Hornets coach Byron Scott has borrowed a page out of the Saints playbook to stop the Spurs' Tom Duncan in the West semifinals the Bees lead 2-0. Duncan, who has a NBA Hall of Fame resume, has been forced into a different sport altogether.
"They want Tim to be more of a quarterback," explained Spurs guard Michal Finley.
Like an NFL quarterback, Duncan in the face of an all-out blitz, Duncan has seen a steady stream of double-teams headed his way in the first two games of the best-of-7 series. The objective has been to make Duncan give up the ball and force his teammates to beat the Bees. So far, this had worked wonders for the Hornets.
Thursday night's game at San Antonio begins at 8:30 and Game 4 will be on Sunday on the road before the Hornets return to the Arena on Tuesday for Game 5. If the Spurs fall to 0-3, they have never won a series after being down that much.
"Teams make a choice every year whether to double Timmy or not," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "The Hornets have decided to double him and that means people have to make shots and we haven't done that."
Duncan has scored a grand total of 23 points in two games against the Hornets, but he also hasn't gotten much help.
"The Hornets have done a heck of a job defensively frustrating all of us, with their double-teaming and their shifting," said Duncan. "Then it seems like they come the other way and they're not missing shots. That stacked on top of each other just makes the game very frustrating."
The last time Byron Scott faced the Spurs in the playoffs, as New Jersey coach in the 2003 NBA Finals, he did not give Duncan double-team treatment. The Spurs won that series in six games, and Duncan averaged 24.2 points to his second of three MVP awards. Five years later, the Hornets have found success against the Spurs by turning Duncan almost exclusively into a passer.
Chris Paul is the MVP of the playoffs so far. Here's Paul's take on the series: "We understand their backs are against the wall right now, but we've got to go in there and understand we really need to steal a game"
CP3 said his team, playing with unwavering confidence as they've compiled a 6-1 playoff record so far, are close-knit off the court, something that helps them when they are down.
"I think that makes a difference when we're on the court in that we really try to play hard for each other and we don't want to see the season end," said Paul.
Hornets center Tyson Chandler says his team isn't thinking about the Western Conference finals because they first must defeat the defending NBA champs San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 on Thursday night at San Antonio.
The Hornets have blown out the Spurs twice at home and will play the next two games on he road.
"Whenever I start thinking ahead, thinking Western Conference finals, thinking celebrations, thinking championships, thinking maybes and potential matchups, I slap myself and go “Hey, that's no good if you can't win this next game because you lost focus," said Chandler”.
Hornets coach Byron Scott had a dinner before the playoffs and made all the players stand up and talk about playoffs, "At that moment, I realized how passionately guys want to win a ring," said Chandler. "You've got guys at the end of their careers, and they're like 'This may be my last run or I only have a few left' or 'this may be my last chance.'"
Chandler said guys like Bonzi Wells touched him. "Bonzi stood up and looked at David (Wells) and Chis (Paul) and me and said, ' you guys can take me there,'" said Chandler. "He said this may be his last chance and he wanted some hardware, He said it resided on our shoulders to get him there and he wanted us to go out there, play hard and just give guys like him the opportunity to be there, to have a chance, He said he was going to do his part, but that we take it up to another level. He said for a lot of them it was their last chance."
"What he said really hit me," said Chandler. "I'm going to be in that situation one day, and I'm going to need some young guys to help me win, and I hope hey step up the challenge like we're playing for them right now."
Chandler said he learned what it's going to be like in Game 3 when they played Dallas in Game 3.
"Thursday night's game is going to be a tough one," said Chandler. "I know we understand that we're going up against the champs and they're going to come with it. They're going to have their crowd, they're going to be energized and all of a sudden, they're going to be faster than before, and they're going to knock down shots.
"We have to withstand that first punch. They're going to try and jump on us in the first quarter. We have to match their energy and take that blow. If we take that blow, we're going to be all right."
