Grades: Spurs vs. Rockets - Dec. 3, 2019

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/grades-san-antonio-spurs-houston-rockets-december-3-2019/

tl;dr: lw;iv

[vavvi]

What Pop has to do to finally get an A?

[John B]

https://www.spurstalk.com/grades-san-antonio-spurs-houston-rockets-december-3-2019/

tl;dr: lw;iv
Thanks for the writeup. That was one of the ugliest NBA games, no thanks to Harden foul baiting snd the NBA sucking up to him. How does Harden get away with it? I’m not impressed with his game, with the steps back triple, overacting foul baits, offensive hand shoving layups. No wonder he averages 38 points, he gets away with murder, it’s ridiculous. just the NBA is packaging him up nicely as MVP contender.

Anyway. That was awesome display of fight by the young guys. Please please please Pop, let this be a revelation. Lonnie is special. He can pick his defender, beat anyone on transition, in your face defense, can hit the 3. Everything the Beli cannot do. You were right, the team was feeding off his energy, that was non-existent on all the loses. With that alone, the team needs him inside. Poeltl was awesome. The guy needs to be fueled with praises to boost his confidence. I would’ve wanted White instead of either Mills/Forbes in the stretch for length and defense. But it worked out. I’m glad Pop stuck with Walker. I watched it again for the satisfaction. Awesome win.

[John B]

https://www.spurstalk.com/grades-san-antonio-spurs-houston-rockets-december-3-2019/

tl;dr: lw;iv
Thanks for the writeup. That was one of the ugliest NBA games, no thanks to Harden foul baiting snd the NBA sucking up to him. How does Harden get away with it? I’m not impressed with his game, with the steps back triple, overacting foul baits, offensive hand shoving layups. No wonder he averages 38 points, he gets away with murder, it’s ridiculous. just the NBA is packaging him up nicely as MVP contender.

Anyway. That was awesome display of fight by the young guys. Please please please Pop, let this be a revelation. Lonnie is special. He can pick his defender, beat anyone on transition, in your face defense, can hit the 3. Everything the Beli cannot do. You were right, the team was feeding off his energy, that was non-existent on all the loses. With that alone, the team needs him inside. Poeltl was awesome. The guy needs to be fueled with praises to boost his confidence. I would’ve wanted White instead of either Mills/Forbes in the stretch for length and defense. But it worked out. I’m glad Pop stuck with Walker. I watched it again for the satisfaction. Awesome win.

[offset formation]

If someone had told me Westbrook would have a triple double and Harden would go off for 50 I would have bet my life savings we lose this game. Guess that goes to show you that we had some pretty good performances on our end too. Hello Poeltl and LWIV.

Thanks for the grades. Always look forward to them and generally am in agreement with them.

Had a similar take on Forbes after the game last night too.

Good stuff.

[SAGirl]

Thanks for the review. I hadn’t realized they had a few days off. That might be a good time for the coaches too, to evaluate the string of games they had and build upon what success they had (in terms of lineups and tweaks that worked, those that didn’t and finding minutes for Lonnie. It doesn’t surprise he was shaky to start, he has barely played tbh.

[bayareaspursfan]

The game reminded me of the kawhi 3 and block on harden game and manu couldn't believe it

[vavvi]

Do you still believe we can make the playoffs?

[UZER]

I have been super critical of DDR, but I have to give him credit for acknowledging the run Lonnie was on and staying completely out of his way through the entire fourth qtr.

I think Lonnie was just gassed in the OTs and had nothing left on O, although he continued to play great defense.

[benefactor]

Do you still believe we can make the playoffs?
They are one of four teams that are one game back in the win column 21 games into the season. Safe to say all those teams still have a shot.

[FkLA]

I'm obviously thrilled with LW IV breaking out but a part of me is still pissed at Pop. Part of me still thinks he is going to find a way to fuck line-ups up. Like why doesn't he get it? His love for his pets is beyond annoying.

He goes with two low ceiling midgets when he has three young, great perimeter defenders at his disposal. There is no excuse why at least two of the three shouldn't have been out there down the stretch. Forbes is not the third best player on the team. Stop treating him like it. Wombat is not the closing PG. Stop treating him like it.

[sananspursfan21]

Wow what a game. I’m so mad about shutting the game off with 5 minutes left in the 4th. Got the notification saying the game was tied and flipped it back on faster than you can say Harden got screwed!

