Grades: Spurs vs. Pelicans - Nov. 3, 2018

[timvp]

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Riding a three-game winning streak, the Spurs faced a test Saturday night against a Pelicans squad that looks like a surefire playoff team in the Western Conference. Consider the test passed. In front of their home fans, San Antonio dominated most of the night to cruise to a 109-95 victory.

The story of the night was undoubtedly defense. New Orleans entered the game with the third best offensive rating in the league and had scored at least 111 points in every contest. Tonight, the Spurs gave up only 39 first half points and posted a stellar 94.1 defensive rating for the game.

After having the worst defense in the NBA through their first four games of the season, the Spurs have totally turned it around. After their fourth straight strong defensive performance, the Spurs are now 16th in defense. More impressively, over the last four games, San Antonio’s defensive rating of 95.2 is the best mark in the entire league.

From the worst defensive team in the league to the best defensive team in the league? Pop, man, he sure can coach up a defense.

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LaMarcus Aldridge
https://i.imgur.com/1nluyNF.png
It was an impressive outing for LaMarcus Aldridge against a top five player in the NBA in Anthony Davis. To put it simply, Aldridge bullied Davis all night long by using his strength advantage to secure profitable position in the paint. Aldridge would have had an even better outing if he shot straight from the perimeter; he was only 2-for-7 outside of the paint. Besides his scoring, I was also impressed by Aldridge’s rebounding, his enthusiastic running of the court and his masterful passing out of double-teams. Defensively, he spent most of his time on Davis and did a very commendable job by forcing the Pelicans superstar into a number of difficult shots.
Grade: A
Summary: Aldridge stepped up and easily outplayed one of the best players in the league.

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DeMar DeRozan
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DeMar DeRozan came back down to earth a bit tonight. Scoring 26 points on 24 shots isn’t the level of efficiency the Spurs need out of their offensive superstar. DeRozan also found it difficult to make plays off the dribble against New Orleans’ swarming defensive. Defensively, he didn’t show much energy and too easily got hung up on screens. That said, DeRozan bailed the Spurs out of a handful of dead possessions with his one-on-one ability to create clean shots out of thin air. He also did well to attack the rim and go right at the shotblockers, which opened up offensive rebounding opportunities for his teammates.
Grade: B-
Summary: DeRozan was far from MVP level tonight but if this is what will be considered an off-game, the Spurs are in great shape.

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Rudy Gay
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Let’s call it a regression to the mean night for Rudy Gay. Entering the game with career-highs in field goal percentage (52.5 percent), three-point percentage (64.3 percent) and rebounds per game (8.4), Gay struggled in all three categories tonight. I didn’t think his shot selection was especially horrible, though. He also had a few good passes and avoided turnovers, which had been an issue in recent outings. The overarching issue for Gay tonight is that the Pelicans are a fast-paced, movement-heavy team and he’s just not light on his feet enough anymore to help against such teams unless he’s really cooking on the offensive end.
Grade: C-
Summary: Gay played a season-low 19 minutes due to offensive woes and defensive slows.

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Bryn Forbes
https://i.imgur.com/yXVIEAs.png
The good: Bryn Forbes was very attentive to his help-defense responsibilities and played the passing lanes well, which led to a career-high four steals. He also did well to remain aggressive offensively despite missing all four of his shots from downtown; in past seasons, Forbes would have gotten frustrated with his missed threes and hesitated on future shots. The bad: His individual defense wasn’t good. While the effort was there, the Pelicans (namely, but not solely, Jrue Holiday) bulldozed right through him a number of times. Forbes’ ballhandling was even worse than usual and he struggled to get the Spurs into their sets.
Grade: C-
Summary: Forbes looked nothing like a point guard, unfortunately.

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Dante Cunningham
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Welcome to the offensive side of the court, Dante Cunningham. Prior to this game, Cunningham had scored 20 points in 142 minutes. Tonight, the 31-year-old had 15 points in a season-high 38 minutes. Truth be told, Cunningham mostly scored off of broken plays and poor rotations by the Pelicans. But, hey, it’s a start. Give Cunningham credit for moving more decisively away from the ball to put himself in advantageous positions. But even more important than his offensive was his defense. Cunningham out-hustled everyone on both teams and he was totally engaged the entire time. His transition defense was especially helpful, as was his willingness to get physical on the defensive glass.
Grade: A
Summary: Cunningham’s workmanlike effort on both ends will make it difficult for the coaching staff to start anyone else at power forward anytime soon.

