Cry Havoc
02-25-2011, 12:35 PM
Well, it's been a while since the lights of the AT&T center lit up under a Spurs crowd. The first home game in nearly a month saw the Spurs fall flat on their face on defense in the first quarter, allowing 37 points from a revved-up Thunder team looking to avenge an earlier crushing loss in the season, when the Spurs thrashed them on New Year's Day, 101-74. However, the Spurs went on a fantastic 17-2 run late in the 2nd quarter, and the Thunder never led by more than a single possession after that. The win is the Spurs 19th home win in a row, improving their record at the AT&T center to 26-2.
Player of the Game
http://i.imgur.com/P8O8m.jpg
His defense was suspect. His stats don't jump off the page. And you could certainly say that Tim Duncan had as much to do with the win as Mr. Neal. This PotG honor, however, is going to Neal, because, well, I thought he played really freaking well, and I'm writing this so it's my decision. :lol On a more earnest note, this was probably the best game I've seen all year from Neal. Most importantly: He was aggressive every single time he had the ball. When he caught the rock, Neal made an immediate decision to either hoist a 3, or penetrate to break down the defense. It almost seemed at times this game that Neal was running point for the Spurs, and he passed the ball extremely effectively despite getting only 3 assists. His shooting was scorching -- against the Thunder, Neal really made it rain (HEYOOOOOOOOOOOO), shooting 4-5 from downtown and 6-9 overall to tally 19 points. The most important aspect of his play Wednesday night would not show up in the stat column, however: It was that for the first time in a long while, Gary Neal looked absolutely steady and confident in role on the Spurs. He could not have appeared more comfortable if he was Ron Artest daydreaming on his shrink's couch. For his stellar shooting, and persistent initiative on offense, Neal is awarded the PotG and a solid A. I'm sure he'll be happy to hang this in his locker at the AT&T center. :lol Perhaps he should sport the Van Gogh look a little more often in the future.
Starters
Tony Parker - C+ Tony had an extremely uneven game. The Spurs would have been down 15 or more points in the first quarter if not for his drives to the hoop which hornswoggled the Thunder defense for the first 12 minutes. Once again, he was the offense for the Spurs early, and then struggled in the 2nd and 3rd quarters to score any field goals. Parker did get to the line 10 times in this game, canning 8 of his freebies, which is great, because everyone likes free points. 2 of his free throws resulted from the fact that he so embarrassed Nick Collison on a drive that Nick threw him to the court, earning a flagrant and a trip to the bench for the rest of the night. Parker also grabbed 5 boards on a night when DeJuan Blair only got 3, and Parker also gets a huge boost in grade for his incredibly clutch 4th quarter 17 foot shot from the right wing which could not have been more lethal a dagger if Macbeth himself had been wielding it. You could literally see the shoulders in the Thunder slump as the shot ripped through the net, boosting the Spurs to yet another win over the young team from OKC.
Manu Ginobili - :downspin: I give up. I simply cannot quantify Manu Ginobili's performances this season any longer. So I'll say this: When Manu isn't actively shooting the ball, he is doing everything right for the Spurs. He facilitates (a game-high 9 dimes), he rebounds (5), and he makes plays on defense and dives to get loose balls. But 2-13 shooting for Manu means that I'm starting to be a little concerned about his shot/shot selection. In Manu's last 10 games, he's shooting 34.7%. Consider that for a moment for a man that was in the MVP race earlier this year and indeed might have led it at one point. Ugh. So frustrating. Manu: You better find your shot come playoff time or we're going to struggle to go very far in the playoffs. I swear I get a little older now every time I see him chuck a three.
