timvp
01-15-2019, 05:54 AM
https://i.imgur.com/wEUL9AO.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ZfVlEN1.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/HLJbAMa.jpg
The greatest point guard in Spurs history returned to San Antonio on Monday night and Tony Parker and the Charlotte Hornets were able to leave the Alamo City with a 108-93 victory. The loss drops the Spurs to 25-20 on the season and marks the team's third loss in their last four games.
After an early 11-3 lead, things quickly went south for San Antonio. The Hornets grabbed a 28-24 advantage at the end of the first quarter and extended their lead to six, 49-43, by halftime.
Late in the third quarter, the Spurs finally found a rhythm and battled all the way back to take a 72-71 lead on a LaMarcus Aldridge dunk. That's when Parker took over and did what he does best: led his team to victory, the 1,023rd win of his NBA career.
On the next possession, Miles Bridges dunked home a Parker miss. Parker then forced a backcourt violation by Forbes and followed it up with an assist on a Marvin Williams three-pointer at the third quarter buzzer to put Charlotte up by four points.
To begin the scoring in the fourth, Parker hit a jumper. A minute later, the Frenchman hit a difficult layup in the lane. Parker scored again following a Patty Mills three-pointer that had pulled the Spurs within a point. San Antonio would never be that close again.
Midway through the final period, Charlotte had a 11-2 run that was punctuated by a three-pointer by Kemba Walker to up their lead to 101-89. Game over.
While Spurs fans did their part by giving Parker roaring cheers before, during and after the memorable homecoming, the players' performance was forgettable. The offense was ugly; the defense was going through the motions. The Spurs really do need to pick it up soon or they risk undoing all the good they did during the recent stretch where they won 13 of 16 games.
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LaMarcus Aldridge
https://i.imgur.com/1nluyNF.png
It was yet another strong performance by LaMarcus Aldridge. He has been great lately and kept it up against the Hornets. Offensively, he ran the court hard, fought for advantageous position, was physical in the paint and was judicious with his jumpers. Aldridge's passing was well-timed and accurate; he has seven assists and no turnovers over his last two games. Defensively, the 33-year-old was sturdy in the paint and rebounded well. His one weakness on the night: Aldridge's perimeter defense -- both individually and help-wise -- was stiff, particularly when he was playing power forward. The Hornets got a lot of clear shots due to his sagging into the paint.
Grade: A-
Summary: Aldridge is playing All-Star basketball as of late.
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DeMar DeRozan
https://i.imgur.com/ZKxGADZ.png
Ugh. DeMar DeRozan continues his unsightly play. He's a shadow of the player we witnessed early on in the season who was a tireless, effervescent offensive dynamo. As of late, DeRozan has been a lethargic, whiny mess. Tonight, all of his moves seemed to be in slow motion and with minimal force. That lack of chutzpah, mixed with a dash of carelessness, led directly to his season-high six turnovers and his season-low one free throw attempt. He has periodic moments when he looks capable of snapping out of his funk but DeRozan for the most part has been a steady stream of disappointment as of late. In the last two games, we could point to his defense as a partial saving grace. Tonight? Not so much. He wasn't particularly bad at that end but also wasn't any kind of difference-maker.
Grade: D-
Summary: Welcome to DeMar DeRozan's DolDrums.
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Bryn Forbes
https://i.imgur.com/yXVIEAs.png
That's back-to-back bad offensive games for Bryn Forbes. In the two contests, he's hit only two of 13 three-point attempts. Monday night was rather ugly. Forbes missing is survivable but tonight he was hesitating when he should have shot and then compounded the issue by forcing shots that weren't open. When he starts thinking too much on offense, bad things tend to happen. Defensively, Forbes was equally as bad. The Hornets purposefully isolated him, went right at him and Forbes was powerless to do anything to stop it. His team-defense was okay and his rotations were timely ... but, yikes, was his individual defense porous.
Grade: D
Summary: Forbes struggled thoroughly.
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Derrick White
https://i.imgur.com/IrTA2dV.png
Offensively, I thought Derrick White was superb. He fed Aldridge early and often; White was undoubtedly the bigman's premier nourisher, supplying him with numerous scrumptious feeds right below the rim. His game-high seven assists only tell part of the story regarding how well he set the table tonight. When it came time to call his own number, White was efficient. He patiently searched out the best looks and fired away with confidence, whether the look was a leaner in the lane or a spot-up three-pointer. After scoring in single-digits for the first time in eight games last time out, White bounced back in fine fashion. Defense was a different story. Kemba Walker was his man and he poured in a game-high 33 points. However, truth be told, it wasn't really White's fault. When Walker was isolated on White, the second year player held his own. It was when Walker danced around screens and got switched off onto other players that he did his damage. That said, I thought White was too eager to switch and wasn't fighting through screens as aggressively as needed to be done against a superstar offensive weapon like Walker.
