timvp
12-29-2018, 04:20 AM
https://i.imgur.com/KoysCed.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/IcDDMz4.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/QCidG8z.jpg
Well, that was frustrating. The Spurs were tantalizingly close to winning a second consecutive game against the Nuggets -- this time in Denver -- but they just couldn't get over the hump.
After a feeble first half by San Antonio that saw them fall behind by as many as 18 points, the good guys got their groove back in the third quarter. The defense stiffened, as the Nuggets were only able to score 17 points in the period.
With a 14-point halftime deficit sliced to three points, Bryn Forbes had a three-pointer with two and a half remaining in the third that could have tied it. Clang number one. That, unfortunately, became a pattern.
-Marco Belinelli missed three-pointer down by three with 1:04 in the third
-Rudy Gay missed three-pointer down by three with 9:34 in the fourth
-Forbes missed three-pointer down by three with 2:09 in the fourth
-Jakob Poeltl splits a pair of free throws down two with 1:47 in the fourth
-Derrick White missed three-pointer down by three with 1:19 in the fourth
-White splits a pair of free throws down by two with 28.8 seconds in the fourth
The Spurs got the basketball back trailing by three points with 7.2 seconds remaining in the game but, fittingly I suppose, failed to force overtime.
While I'd definitely categorize the 102-99 defeat as frustrating, I thought there were bright spots. Primarily, the competitiveness in the second half was great, particularly after the weak showing in the first two periods. The Spurs stepped up their defense, created good looks offensively and gave themselves a chance to win a road game against a quality opponent.
While it's possible to criticize a play here and a miscalculation there, the loss boils down to three factors: they hit only 11-of-20 (55%) free throws, only 8-of-27 (29.6%) three-pointers and allowed 17 offensive rebounds. Considering the Spurs entered the game first in the entire NBA in free throw percentage (82.6%), first in three-point percentage (40%) and fifth in defensive rebounding percentage, that was a difficult trio of pills to swallow and still try to win out on the road against a playoff bound Western Conference foe. If they had cleaned up even one of those areas, this would have gone down as one of the better wins of the season.
But it didn't happen. Tip your hats to the Nuggets and move on.
-------------
LaMarcus Aldridge
https://i.imgur.com/1nluyNF.png
As I was watching the game live, I thought LaMarcus Aldridge was being too ball dominant. The rock would go to him and it would rarely come back out. But, in hindsight, Aldridge was probably right to be as aggressive as he was due to the fact that nobody else could consistently generate offense. On this night, feeding the big fella was the best offensive option. And, really, it's difficult to criticize his production. He played physically for a majority of the game (though he did settle for a few too many fadeaways), the passes he did make were usually on target, he played 38 turnoverless minutes and battled hard on the offensive glass. Defensively, I don't have many complaints. He had his hands full with a revenge-seeking Nikola Jokic but he had his moments of success on that end (helping to force him into six turnovers, for example) and his effort level was consistently high. My main critique tonight would be Aldridge's defensive rebounding, or lack thereof. He simply didn't pull down enough boards on that end. (Stat of the night: In the first 17 games of the season, Aldridge couldn't hit a shot [40.6% from the field] but was rebounding like a madman [11.4 boards per game]. Since then, in 19 games he has been a marksman from the floor [57%] and a lightweight on the glass [7.1 per game]. I don't have an explanation.)
Grade: A-
Summary: An inspired Aldridge played well enough for the Spurs to win.
-------------
DeMar DeRozan
https://i.imgur.com/ZKxGADZ.png
This was an unusual evening for DeMar DeRozan. For perhaps the first time this season in a competitive game, DeRozan never really got around to asserting himself offensively. While it was a positive that he was staying within the offense, he went too far to the passive end of the spectrum. DeRozan spent most of the night trying in vain to to get to the free throw line. Then, when he did visit the charity stripe, the 83.1% free throw shooter misfired on half of his six freebies. In addition to his relatively few field goal attempts, DeRozan also wasn't doing much ball-handling or playmaking -- but was still responsible for three of the team's ten turnovers. Defensively, he was better than usual as the Spurs were successfully able to hide him for the most part.
