Yes, it's only 5 games and... [Archive]

Marcus Bryant

11-10-2005, 01:48 AM

...yes, we shouldn't jump the gun. But hey, this is the internets after all.

Team free throws made..........71
Team free throws attempted...92

Yes, 77.2% made.

SAtown

11-10-2005, 02:22 AM

baseline bum

11-10-2005, 02:23 AM

And the teams on pace for 66 wins.

Despot

11-10-2005, 02:25 AM

And the teams on pace for 66 wins.

Haven't you heard?? the 73 win talk is on again.

SAtown

11-10-2005, 02:29 AM

76.4 after tonights game. Indiana-83.1 Detroit- 79.6

Amuseddaysleeper

11-10-2005, 02:56 AM

that number is largely due to duncan's substantially improved FT shooting. having said that, i know we have the injury bug but the way this team is playing right now, i doubt we'll even hit 60 wins if we're gonna struggle beating bottom feeder teams

SAtown

11-10-2005, 03:53 AM

i doubt we'll even hit 60 wins if we're gonna struggle beating bottom feeder teams

It happens every season.

MannyIsGod

11-10-2005, 03:56 AM

This team doesn't have the mindset to win 70 games.

TDMVPDPOY

11-10-2005, 04:26 AM

...yes, we shouldn't jump the gun. But hey, this is the internets after all.

Team free throws made..........71
Team free throws attempted...92

Yes, 77.2% made.

But its bs, havin a high % ftm, we should be at the line and be thinkin about gettin to the line more often or we arent gettin the calls, currently we are last on team stats for freethrow line attempts.

of yeh if we dont lose the back to back game comin up, we will probaly not lose our next game till next month :D

Joepa

11-10-2005, 07:58 AM

I'm not very impressed with how we've handled the Bulls and Bobcats. We need to start playing better, and that probably won't happen until Pop gets his rotation set.

Marcus Bryant

11-10-2005, 08:13 AM

76.4 after tonights game.

That was prior to last night's game. After last night it's 77.2%.

exstatic

11-10-2005, 08:24 AM

Tim is shooting 87.5%. :wow Between that and Tony's improved jumper, Sean was lobbying for a raise for Chip Englland already. :lol

Marcus Bryant

11-10-2005, 08:35 AM

We need to get above 80%. I know it's not one of Pop's priorities to win 70+ games throughout the regular season, but free throws are the difference in a lot of the games that we lose. They need to be more consistent.

No team shot above 80% last season. That's a bit unrealistic.

Really, the Spurs just need to hit their crunch time free throws.

Ginofan

11-10-2005, 08:35 AM

Does anyone else feel like we aren't getting to the line as much as we have in the past?

Marcus Bryant

11-10-2005, 08:39 AM

Ginofan

11-10-2005, 08:41 AM

Spurs averaged 25.9 FT attempts last season. This season, through 5 games, they are averaging 18.4 trips to the line.

A knee jerk explanation would be that the offense isn't going through TD as much as it did last season.

They aren't being as aggressive and going to the hoop as much either. But ehh it's only the first 5 games, hopefully the aggression comes with time.

Marcus Bryant

11-10-2005, 08:46 AM

Duncan's averaging 4.8 trips to the line this season. Last season he was at 6.8. The season prior, 8.5.

Dalamar_the_Dark

11-10-2005, 08:57 AM

Reason for not getting to the line, Manu's injured. Spurs making more shots. Parker is not driving everytime. Hes hitting shots so less missed FTs. And cause he and Duncan are making some FTs, teams dont want to keep fouling them anymore.

boutons

11-10-2005, 09:29 AM

the team stats shows that SA is in Top10 so far in many stats, rather than in Top3 at the end of last season

http://www.nba.com/statistics/sortable_team_statistics/sortable1.html

Det is probably motivated now by their Game7 4th qtr loss to the Spurs, but we'll see if they can maintain peak form all season.

wildbill2u

11-10-2005, 10:09 AM

...yes, we shouldn't jump the gun. But hey, this is the internets after all.

Team free throws made..........71
Team free throws attempted...92

Yes, 77.2% made.

FIRE POP! FIRE THE FRONT OFFICE! LYNCH HOLT!

