timvp
01-11-2013, 04:27 PM
With the Spurs taking on the struggling Lakers, losers of four straight games and without their top three bigmen, the good people of San Antonio were banking on a blowout. While the blowout didn’t come to fruition, the Spurs were able to win by a final score of 108-105.
With the Spurs up 12-11 midway through the first quarter, their first burst came courtesy of a 7-0 run that was spearheaded by Stephen Jackson, who followed up a three-pointer with a dunk. The Spurs took a 24-17 lead into the second.
San Antonio scored six of the first eight points of the second quarter to take their first double-digit lead. But the Lakers came right back with a quick surge of their own. For the rest of the quarter, the Spurs and Lakers traded mini-runs -- with the Spurs threatening to open a substantial lead … only to have the Lakers hop right into the ballgame. At halftime the Spurs led 54-45.
That pattern continued early in the third quarter; San Antonio could never sustain their momentum. In the latter portion of the quarter, the Spurs mounted a 7-0 run to give the good guys a 17-point advantage. That, too, proved fleeting. The Lakers scored nine straight points in a matter of a minute and a half to foil any dreams of a blowout.
The start of the fourth quarter was promising. With the Spurs up by ten points with ten minutes remaining, their next four baskets were three-pointers -- one by Gary Neal and three by Jackson. Jackson’s final three -- near the seven-minute mark -- put the Spurs up by 16 points.
Unfortunately, that’s when San Antonio’s offense fell apart and when Los Angeles got hot. The Lakers went on a 17-4 run to get within three points with three minutes remaining. Both teams traded a series of stops until Manu Ginobili broke the ice with a three-pointer with 43 seconds remaining to put the Spurs up by six points.
But again, the Lakers responded. This time it was Earl Clark, who was had the game of his life, answering with a three-pointer to make it a one-possession contest once more. After a Tony Parker turnover with ten seconds remaining, the Lakers got one last possession. Mercifully, Kobe Bryant missed a three-pointer that could have tied it and then Clark missed a desperation heave at the buzzer. The win, though not pretty and definitely not as easy as hoped, was official.
http://www.spurstalk.com/box381.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box382.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box383.png
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Tim Duncan
http://www.spurstalk.com/td12.png
For the second straight game, Tim Duncan was decidedly substandard. Most troubling is the observation that he appears to be a bit gimpy. Let’s hope it’s just a case of the middle of the regular season doldrums and not anything more sinister. Anyways, against the Lakers Duncan was actually very good at defending the rim -- as his four blocks in 29 minutes indicate. He wasn’t as good on D away from the basket and his transition defense was mostly poor. On offense, he passed the ball well -- particularly from the high post. His ability to find cutters gave the Spurs much-needed easy baskets. Other than his passing, though, his offense was a struggle. His outside shooting was off, he couldn’t produce on the low block and he held onto the ball for too long.
Final Grade: 70
Season Average: 89.4
Adj. Average: 89.8
Last 10 Average: 86.9
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Manu Ginobili
http://www.spurstalk.com/mg12.png
Manu Ginobili wasn’t great but it was overall a positive performance. What dogged Ginobili the most was an iffy shot selection. He hoisted a number of off-balance and out of rhythm jumpers that were simply uncharacteristic. Only two of his 14 field goal attempts came in the lane, which didn’t make much sense since the Lakers were missing their top three bigmen. But outside of those questionable shots, Ginobili did well. His defense was average but his rebounding was fantastic and he was disruptive in the passing lanes. On offense, he hit that huge three-pointer, passed the ball adequately and pushed the pace very well.
Final Grade: 84
Season Average: 84.3
Adj. Average: 84.4
Last 10 Average: 88.7
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Tony Parker
http://www.spurstalk.com/tp12.png
This was another deceptively deficient game for Tony Parker. His 10-for-16 shooting looks great but he just wasn’t that good -- relatively speaking, of course. Parker’s problem was an inability to get the Spurs into their offensive sets in a swift and timely manner. In fact, there were stretches of the game where the Spurs basically didn’t run any type of offense. Since he’s the point guard, he’s responsible at the very least for the team getting into their sets. As a result of the substantial amount of freelancing going on, the offense was ragged and never found a steady groove. Parker was also much sloppier than usual. Defensively, he did better. He played with energy and his three steals accounted for 30% of L.A.’s turnovers.
