Quick Grades: Spurs vs. Clippers - Nov. 19, 2012

[timvp]

Tim Duncan B+
Fantastic effort. Relentlessly competitive. Wasn’t sharp enough offensively.

Manu Ginobili B-
Questionable decision making at times but got to the line and played good D in spurts.

Tony Parker C-
Just not enough production. He has to do more when things are circling the drain.

Danny Green C-
Acceptable defensively but took quick shots and his accuracy was poor.

Stephen Jackson B-
Jackson was playing solid yet unspectacular basketball on both ends prior to getting hurt.

DeJuan Blair C+
Missed too many chip shots. Started off well on defense but then faded dramatically.

Gary Neal D+
Bad shot selection. Poor ball-handling. Subpar defense. Still appeared to be bothered by finger.

Tiago Splitter C
Didn’t play tough enough on D, especially on the boards. Too antsy when defending the post.

Matt Bonner A
Fearless shooting the ball in the fourth. Good positional defense. Competed.

Boris Diaw D-
Bad on the boards. Ineffective on D. Horrible on offense.

Patrick Mills D
His point guard skills seem to be regressing. Can’t do anything with the ball. Weak defense.

Nando De Colo C-
Got a chance to try to make a difference but became a liability on both ends.

Pop C
Never found a group that could match L.A.’s energy of toughness.

[TE]

We really needed SJAX and Kwahi for this game...

[Stabula]

lol @ Bonner out-competing our entire team save for Duncan

[Boomersgold]

How did Patty Mills get a lower grade than Nando De Colo?

[Stabula]

I don't get why you don't give out F's. Mills, De Colo, Neal, and Diaw were all SOLID F's.

[letmk]

How did Patty Mills get a lower grade than Nando De Colo?

re this

[freetiago]

Looks like the reality of this team is with bonner well put points up on the board and our D is good enough to chug out wins
but once playoffs roll around bonner becomes useless and our O fails along with our average D

im not to worried about this game though
they still played very sloppy especially that 2nd quarter and missed a lot of open shots
ginobili and parker decided to dance around when they had mismatches instead of taking it to the rim
leonard/jack both out
and refs favored clips this game and it was still close

if the spurs dont let turiaf or bledsoe get those offensive rebounds we win

[Boomersgold]

De Colo deserves the lowest grade out of all the players that played tonight. His defense was terrible, he caused turnovers, wasn't effective on either end of the court.

[spectator]

diaw looked great last year and i was really excited to see him with a full training camp this season, but he has been a disappointment

[spectator]

diaw looked great last year and i was really excited to see him with a full training camp this season, but he has been a disappointment

ditto splitter

[timvp]

How did Patty Mills get a lower grade than Nando De Colo?

Mills got twice as many minutes and his expectations are much higher than a player in De Colo who has played only a handful of meaningful minutes.

[ElNono]

I would give Bonner a B- just from the fact of THAT rebound that killed our momentum... sure, the 3s were nice, but we needed stops and these fucks can't grab a fucking board.

[timvp]

ElNono with almost as much irrational hate for Bonner as Parker, tbh.

[ElNono]

In light of my latest decision, I'd like Parker's grade upgraded to at least C+... after all, he had to deal with top talent like CP3 all night long.

[Russo21]

Diaw is stinking it up something chronic. Averaging like 2pts 2reb in his last 5 games

[ElNono]

ElNono with almost as much irrational hate for Bonner as Parker, tbh.

???

I love Tony Parker. Tony is the best.

Bonner sucks though.

[TheSkeptic]

???

I love Tony Parker. Tony is the best.

Bonner sucks though.

Beginning to suspect you're drunk posting tbh. :lol

[Ice009]

Parker is a dog of a player. He's supposed to be our best player, but he sure doesn't lead by example out there.

I'm simply getting tired of our so called best player taking nights off all the time.

[Floyd Pacquiao]

Don't know whats wrong with Diaw dude looks stupid out there passes up open looks, soft on def reb.

[HI-FI]

Parker is a dog of a player. He's supposed to be our best player, but he sure doesn't lead by example out there.

I'm simply getting tired of our so called best player taking nights off all the time.
Parker, imo, is not a leader. It doesn't mean he is expendable, I think he has been a good, at times great, piece for the team. But he pouts too much, gets selfish on the court and off the court by doing indefensible shit. You can't be a leader if its not in your character. TD is undoubtedly a leader. Manu has it in him. I'm hoping Kawhi can be one as well.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

This is the most depressing 8-3 team I've ever seen :lol

[freetiago]

diaws play has regressed since he was tossed to the bench
rather just start him if he can get back to normal
diaws more important to the team long term then blair is unless he gets traded soon

[99 Problems]

With KL out and Stak hurt early I'm not really worried. It's not like we let the Fakers in for a win.

