timvp
01-30-2013, 06:22 PM
Playing again without Tim Duncan and Pop, the Spurs had a difficult time with the cellar dwelling Suns. But thanks to the Tony Parker powered fourth quarter, San Antonio was able to shake Phoenix and grab their eighth consecutive victory. At 36-11, the Spurs currently sit with the best record in the NBA. Not bad. Not bad, at all.
The Suns scored the first six points of the night but the Spurs quickly recovered. For the duration of the first quarter, the two teams traded leads before heading into the second knotted at 26.
The Spurs began the second quarter with a 14-6 run over the first 3:09 to build a 40-32 advantage. Phoenix methodically chipped away at their deficit and retook the lead thanks to a 7-0 run midway through the period. Going into intermission, the Spurs got it going enough to hold a three-point cushion, 59-56.
The second half started with five straight Suns points. The Spurs answered with six points. The Suns bounced back with seven straight. Back and forth the lead went. Phoenix had a five-point lead with 40 seconds remaining in the third quarter before Manu Ginobili scored the period’s final four points to make it 82-81 heading into the fourth.
With 10:22 to go in the game, Parker checked into the game with the Spurs down by two points. Things would soon get much, much better for San Antonio. The good guys went on a 16-4 run in which Parker scored or assisted on every point. All told, the Spurs ended would go on a 24-11 run. Of those 24 points, Parker had a hand in 22 of them. Needless to say, it was a fantastic finish by the five-time All-Star point guard.
http://www.spurstalk.com/box471.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box472.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box473.png
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Tony Parker
http://www.spurstalk.com/tp12.png
This truly was a great performance by Tony Parker that was highlighted by his dominant play in the fourth quarter. In the ten minutes he played in the period, Parker tallied 11 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Overall, he was spectacularly efficient offensively. When he wasn’t slicing Phoenix’s defensive apart for his own gain, he was creating open looks for teammates (a poor shooting night, particularly from deep, limited Parker’s assists). Defensively, he was strong -- and got stronger as the game progressed. During the winning streak, Parker is averaging 22.9 points and 9.4 assists in 33.5 minutes per game while shooting 57.6% from the field. Pop recently said that the Frenchman is the best point guard in the NBA. When he’s playing like this, it’s difficult to mount a disagreement.
Final Grade: 98
Season Average: 87.6
Adj. Average: 87.6
Last 10 Average: 90.2
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Manu Ginobili
http://www.spurstalk.com/mg12.png
Arguably the best news of the evening was how healthy Manu Ginobili looked. While not quite at 100%, he looks much better than he did when he initially returned from the hamstring strain. Against the Suns, his ability to attack the rim off the dribble was encouraging. His spryness played a role tying his season-high in free throw attempts. While his passing was mediocre for his standards, the Argentine was fiery on the defensive end. He finished with a game-high three steals and also competed on the board. All in all, this was a very positive outing. Oh, and being able to absorb a flagrant foul and simply respond with more venom and tenacity should help his confidence going forward.
Final Grade: 94
Season Average: 84.6
Adj. Average: 84.6
Last 10 Average: 86.0
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Kawhi Leonard
http://www.spurstalk.com/kl12.png
The Good: Kawhi Leonard looked more comfortable on the offensive end. It didn’t translate into an explosion but it was certainly a step forward because he looked much less hesitant and played with more purpose. He really helped out on the defensive boards; the Spurs would have been in a lot of trouble if he didn’t pull down numerous contested caroms. The Bad: Leonard’s defense just wasn’t that good. His individual D was inconsistent. And though he was a willing help defender, his rotations were often too ambitious. Not only did that leave his man open, he wasn’t creating much commotion despite his activity.
Final Grade: 85
Season Average: 84.0
Adj. Average: 83.9
Last 10 Average: 83.9
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Danny Green
http://www.spurstalk.com/dg12.png
This was one of Danny Green’s worst games as a member of the Spurs. Offensively, he did nothing other than miss shots. Defensively, Green got torched by Jared Dudley. Whenever Green wasn’t involved in the play, he’d roam off of Dudley -- and he paid for that mistake over and over again. With as well as Dudley was shooting, Green should have played him much tighter. For whatever reasons, he never made the adjustment. The one small silver lining is that Green kept playing hard despite all of his mistakes. In the past, we’ve seen him totally meltdown when things aren’t going his way.
