SAGirl
10-23-2015, 02:42 PM
So, I finally found a stream that had it and watched the game belatedly. Not going to do grades and all because its 2 days after the fact, for a preseason game and nobody cares, but some things were very off in that game and its good to take a note to observe how the team changes certain things (or not) moving forward.
POP: Pop is still experimenting with lineups and with offensive and defensive schemes. You can tell he had in his mind certain experimental things that he wanted to test, and he also gave a lot of playing time to bench guys still trying out for the team in Williams and Simmons. So, a lot of the minutes that would have gone to Green or Kawhi were allotted to these two. He also again tried out Kyle Anderson as a 4 next to LMA in this game. I liked this lineup specially offensively. It ended up with some great looks for LMA, Anderson and Reggie Williams, and even some open 3s for Ray McCallum. This lineup got good quality shots and moved the ball well. Kawhi was tried out in a point forward role in the first lineup and was very bad, having an uncharacteristic 6 TO in about 28 mins with no elite defenders guarding him. That was awful, and Pop will chew him out privately I am sure.
Kawhi: He had a horrible game himself, like I said 6 TO. He missed uncontested chippies right at the rim twice. He's also taking a bit of an uncharacteristic diva approach expecting foul calls every time he drives and is making scenes about them, failing to get back up or get back in transition while complaining about a bad call. This was preseason, but he needs to clean that up. He was unfocused, and Pop benched him after a very bad skip pass across the court to a guy who was covered ended up in a TO. I have the bar set higher for him than for other guys bc he's the best player, and I have been famously critical of fringe guys like Simmons, so in that vein, Kawhi sucked and needs to be better.
Lamarcus: The first unit is still struggling to incorporate him. Unless Pop calls for a post up for him, he doesn't get the ball often in a position to score bc guys fail to look for him or he's not open. The first unit lacks playmakers when Timmy and Tony sit, rest, Tony is sucking, or they are deferring to Kawhi. And in this game, there was a level of deferral since Pop was testing out "Kawhi the playmaker" role. Kawhi has done well so far in setting others up for shots out of familiarity with the system and playing for years with the other 3, but if you take Tim and Tony from the starting lineup, the ball sticks and it looks like the SAC and ATL game, Kawhi in iso mode and just awful. Its bound to be a problem if it continues. If it wasn't for Tim getting him involved, Lamarcus would be ignored at times, too often in fact. LMA has been willing to pass the ball out and not force things for the most part, which had him relegated in this game to a sort of garbage man in the starting lineup, living on offensive rebounds and such. It is not the optimal use for a guy of his talent and Pop will have to find a way to improve this.
In comparison for example, Pop trotted out a lineup with Lamarcus at the 5 and Kyle Anderson at the 4 for a few minutes. In this lineup, Lamarcus was involved in almost every play. Kyle used PnR with LMA, as did Reggie Williams. Both of these guys ended up with quality shots for themselves or for LMA. The fact Anderson is a newbie, and him and LMA have not been playing together like Green and Kawhi have, is actually a compliment to Anderson's passing skill, ability, and desire to get others going, but you are not going to start Anderson or trot LMA in the bench, so something must be done. Conclusion: LMA still not integrated to the starting unit and the team will need to do better to get him going.
I kept thinking how sweet it would have been for that Suns team to get LMA. They got a ton of open looks for Teletovic and Leuer, who killed the Spurs for stretches with midrange or open 3 point looks. LMA is better than these two, so Pop needs to do something about what they are doing offensively.
The Big 3: Tim was his usual self. Great passes, hustle, defense. It was a good game for him in his limited minutes. He's ever so consistent. Tony was terrible, in coasting mode, turning the ball over. He did come up with a couple of steals or loose balls, and had some nice mid-range jumpshots. Still, he didn't look too good. Manu was laid back in this game, and offensively deferring. He was there clearly as a mentor and to help out the young bench guys to make plays. For stretches, the offense ran through Ray, Kyle, Reggie and Simms. Manu was there to help out. Still he made defensive plays and was fired up! Such a joy to watch him even in this role.
