The Spurs don't win that game if they were still plagued by RJ

[timvp]

Don't know if it's the homer in me talking but I truly believe that. Not folding after the comeback took heart, toughness, single-mindedness and determination. Those are traits Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard boast. RJ? Not so much.

Addition by subtraction, at the very least.

[ducks]

leonard had a hell of a game

[ElNono]

The starters already looked phenomenal from the get go... hasn't happened all season long... setting the tone, as they say

[irishock]

Disagree. You could always count on RJ to give you a clutch three pointer

[Mugen]

one choker gone, but the one choker left tried extra hard to make up for RJ's absence, tbh.


Thank god for Danny and Kawhi.

[Spurs Brazil]

Don't know if it's the homer in me talking but I truly believe that. Not folding after the comeback took heart, toughness, single-mindedness and determination. Those are traits Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard boast. RJ? Not so much.

Addition by subtraction, at the very least.

:tu:toast

[Leetonidas]

Leonard :worthy:

[ElNono]

I can only image how much easier this would've been if Bonner wasn't out there in the 4th, tbh

[Penya]

Leonard and Green had both an A+ game. Playing with energy, courage and BALLS.

This win with RJ on the team would've been impossible.

[timtonymanu]

It also gave Blair his best game of the season.

And the starting five looked complete tonight for once. :tu

[Spursfan092120]

Agree with the OP...Kawhi and Green get that extra time because RJ isn't on the team.

[Brazil]

We don't know what would happen. I'm happy with the trade, for me the best outcome is Leonard not jax. Now We won tough games too with RJ... kinda unfair thread tbh fwiw

[Manu20]

I wanted to see RJ defending Durant! :whine

[Mugen]

I can only image how much easier this would've been if Bonner wasn't out there in the 4th, tbh

Nono gets it.

This was a great win and a great confidence booster for Green/Leonard but the spurs won in spite of Pop and his overplaying of Matt.

[MmP]

I haven't been this excited with the team since, well I can't remember...
Im just plain happy that we're actually YOUNG
The team seems with confidence and strong.

And all this actually without Ginobili.

[Mal]

Who was this guy traded for 15th pick ?

[Bill_Brasky]

Leonard's dunk near the end of the first half.......is something RJ would never have dreamt of.

[Mugen]

We didn't have a fucking choice, our best center and 2nd best big man was throwing up. On that subject, however, I would have loved it if he had played tonight with the nausea and dunked in Durant's face and then puked all over it.. :rollin

You really need Matty out there to guard Royal Ivey in the 4th?

GTFO

[MmP]

And yes, Leonard is a beast.
Damn I wanna cry. The Spurs became a powerful team again.

[Fpoonsie]

Now We won tough games too in spite of RJ...

mffify

[Trainwreck2100]

Jefferson doesn't get that steal coming out of the timeout, and he would have been playing instead of Green

[ElNono]

We didn't have a fucking choice, our best center and 2nd best big man was throwing up. On that subject, however, I would have loved it if he had played tonight with the nausea and dunked in Durant's face and then puked all over it.. :rollin

The ***ONE*** game Blair is giving a shit, you leave him on the bench?

[TwoHandJam]

Don't know if it's the homer in me talking but I truly believe that. Not folding after the comeback took heart, toughness, single-mindedness and determination. Those are traits Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard boast. RJ? Not so much.

Addition by subtraction, at the very least.

Yep. It makes me sick thinking how much his development was stunted by playing behind RJ while he was putting up 6 and 4 in 37 minutes a night.

[ducks]

Leonard's dunk near the end of the first half.......is something RJ would never have dreamt of.

that made me lose my voice

[TDMVPDPOY]

rj wouldnt have hittin those green shots, instead brick them or pass it off, dude ia negative when his on the floor, i dont care if he hits clutch shots after missin 10 shots, dude is still a scrub....

green was all over the floor tonight trying to create for himself

rj wouldnt do any of this b esides camp in the corner look pretty to run back up on defense again

[ElNono]

The defense was better, not great, in the 4th. And we didn't give up any second chance opportunities except for that one possession where they missed 2 threes and a tip-back. Put Blair in and the Thunder get a shitload of second chance points and win.

Ginger did zero on D... put a cardboard cut of Eva Longoria for him and you get the same result

[Capt Bringdown]

The question is, why did it take getting rid of RJ for the lineup change to happen?

RJ wasn't getting it done, yet he got PT he didn't earn or deserve, while better options sat unused.

[Mugen]

The defense was better, not great, in the 4th. And we didn't give up any second chance opportunities except for that one possession where they missed 2 threes and a tip-back. Put Blair in and the Thunder get a shitload of second chance points and win.

rewatch the 4th qtr and tell me one possession where having Matty out there instead of Neal helped the Spurs win.

