Spurs analyze offense: Ginobili’s woes aren’t the only shortcomings
Web Posted: 04/24/2007 12:09 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News
Two years ago, the move was swift and decisive. The Spurs lost the opener of their first-round series with Denver, coach Gregg Popovich told Manu Ginobili he was going to the bench and, four games later, the team had a date with Seattle.
The Spurs find themselves in a similar predicament after another Game 1 loss to the Nuggets on Sunday. Does that mean Ginobili now gets his starting job back?
“It’s the same situation,” Ginobili said with a laugh. “But I don’t think this time there are going to be any changes.”
Ginobili expects to keep his seat on the bench when the series resumes Wednesday night at the AT&T Center. For now, he’s focused more on making shots than adjustments.
Ginobili missed 11 of 15 attempts during Sunday’s loss, finishing with just nine points, a little more than half of what he averaged during the regular season. Never in his five-year NBA career had he shot worse in a playoff game in which he’s had more than eight attempts.
The Spurs could have weathered Ginobili’s struggles had Tim Duncan (7 of 17) and Tony Parker (8 of 20) not shot almost as poorly. At one point in the second quarter, the three players had combined to make just 3 of 25 shots.
“The first half was crazy,” Ginobili said. “When all three of us can’t make a shot, it’s going to be really hard.”
Especially when Denver’s Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson were making theirs. Together, they had 61 points, 19 more than Parker, Duncan and Ginobili totaled.
“We didn’t stop their stars and they stopped ours,” Popovich said. “That’s the bottom line.”
After watching video of Sunday’s game, Popovich said he thought the Spurs played respectable defense. They limited the Nuggets to three fast-break points and, for the most part, kept Anthony and Iverson away from the rim.
What concerned him, however, was the Spurs’ poor execution with their half-court offense. If they weren’t rushing shots, they were indecisive, committing eight turnovers in the third quarter.
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“We didn’t pass the ball,” Robert Horry said. “I think everybody took it upon themselves to try to carry the team.”
Ginobili admitted as much. He missed 8 of 10 shots in the first half and was unable to take advantage of the decent looks he did get.
“It’s not like in the first half I took tough shots,” Ginobili said. “Most of the shots were kind of open and layups that got me frustrated a little bit.”
Ginobili thought the Nuggets improved their defense in the second half, packing the lane and making it difficult for either him or Parker to penetrate. He also didn’t make a single trip to the free-throw line for just the fourth time in 76 games this season.
Horry hopes Ginobili can play with more of a free mind on Wednesday.
“I think Manu is the one guy on this team who puts more pressure on himself than anybody,” Horry said. “He’s such a competitor. He just needs to take it out of eighth gear and put it in fifth gear.”
Ginobili was stuck in neutral — along with Duncan and Parker — during the Spurs’ final two regular-season games because Popovich didn’t want to unnecessarily risk exposing his three stars to injury. As a result, Sunday was the first game any of the three had played in a week.
“Maybe the time off for (Ginobili) took him out of rhythm because a lot of the shots he missed (Sunday) wasn’t necessarily like he was shooting over three people, especially in the first half,” Bruce Bowen said. “A telltale sign on situations of rhythm is when somebody’s driving to the basket and all of a sudden they lose the ball. He doesn’t do that on a regular basis.”
Ginobili, however, didn’t want to use the layoff as an excuse, saying he received enough scrimmage time during the past week. Even if he had played in the final two regular-season games, Ginobili said, “I would have played what, 15, 20 minutes? That’s not going to make any difference.”
Ginobili hopes to have an easier time finding his rhythm on Wednesday.
He spent Sunday night replaying the game in his head, but doesn’t intend to dwell on the loss too long.
“It’s not the first time it’s happened,” he said. “We’ve got to be good at leaving that behind us and look forward.”