Grades: Spurs @ Knicks - Feb. 24, 2019

[timvp]

DeMar DeRozan C+
Offensively, there's not much to complain about. DeRozan was efficient (32 points on 22 shots) and didn't turn the ball over. He only had four assists but that was due to the Knicks not sending much help his way. New York was daring DeRozan to beat them and his offensive production was there. Defense was another story. DeRozan was terrible on that end. Energy, focus and physicality were all lacking.

LaMarcus Aldridge C
Aldridge's evening was derailed by foul trouble. A few of the fouls were of the dumb variety, so he deserves an ample amount of blame for the fouls that saddled him. Offensively, Aldridge was solid during his time on the court. He could have been more aggressive but still was efficient despite an overreliance on fadeaways. Defensively, Aldridge was disinterested for much of the game. He tried to turn up the intensity late but it wasn't enough.

Rudy Gay C
On defense, Gay looked slow -- both in terms of navigating around screens to close out to shooters and staying in front of his man. Offensively, he never found much of a rhythm. Gay should have done more on offense considering the Knicks weren't doubling anybody but he never really had the opportunity. His teammates are to blame for some of that but Gay also wasn't forceful enough.

Bryn Forbes D-
Forbes had some trash points late to inflate his anemic offensive stats. His jumper looks flat coming out of the All-Star break and his confidence is shaky. Forbes also seems to have regressed in terms of providing ball-handling help. Defensively, he was atrocious against the Knicks. He couldn't stay with Dennis Smith Jr. and his contesting of three-point shots was pitiful. Forbes started the game but didn't start the second half after a disastrous first half showing.

Davis Bertans C-
It's becoming safe to say Davis Bertans shouldn't be a starter. At least not with this roster. On offense, he wasn't involved. The Knicks weren't doubling so Bertans was basically worthless on that end of the court. Defensively, I thought he made a lot of good decisions and was one of the few Spurs players in the right spot more often than not ... but the Knicks were still able to score over and around him more often than not.

Patty Mills D-
Ouch. Mills finished the game 2-for-14 from the court, including 0-for-7 on two-pointers. His shot-selection around the rim was soft; petrified of getting his shot blocked, Mills oftentimes just flipped the ball up prematurely. Instead of being a stabilizing veteran presence, he too often played too reckless and without enough foresight on offense. Defensively, Mills had a couple positive plays in his early stints but became more and more sieve-like as the game progressed.

Marco Belinelli C-
San Antonio desperately needed a spark from Belinelli but that spark never arrived. His off the ball movement wasn't as good as usual. He wasn't making plays. Add in a lot of sub par defense and it was a bad night at the office for Belinelli.

Jakob Poeltl B
Of the regular rotation players, Poeltl was the sole bright spot. On offense, he took advantage of smaller defenders, beasted on the offensive boards and passed the ball well. Defensively, he wasn't quite as good. His awareness in the paint was lacking and too often gave up easy shots without a contest. That said, his mobility was one of the few assets the Spurs had on their side.

Dante Cunningham B-
Eh, Cunningham played an average Cunningham game. He gave effort and energy on both ends but didn't mix in enough talent to move the needle much.

Quincy Pondexter B
Pondexter was the only player who brought palpable grit to the court. He was hustling on defense and had a couple impressive drives on offense. In hindsight, he should have played more.

Pau Gasol D
Gasol looked like a slab of meat that wasn't quite yet done defrosting before he was sent into the game. He was the opposite of limber and couldn't move well enough to be of much use. He rebounded well and was unselfish but he couldn't provide what the Spurs needed on this night.

Pop D-
Embarrassing loss by Pop and the Spurs. There's no other way to say it. The Knicks had lost 18 games in a row at home. Unacceptable loss for a team with the goal of making the playoffs. As for Pop's coaching, there was a whole lot I didn't like: Poeltl should have played Gasol's minutes, Mills played way too much, Forbes played too much, sticking with Pondexter would have been smart, and Belinelli and/or Gay could have sopped up a few more minutes. In Pop's defense, he had a whole lot of guys playing poorly and was without Derrick White (injury management) so it wasn't the simplest of games to coach.

[Millennial_Messiah]

When are you going to give Poop an F, LJ? :lmao

[TheGreatYacht]

No defense for Pop. Absolutely none. He lost to the worst team since the Diop Bobcats. Fizdale outcoached with less talent as is the usual. Embarrassing.

[timtonymanu]

Pop should get an F for thinking sitting White would lead to a Spurs win.

[TDomination]

Defense

Or should I say lackthereof. It's a common theme.

