Still need to get Stops

[ulosturedge]

Always good to get a win, but it seems like every damn team we play always finds a way to hang around. I have no doubt this team is very capable of putting up points night in and night out, but if they can't stop anyone then every single game is going to be a grind regardless.

[xellos88330]

The Spurs are pretty deep this year. I am pretty sure they can handle it.

[AussieFanKurt]

Yeah i was thinking this throughout the game. Timmy didnt play especially good defense quite often, Thompson seemed to not have a lot of trouble getting by

[blkroadrunners]

Yup.

[HarlemHeat37]

Duncan has played 2 poor defensive games in a row, and they've been our worst defensive games in over a month..they were the only 2 poor defensive games Tim's had since he returned from injury..he has to hold up for our D to have any chance, since our perimeter defenders are pretty poor..

Also, when this team gets a 12-14 point lead, everything starts going to shit..missed chip-shots, bad turnovers, bad decisions, then the other team comes back..the quality of the team hasn't mattered, they've all been doing it against us..

The transition D was very poor tonight, and it came mostly off missed chip-shots and bad turnovers, as usual..

[murpjf88]

I agree, their defense just isn't their. They should of put the kings away. The spurs have a long way to go. I don't really care about the offensive numbers put up by RJ. I beat up on the kings in the first meeting. He wasn't brought in here to prey on the weak and get scorched against the elite. I am disappointed to say the least. The only thing I take out of this game was a win.

[murpjf88]

Teams just drive to the basket at will. Nobody can stop them.

[z0sa]

Our transition D was disgustingly bad. Even when the Spurs were getting back, the Kings were just passing the rock around like our guys were grade schoolers. I even saw a 4 on 1 at one point.

They also got multiple wide open shots out of the half-court set.

The offense flowed, but our defense was below average and that's putting it nicely.

[spurspokesman]

Yup.
I agree also. I'm always happen win they win and won't take nothing from them but yet I stick to my opinion. Ill hold my praise till they beat a elite team. All our wins our against average teams at best or celler dwellers

[NRHector]

One thing for sure they will never lose 4 in a row it seems 3 is the magic #

[alchemist]

Not a good game defensively, the Kings had no buisness being in this game. But...a win is a win and you have to keep collecting those while you work the kinks out. :toast

[HarlemHeat37]

Our defense was actually playing great for about a month..the team made a huge jump in the rankings and controlled the paint very well..the last 2-3 games have looked horrible defensively, so hopefully that changes..

[Baseline]

Que es un "stop"?

Ese palabra no existe en el vocabulario del 2009-2010 Spurs.

[alchemist]

Our defense was actually playing great for about a month..the team made a huge jump in the rankings and controlled the paint very well..the last 2-3 games have looked horrible defensively, so hopefully that changes..
The Nuggets hit some spectacular shots. In the Jazz game they played Spurs D in spurts, tonight it was just awful. They probably thought the Kings were going to fold.

[HarlemHeat37]

The Nuggets hit some spectacular shots. In the Jazz game they played Spurs D in spurts, tonight it was just awful. They probably thought the Kings were going to fold.

the Denver game wasn't so bad, because it was mostly Carmelo dominating, which happens when you're facing the best scorer in the NBA..

the last 2 games have been very poor efforts defensively..we'll see how it looks against Charlotte..Bobcats aren't a good enough offensive team to use as an excuse, and they don't have many athletes..

[TD 21]

Both Jefferson and the team needed one of these. The Kings never seize to disappoint. Excellent shooting/scoring night and everyone was able to get their offense going. Obviously, you'd have liked to see the Spurs crush a team like this, particularly with them being at home and the Kings being on the second night of a back-to-back, but wins are more important than aesthetics right now. They'll come a time, not too distantly, when that will change, but right now it's simply about getting as far away from .500 as possible and this upcoming stretch should allow for that.

[hommeaetage]

Que es un "stop"?

Ese palabra no existe en el vocabulario del 2009-2010 Spurs.:

LMAO
On a serious note I would like to see the Spurs play hard every night with the same intensity as the Rockets

[raspsa]

A couple more games like this and maybe all the "RJ can't play with TP" comments will die down.. really, Parker getting RJ involved early on was big for the Spurs' effort. Also nice to see the guys take better care of the basketball. I would have liked to see Theo get some PT though.. Kings were doing a great job of penetrating and scoring layups.

[ElNono]

We keep on regressing on defense... Especially inside the paint...
We used to be doing a good job... I don't know what happened...

[TD 21]

We keep on regressing on defense... Especially inside the paint...
We used to be doing a good job... I don't know what happened...

