Grades: Spurs vs. Nets - Mar. 1, 2021

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/grade-san-antonio-spurs-brooklyn-nets-game-30/

Almost a cool win, tbh.

[John B]

Thanks for the grades. I think Pop could have put the ball more on Aldridge’s hands. Patty as the 2nd unit PG failed to do that. Aldridge is too much of an offensive power not to be used enough, and should’ve put Spurs in the line more. Again I don’t understand Patty closing. True he helped with his 3’s but he’s a net negative to me. I thought our length distracted Harden somewhat at times to give him different looks. I also think there were some more favorable calls for the darlings of NBA East. Demar could’ve visited the FT more. But all in all, it was just too much firepower from the Nets and Spurs missing some key players.

On side note, I don’t like DJ arguing out with Pop. If he wants the rest of the team follow him, he must set an example. I noticed the same when Patty made the last play to OKC lost. DJ seemed upset. That was not a true sign of leadership and he should know better.

[Mr. Body]

I don't want to see much more of Lyles. Only thing he can do is occasionally throw in a basket, which Samanic can already do. He can't rebound, he can't guard the perimeter, and at the end of his contract he's probably out of the league. Get Luka minutes. He's far less green than I thought he'd be.

[siraulo23]

Luka yay,

Derozan played pretty good again, except for that stretch to start the 4th quarter, thats where the Spurs lost the game imo

[Blackhaus]

Nice grades, but Patty was way too high. His hero balling and terrible rotations, on top of Pop thinking he always needs to be in there and be a focal point, are getting really bad. His roll should be strictly spot up shooting. Come back soon White, take some clutch min away from Patty.

[Ice009]

Nice grades, but Patty was way too high. His hero balling and terrible rotations, on top of Pop thinking he always needs to be in there and be a focal point, are getting really bad. His roll should be strictly spot up shooting. Come back soon White, take some clutch min away from Patty.

I thought his grade was a lot higher than I expected it to be. Everything else you wrote, I couldn't have said it better myself. That's what I thought when I was watching the game.

[Blackhaus]

Also, the Spurs hung in there pretty well considering the Nets only had 5 turnovers and non by Harden and Irving. Encouraging when they were short handed to begin with.

[EricB]

Luka shouldn’t spend one more minute in the G League. Like Keldon last year he’s shown he belongs he just needs the minutes. His defense alone is so good that should earn him Lyles’s minutes. It won’t happen but would love to see them run a few plays for him when he comes in to get it going a tad. His outside shot is close to being really good and he’s shown down in the minors his post game is solid as well. Time to take the training wheels off.

[Dejounte]

Luka shouldn’t spend one more minute in the G League. Like Keldon last year he’s shown he belongs he just needs the minutes. His defense alone is so good that should earn him Lyles’s minutes. It won’t happen but would love to see them run a few plays for him when he comes in to get it going a tad. His outside shot is close to being really good and he’s shown down in the minors his post game is solid as well. Time to take the training wheels off.

There are no more g league games to go back to after the All-Stsr game, I believe. It's a short tournament.

[EricB]

There are no more g league games to go back to after the All-Stsr game, I believe. It's a short tournament.


I didn’t know that, however even if there were, Him and Jones are at the points where they’re advanced past the talent level there.

while when the team is fully stocked I’m ok with Jones sitting next to Becky and Pop and learning, Luka needs minutes. The team is just different with him out there. His length and athleticism on the defensive end combined with Vassell and Johnson and White Murray would be unreal. Even next to Poeltl it was amazing.

[Dejounte]

Although the stats say otherwise, I thought this was a bad game for DJ. He passed up way more 3s than usual and he was hardly taking the lead with the ball in the second half. For some reason, he didn't want "it" in this game. Could it be fatigue?

I'm glad Lonnie mentioned in his interview that he's figuring out what he can and can't do. I think the whole attacking the basket experiment is over. We need to see him become our shooter like Forbes (I know, gross) was. He can flash his passing skills and acrobatic layups/ dunks from time to time.

What can we say about Luka? I think it will be interesting to see if he will be the one who loses minutes when Keldon comes back. I hope it's KBD instead. Hell, my dream scenario is that Lyles sits permanently.

[EricB]

I wouldn’t fully give up on Lonnie driving to the basket.

Dejounte passed up a LOT of looks I agree. Ok in particular in overtime. He was WIDE open and just quick fired it to Demar. Chalk it up to learning.

we haven’t had to deal with this much youth learning since about 1990 ��

[Truth4sale$]

Seems like the Spurs should have gotten this one. Strange to pull up Tre Jones and have him sit the last two games. A former ACC defensive player of the year should be in the game. Tre Lyles is in the game to rebound, if he isn't doing that-what is he doing? Go back to Samanic starting-he moved his feet well on defense and is improving, dont let the kid loose confidence.

[The Truth #6]

Luka’s intense hustling was the most important takeaway. Drafted as a stretch 4, he’s showing unexpected tenacity on D in these recent games. Let’s hope it continues as it suggests the lightbulb is turning on. Does this show that past criticism was ridiculous? Not really. Everyone was waiting for him to show something, especially in his energy. He was passive, sort of weird in how he seemed to interact with his teammates, and just looked disinterested. Happy to see him making a leap in his effort.

[EricB]

Seems like the Spurs should have gotten this one. Strange to pull up Tre Jones and have him sit the last two games. A former ACC defensive player of the year should be in the game. Tre Lyles is in the game to rebound, if he isn't doing that-what is he doing? Go back to Samanic starting-he moved his feet well on defense and is improving, dont let the kid loose confidence.


agreed on Samanic, Jones is tougher, but agree would’ve played him. Problem with him is at this point how he affects the offense.

