timvp
01-06-2019, 04:07 PM
https://i.imgur.com/C9qRAmU.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/xiBPcqW.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/YKCyjqg.jpg
After the Raptors game overflowing with emotion, I was fearful of a major letdown. Unfortunately, those fears were founded. On Saturday night, the home crowd was comatose, any rhythm was difficult to sustain and the players were a step slow (just like the filing of these random thoughts).
Fortunately, the Grizzlies were worse. After Memphis’ win (referee aided, if you remember correctly) earlier in the season in San Antonio that improved their record to 12-5, they have fallen off a cliff. Since then, the Grizzlies have a record of 6-16. They’ve now lost five games in a row and 10 of their last 12. On top of their recent struggles, Memphis was playing the second night of a back-to-back after a close loss against the Nets.
So, yeah, the Spurs got lucky schedule-wise to run into a tired, bad team on the night they themselves (and the entire city, really) were saddled with an emotional hangover.
But let us give the good guys credit. Despite only play C or D level basketball, they coasted to a 108-88 victory. Following a nip and tuck first quarter, San Antonio went on an extended 36-14 run in the second quarter to create a sizable advantage.
The Spurs held that lead into the fourth quarter. In the final stanza, the Grizzlies went on a 14-0 run to cut into a 24-point Spurs lead. Within a few minutes, the Spurs summoned just enough energy to expand the lead and ease fears of a Bulls-esque collapse.
All in all, it was a good win considering the circumstances. While the offense was missing its recent crispness, the defense was stout. Sure, some of their defensive success was the result of the Grizzlies ineptness, but the Spurs did enough on that end to deserve a healthy portion of the credit.
Here are some random thoughts on this game specifically and on the season in general . . .
-The Spurs have climbed all the way up to 16th in the league in defensive rating at 109.1 points allowed per 100 possessions. Their offensive rating is 5th in the league at 112.2. Over the last 15 games in which San Antonio has gone 12-3, the Spurs have the league’s best offensive rating (117.4), the league’s fourth best defensive rating (101.9) and by far the best net rating in the NBA at 15.5.
-The turnaround in those last 15 games has been stunning. I thought it was likely for the Spurs to rebound from the depths of the multiple 30-plus point blowouts but to go from that to destroying the NBA in such a short period of time is remarkable.
-Offensively, I point to two things as the main causes for the improvement: Dante Cunningham and the bench. As I was harping on through the first couple months of the season, Cunningham’s presence was hampering the offense. As talented as these Spurs are offensively, it was too difficult trying to score four on five. All season, San Antonio’s offense has been very lethal when Cunningham has been on the bench. Now that Pop has excised him from the rotation, the Spurs are stuck on hyper scoring mode. As far as the bench is concerned, surrounding Jakob Poeltl with four shooters has brought back some of the Beautiful Basketball Era magic. The passing, cutting and shotmaking off the bench has been very impressive. It’s no accident that the three players with the best net rating in the last fifteen games are Poeltl (19.5), Patty Mills (18.4) and Davis Bertans (18.2).
-Defensively, while Pop deserves a lot of credit on the macro level for instituting more zone and semi-zone coverages, Derrick White’s ascension has been extremely vital. He has given the starting five the lockdown defender it desperately needed. Previously, the starters didn’t even have a fighting chance on the defensive end. In the last 15 games, White has a defensive rating of 97.5 – far and away the best number for a starter (Rudy Gay is second at 100.7). DeMar DeRozan, specifically, has really been aided by White’s rise. In the last fifteen games, his defensive rating improves from 106.1 when White is off the court to 101.5 when White is on the court.
-Outside of Pop and White, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Poeltl’s improved defensive play. He actually has the best defensive rating on the team in the last 15 games at 94.3, one spot ahead of White. He has been doing a really good job of moving his feet on the perimeter, defending the rim and grabbing defensive boards. Considering the bench unit is small and light, they need a sturdy foundation underneath to stop the pyramid from collapsing and Poeltl has been up to the task.
-Against the Grizzlies, White led the way offensive with 19 points on 8-for-9 shooting from the field. In his last three games, White is now an amazing 24-for-29 from the field for an incomprehensible 82.8 percent. After shooting 38.7 percent from the field and 24.1 percent on three-pointers in his first 19 games of the season, White’s blistering offensive explosion has risen his percentages to 47.3 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent on threes.
-Why is White suddenly an offensive powerhouse? Well, first of all, some of this is probably just – as Manu taught us – progressing to the mean. White is a better offensive player than his early season numbers indicated so he was due for a hot streak. But while he’s not going to shoot 80 percent from the field, White does look like a totally different player the last couple weeks. He’s much more under control, more confident when it comes to making decisions and less hesitant to shoot open shots. He looks comfortable and appears to know exactly what he should do in each possession.
