timvp
01-28-2019, 05:10 AM
https://i.imgur.com/DBlqJ0f.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Iz9pkin.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/c64W3rN.jpg
In the first half, San Antonio's defense was a disaster against Washington on Sunday night. The Spurs were attempting to trap Bradley Beal but that simple defensive strategy proved too advanced for these defensively-challenged men in silver and black. The Wizards scored 69 points in the first half, including 43 points in the second quarter alone.
Thankfully, the good guys were shooting it straight and put up 70 points of their own in the first two periods. In the third quarter, the Spurs defense finally got into a little bit of a rhythm, as they held the Wizards scoreless for a four-minute stretch in early in the second half. During that time, San Antonio expanded their lead from four points to 13 points.
The Spurs entered the final stanza with that 13-point lead after holding the Wizards to 17 third quarter points. The offense kept on rolling in the fourth and the Wizards were never able to push their deficit into single figures again.
All in all, the 132-119 victory on the second night of a back-to-back to improve the Spurs to 29-22 was a welcome sight but not entirely satisfying. The offense was humming, which was good to see. But the defensive breakdowns kept Pop fuming all night long.
At least the Spurs didn't lose to another mediocre Eastern Conference team at home. Doing it without the injured DeMar DeRozan was the cherry on top of the vanilla sundae.
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LaMarcus Aldridge
https://i.imgur.com/1nluyNF.png
LaMarcus Aldridge was again a beast in the paint. He was demonstratively tossing around his bulk around the lane and then dropping jumpers with a feathery touch from the perimeter when defenders braced for contact. Eventually, the Wizards started sending gaggles of help his way but Aldridge made them pay with six assists, three of which resulted in three-pointers. Defensively, he was stout in the paint and challenged shots well. However, Aldridge's perimeter defense was poor and he was offered very little help when the situation called for him to switch. Let's go ahead and chalk that up to tired legs on the second night of a back-to-back.
Grade: A-
Summary: Aldridge continues to look like an All-Star.
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Rudy Gay
https://i.imgur.com/vqYr2we.png
Although Rudy Gay's three-point stroke was limp, he did well in the midrange and when going to the rim. His passing was better than usual, even if he was needlessly sloppy at times. Defense is what made Gay's night forgettable. He wasn't good in one-on-one situations and fell asleep on the weakside multiple times. Gay not being locked in mentally on the defensive end was a leading reason for why the Spurs struggled on that end.
Grade: C
Summary: Rudy's poor defense overshadowed the rest of his outing.
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Bryn Forbes
https://i.imgur.com/yXVIEAs.png
Bryn Forbes was very good offensively. He knocked down his threes, had successful forays to the hoop, his passing and court vision were much better than normal, and he was the only rotational player to finish the game without a turnover. Defense, though, was another story. He was on the receiving end of multiple tirades by Pop due to missed or very slow rotations. On top of that, Forbes had a lot of trouble matching up with the lanky Tomas Satoransky.
Grade: B-
Summary: Offense good. Defense bad.
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Derrick White
https://i.imgur.com/IrTA2dV.png
The bright spot of tonight's defensive effort was Derrick White's work on Bradley Beal. This was the best defensive game White has put together recently. While, yes, he got a lot of defensive help, White made life a misery for Beal. In fact, Beal didn't score on White until the third quarter -- and I only counted two baskets scored by Beal on White the whole game. On the offensive end, the second year guard was steady. He made sure Aldridge was well-fed and he was fantastically efficient. (After a 6-for-7 showing from the floor, White is now shooting 50.8% on the season.) My only critique is White could have been even more aggressive and assertive on the offensive end.
Grade: A-
Summary: White put together an impressive all-around performance.
