timvp
11-29-2012, 04:57 PM
Another road game, another blowout win for the Spurs. And this one against the Magic turned out to be an even smoother ride than the contest against the Wizards two nights earlier. When the final buzzer sounded with the score 110-89, the Spurs improved to 13-3 on the season and 5-0 on the road trip.
After a JJ Redick layup gave the Magic a four-point lead in the first quarter, the Spurs awoke. San Antonio scored the game’s next 13 points and ended the quarter on a 19-4 run.
In the second period, the Spurs kept a cushion but didn’t get greedy until a few minutes before halftime. Up by five with 3:15 remaining in the quarter, the good guys scored 15 of the next 21 points to take a 14-point lead into intermission.
The final blow came early in the second half in the form of a 10-0 run. The Magic kept playing hard but never cut their deficit to single-digits again.
All in all, I’m very satisfied with the start to this season. The Spurs are taking care of business and their ability to consistently win on the road is historic. They end this road trip with game against the defending champion Heat. Due to the fact that this will be San Antonio’s fourth game in five nights while it will be Miami’s first game over that same span, the Heat should be expected to hand the Spurs a loss. Even so, this will have been a successful road trip, especially considering the lack of a healthy small forward.
http://www.spurstalk.com/box161.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box162.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box163.png
---------------
Tim Duncan
http://www.spurstalk.com/td12.png
What more is there to say? Tim Duncan is just a monster to begin the 2012-13 campaign. A couple more rebounds added to his stat line and he would have been just about flawless once again. His offensive rhythm is impeccable right now; he’s simply doing whatever he wants and does it with nary a mistake. And it’s fair to say Duncan has been even better on defense. After his five blocks against Orlando, the 36-year-old is posting career-highs in defensive rebounding percentage and shot blocking percentage. Great, great start.
Final Grade: 95
Season Average: 92.2
Adj. Average: 92.5
---------------
Manu Ginobili
http://www.spurstalk.com/mg12.png
Manu Ginobili used this game as three-point shooting practice -- and with good results. He’s now 8-for-12 from deep over the last two games, which has raised his three-point percentage on the season from 25.5% to a respectable 33.3%. When he wasn’t gunning from the perimeter, Ginobili was lasering pinpoint passes. On the road trip, he has 22 assists and only three turnovers. That 7.3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio is even more astonishing when you consider he entered the road trip with a 1.5-to-1 ratio. Defensively against Orlando, Ginobili spent most of his time going for steals or otherwise trying to disrupt their offense. While he wasn’t too successful in that regard, he was once again strong on the boards and his overall hustle was contagious.
Final Grade: 95
Season Average: 82.9
Adj. Average: 83.6
---------------
Tony Parker
http://www.spurstalk.com/tp12.png
This road trip has also done wonders for Tony Parker. He once again hit a healthy number of his field goal attempts while running the offense effortlessly. Without a drop of sweat to show for it, Parker’s road trip numbers are staggering: 24.0 points and 6.2 assists on 34.4 minutes per game while shooting 59.6% from the field. His slow statistical start to the season is now a distant memory. I thought Parker’s defense against the Magic was reasonably good, especially as the contest progressed. Let’s hope he stays this aggressive for the duration of the season.
Final Grade: 94
Season Average: 87.0
Adj. Average: 87.0
---------------
Danny Green
http://www.spurstalk.com/dg12.png
The Good: Danny Green’s outside stroke returned; he had better touch on his jumper and held his follow-through longer. He rebounded really well and his deceptive length was a definite asset. He was able to challenge (or outright block) a handful of shots. His transition defense was another area of distinct strength. The Bad: His in-between game was especially rocky. His decision-making on the move was iffy. On defense, Green could have been better in isolation situations during halfcourt sets.
Final Grade: 88
Season Average: 82.6
Adj. Average: 82.6
---------------
Gary Neal
http://www.spurstalk.com/gn12.png
After the game, Gary Neal had a classic quote that fits him perfectly: “I'm open if I can see the rim.” That mindset paid off against the Magic. Following a dicey start, Neal caught fire and played a key role in incinerating Orlando’s hope. His ability to put points on the board in a variety of ways -- from catch-and-shoot to off-the-dribble to around-the-screen and more -- is valuable to this team. Neal also had a couple of really good passes. On the defensive end, while there were a couple of subpar possessions on his part, I thought on the whole he did quite well. He’s not going to become Bruce Bowen anytime soon but he’s not nearly the liability he was last season. Sometimes he’s downright average, which is a gargantuan improvement.
Final Grade: 89
Season Average: 82.7
Adj. Average: 84.0
---------------
DeJuan Blair
http://www.spurstalk.com/db12.png
In what is historically a battle of the beef, this time the trimmer DeJuan Blair was hopelessly out-obesed by Big Baby Davis. Blair put up a fight but Davis pretty much did what he wanted and outplayed his svelte counterpart. However, other than some struggles individually on D and a couple mental miscues on O, Blair wasn’t too horrible. He finished around the rim better than usual, rebounded well again and brought his boundless energy to the table. That said, the Spurs could really use some precision from their young not-so bigman.