-LaMarcus Aldridge had another quality game against Memphis. He posted the odd line of 18 points, two rebounds, seven assists and no turnovers while handily outplaying another star bigman in Marc Gasol. I can’t remember the last time a star bigman got the better of Aldridge; it had to be prior to this 15-game renaissance. The subtle gameplan switch I’ve previously mentioned that made feeding Aldridge in the low block the primary goal of San Antonio’s early-offense attack has done wonders for his game. He’s running harder and has upped his physicality two- or three-fold. And versus the Grizzlies, he punished double-teams with his passing to register a season-high in that category. (Aldridge actually now has the team’s highest PER for the first time this season at 21.42, passing DeRozan [21.04]. PER is considered a meaningless stat by many these days with the rise of alternative advanced stats but with All-Star selections around the corner, that could conceivably be factored in when deciding which one [if either] deserves to make the All-Star team.)
-DeMar DeRozan and Bryn Forbes were two of the must hungover players Saturday night. Understandable, especially DeRozan. Rudy Gay had some pep to his step but was mostly off (though his rebounding helped quite a bit). Troublingly, Gay grabbed his injured wrist a couple times in obvious pain. Let’s hope he doesn’t suffer a setback and can instead work through his latest ailment without missing more time.
-The bench, namely Poeltl and Mills, helped give the Spurs life. Poeltl had three consecutive dunks in the third quarter in one minute of play to breathe a little enthusiasm into the home crowd. The big Austrian struggled early in terms of being prepared to catch and finish but ironed out that issue by the second half. It was also good to see Mills shoot straight for a change. In his previous 16 games, he has hit only 36.5 percent from the floor and 36.4 percent from the field.
-Speaking of Mills, I’m surprised by how much confidence he has in Poeltl. He’s not really known to attempt difficult or high-risk passes but he’s always looking to feed Poeltl, no matter how little airspace he has to deliver the pass. I’m not complaining; I actually like it. Really, this is a change Mills had to make in his post-Ginobili career. Without Manu around to feed pick-and-roll bigs with ballsy passes, someone had to pick up that baton.
-Davis Bertans and Marco Belinelli were off, shooting a combined 1-for-8 from extra point land. But I didn’t think they played poorly. The duo was aggressive offensively and they both picked it up rebounding-wise and their defensive intensity was higher than usual.
-Next up, after going 3-0 on their homestand, the Spurs head to Detroit on Monday night. This will be another reunion for DeRozan as the Pistons are coached by Dwane Casey, who coached DeRozan for seven years in Toronto.
-The Pistons are 11-9 at home so this won’t be an easy game. Moreover, I’m still concerned about the emotional letdown lingering. Hopefully I’m needlessly worrying but it may take a loss to wake the group up and move forward from the regular season’s Super Bowl.
https://i.imgur.com/xiBPcqW.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/YKCyjqg.jpg
After the Raptors game overflowing with emotion, I was fearful of a major letdown. Unfortunately, those fears were founded. On Saturday night, the home crowd was comatose, any rhythm was difficult to sustain and the players were a step slow (just like the filing of these random thoughts).
Fortunately, the Grizzlies were worse. After Memphis’ win (referee aided, if you remember correctly) earlier in the season in San Antonio that improved their record to 12-5, they have fallen off a cliff. Since then, the Grizzlies have a record of 6-16. They’ve now lost five games in a row and 10 of their last 12. On top of their recent struggles, Memphis was playing the second night of a back-to-back after a close loss against the Nets.
So, yeah, the Spurs got lucky schedule-wise to run into a tired, bad team on the night they themselves (and the entire city, really) were saddled with an emotional hangover.
But let us give the good guys credit. Despite only play C or D level basketball, they coasted to a 108-88 victory. Following a nip and tuck first quarter, San Antonio went on an extended 36-14 run in the second quarter to create a sizable advantage.
The Spurs held that lead into the fourth quarter. In the final stanza, the Grizzlies went on a 14-0 run to cut into a 24-point Spurs lead. Within a few minutes, the Spurs summoned just enough energy to expand the lead and ease fears of a Bulls-esque collapse.
All in all, it was a good win considering the circumstances. While the offense was missing its recent crispness, the defense was stout. Sure, some of their defensive success was the result of the Grizzlies ineptness, but the Spurs did enough on that end to deserve a healthy portion of the credit.
Here are some random thoughts on this game specifically and on the season in general . . .
-The Spurs have climbed all the way up to 16th in the league in defensive rating at 109.1 points allowed per 100 possessions. Their offensive rating is 5th in the league at 112.2. Over the last 15 games in which San Antonio has gone 12-3, the Spurs have the league’s best offensive rating (117.4), the league’s fourth best defensive rating (101.9) and by far the best net rating in the NBA at 15.5.
-The turnaround in those last 15 games has been stunning. I thought it was likely for the Spurs to rebound from the depths of the multiple 30-plus point blowouts but to go from that to destroying the NBA in such a short period of time is remarkable.