Final Grade: 73
Season Average: 86.5
Adj. Average: 86.5
Last 10 Average: 86.0
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Kawhi Leonard
http://www.spurstalk.com/kl12.png
I thought Kawhi Leonard was outstanding defensively against Kobe Bryant. Yes, Bryant got his points but Leonard forced him to shoot extremely tough shots a vast majority of the time. He also did a wonderful job of feverishly pressuring Bryant without fouling while also routing Bryant to awaiting help defenders. Great work on that end. Offensively, Leonard search for a niche continues. He knocked down a couple threes but figuring out how he fits and the size of his slice of the pie remains a work in progress.
Final Grade: 91
Season Average: 84.5
Adj. Average: 84.5
Last 10 Average: 84.1
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Danny Green
http://www.spurstalk.com/dg12.png
Although Danny Green only played 18 minutes, he was solid across the board. He shot it straight, he rebounded really well, he had a couple quality passes and his defense was solid. In hindsight, Green probably deserved a few more minutes, especially since he was one of the few Spurs players who was playing with a degree of forcefulness.
Final Grade: 88
Season Average: 82.7
Adj. Average: 83.0
Last 10 Average: 86.6
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Tiago Splitter
http://www.spurstalk.com/ts12.png
The Lakers started a small starting lineup with Metta World Peace at power forward and Tiago Splitter took advantage. Since Splitter has a history of struggling to take advantage of his height, this was great to see. His 14 rebounds were huge -- and they weren’t by accident; he was physical under the basket and snatched them out of the air. Defensively, he wasn’t great but that was mostly due to him guarding a lot of smaller players. Considering the circumstances, he did decently enough. Offensively, he was a positive. He rolled to the basket hard, found open spots, finished at the rim and hit his free throws.
Final Grade: 93
Season Average: 84.7
Adj. Average: 85.2
Last 10 Average: 83.6
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Boris Diaw
http://www.spurstalk.com/bd12.png
For someone who didn’t score a point in 27 minutes, I thought Boris Diaw was damn good. Defensively, he was all over the court. He defended well in the paint and used his swiftness to guard out on the perimeter. When switched onto smaller players, he almost never gave up a clean driving lane. Diaw also rebounded well and was aggressive about pushing the pace once he got it. On the offensive end, he was by far the best passer on the team. He was making plays off the dribble and when it was time for him to make a decision, it was quick -- unlike the hemming a hawing exhibited by most of the players. All in all, Diaw kept his mistakes to a minimum and played a really fine game, despite his scorelessness.
Final Grade: 94
Season Average: 80.6
Adj. Average: 81.6
Last 10 Average: 83.8
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Gary Neal
http://www.spurstalk.com/gn12.png
This was a disheartening evening for Gary Neal in my eyes, even though he scored 12 points in 19 minutes. Neal was supposed to play backup point guard but was simply horrific in that position. There’s no other way to say it. His version of playing point guard was to dribble the ball up the court and either shoot a contested jumper or hand the ball off to Ginobili. Last season, we actually saw some playmaking out of Neal. Since regaining the backup point guard duties, that playmaking has been painfully intermittent, to put it kindly. He can’t be a contested-shot-and-turnover machine and help this team at backup point guard. Defensively, he wasn’t a train-wreck but still below average. I hope Neal turns it around but right now the coaching staff has to start considering one of the other options to play behind Parker if Neal can't turn it around.
Final Grade: 69
Season Average: 80.7
Adj. Average: 81.5
Last 10 Average: 79.0
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Stephen Jackson
http://www.spurstalk.com/sj12.png
The Good: Stephen Jackson came into the game hitting about 25% of his three-pointers, so draining 4-of-6 against the Lakers is obviously a momentous step in the right direction. He was physical going toward the basket and had a couple good passes. Defensively, his quick hands were a plus and his physicality thwarted Los Angeles at times. The Bad: Let’s start with his ejection. The emotion is fine -- and sometimes needed, honestly -- but Jackson went overboard. Getting thrown out gave the Lakers two free points, took away a hot shooter and seemed to help stall San Antonio’s momentum. Not good. Other than the ejection, his quickness on defense was lacking, he didn’t take care of the ball enough and his transition D was shaky.
