Grades: Spurs vs. Blazers - Nov. 16, 2019

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/grades-san-antonio-spurs-portland-trail-blazers-november-16-2019/

tl;dr: Fun to grade Tim Duncan again like the good ol' days of yesteryear........

[Spurs fever]

Thanks for the grades.

[spurs10]

Thanks for the grades. There was a time in the 4th quarter when we lost our 15 point lead on a 11-0 run. Tim and Becky thankfully put Gay back in after a while. Seemed like there was confusion about who he came in for and there were 6 Spurs on the court briefly. Patty left and Beli, who I thought Gay was subbing for, stayed. No one in that line-up could score to save their lives and the Blazers quickly scored 11 unanswered. I'll need to watch the tape again, but I believe LMA, DDR, and Patty were on the bench. Apart from Rudy I didn't have much confidence in them.

That being said the call against DDR in the last 37 seconds was likely the deciding factor. Once again, a bad call, was pivotal in the outcome of the game.

[james evans]

officiating fucked us this game. When the blazers couldn't get anything going, they started flopping on 3's. That was a big momentum shift.

2 damian lillard bullshit ass 3 pointer fouls
bad call to end the game on derozen layup
Poodle's offensive foul when derozen went in for a dunk


Every last one of those calls were bad calls and was a 8 point swing. And let's not forget the no calls our layups.

[vavvi]

1. Our starting line-up sucks. We need to try something new. Every time the starters are out there it's like we are destined to lose.

2. DeMar shouldn't play 37 minutes. He just shouldn't, he doesn't defend, he stops the ball and most importantly he brings bad energy. He seems emotionally wasted, and others around seem to be affected. It's so much more fun to root for the bench unit. Let's try playing him 25-28 minutes.

3. Forbes shouldn't play close to 30 minutes. He is a complete liability defensively, and our roster is quite deep. He should play closer to 20 minutes.

[cjw]

Grade for the refs?

[sananspursfan21]

officiating fucked us this game. When the blazers couldn't get anything going, they started flopping on 3's. That was a big momentum shift.

2 damian lillard bullshit ass 3 pointer fouls
bad call to end the game on derozen layup
Poodle's offensive foul when derozen went in for a dunk


Every last one of those calls were bad calls and was a 8 point swing. And let's not forget the no calls our layups.

I always thought it was a weird foul when the shooter would move into the defender’s space in order to draw the foul. Lilliard seems to be a master of invading a defender’s space and somehow getting a whistle

[sananspursfan21]

The crazy thing about this losing streak is that the Spurs aren’t completely hapless. They’re staying somewhat competitive in these games. But they’re blowing it when it really matters. And they’ve been losing the exact same way for the last three losses

[Dr. John R. Brinkley]

In the last 2 minutes, Demar needs to be on the bench.

[DPG21920]

I don’t understand why 5 losses in a row including multiple awful starts from the SL and no changes don’t result in a bad grade?

If you know something isn’t working and you refuse to change it, how is that good coaching? I understand not wanting to panic and wanting guys to figure it out but if you don’t do anything to help?? Or realize that they aren’t capable (defense mostly)?

[Chomag]

I don’t understand why 5 losses in a row including multiple awful starts from the SL and no changes don’t result in a bad grade?

If you know something isn’t working and you refuse to change it, how is that good coaching? I understand not wanting to panic and wanting guys to figure it out but if you don’t do anything to help?? Or realize that they aren’t capable (defense mostly)?This! It's the true definition of insanity. Doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result.

[RC_Drunkford]

Wow no C+ for Pop, just a C? On to the next loss with the same starting line up

[emanueldavidginobili]

Man I was disappointed with White. Pop finally plays him more than 30 minutes and he shoots it 6 times in 34 minutes.

He played solid but didn’t stand out. I don’t know what it is but his confidence just isn’t there and really his overall aggression.

[SAGirl]

1. Our starting line-up sucks. We need to try something new. Every time the starters are out there it's like we are destined to lose.

2. DeMar shouldn't play 37 minutes. He just shouldn't, he doesn't defend, he stops the ball and most importantly he brings bad energy. He seems emotionally wasted, and others around seem to be affected. It's so much more fun to root for the bench unit. Let's try playing him 25-28 minutes.

3. Forbes shouldn't play close to 30 minutes. He is a complete liability defensively, and our roster is quite deep. He should play closer to 20 minutes.
Agreed. Great post!

[phxspurfan]

Man I was disappointed with White. Pop finally plays him more than 30 minutes and he shoots it 6 times in 34 minutes.

He played solid but didn’t stand out. I don’t know what it is but his confidence just isn’t there and really his overall aggression.

Murray took the starting job back
Time with Team USA ended in disaster
He’s being exposed as a non shooter

Like a new pitcher in baseball who does well through the first rotation but then gets figured out, White is being figured out by the league. He needs to adjust and improve his game.

[SAGirl]

I don’t understand why 5 losses in a row including multiple awful starts from the SL and no changes don’t result in a bad grade?

If you know something isn’t working and you refuse to change it, how is that good coaching? I understand not wanting to panic and wanting guys to figure it out but if you don’t do anything to help?? Or realize that they aren’t capable (defense mostly)?
:pop: these guys just need to figure it out

[Cryptic Parable]

I’m wondering how long this team last before they throw in the towel and blow much of it up? I’m all for rebuilding and shipping LMA and DD out for picks and talent. It’s just time to go through the draft and develop a young core group of players. These guys don’t mesh nor exhibit the tough minded gritty lunch pail attitude I want to see on a team lacking true superstar players. Lack of on floor leadership and overall consistency . It was a decent run but it’s time to move on

[ZeusWillJudge]

As always, thanks for the grades.


The box score tells me that your grade for Aldridge is right. My gut tells me otherwise. For a while he looked awesome, right after Pop got ejected. But honestly, he didn't look good before that. And in the critical second half of the fourth quarter, the sluggish LMA reappeared. The truth is, watching him play hard just pissed me off more, because I couldn't help thinking that he could do that all the time if he played like he really wanted to win.

Last year Aldridge had double digit rebounts 35 times out of 78 games. This season he's had double digit rebounds just 1 game out of the 13 he's played. To put it into perspective, he's on pace for 6 double digit rebounding games for the whole season. He's never been a strong rebounder - I get that. But so far this season he has been FAR worse than even his normally weak-rebounding self.

[spurs10]

The line-up left out there in the 4th with no one, but Rudy, who could score was a deciding factor. I think it was a mistake on Becky and Tim's part. All the same the refs decided this game. Even mores than the Magic game.

[ZeusWillJudge]

I don’t understand why 5 losses in a row including multiple awful starts from the SL and no changes don’t result in a bad grade?

If you know something isn’t working and you refuse to change it, how is that good coaching? I understand not wanting to panic and wanting guys to figure it out but if you don’t do anything to help?? Or realize that they aren’t capable (defense mostly)?


If you knew... absolutely knew... that you were going to come out with the L in this game, wouldn't you have put Keldon in just to see what he's capable of? Obviously Pop didn't know, but the first 12 games should have given him a clue that losing was probably more likely than winning.

This team isn't playing with any sense of urgency, and Pop hasn't been coaching with any sense of urgency to figure out the lineup. He's done the same things with the same results. Last night was a chance to shake things up a bit. They say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. At best, Pop deserves an "I" for last night's performance. Either for "Incomplete" or for "Insanity". Take your pick.

[tim_duncan_fan]

The crazy thing about this losing streak is that the Spurs aren’t completely hapless. They’re staying somewhat competitive in these games. But they’re blowing it when it really matters. And they’ve been losing the exact same way for the last three seasons