Random observations: Spurs vs. CKSA

[xellos88330]

Just a couple of quick observations from the game vs. CSKA. Feel free to add anything if you so wish.

1. Ayers
Pros: Very mobile and runs the court with great speed. Decent shot selection and excellent job rebounding.
Cons: Still obviously new to the Spurs system. Got lost defensively a few times. He seems to be able to be backed down in the post rather easily and could have issues with bigger NBA players in the paint. (I hope I am wrong)

2. DeColo
Pros: He didn't see the floor for very long.
Cons: Despite being forced into two late shot clock heaves, his shot selection was rather bad. Couldn't create for his team offensively.

3. Diaw
Pros: Actually looked for his shot and knocked them down. Seemed much improved in the speed department.
Cons: Could have been a bit more careful with his passing.

4: Baynes
Pros: Size and physicality seemed to intimidate the CSKA. His presence alone seemed to scare away any attempt at scoring in the paint. Didn't seem to get winded. Solid rebounding, screens and hustle.
Cons: Missed players for open shots.

5: Young
Pros: Showed solid defensive positioning and rebounding.
Cons: Terrible shot selection. Passes seemed to hit players out of rhythm

6: Joseph
Pros: Didn't seem to muck up the offense.
Cons: Lack of aggressiveness caused him to not really affect the game.

7: Ginobili
Pros: Scoring and rebounding. Solid offensive outing.
Cons: Needs to work on his turnover to assist ratio.

8: Duncan
Pros: Still looks like Duncan. Doesn't seem to have slowed any. Still shows his same old defensive abilities.
Cons: A bit surprised at his lack of rebounding tonight.

9: Leonard
Pros: Definitely seemed to look to create his shot.
Cons: Seemed to be late on his defensive rotations and wasn't rebounding well defensively. A bit out of control when looking for his shot.

10: Mills
Pros: Came out and was an instant lightning rod on both ends of the court. Never lost confidence offensively.
Cons: Went in a shooting slump and it seemed to affect his energy on the defensive side of the court.

11: Bonner
Pros: Great shot selection.
Cons: How can you be so tall yet be so invisible in the paint?

12: Belinelli
Pros: Didn't seem lost on either end of the court. Looks like a solid pickup.
Cons: Seemed more interested in fitting in rather than fulfilling a role.

13: Parker
Pros: Solid job setting up teammates.
Cons: Had a bit of trouble containing Pargo. Shot wasn't falling well tonight.

14: Splitter
Pros: Came out aggressive and stayed aggressive. Solid position defensively. Couple great passes.
Cons: I just wish he could finish a shot at the rim aggressively.

15: Green
Pros: Seemed to look to drive to create for teammates.
Cons: Had trouble finding open looks. I think the Russians watched the Finals.

[Hoops Czar]

I must of blinked and missed CoJo's lone highlight. When did he get that rebound?

[Biernutz]

Tim was limping on the bad knee when he came off the in the 2nd period. Draging his
leg a little. When Tony came off the floor for good he had 2 huge ice packs put on his Knees
to keep the swelling down. For all the minutes he played this summer, he played a lot tonight.
Tago when he gets under the basket, double pumps goes up and they block his shot......How many times
have we seen that....

[TheyCallMePro]

I think I know why Tiago can't finish at the rim.

Usually when you see big guys finish around the rim, their arms are raised as high as they can be while holding the ball. Tiago, for some reason, usually has his arms much lower and therefore shoots much lower. This allows his shot to get blocked and leads to Tiago having to adjust more to get a better shot just like a point guard would.

What's amazing about all of this is that it's such a simple fix. You tell him to RAISE his goddamn arms over his head when he catches the ball. And you force Tiago to dunk the ball in practice each day over defenders. You fix the fundamentals and you toughen him up. He just got paid. It's time to stop babying him.

[RD2191]

I think I know why Tiago can't finish at the rim.

