Cry Havoc
02-09-2011, 09:55 AM
Format change!
In light of the fact that the Spurs have 4 games in 5 days, I don't think I'll have enough time to devote a large paragraph to each player for each game. So in lieu of skipping games with no grades at all, I'm going to change the format up a bit. Let me know what you think of it compared to standard game grades, and perhaps I'll incorporate these a bit more in the future if it's well received.
I had a feeling the Pistons weren't going to let us get away with this one easily. In a very tough game, the Spurs continued to battle and finally put the game away in the fourth quarter, improving the league's best mark to 43-8, continuing one of the 5 best starts in the history of the NBA. The game was largely overshadowed though, thanks to trade talks from Denver and LA about a potential Carmelo Anthony-for-Andrew Bynum trade. Funny, wasn't it the aging, over-the-hill Spurs, the team that would be lucky to be a top 4 seed out West who needed help and a big trade this year to have any hope of beating the Lake Show, not the other way around? Regardless of what you make of the 'Melo-drama, the Lakers are very close to panic mode right now, if not fully convinced that they are doomed to an ousting from one of the other elite teams in the league with the way things stand.
Game Grades:
Tony Parker: B. Yes, he turned the ball over a lot, but he also didn't miss a shot until late in the 4th, going 7-7 from the field to start the game. He also dished out 7 assists. If Parker doesn't keep the offense moving, we lose this game, no doubt about it.
Manu Ginobili: C-. Going to get crucified for this, but Manu had a horrible game until midway through the 3rd. He started 0-6 shooting and fumbled the ball a number of times, either turning it over or completely destroying ball movement. It seems he's lost his focus. Manu was THE WORST player on the court in the first half. Overall, a subpar effort from Manu, and if he plays this badly for 30 minutes per game in the playoffs, the Spurs could be fishing before the Finals.
Richard Jefferson: B+. Shot the ball well. EXCELLENT defense this game from RJ. He seems to be improving his footwork in every game as a Spurs player. Another solid outing from O4O (Our 4th Option).
Tim Duncan: C-. Shot was very off tonight. Missed his patented jumper from the key and went 4-8 at the line. Good defense by Tim though, except for a stretch in the 2nd Quarter where he and Dice got caught flat-footed repeatedly.
DeJuan Blair: A-. I love this kid. Led the team in rebs, and 2nd in points to Tony on 9-15 shooting. He had more hustle than any other Spurs player throughout the game on both ends of the floor. He's officially raised a tier in grading, and therefore will have to work even harder to get an A from now on, and that means playing better D.
George Hill: B+. Gets a boost in his grade because he's becoming more of a playmaker/facilitator. Had one of the assists of the season in the 2nd quarter with a ridiculous pass under the hoop to Blair or Dice. Still defending well, needs to come off screens better.
Antonio McDyess: C-. Solid outing from him, but some defensive lapses gave the Pistons early penetration for buckets. Still, can't complain about his effort, this is likely just a one game flub for him.
Matt Bonner: A-. He's baaaaaaaaaaaack. Bonner gets a high grade because he shot so well after extended time away. Helped put the game away in the 4th. Obviously needs to get his BBall legs back under him.
Gary Neal: C. 2-2 from downtown and then picked up some cheap (questionable) fouls to send him to the bench. Looked like Neal was on pace for a big night before the refs took him out of it. I can't dock him for not being on the court when it looked like he was going to be a weapon.
Gregg Popovich: C. So, on a night when no one is bringing intensity, you decide not to play Tiago, who's coming off his career-best game? Unbelievably poor decision by Pop. I understand saving him for the next game, but he could have made a big difference in the first half. I wonder if Pop knows how badly his coaching affects confidence. Would also liked to see more Neal, considering he was 2-2 from 3.
