Grades: Spurs vs. Thunder - Mar. 4, 2021

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/grades-san-antonio-spurs-oklahoma-city-thunder-game-32/

:(

[tbdog]

And what point can we just agree, Pop can't gameplay against good guards.

[John B]

Thanks Timvp. I’ll blame the lost to DJ, Demar and Pop bottomline. Everybody else played well, but DJ and Demar gave them away with not taking care of the ball, while not finding ways to score, plus letting SGA and Dort go off on Spurs, again. Pop should’ve pulled DJ and Demar there and let them settle first. I will not comment on Keldon much because he might not be in bball form yet after the Covid. I wish he gets back to his old self soon. Lyles should get a higher grade. He is making the most of his opportunities out there. Luka and Diop keep impressing me. It’s a disappointing lost. I hope to see the complete squad when they get back and get back on track.

[Fireball]

first game in a long time that demar was all negative in my eyes ... way too much playing time for patty ...

[BillMc]

Thanks OP. Missed the game, so good to get the low down.

[siraulo23]

that was the most frustrating loss of the season.

First bad game from Demar in quite some time, why the f is he forcing shit against Dort.Murray too didnt make smart decisions.

Rough game from Jakob. Ugh

[onechance87]

Thanks Timvp. I’ll blame the lost to DJ, Demar and Pop bottomline. Everybody else played well, but DJ and Demar gave them away with not taking care of the ball, while not finding ways to score, plus letting SGA and Dort go off on Spurs, again. Pop should’ve pulled DJ and Demar there and let them settle first. I will not comment on Keldon much because he might not be in bball form yet after the Covid. I wish he gets back to his old self soon. Lyles should get a higher grade. He is making the most of his opportunities out there. Luka and Diop keep impressing me. It’s a disappointing lost. I hope to see the complete squad when they get back and get back on track.

lonnie wasint that good either....He was part of the problem as well

[duncan2150]

Thanks Timvp. I’ll blame the lost to DJ, Demar and Pop bottomline. Everybody else played well, but DJ and Demar gave them away with not taking care of the ball, while not finding ways to score, plus letting SGA and Dort go off on Spurs, again. Pop should’ve pulled DJ and Demar there and let them settle first. I will not comment on Keldon much because he might not be in bball form yet after the Covid. I wish he gets back to his old self soon. Lyles should get a higher grade. He is making the most of his opportunities out there. Luka and Diop keep impressing me. It’s a disappointing lost. I hope to see the complete squad when they get back and get back on track.

This loss is on the team, i understand the take about DJ or Demar because they are team leaders but imo it's an overall effort.

Patty Mills is playing too much and that's a big problem for me.

[sananspursfan21]

Oof. These are the kinds of losses I hate. It’s not even so much that the Thunder just caught fire or anything. Our guys just let it slip away. Some of this is just what you get from a young team. But man, it’s aggravating

[Slippy]

Pops summary was spot on.. would of given him a d though.. the scoring struggles were there in the third and he went with more of the same in the 4th.

[mo7888]

With the exception of Luka and Lyles I thought the grades were generous...

[KobesAchilles]

0-3 against the Thunder. Lost to the Wolves and Lost to the Rockets. At some point, these losses to bottom feeders have to be held accountable

[Trill Clinton]

Foul trouble, turnovers and lack of quality starters.

[BackHome]

You are what your record say you are.

[PrimeMinister]

Instead of attacking their collapsing defense in the second half- we resorted to chucking early in the shot clock and letting them off the hook with easy stops and uncontested rebounds to allow them to get their offense moving in transition.

it’s become a habit for this team- and largely any team that is led by derozan as the attacking ball handler. Collapse the paint, deny the immediate kick out if at all possible, force the turnover. It was the book on him in Toronto, and teams that have employed zone defense or a highly collapsing defense force us to pass the ball around the perimeter and take bad 3s and mid rangers.

Demar has gotten the job done this year, there’s no doubt. But our offense, especially when white returns and gets back to the early RRT form- is more versatile and harder to defend without derozan. Murray/White/Keldon/Luka/Jakob should be our opening day starting line up next year and we will make noise if it is.

[offset formation]

Thanks Timvp. I’ll blame the lost to DJ, Demar and Pop bottomline. Everybody else played well, but DJ and Demar gave them away with not taking care of the ball, while not finding ways to score, plus letting SGA and Dort go off on Spurs, again. Pop should’ve pulled DJ and Demar there and let them settle first. I will not comment on Keldon much because he might not be in bball form yet after the Covid. I wish he gets back to his old self soon. Lyles should get a higher grade. He is making the most of his opportunities out there. Luka and Diop keep impressing me. It’s a disappointing lost. I hope to see the complete squad when they get back and get back on track.

