“You’ve just got to make him earn everything he gets.”JALEN ROSE INDIANAPOLIS – Jalen Rose was supposed to be the defensive stopper the Pacers would use to neutralize the energizing influence Latrell Sprewell could have in the Eastern Conference Finals. After one game, all Rose stopped was himself by falling into a can-you-top-this trap that left him pulled from the game seated on Larry Bird’s bench.
Rose did not do a terrible job on Sprewell in Game 1, as Sprewell scored 16 points in 33 minutes but shot a modest 6 of 16. Once, Rose even used his height advantage (he is 6-8, Sprewell is 6-5) to come up with a clean block of a Sprewell turnaround jumper. But Rose was unable to prevent Sprewell from triggering the Knicks’ transition game and Rose also was guilty of getting caught up in a one-on-one battle with Sprewell.
On offense, Rose took the ball at Sprewell with little regard for the Pacers offensive flow, and the results were unsightly. Rose missed eight of his 12 shots and did not have an assist in the Knicks’ 93-90 victory.
Last night the Pacers got even, winning Game 2 88-86. Sprewell scored 15 points on 6-for-14 shooting.
Rose, who scored 13 points last night, said preparing to guard Sprewell is different than most assignments, in that most reserves he goes against are not the focal point of an opponent’s attack.
“‘The difference between playing Latrell and a lot of other guys who don’t start is they’re running plays for him,” Rose said. “They’re actually trying to get him to score points, they’re actually trying to feed off his emotion and his excitement. Whether he’s shooting the ball well or not they’re still going to that. You’ve just got to make him earn everything he gets. They basically use him as a starter, they just bring him in when they’re ready.”
The strategy in playing Sprewell is to try to make him shoot over a taller defender. “Just use my size over him and stay in front of him the best I can,” Rose said. “When he’s trying to post me up I feel that should be even or if not I have the advantage. I just try to hold my ground and play defense like I do against everyone else.”