Game Thoughts:
Defense (Before offense, naturally):
The starting 5 played really solid defense early on. If the Pistons don't hit a series of shots that are normally tough to make from mid-range, they would have looked even better. The Pistons tried to ISO with Prince against RJ, and he shut Tayshaun down so thoroughly that they didn't use it for the rest of the game. Dice came out and played lackluster on defense for most of the 1st half, didn't box out and didn't get rebounds. The Spurs limited the Pistons to shooting jumpshots until the 2nd quarter when they started getting to the rim on the D, especially with Duncan and Dice on the court, who were looking pretty slow. Tim picked it up though and ended with 3 blocks. The Spurs tried a stretch with Hill, Neal, and Manu on the court during the second quarter and it was probably the worst defensive series of the night, as no one rotated and gave the Pistons wide open shots and drives into the lane. FOUR different times in my game notes I wrote that we weren't playing with much energy... an ominous sign for the first game of 4 in the next 5 nights. Hopefully they were saving something for the next 3.
Offense:
It was a frustrating game to watch. Literally every time the Spurs put a decent run together, they'd relax and let the Pistons back into it. Well guess what, San Antonio? A lot a teams out there are fighting for their playoff lives, and they aren't going to go away just because we're 43-8. Quite the opposite, since everyone wants to beat us. Once again, Tony was the only Spurs player who even wanted to burn energy in the first half. Pop should sit him a game and make the other starters work a little bit, because TP's going to get hurt at this rate of shouldering the scoring load. Surprisingly, one of the best lineups on the floor for the Spurs frontcourt tonight was when Pop put Dice and Bonner on the court together, and they seemed to gel very well, and spread the floor even more, allowing Manu to get some good looks. The Spurs finally put it away in the 4th, going 6-9 from downtown in the final frame to extend the lead and exhaust the wind from Detroit's sails. The Pistons played a grinding style of possession hawking ball that purposely choked the game flow and made it difficult for the Spurs to find any rhythm on offense, and it was only when they started playing harder and moving the ball better that we found open looks and got the lead to double figures.
Overall:
C- effort from our team tonight. I want to see more effort and passion, not this lifeless team who wakes up 34 minutes into the contest and realizes the other team is still playing hard. I really do hope Pop sits Tony for a game, I think it would force our offense to move the ball and rely less on him in the first two quarters of every single game.
In light of the fact that the Spurs have 4 games in 5 days, I don't think I'll have enough time to devote a large paragraph to each player for each game. So in lieu of skipping games with no grades at all, I'm going to change the format up a bit. Let me know what you think of it compared to standard game grades, and perhaps I'll incorporate these a bit more in the future if it's well received.
I had a feeling the Pistons weren't going to let us get away with this one easily. In a very tough game, the Spurs continued to battle and finally put the game away in the fourth quarter, improving the league's best mark to 43-8, continuing one of the 5 best starts in the history of the NBA. The game was largely overshadowed though, thanks to trade talks from Denver and LA about a potential Carmelo Anthony-for-Andrew Bynum trade. Funny, wasn't it the aging, over-the-hill Spurs, the team that would be lucky to be a top 4 seed out West who needed help and a big trade this year to have any hope of beating the Lake Show, not the other way around? Regardless of what you make of the 'Melo-drama, the Lakers are very close to panic mode right now, if not fully convinced that they are doomed to an ousting from one of the other elite teams in the league with the way things stand.
Game Grades:
Tony Parker: B. Yes, he turned the ball over a lot, but he also didn't miss a shot until late in the 4th, going 7-7 from the field to start the game. He also dished out 7 assists. If Parker doesn't keep the offense moving, we lose this game, no doubt about it.
Manu Ginobili: C-. Going to get crucified for this, but Manu had a horrible game until midway through the 3rd. He started 0-6 shooting and fumbled the ball a number of times, either turning it over or completely destroying ball movement. It seems he's lost his focus. Manu was THE WORST player on the court in the first half. Overall, a subpar effort from Manu, and if he plays this badly for 30 minutes per game in the playoffs, the Spurs could be fishing before the Finals.
Richard Jefferson: B+. Shot the ball well. EXCELLENT defense this game from RJ. He seems to be improving his footwork in every game as a Spurs player. Another solid outing from O4O (Our 4th Option).
