Grades: Spurs vs. Thunder - Nov. 7, 2019

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/grades-san-antonio-spurs-oklahoma-city-thunder-november-7-2019/

tl;dr: Steven Adams will have nightmares.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Crazy to read that Forbes was 3-17 from downtown in his last two games prior to this one.


If Aldridge went off for 29 instead of 39 it could have been a very different game. Great to see him light it up :tu

[Chris]

ULczZW-vNx4
7Wx1mAhpDn0

[Chucho]

Thunder are a playoff team :rollin

[Fireball]

Nice to see that the offense can get rolling for once in a while but of course the Thunder shot lights out as well.

Intresting you were happy with Derrick White ... to me he looked out of position on defense on numerous occasions but you watch more replays so I guess you know what you are saying.

Again the frustration increased with the minutes Belli saw tonight. White and Carroll should soak up all his minutes immediately. Mills is making his shots right now, but Belli is unplayable.

After the last game I wrote that Aldridge needs to get some early shots out of the pick and pop. Thankfully Murray listened and did a great job collecting the easy "Rondo" assists.

[vavvi]

Timvp slowly but surely joining anti-Pop camp :spin

1. Not so enthusiastic about LMA although he obviously nailed all of his jumpers for once. I still see lackadaisical D and avoiding physical contact on O. Would give him just an A, without +
2. Beli and Poeltl start to look like real problems. Both regressed from the last season. And if we have plenty of options to replace Beli there's no way to play without Poeltl.

[r0drig0lac]

Demar elite role player is the best Demar..and Murray will be very good

[John B]

Thanks for the write-up Timvp. I agree with the grades, but I think OKC would be a playoff team. This is a better situation for CP3 imo. They have mix of veterans and youth and in good key positions. Maybe just missing a defensive wing. I think they can use Adams more than just a defensive big to open their shooters, or pick and roll with CP3 to get him rolling. I don’t know if our W was just because Aldridge got really lucky shooting a high percentage. I know he could also reacting with slower but big Adams depending him. I agree with him getting A+, but I just don’t want him falling in love with perimeter shots. I like him to mix it, pound it sometimes. I like Trey looking for his shots. I think there were two instances Murray/White could’ve passed him the ball inside either an open shot or a smaller guy depending him. He’s such a smart player, I think Pop should draw a couple of plays for him. Likewise Poeltl to get him going. I still like to see more Lonnie or Carroll than Beli please. I cringe with the sight of him and Mills/Forbes together. I like that Pop inserted Murray back in the 4th to protect the lead. I’m hoping soon he would use both Murray/White to close the game. He might need to with a better team Celtics coming. All in all, this was a good win.

[Dr. John R. Brinkley]

Probably should have been a blow out but the defense gave up too many shots.

[ZeusWillJudge]

Patty Mills -
"Then again, some of it was just questionable decisions regarding which player Mills should have been guarding."

That exact thing would have gotten Lonnie yanked off the floor, yelled at, and confined to the bench. I know OP says it's because Pop is trying to make Lonnie better. But there's a pretty good case to be made that Pop should be trying twice as hard to make Patty better.


Dejounte Murray -
"I liked how hard he attacked the basket, even if he came up gimpy after a few of his forays to the hoop."

I don't know if anyone else was as disturbed by that as I was. I know there has been some grumbling about Murray's minute restrictions, but that made me wonder if he's restricted enough. That's the future out there, and a re-injury would be devastating.


Lyles continues to be a bright spot to me. He's obviously working hard to try and be the kind of player the Spurs need him to be, instead of the kind of player he's been. If what we're seeing is his starting point, and he continues to improve and live up to some of the expectations he had as a rookie, he'll be around for a while.

[sananspursfan21]

Nice grades. First game of the season I skipped out on watching. I needed to decompress from the frustrating loss on Tuesday. Looks like our boys got back on track. If LMA can use this as a bouncing board, the season should really start looking up. And for the love of Michael Jackson, no more Belli please!!!

[monty4329]

Dejounte Murray -
"I liked how hard he attacked the basket, even if he came up gimpy after a few of his forays to the hoop."

I don't know if anyone else was as disturbed by that as I was. I know there has been some grumbling about Murray's minute restrictions, but that made me wonder if he's restricted enough. That's the future out there, and a re-injury would be devastating.
.

I noticed that too, it is not the first game Murray doesn't look that great after jumping to the basket. His game is best (high NBA shelf, actually) when on offense he runs and pushes the ball and goes to the basket, and on defense when he basically jumps his man or the intended receiver of a pass.

In other words, if his knees and ankles aren't 101% healthy, there is a constant risk of injury.
But if he tones it down, he isn't that useful.

Not sure if "load management" really helps: I am afraid the problem is the jumping+landing, not the stress of doing it repeatedly. I am knocking wood, touching iron and everything else might prevent a jinx here.

[SAGirl]

Didn’t watch the game but very nice stats by several guys and glad to see Lyles shooting well. If LMA has a good game the Spurs are in a good position and he delivered here.

Thanks for the grades as always Timvp

[jjktkk]

Patty Mills -
"Then again, some of it was just questionable decisions regarding which player Mills should have been guarding."

