spurs v rockets - game thoughts and thoughts heading into the season

[rastaspur]

I miss reading the grades and gamethoughts. So since i decided to actually become vocal and not always just an obsever with no input, here it goes. Im lazy so im not breaking down the coreplayers and established ones, just new players and second year guys.

Jeff ayres - wasnt in the flow of things in the first half. Much improved in the second half. Not a fan of his jump shot mechanics. Low post footwork is excellent. High basketball iq. Needs to work on setting picks and screens though. I do think he has been in a shooting slump so far. His outside shot will come around. Tough and gritty player. Kind of a old school game. Decent footspeed. The question becomes which of baynes and ayres should be ahead of the other in the rotation. See thoughts below.

Aaron baynes. It looks like the bull in the china shop is mellowing out a bit and isnt so excited to where he reacts before he thinks. Maybe he found the herb. Jah. Lol. And his confidence is steadily growing like a magic herb stalk ( i dont like beans. Sorry to half of san antonios population). You can see it in his body language. He now has an inner belief he belongs and is steadily gaining confidence and trust from pop and his teammates. Look for him to flourish this year and provehe is quality reserve.

Regarding this game, he looked outstanding. Solid work on the boards. Solid effort on dwight. Not rushing things. Quicker rotations all in all when protecting the rim. Didnt rush things on offense at all except for one jump shot and a fruity ass hook in the lane in garbage time. Did a really good job in the pnr sets and he rolled to the basket in a textbook fashion. Promising signs.


De colo - my pick to wear a suit on most nights. He is a fringe nba player at best. Tonights performance did nothing to givme a reason to change my opinion of him which is almost a cemented one at this point. Lets move on.

Cory joseph - yikes. It was painful watching him struggle to even get the ball across half court when beverly applied pressure. He could not get the offense into the sets. His pnr waspitiful. Did better against brooks. I am convinced he is not the answer to the backup pg situation but is merely the problem. Give mills a chance. He deserves it. Mills as back up would be on the floor on most occcassions with 2 of either manu, belli or diaw at the 3/4, so its a good fit and allows patty to foncetrate on what he does best, score and shoot. If baynes is in the second unit, its a nobrainer to try patty out as back up.

Belli - he must have a.d.d. or something because i dont think he truly learned how to play eff

[rastaspur]

Phone is messing up. Let me finish.

Belli didnt learn that much about d in chicago. Harden lit his assup. Needs work on that end. How much better of a defender he is than neal remains to be seen. Hope it is more than a marginal difference. Offensevilly he is crafty as hell. In the spurs offensive system, he is a better fit snd an upgrade over neal. Why this is being debated on this forum is a headscratcher to me. I am excited about the bench and 2nd unit, except for nervousness regarding back up pg spot.

Random thoughts. Splitter deserves much more respect on this forum. He damn sure gets it from the opposing players. On defensive pnr sets on the perimeter he damn sure gets it. Harden. Chose to pass it up instead of attack him. Lebron did it several times in the finals. Splitter is the best all around pnr big in the whole league when considrring both sides of the ball. He moves his feet so well and is so fund amentally sound and plays the angles.

Boris diaw will suffice as back up sf assuming he stays in shape. Did a fine job on chandler. Decent athlete with a quick first step and boris defended him well. Chased him through screens well. If ayres and baynes crack the rotation, the versatlility of boris and his ability to play 10 to 12 minutes a night at back up small forward might be what nets the spurs a championship. If cojo, mills and/or decolo cant handle backup guard duties then expect to see alot of a second unit featuring manu beli and diaw playing together. That would be three decent facilitators and two shooters which would work with any of our bigs considering diaw isnt a rebounding liability at the 3 and baynes could offest bonner. With the expected emergence of baynes and ayres as regular rotation guys, diaw becomes an x factor due to flexibility.

Of course this assumes no major roster moves. But bottomline is i think the back up small forward role is not as bad of an issue as it seems unless boris or kl get injured.

In my 27 years as a spurs fan, i do believe this is the most versatile team we have ever had. Despite the end to last season which really disappointed, i have never been this excited to begin a season. I

[Sean Cagney]

In my 27 years as a spurs fan, i do believe this is the most versatile team we have ever had. Despite the end to last season which really disappointed, i have never been this excited to begin a season. I
Me 05 and 07 when I was PUMPED to start the year and just knew we were gonna win it all after the .4 and Dirk foul. This year I don't know what to expect as Tim is year older and Tony played the Summer etc. Will Kawhi step up that much this year and take over the third in the big three and will GINO play this year? Will he ball this year? Will Belli work out? Will Ayers work out? Will Splitter continue to grow? Those are keys IMO to a big run. I know Green is a key as well but IMO we know what we have in him already and he has hit his ceiling unless he added something to his game. There are a few ifs.