Pretty humorous that the Rockets actually think they could get awarded with the win. Changing the results would be the most illogical thing you could do. Imagine they overturned the call and gave Harden the dunk. The game would not have been played verbatim the same after the dunk so you can’t give them an automatic win. We don’t know that the Rockets would have found another way to squander the game, and Lonnie was still in god-mode. I completely understand them being livid, as I would be had the same thing happened to our guys. But just like when we complain about a horrible call or bad officiating, at the end of the day you can’t count on the refs for a win. Plus, it’s not like the refs erased the entire deficit, they made a bad call on ONE PLAY. Amazing win Spurs!!!

[UZER]

I'm obviously thrilled with LW IV breaking out but a part of me is still pissed at Pop. Part of me still thinks he is going to find a way to fuck line-ups up. Like why doesn't he get it? His love for his pets is beyond annoying.

He goes with two low ceiling midgets when he has three young, great perimeter defenders at his disposal. There is no excuse why at least two of the three shouldn't have been out there down the stretch. Forbes is not the third best player on the team. Stop treating him like it. Wombat is not the closing PG. Stop treating him like it.

Yeah the Patty Bryn lineup continues to be a criminal head scratcher. They struggled to secure a rebound in OT.

[Sugus]

DeMar DeRozan has to be the least clutch player in the league. Not only is his inability to hit a 3 a big issue when the team is down that amount in the final possession, he just has 0 bbal IQ and cannot make the right plays down the stretch. Was the best play he could come up with a 20ft, contested jumper which hadn't been falling for him all night? Would it kill him to drive and kick to the hot hand? Lonnie was the opposite last night, until he got gassed by second OT. That deep 3 to tie it is exactly the kind of closing the Spurs have missed all season. Pop better start this MF... And close with him.

[Chomag]

Harden himself gets more trips to the line then entire NBA teams do, it's so ugly to watch.

I'm happy for the win but we still need to see less as it's frightening to see of the Forbes/Mills duo .

[RC_Drunkford]

The game reminded me of the kawhi 3 and block on harden game and manu couldn't believe it

same here

[sananspursfan21]

DeMar DeRozan has to be the least clutch player in the league. Not only is his inability to hit a 3 a big issue when the team is down that amount in the final possession, he just has 0 bbal IQ and cannot make the right plays down the stretch. Was the best play he could come up with a 20ft, contested jumper which hadn't been falling for him all night? Would it kill him to drive and kick to the hot hand? Lonnie was the opposite last night, until he got gassed by second OT. That deep 3 to tie it is exactly the kind of closing the Spurs have missed all season. Pop better start this MF... And close with him.

Drawing the charge in double OT and scored some key points in both overtimes when the offense looked gassed and puckered not enough? He missed that potential game winner, sure. And it was a low effort shot. But if not for Derozan, Spurs probably lose that game even with Walker’s explosion.

[Sugus]

Drawing the charge in double OT and scored some key points in both overtimes when the offense looked gassed and puckered not enough? He missed that potential game winner, sure. And it was a low effort shot. But if not for Derozan, Spurs probably lose that game even with Walker’s explosion.

As I saw it live, I didn't think DeMar was correctly positioned to draw a clean charge, not to mention DJ made contact with Harden as he was moving towards the basket previous to that, so that really shouldn't have been a defensive win for DeRozan. Might have to go back and rewatch it... Though my point still stands - that long jumper was an absolutely un-clutch moment and DD's inability to shoot 3s has already cost us games in similar crunch time situations. It's not like this is the first time we're seeing this, tbh. So much for DD's IQ and floor general abilities not getting LWIV the ball for the final OT shot...

[Arcadian]

What might be forgotten is how shaky he was coming out of the gates. He was fumbling the ball out of bounds and he made a few questionable reads.

Yes, because he needed some time to actually feel what it's like to be on an NBA court for more than 2 minutes at a time. Pop finally let him, and he took over the game.

[ZeusWillJudge]

OMG... Patty has figured out that the best way to guard Harden is just to play shitty D?

If Pop is going to get bonus points for playing Lonnie and not Beli, he's got to get retroactive F's for every other game this season. Can't have it both ways.