Final Grade: 64
Season Average: 82.4
Adj. Average: 82.9
Last 10 Average: 81.9
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Tiago Splitter
http://www.spurstalk.com/ts12.png
Tiago Splitter’s final statistics look stout -- but I wasn’t especially fond of this performance. His defensive rebounding was subpar. In fact, Splitter didn’t grab a single board in the game’s final 21 minutes. The rest of his defense wasn’t much better. He did a good job of keeping his arms up but everything else was slow. Was Splitter tired? It looked like it, particularly in the second half. Offensively, the Brazilian didn’t finish at his normal rate and his court vision was uncharacteristically poor. To his credit, Splitter finished without a turnover. All told, we’ve seen him play much better than how he played on Saturday night.
Final Grade: 78
Season Average: 85.6
Adj. Average: 86.3
Last 10 Average: 89.6
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Boris Diaw
http://www.spurstalk.com/bd12.png
Offensively, I thought Boris Diaw played adequately well. He was quick with his trigger and he utilized his dribble to force Phoenix to collapse on him. He was also moving well away from the ball. Passing-wise, though, this was definitely a below average performance. Defensively, he was decent. He defended pick-and-rolls well and held his ground in the paint. However, Diaw didn’t rebound well enough and fouled too much.
Final Grade: 86
Season Average: 81.2
Adj. Average: 82.1
Last 10 Average: 84.6
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Stephen Jackson
http://www.spurstalk.com/sj12.png
Hit or miss lately, Stephen Jackson was definitely a hit versus the Suns. All of his scoring came in the first half when he was 3-for-3 from the field. He did a good job of mixing up his drives to the hoop, outside jumpers and passes. While Jackson’s man-on-man defense was spotty, he was surprisingly lively in the paint -- both rebounding-wise and in terms of protecting the hoop. He still has a long ways to go but let us hope this was the first step of Jackson getting there.
Final Grade: 88
Season Average: 81.1
Adj. Average: 82.2
Last 10 Average: 79.0
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Gary Neal
http://www.spurstalk.com/gn12.png
It appeared like Gary Neal had snapped out of his slump against the Mavericks. Apparently not. He was chucking as much as ever against the Suns. I lost count of how many ill-advised, forced shots Neal fired at the rim. He had a couple good passes -- but he was thinking shoot whenever he touched the ball. Defensively, he didn’t provide any help. Eventually Bud gave up on Neal and went elsewhere.
Final Grade: 66
Season Average: 79.6
Adj. Average: 80.7
Last 10 Average: 75.1
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DeJuan Blair
http://www.spurstalk.com/db12.png
Through all of his bumbling on offense and his shoddy defensive work, it’s easy to forget that DeJuan Blair is actually a really good passer for a bigman. That ability shone brightly against the Suns. Only Parker had more assists than Blair on this night. The rest of his offense wasn’t much to talk about. Blair was probably a tad too aggressive but didn’t do anything too unsightly. Defensively, his effort was commendable -- even if his results were all over the map. All in all, Blair gave the Spurs some decent minutes, which was extra valuable due to the absence of Duncan.
Final Grade: 87
Season Average: 80.4
Adj. Average: 81.7
Last 10 Average: 91.8
---------------
Matt Bonner
http://www.spurstalk.com/mb12.png
Matt Bonner was active on the defensive end -- both inside and out -- but his energy rarely translated to positive plays. He was able to help out a bit on the boards and in transition defense. On offense, Bonner’s shooting slump continues. After his great game against the Hawks, he’s just 2-for-12 on three-pointers. That said, I liked his aggression on offense against the Suns and he was also able to help out on the less lucrative side of the three-point line.
