Last night, in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, future hall-of-fame guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili combined for 5 baskets in the entire game, and scored a total of 13 points. The Spurs won. Undrafted free agent guard Gary Neal, from mighty Towson State and 3 teams in Europe, and second round draft pick Danny Green, cut by 3 different teams (including the Spurs), combined for 51 points, and 13 for 19 from the three point line.
Michael Jordan was the first star I can remember who referred to his teammates as “my supporting cast”. I always thought that the term was fairly derogatory, especially since it included Scottie Pippen, one of the top 50 players ever, and other all-stars such as Horace Grant and Dennis Rodman. One of the many things I like about the Spurs: Neither all-time great Tim Duncan, nor future hall-of-famers Parker and Manu, nor possible best coach ever Greg Popovich, would refer to Neal, Green or the other “non-star” Spurs as the Big Three’s “supporting cast”. Instead, they are referred to by a much better name: Teammates.
The “Live Look-Ins” into a team’s huddles are generally meaningless. The reason they are meaningless is that the networks have a deal with the coaches not to show anything at all strategic. Thus, they won’t show what play will be run, how the pick and roll will be defended, or whether the defenders will switch or fight through screens. In fact, when Doris Burke interviewed Pop at a break in the action, and asked what the Spurs would do to keep Lebron in check, Pop said that he wouldn’t tell her that. However, last night there was finally a meaningful “look-in”, not because there was “strategy” revealed, but because an attitude was revealed. As we peek into the huddle, Pop is saying:
"Move the basketball, you are getting great shots, just be confident and let 'em fly. Get your name in the paper."
Gary Neal and Danny Green surely heard that. Indeed, this is what Pop and the other Spurs have been saying to their teammates all year. It is also why Neal and Green got their name in the paper today.
They would probably even say the same thing to Voldemort/Bricklayer/Bosh. (Now that I think of it, the way they leave Bosh open is an open invitation to Bosh to let ‘em fly.)
Pop’s statement in the huddle is consistent with something former Spur Bruce Bowen said back in 2005. As you may recall, Bowen was another classic Spur pick-up – undrafted out of the basketball “powerhouse” Cal State Fullerton, bounced around the league until landing with the Spurs. Bowen wound up starting for several Spur championship teams, and was named First Team All-Defense several times. Bowen said
“This is the first place I’ve been where they respect what you can do rather than concentrate on what you can’t.’’
Not to get all preachy, but Bowen’s quote is not a bad approach to a lot of things in life….
Other points:
1. If you were to Google “Hot hand in basketball”, you will find numerous statistical studies which show that the hot hand is a myth. Essentially, the studies find that the fact that a shooter made his previous shot has no predictive value as to whether he will make the next one. I like stats as much or more than the next guy, but here I will quote the American commander at the Battle of the Bulge. When asked to surrender by the German commander, his one word response: “Nuts”. Anyone watching Green, Neal, and especially Mike Miller last night would agree with me. When each of those guys released the ball, everyone watching knew it was going in. It was amazing, and in honor of the remarkable shooting by these three in particular, here is a great version of McCartney’s song “Baby, I’m Amazed” by Norah Jones and Dave Grohl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
2. Another remarkable shooting statistic. In Game Two, Danny Green set a Finals record by going 5 for 5 from 3. That had never been done before. In Game 3 two days later, Mike Miller matched it, so it has now happened twice. The new stat is that no one has ever gone 5 for 5 in a Finals game and had their team win.
3. In Game 2, 6 future hall of famers played. The leading scorer was Mario Chalmers. Chalmers then followed up that performance with 0 points and 4 turnovers in Game 3. Proving that sometimes you are the windshield, sometimes you are the bug. http://www.youtube.com/watch?
4. In Game 3, 6 future hall of famers played. The leading scorer was Danny Green. Let’s hope he remains the windshield for at least another game or two.
5. In Game 3, each team missed 45 shots. Despite the fact that the Spurs generally played with either 3 guards, Kawai Leonard and one big, or 4 guards (Neal, Green, Manu, Parker) and a lone big, the Heat got only 9 of their misses back as an offensive board – 20%. Not a good number. Of the Spurs misses, they got 19 back as offensive boards – with that small line-up. 19 out of 45 is an outstanding 42%.
6. My fake blog tries to write about what others are not. Which means I do not need to say much about Lebron as everyone is commenting on his strange series. There are as many opinions as writers, and I agree or disagree with all of them.
7. Does the Spurs blow-out of the Heat in Game 3 portend another Spurs win in Game 4? Not if the Heat blow-out in Game 2 didn’t portend a Heat win in Game 3. As mentioned in an earlier blog, teams are remarkably resilient from one game to the next. Especially if the Spurs’ priceless point guard is at all hobbled. Even a priceless Steinway can suffer a grievous injury. http://www.youtube.com/watch?
In Pop’s words: "Every game is like a different picture," Popovich said. "Different things happen, different people step up -- or step down -- on both teams. You try to observe the way you're playing and make adjustments accordingly.
"If you have more experience, you don't get too high or too low. We spend more time talking about how to handle wins than how to handle losses. I think losses are pretty easy to handle. Players come back with whatever, a vengeance or more tenacity, better focus, all the things that we all say and write. But when a team wins, there's always that level of satisfaction that we have to try to take away without hurting confidence. You try to get the message across that nothing's been accomplished yet. And sometimes that's harder to do."
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