Quick Grades: Spurs vs. Grizzlies - Dec. 1, 2012

[timvp]

Tim Duncan A-
Legendary first half performance. Tired in the second half but came up with key plays late.

Manu Ginobili C+
A South American Tsunami hit the AT&T Center. Produced positive and negative plays at a dizzying rate.

Tony Parker A-
Commendable effort on D throughout. Shouldered the offensive load for long stretches, including O.T.

Danny Green D
Couldn't buy a bucket. Left with a tight hamstring. Those two sentences possibly related.

Gary Neal C-
Forgot to switch over from "hero" mode back to "role player" mode.

DeJuan Blair B+
Energetic and effective defense. Hustled throughout. Stayed out of the way on offense.

Tiago Splitter B
Rebounded well and had a few positive moments but mostly quiet.

Matt Bonner A-
His presence changed the flow and spacing on O. Battled hard on the boards and played decent D.

Boris Diaw C
Quiet outside of his fouls. Weak on the glass and passive in most phases of the game.

Patrick Mills A
Impressive bounce-back after forgettable outing. Utilized speed and liveliness to help turn momentum.

Nando De Colo B-
Made mistakes but was able to create off the dribble, which alone aided in regaining rhythm on O.

Pop A+
Dug deep into his bag of tricks when it looked like a sure loss. His decisions turned things around.

[freetiago]

Neals shots at least came at the right time
ginobili with the 5X5 as well so he can get at least a B
spurs lack of a SF really shows vs the grizz
like a domino effect
they were outsized at pretty much every position except pg
had neal guarding gay at one point

[racm]

The Spurs managing to compete with the Grizzlies on the glass was a good sign. The Spurs are winning even when their 3s aren't falling.

[letmk]

Let's set Mills free to be our Barea although their playing style are quite different. His speed is a game-pace changer for the Spurs, who notoriously lack of speedy players. And at least for now he seems to know his role is not being a hero, which Neal often forgets.

[Splits]

Gary Neal is a shooter who is told to shoot whenever he is open and in rhythm. If he doesn't shoot, he's benched. I have zero problem with his shot selection.

[DesignatedT]

Really ready for Kawhi and Jack to get back.

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

I liked that Nando didn't look super passive this game.

[Gagnrath]

Can anyone figure out why Neal and Mills can't each have a good night in the same night? I sort of feel like they both fill the same role, but don't do it in the same way.

[DMC]

I have some problems with Neal's shot selection. As Sean pointed out, some of those shots Gary can get at any time. He needs to find better looks and not run the 7 second offense mode. It seems many of his transition attempts are last second shot type attempts. He's hit a few, and surely Pop tells him to keep it up, but I have no doubt Pop would prefer him to be a bit more selective on offense.

I wondered why Pop didn't call a time out close to the end of regulation. Sure the Grizz would have time to set up, but so would the Spurs. It because too hectic and Manu just forced it.

The ball movement was really lacking tonight. I cannot believe we actually won, the epitome of the stone cutter story, keep pounding that rock, eventually something gives. Just be close enough when it does to make it matter.

Pop couldn't have come out of this weekend looking any better unless we actually beat Miami, but even then only slightly.

[Spurs4#5]

I think nando deserves an A...though he made a few mistakes he went out there and showed poise and delivered without hesitation which is hard to find on a rookie..
Nando in a few years will be a really good point guard

[99 Problems]

Very proud of all our guys. Our bench this week became part of Spurs folklore. Those guys may never reach heights that Spurs fans have been spoilt with but by the time this 'Restgate', 'Popgate' whatever gate is finished, they will have played their way into NBA history.

[Gagnrath]

slightly to bad they didn't win that game..... If they had it would have been truely crowning. As is its a little bittersweet, I think the guys from San Antonio win the war but loose the battle. Its something of a theme for the area I understand.

[team-work]

When I check the box score during the 4th Q, I'm almost sure it would be a L after all the efforts in and out of the court. A win is certainly the best "substantially sanctimonious" counteract to David Stern's dictatorial manners in his attempt to influence coaching decisions.

