Grades: Spurs @ Sixers - Feb. 8

[timvp]

In perhaps their best win of the season, the Spurs traveled to Philadelphia and left town with a 100-90 victory. While you may not hear much about the 76ers, they have quietly been one of the best teams in the NBA this season and had won six of their previous seven games. As it turns out, San Antonio -- now winners of six straight -- ain't too shabby themselves.

For the first two and a half quarters, neither team could get much separation. Then the Spurs defense locked in and held the Sixers to four points over a six-minute span, which allowed the good guys to push a one-point advantage to 11 points. While Philadelphia kept fighting, the Spurs held them at bay the rest of the way.

I can't say enough about how impressed I am with this victory. Utilizing a stingy defense and a steady offense, the Spurs improved to 2-0 on the Rodeo Road Trip with a playoff-style win.

http://oi40.tinypic.com/9hj7fm.jpg

Tim Duncan B-
It wasn't always pretty. In fact, it was downright ugly at times. But Tim Duncan kept battling and was able to put together a solid outing. Rebounding was again his major strength; he's averaging 14.3 boards over the last three games. Duncan defended the rim well and rotated quickly on pick-and-roll defense. The Sixers are a physical team but Duncan never let up. Offensively is where most of the ugliness occurred. His jumper wasn't on, he wasn't rolling well after setting picks and he was indecisive in the low block. But to his credit, Duncan scored two big buckets late to help secure the win.

Tony Parker A+
If there were any questions remaining about whether Tony Parker deserves to be an All-Star, he cleared up any lingering doubts tonight. Against a very good defensive team who gives up the fewest points in the league largely due to their ability to bottle up opposing point guards, Parker refused to be mishandled. Doing most of his scoring in the paint, Parker's relentlessness resulted in a season-high number of free throws. When it came to distributing, he was best in pick-and-roll sets -- particularly with Tiago Splitter. Overall, it was another great performance punctuated by a fourth quarter that saw him produce 16 points.

Richard Jefferson D+
On defense, Richard Jefferson was pathetically slow. He couldn't stay in front of anyone and rarely hustled back in transition defense. Offensively, Jefferson didn't hit a shot or do much of anything. His only redeeming quality was that he was strong on the boards on a night when the Spurs weren't rebounding well. But seriously, with Manu Ginobili returning on Saturday, Pop needs to find a whole lot of bench time for Jefferson going forward.

DeJuan Blair B
I liked DeJuan Blair's effort tonight. Early on, Blair was strong on the glass and drew a pair of offensive fouls. He also made a handful of good passes and remained aggressive on both ends even after his mistakes. Blair still has a ways to go in terms of getting his game back but this was definitely a step in the right direction.

Danny Green C-
Yeah, Danny Green did his share of little things. But he needs to start the big things again. Over his last three games, he has missed his last 16 shots from the field. No matter how you slice it, that's unacceptable. His rebounding and defense also haven't been as impressive as of late. Personally, I think Green's tired -- which could explain why his shot is off and why he's not as physically imposing as of late. With the Spurs getting some rest in the coming week, let's hope Green can regain his footing and continue his breakout season.

Gary Neal A+
Wow. Where did that come from? Gary Neal played 30 minutes of the most well-rounded basketball I've ever seen out of him. In addition to his deadly outside shooting, Neal's playmaking was great. Coming into this game, playmaking was definitely a weakness of his but Neal had six assists and no turnovers -- and he was even better than those stats indicate. Defensively, he was very solid, especially chasing his man around screens. The cherries on top were the few contested boards he snatched out of midair.

Matt Bonner B-
At times, Matt Bonner was comically bad. He had one of the worst transition defense moments in recorded history. Twice in a row, the Sixers scored off of in-bounds plays when Bonner blew the assignment. But other than those lows, Bonner did his job. He rebounded extremely well and did just enough defensively against the athletes of the Sixers to keep Pop from going small. Against pick-and-rolls, Bonner continues to excel on the defensive end. And on offense, Bonner's lone three-pointer gave the team their largest lead (12 points) near the end of the third quarter.

