timvp
11-06-2008, 01:49 PM
Let’s first handle the obvious question. Yes, it was against the lottery bound Minnesota Timberwolves. Yes, the San Antonio Spurs needed double overtime and a heroic offensive performance. Yes, the Spurs still need a whole lot of work defensively. But with the team winless after three games, the Spurs going into Minnesota and leaving with a 129-125 in their fourth game of the season was definitely an important victory.
The recap of the game can be written in two words – Tony Parker. Parker finished with 55 points, ten assists and seven rebounds to help carry the Spurs. His biggest basket of the game came at the buzzer of the first overtime period. That shot sent the game into the second overtime, where Parker scored eight points and the Spurs were finally able to slay the T’Wolves and pick up their first win.
Minnesota actually played quite well. Although the Spurs didn’t exactly get in the way that much defensively, Al Jefferson and Mike Miller were impressive. Miller was deadly from the outside while Jefferson did his best Tim Duncan impersonation on the inside. Rookie Kevin Love was a handful for the Spurs and he helped his team immensely by crashing the offensive glass repeatedly.
For the Spurs, hopefully the win will help get the team on the right track. The victory had to help the morale of the team and perhaps that will allow some of the role players to loosen up and help out more. We will see in the upcoming games whether this outcome will inspire positive momentum or whether it was just a fortunate win against a bad team.
Tim Duncan
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3173.jpg
48 minutes, 30 points, 16 rebounds, three assists, four turnovers
12-for-26 from the field, 6-for-7 at the line
Tim Duncan had a rollercoaster ride of a game. To begin the contest, Duncan couldn’t buy a shot offensively. He finally started heating up at the end of the third quarter but then cooled back down near the end of the overtime periods. All in all, he did well enough offensively. He mixed in a few outside shots with a number of tough interior baskets against the short yet physical bigmen on the T’Wolves. Defensively, he’s slowly getting better as the season progresses but he still has a lot of room for improvement. He got scored on a number of times in one-on-one matchups and was also oftentimes a half step slow on rotations. Despite his imperfections, Duncan played hard during his 48 minutes of action and continues to look very good this season.
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Tony Parker
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3527.jpg
51 minutes, 55 points, ten assists, seven rebounds, four turnovers
22-for-36 from the field, 2-for-3 on three-pointers, 9-for-10 at the line
This game will undoubtedly go down as one of Tony Parker’s all-time best performances. His 55-point showing only trails David Robinson’s 71 points and George Gervin’s 63 points in the Spurs record books. Parker did a lot of his damage on the pick-and-roll, where he just tortured Minnesota’s defense. If they went below the pick, Parker would rise up and hit the jumper. If they tried to go over the pick or trap him to take away the jumper, he’d just speed to the basket. When he wasn’t putting the ball in the hole himself, he was creating scoring opportunities for his teammates. Going forward, Parker needs to keep this type of scoring mentality for the Spurs to survive the opening month. Though 55 isn’t necessary every night, I’m sure Spurs fans wouldn’t complain if he wanted to do it again.
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Bruce Bowen
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3167.jpg
34 minutes, three points, three rebounds, two assists
1-for-1 from the field, 1-for-1 on three-pointers
After three poor outings to start the season, Bruce Bowen started to look more like Bruce Bowen in the fourth game. Early on, it didn’t look good as Miller was able to get a number of open shots against him. But as the game went on, Bowen appeared to get into a defensive rhythm and had a number of key plays down the stretch. While it’s too early to say whether or not Bowen is back, this was a step in the right direction. Not a huge step, mind you, but a step nonetheless.
