Quick Grades: Spurs at Mavericks - Dec. 30

[timvp]

Quick Grades: Spurs at Mavericks (http://www.sanantoniodispatch.com/san-antonio-spurs/spurs-grades/quick-grades-spurs-at-mavericks/)

The Mavericks may not have had Dirk Nowitzki available, however that didn't stop Dallas from giving the Spurs all they could handle. Eventually, the Mavs ran out of sources for offense and the Spurs upped their defensive intensity to pull out a 99-93 victory. San Antonio, 28-4, now has a three-game lead for best record in the NBA.

Tim Duncan B+ Didn't dominate stat sheet but made big plays at key times.

Manu Ginobili B D shaky and lacked energy. That said, smart play really helped.

Tony Parker D+ Poor job running the team. Defense bad to start, though got better.

Richard Jefferson C+ Leaky defensively. Battled through anemic start on offense.

DeJuan Blair D Couldn't handle the perimeter oriented bigmen. Didn't rebound.

George Hill A+ Best player on the court. Fantastic defense. Huge buckets.

Gary Neal A His shooting kept offense from sinking. A bit too aggressive on D.

Matt Bonner C Again bad against the Mavs. Nowitzki not an excuse this time.

Antonio McDyess A Huge spark for the team on both ends. A real difference maker.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Was glad to see Pop not overdo Blair in a matchup he wasn't doing well in. Woulda preferred he played Splitter instead of too much Bonenr but that's just how it goes.


Not thrilled with how we played tonight, but I'll take it.

[Doctor J]

I'm really concerned about the energy level of Manu at the moment.

He seems to run out of gas all month in December.

[Agloco]

Kinda troubling that Bonner came up lame against the Mavs yet again......

RJ is starting to worry me as well. Real sloppy on both ends of the floor of late.

And will someone PLEASE show Timmy how to outlet pass already? Right now, that's the weakest part of his game.

[timvp]

I'm really concerned about the energy level of Manu at the moment.

He seems to run out of gas all month in December.

I blame this game on him being sick. Looked like he was struggling to breathe at times.

[Yorae]

Bbbut Bonner had a putback slam....

[ElNono]

:tu

Thanks for the writeup.
TD was great on Chandler and he also gave us a lift offensively in the 3rd.

[L.I.T]

I can understand having Bonner in there against the Mavs zone. Granted he didn't do jack shit against, but I can understand why he got so much run.

Hill/Neal and TD/Dce should be handed game balls.

While Manu and TP did a horrible job attacking the zone. Our bench is impressive.

[Manu20]

The bench bail out the starters on this one.

[ElNono]

Manu just isn't really driving. His shot was falling and the pick and roll with Dice was working too, so there was no need. tbh, with the shooters we have now, I don't mind him driving and kicking instead of forcing a contested finish at the rim either.

[ducks]

parker was bad but not d-


it amazing me other players can suck and get no lower then a c but
tp plays bad
spurs scored 95 points would have had easily 5 more assist had rj, hill and manu made wide open threes tp set up up
spurs shoot 46% against one of the best d teams in the league

[LaMarcus Bryant]

Saved McDyess and it fucking worked.

[ducks]

I blame this game on him being sick. Looked like he was struggling to breathe at times.

do you know if any of the spur players got his sickness

[TDMVPDPOY]

rj is gettin outplayed by NEAL, get back to the bench

imo if neal is that efficient with t he ft, we should try him closing games like manu see if he has that killer factor to win games in the final plays of the game, he seems to be shooting quite well at the stripe like ghill3...

[EricB]

I thought Jefferson's effort in the second half was pretty big. Made a very clutch three in the fourth as well.

Again, Anderson coming back theoretically would allow Pop to rest Manu for longer stretches, so he could have more gas for said games.

But again like was said, he is sick and it shows.

[ducks]

rj>terry tonight

[timaios]

parker was bad but not d-


it amazing me other players can suck and get no lower then a c but
tp plays bad
spurs scored 95 points would have had easily 5 more assist had rj, hill and manu made wide open threes tp set up up
spurs shoot 46% against one of the best d teams in the league


do you know if any of the spur players got his sickness

:lmao:lmao:lmao

No Parker was not sick, he was just awful !

