Grades - Spurs @ Hornets - Mar. 29

[timvp]

Tim Duncan B-
Played very well in the second quarter but was mediocre the rest of the game.

Manu Ginobili B
Showed some good signs in his first extended playing time since his injury but was obviously tired down the stretch.

Tony Parker B
Parker defended well but struggled to find his place in the offense with the return of the Big Three.

Michael Finley B-
Decent shot selection although missing wide open shots hurt the spacing of the offense.

Roger Mason, Jr. C+
Didn't' do much in limited minutes other than hit the boards.

Matt Bonner C+
Hit a key three-pointer but missed four others from beyond the arc with the Hornets sagging.

Ime Udoka C
New Orleans ignored him out on the perimeter and Udoka's bricks proved that strategy right.

Drew Gooden B-
Scored well but Gooden was in the way more often than he helped out.

Kurt Thomas D-
Thomas has played fantastic as of late but was simply horrible tonight in every facet.

George Hill B
Active defensively in his five minutes of playing time.

Pop C
The unveiling of his rotation created more questions than it answered.

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Please submit your own grades for this game. Click here (http://FreeOnlineSurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=oanw8gnh2jzzbu8566243) to grade the players for the Spurs @ Hornets game on March 29th. I will post the cumulative SpursTalk.com grades in two hours from the time of this post.

(Grading now closed. Results below.)

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SpursTalk's Average Grades

Tim Duncanhttp://spurstalk.com/up_arrow.gif B

Manu Ginobilihttp://spurstalk.com/down_arrow.gif B-

Tony Parkerhttp://spurstalk.com/up_arrow.gif B+

Michael Finleyhttp://spurstalk.com/down_arrow.gif C+

Roger Mason, Jr.http://spurstalk.com/down_arrow.gif C-

Matt Bonnerhttp://spurstalk.com/down_arrow.gif C-

Ime Udoka C

Drew Gooden B-

Kurt Thomashttp://spurstalk.com/up_arrow.gif D+

George Hillhttp://spurstalk.com/down_arrow.gif B-

Pophttp://spurstalk.com/down_arrow.gif D-

[Mugen]

you are being generous timvp. i admire your restraint

[Spurs Brazil]

I gave Pop a D

The lineup without the Big 3 to close the quarter was pathetic and I'm not even go to talk about Mason the PG

[lefty]

I gave Pop an F

Having Finley in instead of Maze during crunch time was dumb

Sure, Maze had a bad game, but in clutch situations, he's a different player

[TDMVPDPOY]

tim duncan was non existent on offense in the 2nd half dude

manu had no affect on the game in teh 2nd half also

tony parker kept us in the game

finley + bonner both should go lay an egg, both had alot of good wide open looks but didnt go in....

gooden is only good when he scores, but there stretches in that game he was clumsy and it looked like sean marks was outplaying our bigs

[tmtcsc]

Yeah, way too generous. Pop's rotations were piss poor. i also would have given Mason a D and Pop a D. That last shot attempt by Tim was awful. He threw that crap up and didn't believe it was going to go in.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Duncan - C+ If he's hurt don't fucking play him

Ginobili - B+ One of the only bright spots

Parker - B+ Could have shown more effort in the second half and less jump shots

Finley - B+ Saved us by actually scoring

Roger Mason Jr - F- Worst game I have ever seen him play in his newest stint at backup pg

Bonner - B- Could have hit more threes

Udoka - F- him and RMJ were total garbage, 2 points out of forty five total minutes

Gooden - B- Could have defended West better in the first half

Thomas - C+ Too quick for him

Hill - B needed more minutes

Pop - F+ No fucking reason whatsoever to keep using this RMJ backup pg bull shit when its obvious he's not going to make anything

[tp2021]

I gave Pop an F

Having Finley in instead of Maze during crunch time was dumb

Sure, Maze had a bad game, but in clutch situations, he's a different player

Even though Finley hit the shot he was designed to hit? Are you dense? If Pop puts Mason in and sucks, as the entire rest of the game indicated, you would be crucifying him for putting in a player that sucked all game long. Jesus Christ.

[MannyIsGod]

Pop BIG FUCKING F simply for his inability to actually just go with a rookie no matter how much promise he shows. I love Pop, but this is his biggest fault. He just can't bring himself to hand over the fucking reigns.

[alchemist]

Only one that matters was Pop. What's worse than an F?

[lefty]

Even though Finley hit the shot he was designed to hit? Are you dense? If Pop puts Mason in and sucks, as the entire rest of the game indicated, you would be crucifying him for putting in a player that sucked all game long. Jesus Christ.

Haven't you learned anything about clutch shooters?

They can go 0/11, but hit the important shot

[Pauleta14]

Tony Parker B
Parker defended well but struggled to find his place in the offense with the return of the Big Three.

