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View Full Version : Game Thoughts: Dallas @ San Antonio 11/25/15



ILoveOranges
11-25-2015, 11:23 PM
- It's pretty great watching the Spurs play together. At one point, Ginobili made an aggressive drive and got fouled, and immediately turned to Lamarcus and taught him about where he was supposed to be during the 4-down play. It really solidifies the idea that the Spurs use the regular season as a way to learn and gel together. The annual Rodeo Road Trip should really bring the team together this year, with how funky the offense has been thus far in the season and how frustrated Aldridge has been.

- Lamarcus and West really fit the Spurs mentality. They dive for loose balls and fight for rebounds. Tiago was great and always threw his heart out against Dallas, but these new guys also play great defense. They're working hard down low, and are really snatching the ball away from other people. The offense with them is flowing better with them now, so good signs.

- Ginobili plays a great point guard, especially given his age. He actively looks for West/Aldridge off the picks, and mixes up the defense. That being said, he shot horribly, and turned the ball over quite a bit.

- It's tough to tell whether its the Dallas defense (which is wonderful) or just a bad night. Ginobili, Green, and Mills all shot terribly, ending up with a combined 5-28. Yikes. If you were wondering whether Mills and Green were going to come back from their shooting slumps of late, it didn't happen tonight. Even the open shots they got, at the spots of the floor they liked, just didn't fall. Overall, the offensive flow got bogged up and there were lots of forced turnovers, messy handles, and missed shots.

- Say what you want about how Tony played earlier to start out the season, in the past few games he has been rocking the boots off offensively and being a hound on the other end. You know, as much as he can. He's still limited height-wise and pretty much every other -wise, even speed-wise now. I mean if Dirk gets the ball with him as a mismatch, what's he supposed to do? But when applicable, Tony did all he could to try and deny Dirk the ball every time. There were only a few times they got switched, but the teams got to respond faster to the mismatch. Overall, great job by Tony.

- Holy shit Kawhi Leonard. Guy is looking monstrous out there. Beasting on both ends. When he's in isos, the offense gets pretty stagnant, but then he'll turn around and make a shot with the defender in his face. Cold-blooded, this guy. When he gets the shot in the flow of the offense, everything looks perfect. Less so when he gets it by himself. He makes great passes but he isn't a point guard/forward. Yet. But he is making those shots every-which-way. Kobe but with the shot falling. Kawhi is really becoming a go-to offensive guy with the shot clock winding down. He's starting to look like the new fundamental.

- Tim Duncan was great, even without really shooting. 9 rebound, 4 assists, 2 blocks in 28 minutes. Stifling defense whenever Tim was on the court with West or Aldridge and Kawhi

- Both teams played hard. It was a real nit-and-grit game out there with lots of hard defense and fouls. Like it usually is between Dallas and San Antonio, it looked like a playoff game out on the court, and despite the awful offensive production by both teams, it was really fun to watch. Neither team broke 90, with the final score being 88-83 Spurs' way, but I'd attribute that more to the defense than anything else. Both teams are played really great defense, and there was little getting through on either end. 40%/28%(3pt)for the Spurs, and 41%/27%(3pt for the Mavs. Even the players who were off offensively still chased people off and contested shots. This Dallas team is no joke. They play hard and know where to be on the court. Rick Carlisle deserves the reputation he gets.

Final score: 88-83 Spurs win

:flag:

Here's a link the box score, I have no idea how to post it without running out of space (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/dallas-mavericks-san-antonio-spurs-2015112524/)

UNT Eagles 2016
11-25-2015, 11:25 PM
- Lamarcus and Aldridge really fit the Spurs mentality. They dive for loose balls and fight for rebounds. Tiago was great, but these two also play great defense. They're working hard down low, and are really snatching the ball away from other people. The offense with them is flowing better with them now, so good signs.

Well it's good we got both Lamarcus and Aldridge then. I guess losing Splitter wasn't worth it if we hadn't been able to sign both Lamarcus AND Aldridge? :p:

ILoveOranges
11-25-2015, 11:29 PM
Well it's good we got both Lamarcus and Aldridge then. I guess losing Splitter wasn't worth it if we hadn't been able to sign both Lamarcus AND Aldridge? :p:

Haha, Splitter for most undervalued player. But in all seriousness, the Spurs would have felt it much more if West didn't opt-out to join. That center/forward rotation is going to be tough even with him right now. Though, Splitter is injured again anyhow. Sucks he isn't able to stay on the court.

