SB Nation Blog: jollyrogerwilco

Chasing IT

jollyrogerwilco — Fri, 02 May 2008 05:52:00 -0000

When you've never done something, you're not exactly sure how to do IT. Sure, you may have seen someone do IT, and you might have had someone who's done IT tell you how to do IT; but it wasn't you. You didn't do IT and you haven't experienced the act of doing IT, and no number of manuals, training DVDs, conventions and conversations about IT will work as a substitute for accomplishing IT.

Now, let's say that you've been doing something similar to IT for a while now, and that you've been doing it with a high level of success. You've been receiving quite a bit of acclaim, and the conventional wisdom is that you will be able to do the IT that you have not yet done. In this scenario, it might not be too hard to understand how you would think that the success you've achieved has prepared you; and that you have the skills, experience and fortitude to do IT.

If then you attempted IT in a public forum and failed to do IT, your surprise might be much like that of the Suns after losing the series to the Spurs. Look, we've been watching the Spurs, most of us, for years. We've been following them game in and game out; though injuries, trades, losses, victories, growing up (TP), growing older (TD), growing old (RoHo). We've lived through tough series, sweeps, overtimes, heartbreakers and titles. And through all of these experiences, we've come to know, as fans, what this organization means when they talk about championship basketball. As a result, there are certain things we take for granted.

One of those things occurred to me today as I was reading Powell's latest. Bones posted a comment on the thread that struck me because he said just what I felt, and yet no longer feel. He said, "the suns might be able to beat a lot of teams in the NBA with their crap style of play, but by now you'd think it would be even obvious to them that it wont work against san antonio."

But I don't think it is obvious to them, and it's possible that it's unfair for us to expect it to be. This is a group of professionals who are among the very best in the world at what they do. They've been at or near the top of the Western Conference for several years. They work on their game, they try to improve and they even shake things up in their attempts to get better. After the most recent 82 games, they saw themselves in a position to do IT. The thing they had never done before: beat the Spurs and possibly win the championship. They spent the last year trying to recover, or forget last year's playoffs. They attacked this season's schedule and had the West's best record for quite a while. They experienced something very similar to IT on a regular basis -- from winning over 67% of their games to their two most recent regular season victories over the Spurs. But once again, despite their own confidence (or because of their lack of it), despite everyone who thought they could do it, despite their every preparation, their every effort -- they lost.

I had a bunch of notes from Game 5 to write about. I'd collected quotes from D'oh, Bell and Shaq, and I was going to take another shot at analyzing Nash's psyche via his postgame interview. But tonight, none of that seemed to matter as much as recognizing how difficult it is to succeed the way the Spurs have and continue to do. So I'm taking a moment to appreciate this team, and this blog, and you guys.

We don't all live in San Antonio, or have parents who are Spurs fans. Not many of us have a huge community surrounding us that all bleed silver and black. We can remember a time when we weren't Spurs fans. But something drew us to this team. Something within us responded to the ringing of the stonecutter pounding on the rock. And we identified with it.

We identified with it the same way some people identify with the tatted-up, chest-thumping Nuggets. We identified with it the same way others identify with the flash of Kobe, or the power of LeBron. We identified with this team, claimed them as their own, and agreed to allow ourselves to be defined as fans of the San Antonio Spurs because of what that means to us.

This week, after Game 5, a friend of mine and I were going over the series and he said, "It's a privilege to be able to root for class." The truth is that we're not always classy, but it's one of the things we aspire to be. We're not always determined, prepared and able to execute. There are times when the pressure is on and we fail to deliver. I think that's one of the reasons why we appreciate Manu so much -- because he performs so well when the most is at stake, the same thing we aspire to do in our own lives.

We all have an IT that we're chasing. I've got an 8-5 job, but I'm starting a photography studio in hopes of eventually being my own boss. There are times when I'm tired from a day of working and don't want to do anything but rest. But instead, I'll be thinking about Riis' stonecutter, and the goals I've set for myself -- and, weird as this may seem, I'll be thinking about the Spurs, and I'll get out my own hammer, and keep pounding that rock.

