Spurs should fear finals matchup with Pistons
Charley Rosen / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 7 hours ago
As the NBA is currently constituted, San Antonio and Detroit are by far the league's best teams.
Barring untimely injuries to any of their core players — or any forthcoming trades that might hugely benefit other ball clubs — it's highly likely that the Spurs and the Pistons will meet again with the championship at stake in June.
Besides Thursday's date in San Antonio, the only regular-season game between these two rivals occurred in Detroit on Christmas Day, resulting in a lop-sided 85-70 victory for the home team. The key factor then was the Pistons' smothering defense, which limited the Spurs to only eight first-quarter points and which also stifled the Spurs' point-making prowess at the end of the game.
If the Pistons and Spurs face off for the championship, how can San Antonio defeat such a high-energy and highly proficient team that so easily handled them in the regular season.
The challenge for San Antonio on Thursday was to devise and execute appropriate tweaks in their previous offensive game plan, while Detroit's goal was to keep on keeping on.
Not surprisingly, the determining factor in Detroit's overwhelming 83-68 win was the continued efficiency of their defense and the Spurs' failure to make suitable adjustments.
Here's how the Pistons' defended Tim Duncan:
Rasheed Wallace was the primary defender, but Ben Wallace and Antonio McDyess also took turns. Their defensive pressure was minimal when Duncan was isolated on the left wing — thereby discouraging him from driving and encouraging him to shoot his highly overrated bank shot (0-3).
When Duncan was stationed on the right box (his most ineffective post-up spot), B. Wallace moved into a help spot midway up the foul lane — thereby forcing TD to turn baseline and shoot a right-handed jump shot with the backboard unavailable. On one occasion, TD was doubled by Tayshaun Prince. Overall, he was fouled three times when he operated on the right box, missed a jump hook and had two shots blocked for a net total of two points.
When he received the ball on the left box, the Pistons showed a variety of defensive schemes: They simply let Duncan wheel to the middle and sent one of the Wallaces to challenge his shot. They dropped a guard (usually Rip Hamilton) into the paint to force TD to turn baseline. McDyess sometimes fronted Duncan and sometimes three-quartered him. But Duncan was never doubled. From his favorite spot, Duncan was 2-for-5, committed one turnover, made a pass that gained the Spurs no advantage and tipped in one of his own missed shots. He was fouled the one time that he posted, returned the inbounds pass and then reposted but missed both free throws. Those nine possessions resulted in six points.
Several sets had Duncan at the high post, where he made reversal passes, set brush picks for Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili and was involved in numerous screen/roll (S/R) situations. From there, Duncan scored a single basket on a tight roll hoopward.
The Spurs are incapable of beating any of the NBA's better teams if Duncan's post-up game only produces eight points. The rest of his total of 17 points were scored when the Spurs' team-wide ball movement found him alone under the basket and when he trailed a rare fast break.
The Pistons also made Duncan work hard on defense by repeatedly dumping the ball into R. Wallace (who, going head-to-head with TD, registered Detroit's first six points of the game). On several occasions, McDyess made a swift offense-to-defense transition and forced Duncan to run harder than he was used to running in order to keep up.
Basically, Ben Wallace out-muscled Duncan, while both R. Wallace and McDyess out-hustled him. Duncan's final numbers were 7-of-17 from the field, 3-of-10 from the foul line (where he still moves the ball too much in his shot preparation), 13 rebounds, one assist and one block.
Here's how the Pistons defended Tony Parker:
They virtually shut down the Spurs' big-little S/R game simply by switching. With R. Wallace on him, Parker seemed confused early in the game — and all of his ball fakes and jab steps couldn't lure Rasheed into making a foolish move. (When he tried to force his dribble into the middle, Rasheed's pressure turned one of Parker's patented flip shots into an air ball.) Nor could Parker create sufficient space to shoot long jumpers over R. Wallace's long arms. In the only time Rasheed was late in switching, Parker pulled up and buried a mid-range jumper.
During the second half, Parker was determined to zip his way to the rim in any circumstances, but the Pistons' bigs were quick to converge and force several missed shots. Parker's game total on S/Rs was a measly two points.
Forgoing the S/R sets, the Spurs finally moved Duncan into one corner or the other, opened the middle and let Parker utilize his jets. This tactic led to Parker's nailing down a pair of tricky layups late in the second quarter.
Generally, the Pistons (mostly Hamilton) played soft defense on Parker, choosing to let him shoot from the perimeter rather than giving him the opportunity to penetrate. But this was the only Pistons' defensive strategy that backfired as Parker shot 3-4 from the outskirts.
Parker scored the remainder of his 17 points on the run in either fast-break or early-offense scenarios. His stat line included 7-14, one turnover and zero assists.
Here's how the Pistons defended Manu Ginobili:
By shutting down S/Rs with switching big men. Only once was Ginobili able to successfully beat a switching B. Wallace to the hoop. Another similar attempt led to B. Wallace blocking the resulting shot.
By playing him soft and allowing him to launch perimeter shots. From downtown, Ginobili was a disappointing 1-of-5.
By making him fight through screens at the other end of the court — and occasionally having Prince take him into the pivot.
Off the bench, Ginobili recorded 16 points in 29 minutes, to go along with two assists, two steals and one block.
As stingy as Detroit's defense was, the biggest mismatch occurred on the glass where the Pistons grabbed 56 rebounds (including 16 of their own missed shots) to the Spurs' 32 (including only four offensive caroms). The Pistons' big men were quicker laterally, quicker to the ball and quicker off their feet than were Duncan, Rasho Nesterovic and Nazr Mohammed (who only saw six minutes of action).
In addition, four of the Pistons' starters are capable of producing 30-plus points in any given game (compared with only three of the Spurs). Detroit's offensive sets are therefore much more varied (and harder to defend) than anything the Spurs can implement. Where Detroit's carnivorous defense virtually reduced the Spurs' offense to one-on-one forays, the Pistons flawlessly executed their plays all game long.
Assuming, then, that San Antonio and Detroit will indeed face off for the championship, how can the Spurs defeat such a high-energy and highly proficient team that so easily handled them in their two regular-season contests?
By hoping that several dreams will come true:
Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel will regain a glimmer of their lost youths;
Robert Horry will make big shot after big shot after;
Duncan's bankers will not be foreclosed on account of his insufficient hand mechanics;
Parker will riddle the Pistons with jumpers;
Ginobili's madcap, headlong, perpetual hustle will be contagious;
Bruce Bowen will get a handle on Hamilton's slippery and relentless off-the-ball movement; and
Mohammed will be resurrected back into the land of the living.
There's a long, long road that stretches from now to then. And anything is possible in the wonderful world of the NBA.
Possible, but not probable.
Charley Rosen is FOXSports.com's NBA analyst and author of 13 books about hoops, the current one being "The pivotal season — How the 1971-72 L.A. Lakers changed the NBA."
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Originally Posted by CM Kilo
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