Grades: Spurs vs. Warriors - Dec. 31, 2019

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/grades-san-antonio-spurs-golden-state-warriors-december-31-2019/

tl;dr: Happy New Year, just barely.

[JeffDuncan]

Happy New Year! And thank you for taking the time and trouble with the grades.

The Spurs bench, led by our very own wombat, scored 42 points, and the Warriors bench players only scored 23. Our bench won it.

Our starters got outscored 90 - 75 by their starters. At home. On a badly crippled Warriors team with the worst record in the West.

I don't know how to grade that. O for "ouch?" Y for "yikes?" Something like that.

It's only one game. Can't take too much from it. But whenever a game implies we could trade our starters with those from the worst team in the conference, and be better, it gives a person pause.

[John B]

A win is a win. I’m glad Lonnie is ahead in totation than Beli. I also saw a line-up of Murray, White, Walker, Demar and Aldridge. That was fun. I really think they’re getting there, just getting better. Happy new year y’all.

[slick'81]

Spurs atleast beating the teams they should ,albeit some games closer then they should be.

[tbdog]

That team went to the finals and their role players had a big game. Good win :D

[Robz4000]

Pop should get a D at best, otherwise solid grades.

[RC_Drunkford]

thank goodness Belinelli will be back in the rotation from here on now. Another 10 games of no Lonnie Walker cause he commited a foul

[Slippy]

Thank for grades. The reaction to Lonnies mistake from pop but on others it's a non issue is so diversive. As a fan it frustrating to say the least.

Happy New year all

[duncan2150]

Pop lineup to close the 4th was bad : Mills Forbes white derozan Aldridge... I really don't understand his game plan.

[ZeusWillJudge]

The grades need some adjstments:

When Lonnie enters the game, the Spurs immediately begin to gain ground. For that he needs a one letter grade increase.
When Beli enters the game, the Spurs immediately begin to lose ground. For that he needs a one letter grade decrease.
For failing to recognize those things, Pop should lose two letter grades.

That brings it to: Lonnie B-, Beli D-, and Pop F-

[FkLA]

Pop is such a faggot. He gives you so much hope in the first half, even playing Walker alongside DeMar in a small line-up.

Lonnie gets beat on a drive then commits a loose ball foul in the 2nd half and gets benched in favor of an Italian POS. What a fucking joke.

[Fireball]

Pop is such a faggot. He gives you so much hope in the first half, even playing Walker alongside DeMar in a small line-up.

Lonnie gets beat on a drive then commits a loose ball foul in the 2nd half and gets benched in favor of an Italian POS. What a fucking joke.

it was right he was benched for committing a dumb third foul (or even fourth?) ... its just bad coaching not bringing back the player afterwards

[emanueldavidginobili]

Thanks for the grades.

It was Lonnie’s fourth foul so I was okay with Pop taking him out ONLY if it was because he was in foul trouble and he would come back in but the dude didn’t play the rest of the way and ended up getting less minutes than Marco, shits criminal at this point.

[KobesAchilles]

I’m fine with him taking out Lonnie but he needs to chew him out and then put him back in. Also Marco shouldn’t be seeing any playing time. Unless we bench Forbes in favor of him like I want

[wildbill2u]

The team plays hard and doesn't quit. We may lose some close games but they are close because they don't give up when behind. You get some great entertainment value out of a mediocre team that plays with a pounding the rock attitude.

[Capt Bringdown]

Murray redeemed himself in OT, but the Spurs might not have needed to go to OT against a threadbare team if they had a real PG.

[DMC]

Pop trying to tank and still is 8th seed

[phxspurfan]

Spurs almost got beat by a middle of the road college team (Glenn Robinson III leading them).

[tholdren]

C NOTES:
Derozan shows he's the best spur again. Rudy GAY showing he's terrible. Lionel Walker and Murray in a footrace for dumbest and worst shooter on the team.

[Pucho]

The inconsistency in Pops discipline is maddeningly frustrating. If you've been in a position to train someone in some task, it's pretty counter-productive to treat someone learning so roughly while giving the experience staff all the leeway in the world to make mistakes. It actually makes 0 sense. Either everyone gets benched for mistakes or no one does, but only really benching the young guy and letting Belli play poorly repeatedly without any consequence is pathetic.