Grade: B+
Summary: Walker's overall growth is exciting to watch unfold.
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Pau Gasol
https://i.imgur.com/oF0jVre.png
Meh, Pau Gasol did what he has done since recapturing the starting role: use his length defensively in the lane, rebound well on the defensive end, move at a turtle's pace when switching sides of the court, play little to no help defense outside of the paint, not get in the way offensively and throw a couple good passes. The Hornets took advantage of Gasol's slowness on the offensive end to get easy shots so it was difficult for the coaching staff to keep the Spaniard on the court at all.
Grade: C
Summary: Gasol is slow right now -- much slower than usual.
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Davis Bertans
https://i.imgur.com/ucY2jSF.png
Defensively, I can't muster many complaints. Davis Bertans rebounded well, played solid individual defense (even when switched onto smaller, faster players), rotated in time and stayed mentally engaged. Offensively, Bertans wasn't as sharp as we've seen him. A few times he rushed shots and wasn't quite in rhythm with his teammates. Regardless, he shot well enough to ignore the maladies. It's safe to say the Spurs would have been better off if he had played more minutes.
Grade: B+
Summary: Bertans played well enough on both ends.
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Patty Mills
https://i.imgur.com/gTa4B5z.png
I mean, yeah, the Spurs needed a shot in the arm offensively but Patty Mills took it to a ridiculous level. He shot the ball way too often and didn't get his teammates involved. He had energy but he didn't funnel the energy into anything positive -- he was just a chicken with its head cut off. Defensively, the Hornets targeted Mills and usually got easy points in those situations. The Spurs were down Marco Belinelli in addition to Rudy Gay so Mills was more important than usual since he was unquestionably the man responsible for the bench's production. The fact that the bench was bad and that Mills got handily outplayed by Parker were leading causes of the loss.
Grade: D-
Summary: Mills was energetically terrible.
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Jakob Poeltl
https://i.imgur.com/FUIlW00.png
Ever since Gasol has returned, Jakob Poeltl has stopped producing. That's not helping matters, obviously. I can't pinpoint exactly why Gasol's presence makes Poeltl play worse but I don't think we can chalk it up to a coincidence at this point. Versus the Hornets, he didn't do much at all. He had a nice block of a dunk attempt and scored a basket ... but that was about the extent of it in his 11 minutes. Poeltl had no rebounds, wasn't playing with toughness and was mostly invisible.
Grade: C-
Summary: Poeltl has reverted to early season Poeltl.
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Dante Cunningham
https://i.imgur.com/W3QWUCI.png
If anyone needed a reminder for why Dante Cunningham was dropped from the rotation, this was it. He did nothing offensively other than get in the way. What's impressive is how bad he is on defense. Cunningham tries at that end -- it's really his No. 1 focus -- but he's just not a good defender. Can't stay in front of anyone, slow in rotations and has no defensive IQ to speak of, honestly.
Grade: D
Summary: Cunningham was in the rotation with Belinelli out. Come back soon, Marco.
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Quincy Pondexter
https://i.imgur.com/CCz8zuZ.png
With the Spurs desperate for perimeter players, Quincy Pondexter got dusted off. After watching him play for seven minutes, I'm ready for that dust to start accumulating again. I don't see an NBA skill he brings to the table. Good guy. Tries hard. Not too good at basketball.
Grade: D+
Summary: Pondexter kept the scorecard clean outside of one turnover.
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Pop
https://i.imgur.com/x7B1It7.jpg
I want to admonish Pop for playing Cunningham and Pondexter (and Gasol, if we're being honest) but I don't know what choice he had with Belinelli and Gay out. Bertans could have played more minutes ... maybe push White's minutes higher. However, the truth is this roster doesn't have enough depth to survive two main pieces like Gay and Belinelli being out. But I'm not letting Pop completely off the hook. Hornets head coach, and former Spurs assistant, James Borrego got the best of him. He obviously had scouted the switch-happy, zone-ish defense the Spurs have been playing lately and used it against San Antonio. Charlotte utilized a lot of screens early in their offense to generate switches (specifically, to get White off of Walker) and then attacked the mismatches relentlessly. The Hornets also obviously knew how hesitant the Spurs bigs are at helping all the way to the three-point line. It was the type of gameplan that usually isn't unveiled until the playoffs but give credit to Borrego for smart coaching. Let's hope the rest of the league wasn't watching.
Grade: C-
Summary: Pop's understudy knew what he was doing.
Looking ahead: The Spurs were handily outplayed and deserved the loss.
Next up is a two-game road trip that starts Wednesday in Dallas and ends Friday in Minnesota. The Mavs are better than expected. Luka Doncic has all the makings of a superstar. It's not going to be easy. If they don't have more players play better, the Spurs won't give themselves a chance.
