11-05-2004, 08:06 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Kwisatz Haderach
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Coatesville, PA
Age: 25
Posts: 24,132
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Korver's fourth quarter performance sparks confidence..
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Kyle Korver really didn't mind being on the basketball court for the entire fourth quarter in the 76ers' season-opening, come-from-behind win over the Boston Celtics.
"Tired? It's the first game of the season. No one's tired yet," Korver said yesterday at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, where the Sixers reviewed the Boston game and prepared for tonight's home opener against Phoenix.
Sixers coach Jim O'Brien didn't make a single substitution in the fourth quarter Wednesday night against the Celtics. His five iron men - Korver, Allen Iverson, Willie Green, Kenny Thomas and Samuel Dalembert - outscored Boston, 27-12, to help the Sixers complete a comeback from an 18-point deficit.
Everyone contributed, but Korver's performance probably opened the most eyes. He hit three three-pointers in the quarter, which was no surprise since he earned his status as the team's best long-distance marksman as a rookie last season.
However, he also starred at the defensive end, where he held Celtics star Paul Pierce without a field goal, even while playing the last 8 minutes, 27 seconds of the period with five personal fouls.
"That's when you want to play," Korver said. "It does mean a lot to me that Coach left me in when I had five fouls and he still left me on Paul. Going into the rest of the season, that does mean a lot to me."
Korver admitted he was a little surprised Pierce didn't try to go after him to draw a sixth personal foul and get him out of the game.
"But we had a lot of guys running at him, so I don't know if he really saw a lot of opportunities," he said. "We had a lot of guys waiting for him at the basket and elbow, and wherever else he was trying to go. I think he was a little tired."
Pierce did finish with 35 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists in 41 minutes. O'Brien coached Pierce for more than three seasons while head coach of the Celtics and has seen him do amazing things against defenders of all sizes and abilities. So while he credited Korver's work, he also attributed Pierce's lack of scoring to the player's own weariness.
"Certainly Kyle did what was necessary by denying him the ball and making him move out," O'Brien said. "Paul had a great game but may have worn himself down a little bit. I haven't been in many situations with Paul Pierce where he didn't get a bucket in the fourth quarter. He was chasing Kyle at the other end, and that's a tough task to chase him and be their key scorer."
O'Brien built the necessary lineup in the fourth quarter, getting three of the team's biggest three-point threats - Korver, Iverson and Green - on the floor to cut into the large deficit. Green hit the trey that gave the Sixers the lead for good. Iverson also drained a three-ball and dished five assists in the period. Thomas and Dalembert hustled on defense and on the boards.
Marc Jackson was one of three starters who watched from the bench for the entire quarter, but he liked what he saw, especially from Korver, Green and Dalembert.
"It was very gratifying, not to just watch our three young players [Wednesday] night, but to see the confidence building in the coach from preseason," Jackson said. "That was a good feeling to me because that trust started in preseason, started in camp the first or second day. They play so well because they got that feeling from him that he trusts them."
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Originally Posted by Henry Rollins
“The average is the borderline that keeps mere men in their place. Those who step over the line are heroes by the very act. Go.”
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Korver's fourth quarter performance sparks confidence..
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