Just call us Droopy? Hey, Droopy was COOL!

jollyrogerwilco — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:27:21 -0000

J.A. Adande @ ESPN writes what the rest of us have known all along -- but it nice to hear it just the same.

Quote-tastic #2

jollyrogerwilco — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:37:31 -0000

So, Game 2 has been picked over exceedingly well in the recaps done by Rick2G, AusTechSpur and last night’s killer marathon by Stampler. So I will bring fresh meat only. There were a few gems in the locker room interviews after game two that I want to share.

Phoenix reporters: Do not attempt to bait the BB's

I'll begin with what I’m guessing was some Phoenix reporter as he tried to trap Barry into giving the Suns some bulletin board motivation:

Reporter: It's been a very physical series so far. You guys are up two-zip. You go into Phoenix with the idea of taking one, taking two -- ending this series as quick as possible?

Brent: (Big Pause) No. Anybody tell you that? Nobody said that.

R: No. That's what I'm asking you.

B: Yeah, I'm telling you, "No."

R: (Getting flustered now as Barry just stand there looking at him.) So you're just going … just trying to -

B: (In full on stare down mode. Flatly) I'm discrediting everything that you just said.

R: So no sweep talk?

B: No, we're taking (chuckles) every game, uh, as it comes. You know, game three in Phoenix, we understand the atmosphere there and what it's going to be like. But at the end of the day we did what we were supposed to do and that's win two games here at home, and hopefully we can go to Phoenix and play a game that's worthy of a win.

I’d say that was beautifully handled by the Spacemonkey. We know how good he is at fielding questions and responding with humor and his unique take on things, but this is the first time I’ve personally seen him circle the wagons quite so dramatically. I particularly like the way he answered his own question: “Anybody tell you that? Nobody said that.” As well as this team works as a team on the court, they’re at least as good at doing so off the court in dealing with the media.

Now, what would the other B² do with his opportunity? Yes, the reporter tried the exact same thing with Bowen. Only this time, perhaps a bit gun-shy, he was only able to get in a quick, "You go into Phoenix looking to take one? Two? Sweep?" and got a dismissive headshake from the Funneler who said, "Naww, we're not talking about sweep or anything like that. We want to go there and play better than we did here in the first half.”

Nicely defused, I’d say. I must say that Pop’s locker room is an organized place where the guys stay on topic and are smart enough to realize when potential boobie-traps are being laid for them.

The Arizona Republic attacks it’s own

Well, I thought that was probably all of the gold that could be panned from this river, but I went ahead and watched the visitors’ locker room interviews and, lo and behold, I found something that I enjoyed quite a bit.

If the Phoenix reporters were trying to subtly draw a quote out of our guys, they were being downright blatant when interviewing the Suns. There were three of them at Bell’s locker, just staying on Bell after he had said, several times, that he didn't have answers for their questions, that he didn't know why the 3rd quarter was so bad, that he'd need to see tape -- after he'd said all of that (and one of the reporters finally walked away after deciding that Raja wasn't going to deliver a quote) a reporter asked him about the way Finley came out hot after halftime, how the Spurs had BO coming off "some curls and screens.” Bell somehow decided that he'd had enough.

He's sitting down in a chair, applying some chapstick as the question is being asked. And he says, "Yeah. Yeah-yeah they did.” The frustration is starting to creep into his voice. “And they did it in the last game and…" Looking left, looking right, smiling a tight-lipped, emotionless smile. "I, I don't know what to say about that." Big long pause -- six to seven seconds, and then he just busts out with, "You can't guard that." He looks up at the reporter, as though he's talking to someone who's thinking that they would be able to do it. "You can't, you know – A guy's running off two screens, and catching it and not even putting it on the floor and shooting the ball. I can't guard that."

The reporter stays at it saying, "It just seemed like to be their intent of theirs to-" But Bell wasn't having it. He interrupted him with his head tilted like a teenager who was being lectured by a parent, and was just refusing to back down, refusing to listen. And all of the way through Bell's next speech, the reporter keeps trying to finish his question or his sentence or whatever it was, but he wasn’t able to because Bell just kept on with, "That's what they did. They did it -- they did it last -- they did it last game. They came out and they did it again and … you know, good play calls by Pop.” He almost spits the Smirk’s name out, jerks his head to the side and makes a face like he just tasted something awful. “And Mike made some nice shots." With that he puts his head down, turns away to his locker and the clip ends.

