Grades: Spurs vs. Bulls - Feb. 29

[timvp]

The Spurs began the second half of their season against the Bulls, a defensive juggernaut that also happens to feature the NBA's reigning MVP. Following a lot of runs both ways, Chicago was able to prove their supremacy in the fourth quarter on their way to a 96-89 victory.

The first quarter ended with the Spurs up by two points. The Bulls owned the second quarter to take an eight-point lead into halftime -- but the Spurs bounced back in the third. That period saw the Spurs play some of their best hardnosed basketball of the season. Heading into the fourth, the Spurs had reclaimed the lead.

In the fourth quarter, the Bulls turned the intensity up and their execution was nearly flawless. If it wasn't for Gary Neal single-handedly keeping the Spurs in the game by scoring 13 straight points, Chicago would have ran away with it.

First of all, I was really impressed by the defense played by the Bulls. They are extremely well coached on that end of the court and each player performed his role exquisitely. It's no mistake they are the envy of the rest of the league when it comes to defensive play. Oh, and that Derrick Rose kid ain't half bad.

As for the Spurs, there was some good and some bad. First the bad: The Bulls are simply the better team right now. There's still a long way to go before San Antonio reaches that level. The good news is that the Spurs have a lot of room to improve, especially health-wise, and they were able to hang in there tonight despite being completely outplayed on both ends for much of the game.

http://oi43.tinypic.com/2a4wcnt.jpg

http://oi42.tinypic.com/ekg9q1.jpg

Tim Duncan C+
In the first half, Tim Duncan looked like he had spent the All-Star break hibernating in a vat of ice. His reactions were slow, his movements were slow and he was having trouble running the court. I'm not sure Duncan has looked worse physically all year than he looked in the first two quarters. Thankfully, he must have thawed out during intermission because he was totally different in the third period. In about an eight-minute stretch, Duncan took over the game -- totaling 12 points and seven rebounds on 6-for-7 shooting from the floor. Unfortunately, Duncan never really got involved in the action in the fourth quarter until it was too late. When he checked in, Neal was in the middle of his one-man show so he ended up taking a backseat. Other than that one stretch, Duncan was definitely sub par tonight. However, that stretch was good enough to arguably be the brightest spot of the entire game.

Tony Parker D+
Early on, it looked like Tony Parker was up for the challenge of matching Rose basket for basket. Parker made four of his first seven shots and looked primed for another huge game. It just didn't happen. Parker went on to connect on only one of his last nine field goals -- many of which were open looks. Despite what his nine assists might lead you to believe, Parker didn't do a very good job of running the offense, particularly in the final three quarters. It seemed like he was taken out of his game after a few calls went against him early and he just never could get everything back on track. While the Bulls are a devastating defensive squad, Parker needed to play a smarter all-around game to give the Spurs a chance.

Richard Jefferson D
I can't even adequately describe how useless Richard Jefferson was tonight. On defense, his rotations were pathetically slow. He compounded that issue by rotating to the wrong player a handful of times. Jefferson gave no effort on the glass and didn't bother to hustle. On offense, he's so much of a one-trick pony that the Bulls erased him from the equation entirely simply by keeping a defender near him at all times.

Danny Green B+
In the first half, Danny Green's three three-pointers played a key role in keeping the Spurs in the ballgame. His energy on the boards and in loose ball situations was also commendable. At times, he even did decent work on Rose. However, in the second half, once the Bulls started running Green off of numerous picks, they realized he couldn't keep up. That's when his defense was exposed a bit. While not being able to maneuver around picks is legitimately a glaring flaw, if he can fix that, Green is showing quite a bit of potential as far as being a player tough and rugged enough to thrive in a playoff type atmosphere.

DeJuan Blair B
To begin the night, DeJuan Blair wasn't doing a good job on the defensive boards, but after Pop jumped on the team to be more aggressive in that area, Blair responded with some strong work on the glass. Offensively, he missed a few easy shots but I didn't mind his aggressiveness. He also had a couple nice high-low entry passes to Duncan to beat an overaggressive Bulls defense. On the other end, outside of his early lapses rebounding-wise, I thought he was solid. All in all, Blair played an average game.

Gary Neal A-
With Chicago's defense beginning to dominate, things looked bleak for San Antonio. But then Gary Neal came to the rescue. Sure, he might have forced some shots and broken the offensive sets a little early a couple times but his 13 straight points in the fourth quarter were gigantic. Without those buckets, the Bulls coast to a double-digit victory. But other than his fourth quarter play, I didn't think Neal was that good. He had a short yet disastrous stint at point guard and his decision-making in pick-and-rolls left a lot to be desired throughout. On defense, it was difficult to hide his deficiencies.

James Anderson B-
With Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard out due to injury, James Anderson was forced into duty. In fact, he was the first player off the bench tonight. What I liked best about his outing was his rebounding in the second half. He pulled down some key boards and his effort was contagious. Defensively, he wasn't very good; he looked slow in one-on-one matchups. Offensively, he hesitated a lot and was basically just getting in the way. But to his credit he had a couple strong drives and he never seemed to back down at any point in the game.

Matt Bonner D
All I can do is shake my head. And really, I'm not even mad at Matt Bonner. But this is a perfect example of what happens against a defense that pays attention to details -- like the Bulls on a nightly basis or most every other team once the playoffs arrive. The Bulls obviously made sticking with Bonner a major point of emphasis in their gameplan because he got none of his customary open looks. His one basket was off of a set play out of a timeout. In the course of the free flowing game, the Bulls were disciplined enough to not even give Bonner one open look. Then on the other end, the Bulls made it a point to attack Bonner defensively. And come playoff time, this is exactly what's going to happen. In typical regular season games, Bonner is a huge asset … but that's largely due to laziness and unpreparedness by the opposition. It just doesn't work when the games actually matter. Tonight was just another example.

