ShareThisBy DAVE KRIEGER
Scripps Howard News Service
Thursday, May 03, 2007
When it was over, old Michael Finley hugged it out with young Carmelo Anthony and held it just long enough to deliver a message.
"I told him the truth," Finley said. "He's a tough matchup for me. I've learned a lot, and I'm still a big fan of his and the sky's the limit for him.
"I've always been a fan of his, even when he was in college, and I will continue to be that. I just can't show that when I'm playing against him, but I'll always be a fan of his and Allen Iverson."
Isn't everybody? Anthony and Iverson can play together. That much we learned this season. Now it's time for the Denver Nuggets to get them the support they need to succeed together.
For the second time in three years, the Spurs provided a postseason blueprint for improvement if the Nuggets' brass will only follow it.
First on the list is depth. When the Nuggets deployed substitutes still learning to shave, the Spurs answered with battle-tested veterans. It was no contest.
"We probably didn't have enough pieces," Nuggets coach George Karl allowed. "The depth of San Antonio was very obvious, and we need to evaluate that."
Second on the list is Finley's weapon of choice. The Spurs finished third in the NBA in three-point shooting. The Nuggets finished 28th. The Spurs made almost twice as many threes (41-23) in the series. Many, including Finley's eight in Game 5, were killers.
As Spurs coach Gregg Popovich pointed out afterward, the three-point shot has become an indispensable part of the NBA game. For too long, the Nuggets have refused to recognize this fact.
"The floor has to be spread," Popovich said. "With all the schemes double-teaming players, whether they're perimeter or post players, teams have to have the floor spread either to be able to shoot a three or to create penetration, especially with the rules the way they are out on the perimeter, where the bumping is called a lot more readily. So the three-point shot is mandatory."
If there is one consistent element through the Nuggets' first-round failures during the past four years, it is an inability to shoot the three. This must change.
When Steve Blake got hot in the first half Wednesday, it was a nice little streak. When Finley got hot for the Spurs, it was the beginning of the end.
That's the threat a proven shooter provides.
It's easy to underestimate the Spurs. You watch them for a minute and they seem slow and methodical. But watch them over the course of a series like this one _ or the one two years ago, for that matter _ and you see the qualities that make them perennial championship contenders.
As they became accustomed to the Nuggets, their defense kept improving. Popovich said his defensive game plan changed very little from the series two years ago, the difference being the need to account more closely for Iverson than he accounted for Andre Miller. But the principles were the same _ get back in transition and blanket Anthony.
That's essentially how the Nuggets played the Spurs, too, and they did it pretty well. They got back in transition and blanketed Tim Duncan. The problem was the Spurs had so many other weapons, and Duncan had the intelligence and unselfishness to find them.
"I thought he was a wonderful quarterback for us for the whole series," Popovich said.
In the end, the Spurs wore the Nuggets down mentally, just as they did two years ago. The Nuggets would play a sound defensive series, force Duncan to surrender the ball, close out every shooter, and then Finley or Robert Horry would hit a three anyway.
The Spurs would run at Anthony or Iverson, who would make the right pass, but his teammate, not being a shooter, would clang the shot.
As this process repeated, their confidence waned. You could see it in their faces. By the final game, the two stars were taking it on their own shoulders with tough, contested shots. They wanted the responsibility, which is a good thing. They didn't have enough help from their friends, which is not.
"This is a much tougher team," Duncan said, comparing these Nuggets to those of two years ago. "They're going to be a very good team for a lot of years if they keep this crew together. Incredibly talented, incredibly physical, a good mixture with Nene and Marcus Camby back there at the big positions. It's a lot different series than it was."
It was another tough lesson for a franchise that has had more than its share. The better team won this series. There can be no debate about that.
But the blueprint for the Nuggets is clear. The stars are on hand. That's the tough part.
"Looking at that Spurs team is like looking at where we want to be," Iverson said.
This summer, it will be the organization's job to help them get there.
(Contact Dave Krieger of the Rocky Mountain News at www.rockymountainnews.com.)
