Quick Grades: Spurs vs. Bobcats - Jan. 30

[timvp]

Tony Parker B+
Scoring was great. D was fine. Passing was impressive at times. Orchestration of O shaky. Too loose with ball.

Manu Ginobili A-
Quality passes but also had miscues. Efficient scoring-wise. Strong on the boards. Hamstring got tight at the end.

Kawhi Leonard A
Came out blazing from the field. No hesitation on jumpers. Played well off the dribble. Active on defense.

Danny Green B
Shot looked smooth and made plays in transition on D. However, passing was horrific and individual D iffy.

Tiago Splitter B-
Rebounding could’ve been better. Finishing relatively spotty. Had some great moments but consistency lacking.

Boris Diaw B
D was strong; rebounding wasn’t. Aggression was acceptable but floated at times. Passing a plus.

Stephen Jackson D
Couldn’t buy a bucket. Turnovers galore. Up and down -- but mostly down -- play continues.

Aron Baynes A-
Dove straight into the action. Strong on the glass. Set solid screens. D needs polishing. Impressive debut.

Nando De Colo B-
Shot was off. Passed it well but turnovers still a problem. Great hustle to loose balls.

Gary Neal D
Authored a couple more misses. Did little else in 12 minutes.

Patrick Mills Inc.
Made garbage time exciting with his activity. Nice pass to Baynes on the move for an Aussieoop.

Pop B
Spread minutes well. Rotation was weird but fine. Showed confidence in Baynes and gave him a good run.

[Spur|n|Austin]

Aussieoop, nice!

Stack's play is beginning to be a concern. I strongly dislike, Gary Neal.

[AussieFanKurt]

Gary Neal got virtually no minutes today - no worries really. If we need quick offense he's good but what other use does he have?

[Mugen]

I think i blinked and missed Jack's "up" during the game tbh

[dunkman]

Baynes is a steal, hopefully will be able to produce constantly.

[Ice009]

Alright Timvp, serious question - What do we do with Sjax? He has looked like crap lately, and doesn't appear to be playing any better at all.

The other day he said he would like more minutes, but that you have to sacrifice for the team. He was talking about DeJuan Blair's situation, but all I could think was, man, you aren't even playing well enough to get the minutes you're getting now, let alone more minutes.

He's really not playing that well. I am a huge Sjax fan, but his numbers are really bad, his salary is high, so not sure what the Spurs should do. I'm worried he is going to ask for some crazy amount of money in the off season. I just don't know what he is thinking sometimes.

[crc21209]

Gary Neal got virtually no minutes today - no worries really. If we need quick offense he's good but what other use does he have?

That's about it, tbh. If the Spurs need some scoring energy off the bench then that's all he's really good for...

[crc21209]

Jack has looked like crap lately, but I think he's just too valuable to the team taking up minutes backing up Kawhi and playing spot minutes at the 4 spot. It's not like the Spurs need him to put up 12-15 points a game. They just need for him to play solid D, rebound, set good screens, and spot up and hit a 3 every now and then. I think his BBall IQ is too valuable. You can tell he's a smart player on some of the plays he pulls off with Tiago in the pick and rolls. He always looks for the big off those screens....

[Libri]

Aron Baynes A-
Dove straight into the action. Strong on the glass. Set solid screens. D needs polishing. Impressive debut.


Music to my ears. :tu

[Spurs_Be_Beastin']

really tho....
21 turnovers to one of the worst teams in the league..
disgusting. :nope

i hope manu is ok !

[Spur|n|Austin]

That's about it, tbh. If the Spurs need some scoring energy off the bench then that's all he's really good for...

His shot has been broke though, and when he has the ball he's shooting 90% of the time; that's at bad combination.

[T Park]

Alright Timvp, serious question - What do we do with Sjax. He has looked like total shit lately, and doesn't appear to be playing any better at all.

you keep playing him. Hes here for april and may not December and January.

[crc21209]

you keep playing him. Hes here for april and may not December and January.

Bingo. We all saw what he did when the Spurs backs were up against the wall in hostile territory last year at OKC in Game 6. He was one of the only guys who played his ass off and seemed to give a shit...

[Mugen]

I don't see a realistic Jack trade that the Spurs pull the trigger on, nor should they. As EricB said, Jack's here for the playoffs.

