timvp
11-10-2012, 07:11 AM
Looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season, the Spurs traveled to Sacramento to play the Kings in the first game of a back-to-back set. While San Antonio was eventually victorious to the tune of 97-86, I’d be hard-pressed to take many positives away from this outing.
To say the play was sloppy would be an understatement. This game boiled down to the Spurs being less horrible than the Kings. The lesser of two evils, if you will excuse the political tie-in. Most of the night was truly an abomination to the game of basketball.
Then again, I should note that the Spurs were dealing with an epidemic of sorts. Stephen Jackson missed the game due to a stomach virus, while the same illness also slowed Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard and Matt Bonner.
At the end of the day, I guess we Spurs fans can take solace in the platitude that an ugly win is better than a great loss. Only leading by four points with five minutes remaining in the contest, the Spurs went on an 8-2 run. From that point until the final buzzer mercifully signaled the end to this hideous display of sport, the good guys were never challenged again.
http://www.spurstalk.com/box61.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box62.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box63.png
Tim Duncan
Despite the disarray, Tim Duncan authored another fantastic page to his 2012-13 novel. Once again looking spry and mysteriously rejuvenated, he literally impacted the game in every phase. Defensively, Duncan was great. His individual defense against DeMarcus Cousins was stout and his help-defense was stellar. His ability to protect the rim was the single biggest reason why the Kings struggled (well, that and the fact that they just aren’t that good). Offensively, Duncan’s outside jumper was money. Once he deposited a handful of perimeter shots, the Kings were forced to extend -- which ultimately opened up the middle for Duncan to utilize more of his repertoire. The most memorable aspect of this game was when Cousins started talking trash in the fourth quarter to which Duncan responded by destroying the brash Kings bigman play after play after play. Let us hope that Duncan has plenty more to write this season and that his penmanship remains majestic.
Final Grade: 97
Manu Ginobili
Yeah, um, no. Really, the less said about Manu Ginobili’s night, the better. He was totally out of control during his 25 minutes. When he wasn’t tossing up ill-advised shots, he was either turning the ball over or nearly turning the ball over. The Argentine star wasn’t helpful defensively; he was mostly a mess on that end as well. If we want to strain ourselves to find positives, we could point to a few fine passes, his one strong finish at the rim and his overall aggression. But on the whole, Ginobili just didn’t look right -- I'm not sure how else to state it. His movements were choppy and slower than usual. His balance, which is usually a main strength, had betrayed him. Once fully healthy, Ginobili will have better games ahead of him. Of this I'm certain.
Final Grade: 68
Tony Parker
Speaking of bad performances, Tony Parker says hello. I’ll give him a bit of a break because he was sick – but, wow, was he bad. Like Ginobili, Parker salvaged a sliver of value with his passing but that was about the extent of his pluses. His jumper was flat. He wasn’t aggressive. His defense was somewhere between subpar and bad. Basically, he played like he was really sick. Since he was actually sick, I’ll chalk it up to that and move on.
Final Grade: 71
Kawhi Leonard
Another ill player was Kawhi Leonard. And I don’t mean the good kind of ill. Leonard still had some energy, unlike Parker, but his leaping ability was non-existent. He’s not a great leaper to begin with but tonight I’m not sure he could hurdle a phone book. That shortcoming mostly hurt Leonard on offense when he was trying to finish in the paint. But give Leonard credit because he was still able to find ways to help. He rebounded very well and played solid position defense. Also, his rotations were crisp and he wasn’t afraid to get physical in the paint. Considering the circumstances, I thought Leonard did pretty well.
Final Grade: 83
Danny Green
Danny Green’s sweltering shooting streak came to an end in Sacramento. I didn’t particularly like his shot selection this game; Green was a bit too trigger happy. Defensively, while he had a few beautiful hustle plays, he also blew a number of assignments and was weak on the defensive glass. Green was one of the best rebounding guards last season. He needs to get back to that.