Kawhi Leonard B-
Coming off the bench again, this time due to Philadelphia's sixth man (Lou Williams) being their best offensive weapon, Kawhi Leonard did decent work on the defensive end. He played the passing lanes well and the intensity was there, however he just never seemed to get into any sort of defensive rhythm. Offensively, he scored off of a strong cut to the basket. With Ginobili returning, it'll be interesting to see if Leonard will lose his starting gig for good.

Tiago Splitter A
For a guy who played only 17 minutes, I'm not sure Tiago Splitter could have done more. He was an absolute terror in pick-and-rolls; his timing on the rolls is very, very good and he can finish off of just about any type of catch. He scored in the low block and made a couple really good passes. Defensively, he used his quick feet and his deceptive length to wall off sections of the paint. The only thing he didn't do tonight was rebound, though that was mostly due to him being so active on D that he wasn't under the basket when the shots went up.

Pop B+
It's difficult to complain too much about a win of this quality. It's painfully obvious that Splitter deserved more minutes but ... I guess Pop has his reasons. In hindsight, he probably should have pulled Jefferson and/or Green earlier and given even more minutes to Neal, Leonard or maybe even James Anderson. But all in all, Pop coached well. I liked how he sneakily found minutes to rest Parker here and there. Duncan re-entering late paid dividends, even though it appeared as if Splitter was the better option. And Pop giving Neal semi-consistent minutes at point guard this year despite mostly negative results really paid off tonight with Neal looking like the reincarnation of John Stockton at times.

[ducks]

Spurs to a 15-7 record without Manu Ginobili and with a 35-year-old Tim Duncan

[timvp]

Stats of the night:

-Parker's 13-for-13 at the line wasn't a career best. Back in 2007, he had a game in which he was 14-for-14.

-Entering the game, the Sixers were holding opposing point guards to a PER of 11.0. In other words, the Sixers turn opposing point guards into a worse version of Richard Jefferson.




P.S.

Anyone have a preference about whether or not to include the full box?

[ducks]

I like it but it uses more bandwidth

[JsnSA]

Great job as usual Timvp. I have to admit I have started looking forward to reviewing your grades after the games. Please keep up the great work. :toast

[silverblackfan]

Solid review. Thanks!

[ducks]

parker is making case he is the best player not manu

[LongtimeSpursFan]

Great job as usual Timvp. I have to admit I have started looking forward to reviewing your grades after the games. Please keep up the great work. :toast

I cant fall asleep until my bedtime story of Spurs grades and commentary. :sleep

[GSH]

It's getting harder and harder to explain Tiago's minutes. A guy comes in and looks totally unstoppable, scores 15 in 17 minutes, on 70% shooting. Hell, the other coaches in the league notice that, so I know Pop does. I hope he's really crazy like a fox, because the crazy part is getting harder to ignore.

Danny Green is becoming almost invisible. I like the way the kid played for a stretch there, but I won't let that excuse what he's done lately. He looks indecisive, and that's not good for the kind of role he's trying to carve out. Get with it, Danny.

[rmt]

So does Pop just get a bye for still giving Splitter the least big man minutes? What reason could he possibly have for not rewarding him with more? 15 pts on 70% shooting in 17 minutes ain't enough? Short-sighted is what I call it. Sure the win is nice but Splitter should be getting more than 17 minutes to prepare him for the playoffs.

[ducks]

is green nervous manu is healthy?
green needs the days off to get his spring back

[Hooks]

Kawhi did a GREAT job on Iguodala when he actually got the chance to guard him, he didn't give him any space at all, Iguodala even had trouble just getting open to receive a pass. Iguodala went off early because he was butt ramming RJ.


Bonner deserves a C imo, dude was getting RAPED by Young, mostly in the 4th Q. The only thing Bonner did well was grab some defensive rebounds and make 2 shots, defensively he was terrible though.

