Spurs determined not to be picked on
SEATTLE – Ridnour-to-James?
It sure doesn’t have the same ring as Stockton-to-Malone, and that’s what Manu Ginobili and the San Antonio Spurs are reminding themselves going into Game 4 against Seattle today.
Jerome James scored 15 points on 7-for-7 shooting as the SuperSonics used the pick-and-roll with devastating efficiency in a Game 3 victory that pulled Seattle within 2-1 in the best-of-7 series.
The Spurs spent Saturday installing defensive adjustments. If they have their way, it will be more difficult for Sonics point guards Luke Ridnour and Antonio Daniels to find James for easy baskets.
“It’s not impossible,” Ginobili said. “We just didn’t execute well in the third game. We did it in Games 1 and 2. It’s not like Karl Malone and John Stockton out there. They’re good, but we can defend it.”
The Sonics had Reggie Evans back at practice after he sat Friday with a sore back. Rashard Lewis, however, said he’s “about 50-50” for today with a sprained toe and didn’t practice for the second straight day.
The pick-and-roll is a staple of every NBA offense: Pick, roll, pass, easy basket. Stockton and Malone, the retired Utah Jazz superstars, mastered the play and worked it to perfection for years.
Seattle succeeded with the pick-and-roll in Game 3 by exploiting San Antonio’s tendency to steer opposing offenses to the sides, which provides less room to operate.
To counter, Sonics coach Nate McMillan moved Lewis from the wing to the corner, pulling his defender from the lane. It cleared the way for James to throw down six dunks on feeds from Ridnour and Daniels.
“They scored on a lot of easy dunks,” San Antonio’s Tony Parker said. “We just need to talk with our bigs, make sure we know when to switch and when to stay on your man. It’s definitely one of the adjustments we’re going to make.”
Tim Duncan and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, not surprisingly, wouldn’t discuss how they plan to keep James in check. But the theme at San Antonio’s practice was that the pick-and-roll wasn’t something new or unexpected.
“We’ve been doing it all year,” Ginobili said. “We did it against Phoenix and we did it against Seattle before.”
Added Duncan: “We changed our game plan a little bit and we’ll see if it works. It’s minor. It’s the same stuff we’ve been doing.”
The Spurs face two other challenges. They must improve their 55 percent free-throw shooting from Game 3, and they need to make sure they can still defend on the wing if they fall back to clog the middle.
“They’ve hugged up with us on the perimeter, which opens up some of our bigs rolling to the basket,” McMillan said.
“We’re seeing them on tape not leaving certain guys when we are spacing. That’s part of the game they’ve been able to defend and pretty much take out.”
The Sonics ranked fifth in the NBA, hitting 36 percent of their 3-pointers this season. They’re due for a better game, too, after shooting 2 for 16 from 3-point range in Game 3.
“Other teams are really focusing in on that,” Lewis said. “They know we’re a 3-point shooting team and they know we live and die by the 3-point shot. They’re not leaving our guards. They’re leaving our bigs.”
It’s no secret there’s a big risk in leaving Lewis and Ray Allen open outside. That was the focus of Sacramento’s defense on Seattle in the first round, and it’s been a priority for the Spurs in this series.
“If you let those guys have a field day, their energy really gets going,” Popovich said. “They get very confident. Everything rolls from that. We’ve done a decent job on that, but we haven’t done a good job when their big guy rolls.”