timvp
01-30-2019, 05:37 AM
https://i.imgur.com/7UoR7Bi.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/kj4D52x.jpg
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Bad win. There's no other way to describe it. The Spurs were at home taking on a Suns team that had lost eight straight games and hadn't won on the road all season against a Western Conference team. On top of that, the Suns were dealing with a handful of key injuries. Despite all those advantages, to escape with a 126-124 victory, San Antonio needed a buzzer-beating 21-foot jumper by Rudy Gay.
Offensively, the ball-movement was sticky and the cohesion was lacking. That said, the Spurs scored at a more than acceptable rate against Phoenix -- even considering they are the league's second-worst defensive squad.
Defense is where the Spurs really struggled. Bad strategy. Bad execution. Bad effort. Bad competitiveness. The Spurs have had a lot of defensive low points this seasons but this might have been the lowest of the low.
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LaMarcus Aldridge
https://i.imgur.com/1nluyNF.png
Production-wise, there's not much to critique when it comes to LaMarcus Aldridge. He scored 29 points on only 15 shots, pulled down 14 rebounds (eight of which were offensive), handed out four assists and turned it over only twice. While the stats are pretty, I wasn't overly thrilled with his offensive play. He wasn't as physical as usual, he wasn't running the court hard to gain deep post position and allowed the Suns to defend him with undersized defenders too often. Phoenix was playing without a real backup bigman, yet Aldridge never truly made them pay. He played with effort on offense but it wasn't dialed all the way up. Defensively, he wasn't too impressive. Aldridge didn't do much rim protecting in the paint and wasn't too enthused about helping out on the perimeter.
Grade: B
Summary: Aldridge played well but could exerted his will more.
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Rudy Gay
https://i.imgur.com/vqYr2we.png
Thanks for hitting that game-winner, Rudy Gay. Nailing that shot avoided what could have been an utter disaster. Other than the memorable jumper, though, Gay was below average. His shot-selection was too liberal and the ball was sticking in his hands. It was too bad because when Gay looked to pass, he actually made good decisions. Defensively, I was really unimpressed. I don't know if he's hurting again or what but he was simply incapable of defending out to the three-point line. He was porous in one-on-one situations, was slow to rotate and his overall effort on that end couldn't have been much lower. When Gay isn't at least trying defensively, it quickly sinks the whole scheme.
Grade: C
Summary: That game-winner hid what was otherwise a forgettable night.
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Bryn Forbes
https://i.imgur.com/yXVIEAs.png
The good: Bryn Forbes scored eight straight points for the Spurs in the fourth quarter on 3-for-3 shooting, including a pair from downtown. The bad: Virtually everything else. He was anemic offensively outside of that fourth quarter mini eruption. Defensively, he was hopeless whenever he tried to guard Devin Booker, which happened quite a bit. The rest of his defensive play was a frazzled, unconfident mess. Forbes rarely was in the right spots at the right time -- and even when he was, he did little to stop anyone.
Grade: D+
Summary: Really bad outside of some fourth quarter shooting.
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Derrick White
https://i.imgur.com/IrTA2dV.png
Defensively, Derrick White was the man primarily tasked to slow Booker. Considering Phoenix's superstar went 14-for-19 from the field on his way to 38 point, it's safe to say White didn't have a good game on defense. However, to be fair to White, he only shares a minority part of the blame because the coaches had the perimeter players switching every screen, so it was rare for Booker and White to actually go head-to-head. That said, White's defense was still too lax and he wasn't applying near the amount of pressure that the situation asked for. Offensively, White was also sub par. He didn't shoot well and that was due to his shot-selection. Instead of making the heady passes as he has all season, he opted for circus shots on the run far too often. I like White being aggressive but he has to be smart and make the right pass when it's open.
Grade: C-
Summary: White was discombobulated on offense, not locked in enough defensively.