Remember our span of like 6 games in a row holding teams under 100 earlier this year? Me neither.

I do know that Derrick white was on the court during those games.

Regardless of how much we can score, we will NEVER be truly competitive if we cannot get some defense.

White is excellent. I'm happy he is back but man he needs to be 100% the rest of the year.

I'm excited to see what a white Murray backcourt would look like next year.

With that said what an utter embarrassment. Ugh I want this rrt to be over already. It has been a nightmare.

Extremely unfortunate white got hurt right before the first rrt game.

[Millennial_Messiah]

No defense for Pop. Absolutely none. He lost to the worst team since the Diop Bobcats. Fizdale outcoached with less talent as is the usual. Embarrassing.

Fizdale "rook'd" Poop, tbh.

[GreekSpursfan]

Agree with every point you made.

[TDomination]

And even though the players gotta play, this loss is hugely on Pop. We seriously have played like the worst team in the NBA numerous times.

Losses to suns, bulls and now Knicks. That's coaching.

F for pop

[emanueldavidginobili]

18 game home losing streak to a tanking team without Deandre Jordan...let that sink in.

[ZeusWillJudge]

Poor clock management and an inability to inbound the ball. We've seen it too much this season from the Spurs. No matter what else you may think about Pop, those two things are on the coach.

Poeltl had 12 and 9 on 6-7 shooting, in 19 minutes. That's a pretty damn good line.

[objective]

How dare Bryntouchable get a bad grade!

Haven't you heard about how hard he works?

[tbdog]

No point guards controlling the game and just the sheer lack of athleticism across the board.

[emanueldavidginobili]

I just don’t get how there’s not a single F in these grades.

[Keepin' it real]

The Knicks looked pretty good.

[spurs10]

The Knicks looked pretty good. Yeah they weren't trying to lose.

[emanueldavidginobili]

Posted this the first week of JAN

That’s if we make the playoffs. Since The first game of December they’re 12-5 which is great but 10 of those wins were at home. Spurs are 2-4 on the road in that span and 6-12 overall which is 5th worst in the West. Until I see them play on the road like they do at home I’m not convinced they will make the playoffs. The rodeo road trip is brutal this year @ SAC@GSW @POR @UTAH @MEM @TOR @NYK @BKN

[Spurs Homer]

Pop sitting out ddr & aldridge (against GS) - thinking they would be fresh and win the next game against Portland - they lost both -

and Pop did the same here -

sitting out D. White tonight banking on a win and having D.White tomorrow for another win -

is the same shit - loss tonite and loss tomorrow again.

This is my only real beef with Pop - he has no guts and is too scared of pushing players anymore.

This team needs all hands on deck in every game - this is not the spurs of old who could sit starters and still have 3 hall of famers to keep the ship steady.

[gambit1990]

can you not use comic sans? thanks

[BlackAndWhite]

The spurs don't have a deep enough roster for any of the main 9 guys to sit out. Their chances of winning goes towards 0 literally whenever one person is missing from the rotation

[TDMVPDPOY]

who else hates this player management bullshit

play the fckers and those b2b games...

[Chomag]

Garbage effort from a garbage roster

[phxspurfan]

What is it with David Fizdale's ability to beat the living hell out of the Spurs? He did it with the Grizz too, at least for a game or two:

LGN5S-X9wIw

[Spurs da champs]

What is it with David Fizdale's ability to beat the living hell out of the Spurs? He did it with the Grizz too, at least for a game or two:

LGN5S-X9wIw
If not for Kawhi carrying the hell out of the Spurs, Fiz would've won that series.

[spurs10]

The spurs don't have a deep enough roster for any of the main 9 guys to sit out. Their chances of winning goes towards 0 literally whenever one person is missing from the rotationApparently so.

[vavvi]

That's a fun Rodeo Road Trip

[monty4329]

From -20 to -10 with DDR sitting.
He gets back, game over.

Awful game. Zero offensive flow, Knicks fought hard on defense and on the boards. In contrast, SA couldn't get a rebound and defend any 3-point shot situation.

This will probably cost the 7th seed, and even the playoffs. Well done, Pop.

[polandprzem]

LJ your passion to the game is still high

Thing to admire

:lobt:

[r0drig0lac]

PATFO F-
you can not have so much dead weight on a roster (Mills, Forbes, Cun, Pondexter, Gasol), as well as players who are not yet ready to play like Metu and Walker (who would not be worse than the dwarves on the roster if he had time on the court) and get away with it

[vavvi]

How do we find ways to lose to the worst tanking teams?

We lost to Knicks, Bulls AND Suns. Is there another team in the league who can boast the same accomplishment?