Richard Jefferson - B Yes, Durant went off for 30 points this game. However, I thought RJ did a reasonably good job on defense against KD, as Durant shot under 50%. More importantly, if you look at the shot chart, you see that Durant only took 4 shots from under 10 feet, meaning the Spurs were doing a good job limiting his inside looks. If you're going to give something to Durant, you have to live with his fadeaway jumpers. He's got a great shot, but you can't really do much to stop it anyway, and the Spurs can absolutely live with him taking 16 footers or better, of which he only shot 5-12. RJ also brought some firepower to the offense on a night it was needed, bombing away for 4-5 from beyond the arc, accounting for all 12 of his points. Since the Spurs had plenty of penetration from Parker/Neal/Hill, there was no need for Jefferson to force the issue tonight, and he spent it opening up lanes and spacing for our guards.
Tim Duncan - B+ Great game by Duncan. He was the only Spurs player in double figures in rebounding with 10, and scored 17 points on 7-15 shooting. But Duncan did a great job patrolling the paint and stopping penetration (well, after the first quarter :spin) and he had 3 :nope 's to stymie the Thunder from taking control of the paint. Partially due to Tim's influence, the Thunder shot a majority of their shots from the right wing of the court, and in the 4th quarter basically abandoned driving to the hoop altogether. TDunc also picked up a technical foul following the Collison-Parker incident, which seemed to light a fire under San Antonio. Watching Tim Duncan lately, you can really get a feel that he's starting to kick in the engines on D a little bit more each game, slowly rounding into playoff form. Who wants to bet he's going to do better than his season average when the playoffs roll around? :flag:
DeJuan Blair - D Let's hope he's not officially slumping. With just 6 rebounds in his last two games, Blair is suddenly looking more and more like the young inexperienced player that he was last season. He has been losing the ball more frequently on offense, and doesn't seem to have any rhythm when he's in the game. I'm talking a level of butterfingers that's giving me flashbacks to Nazr Mohammed (who's now on the Thunder, btw). An utterly forgettable game for Blair, who saw no action after the mid-point of the 3rd quarter.
Bench
George Hill - B His stats don't jump off the page at you, but Hill had a very solid outing. He played pretty good D for most of the game, and didn't try to do to much on a night when several other Spurs players were shooting the rock really well. Are Hill's handles also improving? He's added a double through the legs dribble to his size-up outside of the 3 point line that I haven't seen before, and overall Hill seemed extremely calm with the ball, resulting in not a single turnover in 28 minutes.
Matt Bonner - C- Some clutch threes made him worthwhile, but I saw a lack of defense from Matt tonight. We could really have used his presence (or at least, his effort), but in 24 minutes Matt seemed very slow of foot and only managed 5 rebounds. Aside from Duncan, no post player for the Spurs really showed up against the Thunder, an ominous sign going forward. But it's good to see Matt shooting the rock well again, at least.
Antonio McDyess - C Seems that I ruffle feathers anytime I give McDyess lower than a B, but Antonio just seemed a little old tonight. He only played 15 minutes, and put up decent stats, but again... the Spurs won by 4 points despite shooting 62% from downtown. It's largely because we didn't get second chance buckets and they did, and that lands on the shoulders of our bigs who should have been rebounding, and weren't. If we shoot over 55% from 3 in any game, I don't care who we're playing, we should blow them out of the building. 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal... very decent stats, but the fact is, if we don't shoot lights out, we're 46-11 right now.
Gregg Popovich - B I still think he's too quick with the chain to yank players, but how can you really fault Pop at this point in the season. The thing that he does better than any coach in the NBA is that he has a very firm grasp on the reins of the Spurs. He's completely in-tune with how the team is feeling, thinking, and how that translates to on-court performance. Perhaps a little less drill instructor for our more malleable of players would be optimal, but that's never going to change at this point. And if you think Popovich is really focused on being in high gear right now, you need to look no further than his attitude at Duncan getting a tech, laughing it up with not only Scott Brooks, but Kevin Durant as well. It would be interesting to hear what was said there. It was also the demeanor of a coach who knows his team is right where they should be.
