Game Thread: Spurs vs. Suns - Feb. 27 @ 7:30 PM CST

[blkroadrunners]

This offense has been shit

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

This is the kind of situation we should be looking for Green to get his pressure-reps up.

[rasho8]

Jesus christ

[ElNono]

that was a terrible possesion.. what's TP doing?

[Arcadian]

Why is Manu on the floor? He is clearly hurting this team. Bench his ass.

[Quiet Strength]

Fuck

[Budkin]

Game

[jestersmash]

that was a terrible possesion.. what's TP doing?

(Rightfully) not passing to Manu, who's guaranteed to throw up an airball.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Maybe Manu is high? :lmao

[Budkin]

Spurs deserve this loss

[timvp]

Wow, fwiw.

[Texas_Ranger]

go Suns, win this bullshit game

[ElNono]

Manu trying to make lemonade out of a TP fuckup... smh... get a real PG out there...

[Richie]

Bad foul

[Chinook]

I don't know why Pop took Green out. I know plus/minus doesn't tell the whole story, but I think it kinda does for this game.

[Trainwreck2100]

Please don't blame Manu for that shit that was on Parker

[BatManu20]

This thread's about to go into meltdown mode in a sec if/when we lose this game

[Bill_Brasky]

What's going on with the offense?

Very un-C.

[ElNono]

(Rightfully) not passing to Manu, who's guaranteed to throw up an airball.

But he did pass to him... a terrible pass with the clock almost all gone

[rasho8]

Manu trying to make lemonade out of a TP fuckup... smh... get a real PG out there...

Worse take ever

[emanueldavidginobili]

The offense has been so bad today because people are holding on to the ball! the ball movement has sucked!!!

[Darius McCrary]

Spurs motion euro offense shut down in its tracks, tbh, very reminiscent of WCF.

[jestersmash]

Please don't blame Manu for that shit that was on Parker

How about I blame both?

[RD2191]

ERRBODY CALM DOWN

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Is this our worst loss of the year? Def in top 3.

I called it in the first half - you can't muck around in the NBA or it comes back to bite you.

[LakerHater]

Luckily Spurs are playin the Suns, any other team woulda kicked thier ass tonight!!

[NickiRasgo]

A minute left in overtime and no one has made a basket except a freethrow. :lol

Jinx.

[Floyd Pacquiao]

what happend to the motion offense tbh?

[NASpurs]

Can't remember the last game in which every Spur who played in the game had a turnover.

[RD2191]

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, BLAME BLAIR/BONNER

[ElNono]

ok we need a stop

[jestersmash]

ERRBODY CALM DOWN

no u

[Quiet Strength]

lol of course

[spursparker9]

more cam on dancers please

[loveforthegame]

Spurs deserve to lose. Pathetic showing.

[timtonymanu]

Meh. Whatever. Suns played out of their minds. And the Spurs played terribly. The Suns deserve this one.

[BatManu20]

Lol can't get a rebound of course. We deserve to lose this one

[ElNono]

we came out lazy and sloppy from the get go... you can't half ass games...

[emanueldavidginobili]

IS THIS REAL LIFE?

[ace3g]

This is when they have to run some different options, like a Kawhi post up.

[Budkin]

:LMFAO Spurs

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

You can't come in with 70% effort, screw around, and expect to win every game against poor teams at the end because you're better than they are. We've gotten used to doing this against poor teams and it's a really bad habit.

[timvp]

*slow head shake*

[Texas_Ranger]

O'Neal and Wesley Johnson owning the Spurs... amazing

[jestersmash]

I say Danny deserves the last shot.

[rasho8]

Queue the Manu air ball play

[Capt Bringdown]

O'Neal dominated the Spurs, I don't know any other way to put it.

[Bill_Brasky]

Pop better get in their ass for this shit. Just an idiotic game. It's one thing if we're down the whole game but blowing a lead like that to a team that shitty isn't something a contender does.

[NASpurs]

Manu is going to take the three and clank it.

Take a steaming pile shit on Spurstalk Manu.

[SpursNextRomanEmpire]

Danny shoots it tbh

[Darius McCrary]

ROFLMAO
Spurs deserve to lose this game. I was sick of hearing all that crap about how easy it would be for us to just win every home game too.

[Johnny RIngo]

Parker struggling with a bigger defender on him per par. That's going to be a real issue come playoff time

It's why point guard led teams never win championships. They're the easiest player on the court to shut down in the post-season - just put a bigger defender on them. We saw this happen with the Derrick Rose Bulls in 2011 when they were exposed by the Heat.

[capek]

Need a big shot here!

[MI21]

A couple of old haunts coming to bite the Spurs in the ass in this one...

1. Taller defender bothering Tony
2. Ball movement dying in the clutch
3. Offensive rebounds in final 5 minutes of games..

[jestersmash]

Queue the Manu air ball play

+1

[ColinB]

Old men not passing the ball to Kawhi.

[ElNono]

Turnobili

[Strategic]

damn, are we gonna have to see the rocket?

[Darius McCrary]

A couple of old haunts coming to bite the Spurs in the ass in this one...

1. Taller defender bothering Tony
2. Ball movement dying in the clutch
3. Offensive rebounds in final 5 minutes of games..

You forget FT's

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

This a wake-up call - it's SPAM time and you men better get serious.

[jestersmash]

Good try Danny.

[DPG21920]

Goes to show you all that "easy schedule" and "spurs record at home" and "what a great RRT to come together" talk can go out the window when you aren't focused. Just a really, really bad loss.

Is it really that easy to take TP out of a game by putting a big defender on him? That is scary as hell.

[024]

why take leonard out? should be tiago that's out

[spursparker9]

oneal fluke game and acting like he is an all star

[BatManu20]

Green got a good look.

[ElNono]

Danny's brick... playoff mode

[timtonymanu]

Good game, PHX.