Final Grade: 77
DeJuan Blair
Getting the start in place of Boris Diaw, DeJuan Blair made the coaching staff look dumb. Blair was bad. Defensively, he wasn’t nearly as physical as he needs to be and was routinely in the wrong place. Additionally, his help-defense was pitiful for much of the evening. Offensively, his usually reliable touch was nowhere to be found. His decision were poor and he basically just kept getting in the way. In other words, this wasn’t the best way for Blair to tell the world that he deserves to start.
Final Grade: 69
Boris Diaw
Despite his shifting role, I thought Boris Diaw did well. He didn’t let the change in his role negatively influence his play. Defensively, Diaw continued his very strong play. His sublime rebounding was an added bonus on that end. On offense, he fulfilled his duties. His passes were precise and his aggression was at an acceptable level. Once he gets fully comfortable with the bench gig, Diaw should have plenty of success.
Final Grade: 89
Patrick Mills
Finally. Patrick Mills, to put it bluntly, had looked terrible since the beginning of preseason. Personally, I think his problem was he was trying to be someone he’s not. Mills isn’t a passer or a playmaker. The Australian jitterbug is a scorer. Plain a simple. Mills should either try to score or make a simple pass to an open teammate. Against the Kings, he got back to doing just that. Combining his lightning quickness with his marksmanship from the outside, Mills was able to produce 18 extremely valuable points. I liked his tenacity on defense, even though I’m not sure it accomplished much. Overall, though, this was a huge leap in the right direction. Hopefully Mills uses tonight as a blueprint for how he needs to play going forward.
Final Grade: 96
Gary Neal
Gary Neal spent most of his time at shooting guard and had a decent outing. He carried the offense for a small stretch when everyone else was playing inadequately. That alone helped keep the Spurs afloat during their unsightly struggles. He also dished off a couple nifty passes while finishing without a turnover. On defense, Neal did well enough. He remained mentally engaged and was rarely exploited by Sacramento’s athletic perimeter players.
Final Grade: 86
Tiago Splitter
Friday night was another uneven outing for Tiago Splitter. At times, he looks like he’s ready to bust out of his slump and return to the level of play he exhibited last season. Unfortunately, he just hasn’t been able to string successful possessions together. He needs to finish better at the rim, roll with more force to the basket and catch more passes that head his direction. On defense, Splitter needs to rebound better, avoid needless foul and play a more physical brand of basketball in the paint. I still believe in him but for the sake of his own confidence I hope he emerges from his slump soon.
Final Grade: 78
Pop
Promoting Blair to the starting lineup and demoting Diaw took some guts. Diaw’s defense in the starting lineup was extremely beneficial and his passing made Duncan’s life easier. However, I think this is the right move for now. Blair plays best next to Duncan, while Diaw will be able to help Splitter and make the bench even better. Plus, Bonner will become the fifth bigman -- a role that suits him at this stage of his career. Other than that move, Pop spent the rest of the night trying to figure out which players were the least sick. His move to reinsert Mills into the game in the fourth quarter turned out to be the correct call.
Final Grade: 81
Offense
The team’s 20 turnovers -- 19 of which came in the first three quarters -- ruined an otherwise decent offensive showing. The Spurs got to the line enough (26 attempts), passed well (27 assists), scored on the break (20 points) and made 55.5% of their two-pointers. Truth be told, the Kings played pitiful defense for most of the night so even the good numbers should come adorned with asterisks.
Final Grade: 75
Defense
At first glance, it appears as if the Spurs were great defensively. The Kings scored only 86 points on 35.2% shooting from the floor. Awesome, right!?! Meh, not really. The Spurs got clobbered on the defensive boards (again) and forced the Kings into only 11 turnovers. Plus, San Antonio allowed 26 free throw attempts. If it wasn’t for the Kings playing selfish offense, missing easy shots and generally being completely out of rhythm, the stats wouldn’t be nearly as kind.
Final Grade: 80
Overall
By now, hopefully I don’t have to repeat how ugly this game was and how the Spurs were lucky to be playing such a disjointed team. I love watching the Spurs play basketball but I’ll vote for avoiding such aesthetically-unpleasing performances in the future. Thanks in advance.