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Patty Mills
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This was without doubt Patty Mills’ best game of the season. Outside of a couple ill-advised shots and some over-dribbling, I thought Mills was excellent. Defensively, he was intense, physical and even battled on the boards. Offensively, despite the aforementioned over-dribbling, his point guard play was helpful as he created shots for his teammates much more often than he usually does. Oh, and knocking down his three-pointers helped, too. Overall, if Mills can bottle this level of ferocity and provide it on a semi regular basis, he can be a quite valuable cog in the machine.
Grade: A
Summary: Mills put together his best game of the season – and did so across the board.

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Marco Belinelli
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Games like tonight are what the front office had in mind when they signed Marco Belinelli. His perpetual movement and unending activity on offense gave life to what was too often a listless attack. With Belinelli on the court, the Spurs had the spark they needed to step out of the mud and find dry land for stretches at a time. Defensively, I thought this was Belinelli’s best showing. He efforted more than usual on the perimeter, provided timely help in the lane and swiped two late steals to ice the game.
Grade: A
Summary: Belinelli was the bolt of lightning the Spurs needed to make this a relatively easy victory.

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Pau Gasol
https://i.imgur.com/oF0jVre.png
Pau Gasol didn’t stuff the stat sheet as much as he has been stuffing it lately. He was getting in the way a bit on offense and his help-defense was sometimes slow. However, I think he did enough good to balance things out. He protected the rim well (when he got to the right position in time), pulled down contested boards and authored a few heady passes.
Grade: B-
Summary: Gasol had a run of the mill Pau Gasol game.

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Davis Bertans
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Davis Bertans didn’t have to split his minutes with Quincy Pondexter tonight but it was an up-and-down affair for the Latvian. On defense, he moved his feet better than usual and boxed out better than usual. But he also made a few boneheaded mistakes on D that had Pop seething (for example, Bertans once thought it was a good idea to front the post in transition). Offensively, he didn’t hurt the cause but he was also more passive than usual. Bertans isn’t one to turn down open shots but he did so multiple times against the Pelicans.
Grade: B-
Summary: Bertans is in a funk but this was a small step forward.

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Pop
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Pop obviously deserves a lot of credit for helping turn the tide defensively. Considering this team might only have a couple of above average defenders on the entire roster, the quick turnaround on that end is practically unbelievable. Against New Orleans, I thought Pop made a number of really good decisions: letting Cunningham play extended minutes, limiting Gay’s minutes, riding Belinelli more than usual and avoiding long stretch of the Mills/Forbes backcourt, to name a few.
Grade: A
Summary: Hall of Fame coach doing Hall of Fame coach things.

Looking ahead: Another good win. The defense coming to life is obviously a great omen going forward.

However, before Spurs fans cancel their May vacations, I should point out that the Pelicans missed a ton of free throws and open three-pointers, Anthony Davis has been dealing with an injured elbow lately, and they were missing their starting point guard (Elfrid Payton). That said, any victory against a Western Conference playoff team is a good one.

Next up, the Spurs face the Magic in a rare home-and-home back-to-back. Orlando isn’t a very good team but, then again, this is San Antonio’s first back-to-back of the season so we’ll have to see if Pop opts to rest anyone or if he will limit minutes.

Keep it going.

[Ruler]

The pelicans played really poorly tonight, outside of a few players. Lucky to get this win as i think NO will be a good team this year.

overall i think SA had a bit of an off game too, so still good W

[Chinook]

As I said in the GT, tomorrow's game is another big test. DeRozan and Aldridge played way more than you'd want on a B2B. I'd go so far as to say if the Orlando game were on the road that Pop would almost surely rest them. I think there's a good chance that he plays them by tries to get away with subbing them out early. Gay and Gasol not getting a ton of minutes likely makes Pop feel like they can do more tomorrow. They shouldn't NEED all hands on deck to take care of Orlando at home, but no game is a given when you have the defensive floor this team has. It was a good win, but NOP looks like a team entering a spiral. I think SA is about even with the Pelicans talent wise, so I'm not saying NO would have won, but it should have been a lot closer.

It's a game like this that makes one remember how important it is for the Spurs to keep LMA in top form. DeRozan is a really nice player, and he might be the player the offense has to run through, by Aldridge holds up the team's ceiling. He's the one who can create the physical mismatches that get guys open looks. An aggressive LMA who looks to score inside first should be a load for any team to handle in this new small-ball NBA. He just doesn't seem keen to be that guy enough. I guess at his age, dude has to pace himself, but just because he doesn't HAVE to do it all this year doesn't mean he can get away with being so passive. The only way the team can separate itself from the pack of non-Warrior playoff teams is by Aldridge taking on their big men (Jokic, Towns, Gobert, Capela and McGee in particular) and winning those battles on most nights.