Tiago Splitter C-
Coming back from a calf strain, Tiago Splitter didn't look like the same player we got accustomed to before he got hurt. He had trouble running the court and his agility was poor. Hopefully it's just a matter of Splitter getting back into shape and not a matter of lingering effects of the injury. The Brazilian had a couple moments here and there but overall it was a far cry from a few weeks ago.

TJ Ford C
During his first stint, TJ Ford had some exciting plays. His passing was excellent and his defense was scrappy. It looked like he wasn't going to miss a beat following his extended absence due to a pulled hamstring. But then his second stint happened. Ford was atrocious. His defense was lousy, he started dribbling too much, his decisions were too slow and he wasn't getting the team into their sets. That said, it's obviously way too early to have too high of expectations for Ford -- and that first stint offered quite a bit of hope.

Pop B-
The Bulls were the much better team tonight so Pop deserves some credit for playing a role in keeping the scoreboard close for a majority of the game. Dealing with all the players either coming back from injuries or playing through injuries wasn't easy. To make it more difficult, it appeared as if Green got hurt in the second half, which forced Pop to either go with Jefferson or Anderson to close the game. I didn't envy his decision between those two. While I think Pop played Bonner too much, Splitter looked to be gassed after his 18 minutes and Blair hasn't closed games all year so he was probably stuck there too. Let's hope the Spurs can get healthy so that Pop can get back to coaching instead of just playing whichever players are the most upright at any given moment.

[BoricuaCJA]

I'm just happy we got some players back.

[Robz4000]

Agreed on basically everything. Spurs hung in there and gave the Bulls a run for their money despite everything going against them. Didn't expect a W but I'm glad the team kept it close. The first order of business from here on out is to get healthy and stay consistent.

[angelbelow]

-Tale of 2 halves for TJ. Looked confident, rejuvenated, and revitalized in the first half. The 2nd half showcased what a lot of us were concerned about, poor D, over dribbling, lack of energy. But I'm confident with TJ moving forward.

-Bonner made me believe in him (again) during our winning streak. Sadly LJ brings the goods and explains perfectly why Bonner is fool's gold.

-Reoccurring theme for Blair, play well the first 6 minutes and either fall off completely or manage to be active enough to help. At times he looked slow and sluggish while running the court, other times he attempted questionable shots but overall he was positive tonight. Notable plays: the two overhead passes to Timmy that resulted in 2 dunks.

-If you only watched the 3rd quarter, you'd probably think Timvp is insane for giving him a C+. But on the whole Duncan had a lot of trouble with the physicality of the Bulls in the first half. He was unable to generate any offense outside of Blair assisting him for the dunk. Luckily in after getting 2 more dunks in the 3rd, his body language changed and he proceeded to drain a classic bank shot and 3 more long range jumpers.

James Anderson had 1 nice drive.. but I've seen Malik Hairston do that 4 times in one game. The real concern is that he continues to miss his shots when open.

[therealtruth]

Relying on Bonner is like cheating on your homework. It's hurts you when the test comes. That said the best way to combat a good defense is by getting as many easy baskets as possible. That means efficient low post scoring and fastbreaks.

[TDMVPDPOY]

blair a fkn B?

his negatives all game clearly destroys whatever his done on the court

[Spursfanfromafar]

Timvp, you should give RJ an F. An utterly useless weapon who is basically a deadweight being carried by the rest of the Spurs team. He, i thought was single handedly responsible for the Spurs' defense breakdown on crucial plays in the fourth quarters. Other players were atleast trying their best to keep their team close (except for Bonner of course).

Bonner is what he is. A fourth big who gives some offensive options and is otherwise overmatched. Anything that Bonner gives is a bonus. And I am sure his minutes will come down eventually, either when the Spurs get a fifth big man by trade or by the waivers.

But RJ is practically useless - he can't get away from the corner on offense (nor can he get off a shot from there when required) and he is completely listless on defense. His presence in this team is the biggest roadblock for Spurs' contention IMO.

TJ Ford was great in the first half precisely because he was playing like he was a second string PG who was going with the flow. The second half and it seemed like he wanted to take over and to emulate what CJ Watson did for the Bulls. That, I think, completely screwed him up.

[jjktkk]

Nice writeup Tim. :tu

[NewcastleKEG]

Good write up

Without Manu & Leonard, the Spurs can't & shouldn't be expected to keep up with the Bulls 2nd unit. Bulls are a very difficult team to defeat in the regular season because of their depth.

Ultimately we are talking about 2 of the Top4 coached teams in the league. Could very well be a Finals preview

[roycrikside]

LJ, while I agree with you on your points about Bonner and good defenses/playoff defenses prepared for him, shouldn't we be able to exploit teams that have defenders guarding him closely by driving and scoring inside baskets?

The 82games.com data has shown that Manu and Bonner work well together in particular and you'd think with Bonner spacing the floor that either Manu or Neal can dribble drive inside and dish it off to Tiago in a 2-on-1 or 3-on-2 situation when the big man collapses to help, no?

Even if the help comes from a wing, we should be able to dish to the corner for a three, right?

[jag]

Where's Manu's grade?

[spursparker9]

Where the crowd's grade?

