The young and hungry Hornets exposed all of the defending champs weaknesses at both ends of the court.
To whit:
With Tim Duncan doubled every time he touched the ball in the low post, the Spurs offense depended entirely on Tony Parker's drives in a broken field, Manu Ginobili's lefty slices and 3-point shooting, and somebody (anybody) knocking down perimeter shots. In all, TD was two-timed 17 times with the Spurs being able to produce a mere 8 points to counter this tactic — 6 of these points resulting from early treys by Ginobili and Bruce Bowen.
2008 NBA Finals
Thursday's Game 1
Analysis
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For sure, the Spurs long-range marksmen were on target for much of the first half — going 6-10 in the opening period — which was primarily responsible for the visitors' early lead. But it was impossible for them to sustain this kind of drop-dead accuracy. Indeed, for the rest of the game, the Spurs were only 6-21 from downtown. While Parker's stats were A-OK — 9-17, 23 points — he did have the same number of assists and turnovers (5). Even worse, with the Spurs desperately needing to hit springers to create some room for Duncan, Parker shot a measly 2-7 from mid- and long-range. In other words, his jumper is still as erratic as it ever was. With Duncan shut down — 1-9, 3 rebounds, 5 points — the Spurs were unable to create any kind of offensive flow. It's well-known throughout the league that the Spurs' half-court offense is limited, especially when they're faced with a quick-handed, active defense. In fact, the foundation of San Antonio's championships has always been its defense.
But the Hornets had an easy time turning this foundation to dust.
After Kurt Thomas' defense blanketed David West in the early going, West finally got his mojo working when Fabricio Oberto came into the game. For the duration, West was simply unguardable — 13-23, 30 points. He absolutely destroyed Michael Finley, Ginobili, and Robert Horry, and was invincible in his return engagements with Thomas. In fact, West was easily the best player on the floor. Peja Stojakovic was unusually aggressive with the ball — 9-15, 22 points — looking to drive at every opportunity, giving Ginobili, Finley, et al, much more than they could handle. The Spurs tried to hinder Chris Paul's entry into the paint by having a big man throw a hand at him on the far side of high screen-and-rolls. CP3 countered this by either blowing by the half-hearted stop-signs or, more often, kicking the ball to an open teammate. Credit Paul with 7-16, 13 huge assists, 4 steals, only 2 turnovers, and 17 points. Tyson Chandler led the Hornets' assault on the glass with 15 of his team's 50 rebounds. Compare this to the Spurs' total of only 34 rebounds. Bonzi Wells came off the bench to torch Finley's over-the-hill-and-down-in-the-valley-defense to the tune of 5-9, and 10 points. Melvin Ely was scoreless, yet his super-aggressive fronting defense was another factor in the Hornets' being able to negate Duncan's low-post game. All game long, the Hornets were quicker to the ball, as demonstrated by their edge in offensive rebounds (16-8), steals (11-6), and shots taken (86-71). Their superior foot- and hand-speed, harried every pass and every catch, forcing the Spurs to play at a more accelerated pace than they were accustomed to. Actually, the Hornets' margin would have been much greater had they not missed a total of 9 layups. With his continuous double-teaming of TD, Byron Scott got the jump on Pop, and, yes, out-coached the old master.So where does that leave the Spurs?
In truth, they only have to win on Monday to gain the home-court advantage, but for that to happen, several radical adjustments have to be made. In addition to taking command of their defensive glass, back-cutting when the Hornets lean into the passing lanes, and making more of their free-throws (only 12-21), here are some other possible tweaks:
Duncan has to be evacuated from the pivot and situated at the high-post, where he can drive, shoot jumpers, and become actively involved in screen-and-rolls. Bowen has to take a shot at defending West. Parker has to match-up defensively against Paul. And since CP3's jumper is still suspect — he was only 1-6 on these — Parker should go under any and all screen-and-rolls, beat Paul to his turning point, and let him shoot as many jumpers as he wishes. The Spurs could mix up their screen-and-roll defense by jump-trapping Paul, a tactic they never attempted in Game 1. The Spurs should also show the Hornets some zone defenses. Unless there are obvious opportunities for Parker to run his one-man fast-breaks, the Spurs should walk the ball into the attack zone, get better spacing on offense, and make the Hornets play defense for 20 seconds on each possession.Meanwhile, the Hornets have fooled several NBA savants (including me!) by proving that they're for real. Still, veteran teams and battle-hardened coaches are quite capable of designing and executing reactive game plans that can turn the tide.
That's why Pop and his crew will be up late eyeballing the game video, and why Sunday's reconvening of the reigning champs will be their most important practice session of the entire season.
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