[freetiago]

never seen a player get more excuses then the TOSB Jackson

Baynes was pretty much what was advertised
he looked like he had a good motor on the boards
but his D wasnt too good, he looked lost and was a bit slow on rotations but it was his first nba game so hell obviously get better
offensively he didnt do much of anything but get garbage putbacks and dunks
had a few bad plays that should also be corrected once he gets more playing time if he does
he should be able to contribute 5-10 mins at the least for the team as the backup C

[Spur|n|Austin]

you keep playing him. Hes here for april and may not December and January.



Bingo. We all saw what he did when the Spurs backs were up against the wall in hostile territory last year at OKC in Game 6. He was one of the only guys who played his ass off and seemed to give a shit...



I don't see a realistic Jack trade that the Spurs pull the trigger on, nor should they. As EricB said, Jack's here for the playoffs.


Good points on Jack. Here's to the post season.

[wyn50]

That's about it, tbh. If the Spurs need some scoring energy off the bench then that's all he's really good for...

Neal justs needs to be ready to play good in the playoffs.TP can't do it all. Baynes needs to play against better competition to get better. He showed promise tonight.

[T Park]

never seen a player get more excuses then the TOSB Jackson

Baynes was pretty much what was advertised
he looked like he had a good motor on the boards
but his D wasnt too good, he looked lost and was a bit slow on rotations but it was his first nba game so hell obviously get better
offensively he didnt do much of anything but get garbage putbacks and dunks
had a few bad plays that should also be corrected once he gets more playing time if he does
he should be able to contribute 5-10 mins at the least for the team as the backup C

what was the "excuse" given?

[timtonymanu]

Some Spurs fans just never learn.

[Ice009]

you keep playing him. Hes here for april and may not December and January.

I understand that better than anyone. I edited my post and added more to it. Very strange to hear you say that, because all the years I wanted him back, you bagged the shit out of him. His numbers right now are worse than when you guys were calling him an inefficient chucker.

It's really the off season that has me more worried. I just have no idea what kind of money he will ask for and what he thinks he is worth. If he doesn't want to sign a reasonable contract and leaves, does that give the Spurs much cap room to play with, or not really? Anyone know?

And you can pretty much throw away Baynes' performance tonight as it was against the Bobcats.

Aron needs to do this against better teams for it to mean something. Great effort though tonight Aron! It's still an NBA debut, and a good one at that. Good physicality. That's what I want more of on this team. PHYSICALITY.

[freetiago]

Jackson having by far the worst stats on the team
cant hit a shot and cant guard perimeter players
having his worst percentages in pretty much every category in his entire career
with the addition of baynes we dont need a smallball 4 when Kawhi is a far superior option who Jack also takes minutes away from Leonard
has the lowest last 10 averages in timvps player grades

but but but hell hit some shots in the playoffs maybe

[Strategic]

Nice set of grades. i think you set a fairly low bar for the newby.

[timvp]

Alright Timvp, serious question - What do we do with Sjax? He has looked like crap lately, and doesn't appear to be playing any better at all.

I think Pop just has to keep remaining patient. Jack's pinkie is still bandaged, so I'm sure that's not helping matters. The docs said it was going to still be broken for ~3 weeks after his return. But, yeah, treat him like Horry. Give him enough minutes to keep him in shape and then hope he's playing well come playoff time.

If a trade comes along that you need to include his contract, that's fine. But otherwise, Pop has to keep playing him and hope for the best.

The other reason to keep playing him is to figure out if he has anything at all left in the tank. If he looks done come March, then maybe the Spurs bring in a free agent small forward for depth. Benching Jack now makes little sense; it just muddles the situation even further.

[Juggity]

never seen a player get more excuses then the TOSB Jackson

People used to get pissed off at Robert Horry for half assing it in the regular season, but you could count on the guy to show up when it mattered. Jack seems the same in many respects. not claiming he is Horry, but there are similarities.

edit: timvp beat me with the Horry ref. by seconds :lol

[timvp]

I think i blinked and missed Jack's "up" during the game tbhI meant ups and downs games-wise in the last couple weeks. As recently as last game Jack did pretty darn well.

[jimbo]

Baynes' help D was pretty bad from what I saw. Rest of his game looked solid though. Wonder how he'l do against real competition.

[ElNono]

Jack offense is out of whack.. but I still like what he brings on D... he's a big body to throw out there and IMO he always plays tough on D...

[crc21209]

I just think some people around here are still expecting to see the Jack from 03' or even the Jack from the Warriors teams everyone liked. It's not gonna happen people. Jack isn't in his mid-late 20's anymore. Jack isn't going to drop 20 points a game anymore. Like I said, the best we can expect from him is to bring solid defense, toughness, hustle and grit out on the court, rebounding, and every now and then dropping a 3 ball when it's needed...

