33 free throw attempts to 18 for the Spurs, including 13 to zip in the 3rd quarter. Yes, something can be said for being the more aggressive team...but damn, Joey. Tim Duncan had less free throw attempts than Pargo, Melvin Ely, Bonzi Wells, and Tyson Chandler. In other words, 4 role players that took a total of 13 shots in the game all shot more free throws than Tim Duncan, who took 18 shots. This after the 2006 Dallas "Dirk stepped on my foot but it's a foul on me" Timmy foul? What did we do, Joey? Run over your dog or something? Did our Mexican food give you the runs?
Nonetheless, there is light at the end of the tunnel. David West had a career game, mostly off of the fact that the Spurs rotated his defender in to cut off Paul's dribble penetration (effectively triple teaming the Chandler-Paul pick-and-roll). While this limited Paul's output in the first half, it gave West jumper after jumper, and he converted. Once the Spurs decided to stop helping off of him, Paul got it going. Game over.
Now, is there a solution to all of this? Yes, but it isn't pretty. The Spurs could rotate the wing player over (i.e. the guy stuck in the corner guarding MoPete and watching West hit those 17-footers) and make West a decision maker. Should he post up the smaller guy (probably Manu or Fin), rotate the ball to the open shooter, or just shoot over the defender? Yes, he can do all three, but at least he'll have to think about it. He's proven to be a great finisher, now make him the focal point of their offense and force him to make all the crucial decisions.
Other glimmers of optimism? Ime Udoka played well, Kurt Thomas couldn't play any worse, and Joey Crawford won't be reffing another game in this series.
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