Time for another stupid moral victory.

[rasho8]

Game. Good job fucking up a double digit lead Spurs. Oh well.

[loveforthegame]

Open shot and missed. Bummer.

[LakerHater]

damn!
....MAtt Bonner woulda made that!

[Arcadian]

One point in 5 minutes.

Really?

[RD2191]

on to the next one

[Southwest Texas Fan]

Miss again.

[Darius McCrary]

Goes to show you all that "easy schedule" and "spurs record at home" and "what a great RRT to come together" talk can go out the window when you aren't focused. Just a really, really bad loss.

Is it really that easy to take TP out of a game by putting a big defender on him? That is scary as hell.

This is a myth when Tony is 100%
But we've all known when he's not 100% this works. Worked for years.

[rasho8]

Pop attempting a 4 point play.

[Captivus]

Pump fake would have worked

[ElNono]

Goes to show you all that "easy schedule" and "spurs record at home" and "what a great RRT to come together" talk can go out the window when you aren't focused. Just a really, really bad loss.

Is it really that easy to take TP out of a game by putting a big defender on him? That is scary as hell.

might be scary, but it's not surprising, tbh...

[loveforthegame]

Move on and learn something hopefully.

[dbreiden83080]

OKC now within 1 in the loss column. Bad loss for what should have been easy..

[Budkin]

Good loss for the Spurs. They deserve it.

[rasho8]

This is a myth when Tony is 100%
But we've all known when he's not 100% this works. Worked for years.

Sefalosha ring any bells?

[siraulo23]

Bad loss oh well

its good to have a close game I guess

[BatManu20]

One point in 5 minutes.

Really?

Wesley guarding Tony completely threw off our entire offensive flow. Not one else stepped up. And that's all we're going to see come playoffs so get used to it.

[NASpurs]

:lmao didn't even fucking make a shot in overtime

[DatBoyGood]

No comment.

[weeks]

Pop attempting a 4 point play.
:lol

man i hate losing. ugh. and you know manu is beating himself up in his head for missing that second free throw to basically lose us the game

[EVAY]

Goes to show you all that "easy schedule" and "spurs record at home" and "what a great RRT to come together" talk can go out the window when you aren't focused. Just a really, really bad loss.

Is it really that easy to take TP out of a game by putting a big defender on him? That is scary as hell.

It has always been thus. We have to figure out a way to help him when we face that sort of thing.

[Southwest Texas Fan]

On to the next game.

[HI-FI]

lmao

fucking Parker, already in playoff mode. Ginobili with the "still trying to get my rhythm back, no worries" per par.

[Sean Cagney]

This stupid ass team, make your damn f in free throws this game is over... They blew this one and it was an easy damn game at home.

[capek]

well that was a shit game bleh

[Darius Bieber]

Everyone deserves an F tbh.

[Brunodf]

Great play Pop, thanks for the microball

[Dex]

1 point in overtime? Really?

[Capt Bringdown]

Spurs didn't lose this game. The Suns beat them. Good coaching by Hunter, obviously he saw something he liked with O'Neal tonight.

[Captivus]

:depressed

[RD2191]

spurs=not clutch lol

[Richie]

Spurs Talk melting down per par.

If Ginobili makes that free throw everyone goes home happy and nobody complains about 'big guys# on Parker.

[KaiRMD1]

Missed defensive job, live and learn, next game. Oh by the way, F all across the board.

[Budkin]

But they were TIRED!!!

[DPG21920]

A couple of old haunts coming to bite the Spurs in the ass in this one...

1. Taller defender bothering Tony
2. Ball movement dying in the clutch
3. Offensive rebounds in final 5 minutes of games..

Don't care about anything else except number 1. This is becoming quite worrisome. TP is playing great, but it seems like all you have to do is put anyone with size on him and his dominance is negated. That obviously is an issue when your best player can be so easily game planned against - we saw that against OKC.

In the playoffs, when it comes down to tight games, guys like KD/LEB can't be so easily stopped so that is why you see them moving on. Sean is talking about that during the games numerous times now so he even acknowledges what coaches are doing and why can't TP overcome this so far? Big time question this year.

[emanueldavidginobili]

Ball movement was terrible!! It was hard to watch, execution was terrible everything was terrible 44 year old O'neal beasted tonight, just a awful loss especially when you are trying to get HC

[timvp]

Got damn it ...................

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Detroit beat us fair and square - they were the better team.

Tonight, the Spurs beat themselves by screwing around in the 1st half, missing FTs, being unable to defend O'Neal, and forgetting to move the ball for the final 17 minutes of the game. Awful performance. Good wake up call - a reminder that it gets tougher from here on in.

[emanueldavidginobili]

All Manu had to do was make a free throw though and we would have won :(

[SpurPadre]

Two pathetic losses in a week sprinkled in with a bad performance against the Kings and uneven outing against the Suns on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Thunder gain ground once again.

[Texas_Ranger]

Suns played an overtime yesterday and to come here and win is pretty pathetic for the Spurs. It should be a 30 point win tbh.

[ElNono]

Spurs lost this with the sloppy, careless play... Oneal only started beasting in the 3rd/4th.... burn the tape and move on

[jag]

Both teams played hard.

[BatManu20]

FT's, FT's, FT's... Even sloppy games like this where we didn't play well we could have easily won the game had we just hit our damn FT's. We missed way too many, and all when they mattered most tonight. Spurs deserve this loss.

[Darius Bieber]

Got to hand it to the Suns though. They played an Overtime game last night. Fly in from Phoenix across two time zones and win another overtime game against the best record in the NBA.

[Sean Cagney]

oneal fluke game and acting like he is an all star

Another Random bum playing like he is in his prime against us, seems to happen alot. Fluke games against the Spurs, go figure. Man this loss here makes me pissed off beyond belief.

