Thoughts on last night's game vs Clippers

[TJastal]

Hey there fellow spurs fans! Just thought I'd give some analysis on the latest game. I know how much I'm loved around here. :p:

Oi lets get started. From what I saw in this game we got a lot to look forward to. Finally a game where everyone took care of the ball and the results speak for themselves. Only 7 turnovers.

Tim Duncan: Great game from Tim and I'm sure he appreciates not having to score 25 points to get an easy win. An anchor defensively, altering and blocking many shots. Love seeing that big winning smile on his face over on the sideline and giving the young guys encouragement. Grade: A

Tony Parker: If he can play like he did last night then I have no problem with him looking for his offense 75% of the time. I thought he played under control, limiting turnovers for a change and picked his spots to drive to the basket where he looked like the old finals MVP Parker out there. Which is a positive sign. Grade: A

Richard Jefferson: Poor shooting night for RJ, but compensated by taking the ball hard to the basket and getting to the line in the 2nd half. Imagine what's gonna happen once his shots start falling and he plays aggressively.
Grade: B

Dejuan Blair: Great start to the game but exited early w/ foul trouble. I think the combination of his huge girth opening up huge passing lanes and long arms to gather in the passes makes it easy for teammates to find him cutting to the basket. If he's going to start (because McDyess likes to come off the bench, more on that later) he's going to have to be extra careful out there not to pick up fouls, which is going to be hard as a rookie. Also, if he's going to start that may make Matt Bonner more expendable as his outside game is going to have less benefits as far as opening up the paint for Blair. Grade: B

Keith Bogans: Can't really criticize his effort. Stroking the ball from long range at a good clip and mixing in a few drives to the hoop plus playing pretty tough nosed defense. I'm still holding my breath until he starts doing this on a consistent basis and especially against the top teams in the league.
Grade: A

Manu Ginobili: Solid outing for Manu, with a few hiccups (one bad pass). Shot was off most of the night but made up for it by helping others get easy buckets and being very active defensively. Grade: B

Theo Ratliff: Good game for Theo. One gets the feeling this guy has been chomping at the bit to get some PT. Well, with Bonner out for a month this is going to be his chance. His post defense got worked a little bit by Kaman in the 2nd half, but in truth even McDyess had some problems as well (in the 1st half). Look forward to seeing more Theo, but I think he's going back to the bench once Bonner returns, but he may still see some regular PT if he keeps this type of effort up. Grade: B

Antonio McDyess: Outstanding game from Mciddity Dice. Apparently, he has let on that he's more comfortable coming off the bench. Well, if that's the case (and it sure looked it tonight) then Pop should keep him there, and Blair in the starting lineup. I'm sure the promotion to the starting lineup didn't hurt his ego any. So IMO Pop did the right thing. He looked fired up out there and he brings so much energy defensively its a joy to watch. He's coming around folks, he said himself he doesn't do a thing during the off season in order to keep his body more intact. Still needs to watch the bad passes/turnovers, and a rebound fumble off his fingers. I think these are fixable problems however once he settles in. Grade B.

Roger Mason, Jr: Loved what I saw out of Roger tonight. He's like the fire to Bogan's ice. These two guys are specialty players and when they are on the court together they compliment and augment each others' games as well. Roger's game is expanding to include sweeping drives to the basket and nifty passes to find teammates for easy baskets. Grade: A

George Hill: Had a quiet night offensively but still contributed defensively and assisting others for scores. It's a great thing when Hill can have an uneventful night and the spurs still win by double digits. Shows the team is defenitely moving in the right direction. Grade: B-

Overall: Good call by Pop to move McDyess to the 2nd unit. Antonio is not the type to complain or say anything but its clear from his statements after the game the move was to his liking. I think it was defenitely good for his ego however, even though he'd never admit it. :hat

[DxB]

Man I love this, you should do this for every game.... coz for those of us that cudnt watch it, its nice to get a breakdown and grade for each player!

I watch football (soccer) as well and goal.com does this "player ratings" thing for every game which I quite like as well

[TJastal]

Thanks for the nice words. I know what it's like to miss a spurs game and it's tough to get a "feel" for the game staring at a box score.

Glad you liked it, I'll get more out when I have time and also notice others are slacking on it. *Cough* Timvp... *cough*.

:lol

[Spur|n|Austin]

Nice commentary, thanks :toast

[mystargtr34]

Good stuff... im watching it now after work... might add a few things - not that anybody cares.