[L.I.T]

Manu was sick and tony just sucked.

Basically yes. They still didn't do a good job going after the zone, many of the same problems we saw in the first game existed tonight.

To be fair, Manu did do a good job from 3, though I remember a couple of his 3s were in transition and out of one on one moves.

[ClingingMars]

I worship at the Church of Neal now

can we give Manu a game off soon?

[Arc]

yeah, manu's sick. didn't you guys notice the gum or sore throat drop he had in his mouth to keep his throat from drying up? anyway, i'd much rather have manu shoot jumpers than go to the basket every other play. he needs to conserve energy plus stay healthy. not to mention, it's allowing other guys to awaken. neal and hill are starting to tear it up.

[ducks]

spurs put 95 up shot 46%
this team is very scary if you think they played like dogs

[ducks]

spurs put 95 up shot 46%
this team is very scary if you think they played like dogs

[crc21209]

I thought Jefferson's effort in the second half was pretty big. Made a very clutch three in the fourth as well.

Again, Anderson coming back theoretically would allow Pop to rest Manu for longer stretches, so he could have more gas for said games.

But again like was said, he is sick and it shows.

+1. Even though RJ didnt play his best game of the season, he stayed aggressive and took it to the hole and the open J when he had it. I thought his D on Caron Butler in the 2nd half was pretty good as well. :tu The reason we won again tonight was because of the bench, Hill, Neal, and Dice. Dice in the pick and roll with Manu was great. Neal was instant offense off the bench, and Hill had a great overall game. IMO TP was awful, it seemed as if that block J-Kidd had on him got to him and he tried going right back at him time after time as if to try and prove that he could score on him, only to fail again. The ball also seemed to stopped moving once it got in TP's hands down the stretch of the game...

[ducks]

oh and dallas shot 43%

[carina_gino20]

Manu looked lethargic all night. Good thing his three ball was working and he didn't force things too much. I liked his defense late in the game though.

I liked how Tim quietly dominated during that time in the 3rd Q. Shows us what he can do when they're calling plays for him.

Anyway, where's Pop's grade?

[ducks]

:lmao:lmao:lmao

No Parker was not sick, he was just awful !


I think it was probably a combination of things... He likes tearing Kidd apart and he didn't do that. The Spurs (and him particularly) played like crap. Pop probably ripped him during and after the game. And he is a little sick (Manu is spreading his illness around :lol).

[ClingingMars]

seriously ducks, everybody has bad games, even Parker, you don't have to fucking defend his honor

[Kori Ellis]

I didn't say that Parker being sick was why he played bad. He just played bad. I was explaining the many reasons why he sounded so out of it in the postgame interview.

[TimmehC]

oh and dallas shot 43%

Encouraging, but most of that is major suckage from The Nutpuncher.

[ClingingMars]

I didn't say that Parker being sick was why he played bad. He just played bad. I was explaining the many reasons why he sounded so out of it in the postgame interview.

ducks just can't stand the thought that Parker didn't have a MUEY BEUNO game without some outside influence

[Capt Bringdown]

Rescued by Dice and the young guys. Dallas is a challenge for us even without Dirk, but we made it harder than it needed to be. Defense held 'em to 18 in the 3rd but we didn't put enough pressure on their D, settled for Js too often.

Pop too scared I guess to give any of Bonner's 25 and Blair's 12 ineffective minutes to Splitter. I don't see the rationale of not giving Splitter a look-see tonight.

[EricB]

Personally I hope Pop doesn't go away from feeding Richard jefferson the ball.
You read tweets during games where scouts are saying "the Spurs don't run hardly 1 play for him all game" IMO, this is a mistake. During times during the second and 4th quarter when the offense seems to stall, I think Iso for Jefferson would be helpful.
Have no clue why there are no plays run for Jefferson.

[EricB]

Rescued by Dice and the young guys. Dallas is a challenge for us even without Dirk, but we made it harder than it needed to be. Defense held 'em to 18 in the 3rd but we didn't put enough pressure on their D, settled for Js too often.

Pop too scared I guess to give any of Bonner's 25 and Blair's 12 ineffective minutes to Splitter. I don't see the rationale of not giving Splitter a look-see tonight.


