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The first point worries me a bit, but why can't tim/the Spurs teach Pau how to do that with Tony/Manu? Pau's a very gifted passer.
Some things I saw during the 4th/OT:
- This team has no end-of-game go to plays like the ones we used to see during the Big 3 era e.g. the high low between Manu-TD-TP. Down the stretch, our go-to offense was Kawhi creating off the dribble. I haven't watched much of the games this season, so I don't know how we're faring against other teams during the clutch, but it was a bit worrisome we had trouble closing the game despite having a 6 point lead with 4 minutes to go.
- Speaking of Kawhi, I can’t believe it’s been 6 years since he’s been here. Time flies by! He has morphed into the League’s most complete player anchoring the offense and defense of a team night-in and night-out, it has been truly a pleasure to watch. Right now, he is averaging 33.5 MPG (a career-high) and although some of us expected that number to be closer to 35, it was reassuring to see Pop did not hesistate to play him extended minutes, as he played 45 minutes including the entire OT period.
- More on Kawhi. This season he looks in great shape and throughout the game he played with great intensity, resolve and in an assertive way despite fatigue. He was not as sharp during the end of the game, yet in OT he was able to push through – that end of the game jump with Lebron was just ferocious. This is encouraging since it was evident by the playoffs last year he was in no condition to play this way during extended periods. Granted, he gets pumped up every time he faces Lebron, but still. What a performance by our franchise player!
- Regarding LMA, his offense was non-existant at the end of the game, with the exception of the jumper that gave us the lead. Even though he is in a struggle offensively right now, one would think he would be more involved in these situations, since it was one of the main reasons he was brought here. I put this on the coaching staff not to get him as involved as he needs to be despite the fact we’ve seen he is not clutch (even this game, he missed two free-throws to ice the game).
Another way to look at this is that the Coaching Staff decided to hand Leonard the keys during end-of-the-game situations, since it is his team now. In this case, it is on Kawhi to get LMA more involved, especially since he was not effective offensively to end the 4th.
- Despite the fact that Manu is being driven away from his role as a closer for some time now (first it was taking the ball away from his hands, now he doesn’t necessarily close games), it was great to see Manu to start the OT period. Danny was not making any threes and Simmons was inconsistent per-par. Yes, he was struggling defending Kyrie, but he still managed to compete defensively and made some of those winning plays we’ve accustomed to see over the years, like that charge he drew on Shumpert and that screen on Lebron for the Kawhi midrange J. What a compe or Manu Ginobili is! It is great to see he is still able to bring his game in spurts at 39. Just Amazing!
The first point worries me a bit, but why can't tim/the Spurs teach Pau how to do that with Tony/Manu? Pau's a very gifted passer.
Water is wet.. And when boiled turned into vapor.
Nice summary of the last mins of that game and input OP
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