Final Grade: 81
Season Average: 82.0
Adj. Average: 82.3
Last 10 Average: 80.1
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Pop
http://www.spurstalk.com/gp12.png
Pop used another odd rotation. Not only was it his typical midseason mad scientist routine, it was also like he too was expecting a blowout. He sat Duncan and Parker for a long time before they re-entered the game in the fourth -- and that seemed to only add to the disarrayed proceedings. To Pop’s credit, though, he put Leonard on Bryant from the beginning, which was the right call. He kept Splitter on the court even though the Lakers were small … and that was another right call -- and one that is usually against Pop’s counterpunching way of coaching.
Final Grade: 79
Season Average: 83.8
Last 10 Average: 83.3
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Offense
Scoring 108 points in 102 possessions isn’t good for this Spurs team. They failed to take advantage of Los Angeles’ lack of size and instead launched too many three-pointers (not getting to the line very much was another side effect of that strategic error). Turning the ball over 19 times for the second straight game is unforgivable. Aesthetically speaking, San Antonio’s attack was unusually haggard.
Final Grade: 74
Season Average: 84.1
Last 10 Average: 84.2
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Defense
The defense was actually pretty good -- especially when you factor in the fast pace and the number of impossible shots Bryant sank. The defensive rebounding was great, they kept the Lakers off the foul line, defended three-pointers well and made them play mostly in isolation sets. The Spurs allowed too many points in the paint and their forcing of turnovers was poor … but it was a solid job overall.
Final Grade: 86
Season Average: 83.6
Last 10 Average: 85.7
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Overall
It was an unattractive win. It was a win that kinda felt like a loss. To be honest, with as poorly as the Spurs played at times, I’m not sure they would have beaten a good WNBA team. That said, San Antonio will take the W and move on to what promises to be an extremely difficult challenge tonight in Memphis.
Final Grade: 77
Season Average: 83.9
Last 10 Average: 84.7
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With the Spurs up 12-11 midway through the first quarter, their first burst came courtesy of a 7-0 run that was spearheaded by Stephen Jackson, who followed up a three-pointer with a dunk. The Spurs took a 24-17 lead into the second.
San Antonio scored six of the first eight points of the second quarter to take their first double-digit lead. But the Lakers came right back with a quick surge of their own. For the rest of the quarter, the Spurs and Lakers traded mini-runs -- with the Spurs threatening to open a substantial lead … only to have the Lakers hop right into the ballgame. At halftime the Spurs led 54-45.
That pattern continued early in the third quarter; San Antonio could never sustain their momentum. In the latter portion of the quarter, the Spurs mounted a 7-0 run to give the good guys a 17-point advantage. That, too, proved fleeting. The Lakers scored nine straight points in a matter of a minute and a half to foil any dreams of a blowout.
The start of the fourth quarter was promising. With the Spurs up by ten points with ten minutes remaining, their next four baskets were three-pointers -- one by Gary Neal and three by Jackson. Jackson’s final three -- near the seven-minute mark -- put the Spurs up by 16 points.
Unfortunately, that’s when San Antonio’s offense fell apart and when Los Angeles got hot. The Lakers went on a 17-4 run to get within three points with three minutes remaining. Both teams traded a series of stops until Manu Ginobili broke the ice with a three-pointer with 43 seconds remaining to put the Spurs up by six points.
