timvp
01-03-2013, 05:28 PM
The Bucks have a nasty habit of upsetting the Spurs. Thankfully, that didn’t happen this season. San Antonio completed their season sweep with a 117-110 victory in Milwaukee on Wednesday night. The win was the seventh straight for the Spurs, who improve to 26-8 on the season.
The ease of which the Spurs were scoring in the first quarter made this seem like another potential blowout win for the good guys. They scored 19 points in the final 5:26 of the period to take a 33-22 lead into the second stanza.
In the second, San Antonio’s lead slowly but surely grew. A Stephen Jackson layup gave the Spurs an 18-point lead with 6:37 remaining before the half. At the 2:53 mark, Tim Duncan slammed the ball to expand the lead to 21 points. The Bucks got hot in the few minutes preceding the halftime buzzer but the Spurs still led by 17 at intermission.
The Bucks got within 14 points early in the third quarter, however the Spurs were soon able to regain their stranglehold. A 7-0 run in the latter stages of the period pushed San Antonio’s lead back to 23. Regrettably, Pop decided to put DeJuan Blair into the game at that point … and things fell apart.
Blair entered with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. Milwaukee exploded with an 18-7 run to make it a 12-point ballgame heading into the fourth.
The Bucks got within nine points early in the final period. That’s when the reinserted Spurs starters took over. The starters when on a 10-0 run to up their cushion to 19 points. The Bucks kept fighting back but the Spurs were able to hold a double-digit advantage. When the starters exited again, San Antonio was up 115-102 with 1:28 remaining. Milwaukee scored eight straight but it was too little, too late to author an upset this season.
http://www.spurstalk.com/box341.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box342.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box343.png
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Tim Duncan
http://www.spurstalk.com/td12.png
Tim Duncan came out firing and put together a fantastic first half. In 17 minutes first half minutes, Duncan totaled 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists on 7-for-12 shooting from the field. As has been the pattern recently, he knocked down a few perimeter shots early and then became unguardable. With the Bucks playing him closely, the entire court opened up for Duncan to do what he wanted to do -- whether it was moving to the low post, setting up a teammate with a pass or freeing a teammate with screen. In the first half, Duncan was routinely the first player up and down the court. Predictably, he wasn’t the same in the final two quarters. Duncan looked like he had run out of gas and his movements slowed considerably. Throughout the night, his help defense was really good but sometimes he left his man too early. With Duncan eager to help, his man got easy looks once a couple passes were made. All told, the Virgin Island native had another outstanding game with a level of production once thought lost to the annals of history.
Final Grade: 94
Season Average: 90.6
Adj. Average: 90.9
Last 10 Average: 89.4
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Manu Ginobili
http://www.spurstalk.com/mg12.png
Virtually flawless in recent outings, Manu Ginobili came back down to earth somewhat against the Bucks. He had a few iffy shot choices and his passing was sometimes a beat late. Defensively, he was pretty bad -- particularly in isolations. That said, there were some very positive subplots to his performance. Seven of his field goal attempts were right at the rim and he earned six free throw attempts due to his aggressive play. When Ginobili has the wherewithal to attack the rim constantly, that’s when he’s at his best and it’s when you know he’s at the top of his game.
Final Grade: 87
Season Average: 84.6
Adj. Average: 84.6
Last 10 Average: 89.6
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Tony Parker
http://www.spurstalk.com/tp12.png
The effort Tony Parker exhibited was commendable. His actual output, though, was uneven. Defensively, he struggled for a majority of the night. He chased around Brandon Jennings but was largely ineffective. Offensively, Parker never found a groove despite his gaudy numbers. He was oftentimes shooting when he should have passed and passing when he should have shot. That is always a thin line for the Frenchman but on Wednesday night he had difficulty tiptoeing it, which is something we haven’t seen much this season. Overall, despite Parker’s struggles, he remained extremely productive on the offensive end and the Spurs would have been in trouble if his effort was any less fierce.
Final Grade: 87
Season Average: 87.5
Adj. Average: 87.5
Last 10 Average: 87.2
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Kawhi Leonard
http://www.spurstalk.com/kl12.png
The Good: Kawhi Leonard rebounded well enough. He was attentive on the defensive end. Offensively, he limited his mistakes. The Bad: Leonard’s defense simply wasn’t very good. His individual D was mediocre, he was slow on some rotations and completely whiffed on other rotations. On offense, Leonard did very little. He had some nice backdoor cuts, ran the court decently well … but that was about it.
