Refs handed the game to Atlanta

[GO SPurs Go]

Its been over 2 years since I posted here because im too lazy to sign in but I'm posting now because the refs handed the hawks the game straight and simple. There was the HUGE non-call on Duncan (possibly 2 pts ft's) that led to 2 pts fastbreak for ATl. And there were also some less outrageous ones that I cant remember right now. All in all though, great game from both teams, manu was a fucking beast from 3pt land early on. and the reason we lost was b/c the open shots that manu got hill, bonner, and jefferson just refused to go in.

[Muser]

I guess the refs gave Atlanta all those offensive rebounds.

[anakha]

I guess the refs gave Atlanta all those offensive rebounds.

And caused all those Spurs turnovers.

[Chieflion]

Gator bigs own our ass. First, it was Joakim Noah, then Al Horford.

[The Truth #6]

Gator bigs own our ass. First, it was Joakim Noah, then Al Horford.

And Bonner.

[Obstructed_View]

Yeah too bad Antonio McDyess and Malik Hairston fouled out so quickly.

When you substitute with the intent of working to generate a shot attempt for your team that, in the best of conditions, goes in only 40 percent of the time, you're probably going to lose to the better teams in the league.

[dbestpro]

As soon as the first half was over I turned off the set and went to the grocery. I knew Pop would not make any adjustments and the athleticism from Atlanta was only going to be magnified by Pop and his penchant for allowing bad match ups. Pop's coaching has turned this season into a painful and slow death.

[Brazil]

TOs, stupid Blair technical, senile coaching (bogans 25 mn ?? wtf ?) and poor rebounds effort cost the game not the really really bad refs.

[Mixability]

Blame the refs for the season while you're at it. Sickening.....

[rascal]

In any close game you can pick out a play here or there and say that play did not go my teams way, we lost this game because of the refs.

[Flux451]

Bonner occassional three doesn't warrant PT over Dice, when Dice is hustlin and doing well. Offensive rebs because of Small ball and Bonner playin too much.

[easy7]

The refs were holding down the centerpiece so that everyone who had the ball would dribble past him for an easy layup or floater. Because if that is not so, that m-fer has no business guarding anyone but Atlanta's towel boy and the bench.

[mavsluva]

To blame is to "BE LAME". It's easy to point fingers when your team falls short of victory.

However, I am a firm believer that it takes lots of good breaks to win at a high level.

[easy7]

We have to blame someone, it is our God given right as Americans. It is never our fault when these mofos lose, but it is because of us that they win championships. :flag: :flag: :flag:

[Chomag]

Calls can go for you and they can go against you. IT happens both ways, its just part of the nature of the game. Spurs should not need the refs to bail them out to beat a team...

[urunobili]

Manu's unclutch turnover's cost us the game :wakeup

[dbestpro]

The reason we lost is because Spurs fans did not fly to Atlanta and buy all the tickets to the game and then yell and scream so loud as to influence the game. You know, the same reason the Spurs lose games at home.

[siraulo23]

:lmao:depressed

[JR3]

I would have played blair or mcdysse over bonner.. that would have fixed our rebound problem... I agree that the no call on duncan really hurt us... you might as well throw in the blair technical too... could have used that point.

[JR3]

oh! how bout duncan's ALMOST three point play? lot of what if's... one less turnover could have won the game. I am proud overall of our guys though. I think these close ones start turning into victories soon. Keep pounding guys.

[JR3]

Bonner occassional three doesn't warrant PT over Dice, when Dice is hustlin and doing well. Offensive rebs because of Small ball and Bonner playin too much.

This sums up a lot of the Ls this season.

[kaji157]

Not blaming anyone, but at the end of the game, Manu drove to the basket and scored, yet he was awarded 2 FT, why wasn't and 1? Couldn't get what the comentators said.

[Old School 44]

Stop the offensive rebounds! I don't know how many times this year, I've seen us need a critical stop only to get beaten to the glass. It's got to be disheartening to the players (particularly Tim), to play decent to great defense on the initial possession, only to see the opposing team get an easy put back. Tim does his best to protect the middle, but against guys like Crawford and Johnson, if they beat their perimeter defender, he's all alone in there to do two things: contest the shot and secure the board. Maybe in his earlier years, he could do both, but now, especially against athletic bigs, late in a game, it's just too much to ask.

It's like Pop decided to play the entire season with one center on the roster...and that center (Tim), likes to be listed as a power forward. Where's the other big?

McDyess (6'9", 5 years past his prime, probably shrinking due to age),
Matt Bonner (6'10", two inch vertical, standing reach of a player 6'11"),
Dejuan Blair (6'7", maybe with lifts) I actually think he is the best playing option, but quickly becoming the G. Hill of this year - losing Pop's trust.

The Spurs try so hard to conserve Tim by limiting his minutes, but if they just got him some help while he's on the court, I think Tim would be better served. They're wearing him out, in his limited minutes!

We need an athletic big (someone at least 6'11") to pair up with Tim, especially against athletic clubs. Play him with someone who can help him defensively in the middle. Do we have ANYBODY on the roster that fits the bill?