Inside Nash’s brain

Next, I continue my series of analyzing a quote of Steve Nash. After Game One, he gave us the lovely, “We’re going to be tough to beat,” and from just after Game Two, his gift was:

We had beaten them [two] straight times, now they've beaten us twice; it just happens to be in the playoffs.

What shall we read into this, that he does not realize that the playoffs are a completely different animal than the regular season? The mindset that is revealed by his statement appears to be that he must really believe that they should win this series b/c of what happened the last two times these teams met in the regular season. Isn’t it telling that for a professional as experienced as he is, with as many seasons and playoffs series that he’s been through, that he’s still at the point where he could say something like “It just happens to be in the playoffs.” No, Steve, it doesn’t just happen to be in the playoffs. Some teams try harder in the playoffs. Some players don’t treat a game in mid-November the same way they treat a late-April game. But this statement is revealing, not just about Nash, but also about the Suns’ organization, because I’d say that it’s the job of the coach to prepare his players in such a way that they’re not thinking that what happened in the regular season is a good indicator of what they can expect in the playoffs.

Finally, we end with a quote from Shaq. "A couple of times they [Parker and Ginobili] got to the basket," O'Neal said. "We just have to make it tough for them to do that." First of all, does he really think defense is that easy? S.A. works all season long on defensive concepts and strategies. Pop does everything but stand on their necks to get them to really execute on that end of the court. They take all season long, working together and committing to the teamwork it takes to play elite level NBA defense, and Shaq thinks that they can flip a switch and "make it tough" all of a sudden? Please. He hasn’t even been on the team for half a season – even if he had joined a team that was relatively good at defense, it would be hard to conceive of, but there are no such accusations being made against the Suns.

Second, a “couple” of times? Come one. Antoine and Plainview were camping out in the paint. They were picking out curtains and looking at flatware they were feeling so at home. “A couple of times” huh? Wow, Spaceball must be pretty talented to be able to score all those points on “a couple” of drives into the lane. I’ll tell you happened twice, Shaq. TP made jumpers “a couple” of times. That’s about it.

Allright, see you guys during the game tonight. Go, Spurs, go.

Other Things to Cover: more recapping of Game One

jollyrogerwilco — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:36:02 -0000

I've been lurking on PTR since a mention on the Express News' website during the Suns series last year. Since then, I've read every major post while appreciating this site tremendously. From Stampler to Powell, to AusTechSpur, LatinD, rick2g, and the rest of the regulars, you guys have heightened my enjoyment of being a Spurs fan. Now, the last few weeks have been trying due to a) the Spurs up and down play, and b) some people getting a life outside of sports, but … you take what you can get when you're married with four kids (all under nine yrs old) a full-time job and starting a small business -- but I signed up last week and I'm posting when I can.

I was beginning to wonder if anyone was going to post a recap of the best Game One of a first round playoff game I've ever seen, so I started writing this when I saw Stampler's monster post over at Spursdynasty -- I figured that I'd put up the things I'd written that hadn't already been discussed.

Starting with the end of regulation; Suns with the ball and a 3 point lead -- did anyone notice that the 24-second violation was due to Shaq taking his sweet time coming up the floor? It took him 10 seconds to cross halfcourt and another 4 to get down to the post. Which of course left 10 seconds to actually try to run a play. This is the kind of thing that happens when a team adds a player to the mix at the end of a season. The Suns had played at a quick tempo for such a long time, I'm sure Nash was used to the amount of time he's used to having to set up a play. He's usually very in control of himself, the possession, the shot clock, etc. But obviously, handling all of that in addtion to the pressure of the situation and having to deal with fitting a new cog into the works (especially one who slows down the works as much as Shaq does) was just too much to keep track of it all and they didn't even come close to taking a shot. If Shaq's goaltend changed the game as Stampler said, then getting a stop on this possession kept the Suns from changing it back.