Final Grade: 80
Season Average: 80.1
Adj. Average: 81.8
Last 10 Average: 78.0
---------------
Patrick Mills
http://www.spurstalk.com/pm12.png
Filling in for Neal, Patrick Mills helped the Spurs … mostly just by being unNeal-like. Mills was extremely active on defense and helped get the Suns back on their heels. On offense, the Australian quickly gave up the ball and his constant movement helped draw attention. He didn’t do anything special but, on this night, Mills was just what the doctor ordered.
Final Grade: 87
Season Average: 82.8
Adj. Average: 82.6
Last 10 Average: 81.8
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Bud
http://www.spurstalk.com/bud2012.jpg
For an interim coach, Bud made a handful of gutsy coaching moves. He benched Green due to his ineffectiveness on both ends -- that was the right call. He benched Neal for breaking the offense -- that was the right call. Giving Mills a shot was a good move, as was giving extra time to Jackson. Strategically, he kept everyone’s minutes at a reasonable level and his playcalling was virtually flawless. Great work by Bud for coaching to win instead of just not to lose.
Final Grade: 97
Season Average: 91.7
Last 10 Average: 91.7
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Offense
The Spurs scored at a rate of 113.7 points per 100 possessions, an outstanding number. Strangely, most of the stats look pedestrian. They were subpar assists-wise and they didn’t shoot especially well. Other than that scoring rate, the only statistic that was exceptionally strong was turnovers (S.A. only had nine). Then again, that goes to show how important it is for this Spurs team to limit their mistakes on offense. When they take care of the ball, they can score with any team in the league.
Final Grade: 88
Season Average: 84.2
Last 10 Average: 83.9
---------------
Defense
The defense was lackadaisical through three quarters. In the fourth, the Spurs really turned it up. While the overall performance had its warts, the Spurs did an admirable job in terms of forcing turnovers, gang rebounding and keeping Phoenix off the charity stripe.
Final Grade: 80
Season Average: 84.2
Last 10 Average: 86.3
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Overall
This was another impressive win. It was the second night of a back-to-back and completed a stretch of six games in nine days that saw the Spurs travel between each and every contest. Add in Duncan, Ginobili and Pop being in and out of the lineup and it was just incredible work by this team. After some rest, let’s hope they can retain their winning ways tonight against the Bobcats.
Final Grade: 89
Season Average: 84.5
Last 10 Average: 86.2
---------------
The Suns scored the first six points of the night but the Spurs quickly recovered. For the duration of the first quarter, the two teams traded leads before heading into the second knotted at 26.
The Spurs began the second quarter with a 14-6 run over the first 3:09 to build a 40-32 advantage. Phoenix methodically chipped away at their deficit and retook the lead thanks to a 7-0 run midway through the period. Going into intermission, the Spurs got it going enough to hold a three-point cushion, 59-56.
The second half started with five straight Suns points. The Spurs answered with six points. The Suns bounced back with seven straight. Back and forth the lead went. Phoenix had a five-point lead with 40 seconds remaining in the third quarter before Manu Ginobili scored the period’s final four points to make it 82-81 heading into the fourth.
With 10:22 to go in the game, Parker checked into the game with the Spurs down by two points. Things would soon get much, much better for San Antonio. The good guys went on a 16-4 run in which Parker scored or assisted on every point. All told, the Spurs ended would go on a 24-11 run. Of those 24 points, Parker had a hand in 22 of them. Needless to say, it was a fantastic finish by the five-time All-Star point guard.
http://www.spurstalk.com/box471.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box472.png
http://www.spurstalk.com/box473.png
---------------
Tony Parker
http://www.spurstalk.com/tp12.png
This truly was a great performance by Tony Parker that was highlighted by his dominant play in the fourth quarter. In the ten minutes he played in the period, Parker tallied 11 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Overall, he was spectacularly efficient offensively. When he wasn’t slicing Phoenix’s defensive apart for his own gain, he was creating open looks for teammates (a poor shooting night, particularly from deep, limited Parker’s assists). Defensively, he was strong -- and got stronger as the game progressed. During the winning streak, Parker is averaging 22.9 points and 9.4 assists in 33.5 minutes per game while shooting 57.6% from the field. Pop recently said that the Frenchman is the best point guard in the NBA. When he’s playing like this, it’s difficult to mount a disagreement.