[mingus]

that was a bad call where TD was fouled. it's just ridiculous. the ref who was there to make the call or not should be fined for that.

but there were things that the Spurs and Pop could've done to win the game that they didn't. one of them is having allowing the Hawks to out rebound us by such a large margin. Jefferson had one mistake where he failed to box out his guy, and not having anyone who could rebound worth a damn outside of Duncan as another problem. McDyess should be playing. he's cold at the moment from his usual hotspots, but you've got to play him in order for him to break out of his slump.

[TJastal]

Refs aside (and I only counted 3 bad calls/no calls against the spurs which isn't that bad).. I don't know if you guys remember but I tracked a game last year and posted a thread about it (lakers vs mavs) where the final tally had LA up +17 on the favorable call/no calls throughout the game and I listed each one as well.. now if that were to happen I would agree with you.

[HarlemHeat37]

The Spurs lost for a variety of reasons and the refs weren't solely responsible for the loss, but they WERE really bad against the Spurs last night, it was pretty clear..A LOT of bad calls..

[TD 21]

Stop the offensive rebounds! I don't know how many times this year, I've seen us need a critical stop only to get beaten to the glass. It's got to be disheartening to the players (particularly Tim), to play decent to great defense on the initial possession, only to see the opposing team get an easy put back. Tim does his best to protect the middle, but against guys like Crawford and Johnson, if they beat their perimeter defender, he's all alone in there to do two things: contest the shot and secure the board. Maybe in his earlier years, he could do both, but now, especially against athletic bigs, late in a game, it's just too much to ask.

It's like Pop decided to play the entire season with one center on the roster...and that center (Tim), likes to be listed as a power forward. Where's the other big?

McDyess (6'9", 5 years past his prime, probably shrinking due to age),
Matt Bonner (6'10", two inch vertical, standing reach of a player 6'11"),
Dejuan Blair (6'7", maybe with lifts) I actually think he is the best playing option, but quickly becoming the G. Hill of this year - losing Pop's trust.

The Spurs try so hard to conserve Tim by limiting his minutes, but if they just got him some help while he's on the court, I think Tim would be better served. They're wearing him out, in his limited minutes!

We need an athletic big (someone at least 6'11") to pair up with Tim, especially against athletic clubs. Play him with someone who can help him defensively in the middle. Do we have ANYBODY on the roster that fits the bill?

Excellent post.

Pop's an idiot and outsmarted himself yet again. Why didn't McDyess play more? Because Pop knew it was going to be a tight game and that meant Duncan would have to play 35+ minutes, so he thought he'd be clever and play McDyess under 20 minutes in the hopes of keeping him fresh for tonight's game, when he'll presumably limit Duncan's minutes and extend McDyess'. Only he forgot one thing: you have to win the game at hand for this to make sense. Instead, the Spurs lost it and almost certainly lost tonight's game as well. Should have just pulled out all the stops to get the first one (like in the Heat-Magic back to back), but instead the Spurs will come home to face the two best teams in the league, needing to beat at least one in order to avoid being in a dogfight for their playoff lives.

Forget about these foolish listings, Bonner is no more than 6-9 and Blair no more than 6-5 1/2 - 6-6.

The only other player on the roster who fits that bill, in theory, is Mahinmi. 6-11, athletic, mobile and young, so of course that rules him out from being in the rotation. This is why Splitter needs to be brought in this summer, he's 6-11, experienced internationally, reasonably athletic and mobile for a player that size. He could potentially solve the Spurs longstanding need of having a center-sized big to pair with Duncan and someone who can guard mobile, face-up power forwards.

[DPG21920]

The officiating was very poor last night. Very poor.

[TJastal]

Excellent post.

Pop's an idiot and outsmarted himself yet again. Why didn't McDyess play more? Because Pop knew it was going to be a tight game and that meant Duncan would have to play 35+ minutes, so he thought he'd be clever and play McDyess under 20 minutes in the hopes of keeping him fresh for tonight's game, when he'll presumably limit Duncan's minutes and extend McDyess'. Only he forgot one thing: you have to win the game at hand for this to make sense. Instead, the Spurs lost it and almost certainly lost tonight's game as well. Should have just pulled out all the stops to get the first one (like in the Heat-Magic back to back), but instead the Spurs will come home to face the two best teams in the league, needing to beat at least one in order to avoid being in a dogfight for their playoff lives.

Forget about these foolish listings, Bonner is no more than 6-9 and Blair no more than 6-5 1/2 - 6-6.

The only other player on the roster who fits that bill, in theory, is Mahinmi. 6-11, athletic, mobile and young, so of course that rules him out from being in the rotation. This is why Splitter needs to be brought in this summer, he's 6-11, experienced internationally, reasonably athletic and mobile for a player that size. He could potentially solve the Spurs longstanding need of having a center-sized big to pair with Duncan and someone who can guard mobile, face-up power forwards.