I was one of the folks who thought the D could improve, and I'm one who thinks it can still get better. There's no reason why the team can't reduce the number of open looks they allow with better communication and reduce the number of fouls they commit with more disciplined hands. The team generates some impressive turnovers, but I find it really disconcerting how often they reach on drives or in transition. Harden is going to have a field day if they can clean that up. I get that with someone like Forbes starting and without two bigs in there to clog the lane that the "hands straight up" strategy isn't likely to be as effective as it used to be. But it's ultimately more stable. Too many quarters where the team has three or more fouls by the nine-minute mark. It's just a recipe for some frustrating losses.

Also, LMA's passing has been going way under the radar. Dude is not letting doubles beat him so far in the year. Almost makes his trial by fire last year worth it.

[FkLA]

PopaGOAT
https://i.imgur.com/x7B1It7.jpg
Pop obviously deserves a lot of credit for helping turn the tide defensively. Considering this team might only have a couple of above average defenders on the entire roster, the quick turnaround on that end is practically unbelievable. Against New Orleans, I thought Pop made a number of really good decisions: letting Cunningham play extended minutes, limiting Gay’s minutes, riding Belinelli more than usual and avoiding long stretch of the Mills/Forbes backcourt, to name a few.
Grade: A
Summary: GOAT coach doing GOAT coach things.

Fixed.

Also agree about Fatty Mills. Not sure what got into him today.

[TDomination]

Thanks for the grades.

Regardless of what NOP is going through this is a great win for our team that many thought would be 1-7 at this point.

Nobody knows how good this team can be. We figured playoffs is pretty much the ceiling with Murray out.

But it's games like these that keep me intrigued because I figured tonight was going to be a loss.

NOP was due for a win and we would come back down to earth after that 30 pt blowout. But instead we take this one comfortably. Very encouraging. Hopefully tomorrow we make it 5 straight.

[Dejounte]

Forbes shows again he will not continue starting.... All he does is being the ball up and passes it off to Aldridge or DeMar. He runs no plays whatsoever. To expect DeMar to run everything all the 82 games would be asking for too much. Can't wait to see White come back and take over.

[spurs10]

Thanks for the grades!! I was at the game tonight and left feeling good about the team, especially regarding our defense. You nailed all the observations from LMA's great performance to the spark Beli provided. Certainly agree it was Mills' best game all around. Excluding LMA's turnaround and seeing Manu for a final season, last year was a real bringdown. Obviously, much of that had to do with the aptly named Number 2. This season I'm loving it and the fact that we are exceeding everyone's expectations makes it all the more fun and enjoyable.

Loving the season so far! The team is having a great time and it shows.
:flag:

[Cry Havoc]

Down in Santa Cruz this weekend so I only got to see a bit of the 3rd quarter from the game tonight, but I liked the limited action I saw from Forbes. He was moving well and has such a sweet jumper -- plus he knows how to use his shot to get defenders a little bit off balance.

Great win. Spurs looking like at worst a top 8 team in the League even without Murray.

[BillMc]

Thanks for the grades as always OP.

[024]

These wins are nice but I don't know how much they can tell us about the Spurs. The wins are against teams that are either lottery bound or stumbling out of the gate. The level of difficulty is going ramp up dramatically in mid-November with the following schedule:

vs Golden State
@ New Orleans
vs Memphis
@ Indiana
@ Milwaukee
@ Chicago
@ Minnesota
vs Houston
vs Portland
@ Utah
@ Lakers
vs Lakers
vs Utah

I expect Minny, Houston, and the Lakers to get better as the season progresses. If the Spurs can retain top 8 positioning after this stretch... then I will be a believer that they'll be competitive in the playoffs.

[J_Paco]

Thanks again for the game grades, Timvp.

I'm shocked that Pop has coaxed a better defensive effort, strategy or turnaround so quickly out of this group. I still think they need to acquire another defensive minded player once White and Walker are back and healthy.

Still, it is nice to see Cunningham finding his niché and Aldridge playing solid minutes (defensively) at the 5. Need his shot to comeback to prior seasons level to make his game complete.

Does Forbes improvement and skillset make Patty expendable? Not sure you can justify paying and playing Patty more when the younger, better alternative is behind him.....

Forbes with either White or Walker on the floor could be an interesting and deadly (from outside) combination.

[Dhbsr555]

If we can somehow be top 10 defensively we might can make a run

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

Apart from the improved defense it's interesting they're close to the bottom in pace, yet top 5 in FGA. Part of it is they're taking care of the ball much better than expected for a team with so many new faces but it's still interesting.