Who's fault is it?
I mean POP didn't let him run the team!!!
He took him off too early in the 3rd, allowing NO to finish strong with no answer from us...
Then he put him (maybe) too early in the 4th and didn't let him do what he wants, Tony just couldn't find a good ryhtm and I think its links to Pop calls...

But he was the best spur tonite! (better than Manu's fg% lol)

[tp2021]

Haven't you learned anything about clutch shooters?

They can go 0/11, but hit the important shot

You mean like Finley did?

[loveforthegame]

Duncan, Parker, Ginobli, Finley, Gooden, and Hill were the only ones to give us something of worth.

Got nothing from Mason, Udoka, Bonner, and Thomas. Absolute garbage tonight.

DNP for Bowen? Makes no sense. Limited minutes? Fine but he shouldn't be glued to the bench.

Pop needs to end the experiement of Mason as the backup pg.

[lefty]

You mean like Finley did?

Finley?

Clutch? :D

[ducks]

when tp was on the bench hornets went on the 9-0 run


WHO"S TEAM IS THIS AGAIN?

[lefty]

when tp was on the bench hornets went on the 9-0 run


WHO"S TEAM IS THIS AGAIN?

Duncan

Duh...

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Pop BIG FUCKING F simply for his inability to actually just go with a rookie no matter how much promise he shows. I love Pop, but this is his biggest fault. He just can't bring himself to hand over the fucking reigns.

Amen to that.
Zero points in 22 minutes for RMJ. And we turned it over literally every other possession in the second quarter with the second unit...and the second unit had absolutely no rhythm for the entire game.

Am I exaggerating here, anyone?

[loveforthegame]

Finley was 5-11 which isn't bad. 2-5 from 3 point land which is acceptable too. I'm not counting that last shot as time was about to run out because Parker should have shot that. He was already shooting but changed his mind at the last minute. I don't know if Finley even had his feet set cause he was just trying to get the shot off before the buzzer.

Anyway, my point is that he shot a respectable enough % and hit a clutch 3 with like 18 seconds left.

Did he miss some open jumpers earlier? Absolutely. But so did a lot of other players too.

[Josepatches_]

I would change TD's grades.

He's not TD right now.
He's hurt but he's on the court because we need him anyway.Obviously he's better than all the other big men of the team even with only one leg.

We are giving the grades depending how good the player is.But we have to think TD isn't as good right now.So we must be give him better grades because he's playing enough good for his current condition

We should be been grateful by the effort that TD is doing for the team

[ElNono]

tim duncan was non existent on offense in the 2nd half dude

manu had no affect on the game in teh 2nd half also

tony parker kept us in the game

finley + bonner both should go lay an egg, both had alot of good wide open looks but didnt go in....

gooden is only good when he scores, but there stretches in that game he was clumsy and it looked like sean marks was outplaying our bigs

I agree that TD was piss poor in the 2nd half. I disagree that Manu was irrelevant in the 2nd half though. He was keeping us afloat by drawing fouls and going to the line. That is until Pop decided to close down the quarter with that horrible lineup.
And Tony was hitting early and late, but he barely drove to the basket pretty much the entire second half. I was surprised since there was no Chandler there to block his shot.

[Pauleta14]

Your are definitely hard with TP, he sould be way above the others...
He was +6 tnite along with a good stats line (+50% as usual and 7 dimes...)

[Josepatches_]

when tp was on the bench hornets went on the 9-0 run


WHO"S TEAM IS THIS AGAIN?


Since TD is hurt this team isn't a tittle contender.
So who''s team is this again?

[tp2021]

Finley?

Clutch? :D

Don't be cute. Answer the question. What about the shot Fin made to bring the Spurs within 1 with a leaping Julian Wright coming at him wasn't clutch? If Mase was in there, then yes, he could have also hit that clutch 3...but it would be no different than what we got from Fin, BECAUSE HE DID HIT IT. Aside from that, Mason was terrible. He missed every shot he took, while Fin had 9 points before his clutch shot. Posters bash Pop for playing players that are obviously sucking that day, but when he benches the guy with the O-fer, and the guy he plays hits a clutch 3, posters like you still find a way to complain. Make sense yet?

[TDMVPDPOY]

Tony Parker B
Parker defended well but struggled to find his place in the offense with the return of the Big Three.

Who's fault is it?
I mean POP didn't let him run the team!!!
He took him off too early in the 3rd, allowing NO to finish strong with no answer from us...
Then he put him (maybe) too early in the 4th and didn't let him do what he wants, Tony just couldn't find a good ryhtm and I think its links to Pop calls...

But he was the best spur tonite! (better than Manu's fg% lol)

nah you saw in the last quarter, most of his drives kept on gettin blocked...

