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Adonal Foyle thought the Western Conference finals would mark the next great step in Kevin Durant's career.

Gregg Popovich called Tony Parker over to the bench. The game was five minutes old and the Grizzlies were shooting free throws. Parker and Popovich have worked together so long that surely they can finish almost all of each other's sentences.

But Pop had something to say. He was animated. He was instructing. Parker looked to be agreeing.

The next time Parker touched the ball, he was bossy point guard. Pointing here, barking there. Before long he was pointing and -- plain as day as everybody else stood and watched -- calling Boris Diaw over to set a screen.

Red Rover, Red Rover, send Boris right over. Boris was nowhere near, and he has been looking heavy for several years. He began to jog. It took a few seconds.

But Parker got just what he wanted: Diaw setting an aggressive-angle screen on Parker's man, Jerryd Bayless (who struggled with screens all night) up by the 3-point line.

What was the point of all that? Does Parker love how Diaw screens? Perhaps. But if you look at how the rest of the game played out, I suspect that what Popovich and Parker cared most about wasn't Diaw, but who was guarding him.

Zach Randolph.

After Diaw's screen erased Bayless from the play, Randolph was all that mattered between lightning-quick Parker and the hoop.

Randolph is amazing at a lot of things. He has great hands, touch and in-the-paint jujitsu. He can score over and around bigger players, and rebounds stick to his hands like glue.

None of which helped a lick 20 feet from the hoop, with rocket-legs Parker bearing down on him.

Also, Randolph does not move laterally anymore.

The result: The big photo above.

The Grizzlies have arguably the best defense in the NBA. This happened with all of their good players in, and it was not in transition. This came against a set defense.

And that's an almost-uncontested layup.

Whoops.

Watch Spurs highlights from Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, and it's a good bet you'll see Randolph a yard or two behind the play, carrying regret.

As Kevin Arnovitz has pointed out several times, Randolph excels in one-on-one battles. Box out that guy. Don't let him score. Hang 20 and 10 on this opponent. Done, done and done. But out here on the perimeter, it's not mano a mano. This is "helpland," where all these younger, longer bigs like Joakim Noah can keep their eyes and hands on two defenders at once. But that's not Randolph's game.

Which is why you saw whoever-Randolph-was-guarding called into one Spurs pick-and-roll after another. Plenty of teams do that, but most teams don't have Parker.

It's too early to fire up the Outcoach-A-Tron and declare Popovich the coach of the playoffs -- even on the heels of inspiring adjustments that ended the Warriors' season.

We're not there yet. Lionel Hollins' crew has always played hard and has many an adjustment yet to make. Randolph's backups, Ed Davis and Darrell Arthur, can't do a lot of the things that Randolph can do, but they far outclassed him yesterday at containing Parker in the pick-and-roll.

The Grizzlies had a lovely second-half run, maybe not coincidentally with Arthur in. The Spurs' scoring slowed while long, pass-and-shoot happy players Marc Gasol, Tayshaun Prince, Quincy Pondexter and Bayless found open looks.

Everyone has made a lot of Randolph's stagnant offense in Game 1. And it was not great. But to my eyes, the swarming horde of 7-footers around him when he gets the ball deep can be overcome in the manner Tim Duncan demonstrated yesterday: by getting teammates open looks. The defense can't be everywhere at once. Selflessness and ball movement enabled the wide-open Spurs (Matt Bonner, Kawhi Leonard) to take a lot of shots. (Knicks and Thunder take note -- this has always worked and could have been you). Except when non-shooter Tony Allen is in, the Grizzlies could similarly wrong-foot the Spurs' defense.

But Randolph's starring role in the Spurs' excellent offense ... being the breakdown, play after play ... that's tough to fix.

• Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News: Zach Randolph called it his “win-win dance,” and the choreography was not cutting edge. He hopped, and he smiled, and he acted like someone who would never miss another shot. This was two years ago. Against the Spurs. When it seemed he would never miss another shot. He would eventually prove to be human. Still, the lose-lose dance he performed Sunday should be seen as the same kind of temporary tango. Because this isn’t Randolph. These aren’t the Grizzlies. And this isn’t how the series will continue. The Spurs will take how the series began. These Western Conference finals, after all, started nothing like last year’s did. Then, the Spurs had to scratch out the I-want-some-nasty game. … Sunday was closer to a Spurs clinic, as well as a counter to those who saw Memphis as the trendy pick. When Tony Parker wasn’t shredding Memphis, the Spurs’ shooters were overwhelming a group that was second in the NBA this past season in 3-point defense. … The Grizzlies will try. They will review film, and they will prepare to play to their strength. They will pound with Z-Bo as they pounded the Clippers and Thunder before, and dancing will be optional.
• Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News: Memphis’ abject lack of outside shooting (5 for 12 on 3s) killed them in two respects. One, they were outscored by 27 points from beyond the arc, easily the biggest different in the game. Two, it allowed the Spurs to basically ignore their perimeter players and collapse on the low-post tandem of Randolph and Marc Gasol. Gasol was active early on, but he needed 16 shots to score 15 points while drawing just two free throws. Randolph barely got any touches at all, scoring his lone bucket on a tip-in while missing 7 of 8 shots. He had been averaging 19.7 points on 51.2-percent shooting in the postseason. It’s fitting Gregg Popovich used a football metaphor to describe the Spurs’ strategy, which was basically a page taken straight from their first-round meeting with the Lakers — swarm the paint first, recover on shooters second. “Zach and Marc are a heck of a combination, probably the best high-low combination in the league,” Popovich said. “Everything they do is really difficult to stick with, and you’ve got to have a mindset to do it on every down. You can’t be perfect at it. They’re just too good. But the effort was there for 48 minutes.” … The Grizzlies have bounced back from 0-1 deficits to win each of their past two series. Conversely, the Spurs are 19-3 when they win the first game of a best-of-seven series in the Duncan/Popovich era.
• Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: So when he's asked about playing Indiana next, and how they'll strategize against him again, you know he's run the matchup through his mind. And it's not a hard conclusion on Indiana's best play against him. "They'll try to put me on the floor, maybe,'' LeBron James said. "They'll be physical with me, maybe. … The word is you've got to beat up the Heat to beat them. And every team has tried to do that." This wasn't just Indiana's way in their playoff series last year. It was Chicago's method last week. That series offered another glimpse into what may be the final rite of public passage for the best player in the game. Lots of teams hit LeBron at the rim. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau took it to uncharted territory. He ordered his players to get rough with LeBron in the open court, well before he became unstoppable near the basket. When Nazr Mohammed threw a two-arm wrap around LeBron near mid-court, then shoved LeBron to the floor, Thibodeau snapped. He said LeBron flopped. Nate Robinson then football-tackled LeBron near mid-court. There was something old-school gallant about Chicago's game plan, bit players trying to take out the game's best player. "Hopefully, the league will look at that,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. That's not intent here. It's, again, this strange, final passage LeBron seems to be making. Teams always played Michael Jordan hard right to the end of his Chicago run. But no one got Medieval on Jordan.
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: The last time I got a text from from Larry Bird at 1 a.m. it was about this time a year ago. It first started with a telephone call talking about how poor the Pacers played in their 32-point loss to the Miami Heat in Game 5. Then came the text message. My phone went off again early Sunday morning. It was Bird, who has kept a low profile since stepping down as a president last June. Bird was offering up nothing but praise this time about the team he put together. “Those who play together stay together!” Bird wrote in the text. Bird is right, the Pacers stuck together all year. They stuck together when Danny Granger was ruled out at the start of the season. They stuck together when they got off to a slow start. They stuck together when Granger came back and then went down again for the rest of the season. And they stuck together when they opened the second round of the playoffs as the underdogs against the New York Knicks. For years, outsiders have questioned the Pacers on who the face of the franchise is and who is going to lead them in the playoffs. The Pacers have shied away from getting caught up in that talk. They proved it again on Saturday after they eliminated the Knicks in six games.
• Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun: Today, barring a stunning turn of events, it is expected Bryan Colangelo’s term in Toronto will end seven years and 81 days after it began. Under his guidance, the Raptors made it to the playoffs twice — in each of his first two full seasons on the job. The five-year drought since then more than justifies the organization heading in another direction. This is not an indictment of Colangelo. It’s just a recognition of the fact that he has had his chance to turn things around here and now it’s time to give someone else that chance. Much is being made right now of the Raptors’ dithering in this respect. Under recently named president and CEO — and this is key — but still not actively serving Tim Leiweke, the impression has been left that the organization is somehow being harmed by a lack of an immediate decision on the general manager. One way or another, that impression will end today. Colangelo probably had another year with the Raptors had MLSE not gone out and snapped up Leiweke. … There are plenty of targeted names out there to fill Colangelo’s shoes. From Denver’s Masai Ujiri to Indiana’s Kevin Pritchard to Oklahoma City’s Troy Weaver, there is plenty to like about the wish list but so far that’s all it is — a wish list. Ujiri, the Denver GM and former Colangelo assistant in Toronto, has given no indication he is interested, but nor have either of the other two. It’s all well and good to target a guy, even one as presumably easy as it would be to target the recently named NBA executive of the year in Ujiri. But it’s another to actually hook that target. So, yes, there’s still a slight chance Colangelo could be back.
• Doug Smith of the Toronto Star: One theory making the rounds in NBA circles over the weekend is that both sides are trying to find a way for Colangelo to remain in the organization but perhaps in a different role. Other people in the league, however, are certain that the longer Leiweke lets the situation drag on, the more likely it is that Colangelo leaves and that the chief executive officer is plumbing the depths of other front offices to find someone with a reputation — and the ability — that would make a new hire seem like a big splash. But whatever the resolution, it won’t come until the last minute, at least. Monday is supposedly the deadline for the 2013-14 option on Colangelo’s contract to be picked up. It could be extended by mutual agreement. Still, there are other issues — and human situations — to be dealt with and taken into consideration. Colangelo’s chief lieutenant, Ed Stefanski, has been on the job less than two years, is under contract for one more and has a resumé just as impressive as any of the rival executives whose names have emerged publicly. But if Leiweke — and sources are adamant that this is his decision to make — insists on bringing someone in to work either with or independent of Colangelo in some senior role, where does that leave the well-respected Stefanski? And if Leiweke decides to cut ties entirely with Colangelo, the front-office upheaval could be significant. Along with Stefanski, assistant general manager Marc Eversley is closely aligned with Colangelo and someone new in charge might not be comfortable with that arrangement. Coach Dwane Casey, entering the final year of his contract, has the full support of Colangelo but does that change if there’s a new boss in charge? So it’s not as if Leiweke’s decision will only have an impact on one member of the front-office staff.
• Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post: If you had to pick one man whose leadership is most essential to the future success of the Nuggets, would you go with coach George Karl or general manager Masai Ujiri? My vote: Ujiri is more valuable. By a power of 10. Contrary to popular belief, the potential free agent Denver really needs to lock up this offseason is not Andre Iguodala, a $15 million guard who shoots 58 percent from the foul line and is professed to be an all-world defender, yet can't be entrusted to lock down Stephen Curry in the NBA playoffs. Ujiri rescued the Nuggets from the chaos caused by Carmelo Anthony's trade demand. Ujiri has discovered real talent late in the first round of the NBA draft, while bringing Kenneth Faried and Evan Fournier to Denver. Ujiri would be far harder to replace in the front office than Karl would be on the bench. Sports executive Tim Leiweke helped bring the Avalanche to Colorado. Now Leiweke could steal Ujiri from town. Leiweke oversees the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors have cast covetous eyes at Ujiri. Ujiri deserves a big raise from the Nuggets. Pronto. … With all due respect to Ty Lawson, Ujiri is the MVP of the Nuggets. Lose Ujiri, and the Nuggets would be lost.
• Frank Isola of the New York Daily News: Carmelo Anthony sat shirtless and wore ice packs on both knees late Saturday night as he surveyed the losing locker room inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse. From his demeanor and posture right down to the accessories needed to heal his aching body, Anthony resembled Patrick Ewing more than ever after the Knicks’ season ended prematurely against the Indiana Pacers. The look said it all: Another prime year lost, another bid for that elusive championship wasted. “I mean, it’s a disappointment,” Anthony said. … The time, of course, is now. Anthony turns 29 on May 29 and has been in the league 10 years. That’s a lot of miles on his legs. Ewing was 31 when he reached the NBA Finals in 1994, his ninth season. A better comparison are two of Anthony’s contemporaries from the historic 2003 draft class. James, who turns 29 in December, has been to the NBA Finals three times and could secure a second straight championship next month. Wade, 31, is in his 10th year and has reached the Finals three times and won two rings. Anthony’s best finish was the Western Conference finals. Otherwise, he’s been out of the first round just twice. Anthony is in the prime of his career, but there is no guarantee that the best years are ahead for him and the Knicks. Maybe that’s what he was contemplating late Saturday night after another lost season.
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: Orlando Magic fans approach Pat Williams whenever they see him around town these days. "Come on home with the first pick," they say. "Bring it on back," they say. "OK, we're looking for that first pick," they say. What those strangers are referring to is the 2013 NBA Draft Lottery, which will take place Tuesday night in midtown Manhattan. The Magic own a 25-percent chance of winning the top overall pick, the highest probability of any team, and Williams will be there once again, on stage, serving as the public face of the franchise. Williams, the Magic's co-founder and senior vice president, is a living, breathing good-luck charm. His teams have won the lottery four different times: thePhiladelphia 76ers in 1986 and the Magic in 1992, 1993 and 2004. "People just expect another one," he says now, chuckling. "We only have a 25-percent chance! I guess if I don't come back with the top pick, they'll say, 'Boy, what a bum he is. What was he doing up there?' " Many people remember Williams for his lottery fortune instead of his skill and accomplishments as a sports executive. Major networks have televised the lottery ever since the its inception in 1985, and Williams' reactions to his victories have been priceless.
• Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: The Charlotte Bobcats are on their way to becoming the Charlotte Hornets. The Bobcats have started pursuing a name change to Charlotte’s original NBA team, an informed source confirmed to the Observer. Though the Bobcats will need permission from the league to make such a change, incoming NBA commissioner Adam Silver has twice indicated that shouldn’t be a problem. What’s still in question is when the name change could be implemented and how extensively the Bobcats would assume the Hornets’ old look. The source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, would not comment on whether the popular teal-and-purple color scheme would return to Charlotte. The Hornets were Charlotte’s first major-league team, and for most of 14 years the town embraced the team. The consecutive sellout streak for home games reached 364, nearly nine full seasons. Players like Muggsy Bogues and Dell Curry still live here and are still prominent figures. The Hornets drafted power forward Larry Johnson and center Alonzo Mourning with top-two picks and they led the team to an unlikely victory over the Boston Celtics in a first-ever playoff appearance in 1993. But even before then the Hornets owned the town.
• Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: As the Dallas Mavericks contingent of Donnie Nelson and Keith Grant prepare to head to New York for Tuesday’s NBA Draft lottery selection, they do so knowing nothing strategically will determine whether the Mavs can walk away with the No. 1 overall draft pick. No tea leaves. No Ouija boards. No X’s and O’s. Just like the Powerball winner, it comes down to pure luck as to who wins the draft lottery. Owner Mark Cuban said: “As much as we want to say it’s all science, there’s a big part of it that’s luck.’’ The lottery is at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the ABC Times Square Studios in New York City. This is just the second time in the Cuban era that the Mavs have been in the draft lottery. Cuban purchased the Mavs on Jan. 4, 2000, and Dallas was involved in the lottery some four months later after finishing the season with a 40-42 record.
• John Rohde of The Oklahoman: Last summer, Thunder forward Serge Ibaka was said to be considering working with Olajuwon, but Ibaka didn't have adequate time. Ibaka was busy playing for silver medalist Spain at the Olympic Games in London and then returned to OKC to hammer out the details of a four-year contract extension worth at least $49 million that begins next season. Multiple times during his exit interview session on Thursday, Ibaka said his primary focus this offseason will be to find ways to “create my own shot.” Might this include a trip to Houston to work with Olajuwon? “Yes, it's a possibility,” the 23-year-old Ibaka said. “It depends on how the summer goes. If there's time, I would like to go (work with Olajuwon). I'm not just focused to go see Hakeem, I'm focused to work on my game. From what I've heard, it's a good option for me. … I really, really want to get better and create my own shot. So it's something I will focus on this summer.” NBA players who have worked with Olajuwon include Yao Ming, Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire, Luol Deng, Emeka Okafor, JaVale McGee and Kenneth Faried. Olajuwon also has worked with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. Thunder coach Scott Brooks is friends with Olajuwon and was his teammate for 2 1/2 seasons (1992-95) in Houston.