Yup. As impressive as the Knicks win was, so too was this the equal and opposite in terms of a disappointment. Especially given the OT loss they gave us not even a week ago.

In short, this one was a huge step back. I think this was even worse than the Memphis blowouts just because SGA was unstoppable against us, with his two best careergames. Kinda pathetic coaching too.

[GAustex]

I am surprised no one has mentioned that Pop went with a box and 1 on SGA last 3 mins or so. I was a cool ploy and might have worked if Spurs offense would have been more on point.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

I hate how the team can lay these eggs against beatable teams.

Of course it's been this way for years, but it was forgivable back in the Big 3 era because everyone knew the regular season was merely extended practice for the playoffs.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Thanks OP. Missed the game, so good to get the low down.

The girl on the couch is incredible.

Apologetically, Bill, I'm not sure I do a great job actually reading your posts. :lol

[PrimeMinister]

I am surprised no one has mentioned that Pop went with a box and 1 on SGA last 3 mins or so. I was a cool ploy and might have worked if Spurs offense would have been more on point.

Pop has liked employing that with Patty taking the role of the “one” manning up on the teams best ball handler. SGA last night, I recall we did the same with Luka doncic earlier this year. It got some stops but it also gave up a lot of wide open looks, but against a team like the thunder sometimes just forcing the pass out of SGA’s hands is all you need to do.

What’s wild is the thunder were attempting to clog driving lanes like the Knicks do with a modified zone look- and they did it better than the best defensive team in basketball. Sometimes it’s just not your night and you dribble into the help defender 10 straight possessions I guess.

[BillMc]

The girl on the couch is incredible.

Apologetically, Bill, I'm not sure I do a great job actually reading your posts. :lol

:lol Believe my I don't write anything worth reading anyway. Yeah, I like her too.

[TD 21]

One more time . . .


Considering they were 5 games over .500 with a 0.3 point differential, they were due for a losing streak despite what was a mostly favorable upcoming schedule.

With a brutal 40 games in 68 days post All-Star break and essentially 11 teams vying for 10 spots, no matter their state, losing a tight game to arguably the least talented team in the league is a significant setback.

[RC_Drunkford]

0-3 against the Thunder. Lost to the Wolves and Lost to the Rockets. At some point, these losses to bottom feeders have to be held accountable

you forgot the Grizzlies

[RC_Drunkford]

Instead of attacking their collapsing defense in the second half- we resorted to chucking early in the shot clock and letting them off the hook with easy stops and uncontested rebounds to allow them to get their offense moving in transition.

it’s become a habit for this team- and largely any team that is led by derozan as the attacking ball handler. Collapse the paint, deny the immediate kick out if at all possible, force the turnover. It was the book on him in Toronto, and teams that have employed zone defense or a highly collapsing defense force us to pass the ball around the perimeter and take bad 3s and mid rangers.

Demar has gotten the job done this year, there’s no doubt. But our offense, especially when white returns and gets back to the early RRT form- is more versatile and harder to defend without derozan. Murray/White/Keldon/Luka/Jakob should be our opening day starting line up next year and we will make noise if it is.

Wow, finally somebody on this board who understands that you need floor spacers out there. Which is why I been advocating for a 3-point shooting big man. The zone works because our starting line up has only 1 good 3-point threat. With DeMar and Poeltl out there Murray, White and Keldon need to get a lot more consistent from 3. White is probably the best 3-point shooter out of the bunch, but DJ and Keldon don't shoot the 3 well enough

[spurs10]

:lol Believe my I don't write anything worth reading anyway. Yeah, I like her too. After watching this game last night, I could use some levity...and 'the girl on the coach.' ;):gpower

[BillMc]

After watching this game last night, I could use some levity...and 'the girl on the coach.' ;):gpower
:toast:lol

[tonight...you]

Thanks OP. Missed the game, so good to get the low down.
Aw, my homie. You miss most games. You're in an area that makes games less accessible?
I agree, LJ's grades and writeups really give a nice perspective of what's going on game by game.

I'm very glad for this site and the work he does.

[BillMc]

Aw, my homie. You miss most games. You're in an area that makes games less accessible?
I agree, LJ's grades and writeups really give a nice perspective of what's going on game by game.

I'm very glad for this site and the work he does.

Hi. Yep, I'm in Ukraine. So games come on 2:00 AM to 5:00 AM depending of if they are US eastcoast or westcoast. Still, most years, I get to see most. This year schedule has changed so I need my sleep. Cheers. :toast

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

The Ukraine is WEAK