[Ice009]

Don't be cute. Answer the question. What about the shot Fin made to bring the Spurs within 1 with a leaping Julian Wright coming at him wasn't clutch? If Mase was in there, then yes, he could have also hit that clutch 3...but it would be no different than what we got from Fin, BECAUSE HE DID HIT IT. Aside from that, Mason was terrible. He missed every shot he took, while Fin had 9 points before his clutch shot. Posters bash Pop for playing players that are obviously sucking that day, but when he benches the guy with the O-fer, and the guy he plays hits a clutch 3, posters like you still find a way to complain. Make sense yet?

Fin did good on that shot. Mason Jr has absolutely vanished just before the All Star break. I'd love to get his shooting percentage since just before the All Star break. He's had about 2 or 3 shooting games that I can remember since then.

[Pauleta14]

nah you saw in the last quarter, most of his drives kept on gettin blocked...

That what is called find his rythm!!!
Even if he misses one, he knows he'll try again WHEN HE WANTS!!!
Instead of ........waiting for his turn!
Look at the other FG%...
I think looking at TP's one, he could have been trusted a little bit more...

I love Manu (I trully do despite TP is my fav), but he is no Manu yet and took dumb shots and had the ball/decision too much in critical time...
+ We already knew TD wasn't in a great day, why making calls fr him late instead of Tony???
I don't get it Pop, Tony is the man theses days and you don't use him wisely...

[SouthTexasRancher]

We just SUCK PERIOD!!!

Congrats Cavs & LeBron for wining the 2009 NBA Championship and MVP.

[Ice009]

That what is called find his rythm!!!
Even if he misses one, he knows he'll try again WHEN HE WANTS!!!
Instead of ........waiting for his turn!
Look at the other FG%...
I think looking at TP's one, he could have been trusted a little bit more...

I love Manu (I trully do despite TP is my fav), but he is no Manu yet and took dumb shots and had the ball/decision too much in critical time...
+ We already knew TD wasn't in a great day, why making calls fr him late instead of Tony???
I don't get it Pop, Tony is the man theses days and you don't use him wisely...

I agree with one thing that TP should have had Tim's shots in crunch time cause Tim has been awful offensively when calling 4 down at the end of games these days.

Manu probably got the ball more cause Pop probably panicked when Tony got blocked a few times and lost the ball out of bounds. I think Pop thought Manu could draw some fouls instead of getting shit blocked out of him like TP did.

[Pentagruel]

I don't get it Pop, Tony is the man theses days and you don't use him wisely... I completely agree with that in this game. Tony is the number one offensive option. Use him.

[tp2021]

If any of you armchair coaches had Pop's job, you would probably try to start 7 players, and ask RC to trade JV and Ime for Lebron, since you know they have connections with the Spurs. Not good enough, RC? Here's a 20 out of my pocket for cash considerations.

stfu

[SenorSpur]

I agree with one thing that TP should have had Tim's shots in crunch time cause Tim has been awful offensively when calling 4 down at the end of games these days.
Manu probably got the ball more cause Pop probably panicked when Tony got blocked a few times and lost the ball out of bounds. I think Pop thought Manu could draw some fouls instead of getting shit blocked out of him like TP did.

And what was up with that terrible, off-balance, shot he put up there. TD was so out of position on that shot, it was damn near impossbile for him to have a good look at it.

And what is up with having the man from down under, reject your shot out to the foul line. I know he's got tendenosis and his lift (what little he has) has been affected, but Tim should be eating up Marks on one leg.

[ducks]

spurs were missing threes should have drove more with tp

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Hasn't anyone accepted the fact that we are a three point chunking team this season? My God, it's fucking April almost and most of you are in denial about how our offense has been generating points.

We depend on threes now. Accept it. When they don't fall, we fall, end of story.

[ElNono]

spurs were missing threes should have drove more with tp

Let me preface this by saying Tony has been phenomenal all season long and he has carried us throughout the season. That said, he NEEDS to keep on driving even when he gets blocked once or twice early in the game. Even if just to draw people. Armstrong and West got him a couple of times early in the first half and from then on it was jumper after jumper.
Again, we need his and Manu's penetration to be successfull out there.

[Pauleta14]

Let me preface this by saying Tony has been phenomenal all season long and he has carried us throughout the season. That said, he NEEDS to keep on driving even when he gets blocked once or twice early in the game. Even if just to draw people. Armstrong and West got him a couple of times early in the first half and from then on it was jumper after jumper.
Again, we need his and Manu's penetration to be successfull out there.

TP realised early in the gme that the ref didn't gave him any respect and that he wouldn't get easy whistles...
So he started shooting and it when well for him...
There has to be movement around tony when he tries to penetrated, but most of the time his teamates just stand and wait for him to create something out of nothing...
It works sometimes (often these days) but it impossible to do it all the time!!
when they all move he can pick and roll more easily f he can't go to the rim...