The Bench: I said too much already about Simmons in another thread I started concerning his mental fragility. I loved Kyle despite his -/+ rate. He was subbed in with a lineup that included Simmons for a long stretch when Simmons played very poorly, turning the ball over and bricking jumpshots, then on defense allowing his man to give him the slip on backcuts and such. Kyle was also subbed next to Kawhi for a few minutes in which Kawhi also played poorly and also TO, and he was also with Tony, who had a very bad game himself with his own TO, and poor play. Kyle himself played well. In the end of the game, when it was out of reach, Pop put him for about 3 mins as center, with Simms, Williams, Ray and Boris out there. This group was murdered defensively obviously and his effort decreased and he looked scrubby, but at that point the game was out of reach and it was garbage time. Prior to that Kyle played well. To me Kyle's +/- was deceptive. His midrange shot was not falling in this game though, and he had 2-3 fadeaways that were short. It contributed to his negative impact, because during that stretch Teletovic and Leuer got hot, but Kyle in general had a good game. Without watching the game, it would escape you the number of defensive plays he made and nice passes setting others up for shots, and moving the ball very well.
Reggie Williams had his best game of the preseason. He had a few impressive passes and he scored out of PnR with LMA and West. He's talented offesively, also he's not afraid to shoot and he made 1 of only 2 3s in this whole game. Defensively he's a problem. He is awful in transition defense and unathletic. Kyle is too, but he has size that Reggie does not, and thus, Kyle is capable of defensive plays and contests that Reggie is not capable of. Kyle has also a much better defensive awareness and makes smart plays, Reggie is lost on defense often, and out of place. That is also the case for Simmons by the way. Your guess is as good as mine as to whether the two guys make it.
Ray McCallum had a good game as well. He's very consistent and dedicated on defense, hustles, and plays with heart out there. Not a talented passer, but if you play him next to Anderson, he'll get good looks. He has a very quick jumpshot and was not afraid to let it fly from 3 if he was wide open. He got the only other 3 pt shot in this game. He looked much better than Tony because his effort level was dialed up.
West and Boris played very little. Boris got in just in garabage time. It was just a bit of a workout for him. West had some nice moments, but also some silly fouls. In general he's was ok. He's exposed sometimes as a center, but it wasn't egregious.
POP: Pop is still experimenting with lineups and with offensive and defensive schemes. You can tell he had in his mind certain experimental things that he wanted to test, and he also gave a lot of playing time to bench guys still trying out for the team in Williams and Simmons. So, a lot of the minutes that would have gone to Green or Kawhi were allotted to these two. He also again tried out Kyle Anderson as a 4 next to LMA in this game. I liked this lineup specially offensively. It ended up with some great looks for LMA, Anderson and Reggie Williams, and even some open 3s for Ray McCallum. This lineup got good quality shots and moved the ball well. Kawhi was tried out in a point forward role in the first lineup and was very bad, having an uncharacteristic 6 TO in about 28 mins with no elite defenders guarding him. That was awful, and Pop will chew him out privately I am sure.
Kawhi: He had a horrible game himself, like I said 6 TO. He missed uncontested chippies right at the rim twice. He's also taking a bit of an uncharacteristic diva approach expecting foul calls every time he drives and is making scenes about them, failing to get back up or get back in transition while complaining about a bad call. This was preseason, but he needs to clean that up. He was unfocused, and Pop benched him after a very bad skip pass across the court to a guy who was covered ended up in a TO. I have the bar set higher for him than for other guys bc he's the best player, and I have been famously critical of fringe guys like Simmons, so in that vein, Kawhi sucked and needs to be better.
Lamarcus: The first unit is still struggling to incorporate him. Unless Pop calls for a post up for him, he doesn't get the ball often in a position to score bc guys fail to look for him or he's not open. The first unit lacks playmakers when Timmy and Tony sit, rest, Tony is sucking, or they are deferring to Kawhi. And in this game, there was a level of deferral since Pop was testing out "Kawhi the playmaker" role. Kawhi has done well so far in setting others up for shots out of familiarity with the system and playing for years with the other 3, but if you take Tim and Tony from the starting lineup, the ball sticks and it looks like the SAC and ATL game, Kawhi in iso mode and just awful. Its bound to be a problem if it continues. If it wasn't for Tim getting him involved, Lamarcus would be ignored at times, too often in fact. LMA has been willing to pass the ball out and not force things for the most part, which had him relegated in this game to a sort of garbage man in the starting lineup, living on offensive rebounds and such. It is not the optimal use for a guy of his talent and Pop will have to find a way to improve this.
