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I, for one, agree.
http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195899
I suspected this when it became apparent that Diaw was going to be bought out and the Spurs were going to sign him and alter their rotation. Defensively, Duncan's minutes increasing, Diaw replacing Blair in the rotation, Jackson replacing Jefferson, Neal's minutes being halved, as well as no one pacing themselves and actual rest, recovery and practice time, have predictably led to defensive improvement. How significant, we'll find out in round two, particularly if the Clippers do what they're poised to do and finish off the Grizzlies.
Yes, the Jazz were the fourth highest scoring team during the regular season and seventh in offensive efficiency, but they were mostly playoff neophytes, clearly just happy to be there and lacked any semblance of outside shooting. That said, the Spurs defensive numbers in the series were outstanding (86.3 ppg, 4th fewest, .382 opp. fg %, 1st, . 200 opp. 3pt %, 1st) and they're to be commended. And while I'm not convinced they've suddenly transformed into an elite defensive outfit again, I am convinced that, combined with their league best offense, they're good enough defensively to win a championship.
But whereas the rotation changes have predictably improved the defense, they've just as predictably hurt the rebounding. The Jazz bludgeoned the Spurs on the glass. Only the Magic, who are literally playing without anything resembling a center, have a worst rebounding rate in the playoffs. Sure, the Jazz were third in rebound rate during the regular season and at times, they played three plus rebounding bigs together, but one look at the road ahead shows it's going to remain difficult in this regard. The Clippers (T-6th), Grizzlies (11th; Randolph missed 38 games), Lakers (2nd), Thunder, (5th) and Heat (T-6th) are all strong rebounding teams. Granted, the Spurs were T-6th themselves, but that was with Splitter playing more, Leonard playing more and Blair in the rotation (the only positive is Duncan is playing more). So if you're looking for a potential achilles heel of this team, look to rebounding, not defense.
I, for one, agree.
http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195899
Thirded. Not quite as worried should they play the Thunder and Heat later on, but the second round will expose it more. Hoping Pop realizes it and adjusts his game plan a bit.
...and yet, the Spurs outrebounded the Jazz on the defensive glass 136-130 for the series. That's what many people don't look at is the Spurs sacrifice offensive rebounds for transition defense. They are a very effective defensive rebounding team...but few people recognize it.
Well, Spurs are the best defensive rebounding team in the NBA. I don't really see why it would be a source of concern.
Spurs are a poor offensive rebounding team but it's a lot lot by design. Grabbing offensive rebounds when you are focused on transition defense and spacing is hard to do.
The best defensive rebounding team all season IIRC correctly too.
Defensive rebounds = finishing the stop.
Offensive rebounds = gravy on offense, not worth worrying about.
I haven't looked it up but the number of offensive rebounds we gave up to the Jazz stood out to me. I don't know what the series numbers are but I remember a couple where we gave up 15+ offensive rebounds.
Maybe most of the damage was done in game two because I remember they had 17 off. rebounds with a lot of them coming in the 4th quarter. Either way, until I look into it I'm inclined to agree with TD21.
I'm more concerned about Jordan defending Tim. I feel like Jordan had good success against Tim in the past due to his length and athleticism. At the same time, Jordan is sort of a moron and would probably make mistakes. In fact, now that I think about it I seem to remember VDN not even playing Jordan for long stretches against the Spurs.
Anyway, I like our chances against the Clippers but I'm curious to see what problems they will cause us.
Jordan will get into foul trouble so the majority of the time itll be Kenyon Martin, whos smaller and dumb as a brick as well.
Outside of Griffen the Clippers bigs don't bother me at all.
The turnovers are the only thing that would concern me. Pop stays on his guys to go after rebounds...gang rebound defensively. Not offensively. As long as the Spurs don't gamble too much, their transition defense will be fine. Turnovers can hurt even the best transition defenses.
IMO it's simple look at everything the Grizzlies are doing against Chris Paul & do the exact opposite.
/thread
The backup PG spot is much more concerning than a strategic choice that's working out really well for us (and can be changed if needed). Actually Pop went full rebounding lineup (Tim Tiago Kawhi) against the Lakers and all the runs were with Diaw at PF.
This isn't rocket science. When you shoot 38% for a series (as the jazz did) you're probably going to have alot of offensive rebounds just due to the increased opportunities. Factor in the jazz playing Milsap at the 3 and it's obvious why the jazz outrebounded the spurs.
I'll gladly take the spurs holding teams under 40% shooting rather than outrebounding them.
KMart has shown he could defend TP better than anyone for them so I don't really agree with that.
Even with Griffin, as long as we make him work we have a great shot neutralizing his contributions. He has no back to the basket game and the success of his face up game relies on him being matched up with a poor defender. Play him tight, box him out, and make him work on defensive end will go a long way. He'll probably still get his 20 points but inefficiently.
He's not quick enough to guard Tony, but Reggie Evan's hustle could be a bit of problem in this upcoming series if the Clippers don't choke it away.
I'll take your word for it then, I'm basically reacting to box scores because I didn't really pay that much attention after the 2nd quarter of game 2 lol.
Spurs didn't do a great job at defensively rebounding the ball against Utah but it wasn't a disaster too.
Utah got 32% of the rebounds on Spurs defensive end while their average on the season is 30.2%. When you consider that Splitter missed 1 and a half game and some garbage time stats (Utah got 6 offensive rebounds in the last quarter of game 2), there are little to worry about.
One aspect of spurs game im interested to see in the next round is pick and roll defense
Jazz barely ran pick and rolls against the spurs
Can the spurs defend the pnr well enough to win the series against clips/okc - CP3/Harden
We has this conversation during the RRT when you were concerned about rebounding. Bruno and Solid D carry the same view I had then...and I still agree with them now. Furthermore, if you are going to force a team to shoot 38% for the series then there is a good chance you are going give up some offensive boards. Mix together the bricks(which equal more offensive rebounding opportunities) with the fact that the Spurs don't actively look for offensive rebounds on the other end and you get what happened in this series.
Last edited by benefactor; 05-09-2012 at 05:57 AM.
Utah got so many chances to rebound on offensive glass cuz they shot such a low percentage. I'd take that again, if it came up in Clippers series. Hold them to 32-40% shooting, Spurs shoot 48%, yeah, I'm good with losing battle of the boards.
Another point about the Jazz offensive rebounds was that for many of them, instead of contesting the rebound, the Spur defender deferred to immediately defending the put back. The Spurs put back defense seemed excellent. I had the impression that was a strategy, not a defect.
You mention the Clippers, Jim, and holding them to low shooting percentage. That will be tough to do. In fact, that's the most scary thing to me when I think about matching up with the Clips. They can shoot so well. Alley-oops aside, their perimeter scoring can be really good and they played the Spurs tough in the regular season. The Spurs were fortunate to come way 2-1 against them (remember the OT game with the Gary Neal steal and 3?).
The Clippers can kill you from 12-24 feet with Mo Williams, Butler, Foye and Paul. So even if the Spurs shoot 50+%, LAC can match that. No doubt Griffin and Evans can rebound and that's a concern but the Spurs will need to do more than just box those two guys out. One thing is for sure, if Chris Paul comes off that high screen, the Spurs must make the right FT-line-extended their no-fly zone. The right elbow jumper is his comfort spot, especially in crunch time.
Defense must be there vs the Clippers.
I worry about the flopping of the clippers more than our rebounding tbh.
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