[crc21209]

And it's not like Jack gets tons of touches on the offensive end either. He's easily the 3rd or 4th option out there when he's out on the court behind Tony/Manu, Tim/Tiago, or guys like Neal and Green...

[TheSkeptic]

Thanks Timvp. :toast

Kawhi was awesome. I'm always happy to see him play well.

Loved the hustle from Baynes. I think this is great news for our frontcourt since it effectively shuts Blair/Bonner out of the rotation. The way he played reminded me a little bit of Cardinal (?) for some reason. So basically, I'm inclined to say that we're set but I'll be very interested in seeing how he does against a decent team on the RRT.

Next step is the backup pg position because I'm not sure how well Manu will hold up and I'd prefer having some insurance. I'd be in favour of trading somebody to get that done but otherwise Pop needs to sort this out. I'm thinking that for now Mills-Manu is fine when Manu's healthy but that maybe De Colo should be the playmaker if Manu's not available. Or something like that.

[spurs1990]

Intangibles. You can't expect every player to score consistently. We'd be 47-0 if that were the case.

I would bet my house SJax is wearing silver and black come late April.

[Hoops Czar]

B- for Nando??? More like a B- FLAT!!! Why De Colo continues to get minutes over Patty Mills I'll never know.


and LOL stephen Jackson, just f#cking LOL!!!!

[TheSkeptic]

People used to get pissed off at Robert Horry for half assing it in the regular season, but you could count on the guy to show up when it mattered. Jack seems the same in many respects. not claiming he is Horry, but there are similarities.

edit: timvp beat me with the Horry ref. by seconds :lol

I'll be honest. I don't buy this. To me, Diaw's a better Horry comparison because that's a guy who's clearly coasting during the regular season and being aggressive only when he feels like it. There's no doubt in my mind that Diaw will probably show up during the playoffs. He hasn't lost his skills, he just operates on a different internal clock.

Jax I think is trying but he just doesn't have it right now. Now I'm sure he'll also put together a better showing in the post-season than he has these last few weeks. But I think he's at a point where although he can have good shooting nights here and there it's not something the Spurs can pencil him in for every night. What we can expect in the playoffs is solid defense depending on the match-ups, grit, and toughness on the boards.

Though speaking of inefficient shooters, I'm actually not sure Gary Neal deserves a D. I watched tonight's game and for the first time in a while I'm not furious about his shot selection. In fact I don't even remember when he was in the game. That's progress imo.

[Dr. Robert Lee]

GAY HERO BALL NEAL SHOULD GET AN F-!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dr. Robert Lee]

Stephen Jackson should get an F, too. He truly is a scrub this year. I mean, God damn, Neal is better than he is and that's saying something.

[crc21209]

Stephen Jackson should get an F, too. He truly is a scrub this year. I mean, God damn, Neal is better than he is and that's saying something.

:lol Neal. Neal doesn't play D or rebound. All he does is take shots, and some pretty bad shots at times too...

[letmk]

Baynes' help D was pretty bad from what I saw. Rest of his game looked solid though. Wonder how he'l do against real competition.

On the contrary, I feel that his help D is quite good, but one-on-one D is lacking, or at least no flashes there -- he is not being tested enough considering Bobcats has no low-post threat.

[chapnis]

His defence wasn't that great but the block showed promise.

[letmk]

I think Pop just has to keep remaining patient. Jack's pinkie is still bandaged, so I'm sure that's not helping matters. The docs said it was going to still be broken for ~3 weeks after his return. But, yeah, treat him like Horry. Give him enough minutes to keep him in shape and then hope he's playing well come playoff time.

If a trade comes along that you need to include his contract, that's fine. But otherwise, Pop has to keep playing him and hope for the best.

The other reason to keep playing him is to figure out if he has anything at all left in the tank. If he looks done come March, then maybe the Spurs bring in a free agent small forward for depth. Benching Jack now makes little sense; it just muddles the situation even further.

To be honest, I don't buy the pinkie excuse. It's not that he simply missed because of being in a funk. His shooting form, moving and footwork are all looking bad. And unlike Manu in early season, it has been like this for Jack for the whole season.

The only thing he can provide is on the paper, which is we WISH we can throw him at Durant/LeBron in addition to Kawhi. But if he keeps playing like this, we might even be able to pass the Clippers.

[keywester]

B- for Nando??? More like a B- FLAT!!! Why De Colo continues to get minutes over Patty Mills I'll never know.


and LOL stephen Jackson, just f#cking LOL!!!!