The San Antonio Spurs didn't yield a point to Zach Randolph until there was 9:26 left on the clock in the fourth quarter. By that point, the Spurs already had an 18-point lead.

So it went for Randolph, who entered the game leading the Memphis Grizzlies in scoring this postseason with 19.7 points per game.

Randolph finished with two points, a playoff career low in games where he played at least 10 minutes.

The Spurs limited him to just 11 offensive touches. ESPN Stats & Info video tracking defined those as "touches on the offensive end of the floor," including offensive rebounds.

What's more, only two of Randolph's 11 offensive touches came in a post-up situation. Entering the game the Grizzlies led the NBA in scoring from post-ups this postseason with 221 points (20.1 per game).

Spurs three-for-all
The Spurs set a franchise playoff record by hitting 14 three-pointers in the game.

They spread those 14 three-pointers among six different players while the Grizzlies three-pointers were made by only one player: Quincy Pondexter.


And in what must make Gregg Popovich happy, all 14 of the Spurs three-pointers were assisted.

The Spurs spread the bounty there, too. While six different players made a three-pointer, seven different players assisted on one. That includes kick-out passes from Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter.

Spotting Pop a lead
Now the Grizzlies are looking at 1-0 deficit against a coach that has won more than 120 playoff games and four championships.

Gregg Popovich is 19-3 all-time in best-of-seven playoff series when his team wins Game 1. His .864 series win percentage after Game 1 wins ranks only behind Phil Jackson and Red Auerbach among head coaches with 15 postseason series worth of experience all-time.

Both Jackson (36-0 series record) and Auerbach (15-0) had perfect series records after winning the opener.

The San Antonio Spurs will host the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

When considering all the different matchups that this series has to offer, one of the interesting ones features a pair of Olympian centers in Marc Gasol and Tiago Splitter.

Let’s shine the statistical spotlight on them and how they impact that which their team does best.

Gasol in the post
The Grizzlies have dominated inside, where they’ve scored an NBA-high 221 points in post-up plays this postseason.

Gasol, who won the 2012-13 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, has also made his mark on the offensive end. The fifth-year center is averaging a career postseason-high 18.3 points, up from 14.1 points per game during the regular season.

Gasol’s emergence on offense has been primarily due to his success in the post. He’s recorded an NBA-high 1.16 points per play on post-ups and his 103 points total on post-ups trails only teammate Zach Randolph this postseason.

For the Spurs, one way to contain Gasol in the post is to force the ball out of his hands. Despite Gasol’s dominance in creating his own offense in that play, the Grizzlies have struggled on his passes out of the post.

The Grizzlies offense averages just 0.59 points per play off Gasol’s passes out of the post, the third-lowest scoring rate by a team off a single player’s passes from the post this postseason.

Splitter a hidden key in the pick-and-roll
The Spurs have run a pick-and-roll dominated offense this possteason. Between their ball handlers and finishers off the pass, the Spurs have scored an NBA-high 256 points in that offense this postseason.

Along with having one of the best scoring guards off the pick-and-roll in Tony Parker, the Spurs have a secret weapon -- a player who has been extremely effective and efficient in the pick-and-roll these playoffs.

It’s actually not Tim Duncan. It’s Tiago Splitter.

The Spurs’ third-year center has played a key role in giving the Spurs another threat in that offense between the ball-handler and the roll man.

Splitter has been the most efficient finisher in that offense this postseason, scoring at a rate at 1.56 points per play and making 10-of-11 shots from the field,

His points per play and field goal percentage are both NBA highs this postseason, albeit with that small sample.