[2centsworth]

parker is making case he is the best player not manu

Tony is a beast and is top dog. Now there's no need for u to actively root against a spurs player.

[mercos]

The full box is a nice addition as you can see how well the Spurs defended opposing players. As for the game itself, it was very impressive. The team really seems to have turned a corner after the Dallas game. Parker has been on an absolute tear the past few games. When his jumper is on I would take him over any PG in the league at this point. It also appears that Duncan might be having a mini resurgence after his bumpy start and weak year last year. He has really been coming on strong.

I agree that Danny Green looks tired. We should be able to tell if that is the case over the next few days as the team will get some well deserved nights off during the RRT. I am not to worried about Green though. Gary Neal was very impressive tonight. Probably the best game I have seen out of him. The rest of the bench played their roles sufficiently too.

Blair had a decent night. I would take his play any day of the week if those numbers were coming from a 4th or 5th big. I do not believe the Spurs can contend in the playoffs with him starting games for us. This latest stretch of games have shown that the Spurs are in the mix. A healthy Spurs team can beat any team in the league this year if the roster is used correctly. As I noted in another thread, a starting lineup of Parker, Manu, Leonard, Splitter, and Duncan would improve the team's defense dramatically. They wouldn't be to shabby on offense either.

[Em-City]

Full box is good :)

[spectator]

good grades - liked the reading; don't care that much for the full box

btw, what do you guys think will the the spurs playoff crunch time lineup? i only ask this because i see pop's reluctance to partner tim with tiago, but can the spurs front a better line than tony-manu-kawhi-tiago-tim? that gives us 4 great guys on offense and the best defensive group.

[ElNono]

Thanks for the writeup... haven't watched the game @ home yet... was sorely disappointed with RJ, and that time Matt was running back looking left, while a Sixer and the ball were on his right :lol

[SA210]

parker is making case he is the best player not manu

Manu is our MVP of the team, period

[z0sa]

Gary motherfuckin Neal and Tony Parker were the highlights tonight. THIS is why I said Gary Neal has balls of steel. He just doesn't give up or give in, no matter what role, minutes, or defense he sees.

[dylankerouac]

P.S.

Anyone have a preference about whether or not to include the full box?

I prefer the full box to get an idea for both sides. I rarely go to espn and yahoo now to look at the box scores and summaries, whereas before spurstalk I only went to those sites for Spurs recaps. Thanks for the post.

[maverick1948]

Matt Bonner B-
At times, Matt Bonner was comically bad. He had one of the worst transition defense moments in recorded history. Twice in a row, the Sixers scored off of in-bounds plays when Bonner blew the assignment. But other than those lows, Bonner did his job. He rebounded extremely well and did just enough defensively against the athletes of the Sixers to keep Pop from going small. Against pick-and-rolls, Bonner continues to excel on the defensive end. And on offense, Bonner's lone three-pointer gave the team their largest lead (12 points) near the end of the third quarter.

Bonner covering a Point Guard? That was his assignment? Come on Timvp, this is silly. Sweet Lou Williams rubbed off his defender and slipped behind both bigs. He got an easy basket, but dont lay all the blame on the PF who did a good job of defense tonight. Even Sean said that Young shooting from 15 to 18 was what you wanted him to do. The grade was about right but the comments were short on what he did. Try watching Bonner from a different view, like looking at what he does. He spent his night getting 9 rebounds and blocking out. Same as in Memphis. He may not be perfert but he give effort ever night.

As for Richard Jefferson, you should have given him a great big FFFF. He did nothing to help the team. He gave little effort to get things going.

Also, something you failed to point out about TP's night. He had 0 fouls. Was it a lack of D, or fantastic D?

Team play won this game. We won each quarter. Every single player had a +in the +/- column but RJ. Everyone played good D tonight. TP made the best comments after the game when he was asked about the 0 fouls. He said "I play team defense".