-Offensively, I point to two things as the main causes for the improvement: Dante Cunningham and the bench. As I was harping on through the first couple months of the season, Cunningham’s presence was hampering the offense. As talented as these Spurs are offensively, it was too difficult trying to score four on five. All season, San Antonio’s offense has been very lethal when Cunningham has been on the bench. Now that Pop has excised him from the rotation, the Spurs are stuck on hyper scoring mode. As far as the bench is concerned, surrounding Jakob Poeltl with four shooters has brought back some of the Beautiful Basketball Era magic. The passing, cutting and shotmaking off the bench has been very impressive. It’s no accident that the three players with the best net rating in the last fifteen games are Poeltl (19.5), Patty Mills (18.4) and Davis Bertans (18.2).
-Defensively, while Pop deserves a lot of credit on the macro level for instituting more zone and semi-zone coverages, Derrick White’s ascension has been extremely vital. He has given the starting five the lockdown defender it desperately needed. Previously, the starters didn’t even have a fighting chance on the defensive end. In the last 15 games, White has a defensive rating of 97.5 – far and away the best number for a starter (Rudy Gay is second at 100.7). DeMar DeRozan, specifically, has really been aided by White’s rise. In the last fifteen games, his defensive rating improves from 106.1 when White is off the court to 101.5 when White is on the court.
-Outside of Pop and White, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Poeltl’s improved defensive play. He actually has the best defensive rating on the team in the last 15 games at 94.3, one spot ahead of White. He has been doing a really good job of moving his feet on the perimeter, defending the rim and grabbing defensive boards. Considering the bench unit is small and light, they need a sturdy foundation underneath to stop the pyramid from collapsing and Poeltl has been up to the task.
-Against the Grizzlies, White led the way offensive with 19 points on 8-for-9 shooting from the field. In his last three games, White is now an amazing 24-for-29 from the field for an incomprehensible 82.8 percent. After shooting 38.7 percent from the field and 24.1 percent on three-pointers in his first 19 games of the season, White’s blistering offensive explosion has risen his percentages to 47.3 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent on threes.
-Why is White suddenly an offensive powerhouse? Well, first of all, some of this is probably just – as Manu taught us – progressing to the mean. White is a better offensive player than his early season numbers indicated so he was due for a hot streak. But while he’s not going to shoot 80 percent from the field, White does look like a totally different player the last couple weeks. He’s much more under control, more confident when it comes to making decisions and less hesitant to shoot open shots. He looks comfortable and appears to know exactly what he should do in each possession.
-LaMarcus Aldridge had another quality game against Memphis. He posted the odd line of 18 points, two rebounds, seven assists and no turnovers while handily outplaying another star bigman in Marc Gasol. I can’t remember the last time a star bigman got the better of Aldridge; it had to be prior to this 15-game renaissance. The subtle gameplan switch I’ve previously mentioned that made feeding Aldridge in the low block the primary goal of San Antonio’s early-offense attack has done wonders for his game. He’s running harder and has upped his physicality two- or three-fold. And versus the Grizzlies, he punished double-teams with his passing to register a season-high in that category. (Aldridge actually now has the team’s highest PER for the first time this season at 21.42, passing DeRozan [21.04]. PER is considered a meaningless stat by many these days with the rise of alternative advanced stats but with All-Star selections around the corner, that could conceivably be factored in when deciding which one [if either] deserves to make the All-Star team.)
-DeMar DeRozan and Bryn Forbes were two of the must hungover players Saturday night. Understandable, especially DeRozan. Rudy Gay had some pep to his step but was mostly off (though his rebounding helped quite a bit). Troublingly, Gay grabbed his injured wrist a couple times in obvious pain. Let’s hope he doesn’t suffer a setback and can instead work through his latest ailment without missing more time.
-The bench, namely Poeltl and Mills, helped give the Spurs life. Poeltl had three consecutive dunks in the third quarter in one minute of play to breathe a little enthusiasm into the home crowd. The big Austrian struggled early in terms of being prepared to catch and finish but ironed out that issue by the second half. It was also good to see Mills shoot straight for a change. In his previous 16 games, he has hit only 36.5 percent from the floor and 36.4 percent from the field.
-Speaking of Mills, I’m surprised by how much confidence he has in Poeltl. He’s not really known to attempt difficult or high-risk passes but he’s always looking to feed Poeltl, no matter how little airspace he has to deliver the pass. I’m not complaining; I actually like it. Really, this is a change Mills had to make in his post-Ginobili career. Without Manu around to feed pick-and-roll bigs with ballsy passes, someone had to pick up that baton.
-Davis Bertans and Marco Belinelli were off, shooting a combined 1-for-8 from extra point land. But I didn’t think they played poorly. The duo was aggressive offensively and they both picked it up rebounding-wise and their defensive intensity was higher than usual.
-Next up, after going 3-0 on their homestand, the Spurs head to Detroit on Monday night. This will be another reunion for DeRozan as the Pistons are coached by Dwane Casey, who coached DeRozan for seven years in Toronto.
-The Pistons are 11-9 at home so this won’t be an easy game. Moreover, I’m still concerned about the emotional letdown lingering. Hopefully I’m needlessly worrying but it may take a loss to wake the group up and move forward from the regular season’s Super Bowl.