Because Bonner is quicker on the perimeter than Splitter is.

Also with the Mavericks running zone, Bonner when they ran pick and rolls with Manu and Dyess was keeping a defender high at the 3.

[EricB]

ducks just can't stand the thought that Parker didn't have a MUEY BEUNO game without some outside influence

Same could be said of Ginobili fans.

It goes both ways.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Even though Jefferson had a horrible 3 quarters, I like that he didn't just give up on shooting the ball and allow it to effect the rest of his game. He played much better in the fourth, and he actually seems like he could be pretty clutch. He always has strong fourth quarters.

And the team played kinda crummy, but it was good to see us out rebound them so thoroughly on the boards. Rebounds probably saved the game for us.

[angelbelow]

Kidd came out with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. He owned TP in the 1st.

[DMC]

Like the other games, this is a game of 4 teams. The starters were about even, probably a tilt to the Mavs. The bench leaned heavily to the Spurs. Other than Terry who didn't get going until (too) late, they don't have a good bench. In the soup mix that is those two bench teams mixed with some starters, I think the bench players of Hill and Neal kept us in it, not just with offense but with hustle and just outright aggression on both ends.

I was glad to see Blair get yanked, but wish the Spurs would have upped the lead to 25 or more so Blair could get back in it. I think he would have done great against that second squad.

[ElNono]

I think the zone had some to do with it. Man to man we can run some back screens and get RJ some jumpers, alley-oop and threes. Attacking the zone though, it was mostly high pick and roll and little ball movement. I'm sure we'll execute better next game when we play against a man to
man defense.

[mingus]

Manu just isn't really driving. His shot was falling and the pick and roll with Dice was working too, so there was no need. tbh, with the shooters we have now, I don't mind him driving and kicking instead of forcing a contested finish at the rim either.

i don't know whether Manu has lost a step and so now doesn't drive as much or if he's is trying to save his legs for the playoffs. obviously, i hope it's the latter. the sample size of him driving is too small to say if it's the former.

[DMC]

Personally I hope Pop doesn't go away from feeding Richard jefferson the ball.
You read tweets during games where scouts are saying "the Spurs don't run hardly 1 play for him all game" IMO, this is a mistake. During times during the second and 4th quarter when the offense seems to stall, I think Iso for Jefferson would be helpful.
Have no clue why there are no plays run for Jefferson.
Go away from it? I don't recall Pop ever really feeding RJ the ball. RJ gets a couple plays a game, the rest is hustle and put back or blown play stuff.

[TDMVPDPOY]

Kidd came out with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. He owned TP in the 1st.

he owned many of our small guards tonight in the low block and fluking his shots

and fck parker with that weak ass tim duncan layup attempt gettin blocked from kidd, making him turn back time...

[Capt Bringdown]

The Mavs only got to the line 15 times, yay!

[Agloco]

Can we get a suicide watch set up for ducks please?

[Agloco]

The Mavs only got to the line 15 times, yay!

That's easily doubled with Dirk in the mix. :lol

[EricB]

Go away from it? I don't recall Pop ever really feeding RJ the ball. RJ gets a couple plays a game, the rest is hustle and put back or blown play stuff.

The beginning of the third he seemed to be calling RJ's number to get him going.

[tmtcsc]

As deep as we are, it's nice to survive sub-par games by our most consistent players or stars. We just keep winning.

Against the Lakers, Tim was trash. Tonight it was Tony who didn't play well. This is absolutely awesome and great experience for our role players. The most consistent player this year, game in and game out (Whatever that means) has been George Hill.

Tim is cruising this ride to the playoffs. It's just weird seeing him post below- average to bad numbers or ride the pine for such long periods.

[EricB]

As deep as we are, it's nice to survive sub-par games by our most consistent players or stars. We just keep winning.

Against the Lakers, Tim was trash. Tonight it was Tony who didn't play well. This is absolutely awesome and great experience for our role players. The most consistent player this year, game in and game out (Whatever that means) has been George Hill.

Tim is cruising this ride to the playoffs. It's just weird seeing him post below- average to bad numbers or ride the pine for such long periods.