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Michael Finley
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3023.jpg
33 minutes, three points, five rebounds, two steals
1-for-9 from the field, 1-for-5 on three-pointers
It’s difficult to watch how ineffective Michael Finley is on the court and then try to justify the number of minutes he is playing. Offensively, his shot selection was very questionable. The most questionable one of all came with the Spurs up by two points in the second overtime. Instead of dribbling the clock out, Finley hoisted an unspeakably ill-advised three-pointer that left Pop tearing out hair from every angle of his cranial region. On the defensive end, Finley’s typical matador defense was on full display. When Finley takes smart shots, gives extra effort on defense and runs the court, he’s somewhat useful. When he plays like he did on Wednesday night, you have to wonder how he’s still in the NBA.
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Matt Bonner
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3748.jpg
six minutes, two rebounds
Matt Bonner started but didn’t play long enough to break a sweat. He played the first six minutes and never came back onto the court. I don’t think he did anything necessarily wrong, he just wasn’t a very good matchup against the T’Wolves. Everyone who he would potentially defend was either too fast or too strong for him.
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Roger Mason, Jr.
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3628.jpg
44 minutes, 26 points, four rebounds, two assists
9-for-16 from the field, 2-for-4 on three-pointers, 6-for-6 at the line
Lost in Parker’s huge game and Duncan’s gaudy stat line was the extraordinary play by Roger Mason, Jr. Building on what he showed in his first three games, Mason was a tad bit more aggressive and that turned into 26 important points. His outside stroke looks very good right now. He has a rapid release that is so fast that sometimes he doesn’t even have time to square all the way up to the basket. It also doesn’t seem to matter if the shots he gets are off of a stationary catch, off movement or off the dribble – he’s draining them all. Although he did most of his damage from the perimeter, he also demonstrated several crafty ball handling maneuvers that allowed him to attack the basket off the dribble. To cap off his night, Mason grabbed his first two offensive rebounds of the season to seal the victory at the end of the second overtime.
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Fabricio Oberto
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3988.jpg
31 minutes, two points, three assists, two rebounds
1-for-2 from the field
Fabricio Oberto had a lot of court action but not that much statistical production. While he did struggle rebounding the ball and defending in the post, he did do some of the dirty work the Spurs needed. He set more than a dozen solid picks during the game, with most of them helping free up Parker. Oberto also made a couple of very good passes. While the dirty work was definitely appreciated, Oberto needs to start helping out on the boards and find a way to score some points. Hopefully those aspects appear after he gets back into shape following his heart condition scare.
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Ime Udoka
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3501.jpg
21 minutes, eight points, two rebounds
4-for-5 from the field, 0-for-1 at the line
After an outing where Ime Udoka shot the ball too carelessly, he improved greatly in that area against Minnesota. Instead of forcing three-pointers, he showed off his in between game, which is actually quite good. Defensively, Udoka hustled but still didn’t put it all together yet as he got caught chasing instead of defending a few times. Rebounding-wise the Spurs could have used more help, but overall it was a solid game out of Udoka.
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Kurt Thomas
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3012.jpg
13 minutes, three rebounds
Hopefully Kurt Thomas has some sort of nagging injury because otherwise it’s difficult to explain why he looks so bad. His post defense, which is the bread and butter of his basketball existence, was extremely poor. A number of times he’d be left totally out of position and watching as his man blew right by him. He’s also not helping much in terms of team defensive play. Offensively he was invisible and his rebounding was sub par.
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George Hill
http://www.iupuijags.com/images/2007/12/12/player_hill.jpg
10 minutes, two points, three assist, three rebounds
0-for-2 from the field, 2-for-4 at the line
George Hill didn’t get much playing time in his second NBA game but he played decently well. He didn’t have the huge scoring outburst he had in his debut but Hill showed other areas where he can help. Offensively, he made a few things happen in the pick-and-roll sets and made a few quick, good passes. On the other end of the court was where he really stood out. His individual defense was good once again, although he still needs work in learning the defensive system. What’s exciting about him on the defensive end is that he almost turns into a bigman once the shot is in the air. He’s not afraid to box out bigger players and he’s a physical rebounder who will sky to grab boards. The sample size has been small but I like what I see so far out of the rookie point guard.