Must be the French Connection. Its obvious that Mills will never make it with the Spurs. Best he opt out and hope a lessor team takes him and lets him play his game.

[Cry Havoc]

I honestly think Jack doesn't care about games in January. It's gotta be a little boring to him after so many seasons. That's just his MO. He's going to wait for the playoffs to put in any effort at all. Very similar to Horry.

Keep him unless a good deal comes along. It's not like he's costing us games right now anyway.

[letmk]

I'll be honest. I don't buy this. To me, Diaw's a better Horry comparison because that's a guy who's clearly coasting during the regular season and being aggressive only when he feels like it. There's no doubt in my mind that Diaw will probably show up during the playoffs. He hasn't lost his skills, he just operates on a different internal clock.

Jax I think is trying but he just doesn't have it right now. Now I'm sure he'll also put together a better showing in the post-season than he has these last few weeks. But I think he's at a point where although he can have good shooting nights here and there it's not something the Spurs can pencil him in for every night. What we can expect in the playoffs is solid defense depending on the match-ups, grit, and toughness on the boards.

Though speaking of inefficient shooters, I'm actually not sure Gary Neal deserves a D. I watched tonight's game and for the first time in a while I'm not furious about his shot selection. In fact I don't even remember when he was in the game. That's progress imo.

I also think Horry is more similar to Diaw's situation. It seems that he is sort of disinterested during the regular season. But his overall physical form looks fine. It's just that he doesn't try hard enough. While Jack is playing hard, especially considering he is playing for his next contract. But he is that bad, at least for half a season up to now.

[Hoops Czar]

I honestly think Jack doesn't care about games in January. It's gotta be a little boring to him after so many seasons. That's just his MO. He's going to wait for the playoffs to put in any effort at all. Very similar to Horry.

Keep him unless a good deal comes along. It's not like he's costing us games right now anyway.

The guy is in a contract year. I think he cares!!!

[Hoops Czar]

Must be the French Connection. Its obvious that Mills will never make it with the Spurs. Best he opt out and hope a lessor team takes him and lets him play his game.


Mills is the only backup pg this team has so that wouldn't be a smart thing for the Spurs to let happen. There's no way De crapo will come anywhere near a postseason roster so it's probably time for Pop to start switching gears a bit and giving Mills some much needed burn.

[MR-Clutch]

Judging from the box score I would say the Reggie Evans comparison is right on the money.

[maverick1948]

My lord, Spurs have the best record in the league with 12 scrubs on the team. At least that is the consensus on here. Either the players are a lot better than anyone gives them credit. Or is it Pop and his rotations that suck? At least they suck according to some on here.

I'll take this team against any in the league in a fair officated 7 game series. If we play Spurs ball, we can win. We have proven it.

[Cry Havoc]

The guy is in a contract year. I think he cares!!!

Jax don't need dollahs. He ain't bout dat lyf.




Besides if he plays well in the playoffs no one's going to care about this bad stretch in January. :lol

[racm]

Nando was the best guard off the bench not named Manu Ginobili tbh

Mills was a pack of energy but got in too late, Neal was more passive than Boris

[jestersmash]

I'll be honest. I don't buy this. To me, Diaw's a better Horry comparison because that's a guy who's clearly coasting during the regular season and being aggressive only when he feels like it. There's no doubt in my mind that Diaw will probably show up during the playoffs. He hasn't lost his skills, he just operates on a different internal clock.

Jax I think is trying but he just doesn't have it right now. Now I'm sure he'll also put together a better showing in the post-season than he has these last few weeks. But I think he's at a point where although he can have good shooting nights here and there it's not something the Spurs can pencil him in for every night. What we can expect in the playoffs is solid defense depending on the match-ups, grit, and toughness on the boards.

Though speaking of inefficient shooters, I'm actually not sure Gary Neal deserves a D. I watched tonight's game and for the first time in a while I'm not furious about his shot selection. In fact I don't even remember when he was in the game. That's progress imo.

Surprisingly one of his glaring mistakes in the game came when he gave up a wide open 3 point attempt. I was kind of surprised. Hope he's not in a mental slump of sort.

[freetiago]

Spurs top 4 are extremely good and you can plug any scrubs around them from the gutters of the d-leauge to journeyman to euro league rejects and they still crank out 50 wins
tim and tony are both in the top 10 in PER in the nba
ginobili is in the top 20 with a couple guys ahead who have good per minute numbers but cant be relied on to play big minutes or havent proven themselves in the league, so i would say hes around top 15 in PER
Splitter is 27 but if you factor out the brendan wrights of PER then hes top 25

Miami is the only other team with 3 guys in the top 25
and those 3 are all future hall of famers in their primes

and the spurs roleplayers have gotten exposed in the playoffs every year for the past 3 years

[BillMc]

Thanks for write up as always!