Refs grade too

[jag]

Manu Ginobili C-

It was a tale of two halves for Manu. Early on it was nothing short of a vintage performance from the fiery Argentine. He was clapping and cheering on his teammates, and showed why he's one of the best bench leaders in the League. His emotional support and high-five availability was Adam-Morrison-like. However, as the game progressed Manu seemed to fade. In the second half, his passion and enthusiasm from behind the bench were almost non-existent. I can only speculate that his clapping in the first half aggravated one of his many previous injuries. If the Spurs expect to make a deep run this postseason, then they are going to need Manu at his best. If that means clapping and cheering on his teammates through the pain, then so be it. He started off strong, but lackadaisical, uninspired performances like tonight aren't going to cut it.

[Brazil]

Manu Ginobili C-

It was a tale of two halves for Manu. Early on it was nothing short of a vintage performance from the fiery Argentine. He was clapping and cheering on his teammates, and showed why he's one of the best bench leaders in the League. His emotional support and high-five availability was Adam-Morrison-like. However, as the game progressed Manu seemed to fade. In the second half, his passion and enthusiasm from behind the bench were almost non-existent. I can only speculate that his clapping in the first half aggravated one of his many previous injuries. If the Spurs expect to make a deep run this postseason, then they are going to need Manu at his best. If that means clapping and cheering on his teammates through the pain, then so be it. He started off strong, but lackadaisical, uninspired performances like tonight aren't going to cut it.

:lol

[bklynspursfan]

Are you guys shocked Timmy only played 32 minutes? I felt like Pop sat him too long after he went off. I think he should've came in earlier in the 4th than he did.

[Bill_Brasky]

James Anderson has a terrible habit of picking up his dribble at the wrong time then following it up with a weak pump fake. He has to stop doing that.

[Old School 44]

Matt Bonner D
All I can do is shake my head. And really, I'm not even mad at Matt Bonner. But this is a perfect example of what happens against a defense that pays attention to details -- like the Bulls on a nightly basis or most every other team once the playoffs arrive. The Bulls obviously made sticking with Bonner a major point of emphasis in their gameplan because he got none of his customary open looks. His one basket was off of a set play out of a timeout. In the course of the free flowing game, the Bulls were disciplined enough to not even give Bonner one open look. Then on the other end, the Bulls made it a point to attack Bonner defensively. And come playoff time, this is exactly what's going to happen. In typical regular season games, Bonner is a huge asset … but that's largely due to laziness and unpreparedness by the opposition. It just doesn't work when the games actually matter. Tonight was just another example.

Absolutely spot on. Playoff defense meets playoff Bonner.

[Fabbs]

Richard Jefferson D
I can't even adequately describe how useless Richard Jefferson was tonight. On defense, his rotations were pathetically slow. He compounded that issue by rotating to the wrong player a handful of times. Jefferson gave no effort on the glass and didn't bother to hustle. On offense, he's so much of a one-trick pony that the Bulls erased him from the equation entirely simply by keeping a defender near him at all times.



Matt Bonner D
All I can do is shake my head. And really, I'm not even mad at Matt Bonner. But this is a perfect example of what happens against a defense that pays attention to details -- like the Bulls on a nightly basis or most every other team once the playoffs arrive. The Bulls obviously made sticking with Bonner a major point of emphasis in their gameplan because he got none of his customary open looks. His one basket was off of a set play out of a timeout. In the course of the free flowing game, the Bulls were disciplined enough to not even give Bonner one open look. Then on the other end, the Bulls made it a point to attack Bonner defensively. And come playoff time, this is exactly what's going to happen. In typical regular season games, Bonner is a huge asset … but that's largely due to laziness and unpreparedness by the opposition. It just doesn't work when the games actually matter. Tonight was just another example.
Yet CIA Popped gets a B- for playing these two 42 minutes combined.

[Russ]

The Good: The Spurs got a taste of playoff basketball early -- the Bulls beat them up in every sense and gave them a standard to aim for. You can bet Pop has their attention now and they'll be fighting to reach that standard the whole second half. A nice motivational kick in the rear beats resting on RRT laurels anyday. And considering two of their top five-six players were out, they competed pretty well.

The Bad: The Bulls' bigs exposed the Spurs front line as unable to rebound or defend the rim at a playoff level. Noah was playing ping pong on the offensive glass. That will not get better even when Manu and Kawhi return. How they address this fatal flaw before the playoffs is anybody's guess. But we can at least hope they try.

The Ugly: Too much cheering for the Bulls in SA at the Spurs' arena.

[elemento]

This game shows exactly why Bonner is useless in the playoffs. He doesn't get open looks against elite defensive teams.

[Bruno]

Expected loss. There are 3 true contender this year with Heat, Thunder and Bulls. Spurs aren't in the same category and it will stay like that baring some kind of miracle trade or free agent addition.



Manu Ginobili C-

It was a tale of two halves for Manu. Early on it was nothing short of a vintage performance from the fiery Argentine. He was clapping and cheering on his teammates, and showed why he's one of the best bench leaders in the League. His emotional support and high-five availability was Adam-Morrison-like. However, as the game progressed Manu seemed to fade. In the second half, his passion and enthusiasm from behind the bench were almost non-existent. I can only speculate that his clapping in the first half aggravated one of his many previous injuries. If the Spurs expect to make a deep run this postseason, then they are going to need Manu at his best. If that means clapping and cheering on his teammates through the pain, then so be it. He started off strong, but lackadaisical, uninspired performances like tonight aren't going to cut it.

:lol Great timvp impersonation.

But yeah, Ginobili has been a total disaster this year. At more than the half of the regular season, he has only been healthy only 4 games. He better start being healthy and playing great because, with a $13M salary, he will soon end up as one of the most overpaid player in the NBA.