Final Grade: 75
Season Average: 85.0
Adj. Average: 85.1
Last 10 Average: 86.3
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Danny Green
http://www.spurstalk.com/dg12.png
Though his touches were limited, Danny Green continued his hot shooting. Since Leonard returned to the starting lineup and Green shifted back to shooting guard, he is 19-for-26 (73.1%) on three-pointers. His passing was also a plus on this night. Defensively, he was average. He was better than usual chasing players around screens and forced numerous tough shots. However, he didn’t rebound well and he wasn’t very attentive to his team-defense responsibilities.
Final Grade: 88
Season Average: 82.8
Adj. Average: 83.1
Last 10 Average: 84.8
---------------
Tiago Splitter
http://www.spurstalk.com/ts12.png
Tiago Splitter had been doing a great job of staying out of foul trouble since being named a full-time starter. Until this game. Splitter was in foul trouble early and often and that ruined what otherwise was lining up to be a strong performance. While his defense in the paint could have been better, he chased smaller players out on the perimeter extremely well. Splitter’s ability to deal with the fleeter power forwards has been instrumental in making this new starting lineup work. When he was on the court, the Brazilian rebounded well and was a positive force offensively thanks to his quick, orderly decisions.
Final Grade: 86
Season Average: 85.2
Adj. Average: 85.9
Last 10 Average: 86.9
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Boris Diaw
http://www.spurstalk.com/bd12.png
I don’t know if Boris Diaw mixed a Red Bull into his pregame chocolat chaud but he was much more spirited than usual when he entered the game. His typical hesitancy on offense wasn’t there. Instead, he rapidly shot the ball when he was open. Diaw was also feisty on the boards and ran the floor well. It wasn’t all good, however. Diaw’s defense was below average, especially when faced with pick-and-rolls. Milwaukee guards routinely blew right by him and he offered little help.
Final Grade: 88
Season Average: 80.5
Adj. Average: 81.4
Last 10 Average: 83.7
---------------
Stephen Jackson
http://www.spurstalk.com/sj12.png
Stephen Jackson had extra pep in his step against a team that traded his last season. With boos raining down from the frigid heavens, Jackson had some positive moments. He used his size, strength and physicality advantage to score against the finesse defenders he was often matched up against. His passing was also quite good, as was his rebounding. On the other hand, Jackson still has plenty of things to clean up. He was sloppy with his dribbling and his passes off the dribble. Defensively, his rotations were lackluster and his transition defense left a lot to be desired.
Final Grade: 86
Season Average: 82.3
Adj. Average: 82.6
Last 10 Average: 78.7
---------------
Gary Neal
http://www.spurstalk.com/gn12.png
In his return from a calf injury, Gary Neal looked completely healthy. In fact, he looked a lot better than he has in quite a while. He had been laboring for the better part of a month. Playing a majority of his minutes at backup point guard, I thought he was better than expected. His cohesiveness with Ginobili is impressive; he’s great at understanding that Ginobili becomes the preferred playmaker during halfcourt sets, while Ginobili gives Neal space when he has a mismatch. Other than one bad shot, I liked Neal’s shot selection and he dished off a few really fine passes. Defensively, it was a mixed bag. Neal did well at the point of attack and rarely allowed a clear lane to the basket. However, he wasn’t good about chasing his man around screens and he also seemed to lose his concentration late in the shot clock.
Final Grade: 88
Season Average: 81.1
Adj. Average: 81.9
Last 10 Average: 76.5
---------------
Matt Bonner
http://www.spurstalk.com/mb12.png
On offense, Matt Bonner continues to show no indecision. When he gets the ball, he’s instantly deciding whether to shoot, dribble or pass. Historically, that hasn’t always been Bonner’s strength. Defensively against the Bucks, Bonner wasn’t that good. His help defense when defending screens was weak and he could have been more physical in the paint.
