Game Grades: Mavericks @ Spurs (:vomit:)

[Robz4000]

The Story:
The Mavericks came into this game with a 2-10 record riding a 5-game losing streak. On top of that they were without arguably four of their top 5 players. In classic Poop fashion, Porker and LMA were sat out tonight for "rest" despite having two days off coming into this game and another day off before the next.

The first quarter was relatively back-and-forth with the Spurs clearly coming into this game sleepwalking, albeit they seem to do that in every game these days. Overall it was a sloppy start to the game on both sides with some good shooting sprinkled in. However, while the Spurs worked hard to generate looks (most of them contested), Dallas seemed to find a plethora of open looks thanks to some miscommunication on D and otherwise poor effort from everyone. The second quarter was much of the same, only it was Seth "Steph" Curry lighting up the Spurs single-handedly. At the half it was Dallas with a one point lead.

In the third quarter, the Spurs quickly took the lead only to relinquish it and fall behind by 7 points thanks to more sloppy play and lazy defense. Eventually a few players, notably Mills, Lee, and Kawhi, woke up somewhat and managed to generate enough offense to offset Wes Matthews who decided to not be a scrub for a night and torch the Spurs through the entire third. With a tie game going into the fourth the Spurs managed to not suck as much as the Mavs up until the final few minutes where mistake after mistake led to the Mavs having multiple chances to take the lead and pull out the win. Thankfully Seth Curry realized he wasn't his brother, Wes Matthews remembered he had no Achilles, and Harrison Barnes had flashbacks of the Finals and all three blew wide open looks to help the Spurs secure the victory.

Make no mistake, the Spurs won, but this game was akin to a larger mentally-challenged child beating up on a smaller, crippled mentally-challenged toddler. There was nothing to take away from this game other than the multitude of problems that plague this team.

Some things I noticed during the game:

-Resting players at this point in the season when there was no game the day before or a game the next day? Really Pop.

-I love Kawhi, but he needs to stop shooting; something is clearly wrong with his shot (and offense in general really). He's shown a nice upgrade in his passing ability this season so it'd be in the team's best interest for him to look to create more until his shot comes around again.

-Even without Porker directing things, the offense found enough of a balance between ISO and ball movement but everyone seemed to choose the worst times to take a shot. They either ended up with a wide open look only to continue passing into a high-difficulty shot by Kawhi or Gasol, or ended up attempting difficult passes that resulted in turnovers.

-Pop needs to realize this isn't 2014 (or even last year). This team doesn't have the depth it once did to "take games off" and expect to win, even against supposed bottom-feeders.

-Pop again: stop with these retarded rotations that make no sense.

There is zero reason for Fathead to be closing out games, especially with how awful he's looked all season.
Under no circumstances should Dejounte Murray, Davis Bertans, and Byrn Forbes be on the court together at this point in the meat of a game.
Stop benching Kawhi and Danny at the same time when the opposing team's perimeter players start to get hot; it only exacerbates the problem.
Practice what you preach and stop underestimating bad teams.


-I will say this though: regardless of who was on the court, the effort presented by everyone from Pop to Byrn Forbes was inexplicable. You are facing an NBA team regardless of who is wearing the opposing jersey; act like it.

Grades:

Kawhi Leonard - B-

Not too happy with his effort on either end. He did end up with a 24/9/4/1 statline, but Harrison Barnes was scoring pretty efficiently when Kawhi was his primary defender while on the other end Barnes gave him some trouble. Despite the W and having 4 assists to none, Kawhi was outplayed tonight by an inferior player. Most of the team didn't come out with the right focus, including Kawhi, but unlike most of the team he began to bring it towards the end of the first quarter which saves him from a worse grade.

Danny Green - C-

Green makes plenty of head-scratching decisions on D at times, but tonight was easily the worst I've seen from him in two seasons. Thankfully he played some great D at the end on Barnes to help seal the win, but unless his shot is falling (which it wasn't tonight) he can't afford these mental lapses on the defensive end.

Davis Bertans - C-

Hardly noticed when he was in tbh. I remember him missing multiple open threes and poor defense at times, but otherwise he was average. That said, even with those missed threes there's no reason he should've only gotten three shots. That's on both him for not being aggressive enough and the team for not trying to find him more often (especially with Dallas' lack of size).

Pau Gasol - C

We all know Gasol isn't known for his defense, but his effort tonight was unacceptable. He didn't have much in the way of opposing bigs to worry about, but his rim protection was nonexistent and he got bullied for rebounds more than a couple of times tonight. Offensively he missed some bunnies but was otherwise par for the course on that end.

Dejounte Murray - D

Other than a nice shot over Meiji and a couple solid feeds early on, this was a night to forget for Murray. He was responsible for a lot of the turnovers early on in the game and the offense devolving into desperation heaves. His athleticism is no joke and his handles are pretty good, but it'll be at least another two seasons before he's ready to play meaningful minutes, much less start for this team. Good luck in the D league this season, Murray!

Manu Ginobili - C-

Lot of inconsistent minutes from Manu tonight. Like Murray he was part of the cause for the turnover parade that took place much of the game and his shot wasn't falling, but he brought the energy in the fourth to help the team pull out the win

Patty Mills - B+

It was a tale of two halves for Patty. In the first he was a turnstile on D while bringing little of positive note on the offensive end. In the second half, however, Patty was extremely strong on the offensive end and went from awful to just below average on D though he did draw a couple helpful offensive fouls on Meiji who was giving the Spurs some trouble on the inside. Spurs don't win this game without his shot and his energy, so props MVPatty.

Jonathon Simmons - C-

Same story with Manu, just a lot of inconsistent minutes from JSimms. Definitely brought the energy while he was in and made 7 or 8 nice passes that only resulted in a score half the time, but his inability (or reluctance) to shoot is hurting his value to the team. He was also lackadaisical on D which resulted in Wes Matthews getting momentum in the third. That dunk he tried to force in the second/third quarter was a terrible decision that completely reversed momentum; if he simply lays it in the crowd goes nuts and Carlisle calls timeout, but because he missed it Dallas managed a fast break and scored on the opposite end to regain the lead.

Kyle Anderson - F(athead)

It's not a question of whether he's an NBA player; he's shown flashes of good to great play in the past. It's just that he most likely doesn't have a place on this team. Other than a nice putback late in the third, I can't recall one good thing Fathead did in the game. In fact, a missed rotation at the end resulted in a wide open three for Curry that he easily should've made to tie the game. It might be in the best interest of both the Spurs and Fathead to pursue a trade to a young lottery team where he can receive plenty of playing time to find his niche in the league.

David Lee - B

Another bright spot in an otherwise forgettable game. Lee wasn't exactly efficient tonight and he was poor as a rim protector at best, but he competed hard and made some huge plays throughout the game to swing momentum the Spurs' way. Honestly, without that steal and dunk in the fourth I'm not sure the Spurs find the energy to win tonight. Props to DLee for being a professional, unlike most of the team tonight.

Bryn Forbes - D

Made one three but otherwise was a negative on the court. It's looking like keeping him over Garino, Jean-Charles, and Anthony was a mistake. He was kept on for one skill, his shooting, and struggles to make a shot. He's young and this was his longest stint of playing time thus far in his NBA career, but damn he doesn't look good.


Pop - F

Ugh, where do I start? There comes a point in every coaches life where you need to look at yourself in the mirror and decide whether or not you still have the fire to be a coach. From everything I've seen so far from Pop this season outside a few notable exceptions (Dubs game, game at Utah) I just haven't seen much to convince me he really cares about Spurs basketball. Maybe he's looking ahead to coaching Team USA? Maybe his problems off the court (think I heard his wife was sick; I hope not) are worse than he's letting on? Maybe the election really is hitting him hard? Tim retiring taking a lot out of him like some of us? Regardless, he isn't getting this team to perform on a nightly basis and I'm not seeing much of an improvement on either end of the court (outside getting players back) that should be expected. The past few seasons his rotations have been questionable at best, but now it feels like this team is moving in the wrong direction which I can't say has happened before this early in a season to the Spurs in 20 years (at least with this level of talent on top of the league being so weak).

[100%duncan]

Thanks man

[dabom]

OP always makes the best write ups. :lol

[spursistan]

Pop - F

Ugh, where do I start? There comes a point in every coaches life where you need to look at yourself in the mirror and decide whether or not you still have the fire to be a coach. From everything I've seen so far from Pop this season outside a few notable exceptions (Dubs game, game at Utah) I just haven't seen much to convince me he really cares about Spurs basketball. Maybe he's looking ahead to coaching Team USA? Maybe his problems off the court (think I heard his wife was sick; I hope not) are worse than he's letting on? Maybe the election really is hitting him hard? Tim retiring taking a lot out of him like some of us? Regardless, he isn't getting this team to perform on a nightly basis and I'm not seeing much of an improvement on either end of the court (outside getting players back) that should be expected. The past few seasons his rotations have been questionable at best, but now it feels like this team is moving in the wrong direction which I can't say has happened before this early in a season to the Spurs in 20 years (at least with this level of talent on top of the league being so weak).

The truth bombs in here :wow

:tu :tu

[raybies]

Lol at f for fathead. That ought to rile up sag...

Anyways about Pop, the answer may be easier than anyone thinks. We don't have Duncan anymore! Hello. We need to develop an identity tbh It takes time

[Arcadian]

Make no mistake, the Spurs won, but this game was akin to a larger mentally-challenged child beating up on a smaller, crippled mentally-challenged toddler.

:lol

It was a rather faggoty win, indeed.

