Quick Grades: Spurs @ Lakers - Round 1, Game 4

[timvp]

Tim Duncan B+
Duncan didn't have to break much of a sweat out there. He defended adequately, utilized his touches well and, most importantly, was moving around fluidly. As the Spurs enter the second round, their foundation looks strong.

Manu Ginobili B
Though he missed his three-pointers this game, I thought Ginobili looked pretty darn good otherwise. That throwdown after blowing by Howard tells me the Argentine is feeling good. I liked the sharpness of his passes and his aggressiveness on defense is leading to plays going the other way.

Tony Parker A
The best news of the entire series at the end is arguably Parker's health. He was gimpy entering the series but now he's pushing 85-90% health. Tonight, he really attacked the Lakers and did so without turning the ball over at all. I also thought his D was much improved over last game.

Kawhi Leonard B
On offense, it seemed like Leonard wasn't quite in rhythm. However, it's difficult to argue too much with his statistics. D he was solid even if there wasn't anyone for him to really key in on. His help was good but could have been better.

Danny Green B
He came out really aggressive on both ends -- and that was great to see. He didn't hesitate and was able to get going early. He eventually went through some struggles on O but to his credit he kept his defensive intensity elevated all night long.

Aron Baynes A
Starting in place of Splitter so that the bench rotation could stay intact, Baynes did about as good as could have been suspected. His size, strength and athleticism was on full display when he was defending Howard. It actually turned out to be Baynes who was the one tossing Howard around. His offense needs work but he has good instincts, the form on his jumper is smooth and he's explosive around the rim. All in all, he looks like an exciting prospect going forward.

Matt Bonner B-
While this was definitely Bonner's worst game of the series, he wasn't too horrible. He got in trouble early by not bringing the necessary level of physicality -- but corrected that as the night progressed. He didn't knock down as many shots but Bonner remained in attack-mode and continuously moved to open spots. If he can keep playing as well as he did against the Lakers as the postseason goes along, San Antonio's second unit is much deadlier.

Gary Neal B+
Better. His shot-selection wasn't great but, hey, he hit a couple difficult ones so it was mostly forgiven. His improvements were elsewhere. When he looked to pass, he was very good about finding the open man. His attention to detail on D was also much better, as was his energy on that end.

Cory Joseph A
I don't even know what to say anymore about this kid. He played a virtually flawless series as the backup point guard. He gives the Spurs exactly what they need behind Parker. His tenacity, pushing of the pace and constant liveliness are invaluable traits for a player in his role. He was also very physical this series, which was an added bonus. Great job.

DeJuan Blair A-
Blair also had a strong series, all things considered. His touch around the rim is very good right now. He didn't force many bad shots and his passing was excellent. Where he really made a difference was running the court. He routinely beat their bigs down to the other end and it resulted in handfuls of clean looks. His D is never going to even be average but his activity helped camouflage some of his deficiencies.

Tracy McGrady Inc.
His quick hands and long arms helped him do good things on D. On offense, I was pretty shocked that he ran point guard even though he was on the court with De Colo and Mills. I knew he was capable but I didn't think he'd be playing PG right out of the box.

Patrick Mills Inc.
Masterful towel waving throughout.

Nando De Colo Inc.
Looks to have slipped way down the rotation. How things have played out, I think it's the right call.

Pop B+
I am extremely paranoid about injuries right now so, personally, I wanted Pop to find even more rest for the star players. But outside of that quibble, Pop shined everywhere else. Starting Baynes turned out to be a genius move in retrospect. It flustered Howard on one end and on the other end they had no idea what to do with the big Australian. Good move. Good game. Good sweep.

[Flawless]

Thanks Timvp for the grades :tu

[spurraider21]

:tu

sweeping the Lakers is always great, and it was awesome to see Baynes really flustering Dwight

[Drew2354]

Thanks for the grades!

[2centsworth]

Cojo and Manu make Me feel like the spurs picked-up two ringers for playoffs

[Obstructed_View]

It's highly refreshing to see the Spurs playing with energy for 48 minutes. There are no lulls as we've seen in previous years. From top to bottom, everyone shows up to play and they simply don't take any plays off. Given the depth and the ever-improving health, that's a really great sign.

The other amazing thing is that the stupid turnovers the Spurs made through the last two or three weeks of the season have completely gone away. I hope it has more to do with the Spurs than the caliber of the defense they were playing against. I hope they don't get an easy ride into OKC and then have a rude awakening as they suddenly face a team that can cut their offense off at the top of the circle.