[Pucho]

If the excuse is "well, Pop knows Lonnie can play better but this is who Belli is", then my reply is you'd rather play with someone who is limited than let someone else excel and learn beyond the other's abilities.

[Keepin' it real]

A win is a win.

That is very profound.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4eeeCnSkmc

[RC_Drunkford]

The inconsistency in Pops discipline is maddeningly frustrating. If you've been in a position to train someone in some task, it's pretty counter-productive to treat someone learning so roughly while giving the experience staff all the leeway in the world to make mistakes. It actually makes 0 sense. Either everyone gets benched for mistakes or no one does, but only really benching the young guy and letting Belli play poorly repeatedly without any consequence is pathetic.

Pop has always done this. It's part of his army program. Veterans can do all the dumb shit they want, young guys get pulled after one mistake until they don't make those mistakes anymore and have carved out a role for themselves. The thing is Walker is way to good of a player to be treated like that.

[T Park]

Pop has always done this. It's part of his army program. Veterans can do all the dumb shit they want, young guys get pulled after one mistake until they don't make those mistakes anymore and have carved out a role for themselves. The thing is Walker is way to good of a player to be treated like that.

No player is beneath it. Hes done it to every single young player thats come through, from Parker to Ginobili, to HIll to Jackson. They all became the better player because of it.

[ceperez]

This is the worst Spurs team in terms of players and coaching in over 2 decades. Garbage.

[JeffDuncan]

No player is beneath it. Hes done it to every single young player thats come through, from Parker to Ginobili, to HIll to Jackson. They all became the better player because of it.

Your attempts at comparison are not valid.

I suppose you mean Stephen Jackson. He was signed as a free agent after being waived by two earlier teams. He was almost out of the league, at age 23. His situation, with the Spurs, was far more like Lyles, and not like Walker. How is Pop contributing to making Lyles a better player? By playing him, and generally keeping his mouth shut.

The idea of Pop giving Parker a hard time is a myth. Oh, maybe Pop would yell at him, but Parker started 72 games his rookie year, at age 19, and he played nearly 30 minutes per game. Hardly the same, obviously. Pop put Parker on the court, and ran him hard.

Ginobili wasn't a youth, he was 25 when he joined the Spurs, after he'd already done things in pro ball like being named the Euroleague Finals MVP, and the Italian League MVP. Vastly different from Walker's situation. We also recall Manu said, "I am Manu, this is what I do," when Pop tried to mess with him.

George Hill? When he joined the Spurs, he was a reserve behind the reigning NBA Finals MVP. Ain't no such critter on the Spurs now.

[spurs10]

Thanks for the grades! Well for two decades we had one the best teams in all sports. These guys are improving and need every win they can get. I enjoyed it because of the outcome, otherwise it would have been a lame way to end the decade.

[Dex]

Pop is such a faggot. He gives you so much hope in the first half, even playing Walker alongside DeMar in a small line-up.

Lonnie gets beat on a drive then commits a loose ball foul in the 2nd half and gets benched in favor of an Italian POS. What a fucking joke.

Lonnie got benched because he fouled too much, and Pop still stuck him in for certain defensive situations.

I'll agree that Beli still doesn't deserve as much time as he is getting...but Lonnie doesn't give Pop much of an option when he is riding 4 fouls early in the 3rd.

[FkLA]

Lonnie got benched because he fouled too much, and Pop still stuck him in for certain defensive situations.

I'll agree that Beli still doesn't deserve as much time as he is getting...but Lonnie doesn't give Pop much of an option when he is riding 4 fouls early in the 3rd.

Inaccurate. He didn't see another second after Pop benched him for his Italian POS.

Subbing him out because of 4 fouls to preserve him for later in the game would've been acceptable. We saw that that didn't end up being the case and that it was another case of Pop benching him for minor stuff. Especially compared to the stuff his Italian POS is allowed to play through. Unless you are ok with sucking as badly as we have sucked, stop defending it. You come off as an apologist. Lonnie 11 minutes, Italian POS 12 minutes. That is never ok.