[JPB]

These wins are nice but I don't know how much they can tell us about the Spurs. The wins are against teams that are either lottery bound or stumbling out of the gate. The level of difficulty is going ramp up dramatically in mid-November with the following schedule:

vs Golden State
@ New Orleans
vs Memphis
@ Indiana
@ Milwaukee
@ Chicago
@ Minnesota
vs Houston
vs Portland
@ Utah
@ Lakers
vs Lakers
vs Utah

I expect Minny, Houston, and the Lakers to get better as the season progresses. If the Spurs can retain top 8 positioning after this stretch... then I will be a believer that they'll be competitive in the playoffs.

Spurs will get better too, notably defensively and get a couple players back, notably a real PG.

[BillMc]

These wins are nice but I don't know how much they can tell us about the Spurs. The wins are against teams that are either lottery bound or stumbling out of the gate. The level of difficulty is going ramp up dramatically in mid-November with the following schedule:

vs Golden State
@ New Orleans
vs Memphis
@ Indiana
@ Milwaukee
@ Chicago
@ Minnesota
vs Houston
vs Portland
@ Utah
@ Lakers
vs Lakers
vs Utah

I expect Minny, Houston, and the Lakers to get better as the season progresses. If the Spurs can retain top 8 positioning after this stretch... then I will be a believer that they'll be competitive in the playoffs.

I'm gonna guess roughly .500 through this stretch

[BillMc]

Wow, Cunnigham is already important enough to the team to start regularly and play 38 minutes tonight. Mr. C can say "Sit on it, Bucko!" to all the doubters.

[playbonner15]

Really like the movement with Belinelli and Cunningham cutting and not just standing at the 3 point line. About the Mills/Forbes pairing, I think Pop is aware by now that that won't work. Not sure why he still tries..

[Chinook]

Also liked Gasol on Randle. Julius is a nice player, but his unreliable shot meant that he didn't do much to take Pau out of his comfort zone. At the rim, it was a bit of a bloodbath, which is not something the Pelicans could afford when they were already losing the Aldridge/Davis conflict. Pau missed at least a couple of really easy looks, or else the stat battle would have looked a lot better for him. He's continuing to look good in his bench role. Mo Bamba will be something of a test for him, but Mo's too in love with the long shot right now. With the possibility of Aldridge and DeRozan to be limited or out, tonight's game is not a gimme. Pau would be one of the players to could turn the tide.

[HankChinaski]

About the Mills/Forbes pairing, I think Pop is aware by now that that won't work. Not sure why he still tries..

The only thing I could possibly consider thinking of is to have teams take advantage of the disadvantage if it gets different players that are in rhythm to possibly lose rhythm.

It's a big stretch but there is that.

[HankChinaski]

Man this early portion of the season has been a pleasant surprise to watch. Loving the effort overall with the team.

I'm sold on the improvement from Forbes. He will never be an all star player but what he has been task with consider the injuries an depth I am glad he is at least putting the effort in an taking those shots especially on those earlier games when Mills was just flat.

Mills continues to have games like this the lack of Murray this season won't sting so bad.

Todays game. Can't wait.

[skookumchuck]

Pop sitting Davis has opened it up for Dante, and to his credit, Dante has been solid, mostly.

[John B]

Thanks again for the grades Timvp. I’m totally impressed with the defensive turnaround. Excited about Dante getting 15pts along with his continued defensive hassles. Forbes defense is worrying me. I very much like him opening up Demar and LMA in the 1st unit. Is Demar poor shooting tonight has anything to do with Chips tinkering and making him a 3 point shooter? Was his mechanics changed? I hope not. All in all, I’m happy about the team progress and can see the Spurs system churning. GSG!

[Mirrornick]

26/4/3 is considered an off game for DD, that's nice. He came a long way for sure.

[Kobe'sAchilles]

Forbes needs to stop that stupid jump pass or at least put some zip on that pass when he attempts it. The pelicans already had it scouted and I'm sure other teams will be aware of it as well.
Also being outshot by double on free throws is going to hurt us in the long run, but I expect Pop to get them to stop reaching as the year goes on. I do love the fact that they are playing zone defense. It really covers alot of our weaknesses. Pop is really coaching his butt off early on this season which is a great sign

[Chinook]

Pop sitting Davis has opened it up for Dante, and to his credit, Dante has been solid, mostly.