That exact thing would have gotten Lonnie yanked off the floor, yelled at, and confined to the bench. I know OP says it's because Pop is trying to make Lonnie better. But there's a pretty good case to be made that Pop should be trying twice as hard to make Patty better.Patty has reached his ceiling quite some time ago, so I don't know how much better he can get.[/QUOTE]

[ZeusWillJudge]

In other words, if his knees and ankles aren't 101% healthy, there is a constant risk of injury.
But if he tones it down, he isn't that useful.

Not sure if "load management" really helps: I am afraid the problem is the jumping+landing, not the stress of doing it repeatedly. I am knocking wood, touching iron and everything else might prevent a jinx here.


Someone posted an article (seems like it was preseason) talking about how long it actually takes for a repaired ACL to fully rebuild and heal. It was pretty compelling, but a lot of people rejected it because they have seen that every case is different. If Murray was symptom free, I wouldn't think much about it. But if he's having that much discomfort after cutting hard and jumping, it's probably a warning sign. Especially since, as you said, that is his game.

I know how desperate fans are for W's, and Murray is a much-needed part of this roster. I'm sure he and the medical staff saw the same things we saw. I wouldn't look for his minute restriction to get lifted any time soon. I hope not, anyway.

[ZeusWillJudge]

[/B]Patty has reached his ceiling quite some time ago, so I don't know how much better he can get.


LOL. I was being sort of sarcastic. Or ironic. Or something. Just saying that it really doesn't matter who blows a defensive assignment, the outcome is the same - on the court, anyway.

[jjktkk]

LOL. I was being sort of sarcastic. Or ironic. Or something. Just saying that it really doesn't matter who blows a defensive assignment, the outcome is the same - on the court, anyway.

:lol Should of caught that. I do understand Pop continuing to trot out Mills. For all of his shortcomings, at least you know Patty will give you energy and try to compete. Regarding Marco, I pray that Lonnie can get his shit together and keep Belinelli's ass glued to the bench.

[Fireball]

Someone posted an article (seems like it was preseason) talking about how long it actually takes for a repaired ACL to fully rebuild and heal. It was pretty compelling, but a lot of people rejected it because they have seen that every case is different. If Murray was symptom free, I wouldn't think much about it. But if he's having that much discomfort after cutting hard and jumping, it's probably a warning sign. Especially since, as you said, that is his game.

I know how desperate fans are for W's, and Murray is a much-needed part of this roster. I'm sure he and the medical staff saw the same things we saw. I wouldn't look for his minute restriction to get lifted any time soon. I hope not, anyway.

I think him looking gimpy sometimes might not have anything to dow with his repaired knee, just little bumps and bruises that happen the way how he attacks the basket right now. Or do you not think Pop would have pulled him out of the game earlier if he saw anything regarding DJs knee?

[team-work]

Assistant Coach Duncan probably talked a thing or 2 to Lyles, molding him to current version.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Good news...the Spurs are 5-3. The bad news...other than beating the Blazers, there's not really another quality win on the schedule.

Other than Atlanta, the Spurs are winning the games they're supposed to win, so that's good at least. And I think they could have beaten ATL if Pop wasn't coaching out of his ass that night.

[Seventyniner]

Someone posted an article (seems like it was preseason) talking about how long it actually takes for a repaired ACL to fully rebuild and heal. It was pretty compelling, but a lot of people rejected it because they have seen that every case is different. If Murray was symptom free, I wouldn't think much about it. But if he's having that much discomfort after cutting hard and jumping, it's probably a warning sign. Especially since, as you said, that is his game.

I know how desperate fans are for W's, and Murray is a much-needed part of this roster. I'm sure he and the medical staff saw the same things we saw. I wouldn't look for his minute restriction to get lifted any time soon. I hope not, anyway.

I'm hoping Murray's minutes restriction is lifted ASAP, because that would mean the staff thinks he's fully 100% healthy. No reason to lift it without that prognosis though.

[RC_Drunkford]

Good news...the Spurs are 5-3. The bad news...other than beating the Blazers, there's not really another quality win on the schedule.

Other than Atlanta, the Spurs are winning the games they're supposed to win, so that's good at least. And I think they could have beaten ATL if Pop wasn't coaching out of his ass that night.

All of those games were home games though. They need to be able to win them on the road as well

[rjv]

would not surprise me at all if white sits out on Saturday.

[phxspurfan]

Demar elite role player is the best Demar..and Murray will be very good

Yes, we just need LMA to go supernova every night

[ZeusWillJudge]

I think him looking gimpy sometimes might not have anything to dow with his repaired knee, just little bumps and bruises that happen the way how he attacks the basket right now. Or do you not think Pop would have pulled him out of the game earlier if he saw anything regarding DJs knee?

Ahhh hell, I don't know. No, I don't believe they would knowingly risk him for the sake of a single W. Might they think the minute restriction is sufficient, so long as he's not complaining? I don't know... maybe? I'm sure they're watching.

All I know is that I personally hate to see that particular young man looking like he's in discomfort after landing. I was in favor of his minutes being expanded until I saw that. But it's not like they come asking for my approval or disapproval.