[freetiago]

Baynes haters becoming believers tbh

and it sounds like you believe Bonner will keep playing even as Diaw returns
not sure how i feel about that
i think Blair can play as a decent 4th big vs the other teams extremely weak frontcourts going forward
hes stopped mopping around and blowing up weight wise and plays hard
2nd best offensive big on the Spurs

[Sobe_Kucks]

Patrick Mills Inc.
Masterful towel waving throughout.

C'mon he shoulda got at least a B for the furious towel waving. That's being a bit harsh.:downspin:
Thanks as usual for the quick grades!

[OZspurs]

Aron Baynes， way to go! proud of u!

[ElNono]

Blair is letting out his pent up anger from sitting out the last two playoffs... and it's paying off... hope both him and Bonner keep it up.

[Solid D]

Nice!

Aron Baynes stat of the night: +15 in 16 minutes

[jesterbobman]

It was a non game from the start. They played hard for the first half, and once the lead was at 20, the foot was taken off the gas.

I though Cory was fantastic. He attacked and the Lakers guards had no answer. While it's not the strongest of competition, good to see him get where he wanted and then look to create for others. He penetrated, then looked for shooters on the perimeter or a big in the lane where there should be an option.

I agree with Kawhi looking a bit off offensively. He started 1-6, then made his last four(Including that 3 in a corner where he had time to sit down and construct a mechanism to propel the ball into the hoop). Effort was strong throughout though.

First 9 points came from Green and Barnes. That was unexpected.

T-Mac definitely still has vision. He won't play much, and there's still a bit of rust, but that vision won't go away.

[justinandimcool]

Was at the game. Kawhi and Green looked to be asleep, but Kawhi's hands got him some steals. Green just looks terrible offensively, especially when he puts the ball on the floor. Timmy wasn't too aggressive either, but you could tell he was saving it.

Manu looked sharp in all regards except shooting. Looks great.

Gary looked alive, was really hard on himself for his turnovers. Moves really well on both ends which was good to see.

Blair, Baynes, and Bonner put up 100% effort down low. The amount of physicality needed to guard Howard is straight up ridiculous, and flat out dangerous in person. Great job by those guys.

T-Mac was playing against bums, but his length is ridiculous. I think he can help against Curry if his movement is right. You see his teammates constantly in his ear on every possession making sure he's in the right spot.

Parker and Joseph = dat speed. Tony looks flat out 100% IMO, and CJ is just perfect. Fearless and confident, all we want from a back up PG.


Ridiculous how much these guys have to remember during the game. Pop gave about 20 different hand signals and never used the same one twice, and everyone knew exactly where to be. Such a treat to watch this team, especially up close. First time in a lower section seeing them.

[Obstructed_View]

While it's not the strongest of competition...

Spurs got a playoff training camp thanks to the Lakers.

[spursparker9]

Nice grading from timvp.

Now the spurs just have to rest up and plan for GS.

GS offence is good but they will have trouble defending our offence also.

[MmP]

Id like to read some of your thoughts going forward, how you see the team's and tean's chances in general of making to WCF

[Darius McCrary]

Come on timvp, us new guys need way more spurs banter than that

[The Reckoning]

funny because the biggest baynes doubters were the aussies

[AussieFanKurt]

Baynes is looking like he could be a good defensive big going forward and any offense is a plus. When on Howard tonight, he did well

[AussieFanKurt]

funny because the biggest baynes doubters were the aussies

Odd, I reckon he's had great potential since I saw him at olympics

[therealtruth]

TMac definitely gives us another look since you can put the ball in his hands and let him run the offense like Manu. Baynes defense was impressive. He pretty much completely flustered Howard. He drew an offensive foul and the play Howard drew the tech on was probably also another offensive foul. I don't think Howard scored on him at all.

[TJastal]

Baynes is looking like he could be a good defensive big going forward and any offense is a plus. When on Howard tonight, he did well

Fluke showing. He still needs 2 more years at least to learn the system from the bench. Spurs should resign Blair fir 2 more years until Aaron gets over himself and can make the correct rotation at least 99.9% of the time.

[AussieFanKurt]

Fluke showing. He still needs 2 more years at least to learn the system from the bench. Spurs should resign Blair fir 2 more years while Aaron gets over himself and can make the correct rotation 99.9% of the time.

I did say he could, not he will

[EricB]

Aron Baynes, almost. ALMOST makes you question keeping Splitter around.

[EricB]

Fluke showing. He still needs 2 more years at least to learn the system from the bench. Spurs should resign Blair fir 2 more years while Aaron gets over himself and can make the correct rotation at least 99.9% of the time.