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Gregg Popovich
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/topstory/sports/popovich_gregg030428.jpg
I thought Pop did a pretty good job. I question why he played Finley so much, especially when if Finley wasn’t taking bad shots, he was ruining inbounds plays by making the wrong pass. And while the bigmen outside of Duncan are struggling, Pop isn’t helping matters by giving them each sporadic playing time. The minutes played by Duncan and Parker were again high, even before the overtime sessions, although with the Spurs needing the win it’s hard to blame Pop too much. Pop excelled at calling plays for the right player at the right time. He didn’t get too predictable and kept the T’Wolves guessing whether the ball was going to go to Parker, Duncan or Mason.
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Offense
The offense was again quite good. 129 points on 51.5% shooting from the field, 45.2% from beyond the arc and 82.1% at the free throw line are all good numbers. The Spurs also only had 12 turnovers and dished out 25 assists. Even though the offense wasn’t too varied (Parker, Duncan and Mason scored 111 of the 129 points), you can’t argue with the results. The next step is to incorporate the role players into the mix.
Defense
The defense was again pitiful, especially in terms of Spurs standards. The T’Wolves got almost any shot they wanted throughout the game. The Spurs also had a tough time grabbing defensive rebounds, which led to 25 second-chance points by Minnesota. When the Spurs tried to lock down to get a stop, they were rarely successful. Most of the problems on this end of the court can either be attributed to a lack of aggression or a lack of an interior presence. Over their first four games, the Spurs are averaging a shockingly low amount of steals (3.25) and blocks (1.75) per game. If they don’t step up their level of intensity on defense and find someone willing to patrol the paint, the Spurs are going to need superhuman offensive efforts each and every night.
Drive to Five
Next up for the Spurs are the Miami Heat on Friday night in the AT&T Center. To keep the mojo flowing in the right direction, a win would be much appreciated. Bowen will have his hands full with Dwyane Wade and it’ll be an opportunity to see how much gas Bowen has left in the tank. The game is going to be more difficult than expected because Miami has a lot of favorable matchups against San Antonio but hopefully the Spurs will carve out win number two.
Believe.
The recap of the game can be written in two words – Tony Parker. Parker finished with 55 points, ten assists and seven rebounds to help carry the Spurs. His biggest basket of the game came at the buzzer of the first overtime period. That shot sent the game into the second overtime, where Parker scored eight points and the Spurs were finally able to slay the T’Wolves and pick up their first win.
Minnesota actually played quite well. Although the Spurs didn’t exactly get in the way that much defensively, Al Jefferson and Mike Miller were impressive. Miller was deadly from the outside while Jefferson did his best Tim Duncan impersonation on the inside. Rookie Kevin Love was a handful for the Spurs and he helped his team immensely by crashing the offensive glass repeatedly.
For the Spurs, hopefully the win will help get the team on the right track. The victory had to help the morale of the team and perhaps that will allow some of the role players to loosen up and help out more. We will see in the upcoming games whether this outcome will inspire positive momentum or whether it was just a fortunate win against a bad team.
Tim Duncan
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3173.jpg
48 minutes, 30 points, 16 rebounds, three assists, four turnovers
12-for-26 from the field, 6-for-7 at the line
Tim Duncan had a rollercoaster ride of a game. To begin the contest, Duncan couldn’t buy a shot offensively. He finally started heating up at the end of the third quarter but then cooled back down near the end of the overtime periods. All in all, he did well enough offensively. He mixed in a few outside shots with a number of tough interior baskets against the short yet physical bigmen on the T’Wolves. Defensively, he’s slowly getting better as the season progresses but he still has a lot of room for improvement. He got scored on a number of times in one-on-one matchups and was also oftentimes a half step slow on rotations. Despite his imperfections, Duncan played hard during his 48 minutes of action and continues to look very good this season.