Gregg Popovich has used Splitter in that play type. Splitter has been the pick-and-roll man a team-high 31 percent of his total plays this postseason, his highest rate of any play type. That total is up a little bit from 24 percent in the regular season.

The Grizzlies can make Splitter a non-factor in this series by forcing him in other areas on the court. Of Splitter’s 47 total points scored this postseason, 25 of them have come finishing the pick-and-roll.

In other play types, Splitter has averaged only 0.61 points per play on just 7-for-22 shooting.

Jesse Wright, strength coach for the 76ers, recently got himself a technology budget, something he'd never had before with the Sixers, a gift from his new GM Sam Hinkie.

He's stressed about it though.

"You've got a blank slate!" I said to him, failing to reassure.

"I can't get everything," he told me, "but I need to get the right things."

What are the right things for an NBA team that wants healthy, fit players and is willing to spend on technology?

Wright and I were taking in the NBA vendors show, an unpublicized sideshow at the draft combine, held each year in a Chicago hotel ballroom.

What are the disruptive digital technologies that offer a clear injury prevention payoff? Some candidates:

Next generation compression

The NormaTec system is the pair of black sleeves you sometimes see athletes wearing over their legs when television cameras look into the locker room before games. They compress the large muscles in the legs to improve blood flow and speed recovery.

The systems have been around since 2007 and are an established, widely used technology to help athletes speed recovery. Every single player on the Miami Heat has a $5,000 deluxe-version NormaTec Pro of their own. LeBron James owns three, including a custom, personally-fitted hips and legs version.

Custom fits aren't normally required. The sleeves are made from thick industrial nylon and zip closed around the leg. Air fills the sleeve; the tightness is controlled by embedded pressure sensors.

One leg of a NormaTec sleeve is split into five section compartments, overlapping zones that fill with air from the control box. The bottom compartment fills first, and on up the leg. The pressure builds and the compression benefit kicks in. When the sleeve is fully pressurized air flows into and through the sleeves in computer-controlled pulses that further stimulate recovery.

Evidence for NormaTec's effectiveness is more anecdotal than empirical. Gilad Jacobs, the CEO of the Newton, Massachusetts, company says that's not because the systems haven't been tested. They have been, by the likes of the U.S. Olympic Committee which took dozens of NormaTecs to the London Olympics -- but the U.S.O.C. is not publishing what they have learned in sports science journals, according to Jacobs.

Identifying fatigue that can lead to injury

The core of the Catapult system is a wearable sensor package that tracks and radios precise body position data on a working athlete to a base computer. The system gets its precision from the many sensors in the package:

• a GPS sensor (that works far better outdoors than indoors)
• an accelerometer that measures the force associated with an athlete's movement
• a gyro sensor that measures rotational displacement and a magnetometer
• a compass, that measures directional vectors and validates rotational movements.

The package, a little larger than an apple core, weighs a few ounces and hides in the pocket of a snug-fitting under-jersey.

Data from the Catapult system relevant to injuries comes in two forms. Over time, once a baseline value has been established, the data can indicate when a player is fatigued and show patterns which differentiate between fatigue associated with improving fitness and fatigue associated with overuse. Athletes recovering from injury can see clearly if they apply equivalent and balanced forces when playing, running, jumping and cutting, or if they are favoring the non-injured shoulder/arm/hip/leg/foot.

Catapult was developed by sports scientists at the Australian Institute of Sport and has been used widely for the last six years by Australian Rules Football teams. (Catapult U.S. headquarters are in Atlanta.) League-wide the teams share data and study the results, according Catapult's Gary McCoy, leading to not just significantly fewer injuries but also more plays per game.

The system tells coaches how far and how fast athletes have moved throughout a practice. (Universally as far as I can tell, leagues disallow the systems during games.) The system also distills a player's work to a single number that reflects cumulative effort -- PlayerLoad. PlayerLoad is compatible with other measures of athlete effort that come from heart-rate monitors, from SportVu game-tracking or from simply asking players how they're feeling at a given time. It all goes into the big database that Catapult enables. "We create a dashboard for coaches to see their athletes and how they're working," said McCoy.

It's a versatile tool that teams look to for changing culture. McCoy also told me how one unidentified NBA team that uses Catapult (Celtics, Mavericks, Rockets, Knicks, Spurs are customers listed on the company website) decided to post PlayerLoad numbers on the wall after practice. The team was concerned about the loafing going on during practice and felt well-informed peer pressure could help.

Jumping to test fatigue

Force plate technology wasn't on display at the vendor show but it was presented by Phil Wagner from Palo Alto-based Sparta Performance Science at the Midwest Sports Performance Conference held at the University of Kansas last weekend. Kansas has the force plates installed and uses the Sparta software to monitor athletes.

Sparta is also known for training Jeremy Lin prior to his rise to fame with the Knicks.

Wagner has athletes do a vertical jump on the force plate which produces a three phase “movement signature.” The pre-jump “load” phase, the key transition “explode” phase and the energy-sustaining “drive” phase appear as peaks and dips in the resulting data graph. Sparta delivers the data graphs from jump tests to Kansas players and coaches through a private Web interface.

Evidence suggests these movement signatures can be injury predictive. Given all of the running and jumping basketball players do, when ground force production (what's measured in the jump test) is inefficient the joints and tendons at the root of those inefficiencies pay a price and break down.

When measured at regular intervals during the season the jump test will also show fatigue. Players who say they feel 100 percent but produce significantly less force than they do at their peak clearly lack explosiveness, a surefire indicator that fatigue has set in.

Peak Performance Project (P3), a sports training company in Santa Barbara, has a similar technology, but uses right- and left-lateral jumps to measure force production. P3 has had an ongoing affiliation with the Utah Jazz since 2007. Both P3 and Sparta Science are currently talking to other NBA teams interested in adopting their systems.

Brad Stenger is a New York City-based journalist and researcher.

David Thorpe's latest postseason MVP rankings are posted (Insider). Stephen Curry doesn't top the list anymore. We discuss:

After losing to the San Antonio Spurs 94-82 in Game 6, the Golden State Warriors just couldn't let go.

Neither could the fans, most of which were standing well after the final buzzer, possibly waiting for some kind of release. The waiting was rewarded as Mark Jackson's team trundled back out of the locker room, out onto the court. A mic was given to Stephen Curry, whose 10-of-25 night for 22 points was not reflective of the star turn he has taken since the All-Star break. Curry had been hurting physically all series, and appeared weary as he addressed the crowd.

"We just wanted to thank you guys," Curry began, his voice cracking. What followed was inaudible to all but recording devices close to the microphone. The crowd was roaring over the words. Eventually, Curry settled on a final call and response of "Just us!" As the crowd screamed it back, the season was finished.

In the end, the Warriors had acquitted themselves nicely considering the circumstances. "Just us!" was the symbolic chant that ended this season, but the harbinger of doom arrived much earlier. The death knell likely came when Curry sprained his ankle (again) in the fourth quarter of Game 3.