[silverblackfan]

Good analysis. I saw the game, but pretty much agree with the breakdown.

[Mr.Robinson]

Mason is good at finding the open player. Better than Hill and Parker. His shot looked good. Mason has improved more than Hill. His D and drive game is twice as good now. He has dribble much better now.

[quentin_compson]

This probably was the closest our guys have come to playing a good game for 48 minutes in a long time.

Very encouraging game by Theo; physically, he looked very good and his inside presence definitely troubled Kaman. Where he produced his offensive moves from, I have no idea - but it was great.

Bogans was very good as well. Over the last 5 games, he has been a ridiculous 9-14 from downtown. No one could expect that to continue, but he is at 40% now for the whole season, which is fine with me. And his ability to finish at the rim has definitely been a nice surprise (well, for me, at least).
His defensive work is very impressive. He certainly made life tough for Baron Davis.

[TimDunkem]

Theo makes something happen every time he touches the ball. Is Pop giving him the green light to be as aggressive as possible when he receives playing time?

[elbamba]

I am not sure how other players get an "A" and Theo gets a "B." Theo was hands down the best player not named Tim on the floor tonight, he was doing it all.

[hater]

relax ppl. It's the Clippers

[TimDunkem]

relax ppl. It's the Clippers
Yeah, we know. It kind of says so in the thread title.

[smeagol]

Man I love this, you should do this for every game.... coz for those of us that cudnt watch it, its nice to get a breakdown and grade for each player!


It's so unfortunate LJ is so busy these days . . . :depressed

[draft87]

it's tough to get a "feel" for the game staring at a box score.





I think your thread is valuable because what I quoted from is very true. Unfortunately, too many fans look at the box score and then start threads about someone putting up shitty #s...and Spurs fans should know better than to judge a performance like that!

Besides the obvious "big 3"(sequ, init, fabbs) I really don't keep track of the Knee-Jerks. They just seem to ALWAYS be writing crap at first opportunity. But I thought I read some stuff from you that was a bit ignorant(I mean it literally) and glass half-empty. I could be wrong and like I said I don't keep score but since I usually write sarcastic things to people who are really negative. If I did that to you I thought I should at least mention when I appreciate a productive discussion on a game.

Hopefully we'll see more thoughtful threads regardless of winning or losing. I mean that for everyone. Seems like the really negative creeps are being seen for what they are and the townhall meeting vibe is dying down. Maybe a more comfortable W-L will help fans take losses as they come and be able to let the team develop at it's own pace.

[NFGIII]

Thanks for the thoughts!

Though only the Clippers there were some good things that happened last night.

1) This was our second straight game with single digit turnovers. IF we had done this more often the record would be greatly improved since I contribute several of the losses directly to TOs.

2) TP beginning to return to his old self. Though I think he still ihasn't gotten a complete handle on what Pop really wants from him it was encouraging to see him more agressive.

3) Blair to the starting lineup is intriguing. He will need to understand how to play agianst starters now and limit the fouls but his energy is undeniable but damn his wide load really clears space in the paint.

my 2 pesos

:flag:

[Refocus]

Turnovers are improving, that's making me really happy. :) Nice Review of the game TJastal, i couldn't agree more with you.

[Dice]

Blair really shows a lot of up-side. I honestly thought after the first few games that other teams would be able to exploit his height and run over him on defense. Instead, he's doing a better and better job of using his (massive) body to control position on the block and his defense has greatly improved. His mass gives him a huge advantage under the goal in that body contact doesn't really effect him as much. It's like a full grown man playing against a bunch of skinny teenagers. Will he ever be an all-star? Only if he developes a jump shot but he certainly looks like he's going to be a much better than average player in this league.

I liked McDyess getting a longer strech of consecutive minutes off the bench. seemed to help him get his shot going. I don't think starting matters as much to him as long as he gets starter minutes. I really liked seeing him and Ratliff out there together.

[bigzak25]

thank you basketball gods...for taking bonner's playing time out of pop's hands...

Ratliff, Blair, McDyess...the floor is yours...:flag:

[spurs10]

I am not sure how other players get an "A" and Theo gets a "B." Theo was hands down the best player not named Tim on the floor tonight, he was doing it all.
I was at the game and thought Theo was impressive as well. However, I found the analysis was very insightful. I understand Hater telling everyone not to get too excited @ a Clippers win, but at times Kaman, Camby, and a few others looked pretty good and our guys stepped up and shut them down. Wednesday will be telling....wish I could see it.