[SouthTexasRancher]

If there is a lower grade than an F- then it should go to the senile old man. I thought Pop and Tim had an agreement to retire together. Pop is 5 years past his prime and he is made to look like a fool each and every night. What a crappy job he is doing this season. This team has tuned the angry and arrogant asshole out. Retire Pop, retire! You have never gotten over yourself.

[TheGoatishere]

Apparently we can’t beat any bottom tier Eastern conference team this year .. pathetic

[Coach X]

Sitting White vs the Knicks in order to play him vs the Nets was the right move to me if he had to rest one of the B2B.

What's the aim of this season? I think making the playoffs is just an indirect goal. They are building a new team, trying new pieces, putting players in situations so they can make the correct moves next summer. If you think your team without White can't beat these Knicks then you have to blow it out. Maybe a lot of posters think that but PATFO doesn't (me neither) so they think: we have to win in the MSG without White and we can use him and beat the Nets as well. Otherwise, you are assuming you are losing in Brooklyn.

---------------

About the game:

We've already had several humiliating games this season, losing vs awful teams and/or being totally wrecked in the scoreboard. IMO, the reason for those terrible performances has been the lack of leadership from our most important players. In an 82 games season, it's not unusual to approach a game too relaxed, that happens all the time in all the teams, including the best teams in the league. Remember how many times the Big3 Spurs made a comeback in order to get a W after being behind and playing poorly against a bad team. But we had great leaders. Now we miss them. So much.

In a game like yesterday's, where a playoff team is sucking vs a very bad team, after a timeout, between quarters or at the halftime, a true LEADER decides "that's enough bullshit, let's win this one" and he starts playing hard: good defense, solid offense. He LEADS his teammates so the team reacts and wins the game because they're better. We don't have that kind of leader.

Aldridge is a very good player but doesn't have that character despite he has matured and toughened his game in his time in San Antonio. He has shown he's valuable in this league and I'd definitely keep him in the team for some years but this season under his leadership will help him understand his place in the team is being the second most important player, not the first. In the Spurs lockeroom, in Popovich words: this is Aldridge's team now. In June, when everything finishes and PATFO assesses the season they will evaluate how far are they going with a team led by LaMarcus and decisions will be taken as in the past.

I believe Popovich is testing DeRozan as a future leader. Under the radar.
I can't understand how a mediocre lottery player worked his butt off until averaging 27pts in an NBA season but nobody told him that winning is about defense. Yesterday, DeRozan was trying to lead the team his way: taking the ball and trying to score and create offense. I appreciate the hard work and the will to fight and rebel against the situation, losing again in an easy game. I do like DeRozan's character but it's kind of pathetic watching him fighting the wrong battle. He just needed to play 3 consecutive good defensive possessions getting some stops showing the team the path to take. I hope Popovich can help him to understand the game as he has done with all the Spurs leaders before. This season and the losses will serve them as an example to learn from.

I wouldn't blame Popovich for yesterday's loss. His coaching could have been better? Probably, but he gave enough tools and opportunities to his players for them to win the game. The game wasn't decided by a single ATO play, there wasn't any adjustment or significant tactical decission that changed the game. The team didn't perform well, that's true and that's his fault ultimately of course but I can't see how Popovich lost the game yesterday. The players are professionals, they're supposed to go out there and play hard and they didn't until the fourth quarter.

Winning an easy game it's about accountability and responsibility. I blame Aldridge and DeRozan for these horrible losses and not leading by example. Then I blame the veterans: Mills, Gay, Gasol, Belinelli, for not helping others to understand.

F for Aldridge for his poor overall performance as the leader of the team losing vs these Knicks
D- for DeRozan for the same reason but at least playing hard despite not understanding how to win the game.
D for Gay, Mills, Belinelli, Gasol for not helping the team to react and play harder.
D for Forbes, Bertans for another game not progressing in his defensive performance (which should be their main goal this season)
C- for Poetl for the same reason than Forbes and Bertans but at least play with some energy in the offense.
C+ Cunningham, Pondexter for showing some professionality in his time on the court.

C for Pop. Couldn't make his team play hard until it was too late. He benched players, used time outs and yelled his team, used three defenses (regular man to man, switch everything and zone), tried different structures and assignments but didn't have a particular defensive problem to solve as the Spurs were outplayed defensively by any single Knick in all kind of situations.

Just before Pop haters jump on me let me say I'd give a D to PATFO for this season roster. Even considering nephew's trade was the best available option I disagree with several moves. And I don't understand how they didn't try something after Murray's injury and then after the poor defensive performance until the trade deadline.