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Pau Gasol
https://i.imgur.com/oF0jVre.png
Pau Gasol played three minutes at the start of the first half and six minutes at the start of the second half. I can't complain about his production: five points, seven rebounds and his first three-pointer since his injury in nine minutes? Yeah, that's good. However, what the numbers don't illustrate is just how slow he is right now. He was slow by NBA standards to begin the season but has lost a couple steps since his return for the stress fracture in his foot. Gasol is still talented enough to fill the statsheet but his slowness makes him virtually unplayable on the defensive end unless there is a perfect matchup.
Grade: B-
Summary: Gasol produced but that didn't tell the whole story.
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Davis Bertans
https://i.imgur.com/ucY2jSF.png
Welcome back, Davis Bertans. After missing two games (personal issue), the league's sharpest of sharpshooters was back at it and showed absolutely no rust. He tied a season-high with five three-pointers while scoring a season-high 21 points. Bertans is now shooting 50.4% from the field and 49.2% on three-pointers for the season. Against the Wizards, his shot-selection was iffy but there's no questioning the results. Besides his long bombs, Bertans also connected on a pair of slick two-pointers off the dribble and gave another peak of his burgeoning passing skills. If he keeps expanding his offensive game, it's going to be difficult for the coaches to keep him off the court. Defensively, I thought Bertans was pretty good. He moved his feet well, stayed in front of his man and his help-defense was timely. I'd say he was one of the best two or three defenders on the team tonight.
Grade: A
Summary: Bertans' season-long hot streak continues.
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Marco Belinelli
https://i.imgur.com/hP9vIFY.png
Marco Belinelli got right back on the horse after his streak of seven straight games with at least 12 points got snapped last time out. Whether it's a pull-up three-pointer in transition or a leaning three-pointer off of a pick, all of Belinelli shots look like they're going in right now. It'd be difficult to overstate how on fire he has been offensively over the last six weeks. Recently, Belinelli has been upping his playmaking: In his last four games, he has 14 assists. In the previous six games, he only had seven assists. Defensively versus Washington, Belinelli was still a liability -- particularly in transition. However, his effort level was a notch higher than usual and he deserves some credit for helping out on the boards.
Grade: B+
Summary: Belinelli is blazing.
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Patty Mills
https://i.imgur.com/gTa4B5z.png
Patty Mills did a lot of good. He led the team in assists for the second straight game and he poured in 15 points in 22 minutes on efficient shooting. Mills was hunting three-pointers and mixed in a couple physical drives into the lane. But not everything was positive for Mills. He was exceptionally messy with the ball, forced a number of passes and his clock management was head-scratchingly poor. The Spurs didn't get control of the game until they stopped turning the ball over and the main culprit in that regard was Mills. Defensively, he shot par -- nothing too notable either way.
Grade: B
Summary: Mills produced but also made mistakes.
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Jakob Poeltl
https://i.imgur.com/FUIlW00.png
I liked Jakob Poeltl's play tonight. The Spurs were able to use a switch-everything defensive scheme when he was on the court due to his mobility. This might have been the best we've witnessed Poeltl defend out on the perimeter. He wasn't perfect but he also didn't look like a fish out of water. Plus he was rebounding better than usual on that end as well. Offensively, he was more assertive than is typically the case. Poeltl had a few issues (didn't roll hard enough, didn't hold his ground in the paint against smaller defenders) but he was a useful cog.
Grade: B+
Summary: Poeltl's versatility helped the Spurs win.
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Pop
https://i.imgur.com/x7B1It7.jpg
I liked Pop's rotation -- no complaints there. But what I really loved was the fact that he was good ol' Ornery Pop tonight. He called a timeout 16 seconds into the game after a defensive breakdown. And he kept it up. Whenever there was a blatant defensive mistake, Pop called a timeout and ripped the individuals at fault. It was obvious he wasn't going to let this team sleepwalk through another winnable home game. While Pop can't do this every game or else the players would eventually tune him out, I thought it was a well-timed use of one of the bullets in the chamber.
Grade: A
Summary: Vintage.
Looking ahead: Good job starting the four-game homestand off right.