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Davis Bertans
https://i.imgur.com/ucY2jSF.png
With the Suns going extra small, Davis Bertans got the start and played a season-high 36 minutes. Offensively, he did pretty well. He tied his season-high with five made three-pointers -- but, truth be told, he uncharacteristically missed at least three or four wide open three-point looks. Bertans' passing was again a plus, however he did have a few occasions where he was unnecessarily sloppy. Defensively, he was one of the bright-ish spots. Bertans set a career-high with four steals, all of which came in the first half. He was moving his feet well, staying active in regards to his help-defense responsibilities and played a leading role in an impressive number of Suns turnovers. The downer on D for Bertans was his rebounding, or lack thereof.
Grade: B+
Summary: Bertans came to play on both ends.
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Marco Belinelli
https://i.imgur.com/hP9vIFY.png
Marco Belinelli is still blazing from behind the three-point line. He has now hit 12-of-22 three-pointers over his last four games and has his three-point percentage on the season up to 39.7%. His playmaking has blossomed recently as well and he added five more assists on Tuesday night. His O wasn't all good, though. Belinelli misfired from two-point range and had a team-high three turnovers, including one late in the fourth that allowed the Suns to tie the game. Defensively, he wasn't good ... but that's become a given for Belinelli on a nightly basis, unfortunately.
Grade: B
Summary: Belinelli scored 17 more points but he also made mistakes.
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Patty Mills
https://i.imgur.com/gTa4B5z.png
Patty Mills hit half of his eight three-point attempts against the Suns to bump up his three-point percentage to 40% for the season. He hit a couple contested threes, which helped stave off Suns runs. Mills' clock management was lacking and he wasn't pushing the pace as well -- but his passing was a bit better than usual. Defensively, he exhibited a decent amount of effort but he could have gone harder on that end. That said, he wasn't one of the leading causes for the flimsy defense tonight.
Grade: B-
Summary: Mills wasn't bad but he didn't provide his typical spark.
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Jakob Poeltl
https://i.imgur.com/FUIlW00.png
Jakob Poeltl only played eight minutes because Pau Gasol was the first backup center off the bench. After Pop scratched the Gasol experiment, Poeltl did okay. His mobility is night and day compared to Gasol, which makes him an asset on defense right away. Offensively, he kept his head up, made hard cuts and made smart passes.
Grade: B-
Summary: Poeltl wasn't great but he didn't hurt the cause.
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Pop
https://i.imgur.com/x7B1It7.jpg
I have a number of complaints regarding Pop's decisions versus Phoenix. 1) When you only have one legit perimeter defender in White and the Suns have one legit perimeter superstar in Booker, the switch-everything zone the Spurs tried to go with just didn't make sense to me. Just stick White on Booker and switch the rest, if you must. By switching so freely, the Suns would just force the Spurs to switch off an inept defender on Booker and then attack. 2) Gasol being the first center off the bench against the tiny Suns bench was a head-scratcher. Pop quickly realized Gasol couldn't hang with his quick counterparts but that's something he should have realized before trotting him out there. 3) I realize White was struggling on both ends but you have to finish the game with him. Tonight, Pop opted for Mills down the stretch. Although, to Pop's credit, I don't remember the last time White didn't finish a game, so I'm confident this was a one-game lesson for White. 4) Instead of splitting minutes between Dante Cunningham, Quincy Pondexter and Lonnie Walker IV, please just play Walker -- if only for entertainment value.
Grade: D+
Summary: Pop's decisions left me with more questions than answers.
Looking ahead: Bad win, undoubtedly. But, hey, a bad win is better than a good loss, right? The Spurs are now 30-22 with two more home games remaining in their four-game homestand before the Rodeo Road Trip.
The next game, against the Nets on Thursday, is the most difficult game of the homestand. Brooklyn is 20-6 in their last 26 games and have won seven of their previous eight outings.
