Spurs win, up 2-0 on the Pistons

[lazarus]

Another butt whipping.

It'll be interesting to play in the Palace, though. The series doesn't start until a team loses at home, after all. :eyes:

[marmar]

1. That blows!

:hurts:

[NoMoreMrNiceGuy]

2. Die Spurs...I hate that team ...not exactly sure why but they bother me..

I wanted the Suns to go all the way...exciting,fast break style play...Spurs are boring but they win.

[lazarus]

4. boring?

I guess you find the All Star game to be super exciting, huh?

Me, I like teams that play well on both ends of the court. You know, the whole game. If I wanted a bunch of running back and forth and scoring, I'd go watch the guys at the playground.

[NoMoreMrNiceGuy]

5. Good for you...I like run and gun and no defense.

[lazarus]

7. that's not basketball

It's half a game.

Oh, and how, exactly, is a team that scores 97 points (as the Spurs did tonight) boring? Do you need 120?

The Spurs outran the Suns. Boring?

Ginobili may be the most exciting player in the league. Boring?

[Tummler]

12. Allow me to interject a blatant appeal to authority

I just saw the following interview with Julius Erving at ESPN Page 2:

-----

NEEL: Do you enjoy the game today?

DR. J: I enjoy watching the Spurs play, the Kings. A win for Philly is always nice for me. I enjoy it as a fan. I'm not looking for the perfect game. I'm not critical of what I see. I understand how hard it is. I understand even when guys are making so-called "easy" plays, and they're contested, I understand that they're doing something special.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=neel/050610&num=0

-----


But what does Dr. J know about exciting basketball, anyway? :evilgrin:

[LisaM]

11. The Spurs bother me, too

even though I'm a Pistons fan, the Spurs were bugging me when they played the Sonics. The Spurs get ALL THE CALLS, and they roughed the Sonics up with no consequences.

[lazarus]

13. wow

I wish I had your cable system, because the games they showed here were the exact opposite, with the Sonics roughing up the Spurs.

Interesting, though, that you'd say the Spurs were roughing up the Sonics. Suppose that applies to the 'soft' label someone gave them downthread? :D

[LisaM]

14. Oh? How many Spurs were injured in the Sonics/Spur series?

And how many of the Spurs stars had to sit out games?

[lazarus]

16. Ah, the old injury card

That's the point of playing 82 games and the playoffs. It's an endurance game. The Spurs had a few seasons they could have won, but had a star out due to injury.

BTW, the Sonics were only called on 2 more fouls than the Spurs for the entire series.

How many Sonics were injured by Spurs players, and how many just got injured?

[yowzayowzayowza]

3. Spurs got alot ...

of offensive honing from the Suns series. I'm thinkin' the Spurs have played their last home game.

[kaitykaity]

6. I think Miami was up 2-0, if I'm not mistaken.

Seems like the Pistons don't wake up until
game 3. I'll be very surprised if they
don't make a series out of it.

And seriously, what was with missing all of
those shots at 3 feet anyway??? Saranwrap
on the rim or something? Geez.

[lazarus]

8. yup, Saran Wrap

Surprised nobody saw it. :hi:

Actually, Detroit won game 1 of that series. Then Miami won 2 in a row, then they traded off a couple of games, and the Pistons won that last 2.

I think Detroit has simply run into a team that does what they do, only better. They have the two best players on the court (Duncan and Ginobili), the best defender (Bowen, and I still can't believe Ben Wallace got DPOY), and the best coach, IMO.

[komplex]

9. Wasn't it just last year...

That the Spurs were up 2-0 and lost the series?

It's one thing to be dull, but to be dull and soft...

[lazarus]

10. soft?

Yes, soft teams lead the league in defense. :eyes: That soft team has outscored Detroit by over 50 points in the last 7 quarters.

And I still don't get this "dull" label. Are you actually watching these games? Did you happen to watch the Phoenix/San Antonio series?

San Antonio runs. They've got Parker, the fastest guard in the league. They've got Ginobili, one of the most exciting players in the league.

I'm still waiting for someone to demonstrate how the Spurs are soft or boring.

They scored more in the first half of this game than any team Detroit's played in the past two post-seasons. Against Phoenix, they scored 43 in one quarter, one point below the season high. That's dull?

