mazerrackham
02-28-2010, 04:01 PM
At the beginning of the game, the young bigs of the Suns were active on defense, and were blocking everyone from Tim Duncan to Tony Parker. This just reinforced my desire for the Spurs to have something like the twin towers again, instead of the small ball that constantly gets thrown out there.
I was happy that I didn't see any more of Keith Bogans after Grant Hill made scoring on our "defensive stopper" look easy. When you make a 38 year old's eyes light up, you're not a good defender.
3 point shooting has been a concern since Bonner has been injured and Mason no longer gets consistent minutes. I don't see a solution to this problem, but it's worth noting that it hurts the Spurs spacing on offense.
Despite indications that there would be no more Jefferson at PF, Pop trotted out a line up of Blair, Jefferson, Ginobili +two guards for extended minutes in this game. I will say that this cringe-inducing line up is suited more to a team like the Suns, who have only one substantial post presence. They did good work today, outscoring the Suns while they were on the floor, but this only means that Pop will likely continue to throw out this line up against legitimate frontcourts, where they will either get dominated in the post, or out-rebounded and killed in second chance points.
While the defense showed up at certain points in this game, I can't help but frown at the fact that late in the game, all Nash had to do was call for a screen from Stoudemire and you might as well put two points on the board before the play even started. The pick and roll defense was atrocious. We can only wonder what would have happened if Richardson wasn't a choker....
Offensive execution down the stretch was actually very good. Duncan dominated on every possession, shaking off being blocked three times in the first half (at least two times). Ginobili and Jefferson attacked the rim and got to the line a lot. Dice was hitting his sweet spot jumpers. The only person who disappointed was George Hill, who had a couple silly turnovers and didn't make up for it with his defense, which I thought was average. Well, to be fair, Ginobili had a couple of stupid passes in the second half as well, but he made up for one with that gorgeous steal which took away the fast break he caused.
I'm happy that the Spurs won, but there were still many disconcerting things about this game. If the Spurs can't get their defensive act together, they will either not make the playoffs, or get bounced early.
I was happy that I didn't see any more of Keith Bogans after Grant Hill made scoring on our "defensive stopper" look easy. When you make a 38 year old's eyes light up, you're not a good defender.
3 point shooting has been a concern since Bonner has been injured and Mason no longer gets consistent minutes. I don't see a solution to this problem, but it's worth noting that it hurts the Spurs spacing on offense.
Despite indications that there would be no more Jefferson at PF, Pop trotted out a line up of Blair, Jefferson, Ginobili +two guards for extended minutes in this game. I will say that this cringe-inducing line up is suited more to a team like the Suns, who have only one substantial post presence. They did good work today, outscoring the Suns while they were on the floor, but this only means that Pop will likely continue to throw out this line up against legitimate frontcourts, where they will either get dominated in the post, or out-rebounded and killed in second chance points.
While the defense showed up at certain points in this game, I can't help but frown at the fact that late in the game, all Nash had to do was call for a screen from Stoudemire and you might as well put two points on the board before the play even started. The pick and roll defense was atrocious. We can only wonder what would have happened if Richardson wasn't a choker....
Offensive execution down the stretch was actually very good. Duncan dominated on every possession, shaking off being blocked three times in the first half (at least two times). Ginobili and Jefferson attacked the rim and got to the line a lot. Dice was hitting his sweet spot jumpers. The only person who disappointed was George Hill, who had a couple silly turnovers and didn't make up for it with his defense, which I thought was average. Well, to be fair, Ginobili had a couple of stupid passes in the second half as well, but he made up for one with that gorgeous steal which took away the fast break he caused.
I'm happy that the Spurs won, but there were still many disconcerting things about this game. If the Spurs can't get their defensive act together, they will either not make the playoffs, or get bounced early.