Final Grade: 78
Season Average: 80.8
Adj. Average: 81.8
---------------
Tiago Splitter
http://www.spurstalk.com/ts12.png
Two steps forward, one step back. (Hey, well at least the sum is positive, right?) After an amazing performance against the Wizards, Tiago Splitter was back in the shadows on Wednesday night. His final stats look reasonable, however most of his production came in fourth quarter garbage time. During the limited guts of this game, Splitter really didn’t do much of anything. Don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t bad … he just wasn’t much of anything. He had some really good moments but Splitter is at the point in his career when he should be living up to his potential on a nightly basis. That’s not yet the case yet.
Final Grade: 81
Season Average: 82.0
Adj. Average: 83.1
---------------
Boris Diaw
http://www.spurstalk.com/bd12.png
It seems like Boris Diaw is beginning to become comfortable in his bench role. His activity level was very good from his opening moments on the court. Diaw was rebounding aggressively, playing quality defense inside and outside the paint, and making his usual amazing passes. He also limited mistakes in terms of turnovers and needless fouls. Diaw still has a lot of room to up his aggression shooting-wise, particularly from behind the arc. Against the Magic, there were at least four or five three-pointers to be had that he didn’t even consider shooting.
Final Grade: 89
Season Average: 80.7
Adj. Average: 82.5
---------------
Nando De Colo
http://www.spurstalk.com/ndc12.png
Unfortunately, scouting reports are beginning to catch up to Nando De Colo. The Magic weren’t respecting his shooting at all and instead played him for the pass. The result was unpleasant. De Colo’s passing lanes were gone and he looked totally uncomfortable calling his own number. He scored on a couple of uncontested layups but otherwise he was a liability on the offensive end. Unexpectedly, it’s defense where De Colo continues to help. His length and litheness on the perimeter enable him to effectively guard multiple positions. However, the rookie is never going to become a defensive juggernaut. De Colo needs his shot to surface if he’s going to look the part of a legit NBA player.
Final Grade: 74
Season Average: 80.4
Adj. Average: 80.7
---------------
Matt Bonner
http://www.spurstalk.com/mb12.png
More garbage time for Matt Bonner. He spent his time at the end of the game upping his paltry rebounding numbers. His two defensive rebounds in seven minutes were notable considering he had five defensive rebounds in his first 116 minutes of the season.
Final Grade: Inc.
Season Average: 81.3
Adj. Average: 82.1
---------------
Cory Joseph
http://www.spurstalk.com/cj12.png
It’s unwise to take too much away from garbage minutes but Cory Joseph once again passed the eye-test. Compared to last season, his jumper looks much better and his athleticism suddenly appears to be more than adequate. After watching him this summer, I think he has a good chance to play in this league. I haven’t seen anything to change my mind in these last two outings.
Final Grade: Inc.
---------------
James Anderson
http://www.spurstalk.com/ja12.png
James Anderson has an uphill battle to ever become an NBA regular but one good piece of news for him is that his jumper looks smoother than it did last season. It’ll be interesting to keep track of his shooting percentages once he returns to D-League. For Anderson to become an NBA player, he’s going to have to shoot around 40% on three-pointers.
Final Grade: Inc.
---------------
Pop
http://www.spurstalk.com/gp12.png
Heading into this game, I thought Pop was going to be extra cautious regarding the minutes of Duncan and Parker due to the imminent showdown with the Heat. I was wrong. Playing Duncan and Parker 57 minutes in a relatively stress-free victory seems a bit excessive, to me at least. Other than that hypercritical observation, I have nothing else to complain about. I liked the rotation and I believe it’s smart to figure out what De Colo can and can’t do now rather than wait until later in the season.
Final Grade: 83
Season Average: 84.3
---------------
Offense
The Magic were actually a top ten defensive team heading into this game. No one would have suspected that fact with as cleanly as the Spurs dissected their D. The Spurs scored 94 of their 110 points either in the paint, at the line or via three-pointers. The passing was again great and they ran the court extremely well.
Final Grade: 96
Season Average: 85.4
---------------
Defense
It was yet another horrible job of defensive rebounding by the Spurs. Other than that, though, the Spurs were nearly faultless at that end. The Spurs only fouled eight times yet they caused 17 turnovers, held the Magic to 16 assists and didn’t allow many open looks on three-pointers. If the Spurs could grab rebounds at a halfway adequate rate, their defense would have been brilliant.
Final Grade: 86
Season Average: 82.5
---------------
Overall
Times are good in the land of the Spurs. The competition has been light recently but the Spurs have avoided any missteps. Next up is a pair of litmus tests. The first one is Thursday night against the Heat.