I don't think I'll ever forget Nash just standing there, dribbling the ball above the three point line, waiting and waiting and waiting for the Big Delay to get into the offense. This was the big argument that most of the media had against Shaq-for-Marion, that he'd slow them down too much. It's the reason that the first time ESPN.com posted the trade rumors, I yelled "DO IT!!" at my monitor. At crunch time, when they had the chance to put us away in regulation, Shaq dragged their offense to a crawl. Thank you very much.

This was the kind of game that Horry used to win for us, and it's as much a testament to the player he used to be as it is to the way Buford has filled out the team this year that it took three players to do the job he used to and make the plays he used to make. Kurt Thomas's defense and charge taking; Finley's dagger three to send it to OT; Duncan's three to send it to the 2nd OT -- that's what the Fresh Prince used to do for us. Good news: we're still getting it done. Sad news: Horry seems to be too old to still be doing it. Of course, the playoffs aren't over yet. You never know.

Popovich really did have a braniac of a game. Between hack-a-skinny and hack-a-Shaq, changing the pick-and-roll defense in the 4th to trapping Nash (which led to the Sickness' steal of Amare and the resulting foul), calling the play for BO's three, and for Duncan's three (we can give Pop credit for that can't we? *smirk*) as well as the coaching job necessary to make sure that everyone knew what do to (and what not to do, like taking a timeout) after Nash's amazing three. You have to give credit to the ol' whitehaired guy. Nobody screwed it up and Manu calmly walked the ball up the court.

Then came the game winner. Which is what I really want to talk about. Tie game in double overtime. What did Manu have to say about it afterward? "It’s what every player loves doing. The adrenaline at that point is huge." Love it. He's there with Bell on him, waiting for the clock to wind down and BLOG gives him a fake drive and stops. Raja runs backward before he realizes that it's just a fake, but now there's about 4 feet of separation between them, and when Manu starts his real drive, he's able to really accelerate without Bell using his body or his forearm to slow him down. As a result, Manu's in control of the entire drive and is able to get almost right to the rim. Then came the amazing: when he finally pulls up for the shot, his body control was such that it looked almost effortless even though he had to get his left leg completely horizontal in order to have the release he wanted. Beautiful.

Finally, the post-game comment from the visitor's locker room. No, not Shaq's pot/kettle foot/mouth tirade -- I'm thinking about what Nash said. Now I'm not one to read too much into one thing someone says, but let's go ahead at this point and pretend that the things people say mean something -- that there's a reason they say what they say, and it tells us something about them. With that mindset, what to make of it when Nash says, "We feel like we're going to be really difficult to beat." Hmmm. Nash doesn't say that the Suns will still win the series or that they're still confident of victory or that it's a tough loss, etc. He says that they're "going to be difficult to beat." Well, if it's a choice between it being difficult to beat them or actually losing to them, I'll choose the difficulty and being alive to continue on to the next round. It's similar to the logic of someone who says that they're ready to die for their country, and the smart response is the line: The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the enemy die for his. So, Nash and the Suns can have their wish, they can be tough to beat as long as we're the ones doing the beating.

What's left in the tank?

jollyrogerwilco — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:23:13 -0000

So, it's one of those items that's always mentioned in those out-of-town newspaper articles: when Pop took over as coach, he decided that regular season wins were less important than entering the playoffs: 1) as healthy and rested as possible, while 2) playing playoff-level basketball as the regular season ends.

As much as I've second-guessed Pop's decisions this year -- he is the same guy who has lead the team to four rings, and I'm thinking that he's sacrificing #2 for #1 -- in view of the two winning streaks we've been on since the All-Star break. We know he hates the regular season grind and I'm betting that Manu's abductor strain scared him to the point where he's decided to take his chances in the playoffs and rely on the team's history in responding to playoff intensity with a renewed effort on the defensive end.

Am I confident about a matchup with the Jazz if we start with 2 games in SLC - no. Do I think we win a series with the Lakers if it started on Saturday? Not from what we've seen lately. But the great thing about the playoffs is that this team has lost plenty of regular season series to teams that it has quickly dispatched as soon as it's "first to four wins."

Hmmm, the further I'm going into this, the more optimistic I'm starting to feel. It's almost like Sunday's rout never happened. Bring on the 2nd season. I'm ready to see just what we've got left in the tank.