Step it up.
https://i.imgur.com/ZfVlEN1.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/HLJbAMa.jpg
The greatest point guard in Spurs history returned to San Antonio on Monday night and Tony Parker and the Charlotte Hornets were able to leave the Alamo City with a 108-93 victory. The loss drops the Spurs to 25-20 on the season and marks the team's third loss in their last four games.
After an early 11-3 lead, things quickly went south for San Antonio. The Hornets grabbed a 28-24 advantage at the end of the first quarter and extended their lead to six, 49-43, by halftime.
Late in the third quarter, the Spurs finally found a rhythm and battled all the way back to take a 72-71 lead on a LaMarcus Aldridge dunk. That's when Parker took over and did what he does best: led his team to victory, the 1,023rd win of his NBA career.
On the next possession, Miles Bridges dunked home a Parker miss. Parker then forced a backcourt violation by Forbes and followed it up with an assist on a Marvin Williams three-pointer at the third quarter buzzer to put Charlotte up by four points.
To begin the scoring in the fourth, Parker hit a jumper. A minute later, the Frenchman hit a difficult layup in the lane. Parker scored again following a Patty Mills three-pointer that had pulled the Spurs within a point. San Antonio would never be that close again.
Midway through the final period, Charlotte had a 11-2 run that was punctuated by a three-pointer by Kemba Walker to up their lead to 101-89. Game over.
While Spurs fans did their part by giving Parker roaring cheers before, during and after the memorable homecoming, the players' performance was forgettable. The offense was ugly; the defense was going through the motions. The Spurs really do need to pick it up soon or they risk undoing all the good they did during the recent stretch where they won 13 of 16 games.
-------------
LaMarcus Aldridge
https://i.imgur.com/1nluyNF.png
It was yet another strong performance by LaMarcus Aldridge. He has been great lately and kept it up against the Hornets. Offensively, he ran the court hard, fought for advantageous position, was physical in the paint and was judicious with his jumpers. Aldridge's passing was well-timed and accurate; he has seven assists and no turnovers over his last two games. Defensively, the 33-year-old was sturdy in the paint and rebounded well. His one weakness on the night: Aldridge's perimeter defense -- both individually and help-wise -- was stiff, particularly when he was playing power forward. The Hornets got a lot of clear shots due to his sagging into the paint.
Grade: A-
Summary: Aldridge is playing All-Star basketball as of late.
-------------
DeMar DeRozan
https://i.imgur.com/ZKxGADZ.png
Ugh. DeMar DeRozan continues his unsightly play. He's a shadow of the player we witnessed early on in the season who was a tireless, effervescent offensive dynamo. As of late, DeRozan has been a lethargic, whiny mess. Tonight, all of his moves seemed to be in slow motion and with minimal force. That lack of chutzpah, mixed with a dash of carelessness, led directly to his season-high six turnovers and his season-low one free throw attempt. He has periodic moments when he looks capable of snapping out of his funk but DeRozan for the most part has been a steady stream of disappointment as of late. In the last two games, we could point to his defense as a partial saving grace. Tonight? Not so much. He wasn't particularly bad at that end but also wasn't any kind of difference-maker.
Grade: D-
Summary: Welcome to DeMar DeRozan's DolDrums.
-------------
Bryn Forbes
https://i.imgur.com/yXVIEAs.png
That's back-to-back bad offensive games for Bryn Forbes. In the two contests, he's hit only two of 13 three-point attempts. Monday night was rather ugly. Forbes missing is survivable but tonight he was hesitating when he should have shot and then compounded the issue by forcing shots that weren't open. When he starts thinking too much on offense, bad things tend to happen. Defensively, Forbes was equally as bad. The Hornets purposefully isolated him, went right at him and Forbes was powerless to do anything to stop it. His team-defense was okay and his rotations were timely ... but, yikes, was his individual defense porous.
Grade: D
Summary: Forbes struggled thoroughly.
-------------
Derrick White
https://i.imgur.com/IrTA2dV.png
Offensively, I thought Derrick White was superb. He fed Aldridge early and often; White was undoubtedly the bigman's premier nourisher, supplying him with numerous scrumptious feeds right below the rim. His game-high seven assists only tell part of the story regarding how well he set the table tonight. When it came time to call his own number, White was efficient. He patiently searched out the best looks and fired away with confidence, whether the look was a leaner in the lane or a spot-up three-pointer. After scoring in single-digits for the first time in eight games last time out, White bounced back in fine fashion. Defense was a different story. Kemba Walker was his man and he poured in a game-high 33 points. However, truth be told, it wasn't really White's fault. When Walker was isolated on White, the second year player held his own. It was when Walker danced around screens and got switched off onto other players that he did his damage. That said, I thought White was too eager to switch and wasn't fighting through screens as aggressively as needed to be done against a superstar offensive weapon like Walker.