[ElNono]

The question is, why did it take getting rid of RJ for the lineup change to happen?

RJ wasn't getting it done, yet he got PT he didn't earn or deserve, while better options sat unused.

because he's a professional :cry

[Manufan909]

Ginger did zero on D... put a cardboard cut of Eva Longoria for him and you get the same result

Besides 2 blocks, of course. That 2nd one was a freak of nature block though. He didn't even have to jump for it.:lol

[TDMVPDPOY]

Besides 2 blocks, of course. That 2nd one was a freak of nature block though. He didn't even have to jump for it.:lol

how about the offensive foul for the lamest screen

[ace3g]

https://si0.twimg.com/profile_background_images/377168872/lockout-3.jpg

[therealtruth]

They've gotten rid of RJ. Just need to get rid of Bonner now.

[ElNono]

Besides 2 blocks, of course. That 2nd one was a freak of nature block though. He didn't even have to jump for it.:lol

I'm talking about the 4th quarter.... that was as close to an RJ appearance as possible... included missing a 3 when it mattered

[Cane]

The question is, why did it take getting rid of RJ for the lineup change to happen?

RJ wasn't getting it done, yet he got PT he didn't earn or deserve, while better options sat unused.

True that. My guess: RJ got undeserved starter minutes so the Spurs could still pretend he was a capable starter, otherwise his already low value on the market would fall even further

[timvp]

Well, this trade proves that with RJ gone, all the hate can funnel straight onto Bonner from now on :lol

[ElNono]

Well, this trade proves that with RJ gone, all the hate can funnel straight onto Bonner from now on :lol

tbh, Blair will get his too... he just had a monster game today :lol

[Mugen]

Well, this trade proves that with RJ gone, all the hate can funnel straight onto Bonner from now on :lol

Matty B was more than happy to oblige tonight.

The Jax trade has got me rejuvenated as well, tbh. :lol

[NASpurs]

They got rid of the deadweight and looked great out there. What a surprise.

[Capt Bringdown]

tbh, Blair will get his too... he just had a monster game today :lol

One of Blair's bi-annual regular-season Beast games.

[T Park]

Well, this trade proves that with RJ gone, all the hate can funnel straight onto Bonner from now on :lol

As opposed to before where he's been beloved by this board.

[admiralfats]

wages of wins also rates kawhi as a way better player, so "addition by subtraction" is very likely. the more minutes kawhi gets on the floor, the more games we will win. here's to his minutes staying up.

[Spurtacus]

If Pop was going to put RJ on Durant then I definitely agree that we would have lost. Durant played 43 minutes and Kawhi led the Spurs with 39 minutes. He did a great fucking job on Durant.

[Mugen]

Blair only plays well at the Chesepeake Arena...

Also, Neal would be guarding who? Nick Collison? :lmao

No you fucking idiot. The Thunder had either Collison or Ibaka as the lone big in the 4th. Small ball.

Timmy was checking Collison and then Ibaka when he was in there.

Bonner was guarding Royal Ivey and leaving him open for wide open threes.

Rewatch the 4th before you say something that makes you look even stupider.

[roycrikside]

To me, what was great about this win, and I'm sure Scotty Brooks will disagree though I'm curious if L.J. will, is that the Thunder played a GREAT game in many respects.

I mean forget the obvious for a second that we were on the road w/o two of our best five offensive and defensive players in Manu and Tiago and that we didn't have the luxury of Jackson in the rotation either.

Even without that it's still a totally high-quality win because the difference in the Thunder's defensive intensity between the last time the Spurs rolled them at SA and tonight was like night and day.

Westbrook's intensity was noticeably different and he was determined to not let Tony punk him again and their bigs were hell-bent on letting Parker penetrate either. The Spurs would've been blown out early if their defense didn't match OKC's intensity on the interior defense (and if the Thunder didn't miss some early lay-ups).

To Tony's credit, he figured out what OKC were doing and he adjusted to the sagging big men, getting Blair some easy buckets. Then, when the Thunder countered that, we were able to get open looks on the three point line and Leonard and Green made OKC pay.

Still, I thought the Thunder played absolutely as well as they could defensively. They limited Parker's lay-ups, made things difficult for Duncan inside with Ibaka, Perkings and Collison. They forced 17 turnovers. The Spurs 16 offensive rebounds were a product of the Thunder playing small ball practically all game, because you can't take away everything.

Blair hit 3 or 4 miracle shots for him and Kawhi and Green both were unconscious from deep. Still, when Brooks looks at the tape I think he'll realize there's not much more they could've done. They forced 24 second violations, got the guy they wanted on the Spurs to take the shots they wanted him to take, and still lost.