[Snaq O'Meal]

Make no mistake, the Spurs won, but this game was akin to a larger mentally-challenged child beating up on a smaller, crippled mentally-challenged toddler. There was nothing to take away from this game other than the multitude of problems that plague this team.

FYI, that crippled mentally-challenged toddler nearly beat the larger mentally-challenged child.

[Robz4000]

FYI, that crippled mentally-challenged toddler nearly beat the larger mentally-challenged child.

In a retard fight, nobody wins

[SAGirl]

Thanks for the write-up!
:tu

[Hoops Czar]

"That was a pathetic performance on the part of the Spurs," Popovich said. "They had some guys out. We had some guys out. But they had a lot more out than we did. I felt we showed a lack of humility, a lack of respect for the opponent. A very pathetic performance at both ends of the court, both in execution and in grunt, fiber and desire. It was an awful performance."

"Oh, and they deserved to win the basketball game," Popovich added. "I forgot to say that."

http://www.espn.com/blog/san-antonio-spurs/post/_/id/1150/gregg-popovich-calls-1100th-win-a-pathetic-performance


Pot meet kettle Pop.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

The Story:

Pop - F

Ugh, where do I start? There comes a point in every coaches life where you need to look at yourself in the mirror and decide whether or not you still have the fire to be a coach. From everything I've seen so far from Pop this season outside a few notable exceptions (Dubs game, game at Utah) I just haven't seen much to convince me he really cares about Spurs basketball. Maybe he's looking ahead to coaching Team USA? Maybe his problems off the court (think I heard his wife was sick; I hope not) are worse than he's letting on? Maybe the election really is hitting him hard? Tim retiring taking a lot out of him like some of us? Regardless, he isn't getting this team to perform on a nightly basis and I'm not seeing much of an improvement on either end of the court (outside getting players back) that should be expected. The past few seasons his rotations have been questionable at best, but now it feels like this team is moving in the wrong direction which I can't say has happened before this early in a season to the Spurs in 20 years (at least with this level of talent on top of the league being so weak).


First off, fantastic write up, this forum is sorely lacking in thoughtful analysis since timvp stopped posting so it's nice to see great thoughts after a game. :tu


What I find bizarre about Pop, is that this is a guy who coaches "appropriate fear" for your opponent yet he trots out the most insulting lineups possible. With the amount of turnover the Spurs have experienced he should be focusing on making sure Kawhi/LMA/Gasol are locked in because without them we don't go anywhere. It's early days and I totally understand experimenting with all the new players but the team has so many glaring flaws that this isn't the time to play mad scientist with a D-League starting lineup.

The one thing I will say in favor of Pop was during the first game of the season against the Warriors is that he looked locked in. That game felt like a playoff game and Pop was pressing all the right buttons. I mention it, because it gives me hope that he hasn't completely lost his fire. It's also times like this I wish we still had Bud as an assistant coach, because right now Pop is surrounded by yes men and that never benefits anyone in any situation (look at Kanye).

I also hope Dedmon gets healthy ASAP and plays meaningful minutes upon his return. I hate how Pop preaches players needing to get over themselves but the guy refuses to take a hard look in the mirror.

[OrEmuN]

Not too sure why everyone is mad at Pop.

Want to develop your rookies?
Play them against the worst team in NBA.

It is on the players for not showing up.

[timtonymanu]

Good grades, Robz. It was a pretty annoying game tonight. The lack of depth is starting to show and the team needs a shake up. Sean is especially more vocal this season with the team's lack of effort.. :lmao

[MI21]

Robz4000, I really enjoy your game grades, thanks a lot.

I saw only patches of this game, including the final 6 minutes. Safe to say I won't bother watching the rest.

[Robz4000]

First off, fantastic write up, this forum is sorely lacking in thoughtful analysis since timvp stopped posting so it's nice to see great thoughts after a game. :tu


What I find bizarre about Pop, is that this is a guy who coaches "appropriate fear" for your opponent yet he trots out the most insulting lineups possible. With the amount of turnover the Spurs have experienced he should be focusing on making sure Kawhi/LMA/Gasol are locked in because without them we don't go anywhere. It's early days and I totally understand experimenting with all the new players but the team has so many glaring flaws that this isn't the time to play mad scientist with a D-League starting lineup.

The one thing I will say in favor of Pop was during the first game of the season against the Warriors is that he looked locked in. That game felt like a playoff game and Pop was pressing all the right buttons. I mention it, because it gives me hope that he hasn't completely lost his fire. It's also times like this I wish we still had Bud as an assistant coach, because right now Pop is surrounded by yes men and that never benefits anyone in any situation (look at Kanye).

I also hope Dedmon gets healthy ASAP and plays meaningful minutes upon his return. I hate how Pop preaches players needing to get over themselves but the guy refuses to take a hard look in the mirror.

Bud was a yes-man too tbh, but he at least brought new ideas and wasn't afraid to voice them.

[SAGirl]

I think Pop has no choice but to throw guys into the water and see who can swim. He carefully selected a weak opponent at home to do that and their mistakes and/or inadequacy was expected. The rookies specially just haven't even played enough and it was expected. Check Murray had been TO the ball like crazy in the dleague why expect anything less, but you do expect your veterans to bring it and they were inconsistent in their effort throughout the game and only turned things up in the second half.

The vets also made a lot of mistakes themselves, which added to those of the rookies were just too much. Kawhi, Manu, Mills, Lee increased the effort in the second half but they almost lost the game and their effort and play was so uneven throughout that it's difficult to feel good about it, but they won and Pop got his teaching moment and there might be more in the future so ready yourselves.

[ElNono]

Robz is THAT guy... thanks brosep

[Robz4000]

Not too sure why everyone is mad at Pop.

Want to develop your rookies?
Play them against the worst team in NBA.

It is on the players for not showing up.

They should get playing time, but not all at once and probably not this early considering all the new vets as well. The best way is to mix and match a rookie with the regulars, not throw them into the fire all at once unless this team is fine losing a lot. There's a reason you don't see contenders with several rookie rotation players.

[Robz4000]

Robz4000, I really enjoy your game grades, thanks a lot.

I saw only patches of this game, including the final 6 minutes. Safe to say I won't bother watching the rest.

Good call. Overall it was a burn the tape game if you're already familiar with this team's issues. I'd look to see Murray's shot early on though (first bucket of the game); it shows the potential is definitely there for him.

[tbdog]

This Kyle Anderson hate is getting out of hand, considering he did not do any wrong, and Spurs were switching most of the game and towards the end. Anderson has shown he can defend better that half this team.

[ElNono]

This Kyle Anderson hate is getting out of hand, considering he did not do any wrong, and Spurs were switching most of the game and towards the end. Anderson has shown he can defend better that half this team.

Are you new? Welcome.

[ElNono]

coasting, Non-Issue

[raybies]

This Kyle Anderson hate is getting out of hand, considering he did not do any wrong, and Spurs were switching most of the game and towards the end. Anderson has shown he can defend better that half this team.
I agree tbh His stats say he's a good defender and he shows the effort. His use of angles and spacing on D is greatly improved. IMO he's only playing now because he's an above average defender. Better than his comp Simmons too. And we all thought that would be his weakness as a pro lol but it's the offense that he needs to just plainly pick spots.

[Robz4000]

I think Pop has no choice but to throw guys into the water and see who can swim. He carefully selected a weak opponent at home to do that and their mistakes and/or inadequacy was expected. The rookies specially just haven't even played enough and it was expected. Check Murray had been TO the ball like crazy in the dleague why expect anything less, but you do expect your veterans to bring it and they were inconsistent in their effort throughout the game and only turned things up in the second half.

The vets also made a lot of mistakes themselves, which added to those of the rookies were just too much. Kawhi, Manu, Mills, Lee increased the effort in the second half but they almost lost the game and their effort and play was so uneven throughout that it's difficult to feel good about it, but they won and Pop got his teaching moment and there might be more in the future so ready yourselves.

The D league plays at a much higher pace so turnovers come in bunches. The pace in this game was half that, yet he had (or was responsible for) just as many against similar competition. Like I said though, he's shown flashes so he has the chance to be special, but right now he just isn't an NBA player.

[Holden_Caulfield]

Spot on. I can't believe this game made me miss parker

[dabom]

Kawhi-Simmons plays better than Kawhi-Fathead. Just posting it out there. Not saying Simmons is great or anything.

Simmons also has that 1vs1 decent lockdown defense. Any pick fucks with him though. He is useful when he is the weakside switch on defense. Something we like to do vs GSW.

I hope some down trending posters use some info I just gave...

[Robz4000]

This Kyle Anderson hate is getting out of hand, considering he did not do any wrong, and Spurs were switching most of the game and towards the end. Anderson has shown he can defend better that half this team.


I agree tbh His stats say he's a good defender and he shows the effort. His use of angles and spacing on D is greatly improved. IMO he's only playing now because he's an above average defender. Better than his comp Simmons too. And we all thought that would be his weakness as a pro lol but it's the offense that he needs to just plainly pick spots.

Not sure if we've been watching the same team tbh. Every now and again he makes a good play on D, but the same can be said of James Harden. Unlike Harden, however, he doesn't bring anything positive on offense for this team currently: afraid to shoot, too slow to drive past defenders, poor foot work and court awareness, and unable to post up (mostly due to the style of play of the bench and how crowded the post is with the starters). I've said in the past that if Pop wanted to bench Gasol for Fathead it could work well enough since the SL is much more ISO-oriented, but I'm not sure it'd make the team better especially if Gasol/LMA continue to grow more comfortable together.