Usually when you see big guys finish around the rim, their arms are raised as high as they can be while holding the ball. Tiago, for some reason, usually has his arms much lower and therefore shoots much lower. This allows his shot to get blocked and leads to Tiago having to adjust more to get a better shot just like a point guard would.

What's amazing about all of this is that it's such a simple fix. You tell him to RAISE his goddamn arms over his head when he catches the ball. And you force Tiago to dunk the ball in practice each day over defenders. You fix the fundamentals and you toughen him up. He just got paid. It's time to stop babying him.
I've literally seen Tiago start his shooting motion from his hip, great observation.

[timvp]

Good stuff xellos88330

[exstatic]

Tim was limping on the bad knee when he came off the in the 2nd period. Draging his
leg a little. When Tony came off the floor for good he had 2 huge ice packs put on his Knees
to keep the swelling down. For all the minutes he played this summer, he played a lot tonight.
Tago when he gets under the basket, double pumps goes up and they block his shot......How many times
have we seen that....

It's his brace. He's "limped" coming off the floor for a while now. The brace doesn't allow him to completely straighten the knee, by design, and that gives him a little limp.

[Libri]

I think I know why Tiago can't finish at the rim.

Usually when you see big guys finish around the rim, their arms are raised as high as they can be while holding the ball. Tiago, for some reason, usually has his arms much lower and therefore shoots much lower. This allows his shot to get blocked and leads to Tiago having to adjust more to get a better shot just like a point guard would.

What's amazing about all of this is that it's such a simple fix. You tell him to RAISE his goddamn arms over his head when he catches the ball. And you force Tiago to dunk the ball in practice each day over defenders. You fix the fundamentals and you toughen him up. He just got paid. It's time to stop babying him.

Sean has frequently made that observation about many players. I think he has called out Tim a few times in the past. It's a bad habit to bring the ball down when they get the rebound. First because these players making themselves smaller. Also, it results in getting the ball striped.

[Biernutz]

One of the problems with Tago he gets right up on the basket with all the
defense around him then he starts that damm double+ pumping faking with the ball
and when he goes up he has no room because their up on him. Up with the ball,
and they block it --turnover--- Why won't he just push it out? He looks so
dumb when they block it.

[Baseline]

If you're 6'11" and can't finish in your first couple of NBA seasons, you'll never be able to finish. For whatever reason, Tiago makes the rim look like it's 12 feet high.

[Roger Freemason Jr.]

Tiago looks like a Jacob's Ladder.

[Seventyniner]

7: Ginobili
Pros: Scoring and rebounding. Solid offensive outing.
Cons: Needs to work on his turnover to assist ratio.

I see what you did there...

[Bruno]

To me, with already 8 players being lock to be in the rotation (Parker, Belinelli, Green, Ginobili, Leonard, Diaw, Duncan and Splitter), there are 3 "battles" to follow in that training camp:

- Battle for the backup PG spot: it looks like it will be between Joseph and Mills. Joseph did very little right or wrong in that game while Mills did well in the 3rd quarter when there were still a good team around him. Joseph had the upper hand coming in TC but he will need to be more productive if he wants to keep his spot. De Colo seems to be out of this battle: Pop might play him at the SG spot and he sucked hard in that game.

- Battle for the 4th bigman: Bonner was just bad in that game. He is 33 years old, so he has the age to keep an eye on a potential decline. Ayres was solid but quiet and Baynes was more active with mixed results.

- Battle for the 15th roster spot: Only Young played among players without a guaranteed contract and it was a disaster. He was easily the worst player on the court. I don't know if Pop will give another shot but he hurts a lot his odds at making the roster.

[mountainballer]

disappointed by Young. I really thought he can do better. you can have a bad game, but when it doesn't look like a bad game but looks like the absence of any talent, even a single bad game shows enough.
so Maggette is the one we can hope for to surprise. but even if he shows enough and the Spurs keep him and cut Young, there will still be a hole at SF, b/c Maggette can't do the defense on the big SFs/combo Fs that will be needed.