You're right, in the 4th quarter of game 6; Steve Kerr "finished" off the Mavericks & Jackson stepped up; but that was one game - if you want an idea of what happens in a finish game 6 when Duncan is single-covered, and the results of that, look at the Laker's series; As has been mentioned in this very thread "The Nets are not very good in half court". and "The Spurs half court D is very good". Those statements alone give enough indication as to who is going to win a PLAYOFF series in the NBA - this is not 1 game, take it or leave it; half court wins series; until proven otherwise that fact remains. The finals from last year are pretty good evidence of this. Spurs in 4 or 5. Conventional wisdom, sometimes, is right.
I'm not trying to argue with you just listening to different opinions on the series. CWiz without a doubt Spurs in 5...But who thought the Patriots would beat the "Greatest show on Turf"? I keep flip flopping my opinion, but now once again i'm feeling an upset in the making...
They'll take the Spurs to six, but they won't be able to finish. Freak, Not to hijack this thread, but Gilby will be appearing on the Tonight show next Tuesday w/ Heart.
No Jermaine Oneal is by far the best PF in the East. He now is better than all other PFs in the league save TD, KG, DN, & CW, that includes the 2nd tier WC PFs of Malone, Gasol, Brand, & Wallace. Stoud does not deserve mention with this group yet, Kmart is better than him (for now at least).
\ I'm getting really excited to see how K-Mart will play against the best power forward in the league, you know he has to be completely amped about this matchup. This is his chance to prove he was worth that #1 pick-- I'm also starting to think that the Nets may have been resting Mutombo for this series just a hunch though... Whatever happens for the sake of the NBA I hope this is an exciting finals, a repeat of last year will absolutely suck.
Well they looked good for a half... Duncan's numbers are sick 32 20 6 3 7 1... what is really weird, is that those are the same numbers that won for the Texas Lotto last night.
There were some good signs for the Nets. 1) Kidd shot like crap, more surprisingly ran his team like crap, and overall just played like crap, yet the Nets had a game of it for 2.5 quarters. Don't count on Kidd repeating this. 2) Kmart played very, very well. He showed he can present match-up problems with his quickness on offense. The rust should be off, game 2 is going to be far more indicative of the series. The only constant is you know Duncan is going to play well and the Nets have no answer for him, we will just have to see if the other Nets can play enough better than the rest of the Spurs. I still think it will be a series and the Nets have a great shot at game 2--but it would so surprising if TD just doesn't have too many bullets for them to overcome eventually.
Its hard to believe Scott didn't play Mutombo more when Duncan started going off. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2003/story?id=1563835
I didn't realize the Nets were being so vocal in their criticism of Scott's coaching... http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2003/story?id=1563886
From the Game 1 postgame press conference... "Reporter: You guys said you were fortunate not to be facing Shaq in the Finals. Talk about Tim Duncan and what you're facing now. Martin: (sniff) Can I (sniff) leave?" This series goes 5 max.
There's a reason they played like crap. NJ hasn't faced a defense like they saw in Game 1. The Spurs' transition D is better than anything they've seen in the LEast. Don't count on the Nets suddenly turning on a switch or whatever. Ditto for ason and his J.
Poor coaching adjustments as well, hence the Nets b****ing about Scotts decisions. Even Duncan couldn't believe Scott didn't put Mutombo back in the game to guard him in the 2nd half.
The Nets don't have much of a chance in this one. When the Spurs started clicking, you could see that they could not be stopped. Point blank, no one can stop Duncan. No one can contain Duncan. K-Mart is not tall enough, strong enough, or quick enough to stop Duncan. The Nets are finally playing a team that has players that can run with them, and they are taken aback. If it were the Lakers, they may be able to turn it on, but Jason Kidd and K-Mart cannot outduel the Spurs.
To me its as simple as this! If the Nets do not get Fastbreak points they SUCK!!! Stop the Fastbreak Stop the Nets! As simple as that well to me! Whydo people actually say that the Nets have a chance I mean common the Spurs dethroned the 3 time champs in their home court by 28 points and made them cry! I mean common!
Mutombo also slows down further a Nets offense that is already shackled by the Spurs' transition defense. The Spurs are sending their bigs to the offensive glass and releasing the 3 perimeter players to get back. How exactly is Scott going to counteract that? In the halfcourt DRob can bascially play a zone against any Nets' big outside of Martin. That's why the Spurs held a block party on Wednesday night. If playing Mutombo is the one coaching adjustment that the Nets have left then they are DOA. Scott cannot make his players shoot better against a Spurs defense that contests just about every shot. The Nets are not as good of a jumpshooting team as the Suns and Mavs are.