[spurs10]

Thanks for the grades! At least the last two minutes of the game were fun to watch and got the crowd's attention. :toast

[SAGirl]

This Kyle Anderson hate is getting out of hand, considering he did not do any wrong, and Spurs were switching most of the game and towards the end. Anderson has shown he can defend better that half this team.
I am with you. I just wanted to let you know we don't all hate him bc you will be drowned out by others hating. :tu

I still want him to do well personally and he has shown up b4.

He's still unsure of himself offensively, but I do hope he finds a groove. I considered dleague too, specially for confidence shooting but I guess Pop thinks he's outgrown it bc he dominated there when he was 21. He needs to compete against better competition at this point and to keep pushing.

It didn't incense me bc I didn't think he had a particularly good game on defense either. He was kind of uneven, same as the rest of the team. I also kind of agree with Rob and others that a trade might be in the player's and team's best interest but I am more realistic.

He's not padding stats in garbage time to raise interest for other teams and he still is making just the 1 mill... so it's kind of unrealistic to expect he will be traded and net any player that can help the Spurs unless he's part of a package with other guys, so it is what it is.

I am still rooting for slow mo.

[raybies]

Not sure if we've been watching the same team tbh. Every now and again he makes a good play on D, but the same can be said of James Harden. Unlike Harden, however, he doesn't bring anything positive on offense for this team currently: afraid to shoot, too slow to drive past defenders, poor foot work and court awareness, and unable to post up (mostly due to the style of play of the bench and how crowded the post is with the starters). I've said in the past that if Pop wanted to bench Gasol for Fathead it could work well enough since the SL is much more ISO-oriented, but I'm not sure it'd make the team better especially if Gasol/LMA continue to grow more comfortable together.
I was focusing on the defensive aspect of his game. I acknowledge the offensive parts of his game. I'm not sure that his aggressiveness on o or lack thereof is by design. He didn't play like this as a rookie.

[SAGirl]

I was focusing on the defensive aspect of his game. I acknowledge the offensive parts of his game. I'm not sure that his aggressiveness on o or lack thereof is by design. He didn't play like this as a rookie.
Or even last season, though he did start out slow or passive offensively he had many games he showed up, I suspect bc Pop laid it on him to be aggressive, but not right now. I saw a statement from Pop who said he was never going to score that much, so there you have it from the coach's mouth. I dont think we can expect anything different and it has made me wonder same as others what he's doing here then....

[100%duncan]

First off, fantastic write up, this forum is sorely lacking in thoughtful analysis since timvp stopped posting so it's nice to see great thoughts after a game. :tu


What I find bizarre about Pop, is that this is a guy who coaches "appropriate fear" for your opponent yet he trots out the most insulting lineups possible. With the amount of turnover the Spurs have experienced he should be focusing on making sure Kawhi/LMA/Gasol are locked in because without them we don't go anywhere. It's early days and I totally understand experimenting with all the new players but the team has so many glaring flaws that this isn't the time to play mad scientist with a D-League starting lineup.

The one thing I will say in favor of Pop was during the first game of the season against the Warriors is that he looked locked in. That game felt like a playoff game and Pop was pressing all the right buttons. I mention it, because it gives me hope that he hasn't completely lost his fire. It's also times like this I wish we still had Bud as an assistant coach, because right now Pop is surrounded by yes men and that never benefits anyone in any situation (look at Kanye).

I also hope Dedmon gets healthy ASAP and plays meaningful minutes upon his return. I hate how Pop preaches players needing to get over themselves but the guy refuses to take a hard look in the mirror.
Boom.

[Robz4000]

I was focusing on the defensive aspect of his game. I acknowledge the offensive parts of his game. I'm not sure that his aggressiveness on o or lack thereof is by design. He didn't play like this as a rookie.

His defensive stats are in large part due to the fact he played a lot of his minutes early on with Leonard, LMA, ans Dedmon, all of whom he compliments. When he's with Patty, Manu, Lee, and Simmons (or any of the rookies) his defense gets exposed. He's fine as a complimentary defender or on a switch, but his team defense and ability to fight through screens is awful; I can't count how many dumb fouls he's had trying to double whether it's on the perimeter, in the post, or on a drive.

[SAGirl]

His defensive stats are in large part due to the fact he played a lot of his minutes early on with Leonard, LMA, ans Dedmon, all of whom he compliments. When he's with Patty, Manu, Lee, and Simmons (or any of the rookies) his defense gets exposed. He's fine as a complimentary defender or on a switch, but his team defense and ability to fight through screens is awful; I can't count how many dumb fouls he's had trying to double whether it's on the perimeter, in the post, or on a drive.
In that stretch with the starters he was the best of them. Tony and Pau were terrible on defense and have turned things around since but they started terrible (they have LDN now too), but the point was that he had to carry his weight. The bench has actually been better with Dedmon who has boosted all of them up on defense.
He did well l as t season too. He's not mistake free but one has to admit when he's played over 1000 minutes last season and over 200 in this one of non garbage time in every conceivable line-up 2-3 that he does bring value defensively.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

I'm sure Pop loved every bit of this and got exactly what he wanted - an actual game, instead of a meaningless blowout. He even let Messina coach quite a lot. Sure, his rotations were bizarre and he started 2 rookies and played a 3rd one meaningful minutes, how's that for hating and not trusting rookies? They were all terrible :lol

I don't get how Anderson gets an F but Simmons a C-.

[SAGirl]

The D league plays at a much higher pace so turnovers come in bunches. The pace in this game was half that, yet he had (or was responsible for) just as many against similar competition. Like I said though, he's shown flashes so he has the chance to be special, but right now he just isn't an NBA player.
I agree on Murray he's a year away from being a year away, not due to lack of talent. I just expected what we saw, both the good flashes and all the bad. He's not ready but I guess Pop has to see for himself. I doubt he's any different in practice. Pop is going to have to strategically find him time. The lack of an ability to control pace in the Sacramento game where the team gave up almost 18 points in 3 minutes was more concerning to me. It seemed like Anderson was the only one having composure in that game at the end. Bertans was fouling Demarcus at the 3 point line, Muray was TO etc.

They are just not ready and I didn't expect them to. It's going to be like this this season. Hopefully Bertans shows up, he's older but he's a rookie too.

[SAGirl]

I'm sure Pop loved every bit of this and got exactly what he wanted - an actual game, instead of a meaningless blowout. He even let Messina coach quite a lot. Sure, his rotations were bizarre and he started 2 rookies and played a 3rd one meaningful minutes, how's that for hating and not trusting rookies? They were all terrible :lol

I don't get how Anderson gets an F but Simmons a C-.
Agreed. I also don't get how Simmons is the same grade as LDN either. Is this an average game for Simmons now bc it's not good.

[YGWHI]

Thanks for the grades! :tu


something is clearly wrong with his shot (and offense in general really).

I'd say it's just his shooting this season, not his offense. He has been amazing in other ways offensively.

800948892846071808
800022358106972160

Also, his shot-selection wasn't bad in this game. He missed really easy ones tonight.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

^ Great post. Would like to see the ball much more in Kawhi's hands on the PnR and much less in Pau's in the low post.

[Robz4000]

Thanks for the grades! :tu



I'd say it's just his shooting this season, not his offense. He has been amazing in other ways offensively.

800948892846071808
800022358106972160

Also, his shot-selection wasn't bad in this game. He missed really easy ones tonight.

Wasn't talking about the whole season. Early on he was tearing it up on both ends and looked like the leader for MVP, but the last 4-5 games his shot has been way off. Usually he's around 50% with an eFG% around 60, but in this stretch he's around 40% with an eFG% below 50. That's Kirby levels of inefficiency.

[YGWHI]

But the last 4-5 games his shot has been way off...That's Kirby levels of inefficiency.

Agree. Like Kobe, Harden, Russ, LeBron career...most offensive players don't shoot .50 FG%

Also, with Pop increasing Parker/Pau P&Rs, he's taking less shots so we can't blame his USG% for his poor shooting, he doesn't have Kobe usage anymore in the last 5 games.
Like I have said before, hopefully he can put it together in next games and find his shot.

A weird thing. I wonder why Kawhi shoots worse in home games than on the road.

Last season, even when he was extremely efficient, he was a lot more on the road in playoffs.
http://i.imgur.com/tzqYONd.jpg

[YGWHI]

^ Great post. Would like to see the ball much more in Kawhi's hands on the PnR and much less in Pau's in the low post.

Saldy, in the last games, we only saw Kawhi in P&Rs situations with Patty and the second unit on the court. Tonight he had a few nice P&Rs with Lee.

[jermaine]

Not too sure why everyone is mad at Pop.

Want to develop your rookies?
Play them against the worst team in NBA.

It is on the players for not showing up.

Preach my brother! An did Kawhi change his shot mechanics?? He seems to be going up the pushing the ball!

[jermaine]

I think Kawhi is stuck on tryna draw fouls right now... But I'm loving when he attacks the rim, or post up!

[NameLess Scrub]

Well, at least Jonathan Gibson didn't score 30.

[Bender]

First off, fantastic write up, this forum is sorely lacking in thoughtful analysis since timvp stopped posting so it's nice to see great thoughts after a game.
yep. Robz's write-ups have been my favorites so far.