[timtonymanu]

I have no words. Just a terrible loss.

[EVAY]

Come on, folks. This game loss is no one player's fault. It was a genuine team effort. Parker didn't play well down the stretch. Manu didn't play well down the stretch, and Tim got his head handed to him by Jermaine O'Neal.

It was a loss. Get over it.

[Capt Bringdown]

But they were TIRED!!!

LOL. The Spurs win the tired trophy again.

[Bill_Brasky]

Ball movement dies as soon as we get D'd up properly, quite worrisome.

Still no backup plan for when a long quick defender inevitably neutralizes Tony.

Tim still looking rusty.

[Chinook]

Good loss for the Spurs. They deserve it.

I pretty much agree with you. They lost because they got too complacent. The Big Three took way too many shots down the stretch, and none of them really beat their match-up.

O'Neal did just make some lucky shots, though.

[Arcadian]

This was just an anomaly of a game - a once in a lifetime occurrence. Something like this will never happen again. The Spurs scored 1 point in overtime. One fucking point. And they allowed the Suns to force overtime by missing a free throw, at which time they hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

Never again.

[playbonner15]

damn!
....MAtt Bonner woulda made that!
Yes he woulda tbh:wakeup

[Darius McCrary]

Don't care about anything else except number 1. This is becoming quite worrisome. TP is playing great, but it seems like all you have to do is put anyone with size on him and his dominance is negated. That obviously is an issue when your best player can be so easily game planned against - we saw that against OKC.

In the playoffs, when it comes down to tight games, guys like KD/LEB can't be so easily stopped so that is why you see them moving on. Sean is talking about that during the games numerous times now so he even acknowledges what coaches are doing and why can't TP overcome this so far? Big time question this year.

The issue of number 1 has existed since 2003 when the Suns had Marbury, and later that year when Dallas put Raja Bell on him. There is no new news here. When Parker is 100% effort and healthy, and the team is not laying a giant pile of shit, this strategy simply does not work. But if Parker is less than 100%, or the team is laying a giant egg, or both, then yes this works. We seriously have over 10 years of data on this, where is the surprise coming from.....

[birdy219]

We deserved this loss, but it still sucks. :bang

[EVAY]

They didn't look tired. They just looked like they didn't take the Suns seriously.

[twincam]

How in the hell does Manu keep on missing free throws. Especially to put the game away when the opportunity is there?
Then he misses three straight three pointers.
The entire team scores only 1 freaking point against the one of the worst teams in the league, at home!
How does this crap happen?
FREE THROWS FREE THROWS FREE THROWS

[SpurPadre]

It's looking now like the Paper Clips game was more about them not showing up and being rusty after the All-Star break than what we did, tbh.

[Darius McCrary]

FT's, FT's, FT's... Even sloppy games like this where we didn't play well we could have easily won the game had we just hit our damn FT's. We missed way too many, and all when they mattered most tonight. Spurs deserve this loss.

Exactly. Same with GSW game.

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

the Suns? :lmao

:lol Spurs
:lol flashback of the WCF
:lol Manu
:lol Tony
:lol OKC gonna tap det ass

[TampaDude]

Wait a fucking minute...how could the Spurs lose this game? They were at home on 3 days rest and the Suns were on the second game of a back to back, on the road. This should have been a blowout win for the Spurs. What happened? Did someone get hurt? What the fuck?

[jag]

It was a good game. Both teams played hard.

[Budkin]

Spurs looked like the Magic out there in the 4th and overtime. Right up there for worst loss of the season.

[rasho8]

This was just an anomaly of a game - a once in a lifetime occurrence. Something like this will never happen again. The Spurs scored 1 point in overtime. One fucking point. And they allowed the Suns to force overtime by missing a free throw, at which time they hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

Never again.

Something like that happened in each loss in the playoffs last year. Some bizarre never before seen shit. It can happen 4 times in a row easy.

[Buddy Holly]

Got to hand it to the Suns though. They played an Overtime game last night. Fly in from Phoenix across two time zones and win another overtime game against the best record in the NBA.

One time zone.

[RD2191]

Something like that happened in each loss in the playoffs last year. Some bizarre never before seen shit. It can happen 4 times in a row easy.

[Darius McCrary]

Overriding take home message: Spurs regular season coasting is largely due to our awesome FT shooting this year. That goes away? Winnable games become losable games. All the other issues of tonight are non-issues if we hit those FT's at our normal rate. Period.

[Johnny RIngo]

It has always been thus. We have to figure out a way to help him when we face that sort of thing.

Duncan's turned back the clock this season to help out. Unfortunately, Ginobili keeps getting worse and worse ever year.

[DejuanorwhatDude]

Thats definitely the worst loss of the season. The Suns showed up and the Spurs did not.

[DPG21920]

The issue of number 1 has existed since 2003 when the Suns had Marbury, and later that year when Dallas put Raja Bell on him. There is no new news here. When Parker is 100% effort and healthy, and the team is not laying a giant pile of shit, this strategy simply does not work. But if Parker is less than 100%, or the team is laying a giant egg, or both, then yes this works. We seriously have over 10 years of data on this, where is the surprise coming from.....

That is simply not true. I am not saying I am surprised. I even said it's not a new strategy. The difference is people calling TP "dominant" or "MVP" and my concern is no truly dominant player can be stopped by such a simple strategy so easily. It's very alarming considering the Spurs now rely heavily on TP and he can be quite easily game planned against. It's not on the team entirely, if you are an MVP candidate and dominant, you overcome a simple game plan and get yours anyways.

[SanAntonioSpurs23]

I hate losing to the Suns. Work is going to suck tomorrow

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

They didn't look tired. They just looked like they didn't take the Suns seriously.

That's what I saw too. Even Pop was screwing around with weird bench lineups in the 1st half.

We mucked around and it bit us on the arse.

Next game please (I predict we smash the Kings on Friday).