The chump is soooooo pissed the spurs are doing well.

[Sean Cagney]

Fluke showing. He still needs 2 more years at least to learn the system from the bench. Spurs should resign Blair fir 2 more years until Aaron gets over himself and can make the correct rotation at least 99.9% of the time.

How about re sign neither and Bring in Pau Gasol after the Lakers Amnesty him this offseason.........
Aron Baynes, almost. ALMOST makes you question keeping Splitter around.
I have to see alot more of him! IF some team throws alot at Splitter though, forget it and let him walk.

[John B]

Spurs got a playoff training camp thanks to the Lakers.

[QUOTE=therealtruth;6520103]TMac definitely gives us another look since you can put the ball in his hands and let him run the offense like Manu. Baynes defense was impressive. He pretty much completely flustered Howard. He drew an offensive foul and the play Howard drew the tech on was probably also another offensive foul. I don't think Howard scored on him at all.[/QUOTE
This. I like it. Baynes's defense was great and his outside was another look at freeing up Timmy. He could post-up. Watch out Splitter. Here's a little competition for you. Watching TMac was cool. He has poise and really looks great. I think Pop would use him in small ball tbh and give our 2nd unit some scoring plus veteran leadership. Go Spurs Go!

[siraulo23]

when you see baynes tossing howard around you know he's a strong mofo, really good signing by the spurs, i just wish he played a little more during the RS

it's shocking how manu is playing right now, other than having tp back and healthy, he's the other reason the bench has got fluidity and identity out there. It usually takes manu a long time before he could get in rhythm but the first game back vs the Twolves he looked sharp. Hopefully he can keep that up

Now on to GSW or Nuggets, if GSW gets through and plays out of their minds like they are vs the Nuggets, it's gonna be a long 2nd round series

[benfti]

Nice!

Aron Baynes stat of the night: +15 in 16 minutes

Did anyone get the feeling whenever he was on court that the lakers had no interest in going inside at all, and on O no one wanted to post him up.

[Stabula]

Honestly I think Parker still looks somewhat hurt. He's much more humble than someone like Kobe and won't front with the 'wounded warrior' routine but it looked like he was grimacing and stretching after every drive.

[benstanfield]

Things we learned:

Every player on the Spurs, from top to bottom, is capable of playing quality rotation minutes. With the exception of McGrady I guess, until we see him play actual minutes. Still, there aren't a lot of teams you can say that about.

I actually wouldn't mind McGrady at backup point if we needed to start Manu. He's definitely slower than Jack, though, and still looks pretty dismal at defense. Getting a steal wasn't exactly an accomplishment tonight.

The Lakers are in a shitty situation with Dwight. Fuck them. They pretty much have to give him a max contract if he wants it, but he just got absolutely demolished by Tim Duncan in 2013, Tiago Splitter, Matt Bonner, and most notably the big boy...

:lol ...and they have to pay Kobe to sit out next year. Presumably they will pay Steve Nash to do the same. Artest will most likely not be the same player. Gasol is gone.

[TJastal]

Things we learned:

Every player on the Spurs, from top to bottom, is capable of playing quality rotation minutes. With the exception of McGrady I guess, until we see him play actual minutes. Still, there aren't a lot of teams you can say that about.

I actually wouldn't mind McGrady at backup point if we needed to start Manu. He's definitely slower than Jack, though, and still looks pretty dismal at defense. Getting a steal wasn't exactly an accomplishment tonight.

The Lakers are in a shitty situation with Dwight. Fuck them. They pretty much have to give him a max contract if he wants it, but he just got absolutely demolished by Tim Duncan in 2013, Tiago Splitter, Matt Bonner, and most notably the big boy...

:lol ...and they have to pay Kobe to sit out next year. Presumably they will pay Steve Nash to do the same. Artest will most likely not be the same player. Gasol is gone.

What a bleak picture that paints for the lakers next season.... I feel so sorry for the fans.. oh wait ... no I don't. :lol

[polandprzem]

Baynes is a prospect for next year.
He seems like a good banger but he needs to get used to NBA basketball. Good call by Pop to put him in the starting lineup. Just to have a big body from the get go and not letting Howard and Gasol going :tu

Overall the series was far from playoff intensity. next round will be more intense and aggressive. But spurs were looking better and better as the series went, so if spurs can keep the progression healthwise and shapewise the journey might be fun.

[Stabula]

Lakers are done for a couple of years.

[benfti]

funny because the biggest baynes doubters were the aussies

not me, ive been backing him in as an NBA prospect well before he even came to us


Im a big fan of Baynes, and I think I made that clear around the Olympics. He would suit the Spurs perfectly, and knowing the Aussie sets and he could slot in with minimum fuss mid sesaon.