This is not to say that Golden State wins this series if Curry stays healthy. The Spurs were the better team, due to their superior defensive communication and ball movement. It's just that, the injury took an improbability and turned it into an impossibility. The sprain ripped off the hand of the puncher's chance.

Golden State just did not have enough to win a series against such a complete, strategically impeccable team. Curry was not his usual zig-zagging self over the last three games. Andrew Bogut was pained to the point of sitting out all but five minutes and 44 seconds of the second half of Thursday's action. After the game, the big man said, "I played terribly. My ankle just didn't hold up." David Lee was half a player, due to a hip flexor tear in the Denver series.

And finally, a bad situation turned awful when Harrison Barnes landed horizontally to the floor with a sickening thwack. Barnes was motionless for minutes, eventually leaving under his own power to the training room, where he received six stitches. Barnes later returned to action but wasn't as effective. The Warriors claim that he passed their concussion tests.

In the background of blood, strains and sprains, the Spurs were outplaying the Warriors. Since switching onto Klay Thompson after Game 2, Kawhi Leonard had essentially erased Thompson from the series. Game 6 was another night in which Thompson shot poorly (4-of-12) under Leonard's watch. With Tony Parker and Tim Duncan struggling for stretches, Leonard may well have been San Antonio's MVP of the series. He allowed the Spurs to focus max attention on Curry as he excised the other 3-point threat, while putting up steady numbers himself (14.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, 60.7 true shooting percentage).

On the other end, the Spurs regained their 3-point stroke just in time to push Golden State over the ledge. A flurry of three corner 3-pointers put the game out of reach. Tony Parker had been struggling mightily, but two of his three made shots were corner 3s with less than four minutes to go.

That should serve as a reminder of what Golden State needs to work on next season, aside from getting healthy. The Warriors give up the most 3-point attempts in the league.

For now, few on the team are focused on that, and understandably so. During the postgame interview, after making mention of the three rookies getting major minutes, and the injury pileup, Curry settled on, "You have to be happy about how far we went and how hard we fought."

Curry's coach was certainly pleased with the effort. Mark Jackson eulogized the season as follows: "Guys battle, guys gave me everything they had, and we fought. And I could not be prouder of any group. I could go on to win championships, and I will not be prouder of any group that I ever coached."

Such praise of the loser might seem ridiculous to those who follow habitually great teams like the Spurs. That's to ignore the backdrop of a perpetually hopeless franchise, and the young players tasked with turning it around. For a season, and probably beyond, the Warriors are indeed turning it around. Nothing beats a title, but the long-awaited return of competent basketball can move thousands into chanting "Just us!" with the young, improving team they've come to love.

The San Antonio Spurs knocked off the Golden State Warriors to reach the Western Conference Finals for the second straight season and the eighth time in the last 15 seasons. Here are five things you need to know about the Spurs.

Spurs big men on a roll
Duncan and Tiago Splitter outscored the Warriors big men 16-3 on pick-and-rolls in Game 6, including eight points on 4-of-5 shooting from Tiago Splitter. The Warriors big men missed all seven shots on pick-and-rolls, and turned the ball over twice.

Shutting down Curry
Stephen Curry made 33 percent of his shots coming off screens or pick-and-rolls in the final five games of the series, including 5-of-13 in Game 6. In Game 1, Curry made 8-of-15 shots (53%) on such plays, including 4-of-7 on 3-pointers.

Coming up big in the fourth
The Warriors got within two points at 77-75, but it was all Spurs in the last four minutes of the game as they outscored Golden State 17-7 the rest of the way. Parker struggled with his shot most of the game, but scored 10 points in those last four minutes including two three-pointers.

Road to success
Clinching on the road is nothing new for the Spurs since Gregg Popovich took over. This is the 18th time they’ve celebrated a series win on their opponents court since 1996-97 – tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for most in that span. Their 50 road playoff wins under Popovich are the most in the NBA since 1996-97.

Milestone win for Big Three
The trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have now won 94 playoff games together. That passes the trio of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Byron Scott for most playoff wins for a trio. The Spurs Big Three trails only another Lakers trio: Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Cooper.

Mark Jackson leans into his words as if they’re skinny, 1990s point guards trying to stop him. He shoves them around. Boasts are bellowed. Mind games are played. Sermons are delivered.

A lot happens when Jackson is on the mike. Between the platitudes and clichés, here are some Jackson pronouncements from this year's playoff run:

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"They tried to send hit men on Steph.”

Jackson said this after a Game 5 loss to the Nuggets wherein Stephen Curry was roughed up a bit off the ball.

I would call this a savvy public display of hypocrisy. It’s hard for the guy who coaches Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green to call out the opposition for roughing people up. It's ridiculous on its face.

At the same time, it was smart of Jackson to alert refs to off-ball action.

The natural tendency, even for referees, is to focus on the ball. With this declaration, Jackson took a laser pointer and attached the light to Kenneth Faried’s jersey. The Warriors coach called Faried out specifically for hitting Curry’s ankle. In Game 6, Faried picks up his third foul on a “trip” of Harrison Barnes. Except, Barnes appeared to trip over his own feet on the replay. We’ll never know if Jackson’s complaints helped swing the foul that caused Faried to get benched in Game 6, but I have my suspicions.

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"I've taken pride in not ever criticizing referees -- for two years. And then reading the statement by the NBA, I'm extremely thankful I am not fined for criticizing referees."

Jackson is a swaggering braggart. (After beating the Lakers, he declared his team better and even added, “They are in the rearview mirror.”) But it's complicated.

This brashness is at odds with an almost priggish devotion to his own sense of propriety. He never curses, at least in public. There’s no more rap music in a Warriors locker room, which could now double as a library reading room.

Jackson advocates a particular decorum around officials. He got his first and only technical foul by literally asking for it. Seriously, Jackson didn’t like the calls so he politely asked the ref to give him a technical as a demonstration to his players.

So it’s no surprise that, after making the hit men comments, Jackson takes pride that he didn’t violate his own code. Aspects of Denver’s play were criticized, but the refs were never questioned, at least explicitly. I have no firm grasp as to why Jackson adheres to these codes, but the structure may give him comfort.

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“I’m a guy that believes, again, that God has his hands on this team.”

The God issue is sensitive, especially when you consider that the Bay Area isn’t exactly the Bible Belt. As you’ve probably noticed over these playoffs, Jackson is publicly quite religious. Regardless of Jackson's right to sermonize, I will hazard that these statements are sometimes taken too literally. I don’t believe that Jackson believes God delivers the wind gust that causes Manu Ginobili’s air ball because God loves the Warriors. It feels more like a statement about how the team communes with whatever Jackson thinks God to be and how he thinks this is a good process.

Warning: I’m not religious in the slightest, and I’ve never had an extended theological discussion with Jackson. I’ve just noticed that Jackson is big on the power of positive thinking.