[TampaDude]

Have the Spurs ever won both games of a home-and-home?

[DejuanorwhatDude]

Duncan's turned back the clock this season to help out. Unfortunately, Ginobili keeps getting worse and worse ever year.

Ginobili is a rotting corpse.

[TDfan2007]

This loss is completely on our "big" 3. The ball stuck with them and they let the defensive pressure get to them.

Tony turned into a brick machine in OT and stopped trusting his treammates

Manu was garbage on offense all night

Timmy couldn't do anything other than hit jumpers, but he missed some critical open ones in OT and got his ass handed to him by Jermaine O'Neal of all people.

[RD2191]

WHO THE FUCK CARES? WE'VE HAD THE BEST RECORD 2 YEARS IN A ROW AND WE DIDNT WIN THE TITLE. PLAYOFFS ARE THE ONLY THING THAT MATTER AT THIS POINT

[Floyd Pacquiao]

17 turnovers tbh

[SpurPadre]

Thats definitely the worst loss of the season. The Suns showed up and the Spurs did not.

We almost lost to them last month, too.

[weeks]

It's looking now like the Paper Clips game was more about them not showing up and being rusty after the All-Star break than what we did, tbh.
I'm not ready to discount the possibility that our guys just played with more fire in a big game like that.

i feel like we spend too much time playing down to our opponents and getting lazily sloppy and letting our record try to intimidate teams so we dont' have to work as hard.

[Robz4000]

This was one fucking painful loss. The Knicks game was bad, but they were hot and it was early in the season. The Suns had an OT game last night and thoroughly outplayed the Spurs at home. Not only that, the bigger defender on Tony deal reared it's ugly head again.

[Darius Bieber]

One time zone.
Ah right, Arizona still in Mountain Time Zone. Thanks.

[Capt Bringdown]

Ball movement dies as soon as we get D'd up properly, quite worrisome.


Key point of the night. Suns had a plan and the Spurs couldn't adjust. And hasn't this been the Spurs playoff bugbear the past few years? We don't adjust. A regular season wonder-team who can't take a punch. Pop's glass jaw.

[timtonymanu]

Ball movement dies as soon as we get D'd up properly, quite worrisome.

Still no backup plan for when a long quick defender inevitably neutralizes Tony.

Tim still looking rusty.

Exactly what I'm taking from this game. It's how OKC beat us last year and it can happen again. Same thing if we face Miami.

And that's why I think Kawhi is the legitimate choice , since Green and Neal are strictly 3 point shooters, to put in our game plan. Also since Timmy and Manu can't be relied on every night anymore to help out Tony.

[DejuanorwhatDude]

Key point of the night. Suns had a plan and the Spurs couldn't adjust. And hasn't this been the Spurs playoff bugbear the past few years? We don't adjust. A regular season wonder-team who can't take a punch. Pop's glass jaw.

Yep. And when games get tight someone needs to take over and it looks like Pop is gonna ride TP. Not looking promising.

[Darius McCrary]

That is simply not true. I am not saying I am surprised. I even said it's not a new strategy. The difference is people calling TP "dominant" or "MVP" and my concern is no truly dominant player can be stopped by such a simple strategy so easily. It's very alarming considering the Spurs now rely heavily on TP and he can be quite easily game planned against. It's not on the team entirely, if you are an MVP candidate and dominant, you overcome a simple game plan and get yours anyways.

No realistic fan has ever considered TP in that stratosphere. And we all know why, history shows us why. He's having the greatest season of his career, but that's far from meaning he's like some top top tier player in the NBA. He can be slowed down, we've seen it many times in the past, we saw it last year. I'll even say he deserves MVP consideration but I wouldn't be giving a legit take if I said he should win MVP. Tonight was just a reminder of what has happened time and time again.
Timvp himself has said Parker is not the level to carry us to a title.

But all of this is besides the point--if we hit our FT's at our season normal rate, we win in reg.
All the other issues are after this one, IMO.

[Sean Cagney]

Thats definitely the worst loss of the season. The Suns showed up and the Spurs did not.

I am pissed now, seriously you don't lose games like this with a lead going into the 4th but they did.

[TDfan2007]

Key point of the night. Suns had a plan and the Spurs couldn't adjust. And hasn't this been the Spurs playoff bugbear the past few years? We don't adjust. A regular season wonder-team who can't take a punch. Pop's glass jaw.

Agreed. Part of the problem is that the Spurs don't have any iso scorers. As soon as an offensive set fails, the team has nobody to create for himself/others. Manu and Tony are completely reliant on picks, and Timmy is back to being impotent offensively. Spurs have to hope that Manu reanimates and that Timmy regains his early season form, otherwise this season's already over.

[Dingle Barry]

I don't usually get worked up about regular season games. But that was a disturbing loss.

[TampaDude]

Spurs will lose the next two games as well. Watch.

[timtonymanu]

I don't care about the loss.

What I'm disturbed with is the Suns did the same thing the Warriors did to us last week. Put a big defender on Tony and the whole team suffers. Same thing that knocked us out of the WCF last year. Spurs need to figure out that strategy.

[Darius McCrary]

At least I don't have to hear any more total BS about how it's supposed to be a cakewalk for the Spurs just because they don't have to go on the road anymore.

[Johnny RIngo]

Key point of the night. Suns had a plan and the Spurs couldn't adjust. And hasn't this been the Spurs playoff bugbear the past few years? We don't adjust. A regular season wonder-team who can't take a punch. Pop's glass jaw.

It has less to do with adjustments and more to do with the fact that we don't have a star that can take over games like prime Timmy or '05 Ginobili. Parker's great, best PG in the league, but guys in his position don't lead teams to championships. Steve Nash couldn't do it, Chris Paul couldn't do it. Derrick Rose couldn't do it. Hell, none of them even sniffed a Finals appearance.