[therealtruth]

My lord, Spurs have the best record in the league with 12 scrubs on the team. At least that is the consensus on here. Either the players are a lot better than anyone gives them credit. Or is it Pop and his rotations that suck? At least they suck according to some on here.

I'll take this team against any in the league in a fair officated 7 game series. If we play Spurs ball, we can win. We have proven it.

The best record doesn't get you anything but regular season championships. Pop's got to coach with the idea of improving for the playoffs. That means figuring out the questions on the roster like who is the backup PG. The last couple of seasons he's been coaching like all they need to do is get to the playoffs and then everything will take care of itself.

[Man In Black]

Jack's got a bad hand and he's playing through it. Plus with limited bigs, he's forced to play minutes often against bigger player than him. He's all heart and fire and for that alone, he stays. When his hand is healed...he's going to be a friggen' animal.

[Rummpd]

B- a little harsh on Splitter that got 15 and 12 IMO or maybe his grading standards are rising? Quietly Tiago has become what many of us expected a very solid/top tier starting NBA big in his current role - his PER. 20.34 is higher than Howard, L. Aldridge of Portland, and both of the Gasol's as just one measure:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/statistics/_/league/west

[Drz]

Baynes was pretty much what was advertised
he looked like he had a good motor on the boards
but his D wasnt too good, he looked lost and was a bit slow on rotations but it was his first nba game so hell obviously get better
offensively he didnt do much of anything but get garbage putbacks and dunks
had a few bad plays that should also be corrected once he gets more playing time if he does
he should be able to contribute 5-10 mins at the least for the team as the backup C


Nice set of grades. i think you set a fairly low bar for the newby.

I agree with both of these. I'm assuming this was graded on a first-game curve, because it did seem more like a C+ game. He looked a bit lost at times, and had too many turnovers for a big, and quite frankly didn't play very well. But, given that it was his first set of NBA action and that we got to see some of the athleticism, there's plenty of reason for optimism.

[MR-Clutch]

Jax knows he's earning his paycheck in the playoffs.

[Rummpd]

B- a little harsh on Splitter that got 15 and 12 IMO or maybe his grading standards are rising? Quietly Tiago has become what many of us expected a very solid/top tier starting NBA big in his current role - his PER. 20.34 is higher than Howard, L. Aldridge of Portland, and both of the Gasol's as just one measure:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/statistics/_/league/west

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I don't see how DeCole gets a B. Turns the ball over couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and matador defense. He looked awful to me.

[SPIDER2311]

I don't see how DeCole gets a B. Turns the ball over couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and matador defense. He looked awful to me.
I thought he looked really out of his depth tonight. Don't get me started on Gary. Patty got 2 minutes, please explain. Patty is not the best player on the team , but he plays like it is last game every time he hits the floor. Maybe a few should follow his lead

[Slippy]

Neal actually passed up shots he should of taken including plays run for him. Not sure if his head was in the game, maybe injured or sulking about something.

Baynes with the goods.Hopefully becomes part of the rotation.

Sean was getting very excited.

[racm]

I don't see how DeCole gets a B. Turns the ball over couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and matador defense. He looked awful to me.

He wasn't passing up wide open shots or stopping the offensive flow.

[AFBlue]

I have to laugh at all the "Nando is terrible, where's Patty?" comments, because Patty was getting all the burn less than a month ago and also wetting the bed.

Both players have been given consistent opportunities to take the backup PG spot and neither has succeeded. I seriously think it's time for CoJo to get 5-10 games of good burn to see what he can do.

[AFBlue]

He wasn't passing up wide open shots or stopping the offensive flow.

He wasn't making wide open shots, and his careless handling of the ball sure stopped the offensive flow a few times.

I actually like Nando...think with another year he'll settle into his role with the team and acclimate to the league. But, he clearly doesn't have it figured out yet.

I'm not saying Neal is the answer, but Nando doesn't get a B just for not beibg Neal.

[Russo21]

There's way to much Man Love in here for Stephen Jackson. The man helped us to a championship 10 years ago. You gotta stop living in the passed. He's 34 years old averaging

6.8ppg
3.1rpg
1.5apg
36% FG
27% 3PTFG
PER 8.4
$10,059,750 3rd highest salary on the team. More then the great Tim Freakin Duncan.