[EricB]

Luka’s intense hustling was the most important takeaway. Drafted as a stretch 4, he’s showing unexpected tenacity on D in these recent games. Let’s hope it continues as it suggests the lightbulb is turning on. Does this show that past criticism was ridiculous? Not really. Everyone was waiting for him to show something, especially in his energy. He was passive, sort of weird in how he seemed to interact with his teammates, and just looked disinterested. Happy to see him making a leap in his effort.


the criticism was weird and unwarranted because he’s a teenager coming out of Europe to a different country etc. you always give guys that are as young and raw as him leeway and time. You can’t knee jerk on every player drafted.

[Blackhaus]

Although the stats say otherwise, I thought this was a bad game for DJ. He passed up way more 3s than usual and he was hardly taking the lead with the ball in the second half. For some reason, he didn't want "it" in this game. Could it be fatigue?

I'm glad Lonnie mentioned in his interview that he's figuring out what he can and can't do. I think the whole attacking the basket experiment is over. We need to see him become our shooter like Forbes (I know, gross) was. He can flash his passing skills and acrobatic layups/ dunks from time to time.

What can we say about Luka? I think it will be interesting to see if he will be the one who loses minutes when Keldon comes back. I hope it's KBD instead. Hell, my dream scenario is that Lyles sits permanently.

I sure hope his attacking the basket experiment is not over!?! He needs to learn to slow down when driving (sounds weird) and draw contact. If he would just learn some tricks that say Harden uses or even Derozan to draw contact on his finishing he could easily get to the free throw line 6 to 8 times a game in reg minutes. With his 3 and his pull up game, he would be a very effective scorer and that’s going to be his role in this league wherever he ends up.

[The Truth #6]

the criticism was weird and unwarranted because he’s a teenager coming out of Europe to a different country etc. you always give guys that are as young and raw as him leeway and time. You can’t knee jerk on every player drafted.

I’m not speaking on behalf of this board as a whole. And I definitely agree that he deserved time. (For example, I think IV needs time because he’s now dealing with his trauma.)

And that’s how I looked at it with Luka. He was terrible for a long time and thankfully he was able to figure it out, at least for what we’ve seen recently. Saying he should start now would also be a knee jerk reaction one could argue.

[Dex]

I sure hope his attacking the basket experiment is not over!?! He needs to learn to slow down when driving (sounds weird) and draw contact. If he would just learn some tricks that say Harden uses or even Derozan to draw contact on his finishing he could easily get to the free throw line 6 to 8 times a game in reg minutes. With his 3 and his pull up game, he would be a very effective scorer and that’s going to be his role in this league wherever he ends up.

Lonnie has a great first step and can get past his primary defender...he just seemingly has no idea what to do after that. He kicks when he should drive, and well...that's about it. His confident drives have become few and far between.

Not sure if he is scared to attack considering his injury history, or just doesn't see the gaps quickly enough...some players just process those things better than others.

His three-point shooting continues to make him valuable, but it's not realizing his full potential.

[Ice009]

Lonnie has a great first step and can get past his primary defender...he just seemingly has no idea what to do after that. He kicks when he should drive, and well...that's about it. His confident drives have become few and far between.

Not sure if he is scared to attack considering his injury history, or just doesn't see the gaps quickly enough...some players just process those things better than others.

His three-point shooting continues to make him valuable, but it's not realizing his full potential.

Pretty darn good take. He has such a great first step, but like you said, straight after he blows past someone, it seems like he has no idea where to go or how to finish. Maybe you are right and he doesn't see the gaps quick enough. Maybe he's scared of contact or getting injured or something, but yeah, he's not realizing his full potential by just being a shooter. I want to see him realize more of his potential than just being a shooter. He can be so much more than that. It was a real gutsy effort (it was good seeing that grit from him) on his part to get us back in to the game with his shooting. I just wish he could put it all together. He seems like such a great guy too.

[BillMc]

Lonnie has a great first step and can get past his primary defender...he just seemingly has no idea what to do after that. He kicks when he should drive, and well...that's about it. His confident drives have become few and far between.

Not sure if he is scared to attack considering his injury history, or just doesn't see the gaps quickly enough...some players just process those things better than others.

His three-point shooting continues to make him valuable, but it's not realizing his full potential.

Great take. Lonnie the outside shooter is really helpful, but if he can use athletcism at the cup, he'd become a very dangerous offensive player.

[The Truth #6]

With Lonnie he avoids contact in general, on offense and defense. I’m not sure what it is. I assume he doesn’t want to make a mistake and overthinks things.

[rjv]

pop stuck with patty way too long to start the 4th and the spurs collapsed with mills at the point; he's much better at the 2 spot. i agree on diop playing too long. I would have preferred more PT for Luka. and aldridge was awful. just awful. he looked completely disinterested out there.

[rjv]

btw, what's with pop refusing to challenge calls. there were two out of bounds calls that went against SA in which the ball clearly went off a Nets player. does Pop think the challenges accrue over time and we get to use them at the end of the year?

[GAustex]

It old fart standing there and Becky trying to get him to challenge and he was too slow and missed his chance to help his team win.

[Degoat]

I’ve been pleased with Luka these last 3 games, still has a ton of work to do but he’s out there competing

[Dex]

btw, what's with pop refusing to challenge calls. there were two out of bounds calls that went against SA in which the ball clearly went off a Nets player. does Pop think the challenges accrue over time and we get to use them at the end of the year?

He tried to call timeout to challenge one of them but Nets had already quickly inbounded the ball. Definitely one of the stupid rules of challenges...if you don't call it within like 2 seconds, you could miss the window.