[RD2191]

At least I don't have to hear any more total BS about how it's supposed to be a cakewalk for the Spurs just because they don't have to go on the road anymore.
if we havent firgured it out by now after last years WCF, we aint gonna figure it out in 2 months

[SpurPadre]

At least I don't have to hear any more total BS about how it's supposed to be a cakewalk for the Spurs just because they don't have to go on the road anymore.

You rather hear about how we might choke away a seemingly big advantage of the schedule? How does that make sense?

[Darius McCrary]

You rather hear about how we might choke away a seemingly big advantage of the schedule? How does that make sense?

Nope, would rather the rest of the season be talked about as if it's the rest of the season. Not as if it's some easy given cake walk we don't have to worry about.

[SpurPadre]

I don't care about the loss.

What I'm disturbed with is the Suns did the same thing the Warriors did to us last week. Put a big defender on Tony and the whole team suffers. Same thing that knocked us out of the WCF last year. Spurs need to figure out that strategy.

They've had since last June to try to figure that out and that it's still a concern is very disturbing.

[RD2191]

if we havent firgured it out by now after last years WCF, we aint gonna figure it out in 2 months

[Robz4000]

In related news, the Heat now control their own destiny for HCA.

[Ice009]

Wow, just watched the game. I was behind you guys, but I am shocked that we lost it.

What a pathetic performance. All the hard work we did on the road, completely threw it away the first game back home.

TP, again was mediocre and Patrick Mills was poor again with yet another chance to break into the rotation. No way Patrick deserves a rotation spot. He can't ever seem to man up when it matters.

Unfortunately for all you Neal haters, Gary Neal's shooting is much more valuable to me over Patrick bricking everything during the meat of the game. Mills seems like a very streaky shooter who only seems to hit in Bonner type situations.

[TampaDude]

In related news, the Heat now control their own destiny for HCA.

If the Heat finish with the best record in the NBA, they WILL repeat as champions. Nothing will be able to stop that.

[SpurPadre]

Nope, would rather the rest of the season be talked about as if it's the rest of the season. Not as if it's some easy given cake walk we don't have to worry about.

Fair enough but now the Thunder smell blood and have a great shot at the 1 seed. I know we lost as the 1 seed last year but let's not kid ourselves, if want to have a real shot at winning it all, we NEED to hold onto to the 1 seed. I don't really care if the Heat get the 1 overall record because of Stern's stupid policy of rewarding teams with 3 straight home games in the Finals but the 1 seed in the West is of the utmost importance to this team.

[Johnny RIngo]

That is simply not true. I am not saying I am surprised. I even said it's not a new strategy. The difference is people calling TP "dominant" or "MVP" and my concern is no truly dominant player can be stopped by such a simple strategy so easily. It's very alarming considering the Spurs now rely heavily on TP and he can be quite easily game planned against. It's not on the team entirely, if you are an MVP candidate and dominant, you overcome a simple game plan and get yours anyways.

It's not really Parker's fault though. His play the past two years is about as good as you can get for a point guard in the NBA. It's more the nature of the game that allows point guards to be the easiest ones to neutralize.

[Budkin]

Would have loved to be a fly on the wall in the locker room after the game. I bet Pop just blistered the shit out of them.

[SpurPadre]

If the Heat finish with the best record in the NBA, they WILL repeat as champions. Nothing will be able to stop that.

Not necessarily. Stern still has that nonsensical policy of rewarding teams with lesser records with 3 straight home games and if we somehow reached the Finals against them, I wouldn't be mad at the prospect of playing 3 straight games in San Antonio. All we have to do is steal 1 game in Miami after almost beating them with our C team there. But first things first, the Thunder and Grizzlies fucking scare the shit out of me.

[Sean Cagney]

Agreed. Part of the problem is that the Spurs don't have any iso scorers. As soon as an offensive set fails, the team has nobody to create for himself/others. Manu and Tony are completely reliant on picks, and Timmy is back to being impotent offensively. Spurs have to hope that Manu reanimates and that Timmy regains his early season form, otherwise this season's already over.I agree, the way they looked against GS in OT and this crap tonight when D'ed up is pathetic, they are going nowhere if this continues. I don't care what their record is either, throw that out of the window really fast if they continue this crap.

[Ice009]

TP will not overcome the length issue until he gets a three point shot.

Chip has completely overlooked this area and it's bordering on negligence. He's had years to develop some kind of semi-decent three point shot with Tony, and doesn't seem to have done it.

When teams put length on TP, he needs to be able to launch from three point range. Trying to get inside, or trying to take a midrange shot with a congested key and long defender on him is not a good shot.

[SpurPadre]

Sigh...where is '02-'03 Speedy Claxton to bail out TP when you need him?

[eDizzle20]

Manu was jacking up 3's non-stop out of the offensive rhythm. Kawhi barely touched the ball in the 4th and ot. They deserved to lose this game. They should have put it away in the 3rd.

[Sean Cagney]

Manu was jacking up 3's non-stop out of the offensive rhythm. Kawhi barely touched the ball in the 4th and ot. They deserved to lose this game. They should have put it away in the 3rd.

I hate this new Manu who misses FT's and jacks up threes and can't drive anymore :(. I miss the Manu who was clutch as hell and made all those FT's and could drive in there and get fouled.

[Budkin]

Wait a fucking minute...how could the Spurs lose this game? They were at home on 3 days rest and the Suns were on the second game of a back to back, on the road. This should have been a blowout win for the Spurs. What happened? Did someone get hurt? What the fuck?

Well Jack did... is that a good enough reason? :lol

[TampaDude]

I hate this new Manu who misses FT's and jacks up threes and can't drive anymore :(. I miss the Manu who was clutch as hell and made all those FT's and could drive in there and get fouled.