But again, the Lakers responded. This time it was Earl Clark, who was had the game of his life, answering with a three-pointer to make it a one-possession contest once more. After a Tony Parker turnover with ten seconds remaining, the Lakers got one last possession. Mercifully, Kobe Bryant missed a three-pointer that could have tied it and then Clark missed a desperation heave at the buzzer. The win, though not pretty and definitely not as easy as hoped, was official.
http://www.spurstalk.com/box381.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box382.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box383.png
---------------
Tim Duncan
http://www.spurstalk.com/td12.png
For the second straight game, Tim Duncan was decidedly substandard. Most troubling is the observation that he appears to be a bit gimpy. Let’s hope it’s just a case of the middle of the regular season doldrums and not anything more sinister. Anyways, against the Lakers Duncan was actually very good at defending the rim -- as his four blocks in 29 minutes indicate. He wasn’t as good on D away from the basket and his transition defense was mostly poor. On offense, he passed the ball well -- particularly from the high post. His ability to find cutters gave the Spurs much-needed easy baskets. Other than his passing, though, his offense was a struggle. His outside shooting was off, he couldn’t produce on the low block and he held onto the ball for too long.
Final Grade: 70
Season Average: 89.4
Adj. Average: 89.8
Last 10 Average: 86.9
---------------
Manu Ginobili
http://www.spurstalk.com/mg12.png
Manu Ginobili wasn’t great but it was overall a positive performance. What dogged Ginobili the most was an iffy shot selection. He hoisted a number of off-balance and out of rhythm jumpers that were simply uncharacteristic. Only two of his 14 field goal attempts came in the lane, which didn’t make much sense since the Lakers were missing their top three bigmen. But outside of those questionable shots, Ginobili did well. His defense was average but his rebounding was fantastic and he was disruptive in the passing lanes. On offense, he hit that huge three-pointer, passed the ball adequately and pushed the pace very well.
Final Grade: 84
Season Average: 84.3
Adj. Average: 84.4
Last 10 Average: 88.7
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Tony Parker
http://www.spurstalk.com/tp12.png
This was another deceptively deficient game for Tony Parker. His 10-for-16 shooting looks great but he just wasn’t that good -- relatively speaking, of course. Parker’s problem was an inability to get the Spurs into their offensive sets in a swift and timely manner. In fact, there were stretches of the game where the Spurs basically didn’t run any type of offense. Since he’s the point guard, he’s responsible at the very least for the team getting into their sets. As a result of the substantial amount of freelancing going on, the offense was ragged and never found a steady groove. Parker was also much sloppier than usual. Defensively, he did better. He played with energy and his three steals accounted for 30% of L.A.’s turnovers.
Final Grade: 73
Season Average: 86.5
Adj. Average: 86.5
Last 10 Average: 86.0
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Kawhi Leonard
http://www.spurstalk.com/kl12.png
I thought Kawhi Leonard was outstanding defensively against Kobe Bryant. Yes, Bryant got his points but Leonard forced him to shoot extremely tough shots a vast majority of the time. He also did a wonderful job of feverishly pressuring Bryant without fouling while also routing Bryant to awaiting help defenders. Great work on that end. Offensively, Leonard search for a niche continues. He knocked down a couple threes but figuring out how he fits and the size of his slice of the pie remains a work in progress.
Final Grade: 91
Season Average: 84.5
Adj. Average: 84.5
Last 10 Average: 84.1
---------------
Danny Green
http://www.spurstalk.com/dg12.png
Although Danny Green only played 18 minutes, he was solid across the board. He shot it straight, he rebounded really well, he had a couple quality passes and his defense was solid. In hindsight, Green probably deserved a few more minutes, especially since he was one of the few Spurs players who was playing with a degree of forcefulness.
Final Grade: 88
Season Average: 82.7
Adj. Average: 83.0
Last 10 Average: 86.6
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Tiago Splitter
http://www.spurstalk.com/ts12.png
The Lakers started a small starting lineup with Metta World Peace at power forward and Tiago Splitter took advantage. Since Splitter has a history of struggling to take advantage of his height, this was great to see. His 14 rebounds were huge -- and they weren’t by accident; he was physical under the basket and snatched them out of the air. Defensively, he wasn’t great but that was mostly due to him guarding a lot of smaller players. Considering the circumstances, he did decently enough. Offensively, he was a positive. He rolled to the basket hard, found open spots, finished at the rim and hit his free throws.