[BD24]

Can we please get a fucking lineup with White, Murray, Walker?

would love to get a glimpse of those three together, obviously won’t happen because lol pop

[BD24]

I'm obviously thrilled with LW IV breaking out but a part of me is still pissed at Pop. Part of me still thinks he is going to find a way to fuck line-ups up. Like why doesn't he get it? His love for his pets is beyond annoying.

He goes with two low ceiling midgets when he has three young, great perimeter defenders at his disposal. There is no excuse why at least two of the three shouldn't have been out there down the stretch. Forbes is not the third best player on the team. Stop treating him like it. Wombat is not the closing PG. Stop treating him like it.
100% this. There is no reason Lonnie, White, Murray can’t all play together.

they should be getting 25+ minutes per game a piece. If we are going to be bad at least give our young guys some run

[r0drig0lac]

OMG... Patty has figured out that the best way to guard Harden is just to play shitty D?

If Pop is going to get bonus points for playing Lonnie and not Beli, he's got to get retroactive F's for every other game this season. Can't have it both ways.

this.
It makes no sense to have Walker completely out of rotation until our record is 7-14, it makes no sense not to use the defensive duo White / Murray against athletic perimeters, but the worst thing is to give Mills and Forbes so many minutes, unfortunately even with all their effort they are useless on the defensive side, it's disheartening.

[Boomersgold]

He goes with two low ceiling midgets when he has three young, great perimeter defenders at his disposal. There is no excuse why at least two of the three shouldn't have been out there down the stretch. Forbes is not the third best player on the team. Stop treating him like it. Wombat is not the closing PG. Stop treating him like it.

Probably because Pop isn't ready throw in the towel and tank yet. White was a -24 and Murray's lost his starting lineup job after a few weeks. They're also non-scorers with below average shooting ability which the Spurs need more than defense right now. Forbes isn't starting because he's the third best player on the team....

If the season's over though, then for sure, start those three guys with Eubanks and Lyles.

[UZER]

100% this. There is no reason Lonnie, White, Murray can’t all play together.

they should be getting 25+ minutes per game a piece. If we are going to be bad at least give our young guys some run

Yes there is. Me.

:pop:

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Great write-up Timvp! The emergence of Walker was awesome. You mentioned the team wanting him to take over, and I saw that in the players, too. This group needs an alpha dog, it's pretty obvious. LMA came here to be Duncan's little brother. DeRozan misses his buddy (and leader) Kyle Lowry. The team needs a leader and unfortunately our vets aren't really suited to that role.

You also mentioned Pop maybe running the guys a little longer than he should have, and tiring some folks out. I'd rather have him do that than yank people just to keep his rotation schedule intact. I don't really have a complaint with his substitutions this game, whereas sometimes I'm screaming about him killing a run by keeping his substitutions on track.

Great game. I'm reminded how much of the game is mental when you see how the team can up their game against Kawhi, or suddenly perform in this run against the Rockets.

[sananspursfan21]

As I saw it live, I didn't think DeMar was correctly positioned to draw a clean charge, not to mention DJ made contact with Harden as he was moving towards the basket previous to that, so that really shouldn't have been a defensive win for DeRozan. Might have to go back and rewatch it... Though my point still stands - that long jumper was an absolutely un-clutch moment and DD's inability to shoot 3s has already cost us games in similar crunch time situations. It's not like this is the first time we're seeing this, tbh. So much for DD's IQ and floor general abilities not getting LWIV the ball for the final OT shot...

That shot made me pretty angry too. I agree that it was very anti-clutch, but I guess I feel as though he made it right the and played solidly. I thought the charge was clean, but I’ve slept since then and I was exhausted while watching as it was WAY past my bedtime :lol either way, I forgave him haha

[ShutUp SayItAgain!]

I'm obviously thrilled with LW IV breaking out but a part of me is still pissed at Pop. Part of me still thinks he is going to find a way to fuck line-ups up. Like why doesn't he get it? His love for his pets is beyond annoying.

He goes with two low ceiling midgets when he has three young, great perimeter defenders at his disposal. There is no excuse why at least two of the three shouldn't have been out there down the stretch. Forbes is not the third best player on the team. Stop treating him like it. Wombat is not the closing PG. Stop treating him like it.

[RC_Drunkford]

OMG... Patty has figured out that the best way to guard Harden is just to play shitty D?