2007 Manu = Champion

2013 Manu = TOSB

[TampaDude]

Well Jack did... is that a good enough reason? :lol

Looks like the Spurs left their testicles in the locker room.

[SpurPadre]

I hate this new Manu who misses FT's and jacks up threes and can't drive anymore :(. I miss the Manu who was clutch as hell and made all those FT's and could drive in there and get fouled.

Yeah but I'd rather have him taking shots of any kind than fucking ball-hogging chucker Neal, who loves taking the ball out of Manu's hands whenever they're on the court together. I know Neal didn't play tonight but the point remains.

[Budkin]

If the Heat finish with the best record in the NBA, they WILL repeat as champions. Nothing will be able to stop that.

Honestly I don't think anyone has a chance against them anyway. It would be a miracle if the Spurs beat them in 7 games.

[Ice009]

Manu was jacking up 3's non-stop out of the offensive rhythm. Kawhi barely touched the ball in the 4th and ot. They deserved to lose this game. They should have put it away in the 3rd.

If Tim and Manu don't get their shit together, then maybe it is time to move Kawhi up. Lately, Kawhi has been more reliable getting something done for himself than either of those two.

Manu and Tim have been garbage at creating their own offense.

Manu jacking up all those shots tonight was horrible too. He cost us the game with all those stupid shots. Anyone on the team could have jacked up those shots, Manu wasn't shooting anywhere near good enough to be throwing up shots out of rhythm and not in the flow of the offense.

[silverblackfan]

Well that was disappointing. Manu looked gassed.

[crc21209]

I don't care about the loss.

What I'm disturbed with is the Suns did the same thing the Warriors did to us last week. Put a big defender on Tony and the whole team suffers. Same thing that knocked us out of the WCF last year. Spurs need to figure out that strategy.

Can't the bigs just set more screens for him to undo the bigger, longer defender on TP? Or is it not that easy?

[Ice009]

I hope every team puts a bigger defender on TP. It would be good practice.

[crc21209]

The Spurs just never looked like they had "IT" tonight. The shot clock continued to get down in the 8-2 second range on every shot attempt they had. The ball was sticking in TP's hands mostly, and nobody ever looked like they were in sync...

[Sean Cagney]

Well that was disappointing. Manu looked gassed.

He looks horrible this year, understatement at times. I think he is just about done.

[Budkin]

Well that was disappointing. Manu looked gassed.

He's just old. Once game goes to OT good luck. All he had to do was hit that FT.

[Sean Cagney]

I hope every team puts a bigger defender on TP. It would be good practice.

LOL true but what if he starts sucking every game with that though Ice :(.

[TampaDude]

He's just old. Once game goes to OT good luck. All he had to do was hit that FT.

All the Spurs had to do was hit a few more earlier, and they wouldn't have even been in that situation.

[Budkin]

All the Spurs had to do was hit a few more earlier, and they wouldn't have even been in that situation.

True. Just one of those games... at least it's a regular season game.

[Johnny RIngo]

Oh yeah, SA's stat guy seems to have jobbed Duncan...like always. Definitely saw two blocks from Tim tonight but scoreboard says one. What a douche.

[SpurPadre]

Well that was disappointing. Manu looked gassed.

I'm as big a Manu fan as anybody but there have been many times this season when he's looked like that washed-up 40 something year old ex-champ boxer you used to love when he was in his prime but cringe when he's still on the ring taking a beating because he won't retire. I still say he has some gas left in the tank and have faith in him to come up big in the playoffs but retirement is just around the corner for him and sooner than for TD. I was encouraged by his outing against the Warriors but he looked flat-out awful tonight. If he can't channel the Manu of old, we have ZERO chance of winning the title this season as opposed to the 50% shot of winning with teams sticking big players on TP.

[Ice009]

LOL true but what if he starts sucking every game with that though Ice :(.

TP has to be better than that. When the Spurs used to put Bowen on Nash and Paul, I don't recall them doing it for the whole game. Those two guys would have been able to adjust, and Bruce is better than any defender TP has faced this season. If TP sucks every game this is done, then he is not as good as we thought he was. I'd rather find out now than in the playoffs. Hopefully the Heat put Lebron on him.

I want to see more of it. This is the first season that I was really happy with TP's game until this long defender shit has got him messed up again. It's really freaking annoying, because every time TP is almost there, this shit seems to happen.

Pack the paint, leave him open, or put a long defender on him. He needs to get this shit sorted out. I really do think that he needs to add some kind of three point shot to his arsenal. Lebron is already getting better at shooting from distance, and TP has had one of the best shooting coaches on the planet working with him and he still doesn't have any kind of decent three point shot (apart from the corner 3).

[callo1]

Manu was horrible tonight....air balls, missed more free throws, and overall, just looked out of sorts.

Now people here may know why I was talking about how I wanted the Spurs to get O'Neal...you know who you are. Eat crow.

[Sean Cagney]

TP has to be better than that. When the Spurs used to put Bowen on Nash and Paul, I don't recall them doing it for the whole game. Those two guys would have been able to adjust, and Bruce is better than any defender TP has faced this season. If TP sucks every game this is done, then he is not as good as we thought he was. I'd rather find out now than in the playoffs. Hopefully the Heat put Lebron on him.

I want to see more of it. This is the first season that I was really happy with TP's game until this long defender shit has got him messed up again. It's really freaking annoying, because every time TP is almost there, this shit seems to happen.

Pack the paint, leave him open, or put a long defender on him. He needs to get this shit sorted out. I really do think that he needs to add some kind of three point shot to his arsenal. Lebron is already getting better at shooting from distance, and TP has had one of the best shooting coaches on the planet working with him and he still doesn't have any kind of decent three point shot (apart from the corner 3).