Overall, I want to see better rotations on defense, MUCH less interior passing than we allowed last game, and we really need Blair to start inhaling rebounds again. I DID love our response to the flagrant and tech though, the 17-2 run was beautiful and really gave us control of the game. With a potential playoff matchup looming, I think it's becoming clear that the Thunder are still a year or two away mentally, as they struggle to keep leads and to play consistently, and that edge should prove invaluable come playoff time.
A note on the trades over the past 2-3 days: Holy crap. :wow
Player of the Game
http://i.imgur.com/P8O8m.jpg
His defense was suspect. His stats don't jump off the page. And you could certainly say that Tim Duncan had as much to do with the win as Mr. Neal. This PotG honor, however, is going to Neal, because, well, I thought he played really freaking well, and I'm writing this so it's my decision. :lol On a more earnest note, this was probably the best game I've seen all year from Neal. Most importantly: He was aggressive every single time he had the ball. When he caught the rock, Neal made an immediate decision to either hoist a 3, or penetrate to break down the defense. It almost seemed at times this game that Neal was running point for the Spurs, and he passed the ball extremely effectively despite getting only 3 assists. His shooting was scorching -- against the Thunder, Neal really made it rain (HEYOOOOOOOOOOOO), shooting 4-5 from downtown and 6-9 overall to tally 19 points. The most important aspect of his play Wednesday night would not show up in the stat column, however: It was that for the first time in a long while, Gary Neal looked absolutely steady and confident in role on the Spurs. He could not have appeared more comfortable if he was Ron Artest daydreaming on his shrink's couch. For his stellar shooting, and persistent initiative on offense, Neal is awarded the PotG and a solid A. I'm sure he'll be happy to hang this in his locker at the AT&T center. :lol Perhaps he should sport the Van Gogh look a little more often in the future.
Starters
Tony Parker - C+ Tony had an extremely uneven game. The Spurs would have been down 15 or more points in the first quarter if not for his drives to the hoop which hornswoggled the Thunder defense for the first 12 minutes. Once again, he was the offense for the Spurs early, and then struggled in the 2nd and 3rd quarters to score any field goals. Parker did get to the line 10 times in this game, canning 8 of his freebies, which is great, because everyone likes free points. 2 of his free throws resulted from the fact that he so embarrassed Nick Collison on a drive that Nick threw him to the court, earning a flagrant and a trip to the bench for the rest of the night. Parker also grabbed 5 boards on a night when DeJuan Blair only got 3, and Parker also gets a huge boost in grade for his incredibly clutch 4th quarter 17 foot shot from the right wing which could not have been more lethal a dagger if Macbeth himself had been wielding it. You could literally see the shoulders in the Thunder slump as the shot ripped through the net, boosting the Spurs to yet another win over the young team from OKC.
Manu Ginobili - :downspin: I give up. I simply cannot quantify Manu Ginobili's performances this season any longer. So I'll say this: When Manu isn't actively shooting the ball, he is doing everything right for the Spurs. He facilitates (a game-high 9 dimes), he rebounds (5), and he makes plays on defense and dives to get loose balls. But 2-13 shooting for Manu means that I'm starting to be a little concerned about his shot/shot selection. In Manu's last 10 games, he's shooting 34.7%. Consider that for a moment for a man that was in the MVP race earlier this year and indeed might have led it at one point. Ugh. So frustrating. Manu: You better find your shot come playoff time or we're going to struggle to go very far in the playoffs. I swear I get a little older now every time I see him chuck a three.
Richard Jefferson - B Yes, Durant went off for 30 points this game. However, I thought RJ did a reasonably good job on defense against KD, as Durant shot under 50%. More importantly, if you look at the shot chart, you see that Durant only took 4 shots from under 10 feet, meaning the Spurs were doing a good job limiting his inside looks. If you're going to give something to Durant, you have to live with his fadeaway jumpers. He's got a great shot, but you can't really do much to stop it anyway, and the Spurs can absolutely live with him taking 16 footers or better, of which he only shot 5-12. RJ also brought some firepower to the offense on a night it was needed, bombing away for 4-5 from beyond the arc, accounting for all 12 of his points. Since the Spurs had plenty of penetration from Parker/Neal/Hill, there was no need for Jefferson to force the issue tonight, and he spent it opening up lanes and spacing for our guards.
