timvp
01-05-2013, 04:30 PM
Playing their fourth game in five nights, the Spurs took on the Knicks in New York. The outcome wasn’t pretty. The Knicks won by a final score of 100-83 after totally dominating the second half. I don’t want to use fatigue as an excuse but, honestly, it was obvious what happened to San Antonio. They appeared to be running in mud all game long, lacked their typical fight and were mentally unfocused. Give the Knicks a ton of credit for playing great defense and shooting great but, yeah, the Spurs were tired.
To begin the game, the Spurs were able to hang. A Manu Ginobili three-pointer at the 3:48 mark of the first quarter gave the Spurs a 17-14 lead. Unfortunately, the Knicks went on an 11-2 run that extended into the second quarter and turned into a 16-4 run.
Before halftime, the Spurs locked down defensively to make it competitive. After JR Smith hit a three-pointer to give the Knicks a 40-32 lead with 5:09 remaining in the half, the Spurs allowed only two more points the rest of the half to go into intermission only down by two points, 42-40.
In the third quarter, San Antonio was able to keep it close to begin the half. Midway through the quarter, the Spurs were still within three points. That’s when the Knicks started to pull away. By the end of the third, their lead was up to seven points. New York then scored the first ten points of the fourth quarter to put the Spurs to bed.
The Knicks kept knocking down shots after Pop cleared the bench and went up by as many as 25 points before cruising to the win. The loss snapped San Antonio’s seven-game winning streak.
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Tim Duncan
http://www.spurstalk.com/td12.png
Tim Duncan was far from his best but he still had some bright spots. Defensively, he was strong in the paint, his individual D was stout and his help-defense was adequate. Rebounding-wise, Duncan was fine and he was also moving relatively well. Offensively, he was a mixed bag. He drew fouls and his jumper was working but he had trouble doing anything in the paint; all four of his baskets were from the perimeter. Additionally, his passing was subpar and there were numerous times he held the ball too long instead of making a quick decision.
Final Grade: 82
Season Average: 90.4
Adj. Average: 90.7
Last 10 Average: 90.0
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Manu Ginobili
http://www.spurstalk.com/mg12.png
This is a game Manu Ginobili should try to forget. He was a disaster early on -- poor shot attempts, poor pass attempts, unnecessarily hurried, couldn’t dribble, etc. -- and only got slightly better as the game progressed. And actually, his defense went the other way; it was decent early and then fell off a cliff. Give the Knicks credit for aggressively defending him but Ginobili is better than this.
Final Grade: 69
Season Average: 84.1
Adj. Average: 84.1
Last 10 Average: 87.1
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Tony Parker
http://www.spurstalk.com/tp12.png
Tony Parker didn’t have a good game, despite the acceptable statistics he posted for the night. Defensively, he had little to no energy. His rotations were uncharacteristically slow. Offensively, he was unable to get into the paint consistently. Since Parker’s penetration is the lifeblood of this team, that was indeed catastrophic for San Antonio’s chances. Only one of his baskets came in the paint -- and only two of his misses. It doesn’t matter how well he’s shooting from the perimeter. If he’s not collapsing the defense, the Spurs just can’t create the spacing to score consistently against a quality defensive squad.
Final Grade: 76
Season Average: 87.2
Adj. Average: 87.2
Last 10 Average: 85.1
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Kawhi Leonard
http://www.spurstalk.com/kl12.png
Kawhi Leonard did decent work against Carmelo Anthony. However, truth be told, Anthony was mostly slowed due to the constant double-teams the Spurs were throwing at him. Leonard did satisfactory work but he had a lot of help. His rotations on D weren’t very good and he didn’t rebound well. Offensively, Leonard had a few good passes but his shot selection was too liberal. He was letting go of contested three-point attempts, which isn’t his forte. Taking the ball to the basket more often would have been much preferred.
Final Grade: 75
Season Average: 84.4
Adj. Average: 84.4
Last 10 Average: 84.9
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Danny Green
http://www.spurstalk.com/dg12.png
While his accuracy cooled a bit, Danny Green had good looks and shot with confidence. He also ran the court well and he was one of the few players moving well during halfcourt sets. Defensively, he had enough energy but he was average at the very best. He wasn’t good when he was forced to defend Anthony and his closeouts on shooters could have been crisper. On the other hand, he was strong on the glass and swiped two of the team’s eight steals.