In comparison for example, Pop trotted out a lineup with Lamarcus at the 5 and Kyle Anderson at the 4 for a few minutes. In this lineup, Lamarcus was involved in almost every play. Kyle used PnR with LMA, as did Reggie Williams. Both of these guys ended up with quality shots for themselves or for LMA. The fact Anderson is a newbie, and him and LMA have not been playing together like Green and Kawhi have, is actually a compliment to Anderson's passing skill, ability, and desire to get others going, but you are not going to start Anderson or trot LMA in the bench, so something must be done. Conclusion: LMA still not integrated to the starting unit and the team will need to do better to get him going.
I kept thinking how sweet it would have been for that Suns team to get LMA. They got a ton of open looks for Teletovic and Leuer, who killed the Spurs for stretches with midrange or open 3 point looks. LMA is better than these two, so Pop needs to do something about what they are doing offensively.
The Big 3: Tim was his usual self. Great passes, hustle, defense. It was a good game for him in his limited minutes. He's ever so consistent. Tony was terrible, in coasting mode, turning the ball over. He did come up with a couple of steals or loose balls, and had some nice mid-range jumpshots. Still, he didn't look too good. Manu was laid back in this game, and offensively deferring. He was there clearly as a mentor and to help out the young bench guys to make plays. For stretches, the offense ran through Ray, Kyle, Reggie and Simms. Manu was there to help out. Still he made defensive plays and was fired up! Such a joy to watch him even in this role.
The Bench: I said too much already about Simmons in another thread I started concerning his mental fragility. I loved Kyle despite his -/+ rate. He was subbed in with a lineup that included Simmons for a long stretch when Simmons played very poorly, turning the ball over and bricking jumpshots, then on defense allowing his man to give him the slip on backcuts and such. Kyle was also subbed next to Kawhi for a few minutes in which Kawhi also played poorly and also TO, and he was also with Tony, who had a very bad game himself with his own TO, and poor play. Kyle himself played well. In the end of the game, when it was out of reach, Pop put him for about 3 mins as center, with Simms, Williams, Ray and Boris out there. This group was murdered defensively obviously and his effort decreased and he looked scrubby, but at that point the game was out of reach and it was garbage time. Prior to that Kyle played well. To me Kyle's +/- was deceptive. His midrange shot was not falling in this game though, and he had 2-3 fadeaways that were short. It contributed to his negative impact, because during that stretch Teletovic and Leuer got hot, but Kyle in general had a good game. Without watching the game, it would escape you the number of defensive plays he made and nice passes setting others up for shots, and moving the ball very well.
Reggie Williams had his best game of the preseason. He had a few impressive passes and he scored out of PnR with LMA and West. He's talented offesively, also he's not afraid to shoot and he made 1 of only 2 3s in this whole game. Defensively he's a problem. He is awful in transition defense and unathletic. Kyle is too, but he has size that Reggie does not, and thus, Kyle is capable of defensive plays and contests that Reggie is not capable of. Kyle has also a much better defensive awareness and makes smart plays, Reggie is lost on defense often, and out of place. That is also the case for Simmons by the way. Your guess is as good as mine as to whether the two guys make it.
Ray McCallum had a good game as well. He's very consistent and dedicated on defense, hustles, and plays with heart out there. Not a talented passer, but if you play him next to Anderson, he'll get good looks. He has a very quick jumpshot and was not afraid to let it fly from 3 if he was wide open. He got the only other 3 pt shot in this game. He looked much better than Tony because his effort level was dialed up.
West and Boris played very little. Boris got in just in garabage time. It was just a bit of a workout for him. West had some nice moments, but also some silly fouls. In general he's was ok. He's exposed sometimes as a center, but it wasn't egregious.