Paul celebrated his 23rd birthday on Tuesday. Chandler and his family gave Paul a surprise dinner the day after Game 1. "We went to dinner and celebrated," said Chandler. "I took my daughter to the zoo on Chris' birthday and he came with us. It was the first time CP3 had his birthday at a zoo with a 2-year-old.
"I love how genuine Chris is. It's just a combination of things over the last two years that make me care for that dude like a brother.
"He could be a little arrogant prima donna, but he's nothing like that in any way. It's like,'So what? I'm not CP3, I'm Chris Paul, son of Charles Paul.
"And I love that about him."
It hardly matters to Paul that he finished second to KoME Bryant in the NBA MVP award balloting announced on Tuesday. Those votes were cast weeks ago, and Paul appears far more interested in what is going on now. But he did say Bryant "absolutely deserves" the MVP. You wouldn't expect anything else from CP3.
The Hornets deserve some credit for flustering the Spurs like no team has in the past six postseasons. The Hornets are making the Spurs play at their pace. They're taking away Tim Duncan and giving the Spurs no choice, but to get points from other spots on the floor. They're forcing turnovers, and taking advantage of them when they do. And it's not as though the Bees have had to resort to deception to pull it off.
"I think everybody knows our game plan," said Paul.
"We know we can play their style," said Scott. "We can't come down and throw it into David West like they do with Tim, and try to lull you into that type of game. We have to get up and down the floor."
"We're in the grove right now," said Chandler. "I don't know if there's been a time this year when we've been really clicking like we are right now."
"The fact we're younger and a bit more hungry probably serves us well. And when you have athletic guys, you want to try and use them to the best of your ability," said the coach..
"We're executing our game plan a little better than San Antonio is.
"That's the bottom line."
Perrilloux a fix in Alabama?
Alabama A&M coach Anthony Jones said he has spoken with former LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux, who is seeking to resurrect his career at a small-college program.
JacksonvilleState and AlabamaState also want to talk to Perrilloux.
"I've been in contact with him," Jones told the Huntsville Times. "We're interested in Ryan. He's an exceptional athlete. Based on what we know, he would be able to do some special things here."
"Ryan was given every opportunity to be part of our football team," said LSU coach Les Miles. "In the end, he didn't fulfill his obligation as an LSU student-athlete. We hope a new beginning will benefit him."
The Alabama A&M coach that new beginning is at his school.
"We're going to let the situation play itself out and hope that he is interested in us," said Jones.
A&M is trying to replace Kelcy Luke, a record-setting four-year starter at quarterback, who transferred from Auburn.
JacksonvilleState coach Jack Crowe has had contact with Perrilloux, while AlabamaState coach Reggie Barlow also said he is interested.
"All I have done is due diligence," Crowe told the Birmingham News. "We will not compromise the integrity of our program."
AlabamaState's Barlow said he is interested in sitting down with Perrilloux.
"When there are things like you read in the paper, naturally you have to get to the source," said Barlow. "And he's the source. You have to have an up-front conversation to find out what's true and what's not."
While numerous schools are expected to court Perrilloux, they must cope with his baggage.
Hester fits into Chargers plans
Off the typewriter...
Former LSU running back Jacob Hester was the busiest player at the Chargers' recent minicamp. Coach Norv Turner wasted no time getting a look at his third-round draft choice. Hester was given a look at running back, fullback, and was split out as a receiver. He was employed as an in-blocker on he tight end's flank. Hester is an amazingly versatile player and Turner is determined to use his capabilities...
A fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships by the LSU gymnastic team two weeks ago helped propel the Tigers up a spot to No. 12 in the latest U.S. Sports Academy Director's Cup. Stanford continues to led the standings with 780 points, followed by Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State and California. LSU's other Directors' Cup points total have come from football (100 points), women's indoor track (90 points), women's basketball (83 points), men;s indoor track and field (80 points), volleyball (50 points), women's soccer (50) points, men's swimming (44.5 points), and women's swimming (32 points).
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on 5/12/2008
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on 5/9/2008
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