Final Grade: 91
Season Average: 84.1
---------------
After a JJ Redick layup gave the Magic a four-point lead in the first quarter, the Spurs awoke. San Antonio scored the game’s next 13 points and ended the quarter on a 19-4 run.
In the second period, the Spurs kept a cushion but didn’t get greedy until a few minutes before halftime. Up by five with 3:15 remaining in the quarter, the good guys scored 15 of the next 21 points to take a 14-point lead into intermission.
The final blow came early in the second half in the form of a 10-0 run. The Magic kept playing hard but never cut their deficit to single-digits again.
All in all, I’m very satisfied with the start to this season. The Spurs are taking care of business and their ability to consistently win on the road is historic. They end this road trip with game against the defending champion Heat. Due to the fact that this will be San Antonio’s fourth game in five nights while it will be Miami’s first game over that same span, the Heat should be expected to hand the Spurs a loss. Even so, this will have been a successful road trip, especially considering the lack of a healthy small forward.
http://www.spurstalk.com/box161.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box162.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box163.png
---------------
Tim Duncan
http://www.spurstalk.com/td12.png
What more is there to say? Tim Duncan is just a monster to begin the 2012-13 campaign. A couple more rebounds added to his stat line and he would have been just about flawless once again. His offensive rhythm is impeccable right now; he’s simply doing whatever he wants and does it with nary a mistake. And it’s fair to say Duncan has been even better on defense. After his five blocks against Orlando, the 36-year-old is posting career-highs in defensive rebounding percentage and shot blocking percentage. Great, great start.
Final Grade: 95
Season Average: 92.2
Adj. Average: 92.5
---------------
Manu Ginobili
http://www.spurstalk.com/mg12.png
Manu Ginobili used this game as three-point shooting practice -- and with good results. He’s now 8-for-12 from deep over the last two games, which has raised his three-point percentage on the season from 25.5% to a respectable 33.3%. When he wasn’t gunning from the perimeter, Ginobili was lasering pinpoint passes. On the road trip, he has 22 assists and only three turnovers. That 7.3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio is even more astonishing when you consider he entered the road trip with a 1.5-to-1 ratio. Defensively against Orlando, Ginobili spent most of his time going for steals or otherwise trying to disrupt their offense. While he wasn’t too successful in that regard, he was once again strong on the boards and his overall hustle was contagious.
Final Grade: 95
Season Average: 82.9
Adj. Average: 83.6
---------------
Tony Parker
http://www.spurstalk.com/tp12.png
This road trip has also done wonders for Tony Parker. He once again hit a healthy number of his field goal attempts while running the offense effortlessly. Without a drop of sweat to show for it, Parker’s road trip numbers are staggering: 24.0 points and 6.2 assists on 34.4 minutes per game while shooting 59.6% from the field. His slow statistical start to the season is now a distant memory. I thought Parker’s defense against the Magic was reasonably good, especially as the contest progressed. Let’s hope he stays this aggressive for the duration of the season.
Final Grade: 94
Season Average: 87.0
Adj. Average: 87.0
---------------
Danny Green
http://www.spurstalk.com/dg12.png
The Good: Danny Green’s outside stroke returned; he had better touch on his jumper and held his follow-through longer. He rebounded really well and his deceptive length was a definite asset. He was able to challenge (or outright block) a handful of shots. His transition defense was another area of distinct strength. The Bad: His in-between game was especially rocky. His decision-making on the move was iffy. On defense, Green could have been better in isolation situations during halfcourt sets.
Final Grade: 88
Season Average: 82.6
Adj. Average: 82.6
---------------
Gary Neal
http://www.spurstalk.com/gn12.png
After the game, Gary Neal had a classic quote that fits him perfectly: “I'm open if I can see the rim.” That mindset paid off against the Magic. Following a dicey start, Neal caught fire and played a key role in incinerating Orlando’s hope. His ability to put points on the board in a variety of ways -- from catch-and-shoot to off-the-dribble to around-the-screen and more -- is valuable to this team. Neal also had a couple of really good passes. On the defensive end, while there were a couple of subpar possessions on his part, I thought on the whole he did quite well. He’s not going to become Bruce Bowen anytime soon but he’s not nearly the liability he was last season. Sometimes he’s downright average, which is a gargantuan improvement.
Final Grade: 89
Season Average: 82.7
Adj. Average: 84.0
---------------
DeJuan Blair
http://www.spurstalk.com/db12.png
In what is historically a battle of the beef, this time the trimmer DeJuan Blair was hopelessly out-obesed by Big Baby Davis. Blair put up a fight but Davis pretty much did what he wanted and outplayed his svelte counterpart. However, other than some struggles individually on D and a couple mental miscues on O, Blair wasn’t too horrible. He finished around the rim better than usual, rebounded well again and brought his boundless energy to the table. That said, the Spurs could really use some precision from their young not-so bigman.