[GSH]

Isn't the reason Pop likes Bonner to be out there that he can "spread the floor"? That doesn't just mean that he makes 3's. It means that it forces the defense to put a man on him or they sag to the middle and then he makes 3's. So when a team like Chicago goes to the trouble of putting a man on him all night, and denying him the open looks, isn't that part of the plan? Isn't that the spreading the floor part of the Bonner strategy? Didn't his presence spread the floor by forcing the other team to keep a potential help defender out there?

Sometimes the defense may go cover him because he's been making 3's - last night they covered him to keep him from making 3's. What's the difference? Well... except for the part where he makes some shots.

Don't even start the rants - I'm not even talking about Bonner here. I'm wondering if there's really any value to this team in spreading the floor, if the rest of the offense can't take advantage of it. We didn't have anybody capable of sucking the defender off of Bonner, so they didn't have to worry about it? To me that all says that the spreading the floor thing is BS, and Bonner's only value is if he's shooting, and making, 3-pointers. I guess it also says that the Bull's defense is good enough (or our offense lacking enough) that they don't need that help defender - ever.

Someone correct me, or steer me in another direction. Because that's a pretty sobering thought.

[DPG21920]

No, you're right. The evidence of that is the goose egg in the 2nd round as of late.

[silverblk mystix]

The Good: The Spurs got a taste of playoff basketball early -- the Bulls beat them up in every sense and gave them a standard to aim for. You can bet Pop has their attention now and they'll be fighting to reach that standard the whole second half. A nice motivational kick in the rear beats resting on RRT laurels anyday. And considering two of their top five-six players were out, they competed pretty well.

The Bad: The Bulls' bigs exposed the Spurs front line as unable to rebound or defend the rim at a playoff level. Noah was playing ping pong on the offensive glass. That will not get better even when Manu and Kawhi return. How they address this fatal flaw before the playoffs is anybody's guess. But we can at least hope they try.

The Ugly: Too much cheering for the Bulls in SA at the Spurs' arena.

Well of course master Pop has a solution to improved rebounding in the playoffs...

here, I'll let the master speak;

:pop:"Matty will grab more than his share of boards because he is fundamentally sound in the way he keeps his arms raised-both of them!"

[justinandimcool]

This game shows exactly why Bonner is useless in the playoffs. He doesn't get open looks against elite defensive teams.

Not exactly Bonner's fault. The offensive system that has shooters rotate among the four major spots (the wings and corners) to get threes is to take advantage of bad defenses only. The only open looks the Spurs got were from Danny Green, early. Then the Bulls figured out he could shoot and he never burned them again.

The offensive system banks on teams doubling Tony or Timmy (or Manu) in order to create open looks, which worked great in the title years because you HAD to double them- all of them. Last night, Tony was too busy choking, no need to double. Tim doesn't get doubled anymore even on his best day. How will we expect Bonner (or Green, or Jefferson) to get open when we can't even get step 1 out of the way?

People love to blame Bonner/Jefferson for choking when really the same thing would happen if we had Bowen/Kerr/Barry as our spot up shooters against elite teams in this system with Duncan at the age he is now. All teams have to do is NOT double team Tony or Manu, and therefore Jefferson and Bonner (and Mason and Bogans and Jackson and Horry) don't get their threes. Then they can't get into a rhythm throughout the game, and all of a sudden they're labeled as chokers.

This is the flaw in Pop's offense. It's great for little league/high school/Golden State where defenses are undisciplined (I coach middle school kids, Pop's offense works amazingly when you have a quick PG). But spot up shooters can't get open when the defense locks in on them. There needs to be more screens and more plays literally drawn up for Bonner/RJ/Green to work the floor and less reliance on stand attack and kick, because defenses aren't buying it anymore.

The reason people say teams die by the three in the playoffs isn't because they suddenly choke- good defenses just key in on it. The reason guys like Reggie Miller and Jason Terry are such huge playoff performers from the perimeter against the best defenses ever is because they don't rely on a defender sagging off--they can run around screens and their offense can create plays for their 3's more easily. Luckily we have a guy like Neal who can do that, as we saw last night. But if Pop doesn't change his offense and set more screens for the spot-up guys, they'll put up more bagels in the playoffs and cause panic here. But the blame lies more on Pop for not realizing this, and for TP when he doesn't score enough to draw doubles.

The best example of this is the OKC games. In game 1 in OKC, they never dared leave Bonner for the entire first half. With Timmy and Tony both struggling, why should they? Bonner ends up 0-1 from 3pt land, and OKC wins in a blow out. Game 2? Parker scores 42...they have to double him or he torches Russell...and they do...Parker ends up drawing the defense out and boom he gets 9 assists--- Green hits 2 threes, Jefferson hits three, Bonner hits three.

It's easy to jump on Bonner and RJ, but it all starts with Pop and Tony.


inb4 tl;dr

[justinandimcool]

Funny thing is that one of Pop's main rules is don't help off a guy in 3 pt range. Thibs stuck to it the whole game, Pop ditched this principle in the last 3 minutes

:pctoss

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Not exactly Bonner's fault. The offensive system that has shooters rotate among the four major spots (the wings and corners) to get threes is to take advantage of bad defenses only. The only open looks the Spurs got were from Danny Green, early. Then the Bulls figured out he could shoot and he never burned them again.

The offensive system banks on teams doubling Tony or Timmy (or Manu) in order to create open looks, which worked great in the title years because you HAD to double them- all of them. Last night, Tony was too busy choking, no need to double. Tim doesn't get doubled anymore even on his best day. How will we expect Bonner (or Green, or Jefferson) to get open when we can't even get step 1 out of the way?

