Game Grades: Spurs-Blazers (March 26, 2011)

[TE]

My first game grades. Enjoy, I tried.

Game thoughts
Well, this was arguably the worst loss of the season. Giving the game away was pretty much anything and everything that could be said from the outcome. We had this game in the bag late leading by six, only to cough the game away with three straight turnovers. The Blazers held star forward Lemarcus Aldridge to 14 points on a defensive gameplan that saw aggressive double teams go at him. The bad? Blazer role players stepped up. Batum had 21 points, G. Wallace had 14, Matthews had 15, Miller had 21 :bang.

Our team played relatively good offense despite some obviously stupid turnovers (and lineups). The defense was okay, but there was a point in which the Blazers could not miss a shot.

About 60 % of this loss goes to Pop. Terrible rotations, terrible late game coaching.

Manu and Tony each contributed to two costly turnovers which ultimately gave the Blazers a chance to get back in the game.

All in all, terrible game. But as an optimist, I see the Spurs taking this game as a "wakeup" for the rest of the season. They will not ever lose a game like that the rest of this season.

Game grades
Steve Novak D

Entered the game late before the first half ended. Did nothing. Was put into the game at the end to attempt an inbound play, resulting in a turnover which allowed Blazers to score a game winning dunk at the buzzer. Score is given because of the fact that not much is expected from him, other than to make shots when called upon. Novak is not a regular rotation player and although his turnover proved to cost us the game, he doesn't get any lower than a D. His turnover was more of a product of having a stubborn Pop insert him into the game. Novak has never been in this type of situation as an inbounder.

Gary Neal C+

Made a few shots. Went 25% from three. Was a bit of liability out there on defense. Was one of the few decent sightings of todays game from the offensive end.

Dejuan Blair C

Looked very clumsy with the ball. Scored a few times but has regressed from the beginning of the season.

Matt Bonner C+

With the minutes he was allotted to play, actually didn't fare to bad. Only knock on him was on defense when guarding ANY player.

George Hill C+

Drove to the basket more aggressively this game. The knock on Hill's game tonight was all the fade away jumpers taken. Someone needs to remind him that he's best when driving to the rim instead of taking mid-range jumpers.

Tony Parker F

Played outstanding in the first half. Second half, different story. Late in the game, took a mid range jumper (similarly to the game in Denver) which was off and provided the Blazers a fast break opportunity. 8 turnovers, one of which proved costly......smh :bang

Manu Ginobili D-

Played decently throughout the game. Had a couple of threes, particularly late in the game which gave the team a 6 point lead. Also, had 7 assists (some of which were golden). But, turnovers again proved costly. 5 turnovers throughout with one VERY COSTLY pulled the game evenly with the Blazers.

Antonio McDyess C+

Played well defensively and rebounded the well very well. Missed some of his patented mid range jumpers but other than that played well in other facets of the game.

Tiago Splitter B+

By far played the best game of his NBA career from a non-statistical point of view. Rebounded the ball very well. Altered shots, and blocked a few. The intriguing question to point out is: what would've happened if he were to be put earlier into the 4th quarter?

Richard Jefferson C+

Had a sloppy couple of plays, but scored a few points and played half decent defense. Also rebounded the ball particularly well considering the rebounding statistics.





Coach Pop F

Worst coaching loss of the season. So many errors in late game personnel.


Team Defense C

Could have been better.

Team Offense C

Decent, but also could have been better.







Timmy, where the hell are you??!?!? :depressed

[Cane]

Pretty low grades but Parker did deserve the lowest and Tiago did deserve the highest. :toast Thanks for keeping these threads alive, when was the last game thoughts/grades thread anyway?!?




Dejuan Blair D

Looked very clumsy with the ball. Scored a few times but has regressed from the beginning of the season.


If I remember right, Blair had a pretty rough start in the season and went through a sophomore slump. He might be going through that again since he lost his starting job and has a sprained wrist but I thought he played better in the 2nd half for what its worth.

[TE]

Pretty low grades but Parker did deserve the lowest and Tiago did deserve the highest. :toast Thanks for keeping these threads alive, when was the last game thoughts/grades thread anyway?!?




If I remember right, Blair had a pretty rough start in the season and went through a sophomore slump. He might be going through that again since he lost his starting job and has a sprained wrist but I thought he played better in the 2nd half for what its worth.

Blair did have a tough start to the season. He was in a bit of a sophomore slump but proved to play well in one stretch of the season. Now he looks like a fish out of water when he has the ball. I feel bad for the guy.