[spurs10]

Pop did make the calls that turned the game around. They had us until our amazing turn of fortune in the fourth. Tim Duncan"s 19 in the first half kept us in the game. I don't believe anyone other than the big 3 scored in the first half.......Tiago had a couple of points....Diaw a 3..then zilch. That 4th quarter was fun as hell to watch. It's good to see the bench bring something to the table. Matt even got some crucial boards!!?? Wtf!! Big fun!
Excuse me did Tim have 21 in the first half!!??

[Budkin]

Who would have thought the red rocket would be a catalyst in getting us back in the game? Also I love this win because we did it without Jax and Leonard.

[TDMVPDPOY]

gary neal a bigger version of NVE....lol

[ElNono]

Anything less than B- for Manu is a stretch, tbh. Sure, he had his up and down on offense, but he was mismatched all night on Rudy Gay due to Khawi and Jack being out and he did an admirable job, including decent rebounding and a handful of steals. On offense, his shot was off most of the night but he ended up tied with Tony for team-high 6 assists...

Sure, you don't see him tossing passes to the crowd or missing 2 freebies in a row a lot, but he contributed in other ways.

I would give him a 92 scoreline, 3rd best player of the night, tbh.

Also, Bonner is overrated in the ranks, IMO.

[crc21209]

I hope Green is fine, especially with Kawhi and Jack already out. Good thing the Spurs don't play until Wednesday night...

[jestersmash]

Anything less than B- for Manu is a stretch, tbh. Sure, he had his up and down on offense, but he was mismatched all night on Rudy Gay due to Khawi and Jack being out and he did an admirable job, including decent rebounding and a handful of steals. On offense, his shot was off most of the night but he ended up tied with Tony for team-high 6 assists...

Sure, you don't see him tossing passes to the crowd or missing 2 freebies in a row a lot, but he contributed in other ways.

I would give him a 92 scoreline, 3rd best player of the night, tbh.

Also, Bonner is overrated in the ranks, IMO.

TBH by arguing for a higher score you're tacitly denigrating Manu's full potential. If this is a C+ kind of game for Manu, then it's implied that "A+" Manu is 6 levels (B-, B, B+, A-, A, A+) above tonight's performance.

If this is a B- kind of game for Manu, then a perfect or near perfect "A+" game is only 5 levels removed from tonight's performance.

Most grades are pretty consistent on this point. They're relative to expectations for individual players. A 20 point (9-17), 6 assist, 6 rebound, 0 turnover game for Lebron James, for example, is almost never graded an 'A' by ESPN's Tom Haberstroh because Lebron can easily do so much better, whereas if Manu had such a stat line it'd almost certainly be an 'A-' performance at minimum assuming his defense was sufficiently competent. The bar for an 'A' (or 'B' or 'C') is higher for Lebron.

[superjames1992]

Anything less than B- for Manu is a stretch, tbh. Sure, he had his up and down on offense, but he was mismatched all night on Rudy Gay due to Khawi and Jack being out and he did an admirable job, including decent rebounding and a handful of steals. On offense, his shot was off most of the night but he ended up tied with Tony for team-high 6 assists...
One minute he was hitting clutch threes while the next minute he was throwing the ball into the stands. He was mediocre, at best.

[milkyway21]

Manu has a true heart of a champion he never backed down despite turnovers, missed some impt free throws...suddenly hit a big three-pointer in the end, to send the team to OT..that was so awesome. there are others in the forum who wanted him to sit down (find it hilarious you know because Manu is one of the best if not the best FT shooter of the team, and he missed 2 FTs in the 4th, so a head-scratcher:D),but hey you can never predict...

[Darius McCrary]

Everyone knew the most frustrating aspect of achieving greatness this year would be watching Diaw be passive. Hell, it's why we got him on the cheap. I wish a younger Pop could have spent a solid season or two with Diaw, because he could besuch a bad ass, and I think he's still oblivious to that fact.

[ElNono]

TBH by arguing for a higher score you're tacitly denigrating Manu's full potential. If this is a C+ kind of game for Manu, then it's implied that "A+" Manu is 6 levels (B-, B, B+, A-, A, A+) above tonight's performance.

If this is a B- kind of game for Manu, then a perfect or near perfect "A+" game is only 5 levels removed from tonight's performance.