Despite the vastly improved shot blocking by the team, there just isn't a lot of rim protection. With Ratliff not playing, Duncan is essentially (as always) alone in this regard; the rest of the front line is either deficient in length, athleticism or both. As well as Duncan's playing, he no longer has the mobility to cover as much ground as he once did on a night-in-night-out basis. You see it especially against teams like the Kings, where Duncan (rightly) takes it easy.

Luckily for the Spurs, even though he's a part-time player at this point in his career, when (presumably) Ratliff becomes a rotation fixture down the stretch and into the playoffs, this team will instantly become a lot more difficult to score at the rim against. Also, Duncan's minutes will go up then, as well as McDyess. So those two playing more in tandem with Ratliff off the bench means this team will be a lot better in the paint later in the season. And when there's shot blocking and rim protection on the back line, that allows the perimeter defenders to be that much more aggressive.

[Josepatches_]

Duncan has played 2 poor defensive games in a row, and they've been our worst defensive games in over a month..they were the only 2 poor defensive games Tim's had since he returned from injury..he has to hold up for our D to have any chance, since our perimeter defenders are pretty poor..

.


IMO TD is doing a great job because like you say the perimeters defenders suck.At his prime he always had more help so if you add that he can't jump as before I can't complain for his work.

[thOOdee]

same thoughts watching the game. Especially defense after scoring. It seems like when the spurs make a highlight play it is always countered with a quick two from the other team.

[JustinJDW]

I agree. We still need to get much better on Defense. I mean, we let the Kings score 100+ points on us tonight. The freaking Kings. Imagine what actual opponents can do to us if we keep playing that type of Defense?

[FkLA]

+1

Nuggets, Jazz, and now this game it seems like our 10 point leads dissapear in a matter of minutes...the defense wasnt even playing that bad prior to this stretch either it was one of the few things that the Spurs were actually doing well.

[DJB]

Basically, we still suck balls.

[crc21209]

Sometimes I think the D gets lazy when we play teams like the Kings because well...they're the Kings.

[SenorSpur]

Personally, I'm uncomfortable with TD still having to carry most of the backline defensive load for this club. Along with playing too many minutes, he still has to carry way too much responsibility for this team.

As Pop has sought to limit his minutes, to no avail, there also should be more support from the other bigs to offload his responsibilities. I was hopeful Ian and Ratliff could help in that regard this season, but that's not been the case. 12 years into his career and TD is being overused and doesn't have the frontline help he needs.

[spurspokesman]

Personally, I'm uncomfortable with TD still having to carry most of the backline defensive load for this club. Along with playing too many minutes, he still has to carry way too much responsibility for this team.
Right on the head senor. And as long as they disreguard this well just be a good team at best. But people here will try to justify and make excuses about poor play. Sometimes its not poor play but poor play-ers.
As Pop has sought to limit his minutes, to no avail, there also should be more support from the other bigs to offload his responsibilities. I was hopeful Ian and Ratliff could help in that regard this season, but that's not been the case. 12 years into his career and TD is being overused and doesn't have the frontline help he needs.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Yup, stops are sadly missing. Compare the last two teams to the 2003-7 Dynasty, and the difference is those prime Spurs teams could shut opposition down for minutes at a time, where this team can hardly get a stop let alone string 3 or 4 together. The changes to the rules haven't helped, but the interior presence is partly missing too.

Unless we can elevate the D quite a bit, we ain't goin anywhere.

[Chieflion]

First of all, there is no excuse letting Beno Udrih score 15 points on 7-11 tries. That is unacceptable. The Kings were on a back to back and scored 106 points on 52.3% shooting, with 6 players in double figures, they were playing a 8 man rotation. They had 16 turnovers. I am ok with that, as a matter of fact, I am happy as long as our turnovers do not exceed theirs. But we didn't stop them.

I am disgusted at our inability to defend the paint. 62 points in the paint, most of them in transition. Dice and Duncan made some blocks here and there but I felt they played weak enough defense. There were long stretches of both Blair and Bonner playing together and made me shake my head when they were not fast enough to play transition defense. Those two literally let the Kings storm back when they were in the game together. 4 on 0 fast break attempts by the Kings killed us. Where was the transition defense? 24 fast break points for the Kings.

I felt that we are still dying by the 3 ball. The Spurs were hot and hit 8 of 9. If we had only hit our average percentage, the Spurs would have lost the game. The defense needs to step up next game against the Bobcats, you know, unlike the Kings, they are going to show up on defense, box out and play a physical brand of Larry Brown basketball.

[BillMc]

sometimes i think the d gets lazy when we play teams like the kings because well...they're the kings.

+1

[Phenomanul]

I believe part of the problem is that we don't have anyone on the team with an enforcer personality... and we can't expect Duncan to be that guy as well...