Grade: C-
Summary: DeRozan wasn't DeRozan.
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Rudy Gay
https://i.imgur.com/vqYr2we.png
For the second straight game, Rudy Gay wasn't good. He's 0-for-8 on three-pointers over the two contests and while he's been more successful inside the arc, he continues to look a beat out of rhythm. Gay did have a couple nice passes, went without a turnover and had a couple momentum-shifting plays defensively. But where he hurt the Spurs the most was on the defensive glass. Against the Nuggets, Gay wasn't boxing out adequately and only pulled down one defensive board in 24 minutes. That won't get the job done, especially considering the man who he was matched up with most (Mason Plumlee) had seven offensive rebounds. If Pop is going to continue to start the current small lineup, he'll need to see Gay rebound better than he has of late.
Grade: D+
Summary: Gay couldn't hit a three or grab rebound.
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Bryn Forbes
https://i.imgur.com/yXVIEAs.png
Bryn Forbes played rather well. He knocked down perimeter shots, took the ball to the hole with ferocity and remained a threat at all times. On the other end, I thought he was above average. He kept players in front of him for the most part, rotated with adequate speed and even tried to help out on the boards at times. It would have been helpful if he was faster to loose balls tonight or if he could have knocked down one of the game-tying threes -- but Forbes performed his duty at an admirable level.
Grade: B+
Summary: Forbes held up his end of the bargain.
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Derrick White
https://i.imgur.com/IrTA2dV.png
The good: Derrick White was a ballhawk on defense, as evident by his career-high six steals (I counted seven, for what it's worth). He wasn't quite as good on Jamal Murray man-to-man as he was last game but he made the Nuggets' up-and-coming point guard work hard for his production. On offense, White had a couple highlight-reel dunks and flashed his impressive court vision. The bad: Unfortunately, White's confidence in his shot is trending the wrong way. He's now hesitant to shoot a lot of the time, even if he's completely open and the coaches are yelling at him to shoot. His team-defense tonight was a step slow too often and he didn't help out on the defensive boards nearly enough.
Grade: B+
Summary: White made a number of key defensive plays but his overall game remains a work in progress.
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Davis Bertans
https://i.imgur.com/ucY2jSF.png
The statistics make it look like Davis Bertans had a normal game but I didn't really like how he played. Offensively, he forced a couple shots and was a ball-stopper, which is a rarity for him. Defensively, he reverted to being weak on the glass. His boxouts weren't determined and he had boards bounce off his fingers. Bertans' D was too spastic and left too many holes open, both individually and team-wise.
Grade: C-
Summary: Bertans struggled for the first time in a while.
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Marco Belinelli
https://i.imgur.com/hP9vIFY.png
It was a tale of two sides of the hardwood for Marco Belinelli in Denver. On offense, he was good enough. Perhaps he was a bit more subdued than usual, but that actually led to saner shot selection. Where Belinelli hurt the Spurs was on the defensive end. San Antonio struggled to get a stop whenever he was on the court. Slow closeouts on shooters, slow help defense, a pushover in the paint and too porous to penetration -- 'twas not a good showing for Belinelli on that end, to say the least.
Grade: C
Summary: Half pretty okay. Half bad.
-------------
Patty Mills
https://i.imgur.com/gTa4B5z.png
Patty Mills' shooting slump is now worryingly long. Over the last seven games, he has no double-digit scoring nights and has hit 27% of his shots from the floor and only 8-of-27 three-pointers. Prior to this dry spell, Mills was playing quite well. But right now, he's a liability. He's second guessing his shots, he's forcing passes and he's not pushing the pace with the same level of consistency as previously. Defensively, his energy level is a step lower, which makes him a target for opponents to prey upon whenever he's on the court. Mills was terrible to start the season but he eventually snapped out of it. Now the Spurs need him to snap out of it for a second time.
Grade: D+
Summary: Mills isn't earning his paycheck right now.