Final Grade: 93
Season Average: 84.7
Adj. Average: 85.2
Last 10 Average: 83.6
---------------
Boris Diaw
http://www.spurstalk.com/bd12.png
For someone who didn’t score a point in 27 minutes, I thought Boris Diaw was damn good. Defensively, he was all over the court. He defended well in the paint and used his swiftness to guard out on the perimeter. When switched onto smaller players, he almost never gave up a clean driving lane. Diaw also rebounded well and was aggressive about pushing the pace once he got it. On the offensive end, he was by far the best passer on the team. He was making plays off the dribble and when it was time for him to make a decision, it was quick -- unlike the hemming a hawing exhibited by most of the players. All in all, Diaw kept his mistakes to a minimum and played a really fine game, despite his scorelessness.
Final Grade: 94
Season Average: 80.6
Adj. Average: 81.6
Last 10 Average: 83.8
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Gary Neal
http://www.spurstalk.com/gn12.png
This was a disheartening evening for Gary Neal in my eyes, even though he scored 12 points in 19 minutes. Neal was supposed to play backup point guard but was simply horrific in that position. There’s no other way to say it. His version of playing point guard was to dribble the ball up the court and either shoot a contested jumper or hand the ball off to Ginobili. Last season, we actually saw some playmaking out of Neal. Since regaining the backup point guard duties, that playmaking has been painfully intermittent, to put it kindly. He can’t be a contested-shot-and-turnover machine and help this team at backup point guard. Defensively, he wasn’t a train-wreck but still below average. I hope Neal turns it around but right now the coaching staff has to start considering one of the other options to play behind Parker if Neal can't turn it around.
Final Grade: 69
Season Average: 80.7
Adj. Average: 81.5
Last 10 Average: 79.0
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Stephen Jackson
http://www.spurstalk.com/sj12.png
The Good: Stephen Jackson came into the game hitting about 25% of his three-pointers, so draining 4-of-6 against the Lakers is obviously a momentous step in the right direction. He was physical going toward the basket and had a couple good passes. Defensively, his quick hands were a plus and his physicality thwarted Los Angeles at times. The Bad: Let’s start with his ejection. The emotion is fine -- and sometimes needed, honestly -- but Jackson went overboard. Getting thrown out gave the Lakers two free points, took away a hot shooter and seemed to help stall San Antonio’s momentum. Not good. Other than the ejection, his quickness on defense was lacking, he didn’t take care of the ball enough and his transition D was shaky.
Final Grade: 81
Season Average: 82.0
Adj. Average: 82.3
Last 10 Average: 80.1
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Pop
http://www.spurstalk.com/gp12.png
Pop used another odd rotation. Not only was it his typical midseason mad scientist routine, it was also like he too was expecting a blowout. He sat Duncan and Parker for a long time before they re-entered the game in the fourth -- and that seemed to only add to the disarrayed proceedings. To Pop’s credit, though, he put Leonard on Bryant from the beginning, which was the right call. He kept Splitter on the court even though the Lakers were small … and that was another right call -- and one that is usually against Pop’s counterpunching way of coaching.
Final Grade: 79
Season Average: 83.8
Last 10 Average: 83.3
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Offense
Scoring 108 points in 102 possessions isn’t good for this Spurs team. They failed to take advantage of Los Angeles’ lack of size and instead launched too many three-pointers (not getting to the line very much was another side effect of that strategic error). Turning the ball over 19 times for the second straight game is unforgivable. Aesthetically speaking, San Antonio’s attack was unusually haggard.
Final Grade: 74
Season Average: 84.1
Last 10 Average: 84.2
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Defense
The defense was actually pretty good -- especially when you factor in the fast pace and the number of impossible shots Bryant sank. The defensive rebounding was great, they kept the Lakers off the foul line, defended three-pointers well and made them play mostly in isolation sets. The Spurs allowed too many points in the paint and their forcing of turnovers was poor … but it was a solid job overall.
Final Grade: 86
Season Average: 83.6
Last 10 Average: 85.7
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Overall
It was an unattractive win. It was a win that kinda felt like a loss. To be honest, with as poorly as the Spurs played at times, I’m not sure they would have beaten a good WNBA team. That said, San Antonio will take the W and move on to what promises to be an extremely difficult challenge tonight in Memphis.
Final Grade: 77
Season Average: 83.9
Last 10 Average: 84.7
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