Final Grade: 81
Season Average: 82.7
Adj. Average: 84.2
Last 10 Average: 83.2
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DeJuan Blair
http://www.spurstalk.com/db12.png
DeJuan Blair simply isn’t an NBA player right now. He can’t run. He can’t jump. To make matters worse, he was mentally a mess against Milwaukee. It’s like he totally forgot how to play basketball. Running a pick-and-roll or defending a pick-and-roll was an impossibility for him. It’s difficult to put into words how bad Blair was -- really, really bad.
Final Grade: 61
Season Average: 77.7
Adj. Average: 79.5
Last 10 Average: 71.5
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Pop
http://www.spurstalk.com/gp12.png
Putting Blair in the game in the third quarter turned out to be a horrible decision. Sure, the Spurs were up by 23 points but it was still too early to put in a player who can no longer move. The worst part of that decision is that Duncan, Ginobili and Parker were forced to play extra minutes to rebuild the lead that had quickly dwindled. Other than that move, I thought Pop’s rotation was logical. He put Neal at backup point guard and that worked well.
Final Grade: 76
Season Average: 84.3
Last 10 Average: 82.7
---------------
Offense
The offense was really damn good. No team had scored more than 96 points against the Bucks in their last seven games. In fact, they held 10 of their previous 11 opponents to 96 points or less. The Spurs reached that mark a few minutes into the fourth. Passing was the main reason for San Antonio’s success; totaling 32 assists and only eight turnovers was superb. The Spurs also scored in the paint, ran the court well, got to the line and were judicious about their three-point attempts. Can’t ask for much more.
Final Grade: 98
Season Average: 85.4
Last 10 Average: 86.3
---------------
Defense
The D wasn’t nearly as impressive. The defensive rebounding was tepid. The Spurs could have also done much better at protecting the rim and defending in transition. Basically everything but guarding the three-point line and forcing turnovers was below average to poor.
Final Grade: 71
Season Average: 83.7
Last 10 Average: 84.7
---------------
Overall
Despite the uninspiring defensive showing, this was still a quality win for the Spurs. The Bucks matchup pretty well and play good ball at home, so getting this win was far from assured. Now the Spurs finish off their four-games-in-five-nights escapade with a contest against the thriving Knicks. A win here would make this a wildly successful road trip.
Final Grade: 84
Season Average: 84.6
Last 10 Average: 85.2
---------------
The ease of which the Spurs were scoring in the first quarter made this seem like another potential blowout win for the good guys. They scored 19 points in the final 5:26 of the period to take a 33-22 lead into the second stanza.
In the second, San Antonio’s lead slowly but surely grew. A Stephen Jackson layup gave the Spurs an 18-point lead with 6:37 remaining before the half. At the 2:53 mark, Tim Duncan slammed the ball to expand the lead to 21 points. The Bucks got hot in the few minutes preceding the halftime buzzer but the Spurs still led by 17 at intermission.
The Bucks got within 14 points early in the third quarter, however the Spurs were soon able to regain their stranglehold. A 7-0 run in the latter stages of the period pushed San Antonio’s lead back to 23. Regrettably, Pop decided to put DeJuan Blair into the game at that point … and things fell apart.
Blair entered with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. Milwaukee exploded with an 18-7 run to make it a 12-point ballgame heading into the fourth.
The Bucks got within nine points early in the final period. That’s when the reinserted Spurs starters took over. The starters when on a 10-0 run to up their cushion to 19 points. The Bucks kept fighting back but the Spurs were able to hold a double-digit advantage. When the starters exited again, San Antonio was up 115-102 with 1:28 remaining. Milwaukee scored eight straight but it was too little, too late to author an upset this season.
http://www.spurstalk.com/box341.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box342.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box343.png
---------------
Tim Duncan
http://www.spurstalk.com/td12.png
Tim Duncan came out firing and put together a fantastic first half. In 17 minutes first half minutes, Duncan totaled 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists on 7-for-12 shooting from the field. As has been the pattern recently, he knocked down a few perimeter shots early and then became unguardable. With the Bucks playing him closely, the entire court opened up for Duncan to do what he wanted to do -- whether it was moving to the low post, setting up a teammate with a pass or freeing a teammate with screen. In the first half, Duncan was routinely the first player up and down the court. Predictably, he wasn’t the same in the final two quarters. Duncan looked like he had run out of gas and his movements slowed considerably. Throughout the night, his help defense was really good but sometimes he left his man too early. With Duncan eager to help, his man got easy looks once a couple passes were made. All told, the Virgin Island native had another outstanding game with a level of production once thought lost to the annals of history.
