Game 1 Necessary Halftime Adjustments

[MannyIsGod]

1. Limit Turnovers: At this point Spurs have 11 turnovers which is a good total to have for a game but a pretty damn horrible for a half. In addition to 11 less shots you take from these turn overs, the Mavs scored 15 of their first half points off those turnovers. If the Spurs expect to have any chance to win this game they cannot turn the ball over at this rate for the rest of the game.

2 Limit Offensive Rebounds: Out of the Mavs 23 first half rebounds, 8 were offensive. These 2nd chances are fairly similar to turn overs but they remove an excellent defensive performance. As potent as Blair has been against the Mavericks one of his greatest weaknesses is his inability to keep the Maverick's centers off the glass due to sheer size. If Pop wants to play Blair he's going to have to do it more with McDyess or Duncan because pairing him with Bonner is simply asking for the Mavericks to rebound at will.

3. Find Help For the Big 3: The Big 3 are doing their job but no one else is. George Hill? Richard Jefferson? Matt Bonner? Ok most of us didn't expect much from Bonner but the truth is that if NO one outside of the Big 3 hits double figures then the Spurs have no chance in this game.

I think the George Hill starting experiment may be about to have its plug pulled. I would not be surprised at all to see Tony Parker start this 2nd half.

[RedRaider]

The careless passes (turnovers) are killing us.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

I don't think Hill is ready to go, but his defense on Terry in the 2nd quarter was good *knock on wood*

its always the same damn story with this loser mavs team!!

[Pero]

3. Find Help For the Big 3: The Big 3 are doing their job but no one else is. George Hill? Richard Jefferson? Matt Bonner? Ok most of us didn't expect much from Bonner but the truth is that if NO one outside of the Big 3 hits double figures then the Spurs have no chance in this game.

The three plus Dice took 29 out of the 37 shots, I don't see how others can contribute more if they don't get to shoot.

[benefactor]

It's pretty obvious Hill is not healthy. I agree with you that Parker should probably start the second half.

Going forward, I think Pop is going to stick with Parker coming off the bench unless Hill just cannot get healthy enough to be effective.

[itzsoweezee]

Don't reach on defense. Ie, don't make the crooked refs' jobs any easier.

[BillMc]

Dice has played well on both ends I think. I'd like to see more of him. He's old, but his minutes are always short. Release him Pop, let him play 30+

[TinTin]

No more mason

[MannyIsGod]

I think the George Hill starting experiment may be about to have its plug pulled. I would not be surprised at all to see Tony Parker start this 2nd half.

Pop gave him a chance but he just looks bad out there. Tony can play a huge portion of this 2nd half considering how fresh he is so lets hope that happens and lets hope Tony continues to play at a high level.

[MannyIsGod]

The three plus Dice took 29 out of the 37 shots, I don't see how others can contribute more if they don't get to shoot.

George Hill and Richard Jefferson combining for 4 shots in the first half is an indicator of passive play. They can't stand out there and expect the find open shots - they need to be aggressive and make things happen. Bonner had a drive and missed what I thought was a good shot but he's gotta make those. He can afford to let the shots come to him but the other 2 can't.

[MannyIsGod]

1. Limit Turnovers: At this point Spurs have 11 turnovers which is a good total to have for a game but a pretty damn horrible for a half. In addition to 11 less shots you take from these turn overs, the Mavs scored 15 of their first half points off those turnovers. If the Spurs expect to have any chance to win this game they cannot turn the ball over at this rate for the rest of the game.


Check. The Spurs did an excellent job of this in 2nd half.



2 Limit Offensive Rebounds: Out of the Mavs 23 first half rebounds, 8 were offensive. These 2nd chances are fairly similar to turn overs but they remove an excellent defensive performance. As potent as Blair has been against the Mavericks one of his greatest weaknesses is his inability to keep the Maverick's centers off the glass due to sheer size. If Pop wants to play Blair he's going to have to do it more with McDyess or Duncan because pairing him with Bonner is simply asking for the Mavericks to rebound at will.


The Spurs gave up 5 offensive rebounds in the 2nd half but they didn't really do a better job on this. The number went down primarily because the Spurs weren't nearly as good at forcing Dallas to miss in the 2nd half so there were fewer opportunities to keep them off the glass.

This is going to be a big issue going forward in the series. If Dallas is able to convert their misses into 2nd chances at a high rate then even when the Spurs do manage to play passable defense its not going to do much good.

The Spurs MUST find a way to keep Dallas off the offensive glass in order to have a shot this series.



3. Find Help For the Big 3: The Big 3 are doing their job but no one else is. George Hill? Richard Jefferson? Matt Bonner? Ok most of us didn't expect much from Bonner but the truth is that if NO one outside of the Big 3 hits double figures then the Spurs have no chance in this game.


This was the primary reason the Spurs were not able to remain in the game through the 2nd half. They will need to find a dependable force outside of the big three. Richard Jefferson played absolutely worthless tonight and that can't happen if the Spurs are going to advance. It was easily the most disappointing aspect of this game. George Hill will need to get health if Jefferson insists on laying an egg.

On the +(/minus?) side of things I thought Bonner had a much better 2nd half. He only made a couple of buckets but he was fighting the entire time and I enjoyed watching him shoot the 3 with no hesitation and continue to drive. He also fought very hard and probably played the best defense on Dirk (not saying much) even though he got called for a few phantom fouls. I think Matt Bonner's future with the Spurs relies on this post season. Should he not find a way to contribute I do not see how the Spurs resign him.



I think the George Hill starting experiment may be about to have its plug pulled. I would not be surprised at all to see Tony Parker start this 2nd half.

Pop pulled the plug on Hill quite early in the 2nd half. Hopefully Hill is able to get healthy in a hurry because I'm not sure how much more Mason and Bogans I can stomach.