[dylankerouac]

Thanks for the grades. Manu shows he can stil be great, especially when he doesn't intentionally play balls to the wall and out of control. If the team can get in a rhythm toward the end his efficiency will be needed in the post season, and will probably allow him to extend his career too.

I was glad that Bonner made some pressure shots.

I didn't see the beginning, did Tiago and Tim start? Pop may want to consider this to equalize the bigs that the Clippers have. Griffin and Deandre are getting better, and Deandre is an annoying player. He is probably one of the reasons why/how the Clip get so fired up against us. Barnes was annoying this game too because he played well, though he did stop Tim from tripping over Parker near the end of the game.

Anyway, they do seem dangerous but I will be more worried if the Clip are playing this well at the end of the season.

[Hoops Czar]

Tony Parker carried this team last year. This year, he's playing like a candy ass.

Piss face deserves a D-. Putting garbage Mills and De Colo into the game in the second quarter killed whatever little momentum the Spurs had at the time. It's also pretty embarrassing to allow players like Paul and Bledsoe offensive rebound after offensive rebound. I think the team is also lacking fundamental. Pop needs to run layup drills in practice because they can't hit a transition layup to save their ass.

The Spurs continue to shoot their way out of games by taking outside jumpshots instead of driving to the basket for an easier shot. The shots that were falling last year aren't this year and the defense isn't anywhere close to being good enough to contend. You can't put lipstick on this pig. They just aren't that good.

[Paranoid Pop]

TP is not very aggressive at this point, it's like he's taking a back seat and the offense feels chaotic overall, it's may partly be by design but him not getting to the line even once seems very wrong. The second half the offense felt much sharper tho, much better execution and I think we only turned it over 4 times against a very good defensive team.

And the bench is not producing half enough, Sjax's D and Manu's scoring are the only bright spots. I think Boris should go roid in Germany tbh.

Overall scary outing, while the Ny game made me hopeful despite the loss, it felt like the team's limitations were really exposed in the one.

How the fuck do Bledsoe and Barnes each get 3 offensive rebounds?

It's a long season but we're not even close to a winning formula at this point.

[Fireball]

All those bad grades and we still had a chance to win this one ... with SJax out we will see more of Matt Bonner I guess ...

[Slippy]

Thought Tony set the tone on the decision making department. Too much over-dribbling, telegraphed passes and shots that just weren't there.

Boris is sleepwalking and not just this game. On last nights game, when paired with Tiago he of should been the guy cleaning up the rebound as Tiago helped out on guard penatration. The clips ran the same play i think about 4 times with the score. What i didn't get was Boris got rewarded with extra mins in the third while Tiago sat the whole quarter out. On offense Boris is fast becoming liability.

[bklynspursfan]

I thought TP did defend Paul pretty good fighting through screens and staying in front of him. But offensively he has to be in attack mode

[boutons_deux]

8-3, but like a couple years ago, 8W vs weak teams (including barely won games), 3 L vs top teams.

[FromWayDowntown]

I'm trying to be unreasonably optimistic, but I don't know that the wins against OKC and LAL can be considered wins against weak teams, particularly by season's end. At that, there's also a reasonable argument that this team could be 10-1. And, even if that's something that most would reject, "weak" starts are something of a Spurs hallmark and haven't generally portended an inability to compete when it matters.

My biggest take away from the game last night is the proof that even when the officiating in a game is hideously bad (and it was at points last night; Leroy Richardson and Bill Kennedy were abysmal), the Spurs still had a chance to win the game and if they had taken care of the things that they were capable of taking care of, they could have (and should have) won the game. I think it's heartening, in a sense, that the Spurs had a chance at the end against a very, very good team, despite playing horribly in stretches and fighting through some dubious calls. But I also think that the fact that they didn't find a way to get the win in the end, under those circumstances, should provoke more questions about their quality; great teams finish that game and show that they can win under adverse circumstances, whether self-made or imposed by third parties.

[TDMVPDPOY]

have we beatened any teams that are at full strength?? cause it seems like we are just picking easy wins and not being battle tested among the real teams that be appearing in the playoffs...

[silverblk mystix]

2 things happened that I had never seen;

#1) Bonner played better than almost all the other spurs and tougher too!

#2) Faggot/flopper Chris Paul dunked.

[spurraider21]

well this game was near a worst case scenario. losing jax a game after losing kawhi, losing the game, and bonnner making shots in the 4th. so now we're probably going to see bonner get more minutes, AND came away with a loss

[007nites]

Duncan's grades

Out of the last 11 games Duncan has only gotten under a B once.

[DMC]

I would ding Tim more than the OP did for his stupid outlet passes to Blair while he was guarded by Griffin. Also, Manu got a pass for his shitty game because it was relative to his injury and his lack of playing time. Gary should get the same. Gary, graded on a Gary scale, should have gotten a C all things considered. Manu was Manu, you can set your watch by his turnovers, you just know he's going to try that pass in a crowded paint area.

