NBA New Jersey coach blames mediocre finals on talent

Lack of great offensive players has led to a low-scoring series.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Byron Scott has a theory to explain the defensive dominance in what will probably turn out to be the lowest-scoring and lowest-rated NBA Finals in 20 years.
The New Jersey coach blames it on talent -- the kids these days don't have enough of it.
Scott, whose Nets face the San Antonio Spurs in a pivotal Game 5 tonight, grew up watching basketball in the high-scoring 1970s, and won three titles in the '80s, playing with and against the era's transcendent talents: Magic, Kareem, Larry and Michael.
Sure, the Nets play strong defense. So do the Spurs. But according to Scott, there's more to it.
"The way I feel about the way we played back in the '80s, [there were] just a lot more talented basketball players back then," Scott said Thursday. "In the league now, there's just not as much talent.
"With [the Nets and the Spurs] combined, there's not 10 or 12 great offensive players out there."
Evenly matched
The Nets match up extremely well with the Spurs -- perhaps too well. Just as New Jersey has mostly stifled San Antonio's supporting cast around Tim Duncan, the Spurs have been able to stop almost everything New Jersey has tried in the first four games of the finals, which are tied 2-2 for the first time since 1997.
In Game 5, the Nets won't try anything new. They evened the series on Wednesday night with a 77-76 victory in which they gave one of the best defensive performances in finals history -- or, if you ask the Spurs, New Jersey stood back and watched as San Antonio spiraled into a shooting funk.
"We have definitely set back offensive basketball about 15 years, both teams," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Both good defensive clubs going after each other, and shots aren't falling for either team."
Not offensive
Many aspects of this series have been offensive -- but not the scoring. Still, Scott doesn't see the low scores as a reason to criticize the finals.
"I just don't buy into this ugly game stuff," Scott said. "I think both styles are very dramatic. I thought last night was one of those games. Everybody I talked to fan-wise seemed to think that these games are keeping them on the edge of their seats."
And what the series has lacked in entertainment value, it might soon make up in drama. The last three games have been decided in the final minute, and the Nets are desperate to go back to Texas with a series lead.
"We had a must-win in Game 4, and we think this one is equally a must-win," Nets guard Kerry Kittles said. "If we can win one more game on our home floor, it puts all the pressure on them to try not to disappoint their home crowd. That can be a lot of pressure on a team. I know we felt it in Game 3, in our first home game."