Most grades are pretty consistent on this point. They're relative to expectations for individual players. A 20 point (9-17), 6 assist, 6 rebound, 0 turnover game for Lebron James, for example, is almost never graded an 'A' by ESPN's Tom Haberstroh because Lebron can easily do so much better, whereas if Manu had such a stat line it'd almost certainly be an 'A-' performance at minimum assuming his defense was sufficiently competent. The bar for an 'A' (or 'B' or 'C') is higher for Lebron.

So you're saying Bonner got an A because he's a retard?

[ElNono]

Manu has a true heart of a champion he never backed down despite turnovers, missed some impt free throws...suddenly hit a big three-pointer in the end, to send the team to OT..that was so awesome. there are others in the forum who wanted him to sit down (find it hilarious you know because Manu is one of the best if not the best FT shooter of the team, and he missed 2 FTs in the 4th, so a head-scratcher:D),but hey you can never predict...

this guy gets it, tbh

[racm]

Manu makes a couple of good plays for every bad play he makes. He had a no-mistakes game against Orlando so he was bound to screw up this one.

[Sean Cagney]

Neals shots at least came at the right time
ginobili with the 5X5 as well so he can get at least a B
spurs lack of a SF really shows vs the grizz
like a domino effect
they were outsized at pretty much every position except pg
had neal guarding gay at one pointYes, so you are saying when Jax and Leonard come back we will be fine vs. the Grizz? I hope so, because when they are here we surely don't have a lack of a SF!

[racm]

Kawhi was instrumental in holding Rudy Gay to really bad shooting nights last season.

[024]

matt bonner is like the spurs' security blanket. it keeps them nice and safe at home (regular season) but they can't take it when they venture outside (playoffs).

[letmk]

So you're saying Bonner got an A because he's a retard?

On offense, Bonner sure can do a much better job than tonight. However, on defense, while guarding one of Randolph and Gasol with Tim on the other, you can't ask for anything better from him than tonight.

Gasol was more than sizzling in the 3rd quarter, and all Spurs fans know what Randolph is capable of doing to this Spurs team. There is a reason Grizzlies are the best NBA team at 12-2 before tonight.

If Bonner can repeat this defense job on other teams' bigs in the playoffs, we can celebrate No.5 already. So of course he deserves an A- Timvp gives him. You can hate Bonner the player as you wish --- and you may have tons of legit reasons --- but for this one game you have to applaud him for his performance.

[racm]

The thing about the Spurs' big rotation is that only Tim Duncan is a sure thing every night unless Pop gives him a DNP-Old. Everyone else steps up at different times, and rarely successively.

[007nites]

I thought Neal deserved a better game since he hit some huge shots during our big run.

[superjames1992]

I thought Neal deserved a better game since he hit some huge shots during our big run.
4-16, though...

He shot almost as much as Timmy and Tony and shot one more shot than Manu. I know the dude loves to jack up shots, but come on!

I also noticed that Manu had five assists, six rebounds, and six steals. Even though he shot like shit, that's pretty impressive stuff right there. And then had had SIX turnovers. :(

Definitely a mediocre game, at best, for Manu.

[Stabula]

I thought Neal was terrible. It was like having an unathletic Westbrick in silver and black.

[Stabula]

Spurs vs Grizzlies in the WCF would be a hell of a series

[chazley]

Bonner played huge in this game. He hasn't played well this season outside of the past 2 games, but his defense against Zach Randolph was some of the best that has been played on him this season. Bonner has always been a good 1 on 1 post defender, but he was Chuck Hayes-esque tonight. Let's hope he can continue to give us 10-15 good minutes a night in the regular season.

[racm]

Bonner is still the fifth big because Blair, Diaw, and Splitter are all capable of better performances even if they're less consistent.

[wildbill2u]

The thing about the Spurs' big rotation is that only Tim Duncan is a sure thing every night unless Pop gives him a DNP-Old. Everyone else steps up at different times, and rarely successively.

Great point. If all our guys performed at their optimum every night we would be truly awesome. Even if one or two guys brought their A game while everyone else played their "B" game, we'd have a great season to look forward to.

They should be rounding into shape and sharpness after this many games, but we still see too many guys with inconsistent 'C" grades. Splitter is perhaps the biggest enigma with every great game seemingly followed by a mediocre one. Green and Manu have also been a puzzle.

Lets hope they put it all together for the playoffs.

[Bruno]

It wasn't pretty but it was a hard fought win.