Final Grade: 98
Season Average: 87.6
Adj. Average: 87.6
Last 10 Average: 90.2
---------------
Manu Ginobili
http://www.spurstalk.com/mg12.png
Arguably the best news of the evening was how healthy Manu Ginobili looked. While not quite at 100%, he looks much better than he did when he initially returned from the hamstring strain. Against the Suns, his ability to attack the rim off the dribble was encouraging. His spryness played a role tying his season-high in free throw attempts. While his passing was mediocre for his standards, the Argentine was fiery on the defensive end. He finished with a game-high three steals and also competed on the board. All in all, this was a very positive outing. Oh, and being able to absorb a flagrant foul and simply respond with more venom and tenacity should help his confidence going forward.
Final Grade: 94
Season Average: 84.6
Adj. Average: 84.6
Last 10 Average: 86.0
---------------
Kawhi Leonard
http://www.spurstalk.com/kl12.png
The Good: Kawhi Leonard looked more comfortable on the offensive end. It didn’t translate into an explosion but it was certainly a step forward because he looked much less hesitant and played with more purpose. He really helped out on the defensive boards; the Spurs would have been in a lot of trouble if he didn’t pull down numerous contested caroms. The Bad: Leonard’s defense just wasn’t that good. His individual D was inconsistent. And though he was a willing help defender, his rotations were often too ambitious. Not only did that leave his man open, he wasn’t creating much commotion despite his activity.
Final Grade: 85
Season Average: 84.0
Adj. Average: 83.9
Last 10 Average: 83.9
---------------
Danny Green
http://www.spurstalk.com/dg12.png
This was one of Danny Green’s worst games as a member of the Spurs. Offensively, he did nothing other than miss shots. Defensively, Green got torched by Jared Dudley. Whenever Green wasn’t involved in the play, he’d roam off of Dudley -- and he paid for that mistake over and over again. With as well as Dudley was shooting, Green should have played him much tighter. For whatever reasons, he never made the adjustment. The one small silver lining is that Green kept playing hard despite all of his mistakes. In the past, we’ve seen him totally meltdown when things aren’t going his way.
Final Grade: 64
Season Average: 82.4
Adj. Average: 82.9
Last 10 Average: 81.9
---------------
Tiago Splitter
http://www.spurstalk.com/ts12.png
Tiago Splitter’s final statistics look stout -- but I wasn’t especially fond of this performance. His defensive rebounding was subpar. In fact, Splitter didn’t grab a single board in the game’s final 21 minutes. The rest of his defense wasn’t much better. He did a good job of keeping his arms up but everything else was slow. Was Splitter tired? It looked like it, particularly in the second half. Offensively, the Brazilian didn’t finish at his normal rate and his court vision was uncharacteristically poor. To his credit, Splitter finished without a turnover. All told, we’ve seen him play much better than how he played on Saturday night.
Final Grade: 78
Season Average: 85.6
Adj. Average: 86.3
Last 10 Average: 89.6
---------------
Boris Diaw
http://www.spurstalk.com/bd12.png
Offensively, I thought Boris Diaw played adequately well. He was quick with his trigger and he utilized his dribble to force Phoenix to collapse on him. He was also moving well away from the ball. Passing-wise, though, this was definitely a below average performance. Defensively, he was decent. He defended pick-and-rolls well and held his ground in the paint. However, Diaw didn’t rebound well enough and fouled too much.
Final Grade: 86
Season Average: 81.2
Adj. Average: 82.1
Last 10 Average: 84.6
---------------
Stephen Jackson
http://www.spurstalk.com/sj12.png
Hit or miss lately, Stephen Jackson was definitely a hit versus the Suns. All of his scoring came in the first half when he was 3-for-3 from the field. He did a good job of mixing up his drives to the hoop, outside jumpers and passes. While Jackson’s man-on-man defense was spotty, he was surprisingly lively in the paint -- both rebounding-wise and in terms of protecting the hoop. He still has a long ways to go but let us hope this was the first step of Jackson getting there.