If Pop is going to get bonus points for playing Lonnie and not Beli, he's got to get retroactive F's for every other game this season. Can't have it both ways.

to be fair Harden somehow does have a history of having trouble to score on smaller defenders. He once got locked up by JJ Redick and Patty has guarded him well occassionally. It's something about smaller defenders that bothers him

[exstatic]

The look on Eubanks' face after Lonnie's steal and tomahawk dunk was priceless.

[timtonymanu]

Probably because Pop isn't ready throw in the towel and tank yet. White was a -24 and Murray's lost his starting lineup job after a few weeks. They're also non-scorers with below average shooting ability which the Spurs need more than defense right now. Forbes isn't starting because he's the third best player on the team....

If the season's over though, then for sure, start those three guys with Eubanks and Lyles.

Your takes are consistently awful. Keep slurping that Patty juice, bitch.

[vavvi]

Great write-up Timvp! The emergence of Walker was awesome. You mentioned the team wanting him to take over, and I saw that in the players, too. This group needs an alpha dog, it's pretty obvious. LMA came here to be Duncan's little brother. DeRozan misses his buddy (and leader) Kyle Lowry. The team needs a leader and unfortunately our vets aren't really suited to that role.

You also mentioned Pop maybe running the guys a little longer than he should have, and tiring some folks out. I'd rather have him do that than yank people just to keep his rotation schedule intact. I don't really have a complaint with his substitutions this game, whereas sometimes I'm screaming about him killing a run by keeping his substitutions on track.

Great game. I'm reminded how much of the game is mental when you see how the team can up their game against Kawhi, or suddenly perform in this run against the Rockets.


enough with that. Our leader is Patty Mills.
Lonnie isn't even a coffee gang member!

[FkLA]

Probably because Pop isn't ready throw in the towel and tank yet. White was a -24 and Murray's lost his starting lineup job after a few weeks. They're also non-scorers with below average shooting ability which the Spurs need more than defense right now. Forbes isn't starting because he's the third best player on the team....

If the season's over though, then for sure, start those three guys with Eubanks and Lyles.

Wait, defense hasn't been the problem this year?

Your hero Wombat isn't better than any of those three young guys, biased Australian. The team would only improve if they got more of Wombat and Forbes' minutes.

[offset formation]

OMG... Patty has figured out that the best way to guard Harden is just to play shitty D?

If Pop is going to get bonus points for playing Lonnie and not Beli, he's got to get retroactive F's for every other game this season. Can't have it both ways.

What'd you think of that Forbes A? :D:D:D

[Boomersgold]

Your takes are consistently awful. Keep slurping that Patty juice, bitch.

Fairly consistent with Timvp's post game grades. Let's keep the trolling to a minimum. Patty and Forbes could score 20 each on 9/11 shooting and you'd still be trashing them.

[Boomersgold]

Wait, defense hasn't been the problem this year?

Your hero Wombat isn't better than any of those three young guys, biased Australian. The team would only improve if they got more of Wombat and Forbes' minutes.

The Spurs are dead last in three point shooting....my dude. Wombat and Forbes can shoot better than those other guys.

[FkLA]

The Spurs are dead last in three point shooting....my dude. Wombat and Forbes can shoot better than those other guys.

They're like Top 5/Top 10 in offense. Bottom 5 on defense.

But yeah, they let's keep trotting out the midget traffic cones because they hit threes. It's been working out so well.

[timtonymanu]

Fairly consistent with Timvp's post game grades. Let's keep the trolling to a minimum. Patty and Forbes could score 20 each on 9/11 shooting and you'd still be trashing them.

Please. Tim is capable of good quality takes. I haven’t seen from you that isn’t slurping Patty’s nuts. At least Manu and Tony were Hall of Famers so I could tolerate their fans. All you Patty fans act like he’s even on their level. Get out of here, faggot.

[TDMVPDPOY]

if walker isthe new leader, where does that leave the IB wanker?

[Sugus]

if walker isthe new leader, where does that leave the IB wanker?

Way too early to assume a good game will turn Lonnie into a team leader... We don't even know if it's gonna turn him into a starter :lol

[BD24]

They're like Top 5/Top 10 in offense. Bottom 5 on defense.

But yeah, they let's keep trotting out the midget traffic cones because they hit threes. It's been working out so well.
:lol