[Chinook]

Not sure if we've been watching the same team tbh. Every now and again he makes a good play on D, but the same can be said of James Harden. Unlike Harden, however, he doesn't bring anything positive on offense for this team currently: afraid to shoot, too slow to drive past defenders, poor foot work and court awareness, and unable to post up (mostly due to the style of play of the bench and how crowded the post is with the starters). I've said in the past that if Pop wanted to bench Gasol for Fathead it could work well enough since the SL is much more ISO-oriented, but I'm not sure it'd make the team better especially if Gasol/LMA continue to grow more comfortable together.

Thanks for the work. You've been huge in this revival of consistent grades, and I hope we can all follow your example and keep this going all year and in perpetuity.

I didn't watch the game, and I don't even feel inclined to find a copy to watch. Every win counts with the Spurs chasing GS and LAC, so I wouldn't downplay things too much.

Anyway, I don't think it's fair to attribute Anderson's defensive numbers to Kawhi. Outside of that GS game, Kawhi hasn't been a lock-down guy this year. A big reason for that is that the Spurs haven't really played great teams or teams with great SFs. Last year, Kawhi had KD, Gay and Melo all to start the year. Only Gay is in that group (seeing as Kawhi was guarding Klay in the GS game), but Cousins has become so dominant now that Rudy is sort of marginalized. That combined with his new push for offense has taken him out of defensive rhythm.

Anyway, back to Anderson. He has that Green way of grading out a lot better than he looks. One reason is that Anderson was a great rebounder as a starter, especially as a "guard". He's also second in steals. He is barely negative in his on/off defensive rating, but that's actually better than most Spurs, including every starter but Green.

People who don't like him see what they want to see. Like when a guy drives past Anderson, they assume that Kyle was beat rather than funneling. They used to do the same thing with Green and close-outs. Just like with Green, there are times that Anderson makes bad defensive plays. But he's following the game plan for the most part, and then he can use his length to get his hands on balls.

[Chinook]

Not too sure why everyone is mad at Pop.

Want to develop your rookies?
Play them against the worst team in NBA.

Because that's exactly what a "lack of respect for the opponent" looks like. There's nothing humble about tying a hand behind your back. Pop's coming off as a huge hypocrite here, and he deserves to. Dude has been pushing the wrong buttons for years now. If it's all on the players, the Holts are wasting millions on a spokesperson.

[TDomination]

Thanks for the grades!

I definitely look forward to these after every game :tu

[kaji157]

If Kawhi adds creating from the pick and roll, that´s LeBron James with the Spurs uniform and better defense.

[OrEmuN]

Because that's exactly what a "lack of respect for the opponent" looks like. There's nothing humble about tying a hand behind your back. Pop's coming off as a huge hypocrite here, and he deserves to. Dude has been pushing the wrong buttons for years now. If it's all on the players, the Holts are wasting millions on a spokesperson.

Beyond his hypocrisy, Pop is doing it for the team's development.
You gotta play the rookies to see what they are made of.
In a real match scenario where losing is a big possibility (as compared to garbage time).

On their fan page,Mav fans were elated to see LMA and Parker being rested.
Nothing about being disrespect.

I understand your point.
But Pop does what he does for long term good.
That outweighs the bad in this case (and Spurs still win!)

[Kikoluna]

I disagree on Kyles comment, he DOES NOT belong in the NBA. Unbelievable how some here STILL defend him.

[Chinook]

Beyond his hypocrisy, Pop is doing it for the team's development.
You gotta play the rookies to see what they are made of.
In a real match scenario where losing is a big possibility (as compared to garbage time).

On their fan page,Mav fans were elated to see LMA and Parker being rested.
Nothing about being disrespect.

I understand your point.
But Pop does what he does for long term good.
That outweighs the bad in this case (and Spurs still win!)

Look, if Pop had just rested the guys and not said anything after the game, that would be fine. The issue is that he called his team out, and pretty much questioned their characters. You can't get after your guys for not playing as hard as they can when you clearly aren't coaching them as hard as you can. There's no reason why guys like Leonard and Gasol shouldn't coast when Pop clearly had the same attitude when his roster.

The Spurs won, the young guys got real game time and no one got hurt. That should be a good thing for everyone. Instead, we have bitching from the coach for the team playing to his standards. Beyond the hypocrisy is the fact that you can only pull cards so many times before they lose their effect. Pop's been pulling this one for a while, and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't starting to lose its effect now.

[NameLess Scrub]

Look, if Pop had just rested the guys and not said anything after the game, that would be fine. The issue is that he called his team out, and pretty much questioned their characters. You can't get after your guys for not playing as hard as they can when you clearly aren't coaching them as hard as you can. There's no reason why guys like Leonard and Gasol shouldn't coast when Pop clearly had the same attitude when his roster.

The Spurs won, the young guys got real game time and no one got hurt. That should be a good thing for everyone. Instead, we have bitching from the coach for the team playing to his standards. Beyond the hypocrisy is the fact that you can only pull cards so many times before they lose their effect. Pop's been pulling this one for a while, and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't starting to lose its effect now.

If I want to make sense of it, he might want the guys who actually play, to play harder, after the line ups are set for the night.

[GSH]

I think Pop has no choice but to throw guys into the water and see who can swim. He carefully selected a weak opponent at home to do that and their mistakes and/or inadequacy was expected.


He had a choice to play LMA, since Dedmon was injured, and the team is already short of big men. He had a choice to start Patty, and give Murray his "teaching moments" off the bench. He had a choice to start Lee at the 4, instead of Bertans who has almost no minutes under his belt. Then the arrogant bastard got up in the postgame and railed on the PLAYERS for not respecting their opponent? It's just a shame there's no grade lower than "F".

[100%duncan]

Thanks for the work. You've been huge in this revival of consistent grades, and I hope we can all follow your example and keep this going all year and in perpetuity.

I didn't watch the game, and I don't even feel inclined to find a copy to watch. Every win counts with the Spurs chasing GS and LAC, so I wouldn't downplay things too much.

Anyway, I don't think it's fair to attribute Anderson's defensive numbers to Kawhi. Outside of that GS game, Kawhi hasn't been a lock-down guy this year. A big reason for that is that the Spurs haven't really played great teams or teams with great SFs. Last year, Kawhi had KD, Gay and Melo all to start the year. Only Gay is in that group (seeing as Kawhi was guarding Klay in the GS game), but Cousins has become so dominant now that Rudy is sort of marginalized. That combined with his new push for offense has taken him out of defensive rhythm.

Anyway, back to Anderson. He has that Green way of grading out a lot better than he looks. One reason is that Anderson was a great rebounder as a starter, especially as a "guard". He's also second in steals. He is barely negative in his on/off defensive rating, but that's actually better than most Spurs, including every starter but Green.

People who don't like him see what they want to see. Like when a guy drives past Anderson, they assume that Kyle was beat rather than funneling. They used to do the same thing with Green and close-outs. Just like with Green, there are times that Anderson makes bad defensive plays. But he's following the game plan for the most part, and then he can use his length to get his hands on balls.

And Anderson stans like you see what you want to see as well. Pretty sure it's not funneling when he tries to half-ass steal the ball after the defender goes passed him because he sucks at staying in front of his man.

But go ahead, I'm sure your eyesight is better than ours.

[superbigtime]

Thank God for David Lee.

[Brazil]

David Lee is a pleasant surprise tbh... nobody was expecting much about him and yet dude is one of the most consistent dude when given minutes, he seems to have a great attitude and actually give his efforts on defense... Props :tu

Pop is rightly so critized here but we are lacking depth so yeah he has to give minutes to the end of bench guys to see what he has to work with tbh... you can criticize how he is doing it for sure, now and also for sure he needs to play them and not only in garbage time. I don't have any issues about calling out players for that performance, Pop is not mad at turnovers or close win or that we did not deserve win he is just mad at the attitude. I don't like the "Pop seems to coast so it's ok also for players to not give a shit"... fuck that tbh two wrongs don't make one right.

[bklynspursfan]

He had a choice to play LMA, since Dedmon was injured, and the team is already short of big men. He had a choice to start Patty, and give Murray his "teaching moments" off the bench. He had a choice to start Lee at the 4, instead of Bertans who has almost no minutes under his belt. Then the arrogant bastard got up in the postgame and railed on the PLAYERS for not respecting their opponent? It's just a shame there's no grade lower than "F".

The players do deserve what Pop said. They just didn't have the right focus. If they're making the right plays and missing good looks that's one thing. But how many lazy passes did we see in that first half? And all the mental lapses letting guys like Curry/Matthews get open looks? I understand why some are upset with Pop, but outside of Lee and maybe Patty (and Kawhi late) who was playing with any fire or energy?

It's easy to blame Pop, but the players played with 0 fire overall. The young guys had a chance to really make an impact on the game and possibly their future roles, and they crapped the bed.

[bigfan]

Well, if you are going to lay a steaming turd at home at least we won the damn thing. I'm sure Pop is being real pleasant and quiet to the guys this morning....

[bklynspursfan]

It's honestly the perfect scenario when you think about it. We have a 3 game road trip coming up, against a couple good EC teams. Rather them leave home feeling embarrassed and extra motivated than leaving with their egos inflated for beating a team by 25+.

[Chinook]

And Anderson stans like you see what you want to see as well. Pretty sure it's not funneling when he tries to half-ass steal the ball after the defender goes passed him because he sucks at staying in front of his man.

But go ahead, I'm sure your eyesight is better than ours.

You guys are the ones who have to explain how he can have great defensive metrics (for years now) despite being a "bad defender". There is an objective reality based on his numbers. One side is trying to explain it. The other is trying to discredit it. It's extremely generous to your stance to act as if the burdens of proof are equal.