Final Grade: 88
Season Average: 81.1
Adj. Average: 82.2
Last 10 Average: 79.0
---------------
Gary Neal
http://www.spurstalk.com/gn12.png
It appeared like Gary Neal had snapped out of his slump against the Mavericks. Apparently not. He was chucking as much as ever against the Suns. I lost count of how many ill-advised, forced shots Neal fired at the rim. He had a couple good passes -- but he was thinking shoot whenever he touched the ball. Defensively, he didn’t provide any help. Eventually Bud gave up on Neal and went elsewhere.
Final Grade: 66
Season Average: 79.6
Adj. Average: 80.7
Last 10 Average: 75.1
---------------
DeJuan Blair
http://www.spurstalk.com/db12.png
Through all of his bumbling on offense and his shoddy defensive work, it’s easy to forget that DeJuan Blair is actually a really good passer for a bigman. That ability shone brightly against the Suns. Only Parker had more assists than Blair on this night. The rest of his offense wasn’t much to talk about. Blair was probably a tad too aggressive but didn’t do anything too unsightly. Defensively, his effort was commendable -- even if his results were all over the map. All in all, Blair gave the Spurs some decent minutes, which was extra valuable due to the absence of Duncan.
Final Grade: 87
Season Average: 80.4
Adj. Average: 81.7
Last 10 Average: 91.8
---------------
Matt Bonner
http://www.spurstalk.com/mb12.png
Matt Bonner was active on the defensive end -- both inside and out -- but his energy rarely translated to positive plays. He was able to help out a bit on the boards and in transition defense. On offense, Bonner’s shooting slump continues. After his great game against the Hawks, he’s just 2-for-12 on three-pointers. That said, I liked his aggression on offense against the Suns and he was also able to help out on the less lucrative side of the three-point line.
Final Grade: 80
Season Average: 80.1
Adj. Average: 81.8
Last 10 Average: 78.0
---------------
Patrick Mills
http://www.spurstalk.com/pm12.png
Filling in for Neal, Patrick Mills helped the Spurs … mostly just by being unNeal-like. Mills was extremely active on defense and helped get the Suns back on their heels. On offense, the Australian quickly gave up the ball and his constant movement helped draw attention. He didn’t do anything special but, on this night, Mills was just what the doctor ordered.
Final Grade: 87
Season Average: 82.8
Adj. Average: 82.6
Last 10 Average: 81.8
---------------
Bud
http://www.spurstalk.com/bud2012.jpg
For an interim coach, Bud made a handful of gutsy coaching moves. He benched Green due to his ineffectiveness on both ends -- that was the right call. He benched Neal for breaking the offense -- that was the right call. Giving Mills a shot was a good move, as was giving extra time to Jackson. Strategically, he kept everyone’s minutes at a reasonable level and his playcalling was virtually flawless. Great work by Bud for coaching to win instead of just not to lose.
Final Grade: 97
Season Average: 91.7
Last 10 Average: 91.7
---------------
Offense
The Spurs scored at a rate of 113.7 points per 100 possessions, an outstanding number. Strangely, most of the stats look pedestrian. They were subpar assists-wise and they didn’t shoot especially well. Other than that scoring rate, the only statistic that was exceptionally strong was turnovers (S.A. only had nine). Then again, that goes to show how important it is for this Spurs team to limit their mistakes on offense. When they take care of the ball, they can score with any team in the league.
Final Grade: 88
Season Average: 84.2
Last 10 Average: 83.9
---------------
Defense
The defense was lackadaisical through three quarters. In the fourth, the Spurs really turned it up. While the overall performance had its warts, the Spurs did an admirable job in terms of forcing turnovers, gang rebounding and keeping Phoenix off the charity stripe.
Final Grade: 80
Season Average: 84.2
Last 10 Average: 86.3
---------------
Overall
This was another impressive win. It was the second night of a back-to-back and completed a stretch of six games in nine days that saw the Spurs travel between each and every contest. Add in Duncan, Ginobili and Pop being in and out of the lineup and it was just incredible work by this team. After some rest, let’s hope they can retain their winning ways tonight against the Bobcats.
Final Grade: 89
Season Average: 84.5
Last 10 Average: 86.2
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