Postgame video 1/31/10

[spursdotcom]

Coach Pop
http://www.nba.com/spurs/multimedia/100131_pop.html

Manu Ginobili
http://www.nba.com/spurs/multimedia/100131_ginobili.html

Antonio McDyess
http://www.nba.com/spurs/multimedia/100131_mcdyess.html

George Hill
http://www.nba.com/spurs/multimedia/100131_hill.html

[MaNu4Tres]

Pop is not happy.

[ffadicted]

Holy shit Pop is piiiissseeed off, I love seeing that. Grill the shit out of these underachieving guys and let's see if we can get this season back on track like I know we can

[alchemist]

:toast at least Pop still cares :lol

[SpursRulez4eVeR]

:toast at least Pop still cares :lol

nothing about you...but really...so what if pop cares....:wakeup

[SCdac]

Pop: "defensively, we were fine, we were fine"

What is this guy drinking? Defensive mistakes from our team aren't flukes anymore, it's becoming the norm. No reason Kenyon Martin should be getting wide open jumpers when the game is on the line because we can't defend a pick and roll/pick and pop. Teams are killing us on face-up jump shots. As a defensive coach, it feels like Pop is regressing, or expecting less. On almost every play where the opposition gets a second or third opportunity, our team generally looks lost on D.

[objective]

The defense was fine . . . giving up 103 points to a team missing the #1 scoring leader in the entire NBA.

[SCdac]

The defense was fine . . . giving up 103 points to a team missing the #1 scoring leader in the entire NBA.

With Melo, they could have scored 10+ over their PPG average for all we know, and it's not like we have anyone that can guard him. 103 points is only what, 4 points shy of their season average? It's not even about keeping teams under their average, it's about defending well in EVERY possession, especially in the 4th quarter. We can't do that right now. We can't close quarter defensively, hence that 12 point run the Nuggets went on. Martin going off for his highest scoring output in near a month, against our team, is not good. JR Smith shooting 50+ FG% for the first time in 6 or 7 games, isn't exactly great either.

edit: after rereading, your probably not sticking up for our D, NVMD...

[crc21209]

With Melo, they could have scored 10+ over their PPG average for all we know, and it's not like we have anyone that can guard him. 103 points is only what, 4 points shy of their season average? It's not even about keeping teams under their average, it's about defending well in EVERY possession, especially in the 4th quarter. We can't do that right now. We can't close quarter defensively, hence that 12 point run the Nuggets went on. Martin going off for his highest scoring output in near a month, against our team, is not good. JR Smith shooting 50+ FG% for the first time in 6 or 7 games, isn't exactly great either.

edit: after rereading, your probably not sticking up for our D, NVMD...

The defense was fine...score wise...it was 85-80 with 4:41 to go. Not many NBA teams are going to score 18 more points in that span...most of those last buckets were garbage time...especially thug Martin's 3...

[temujin]

I liked the aggressive questions of the reporters.

-How about every visiting team shooting >50%?
-How about playing Blair 10'?
-How about reassessing the Jefferson trade, rather than the Gasol trade?

Those were burning questions Pop addressed very calmly.

[SpursRulez4eVeR]

i honestly think a win just comes down to having more people play well at the same game.

[SPURSGOAT]

LOL! Hill kind of sounds like Duncan the way he replies to the questions. He is very composed and says the right short answers to the questions...:toast

Damn, Pop is hella pissed! haha! Hopefully he can kick this teams butt back in to shape before it's too late...:ihit

[timvp]

Weird approach by Pop. He rarely gets mad about missed shots -- his motto has always been that you can't control whether shots go down. I also disagree with Pop that the defense was fine.

When Pop talked about players not hitting open shots, I'm assuming he was talking about RMJ. He had about three or four open threes that could have swung momentum and bricked them all.

But really, the defense was bad and was the main reason they lost the game. The three-point misses hurt but the stagnated offense after Manu got tired in the second half is what doomed the Spurs on the offensive end.

[DPG21920]

I did not think the defense was that bad. The only player that was defended poorly was Billups. Everything else was decent and allowing Kmart and Afflalo shot is a good strategy.

[polandprzem]

I did not think the defense was that bad. The only player that was defended poorly was Billups. Everything else was decent and allowing Kmart and Afflalo shot is a good strategy.

hem, there was game just after the spurs game. You should chack how Boston play defense. When you want to play 1-1 D you need to stay with your guy close, you make p&r tight.
Spurs D right now looks like "maybe I will go here meybe there"

[timvp]

I went back and watched the end of the first half again and the two players who took the bad shots Pop talked about were Manu and Hill. Manu had three awkward drives and Hill took a circus floater.

[DPG21920]

Yes, Manu and Hill took a series of bad shots to end the half. A bunch of forced drives and ill-advised floater type shots. Just spiraled out of control.

[Blackjack]

That Hill shot was a bit of an afterthought, as he got up in the air looking to pass, IIRC (am I remembering the right shot?)

[ElNono]

I just saw the Pop video, and sure, he's pissed off. But he was a coach that when somebody took a bad shot, he would call a timeout, and sit his ass. So, how is it that we took not 1, not 2 but 4 bad shots to end the 2nd quarter, and he's just sitting there?
I also remember a timeout right after Billups hit one of his big threes and Denver takes a 3 point lead, Pop calls a timeout, and we come out completely flat. Denver goes and scores the next 6, and we're suddenly on a 9 point hole.
I just don't recognize this guy anymore. Either that, or players just don't respond to him like they used to.

