Quick Grades: Spurs @ Kings - Nov 9, 2012

[timvp]

Tim Duncan A
Dominant on both ends and taught Cousins a thing or two.

Manu Ginobili D-
Extremely loose with the ball. Poor decisions on both ends.

Tony Parker D
Attempted to play through illness. In retrospect, shouldn’t have played.

Kawhi Leonard B-
Failed to convert a few opportunities but was vital on the defensive end.

Danny Green C
Cooled off from the perimeter and wasn’t particularly helpful elsewhere.

DeJuan Blair D+
Got the start but did little to make anyone think it was a good idea.

Boris Diaw B+
Adjusted well to bench role. Solid in all aspects of the game.

Patrick Mills A
Welcome to the season, Patty. Filled in perfectly for the ill Parker.

Gary Neal B
He wasn’t bad but played a part in the helter-skelter flow.

Tiago Splitter B-
Inconsistent outing. He sometimes looked great but usually underwhelmed.

Pop B-
Putting Mills back in late was a key coaching move.

[007nites]

Duncan (A+)

[TDMVPDPOY]

pop should just settle with the splitter, diaw, scrub, gino, scrub 2nd unit....the ball movement is much better when players arent looking for their own shots,

[Stabula]

I think Duncan and Mills should get an A+ with Pop getting a solid C. His rotations were horribly questionable especially the decision to play Parker the minutes he gave him. Blair also got way too many minutes and he took out Mills too many times when he was blazing hot.

[spectator]

the more i see blair play, the more i am convinced that we should get k-mart. duncan fed him 2 easy assists under the basket and he could not convert.

[TDMVPDPOY]

pop usually does that when guys are having a hot hand, he benches them in mittens and hopes they come back on firing again....= FAIL, how many times have we seen the offense going away from teh hot hand in the 2nd half or when the player comes back on...

[freetiago]

think you switched green and leonards grades
leonard was garbage tonight getting burned by francisco garcia on the same play twice consecutively and jumping into traffic drawing offensive fouls and getting blocked repeatedly
greens defense and energy were really good
highlights by his stop on thornton on the fast break

[spectator]

also, oh how the mighty have fallen:

evens was one of the few rookies to average 20-5-5 (IIRC - lebron, maybe oscar did the same); now, he cannot even get a contract extension. the kings will wait out other teams to bid for him - he will be restricted FA - and assess his value, before making a decision.

[letmk]

Tim was fantastic, even the Kings commentators said that he looks younger than the past 2/3 years. The statistics gives Tim 4 blocks, but I think he could be easily credited with 7/8.

And when pop subs Mills out late in 4th quarter, I thought that might cause us a game. Fortunately later he inserted him back in to finish the game.

[spectator]

it may be hard to assess our team after tonight's game, since we don't know how sick were our guys, but i see a trend in giving away many opportunities on the defensive glass from the first 6 games; the fakers are going to own us unless we end up within 5 or so rebounds of their total.

[TDMVPDPOY]

also, oh how the mighty have fallen:

evens was one of the few rookies to average 20-5-5 (IIRC - lebron, maybe oscar did the same); now, he cannot even get a contract extension. the kings will wait out other teams to bid for him - he will be restricted FA - and assess his value, before making a decision.

this is why i hate the nba stance on tryin to improve high scoring games, high scoring games dont mean shit when players are just running up their statline to milk their next contract negotiation, when it doesnt represent the true value of their production when it comes to wins....theres plenty of guys out their posting up meaningless stats on losing teams who get paid market rate of guys who actually contribute to wins....

[TDMVPDPOY]

also, oh how the mighty have fallen:

evens was one of the few rookies to average 20-5-5 (IIRC - lebron, maybe oscar did the same); now, he cannot even get a contract extension. the kings will wait out other teams to bid for him - he will be restricted FA - and assess his value, before making a decision.

this is why i hate the nba stance on tryin to improve high scoring games, high scoring games dont mean shit when players are just running up their statline to milk their next contract negotiation, when it doesnt represent the true value of their production when it comes to wins....theres plenty of guys out their posting up meaningless stats on losing teams who get paid market rate of guys who actually contribute to wins....

[TDMVPDPOY]

Tim was fantastic, even the Kings commentators said that he looks younger than the past 2/3 years. The statistics gives Tim 4 blocks, but I think he could be easily credited with 7/8.