[angelbelow]

It's getting harder and harder to explain Tiago's minutes. A guy comes in and looks totally unstoppable, scores 15 in 17 minutes, on 70% shooting. Hell, the other coaches in the league notice that, so I know Pop does. I hope he's really crazy like a fox, because the crazy part is getting harder to ignore.

Danny Green is becoming almost invisible. I like the way the kid played for a stretch there, but I won't let that excuse what he's done lately. He looks indecisive, and that's not good for the kind of role he's trying to carve out. Get with it, Danny.

Bold looks good btw :toast

Random game thoughts:

-Neal's play making definitely stood out. Normally when Neal drives right, he puts up a floater or awkwardly kicks it out to the someone on the right side. Any attempt to pass to his left was a sure fire turnover. Today he had at least two passes to the left hand side that were on target.

-Blair looked good early on, his 1v1 back and forth battle with Lavoy Allen did not.

-Would have liked to see Splitter get more minutes too but the 76ers had Brand and Young and the 5 and 4 to end the game so Pop went with a smaller lineup to counter it. Definitely need to bump this guys playing time.

He was an absolute monster. I'm really curious how the game would have looked if Parker and Tiago started the game and played 25 minutes together.

[jjktkk]

Thanks for the writeup Tim, and yes I too would like for you to include the box score in your game grade writeups.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Full box is good :)

I too like box.

[jjktkk]

Its kinda interesting that Blair had a decent game. Could that be because a similar sized Brand was mostly guarding him?

[Kamnik]

P.S.

Anyone have a preference about whether or not to include the full box?

The full box would be nice. I usually keep alt tabing betwen this thread and NBA.com to see the opposing team stats.

[Manufan909]

I only need the Spurs box, but it appears that I'm outnumbered. If Pop plays a red-hot Splitter under 20 min, and a pathetic RJ over 20 min, he should get at best a C. Not to mention Green playing a mediocre half hour. Why no chance for JA tonight?

[UnWantedTheory]

Full box :tu

[Brutalis]

The difference in the game was the ref blowing the whistle for us and not near as much for them. I don't think this win meant a damn thing.

[jestersmash]

View from the other side - Postgame video from the Sixers

Doug Collins
http://www.nba.com/sixers/video/2012/02/08/120208collinspostmov-1994673/index.html

Jrue Holiday
http://www.nba.com/sixers/video/2012/02/08/120208Holidaymov-1994696/index.html

Lou Williams
http://www.nba.com/sixers/video/2012/02/08/120208Williamsmov-1994705/index.html

Andre Iguodala
http://www.nba.com/sixers/video/2012/02/08/120208Iguodalamov-1994690/index.html

[jestersmash]

There's a bit of chatter about the free throw disparity tonight. Doug Collins stayed classy and chose to "respectfully decline comment" when asked about it, but some of the players weren't so shy about offering their opinions. Jrue Holiday seemed a bit annoyed at an alleged lack of consistency when he felt Philly was making aggressive moves towards the basket, and Lou Williams had some things to say about the free throw disparity as well.

Edit: Just saw Iguodala's video. A reporter asked him "Do you know early on in the game how it's going to be called?...getting to the line wasn't easy among other things"

He had an interesting response - "You know how the whistle's going to go depending on who you play. Going into games like this we pretty much know it's not going to go our way and uh we have to play through it."

Have we really turned into OKC 2.0? I don't have the stats on hand, but I don't recall San Antonio being a FTA juggernaut in any sense of the term, barring maybe the early to mid 2000 era while Duncan had superstar status and Ginobili was in his prime.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

is green nervous manu is healthy?


Green isn't, you are.

[YoMamaIsCallin]

I never understood why players and coaches bitch about "free throw disparity". As if there should be "free throw parity". What is this, Occupy NBA? We should give the "less fortunate" free throws that they "deserve"? It's such crap.

And the Philly guards need to get with the times and read the memos. This year, if you throw yourself into a defender who's straight up, you aren't going to get a call. Make the basket, bitch, don't moan for the refs to bail you out and get all pissy when they don't.