Anyway, yes, it can totally be funneling to attempt a behind-the-back steal or block. I mean, why wouldn't you? It's one thing to stand still on a high PnR and just trying reaching. It's another thing to do it on the baseline as the guy runs toward a big. Is it text book? Not usually. Is it bad? No. Just like hard-closes aren't bad even though coaches don't traditionally teach players to do them.

[Chinook]

He had a choice to play LMA, since Dedmon was injured, and the team is already short of big men. He had a choice to start Patty, and give Murray his "teaching moments" off the bench. He had a choice to start Lee at the 4, instead of Bertans who has almost no minutes under his belt. Then the arrogant bastard got up in the postgame and railed on the PLAYERS for not respecting their opponent? It's just a shame there's no grade lower than "F".

Exactly. And this ignores that in many games it doesn't even look like he's fully engaged. I don't think Pop is giving the effort that new coaches often give. He's essentially just coasting. And that makes some sense so long as he's taking notes and teaching well in practice. But I don't think he's setting a good example for his guys at all.

[bklynspursfan]

You guys are the ones who have to explain how he can have great defensive metrics (for years now) despite being a "bad defender". There is an objective reality based on his numbers. One side is trying to explain it. The other is trying to discredit it. It's extremely generous to your stance to act as if the burdens of proof are equal.

Anyway, yes, it can totally be funneling to attempt a behind-the-back steal or block. I mean, why wouldn't you? It's one thing to stand still on a high PnR and just trying reaching. It's another thing to do it on the baseline as the guy runs toward a big. Is it text book? Not usually. Is it bad? No. Just like hard-closes aren't bad even though coaches don't traditionally teach players to do them.

Out of curiosity, what are the great defensive metrics being used?

[100%duncan]

You guys are the ones who have to explain how he can have great defensive metrics despite being a "bad defender". There is an objective reality based on his numbers. One side is trying to explain it. The other is trying to discredit it. It's extremely generous to your stance to act as if the burdens of proof are equal.

Anyway, yes, it can totally be funneling to attempt a behind-the-back steal or block. I mean, why wouldn't you? It's one thing to stand still on a high PnR and just trying reaching. It's another thing to do it on the baseline as the guy runs toward a big. Is it text book? Not usually. Is it bad? No. Just like hard-closes aren't bad even though coaches don't traditionally teach players to do them.

I mean, look at how you quickly discredit the team around him when plays to his defensive numbers as well. There will always be 2 sides, one who's hating and one who's trying to find the littlest smallest detail they can in order to say this guy is doing something. Also, say I give him the benefit of the doubt and say he's funneling, but he's not doing it correctly. Funneling doesn't mean you get left behind, you are supposed to trap your man with your big, ideally force a turnover or a bad pass. But the way with Fathead is that his man gets pass him or he "funnels" but then he's too slow to even pressure his man, leaving the big on an island to deal with 2 players, the ball handler and his original man.

Also, the hate is not even on his defense. I mean, I call people hypocrites for hyping this guy up as if he's really an NBA caliber defender but that's not even it. His offense is really not for this team. He passes up the three balls. And you guys call for more touches? He dribbles into traffic, passes it to another player with only a few seconds left or shoots that ugly fadeaway which never goes in. Just about anything he does on the offensive side is pretty fucking pathetic if you ask me.

Not only that, we know his lack of physical prowess but there are even possessions when he doesn't even try to close out or get the fucking loose ball. He just fucking looks at it. It's pretty infruriating.

Anyway, I think it's useless to discuss the technicalities of basketball when we always will look at different sides. I will always hate this dude as long as he is on a Spurs jersey. Sorry for being aggressive :lol This scrub riles me up like no one ever does

[dabom]

I mean, look at how you quickly discredit the team around him when plays to his defensive numbers as well. There will always be 2 sides, one who's hating and one who's trying to find the littlest smallest detail they can in order to say this guy is doing something. Also, say I give him the benefit of the doubt and say he's funneling, but he's not doing it correctly. Funneling doesn't mean you get left behind, you are supposed to trap your man with your big, ideally force a turnover or a bad pass. But the way with Fathead is that his man gets pass him or he "funnels" but then he's too slow to even pressure his man, leaving the big on an island to deal with 2 players, the ball handler and his original man.

Also, the hate is not even on his defense. I mean, I call people hypocrites for hyping this guy up as if he's really an NBA caliber defender but that's not even it. His offense is really not for this team. He passes up the three balls. And you guys call for more touches? He dribbles into traffic, passes it to another player with only a few seconds left or shoots that ugly fadeaway which never goes in. Just about anything he does on the offensive side is pretty fucking pathetic if you ask me.

Not only that, we know his lack of physical prowess but there are even possessions when he doesn't even try to close out or get the fucking loose ball. He just fucking looks at it. It's pretty infruriating.

Anyway, I think it's useless to discuss the technicalities of basketball when we always will look at different sides. I will always hate this dude as long as he is on a Spurs jersey. Sorry for being aggressive :lol This scrub riles me up like no one ever does

O shit, zero to a 100 real quick. :lol

[TheDoctor]

Excellent grades per par my nig Robz :tu

[100%duncan]

O shit, zero to a 100 real quick. :lol

I really hate anderson man... But Chinook is a good dude and ST needs him, and I got nothing but love for SAGirl :lol

[Amuseddaysleeper]

David Lee is a pleasant surprise tbh... nobody was expecting much about him and yet dude is one of the most consistent dude when given minutes, he seems to have a great attitude and actually give his efforts on defense... Props :tu

Pop is rightly so critized here but we are lacking depth so yeah he has to give minutes to the end of bench guys to see what he has to work with tbh... you can criticize how he is doing it for sure, now and also for sure he needs to play them and not only in garbage time. I don't have any issues about calling out players for that performance, Pop is not mad at turnovers or close win or that we did not deserve win he is just mad at the attitude. I don't like the "Pop seems to coast so it's ok also for players to not give a shit"... fuck that tbh two wrongs don't make one right.

The team will always reflect their coach. If Pop is putting half assed lineups who have never played together, what does he expect to happen? Pop set the tone for the poor effort against the Mavs, the players just followed his groundwork for the game.

[dabom]

I really hate anderson man... But Chinook is a good dude and ST needs him, and I got nothing but love for SAGirl :lol

They seem like nice guys. It's just they go some shitty takes along with a superior-take complex. :lol

[Chinook]

Out of curiosity, what are the great defensive metrics being used?

DRPM: 1.49 -- Best ranking for two-guards by a mile. Would be sixth at SFs. Last season he was third in two guards with 1.97, which would have been sixth again for SFs. The dude absolutely wrecked opposing players in PER, giving up a 12 as a two-guard, and 8s as a forward. Second on the team in DBPM this season and last. Has been about neutral in defensive on/off, which is hard to do when you're backing up the DPoY. He has a similar DRB rate as Leonard (11.8 to 11.2 last year and 10.9 to 10.8 so far this season).

He actually compares pretty favorably to Leonard in his numbers, though you have to adjust for Kawhi being a starter and in general just more dynamic. He grades out better than Green, though the same caveats apply, obviously.

[dabom]

Disingenuous to grade him as a 2 even though he played like one or 2 games. :lmao

It's that type of shit that gets you in trouble. :lol

[Chinook]

I mean, look at how you quickly discredit the team around him when plays to his defensive numbers as well. There will always be 2 sides, one who's hating and one who's trying to find the littlest smallest detail they can in order to say this guy is doing something. Also, say I give him the benefit of the doubt and say he's funneling, but he's not doing it correctly. Funneling doesn't mean you get left behind, you are supposed to trap your man with your big, ideally force a turnover or a bad pass. But the way with Fathead is that his man gets pass him or he "funnels" but then he's too slow to even pressure his man, leaving the big on an island to deal with 2 players, the ball handler and his original man.

Well, the way rotations work, you don't normally expect the funneling guy to do anything with the big. That's for the other big to do. Then you get the rotation that leads to everyone sort of shifting down the horn one spot. You're right that you can funnel wrong. But just like with hard-closes, it's easy to see what happens when it doesn't work. But if you are correct enough with swipes and reaches, the numbers bear you out. For Anderson to have good metrics, something like this has to be the case.


Also, the hate is not even on his defense. I mean, I call people hypocrites for hyping this guy up as if he's really an NBA caliber defender but that's not even it. His offense is really not for this team. He passes up the three balls. And you guys call for more touches? He dribbles into traffic, passes it to another player with only a few seconds left or shoots that ugly fadeaway which never goes in. Just about anything he does on the offensive side is pretty fucking pathetic if you ask me.

You want to talk about him not getting it done on offense, and I'm there. I don't think it's a matter of skill, as I've said many times. I think it's mentality. How many games have people come here and said, "Kyle took way too many shots. He needs to start passing up some looks"? You get a guy who give 3/11 games, then you can talk about refining it to 4/7 games. But if you have 1/3 games, there's nowhere to go.


Not only that, we know his lack of physical prowess but there are even possessions when he doesn't even try to close out or get the fucking loose ball. He just fucking looks at it. It's pretty infruriating.

Dude has great size and timing, which is why his steal rate is on par with Kawhi's and his block rate is better. Dude certainly isn't playing up to his potential though.


Anyway, I think it's useless to discuss the technicalities of basketball when we always will look at different sides. I will always hate this dude as long as he is on a Spurs jersey. Sorry for being aggressive :lol This scrub riles me up like no one ever does

I guess so.