If the Spurs play like they did tonight against the Nets, they'll get run off the court. Let us hope that doesn't happen and the good guys instead are ready to play from the opening tip.
https://i.imgur.com/kj4D52x.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/9E3XoPM.jpg
Bad win. There's no other way to describe it. The Spurs were at home taking on a Suns team that had lost eight straight games and hadn't won on the road all season against a Western Conference team. On top of that, the Suns were dealing with a handful of key injuries. Despite all those advantages, to escape with a 126-124 victory, San Antonio needed a buzzer-beating 21-foot jumper by Rudy Gay.
Offensively, the ball-movement was sticky and the cohesion was lacking. That said, the Spurs scored at a more than acceptable rate against Phoenix -- even considering they are the league's second-worst defensive squad.
Defense is where the Spurs really struggled. Bad strategy. Bad execution. Bad effort. Bad competitiveness. The Spurs have had a lot of defensive low points this seasons but this might have been the lowest of the low.
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LaMarcus Aldridge
https://i.imgur.com/1nluyNF.png
Production-wise, there's not much to critique when it comes to LaMarcus Aldridge. He scored 29 points on only 15 shots, pulled down 14 rebounds (eight of which were offensive), handed out four assists and turned it over only twice. While the stats are pretty, I wasn't overly thrilled with his offensive play. He wasn't as physical as usual, he wasn't running the court hard to gain deep post position and allowed the Suns to defend him with undersized defenders too often. Phoenix was playing without a real backup bigman, yet Aldridge never truly made them pay. He played with effort on offense but it wasn't dialed all the way up. Defensively, he wasn't too impressive. Aldridge didn't do much rim protecting in the paint and wasn't too enthused about helping out on the perimeter.
Grade: B
Summary: Aldridge played well but could exerted his will more.
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Rudy Gay
https://i.imgur.com/vqYr2we.png
Thanks for hitting that game-winner, Rudy Gay. Nailing that shot avoided what could have been an utter disaster. Other than the memorable jumper, though, Gay was below average. His shot-selection was too liberal and the ball was sticking in his hands. It was too bad because when Gay looked to pass, he actually made good decisions. Defensively, I was really unimpressed. I don't know if he's hurting again or what but he was simply incapable of defending out to the three-point line. He was porous in one-on-one situations, was slow to rotate and his overall effort on that end couldn't have been much lower. When Gay isn't at least trying defensively, it quickly sinks the whole scheme.
Grade: C
Summary: That game-winner hid what was otherwise a forgettable night.
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Bryn Forbes
https://i.imgur.com/yXVIEAs.png
The good: Bryn Forbes scored eight straight points for the Spurs in the fourth quarter on 3-for-3 shooting, including a pair from downtown. The bad: Virtually everything else. He was anemic offensively outside of that fourth quarter mini eruption. Defensively, he was hopeless whenever he tried to guard Devin Booker, which happened quite a bit. The rest of his defensive play was a frazzled, unconfident mess. Forbes rarely was in the right spots at the right time -- and even when he was, he did little to stop anyone.
Grade: D+
Summary: Really bad outside of some fourth quarter shooting.
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Derrick White
https://i.imgur.com/IrTA2dV.png
Defensively, Derrick White was the man primarily tasked to slow Booker. Considering Phoenix's superstar went 14-for-19 from the field on his way to 38 point, it's safe to say White didn't have a good game on defense. However, to be fair to White, he only shares a minority part of the blame because the coaches had the perimeter players switching every screen, so it was rare for Booker and White to actually go head-to-head. That said, White's defense was still too lax and he wasn't applying near the amount of pressure that the situation asked for. Offensively, White was also sub par. He didn't shoot well and that was due to his shot-selection. Instead of making the heady passes as he has all season, he opted for circus shots on the run far too often. I like White being aggressive but he has to be smart and make the right pass when it's open.
Grade: C-
Summary: White was discombobulated on offense, not locked in enough defensively.
