Quick Grades: Spurs @ Lakers - April 14

[timvp]

Tim Duncan B+
Strong production despite minimal help. Defended the rim well away from the ball but his post defense was weak at times. Rebounded well enough and authored a handful of nice passes. His offensive production came in flurries; he wasn't his usual consistent self on that end.

Tony Parker F+
To put it bluntly, he looked terrible. He couldn't run. He couldn't jump. He had no explosion in his movements. If he doesn't improve rapidly, the Spurs are very vulnerable in the first round of the playoffs. If he's as hurt as he looked tonight, he should not have suited up.

Kawhi Leonard C
Didn't do nearly enough on the offensive end. There are many reasons for that -- from solid Lakers D to teammates not recognizing mismatches to his own lack of aggression. On D, he was strong and did well in transition. But with the Spurs desperate for O, they needed him to step up -- but he didn't.

Danny Green C+
Had some success within the three-point line. Limited his mistakes and passed it relatively well. On D, he wasn't too impressive. He appeared to be slow with his movements and his rotations where ill-conceived at times.

Tiago Splitter B
The Good: His D against Gasol was superb. He was good on the boards and usually made smart decisions. The Bad: His finishing was lackluster; I lost count of his momentum-busting missed layups. His overall lack of physicality left a lot to be desired. He was tossed around too easily too often.

Gary Neal C
Yes, the Spurs needed him to score off the bench. But his shot-selection bordered on ridiculous -- and swam across the river and inhabited ridiculousness on a number of occasions. His passing was actually really good when he looked to pass … but that wasn't often enough. His D was about what we've come to expect.

DeJuan Blair C
His rebounding was commendable. His D against drivers wasn't good and he committed a few dumb fouls but he made a couple plays with his quick hands. Never got going on offense; simply didn't have the size to score on their bigmen.

Matt Bonner C
Dropped two more April three-pointers -- and also added a tough one-hander in the lane. Unfortunately, he gave a lot of his production back on the defensive end. His D was feeble most of the night and he was impotent on the defensive backboard.

Nando De Colo D+
It's getting hard to make a case for why he should still be in the rotation. He's not creating plays, scoring consistently or doing anything else of note. He has some flashes but this was another substandard performance -- and one that doesn't inspire confidence with the playoffs in a matter of days.

Cory Joseph B-
Didn't do anything great but at least his defensive pressure seemed to cause issues for L.A. and he ran plays with emphasis. I liked that he pushed the pace of the game and made quick decisions. That said, his lack of production limited his total value on the evening.

Pop C
Already shorthanded, Pop's coaching job became even more difficult with Parker essentially MIA. He pushed a few buttons but nothing worked. Leonard needed more touches. The backup point guard spot is still a mess. Everything seems to be imploding on this team. Let's hope Pop can help turn it around within the week.

[007nites]

We should have just let Timmy go for 30 FG attempts. He would have went 15/30 at least which would have won us the game.

[hooperflash]

Just when I was thinking about quick grades...voila! Ha

Cliff jumpers galore up in here, i'm waiting for the rest our guys receive leading up to the playoffs. Pop needs to get his act together, tbh. Optimism at an all-time high at this point.

Thanks for the grades bruh --

[siraulo23]

nando hasnt done anything since pop made that statement the he's the spurs backup pg...

tp has to somehow get healthy before the POs, otherwise...

[spurraider21]

thanks for the good read. I find it hard pressed not to give Timmy an A-, as he seemed to be the only guy on the floor that gave a shit, and came up with what i believe was 4 consecutive baskets in the 4th.

[chapnis]

Think Bonner and Green were slightly better than that and Splitter slightly worse lately.

Thanks timvp.

[Nero5]

I agree.
I would have given Bonner a + and marked Tiago down a notch. I think he got outplayed and out muscled far to many times and was looking for Howard to block him at the other end.
Parker looked injured. FFS *everyone* was faster than him around the key.
I would give Pop a D: Parker was obviously injured and he is a player who thrives on movement - and he had little of that. Also the game meant little, it was a rough week team wise and too much was run for Parker. He was a liability both ends and stayed on the floor far too long. He needed quality minutes and rest and got neither. Also you've got Howard and Gasol overpowering Duncan. Get Baynes in there to bump, push, grind and barge for boards. He needs the experience and could give a few minutes to knock some edges off howard. He does not have howards jump, but he likely has the edge in strength.
Also De Colo is too one speed. I like him, but he seems to have dropped his head. Mills could have been a useful spark of speed.
I am really worried ATM that the first round will be it.

[boutons_deux]

TP9?

sick?

out late clubbing in LA Sat night?

up all Sat night screwing groupies?

still hurt?

what happened to the good-as-new Tony of previous game?