People love to blame Bonner/Jefferson for choking when really the same thing would happen if we had Bowen/Kerr/Barry as our spot up shooters against elite teams in this system with Duncan at the age he is now. All teams have to do is NOT double team Tony or Manu, and therefore Jefferson and Bonner (and Mason and Bogans and Jackson and Horry) don't get their threes. Then they can't get into a rhythm throughout the game, and all of a sudden they're labeled as chokers.

This is the flaw in Pop's offense. It's great for little league/high school/Golden State where defenses are undisciplined (I coach middle school kids, Pop's offense works amazingly when you have a quick PG). But spot up shooters can't get open when the defense locks in on them. There needs to be more screens and more plays literally drawn up for Bonner/RJ/Green to work the floor and less reliance on stand attack and kick, because defenses aren't buying it anymore.

The reason people say teams die by the three in the playoffs isn't because they suddenly choke- good defenses just key in on it. The reason guys like Reggie Miller and Jason Terry are such huge playoff performers from the perimeter against the best defenses ever is because they don't rely on a defender sagging off--they can run around screens and their offense can create plays for their 3's more easily. Luckily we have a guy like Neal who can do that, as we saw last night. But if Pop doesn't change his offense and set more screens for the spot-up guys, they'll put up more bagels in the playoffs and cause panic here. But the blame lies more on Pop for not realizing this, and for TP when he doesn't score enough to draw doubles.

The best example of this is the OKC games. In game 1 in OKC, they never dared leave Bonner for the entire first half. With Timmy and Tony both struggling, why should they? Bonner ends up 0-1 from 3pt land, and OKC wins in a blow out. Game 2? Parker scores 42...they have to double him or he torches Russell...and they do...Parker ends up drawing the defense out and boom he gets 9 assists--- Green hits 2 threes, Jefferson hits three, Bonner hits three.

It's easy to jump on Bonner and RJ, but it all starts with Pop and Tony.


inb4 tl;dr


Nice post and if you're the same guy from RealGm (same SN) welcome aboard :toast

[wildbill2u]

I was screaming for Pop to take out RJ and put Green back in. I didn't know he was injured and couldn't go.
RJ did get one 3 in the 4th, but his defense and rebounding was non-factor.

We are extremely short-handed, but I wonder if Anderson or even Dawson could have taken up that slack on defense at the end.

[Paranoid Pop]

Game 2? Parker scores 42...they have to double him or he torches Russell...and they do...Parker ends up drawing the defense out and boom he gets 9 assists--- Green hits 2 threes, Jefferson hits three, Bonner hits three.

It's easy to jump on Bonner and RJ, but it all starts with Pop and Tony.


inb4 tl;dr

Yet he had 9 assists in this game as well and was +3 while playing 38 minutes. Even in a bad night it's wasn't that bad, his passing can be good enough to make up for off shooting nights. I think the collision with Rose took a lot of agressivity out of him, he was great up to that point.

[Paranoid Pop]

People love to blame Bonner/Jefferson for choking when really the same thing would happen if we had Bowen/Kerr/Barry as our spot up shooters against elite teams in this system with Duncan at the age he is now.

Bonner is the guy that got humiliated FT wise by Ben Wallace at the end of the Detroit game, so you're definitely going too far.

[justinandimcool]

Yet he had 9 assists in this game as well and was +3 while playing 38 minutes. Even in a bad night it's wasn't that bad, his passing can be good enough to make up for off shooting nights. I think the collision with Rose took a lot of agressivity out of him, he was great up to that point.


True, but three of those assists were for layups/dunks and another three were for Timmy jumpshots. Which is great, but it wasn't a sign of Tony playing well--more so Timmy. They were fronting him and Blair which gave us free points, and Timmy caught fire from outside. Hey if we can rely on that kind of inside domination (:lmao) consistently in the playoffs I'll be happy, but that is highly highly unlikely.

[justinandimcool]

Nice post and if you're the same guy from RealGm (same SN) welcome aboard :toast

lol heyyyy! :toast which real GMer are you?



Bonner is the guy that got humiliated FT wise by Ben Wallace at the end of the Detroit game, so you're definitely going too far.

lol if FT's are your argument then Neal, Timmy, and Tony are all chokers- we have no hope.

[DPG21920]

inb4 tl;dr

You are new, yet seem to have a good understanding of the Internet. I'll will strongly consider your statements moving forward.

[Paranoid Pop]

True, but three of those assists were for layups/dunks and another three were for Timmy jumpshots. Which is great, but it wasn't a sign of Tony playing well--more so Timmy. They were fronting him and Blair which gave us free points, and Timmy caught fire from outside. Hey if we can rely on that kind of inside domination (:lmao) consistently in the playoffs I'll be happy, but that is highly highly unlikely.

Just saying that blaming the loss on Parker when he played all but 10 minutes of the game and still had a positive +/- is questionable.

And the "lucky/bad" assists point remind me of the distinction between "lazy" TOs and the "agressive/positive" Lin-TOs at the peak of the Lin-mania, it's up there for nonsensical quote of the year. PGs should go the hot hand afaik, can't blame them for that.

[Paranoid Pop]

lol if FT's are your argument then Neal, Timmy, and Tony are all chokers- we have no hope.

Bonner has an history of uncluchness tbh, it is known.

[justinandimcool]

Just saying that blaming the loss on Parker when he played all but 10 minutes of the game and still had a positive +/- is questionable.