Next up is the Suns on Tuesday. Considering Phoenix has lost eight straight games and hasn't won a road game in more than a month, the Spurs have to take care of business.
https://i.imgur.com/Iz9pkin.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/c64W3rN.jpg
In the first half, San Antonio's defense was a disaster against Washington on Sunday night. The Spurs were attempting to trap Bradley Beal but that simple defensive strategy proved too advanced for these defensively-challenged men in silver and black. The Wizards scored 69 points in the first half, including 43 points in the second quarter alone.
Thankfully, the good guys were shooting it straight and put up 70 points of their own in the first two periods. In the third quarter, the Spurs defense finally got into a little bit of a rhythm, as they held the Wizards scoreless for a four-minute stretch in early in the second half. During that time, San Antonio expanded their lead from four points to 13 points.
The Spurs entered the final stanza with that 13-point lead after holding the Wizards to 17 third quarter points. The offense kept on rolling in the fourth and the Wizards were never able to push their deficit into single figures again.
All in all, the 132-119 victory on the second night of a back-to-back to improve the Spurs to 29-22 was a welcome sight but not entirely satisfying. The offense was humming, which was good to see. But the defensive breakdowns kept Pop fuming all night long.
At least the Spurs didn't lose to another mediocre Eastern Conference team at home. Doing it without the injured DeMar DeRozan was the cherry on top of the vanilla sundae.
-------------
LaMarcus Aldridge
https://i.imgur.com/1nluyNF.png
LaMarcus Aldridge was again a beast in the paint. He was demonstratively tossing around his bulk around the lane and then dropping jumpers with a feathery touch from the perimeter when defenders braced for contact. Eventually, the Wizards started sending gaggles of help his way but Aldridge made them pay with six assists, three of which resulted in three-pointers. Defensively, he was stout in the paint and challenged shots well. However, Aldridge's perimeter defense was poor and he was offered very little help when the situation called for him to switch. Let's go ahead and chalk that up to tired legs on the second night of a back-to-back.
Grade: A-
Summary: Aldridge continues to look like an All-Star.
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Rudy Gay
https://i.imgur.com/vqYr2we.png
Although Rudy Gay's three-point stroke was limp, he did well in the midrange and when going to the rim. His passing was better than usual, even if he was needlessly sloppy at times. Defense is what made Gay's night forgettable. He wasn't good in one-on-one situations and fell asleep on the weakside multiple times. Gay not being locked in mentally on the defensive end was a leading reason for why the Spurs struggled on that end.
Grade: C
Summary: Rudy's poor defense overshadowed the rest of his outing.
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Bryn Forbes
https://i.imgur.com/yXVIEAs.png
Bryn Forbes was very good offensively. He knocked down his threes, had successful forays to the hoop, his passing and court vision were much better than normal, and he was the only rotational player to finish the game without a turnover. Defense, though, was another story. He was on the receiving end of multiple tirades by Pop due to missed or very slow rotations. On top of that, Forbes had a lot of trouble matching up with the lanky Tomas Satoransky.
Grade: B-
Summary: Offense good. Defense bad.
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Derrick White
https://i.imgur.com/IrTA2dV.png
The bright spot of tonight's defensive effort was Derrick White's work on Bradley Beal. This was the best defensive game White has put together recently. While, yes, he got a lot of defensive help, White made life a misery for Beal. In fact, Beal didn't score on White until the third quarter -- and I only counted two baskets scored by Beal on White the whole game. On the offensive end, the second year guard was steady. He made sure Aldridge was well-fed and he was fantastically efficient. (After a 6-for-7 showing from the floor, White is now shooting 50.8% on the season.) My only critique is White could have been even more aggressive and assertive on the offensive end.
Grade: A-
Summary: White put together an impressive all-around performance.
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Pau Gasol
https://i.imgur.com/oF0jVre.png
Pau Gasol played three minutes at the start of the first half and six minutes at the start of the second half. I can't complain about his production: five points, seven rebounds and his first three-pointer since his injury in nine minutes? Yeah, that's good. However, what the numbers don't illustrate is just how slow he is right now. He was slow by NBA standards to begin the season but has lost a couple steps since his return for the stress fracture in his foot. Gasol is still talented enough to fill the statsheet but his slowness makes him virtually unplayable on the defensive end unless there is a perfect matchup.