Final Grade: 73
To say the play was sloppy would be an understatement. This game boiled down to the Spurs being less horrible than the Kings. The lesser of two evils, if you will excuse the political tie-in. Most of the night was truly an abomination to the game of basketball.
Then again, I should note that the Spurs were dealing with an epidemic of sorts. Stephen Jackson missed the game due to a stomach virus, while the same illness also slowed Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard and Matt Bonner.
At the end of the day, I guess we Spurs fans can take solace in the platitude that an ugly win is better than a great loss. Only leading by four points with five minutes remaining in the contest, the Spurs went on an 8-2 run. From that point until the final buzzer mercifully signaled the end to this hideous display of sport, the good guys were never challenged again.
http://www.spurstalk.com/box61.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box62.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box63.png
Tim Duncan
Despite the disarray, Tim Duncan authored another fantastic page to his 2012-13 novel. Once again looking spry and mysteriously rejuvenated, he literally impacted the game in every phase. Defensively, Duncan was great. His individual defense against DeMarcus Cousins was stout and his help-defense was stellar. His ability to protect the rim was the single biggest reason why the Kings struggled (well, that and the fact that they just aren’t that good). Offensively, Duncan’s outside jumper was money. Once he deposited a handful of perimeter shots, the Kings were forced to extend -- which ultimately opened up the middle for Duncan to utilize more of his repertoire. The most memorable aspect of this game was when Cousins started talking trash in the fourth quarter to which Duncan responded by destroying the brash Kings bigman play after play after play. Let us hope that Duncan has plenty more to write this season and that his penmanship remains majestic.
Final Grade: 97
Manu Ginobili
Yeah, um, no. Really, the less said about Manu Ginobili’s night, the better. He was totally out of control during his 25 minutes. When he wasn’t tossing up ill-advised shots, he was either turning the ball over or nearly turning the ball over. The Argentine star wasn’t helpful defensively; he was mostly a mess on that end as well. If we want to strain ourselves to find positives, we could point to a few fine passes, his one strong finish at the rim and his overall aggression. But on the whole, Ginobili just didn’t look right -- I'm not sure how else to state it. His movements were choppy and slower than usual. His balance, which is usually a main strength, had betrayed him. Once fully healthy, Ginobili will have better games ahead of him. Of this I'm certain.
Final Grade: 68
Tony Parker
Speaking of bad performances, Tony Parker says hello. I’ll give him a bit of a break because he was sick – but, wow, was he bad. Like Ginobili, Parker salvaged a sliver of value with his passing but that was about the extent of his pluses. His jumper was flat. He wasn’t aggressive. His defense was somewhere between subpar and bad. Basically, he played like he was really sick. Since he was actually sick, I’ll chalk it up to that and move on.
Final Grade: 71
Kawhi Leonard
Another ill player was Kawhi Leonard. And I don’t mean the good kind of ill. Leonard still had some energy, unlike Parker, but his leaping ability was non-existent. He’s not a great leaper to begin with but tonight I’m not sure he could hurdle a phone book. That shortcoming mostly hurt Leonard on offense when he was trying to finish in the paint. But give Leonard credit because he was still able to find ways to help. He rebounded very well and played solid position defense. Also, his rotations were crisp and he wasn’t afraid to get physical in the paint. Considering the circumstances, I thought Leonard did pretty well.
Final Grade: 83
Danny Green
Danny Green’s sweltering shooting streak came to an end in Sacramento. I didn’t particularly like his shot selection this game; Green was a bit too trigger happy. Defensively, while he had a few beautiful hustle plays, he also blew a number of assignments and was weak on the defensive glass. Green was one of the best rebounding guards last season. He needs to get back to that.