Final Grade: 78
Season Average: 82.7
Adj. Average: 82.9
Last 10 Average: 84.2
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Tiago Splitter
http://www.spurstalk.com/ts12.png
On defense, Tiago Splitter was really strong early on. When Amare Stoudemire, who was playing his second game of the season, went at Splitter, the Brazilian definitely got the better of that matchup. Splitter was also fast with his help-defense early on. Regrettably, his defense regressed as the game went along. Offensively, he never really found a rhythm. The Knicks were using both physicality and length against him and Splitter didn’t react very well.
Final Grade: 72
Season Average: 84.8
Adj. Average: 85.3
Last 10 Average: 85.0
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Boris Diaw
http://www.spurstalk.com/bd12.png
Boris Diaw’s aggression had been adequate in recent outings. That, though, wasn’t the case against the Knicks. He passed up a gaggle of open shots during his first stint -- and that pretty much set the tone for his evening. Diaw’s passing was decent but it was also sloppier than usual. Defensively, he was good enough on the glass but on everything else he was routinely a step slow.
Final Grade: 77
Season Average: 80.4
Adj. Average: 81.2
Last 10 Average: 83.6
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Stephen Jackson
http://www.spurstalk.com/sj12.png
A waitress serving Michael Bloomberg on the first row accidentally undercut Stephen Jackson shortly after he released a three-point attempt. Jackson suffered a right ankle sprain as he crumpled to the ground. Thankfully, the Spurs are saying the injury is considered minor.
Final Grade: Inc.
Season Average: 82.3
Adj. Average: 82.6
Last 10 Average: 78.7
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Gary Neal
http://www.spurstalk.com/gn12.png
In his second game back from a calf injury, Gary Neal struggled across the board. Defensively, he wasn’t good. He was slow when trying to defend penetration and his instincts regarding where to be were poor. Offensively, he wasn’t much better. Neal was too shot-happy and failed to create anything for teammates, which is especially damning when he's at point guard. He’s going to have to play much better to keep the backup point guard gig.
Final Grade: 69
Season Average: 80.7
Adj. Average: 81.5
Last 10 Average: 73.5
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Matt Bonner
http://www.spurstalk.com/mb12.png
After Jackson went down, Matt Bonner was pushed into the rotations. Bonner got some open looks … and missed. He then tried to go mano-a-mano with Steve Novak … and missed some more. He never did hit a shot as he authored his most offensively inept outing of the season. Defensively, he had a couple good efforts on the glass but that was the extent of his positives. When he was asked to defend open space and make quick rotations, he failed woefully. It was embarrassing to watch after a while.
Final Grade: 65
Season Average: 81.8
Adj. Average: 83.2
Last 10 Average: 78.6
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Patrick Mills
http://www.spurstalk.com/pm12.png
Patrick Mills was the only Spurs player who played with more energy than normal. And to say that about Mills is really saying something because he always goes hard. Against the Knicks, he was extremely feisty defensively and was unexpectedly great on the boards. His transition D was also really good and he was able to tangle with much bigger players in order to thwart mismatches. Offensively, his energetic ways didn’t really amount to much. He ran the court well but it didn’t result in any extra looks. He also didn’t do any creating when he had the ball.
Final Grade: 85
Season Average: 83.0
Adj. Average: 82.8
Last 10 Average: 84.4
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Pop
http://www.spurstalk.com/gp12.png
Pop was basically powerless on this night because he had too many players who didn’t have their normal level of liveliness. Jackson going down made it even more difficult because he was going to be the secondary defender against Anthony. That said, Pop didn’t find any working combinations -- and it didn’t appear like he had very much desperation to find one.
Final Grade: 80
Season Average: 84.1
Last 10 Average: 81.8
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Offense
Hopefully this is the low-point for the team’s offense. I can’t imagine it being much worse. Only 12 points in the paint? Only four points in transition? Wow, that’s bad. Considering those two numbers, the Spurs were lucky to put 83 points on the board.
Final Grade: 63
Season Average: 84.8
Last 10 Average: 84.1
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Defense
Defensively, the Spurs were strong in the first half. In fact, things only totally fell apart in the final quarter. When it fell apart, it got ugly fast. For the night, the Knicks killed the Spurs by draining their three-pointers -- even when they were well contested. Outside of that, the D was actually pretty decent. Holding the Knicks to 36 points in the paint, 16 free throw attempts and five points on the fast break are notable accomplishments.
Final Grade: 76
Season Average: 83.5
Last 10 Average: 83.1
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Overall
Bad, unsightly performance. That said, it shouldn’t overshadow the preceding seven-game winning streak. And as long as the Spurs bounce back -- starting tonight versus the 76ers -- this could go down as a typical and somewhat unavoidable bump in the road.