And the "lucky/bad" assists point remind me of the distinction between "lazy" TOs and the "agressive/positive" Lin-TOs at the peak of the Lin-mania, it's up there for nonsensical quote of the year. PGs should go the hot hand afaik, can't blame them for that.

Hey man, I wasn't saying Parker's assists were bad, it was a great alternative when they were shutting down the shooters. But how many times have we been able to rely on inside play for our offense (other than when Splitter is killing on the pnr)? It's nice to have that kind of weaponry in our back pocket, but unless Tim gets fronted the rest of the season/postseason I can't see the Spurs/TP relying on that kind of easy playmaking all year.

[justinandimcool]

Bonner has an history of uncluchness tbh, it is known.

lol well alright then. the offense is peachy perfect, even when TP is 5-16, it is all Bonner's fault.

[Paranoid Pop]

Hey man, I wasn't saying Parker's assists were bad, it was a great alternative when they were shutting down the shooters. But how many times have we been able to rely on inside play for our offense (other than when Splitter is killing on the pnr)? It's nice to have that kind of weaponry in our back pocket, but unless Tim gets fronted the rest of the postseason I can't see the Spurs/TP relying on that kind of easy playmaking all year.

It is indeed more or less reliable but with Splitter it has been pretty flawless at times, then again we have to make it somewhat reliable to have any chance in the playoffs.

[Paranoid Pop]

lol well alright then. the offense is peachy perfect, even when TP is 5-16, it is all Bonner's fault.

Not saying that, their bench pretty much raped our bench AND Parker did have a bad night which didn't help.

[justinandimcool]

It is indeed more or less reliable but with Splitter it has been pretty flawless at times, then again we have to make it somewhat reliable to have any chance in the playoffs.

Well it's the same concept as the spot up threes. Let's assume Tim/Blair don't get fronted the rest of the year, the only way they get easy baskets is if Tony is on that particular night and draws doubles. If Tony's off, we can rely on the pnr (which only really works with Manu/Blair and Tony/Splitter) or Timmy taking his guy one on one. But it becomes a struggle when that happens- Splitter just isn't there yet, and we haven't seen him do amazingly on the pnr against elite defenses. Duncan is hit or miss lately, mostly good, but even he has the tendency of doing too much and struggling when having to score by himself.

Whether it's inside or outside that we attack from, it really all depends on Tony (or Manu) being on offensively and breaking down defenses.

[phxspurfan]

I never comment on these but this time I felt compelled. Duncan deserves better than a C. He gets an A in my book. He fought hard on both ends all game, and without him, we would have been (even more of) a joke.

[maverick1948]

After 40 posts, no one has said a thing about the 2 late 3 point attempts by Duncan. Both missed. Sad to say but Neal, Bonner and Jefferson were all open for what the get paid to do. SHOOT 3's. Yet, Duncan took the shots. Dont use time as an excuse, as one was in the 30 sec range and the last at 20 sec. It would have taken 2 seconds more to pass to the shooters but Timmy didnt and neither did Tony.

But Tim gets a C+ while Bonner and Jefferson get grilled as the losers of the game. Tony was a step slow last night and Timmy looked like he was glued to the floor.

Let's look at the game and not just blame one or two players for a loss. We had our chances and it was not the Bulls that stopped us it was ourselves.

[maverick1948]

I never comment on these but this time I felt compelled. Duncan deserves better than a C. He gets an A in my book. He fought hard on both ends all game, and without him, we would have been (even more of) a joke.
\

I see you think 1 for 9 is great. That was Timmy's first 9 shots. The one he made was a left side bank. Then the late 3 attempts with open SHOOTERS to his left were ok too. He deserves a D at best.

[elemento]

Two things

While i agree with Justin that it wasn't Bonner's fault last night (he only got 2 open shots) we can't blame the system entirely.

Sorry, but to say that Pop has to work with an offensive system that gives Bonner shots through screens is laughable. Bonner can't do it. Bonner is a spot-up shooter that has to be totally open to hit his shots. He can't do anything else.

It's known that Bonner chokes in the playoffs even with open looks. Just get back to 08/09. Best year of Tony's career. Tony destroying the Mavs and breaking down their defense. Bonner (who shot 44% 3P in the RS) suddenly shoots for 23% in the playoffs.

How can we blame Pop on that ? Seriously.

And how can we give Jefferson a pass when he let Deng open to shoot two 3s in a row pretty much destroying our hope to get back in the game ?

I can understand that Pop's system has his flaws considering our personnel, but i won't give a free pass for Bonner or Jefferson. Not at all.

[justinandimcool]

Two things

While i agree with Justin that it wasn't Bonner's fault last night (he only got 2 open shots) we can't blame the system entirely.

Sorry, but to say that Pop has to work with an offensive system that gives Bonner shots through screens is laughable. Bonner can't do it. Bonner is a spot-up shooter that has to be totally open to hit his shots. He can't do anything else.

It's known that Bonner chokes in the playoffs even with open looks. Just get back to 08/09. Best year of Tony's career. Tony destroying the Mavs and breaking down their defense. Bonner (who shot 44% 3P in the RS) suddenly shoots for 23% in the playoffs.

How can we blame Pop on that ? Seriously.

And how can we give Jefferson a pass when he let Deng open to shoot two 3s in a row pretty much destroying our hope to get back in the game ?

I can understand that Pop's system has his flaws considering our personnel, but i won't give a free pass for Bonner or Jefferson. Not at all.

Thanks for the response.

It's not all that laughable. It's not like Bonner and RJ have to run crosscourt like Ray Allen, but a simple backscreen on the elbow will do. Paul Pierce and Steve Novak are slow as hell and they thrive off it. I've seen Bonner score off a version of it in fact, I forget when.