Double double tonight too, in his cruising :smokin

[jjktkk]

rj is gettin outplayed by NEAL, get back to the bench

imo if neal is that efficient with t he ft, we should try him closing games like manu see if he has that killer factor to win games in the final plays of the game, he seems to be shooting quite well at the stripe like ghill3...

Patience grasshopper. Let Neal continue to evolve. Hes doing great right now.

[jjktkk]

spurs put 95 up shot 46%
this team is very scary if you think they played like dogs

Quit stuttering. :lol

[DMC]

The beginning of the third he seemed to be calling RJ's number to get him going.
Ok, I thought you were referring to the season, not just this one game.

I don't think Pop is going to start running plays for RJ suddenly. Why change the system unless it doesn't work?

[lefty]

I like how RJ stepped his game up in the 4th quarter

I thought his confidence would have been shaken for the rest of the game

Nice to see that he was able to bounce back after a horrible start.

It's a good sign

[Capt Bringdown]

As deep as we are, it's nice to survive sub-par games by our most consistent players or stars. We just keep winning.


Agreed. Whereas before, if one of our stars was having an off night, it would create a chain reaction of suck.
Nowadays we got dudes steppin' up. Awesome.

[TD 21]

Obviously, it would have been nice to win by more than 6, but I'm not the least bit surprised. Top teams, when playing other top teams in a one-off, aren't going to go down easy. We've seen it a bunch of times over the years with the Spurs. One or two of the big three out and the leftover one or two leading them to victory over the Lakers, Mavs, Suns, etc. That's how it works a lot of the time. It's the whole "wounded animal" thing. Everyone else has to be that much sharper, because there's less margin for error. Naturally, the opposition isn't particularly sharp, because they know they have more room for error. It's just human nature. So given that, I wasn't all that annoyed with this game. You play 82, even when you're 28-4, a lot of them aren't going to be masterpieces.

[TDMVPDPOY]

Obviously, it would have been nice to win by more than 6, but I'm not the least bit surprised. Top teams, when playing other top teams in a one-off, aren't going to go down easy. We've seen it a bunch of times over the years with the Spurs. One or two of the big three out and the leftover one or two leading them to victory over the Lakers, Mavs, Suns, etc. That's how it works a lot of the time. It's the whole "wounded animal" thing. Everyone else has to be that much sharper, because there's less margin for error. Naturally, the opposition isn't particularly sharp, because they know they have more room for error. It's just human nature. So given that, I wasn't all that annoyed with this game. You play 82, even when you're 28-4, a lot of them aren't going to be masterpieces.

we shouldve blown them out had pop kept in the players that gave us that huge 14pts lead....the starting 5 is starting to become a liability on some nights where they just give up the lead

[Blackjack]

Obviously, it would have been nice to win by more than 6, but I'm not the least bit surprised. Top teams, when playing other top teams in a one-off, aren't going to go down easy. We've seen it a bunch of times over the years with the Spurs. One or two of the big three out and the leftover one or two leading them to victory over the Lakers, Mavs, Suns, etc. That's how it works a lot of the time. It's the whole "wounded animal" thing. Everyone else has to be that much sharper, because there's less margin for error. Naturally, the opposition isn't particularly sharp, because they know they have more room for error. It's just human nature. So given that, I wasn't all that annoyed with this game. You play 82, even when you're 28-4, a lot of them aren't going to be masterpieces.

Exactly.

I don't want to hear about who wasn't playing or how the Spurs will run into a similar situation down the road -- as Miller, Fratello and the TNT crew suggested -- because they have, and they faired much better under the circumstance.

Exhibit A: http://bit.ly/gLwd6E

Exhibit B: http://bit.ly/fYLCSP

And that's just the last two seasons, singling out only Mavs matchups -- I can't believe the Mavs lost those two rosters. :lol

[TDMVPDPOY]

seems like GHILL3 and NEAL can play with any unit on the court, they are t hat damn good when they are open on the perimeter or challengin the interior defense for a needy basket...

[Pauleta14]

Tony had a bad game for sure, but worst grade?
Was he the worst player on the team tonight?

If so, why did Pop gave him the most PT?

Honestly timvp, when Manu or Timmy have a bad game, you're way more indulgent with them, it's scray...

Anyway, I take a win when our big3 suck any day!