Final Grade: 94
Season Average: 90.6
Adj. Average: 90.9
Last 10 Average: 89.4
---------------
Manu Ginobili
http://www.spurstalk.com/mg12.png
Virtually flawless in recent outings, Manu Ginobili came back down to earth somewhat against the Bucks. He had a few iffy shot choices and his passing was sometimes a beat late. Defensively, he was pretty bad -- particularly in isolations. That said, there were some very positive subplots to his performance. Seven of his field goal attempts were right at the rim and he earned six free throw attempts due to his aggressive play. When Ginobili has the wherewithal to attack the rim constantly, that’s when he’s at his best and it’s when you know he’s at the top of his game.
Final Grade: 87
Season Average: 84.6
Adj. Average: 84.6
Last 10 Average: 89.6
---------------
Tony Parker
http://www.spurstalk.com/tp12.png
The effort Tony Parker exhibited was commendable. His actual output, though, was uneven. Defensively, he struggled for a majority of the night. He chased around Brandon Jennings but was largely ineffective. Offensively, Parker never found a groove despite his gaudy numbers. He was oftentimes shooting when he should have passed and passing when he should have shot. That is always a thin line for the Frenchman but on Wednesday night he had difficulty tiptoeing it, which is something we haven’t seen much this season. Overall, despite Parker’s struggles, he remained extremely productive on the offensive end and the Spurs would have been in trouble if his effort was any less fierce.
Final Grade: 87
Season Average: 87.5
Adj. Average: 87.5
Last 10 Average: 87.2
---------------
Kawhi Leonard
http://www.spurstalk.com/kl12.png
The Good: Kawhi Leonard rebounded well enough. He was attentive on the defensive end. Offensively, he limited his mistakes. The Bad: Leonard’s defense simply wasn’t very good. His individual D was mediocre, he was slow on some rotations and completely whiffed on other rotations. On offense, Leonard did very little. He had some nice backdoor cuts, ran the court decently well … but that was about it.
Final Grade: 75
Season Average: 85.0
Adj. Average: 85.1
Last 10 Average: 86.3
---------------
Danny Green
http://www.spurstalk.com/dg12.png
Though his touches were limited, Danny Green continued his hot shooting. Since Leonard returned to the starting lineup and Green shifted back to shooting guard, he is 19-for-26 (73.1%) on three-pointers. His passing was also a plus on this night. Defensively, he was average. He was better than usual chasing players around screens and forced numerous tough shots. However, he didn’t rebound well and he wasn’t very attentive to his team-defense responsibilities.
Final Grade: 88
Season Average: 82.8
Adj. Average: 83.1
Last 10 Average: 84.8
---------------
Tiago Splitter
http://www.spurstalk.com/ts12.png
Tiago Splitter had been doing a great job of staying out of foul trouble since being named a full-time starter. Until this game. Splitter was in foul trouble early and often and that ruined what otherwise was lining up to be a strong performance. While his defense in the paint could have been better, he chased smaller players out on the perimeter extremely well. Splitter’s ability to deal with the fleeter power forwards has been instrumental in making this new starting lineup work. When he was on the court, the Brazilian rebounded well and was a positive force offensively thanks to his quick, orderly decisions.
Final Grade: 86
Season Average: 85.2
Adj. Average: 85.9
Last 10 Average: 86.9
---------------
Boris Diaw
http://www.spurstalk.com/bd12.png
I don’t know if Boris Diaw mixed a Red Bull into his pregame chocolat chaud but he was much more spirited than usual when he entered the game. His typical hesitancy on offense wasn’t there. Instead, he rapidly shot the ball when he was open. Diaw was also feisty on the boards and ran the floor well. It wasn’t all good, however. Diaw’s defense was below average, especially when faced with pick-and-rolls. Milwaukee guards routinely blew right by him and he offered little help.