Final Grade: 73
Season Average: 84.2
Last 10 Average: 83.6
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To begin the game, the Spurs were able to hang. A Manu Ginobili three-pointer at the 3:48 mark of the first quarter gave the Spurs a 17-14 lead. Unfortunately, the Knicks went on an 11-2 run that extended into the second quarter and turned into a 16-4 run.
Before halftime, the Spurs locked down defensively to make it competitive. After JR Smith hit a three-pointer to give the Knicks a 40-32 lead with 5:09 remaining in the half, the Spurs allowed only two more points the rest of the half to go into intermission only down by two points, 42-40.
In the third quarter, San Antonio was able to keep it close to begin the half. Midway through the quarter, the Spurs were still within three points. That’s when the Knicks started to pull away. By the end of the third, their lead was up to seven points. New York then scored the first ten points of the fourth quarter to put the Spurs to bed.
The Knicks kept knocking down shots after Pop cleared the bench and went up by as many as 25 points before cruising to the win. The loss snapped San Antonio’s seven-game winning streak.
http://www.spurstalk.com/box351.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box352.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box353.png
---------------
Tim Duncan
http://www.spurstalk.com/td12.png
Tim Duncan was far from his best but he still had some bright spots. Defensively, he was strong in the paint, his individual D was stout and his help-defense was adequate. Rebounding-wise, Duncan was fine and he was also moving relatively well. Offensively, he was a mixed bag. He drew fouls and his jumper was working but he had trouble doing anything in the paint; all four of his baskets were from the perimeter. Additionally, his passing was subpar and there were numerous times he held the ball too long instead of making a quick decision.
Final Grade: 82
Season Average: 90.4
Adj. Average: 90.7
Last 10 Average: 90.0
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Manu Ginobili
http://www.spurstalk.com/mg12.png
This is a game Manu Ginobili should try to forget. He was a disaster early on -- poor shot attempts, poor pass attempts, unnecessarily hurried, couldn’t dribble, etc. -- and only got slightly better as the game progressed. And actually, his defense went the other way; it was decent early and then fell off a cliff. Give the Knicks credit for aggressively defending him but Ginobili is better than this.
Final Grade: 69
Season Average: 84.1
Adj. Average: 84.1
Last 10 Average: 87.1
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Tony Parker
http://www.spurstalk.com/tp12.png
Tony Parker didn’t have a good game, despite the acceptable statistics he posted for the night. Defensively, he had little to no energy. His rotations were uncharacteristically slow. Offensively, he was unable to get into the paint consistently. Since Parker’s penetration is the lifeblood of this team, that was indeed catastrophic for San Antonio’s chances. Only one of his baskets came in the paint -- and only two of his misses. It doesn’t matter how well he’s shooting from the perimeter. If he’s not collapsing the defense, the Spurs just can’t create the spacing to score consistently against a quality defensive squad.
Final Grade: 76
Season Average: 87.2
Adj. Average: 87.2
Last 10 Average: 85.1
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Kawhi Leonard
http://www.spurstalk.com/kl12.png
Kawhi Leonard did decent work against Carmelo Anthony. However, truth be told, Anthony was mostly slowed due to the constant double-teams the Spurs were throwing at him. Leonard did satisfactory work but he had a lot of help. His rotations on D weren’t very good and he didn’t rebound well. Offensively, Leonard had a few good passes but his shot selection was too liberal. He was letting go of contested three-point attempts, which isn’t his forte. Taking the ball to the basket more often would have been much preferred.
Final Grade: 75
Season Average: 84.4
Adj. Average: 84.4
Last 10 Average: 84.9
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Danny Green
http://www.spurstalk.com/dg12.png
While his accuracy cooled a bit, Danny Green had good looks and shot with confidence. He also ran the court well and he was one of the few players moving well during halfcourt sets. Defensively, he had enough energy but he was average at the very best. He wasn’t good when he was forced to defend Anthony and his closeouts on shooters could have been crisper. On the other hand, he was strong on the glass and swiped two of the team’s eight steals.
Final Grade: 78
Season Average: 82.7
Adj. Average: 82.9
Last 10 Average: 84.2
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Tiago Splitter
http://www.spurstalk.com/ts12.png
On defense, Tiago Splitter was really strong early on. When Amare Stoudemire, who was playing his second game of the season, went at Splitter, the Brazilian definitely got the better of that matchup. Splitter was also fast with his help-defense early on. Regrettably, his defense regressed as the game went along. Offensively, he never really found a rhythm. The Knicks were using both physicality and length against him and Splitter didn’t react very well.