ElNono
11-25-2015, 11:30 PM
solid writeup. Thanks :tu

Mr. Body
11-25-2015, 11:33 PM
Patty has been more like cow patty this year.

YGWHI
11-25-2015, 11:44 PM
Thanks for your thoughts!


Say what you want about how Tony played earlier, in the past few games he has been rocking the boots off offensively and being a hound on the other end.

I just want that Parker to be able to recognize favorable matchups and exploit them...the Spurs can systematically dismantle teams exploiting matchup advantages.

It's worrisome that Kawhi was guarded by small guards like Beal, McLemore, McCollum, Harris, in several possessions this season and Parker didn't pass the ball to him in the post.

Not sure what's wrong with Parker in this area of his game, if it's the lack of chemistry with Kawhi, if it's his court vision..IDK.

silverblackfan
11-25-2015, 11:44 PM
Good write up. Thanks Op!

ILoveOranges
11-25-2015, 11:53 PM
I just want that Parker to be able to recognize favorable matchups and exploit them...the Spurs can systematically dismantle teams exploiting matchup advantages.

It's worrisome that Kawhi was guarded by small guards like Beal, McLemore, McCollum, Harris, in several possessions this season and Parker didn't pass the ball to him in the post.

Not sure what's wrong with Parker in this area of his game, if it's the lack of chemistry with Kawhi, if it's his court vision..IDK.

Definitely both. Parker is a shoot-first guard, so that is what he looks to do. He passes a lot, and it fits the Spurs system, but compared to other point-guards he's shooting way more often. It can be frustrating, especially when he misses wide-open teammates, but when his shot is going down, you definitely want Parker taking those shots. 7-11 today.

heyheymymy
11-26-2015, 12:10 AM
thanks for the game thoughts op! nice work

SAGirl
11-26-2015, 12:43 AM
Good review.
Apreciate this. It definitely turned into a dogfight in the second half. I am glad our stars came through. The bench just had the odd game where shots were not falling. Its bound to happen at some point becuase they have too many jumpshooters, and when Diaw is refusing to go to the basket or post up, everything is perimeter. Even D.West is better on PnP. He's not much of a roller, and he can post up and pass, but he had a tough matchup tonight bc since he's been playing center guys have size on him. He still provided scoring and has come through a few games in a row. I really like him at this point, and I was iffy on him to start mostly bc he was undersized for C, but he hustles and plays hard. He competes.

Diaw is the supremely talented guy who tends to coast a whole lot. Story of his career.

On to the next one.

BillMc
11-26-2015, 12:47 AM
Good work OP! Many thanks for the thoughts!

:flag:

Hoops Czar
11-26-2015, 12:59 AM
- Ginobili plays a great point guard, especially given his age. He actively looks for West/Aldridge off the picks, and mixes up the defense. That being said, he shot horribly, and turned the ball over quite a bit.

- It's tough to tell whether its the Dallas defense (which is wonderful) or just a bad night. Ginobili, Green, and Mills all shot terribly, ending up with a combined 5-28. Yikes. If you were wondering whether Mills and Green were going to come back from their shooting slumps of late, it didn't happen tonight. Even the open shots they got, at the spots of the floor they liked, just didn't fall. Overall, the offensive flow got bogged up and there were lots of forced turnovers, messy handles, and missed shots.


- Both teams played hard. It was a real nit-and-grit game out there with lots of hard defense and fouls. Like it usually is between Dallas and San Antonio, it looked like a playoff game out on the court, and despite the awful offensive production by both teams, it was really fun to watch. Neither team broke 90, with the final score being 88-83 Spurs' way, but I'd attribute that more to the defense than anything else. Both teams are played really great defense, and there was little getting through on either end. 40%/28%(3pt)for the Spurs, and 41%/27%(3pt). Even the players who were off offensively are still chased people off and contested shots. This Dallas team is no joke. They play hard and know where to be on the court. Rick Carlisle deserves the reputation he gets. It was playground basketball for 3.5 quarters.



It had very little to do with the Mav's defense and a lot to do with pathetic shot selection (the recurring theme of the season thus far). This team has so much work to do to prepare themselves for better competition, they literally have their work cut out for them. Outside of Tony Parker Kawhi Leonard, and LMA, nobody had a good game. Ginobili was downright awful.

Darius Bieber
11-26-2015, 01:03 AM
Pretty sad to see the Spurs struggle against a Dallas team who lost by 10+ in Memphis the night before...