They shut down the hottest team in the league (Denver).

Then they went toe to toe with a bunch of thugs from Seattle. And this soft team fought back and won.

Then they outran the Suns.

Now they're out-defending the Pistons, and getting some scoring in, as well.

And that's dull? That's soft? Come, tell me why, I'm curious.

[komplex]

15. Well, I've tried to watch the games but kept on falling asleep!

HA!
no seriously, try the veal.

Denver: Young Team.
Seattle: Thugs? you haven't seen a eastern conf ballgame all year.

Soft doesn't mean 'doesn't play defense' it means "unwilling to impose" on the other team.

But what makes the Spurs dull is they are competent, they play basketball well, but they have no style. They don't beat you with their style, there is no imposition of the will. It doesn't mean they are a great team, just they are a dull team. Any excitement comes from the style of play from the other team.

If they were playing the Suns it's be a high scoring game, but they are playing the Pistons so it's going to be played Piston's style.

[lazarus]

17. Try staying awake

Try watching a game. The Spurs scored more in the first half of game two than Detroit has allowed in this year's playoffs and last year's playoffs.

Impose their will? They do that. The problem is that Detroit is a mirror image of San Antonio. San Antonio just does it much, much better.

As for style, have you seen Ginobili and Parker on the break? Do you really think Duncan has no style? Yeah, he doesn't yell and scream every time he scores. He doesn't need to.

I can't believe you could think that the Spurs are being forced to play a slow halfcourt Pistons-style of game when you just look at the scores. The Spurs have destroyed Detroit. Since Detroit was up 17-4 in the first quarter of the first game, the Spurs have outscored them by 49 points.

Oh, and Detroit set a dubious record in the last game. They had the biggest deficit in three point scoring in playoff history. The Spurs scored 33 points on threes, Detroit nothing.

Finally, I think team play in a team sport is a fairly significant thing. For instance, the Spurs had 23 assists for their 29 field goals. That's remarkable.

"Soft" is just a cute label. I've got someone upthread accusing these "soft" players of beating up on the Sonics. I give up, I'm going to go talk basketball with people who understand the game.

[komplex]

26. Only a soft team

would get blown out after taking a "commanding" 2-0 lead.

[yowzayowzayowza]

18. "My rhythm is as off as Dick Cheney...

... doing the moonwalk."

http://www.freep.com/sports/pistons/mitch14e_20050614.htm

Good stuff.

[kaitykaity]

19. I guess that Ginobili guy is real important to SA, huh?

Looks like the Pistons came to play. 96-79.

[banjosareunderrated]

20. nah,....the spurs will be ok in game 3.

HOLY CRYING OUT SIDEWAYS....

Go pistons.

:toast:

[kaitykaity]

21. Yeah, Ben Wallace was a man on a mission.

And I loved the way Rasheed schooled Horry early
in the first quarter.

Go Pistons is right.

[banjosareunderrated]

22. B-B-B - B-B -B - B-- B--B- -B---B---B ---B----Ben--

WwWwWwWWWwwwWWWallace.

For the first time this series, the stones played like the stones. I feel bad talking to spurs fans because i don't think they should hear about how the first two games of this series wasn't about them, but the Pistons have never played that poorly since sheed came here. the spurs won, the stones didn't lose those two games, but SA beat a detroit team that was not a detroit team. Hopefully, we'll see a bestonbest game before the series is through.

[kaitykaity]

23. Portland Trailblazer fan here. Know all about 'Sheed.

:eyes:

I was stunned to hear the crowd chanting his name
last night. Is he really that popular there?

Yeah, it's way too soon to hand the Spurs the trophy.

[banjosareunderrated]

24. the first day he was here, when he got the ball all you could hear was

"sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed"

he was embraced from the minute he got here and i think that did a lot for his esteem. Not once has he been a bad teammate or a distraction. Maybe he's ok with getting his bud from someone other dstroud so he doesn't feel like he's gotta call his teammates out publicly anymore.

[kaitykaity]

25. I'm happy for him. It's a good fit for him there.

He seems like kind of an introvert who would rather just
be with his family than anything else.

He doesn't have to be "the" guy. He can do his thing,
take threes if he wants, but he's an adjunct to a big
fella like BW.