[Brazil]

The team will always reflect their coach. If Pop is putting half assed lineups who have never played together, what does he expect to happen? Pop set the tone for the poor effort against the Mavs, the players just followed his groundwork for the game.

ya but no sorry... It's like saying if my boss set the tone for poor effort I do the same within the company I work... Fact is sometimes you have solid boss, sometimes assholes, sometimes your usual good boss is having a poor couple of months for whatever reasons, on all cases you are a pro and do your job no matter what. The fact players may think dude is senile is not an excuse for a piss poor effort, effort is not on lineups and strategy consideration, effort is personnal. If you don't put the necessary effort into a game or don't act professionally it is on you not on your boss

[Brazil]

On a side note, Anderson sucks, he sucks plain and simple. at this point it is on him and only on him, there is no excuse, no explanation other than him sucking. It's not like he is stagning, he is worst by a mile than last year. Globally he is above expectation on defensive side but way below expectation offensively, total gives us a scrub who did not figure out how to contribute, who continues to be lost on transition and on sets

[ElNono]

On a side note, Anderson sucks, he sucks plain and simple. at this point it is on him and only on him, there is no excuse, no explanation other than him sucking. It's not like he is stagning, he is worst by a mile than last year. Globally he is above expectation on defensive side but way below expectation offensively, total gives us a scrub who did not figure out how to contribute, who continues to be lost on transition and on sets

You're too harsh, tbh... if you grade on a curve and overlook he's slow, consistently lost, extremely passive, hasn't managed to earn a larger role on a team with very old and modest talent, he actually compares favorably to Michael Jordan's first 3 seasons in the league. Because Kyle hasn't had his flu game yet, doesn't mean it's time to give up on him, IMO.

EDIT: forgot to add /blue

[100%duncan]

You're too harsh, tbh... if you grade on a curve and overlook he's slow, consistently lost, extremely passive, hasn't managed to earn a larger role on a team with very old and modest talent, he actually compares favorably to Michael Jordan's first 3 seasons in the league. Because Kyle hasn't had his flu game yet, doesn't mean it's time to give up on him, IMO.

EDIT: forgot to add /blue

:lmao

[silverblackfan]

Thanks for the excellent write up. You have really stirred up some discussion.
:bobo

About Anderson, I half expected the F grade but still laughed. He seemed pretty invisible to me in this game, but more in the C range on defense.

[bklynspursfan]

DRPM: 1.49 -- Best ranking for two-guards by a mile. Would be sixth at SFs. Last season he was second in two guards with 1.33, which would have been seventh for SFs. The dude absolutely wrecked opposing players in PER, giving up a 12 as a two-guard, and 8s as a forward. Second on the team in DBPM this season and last. Has been about neutral in defensive on/off, which is hard to do when you're backing up the DPoY. He has a similar DRB rate as Leonard (11.8 to 11.2 last year and 10.9 to 10.8 so far this season).

He actually compares pretty favorably to Leonard in his numbers, though you have to adjust for Kawhi being a starter and in general just more dynamic. He grades out better than Green, though the same caveats apply, obviously.

The DBPM is tricky. It also has Pau at #3 and Kawhi at #6. With defensive metrics, it's really hard to gauge an individuals defense from what I've seen. So even as the best ranking 2 guard, it's important to note that most of his time at the 2 came in at a very small sample size (as are all adv stats realistically 1 month in tbh), and outside of Kawhi, the starters struggled as a whole defensively.

But the DRPM, it's still fairly early to use some of these IMO. Like Kawhi is currently 64th in the league, and behind the likes of David West, Pau/Lee, etc... So I can understand using this metric cause it's favorable for Anderson. But context is important too. I don't think he's a bad defender, I also don't think he's a great defender. Certainly not the best defender at the 2 in the league. I think it's probably fair to say Green has probably been the better defender at the 2 since his return, yet he is only @ .61 compared to Anderson @ 1.49.

I said it in another thread, he has good length, so he is able to disrupt smaller players and at least use his length to get a hand up on shots. He doesn't have great instincts, sometimes gets caught ball watching, and can be slow to close out on shooters.

He's 2nd in DBPM on the team (Behind Dedmon). He's probably 1st or 2nd in DRPM on our team, ESPN is acting up and not showing all stats, so it's tough to confirm. Do you feel comfortable calling him the 1st/2nd most impactful defensive player on the team?

FWIW, he is 5th on the team in DWS, and I suspect Green will continue to rise up. So he's probably going to be a middle of the pack type guy, which probably makes more sense.

I'll agree re: the rebounding, I think he does a good job rebounding the ball most of the time. Seems to position himself well and box out well

[Brazil]

You're too harsh, tbh... if you grade on a curve and overlook he's slow, consistently lost, extremely passive, hasn't managed to earn a larger role on a team with very old and modest talent, he actually compares favorably to Michael Jordan's first 3 seasons in the league. Because Kyle hasn't had his flu game yet, doesn't mean it's time to give up on him, IMO.

EDIT: forgot to add /blue

:lol

[Chinook]

The DBPM is tricky. It also has Pau at #3 and Kawhi at #6. With defensive metrics, it's really hard to gauge an individuals defense from what I've seen. So even as the best ranking 2 guard, it's important to note that most of his time at the 2 came in at a very small sample size (as are all adv stats realistically 1 month in tbh), and outside of Kawhi, the starters struggled as a whole defensively.

But the DRPM, it's still fairly early to use some of these IMO. Like Kawhi is currently 64th in the league, and behind the likes of David West, Pau/Lee, etc... So I can understand using this metric cause it's favorable for Anderson. But context is important too. I don't think he's a bad defender, I also don't think he's a great defender. Certainly not the best defender at the 2 in the league. I think it's probably fair to say Green has probably been the better defender at the 2 since his return, yet he is only @ .61 compared to Anderson @ 1.49.

I said it in another thread, he has good length, so he is able to disrupt smaller players and at least use his length to get a hand up on shots. He doesn't have great instincts, sometimes gets caught ball watching, and can be slow to close out on shooters.

He's 2nd in DBPM on the team (Behind Dedmon). He's probably 1st or 2nd in DRPM on our team, ESPN is acting up and not showing all stats, so it's tough to confirm. Do you feel comfortable calling him the 1st/2nd most impactful defensive player on the team?

FWIW, he is 5th on the team in DWS, and I suspect Green will continue to rise up. So he's probably going to be a middle of the pack type guy, which probably makes more sense.

I'll agree re: the rebounding, I think he does a good job rebounding the ball most of the time. Seems to position himself well and box out well

I agree that defensive stats are tricky. Best we can do is look at a suite of them, and none say Anderson is a bad defender.

RE ESPN: Use this link: http://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/year/2016/sort/DRPM/position/5

Dunno why the main one is so shitty.

RE: Win-shares. Those are based on minutes. If you did DWS/48, Anderson would be quite high, I suspect.

RE: DRPM: It's grading out Kawhi poorly because Kawhi's been poor on that end. He was great in that metric last year. I hope Kawhi pulls back to the top. But we have to see what he can do while also being an offensive superstar.

[MultiTroll]

-Resting players at this point in the season when there was no game the day before or a game the next day? Really Pop.

-I love Kawhi, but he needs to stop shooting; something is clearly wrong with his shot (and offense in general really). He's shown a nice upgrade in his passing ability this season so it'd be in the team's best interest for him to look to create more until his shot comes around again.

-Even without Porker directing things, the offense found enough of a balance between ISO and ball movement but everyone seemed to choose the worst times to take a shot. They either ended up with a wide open look only to continue passing into a high-difficulty shot by Kawhi or Gasol, or ended up attempting difficult passes that resulted in turnovers.

-Pop needs to realize this isn't 2014 (or even last year). This team doesn't have the depth it once did to "take games off" and expect to win, even against supposed bottom-feeders.

-Pop again: stop with these retarded rotations that make no sense.

There is zero reason for Fathead to be closing out games, especially with how awful he's looked all season.
Under no circumstances should Dejounte Murray, Davis Bertans, and Byrn Forbes be on the court together at this point in the meat of a game.
Stop benching Kawhi and Danny at the same time when the opposing team's perimeter players start to get hot; it only exacerbates the problem.
Practice what you preach and stop underestimating bad teams.



Thank you.

[Spurtacular]

"Maybe, the election's hitting him hard"

:lmao Well, someone tell him that the basketball court is not a safe space; f'ing pansy.

[SAGirl]

Exactly. And this ignores that in many games it doesn't even look like he's fully engaged. I don't think Pop is giving the effort that new coaches often give. He's essentially just coasting. And that makes some sense so long as he's taking notes and teaching well in practice. But I don't think he's setting a good example for his guys at all.

It's a concern that is not outlandish. Since you didn't watch the game I will share this with you: there wasn't any hard coaching, no pulling guys aside for teaching moments. Pop did set them loose and let them play without worrying about getting pulled. In a way it's good bc they could play a good stretch of uninterrupted minutes so he gets the footage he wants. However, if guys started making mistakes there weren't time outs to gather them up, regain composure, etc... He wasn't pulling guys out to talk to them, then get them back in like he does at times, etc. He really didn't seem as engaged. He was letting Messina coach in the second half too I thought, so maybe that explains Pop being detached.

I actually saw Pop more engaged last season in the coaching of Boban, Ray Mc, Anderson and Simmons early in the season. Even in garbage time, I remember seeing him teaching, benching or pulling guys out for teaching moments, etc. He broke them in over different games as well. And when they did all play together like in the 76ers game last season and one against Denver I remember, Pop still had them in a relative short leash. I remember him pulling each of them on different occasions early in the season to teach. This game wasn't that. I didn't see that here. It could be that he was deferring the coaching to the staff more... again I thought I saw Messina coaching in the second half...