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"Those guys are just getting to the hospital. The baby has been born already."

This was in response to Curry’s 22-point third quarter explosion in Game 4 against Denver. In the amusing quote, Jackson isn’t just talking about how Curry's play; he’s talking about how ignored his greatness was when obscured by injuries, Monta Ellis’ ball-hoggery, losses and a non-Lakers Pacific time slot.

It has a certain resonance with a Bay Area populace that is equal parts proud of the region and insecure over how it doesn’t get enough attention. The Bay is beautiful and important, but it isn’t Los Angeles in terms of national and international cachet. East Coast bias isn’t real to the media-steeped L.A. sports market. In the Bay, fans can bristle over how their teams miss out on national coverage. It’s a big market with a big chip on its shoulder. Oh, you just discovered Curry? He’s been great for a while! And we have EXCELLENT food and wine out here! L.A. stinks!

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"We live in a country that allows you to be whoever you want to be. As a Christian man, I serve a God that allows you free will to be whoever you want to be. As a Christian man, I have beliefs of what's right and what's wrong. That being said, I know Jason Collins. I know his family. And certainly [I'm] praying for them at this time."

This was such a tense moment at Warriors practice. A local reporter asked noted Christian Jackson for his thoughts on Jason Collins coming out. As Jackson started, nobody really knew where this quote was headed.

The words are vague and, frankly, cryptic. Most around the sports world were congratulating Collins, rolling out the welcome mat. Whatever Jackson was saying was at odds with that. But his words also weren’t specifically hateful or rejecting. He later spoke well of both Collins and his family.

What is this prayer about then? Salvation? Happiness? Protection?

In that same news conference, Jackson spoke of praying during every national anthem.

My take? Jackson probably should have gone a different direction with his comments, but I also believe he was processing right in front of us. Jackson didn’t give any indication of having known of Collins’ sexual orientation, despite his friendly relationship with Jason and his family. By all appearances, the news was fresh to him.

Perhaps this is how tolerance happens. Those who wrongly think they live a world apart from gay people suddenly find that they already know and quite like a gay person. The once myopic are forced to grapple, forced to process. It’s easy to not see the humanity in someone you initially view as an “other.” But if you already see the humanity in a person before he declares himself to hail from an “other” category? It’s too late; you’ve already bonded with that person. You already know better than to dismiss his personhood. That kind of wake-up call can broaden perspectives and bring people together.

All of this might have absolutely nothing to do with Jackson. Again, he was vague. But the uncomfortable moment made me aware of how people around the NBA were processing and incorporating what they just learned about their brave friend Jason Collins.

Also worth noting on this tricky subject: While players the league over have spoken on the record about Collins coming out, as far as I'm aware that's not true of a single Warrior.

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"In my opinion, they're the greatest shooting backcourt in the history of the game."

Remember how I said that Jackson is a swaggering braggart? He made these comments about Curry and Klay Thompson. Based on 3-point shooting, he has an excellent case. He likes to pump his guys up, perhaps hoping that they adopt his optimistic paradigm. It’s easier to become a star if you think it possible first.

Talk like this rubs some people the wrong way, but I love it. Most coaches are so afraid to say anything good about their players. It’s refreshing to see someone skirt the line of hyperbole in the other direction.

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"That's stupid. ... I'm doing it for fun."
Jackson was asked why he kept submitting paperwork listing Carl Landry as a starter against the Nuggets when Harrison Barnes was actually the starting power forward.

He dismissed the notion it was superstition. The coach just thought it amusing to repeatedly deliver an inaccurate lineup card.

While I don’t find the joke hilarious, I do believe in the value of stepping back from playoff game terror and chuckling at its absurd quirks. The great coaches occasionally exhibit some detached whimsy. Think Gregg Popovich intentionally fouling Shaq after tipoff or Phil Jackson smiling on the bench for reasons unknown. Mark Jackson’s coaching equivalent to playing with his food could be a good sign. I also believe he was just messing with George Karl to glean a slight advantage.

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“Can I be honest with ya? I’m jealous. I wish I could put on a uniform the way you ballin'.”

You could regard this, from TNT's Inside Trax timeout microphone, as Jackson trying to convey that his players should appreciate and seize the moment.

But something in his tone makes me believe the comments are more nostalgic, less practical. From what I’ve heard from players-turned-coaches, there is no high that matches going out on a court and actually shaping the game with your hands. I wonder if Jackson was just thinking aloud as he contemplated life on the bench. I wonder if Jackson actually does feel a pang of jealousy or if he's experiencing a miniature midlife crisis on account of no longer being able to share in this unique experience.

The statement could be less about missing the past than appreciating the present, though. So many players from the Jordan era condescend to the modern NBA. "It was so much tougher then!" is the refrain. Jackson talks up his era on occasion. But in this moment, he's telling his modern team what a privilege it would be to play with it. Jackson has reverence for the past, but not so much that he's degrading what happens now, in front of his eyes. It's easy to roll your eyes at his "greatest shooting backcourt" comments, but such bold declarations might show the Warriors coach to be hyper-present and quite respectful of the talent he presides over. If so, that's pretty cool.

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“Can I stop again to tell you I love you? Outstanding.”

“Love” can be a dirty word in the machismo-steeped culture of pro sports. But bless him, Jackson is too emotional to use any other word.

I have no clue how the Warriors take this, but it’s notable that most coaches never say anything like this. Because “their business” is a business. “Love” does not belong in a business, just as Jackson’s religious statements might not belong in corporate America.

But sports are strange because, to be a business, people must believe these teams are far more than that. Executives, players, coaches, everybody involved have to emotionally invest in something other than profit, even if profit is also a motivation. And in this gray zone of life called “sports,” this nexus of tribalism, feeling, glory and money, Jackson lives loudly.

The Golden State Warriors host the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals (10:30 ET on ESPN). San Antonio took a 3-2 series lead thanks to an 18-point win in Game 5 on Tuesday.

In order overcome the 3-2 series deficit, the Warriors hope Stephen Curry can return to the form that made him one of the toughest players to guard on the perimeter in the NBA.

Curry had a strong start to his first postseason, averaging 27 points on nearly 48 percent shooting in his first seven games. However, he’s cooled off in his last four games, averaging just 17 points on 35 percent shooting from the field.

Curry’s recent decline in production may be attributed to his workload. Since the start of the season, Curry has played 3,439 total minutes in the regular season and playoffs combined, second only to Kevin Durant’s 3,603 minutes played.

Many of those minutes, particularly against the Spurs, have been spent moving with and without the ball to create open looks. Curry has run 14.7 miles in live action in the first five games of the series according to SportVU video tracking.

This despite injuring his left ankle in Game 3 and battling through a sore right ankle that he sprained in Game 2 in the first round against the Nuggets.