And when pop subs Mills out late in 4th quarter, I thought that might cause us a game. Fortunately later he inserted him back in to finish the game.

would be sweet if every game players continue to talk shit too duncan to get him motivated...

[Fabbs]

DNP Matty Bonner.

Is everything okay??!!

[ElNono]

DNP Matty Bonner.

Is everything okay??!!

flu

[Darius McCrary]

Boris Diaw is the perfect passive type to fit in any role.

The only worry at this point for spurfan is Duncan playing so well so early.

[Baseline]

DNP Matty Bonner.

Is everything okay??!!

With the exception of his athleticism and his basketball skills, yes, everything's fine.

[spurs10]

Thanks for the grades! Manu had a couple of really whacked passes to be sure. TP was clearly out of it. Thank goodness for Tim getting pissed off and for Patty's high energy. It will be interesting seeing who plays tomorrow. I hope El Contusion is okay!!

[dylankerouac]

Thanks for the quick grades. I was glad Pop switched line-ups a bit after the loss, such as letting Blair start and Mills play PG with a good amount of minutes. Seems like after a loss is a good time to adjust line-ups and observe results for the next few games. Patty seems like a nice upgrade in ball handling over Neal and was able to show that with increased minutes. His baskets near the rim were impressive.

Wondering what Ginobili needs to do, maybe slow down and just try to play efficiently. Tim has changed his game, maybe it is time Ginobili come to terms with changes needed to his game too, hopefully leading to less turnovers and acts of random negativeness. Of course Tim's evolution has been in a span of a few years and I want to say he regressed to some of his old ways at the end of the past 2-3 seasons, improving with each one. How will Ginobili fair under similar circumstances, on the other hand Tim went into the new seasons with a new play style in mind. I don't think Ginobili has had time to prepare for adjustments to his game.

Also glad Tiago is finally playing with some huevos.

[spurraider21]

Duncan puts up a monster 23 point 12 rebound 4 assist 4 block 3 steal line on the same night Anthony Davis, the one tabbed as the next Duncan puts up a similar 23 point 11 rebound 2 assist 5 block 2 steal line. Eerie.

[tim_duncan_fan]

He was the stuff of dreams on D and obviously hit most of his shots, but I feel like Tim could have had thirty.

He was thinking very slowly when near the block tonight. Just glad most of his jumpers went in.

[playblair]

cory jospeh should play alongside mills ... cj could contribute similar to danny green on defense ... neal should play when we need offense

[sananspursfan21]

feel like san antonio got bailed out of another wednesday night-esque showing by playing a very subpar team. then again, tony was sick or something like that

[FkLA]

hey timvpimp (or any of you other niggas) do yall know what timmy was doing after the block at 4:08 in the 4th quarter? he pulls his right hand away violently and turns his back to cousins as if he was being held or something. not important or relevant to the game but just thought it was pretty weird tbh.

[TDMVPDPOY]

hey timvpimp (or any of you other niggas) do yall know what timmy was doing after the block at 4:08 in the 4th quarter? he pulls his right hand away violently and turns his back to cousins as if he was being held or something. not important or relevant to the game but just thought it was pretty weird tbh.

maybe he was pissed he didnt get a offensive charge call go his way, with the same shoulder move

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

It looked like Cousins grabbed his right leg. He turned to get Cousins to stop grabbing him.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I like how Pop has gone back to the SPAM approach. He is going to tinker with lineups in the first half of the season. That combined with a certain DNP - Coach's Decision makes Pop an A+ in my book.

[tmtcsc]

Manu - F

That was quite likely the worst game I have EVER seen Manu play. He was a running, breathing turnover. That shit was forgivable when he was able to make up for it. But at 35, he isn't the same player he used to be. When you get older, the body doesn't follow what the mind asks of it. He's definitely regressed and is perilously close to doing more harm than good when he is on the floor. It's difficult to admit because he has been my favorite player since he joined the team.

Unlike Tim (who never seems to have a wasted movement) Manu is all over the place, playing at a frenetic pace and out of control. He seems to have 1 good play for every 5 bad ones.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong and that he turns things around but I'm not liking what I've seen so far.

[dbreiden83080]

It's such a credit to Tim's desire that he is this good at 36 years of age. He truly wants to get as much out of his career as he possibly can before he leaves the game..