SASdynasty!
11-26-2015, 01:17 AM
Pretty sad to see the Spurs struggle against a Dallas team who lost by 10+ in Memphis the night before...
Meh, pretty much led the whole game. They got close a few times, we turned it on. Spurs basketball per par. Nothing to see here.

Fireball
11-26-2015, 02:12 AM
good stuff ... only disagree with the first sentence ... the first five minutes of the game were good, but after that it was another unwatchable affair ... we won, otherwise its meltdown parade time

spurs10
11-26-2015, 02:37 AM
Thanks for the thoughts! Good write-up! :bobo

Raven
11-26-2015, 02:42 AM
on our way to a historic D.

tholdren
11-26-2015, 08:07 AM
Tony parker was the best spur tonight.

I'm concerned that kl is taking long jumpers at the end of games in big moments. This could be problematic in the playoffs

Agloco
11-26-2015, 09:08 AM
Pretty sad to see the Spurs struggle against a Dallas team who lost by 10+ in Memphis the night before...

Every game is different. This was a was a different Dallas team from the one that showed up against Memphis. Couple that with an off night from the Spurs shooters and there you go.

Keepin' it real
11-26-2015, 09:39 AM
Patty has been more like cow patty this year.

And Mr. Body has been more like Mr. Nobody this year.

daledondale
11-26-2015, 11:09 AM
Good work OP! Many thanks for the thoughts!

:flag:

Mr. Body
11-26-2015, 11:17 AM
And Mr. Body has been more like Mr. Nobody this year.

:jack

bic50
11-26-2015, 11:23 AM
Really enjoying how aldridge and west are really starting to settle in.

YGWHI
11-26-2015, 01:38 PM
Definitely both. Parker is a shoot-first guard, so that is what he looks to do. He passes a lot, and it fits the Spurs system, but compared to other point-guards he's shooting way more often. It can be frustrating, especially when he misses wide-open teammates, but when his shot is going down, you definitely want Parker taking those shots. 7-11 today.

Well, exploiting matchups is one of the easiest ways to score and win games.

The games are often dictated by individual matchups and Parker has missed LMA/Kawhi in crucial moments...LMA guarded by Dudley against Wizards, Beal on Kawhi...and the same thing against Kings, Blazers, Mavs.


"The only criticism I have -- and this is definitely nitpicking -- is he has to do a better job recognizing when Leonard or Aldridge have favorable matchups. Other than that, Parker was terrific."

http://www.poundingtherock.com/2015/11/25/9802652/spurs-close-the-game-strong-beat-mavericks-88-83

I wouldn't say nitpicking :lol ...but at least this PtR article mentions the issue.

Johnny RIngo
11-26-2015, 01:56 PM
Pretty sad to see the Spurs struggle against a Dallas team who lost by 10+ in Memphis the night before...

It's mostly the offensive struggles of LMA and Danny. They're gimping the starting lineup at the moment which is mostly being carried by Kawhi and Parker(surprisingly). TD's impact is there too but it's mostly on the defensive end like usual. Bench unit is ok for now, thanks to Manu, but the Diaw/West pairing doesn't have me convinced. Our defense is elite but the offense could be a lot better.

ILoveOranges
11-26-2015, 02:14 PM
Well, exploiting matchups is one of the easiest ways to score and win games.

The games are often dictated by individual matchups and Parker has missed LMA/Kawhi in crucial moments...LMA guarded by Dudley against Wizards, Beal on Kawhi...and the same thing against Kings, Blazers, Mavs.


"The only criticism I have -- and this is definitely nitpicking -- is he has to do a better job recognizing when Leonard or Aldridge have favorable matchups. Other than that, Parker was terrific."

http://www.poundingtherock.com/2015/11/25/9802652/spurs-close-the-game-strong-beat-mavericks-88-83

I wouldn't say nitpicking :lol ...but at least this PtR article mentions the issue.

Yeah, he's making those shots for now, but I'm sure Pop will beat it into him to find the mismatch when it's right in front of him. I mean we'll see, Pop usually has a much longer leash for Parker shooting the ball.

wildbill2u
11-27-2015, 06:11 PM
Team wasn't shooting well including the second team, but every time they got close, Pop put in Parker and he made a couple of quick shots and we'd pull away again.

You can see they are still adjusting to each other, but I think it will be amazing when all are on same page and know each other better.