This was defenitely a game where Ratliff's size, athleticism and shotblocking would have really come in handy. Ian would have helped too but is inexperienced. 12-15 minutes of Ratliff in the 2nd half and the spurs get the W. :sad

[TD 21]

This was defenitely a game where Ratliff's size, athleticism and shotblocking would have really come in handy. Ian would have helped too but is inexperienced. 12-15 minutes of Ratliff in the 2nd half and the spurs get the W. :sad

Pinching pennies was more important than retaining a useful player on a team that supposedly has championship aspirations. The geniuses who put this team together in an attempt to win a championship went thin in the two areas where you need the most depth: size and ball handling (positionally, center and point guard). There isn't a single natural center on the roster and only one natural point guard. As usual, virtually the entire roster's natural position is power forward or shooting guard.

[SenorSpur]

Stop the offensive rebounds! I don't know how many times this year, I've seen us need a critical stop only to get beaten to the glass. It's got to be disheartening to the players (particularly Tim), to play decent to great defense on the initial possession, only to see the opposing team get an easy put back. Tim does his best to protect the middle, but against guys like Crawford and Johnson, if they beat their perimeter defender, he's all alone in there to do two things: contest the shot and secure the board. Maybe in his earlier years, he could do both, but now, especially against athletic bigs, late in a game, it's just too much to ask.

It's like Pop decided to play the entire season with one center on the roster...and that center (Tim), likes to be listed as a power forward. Where's the other big?

McDyess (6'9", 5 years past his prime, probably shrinking due to age),
Matt Bonner (6'10", two inch vertical, standing reach of a player 6'11"),
Dejuan Blair (6'7", maybe with lifts) I actually think he is the best playing option, but quickly becoming the G. Hill of this year - losing Pop's trust.

The Spurs try so hard to conserve Tim by limiting his minutes, but if they just got him some help while he's on the court, I think Tim would be better served. They're wearing him out, in his limited minutes!

We need an athletic big (someone at least 6'11") to pair up with Tim, especially against athletic clubs. Play him with someone who can help him defensively in the middle. Do we have ANYBODY on the roster that fits the bill?

It puzzling as to why Pop all of a sudden decided to keep Dice on the bench, in favor of Bonner. It wasn't like Bonner was scorching the nets anyway. Now, I'm not blaming Bonner, but Pop's decision to limit both Dice and Blair looks like a ill-advised move. For all the athletcism the Hawks have, and the Thunder too for that matter, I'd dust off Ian and give him a lil' burn. This would better disperse minutes among the bigs and give Duncan some badly-needed shotblocking and rebounding help.

[SenorSpur]

The only other player on the roster who fits that bill, in theory, is Mahinmi. 6-11, athletic, mobile and young, so of course that rules him out from being in the rotation. This is why Splitter needs to be brought in this summer, he's 6-11, experienced internationally, reasonably athletic and mobile for a player that size. He could potentially solve the Spurs longstanding need of having a center-sized big to pair with Duncan and someone who can guard mobile, face-up power forwards.

I don't think Pop needs to wait that long. In fact, I agree with you. inserting Ian, in small doses, could help offset this deficiency. He doesn't have to be part of the regular rotation. It's all about matchups and a player of his size and skill could be very useful against these ultra-athletic teams.

It's a sad sight having to watch Duncan having to bear so much responsibility at both ends of the court, simply because Pop constantly leaves him exposed by his insistence at running a woefully, ineffective small-ball lineup.

[DubMcDub]

Good thread, would read again.

[Biggems]

the refs frustrate me and have for the last few years....i am tired of Spurs players attacking the paint and getting downright beatdown with no whistle for their efforts, meanwhile if we look at an opponent funny, especially Dirl or Pau it is a foul.

that being said, the refs are not the reason we lose. we lose cause we cant close out games. we lose cause we cant make a basket when it matters. we lose cause we cant get a rebound when it matters. we lose cause we cant get a defensive stop when it matters. we lose cause we miss free throws when it matters. we lose cause of too many untimely turnovers in critical points of games. there are so many reasons we have been losing winnable games this season, however none of them are because of the refs, as bad as they have been.

basically the Spurs went from Standard to Automatic.....they no longer have a clutch.

[spurtech09]

yep refs are cheaters.....

[pjjrfan]

The refs were horrible. But the spurs had a lot of good looks in that 4th qtr. against the Hawks, just couldn't knock them down, and tonight we hit some clutch shots. The execution was still poor, and the Spurs rebounded better, the Hawks last night just dominated the Spurs, but I saw the hawks climb over the backs of the spurs all night without a single over the back call, tonight, the thunder were not as aggressive and the one time Tim stole a rebound he got an over the back call, go figure. Different refs see the game different.

[TJastal]

The refs were horrible. But the spurs had a lot of good looks in that 4th qtr. against the Hawks, just couldn't knock them down, and tonight we hit some clutch shots. The execution was still poor, and the Spurs rebounded better, the Hawks last night just dominated the Spurs, but I saw the hawks climb over the backs of the spurs all night without a single over the back call, tonight, the thunder were not as aggressive and the one time Tim stole a rebound he got an over the back call, go figure. Different refs see the game different.

That was one of the more bogus calls I've seen this year. Duncan simply reached up and grabbed the rebound as he normally does with his long arms there was little (if any) body contact.

The fact that Eddie Rush was johnny on the spot and still called that foul just makes it even more apparent that he has an agenda against the spurs.