Final Grade: 78
Season Average: 80.8
Adj. Average: 81.8
---------------
Tiago Splitter
http://www.spurstalk.com/ts12.png
Two steps forward, one step back. (Hey, well at least the sum is positive, right?) After an amazing performance against the Wizards, Tiago Splitter was back in the shadows on Wednesday night. His final stats look reasonable, however most of his production came in fourth quarter garbage time. During the limited guts of this game, Splitter really didn’t do much of anything. Don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t bad … he just wasn’t much of anything. He had some really good moments but Splitter is at the point in his career when he should be living up to his potential on a nightly basis. That’s not yet the case yet.
Final Grade: 81
Season Average: 82.0
Adj. Average: 83.1
---------------
Boris Diaw
http://www.spurstalk.com/bd12.png
It seems like Boris Diaw is beginning to become comfortable in his bench role. His activity level was very good from his opening moments on the court. Diaw was rebounding aggressively, playing quality defense inside and outside the paint, and making his usual amazing passes. He also limited mistakes in terms of turnovers and needless fouls. Diaw still has a lot of room to up his aggression shooting-wise, particularly from behind the arc. Against the Magic, there were at least four or five three-pointers to be had that he didn’t even consider shooting.
Final Grade: 89
Season Average: 80.7
Adj. Average: 82.5
---------------
Nando De Colo
http://www.spurstalk.com/ndc12.png
Unfortunately, scouting reports are beginning to catch up to Nando De Colo. The Magic weren’t respecting his shooting at all and instead played him for the pass. The result was unpleasant. De Colo’s passing lanes were gone and he looked totally uncomfortable calling his own number. He scored on a couple of uncontested layups but otherwise he was a liability on the offensive end. Unexpectedly, it’s defense where De Colo continues to help. His length and litheness on the perimeter enable him to effectively guard multiple positions. However, the rookie is never going to become a defensive juggernaut. De Colo needs his shot to surface if he’s going to look the part of a legit NBA player.
Final Grade: 74
Season Average: 80.4
Adj. Average: 80.7
---------------
Matt Bonner
http://www.spurstalk.com/mb12.png
More garbage time for Matt Bonner. He spent his time at the end of the game upping his paltry rebounding numbers. His two defensive rebounds in seven minutes were notable considering he had five defensive rebounds in his first 116 minutes of the season.
Final Grade: Inc.
Season Average: 81.3
Adj. Average: 82.1
---------------
Cory Joseph
http://www.spurstalk.com/cj12.png
It’s unwise to take too much away from garbage minutes but Cory Joseph once again passed the eye-test. Compared to last season, his jumper looks much better and his athleticism suddenly appears to be more than adequate. After watching him this summer, I think he has a good chance to play in this league. I haven’t seen anything to change my mind in these last two outings.
Final Grade: Inc.
---------------
James Anderson
http://www.spurstalk.com/ja12.png
James Anderson has an uphill battle to ever become an NBA regular but one good piece of news for him is that his jumper looks smoother than it did last season. It’ll be interesting to keep track of his shooting percentages once he returns to D-League. For Anderson to become an NBA player, he’s going to have to shoot around 40% on three-pointers.
Final Grade: Inc.
---------------
Pop
http://www.spurstalk.com/gp12.png
Heading into this game, I thought Pop was going to be extra cautious regarding the minutes of Duncan and Parker due to the imminent showdown with the Heat. I was wrong. Playing Duncan and Parker 57 minutes in a relatively stress-free victory seems a bit excessive, to me at least. Other than that hypercritical observation, I have nothing else to complain about. I liked the rotation and I believe it’s smart to figure out what De Colo can and can’t do now rather than wait until later in the season.
Final Grade: 83
Season Average: 84.3
---------------
Offense
The Magic were actually a top ten defensive team heading into this game. No one would have suspected that fact with as cleanly as the Spurs dissected their D. The Spurs scored 94 of their 110 points either in the paint, at the line or via three-pointers. The passing was again great and they ran the court extremely well.
Final Grade: 96
Season Average: 85.4
---------------
Defense
It was yet another horrible job of defensive rebounding by the Spurs. Other than that, though, the Spurs were nearly faultless at that end. The Spurs only fouled eight times yet they caused 17 turnovers, held the Magic to 16 assists and didn’t allow many open looks on three-pointers. If the Spurs could grab rebounds at a halfway adequate rate, their defense would have been brilliant.
Final Grade: 86
Season Average: 82.5
---------------
Overall
Times are good in the land of the Spurs. The competition has been light recently but the Spurs have avoided any missteps. Next up is a pair of litmus tests. The first one is Thursday night against the Heat.
Final Grade: 91
Season Average: 84.1
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