I agree and if this is our superstar we go as far as he takes us, but nowhere it will be if he continues this crap when they adjust and throw a wrench at his game! If he is not that good then he really is not that good, hope we are wrong and he adjusts. This reminds me of old Tony in 03-05, put a bigger guy or a strong PG on him and he runs and dissapears in a series, espeically late in games.
Manu was horrible tonight....air balls, missed more free throws, and overall, just looked out of sorts.

Now people here may know why I was talking about how I wanted the Spurs to get O'Neal...you know who you are. Eat crow.

Oneal I thought of tonight, saying damn I wish the Spurs picked up this guy! I agree with you there. Manu was horrible once again, he has been bad this year but tonight the stupid jacked up threes and missed FT's, pathetic and not the Manu we all knew.

[HarlemHeat37]

Jermaine O'Neal would be atrocious on any other team but the Suns, tbh..did you guys forget his last 2 years in the NBA?..he has been one of the worst offensive players in the league..even prior, he was just an average player for the 5 previous years..

The Phoenix medical staff is completely responsible for his resurgence..

[Kidd K]

Pretty shitty loss. Few things you could point out for the failure, but it was a team effort tonight, not really just one person.

What sucks about this though is that the Spurs played great D' in OT, but erased that by totally sucking on offense.

[LakerHater]

“We have to give Phoenix a lot of credit, they played great. They stayed in the game and hit some big shots." - Tony Parker

[SayTown]

Spurs should isolate parker when there is a bigger slower defender on him

[callo1]

Jermaine O'Neal would be atrocious on any other team but the Suns, tbh..did you guys forget his last 2 years in the NBA?..he has been one of the worst offensive players in the league..even prior, he was just an average player for the 5 previous years..

The Phoenix medical staff is completely responsible for his resurgence..
I disagree, if you go back to '09-'10, O'Neal averaged 13.6ppg and shot 53% . I very much remember him giving TD fits in Miami.

As a backup for the vet min, it would have been a no brainer...he has been fairly healthy over the last two years as well.

That is really neither here nor there at this point. He stayed in Phoenix.

Did anyone notice how much Manu was pressing? When Manu shot free throws he was making a concious effort not to rock back on his heels. Manu can't think and play well, he has to just let it flow. It is too bad Manu got taken out of his groove with that last injury, as he was just beginning to get his game back.

I feel confident that Manu will get it going again.

I truly hope that Pop calls Cojo up if Neal and Jack are going to be out a bit.

[200 miles]

Not necessarily. Stern still has that nonsensical policy of rewarding teams with lesser records with 3 straight home games and if we somehow reached the Finals against them, I wouldn't be mad at the prospect of playing 3 straight games in San Antonio. All we have to do is steal 1 game in Miami after almost beating them with our C team there. But first things first, the Thunder and Grizzlies fucking scare the shit out of me.

You think it will be that cut and dry, huh?

Do you seriously believe that it will be easy to steal a game in Miami in the month of June, just because the "C-team" almost won there months ago? If that game was in June, the Heat would crush them and send them back to the YWCA. Even at full strength, it would still be a long shot for the Spurs to steal a game in the lion's den of Miami. Last year, I've seen the Heat even lose home games to vastly inferior opponents... in the regular season. Because it is 82 games long, the regular season can enable even the best teams to coast every now and then. But unfortunately for the Spurs, since they are not in the same conference as the Heat, they can only play one another in the Finals, where the Heat, especially James and Wade and perhaps Bosh, are at their absolute best. The Pacers and Celtics had their chances in last year's playoffs but failed to capitalize when James suddenly took over games in a god-like fashion. So in other words, the Heat become an entirely different team in the playoffs and become absolute beasts in the Finals, where the Thunder didn't even stand a chance.

As for tonight's event, unfortunately I was unable to watch the game and could only follow it through the yahoo box score. I do believe Parker cannot be solely relied upon deep into the playoffs in order for the team's success. I pray they do not meet up with the Thunder again, because if the plan was only "live by Parker, die by Parker", well then I fear it would be die by Parker, for Thabo Sefolosha would be waiting. Certain basketball analysts have all said in order for the Spurs to win it all, it would depend upon the big 3 to play their best. I strongly disagree for we've seen their best in last year's playoffs. With no great Jordan-esque superstar, Parker who could be neutralized by a bigger shutdown defender and Duncan and Manu on the great hope that they do not run of gas into June, the team needs more than the Big 3. They need the Big 5 -- the starting lineup. I cannot stress enough how much the team needs sufficient production from Kawhi and Tiago. I was very disappointed that those two were not given more opportunities to score after establishing the fact that the big 3 were not getting it done. As for the playoffs and hopefully the Finals, the key to win it all/beating Miami is not Parker, but rather Duncan and Splitter. The Spurs need to use, and use frequently, the twin tower offense, something that very few other teams possess. If they can do that plus unleashing Kawhi, the Spurs, led by the "big 5", will have a relatively good shot.

Speaking of Tiago, could someone please explain to me why does Splitter have so few chances to score, whether it is from this game (where he played like 32 minutes but with only 4 shots) or most of the other games from the past three weeks?

[therealtruth]

Well that was disappointing. Manu looked gassed.

He's going to look worse in the playoffs where the minutes are more intense.

[callo1]

He's going to look worse in the playoffs where the minutes are more intense.

I sadly agree. There are no "big three" anymore...I wish the media would stop with that already.

The good news is that the Spurs don't have to have huge nights from Manu, but simply steady play, and he can still do that. Manu will still be able to give a 20 point game here and there, but the frequency will be low.

I really want to see Tim get more rest tbh. We need the TD we had for the first half of the season to make a hard push..we can get by with Manu dropping off more than Tim.