[JeffDuncan]

C NOTES:
Derozan shows he's the best spur again. ...


He's the most pissy, no doubt. That tech he committed, just because he felt pissy, gave the Warriors two points. And you like that.



Lionel Walker and Murray in a footrace for dumbest and worst shooter on the team.

Oh look, you did a funny thing with Lonnie's name. Aren't you a clever little chickenshit.

You want to lump them together? Let's do that.

38 minutes. 22 points, on 50% shooting, including 2 of 3 beyond the arc. Zero turnovers.

And you're bellyaching about that. Somebody is dumb, alright.

[Dex]

Inaccurate. He didn't see another second after Pop benched him for his Italian POS.

Subbing him out because of 4 fouls to preserve him for later in the game would've been acceptable. We saw that that didn't end up being the case and that it was another case of Pop benching him for minor stuff. Especially compared to the stuff his Italian POS is allowed to play through. Unless you are ok with sucking as badly as we have sucked, stop defending it. You come off as an apologist. Lonnie 11 minutes, Italian POS 12 minutes. That is never ok.

It's basic game management, bro. Lonnie and Marco are both bench guys right now, so it's not like he was gonna trot either back out at the end of the 4th or in OT anyways...and it's a good thing he didn't because the starters got the job done.

Frankly, Lonnie needs to learn to stop committing stupid fouls if he wants to actually be a starter in this league. He and Pop had even multiple interactions on the sideline about it, and you can tell that he knows he fucked up. I want to see more of Walker, but coaches in the NBA don't reward players for bad play.

You can call me an apologist all you want, but I'll stick with Pop's Hall of Fame opinion over yours. The fact of the matter is...you get your 4th foul in the 3rd, you are sitting. If you aren't a star or starter, you probably aren't coming back.

[FkLA]

I want to see more of Walker, but coaches in the NBA don't reward players for bad play.

You must've missed Shitinelli's first 30 games or so.

Pop is the GOAT but GOATs can be wrong too. He's been dead wrong when it comes to the Italian POS-Lonnie situation all season.

[XDT76]

I am okay with Pop sitting Lonnie if he made a few mistakes to serve as a learning point, but he had to be in the rotation always and before Beli. Only then would he have any learning points and experience. It is not okay for Beli to be subbed in before Lonnie, if Beli needs to be thrown in, it means the team's Offense is stagnant, but Lonnie should be allowed to provide the Offense as he seems to have more variation than Beli and his D will help to contain the bleeding. Only if Lonnie fails then we throw Beli in as a last ditch effort.

[tholdren]

He's the most pissy, no doubt. That tech he committed, just because he felt pissy, gave the Warriors two points. And you like that.



Oh look, you did a funny thing with Lonnie's name. Aren't you a clever little chickenshit.

You want to lump them together? Let's do that.

38 minutes. 22 points, on 50% shooting, including 2 of 3 beyond the arc. Zero turnovers.

And you're bellyaching about that. Somebody is dumb, alright.
Lolololo you casual fan. Just wait for the dunks and be quiet.

[JeffDuncan]

I'm just a dimwit who's starving for attention, that's all.

Ok, gotcha.

[Coach X]

We don't know why Popovich hasn't played more Walker over Belinelli. I guess there are reasons to explain it. Apparently, it's a wrong decission but only time will tell. In a future where Lonnie becomes an important player for the Spurs, Popovich did his part right.

Anyway, I agree with the coach on benching Walker after his 4th foul. Lonnie had quality playing time in both halves. He had the ball, took decissions, played defense, made mistakes, etc. He got some individual corrections from Pop and went to the bench when deserved. That's exactly what he needs, that's how a young player progresses.

The kid understands the process, he looks smart. At the end of the game, he celebrated every action in the bench, dancing, having fun. Every time he has been given a chance he has shown the correct attitude, I believe the coaches like him as much as his teammates. There is no standard progression in a player's developement, every one is different. We can only trust him and his coaches.