mute
12-31-2013, 10:13 PM
Game Thoughts:
This game was pretty much over by the second quarter. I don't know if we are that good, or if the Nets are just bad... probably another fool's gold victory. I'm not ready to crown anyone in December. That being said, the Spurs came out and played their game, not worrying too much about their opponent's misfortunes. They plowed over Nets as expected and got their starters out quickly.
Offense:
I thought we were a little sloppy with the ball, but overall we moved the ball and found the open shooters. Once again, we had a well balanced attack with six different players scoring in double figures.
Defense:
There were a few times where we didn't close out fast enough on their shooters and allowed their bigs to run the floor in transition, but overall I thought we brought the energy and hustled and got after it. We held Deron Williams and Joe Johnson to nine points a piece.
Jeff Ayres:
Ayres probably played his best game as a Spur. He was active on the glass and on defense and didn't miss any easy buckets on offense. I think if he can consistently do this on a night to night basis, it could be huge for us. I think I see what Pop sees in him. He's long and athletic and can (better) match up with some of the more mobile bigs.
Tim Duncan:
His shots (namely, the top of the key jumper) have been off to start the season, but he's coming along nicely. He hit a few open jumpers tonight -- jumpers that were almost automatic last season. He needs to continue to hit these shots because defenders are giving it to him. His defense was solid as usual.
Tiago Splitter:
I thought Splitter played great defense tonight and was aggressive on offense and looked for his shot. I think some people are little over critical of him since he's not averaging like 18+ ppg (given the contract we gave him), but we don't need that from him. We need him to play defense and be active on the glass first. Any points we get from him are gravy.
Marco Belinelli -- Danny Green experiment:
Marco continues to fit in flawlessly in our system. He plays within the system so well and at the end of games, you're like "Oh wow, he had 18 points tonight?" (I know he only had 10 pts tonight, but just saying). I think his defense is underrated and that he's pretty active and gets after it. I didn't see anything glaring tonight (regarding his defense).
Green was quiet on offense tonight after putting up performances of 14 pts and 22 pts since his "demotion" to the bench. Defensively, I thought he played well tonight and shadowed his man. We can't count on him to score 15+ ppg every night, but that's not to say that his role isn't really important. Green is actually huge for us since he's our best perimeter defender after Kwahi. He's going to be the one guarding the point guards and shooting guards in crunch time.
I don't like having Green come off the bench for a number of reasons. First, he can't get his shot, so it's better to have him in the first unit where he will be able to get more open looks. We also need his defense out the gate on the other team's guards. We don't need anymore offensively fire power in the first unit. We need to get stronger defensively, and I think having Green in the lineup gives us the best balance.
No matter how off Green is (offensively), he should remain in the lineup for three reasons:
1) He's still our best defender after Kawhi and can effectively guard Stephen Curry, James Harden, and other athletic/scoring PG's and SG's
2) We don't need anymore scoring in the starting lineup (Green just needs to defend and stretch the defense on offense)
3) If we replace Marco with Green, Green basically becomes useless because he cannot offensively spark the 2nd unit/bench like Marco can
Bench:
We played 13 guys tonight. I don't know how many of these guys we're going to see in the postseason, but our bench has been huge for us these past few seasons (to make up for the decline of Duncan, Parker, and Manu).
I thought Mills chucked a bit, but he had open looks that he simply did not make. He's been huge for this year, and someone we could have used last year in the playoffs. Hopefully, he continues to get better and gets minutes in the playoffs. Manu continues to impress and isn't trying to do too much. Diaw is continues to be aggressive on offense. He continues to punish opponents down low and is shooting 52+%. I wouldn't mind seeing him get more touches. His resurgence (along with Manu's) will be the difference this year.
This game was pretty much over by the second quarter. I don't know if we are that good, or if the Nets are just bad... probably another fool's gold victory. I'm not ready to crown anyone in December. That being said, the Spurs came out and played their game, not worrying too much about their opponent's misfortunes. They plowed over Nets as expected and got their starters out quickly.
Offense:
I thought we were a little sloppy with the ball, but overall we moved the ball and found the open shooters. Once again, we had a well balanced attack with six different players scoring in double figures.
Defense:
There were a few times where we didn't close out fast enough on their shooters and allowed their bigs to run the floor in transition, but overall I thought we brought the energy and hustled and got after it. We held Deron Williams and Joe Johnson to nine points a piece.
Jeff Ayres:
Ayres probably played his best game as a Spur. He was active on the glass and on defense and didn't miss any easy buckets on offense. I think if he can consistently do this on a night to night basis, it could be huge for us. I think I see what Pop sees in him. He's long and athletic and can (better) match up with some of the more mobile bigs.
Tim Duncan:
His shots (namely, the top of the key jumper) have been off to start the season, but he's coming along nicely. He hit a few open jumpers tonight -- jumpers that were almost automatic last season. He needs to continue to hit these shots because defenders are giving it to him. His defense was solid as usual.
Tiago Splitter:
I thought Splitter played great defense tonight and was aggressive on offense and looked for his shot. I think some people are little over critical of him since he's not averaging like 18+ ppg (given the contract we gave him), but we don't need that from him. We need him to play defense and be active on the glass first. Any points we get from him are gravy.
Marco Belinelli -- Danny Green experiment:
Marco continues to fit in flawlessly in our system. He plays within the system so well and at the end of games, you're like "Oh wow, he had 18 points tonight?" (I know he only had 10 pts tonight, but just saying). I think his defense is underrated and that he's pretty active and gets after it. I didn't see anything glaring tonight (regarding his defense).
Green was quiet on offense tonight after putting up performances of 14 pts and 22 pts since his "demotion" to the bench. Defensively, I thought he played well tonight and shadowed his man. We can't count on him to score 15+ ppg every night, but that's not to say that his role isn't really important. Green is actually huge for us since he's our best perimeter defender after Kwahi. He's going to be the one guarding the point guards and shooting guards in crunch time.
I don't like having Green come off the bench for a number of reasons. First, he can't get his shot, so it's better to have him in the first unit where he will be able to get more open looks. We also need his defense out the gate on the other team's guards. We don't need anymore offensively fire power in the first unit. We need to get stronger defensively, and I think having Green in the lineup gives us the best balance.
No matter how off Green is (offensively), he should remain in the lineup for three reasons:
1) He's still our best defender after Kawhi and can effectively guard Stephen Curry, James Harden, and other athletic/scoring PG's and SG's
2) We don't need anymore scoring in the starting lineup (Green just needs to defend and stretch the defense on offense)
3) If we replace Marco with Green, Green basically becomes useless because he cannot offensively spark the 2nd unit/bench like Marco can
Bench:
We played 13 guys tonight. I don't know how many of these guys we're going to see in the postseason, but our bench has been huge for us these past few seasons (to make up for the decline of Duncan, Parker, and Manu).
I thought Mills chucked a bit, but he had open looks that he simply did not make. He's been huge for this year, and someone we could have used last year in the playoffs. Hopefully, he continues to get better and gets minutes in the playoffs. Manu continues to impress and isn't trying to do too much. Diaw is continues to be aggressive on offense. He continues to punish opponents down low and is shooting 52+%. I wouldn't mind seeing him get more touches. His resurgence (along with Manu's) will be the difference this year.