-------------------------------
Tony Parker
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3527.jpg
51 minutes, 55 points, ten assists, seven rebounds, four turnovers
22-for-36 from the field, 2-for-3 on three-pointers, 9-for-10 at the line
This game will undoubtedly go down as one of Tony Parker’s all-time best performances. His 55-point showing only trails David Robinson’s 71 points and George Gervin’s 63 points in the Spurs record books. Parker did a lot of his damage on the pick-and-roll, where he just tortured Minnesota’s defense. If they went below the pick, Parker would rise up and hit the jumper. If they tried to go over the pick or trap him to take away the jumper, he’d just speed to the basket. When he wasn’t putting the ball in the hole himself, he was creating scoring opportunities for his teammates. Going forward, Parker needs to keep this type of scoring mentality for the Spurs to survive the opening month. Though 55 isn’t necessary every night, I’m sure Spurs fans wouldn’t complain if he wanted to do it again.
-------------------------------
Bruce Bowen
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3167.jpg
34 minutes, three points, three rebounds, two assists
1-for-1 from the field, 1-for-1 on three-pointers
After three poor outings to start the season, Bruce Bowen started to look more like Bruce Bowen in the fourth game. Early on, it didn’t look good as Miller was able to get a number of open shots against him. But as the game went on, Bowen appeared to get into a defensive rhythm and had a number of key plays down the stretch. While it’s too early to say whether or not Bowen is back, this was a step in the right direction. Not a huge step, mind you, but a step nonetheless.
-------------------------------
Michael Finley
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3023.jpg
33 minutes, three points, five rebounds, two steals
1-for-9 from the field, 1-for-5 on three-pointers
It’s difficult to watch how ineffective Michael Finley is on the court and then try to justify the number of minutes he is playing. Offensively, his shot selection was very questionable. The most questionable one of all came with the Spurs up by two points in the second overtime. Instead of dribbling the clock out, Finley hoisted an unspeakably ill-advised three-pointer that left Pop tearing out hair from every angle of his cranial region. On the defensive end, Finley’s typical matador defense was on full display. When Finley takes smart shots, gives extra effort on defense and runs the court, he’s somewhat useful. When he plays like he did on Wednesday night, you have to wonder how he’s still in the NBA.
-------------------------------
Matt Bonner
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3748.jpg
six minutes, two rebounds
Matt Bonner started but didn’t play long enough to break a sweat. He played the first six minutes and never came back onto the court. I don’t think he did anything necessarily wrong, he just wasn’t a very good matchup against the T’Wolves. Everyone who he would potentially defend was either too fast or too strong for him.
-------------------------------
Roger Mason, Jr.
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3628.jpg
44 minutes, 26 points, four rebounds, two assists
9-for-16 from the field, 2-for-4 on three-pointers, 6-for-6 at the line
Lost in Parker’s huge game and Duncan’s gaudy stat line was the extraordinary play by Roger Mason, Jr. Building on what he showed in his first three games, Mason was a tad bit more aggressive and that turned into 26 important points. His outside stroke looks very good right now. He has a rapid release that is so fast that sometimes he doesn’t even have time to square all the way up to the basket. It also doesn’t seem to matter if the shots he gets are off of a stationary catch, off movement or off the dribble – he’s draining them all. Although he did most of his damage from the perimeter, he also demonstrated several crafty ball handling maneuvers that allowed him to attack the basket off the dribble. To cap off his night, Mason grabbed his first two offensive rebounds of the season to seal the victory at the end of the second overtime.
-------------------------------
Fabricio Oberto
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3988.jpg
31 minutes, two points, three assists, two rebounds
1-for-2 from the field
Fabricio Oberto had a lot of court action but not that much statistical production. While he did struggle rebounding the ball and defending in the post, he did do some of the dirty work the Spurs needed. He set more than a dozen solid picks during the game, with most of them helping free up Parker. Oberto also made a couple of very good passes. While the dirty work was definitely appreciated, Oberto needs to start helping out on the boards and find a way to score some points. Hopefully those aspects appear after he gets back into shape following his heart condition scare.
