Half and Half

Somebody suggested to me that I live blog one of these games, but I realized this evening that if I ever were to do that it would be nothing more than a constant stream of F-bombs. Let's get down to business:

A tale of two halves: We have led at half both of the past two games. We have lost by 19 and by 18.

Mojo: I wore my lucky hat, my lucky black shirt, and went to the same bar were I watched game 1 of the first round. Despite how hard I tried, all the positive mojo I could muster was just not enough.

Ginobili: I was blown away by the mediocrity of his first half play. He had 5 turnovers overall, I believe all of which came in the first half. If it weren't for his sloppy play it could have been a 10 point lead at half as opposed to a 1 point lead.

Adjustments: Some of the adjustments I suggested were made, some weren't. Here's a breakdown.

1) In game 2 Udoka played 24 minutes. Horry played 9. West had 10 points. In game 1 Udoka played for less than 2 minutes, Horry played for almost 12 and West had 30. A good adjustment.

2) In game 1 Duncan, Thomas, Oberto, Udoka and Horry collectively had 8 points. In game 2 they had 38. We banged on the inside. A good adjustment.

2a) In game 1 Chandler had 2 fouls. David West had 0. In game 2 Chandler had 5 fouls, West had 3. We banged on the inside, and drew fouls. Good adjustment.

3) 8-27 from the 3 point line. There is no reason for us to take 27 shots from beyond the arc. In game 1, despite Bowen's hot hand, we still were only 12 of 31 from the 3 point line. Bad/No adjustment.

4) Rebounds: Hornets, 41-Spurs,40. Not bad. Plus we had more offensive boards than they did (9 to 7). See number 3 for why those rebounds didn't translate into a victory. Good adjustment nonetheless.

5) Parker/Paul; Bowen/Stojakovic: We must absolutely put Bowen on Stojakovic in game 3. Nobody in the league is a better lock and follow defender than Bruce, and we just cannnot afford for Peja to make any more open shots. Bad adjustment.

So despite a decent amount of correct adjustments, we were mentally sloppy and unfocused down the stretch. Now our backs are pretty much against the wall. Its times like this when the whole "one game at a time" rhetoric comes out. But it comes out for a reason. They defended their home turf, it is time for the Spurs to defend their's. Thursday, back in SA, is for all intents and purposes a must win.