[timvp]

Tony had a bad game for sure, but worst grade?
Was he the worst player on the team tonight?

If so, why did Pop gave him the most PT?

The third question is a good question. Spurs were outscored by 17 points in the 37 minutes Parker was on the court. In the 11 minutes he was off the court, the Spurs outscored the Mavs by 23 points.


Honestly timvp, when Manu or Timmy have a bad game, you're way more indulgent with them, it's scray...

Last game I gave Duncan a worse grade even though Duncan led the team in plus/minus.

[mazerrackham]

People quibble so much about grades, tbh LJ, you should just stick with your guns when you stopped doing the grades because people couldn't handle them

[Fpoonsie]

I need to rewatch the game. I recorded it from home, but watched it at the Hooters in Ft. Worth, pacing nervously back-n-forth.

In the midst of my pacing, I failed to catch Hill's "A+" performance. Definitely not saying he didn't deserve it, I'm simply curious to see what he did exactly...

[mazerrackham]

Thank you for them though, I appreciate 'em

[Hoops Czar]

Glad to see pop not over utilizing Splitter. I think it was one of the difference makers.

[TDMVPDPOY]

I need to rewatch the game. I recorded it from home, but watched it at the Hooters in Ft. Worth, pacing nervously back-n-forth.

In the midst of my pacing, I failed to catch Hill's "A+" performance. Definitely not saying he didn't deserve it, I'm simply curious to see what he did exactly...

i dunno about deserving, but neal gave us that huge lead and the starters choked the lead away, then we needed baskets...ghill3 took on ajinka 2-3 possessions and scored....

[Pauleta14]

The third question is a good question. Spurs were outscored by 17 points in the 37 minutes Parker was on the court. In the 11 minutes he was off the court, the Spurs outscored the Mavs by 23 points.



Last game I gave Duncan a worse grade even though Duncan led the team in plus/minus.


Waow...

I just can't go to sleep

First : TONY HAD A BAD GAME :lol

Then,

- I like my first to questions too and specialy the 2nd one (really the worst on the team?)

- Last game Duncan had 2pts... Are we going to compare a bad and an awfull game?

- Don't bring the +/- argument, it's endless... it's a strange stat that doesn't ALWAYS reflects the production of a player and his individual impact.
It's a "convenient" stat that everybody can use once in a while to comfort his POV..

- Even if he was't efficient scoring wise (Kidd block really "killed" his confidence IMO) Tony kept penetrating and trying

- He was very active on D was quite good pn that part of the game I think, he didn't disapear and stayed active.

... Well I'm getting tired and gonna sleep now, I hope I'll see your POV tomorrow.

[maddnezz]

+1. Even though RJ didnt play his best game of the season, he stayed aggressive and took it to the hole and the open J when he had it. I thought his D on Caron Butler in the 2nd half was pretty good as well. :tu The reason we won again tonight was because of the bench, Hill, Neal, and Dice. Dice in the pick and roll with Manu was great. Neal was instant offense off the bench, and Hill had a great overall game. IMO TP was awful, it seemed as if that block J-Kidd had on him got to him and he tried going right back at him time after time as if to try and prove that he could score on him, only to fail again. The ball also seemed to stopped moving once it got in TP's hands down the stretch of the game...Again!:depressed

[polandprzem]

Tp c+

[janetcn12]

IMO, TP was trying to outplay Kidd but was not successful. Anyway, he was good on penetration but appear sloppy sometime. Hope he will better in the next game and used his brain in his decision.

[jjktkk]

I need to rewatch the game. I recorded it from home, but watched it at the Hooters in Ft. Worth, pacing nervously back-n-forth.

In the midst of my pacing, I failed to catch Hill's "A+" performance. Definitely not saying he didn't deserve it, I'm simply curious to see what he did exactly...

You were watching bobbies wern't yea?

[Fireball]

Timmy had a good game and I don't understand why he did not get the ball in the 4th quarter for some low post action when the penetration did not work. Everybody is saying "he still can do it", but if nobody gives him the ball ... well, the result was a game which was more close than it had to be ...

[temujin]

The game was close merely because the Spurs were awful against the zone in the first half.
Just terrible, they looked lost like many teams Dallas has played this year (last was OKC a few days back).
Up 16 points, if they attacked it the way they started to do in the 4th, this would have been a blowout.

