Quick Grades: Spurs @ Rockets - Dec. 10, 2012

[timvp]

Tim Duncan C
Poor offensively; couldn't get anything going. Defense and rebounding key during money time.

Manu Ginobili A-
Stout individual defense. A bit loose with shot selection and passes but otherwise played really well again.

Tony Parker A
Skied for rebounds. Ran the show very well and consistently made plays. Kept fighting back. His D wasn't sharp.

Danny Green A-
Not a great shooting night but helped in other areas. Plus passing. Great on boards. D improved as game progressed.

Gary Neal A-
Didn't defend very well or do much of anything but shoot. Thankfully, that's what he's paid to do and he did it well.

DeJuan Blair C-
Stats look fine but he was a liability on both ends. Out of control on O, inattentive on D.

Boris Diaw D+
Extremely sloppy. Couldn't stop from tripping over himself all game. His few quality moments were overshadowed.

Tiago Splitter B+
Fouls and small ball by Rockets limited his impact. However, when he played, his production was a positive.

Nando De Colo C+
Didn't look too comfortable handling the ball, which really hurt his ability to run the show.

Patrick Mills Inc.
Disastrous two-minute stretch next to Neal in the second half. Didn't want to (and couldn't) play point.

Matt Bonner Inc.
Had a hustle play during his brief cameo in which he dove to the ground to secure a steal.

Pop B-
Rotations were jumbled and nonsensical at times. Eventually found a competent closing unit.

[Fireball]

Thanks for the grades ... Splitter really should have been on the court at the end of the 4th quarter ...

[freetiago]

looks like you left blair out of the grades
and for good reason
he was key to houston starting out strong
diaw probably had his worst game ever in a spur jersey

one thing green deserves some credit for is his finishing ability
spurs have no athletes and the one semi decent athlete we have in leonard just draws offensive fouls so our fast breaks are train wrecks
green had 2 pretty nice double clutch/reverse layups and a dunk that went in and out and in

ginobili played well but he still went full turnobili in the 4th quarter to begin and was the reason we went down
bricked a pull up 3 in transition then throws it off the backboard the next play down

[Fireball]

btw ... the next opponents of the Rockets might not be amused because our sluggish defensive play re-unleashed Linsanity ...

[timvp]

Thanks freetiago regarding the Blair omission. Yeah, it would have been better not to remember how ugly he was to watch tonight.

[spurraider21]

btw ... the next opponents of the Rockets might not be amused because our sluggish defensive play re-unleashed Linsanity ...
They won't have to worry about it when Harden is back. Just like it how Linsanity ended when Carmelo returned

[playblair]

cojo should have the back up pg spot ... tonight proved that

[Boomersgold]

cojo should have the back up pg spot ... tonight proved that

I'd rather De Colo than Cojo. Everytime Cojo's on the floor, the other team outscores us.

[Kuestmaster]

worst game of the season for timmy in offense and still he gets the double double and we win. Nice.
Props for parker for his 1st triple-double

[polandprzem]

This game was absolutely amazing.

Houston were shooting lights out and the spurs kept themselves in striking distance all game long, just to sneak behind the back and then kill this high energy desperate athletic ball club in front of everybody!

[will_spurs]

cojo should have the back up pg spot ... tonight proved that

So a Milwaukee fan called "playblair" is telling us who should play backup pg... you might as well name yourself "TrollKing" for that matter.

[will_spurs]

Boris Diaw D+
Extremely sloppy. Couldn't stop from tripping over himself all game. His few quality moments were overshadowed.

Definitely one of his worst games. So many turnovers. Sadly with all the crappy officiating and the bazillion fouls called on Asik, Diaw had to play. Would have been a good night to nail him to the bench.


Nando De Colo C+
Didn't look too comfortable handling the ball, which really hurt his ability to run the show.

A bit harsh with the rookie, especially since everybody not named Parker had issues handling the ball, especially with the aggressiveness shown by the Rockets during most of the game. On the other hand he was lambasted early on because he couldn't shoot but yesterday he was 2-3 and 1-1 on 3 pointer, so that wasn't too bad. I can understand expectations have skyrocketed, but let's not set them too high.


Pop B-
Rotations were jumbled and nonsensical at times. Eventually found a competent closing unit.

A bit too nice with Pop. Quite a few of his line-ups didn't make much sense, and the last play of the game was horrible, forcing OT. I'd rather have seen Splitter foul out than Dia eating up minutes throwing the ball into the stands, for example.