How many 7 footers miss as many gimme's as Tiago? He's totally collapsed vs a few months ago.

[LegendaryFan44]

Spurs are an absolute MESS right now...hard to watch K L doin nothing on the floor..such talent but he is invisible mostly last nite

[John B]

I agree.
I would have given Bonner a + and marked Tiago down a notch. I think he got outplayed and out muscled far to many times and was looking for Howard to block him at the other end.
Parker looked injured. FFS *everyone* was faster than him around the key.
I would give Pop a D: Parker was obviously injured and he is a player who thrives on movement - and he had little of that. Also the game meant little, it was a rough week team wise and too much was run for Parker. He was a liability both ends and stayed on the floor far too long. He needed quality minutes and rest and got neither. Also you've got Howard and Gasol overpowering Duncan. Get Baynes in there to bump, push, grind and barge for boards. He needs the experience and could give a few minutes to knock some edges off howard. He does not have howards jump, but he likely has the edge in strength.
Also De Colo is too one speed. I like him, but he seems to have dropped his head. Mills could have been a useful spark of speed.
I am really worried ATM that the first round will be it.
Agree. We needed some instant scoring and with TP hurt I'd give Patty some minutes, especially when balls are not going in. It would've given a different look. I know they are going away from looking for 3's, but without TP creating, I'd post-up Duncan and surround him with shooters, in and out. I wouldn't worry about long rebounds with Lakers, they are no longer an athletic them who would punish you with a lighting transition offense and highflying dunks.

[TJastal]

Agree. We needed some instant scoring and with TP hurt I'd give Patty some minutes, especially when balls are not going in. It would've given a different look. I know they are going away from looking for 3's, but without TP creating, I'd post-up Duncan and surround him with shooters, in and out. I wouldn't worry about long rebounds with Lakers, they are no longer an athletic them who would punish you with a lighting transition offense and highflying dunks.

I'd like to see a Patty, Neal, Manu lineup coming off the bench for a super scoring punch....... but this would require bigs that could defend the rim..or in other words no Bonner or Blair. So, yah... no chance of seeing this.

[cd021]

Those Duncan dunks were nasty-sauce, On the bright side.

[SsKSpurs21]

wow, one of the first "F" grades ive seen!

[EVAY]

Pop sitting Tony, Kawhi and Tiago rather than making in-game adjustments to free one or the other up or give them a pep talk or a tongue-lashing or something that would change how they were playing suggests a worse grade for Pop than what he got. If you just give up on your players you admit you are out of ideas.
Not a very good admission by a coach at this point in the season. I don't think that Pop seems to have a clue how to coach this team at this point, and that is not a good thing.

[EVAY]

One thing that I think is happening with TP is that he is super sensitive to getting creamed again. He has always been the only one of our guys to stick his neck out (and he got it nearly lopped off by a guy in that game where he got hurt) and play and score in the paint. Tim plays and scores well from the elbow and when his jumper is on as it was early last night, he is great at that. But, that positioning leaves him unable to block out for a guard on offense and out of position for an offensive rebound. Parker tried to go inside last night several times and got his shot blocked, got his pocket picked, and got fouled mercilessly with no calls. After that, he seemed like he was only going to try his jumper and it wasn't on. If our bigs can't protect out littles then they cannot get to the basket and they will stop trying.

Parker looks like he doesn't want to get beat up any more.

[EVAY]

One thing that the grades don't reflect, imo, is the extreme difference in emotional level of play by both teams. The Lakers really really wanted that game last night and we didn't want it nearly so much. And it showed.

Pop talks about his guys being professionals and having to understand what they have to do, but I think that he forgets sometimes that they also need an emotional leader. Tim has never been that. Tony was this year all year before he got hurt. Now he has been out so much I think he has lost his leadership role and appears uncertain that he wants it back.

[Chinook]

I thought Green was the best Spur on the floor for most of the game. He was the one who stopped Blake, and in general, his match-up scored only once on him by my count. He hit a good percentage from deep and scored well from two. He passed well and rebounded/boxed out well. He deserved the best grade, not a C+.

[spurs10]

Thanks for the grades! Yes the two most obvious let downs were Nando and the guy wearing Tony's uniform. Seemed like every time Nando touched the ball something bad happened, except the lone put-back. Bad shot selection made worse by the fact that they missed! The Tony impersonator could have fooled me with buzzer beater pass at the end of the half, but that was an anomaly. I am doubtful Pop plays many of the starters tonight, unless he really thinks Tony was fine and just didn't give a damn. Tim deserves a rest, probably Kawhi and Tiago too. One bright spot...the playoffs haven't started yet!