[TDMVPDPOY]

when parker kept on gettin his layups blocked, he settled for jumpshots which continued to reign into the hoop which bailed his ass

ginoboli on the other hand was shithouse tonight...

i dont understand why GHILL got limited minutes tonite on that flopping girl cp3....

[timvp]

manu had no affect on the game in teh 2nd half alsoI didn't have too much of a problem with what he did offensively other than when he threw it to Armstrong when the Spurs had a 4 on 5 advantage. He played fatigued defense and that's why he finished with a team-worst plus/minus.


Pop BIG FUCKING F simply for his inability to actually just go with a rookie no matter how much promise he shows. I love Pop, but this is his biggest fault. He just can't bring himself to hand over the fucking reigns.He went with Beno in 2005. Pop just sucks at coaching backup point guards. Now it's like he knows he sucks at it and is second guessing his own shortcoming. It's like he's shellshocked and has no idea where to turn next.


Hasn't anyone accepted the fact that we are a three point chunking team this season? My God, it's fucking April almost and most of you are in denial about how our offense has been generating points.

We depend on threes now. Accept it. When they don't fall, we fall, end of story.This is true. However, with Byron Scott's gameplan to pack the paint, it's even more true. And I don't blame the Spurs for shooting as many as they did. Scott is the only coach in the league that always tries to have the Spurs beat him via three-point shooting. When they can' hit a shot from deep, his strategy pays off.

But as was the case last year in the playoffs, it's a matter of taking and making threes against his sagging defense. You can't try to force the action inside when that's where all the defenders are located.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

This is true. However, with Byron Scott's gameplan to pack the paint, it's even more true. And I don't blame the Spurs for shooting as many as they did. Scott is the only coach in the league that always tries to have the Spurs beat him via three-point shooting. When they can' hit a shot from deep, his strategy pays off.

But as was the case last year in the playoffs, it's a matter of taking and making threes against his sagging defense. You can't try to force the action inside when that's where all the defenders are located.

It will be even more true when we play the Lakers in the WCF and Phil Jackson uses the same defense he's used against us since 2004.

[timvp]

Mason Jr has absolutely vanished just before the All Star break. I'd love to get his shooting percentage since just before the All Star break. He's had about 2 or 3 shooting games that I can remember since then.Huh? Mason's shooting percentage and scoring are both up since the All-Star break. He went through a cold spell for about a month before the break but his scoring and shooting have returned.

His problems right now are almost all related to him trying to play backup point guard.

[timvp]

It will be even more true when we play the Lakers in the WCF and Phil Jackson uses the same defense he's used against us since 2004.Jackson uses a different defense. He pressures the ball far out on the perimeter to force the Spurs to drive and kick to the players he has selected as the most likely to choke. Scott just packs the lane, doesn't have his team pressure and allows your to basically pick who gets the shot.

That's why Manu on one leg last year led the Spurs in scoring. He got more clean looks from three-point land in that series as he's gotten in the rest of his playoff life.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Jackson uses a different defense. He pressures the ball far out on the perimeter to force the Spurs to drive and kick to the players he has selected as the most likely to choke. Scott just packs the lane, doesn't have his team pressure and allows your to basically pick who gets the shot.

That's why Manu on one leg last year led the Spurs in scoring. He got more clean looks from three-point land in that series as he's gotten in the rest of his playoff life.

I did not mean Jackson uses the same defense as the Hornets, I mean Jackson uses the same defense as Jackson against us since 2004. He turns Tony into a jump shooter and lets the Spurs chunk threes.

[timvp]

SpursTalk's Average Grades

Tim Duncanhttp://spurstalk.com/up_arrow.gif B

Manu Ginobilihttp://spurstalk.com/down_arrow.gif B-

Tony Parkerhttp://spurstalk.com/up_arrow.gif B+

Michael Finleyhttp://spurstalk.com/down_arrow.gif C+

Roger Mason, Jr.http://spurstalk.com/down_arrow.gif C-

Matt Bonnerhttp://spurstalk.com/down_arrow.gif C-

Ime Udoka C

Drew Gooden B-

Kurt Thomashttp://spurstalk.com/up_arrow.gif D+

George Hillhttp://spurstalk.com/down_arrow.gif B-

Pophttp://spurstalk.com/down_arrow.gif D-


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Wow, Spurs Nation not too thrilled with Pop's coaching.






Thanks for those who took the time :tu

[kamikazi_player]

Why didn't Pop but Roger Mason out there in the 4th quarter? that surprised me. Take out Matt Bonner and should of gotten Mason out there.

[Pauleta14]

:tu

I like the final av grades

[Yuixafun]

The team gets a C+ from me.