. It would be great for the team to get some young talent who could step in and contribute right away, and for years to come as well.

Picks: #26, #45, #57.

Needs: Interior defense and rebounding, and someone who can spell Parker at the point guard spot.

Best case scenario: Mario Chalmers is still on the board, because he's experienced and could probably get some of those Jacque Vaughn minutes fairly early in the season.

We've been discussing the referees a lot lately, so something would be amiss if I failed to mention the assignments for this evening's Game 6. And here they are, in all of their controversial glory:

Joey Crawford, Eddie F. Rush, and Bennett Salvatore.

Wow. Where do I begin? All three of these guys have a history of being involved in their share of controversies over the years. Let's just hit on the most recent for each, shall we? Crawford was the one suspended last season for ejecting Tim Duncan for laughing, then was assigned to the infamous Brent Barry-Derek Fisher game in this year's Western Conference Finals. Salvatore was the one that basically gave the Miami Heat the championship in 2006 with about eight controversial calls that favored the Heat in Game 5. And Rush has been called out for his inconsistency as recently as last season.

You're beautiful, San Antonio, no matter what Chuck says.

But, yes, you're done. The games were close, but the series was not. Most eulogies started coming in Tuesday night, though everyone who knows stuff correctly insisted the Spurs wouldn't be punking out tonight. But as the finality of what is very likely the end of dynastic/dynamic run set in late in the fourth quarter, some extra emphasis on -- as Marv said -- the model franchise is required.

The Spurs had no business holding off the young bucks the last two seasons. S.A. was supposed to be old eons ago, but they outlasted Phoenix (youthful last year) and New Orleans (spring chickens). Grit, determination, and unequaled preparation can't win forever, and something about going out in five really gives you the feeling the Spurs won't win forever. Add in that S.A. got outSpurred -- with Pau Gasol owning the fourth quarter glass, and Kobe shredding Bowen all series long.

But Tony Parker's only 26, you know. R.C. Buford is still R.C. frickin' Buford. Tim Duncan's body remains resilient, Manu has an All-Star game in him, I can feel it. They won't top the championship odds next October, and a slip into 'fighting for a postseason berth' mode wouldn't shock. But the Spurs have been counted out before. Pay your respects, but don't think they're buried yet.

The only man in the NBA who can flop on a close-out.

It almost doesn't feel right talking about an elimination game for Tim Duncan, et al., does it? Sure, even numbered year and blah-blah-blah, but these guys are the San Antonio dynasty. They don't tend to lose, even when all the momentum has shifted against them (see: last series) and they look overmatched.

But here we are, with the Lakers up 3-1 and threatening to put this one away early. Oh, and of course, the Lakers are in Los Angeles, which probably won't make things much easier for the Spurs. The most interesting thing will be seeing how Phil and Kobe plan their attack, whether Mamba comes out firing or whether he tries to involve everyone else first.

Or maybe the most interesting thing will be how Manu Ginobili responds (especially in light of the new flopping rules) tonight; the Spurs are 1-3 in this series when he doesn't show up. Join us at 9 to see if the Lakers can close it out.

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.

You've gotta love Spurs' fans. So worried are they about losing to the Lakers in this series and feeling insecure about their chances in Game 4, one local writer is actually starting to complain about the officiating before the game has even started.

It's the news every Spurs fan has dreaded - the team is fighting for its season tonight in Game 4, and blowing the whistle will be one Joey Crawford. To recap, he was suspended for last year's playoffs ... after throwing Tim Duncan out of a regular season game because he thought Duncan was laughing at him on the bench. Then in Game 5 against New Orleans, he T'd up Gregg Popovich between the first and second quarters over an argument over a delay of game warning in which Pop was essentially correct.

Conspiracy! David Stern wants the Lakers in the Finals! Come on, people. Sure the Spurs and Crawford have a bit of a recent history together, but can we at least wait to see if there are actually any game-deciding calls made by Crawford before we begin with the histrionics?

Besides, as is noted in the same article, Crawford actually ranks eighth out of 62 officials in terms of making calls that favor the home team. Now if Steve Javie (who is a notorious anti-homer and number 59 on the same list) were to be working tonight, then you would have something to be seriously worried about.

[via Awful Announcing]

Tonight's a big one down by the Riverwalk. Spurs win, it's a three game series, and we've seen how the champs can do in that situation. Lakers win, and they're going to warm up the pipes for the funeral dirge for the Spurs' season. 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 4 between the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs.

1. The Machine And Poo-God's Left Side: Sasha Vujacic found out the hard way that you can't keep a good Manu down. Manu Ginobili torched him for 30 points on 5 of 7 from the arc in Game 3. "The Machine" continued to overplay Ginobili's left hand on the perimeter to shut off the drive, and so Ginobili went to his step back and transition threes. The question for Game 4 as far as Ginobili's concerned, is whether Vujacic falls for what Ginobili wants and steps up on him straight up and lets him have the left. Ginobili's not likely to shoot 71% from the arc again. But the Spurs are amazingly good at hitting the shots they're unlikely to hit, which gets you to respond by guarding those, instead of the shots they're more likely to knock down. Phil Jackson may be too wily for this tactic and keep Vujacic on Manu's left. But if Vujacic et al get frustrated and start trying to cover Ginobili's three pointer, he's going to the rack. Every time.

2. Odom-eter Fluctuates Between Zero And 100: Lamar Odom plays well, Lakers win. Lamar Odom plays like doody? That's all she wrote, kids. Odom has become the transmission for this Lakers vehicle. Without him, the smoke blows out the front of the car and that disgusting grinding, dying-giraffe noise happens. In Game 3, the Spurs adjusted their defense on Odom. They stayed with Gasol and the perimeter defenders, and said to Odom, "Drive, if you want." They know Odom's mid-range is suspect and that if you bring late aggression on his drive, he's likely to miss layups. Which is what happened. A lot. If the Lakers want to steal this one and effectively put the clamps on this series, Odom has to force the Spurs to stop his drive, opening up the passing lanes for Gasol and the perimeter players.

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?