A Very Flattering Daniels Article

[UK Peregrine]

Daniels pushes to the bitter end
Putting his injuries aside, Sonics guard excels against Spurs
By JON PAUL MOROSI
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Basketball does this to you. It comes down to one shot, one possession in the final minute, even though one point in the fourth quarter is the same as one point in the first. You will remember Antonio Daniels at the line with 14.4 seconds left last night. You will remember him missing his first shot before making his second. Then you will remember Tim Duncan making his shot, Ray Allen missing his, and Sonics losing 98-96 in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals.

Daniels scored more than any Sonic other than Ray Allen in this series, and his contributions last night went far beyond his 22 points. He was the difference in Game 3 -- remember that 12-for-12 performance from the line? -- and hasn't slowed since. He scored 18 that game, 19 the next, and 17 the next. Eventually, Nate McMillan had no choice but to start him, which he did beginning in Game 4.

At some point, everyone wondered what Daniels had left to give. He had snapped, glued and fastened himself together for months, coaxing what he could out of his body, which always seemed to be more than what he really had left. He had a hand in all seven points the Sonics scored in the last two minutes last night. Every single one. All that, on a balky left knee wrapped tightly with Lycra leggings. "It's the playoffs," a somber Daniels said after the game. "You push that aside."

The Sonics fell two points short. But not because of Daniels. "He's been here before, he understands," teammate Damien Wilkins said. "He handled everything. He hit big shots. He hit big free throws. You can't ask for more than he gave."

As soon as Robert Horry put the Spurs ahead 93-89, with another of his clutch postseason 3-pointers, Daniels brought the Sonics back within two with 1:37 left. Duncan scored. Daniels answered. The Spurs led 95-93. Manu Ginobili made a free throw, but there Daniels was again, taking it to the hole, and putting up a shot that Nick Collison tipped in for another one-point lead at 96-95. After the Horry foul, Daniels went to the line with a chance to give his team the lead. Yes, he missed one. But even then, he was 8-for-10 from the line last night and 38-for-43 in the series, or 88.37 percent.

It will long be the subject of debate how far this team would have gone with the services of Rashard Lewis. But let it be known that Daniels, while consuming some of Lewis' minutes, averaged 17.8 points per game in this series. The healthy Lewis averaged 17.7.

Yes, Daniels was that good. "He was capable of that all year long," Wilkins said. "That wasn't surprising by any means." Daniels handled the new starting role quite capably, and did so again last night. Twenty-five seconds in, the first points of Game 6 rolled off his fingertips, a spinning, whirring jump hook from 9 feet out. He scored the next two points, too, on a charging layup with 9:38 left in the first period. He made 5 of 6 free throws he took in the quarter, and finished the period with nine points.

Daniels was running on emotion. It showed. With the shot clock expiring early in the third quarter, he lost his dribble with his back to the basket, 15 feet away. He was lost, no shot, no one open. But he pivoted back, turned, jumped, and sank a jumper as the horn sounded. The Spurs led 52-51. He kept driving, kept drawing fouls, and took considerable offense on those occasions when, in his mind, at least, they were not whistled as such. It went that way in the third quarter, and he ended up with a technical foul to show for his protests. The Spurs made that free throw -- one point the Sonics would have rather they not had when Daniels went to the line late in the game.

One point here, one point there. On these past six nights, plenty came from the square-shouldered Daniels. He carried his team, and left KeyArena last night with a heavy heart. "It hurts," he said quietly. "It hurts."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketbal ... ar220.html

[Metz]

Thanks for that article! One of the best ones I've read about him so far. He was incredible in the series and deserves a lot of respect.

[Falconboy]

Now everyone knows that AD deserved to the starting pg no offense to Ridenour's skills but face it , he's still a rookie. When you got a green 6'1 170 lb. pg and a 8-year veteren pg who is very athletic 6'4 and 205 , why arent' you starting the latter guy? Finally AD has shown em' his got game to a starter not a bench warmer.

[Metz]

Um, did you even watch the games falconboy? Daniels started at SF and Luke was still the starting PG. I don't really think it matters who starts either. While Luke did start duing the season, Daniels had better stats and more playing time.

[Falconboy]

Ohy okay. That was news to me since I do not have any type of cable tv or satelite I haven't seen a Sonics game yet still. Had no idea AD was starting at the 3 spot. I would've though that Ray Allen would've been the 3 or the 2 guard with Rashard Lewis at the 3. But then I forgot that Lewis got injured in the playoffs. The thing that got me was how Daniels got picked over at the begining of the season for starting pg spot to a smaller rookie kid when you've got a 6'4, 8 season and championship playoff veteran on your roster. I'm sure Ridenour is a very good shooter , I just was always bewildered how he got the starting job, when AD had the experience, size and plenty of talent to boot.

[Metz]

The thing that got me was how Daniels got picked over at the begining of the season for starting pg spot to a smaller rookie kid when you've got a 6'4, 8 season and championship playoff veteran on your roster. I'm sure Ridenour is a very good shooter , I just was always bewildered how he got the starting job, when AD had the experience, size and plenty of talent to boot.

He has had injury probs for the past few seasons and I believe his knee was pretty bad at the beginning of the year so they started Ridnour. Ridnour did great for them as a starter and Antonio did great off the bench. They normally play Ray Allen and Antonio at different times as well. Maybe McMillan was trying to keep experience on the floor at all times and felt it was better to have Antonio running things on the floor when others weren't in the game. Obviously it didn't hurt Seattle though because they had their best regular season record in years!