I'm very happy we won, but we should be blowing these teams out

[DuncanMVP]

Nazr needs to start


EDIT: Nazr not Nazir

[Kori Ellis]

Just so you know, his name is Nazr. No "i". He's not enough of a defender (right now) to start in the Spurs system.

[MaNuMaNiAc]

Don't get cocky! Be glad we won, and accept it. No need to expect a blow out, the Cavs aren't a bad team. I'd say we need to improve, just like most of the teams in the league, we just gotta improve a little less than the rest! hehehehe

[exstatic]

Every game won't be a blow out. These last two opponents were playoff teams, and Cleveland was a road game.

I actually am enjoying some close games for a change. I was getting too much reading done in the second halves of games. :lol

[ChumpDumper]

It didn't sound like Nazr's D on Z was all that effective, those who watched would know better.

[whottt]

Just so ya know...we lost in Cleveland last year, and they are much improved this year.

[timvp]

Nazr's D on Z wasn't too good. He didn't get out on his jumper enough and gave up down low if Z had too good of position.

One thing I notice the Spurs have to work with on Nazr is that after he leaves his feet once, he just stands there watching for the rest of the play. He gave up far too often for a bigman in the Spurs system. He has to stay on his toes and contest more shots even if he initially gets beat.

That'll come, though ... hopefully.

[exstatic]

Actually, most of the damage was done against Tim, early. :wow He had like 14 points on a fistful of 3 point plays, and Tim was sent to the bench. Tim got his late, and we won, which is the bottom line. You could see that Z was getting frustrated by being surgically cut up by Tim in the 4th. On one play, when Tim spun and hit a bank shot on the move, Z just looked over at the bench, like WTF?

[Solid D]

Nazr "does what he do" but it ain't championship caliber yet. He's got to drink 3 or 4 more pitchers of Spurs' Koolaide before he's a championship contributor.

[exstatic]

I agree. He'll either get it, or he'll see the bench a lot.

[Slo spurs fan]

Nazr needs to start


EDIT: Nazr not Nazir

Rasho 4-7 FG, 6 rebs, 2 ast, 3 bs, 0 to.
Nazr 2-6 FG, 2-4 ft, 6 rebs, 0 ast, 0 bs, 2 to.

Yes lets start Nazr! :rolleyes :rolleyes :rolleyes

[Tek_XX]

Man we are such spoiled brats. The Spurs won't be brilliant every night, they are human and 82 games is alot. Not to say that i don't want them to improve because they are in a slump but it comes with a long season.

When it comes to Nazr we need to take a wait and see attitude. This was the dudes first game with the Spurs and i'm not going to say he is or isn't better than Rasho.

[Mr. Body]

Ilgauskas can be a terror when he's got his O going. Really hard to stop.

With Duncan struggling, the Spurs were bound to fall behind. They fought back pretty well.

[PM5K]

Cleveland is a good team and it was a close game, what can you say?

Cleveland is tied for fourth in the East and would be seventh if they were in the West, also they are up there with the best teams in terms of home records, of course not counting the Spurs home record which is far above the rest.

Big Z has also been kicking ass lately (and deserves more credit then he's gotten because Lebron has gotten all of it)......

[Mr. Body]

There won't be as many blowouts for the rest of the year, I'd wager. A lot of those were a product of a Spurs team already familiar with its players beating teams that hadn't gelled yet.

[boutons]

"Cleveland is a good team"

They are a mediocre team, play an EC schedule padded with EC wins. They have a bad road record and have trouble closing out games, ie, they're soft. 4th in the EC is meaningless as indicator of quality.

Cavs played an average game, which should have not been enough to keep the lead for nearly all the game against the Title-pretenders, but the Spurs were extremely cold, and Tim a damn near no-show, for most of the first half. Had the Spurs played their average game, it should have been a comfortable win against a inferior team.

But, it was a great win for the Spurs, 4th qtr offense of 30 pts (not that the Cavs play any D worth mentioning).

The Spurs found a way not to lose the game, they "unbeat" themselves. It's a W.

Tony is a stud, and his emerging consistency and aggressiveness is becoming the backbone of the team, even more than Tim, who can have scary streches of lackadaisical play.

Tony no showed in the 4th vs MEM, but finished well vs Cavs

4th Period
(7:07) [SAN] Udrih Substitution replaced by Parker
(6:33) [SAN 77-79] Duncan (14 PTS) Assist: Parker (9 AST)
(4:59) [SAN] Parker Jump Shot: Missed
(3:38) [SAN] Parker Layup Shot: Missed Block: Ilgauskas (3 BLK)
(1:29) [SAN 91-85] Parker Driving Layup: Made (19 PTS)
(0:00) [SAN 94-92] Duncan Jump Shot: Made (20 PTS) Assist: Parker (10 AST)
(0:00) End Period

Tonys' first? of many career triple-doubles is imminent. His recent rebounding numbers have been very impressive, and there's no better indicator of desire and husttle, esp for a short backcourt guy (Kidd and Francis set the standard for rebounding guards).

Tony is really learning, and mastering, so much more of the game, and obviously enjoying every bit of it. I think he's physically tougher than Manu. This year he's added solid defense and rebounding that not many top PGs (eg, Nash) bother with.

Tony is is becoming a complete player.

[cqsallie]

Tony is becoming an icon! Nevermind "complete player." He's proving all those nay-sayers wrong. Why he wasn't voted an All-Star continues to baffle me. Why he has become the crowd-pleaser he has in the past two months? Can we attribute this to Eva?
There is an old French phrase: "Chercez la femme."

[Sec24Row7]

We would have won by 10 had duncan not missed his first few wide open shots and gotten us in a rythm early on. He had the shots, it was just one of those nights and he wasn't making them.

He made the one that counted though.

[smeagol]

Close wins build character.

[tlongII]

Any time you can beat LeBron's team at their place you should be happy about it. That will not happen very often in the future.

[orhe]

hey guys we really shouldn't downplay the cavs

did you even watch Z? those were great moves that he was pulling off... any defender would have a hard time guarding him. (HE'S 7"3)

and btw... lebron james is the real deal... just look at the way he carried his team in the 4th... he attacked relentlessly...

their "role" players had a pretty good game too.

on offense our guys weren't having the worst of outings (you have to attribute that to the cavs D)
we just had a forgettable first half =)

etc etc... i just want to negate this we should blow them out... the cavs are a mediocre team shit... judge the game not the team!

what doesn't kill you makes you stronger

besides it's good to win some close ones...

[tursiops93]

Let us not forget that we have the bullseye on our backs. Every team will play their hardest against the Spurs because we have the best record in the NBA and most pick us to win it all. The Spurs can't play their best every night, but you can bet our opponents will.

[Jdspur20]

there's nothing wrong with close W's on the road, the point of road games is to get out with a win no matter how you win it.