Perhaps due to those injuries, Curry has moved progressively less in each game of the Spurs series. This after running nearly four miles in Game 1’s double-overtime loss, a game in which he played a career-high 58 minutes.

The less-active Curry hasn’t been as effective on offense, especially on Tuesday. Curry traveled a series-low 2.4 miles in that Game 5 loss, a game in which he recorded his postseason-low of nine points on just 4-for-14 shooting from the field.

Curry’s recent struggles have also been due to his inability to create open looks off the dribble. In Game 1, Curry scored 42 of his 44 points off the dribble on 18-for-34 shooting.

In the last four games combined, Curry has scored just 45 points off the dribble and has struggled with his shot, connecting on just 35 percent (17-49) of such field goal attempts.

Curry, who made an NBA single-season record 272 three-pointers during the regular season, used the pick and roll to be effective from long range to start the postseason.

In his first seven games, Curry averaged 1.03 points per play and shot 50 percent (9-18) on three-point field goal attempts as the pick and roll ball handler.

In four games since, Curry is averaging just 0.69 points per play and shooting 31 percent (4-13) from downtown in that play type while turning the ball over more than twice as often.

• Ronald Tillery of The Commercial-Appeal: Two years ago, Zach Randolph nearly carried the Grizzlies to the Western Conference finals but came up a little short. The Grizzlies’ power forward wasn’t strong enough to contribute to a long postseason run last season because of his challenging recovery from a knee injury. But Wednesday night, a healthy Randolph forcefully put his imprint all over the Grizzlies’ 88-84 Game 5 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Griz won the Western Conference semifinals, 4-1, on the strength of Randolph’s 28 points and 14 rebounds in the closeout game. He helped punch the Grizzlies’ ticket to the conference finals for the first time in franchise history. “Zach was huge the whole game,” Griz coach Lionel Hollins said. “He came out snorting and grunting. He carried us offensively.” In expressing his desire to win a championship, Randolph emphasized there’s still work to be done. Clearly, though, one of the league’s most feared bullies in the paint is back on the block. Also, grit-and-grind basketball will now play for a trip to the NBA Finals. “This just tells you that when you keep a core together and you stick with them, good things can happen,” Randolph said.
• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: Shame it had to end like this. You can only wonder what would have been had Russell Westbrook been healthy. Instead, the inevitable finally happened tonight. All things considered, this was a great season. Nothing to be ashamed about. Division champs. Sixty wins. Best record in the conference. The best regular season in the OKC era even after James Harden was traded five days beforehand. A second round appearance even after Westbrook went down two games into the first round. “We had a really good season,” said Kevin Durant. More Durant: “It’s tough to swallow now, but I’m sure we’re going to look back on this down the line and really appreciate this tough time.” No need to panic. No need for big changes or major shakeups. Though it might not feel like it right now, this team doesn’t need it. All it needs is a healthy right knee. Get that back and the Thunder is back in business. Back to dominance. Back to being a championship contender. Back to having a bright future. In the meantime, we learned a lot about this group without Westbrook. We learned that Reggie Jackson is ready to break out, possibly as a Most Improved and Sixth Man candidate next year. We learned that Durant does need help and that Westbrook is indeed the best fit for him. We learned that Kevin Martin doesn’t fit, that Scott Brooks can and will bench Kendrick Perkins, that the Thunder’s system is serviceable for the regular season but shaky come the postseason and thatSerge Ibaka has many more strides left to take. … It was fun while it lasted, Derek Fisher. I wonder what the Thunder will do with him next year. His contract is up and the Thunder will have open roster spots. He proved he still has value, both on and off the court. … There’s no edge to this team. OKC is either going to out-athlete you or outscore you. But next year’s team needs some nasty. I’m looking at you, Ronny Turiaf. Find a way, Sam Presti, to lure Reggie Evans from Brooklyn. Rebounds and toughness. The Thunder’s got to have it.
• Greg Cote of The Miami Herald: Welcome back, Dwyane Wade. Your timing was impeccable. The chatter entering Wednesday night’s playoff game here centered on the thick elastic wrap on Wade’s right knee and the pain barking underneath it. Could Dwyane be his old, spectacular self? Or was he simply too hurt? The answers were inconclusive much of the night, but emphatic when they absolutely mattered. “I had a good couple minutes,” he said, smiling. Wade did, and that is largely why Miami beat the Chicago Bulls 94-91 Wednesday night to win this second-round series 4 games to 1 and jack the downtown bayside arena into fiesta mode. The result sent depleted Chicago into its offseason after a noble effort, and sends Miami on to the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals after a dramatically earned comeback. The Heat is now halfway to a repeat championship. It’s the easy half that’s in the books now. It’s what remains that will find the vintage Wade — healthy or playing like it — in ever greater demand. There is a country music lyric: “I ain’t as good as I once was, but I’m as good, once, as I ever was.” That was D-Wade, late Wednesday. That might be Wade all this postseason, budgeting his energy and physical strength, waiting to strike, striking in bursts. Wednesday he would finish with 18 points, but the six of those he delivered last recalled a Wade unencumbered by knee-wraps or doubts.
• Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times: Derrick Rose might not be planning much this summer. Whether the Bulls point guard likes it or not, the organization wants more say in what his offseason will consist of. “There will be a plan with him [this offseason],’’ coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We have an offseason program that he’s going to have to go through. It will be mostly the same, but we’ll be adding a few things to it.’’ With good reason. The Bulls watched their season come to an end in a 94-91 Game 5 loss to the Miami Heat on Wednesday. It was the second time in three years that the Heat have put the Bulls on ice. The chasing is getting old. And chasing the defending champs with Rose sitting out the season with his surgically-repaired anterior cruciate ligament? The results weren’t so hot. This summer has to be about getting Rose at full strength physically and mentally if the Bulls want to put an end to their futility against LeBron James’ team. … It’s an even bigger issue when a team limps into a playoff series as the Bulls did. Rose? Out. Luol Deng? Out after complications from a spinal tap. Kirk Hinrich? Never recovered from a bruised left calf suffered in the first-round win over the Brooklyn Nets. … Trailing be three with the ball on the final possession, Nate Robinson and Jimmy Butler missed game-tying three-point attempts, ending a drama-filled season. The attention quickly turned to Rose, and rightfully so. … And now the right thing will be doing whatever the team asks of him this summer.
• Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News: Cruising through the web in the aftermath of Game 5, one angle stood out above the others: A short passage at Grantland illustrating just how well the George Hill/Kawhi Leonard swap has worked out for both franchises. Neither are stars, but they’re playing key roles on what will almost certainly be two of the last four teams standing in the 2012-13 season. Leonard has established himself as one of the game’s brightest young prospects with the Spurs, while Hill is running the point with a steady, sometimes spectacular hand for his hometown Pacers. Such was the case on Tuesday, when Hill erupted for 26 points as Indiana took a 3-1 series lead over the New York Knicks. Not long after Leonard scored 17 on only eight shots while applying such withering defense on Golden State’s Klay Thompson that he could not find the space to launch a single 3-point attempt. So many NBA trades are made to free up cap space, or unload a disgruntled star for pennies on the dollar. In this instance, both teams saw assets that could fill glaring needs — in Indiana’s case a starting point guard who had been groomed by the game’s best coach, and in San Antonio’s a much-need infusion of youth and athleticism on the wing. Had the Pacers kept Leonard, or if they’d even drafted him at all with the 15th pick in 2011 without the Spurs’ directive, he’d be overkill behind All-Star small forward Paul George. It would have duplicated the situation Hill faced in San Antonio, where his growth and role were always going to be stunted by the presence of Tony Parker.