Final Grade: 88
Season Average: 80.5
Adj. Average: 81.4
Last 10 Average: 83.7
---------------
Stephen Jackson
http://www.spurstalk.com/sj12.png
Stephen Jackson had extra pep in his step against a team that traded his last season. With boos raining down from the frigid heavens, Jackson had some positive moments. He used his size, strength and physicality advantage to score against the finesse defenders he was often matched up against. His passing was also quite good, as was his rebounding. On the other hand, Jackson still has plenty of things to clean up. He was sloppy with his dribbling and his passes off the dribble. Defensively, his rotations were lackluster and his transition defense left a lot to be desired.
Final Grade: 86
Season Average: 82.3
Adj. Average: 82.6
Last 10 Average: 78.7
---------------
Gary Neal
http://www.spurstalk.com/gn12.png
In his return from a calf injury, Gary Neal looked completely healthy. In fact, he looked a lot better than he has in quite a while. He had been laboring for the better part of a month. Playing a majority of his minutes at backup point guard, I thought he was better than expected. His cohesiveness with Ginobili is impressive; he’s great at understanding that Ginobili becomes the preferred playmaker during halfcourt sets, while Ginobili gives Neal space when he has a mismatch. Other than one bad shot, I liked Neal’s shot selection and he dished off a few really fine passes. Defensively, it was a mixed bag. Neal did well at the point of attack and rarely allowed a clear lane to the basket. However, he wasn’t good about chasing his man around screens and he also seemed to lose his concentration late in the shot clock.
Final Grade: 88
Season Average: 81.1
Adj. Average: 81.9
Last 10 Average: 76.5
---------------
Matt Bonner
http://www.spurstalk.com/mb12.png
On offense, Matt Bonner continues to show no indecision. When he gets the ball, he’s instantly deciding whether to shoot, dribble or pass. Historically, that hasn’t always been Bonner’s strength. Defensively against the Bucks, Bonner wasn’t that good. His help defense when defending screens was weak and he could have been more physical in the paint.
Final Grade: 81
Season Average: 82.7
Adj. Average: 84.2
Last 10 Average: 83.2
---------------
DeJuan Blair
http://www.spurstalk.com/db12.png
DeJuan Blair simply isn’t an NBA player right now. He can’t run. He can’t jump. To make matters worse, he was mentally a mess against Milwaukee. It’s like he totally forgot how to play basketball. Running a pick-and-roll or defending a pick-and-roll was an impossibility for him. It’s difficult to put into words how bad Blair was -- really, really bad.
Final Grade: 61
Season Average: 77.7
Adj. Average: 79.5
Last 10 Average: 71.5
---------------
Pop
http://www.spurstalk.com/gp12.png
Putting Blair in the game in the third quarter turned out to be a horrible decision. Sure, the Spurs were up by 23 points but it was still too early to put in a player who can no longer move. The worst part of that decision is that Duncan, Ginobili and Parker were forced to play extra minutes to rebuild the lead that had quickly dwindled. Other than that move, I thought Pop’s rotation was logical. He put Neal at backup point guard and that worked well.
Final Grade: 76
Season Average: 84.3
Last 10 Average: 82.7
---------------
Offense
The offense was really damn good. No team had scored more than 96 points against the Bucks in their last seven games. In fact, they held 10 of their previous 11 opponents to 96 points or less. The Spurs reached that mark a few minutes into the fourth. Passing was the main reason for San Antonio’s success; totaling 32 assists and only eight turnovers was superb. The Spurs also scored in the paint, ran the court well, got to the line and were judicious about their three-point attempts. Can’t ask for much more.
Final Grade: 98
Season Average: 85.4
Last 10 Average: 86.3
---------------
Defense
The D wasn’t nearly as impressive. The defensive rebounding was tepid. The Spurs could have also done much better at protecting the rim and defending in transition. Basically everything but guarding the three-point line and forcing turnovers was below average to poor.
Final Grade: 71
Season Average: 83.7
Last 10 Average: 84.7
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Overall
Despite the uninspiring defensive showing, this was still a quality win for the Spurs. The Bucks matchup pretty well and play good ball at home, so getting this win was far from assured. Now the Spurs finish off their four-games-in-five-nights escapade with a contest against the thriving Knicks. A win here would make this a wildly successful road trip.
Final Grade: 84
Season Average: 84.6
Last 10 Average: 85.2
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