There's room for both:

Forbes, DeRozan, Belinelli, Cunningham, Aldridge
Mills, Pondexter (/White) Gay, Bertans, Gasol

[Chinook]

Forbes needs to stop that stupid jump pass or at least put some zip on that pass when he attempts it. The pelicans already had it scouted and I'm sure other teams will be aware of it as well.
Also being outshot by double on free throws is going to hurt us in the long run, but I expect Pop to get them to stop reaching as the year goes on. I do love the fact that they are playing zone defense. It really covers alot of our weaknesses. Pop is really coaching his butt off early on this season which is a great sign

The Pelicans actually had a number of the Spurs' passes scouted. They just got incredibly unlucky when they tried to capitalize. Forbes' PnP passing reminded me of the Green/Duncan connection from back in the day. Teams absolutely started to scout and jump those passes too. It's not a bad option, but there needs to be another plan for what to do when Bryn gets up in the air. Forbes' midrange game is superior to Danny's, so him just taking the shot might be the best solution. Aldridge rolling more could also make the pass harder to read, but then you run the risk of Bryn just throwing it away if he and LMA aren't on the same page.

[skookumchuck]

There's room for both:

Forbes, DeRozan, Belinelli, Cunningham, Aldridge
Mills, Pondexter (/White) Gay, Bertans, Gasol

Well, obviously you know that, I know that and most likely Pop knows that, too. It appears that Bertans, at this moment, is not responding well to the situation as it is.

[Kobe'sAchilles]

The Pelicans actually had a number of the Spurs' passes scouted. They just got incredibly unlucky when they tried to capitalize. Forbes' PnP passing reminded me of the Green/Duncan connection from back in the day. Teams absolutely started to scout and jump those passes too. It's not a bad option, but there needs to be another plan for what to do when Bryn gets up in the air. Forbes' midrange game is superior to Danny's, so him just taking the shot might be the best solution. Aldridge rolling more could also make the pass harder to read, but then you run the risk of Bryn just throwing it away if he and LMA aren't on the same page.


Yeah we were very lucky on numerous pass attempts tbh. If Forbes can develop a fake into his passing game that would help so much. Either a fake pass and go into the shot or a fake shot and go into the pass. But he telegrams his passes waaay too much for my taste.
I prefer Aldridge rolling on better passers like Marco or DDR. But he needs to do it with Forbes too. I just cringe at the thought of the results early on

[duncan2150]

These wins are nice but I don't know how much they can tell us about the Spurs. The wins are against teams that are either lottery bound or stumbling out of the gate. The level of difficulty is going ramp up dramatically in mid-November with the following schedule:

vs Golden State
@ New Orleans
vs Memphis
@ Indiana
@ Milwaukee
@ Chicago
@ Minnesota
vs Houston
vs Portland
@ Utah
@ Lakers
vs Lakers
vs Utah

I expect Minny, Houston, and the Lakers to get better as the season progresses. If the Spurs can retain top 8 positioning after this stretch... then I will be a believer that they'll be competitive in the playoffs.

We already play minny, Lakers x2, portland, Indiana, NO in 8 games : it was also a difficult schedule...

[RC_Drunkford]

We already play minny, Lakers x2, portland, Indiana, NO in 8 games : it was also a difficult schedule...

Our schedule gonna get easier at the end of the season. we basically played 6 playoff teams in 8 games. Schedule started strong

[wildbill2u]

Every win is important for this team. A win against a playoff team like NO is a well-earned W on the schedule that might well have gone the other way. It doesn't matter if the W isn't always purty, a win is a win is a win. Go Spurs is the sentiment here.

[DAF86]

My only knock on Pop was playing Aldridge and DeRozan 40 minutes each on a game that was being won by 20 most of the night. He could have found a couple more minutes of rest, specially with a b2b coming up.

[TD 21]

Riding a three-game winning streak, the Spurs faced a test Saturday night against a Pelicans squad that looks like a surefire playoff team in the Western Conference. Consider the test passed. In front of their home fans, San Antonio dominated most of the night to cruise to a 109-95 victory.

I missed when that happened. In the off season, the masses claimed the Thunder and Jazz were. In the early season, they've added the Nuggets and Pelicans to that list.

I still don't see a single lock not named Warriors or Rockets. Sure, there's some that are probably more likely than others in the third tier, but no one else deserves to be anointed.



However, before Spurs fans cancel their May vacations, I should point out that the Pelicans missed a ton of free throws and open three-pointers, Anthony Davis has been dealing with an injured elbow lately, and they were missing their starting point guard (Elfrid Payton). That said, any victory against a Western Conference playoff team is a good one.

Yeah, it's called basketball. I should point out that Murray will miss the entire season, White and Walker are out 6-8 weeks and the Spurs haven't really been whole in 1.5 years and won't be for at least another 1 . . . so forgive me if I don't weep for the Pelicans.