[Amuseddaysleeper]

ya but no sorry... It's like saying if my boss set the tone for poor effort I do the same within the company I work... Fact is sometimes you have solid boss, sometimes assholes, sometimes your usual good boss is having a poor couple of months for whatever reasons, on all cases you are a pro and do your job no matter what. The fact players may think dude is senile is not an excuse for a piss poor effort, effort is not on lineups and strategy consideration, effort is personnal. If you don't put the necessary effort into a game or don't act professionally it is on you not on your boss

But in sports a coach is the leader of the team, teams always take on the personality of their coach, far more than they do in a corporate structure. Everything for the Spur begins with Pop, he's just as much to blame as anyone else for last night's horrible showing. He needs to be held accountable just as much as the players. Otherwise you end up with the blind leading the blind.

[spurs10]

It's a concern that is not outlandish. Since you didn't watch the game I will share this with you: there wasn't any hard coaching, no pulling guys aside for teaching moments. Pop did set them loose and let them play without worrying about getting pulled. In a way it's good bc they could play a good stretch of uninterrupted minutes so he gets the footage he wants. However, if guys started making mistakes there weren't time outs to gather them up, regain composure, etc... He wasn't pulling guys out to talk to them, then get them back in like he does at times, etc. He really didn't seem as engaged. He was letting Messina coach in the second half too I thought, so maybe that explains Pop being detached.

I actually saw Pop more engaged last season in the coaching of Boban, Ray Mc, Anderson and Simmons early in the season. Even in garbage time, I remember seeing him teaching, benching or pulling guys out for teaching moments, etc. He broke them in over different games as well. And when they did all play together like in the 76ers game last season and one against Denver I remember, Pop still had them in a relative short leash. I remember him pulling each of them on different occasions early in the season to teach. This game wasn't that. I didn't see that here. It could be that he was deferring the coaching to the staff more... again I thought I saw Messina coaching in the second half... Actually he did pull people a couple times for missing rotations. Simmons (who he talk to) and Danny come to mind. Overall he did just let them play and gave them a lot of rope early on. Murray was having growing pains for sure.

[Robz4000]

It's a concern that is not outlandish. Since you didn't watch the game I will share this with you: there wasn't any hard coaching, no pulling guys aside for teaching moments. Pop did set them loose and let them play without worrying about getting pulled. In a way it's good bc they could play a good stretch of uninterrupted minutes so he gets the footage he wants. However, if guys started making mistakes there weren't time outs to gather them up, regain composure, etc... He wasn't pulling guys out to talk to them, then get them back in like he does at times, etc. He really didn't seem as engaged. He was letting Messina coach in the second half too I thought, so maybe that explains Pop being detached.

I actually saw Pop more engaged last season in the coaching of Boban, Ray Mc, Anderson and Simmons early in the season. Even in garbage time, I remember seeing him teaching, benching or pulling guys out for teaching moments, etc. He broke them in over different games as well. And when they did all play together like in the 76ers game last season and one against Denver I remember, Pop still had them in a relative short leash. I remember him pulling each of them on different occasions early in the season to teach. This game wasn't that. I didn't see that here. It could be that he was deferring the coaching to the staff more... again I thought I saw Messina coaching in the second half...

Was gonna mention that bit in my grades but I forgot Messina's name :lol and got distracted by that. Messina was the one doing most of the coaching/correcting/playcalling for most of the game really. Not sure what that was about, but with all the young guys getting extended minutes Pop needed to be doing that; Messina isn't their coach, Pop is.

[GSH]

You're too harsh, tbh... if you grade on a curve and overlook he's slow, consistently lost, extremely passive, hasn't managed to earn a larger role on a team with very old and modest talent, he actually compares favorably to Michael Jordan's first 3 seasons in the league. Because Kyle hasn't had his flu game yet, doesn't mean it's time to give up on him, IMO.

EDIT: forgot to add /blue


LOL. As someone who takes his sarcasm seriously, you've raised it to an art form. :tu

I want to defend Anderson, I really do. And I want him to step up and be a solid contributor. But I also want a cure for cancer, and that's not happening either.

[bklynspursfan]

Pop is coaching/developing both his players and his staff. If it was Bud, I don't think anyone would've cared because Bud had been with Pop since day 1 and was well versed on what the team needed to do. Messina could be the guy to run things once Pop leaves, who knows. And Pop can only get thrown out but so many times in a season :lol

Just let him do what he needs to, there's no better way to get guys get experience then by letting them do it. Whether they failed or succeeded is not the point, but it's good for them in the long run. If any of us were assistants under Pop and he allowed us to coach, I'm sure you guys would have a different point a view.

It's a short term sacrifice for a long term gain. No big deal

[Robz4000]

If Messina is Pop's successor I'll be pissed as fuck. Udoka deserves it more than anyone else at this point.

[Proxy]

The team will always reflect their coach. If Pop is putting half assed lineups who have never played together, what does he expect to happen? Pop set the tone for the poor effort against the Mavs, the players just followed his groundwork for the game.
Meh, that's a sorry excuse. These are pro NBA players

[dabom]

I wanna see what Bud can do with real superstars.

[dabom]

Meh, that's a sorry excuse. These are pro NBA players

Pop putting shitty players with zero NBA experience. Wtf do you expect? :lol

[bklynspursfan]

If Messina is Pop's successor I'll be pissed as fuck. Udoka deserves it more than anyone else at this point.

I agree with this. But IMO, he's still gotta feel them out so he can make an informed decision. So why not give his assistant some freedom in a matchup against a depleted Dallas team?

It's all a learning/teaching experience, for them and the players.

People can blame Pop all they want, but these guys should know how to make smart chest/bounce passes. They were super lazy out there in the first half. And defensively, not enough communication

[spursistan]

Bud was a yes-man too tbh, but he at least brought new ideas and wasn't afraid to voice them.
Honestly, Messina has been such a useless addition as Poop lead assistant..Not sure what he has brought to the table, but talking Pop out of his pigheaded ways is definitely not one them..That he hasn't nailed a HC job after interviewing for few of them has me wondering about his true coaching pedigree.

[TheGreatYacht]

Kyle Anderson is 100%, without a doubt, the worst player I've ever seen.

He's averaging 2 points in 17MPG.. shooting 36% from the floor.

The Kendrick Perkins of Small Forwards

[dabom]

Kyle Anderson is 100%, without a doubt, the worst player I've ever seen.

He's averaging 2 points in 17MPG.. shooting 36% from the floor.

The Kendrick Perkins of Small Forwards

Are you fucking serious dude? :lmao

[TheGreatYacht]

Are you fucking serious dude? :lmao
5 points Per36 minutes :lmao

[dabom]

5 points Per36 minutes :lmao

What about his assist numbers? Dude is supposed to be offensive ace.

[TheGreatYacht]

What about his assist numbers? Dude is supposed to be offensive ace.
0.9 assists per game

1.9 Per36 minutes

[Brazil]

But in sports a coach is the leader of the team, teams always take on the personality of their coach, far more than they do in a corporate structure. Everything for the Spur begins with Pop, he's just as much to blame as anyone else for last night's horrible showing. He needs to be held accountable just as much as the players. Otherwise you end up with the blind leading the blind.

He has to be held accountable as much as... yes we agree on that. I think your point was we cannot be mad at players for efforts because pop does not give a shit, here I disagree. There is no excuse for that.

[dabom]

0.9 assists per game

1.9 Per36 minutes

Wow that dude is the biggest POS on the team. :lmao

[dabom]

He has to be held accountable as much as... yes we agree on that. I think your point was we cannot be mad at players for efforts because pop does not give a shit, here I disagree. There is no excuse for that.

I mean if we're grading effort now, Parker gets a solid F. No joke dude.

[dabom]

And I'm not talking about the previous game.

[Brazil]

Pop putting shitty players with zero NBA experience. Wtf do you expect? :lol

:lol I do expect they actually try and give a shit... that the least one can expect

[Brazil]

I mean if we're grading effort now, Parker gets a solid F. No joke dude.

beacuse he did not wave towels on the bench ? :lol

[dabom]

:lol I do expect they actually try and give a shit... that the least one can expect

Inexperience can look like low effort. You think those guys don't know the magnitude of their minutes/contribution? It's a slap to the players really.

[dabom]

beacuse he did not wave towels on the bench ? :lol


And I'm not talking about the previous game.

:lol

[Brazil]

:lol

:lol

Topic is about this game, I think as I said already that Parker is indeed putting effort and playing well since his return from injury.

For the rest I don't buy very much on inexperience that can look like low effort. Inexperience gives you some Cojo action on his first years, dude running a bit everywhere and being messy but you could see dude was hungry and wanted to prove his value, yesterday was just meh action all over the place

[dabom]

:lol

Topic is about this game, I think as I said already that Parker is indeed putting effort and playing well since his return from injury.