Tim Duncan - B+ Great game by Duncan. He was the only Spurs player in double figures in rebounding with 10, and scored 17 points on 7-15 shooting. But Duncan did a great job patrolling the paint and stopping penetration (well, after the first quarter :spin) and he had 3 :nope 's to stymie the Thunder from taking control of the paint. Partially due to Tim's influence, the Thunder shot a majority of their shots from the right wing of the court, and in the 4th quarter basically abandoned driving to the hoop altogether. TDunc also picked up a technical foul following the Collison-Parker incident, which seemed to light a fire under San Antonio. Watching Tim Duncan lately, you can really get a feel that he's starting to kick in the engines on D a little bit more each game, slowly rounding into playoff form. Who wants to bet he's going to do better than his season average when the playoffs roll around? :flag:
DeJuan Blair - D Let's hope he's not officially slumping. With just 6 rebounds in his last two games, Blair is suddenly looking more and more like the young inexperienced player that he was last season. He has been losing the ball more frequently on offense, and doesn't seem to have any rhythm when he's in the game. I'm talking a level of butterfingers that's giving me flashbacks to Nazr Mohammed (who's now on the Thunder, btw). An utterly forgettable game for Blair, who saw no action after the mid-point of the 3rd quarter.
Bench
George Hill - B His stats don't jump off the page at you, but Hill had a very solid outing. He played pretty good D for most of the game, and didn't try to do to much on a night when several other Spurs players were shooting the rock really well. Are Hill's handles also improving? He's added a double through the legs dribble to his size-up outside of the 3 point line that I haven't seen before, and overall Hill seemed extremely calm with the ball, resulting in not a single turnover in 28 minutes.
Matt Bonner - C- Some clutch threes made him worthwhile, but I saw a lack of defense from Matt tonight. We could really have used his presence (or at least, his effort), but in 24 minutes Matt seemed very slow of foot and only managed 5 rebounds. Aside from Duncan, no post player for the Spurs really showed up against the Thunder, an ominous sign going forward. But it's good to see Matt shooting the rock well again, at least.
Antonio McDyess - C Seems that I ruffle feathers anytime I give McDyess lower than a B, but Antonio just seemed a little old tonight. He only played 15 minutes, and put up decent stats, but again... the Spurs won by 4 points despite shooting 62% from downtown. It's largely because we didn't get second chance buckets and they did, and that lands on the shoulders of our bigs who should have been rebounding, and weren't. If we shoot over 55% from 3 in any game, I don't care who we're playing, we should blow them out of the building. 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal... very decent stats, but the fact is, if we don't shoot lights out, we're 46-11 right now.
Gregg Popovich - B I still think he's too quick with the chain to yank players, but how can you really fault Pop at this point in the season. The thing that he does better than any coach in the NBA is that he has a very firm grasp on the reins of the Spurs. He's completely in-tune with how the team is feeling, thinking, and how that translates to on-court performance. Perhaps a little less drill instructor for our more malleable of players would be optimal, but that's never going to change at this point. And if you think Popovich is really focused on being in high gear right now, you need to look no further than his attitude at Duncan getting a tech, laughing it up with not only Scott Brooks, but Kevin Durant as well. It would be interesting to hear what was said there. It was also the demeanor of a coach who knows his team is right where they should be.
Overall, I want to see better rotations on defense, MUCH less interior passing than we allowed last game, and we really need Blair to start inhaling rebounds again. I DID love our response to the flagrant and tech though, the 17-2 run was beautiful and really gave us control of the game. With a potential playoff matchup looming, I think it's becoming clear that the Thunder are still a year or two away mentally, as they struggle to keep leads and to play consistently, and that edge should prove invaluable come playoff time.
A note on the trades over the past 2-3 days: Holy crap. :wow