In the practice videos, RJ and Bonner are seen practicing stand still threes over and over. I'm not gonna assume that they don't practice running off simple screens and getting open, but it sure looks like they're not. It's something they're very capable of, IMO.

Like I said, if Parker or Manu are scoring wonderfully (or if Tim turns back the clock), Pop's system is amazing. If they're cold and teams don't double, the means of adjustment aren't there (except the bigs on the PNR). We can either blame Bonner and RJ for not being able to hit threes off screens, or we can blame Pop for putting them in knowing they're just dead weight when defense don't sag off. IMO it's a bit of both- personnel failure in practice and coaching failure for not having a decent backup system.

[dbestpro]

I respect the Bulls defense. They play the way you should. What I take issue with is the constant flow of uncalled moving screens. Tiago, so much as burps and he gets called for a moving screen.

Watching the Bulls get away with this on play after play brought back some of the not so fond memories of Jordan, where there was one rule for him and another set of rules for everyone else.

[hater]

LOL Bonner and Dick getting a passing grade

[therealtruth]

Isn't the reason Pop likes Bonner to be out there that he can "spread the floor"? That doesn't just mean that he makes 3's. It means that it forces the defense to put a man on him or they sag to the middle and then he makes 3's. So when a team like Chicago goes to the trouble of putting a man on him all night, and denying him the open looks, isn't that part of the plan? Isn't that the spreading the floor part of the Bonner strategy? Didn't his presence spread the floor by forcing the other team to keep a potential help defender out there?

Sometimes the defense may go cover him because he's been making 3's - last night they covered him to keep him from making 3's. What's the difference? Well... except for the part where he makes some shots.

Don't even start the rants - I'm not even talking about Bonner here. I'm wondering if there's really any value to this team in spreading the floor, if the rest of the offense can't take advantage of it. We didn't have anybody capable of sucking the defender off of Bonner, so they didn't have to worry about it? To me that all says that the spreading the floor thing is BS, and Bonner's only value is if he's shooting, and making, 3-pointers. I guess it also says that the Bull's defense is good enough (or our offense lacking enough) that they don't need that help defender - ever.

Someone correct me, or steer me in another direction. Because that's a pretty sobering thought.

I don't buy into that spreading the floor baloney either. I just believe in the value of playing your best players. If your power forward can shoot 3's it's a plus but you don't play a power forward just because he can shoot 3's.

[justinandimcool]

Isn't the reason Pop likes Bonner to be out there that he can "spread the floor"? That doesn't just mean that he makes 3's. It means that it forces the defense to put a man on him or they sag to the middle and then he makes 3's. So when a team like Chicago goes to the trouble of putting a man on him all night, and denying him the open looks, isn't that part of the plan? Isn't that the spreading the floor part of the Bonner strategy? Didn't his presence spread the floor by forcing the other team to keep a potential help defender out there?

Sometimes the defense may go cover him because he's been making 3's - last night they covered him to keep him from making 3's. What's the difference? Well... except for the part where he makes some shots.

Don't even start the rants - I'm not even talking about Bonner here. I'm wondering if there's really any value to this team in spreading the floor, if the rest of the offense can't take advantage of it. We didn't have anybody capable of sucking the defender off of Bonner, so they didn't have to worry about it? To me that all says that the spreading the floor thing is BS, and Bonner's only value is if he's shooting, and making, 3-pointers. I guess it also says that the Bull's defense is good enough (or our offense lacking enough) that they don't need that help defender - ever.

Someone correct me, or steer me in another direction. Because that's a pretty sobering thought.

It's a strategy that goes both ways.

If Bonner/RJ spread the floor, it gives Tony/Manu/Tim room to operate in pnr/iso penetration.

If you draft guys like Tim (in his dominant days)/Manu/Tony have the ability to both score and pass, you have to spread the floor in order to maximize their skills.

Every team does this, have one or two guys as the centerpiece and everyone else gets out of the way; but Bonner's a novelty because he's a big. Whereas other teams with two bigs would tend to rely on a either hi-lo, a triangle like set, or simple pnr, the Spurs spread it almost all the time. Even when Elson, Robinson, and Fabby were here it was still mostly 4-down. Pop always spread the floor no matter who he had as personnel.

It's simple really, Pop's offensive preferences relies on a guy that can score by himself and force double teams, whether that guy is a big (Tim) or wing (Manu) or small (Tony). He's never going to NOT spread the floor. It'll always be 4-down or penetrate and kick to rotating shooters. That's a genius plan in these guys' primes, and a very flawed one now when Tony's the only guy worth doubling nowadays.

So you're right, maybe spreading the floor isn't the best for this particular team. It's great when Tony's playing the way he has been, but as you can see last night, it's not great when Manu's out and Tony's getting shut down one on one.

The alternative? Look when Timmy and Blair are on the floor as the two bigs, they pretty much switch off as pnr guys. When we pound it in, it's not always pretty...

[therealtruth]

Thanks for the response.

It's not all that laughable. It's not like Bonner and RJ have to run crosscourt like Ray Allen, but a simple backscreen on the elbow will do. Paul Pierce and Steve Novak are slow as hell and they thrive off it. I've seen Bonner score off a version of it in fact, I forget when.

In the practice videos, RJ and Bonner are seen practicing stand still threes over and over. I'm not gonna assume that they don't practice running off simple screens and getting open, but it sure looks like they're not. It's something they're very capable of, IMO.