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Jakob Poeltl
https://i.imgur.com/FUIlW00.png
Jakob Poeltl's play was a silver lining for the shaky bench unit. He held down the fort in the lane well enough against a big Nuggets squad, though he too deserves part of the criticism for not doing better work on the defensive boards. He spent eight of his minutes playing next to Aldridge, an alignment he looks increasingly comfortable within. Poeltl had a sprinkle of smart passes, rim protections and one-on-one defensive stops. However, he'll probably most remember his missed free throws, particularly the one late.
Grade: B
Summary: Poeltl continues to grow.
-------------
Dante Cunningham
https://i.imgur.com/W3QWUCI.png
Dante Cunningham played his first real minutes in five games and ... I thought he did well. Yeah, I said it. Cunningham did exactly what he's best at: he brought an edge, a ruggedness to the game that was previously lacking. The Spurs were going through the motions, Pop called on Cunningham to change that and I thought he did that during his five-minute first half cameo. He ran the court hard, threw his body around and crashed the defensive glass with a healthy amount of testosterone. That is the perfect role for him.
Grade: A-
Summary: Cunningham did what he's built to do.
-------------
Pop
https://i.imgur.com/x7B1It7.jpg
With hindsight being 20/20, Pop should have played White more in his native state, while Mills should have played less. More plays run for DeRozan could have helped get him on track. The late-game playcalls were bland, easily found on the first couple pages of the playbook. On the other hand, I like that he's warming up to the idea of Aldridge and Poeltl playing together, especially now with Pau Gasol healthy and available to play. Oh, and Pop's usage of Cunningham was perfect.
Grade: B-
Summary: Pop giveth and Pop taketh away.
Looking ahead: Woulda, coulda, shoulda. Good effort in the second half. Ah, well.
Can the Spurs win a second game of a back-to-back for the first time this season on Saturday night against the Clippers? That's the challenge. Los Angeles' best basketball team is 12-4 at home, so it will not be easy.
A win would make this a successful two-game mini road trip. A loss would be a return to the one step forward, two steps backwards vortex the Spurs were stuck in earlier in the season. It shall be interesting to see which version of the Spurs shows up.
https://i.imgur.com/IcDDMz4.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/QCidG8z.jpg
Well, that was frustrating. The Spurs were tantalizingly close to winning a second consecutive game against the Nuggets -- this time in Denver -- but they just couldn't get over the hump.
After a feeble first half by San Antonio that saw them fall behind by as many as 18 points, the good guys got their groove back in the third quarter. The defense stiffened, as the Nuggets were only able to score 17 points in the period.
With a 14-point halftime deficit sliced to three points, Bryn Forbes had a three-pointer with two and a half remaining in the third that could have tied it. Clang number one. That, unfortunately, became a pattern.
-Marco Belinelli missed three-pointer down by three with 1:04 in the third
-Rudy Gay missed three-pointer down by three with 9:34 in the fourth
-Forbes missed three-pointer down by three with 2:09 in the fourth
-Jakob Poeltl splits a pair of free throws down two with 1:47 in the fourth
-Derrick White missed three-pointer down by three with 1:19 in the fourth
-White splits a pair of free throws down by two with 28.8 seconds in the fourth
The Spurs got the basketball back trailing by three points with 7.2 seconds remaining in the game but, fittingly I suppose, failed to force overtime.
While I'd definitely categorize the 102-99 defeat as frustrating, I thought there were bright spots. Primarily, the competitiveness in the second half was great, particularly after the weak showing in the first two periods. The Spurs stepped up their defense, created good looks offensively and gave themselves a chance to win a road game against a quality opponent.
While it's possible to criticize a play here and a miscalculation there, the loss boils down to three factors: they hit only 11-of-20 (55%) free throws, only 8-of-27 (29.6%) three-pointers and allowed 17 offensive rebounds. Considering the Spurs entered the game first in the entire NBA in free throw percentage (82.6%), first in three-point percentage (40%) and fifth in defensive rebounding percentage, that was a difficult trio of pills to swallow and still try to win out on the road against a playoff bound Western Conference foe. If they had cleaned up even one of those areas, this would have gone down as one of the better wins of the season.