[Borosai]

Matty ripping away that rebound late in the game. A+

[angelbelow]

Its kinda interesting that Blair had a decent game. Could that be because a similar sized Brand was mostly guarding him?

The lack of a 7'0 footer definitely helped. Most games Blair starts off well with the most noticeable being the first 6 minutes. If he starts the game playing hard,stays patient on offense, hes good for 15-20 minutes that game. If for some reason he starts the game poorly he should be benched until further notice.

[jjktkk]

The lack of a 7'0 footer definitely helped. Most games Blair starts off well with the most noticeable being the first 6 minutes. If he starts the game playing hard,stays patient on offense, hes good for 15-20 minutes that game. If for some reason he starts the game poorly he should be benched until further notice.

Well said. I mentioned the same thing in another thread, but I included RJ with Blair as well. Once the playoffs start, I see both of them on a short leash.

[polandprzem]

At one point of time LJ said that the spurs will have problem being in top8 in conference until Manu comes back.
I said that the spurs can manage to stay a top4 in the West


It looks that we have a really good team :tu

[DrSteffo]

Bonner seems to have improved his rebounding. Parker, Splitter and Neal clearly were our best players out there. I think the grade for Blair was a bit high and it's strange he actually got more minutes than Splitter. Why not play Splitter a bit more in the third? BUT great win!

By the way, I'm always looking forward to your grades timvp and my sincere thanks for all the great work you do here.

[z0sa]

I agree its time to bench Blair. However, Bonner seems better nowadays coming off the bench, and conversely, I don't think benching Blair will help him at all.I just don't know what to do with the Bonner-Blair situation, tbh. Many will probably say 'Start splitter!' and I'd agree if that somehow fixed the Blair situation, but it doesn't. Our lack of big men is simply that.

[polandprzem]

P.S.

Anyone have a preference about whether or not to include the full box?

If it daoes not involve much more of the time and work IMO it would be better to see the opponents stats.

You can also bring something like "stat of the night" /a key stat you think was the most important in winning or losing/

Just my thought

[therealtruth]

I agree its time to bench Blair. However, Bonner seems better nowadays coming off the bench, and conversely, I don't think benching Blair will help him at all.I just don't know what to do with the Bonner-Blair situation, tbh. Many will probably say 'Start splitter!' and I'd agree if that somehow fixed the Blair situation, but it doesn't. Our lack of big men is simply that.

I think with the way Splitter is playing the FO has to make a move signing or trade that allows him to start. I think if they do that the team has a really good chance.

[Darkwaters]

Great write-up as usual Timvp!

[SA210]

is green nervous manu is healthy?



Green isn't, you are.



:lol:rollin

[Obstructed_View]

I like it but it uses more bandwidth

And you work on computers for a living. :bang

[TDMVPDPOY]

danny greens 4 3pta...all of them were stupid bail out shots from wankers who over dribble when open and passing it to him in the final seconds of the shot clock to chuck up, dont be mislead by his fg% while everyone is tryin to protect theirs...

[Bruno]

I'm really surprised by this Spurs team. Before the game, I was fully expected a loss but Spurs played very well and get a very convincing win.

Parker was again awesome. Neal, Duncan and Splitter were great too. The most impressive was the composure of the team. There were some stretch of the game were Spurs couldn't score a point but they stayed focused. They look more and more like a legit contender.

It was nice and interesting to hear Malik doing color commentaries.

[will_spurs]

Anyone have a preference about whether or not to include the full box?

I was asking for it in the previous game report exactly for the reason people mentioned, because I was just ctrl-tabbing between ST and Yahoo or nba.com to get the full boxscore. Much easier now to see which player had a great or disappointing game, if they had an unusually high/low number of turnovers, etc.

I was afraid it would be taking too much space in the post but it actually doesn't.