Grade: B+
Summary: Walker's overall growth is exciting to watch unfold.
-------------
Pau Gasol
https://i.imgur.com/oF0jVre.png
Meh, Pau Gasol did what he has done since recapturing the starting role: use his length defensively in the lane, rebound well on the defensive end, move at a turtle's pace when switching sides of the court, play little to no help defense outside of the paint, not get in the way offensively and throw a couple good passes. The Hornets took advantage of Gasol's slowness on the offensive end to get easy shots so it was difficult for the coaching staff to keep the Spaniard on the court at all.
Grade: C
Summary: Gasol is slow right now -- much slower than usual.
-------------
Davis Bertans
https://i.imgur.com/ucY2jSF.png
Defensively, I can't muster many complaints. Davis Bertans rebounded well, played solid individual defense (even when switched onto smaller, faster players), rotated in time and stayed mentally engaged. Offensively, Bertans wasn't as sharp as we've seen him. A few times he rushed shots and wasn't quite in rhythm with his teammates. Regardless, he shot well enough to ignore the maladies. It's safe to say the Spurs would have been better off if he had played more minutes.
Grade: B+
Summary: Bertans played well enough on both ends.
-------------
Patty Mills
https://i.imgur.com/gTa4B5z.png
I mean, yeah, the Spurs needed a shot in the arm offensively but Patty Mills took it to a ridiculous level. He shot the ball way too often and didn't get his teammates involved. He had energy but he didn't funnel the energy into anything positive -- he was just a chicken with its head cut off. Defensively, the Hornets targeted Mills and usually got easy points in those situations. The Spurs were down Marco Belinelli in addition to Rudy Gay so Mills was more important than usual since he was unquestionably the man responsible for the bench's production. The fact that the bench was bad and that Mills got handily outplayed by Parker were leading causes of the loss.
Grade: D-
Summary: Mills was energetically terrible.
-------------
Jakob Poeltl
https://i.imgur.com/FUIlW00.png
Ever since Gasol has returned, Jakob Poeltl has stopped producing. That's not helping matters, obviously. I can't pinpoint exactly why Gasol's presence makes Poeltl play worse but I don't think we can chalk it up to a coincidence at this point. Versus the Hornets, he didn't do much at all. He had a nice block of a dunk attempt and scored a basket ... but that was about the extent of it in his 11 minutes. Poeltl had no rebounds, wasn't playing with toughness and was mostly invisible.
Grade: C-
Summary: Poeltl has reverted to early season Poeltl.
-------------
Dante Cunningham
https://i.imgur.com/W3QWUCI.png
If anyone needed a reminder for why Dante Cunningham was dropped from the rotation, this was it. He did nothing offensively other than get in the way. What's impressive is how bad he is on defense. Cunningham tries at that end -- it's really his No. 1 focus -- but he's just not a good defender. Can't stay in front of anyone, slow in rotations and has no defensive IQ to speak of, honestly.
Grade: D
Summary: Cunningham was in the rotation with Belinelli out. Come back soon, Marco.
-------------
Quincy Pondexter
https://i.imgur.com/CCz8zuZ.png
With the Spurs desperate for perimeter players, Quincy Pondexter got dusted off. After watching him play for seven minutes, I'm ready for that dust to start accumulating again. I don't see an NBA skill he brings to the table. Good guy. Tries hard. Not too good at basketball.
Grade: D+
Summary: Pondexter kept the scorecard clean outside of one turnover.
-------------
Pop
https://i.imgur.com/x7B1It7.jpg
I want to admonish Pop for playing Cunningham and Pondexter (and Gasol, if we're being honest) but I don't know what choice he had with Belinelli and Gay out. Bertans could have played more minutes ... maybe push White's minutes higher. However, the truth is this roster doesn't have enough depth to survive two main pieces like Gay and Belinelli being out. But I'm not letting Pop completely off the hook. Hornets head coach, and former Spurs assistant, James Borrego got the best of him. He obviously had scouted the switch-happy, zone-ish defense the Spurs have been playing lately and used it against San Antonio. Charlotte utilized a lot of screens early in their offense to generate switches (specifically, to get White off of Walker) and then attacked the mismatches relentlessly. The Hornets also obviously knew how hesitant the Spurs bigs are at helping all the way to the three-point line. It was the type of gameplan that usually isn't unveiled until the playoffs but give credit to Borrego for smart coaching. Let's hope the rest of the league wasn't watching.
Grade: C-
Summary: Pop's understudy knew what he was doing.
Looking ahead: The Spurs were handily outplayed and deserved the loss.
Next up is a two-game road trip that starts Wednesday in Dallas and ends Friday in Minnesota. The Mavs are better than expected. Luka Doncic has all the makings of a superstar. It's not going to be easy. If they don't have more players play better, the Spurs won't give themselves a chance.
Step it up.