PAYTON, MALONE FAIL FIRST SPURS TEST.Byline: STEVE DILBECK SAN ANTONIO San Antonio (săn ăntō`nēō, əntōn`), city (1990 pop. 935,933), seat of Bexar co., S central Tex., at the source of the San Antonio River; inc. 1837. - As a grand solution, it opened as dismal failure. Karl Malone
They'd better offer more of a challenge to Tim Duncan Timothy "Tim" Theodore Duncan (born April 25 1976 in Christiansted, St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands)[1] is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 6'11" (2. and Tony Parker This article is about the French basketball player. For the American basketball player, see Anthony Parker. For other uses, see Anthony Parker (disambiguation). William Anthony "Tony" Parker[1] (born May 17 1982 , or the Lakers See Lake poets can forget about revenge and start worrying about all that offseason intrigue. Malone and Payton were not signed simply to defeat the Spurs, but it played no small part. On Sunday, in their first playoff game Noun 1. playoff game - one game in the series of games constituting a playoff game - a single play of a sport or other contest; "the game lasted two hours" playoff - any final competition to determine a championship against San Antonio, the Lakers looked a lot like the team that countered Duncan-Parker last season with Robert Horry-Derek Fisher. Malone struggled with his shot and defending Duncan. Otherwise he played well, pulling down 11 rebounds and passing out five assists. And afterward, he took responsibility for the loss. Payton, however, continues to look like a failed experiment. A nice idea that never quite worked out. Maybe we all should have seen this coming. Should have figured he would never adapt to the triangle, never be happy without being able to post up smaller guards, with less playing time. On Sunday against the Spurs, Duncan and Parker combined for 50 points. Malone and Payton combined for 14. Parker was 8 for 19, had nine assists, three steals and was a constant blur. Payton was 1 for 8, with three assists, no steals and little impact. And then blamed the offense and said he was frustrated frus·trate tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates 1. a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: by the system. In May. In the second round of the playoffs. Still it's this? ``When (Parker) gets going, you gotta go back at him,'' Payton said. ``You gotta make him play. He gets tired, too. We don't do a good job ... we don't do that. We don't go back at him so he can get in foul trouble. ``We've got to. That's the way we were doing it in Seattle when we played him. We go back at him. Make him play some defense too. Here we don't go back at him. ``It's very frustrating. It's something I have to deal with. But I'm frustrated because I know I can go back at this kid.'' Malone also was frustrated after the 88-78 loss, but more by his play. He lamented his defense, his 3-of-10 shooting, forcing the ball into Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal (pronounced "shak-KEEL") (born March 6, 1972 in Newark, New Jersey), frequently referred to simply as Shaq, is an American professional basketball player, generally regarded as one of the most dominant in the National Basketball Association (NBA). , and a missed free throw (that he then made after a lane violation). ``I'll definitely take responsibility for this one because we were right there,'' Malone said. ``I know I could have played a lot better in a lot of ways. I could have done more.'' The Lakers led by five early in the fourth quarter before it came undone. The Spurs looked like the team that wanted it more. They were the ones diving after loose balls, making the defensive stops, going on a 19-2 run. The Spurs largely fronted O'Neal with Rasho Nesterovic, and the Lakers continued to turn the ball over trying to lob (1) See BLOB. (2) (Line Of Business) Refers to people, job titles and product lines, all of which pertain to a specific product or service area of the business. it in or bound a pass into the post. ``Two or three times I forced it into Shaq and should have swung it,'' Malone said. ``As a veteran player at this point in the season, I shouldn't be making those (mistakes). I put that one on me. It's kind of like missing free throws. It kind of goes throughout the team. ``I expect a lot more out of myself than that. Just a (bad) job on my part.'' Sunday's game was reminiscent of Malone's first playoff game against the Rockets, when he opened the playoffs 3 of 14 from the field. In the next four games, he went 34 of 61. ``I liked the way Karl played,'' Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas "Phil" Jackson (born September 17, 1945 in Deer Lodge, Montana) is the current coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, an American professional basketball team. said. ``He didn't shoot the ball as well as he normally does. He rebounded for us, he ran the floor. He'll have a better game shooting. ``Gary will find his way too. They'll find their way as they go through this one. Having a game against them gives them a little expertise they can work with for the next one.'' It had better. If it's more of this, it was all for naught. The glitzy glitz Informal n. Ostentatious showiness; flashiness: "a garish barrage of show-biz glitz" Peter G. Davis. tr.v. signings. The grand plan. Malone has been all as expected, but Payton has never appeared comfortable. A player too tempting too take a pass on, but who has struggled to find his place all season. It's one game, but one bad start for the master plan. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: The Lakers' Gary Payton, who was 1 of 8 with just three assists Sunday, fouls San Antonio's Tony Parker. Eric Gay/Associated Press |
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