• Monte Poole of The Oakland Tribune: The Warriors approach the possibility of postseason elimination amid heated dialogue about their offense. What's wrong with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson? Where is the torrid shooting that made them a popular storyline throughout the playoffs? The more substantive factor for the Warriors, though, has to do with defense. If they don't play it exceedingly well against San Antonio on Thursday night in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals, the Warriors will walk out of Oracle Arena and directly into the offseason. Defense is the element of the game most consistently discussed by Mark Jackson. On Wednesday, a day after a 109-91 loss in Game 5, the coach once again leaned on the subject. Asked about the suddenly chilly jump shots rolling off the fingers of Steph and Klay, Jackson jumped atop an old soapbox built on the sturdy pillars of league history. … "They shot 72 percent in the first quarter, scored 37 points," he said of the Spurs. "That has nothing to do with Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry shooting the basketball." As someone who spent 17 years as an NBA player and nearly a decade as a close observer, Jackson realizes defense is crucial to postseason success. Understanding his team and the NBA, the coach expressed a tedious truth: Jump shots do not win championships and rarely get a team close to one. … Listening to several Warriors on Wednesday, it was clear Jackson's message was heard. Andrew Bogut, Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry all cited defensive shortcomings as the primary factor in losing Game 5. Their heads are in the right place. They seem to understand jump shots can be pleasing to the eye, but that defense determines how far a team goes during the postseason grind. Endurance, after all, requires full grasp of the basics as taught by lessons of the past.
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: The lack of respect is still there for the Indiana Pacers. They have beaten up, bullied and shut down the New York Knicks for most of the NBA’s Eastern Conference semifinals. But the credit has yet to show up for the Pacers. The talk of the series has centered on how the Knicks are missing shots, Iman Shumpert’s knee and who is and isn’t playing team basketball. The Pacers can put everybody (outside of the New York market, at least) out of their misery of hearing about those issues Thursday. The Pacers, up 3-1 in the series, can advance to their first Eastern Conference finals since 2004 with a victory. … There’s no better place for the Pacers to get the recognition they deserve than to do it in the Mecca — Madison Square Garden, known as the world’s most famous arena, where the stars sit courtside and the crowd will be so loud fans can’t hear the person next to them. “It’s going to be 10 times harder, it being in New York,” Pacers swingman Paul George said. “We know how well they play at home, so it’s going to take a great effort, so we’ll see where we’re at.” These aren’t the same Pacers who hoped they could win on the road. They know they can win on the road.
• Howard Beck of The New York Times: The Knicks won 54 games this season on the strength of their offense and were at their most dominant when the ball was moving, the floor was spaced, and Anthony and Smith were alternating good shots with smart passes. That identity has been lost, and Woodson has failed to do anything to restore it. Instead, Woodson went the opposite direction in Game 4 on Tuesday. He abandoned the small lineup that gave the Knicks their edge. He started Kenyon Martin, a defensive-minded enforcer, in a failed attempt to counter the Pacers’ size. He benched Prigioni, whose passing skills had been critical to the Knicks’ offensive rhythm for two months. (Prigioni has the best plus-minus rating of any Knicks starter in the playoffs.) Though the Knicks quickly fell behind by double digits, Woodson stuck with the big lineup for most of the night, thoroughly revamping his rotation in the 90th game of the season. … Woodson has indisputably been a net positive for the Knicks, corralling a locker room of volatile characters and disparate talents and presiding over the franchise’s best season in more than a decade. His failures in this series threaten to overshadow it all. On Wednesday, Woodson abruptly canceled his weekly radio spot with ESPN’s New York affiliate — a first this season. If the Knicks falter again Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, there will be no escaping the backlash. “Blame it on me,” Woodson said. As if the city needs any encouragement.
• Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee: The Kings are staying in Sacramento. Can we say that again? The Kings are staying in Sacramento. In what would have been considered a major upset only four months ago, the NBA board of governors looked hard at Seattle but did a double-take when evaluating Sacramento. Come again? The league's owners remembered almost three decades of good times – of sellout streaks and international appeal and impassioned crowds even when the team was terrible. They listened to members of the relocation committee and, yes, to their stubborn, respected, retiring commissioner. And, ultimately, they envisioned a revived franchise with impressive new owners, a state-of-the-art arena and an invigorated fan base. "This was not an anti-Seattle vote," Commissioner David Stern said Wednesday. "This was a pro-Sacramento vote." It's true. It happened. Lightning struck, thunder rolled in, and tornado warnings were issued throughout the city known as Big D. But all that happened later in the evening. In the afternoon, while rain pelted the hotel where the owners convened to determine the Kings' future, the Sacramento entourage pitched a near-perfect storm of a presentation.
• Jerry Brewer of The Seattle Times: At the end of the fight, the old, vindictive NBA commissioner couldn't announce the winner without first needling the city he was about to make a loser again. At the end of a polarizing relocation issue that he once described as "wrenching," the man who always measures his words couldn't resist one smug remark directed at Seattle. At the end of another heartbreaking NBA result, David Stern taunted us. "This is going to be short for me," he told reporters in Dallas on Wednesday. "I have a game to get to in Oklahoma City." Ouch. It was a sucker punch followed by a gut punch. First, Stern reminded Seattle that its team is now in Oklahoma City. Then, he announced the NBA was rejecting the city's bid to get a team back. … For the past four months, we have been Stern's pawn. Now, we're back to being his punch line. No more. Let's not play this game anymore. The next time Seattle plays with the NBA, it has to be a fair game that the city is capable of winning. For certain, that means it has to be a game that Stern isn't overseeing, which will require waiting until Adam Silver takes over in February to engage in talks again. The Stern/Seattle relationship is too toxic to bother mending, and if there was any doubt about The Commish's grudge-holding ways, his opening remarks made his Seattle disdain clear. The league turned down an epic Seattle offer in order to do the right thing — and since when did the NBA start caring about doing the right thing? Seattle's failed bid doesn't just affect Sacramento. It gives a clear path for every incumbent NBA city to keep its team. Heck, the past two NBA relocation situations, both involving Seattle, provide a road map of what to do and what not to do.