[xmas1997]

Phone is messing up. Let me finish.

Belli didnt learn that much about d in chicago. Harden lit his assup. Needs work on that end. How much better of a defender he is than neal remains to be seen. Hope it is more than a marginal difference. Offensevilly he is crafty as hell. In the spurs offensive system, he is a better fit snd an upgrade over neal. Why this is being debated on this forum is a headscratcher to me. I am excited about the bench and 2nd unit, except for nervousness regarding back up pg spot.

Random thoughts. Splitter deserves much more respect on this forum. He damn sure gets it from the opposing players. On defensive pnr sets on the perimeter he damn sure gets it. Harden. Chose to pass it up instead of attack him. Lebron did it several times in the finals. Splitter is the best all around pnr big in the whole league when considrring both sides of the ball. He moves his feet so well and is so fund amentally sound and plays the angles.

Boris diaw will suffice as back up sf assuming he stays in shape. Did a fine job on chandler. Decent athlete with a quick first step and boris defended him well. Chased him through screens well. If ayres and baynes crack the rotation, the versatlility of boris and his ability to play 10 to 12 minutes a night at back up small forward might be what nets the spurs a championship. If cojo, mills and/or decolo cant handle backup guard duties then expect to see alot of a second unit featuring manu beli and diaw playing together. That would be three decent facilitators and two shooters which would work with any of our bigs considering diaw isnt a rebounding liability at the 3 and baynes could offest bonner. With the expected emergence of baynes and ayres as regular rotation guys, diaw becomes an x factor due to flexibility.

Of course this assumes no major roster moves. But bottomline is i think the back up small forward role is not as bad of an issue as it seems unless boris or kl get injured.

In my 27 years as a spurs fan, i do believe this is the most versatile team we have ever had. Despite the end to last season which really disappointed, i have never been this excited to begin a season. I

Thanks for the excellent breakdown.
I share your nervousness about backup PG. Mills looks pretty good but I doubt the eventual answer. The other two, Cojo and Nando, have yet to impress. That makes sense because Pop went to Mills in the Houston game. Apparently he isn't impressed either.
At this point my hope is that Kabongo develops soon and is called up sometime in the season, because backup PG by committee is not the answer for a decent run at a championship.

[Embedded]

rastaspur, great analysis, mon.

[spurs10]

I concur on many points! Especially the pg issues. Baynes and Patty look good playing together..

[jestersmash]

What is it about ayres that makes you think he has "high basketball iq"?

That's like the last thing I would associate with him. I mean he's not dumb or anything but he's unremarkable.

[Hoops Czar]

What is it about ayres that makes you think he has "high basketball iq"?

That's like the last thing I would associate with him. I mean he's not dumb or anything but he's unremarkable.

He probably read one of TD 21's posts.

[rastaspur]

Footwork, efficient and fundamentally sound movement . Plays angles well on defense. Little things. Nudging or disrupting guards as the go through staggered screens or pin fowns. Always looking to find a body and box out as soon as the ball is in the air. He wouldnt be the first unremarkable player in the league to actually comprehend what is going on around him on the court. Time will prove he will be a breathe of fresh air as opposed to blair whose iq was not so good.

I did not get a chance to read td21's post. I cant read tbh. Maybe next time im at hoop czars moms house she will read it out loud for me. She is a giver so i think shhe will acommodate me. A cleveland fan who claims to be a hoops czar. In yhe words of clay davis " shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!" Give me a break.

[Hoops Czar]

Footwork, efficient and fundamentally sound movement . Plays angles well on defense. Little things. Nudging or disrupting guards as the go through staggered screens or pin fowns. Always looking to find a body and box out as soon as the ball is in the air. He wouldnt be the first unremarkable player in the league to actually comprehend what is going on around him on the court. Time will prove he will be a breathe of fresh air as opposed to blair whose iq was not so good.

I did not get a chance to read td21's post. I cant read tbh. Maybe next time im at hoop czars moms house she will read it out loud for me. She is a giver so i think shhe will acommodate me. A cleveland fan who claims to be a hoops czar. In yhe words of clay davis " shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!" Give me a break.

You read my post alright..

[rastaspur]

You read my post alright..

I can read. You caught me redhanded detective gadget. I was just messing with ya. Jeffs sample size is small professionally. Only time will tell. If a few months into the season the evidence is contrary, bump this thread. Even only jah almighty himself is immune from being wrong. I and i predict tings wrong on many a time