The tasks at hand

Here are the Game 4 to-do lists for the Nets and Spurs

Going into this year's Finals, one advantage the New Jersey Nets supposedly had over the San Antonio Spurs, besides the supposed one at point guard, was their aggressive attitude. The Nets attack. The Spurs hesitate. It hasn't turned out that way, though. In fact, New Jersey's point guard, Jason Kidd, has been outplayed by his counterpart, Tony Parker. The Nets' non-aggression was particularly evident and damaging to their cause in Game 3 Sunday, when they continually refused to go at San Antonio's 3-2 zone, which turned out to be a decisive factor in the Spurs' 84-79 victory, which gave them a 2-1 series lead.

None of the Nets had a satisfactory explanation, leaving us with the predictable one: That NBA teams are still not used to playing against zones, and tend to see them as an opportunity to hoist perimeter jumpers instead of using dribble-penetration to attack at the seams. New Jersey's offensive paralysis was further disturbing because the Spurs, an excellent man-to-man team, do not play a particularly effective zone.

So, Task No. 1 for the Nets in Wednesday's Game 4 at Continental Airlines Arena: Keep an aggressive attitude when the Spurs go zone, which they most assuredly will.

Task No. 2: Keep Kenyon Martin, who has been New Jersey's best player through three games, on the floor. Easier said than done, of course, but here's one suggestion: Give center Jason Collins some minutes on Spurs' star Tim Duncan. With all the talk about the return to action of Dikembe Mutombo, I thought that one of the underrated aspects of Games 1 and 2 (particularly 2) was Collins' work on Duncan. The 7-footer from Stanford has the strength to body up on Duncan and the length to disrupt his shot.

Task No. 3: Get more out of Lucious Harris. For all of the complaints about not getting Mutombo enough minutes, Harris is the guy who, in my opinion, has not been on the floor nearly enough. Let him get a half dozen or so of those jump shots that Kidd is taking and things might turn out differently for the Nets.

Here are three tasks for the Spurs:

Task No. 1: Stop standing around when Duncan is multi-teamed. The Nets are going to continue to do it, but, aside from Parker working the pick-and-roll with Duncan, the Spurs, for the most part, have looked like a still-life painting when Duncan has the ball. If you're not comfortable from the outside, at least cut toward the basket.

Task No. 2: Find more minutes for Malik Rose. The one player who did make a great cut off of Duncan was the Spurs' backup forward. I think San Antonio needs Rose in the game because of his offensive aggressiveness and willing to challenge the feisty Nets on the boards.

Task No. 3. Draw up something special for Kidd, perhaps by running an extra defender at him, using the taller Manu Ginobili instead of Parker from time to time, or even employing a box-and-one every now and then. If there's one certainty about Game 4, it's that Kidd is going to come out hard. He's been polite and diplomatic when asked about Parker, but Kidd's inability to dominate the 21-year-old has him seething inside. The Spurs had best remember (I'm sure they do) what Kidd did to them in Game 2.

Game 4 prediction: Kidd will get the best of Parker. Martin's consistent play will be rewarded. Nets 97, Spurs 91.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Jack McCallum covers the NBA for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com.

 

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