Like I said, if Parker or Manu are scoring wonderfully (or if Tim turns back the clock), Pop's system is amazing. If they're cold and teams don't double, the means of adjustment aren't there (except the bigs on the PNR). We can either blame Bonner and RJ for not being able to hit threes off screens, or we can blame Pop for putting them in knowing they're just dead weight when defense don't sag off. IMO it's a bit of both- personnel failure in practice and coaching failure for not having a decent backup system.

Pop is stubborn to a fault. Like your saying he's got to be able to adjust the offense to the situation. If those doubles aren't coming he's got to go into more of a offense based on movement and screens. I think right now Pop is hoping when they don't double Tony will go for 40. He kept waiting against the Grizzlies and it didn't happen.

[dylankerouac]

Great analysis Timvp. I'm a little disappointed that we lost but we still played a great game considering the referees weren't giving us anything and the crowd was split down the middle.

Anyone watch multiple Bulls games and watch this one too? Is it normal for Rose to get touched and automatically see the free throw line? Don't get me wrong, he is a pretty amazing player. But the calls he was getting felt more like Stern trying to protect his investment and not letting Rose take a fraction of the abuse similar players like Manu and Tony have taken over their careers. With this protection he can play at his current level for a long time.

I think the officiating caused an adjustment period for the Spurs. Part of me wonders if this was a crew that does a lot of the televised prime-time games. Being in the SA area I have caught all my games on FSN and maybe 5 of the season wide games were available on other cable channels because of a great match-up. I heard TNT (Chuck/Shaq) did one game but I did not see it as an option and saw the Sean Elliott version instead. Is it possible that prime-time officiating crews call vastly different calls than their counterpart referees? I know this sounds ridiculous but the Spurs were getting calls that almost questioned their ability to play basketball. I would think a team like Chicago would see more of the prime-time officiating crews and have adjusted well to them already. If this is true, the Spurs’ lack of exposure to these crews will hurt them during the playoffs as shown last night.

The Bulls played together last year and they are playing really crisp basketball right now. They also have a strong post-up game and defense to rely on during scoring droughts, something I wish we had. I think their biggest strength was that they had played a night before and had a chance to get back into rhythm as a team before the Spurs game. In bringing up the Bull’s strengths, this game showed a few weaknesses for the Spurs that the team can work on before playoffs.

- This Spurs team threw soft passes that aren’t going to get the job done in the playoffs and will instead lead to turnovers.
- Some of the attempts at the rim by Spurs were soft and will be denied in the playoffs.
- The common element here is being ____. I hope the FO finds someone before the trade deadline.

As for notable personal efforts :

Tim could have played better but he realized this and came back strong, especially in the third. My favorite part was when Blair went low-high and tossed a pass at Tim who was right in front of the basket. I think it was Luol Deng who disrespected Duncan and was trying to make a casual steal or swipe of the ball in mid-air. All of a sudden Tim remembered he was league MVP for two years in a row and grabbed that ball out of mid-air and dunked it down! I re-watched this about three times with great enthusiasm.

Parker couldn’t get in any type of rhythm with the calls going against him. I don’t remember if he even tried to take over the game in the fourth it seemed like such a passive performance in crunch time. Usually he’ll go clutch 5-5 in the fourth and get his percentage back up to .500.

DB is playing better and harder than the first half of the season. This might have been Pop’s doing, basically learning from last year and letting DB play unfocused for the first half of the season and then forcing him to focus in on the second half of the season. Or maybe he threatened to trade him. One way or another Pop found a way to light a fire under DB.

RJ. This guy just has no ambition or passion. At least he gets to thank Pop for the second half of his career which may be as long as the first half once he leaves San Antonio.

[TMTTRIO]

But yeah, Ginobili has been a total disaster this year. At more than the half of the regular season, he has only been healthy only 4 games. He better start being healthy and playing great because, with a $13M salary, he will soon end up as one of the most overpaid player in the NBA.
I guess it makes up for the years he was underpaid.

[Brazil]

Not Bonner's fault ?

ok he hadn't good open looks because the bulls are a great D team and TP/Tim struggled offensively it doesn't excuse the fact he spends his first 10 mn with 0 pt, 0 reb, 0 ass, 0 stl, 0 nothing... Somebody has an example of a nba player not injured or sick that spent 10 mn with getting anything on the scoreboard ?

[pgardn]

I am really not that disappointed. We played poorly and really could have used Leonard to spell Green. TJ is rusty and not in shape. Splitter was falling all over himself. No Manu but we kept it close primarily because of Neal's shooting.

We are fine. Splitter will continue to get better and hopefully reach and pass where he was. Ford will give Tony some real rest. Green wont have to do way more than he can.

Blair, Bonner, and RJ are the most inconsistent players. We get a good game from one of these 3 and we are fine. Think the grade on Blair was too high but I cant really argue the rest.

Perfectly fair assessment imo. This game does not deserve a downgrade of the entire team's playoff hopes. I dont think anyone will be shocked at this point if we actually win the west. I did not think we had much of a chance before the beginning of the season started.

[DMC]

I would like to have a clip of that one play (like there was only one) where Rose drives to the rim and scores, and even after the ball has gone through the net, Bonner is still standing there in his customary matador defensive position, hands still held over his head. I wonder if his brain is running a virus scan and it's using too many system resources.

[DMC]

Not Bonner's fault ?

ok he hadn't good open looks because the bulls are a great D team and TP/Tim struggled offensively it doesn't excuse the fact he spends his first 10 mn with 0 pt, 0 reb, 0 ass, 0 stl, 0 nothing... Somebody has an example of a nba player not injured or sick that spent 10 mn with getting anything on the scoreboard ?
Kendrick Perkins post Griffinization.