His stats are shithouse. If he couldn't help us to the championship last year when we were just 2 games away from the finals what makes anyone think he can this year. I understand he shot well in the playoffs last year and thats what he's about but with his valuable trade chip and dwindling effectiveness i'd be very surprised if the F/O didnt try trade him at the deadline. I don't know how or who for but they'd be crazy to not explore their options in the next few weeks.

[Darkwaters]

Mills is the only backup pg this team has so that wouldn't be a smart thing for the Spurs to let happen. There's no way De crapo will come anywhere near a postseason roster so it's probably time for Pop to start switching gears a bit and giving Mills some much needed burn.

Cory Joseph? You know, he hasn't looked too bad.


Judging from the box score I would say the Reggie Evans comparison is right on the money.

I wouldn't ever judge a player based on a box score. And I don't think Reggie Evans is a fair comparison. Sure, it looks like he'll be a capable rebounder like Evans. But Reggie is pretty much a one trick pony with absolutely no other skills. I don't know just how complete Baynes' game will be, but I'd think he'll be much more than just a rebounding drone that does nothing else. He'll be able to contribute some in other areas based on his play in college/Olympics/Ljubljana.

[elemento]

Baynes is nothing like Reggie Evans. Evans just rebounds and does nothing else.

Try NOLA Jason Smith type of player. That's how a see Baynes.

[racm]

Evans sucks at everything related to actually putting the ball in the basket, tbh. Baynes rolled well to the rim and could hit FTs.

[TJastal]

The best record doesn't get you anything but regular season championships. Pop's got to coach with the idea of improving for the playoffs. That means figuring out the questions on the roster like who is the backup PG. The last couple of seasons he's been coaching like all they need to do is get to the playoffs and then everything will take care of itself.

+1000000

Seems like every year lately Pop can't or won't make up his mind on a set rotation until the week before the playoffs start. He has a problem with decisiveness apparently.

[Fabbs]

+1000000

Seems like every year lately Pop can't or won't make up his mind on a set rotation until the week before the playoffs start. He has a problem with decisiveness apparently.
You Hayters need to stop.
Gregor Pop just coached yet another regular season win without cornerstone Matt Bonner. Over the Bobcats.
Pop is great! Recognize!

[Darkwaters]

You Hayters need to stop.
Gregor Pop just coached yet another regular season win without cornerstone Matt Bonner. Over the Bobcats.
Pop is great! Recognize!

Heresy!

The cornerstone is, and always shall be, Keith Bogans!

[callo1]

On the contrary, I feel that his help D is quite good, but one-on-one D is lacking, or at least no flashes there -- he is not being tested enough considering Bobcats has no low-post threat.

Learning the defensive system and tired legs. I somewhat disagree about 1 on 1 defense...Baynes strength in the low post is evident... Not going to be easy to overpower him there at all.

[Phenomanul]

B- a little harsh on Splitter that got 15 and 12 IMO or maybe his grading standards are rising? Quietly Tiago has become what many of us expected a very solid/top tier starting NBA big in his current role - his PER. 20.34 is higher than Howard, L. Aldridge of Portland, and both of the Gasol's as just one measure:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/statistics/_/league/west

Throw David Lee into that mix as well...

Spurs stars are highly efficient players.... it's rather neat to have 4 Spurs in the top 28 in league PER.

[bklynspursfan]

To be honest, I don't buy the pinkie excuse. It's not that he simply missed because of being in a funk. His shooting form, moving and footwork are all looking bad. And unlike Manu in early season, it has been like this for Jack for the whole season.

The only thing he can provide is on the paper, which is we WISH we can throw him at Durant/LeBron in addition to Kawhi. But if he keeps playing like this, we might even be able to pass the Clippers.

That's probably due to the fact that his 2 fingers on his shooting hand are still taped together.... Jack has had some nice games, and even if he's not shooting well you can still count on him to fight for rebounds and be aggressive on the defensive end. It's probably not easy to change your mechanics on your jump shot and expect immediate results. He'll be fine...

[TDMVPDPOY]

no matter what baynes does and outshines whatever scrubs on the bench....

pop will usually not play rookies in the playoffs...even if he does beat out the scrubs up the rotations

[EVAY]

He wasn't making wide open shots, and his careless handling of the ball sure stopped the offensive flow a few times.

I actually like Nando...think with another year he'll settle into his role with the team and acclimate to the league. But, he clearly doesn't have it figured out yet.