After 18 games played, the best news about Spurs' this year, aside of Tim's rebirth, is their defense.
Last season, Spurs were the 11th best defensive team in the league, this year they are the 5th best.

Maybe the defensive improvement deserve it's own thread with a more in depth analysis but there are 2 obvious statistical differences compared to last year:
- Spurs are way better at defending the 3 point line. Last year they were the 19th best team in 3P% allowed, this year they are the 2nd best team in that area.
- Spurs are struggling at rebounding the ball on the defensive end. last year they were the best defensive rebounding team and this year they are 23rd.

If Spurs can fix their defensive rebounding without hurting the rest of the defense, defense could be a force this year.

[polandprzem]

Leonard must be the guy who rebounds more.
We always needed that SF with ability to rebound that damn ball.

[ace3g]

Art Garcia ‏@ArtGarcia92 (https://twitter.com/ArtGarcia92) Spurs improved to 7-2 when trailing or being tied going into 4Q this season.

[Brazil]

It wasn't pretty but it was a hard fought win.

After 18 games played, the best news about Spurs' this year, aside of Tim's rebirth, is their defense.
Last season, Spurs were the 11th best defensive team in the league, this year they are the 5th best.

Maybe the defensive improvement deserve it's own thread with a more in depth analysis but there are 2 obvious statistical differences compared to last year:
- Spurs are way better at defending the 3 point line. Last year they were the 19th best team in 3P% allowed, this year they are the 2nd best team in that area.
- Spurs are struggling at rebounding the ball on the defensive end. last year they were the best defensive rebounding team and this year they are 23rd.

If Spurs can fix their defensive rebounding without hurting the rest of the defense, defense could be a force this year.

on this side the grizzlies game is reassuring, Griz have a formidable front court with Zbo Gasol Spreights but also Gay who is rebounding at high rate and we outrebounded them 52 48

[Bill_Brasky]

It wasn't pretty but it was a hard fought win.

After 18 games played, the best news about Spurs' this year, aside of Tim's rebirth, is their defense.
Last season, Spurs were the 11th best defensive team in the league, this year they are the 5th best.

Maybe the defensive improvement deserve it's own thread with a more in depth analysis but there are 2 obvious statistical differences compared to last year:
- Spurs are way better at defending the 3 point line. Last year they were the 19th best team in 3P% allowed, this year they are the 2nd best team in that area.
- Spurs are struggling at rebounding the ball on the defensive end. last year they were the best defensive rebounding team and this year they are 23rd.

If Spurs can fix their defensive rebounding without hurting the rest of the defense, defense could be a force this year.

We are making rotations so much better. Great post too, had no idea we were 2nd at defending the 3.....

[kobyz]

first half i was with tears in my eyes, seeing Tim Duncan return to his greatness, memories of the old Tim performs breathtaking, sublime, gold basketball like only he ever able to play in history.

[Bruno]

on this side the grizzlies game is reassuring, Griz have a formidable front court with Zbo Gasol Spreights but also Gay who is rebounding at high rate and we outrebounded them 52 48

You read the boxscore the wrong way, Spurs were outrebounded 48-52 int his game.

I think you had to slip the defensive and offensive rebounding issue.
Spurs have been a poor offensive rebounding team for years. Part of it is by choice with Spurs focusing an transition defense instead of crashing the offensive boards.
Spurs are having a huge drop on defensive rebounding this year. The Memphis game was bad too in this area with Spurs grabbing only 66% of the defensive rebounds (Spurs had 35 defensive rebounds and Grizzlies 18 offensive rebounds).

Down the road, I think Spurs first unit will be fine at rebounding the ball on the defensive end, especially when Kawhi will be back. The issue is more with the second unit and I'm not sure there is an answer, outside of a trade/signing, to fix that weakness.

[emanueldavidginobili]

Pop coached one hell of a game! Neal had some timely shots, Tim Duncan is a legend its remarkable what hes doing this season. Manu effort last night was just great. We got lucky though grizz missed some layups that went in and out at the.end.but winning this game without KL and Jax was big, can't wait to have them back.

[ace3g]

I still find it interesting that Pop didn't use the Splitter/Duncan line up which he uses against "big" teams, even Elliott mentioned it.

[emanueldavidginobili]

We need to get a big physical big man. I don't think the spurs will make a trade I hope they do though