But it didn't happen. Tip your hats to the Nuggets and move on.
-------------
LaMarcus Aldridge
https://i.imgur.com/1nluyNF.png
As I was watching the game live, I thought LaMarcus Aldridge was being too ball dominant. The rock would go to him and it would rarely come back out. But, in hindsight, Aldridge was probably right to be as aggressive as he was due to the fact that nobody else could consistently generate offense. On this night, feeding the big fella was the best offensive option. And, really, it's difficult to criticize his production. He played physically for a majority of the game (though he did settle for a few too many fadeaways), the passes he did make were usually on target, he played 38 turnoverless minutes and battled hard on the offensive glass. Defensively, I don't have many complaints. He had his hands full with a revenge-seeking Nikola Jokic but he had his moments of success on that end (helping to force him into six turnovers, for example) and his effort level was consistently high. My main critique tonight would be Aldridge's defensive rebounding, or lack thereof. He simply didn't pull down enough boards on that end. (Stat of the night: In the first 17 games of the season, Aldridge couldn't hit a shot [40.6% from the field] but was rebounding like a madman [11.4 boards per game]. Since then, in 19 games he has been a marksman from the floor [57%] and a lightweight on the glass [7.1 per game]. I don't have an explanation.)
Grade: A-
Summary: An inspired Aldridge played well enough for the Spurs to win.
-------------
DeMar DeRozan
https://i.imgur.com/ZKxGADZ.png
This was an unusual evening for DeMar DeRozan. For perhaps the first time this season in a competitive game, DeRozan never really got around to asserting himself offensively. While it was a positive that he was staying within the offense, he went too far to the passive end of the spectrum. DeRozan spent most of the night trying in vain to to get to the free throw line. Then, when he did visit the charity stripe, the 83.1% free throw shooter misfired on half of his six freebies. In addition to his relatively few field goal attempts, DeRozan also wasn't doing much ball-handling or playmaking -- but was still responsible for three of the team's ten turnovers. Defensively, he was better than usual as the Spurs were successfully able to hide him for the most part.
Grade: C-
Summary: DeRozan wasn't DeRozan.
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Rudy Gay
https://i.imgur.com/vqYr2we.png
For the second straight game, Rudy Gay wasn't good. He's 0-for-8 on three-pointers over the two contests and while he's been more successful inside the arc, he continues to look a beat out of rhythm. Gay did have a couple nice passes, went without a turnover and had a couple momentum-shifting plays defensively. But where he hurt the Spurs the most was on the defensive glass. Against the Nuggets, Gay wasn't boxing out adequately and only pulled down one defensive board in 24 minutes. That won't get the job done, especially considering the man who he was matched up with most (Mason Plumlee) had seven offensive rebounds. If Pop is going to continue to start the current small lineup, he'll need to see Gay rebound better than he has of late.
Grade: D+
Summary: Gay couldn't hit a three or grab rebound.
-------------
Bryn Forbes
https://i.imgur.com/yXVIEAs.png
Bryn Forbes played rather well. He knocked down perimeter shots, took the ball to the hole with ferocity and remained a threat at all times. On the other end, I thought he was above average. He kept players in front of him for the most part, rotated with adequate speed and even tried to help out on the boards at times. It would have been helpful if he was faster to loose balls tonight or if he could have knocked down one of the game-tying threes -- but Forbes performed his duty at an admirable level.
Grade: B+
Summary: Forbes held up his end of the bargain.
-------------
Derrick White
https://i.imgur.com/IrTA2dV.png
The good: Derrick White was a ballhawk on defense, as evident by his career-high six steals (I counted seven, for what it's worth). He wasn't quite as good on Jamal Murray man-to-man as he was last game but he made the Nuggets' up-and-coming point guard work hard for his production. On offense, White had a couple highlight-reel dunks and flashed his impressive court vision. The bad: Unfortunately, White's confidence in his shot is trending the wrong way. He's now hesitant to shoot a lot of the time, even if he's completely open and the coaches are yelling at him to shoot. His team-defense tonight was a step slow too often and he didn't help out on the defensive boards nearly enough.