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Davis Bertans
https://i.imgur.com/ucY2jSF.png
With the Suns going extra small, Davis Bertans got the start and played a season-high 36 minutes. Offensively, he did pretty well. He tied his season-high with five made three-pointers -- but, truth be told, he uncharacteristically missed at least three or four wide open three-point looks. Bertans' passing was again a plus, however he did have a few occasions where he was unnecessarily sloppy. Defensively, he was one of the bright-ish spots. Bertans set a career-high with four steals, all of which came in the first half. He was moving his feet well, staying active in regards to his help-defense responsibilities and played a leading role in an impressive number of Suns turnovers. The downer on D for Bertans was his rebounding, or lack thereof.
Grade: B+
Summary: Bertans came to play on both ends.
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Marco Belinelli
https://i.imgur.com/hP9vIFY.png
Marco Belinelli is still blazing from behind the three-point line. He has now hit 12-of-22 three-pointers over his last four games and has his three-point percentage on the season up to 39.7%. His playmaking has blossomed recently as well and he added five more assists on Tuesday night. His O wasn't all good, though. Belinelli misfired from two-point range and had a team-high three turnovers, including one late in the fourth that allowed the Suns to tie the game. Defensively, he wasn't good ... but that's become a given for Belinelli on a nightly basis, unfortunately.
Grade: B
Summary: Belinelli scored 17 more points but he also made mistakes.
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Patty Mills
https://i.imgur.com/gTa4B5z.png
Patty Mills hit half of his eight three-point attempts against the Suns to bump up his three-point percentage to 40% for the season. He hit a couple contested threes, which helped stave off Suns runs. Mills' clock management was lacking and he wasn't pushing the pace as well -- but his passing was a bit better than usual. Defensively, he exhibited a decent amount of effort but he could have gone harder on that end. That said, he wasn't one of the leading causes for the flimsy defense tonight.
Grade: B-
Summary: Mills wasn't bad but he didn't provide his typical spark.
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Jakob Poeltl
https://i.imgur.com/FUIlW00.png
Jakob Poeltl only played eight minutes because Pau Gasol was the first backup center off the bench. After Pop scratched the Gasol experiment, Poeltl did okay. His mobility is night and day compared to Gasol, which makes him an asset on defense right away. Offensively, he kept his head up, made hard cuts and made smart passes.
Grade: B-
Summary: Poeltl wasn't great but he didn't hurt the cause.
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Pop
https://i.imgur.com/x7B1It7.jpg
I have a number of complaints regarding Pop's decisions versus Phoenix. 1) When you only have one legit perimeter defender in White and the Suns have one legit perimeter superstar in Booker, the switch-everything zone the Spurs tried to go with just didn't make sense to me. Just stick White on Booker and switch the rest, if you must. By switching so freely, the Suns would just force the Spurs to switch off an inept defender on Booker and then attack. 2) Gasol being the first center off the bench against the tiny Suns bench was a head-scratcher. Pop quickly realized Gasol couldn't hang with his quick counterparts but that's something he should have realized before trotting him out there. 3) I realize White was struggling on both ends but you have to finish the game with him. Tonight, Pop opted for Mills down the stretch. Although, to Pop's credit, I don't remember the last time White didn't finish a game, so I'm confident this was a one-game lesson for White. 4) Instead of splitting minutes between Dante Cunningham, Quincy Pondexter and Lonnie Walker IV, please just play Walker -- if only for entertainment value.
Grade: D+
Summary: Pop's decisions left me with more questions than answers.
Looking ahead: Bad win, undoubtedly. But, hey, a bad win is better than a good loss, right? The Spurs are now 30-22 with two more home games remaining in their four-game homestand before the Rodeo Road Trip.
The next game, against the Nets on Thursday, is the most difficult game of the homestand. Brooklyn is 20-6 in their last 26 games and have won seven of their previous eight outings.
If the Spurs play like they did tonight against the Nets, they'll get run off the court. Let us hope that doesn't happen and the good guys instead are ready to play from the opening tip.