I dare say we are better than these guys. Or at least, we're a bad match-up for them. They're a jump-shooting team (Harden was great by the way) and nobody is gonna win a 4-of-7 jumpshooting contest against the Spurs. Our backcourt is too good for that, we get more open looks per 48 minutes than the other guys and we've got too many guys who can knock down open shots.

The Lakers and Grizzlies might be another story because of their size, and the Bulls and Heat are at a whole other level because of their perimeter athleticism, but I don't fear the Thunder.

[baseline bum]

Well, this trade proves that with RJ gone, all the hate can funnel straight onto Bonner from now on :lol

You're forgetting my boy tbh

http://i.cdn.turner.com/nba/nba/media/act_tony_parker.jpg

[pgardn]

Well, this trade proves that with RJ gone, all the hate can funnel straight onto Bonner from now on :lol

Nah...

Way too much hate overfillith the Bonner cup and spillest upon Pop (as usual), Blair (lazy, fat), Green (stupid), Leonard (cant stay in front of his man on D), Tim (too old, chokin FTs), Manu (crazy stupid passes; tries purposely to get injured), Tony (hogs the ball), Tiago ("I told you he was a Euro softie") ad nauseam...

And we await Jackson ("told you he was bad, we gave a 1st round draft choice?")

Hating is easy. Its very easy to destroy, much tougher to build. Which is why so few people can actually coach or play. Sit with that beer, and that white wife beater T-shirt, and slap that blame on that "I wish I was an athlete" sandwich. Objectivity is for homos (since we seem a bit homophobic on this board...)

Always remember, the Spurs are only as good as their last game. :nope

[Cant_Be_Faded]

I agree.

Pop woulda had Jeff out there over either kawhi or green

[Man In Black]

It was good win that the Spurs almost gave away. if OKC had a lick of discipline, they would have take smarter shots late instead of those un-needed 3's.

I'll take the W though...Going without 1/3rd of the 3 and 6 quarters without the South American contingent and getting the W means something indeed.

Spurs Intensity...it's growing and at the right time.

[Man In Black]

It was good win that the Spurs almost gave away. if OKC had a lick of discipline, they would have take smarter shots late instead of those un-needed 3's.

I'll take the W though...Going without 1/3rd of the 3 and 6 quarters without the South American contingent and getting the W means something indeed.

Spurs Intensity...it's growing and at the right time.

[Stringer_Bell]

I feel like RJ was too neutral - didn't win it for us, didn't lose it for us, but I gave up expecting anything from him. Tonight at the end, I was thinking - someone's gotta step-up. Kawhi's defense and Danny's offense were key in a game that felt really intense in the 4th. The young guns didn't back down...and Manu and SJax weren't even playing.

[crc21209]

I feel much more comfortable watching the Spurs without RJ now. Even though he did give us some good (sometimes great) 3-point shooting, he never brought anything else to the table. His defense and energy was so half assed that other guys had to make up for his mistakes. It's fun to see guys like Leonard and Green step up with no fear and go make some plays out there. Hell even DeJuan isnt afraid to make mistakes, even though he makes some BIG mistakes at times. It seems the only ginger left on our team is Bonner now...:lol

[timtonymanu]

I feel much more comfortable watching the Spurs without RJ now. Even though he did give us some good (sometimes great) 3-point shooting, he never brought anything else to the table. His defense and energy was so half assed that other guys had to make up for his mistakes. It's fun to see guys like Leonard and Green step up with no fear and go make some plays out there. Hell even DeJuan isnt afraid to make mistakes, even though he makes some BIG mistakes at times. It seems the only ginger left on our team is Bonner now...:lol

I definitely don't feel aggravated anymore now that RJ is gone. I actually watch a group of guys that ALL play hard. Great to see.

[crc21209]

I definitely don't feel aggravated anymore now that RJ is gone. I actually watch a group of guys that ALL play hard. Great to see.

Exactly. :tu At least we know these guys give a damn. I couldnt always say the same for RJ....

[timvp]

To me, what was great about this win, and I'm sure Scotty Brooks will disagree though I'm curious if L.J. will, is that the Thunder played a GREAT game in many respects.

I mean forget the obvious for a second that we were on the road w/o two of our best five offensive and defensive players in Manu and Tiago and that we didn't have the luxury of Jackson in the rotation either.

Even without that it's still a totally high-quality win because the difference in the Thunder's defensive intensity between the last time the Spurs rolled them at SA and tonight was like night and day.

