Small Ball at end and halfs off by Tim- Discuss

[Rummpd]

I am not one who calls the Spurs out that much, giving them a pass vs. WW with Duncan out etc. but several thing really bothered me today.

1) Small ball: I for one believe that the Spurs are beginning to take this too far. Spurs played much of 4th and most of last 6-7 minutes with small lineup.

Ht and big time experience still matters and I would have like to see perhaps, Horry in there at the end with Tim, Tony, Manu and Bowen.

2) Also, I was so sick and tired of hearing the announcers say that this was a bigger game for the Heat, despite their bad record vs. West they are barring a collapse guaranteed 1 seed in their playoffs. Seemingly, the unispired Spurs much of the time today seemed to buy into it. Anytime you can send a message to a potential title contender and beat them on their home floor it would have been huge.

3) Tim brought it very good in the 2nd but I am have seen a disturbing trend in him over this year of "taking 1st halfs off this year". We needed two strong halfs to get this win period. I believe the key to winning this game today would have been to jump on the Heat from the get go and it seemed he and much of the team was sleepwalking. It feeds of the MVP - if he had gotten an early 10 or so, much better game.

4) Rasho missed a lot of shots and many games he hits those so at first I did not have a problem with him launching those, but at least once fake the darn shot and drive inside please.

5) The final thing I just lost it about is in the final minute after the horrible call on Brown/Wade Wade is driving and no quick switch is made = this guy is like a Kobe, put a 2nd man ready to switch on him all times.

6) The only thing I am taking out of this loss was the overall play of Parker and Ginobli and Tim's great 4th quarter FT shooting, but overall thought this was an egg of an effort.

I am also concerned about the fact that we hit a great % of 3s and still could not take this game.

7) I am not sure that Mourning is going to give them much more than some of the bigs playing along Shaq right now, give Miami some credit they may be deeper than I thought and they did play some tough d at times.


Discuss.

[boutons]

1) Small ball is ok , but the Spurs weren't interested in moving the ball well, or pushing the ball to take advantage of the 4 smaller players.

2) yep. The Spurs proved to the Heat that the Heat are for real, and the Almighty Spurs are very beatable.

3) yep, another lackadaisical game from Tim, which I think set the low expectations for everybody else. He was defended pretty well and neutralized as part of Van Gundy's clog up the paint tactic (maybe Stan watched the Spurs vs Lakers playoffs?). No Tim, no win. Simple as that.

6) The Spurs HAD to hit their 3's, it's the only thing what kept them in game, because they were under 40% FGs. The killer was Spurs getting destroyed in the paint 48 - 34, with Shaq getting only 16 of those 48 points.

[TDfan2007]

Manu and Tony were looking for their own shot too much today!!! Manu refused to pass on the screen and roll and Tony just took too many shots.

:pctoss :pctoss

They combined for only 4 assists (2 for Manu and 2 for Tony). Tim had more assists than them!!!

:pctoss :pctoss

Also, Tim isn't playing well because he has no lift in his shot, as you could see, all of his jumpers were short.

Guys, I play basketball for my high school, and a lot of times I'll be playing post. So trust me when I say that if you have an injury to your ankle or heel, post up moves are REALLY hard to pull of (especially those jukes and spins that Tim is known for).

[Rummpd]

I will buy that to a point as someone who also played a lot of BB but that is all the more reason to go inside like he did in the 2nd and get those little shots and get to the line. That also helps him get Rebounds, which were also down for him.

Plus I am sick of excuses - this was a big game and team was flat and much of the time settling for 3s which if they had been cold = Miami blowout.

In the second half he physically looked pretty good when it is seemed he finally decided to play. Spurs cannot rely on the "Turn on switch".



MadDoc

[boutons]

Notice that Spurs were settling for 3G's yesterday in the first half, and had the good luck to hit them to stay in the game.

And the Spurs took 26 3G's vs Wiz, fatally making only 27%, while giving up 16 offensive rebounds, and getting beat in defensive RBs.

Why were the Spurs taking, so many 3G's vs Wiz, 10 more than Spurs avg, against the worst defensive team in the NBA?

The Spurs got beat in the paint vs Wiz (without Tim), and they got destroyed in the paint vs Heat (Kori, take note: WITH Tim), while getting beat, again, in RBs.

Settling for jumpshots

Getting beat in the paint.

Getting beat in RBs.

2 Ls, a shitty W.

Lazy-assed, no desire, no hustle basketball.

San Antonio Spurs, I hardly know ya.

[SpursChampsIII]

Manu and Tony were looking for their own shot too much today!!! Manu refused to pass on the screen and roll and Tony just took too many shots.

:pctoss :pctoss

They combined for only 4 assists (2 for Manu and 2 for Tony). Tim had more assists than them!!!

:pctoss :pctoss

Also, Tim isn't playing well because he has no lift in his shot, as you could see, all of his jumpers were short.

Guys, I play basketball for my high school, and a lot of times I'll be playing post. So trust me when I say that if you have an injury to your ankle or heel, post up moves are REALLY hard to pull of (especially those jukes and spins that Tim is known for).

Your point is confusing. TP and Manu shot the ball too much, but Tim can't go to the rack because of his ankle and heel. Who in the hell is supposed to take it to the basket? TP is playing magnificant ball here lately and has saved our arse many times this year, Manu is off and on, but nobody outhustles him. I will say this...if Tim does not give an MVP effort down the stretch AND into the playoffs, we are going nowhere! He had an opportunity to go at Shaq man to man and chose to throw up jumpers and off balance shots; however, after Shaq took him to the rack, it seemed to piss Tim off and he went to the other end and took it to the basket. Tim's intensity is not there for whatever reason.

[spurster]

I don't really like too much of the small ball. It creates a problem on pick and rolls.

For example, when TP (or BB) and TD were guarding Wade and Shaq on a pick and roll, TD needed to show hard, but who is going to rotate to guard Shaq? You saw TD hesitate time and time again because he knew Shaq would easily run over (oops, I mean "dominate") any other Spur in the middle of the paint. When TD hesitated, Wade got open looks.

[sbsquared]

Agreed! Tim did not play with desire or intensity yesterday. He only had 2 points in the first half! We need a lot more from Timmy if we are going to win these tough games!

[FromWayDowntown]

I don't really like too much of the small ball. It creates a problem on pick and rolls.

For example, when TP (or BB) and TD were guarding Wade and Shaq on a pick and roll, TD needed to show hard, but who is going to rotate to guard Shaq? You saw TD hesitate time and time again because he knew Shaq would easily run over (oops, I mean "dominate") any other Spur in the middle of the paint. When TD hesitated, Wade got open looks.

I agree with this point, and I think, in part, it showed up on Wade's last bucket. As Wade came over the screen, Bowen was trailing (as any defender would when Shaq sets the screen). Tim showed briefly to hedge, but faded off as Wade elevated. Tim was in a no-win situation -- had he challenged Wade more forcefully, he would have left Shaq undefended (or under-defended) and likely to get either an easy dunk or a dunk and one. Tim's play was smart, in that he played the percentages and figured there was a better chance Wade would miss a 10 foot runner, so he stuck with Shaq. But with another big on the floor, there's at least a chance that Tim can challenge that and hope for legitimate help on Shaq at the rim.

I thought Pop miscalculated by subbing for Rasho when he did, since Van Gundy took the opportunity to force a Shaq/Tim matchup, knowing that Tim's march to the free throw line would be significantly slowed from that point on. Small ball will work in stretches, but I think when Shaq's on the floor, it's a much riskier strategy. Plus, against Miami, I'd rather have Doleac out there than any of the various wings that Miami can go to in an effort to match up.