For the rest I don't buy very much on inexperience that can look like low effort. Inexperience gives you some Cojo action on his first years, dude running a bit everywhere and being messy but you could see dude was hungry and wanted to prove his value, yesterday was just meh action all over the place

I saw low inexperience guys playing new lineups for the first time. :lol

[Brazil]

I saw low inexperience guys playing new lineups for the first time. :lol

I saw low experience guys with no heart playing like scrubs. Don't join the "Kyle Anderson plays like shit because Pop did not know how to use him" krew

:cry but but Pop did not coach second half, he does not seem to give a shit :cry why a low experience player like me would put effort in a NBA game tbh ? :cry

[dabom]

I saw low experience guys with no heart playing like scrubs. Don't join the "Kyle Anderson plays like shit because Pop did not know how to use him" krew

:cry but but Pop did not coach second half, he does not seem to give a shit :cry why a low experience player like me would put effort in a NBA game tbh ? :cry

So now you add they were indeed inexperienced. :lol

[Brazil]

So now you add they were indeed inexperienced. :lol

I never said otherwise tbh but it is not an excuse for not trying and not giving a shit

[dabom]

I never said otherwise tbh but it is not an excuse for not trying and not giving a shit

I'm over this convo. :tu

[spursistan]

Exactly. And this ignores that in many games it doesn't even look like he's fully engaged. I don't think Pop is giving the effort that new coaches often give. He's essentially just coasting. And that makes some sense so long as he's taking notes and teaching well in practice. But I don't think he's setting a good example for his guys at all.

Then he can seriously get the fuck out there and move to his emeritus position with Team USA. Just give the reins to Udoka and let him earn his Spurs. That's the order of things in the professional world. This shit has been starting to get us diminishing returns for the past couple of years and it can't last until 2020..

[SAGirl]

I really hate anderson man... But Chinook is a good dude and ST needs him, and I got nothing but love for SAGirl :lol
Cheers
I luv you too. :)
:toast
I don't take the Anderson hate personally obviously. If I was touchy before I left that behind a long way back when I wanted to stick around even if the guy wasn't playing well. I love the team first, though I know guys didn't think that bc I was so noisy about him... and I like the forum. :toast

My fandom just got noisy bc the noise here against him was so strong, and then it became a funny shtick. Guys would take jabs at me in sarcastic jest or funny .gif or whatever... so it became a thing, and I thought it was a funny schtick very often.

I still like the player and I still hope for him, yada yada, but at this point it's really worn me out to chat about him. It has become tiresome. I am fine with not clicking the 10 threads a day that pop up about him either (even in off days from games, it's excessive).

I'd rather just chat about other guys at this point and let Anderson be.

:bobo

[Spurs9]

Sorry for you having to get stuck with grades on this game OP :lol

[daledondale]

Kyle Anderson is 100%, without a doubt, the worst player I've ever seen.

He's averaging 2 points in 17MPG.. shooting 36% from the floor.

The Kendrick Perkins of Small Forwards
:lmao

[bklynspursfan]

Then he can seriously get the fuck out there and move to his emeritus position with Team USA. Just give the reins to Udoka and let him earn his Spurs. That's the order of things in the professional world. This shit has been starting to get us diminishing returns for the past couple of years and it can't last until 2020..

Did you see how dialed in he was in GS on opening night? How often do you see him that dialed in for a season opener.

He's not going to be like that every night, it's not realistic to expect that either. But most nights he will be. What's wrong with a couple nights he let's his players and assistant "figure it out"? It's a teaching thing, and I'm sure Pop just like the players has to pace himself. Idk why people are so up in arms about him tbh. We're barely 15 games in

[tbdog]

I am with you. I just wanted to let you know we don't all hate him bc you will be drowned out by others hating. :tu

I still want him to do well personally and he has shown up b4.

He's still unsure of himself offensively, but I do hope he finds a groove. I considered dleague too, specially for confidence shooting but I guess Pop thinks he's outgrown it bc he dominated there when he was 21. He needs to compete against better competition at this point and to keep pushing.

It didn't incense me bc I didn't think he had a particularly good game on defense either. He was kind of uneven, same as the rest of the team. I also kind of agree with Rob and others that a trade might be in the player's and team's best interest but I am more realistic.

He's not padding stats in garbage time to raise interest for other teams and he still is making just the 1 mill... so it's kind of unrealistic to expect he will be traded and net any player that can help the Spurs unless he's part of a package with other guys, so it is what it is.

I am still rooting for slow mo.

Simmons misses all his shots, free throws, and registered a turn over, and really didnt do much out the defensively for exception of his one steal, and he gets 2 grades higher than Kyle. This is some bias hate here.

[SAGirl]

Simmons misses all his shots, free throws, and registered a turn over, and really didnt do much out the defensively for exception of his one steal, and he gets 2 grades higher than Kyle. This is some bias hate here.
There is... a very strong one. I have tuned some guys out if they can't chat about anything else or can't contribute anything worth reading (believe it or not there are some guys that as much as they dislike him they also don't talk about anything else, too much attention for a guy they supposedly don't like).

What makes the forum different is the unfiltered opinions, but you can use your own filter on whoever you want (ignore button is my friend for some trolls)... :tu

I respect Rob though. I will just expect F from here on out for Anderson. He's just not going to be scoring that much, apparently by design, and thus he's never going to be even average for some guys but I do agree that I didn't think he was particularly worse than anyone else either.

[TD 21]

There is... a very strong one.

Says the person who's completely biased in favor of Anderson.

Aside from the obvious (him not being good), the reason he receives so much criticism is because you and your buddy have tried to shove him down people's throats . . . and also because you take it personally and are easy to get a rise out of.

[skulls138]

The haters keep the threads alive :lol

[SAGirl]

Says the person who's completely biased in favor of Anderson.

Aside from the obvious (him not being good), the reason he receives so much criticism is because you and your buddy have tried to shove him down people's throats . . . and also because you take it personally and are easy to get a rise out of.
That used to be the case maybe. I don't think so, but you may have a point subjectively speaking about your opinion. I think it's the reverse, I only became outspoken when there was already some irrational hate going on for example. But it doesn't matter to me at this point.

I still like him personally but I appreciate diversity of opinions about him and he's not faultless, so one either does appreciate what he's able to do or one doesn't, and I don't have the desire to convince anyone. But don't mind me if I agree with someone who doesn't hate him either.

[wildbill2u]

INHO Pop didn't want to stomp on a very wounded Maverick team so he started some rookies and kept the vets off the floor as much as possible. He was taking a calculated risk that his lineups full of bench players could play throught their errors and still perfom to win the game.

[tbdog]

The truth is, apart from Leonard and Green, and maybe* Manu, Anderson is our best perimeter defender

[SAGirl]

The truth is, apart from Leonard and Green, and maybe* Manu, Anderson is our best perimeter defender
I think bc of that Chinook, myself, Raybies, now you, maybe some others who don't want to stick their necks out in this forum, wanted Pop to figure out how to get more out of him offensively. If you get just a little bit more out of him, he could impact the team more than other players in the margins based on the fact that even without scoring he is able to help the team win games, just based on his defense and smarts.

I think some guys just don't realize that at all. There are times that there are players you just can't afford to play even if they give you some offense like the Kevin Martin's of the world bc as much as the give you on offense they give more to the o t her team on defense right back. Pop has been careful to keep sieves like that in the margins. And in the playoffs those guys cost you, heavily.

I feel like if Kyle is not realizing whatever potential he has on offense, the team will be worse off. I am talking about this team this season.

But it's on him to be more aggressive with his shots and it's on Pop to continue to put pressure on him. We shall see what happens.

[dabom]

Says the person who's completely biased in favor of Anderson.

Aside from the obvious (him not being good), the reason he receives so much criticism is because you and your buddy have tried to shove him down people's throats . . . and also because you take it personally and are easy to get a rise out of.

This is so true. I didn't even know who fathead was till sag started to ride fatheads nuts. You can't say fake shit up in here. Expect to get called out. :lol

[MI21]

I've never hated Kyle Anderson but there is zero excuse or justification for how putrid he has played this season. It's not just the lack of aggression because it would actually be worse if he was shooting more, because he is a shit shooter.

I see no reason why he should see the court during meaningful chunks of the game.

[Chinook]

btb, dunno if this has been posted, but here is a 10-minutes highlight video of the game:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMNsBYehf7w

[GSH]

INHO Pop didn't want to stomp on a very wounded Maverick team so he started some rookies and kept the vets off the floor as much as possible. He was taking a calculated risk that his lineups full of bench players could play throught their errors and still perfom to win the game.


I could have lived with that explanation, until he went off in the postgame about how his players "didn't respect the other team". Because that's EXACTLY what he did. When you think about it, even your explanation says that he thought he could beat the other team while starting rookies, and playing combinations that don't know each other. Maybe he was right to not expect much out of the depleted Mavs, but that's still the definition of not respecting the other team.

[wildbill2u]

I could have lived with that explanation, until he went off in the postgame about how his players "didn't respect the other team". Because that's EXACTLY what he did. When you think about it, even your explanation says that he thought he could beat the other team while starting rookies, and playing combinations that don't know each other. Maybe he was right to not expect much out of the depleted Mavs, but that's still the definition of not respecting the other team.

I think you made two points here. 1. Pop disrespected the other team by not starting and playing the normal starters. I suppose you can make that argument although over the years Pop has often shown a streak of mercy for outmatched opponents. He usually takes out his best players when it appears another team is beaten rather than running up the score. 2. His rant over the players not respecting the Mavericks could be seen in the light of number one above, but I think it was a teaching moment for the rookies and bench, telling them to never underestimate a wounded team or one that they might otherwise overmatch.

You have to remember that Pop is never satisfied because he never wants his players to become satisfied or overconfident. I don't remember a single game in 20 years where he told his players they played a perfect game. If you remember the 5th game in the last championship, in the locker room he started off with telling the players that there would be a practice the next day to work on some stuff. Clearly, it was a joke on himself which the players enjoyed --- and yet in some ways it was a macrocosm of his coaching theory that you are never perfect, always something to work on.