# Game 20: Seattle Supersonics @ San Antonio Spurs



## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

* December 8th, 2004 - 7:30 PM (Central Time)*


*Seattle Supersonics(15-3)* @ *San Antonio Spurs (16-3) *

Last Game: Seattle- Win, 99-89
Last Game: San Antonio - Win, 91-75

*Projected Starting Lineups: *

















































































*Reserves:*


































































I thought I'd never say this, but this is a huge game with Seattle tonight. Both teams are on a roll, and both teams have something to prove to each other. Seattle wants to prove that they are a true force to be dealt with, and San Anotnio wants to prove that their earlier loss to Seattle was a fluke. For Seattle, if they come out hitting their three point shots, we're in deep ****. When they get unconscious from behind the arch, you just congratulate them on the win and move on. Rashard Lewis really scares me, because he has such a big size advantage over Manu, and there's little we can do about it. As for Ray Allen, he can get frustrated at times, and the Spurs just have to hope Bowen can manage to do that. Even though the Spurs easily have one of the best defenses in the league, I think they are allowing other teams to shoot 3's pretty good. That will be something to focus on. For San Antonio, you have to pound the ball inside to Duncan, so Parker, Manu, and the rest of the role players can create offense. I wish that Duncan would just go off for 30+ points tonight, but Seattle will do anything they can to prevent that from happening. Another big key for the Spurs is to keep Seattle off the offensive boards. You can't give the Sonics multiple chances to score, so the Spurs better have 5 guys attacking the defensive boards. If they have to completely scrap the fast-break game to do that, I'm fine with it. Hey, as long as the Spurs make the Sonics beat us, I'll be fine with that. I sure as hell don't want to see the Spurs fail to show up and allow the Sonics to embarass them again 




On another note, I should be going to the game tonight, so if any of you Spurs fans are watching, keep this thread up to date.




*GO SPURS GO!*


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## MagnusPinus (Aug 27, 2003)

Fantastic game.. I expect a huge offensive night from Manu if the game will be close...Manu is playing these last games easily, without forcing, this time some points will be needed and Manu will give them to the Spurs GO MANU GO

Sonics 90
Spurs 97

Manu 23+ 5 reb+7 assist

i don't mind about the other guys


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## Luiz_Rodrigo (Dec 2, 2003)

Duncan will show why he´s the best bball player in the world, but it will be a tough game, because the Sonics have a great team and Allen is amazing.

Sonics 89
Spurs 99


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## texan (Jul 10, 2003)

Big game!

Spurs 99
Sonics 94

Rashard Lewis- 32 pts

Tim Duncan- 21 points, 13 rebs, 6 blocks


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## LineOFire (Apr 20, 2004)

This is insane. The Sonics are shooting the lights out at 61% from the field and 50% from the three point line. The Spurs are looking more like the Chicago Bulls out there.

The Sonics are really impressing me.


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## Marcus13 (Jul 17, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>LineOFire</b>!
> 
> 
> This is insane. The Sonics are shooting the lights out at 61% from the field and 50% from the three point line. The Spurs are looking more like the Chicago Bulls out there.
> ...


the bad part is probability says that wont stay up in the second half which means we need to find another way to keep you out of the game


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## texan (Jul 10, 2003)

Spurs have come out strong in the 3rd as I expected. Its gearing up to be a great game down the stretch.


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

Took 12 points off the lead in that quarter. Only 8 more  
Just imagine what the score would be if the spurs didn't make so many turnovers


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

I just dont understand how they could lose all that energy. I did like to see them playing to the last second though. Usually the spurs would have given up way before that.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

****. ****. Damnit.




Alright, now that I got that off my back, here's my thoughts on the game, which I attended tonight:



- Spurs didn't play 4 quarters tonight. As a matter of fact, they didn't even play 2. They started off poor, and Seattle did what good teams do and capatalized on it. Don't expect to win games when you fail to show up for an entire quarter, or in this case, and entire half.


- We looked a lot better in the 2nd half, when there actually was some intensity. However, Pop stopped the half-court trapping we were doing, and the Spurs found themselves struggling to stop the Sonics again. Seattle out-coached, and out-played the Spurs. Congrats to them.



- Manu is not a part of the offense anymore. He's back to his "Get what comes to him" role on the offense, which is good and bad at times. It's bad when the team needs someone else to score and Manu is getting put in the corner away from the ball. Duncan gets the ball and eats up chunks on the clock, and they all stand around glaring at him. I want Manu more involved in the offense. 



- Parker had another decent game. It was mediocre, but it wasn't bad. He penetrated and created some shots here and there, but he got frustrated a few times and it hurt us. 



- Rose played well. He was about the only one attacking the boards on both ends of the floor, and he was one of the few Spurs players that showed the emotion that Spurs fans were expecting out of the players. Related to Rose's play is Rasho's play. Rasho is nowhere to be found at this moment. His confidence is down the toilet right now right with Pop's confidence in Barry.





Overall, too little, too late. Seattle made the big plays down the stretch, and the Spurs didn't. Popovich needs to look at some game film of this game and see the mistakes he made out there. Seattle is a great offensive team, but there was certain things defensively that the Spurs didn't know what they were doing. Why didn't they trap screens the whole game? Why let Ray Allen stroll across a pick and shoot a wide open three? Why not keep trapping when that is what got us back in the game in the third quarter? I don't know basketball more than Popovich, but I personally thought those were some mistakes that hurt the team. 



San Antonio Leaders:


Points:

Tim Duncan - 39 (Quietly drops 39 points, but didn't make the plays needed down the stretch)
Manu Ginobili - 18
Tony Parker - 16


Rebounds:


Tim Duncan - 10
Malik Rose - 6
Bruce Bowen - 5 (Anytime Bruce Bowen is the third leading rebounder you know you didn't rebound well enough).


Assists:


Tony Parker - 4
Bruce Bowen - 3
Robert Horry - 3


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## bigalw1414 (May 20, 2003)

I'm a Sonics fan but I still think you have the best team in the league. It looks as if we might be top 5, but we don't have the track record of the Spurs.


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## Gambino (Feb 11, 2004)

> Originally posted by <b>bigalw1414</b>!
> I'm a Sonics fan but I still think you have the best team in the league. It looks as if we might be top 5, but we don't have the track record of the Spurs.


The only thing that worries me about the sonics is the inside presence and defending. Get better you might have something. Yall are on the rise.


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## mr_french_basketball (Jul 3, 2003)

*my ratings*

Duncan : 9 / 10
Rose : 7 / 10
Parker : 6 / 10
Ginobili : 6 / 10
Brown : 5 / 10
Bowen : 4 / 10
Udrih : 4 / 10
Horry : 4 / 10
Nesterovic : 3 / 10

Our defense is great because of the Spurs good understanding of help rotation. But the wrong side of the medal is that we will always be in trouble against hot shooting teams, specialy from the arc... therefore, Suns could be our Nemesis too...


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## Moe The Bartender (May 7, 2004)

I also attended the game. The Spurs turned up their defensive intensity in the second half and made a game of it for a while. Pressuring the ball seemed to take them out of their rhythm, so I think you'll start seeing a lot more teams doing that to them if they have the personnel to do so. We do not match up well to the Sonics...reminds of how we had matchup problems with Milwaukee when Shuttlesworth and Big Dawg were there. I can see the Spurs winning 1 of 4 games during the regular season; however, playoff time is going to be a different story. The playoffs are about playing defense and half-court basketball...I don't see the Sonics beating us in a 7-game series, but they are still one hell of a basketball team and are capable of beating us then.


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