Oh, sorry, I thought we were looking for the standard anti-Spur responses on this thread.

Oh, Gee!!

11-10-2005, 10:56 AM

but their turnover ratio is horrible right now. they need to tighten up in this area

Extra Stout

11-10-2005, 11:01 AM

And the teams on pace for 66 wins.

They're only on pace for 57 wins based upon point differential and its standard deviation.

Oops, that was geeky.

MiNuS

11-10-2005, 11:07 AM

I'll be just as happy if they win 59 games. Just as long as they get the trophy.Thats all that that matters.

Now if Duncan gets all maniacal then we may see 65 games or more otherwise the Spurs will fly under the radar and let the Pistons,Pacers,and Lakers get all the acclamations. Then hit it full throttle defense and offense in the playoffs.

FromWayDowntown

11-10-2005, 11:32 AM

It's freakin' November. There are positive indicators, I think, and the improvement in free throw shooting is significant among those positives.

But it's ridiculous to worry about how soundly the Spurs are beating anyone.

At this point, the sheer accumulation of wins is the most important thing the Spurs can do. I'd rather they slumber through November and December, start finding some footing in January, build a pace in February, stretch out the stride in March, and put on the finishing kick in April, May, and June. If they win games they should right now, that's enough. If they can get wins against divisional and conference foes and build toward holding tiebreakers, all the better.

But worrying about how soundly they beat solid teams like the Bulls and even bad teams like the Bobcats strikes me as an exercise in frustration -- it is every year.

Marcus Bryant

11-10-2005, 12:07 PM

Exactly. At this point what you can look for are signs of improvement in certain areas. Free throw shooting is one. Another is opponents' 3 pt FG%. The Spurs were in the bottom 5 of the league in those two categories last season, if my aging memory serves me correctly. It's also worth keeping an eye on potential slippage in areas in which the Spurs have traditionally had some strength.

Again, five games in November doesn't give you too much to go on when it comes to figuring out how this team will be doing in June. But it does give you an inkling if there has been some improvement during the offseason and preseason in certain problem areas (and/or a decline in what has been some of your strengths).

50 cent

11-10-2005, 12:52 PM

I have been really impressed. Tony missed 2 in a row last night, but besides that, he and Tim have been ripping the net with their free throws.

We do need to cut down on TOs though.

boutons

11-10-2005, 01:27 PM

"Tony missed 2 in a row last night"

... and his form was horrible on both. Maybe there's some relation? :) He just can't seem get the habit and hang of rolling the ball off his fingers, and following through completely with hand, arm fully extended. Probably just a loss of concentration. Chip should chew his ass good. :)

But he continues to play an indefatigueably higher level. He never looks tired or winded. Tony's a huge surprise, as much as Manu's ineffectiveness.

Solid D

11-10-2005, 02:00 PM

http://spurstalk.com/forums/images/avatars/avaparker.jpg
Reason for not getting to the line, Manu's injured. Spurs making more shots. Parker is not driving everytime. Hes hitting shots so less missed FTs. And cause he and Duncan are making some FTs, teams dont want to keep fouling them anymore.

I was taken aback by the excellent analytical explanation by Sequ...until I realized this excellent analysis was made by Dalamar. Then it all made more sense...and the shock and awe subsided. :smokin
http://spurstalk.com/forums/images/avatars/avaparker.jpg
(Dalamar_the_Dark and SequSpur
use the same TP Avatar)

sprrs

11-10-2005, 02:22 PM

Cant_Be_Faded

11-10-2005, 03:18 PM

The improved free throw shooting will serve to balance out the noticable sub-par defense, in terms of overall games won, but I'm still undecided as to how great an advantage it truely is on a per-game basis.

So far, they have saved our asses, like against the bulls.
But if we had buckled down, maybe it wouldn't have came to free throws.
Oh well, i guess you can't have the best of both worlds.

Marcus Bryant

11-10-2005, 03:25 PM

Last postseason the Spurs averaged 28.0 FTs per game. They shot 72.7% for the playoffs. If they had shot 5% better, that would have almost amounted to an extra 1.5 points per game.

Beyond that, if you are looking for a huge impact, I would say imagine end of the game situations with a TD who is almost automatic from the line instead of someone who could very well miss both (like last season).