[spurs10]

Those Duncan dunks were nasty-sauce, On the bright side.

Still rainin', still rainin', still rainin'!!:toast

[spurs10]

One thing that I think is happening with TP is that he is super sensitive to getting creamed again. He has always been the only one of our guys to stick his neck out (and he got it nearly lopped off by a guy in that game where he got hurt) and play and score in the paint. Tim plays and scores well from the elbow and when his jumper is on as it was early last night, he is great at that. But, that positioning leaves him unable to block out for a guard on offense and out of position for an offensive rebound. Parker tried to go inside last night several times and got his shot blocked, got his pocket picked, and got fouled mercilessly with no calls. After that, he seemed like he was only going to try his jumper and it wasn't on. If our bigs can't protect out littles then they cannot get to the basket and they will stop trying.

Parker looks like he doesn't want to get beat up any more.
Man I hope you're right about this. Getting the crap knocked out of you in a meaningless game might get old after a while. That's why Tony hired the look-a-like...???

[heyheymymy]

spurs tanked this game. now they can force a tough lakers team on okc in the first round. tonight the spurs hold their destiny against the warriors...

la prob beats houston, okc wins out, all gs has to do for the 6th seed is win and hope the rockets drop it to lal b/c the rockets hold the tie breaker.

so if the spurs are playing the warriors tonight and are beating them easily without manu/diaw, then win the game and take GS in the first round confidently. if the spurs are having a hard time tonight against GS tonight and decide they dont wanna see them for a series, tank the game, securing GS a 6 seed, provided GS wins out and the rockets toss one against lal (which is OBVIOUS at this point, the league didnt hustle the 8th seed for lal over the past 1.5 months just to let hou knock em out in the last game, imho) and boom: spurs play rockets > gs/den > and okc while okc plays a much tougher: lal > clippers/mem > spurs. CIA POP is a genius and this is why the spurs looked like shit over the last month, they wanted to shake that 1 seed.

/dreamland fantasy blue text

[timvp]

I thought Green was the best Spur on the floor for most of the game. He was the one who stopped Blake, and in general, his match-up scored only once on him by my count. He hit a good percentage from deep and scored well from two. He passed well and rebounded/boxed out well. He deserved the best grade, not a C+.

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EVAY with the EVAY-ish goods :lol ... blames Parker's poor play on Pop, Duncan and Duncan, respectively.

[dylankerouac]

Agree, I think Green deserved a shot toward the end of the game instead of a chuck by Neal. I was waiting for someone to hit Green but no one noticed him, when the ball finally found its way to him because of a lack of time he had to chuck up a bad shot.

Wish Bonner had played better D and adjusted when his man hit his first 3.

DeColo looks like trash, doubt he's going to look any more comfortable out there in the remaining games this year. With his past experience I'm surprised that Joseph looks more under control.

Lots of missed defensive assignments, luckily this is something the team can adjust to and aim to improve on in a series regardless of who's on the floor.

[dylankerouac]

Also, if someone is going to take a forced shot with the second unit on the floor it should be Kawhi. In that situation Neal should give the ball to Kawhi and Kawhi should try to make a play or a play and pass back to Neal or another shooter. Watching one-trick Neal jack up bad shots and praying for a miracle is bad offense. On the other hand I'm pretty sure his catch and shoot percentage is higher and effective.

[Chinook]

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EVAY with the EVAY-ish goods :lol ... blames Parker's poor play on Pop, Duncan and Duncan, respectively.

I'm starting to think I didn't watch the same game that everyone else did. Yes, I'm serious. He was 2-5 until the end of the game where he took one desperation shot of with a guy in his face and another desperation shot from about 30 feet as the clock was running out. I don't know why you'd hold those against him. Were you just box-score watching last night?

EDIT: And Green still scored 16 points off only 13 possessions. (11 shots). That was by far the most-efficient outing for all the double-digit scorers.

[Nero5]

Those Duncan dunks were nasty-sauce, On the bright side.

yeah, but when Blake comes down the other end and drains a 3, then there is a deficit. Decolo looked out of his depth at times, maybe it was the venue, the crowd...the lack of Parker. Really this was his first big stage big role with no backup and he did not look good. I think psychologically it is harder going out without the superstar there to take the pressure off.

[cd021]

yeah, but when Blake comes down the other end and drains a 3, then there is a deficit. Decolo looked out of his depth at times, maybe it was the venue, the crowd...the lack of Parker. Really this was his first big stage big role with no backup and he did not look good. I think psychologically it is harder going out without the superstar there to take the pressure off.

That makes since in away. He played much better at Miami. When the big 3 + Captain, Kawhi, & Green were all out