Also nice of you to provide the score in the first sentence as your grades are often the first thing I read in the morning, as I'm sure other people who are also in different timezones are doing the same :) I remember a few times when I had to open another website just to see if the Spurs had actually won or lost!

:toast

[urunobili]

James Anderson has been playing with enough composure to start getting some minutes back from Green.

Thanks for the awesome recap timvp!

[RodNIc91]

Thanks for the Writeup Timvp. I do appreciate the posting of both boxscores. I believe it gives a better perspective of the defense played.

I was wondering. Is there a remote possibility Pop knows Splitter will be best when starting but he just does not want anybody to know until the playoffs? I mean, Tiago is playing great basketball and there is no apparent reason why he gets 20 mpg

[SpurNation]

Tim Duncan B-
It wasn't always pretty. In fact, it was downright ugly at times. But Tim Duncan kept battling and was able to put together a solid outing. Rebounding was again his major strength; he's averaging 14.3 boards over the last three games. Duncan defended the rim well and rotated quickly on pick-and-roll defense. The Sixers are a physical team but Duncan never let up. Offensively is where most of the ugliness occurred. His jumper wasn't on, he wasn't rolling well after setting picks and he was indecisive in the low block. But to his credit, Duncan scored two big buckets late to help secure the win.

Can't help but be worried about his extended minutes in these games. Great to hear and see he's improving from his rocky start of the season...but how long can he play this many minutes and it NOT take it's toll down the road?

A balance of minutes between Splitter and Duncan has got to become a priority I would think.

[Blake]

I like the full box. :tu

I guess we can assume this was a real gold win.

[Darkwaters]

James Anderson has been playing with enough composure to start getting some minutes back from Green.

Thats going to be hard to justify with Ginobili coming back into the rotation in the next few days as well. It's hard to have a wing rotation consisting of 5 players, let alone 6 (Ginobili, Leonard, Jefferson, Green, Neal and Anderson).

[BRs.Ganso]

Bonner's easy rebounds was just that's what came to his hands, and what Splitter did the box to him. :toast

[EVAY]

The full box would be nice. I usually keep alt tabing betwen this thread and NBA.com to see the opposing team stats.



This is what I have been doing.

I like the full stats, because they help know you know which player is struggling against which defender from our team.

It was nice to see that while TP shot 50 % from the field and 100% from the line, his counterpart shot poorly from the field and only got very few foul shots.

[PhingerRoll]

Thank you for another great read! I too like the full box for whatever that is worth. I continue to be perplexed by fans hating on our players... Bonner has been playing really good team D and his rebounding efforts have really picked up. He and Blair may both be flawed, but they give it all they have and as long as they are wearing Silver and Black, give them their due respect folks!!!

[Das Texan]

Good as usual timvp


Keep the full box btw.

[ManuTastic]

Full box :tu

[benefactor]

Good grades and yes to the full box too.

I'm just loving this team right now. I came into the year with almost no expectations, so watching this group play so impressively and seeing them continually improve without Manu is very encouraging. If they can make it to the end healthy they might have one more deep playoff run up their sleeve.

[therealtruth]

Bonner's easy rebounds was just that's what came to his hands, and what Splitter did the box to him. :toast

I agree Splitter's rebounding numbers look deceptive. He usually does a good job boxing out so a Spur ends up with the rebound anyway. Boxing out is actually more important than just chasing the rebound.

[z0sa]

James Anderson has been playing with enough composure to start getting some minutes back from Green.

Interesting prospect but the team has so many wings once Manu returns.. I think spot minutes for Anderson are as good as it gets, at this point.

He (along with those other 4) does have the Mavericks near-comeback on the road under his belt, though, so I'm assuming he continues to be a fringe player, especially if we need offense or simply another bench-led kick in the ass.

[wildbill2u]

Full box is nice for reference.

For those of us who can't see the games, I'd really like to see in every grade a reference to the player that the Spur is matched up with when on defense. Especially with the new guys and the way Pop plays them from game to game, it's hard to tell how they did from the stats in the box.