Tim Duncan: C-. Shot was very off tonight. Missed his patented jumper from the key and went 4-8 at the line. Good defense by Tim though, except for a stretch in the 2nd Quarter where he and Dice got caught flat-footed repeatedly.
DeJuan Blair: A-. I love this kid. Led the team in rebs, and 2nd in points to Tony on 9-15 shooting. He had more hustle than any other Spurs player throughout the game on both ends of the floor. He's officially raised a tier in grading, and therefore will have to work even harder to get an A from now on, and that means playing better D.
George Hill: B+. Gets a boost in his grade because he's becoming more of a playmaker/facilitator. Had one of the assists of the season in the 2nd quarter with a ridiculous pass under the hoop to Blair or Dice. Still defending well, needs to come off screens better.
Antonio McDyess: C-. Solid outing from him, but some defensive lapses gave the Pistons early penetration for buckets. Still, can't complain about his effort, this is likely just a one game flub for him.
Matt Bonner: A-. He's baaaaaaaaaaaack. Bonner gets a high grade because he shot so well after extended time away. Helped put the game away in the 4th. Obviously needs to get his BBall legs back under him.
Gary Neal: C. 2-2 from downtown and then picked up some cheap (questionable) fouls to send him to the bench. Looked like Neal was on pace for a big night before the refs took him out of it. I can't dock him for not being on the court when it looked like he was going to be a weapon.
Gregg Popovich: C. So, on a night when no one is bringing intensity, you decide not to play Tiago, who's coming off his career-best game? Unbelievably poor decision by Pop. I understand saving him for the next game, but he could have made a big difference in the first half. I wonder if Pop knows how badly his coaching affects confidence. Would also liked to see more Neal, considering he was 2-2 from 3.
Game Thoughts:
Defense (Before offense, naturally):
The starting 5 played really solid defense early on. If the Pistons don't hit a series of shots that are normally tough to make from mid-range, they would have looked even better. The Pistons tried to ISO with Prince against RJ, and he shut Tayshaun down so thoroughly that they didn't use it for the rest of the game. Dice came out and played lackluster on defense for most of the 1st half, didn't box out and didn't get rebounds. The Spurs limited the Pistons to shooting jumpshots until the 2nd quarter when they started getting to the rim on the D, especially with Duncan and Dice on the court, who were looking pretty slow. Tim picked it up though and ended with 3 blocks. The Spurs tried a stretch with Hill, Neal, and Manu on the court during the second quarter and it was probably the worst defensive series of the night, as no one rotated and gave the Pistons wide open shots and drives into the lane. FOUR different times in my game notes I wrote that we weren't playing with much energy... an ominous sign for the first game of 4 in the next 5 nights. Hopefully they were saving something for the next 3.
Offense:
It was a frustrating game to watch. Literally every time the Spurs put a decent run together, they'd relax and let the Pistons back into it. Well guess what, San Antonio? A lot a teams out there are fighting for their playoff lives, and they aren't going to go away just because we're 43-8. Quite the opposite, since everyone wants to beat us. Once again, Tony was the only Spurs player who even wanted to burn energy in the first half. Pop should sit him a game and make the other starters work a little bit, because TP's going to get hurt at this rate of shouldering the scoring load. Surprisingly, one of the best lineups on the floor for the Spurs frontcourt tonight was when Pop put Dice and Bonner on the court together, and they seemed to gel very well, and spread the floor even more, allowing Manu to get some good looks. The Spurs finally put it away in the 4th, going 6-9 from downtown in the final frame to extend the lead and exhaust the wind from Detroit's sails. The Pistons played a grinding style of possession hawking ball that purposely choked the game flow and made it difficult for the Spurs to find any rhythm on offense, and it was only when they started playing harder and moving the ball better that we found open looks and got the lead to double figures.
Overall:
C- effort from our team tonight. I want to see more effort and passion, not this lifeless team who wakes up 34 minutes into the contest and realizes the other team is still playing hard. I really do hope Pop sits Tony for a game, I think it would force our offense to move the ball and rely less on him in the first two quarters of every single game.