Spurs vs. Phoenix

[xellos88330]

My thoughts on this game even before the game is over.

1. Spurs brought effort early, but the missed free throws sapped them of any energy they had.

2. No shot blocking on the court at all. Would have made it easier to control the 1 play the Suns seem to be able to run to perfection lately. Help defense might not have to sag so far away from the shooters.

3. Settling for jumpers against a weak interior.

4. Just flat out got outworked.

This loss isn't on a specific person. It is on the whole team. Hopefully this dose of humility will see the Spurs bounce back stronger. Play strong for 48 minutes guys!

GO SPURS GO!!!

[Dr. Gonzo]

They played some sloppy ball.

[SequSpur]

yep..back to back...guaranteed loss....

[Sean Cagney]

Bad game, time to move on.

[tdunk21]

missed free throws and 3 pt shots cost us the game.....

[ffadicted]

Back to Back against the suns, shit FTs and 3s, suns scorching, manu a corpse, parker a corpse, no hill, etc... and we were within 5 in the fourth... no big deal, not a bad loss, can't win 'em all folks

[Slydragon]

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[ace3g]

that 2nd quarter was key, they outscored us by 9: 23-32. We outscored them in the 3rd: 28-27 and the 4th quarter is 21-23 currently

[spursfaninla]

The turnovers, missed ft's, bad 3pt shooting, lack of d, all combined to kill us.

If we don't spot them 10 fg attempts with so many t/o, this game is manageable but still a loss. We can't beat phoenix if they shoot over 50% and over 40% from 3pt land, while throwing away possessions with so many ft missed.

[xellos88330]

On the brighter side. I wonder how well the Spurs will do against Phoenix when they actually TRY.

[Budkin]

Not a big deal at all.

[EricB]

Not shocked nor worried you could tell the tank was near empty. No one had anything. Props to RJ for his 17 and 6 boards. Mason with an encouraging night however and hope he can carry that over Friday night vs Memphis.

[timtonymanu]

This loss doesnt hurt other than seeding. Let's just bounce back Friday against Memphis.

Hopefully TP looks a little better. And Manu isnt tired.

[alchemist]

using the back-2-back as a clutch for leaving 3pt shooters wide open is funny as hell :lmao

[HankChinaski]

Spurs just looked like they weren't really competing hard for this one and overall looked flat. I'm not worried about a bounce back, but they really do need to consider letting nash just get his inside jumper and not pulling someone off via our bigs leaving guys like Amare get easy buckets.

This really was the sloppiest game they've played in a while now. Its bound to happen.

[TD 21]

They brought effort early? The Suns ran the pick-and-roll over and over (one of their two plays, the other being horns, a double high post alignment which often becomes a pick-and-roll) and got the usual result: Stoudemire with a dunk. Apparently it's so fucking hard to rotate in from the weak side, meet him just above the circle and take a charge. The Spurs act like it's a mystery as to what to do in this situation. If they're late on the rotation, at least send his ass to the floor. I'm so sick and tired of him getting uncontested dunks and getting their team/crowd fired up. Absolutely atrocious defense throughout. As they've done all year against the Spurs, Frye seemingly couldn't miss a fucking shot, Hill turned into a three point shooter and Dragic looked all world.

Pop is an idiot. This was an unlikely win, you could see despite the score that the Spurs were never really in this after they blew it open to end the 1st half and instead of getting Duncan and Ginobili, who looked about 65 and 60 tonight, essentially a night off, Pop runs them into the ground. If the Spurs were going to pull this one out, it was going to be with fresh legs and youthful exuberance. Blair, in particular, this was tailor made for him to throw up a double double and play extended minutes. With another difficult back to back on the horizon, Pop allowed the worst possible scenario to occur: Duncan and Ginobili didn't get rest and the team lost.

I take nothing from this game overall though. Spurs were clearly gassed, Suns well rested. I can't wait until Saturday night when mercifully the Spurs will be through with back to backs for the season.

[HarlemHeat37]

The loss was very predictable, b2b, Suns are a good team and the Spurs are due for a loss against a good team with all these big wins during this stretch..

I agree with alchemist though..that isn't an excuse for the stupid mistakes..the perimeter D was horrible in this game, and so was the help D, especially on the p&r..

[timtonymanu]

The loss was very predictable, b2b, Suns are a good team and the Spurs are due for a loss against a good team with all these big wins during this stretch..

I agree with alchemist though..that isn't an excuse for the stupid mistakes..the perimeter D was horrible in this game, and so was the help D, especially on the p&r..

Honestly I got pissed off every time someone was left wide open at the perimeter and of course they make the shot.

[TDomination]

It was just one of those games.

Kind of reminded me of game 2 of the 2007 Wester conf. semis against the Suns, where we were just a step slow all game.

oh well, move on to Memphis, lets win as many games as possible and get Parker going as well

[TD 21]

How could the pick-and-roll defense be so bad? Tired or not, the Spurs know the Suns better than any team, they know they run essentially one and a half plays, yet they were confused by this? Stoudemire's thrown down about 20 dunks on them this year off the same play, yet the rotation either wasn't there or late; inexcusable. Like I said, at least hard foul him. They do nothing, they just stand there and take it, like there's nothing they can do.

