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 2007-01-19 08:50  #1
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Lakers pop weary Spurs: Cold shooters, bad attitudes lead to loss

Lakers pop weary Spurs: Cold shooters, bad attitudes lead to loss

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA011807.01C.BKNspurs.lakers.gamer.2248533.html

Web Posted: 01/18/2007 12:34 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News

Their season having reached a new low, the Spurs trudged off the AT&T Center floor Wednesday night with another loss, unable, among other things, to count to five, let alone beat a Los Angeles Lakers team missing two starters.

With Kobe Bryant scoring 34 points, more than a few of which he accumulated by pounding the ball over Tim Duncan's head, the Lakers held on for a 100-96 victory. The loss was the Spurs' seventh at home, equaling their total from last season.

The loss also once again raised questions about the direction of the team and the makeup of its roster. The Spurs looked tired at times, rudderless at others, committing 19 turnovers and missing 16 3-pointers — none of which approached the level of embarrassment as when the team took the court for the fourth quarter with only four players.

"Our attitude was not the best," Manu Ginobili said. "We were hanging our heads, feeling sorry for ourselves, getting upset with the refs.

"If we really want to make it to the end and be the team we usually are, we need to step up and play better — and more professional."

Hitting a few shots also would help. Duncan scored 26 points and Tony Parker 25, but the Spurs made only 6 of 22 3-pointers. In Monday's loss in Chicago, they made 6 of 23.

"We've got a lot of guys who have shots who aren't taking them and taking some shots that are contested," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We're just really out of whack as far as the shooting is concerned."

Bruce Bowen had his worst game of the season, missing all four of his 3-pointers and failing to slow Bryant until the closing minutes. He spent much of the evening carping at the officials for letting Bryant clear out space with his left forearm and also accepted blame for a technical the Spurs received when they opened the final quarter with only four players.

Popovich said he made just one substitution at the end of the third quarter, putting Duncan in the game. But Bowen evidently thought he was being replaced, and no one apparently told him otherwise, so he stayed on the bench.

The Spurs were 15 seconds into the possession when the officials noticed the error. The technical allowed the Lakers to tack another point onto their lead — a costly mistake because the game was close in the final seconds.

"There was no communication," Popovich said of the error.

Said Bowen: "It's my fault. Pop didn't sub me out, and that is that."

The Spurs canceled practice Tuesday, along with their game-day morning shootaround, because of the icy conditions that had shut down much of the city for two days. But with most of the highways opening Wednesday afternoon, the AT&T Center was filled almost to capacity, including a rather vocal group of Lakers supporters.

Vladimir Radmanovic's hot shooting allowed the Lakers to surge to a 10-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. Ginobili, who scored eight of his 16 points in the quarter, rallied the Spurs, giving them a 91-90 lead with 2:54 left.

But Bryant found Luke Walton cutting to the basket for a layup then hit a tough fadeaway himself. Duncan missed a couple of key free throws, and Parker threw away a pass when he thought Ginobili was cutting the opposite direction.

"I think we have to talk between us and start bringing the best of each of us," Ginobili said. "We know every team is good and trying to beat us, but we are just letting them get away with too much."

Bryant, who was in foul trouble early, scored 17 points in the second quarter while making 7 of 9 shots.

Bowen struggled to stay in front of Bryant, and he didn't have much help behind him. Even when one of the Spurs' big men tried to protect the rim, Bryant usually twisted around him and scored anyway.

Once in the third quarter, Bowen tried to herd Bryant to the baseline only to watch him elevate and dunk viciously in Duncan's face. A couple minutes later, Bryant dunked over Duncan again, this time flushing a lob pass from Smush Parker.

"It's just mental," Ginobili said. "We have to forget about all the things we're doing wrong and start from zero."

Provided, of course, they can count that high.
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 2007-01-19 08:54  #2
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回复: Lakers pop weary Spurs: Cold shooters, bad attitudes lead to loss

Spurs' Bowen sits, which costs team dearly

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA011807.07C.BKNspurs.bowen.22485ad.html

Web Posted: 01/18/2007 12:56 AM CST
Mike Monroe
Express-News

When Brent Barry arched in a 3-point shot with 5.3 seconds left in Wednesday's Spurs-Lakers game at the AT&T Center, it sliced a five-point Lakers lead to two and made Bruce Bowen cringe just a little.

In that instant, Bowen knew his mental miscue at the start of the fourth quarter had cost the Spurs an opportunity to possibly tie the game with another 3-pointer, regardless of what the Lakers did at the foul line after an intentional Spurs foul.

