Manufan909
01-14-2013, 12:45 AM
Just so everyone knows, I'm completely going off my observations for this post. I haven't looked at any recaps, box scores, quick grades, anything. Thus, not everything I put might be fact considering my memory isn't perfect.
- Duncan missed a crapload of jumpers while he was warming up, while Splitter was nailing 10-15 footers. I'd love for him to try a couple of those in a blowout later on this season, just to see what happens.
- Tim started off badly, I believe the first time he touched the ball he backed Cunningham down, and then passed the ball out, even though there was no double coming. Iirc he missed more than half of his first few shots, but he started hitting in the 2nd half. His D on Pekovic was excellent, but he let other players have way too many open jumpers. In terms of pure rim protection it was a block party and Timmy invited at least 4 guys by my estimate.
- I loved that Tony and Manu made a living going to the rim, and were extremely successful at it (still not sure how Manu missed the fastbreak finger roll though, even after seeing a replay).
- Speaking of Manu, I didn't see the play he was injured on, just him hopping up and down yelling for a TO. He was great outside of shooting long-range, so I hope his injury doesn't cause any regression.
- In the first half I was really pissed at how little Kawhi was used in the offense, and even though he didn't really take many more shots in the 2nd half I was pleased because he swished a 3 and threw down the most thunderous dunk for the Spurs.
- Speaking of Blair, I thought he did a fine job. I had a bad feeling about the Diaw/Blair lineup, but I believe that unit created the biggest lead of the first half.
- From my angle I couldn't tell if Pekovic got all ball when he blocked Splitter, but Tiago gave one ref the stink eye soon after during a dead ball situation. Does anyone think a foul should have been called?
- Speaking of Splitter, he had a couple touch fouls that were pure BS. And Jax fouling when he was trying to get out of the way and brushed against on of the Timberwolves was complete shite. Also, Splitter's 1 miss of the second half looked like it was rejected by the rim, but 2 Timberwolves were there to contest, so maybe one of them got a piece. I know that he made his last 3 shots as well as both FTs, but in the 1st half I couldn't help but think that if he had put as much effort as Blair into driving to the basket, he would have an even higher FG%. But when you're 6'7" with no athleticism I guess you really have no choice but to go to the rim with reckless abandon.
- Neal and Barea were jawing at each other in the game, and at one point they actually yelled at each other after a TO once they'd gone to their respective benches. I forgot what was said, but they both had only one line. During the game Barea was bitching at Neal and the refs saying that Neal was shoving a lot, and after one was called on Neal he yelled "PUSHING AIN'T NOTHING NEW!!!", which I found to be quite hilarious.
- I completely missed Pop doing whatever earned him an ejection, which was probably the saddest part of my night.:( I joked to my gf that Pop knew the Spurs were gonna win, so that's why he let loose. But tbh, the Spurs weren't up by a crazy amount by that point, and there were about 7 min left, iirc.
- I don't remember Green scoring, but he seemed to defend with gusto. He almost had a block on Pekovic in the 1st half, and blocked 2 Timberwolves players that were significantly bigger than him in the 2nd half.
- Neal has been annoying the crap on me lately, but tonight I had no complaints. He seemed to really fight around screens on D, and shitted all over ST with his hot hand in the 2nd half.
- Diaw annoyed me with his hesitancy to shoot, but at least one time he ended the possession with an assist to Leonard. Also, he canned his one outside shot when the game was still close.
- Once Pop... scratch that, the assistant coach put Blair, Jax, Nando, Mills and Neal on the court with 3 minutes left I thought to myself that I'd be content with the Spurs winning by at least 12, but that unit ended up being a zero on +/-, which flabbergasted me.
- Sweet mother of Jesus that Williams dunk was sick. The alley oop dunk to start the game had no oomph to it, but Williams putting Blair in a poster was crazy. It made me kind of annoyed that the Spurs didn't dunk the ball until the third quarter.
- Gotdamn is Pekovic a bruiser. Timmy somehow held him in check for the most part, but from what I could tell Pek put up some solid numbers. I hope Baynes can be a poor man's Pekovic.
- I don't know Stiemsma at all, but for some reason I assumed he didn't have a reliable jumper... and I was dead wrong. He missed the last jumper he took, but he made the first 3, 2 of which were a direct result of Timmy conceding outside shots the past couple games.
- I consider Barea a flopper, but he was bumped into several times where he didn't pull a Chris Paul. On one layup he jumped into the defender and was awarded a foul, but I don't remember him flopping once. Mills MIGHT have flopped in order to get an illegal screen called on Stiemsma.
- I expected a jaw dropping pass from Rubio at some point, but it never came.
Admunson is clearly the human defeat cigar on the Timberwolves, which makes me curious why Bonner wasn't even given human victory cigar minutes tonight.
P.S. My 27x37 Spurs flag was signed by Tim, Tony, Kawhi, Bonner, Splitter, Elliott, Land, and Shoening. In hindsight I wish I had made everyone sign my Ginobili jersey, instead of just Manu. Also, Bonner only signed stuff for the people on my side, and Neal missed my flag. I was right above the tarp they used to cover the tunnel, so I guess it's understandable that he missed me. Tim, Kawhi and Tony didn't, and I was able to go down a couple steps by the time Splitter and Bonner made rounds. Both Bills thanked me after they gave me their signatures, and my gf said that I had made Schoening's day (a small token after the dozens of Spurs games that I was able to experience thanks to him:toast). Also, one of the reporters jokingly told Schoening that he "had arrived" as I was walking away.