[Em-City]

i'm a huge neal fan, but he was terrible today, as was dice.

tiago was the silver lining, definitely his most impressive game against quality opposition - maybe there is hope that he'll make the playoff rotations

[Josepatches_]

Last turnover by Manu was very costly but overall he didn't play so bad.He lead us in the 4th and he puts the team ahead with two 3 pointers in a row in the last minutes

He deserves a D or C-.

[itzsoweezee]

Blair was horrible in the first half. Absolutely awesome in the second half.

What game were you watching? I was watching it live and Aldridge was completely shut down when Popovich put Blair on him. Lamarcus was an afterthought at that point. And the Blair big baskets in the second half (the pick and rolls with Manu, that huge dunk) were key in getting the Spurs that comfortable lead.

Popovich should get an F for that inbounds throw and for the Manu isolation play at the end of the game alone.

[TE]

Blair was horrible in the first half. Absolutely awesome in the second half.

What game were you watching? I was watching it live and Aldridge was completely shut down when Popovich put Blair on him. Lamarcus was an afterthought at that point. And the Blair big baskets in the second half (the pick and rolls with Manu, that huge dunk) were key in getting the Spurs that comfortable lead.

Popovich should get an F for that inbounds throw and for the Manu isolation play at the end of the game alone.

A steal, and 2-3 plays of defending doesn't constitute a shut down on Lemarcus. Besides, when Blair was guarding LA there could have been some fouls called on him for playing to physical. Blair played with heart, I give him that.

[roycrikside]

Your grades are stupid and based entirely on negative memories. You gave almost everyone across the board a far lower grade than they deserved.

The Spurs played a very good game overall. They shot 51% on the road (48% on threes) against a really tough, athletic defensive team and held them to 46%, even with all the easy layups and dunks they got on transition. And they did it all without Tim and with Pop employing some really stupid lineups in the fourth quarter.

The ONLY thing the Spurs did poorly was turnovers. 19 of them, and the last three especially, were unacceptable. But otherwise they played a very good game offensively and defensively.

I think most guys deserve Bs, tbh. D for Tony would be my lowest.

[admiralsnackbar]

Your grades are stupid and based entirely on negative memories. You gave almost everyone across the board a far lower grade than they deserved.

+1.

Not to pile on, but seriously... may as well have given F's across the board and saved yourself some typing, OP.

[TE]

Sorry if you disagree with my game grades. It's really a matter of interpretation. This was my first try at it. I'll try getting better at it to represent the larger pool of Spur fan opinions.

[8FOR!3]

I don't think Steve Novak deserves a grade. He was in the game like a minute and that inbound incident wasn't his fault. He's a bad passer and was put into a bad situation.

[elbamba]

I agree that the Spurs played a pretty good game until the last minute of the game. Bad shots are going to be taken and the Spurs will turn the ball over. However, erase those two bad turnovers to close out the game and all of a sudden Manu gets an A for hitting those clutch threes that we all said "why the hell are you taking that s.....Yes! Great Shot Manu."

[elbamba]

I don't think Steve Novak deserves a grade. He was in the game like a minute and that inbound incident wasn't his fault. He's a bad passer and was put into a bad situation.

His bad pass is Pop's fault for putting him in that situation. With .9 no one is going to pass the ball back to the inbound player, which is the only reason you but a three point shooter in to inbound the ball. Make the defense stay honest. Bonner or Dice or Jefferson should have inbounded the ball. You simply can't do the one thing that they did and thats turn the ball over without running the clock out.

[dunkman]

Terrible excecution down the streach. Parker and Manu's turnovers for easy fastbreak baskets with seconds left, Novak throwing it out of bounds, leaving Batum with Parker. It's very unusual, because the Spurs are the best in closing out games.

[lil'mo]

I didn't think anyone could make a worse game grades thread than cry havoc, but congrats, you did it. And batum didn't dunk.

[Agloco]

About 60 % of this loss goes to Pop. Terrible rotations, terrible late game coaching.



Strongly disagree. Tony Parker is really the only person you should be looking at here.

[romain.star]

Strongly disagree. Tony Parker is really the only person you should be looking at here.

I'm not a Parker fan but come on, he was not the only one out there. Manu last 3 offensive and defensive actions were just horrible

[DPG21920]

Parker clearly played worse than Manu. That is not arguable.

[romain.star]

Parker clearly played worse than Manu. That is not arguable.

nobody's arguing... Manu >>> Parker last night. That's a fact. But Manu's last actions were just insanely bad

[DPG21920]

His one turnover was no worse than TP's, in fact, his was a little better because it wasn't right in front of our own basket and he at least ran clock.