Final Grade: 72
Season Average: 84.8
Adj. Average: 85.3
Last 10 Average: 85.0
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Boris Diaw
http://www.spurstalk.com/bd12.png
Boris Diaw’s aggression had been adequate in recent outings. That, though, wasn’t the case against the Knicks. He passed up a gaggle of open shots during his first stint -- and that pretty much set the tone for his evening. Diaw’s passing was decent but it was also sloppier than usual. Defensively, he was good enough on the glass but on everything else he was routinely a step slow.
Final Grade: 77
Season Average: 80.4
Adj. Average: 81.2
Last 10 Average: 83.6
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Stephen Jackson
http://www.spurstalk.com/sj12.png
A waitress serving Michael Bloomberg on the first row accidentally undercut Stephen Jackson shortly after he released a three-point attempt. Jackson suffered a right ankle sprain as he crumpled to the ground. Thankfully, the Spurs are saying the injury is considered minor.
Final Grade: Inc.
Season Average: 82.3
Adj. Average: 82.6
Last 10 Average: 78.7
---------------
Gary Neal
http://www.spurstalk.com/gn12.png
In his second game back from a calf injury, Gary Neal struggled across the board. Defensively, he wasn’t good. He was slow when trying to defend penetration and his instincts regarding where to be were poor. Offensively, he wasn’t much better. Neal was too shot-happy and failed to create anything for teammates, which is especially damning when he's at point guard. He’s going to have to play much better to keep the backup point guard gig.
Final Grade: 69
Season Average: 80.7
Adj. Average: 81.5
Last 10 Average: 73.5
---------------
Matt Bonner
http://www.spurstalk.com/mb12.png
After Jackson went down, Matt Bonner was pushed into the rotations. Bonner got some open looks … and missed. He then tried to go mano-a-mano with Steve Novak … and missed some more. He never did hit a shot as he authored his most offensively inept outing of the season. Defensively, he had a couple good efforts on the glass but that was the extent of his positives. When he was asked to defend open space and make quick rotations, he failed woefully. It was embarrassing to watch after a while.
Final Grade: 65
Season Average: 81.8
Adj. Average: 83.2
Last 10 Average: 78.6
---------------
Patrick Mills
http://www.spurstalk.com/pm12.png
Patrick Mills was the only Spurs player who played with more energy than normal. And to say that about Mills is really saying something because he always goes hard. Against the Knicks, he was extremely feisty defensively and was unexpectedly great on the boards. His transition D was also really good and he was able to tangle with much bigger players in order to thwart mismatches. Offensively, his energetic ways didn’t really amount to much. He ran the court well but it didn’t result in any extra looks. He also didn’t do any creating when he had the ball.
Final Grade: 85
Season Average: 83.0
Adj. Average: 82.8
Last 10 Average: 84.4
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Pop
http://www.spurstalk.com/gp12.png
Pop was basically powerless on this night because he had too many players who didn’t have their normal level of liveliness. Jackson going down made it even more difficult because he was going to be the secondary defender against Anthony. That said, Pop didn’t find any working combinations -- and it didn’t appear like he had very much desperation to find one.
Final Grade: 80
Season Average: 84.1
Last 10 Average: 81.8
---------------
Offense
Hopefully this is the low-point for the team’s offense. I can’t imagine it being much worse. Only 12 points in the paint? Only four points in transition? Wow, that’s bad. Considering those two numbers, the Spurs were lucky to put 83 points on the board.
Final Grade: 63
Season Average: 84.8
Last 10 Average: 84.1
---------------
Defense
Defensively, the Spurs were strong in the first half. In fact, things only totally fell apart in the final quarter. When it fell apart, it got ugly fast. For the night, the Knicks killed the Spurs by draining their three-pointers -- even when they were well contested. Outside of that, the D was actually pretty decent. Holding the Knicks to 36 points in the paint, 16 free throw attempts and five points on the fast break are notable accomplishments.
Final Grade: 76
Season Average: 83.5
Last 10 Average: 83.1
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Overall
Bad, unsightly performance. That said, it shouldn’t overshadow the preceding seven-game winning streak. And as long as the Spurs bounce back -- starting tonight versus the 76ers -- this could go down as a typical and somewhat unavoidable bump in the road.
Final Grade: 73
Season Average: 84.2
Last 10 Average: 83.6
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