Ok here is what you need to know about Baynes.

He is big, he knows it, and some how finds a way to move his girth at good pace, and he has a surprisingly quick first step for a 6'11 white guy. His mid range game kind of ends around the 10 feet mark, but he actually can drop step to create space if he ends up further out from the rim.

Spot on with the passing, he can throw some howlers at times where he gets delusions that he is Steve Nash, but its more born from youthful energy than a low IQ. Quick step aside Baynes doesnt look for holes when he is posing up, he is far more interested in making them himself. Will not under any circumstance shirk the contest, this sometimes boarder lines on short tempered which will see him get a few technical and unsportsmanlike fouls through his journey.

For me he is probably the most promising big man prospect from our country at the moment. We need a big set under the rim for us and Aron wont die wondering.

In many ways he is like Blair just taller and angrier

[KL2]

Kawhi didn't do a whole lot offensively this series but defensively the guy was a monster.

Game 1 he locked MWP down, bodying him and making him his bitch grabbing some TOUGH boards.

Game 2 he was solid offensively, in all the games his help defense on Howard was excellent, stripping and knocking the ball away quite a few times.

Game 3 when Goudelock just couldn't miss Pop wound up putting Kawhi on him, Kawhi proceeded to hold him to just 2-4 points after Goudelock had scored 14 in the 1st half.

Game 4 he did a great job on Goudelock again and really gave Pau hell, doing a great job of denying him the ball, I think the entire time Pau was on him he only scored once.

Dude guarded 2 PGs/SGs a SF, and a PF all extremely well, pretty much everyone except Howard who he played great help defense on.

[Darius McCrary]

Baynes weakness is he is slow twitch. He's not slow per se, and he's fast enough in terms of getting up and down the court but he lacks any quickness. That's how he got his easy dunk blocked, and why he struggles to rebound in traffic. But he's got a lot of positives, and i expect him to get much better.

[superbigtime]

How about re sign neither and Bring in Pau Gasol after the Lakers Amnesty him this offseason..........

Hell to the yes.

[dylankerouac]

Thanks for the grades and thoughts throughout the series timvp.

[024]

I like Baynes. As Duncan continues to slim down and slide back into the PF spot, Baynes is a big body that can guard heavy centers. If he can guard DHO, he can guard pretty much any center in the league. Draftexpress has his pre-draft measurements at 6'10.5" without shoes so he's probably closer to 6'11.5", 7'0" with shoes. He looked taller than DHO out there. Hope the coaching staff really takes the summer to develop him and maybe give him some post moves.

[Bill_Brasky]

Joseph/Blair had a nice connection going, and Blair was actually finishing well for once.

Joseph looks damn good, he's getting very comfortable out there. May have found a legit backup for Tony.

[ironman2886]

Baynes needs to work on catching the ball. His jumper can be more consistent, and he needs to go harder to the rim. Can't wait to see what a training camp will do for Baynes.

[Dex]

Nice!

Aron Baynes stat of the night: +15 in 16 minutes

Aron Baynes stat of the night: Ejections: 1 (Howard)

[Whisky Dog]

To me the staff needs to work Baynes this offseason on his 15 to 20 ft jumper. He's a perfect pick and pop candidate to Splitter's pick and roll and can be a big who can guard the best bigs down low while making a living on that jumpshot. I don't think he has the quickness to pull off a big low post game but he can have a niche here for sure and give the Spurs what they don't have without him.

[Obstructed_View]

Baynes weakness is he is slow twitch. He's not slow per se, and he's fast enough in terms of getting up and down the court but he lacks any quickness. That's how he got his easy dunk blocked, and why he struggles to rebound in traffic. But he's got a lot of positives, and i expect him to get much better.

You could be right, but one might also argue that it was his first game and his dunk was blocked by a rather good player named Pau Gasol. I'm definitely with you on the last sentence though.

[Capt Bringdown]

Although unlikely, I hope we see more strategic, crafty use of Baynes in this post-season. Baynes may be limited/raw at this point, but even in the playoffs there can be spot minutes for such a player. Pushing around and getting under the skin of Howard is no small feat. I can't see any of our other reserve bigs doing that.

[jesterbobman]

While Gasol and Howard are tough matchups for bigs, defending them down low doesn't require the same work in space as some others bigs would. Blair and Baynes have the physical part sorted, so while it was tough, it's a matchup that played to their strengths.

[moisaenz]

I am happy if Baynes can play the role that Perkins plays in OKC.