The inbounds was Novak's fault, not Manu's. Manu at least made some clutch shots before the TO, TP did nada.

[romain.star]

His one turnover was no worse than TP's, in fact, his was a little bitter because it wasn't right in front of our own basket and he at least ran clock.

The inbounds was Novak's fault, not Manu's. Manu at least made some clutch shots before the TO, TP did nada.


Fixed

Manu is supposed to be the man late in games. He is the one who closes games. He's known for it. I can not accept what he did last night. Well... basically I don't have the choice but still

[DPG21920]

You don't have to accept it. It sucked. But TP played worse and did much more to cost the Spurs the game. Sure, Manu didn't help, but actually played well overall. TP did not, especially the last 5 minutes.

[romain.star]

You don't have to accept it. It sucked. But TP played worse and did much more to cost the Spurs the game. Sure, Manu didn't help, but actually played well overall. TP did not, especially the last 5 minutes.

Agree

Parker sucked big time but Agloco saying TP is the only responsible for the loss is just dumb.

On a brighter note, I'm happy for Batum. I really like this Batum kid. He is a really nice person.

[DPG21920]

Batum is funny. His demeanor is hilarious. I like him as a player. He has had some up's and down's this year, but overall pretty solid.

[romain.star]

Yeah he is a really good player. Great defender with a solid BB IQ. Spurs material.
He wanted to be drafted by the spurs and was sooo pissed !


He is, along with Boris Diaw, the most appreciable French dude in the NBA.

[Juggity]

Game thoughts
Well, this was arguably the worst loss of the season.

Just because the loss is the most painful doesn't objectively make it the worst. We've had a number of blowout games this season which were much worse and much more frustrating than this loss (NOH game, LAL game, MIA game, MEM game, etc. etc. etc.). I'm pleased with the majority of this game until about the last 30 seconds or so. I wasn't expecting us to win this. The fact that we almost did is a good thing. If Timmy were here, we would have won handily.

[Cane]

Agree

Parker sucked big time but Agloco saying TP is the only responsible for the loss is just dumb.


No, Agloco was saying that if there was a person that deserved most of the blame it'd be TP since Agloco highlighted and replied to "60% of the loss goes to Pop".

And I agree. Tony Parker was terrible and much worse than what his crappy boxscore showed. 8 god damn turnovers, travelling violations, dumb jumper late in the 4th, poor defense, there really wasn't much positive to say about Parker. It seemed like after he banged knees with Andre Miller he turned into Roddy Beaubois. Speaking of Miller, that guy simply owns Parker. Its like Andre's dating Eva or something since Parker struggles so much against Miller and the Blazers. Parker and Manu have to be playing their A-games to win without Duncan out and that just wasn't the case last night.

[Pauleta14]

As much as the loss is on TP, he doesn't deserves the lowest grade because his 2nd poor play was also due to his 1st half "attack mode"...

I mean everybody ho saw the game could say (and was saying in the game thread) that TP was going to run out of gas and his TO are mainly due to that fact.

I guess that grade (2 letters worst than the next one!!) has something to do with TP history with ST spurs fans... lol

[ohmwrecker]

I don't think this is the worst loss of the season at all. The blowouts at the hands of the Lakers/Heat were much, much worse. Aside from the TOs (specifically the late ones), the Spurs played pretty well against a very good Blazers team. They were in position to win and choked the game away.
I think there is a team identity issue going on with Duncan being out, but it's also been bubbling under the surface all year. Some players don't always seem comfortable with their role and do too little, while others are trying, at times, to do too much.
When the Spurs are at their best the flow of the game is very smooth and even, with everyone contributing within their role and skill set.
Pop is part of the problem because he makes bad decisions when a wrench is thrown into the system and the confusion filters down to the players.
I think that as much as the mental mistakes late in the game are worrisome, the fact that the Spurs are staying competitive against good teams while Duncan is out is a positive sign. However, they really need to address the issue of individual responsibility within the team concept before the playoffs start.

[Brazil]

Yeah he is a really good player. Great defender with a solid BB IQ. Spurs material.
He wanted to be drafted by the spurs and was sooo pissed !


He is, along with Boris Diaw, the most appreciable French dude in the NBA.

Diaw is certainly a cool guy but dude is lazy as fuck. For that I'm not a fan at all. Seeing him waste his potential drives me nuts he has a huge paycheck and this is enough for him.