I have my opinion about why they have problems with the zone: they almost never play it themselves, which is a pity, because they have the players to play a great 1-3-1 zone defense.

At any rate.
Hill and Neal huge again.
Count on Neal scoring big baskets in the clutch, i needed: he's done that multiple times in Europe.

[WalterBenitez]

Nice grades, I saw Tony playing better than a D, I know sometimes he loves himself too much, he did some good stuff out there.

Neal, Hill, were the best of the team, I liked TD + McDyess works.

Manu should come from the bench in some games, limiting him to 15/20 minutes and prove the combo Neal/Hill.

[G-Nob]

Loved the ugly win. You can tell the defense is getting better though which gives us hope it can/will show up come p/o time. So many examples but I did enjoy how pop adjusted to Carlisles zone. He found the dribble drive for 3's and used staggered screens on the 2-3. This would've been a blow out had we gotten anything from rj or Bonner. I firmly believe pop has Carlisle's number.

[Spurs Brazil]

Big props for the bench. Neal, Hill and Dice were great

TD played well and I was happy to see RJ making big plays in the 4th after 3 bad quarters

[ploto]

Big game- tight game- Bonner sucked. Nothing new. The C was generous.

[BOHOLANO#21]

[QUOTE=WalterBenitez;4862739]Nice grades, I saw Tony playing better than a D, I know sometimes he loves himself too much, he did some good stuff out there.

Neal, Hill, were the best of the team, I liked TD + McDyess works.

Manu should come from the bench in some games, limiting him to 15/20 minutes and prove the combo Neal/Hill.[/QUOTE





i think popovich will lower MANU's playing time once james anderson returns from injury...damn scary if anderson returns with the way he played before the injury...team is deep...

[pjjrfan]

rj>terry tonight

You got that right, big mouth laid an egg, although he gave us a scare with those two 3's but his last miss was way off. The amazing thing about this team is that it seems that the big 3 don't always have to carry the team, the Laker game had Tim and Manu playing badly, this game it was Tony and Manu yet the team found a way to win.

[TMTTRIO]

Manu should come from the bench in some games, limiting him to 15/20 minutes and prove the combo Neal/Hill.
Why? Hill and Neal are doing a great job of carrying the bench. We don't need Manu off the bench. I can understand limiting Manu's minutes and maybe giving him a few nights off but he doesn't need to go back to the bench. They have enough scorers on the bench.

[gameFACE]

Right now the Mavs starters are better than the Spurs but the Spurs bench is way better than theirs. Barkely might be wrong when he says the Spurs are the 2nd best team in Texas. But the Spurs are not that much better. It's really close.

[Obstructed_View]

The third question is a good question. Spurs were outscored by 17 points in the 37 minutes Parker was on the court. In the 11 minutes he was off the court, the Spurs outscored the Mavs by 23 points.


Agreed. Pop was so stupid for playing Parker so many minutes because he was so bad. Why isn't McDyess starting instead of Parker???

:lol

Seriously, do you even watch the games?

[Mark in Austin]

I thought Jefferson's effort in the second half was pretty big. Made a very clutch three in the fourth as well.


Agreed. Last year RJ would have stopped shooting. The fact that he stuck with it and made contributions on the court is important.

Also, it has been a while since Parker has made so many bad decisions at the rim. Weird game for him.

[ChumpDumper]

Parker made bad decisions all night in every area. I can't remember seeing him play so consistently awful throughout an entire game. Can't say I'm really worried about it, though.

But trade Parker anyway.

[quentin_compson]

You could tell that Parker wanted to dominate Kidd, but it backfired and made Tony look a bit foolish at times. Shit happens, Spurs got the win anyway, and there won't be a lot of games like that from TP.

[EricB]

Big game- tight game- Bonner sucked. Nothing new. The C was generous.

Hmm, miss the Laker game?

Big game, tight game when he was in...

[EricB]

Parker made bad decisions all night in every area. I can't remember seeing him play so consistently awful throughout an entire game. Can't say I'm really worried about it, though.

But trade Parker anyway.



Parker just had a mentally bad night.