[Truth4sale$]

The whole team with the exception of Poeltl and Pondexter deserve a F. Are the spurs at the point where Derrick White is the team MVP?
This may go down as the worst game of the season for BOTH teams. This might be the game that sends the Spurs to the 8th spot in a quick 3-0 loss to Golden state and this might be the game that cost the knicks the #1 pick of Zion Williams.

[ceperez]

The whole team with the exception of Poeltl and Pondexter deserve a F. Are the spurs at the point where Derrick White is the team MVP?
This may go down as the worst game of the season for BOTH teams. This might be the game that sends the Spurs to the 8th spot in a quick 3-0 loss to Golden state and this might be the game that cost the knicks the #1 pick of Zion Williams.

This team cannot play defense, and every other team in the league knows it!

This team's offense is also predictable, and every other team in the league knows it!

[John B]

C is too high for Marco. They were on the run and down only 8 when that terrible turnover pass to LMA deep, made worst by letting Dotson shoot 3 on the other side, a 5 points turnaround and they never got back. Marco is giving too much slack, too much. He is not a playmaker, but a catch and shoot guy. Getting beat by a tanking bunch of Rookies. And handed them their first home after longest losing streak geez :bang:bang:bang

[John B]

If White is the missing link, why not trade for another serviceable PG as backup? Not QPon, not Mills. Nope they’re not PG, please. I know this team needs an SF, but missing White shows this team equally needs a true PG to set the pace, feeds LMA deep, line every up. Nope. We keep playing Metu, freaking Pau, Dante, geez :bang:bang:bang

[John B]

C is too high for Marco. They were on the run and down only 8 when that terrible turnover pass to LMA deep, made worst by letting Dotson shoot 3 on the other side, a 5 points turnaround and they never got back. Marco is giving too much slack, too much. He is not a playmaker, but a catch and shoot guy. Getting beat by a tanking bunch of Rookies. And handed them their first home after longest losing streak geez :bang:bang:bang

[monty4329]

This team cannot play defense, and every other team in the league knows it!

This team's offense is also predictable, and every other team in the league knows it!

When they went to a 2-3 zone, hence grabbing the defensive rebounds, they managed to get back into the game, from -20 to -10.
And then, Pop puts back in DDR and goes back to man-to-man defense.

Pop's loss.

[superbigtime]

Words are hard to find to express just how shitty and all-time fag this team really is. The Knicks.

[Proxy]

If there is a lower grade than an F- then it should go to the senile old man. I thought Pop and Tim had an agreement to retire together. Pop is 5 years past his prime and he is made to look like a fool each and every night. What a crappy job he is doing this season. This team has tuned the angry and arrogant asshole out. Retire Pop, retire! You have never gotten over yourself.

https://media.giphy.com/media/vk7VesvyZEwuI/giphy.gif

[itzsoweezee]

From -20 to -10 with DDR sitting.
He gets back, game over.

Awful game. Zero offensive flow, Knicks fought hard on defense and on the boards. In contrast, SA couldn't get a rebound and defend any 3-point shot situation.

This will probably cost the 7th seed, and even the playoffs. Well done, Pop.

Had he ever had a season with a positive +/- impact. I'm skeptical

[KimmyGib]

Gasol looked like a slab of meat that wasn't quite yet done defrosting.



:hungry:

[rastaspur]

I just can't watch a full game with this team. It's trash tbh. I feel bad as a fan but i have lost all interest this year. It's sad.

[BillMc]

It is kind of amazing that we are worse than last year. Perimeter defense I guess

[SouthTexasRancher]

https://media.giphy.com/media/vk7VesvyZEwuI/giphy.gif

Nice GIF of you, Bozo Proxy. Look, I really am bothered that your sorry ass dropped out of the line before you got to the brain department. But, that's life and I'm sure an imbecile like you is giving it the good ol' first grade try. Keep working at it and you may one day graduate to the second grade. Until then fuck off, you simpleton. :ihit

[Proxy]

Nice GIF of you, Bozo Proxy. Look, I really am bothered that your sorry ass dropped out of the line before you got to the brain department. But, that's life and I'm sure an imbecile like you is giving it the good ol' first grade try. Keep working at it and you may one day graduate to the second grade. Until then fuck off, you simpleton. :ihit

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D0PZxUoWsAAd7uv?format=jpg&name=small

[SouthTexasRancher]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D0PZxUoWsAAd7uv?format=jpg&name=small

Hell, at one point I wanted Pop and RC to go after Jimmy a couple months back. Even though he can be trouble he could help us as bad as we are.