[Slippy]

Gary Neal's offensive game last night was exactly what i've been calling for. Don't be so predicatble and make defenses work harder. Almost all of his shots came from the confines of the offense. A couple of moments where i was worried adrenalin would get the best of him like it has before, he pulled it back and ran some offense. Feet set, he see's rim, that shot is going down.

Good call on Pop. His sub pattern and calls were hard to figure out.

Green's good on ball defense towards the end over-shadowed his lack of concentration from early on. He was caught napping few times when watching the ball with no clue to where his man was. Glad he made up for it.

[Seventyniner]

Gary Neal's offensive game last night was exactly what i've been calling for. Don't be so predicatble and make defenses work harder. Almost all of his shots came from the confines of the offense. A couple of moments where i was worried adrenalin would get the best of him like it has before, he pulled it back and ran some offense. Feet set, he see's rim, that shot is going down.

Good point. I don't remember any early-in-the-shot-clock headscratcher 3s from Neal.

[Obstructed_View]

This is a strange Spurs team. In any other season, games like this would be a loss, and they keep finding ways to win them.

[Southwest Texas Fan]

This is a strange Spurs team. In any other season, games like this would be a loss, and they keep finding ways to win them.


And that is a good thing.

[Obstructed_View]

And that is a good thing.

Absolutely. There have been previous Spurs teams where it might not be. I have confidence that this team learns just as much from a close win as they do from a close loss.

[Manufan909]

A bit too nice with Pop. Quite a few of his line-ups didn't make much sense, and the last play of the game was horrible, forcing OT. I'd rather have seen Splitter foul out than Diaw eating up minutes throwing the ball into the stands, for example.

This times 1000. I was waiting the entire 4th quarter and OT for Diaw to come in, but it never happened, which was pathetic seeing as he was the best Spur big tonight. I know he had 4 fouls, but that shouldn't stop him from being played for 17 straight minutes if he's playing well.

[freetiago]

ya its a good thing popovich saved splitters fouls
we all know he doesnt want them carrying over into the next game

[will_spurs]

Indeed, when I see this I always wonder if there's some hidden rule I'm not aware of that says that a player who fouls out is suspended for the next game or something...

[Brunodf]

ya its a good thing popovich saved splitters fouls
we all know he doesnt want them carrying over into the next game

:king

[Cry Havoc]

Indeed, when I see this I always wonder if there's some hidden rule I'm not aware of that says that a player who fouls out is suspended for the next game or something...

I think it's a question of matchups. If a player fouls out, suddenly the other coach knows what choices you're limited too and doesn't have to adjust for that anymore. Makes it easier to gameplan on the fly against.

That said, I agree, it's kind of silly to keep a player off the court just because he might foul out in the final 30 seconds of play.

[jestersmash]

A bit too nice with Pop. Quite a few of his line-ups didn't make much sense, and the last play of the game was horrible, forcing OT. I'd rather have seen Splitter foul out than Dia eating up minutes throwing the ball into the stands, for example.

C'mon, you can't possibly blame Pop for that botched last play. If anything it's on Manu/Tim for lack of proper spacing (and therefore execution). Tim went ahead and took probably the last option on offense (simple isolation for him) when he realized the first (couple?) of options were botched. They never even got into their set.

[Bruno]

Nice hard fought win for a game where there were a huge discrepancy in motivation.

Spurs were blowing out teams before it and with harden out, they surely take this game lightly.
Rockets were surely that extra motivated after being blown out by Spurs few days ago and the tragedy with McHale's daughter.

[Biggems]

tony's first career triple double and he can't get an A+.......i agree with your grades for the most part, but give tony his A+

[Brunodf]

tony's first career triple double and he can't get an A+.......i agree with your grades for the most part, but give tony his A+

Basketball is played on both ends.

[Pauleta14]

Lin got hot and a lot of buckets when TP was on the bench.

Just sayin'...

[Obstructed_View]

Indeed, when I see this I always wonder if there's some hidden rule I'm not aware of that says that a player who fouls out is suspended for the next game or something...

Agree. Don't know why he's so reluctant to let a guy foul out.

[Biggems]

all 12 of his rebounds came on the defensive end. Yes Lin went off, but Parker played out of his mind. If you disagree, so be it, but Parker deserved an A+ for the Houston game.