I'm not saying Neal is the answer, but Nando doesn't get a B just for not beibg Neal.

This is where I come out on Nando as well. I think he has the best potential back-up pg of anyone else on the team, excluding Manu of course. But Pop rarely plays rookies many minutes (notable exception + Tony). Think about how long it took him to get comfortable enough with Tiago to put him into the regular rotation, much less starting him. Pop wants everyone on the floor to be fully versed in Spurs offensive and defensive set-ups. Therefore, people like Tiago and Nando will take longer to integrate than people who have played in our system (like Neal) or a similar system (like the Aussies).

I predict that Nando will be the back-up pg on a consistent basis by mid-season next season. He has the length, the athleticism, the bball IQ, the passing ability, etc. etc. etc.

[emanueldavidginobili]

The Spurs keep on rolling, they had what 20+ turnovers and still managed to blow them out, the Bobcats are awful. Tiago is playing so damn well this season and his confidence is sky high, I think the Olympics helped him out a bit. that's 11 straight games in double figures. I always keeping thinking to myself what if Manu could play heavy minutes and not get injured or gassed he could put up some pretty damn good numbers. Tony Parker is at the point where he can just score at will if he wants to it seems. I still think we need one more guy to win it all, because Green just cant do it when it matters or against good defensive teams. He is honestly not that good besides sitting there catching it and shooting it.

[TJastal]

You Hayters need to stop.
Gregor Pop just coached yet another regular season win without cornerstone Matt Bonner. Over the Bobcats.
Pop is great! Recognize!

I wonder if Pop was fretting watching Budenholzer effortlessly lead the spurs to win after win. All of course from his flu-ridden-all-tucked-into-bed-with-thermometer-hanging-out-of-his-mouth-"perspective".

[ChumpDumper]

lol effortlessly

[ace3g]

TP's eye from last night:

http://media.kens5.com/images/2013-01-30_Spurs_Bobcats+(10).JPG

[TheSkeptic]

Surprisingly one of his glaring mistakes in the game came when he gave up a wide open 3 point attempt. I was kind of surprised. Hope he's not in a mental slump of sort.

I wonder if maybe Pop's told him to tone it down or if maybe the misses are causing him to second guess himself?

I'm hoping it's not a mental slump but I love how the coaches have started using him. In a perfect world Green and Neal should be able to cover for each other whenever one hits a dry spell.


Throw David Lee into that mix as well...


Spurs stars are highly efficient players.... it's rather neat to have 4 Spurs in the top 28 in league PER.

I think Splitter bumps his PER up a little higher if he rebounds better. I wasn't thrilled with how he played in this game, but I do like how aggressive he was on offense. Asking for the ball, being more assertive, etc. He just missed a lot of easy ones in the 1st quarter and also didn't rebound. All in all, I think Timvp will be judging him more harshly from here on out.

It's a shame that Manu keeps running into setbacks though. I'm almost completely in favour of Manu being the first to sit out when Pop starts shutting people down ahead of the playoffs.

[cd021]

I think i blinked and missed Jack's "up" during the game tbh

That bad huh?

[Hoops Czar]

I have to laugh at all the "Nando is terrible, where's Patty?" comments, because Patty was getting all the burn less than a month ago and also wetting the bed.

Both players have been given consistent opportunities to take the backup PG spot and neither has succeeded. I seriously think it's time for CoJo to get 5-10 games of good burn to see what he can do.


Patty has a higher PER, averages more steals and turns the ball over half as much as De Colo. Mills is by no means a shiny penny, but he handles the pg position better than Nando and he takes care of the basketball. In the month of December, during the time he supposedely 'wet the bed', Mills had four turnovers. De Colo had three in last nights game alone.

In regards to CoJo, he's what you call a tweener..... too good for the D-league, not quite good enough to make it at the pro level. IMO, he could have benefited from another year or two in college before making the jump to the NBA. And now he's paying the price. He's way too green at this point to hand him solid rotational minutes and I suspect the coaching staff knows this. He's an insurance policy in case an injury occurs to a guard and Spurs need a filler for the short term. I don't think the Spurs see him as anything more.

[024]

baynes! he did everything you could realistically ask for. fight hard for rebounds, run the floor, try on defense, and play with energy.

[quentin_compson]

Physically, Baynes looked like a legit NBA big in this game, which is good news. Also, Parker has been pretty impressive carrying this team with Duncan not available and Manu in and out of the lineup.

[Bruno]

For the second game in a row, Neal was the backup PG to start the game and not at the end of the game. Against Phoenix, Bud went with Mills and against Charlotte, Pop went with De Colo.