[ElNono]

I went back and watched the end of the first half again and the two players who took the bad shots Pop talked about were Manu and Hill. Manu had three awkward drives and Hill took a circus floater.

Also:

- Duncan missed a contested shot going to the middle
- Manu airballed a three to end the quarter

[timvp]

Also:

- Duncan missed a contested shot going to the middle
- Manu airballed a three to end the quarter

That Duncan shot was a regular Duncan shot. And can't really fault Manu for missing a three-pointer at the buzzer. But I can see what Pop was angry with regarding those four shots by Manu and Hill.

[Libri]

Last season, the Spurs struggled to score and Holt made a huge investment in order to address those issues and help the team become more dynamic. Unfortunately, the investment is not paying dividends. They only managed to score 89 points. That's not acceptable.

[emanueldavidginobili]

lol @ manu and dice calling out roger

[Sean Cagney]

lol @ manu and dice calling out roger

LOL they sure did, and Pop somewhat too, mostly those last 4 shots of the first half he mentions but he mentions making the wide open shots, which is pretty much calling him out too. Manu and Dyess really did though, that was obvious :lol:lol

[Obstructed_View]

I also disagree with Pop that the defense was fine.


I wonder if he was worried that somebody was going to criticize George Hill which is why he cut it off. He can't be dicsussing defense after he went out of his way - AGAIN - to tell Hubie Brown how much George is his favorite player ever. :rolleyes

If he really believes that the defense was fine after letting the corpse of Kenyon Martin score 27 points, then he should be drug tested.

[Obstructed_View]

That Duncan shot was a regular Duncan shot. And can't really fault Manu for missing a three-pointer at the buzzer. But I can see what Pop was angry with regarding those four shots by Manu and Hill.

True, but their defense was far worse during that stretch.

[Cane]

In addition to missing open 3 point shots I think Pop was pissed at the sequence where RJ made a hasty change midshot in the air resulting in a miss; he made it a lot harder for himself.

[Sobe_Kucks]

Letting the opponent shoot 54% = "the defense was fine."

WTF Pop? Own up to it... Our defense was shit down the stretch when we gave up easy buckets and needed stops. Please explain how the defense is fine with 54% shooting. If it was once and a team got hot that would be one thing, but it seems every team "steps up" and has an incredible shooting percentage against the Spurs. I guess we're unlucky??? C'mon, lets call it what it is.

And can we stop shootin so many #$&* jumpshots. What about a layup every now and again? Maybe that's why our shooting percentage is so low. Because we're shooting so many longer range jump shots. Don't we have anyone on the roster that can get a lay up? I think we settle for more jumpshots than any other team in the league... And yes I realize a large part of the Spurs game is Tim posting up and kicking it out to the open shooter when the double team comes, but that isn't as high percentage a shot as a lay up is it? I liked seeing the pick and rolls we were running up top.

There was a clip with George Carl getting over on of his rooks for shooting a long range jumper in practice. He said something or other like, "They're easier when you're closer." I recall an interview with Pop a looong loong time ago when in a funny never satisfied fashion a reporter commented that the Spurs shot lights out J's; Pop replied forget about jump shots, I like lay-ups. Sure would like that mantra back.

[hsxvvd]

Hopefully Pop is pissed enough to pull the trigger on a trade and get Dick out.

[Bukefal]

We missed scoring. TP was, even though injured, still a big scoring boost for us and now that he is gone, they need to fill that gap, and they are struggling with that.

Well next game is wednesday against Sacramento. I hope they get some energy and sleep well :lol

[polandprzem]

I think that pop was so pissed at the lack of execution that he wanted to put away the defensive aspect at the begining and maybe he thinks that the team is doing progress on D.

?

[Obstructed_View]

We missed scoring. TP was, even though injured, still a big scoring boost for us and now that he is gone, they need to fill that gap, and they are struggling with that.

The Nuggets were missing the best scorer in the NBA and Kenyon Martin stepped up. Too bad the Spurs don't have anyone as good as Kenyon Martin to take over the scoring load.

[TDomination]

I didn't watch the whole game but I would be upset if we were settling for jumpers instead of driving, but all he said was that you gotta make some damn shots. Before it used to be, you gotta make some damn stops.

[SpurNation]

Weird approach by Pop. He rarely gets mad about missed shots -- his motto has always been that you can't control whether shots go down. I also disagree with Pop that the defense was fine.

When Pop talked about players not hitting open shots, I'm assuming he was talking about RMJ. He had about three or four open threes that could have swung momentum and bricked them all.

But really, the defense was bad and was the main reason they lost the game. The three-point misses hurt but the stagnated offense after Manu got tired in the second half is what doomed the Spurs on the offensive end.

Curious. Could he have also been talking about Jefferson? I haven't seen but only a couple of times in as many games Jefferson being agressive to the hole.

Was RJ's suposed ability to do that one of the reasons the Spurs wanted him...to help provide in the instances that "Ginobili gets tired" and to not have to take so many three point attempts?

[all_heart]

Our defense was iffy, Denver had a good shooting night in general. I think our biggest problem is that we struggle offensively when other teams turn up their D. That's why we need to knock down open shots when we get them.