Westbrook's intensity was noticeably different and he was determined to not let Tony punk him again and their bigs were hell-bent on letting Parker penetrate either. The Spurs would've been blown out early if their defense didn't match OKC's intensity on the interior defense (and if the Thunder didn't miss some early lay-ups).

To Tony's credit, he figured out what OKC were doing and he adjusted to the sagging big men, getting Blair some easy buckets. Then, when the Thunder countered that, we were able to get open looks on the three point line and Leonard and Green made OKC pay.

Still, I thought the Thunder played absolutely as well as they could defensively. They limited Parker's lay-ups, made things difficult for Duncan inside with Ibaka, Perkings and Collison. They forced 17 turnovers. The Spurs 16 offensive rebounds were a product of the Thunder playing small ball practically all game, because you can't take away everything.

Blair hit 3 or 4 miracle shots for him and Kawhi and Green both were unconscious from deep. Still, when Brooks looks at the tape I think he'll realize there's not much more they could've done. They forced 24 second violations, got the guy they wanted on the Spurs to take the shots they wanted him to take, and still lost. Very good post :tu

It's difficult to disagree with any of your points. The Spurs offense is rolling right now and it dominated tonight despite the Thunder giving really good effort on that end. They had a gameplan and were locked in ... but the Spurs were still dicing 'em up.

OKC had a few breakdowns here and there when TP beat an initial trap and the help defense was late but Brooks really isn't going to have much to complain about when he watches the tape.



I dare say we are better than these guys. Or at least, we're a bad match-up for them. They're a jump-shooting team (Harden was great by the way) and nobody is gonna win a 4-of-7 jumpshooting contest against the Spurs. Our backcourt is too good for that, we get more open looks per 48 minutes than the other guys and we've got too many guys who can knock down open shots.

The Lakers and Grizzlies might be another story because of their size, and the Bulls and Heat are at a whole other level because of their perimeter athleticism, but I don't fear the Thunder.Before the game, I said that a series with the Thunder would be a tossup as long as the Spurs are healthy. After this game, I'm not ready to say a healthy Spurs team would be the favorites ... but I'm close to getting to that point.

The playoffs is a lot about matchups and the Spurs really do match up well against OKC.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

People need to give it a rest with Green and Leonard allowing there man to get in front of them. Its how the Spurs play pick and roll. We don't hedge real hard with our bigs instead we zone our big back in the paint and go over the screen. Its not like these are isos where they are just getting taken to the rim.

Fighting over screens sucks. Compare how they do it as opposed to Gary Neal, James Anderson or Manu Ginobili. Teams set good picks in the NBA and the NBA is reluctant to call fouls on hip checks.

Think how other teams just sell out and double the ball and Splitter rolls wide open to the basket. Thats how most teams play pick and roll. The Spurs don't do that.

This is similar to how we played in the 99 season but our guys were allowed to use their hands on the perimeter which helps you slow someone down going through double screens. When you got beat you did not foul and you covered the passing lanes but you also had Robinson and Duncan to protect the rim.

[pgardn]

People need to give it a rest with Green and Leonard allowing there man to get in front of them. Its how the Spurs play pick and roll. We don't hedge real hard with our bigs instead we zone our big back in the paint and go over the screen. Its not like these are isos where they are just getting taken to the rim.

Fighting over screens sucks. Compare how they do it as opposed to Gary Neal, James Anderson or Manu Ginobili. Teams set good picks in the NBA and the NBA is reluctant to call fouls on hip checks.

Think how other teams just sell out and double the ball and Splitter rolls wide open to the basket. Thats how most teams play pick and roll. The Spurs don't do that.

This is similar to how we played in the 99 season but our guys were allowed to use their hands on the perimeter which helps you slow someone down going through double screens. When you got beat you did not foul and you covered the passing lanes but you also had Robinson and Duncan to protect the rim.

We dared em to beat us. We would close out hard on 3's, we would funnel everything baseline and dare them to try Robinson/Duncan.

And the rule change is huge for all defenses. We will never see another defensive team like 99. I give huge credit to Pop for this defense. He knew what he had and used it to full advantage.

We also use the hip check to full advantage with Duncan presently, except it is more of a butt cheek check. Duncan looking away sticking his bum out gives Parker just enough to turn the corner.

[TD 21]

Don't know if it's the homer in me talking but I truly believe that. Not folding after the comeback took heart, toughness, single-mindedness and determination. Those are traits Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard boast. RJ? Not so much.

Addition by subtraction, at the very least.

Exactly. And that's why this trade can't fail. Even if they can't reign Jackson in and/or he proves to be completely washed up, it's not like the cupboard's bare at SF. Leonard/Green lack playoff experience, but they're very serviceable options.