[SpurPadre]

Let's forget about the recent wins we've had and focus on the quality of play in those wins and two of our most recent losses since the 13th. First, we barely beat a bad Cavs team that required a GW three to win. Next game after the AS break, we stumble out of the gate and let the Kings hang around only to put away the game in the closing minutes. The Paper Clips game looked great on paper and on primetime TV but we have to keep in mind it was the Clips first game since the AS break and they had 3 extra days of rest all reasons one can then say they were rusty. Next game comes along and the Warriors bring out the blueprint to keep TP in check and the team blows a late 13 point lead with sloppy possessions and atrocious shot selection from everyone. Mind you this is a Warriors team that had lost 6 out of their last 7 and haven't looked good since that game, barely beating the lowly Wolves Sunday and losing two in a row after. So yeah, we go on to beat the lowly Suns by 10 on Sunday to end the RRT on a winning note but then piss away that goodwill with an awful game tonight against them at San Antonio with TP back, getting Sefolosha'd once again. So, when you honestly look at these past two weeks, you see growing list of concerns: sloppiness, still struggling on the glass against athletic teams, deteriorating free throw shooting, inconsistent 4th quarter play, questionable rotations by Pop, Manu looking like he's 50 years old out there, and now to make matters worse is TP getting Sefolosha'd with him not having a plan B to overcome it. I was feeling better about the team's chances 59 games into the season last year than I am after 59 games this season.

[SpurPadre]

You think it will be that cut and dry, huh?

Do you seriously believe that it will be easy to steal a game in Miami in the month of June, just because the "C-team" almost won there months ago? If that game was in June, the Heat would crush them and send them back to the YWCA. Even at full strength, it would still be a long shot for the Spurs to steal a game in the lion's den of Miami. Last year, I've seen the Heat even lose home games to vastly inferior opponents... in the regular season. Because it is 82 games long, the regular season can enable even the best teams to coast every now and then. But unfortunately for the Spurs, since they are not in the same conference as the Heat, they can only play one another in the Finals, where the Heat, especially James and Wade and perhaps Bosh, are at their absolute best. The Pacers and Celtics had their chances in last year's playoffs but failed to capitalize when James suddenly took over games in a god-like fashion. So in other words, the Heat become an entirely different team in the playoffs and become absolute beasts in the Finals, where the Thunder didn't even stand a chance.

As for tonight's event, unfortunately I was unable to watch the game and could only follow it through the yahoo box score. I do believe Parker cannot be solely relied upon deep into the playoffs in order for the team's success. I pray they do not meet up with the Thunder again, because if the plan was only "live by Parker, die by Parker", well then I fear it would be die by Parker, for Thabo Sefolosha would be waiting. Certain basketball analysts have all said in order for the Spurs to win it all, it would depend upon the big 3 to play their best. I strongly disagree for we've seen their best in last year's playoffs. With no great Jordan-esque superstar, Parker who could be neutralized by a bigger shutdown defender and Duncan and Manu on the great hope that they do not run of gas into June, the team needs more than the Big 3. They need the Big 5 -- the starting lineup. I cannot stress enough how much the team needs sufficient production from Kawhi and Tiago. I was very disappointed that those two were not given more opportunities to score after establishing the fact that the big 3 were not getting it done. As for the playoffs and hopefully the Finals, the key to win it all/beating Miami is not Parker, but rather Duncan and Splitter. The Spurs need to use, and use frequently, the twin tower offense, something that very few other teams possess. If they can do that plus unleashing Kawhi, the Spurs, led by the "big 5", will have a relatively good shot.

Speaking of Tiago, could someone please explain to me why does Splitter have so few chances to score, whether it is from this game (where he played like 32 minutes but with only 4 shots) or most of the other games from the past three weeks?

I was trying to look at the bright side but I also think we match up better against the Heat than we do against the Thunder and Grizzlies.

[Ice009]

I think Kawhi needs to move up to number 3 on the depth chart. I don't know if it should be over Manu or Tim though. I'd like to see what he can do with more shots and touches on offense.

[thunderup]

:lol Spurs

[MI21]

Don't care about anything else except number 1. This is becoming quite worrisome. TP is playing great, but it seems like all you have to do is put anyone with size on him and his dominance is negated. That obviously is an issue when your best player can be so easily game planned against - we saw that against OKC.

In the playoffs, when it comes down to tight games, guys like KD/LEB can't be so easily stopped so that is why you see them moving on. Sean is talking about that during the games numerous times now so he even acknowledges what coaches are doing and why can't TP overcome this so far? Big time question this year.

Yeah, 1 is worrisome... I'm actually not sure what it is that causes the issue. He still gets free for his jumper. He still gets into the lane - he just loses a lot of effectiveness. It's strange.

I still think the lack of defensive rebounding in the clutch is a huge issue. If it's a close game you can go to the bank with the fact that the Spurs will give up multiple offensive rebounds. They are a much improved defensive squad but the Spurs can't go far having to defend 2/3 possessions in a row in the playoffs in tight games.

[SanAntonioSpurs23]

I think Kawhi needs to move up to number 3 on the depth chart. I don't know if it should be over Manu or Tim though. I'd like to see what he can do with more shots and touches on offense.

This. I would have liked to see Leonard take the last shot.

[Ice009]

This. I would have liked to see Leonard take the last shot.

Kawhi got completely frozen out on offense at the end of the game last night. I was really pissed off, still didn't think we would lose the game as I was watching it, but yeah, it was annoying me that he wasn't get the ball at all. Then after we lost the game, I couldn't help but think that we might have had a better chance to win it if he got the ball at all.

Manu took some really stupid shots out there. He needs to stop screwing around and put in some more time in the gym to try and regain his game.

[Johnny RIngo]

It is too bad Manu got taken out of his groove with that last injury, as he was just beginning to get his game back.

Every time Manu seems to be "finding his groove" he picks up another injury. We should all just deal with the fact that he's too old and unreliable, at this point, to be our go-to guy down the stretch . He'll be good for 25 mins a game in the playoffs but anything more than that will be decreasing his effectiveness.

[BobaFett1]

Man bad losses happen I would not freak out to much.not