It could be a sign that Spurs are going away of Neal as backup PG. While Mills and De Colo haven't been really good this season, they are still better options to be the backup PG than Neal. I like this move.

[Captivus]

I think we are all (almost) on the same page.
We like the team, they are winning...but we are concern that this team doenst have what it takes to win it all. I dont think anybody actually believes that the Spurs team is crap, at least not seriously.

Now, IMO, I fell that the Spurs should take advantage of that depth and try to get another player, a good player, a real backup.
Thats the only way I would trade, we dont need more 10-20 minutes players, we have those, and role players are not enough, especially considering the have to know the system before they can get more minutes.

I hope the Spurs can get a good player, I mean, the teams has many players that could be useful for other teams that dont play many minutes with the Spurs, and when the PO arrive, they are gonna play even less.

So..I would trade only for a good player...and for that the Spurs have to loose 2-3 players (those that will play 5-10 minutes in the PO)

[racm]

Bonner/Neal for Barea :elephant:

That said it's a bit funny to see a one-eyed Frenchman as the league's second best PG.

[KaiRMD1]

Technically, Baynes already debuted

[cd021]

TP's eye from last night:

http://media.kens5.com/images/2013-01-30_Spurs_Bobcats+(10).JPG

Shit, that can't be good.

[AFBlue]

Patty has a higher PER, averages more steals and turns the ball over half as much as De Colo. Mills is by no means a shiny penny, but he handles the pg position better than Nando and he takes care of the basketball. In the month of December, during the time he supposedely 'wet the bed', Mills had four turnovers. De Colo had three in last nights game alone.

In regards to CoJo, he's what you call a tweener..... too good for the D-league, not quite good enough to make it at the pro level. IMO, he could have benefited from another year or two in college before making the jump to the NBA. And now he's paying the price. He's way too green at this point to hand him solid rotational minutes and I suspect the coaching staff knows this. He's an insurance policy in case an injury occurs to a guard and Spurs need a filler for the short term. I don't think the Spurs see him as anything more.

Nando actually has a superior assist-to-turnover ratio because he does the thing that PGs are supposed to do...facilitate the offense and find the open player. Mills isn't a score-first PG, he's an undersized SG.

As for your assessment of Joseph, you're basing it off what? He's been given no consistent opportunity to prove whether he belongs.

[T Park]

Jackson having by far the worst stats on the team
cant hit a shot and cant guard perimeter players
having his worst percentages in pretty much every category in his entire career
with the addition of baynes we dont need a smallball 4 when Kawhi is a far superior option who Jack also takes minutes away from Leonard
has the lowest last 10 averages in timvps player grades

but but but hell hit some shots in the playoffs maybe

Who gets his minutes then, who do you replace him with?

Damn graynames....

[freetiago]

Jackson gets pushed to the 10-15 minutes at most and the young workhouse named Kawhi Leonard gets his minutes
like popovich said in the wcf you have to play your best players tbh
and Jackson is a TOSB

[Brunodf]

Jackson gets pushed to the 10-15 minutes at most and the young workhouse named Kawhi Leonard gets his minutes
like popovich said in the wcf you have to play your best players tbh
and Jackson is a TOSB

Kawhi should get some minutes at SG too tbh... He is young, should be playing 35 minutes/game.

[cherylsteele]

never seen a player get more excuses then the TOSB Jackson

Baynes was pretty much what was advertised
he looked like he had a good motor on the boards
but his D wasnt too good, he looked lost and was a bit slow on rotations but it was his first nba game so hell obviously get better
offensively he didnt do much of anything but get garbage putbacks and dunks
had a few bad plays that should also be corrected once he gets more playing time if he does
he should be able to contribute 5-10 mins at the least for the team as the backup C
I guess you haven't heard about Bonner then?

[therealtruth]

Kawhi should get some minutes at SG too tbh... He is young, should be playing 35 minutes/game.

I agree our best players need to be able to handle 30+ minutes in the playoffs if necessary.

[Manufan909]

Does anyone else think that Splitter only played C/C- ball this game? 4 boards over half an hour is pretty fucking horrendous, and 50% FG is bad by Splitter's standards.

Also, I went to the game and was probably even more pumped up by those watching at home by Baynes' physicality. To paraphrase a post from the game thread, Baynes is like Splitter, minus the softness around the paint. He was grabbing some man rebounds out there, it was great to see. I need to watch the Toros game asap, since apparently those are online, and Baynes just went 30/10/2.