Pop playing Green those huge minutes seems strange when his stats were so poor--but if he was holding down one of their best players with defense, it would make more sense and that also shows up in their box.

On the other hand, Pop may just have had a notion to play Green a lot because it was Wednesday. :toast

[Em-City]

Bonner's easy rebounds was just that's what came to his hands, and what Splitter did the box to him. :toast


I'm no bonner fan, but give credit where credit is due... he grabbed some big boards against the 76'ers and played a great game.

[callo1]

" Parker refused to be mishandled"

As long as I live, I will never forget that quote...brings back memories.

Very nice timing and touch Timvp. With the Spurs next game against the Little General's squad...good stuff.

[timvp]

" Parker refused to be mishandled"

As long as I live, I will never forget that quote...brings back memories.

Very nice timing and touch Timvp. With the Spurs next game against the Little General's squad...good stuff.

Ha. I did that to entertain myself. Nice job connecting all the dots. :toast

[analyzed]

This is a total surprise, to have this record with Manu out, I don't want to preempt things or get to excited, but seriously is it time to revisit the question : Can we still win it? Can we contend for the title. Put it this way , we were 2 wins away from making the second round in last years stronger West. without a 100 % Manu, and the non existance of Tiago, Kawhi and Green. that has to be an upgrade, so the question is how much further will that bring us, I think at minimum the second round , and maybe it's not to far fetched to get a finals appearance?

[therealtruth]

This is a total surprise, to have this record with Manu out, I don't want to preempt things or get to excited, but seriously is it time to revisit the question : Can we still win it? Can we contend for the title. Put it this way , we were 2 wins away from making the second round in last years stronger West. without a 100 % Manu, and the non existance of Tiago, Kawhi and Green. that has to be an upgrade, so the question is how much further will that bring us, I think at minimum the second round , and maybe it's not to far fetched to get a finals appearance?

Just like last season the most glaring weakness is in the frontcourt. The perimeter d is a little better. If the Spurs can get another big to shore up the frontcourt I like their chances. You have to remember in the playoffs teams are going to attack your weaknesses.

[pjjrfan]

I think during the Dallas game our second unit learned to fight, that is they gained a valuable lesson as to what it takes to get a win, not just that they got hot from the field, but when pushed they pushed back, when they were outquicked, they recovered and got back in the play they contested everything and their level of aggression got stronger as the game wore on and even though they lost the game the lessons they learned stayed with them and they have built on that since that game.
I expect that Manu's return will throw them in a funk but once Manu gets his game back this team will be much stronger. Manu has always been able to incorporate the people around him much quicker than anyone else on this team.
This philly game was a loss in my book, so it was quite a suprise to see them come in with so much energy and grit.

[ginobilized]

Great write up.

Full box, please, with fries.

[Ice009]

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2012/02/09/ginobili-set-for-full-contact-practice-2/

“He’s been doing what we saw tonight for seven or eight years, maybe nine or 10 years,” Popovich said after beating the Sixers. “That’s who he is. He’s just a blue-collar, basic kind of guy a coach loves. He doesn’t have a lot of skills, but his basketball IQ is off the charts.”

Here's the Pop quote after the game from an EN article today. Yesterday I only read half of it, this is the other half.

[mystargtr34]

:lol Pop said that about Tiago?

[Manu-of-steel]

I'm no bonner fan, but give credit where credit is due... he grabbed some big boards against the 76'ers and played a great game.

Agree. Bonner was active on the boards tonight. Kudos to Bonner. :toast Full box score:toast

[Ice009]

:lol Pop said that about Tiago?

The part that I've made bold is something he said earlier in the season. IMO It's kind of a slap in the face saying he doesn't have many skills.

[jestersmash]

The part that I've made bold is something he said earlier in the season. IMO It's kind of a slap in the face saying he doesn't have many skills.

It's not the first time Pop has poked fun at Tiago.

http://www.nba.com/spurs/video/120202_pop

1:53+