Duncan looked dead legged early, I have no idea why Pop rushed to get he and Ginobili back in to start the 4th. They should have been done for the night. See if Blair, Hairston, et al. can make a game of it, if not, it was headed for a loss anyway. Pop allowed the one scenario to occur that he shouldn't in this grueling stretch: extended run for Duncan and Ginobili and a loss. If this happens how it did in the Hawks game, nothing you can do there, since that was winnable throughout; this one wasn't.

[HankChinaski]

I'm with you HarlemHeat. They really do need to get physical with they guys running in the paint uncontested/soft like that, let them know if they're going to run in like that their going to be on their back with the whistle blown.

[HarlemHeat37]

How could the pick-and-roll defense be so bad? Tired or not, the Spurs know the Suns better than any team, they know they run essentially one and a half plays, yet they were confused by this? Stoudemire's thrown down about 20 dunks on them this year off the same play, yet the rotation either wasn't there or late; inexcusable. Like I said, at least hard foul him. They do nothing, they just stand there and take it, like there's nothing they can do.

Duncan looked dead legged early, I have no idea why Pop rushed to get he and Ginobili back in to start the 4th. They should have been done for the night. See if Blair, Hairston, et al. can make a game of it, if not, it was headed for a loss anyway. Pop allowed the one scenario to occur that he shouldn't in this grueling stretch: extended run for Duncan and Ginobili and a loss. If this happens how it did in the Hawks game, nothing you can do there, since that was winnable throughout; this one wasn't.

Ya, I thought Pop would go with the energy guys to start the 4th since they closed the 3rd out well..he usually sticks with what works, like EricB said in the game blog..it was a surprising move to see him bring Timmy and Manu in so early..

[L.I.T]

Looked like the brutal stretch finally caught up to them

11 missed free throws and poor rotations, 18 turnovers...all point to tired legs.

[Sean Cagney]

This was just a good ol fashioned ass kicking.

Not near as bad as you guys got on Sunday man :lol:lol

[DesignatedT]

Like ive said for awhile now...Phoenix is a bad matchup for us IMO. Id rather avoid them in the PO.

[EricB]

Ya, I thought Pop would go with the energy guys to start the 4th since they closed the 3rd out well..he usually sticks with what works, like EricB said in the game blog..it was a surprising move to see him bring Timmy and Manu in so early..


Yeah I was suprised. Usually when the bench makes a run like that he let's em go ala the rockets game. He just got greedy and gambled that Duncan and Manu had a little left, they didn't, he yanked em with 5 minutes left.

[DesignatedT]

Thats something pop gets flamed for regularly is not bringing in his stars in time.. Was very surprised to see them start the 4th. I think it was the right move.. If we had the manu of late in this game we probably win. He was just out of gas and that is to be expected.

[EricB]

Like ive said for awhile now...Phoenix is a bad matchup for us IMO. Id rather avoid them in the PO.


I disagree. It's a good matchup because they have alot of bad iq playoff players. IE hill stoudamire and others. Again if the spurs protect the ball better and make their ft's this game is 180 degrees different. Shocking to me is that bogans didn't play at all. At the very least throw him out there on hill or whoever. Strange to say the least.

[HarlemHeat37]

I agree that a lot of fans criticize Pop for waving the white flag, so he'll probably get criticized either way..I'm the opposite though, I criticize him for a lot of things, but I'm a fan of the white flag, I like when he gives up early..no point in wearing out the main guys when all the signs of a loss are clear like they were in this game..

[EricB]

Thats something pop gets flamed for regularly is not bringing in his stars in time.. Was very surprised to see them start the 4th. I think it was the right move.. If we had the manu of late in this game we probably win. He was just out of gas and that is to be expected.


Yeah I can guarantee pop and bud and others agonized over it between quarters.
If he had it to do over again he probobly leaves the second unit guys out there.

[EricB]

I agree that a lot of fans criticize Pop for waving the white flag, so he'll probably get criticized either way..I'm the opposite though, I criticize him for a lot of things, but I'm a fan of the white flag, I like when he gives up early..no point in wearing out the main guys when all the signs of a loss are clear like they were in this game..


Parkers a big fan of the white flag too. Sorry couldn't resist. #badpun

[spursrocks]

we want george hill. the line up of hill, gino, dick, duncan and dice would have won us this game.

[EricB]

we want george hill. the line up of hill, gino, dick, duncan and dice would have won us this game.


A more in rythum Parker along with hill no question wins this game but again gotta make due with what you have.

[CarefreeAZ]

I disagree. It's a good matchup because they have alot of bad iq playoff players. IE hill stoudamire and others.

Seriously? Grant Hill? I think your team has their own problems with Jefferson and a couple of those great passes McDeyss was dishing out in the first quarter.

[kaji157]

This loss was probable. Manu really didn´t have his mind in the game, he is at perhaps his most important desision in his life, so i dodn´t pretend him to light it up.

The Nets was the one that affected us, Pop mainly threw that game away and somehow prevented our momentum to give us some room to operate. Now we will be pressured to win until the PO. And Parker didn´t seem to come back 100% as we all wished.

[da_suns_fan]

Went to game tonight...

Not used to seeing Spurs players make so many mental errors......