It's the guy who protects the rim at all costs... the guy who dishes out the hard fouls inside (not dirty). An intimidator... a Massenburg type. Ratliff causes guards to have to alter their shots inside, but he doesn't really intimidate the opposing teams' frontlines... he's too nice of a guy. Same goes for Duncan and McDyess. Bonner is developing that mean streak, but he's not built for the role either... (though it would be really cool if he was feared in that sense)...

Hopefully DeJuan can be that guy... unfortunately rookies can seldom fall in that role because they don't yet have the respect from the referees. Any rookie attempting to fill this role would foul out by the 1st half...

Note: He doesn't need to go around huffing and puffing his face like Kendrick Perkins either... the guy always looks like he's constipated or something...

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

First of all, there is no excuse letting Beno Udrih score 15 points on 7-11 tries. That is unacceptable. The Kings were on a back to back and scored 106 points on 52.3% shooting, with 6 players in double figures, they were playing a 8 man rotation. They had 16 turnovers. I am ok with that, as a matter of fact, I am happy as long as our turnovers do not exceed theirs. But we ddn't stop them.

I am disgusted at our inability to defend the paint. 62 points in the paint, most of them in transition. Dice and Duncan made some blocks here and there but I felt they played weak enough defense. There were long stretches of both Blair and Bonner playing together and made me shake my head when they were not fast enough to play transition defense. Those two literally let the Kings storm back when they were in the game together. 4 on 0 fast break attempts by the Kings killed us. Where was the transition defense? 24 fast break points for the Kings.

I felt that we are still dying by the 3 ball. The Spurs were hot and hit 8 of 9. If we had only hit our average percentage, the Spurs would have lost the game. The defense needs to step up next game against the Bobcats, you know, unlike the Kings, they are going to show up on defense, box out and play a physical brand of Larry Brown basketball.

Nice assessment. :tu


I believe part of the problem is that we don't have anyone on the team with an enforcer personality... and we can't expect Duncan to be that guy as well...

It's the guy who protects the rim at all costs... the guy who dishes out the hard fouls inside (not dirty). An intimidator... a Massenburg type. Ratliff causes guards to have to alter their shots inside, but he doesn't really intimidate the opposing teams' frontlines... he's too nice of a guy. Same goes for Duncan and McDyess. Bonner is developing that mean streak, but he's not built for the role either... (though it would be really cool if he was feared in that sense)...

Hopefully DeJuan can be that guy... unfortunately rookies can seldom fall in that role because they don't yet have the respect from the referees. Any rookie attempting to fill this role would foul out by the 1st half...

Note: He doesn't need to go around huffing and puffing his face like Kendrick Perkins either... the guy always looks like he's constipated or something...

Bring back Big Dog Carr! :lol

Kendrick does look like he's constipated, but I'd love to have him next to Duncan.

[Chieflion]

I believe part of the problem is that we don't have anyone on the team with an enforcer personality... and we can't expect Duncan to be that guy as well...

It's the guy who protects the rim at all costs... the guy who dishes out the hard fouls inside (not dirty). An intimidator... a Massenburg type. Ratliff causes guards to have to alter their shots inside, but he doesn't really intimidate the opposing teams' frontlines... he's too nice of a guy. Same goes for Duncan and McDyess. Bonner is developing that mean streak, but he's not built for the role either... (though it would be really cool if he was feared in that sense)...

Hopefully DeJuan can be that guy... unfortunately rookies can seldom fall in that role because they don't yet have the respect from the referees. Any rookie attempting to fill this role would foul out by the 1st half...

Note: He doesn't need to go around huffing and puffing his face like Kendrick Perkins either... the guy always looks like he's constipated or something...
What? That is how he always looks. He is definitely not huffing and puffing. It is either Kendrick Perkins or Marc Gasol, maybe Zaza Pachulia, those three look scary and act the part. Physical and never afraid to draw contact. Then again, his normal look already looks like he is constipated, hope our Spurs players clear their bowels before a game.

[SpurNation]

Sometimes I think the D gets lazy when we play teams like the Kings because well...they're the Kings.

Thinking the same thing. If this was an experienced, elite team I think Pop would have tried to apply a different defensive scheme. Instead, he let the Spurs run and gun counting on the youth of the SAC team to make their own mistakes.

Which they did.

[EricB]

Alot of the kings points were on jumpers. Plus you guys seek to overlook that the kings aren't last years kings. Casspi Evans Thompson are damn good players. Udrih is also a good scorer no one ever denied that. The defense in the three game series against the big teams was mostly good so I think the peeps are overreacting a bit here.

[Dex]

Yes, the defense still has a ways to go, but there have been signs of improvement.

Last night after giving up 22 fast break points in the first half (which I'm sure earned them a hazing by Pop), Spurs gave up only 2 for the rest of the game.

At least they stopped something.