Big Shot Rob
By Coup
The Reason why San Antonio beat Denver?
Gregg Popovich.
He outcoached George Karl. There is no doubt in my mind that he gave San Antonio this win. I mean lets contrast in the last few possessions, they both called timeouts.
90-89…Blake hit a big shot (should’ve been a three I think). Denver has momentum, the crowd is into it. What does Popovich do? He calls a quick-hitter for Tony Parker. Denver literally had no answer for the play. If you look, Parker blew by AI and was going to get a quick two had Camby not helped. Another reason why Camby isn’t my Defensive Player of the Year; he left Big Shot Robert Horry wide open in the corner for a three point shot. This might be ok in December…but this is showtime. This is when he wakes up and shoots daggers. Common sense says that you make the offense make a tough two instead of giving them a wide open three. I don’t care what anyone says, Marcus Camby has to stay on Robert Horry on that play. If Parker makes the layup..so what you’re down 3. Instead, Horry hits the dagger.
So now its 93-89 SA. George Karl calls timeout, there is plenty of time to get a quick two and foul. You’ve got AI and you’ve got Melo. You don’t have to go for a three, it seems obvious that one of those two is going to get the ball and penetrate and at least kick right?
Dead wrong. JR Smith gets the ball, goes one on one and shoots a pullup three. Out of a timeout.
What is George Karl’s legacy. He has made it to the playoffs 16 out of his 19 seasons as a head coach. He has led three teams to 60+ wins in the regular season. But he has only been past the 2nd round three out of those sixteen times. What exactly is his legacy? He has never won Coach of the Year and has always struggled when it counts.
Combine that with the fact that Denver has absolutely no shooters. They are a great shooter away from being a tremendous team. JR Smith has zero confidence and it shows. Kleiza is clanking as well. They need them to hit shots to spread the defense, instead San Antonio is able to shadow and double Melo and AI with ease. Out of the 8 guys they played, only JR and Kleiza can even think about hitting threes. In Game 4, the Nuggets went 2/16…both from Carmelo. Why not give Diawara a chance to hit some open shots? When something is not working there has to be change, especially when it is your weakness. That is why Denver choked this series away. There is no other words for it, they are a typical George Karl team, they won Game 1 and then absolutely collapsed. Now they have to take 3 in a row from the Spurs, two of them in San Antonio? No chance.
One reason why I say T-Mac is better than Kobe? He is a better play-maker. He trusts his teammates and he makes them better. He has had every reason to not kick it to Luther Head but he still did. Me and Couper were discussing this earlier and Coup brought up a great point that Kobe has too much pride and gets caught up in all the small things. I mean look at T-Mac, his shot was way off..but he found a way to impact the game. The man had 16 assists which is five less than Kobe has had in the series with Phoenix. Houston/Utah is a very underrated series that I think is going to 7 because Utah just does not lose in Salt Lake. I for one am appreciating this one.
(Quick note….Shane Battier is a truely great basketball player)
Washington didn’t get a win, but they challenged in both games. Like I said in the preview (at least I think I said) Washington was going to have a good gameplan and play hard enough to keep it competitive but just would not have enough firepower in the end and Cleveland would pull away in the 4th. That is pretty much what happened tonight. I feel for Antawn Jamison, Gilbert and Caron. They were such an exciting team and they went out to a bad break and with a whimper. DeShawn Stevenson absolutely disappeared this series. He was supposed to be the second option but went 9/38 under the pressure. If anything this should bring the Wizards closer for next year. Everyone clearly will know their roles and they will all be hungry. Watch out for the Wiz.
Cleveland on the other hand…utterly unimpressive to say the least. They better hope Toronto comes up with a major comeback, because the way J Kidd is playing…they want no part of the Nets. The Cavs are just so un entertaining and uninspired to me, they are not fun to watch. I’m sorry LeBron, there is nothing about your team that is fun to watch.
Tomorrow night; Toronto and Dallas pull out must-win home Game 5s. That’s usually the trend as a desperate crowd pushes their team through giving them one last burst of hope.