Grade: B+
Summary: White made a number of key defensive plays but his overall game remains a work in progress.
-------------
Davis Bertans
https://i.imgur.com/ucY2jSF.png
The statistics make it look like Davis Bertans had a normal game but I didn't really like how he played. Offensively, he forced a couple shots and was a ball-stopper, which is a rarity for him. Defensively, he reverted to being weak on the glass. His boxouts weren't determined and he had boards bounce off his fingers. Bertans' D was too spastic and left too many holes open, both individually and team-wise.
Grade: C-
Summary: Bertans struggled for the first time in a while.
-------------
Marco Belinelli
https://i.imgur.com/hP9vIFY.png
It was a tale of two sides of the hardwood for Marco Belinelli in Denver. On offense, he was good enough. Perhaps he was a bit more subdued than usual, but that actually led to saner shot selection. Where Belinelli hurt the Spurs was on the defensive end. San Antonio struggled to get a stop whenever he was on the court. Slow closeouts on shooters, slow help defense, a pushover in the paint and too porous to penetration -- 'twas not a good showing for Belinelli on that end, to say the least.
Grade: C
Summary: Half pretty okay. Half bad.
-------------
Patty Mills
https://i.imgur.com/gTa4B5z.png
Patty Mills' shooting slump is now worryingly long. Over the last seven games, he has no double-digit scoring nights and has hit 27% of his shots from the floor and only 8-of-27 three-pointers. Prior to this dry spell, Mills was playing quite well. But right now, he's a liability. He's second guessing his shots, he's forcing passes and he's not pushing the pace with the same level of consistency as previously. Defensively, his energy level is a step lower, which makes him a target for opponents to prey upon whenever he's on the court. Mills was terrible to start the season but he eventually snapped out of it. Now the Spurs need him to snap out of it for a second time.
Grade: D+
Summary: Mills isn't earning his paycheck right now.
-------------
Jakob Poeltl
https://i.imgur.com/FUIlW00.png
Jakob Poeltl's play was a silver lining for the shaky bench unit. He held down the fort in the lane well enough against a big Nuggets squad, though he too deserves part of the criticism for not doing better work on the defensive boards. He spent eight of his minutes playing next to Aldridge, an alignment he looks increasingly comfortable within. Poeltl had a sprinkle of smart passes, rim protections and one-on-one defensive stops. However, he'll probably most remember his missed free throws, particularly the one late.
Grade: B
Summary: Poeltl continues to grow.
-------------
Dante Cunningham
https://i.imgur.com/W3QWUCI.png
Dante Cunningham played his first real minutes in five games and ... I thought he did well. Yeah, I said it. Cunningham did exactly what he's best at: he brought an edge, a ruggedness to the game that was previously lacking. The Spurs were going through the motions, Pop called on Cunningham to change that and I thought he did that during his five-minute first half cameo. He ran the court hard, threw his body around and crashed the defensive glass with a healthy amount of testosterone. That is the perfect role for him.
Grade: A-
Summary: Cunningham did what he's built to do.
-------------
Pop
https://i.imgur.com/x7B1It7.jpg
With hindsight being 20/20, Pop should have played White more in his native state, while Mills should have played less. More plays run for DeRozan could have helped get him on track. The late-game playcalls were bland, easily found on the first couple pages of the playbook. On the other hand, I like that he's warming up to the idea of Aldridge and Poeltl playing together, especially now with Pau Gasol healthy and available to play. Oh, and Pop's usage of Cunningham was perfect.
Grade: B-
Summary: Pop giveth and Pop taketh away.
Looking ahead: Woulda, coulda, shoulda. Good effort in the second half. Ah, well.
Can the Spurs win a second game of a back-to-back for the first time this season on Saturday night against the Clippers? That's the challenge. Los Angeles' best basketball team is 12-4 at home, so it will not be easy.
A win would make this a successful two-game mini road trip. A loss would be a return to the one step forward, two steps backwards vortex the Spurs were stuck in earlier in the season. It shall be interesting to see which version of the Spurs shows up.