P.P.S. I'll make sure to post pictures of my flag and jersy within the next few days.
- Duncan missed a crapload of jumpers while he was warming up, while Splitter was nailing 10-15 footers. I'd love for him to try a couple of those in a blowout later on this season, just to see what happens.
- Tim started off badly, I believe the first time he touched the ball he backed Cunningham down, and then passed the ball out, even though there was no double coming. Iirc he missed more than half of his first few shots, but he started hitting in the 2nd half. His D on Pekovic was excellent, but he let other players have way too many open jumpers. In terms of pure rim protection it was a block party and Timmy invited at least 4 guys by my estimate.
- I loved that Tony and Manu made a living going to the rim, and were extremely successful at it (still not sure how Manu missed the fastbreak finger roll though, even after seeing a replay).
- Speaking of Manu, I didn't see the play he was injured on, just him hopping up and down yelling for a TO. He was great outside of shooting long-range, so I hope his injury doesn't cause any regression.
- In the first half I was really pissed at how little Kawhi was used in the offense, and even though he didn't really take many more shots in the 2nd half I was pleased because he swished a 3 and threw down the most thunderous dunk for the Spurs.
- Speaking of Blair, I thought he did a fine job. I had a bad feeling about the Diaw/Blair lineup, but I believe that unit created the biggest lead of the first half.
- From my angle I couldn't tell if Pekovic got all ball when he blocked Splitter, but Tiago gave one ref the stink eye soon after during a dead ball situation. Does anyone think a foul should have been called?
- Speaking of Splitter, he had a couple touch fouls that were pure BS. And Jax fouling when he was trying to get out of the way and brushed against on of the Timberwolves was complete shite. Also, Splitter's 1 miss of the second half looked like it was rejected by the rim, but 2 Timberwolves were there to contest, so maybe one of them got a piece. I know that he made his last 3 shots as well as both FTs, but in the 1st half I couldn't help but think that if he had put as much effort as Blair into driving to the basket, he would have an even higher FG%. But when you're 6'7" with no athleticism I guess you really have no choice but to go to the rim with reckless abandon.
- Neal and Barea were jawing at each other in the game, and at one point they actually yelled at each other after a TO once they'd gone to their respective benches. I forgot what was said, but they both had only one line. During the game Barea was bitching at Neal and the refs saying that Neal was shoving a lot, and after one was called on Neal he yelled "PUSHING AIN'T NOTHING NEW!!!", which I found to be quite hilarious.
- I completely missed Pop doing whatever earned him an ejection, which was probably the saddest part of my night.:( I joked to my gf that Pop knew the Spurs were gonna win, so that's why he let loose. But tbh, the Spurs weren't up by a crazy amount by that point, and there were about 7 min left, iirc.
- I don't remember Green scoring, but he seemed to defend with gusto. He almost had a block on Pekovic in the 1st half, and blocked 2 Timberwolves players that were significantly bigger than him in the 2nd half.
- Neal has been annoying the crap on me lately, but tonight I had no complaints. He seemed to really fight around screens on D, and shitted all over ST with his hot hand in the 2nd half.
- Diaw annoyed me with his hesitancy to shoot, but at least one time he ended the possession with an assist to Leonard. Also, he canned his one outside shot when the game was still close.
- Once Pop... scratch that, the assistant coach put Blair, Jax, Nando, Mills and Neal on the court with 3 minutes left I thought to myself that I'd be content with the Spurs winning by at least 12, but that unit ended up being a zero on +/-, which flabbergasted me.
- Sweet mother of Jesus that Williams dunk was sick. The alley oop dunk to start the game had no oomph to it, but Williams putting Blair in a poster was crazy. It made me kind of annoyed that the Spurs didn't dunk the ball until the third quarter.
- Gotdamn is Pekovic a bruiser. Timmy somehow held him in check for the most part, but from what I could tell Pek put up some solid numbers. I hope Baynes can be a poor man's Pekovic.
- I don't know Stiemsma at all, but for some reason I assumed he didn't have a reliable jumper... and I was dead wrong. He missed the last jumper he took, but he made the first 3, 2 of which were a direct result of Timmy conceding outside shots the past couple games.
- I consider Barea a flopper, but he was bumped into several times where he didn't pull a Chris Paul. On one layup he jumped into the defender and was awarded a foul, but I don't remember him flopping once. Mills MIGHT have flopped in order to get an illegal screen called on Stiemsma.
- I expected a jaw dropping pass from Rubio at some point, but it never came.
Admunson is clearly the human defeat cigar on the Timberwolves, which makes me curious why Bonner wasn't even given human victory cigar minutes tonight.
P.S. My 27x37 Spurs flag was signed by Tim, Tony, Kawhi, Bonner, Splitter, Elliott, Land, and Shoening. In hindsight I wish I had made everyone sign my Ginobili jersey, instead of just Manu. Also, Bonner only signed stuff for the people on my side, and Neal missed my flag. I was right above the tarp they used to cover the tunnel, so I guess it's understandable that he missed me. Tim, Kawhi and Tony didn't, and I was able to go down a couple steps by the time Splitter and Bonner made rounds. Both Bills thanked me after they gave me their signatures, and my gf said that I had made Schoening's day (a small token after the dozens of Spurs games that I was able to experience thanks to him:toast). Also, one of the reporters jokingly told Schoening that he "had arrived" as I was walking away.
P.P.S. I'll make sure to post pictures of my flag and jersy within the next few days.