Grade: B-
Summary: Gasol produced but that didn't tell the whole story.
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Davis Bertans
https://i.imgur.com/ucY2jSF.png
Welcome back, Davis Bertans. After missing two games (personal issue), the league's sharpest of sharpshooters was back at it and showed absolutely no rust. He tied a season-high with five three-pointers while scoring a season-high 21 points. Bertans is now shooting 50.4% from the field and 49.2% on three-pointers for the season. Against the Wizards, his shot-selection was iffy but there's no questioning the results. Besides his long bombs, Bertans also connected on a pair of slick two-pointers off the dribble and gave another peak of his burgeoning passing skills. If he keeps expanding his offensive game, it's going to be difficult for the coaches to keep him off the court. Defensively, I thought Bertans was pretty good. He moved his feet well, stayed in front of his man and his help-defense was timely. I'd say he was one of the best two or three defenders on the team tonight.
Grade: A
Summary: Bertans' season-long hot streak continues.
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Marco Belinelli
https://i.imgur.com/hP9vIFY.png
Marco Belinelli got right back on the horse after his streak of seven straight games with at least 12 points got snapped last time out. Whether it's a pull-up three-pointer in transition or a leaning three-pointer off of a pick, all of Belinelli shots look like they're going in right now. It'd be difficult to overstate how on fire he has been offensively over the last six weeks. Recently, Belinelli has been upping his playmaking: In his last four games, he has 14 assists. In the previous six games, he only had seven assists. Defensively versus Washington, Belinelli was still a liability -- particularly in transition. However, his effort level was a notch higher than usual and he deserves some credit for helping out on the boards.
Grade: B+
Summary: Belinelli is blazing.
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Patty Mills
https://i.imgur.com/gTa4B5z.png
Patty Mills did a lot of good. He led the team in assists for the second straight game and he poured in 15 points in 22 minutes on efficient shooting. Mills was hunting three-pointers and mixed in a couple physical drives into the lane. But not everything was positive for Mills. He was exceptionally messy with the ball, forced a number of passes and his clock management was head-scratchingly poor. The Spurs didn't get control of the game until they stopped turning the ball over and the main culprit in that regard was Mills. Defensively, he shot par -- nothing too notable either way.
Grade: B
Summary: Mills produced but also made mistakes.
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Jakob Poeltl
https://i.imgur.com/FUIlW00.png
I liked Jakob Poeltl's play tonight. The Spurs were able to use a switch-everything defensive scheme when he was on the court due to his mobility. This might have been the best we've witnessed Poeltl defend out on the perimeter. He wasn't perfect but he also didn't look like a fish out of water. Plus he was rebounding better than usual on that end as well. Offensively, he was more assertive than is typically the case. Poeltl had a few issues (didn't roll hard enough, didn't hold his ground in the paint against smaller defenders) but he was a useful cog.
Grade: B+
Summary: Poeltl's versatility helped the Spurs win.
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Pop
https://i.imgur.com/x7B1It7.jpg
I liked Pop's rotation -- no complaints there. But what I really loved was the fact that he was good ol' Ornery Pop tonight. He called a timeout 16 seconds into the game after a defensive breakdown. And he kept it up. Whenever there was a blatant defensive mistake, Pop called a timeout and ripped the individuals at fault. It was obvious he wasn't going to let this team sleepwalk through another winnable home game. While Pop can't do this every game or else the players would eventually tune him out, I thought it was a well-timed use of one of the bullets in the chamber.
Grade: A
Summary: Vintage.
Looking ahead: Good job starting the four-game homestand off right.
Next up is the Suns on Tuesday. Considering Phoenix has lost eight straight games and hasn't won a road game in more than a month, the Spurs have to take care of business.