Bonner didn't play better than anyone. He hit some shots. Otherwise he passed up a wide open look that would have tied the game, even though he was hot from outside, and decided to put the ball on the floor and drive the paint.

There is too much grading based on the outcome instead of the input. It seems to me that the team philosophy last night was to push the ball as fast as possible, thus the silly outlet passes to basically nobody, the inability to finish in transition by just about anyone, Tim or Blair bring the ball up, Neal handling the ball with an injured finger... too many shitty decisions for it to be a coincidence. No way in hell an outlet to Blair pans out even if he catches that ball, Griffin swats that shit into the parking lot. Tony ignoring wide open shooters to dribble around and then pass to Tim who's well covered. Tony was back into the "I only trust Tim" mode. When a few shots don't fall, Tony stops passing to anyone other than the other big 2.

Even if the Spurs won, they would have sucked. It wasn't a good game and not because of shots not falling. I couldn't believe the uncharacteristic YMCA style of play in the 1st quarter, so what we got a lead. That was some silly looking shit, from Jack's transition 3 with no rebounders to the no look behind the back pass to the other team by Tiago. What the fuck. It wasn't about soft, it was about stupid. That's on Pop. He wouldn't take responsibility for that.

[DMC]

Thought Tony set the tone on the decision making department. Too much over-dribbling, telegraphed passes and shots that just weren't there.

Boris is sleepwalking and not just this game. On last nights game, when paired with Tiago he of should been the guy cleaning up the rebound as Tiago helped out on guard penatration. The clips ran the same play i think about 4 times with the score. What i didn't get was Boris got rewarded with extra mins in the third while Tiago sat the whole quarter out. On offense Boris is fast becoming liability.

There's a huge difference between a guy not producing because he cannot and a guy not producing because he will not. Boris will not, and that can be changed. Cannot is cannot, no changing that.

[007nites]

If Tony can't penetrate into the lane he can't create shit for no one. He can only hit the midrange jumper if someone sets a really good screen for him. What pisses me off is that fact that Green, Neal, Blair, and Bonner think they are masters at using the floating tear drop. Neal and Green have 3 moves in their repertoire and Bonner as 2.

1. They can shoot the three.
2. Pump fake the 3 drive and throw up a shitty floater. In Bonner's case he actually made that shot last night.
3. Pump fake the 3, drive halfway, jump stop, pull up jumper (Which always hit's the front of the rim when Green or Neal are shooting it)

[timvp]

There is too much grading based on the outcome instead of the input. It seems to me that the team philosophy last night was to push the ball as fast as possible, thus the silly outlet passes to basically nobody, the inability to finish in transition by just about anyone, Tim or Blair bring the ball up, Neal handling the ball with an injured finger... too many shitty decisions for it to be a coincidence. No way in hell an outlet to Blair pans out even if he catches that ball, Griffin swats that shit into the parking lot. Tony ignoring wide open shooters to dribble around and then pass to Tim who's well covered. Tony was back into the "I only trust Tim" mode. When a few shots don't fall, Tony stops passing to anyone other than the other big 2.

The first sentence is a fair critique but the rest of the paragraph doesn't seem to have anything to do with that statement, tbh. In fact, I struggle to piece together the logic behind the subsequent sentences. The Spurs were trying to play fast as evident by the way they couldn't score in transition and that their backup point guard handled the ball? Errr ... yeah.......

[Slippy]

There's a huge difference between a guy not producing because he cannot and a guy not producing because he will not. Boris will not, and that can be changed. Cannot is cannot, no changing that.

Boris in the first half seemed to be in another world. Boris didn't change that in the third quarter. Whether he can or can't really doesn't matter because it's been happening a lot this season and that wont win you the game. By rewarding that "will not" atitude, you reap what you sow.

[DMC]

The first sentence is a fair critique but the rest of the paragraph doesn't seem to have anything to do with that statement, tbh. In fact, I struggle to piece together the logic behind the subsequent sentences. The Spurs were trying to play fast as evident by the way they couldn't score in transition and that their backup point guard handled the ball? Errr ... yeah.......
Fair assessment. I could have cleaned that up a bit.

[DMC]

Boris in the first half seemed to be in another world. Boris didn't change that in the third quarter. Whether he can or can't really doesn't matter because it's been happening a lot this season and that wont win you the game. By rewarding that "will not" atitude, you reap what you sow.

They all seemed to be in another world. That slap happy shit they were doing seemed to be based on the notion that forcing the flow was going to get them there faster. You ever see a group of people who just started playing together try to move the ball faster than they should? It looks pretty choppy. I saw people not sure if they should shoot or pass. It was odd. I was surprised it was as close as it was. If the Clippers weren't so poorly coached, they should have won by 20.