Final Grade: 77
DeJuan Blair
Getting the start in place of Boris Diaw, DeJuan Blair made the coaching staff look dumb. Blair was bad. Defensively, he wasn’t nearly as physical as he needs to be and was routinely in the wrong place. Additionally, his help-defense was pitiful for much of the evening. Offensively, his usually reliable touch was nowhere to be found. His decision were poor and he basically just kept getting in the way. In other words, this wasn’t the best way for Blair to tell the world that he deserves to start.
Final Grade: 69
Boris Diaw
Despite his shifting role, I thought Boris Diaw did well. He didn’t let the change in his role negatively influence his play. Defensively, Diaw continued his very strong play. His sublime rebounding was an added bonus on that end. On offense, he fulfilled his duties. His passes were precise and his aggression was at an acceptable level. Once he gets fully comfortable with the bench gig, Diaw should have plenty of success.
Final Grade: 89
Patrick Mills
Finally. Patrick Mills, to put it bluntly, had looked terrible since the beginning of preseason. Personally, I think his problem was he was trying to be someone he’s not. Mills isn’t a passer or a playmaker. The Australian jitterbug is a scorer. Plain a simple. Mills should either try to score or make a simple pass to an open teammate. Against the Kings, he got back to doing just that. Combining his lightning quickness with his marksmanship from the outside, Mills was able to produce 18 extremely valuable points. I liked his tenacity on defense, even though I’m not sure it accomplished much. Overall, though, this was a huge leap in the right direction. Hopefully Mills uses tonight as a blueprint for how he needs to play going forward.
Final Grade: 96
Gary Neal
Gary Neal spent most of his time at shooting guard and had a decent outing. He carried the offense for a small stretch when everyone else was playing inadequately. That alone helped keep the Spurs afloat during their unsightly struggles. He also dished off a couple nifty passes while finishing without a turnover. On defense, Neal did well enough. He remained mentally engaged and was rarely exploited by Sacramento’s athletic perimeter players.
Final Grade: 86
Tiago Splitter
Friday night was another uneven outing for Tiago Splitter. At times, he looks like he’s ready to bust out of his slump and return to the level of play he exhibited last season. Unfortunately, he just hasn’t been able to string successful possessions together. He needs to finish better at the rim, roll with more force to the basket and catch more passes that head his direction. On defense, Splitter needs to rebound better, avoid needless foul and play a more physical brand of basketball in the paint. I still believe in him but for the sake of his own confidence I hope he emerges from his slump soon.
Final Grade: 78
Pop
Promoting Blair to the starting lineup and demoting Diaw took some guts. Diaw’s defense in the starting lineup was extremely beneficial and his passing made Duncan’s life easier. However, I think this is the right move for now. Blair plays best next to Duncan, while Diaw will be able to help Splitter and make the bench even better. Plus, Bonner will become the fifth bigman -- a role that suits him at this stage of his career. Other than that move, Pop spent the rest of the night trying to figure out which players were the least sick. His move to reinsert Mills into the game in the fourth quarter turned out to be the correct call.
Final Grade: 81
Offense
The team’s 20 turnovers -- 19 of which came in the first three quarters -- ruined an otherwise decent offensive showing. The Spurs got to the line enough (26 attempts), passed well (27 assists), scored on the break (20 points) and made 55.5% of their two-pointers. Truth be told, the Kings played pitiful defense for most of the night so even the good numbers should come adorned with asterisks.
Final Grade: 75
Defense
At first glance, it appears as if the Spurs were great defensively. The Kings scored only 86 points on 35.2% shooting from the floor. Awesome, right!?! Meh, not really. The Spurs got clobbered on the defensive boards (again) and forced the Kings into only 11 turnovers. Plus, San Antonio allowed 26 free throw attempts. If it wasn’t for the Kings playing selfish offense, missing easy shots and generally being completely out of rhythm, the stats wouldn’t be nearly as kind.
Final Grade: 80
Overall
By now, hopefully I don’t have to repeat how ugly this game was and how the Spurs were lucky to be playing such a disjointed team. I love watching the Spurs play basketball but I’ll vote for avoiding such aesthetically-unpleasing performances in the future. Thanks in advance.
Final Grade: 73