-------------------------------
Ime Udoka
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3501.jpg
21 minutes, eight points, two rebounds
4-for-5 from the field, 0-for-1 at the line
After an outing where Ime Udoka shot the ball too carelessly, he improved greatly in that area against Minnesota. Instead of forcing three-pointers, he showed off his in between game, which is actually quite good. Defensively, Udoka hustled but still didn’t put it all together yet as he got caught chasing instead of defending a few times. Rebounding-wise the Spurs could have used more help, but overall it was a solid game out of Udoka.
-------------------------------
Kurt Thomas
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3012.jpg
13 minutes, three rebounds
Hopefully Kurt Thomas has some sort of nagging injury because otherwise it’s difficult to explain why he looks so bad. His post defense, which is the bread and butter of his basketball existence, was extremely poor. A number of times he’d be left totally out of position and watching as his man blew right by him. He’s also not helping much in terms of team defensive play. Offensively he was invisible and his rebounding was sub par.
-------------------------------
George Hill
http://www.iupuijags.com/images/2007/12/12/player_hill.jpg
10 minutes, two points, three assist, three rebounds
0-for-2 from the field, 2-for-4 at the line
George Hill didn’t get much playing time in his second NBA game but he played decently well. He didn’t have the huge scoring outburst he had in his debut but Hill showed other areas where he can help. Offensively, he made a few things happen in the pick-and-roll sets and made a few quick, good passes. On the other end of the court was where he really stood out. His individual defense was good once again, although he still needs work in learning the defensive system. What’s exciting about him on the defensive end is that he almost turns into a bigman once the shot is in the air. He’s not afraid to box out bigger players and he’s a physical rebounder who will sky to grab boards. The sample size has been small but I like what I see so far out of the rookie point guard.
-------------------------------
Gregg Popovich
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/topstory/sports/popovich_gregg030428.jpg
I thought Pop did a pretty good job. I question why he played Finley so much, especially when if Finley wasn’t taking bad shots, he was ruining inbounds plays by making the wrong pass. And while the bigmen outside of Duncan are struggling, Pop isn’t helping matters by giving them each sporadic playing time. The minutes played by Duncan and Parker were again high, even before the overtime sessions, although with the Spurs needing the win it’s hard to blame Pop too much. Pop excelled at calling plays for the right player at the right time. He didn’t get too predictable and kept the T’Wolves guessing whether the ball was going to go to Parker, Duncan or Mason.
-------------------------------
Offense
The offense was again quite good. 129 points on 51.5% shooting from the field, 45.2% from beyond the arc and 82.1% at the free throw line are all good numbers. The Spurs also only had 12 turnovers and dished out 25 assists. Even though the offense wasn’t too varied (Parker, Duncan and Mason scored 111 of the 129 points), you can’t argue with the results. The next step is to incorporate the role players into the mix.
Defense
The defense was again pitiful, especially in terms of Spurs standards. The T’Wolves got almost any shot they wanted throughout the game. The Spurs also had a tough time grabbing defensive rebounds, which led to 25 second-chance points by Minnesota. When the Spurs tried to lock down to get a stop, they were rarely successful. Most of the problems on this end of the court can either be attributed to a lack of aggression or a lack of an interior presence. Over their first four games, the Spurs are averaging a shockingly low amount of steals (3.25) and blocks (1.75) per game. If they don’t step up their level of intensity on defense and find someone willing to patrol the paint, the Spurs are going to need superhuman offensive efforts each and every night.
Drive to Five
Next up for the Spurs are the Miami Heat on Friday night in the AT&T Center. To keep the mojo flowing in the right direction, a win would be much appreciated. Bowen will have his hands full with Dwyane Wade and it’ll be an opportunity to see how much gas Bowen has left in the tank. The game is going to be more difficult than expected because Miami has a lot of favorable matchups against San Antonio but hopefully the Spurs will carve out win number two.
Believe.