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Four Tenths of a Second
By Robert Doyen May 13, 2004
 To Spurs fans it may seem neither possible nor fair, but with four tenths of a second remaining in game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals Derrick Fisher was able to catch the basketball off of an inbounds pass, turn around, jump, and then shoot a game winning shot to give the Lakers a 3-2 series advantage.
Maybe this is just a Spurs fan in denial, but is it possible to do all of that in the amount of time it takes to blink your eye?
In fact, the clock did not even start until Derrick Fisher was already in the air and about to take his shot.
The Spurs have filed an official challenge to Derrick Fisher’s shot. They won’t win this challenge though.
Natural human reaction time is about seven tenths of a second. Short of putting an infrared sensor and a timer inside official NBA basketballs, there is no way around this infinitesimal human error. But stranger things have happened… like two apparent game winning shots within 0.4 seconds of each other.
And besides, the Spurs were lucky to even be in a game winning position. The Lakers dominated not only the first three quarters of game five, but also the last two games in Los Angeles thanks to deft coaching moves by Phil Jackson and desperate, inspired play by his team. And though the Spurs competed valiantly in the fourth quarter, the fact that Tim Duncan made two lucky shots does not negate lucky shots made by players of the opposing team.
Tony Parker and Tim Duncan have morphed from dominant to dormant. They both have been bullied into submission by the ball slapping, body bumping interior defense of Los Angeles and have been completely taken out of their offense.
Hedo Turkogolu is already packing his bags for a summer vacation. He is passing up open shots, forcing shots that are not a part of his normal offensive game, and frequently turning over the ball.
Rasho Nesterovich is not David Robinson. He has the size and ability, but seems to fear the shadow of Tim Duncan. When Tim went down near the end of the season, Rasho’s inspired play was the main reason the Spurs came out of that stretch with a decent record. He has now gone back to picking up Duncan’s leftovers.
Kobe Bryant owns Bruce Bowen right now. Kobe is in a zone. He throws up trash, that miraculously goes in. Bowen is a great defender, but there’s nothing anyone can do to stop Kobe when he’s playing with confidence.
Aside from Tim’s late game awakening, the only Spurs playing as if the Lakers haven’t already won the series are Manu Ginobili and Devon Brown. Devon is even taking minutes away from Hedo and Bruce. He deserves it. He’s making big shots, and while he’s not quite the defender that Bruce is, he’s been practicing with Bruce to improve his defense. And with Kobe attacking the nets with such post courtroom ferocity, the Spurs need someone to score against him as well as defend him. Meanwhile, Ginobili is his usual flamboyant self. He’s all over the court causing gasps and headaches for crowds and opposing players alike.
And where is Malik Rose? His energy might be just what the Spurs need right now. Robert Horry is a great player, but he’s not so much better than Malik that he should be stealing all of his minutes. And especially after watching Horry bounce a three point attempt off of the backboard late in the game, and watching Rasho play with such zombie eyed indifference, it might be time to give Malik a chance.
Can the Spurs come back from this demoralizing defeat? San Antonio needs to play defense the way they did in in Game 5’s fourth quarter, and give a lot more of Hedo’s minutes to Devon Brown, or this series could be over in an embarrassing way for the Spurs on Saturday. Tony Parker and Tim Duncan must shed their newfound fear of the paint. Saturday may be their last game of the 2004 NBA season. If they believe they can win game seven, they will win game six.
This series is not over yet unless the Spurs want it to be.
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