Bowen thought he had been subbed out of the game at the end of the third quarter and did not take the court to start the fourth. In fact, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had not made a change at his position and thought Bowen would take the court to begin the final period.

"It's my fault," Bowen said. "Pop didn't sub me out, and that was that."

Fifteen seconds into the quarter, the referees called a technical foul when they realized only four Spurs were on the floor. Sasha Vujacic made the technical, giving the Lakers a 74-71 lead.

It might have seemed sporting of the Spurs to play four against five, but NBA rules require five players on the court for each team.

The mistake was critical after Barry's 3-pointer, and Bowen knew it. Instead of having to hope Lakers All-Star Kobe Bryant would miss at least one of the two foul shots he was awarded with 4.9 seconds left, the Spurs would have had time to set up for a 3-pointer that could have sent the game to overtime.

Popovich said it was not a matter of miscommunication. Rather, it was a complete lack of communication.

"There was no communication," Popovich said. "There was only one change made. Tim Duncan came into the game."

Bowen had done an outstanding job of defending Bryant in the final 51/2 minutes, converting him from crunch-time scorer to set-up man. He blocked one of Bryant's passes to teammate Manu Ginobili to start a play that gave the Spurs their first lead of the fourth, at 91-90.

In the end, all Bowen could do was lament his mistake and rue the Spurs' erratic play at the start of the final period.

"Erratic play," Bowen said of the Spurs' 1-for-8 shooting and three turnovers in the first five minutes of the final period.

Bowen carped at referees Ed. F. Rush, Bill Kennedy and Pat Fraher about Bryant's use of his off arm to create space on his way to the basket.

"I thought he created a lot of stuff to the basket and was rewarded for that with a lot of 'and-ones' tonight," Bowen said, his lips pursed a bit. "It is tough for the guys who are trying to help out, realizing they've got to get in position real early, or halfway to where they can contest the shot."
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 2007-01-19 08:56  #3
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回复: Lakers pop weary Spurs: Cold shooters, bad attitudes lead to loss

Spurs notebook: Ailing Elson shoots for Friday

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA011807.07C.BKNspurs.notebook.224858e.html

Web Posted: 01/18/2007 12:59 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News

Francisco Elson wore his usual black sports jacket to Wednesday's game. Come Friday, he might be able to leave it in his closet.

Elson, who has missed the past 11 games with a right shoulder injury, could be back in uniform as soon as Friday, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

He will participate in his first contact workout today.

"If that goes well, then I think he's cleared to go," Popovich said. "On a limited basis, probably."

The Spurs play New Orleans on Friday.

Elson suffered a small tear in his rotator cuff in the Dec. 26 loss to Milwaukee. Until this week, he had been limited to conditioning work and some light shooting.

Blame 'Nellie': Popovich wasn't surprised by Wednesday's eight-player trade between Golden State and Indiana. Not when he knew who helped engineer the deal.

"Nellie was involved," Popovich said of his friend and former boss, Warriors coach Don Nelson. "Nellie loves to make trades and very few of them are one-for-one."

While Popovich said it's too early to judge the impact of the trade, he does think it might cause other teams more aggressively evaluate their own rosters.

"It might make some other teams think about doing something earlier than usual," he said, "instead of waiting until the day of trade deadline and holding your cards until then.

"If you're going to do something, get it done, so you can get your new team and start working with them."

The Spurs continue to look at ways to upgrade their athleticism on the perimeter, but Popovich said the team didn't have a deal imminent.

Storm nearly maroons Lakers: The ice storm that struck San Antonio wreaked havoc with air travel and nearly kept the Lakers stranded in town overnight.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said the team had to arrange for a charter aircraft to be flown to San Antonio late Wednesday night to shuttle the team to Dallas for tonight's game against the Mavericks.

Jackson said a shortage of de-icer at San Antonio International Airport made it impossible to use the jet they arrived in Tuesday.

"The two planes that are here that are from our (charter) group are stranded here and it will probably be a couple more days, at least one more day, before they can get the ice off it. They'll bring in another plane to ferry us up to Dallas tonight."

Surprised by Horry: Jackson said the Lakers never expected that Robert Horry still would be playing three years after they opted to let him become a free agent in 2003.

"We had an option to continue on in a way that would have taken us into another salary situation," Jackson said of Horry's free-agent summer of 2003. "We certainly didn't see him playing (three) years later. We thought he had a couple years with us, the way he had to work that last year he was with us. It took a lot of effort for him. But he's maintained it."

Horry recently has acknowledged there are some nights that fatigue prevents him from giving a great effort.

Jackson maintains Horry will be fine come playoff time.
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