Grades: Spurs vs. Clippers - Mar. 25, 2021

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/grades-san-antonio-spurs-los-angeles-clippers-game-42/

Ouch, again.

[MultiTroll]

re Murray:
I saw several of his 2nd half possessions and to me DJ was given no choice but to shoot. The other 4 were AWOL.

" But, instead, the Spurs just continued taking turns one-on-one on one end and getting smashed on the boards on the other end." Pop D+

Wth is the current offensive strategy laid out by the Hall of Fame 5Xs had Duncan on his team coach?

[Dex]

To anyone hoping for a fun trade deadline day....let this be a lesson for you.

:pctoss

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Pop... should be an F again. Three minutes for Luka. Three fucking minutes. :clown

[tim_duncan_fan]

There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to who plays when.

Maybe Pop has been in on barely missing the playoffs since the moment Kawhi ran off.

[John B]

That one was on Pop for not adjusting. He should’ve put fresher legs in the 3rd and 4th quarters, especially on the 2nd night of a back to back? With the Clippers missing key players? That said, Poeltl getting bullied with offensive rebounds. I’ve mentioned before, but folks in here too convinced with Poeltl. The guy gets bullied by other bigs, and last night wasn’t the first. DJ not finding people. It was an ugly ugly game. And Luka playing 3 minutes? What happened to the youth movement? If that was any indication of the rest of the season, I’m not wasting my time watching.

[Truth4sale$]

Just a dissapointment overall.
Give Luca a chance!
#Let Luka Loose

[Slippy]

re Murray:
I saw several of his 2nd half possessions and to me DJ was given no choice but to shoot. The other 4 were AWOL.

" But, instead, the Spurs just continued taking turns one-on-one on one end and getting smashed on the boards on the other end." Pop D+

Wth is the current offensive strategy laid out by the Hall of Fame 5Xs had Duncan on his team coach?




Ya its been trending but spurs cant generate good looks anymore with Demar the only one. The offense is stalling. Hoping the coach has a response/adjustment coming

[siraulo23]

Spurs had no energy, very winnable game. Disappointing

[GreekSpursfan]

Yeah, can't win with an unathletic center with next to zero offensive game. We have the worst bigs in the league and that's all you need to know. People need to get off the Poetl bandwagon, he's a backup center not a main guy and imo a mediocre role player. Masai Ujiri, the best GM in the NBA got us on that one. Your starting center needs to grab double digit rebounds night in and night out.

[duncan2150]

The murray white mills lineup makes me sick, really don't like it. This team needs some lineups change.

[RC_Drunkford]

Pop will change the line up after this 9 game losing streak. The old man is always slow to catch on

[John B]

Mills/Rudy are the new Forbes/Beli. What happened to the youth movement that Pop was talking about in the start of the season? “Did we make the playoffs?” he asked. Luka with 3 minutes? It was just ridiculous.

[Fireball]

Derozan - lazy on D and not distributing like earlier in the season
White - just has no confidence ... no rhythm ... thought him and Murray would be game changers on the defensive side together but obviously they are not
Murray - is fine overall
Gay - everytime he is not able to pick up a loose ball I wanna throw up
Vassell - no impact, but I am fine with that currently
Luka - needs more minutes ... cannot be worse than Gay
Mills - still runs around like the Tasmanian Devil but his shooting seems to regress over the course of the season
Poeltl - is fine for what he does
Johnson - it gets more difficult for him with opponents just packing the paint because Spurs cannot shoot a lick from three
Eubanks - do not like him

[JADG79]

Derozan - lazy on D and not distributing like earlier in the season
White - just has no confidence ... no rhythm ... thought him and Murray would be game changers on the defensive side together but obviously they are not
Murray - is fine overall
Gay - everytime he is not able to pick up a loose ball I wanna throw up
Vassell - no impact, but I am fine with that currently
Luka - needs more minutes ... cannot be worse than Gay
Mills - still runs around like the Tasmanian Devil but his shooting seems to regress over the course of the season
Poeltl - is fine for what he does
Johnson - it gets more difficult for him with opponents just packing the paint because Spurs cannot shoot a lick from three
Eubanks - do not like him

Since Derrick White return Keldon and Murray are not performing well, I had a Keldon in my fantasy and dropped after DW.

Agreed with you, Keldon is suffering for the lack of 3s to open the paint and Luka is because Pop is in love with Gay, Pop hate to develop players to not ruins his record.

[ragas]

Yeah, can't win with an unathletic center with next to zero offensive game. We have the worst bigs in the league and that's all you need to know. People need to get off the Poetl bandwagon, he's a backup center not a main guy and imo a mediocre role player. Masai Ujiri, the best GM in the NBA got us on that one. Your starting center needs to grab double digit rebounds night in and night out.

Just stop expecting AllStar-Numbers from a 9mill-guy. If you want that you have to put more money on the table. Spurs get what they've paid for. And don't act like the other guys - the 13+ mill guys - played better.

[mo7888]

Well, we are 3 games from avoiding the play in....and 4.5 games from having a top 8 pick in the draft... Which do you think we have a better shot at reaching? Which are you more excited about?

[emanueldavidginobili]

Pop has refused to adapt to today’s NBA game, and it shows.

[KingKev]

Well, we are 3 games from avoiding the play in....and 4.5 games from having a top 8 pick in the draft... Which do you think we have a better shot at reaching? Which are you more excited about?

Really hope we embrace the tank. PATFO needs a catalyst to finally commit to a rebuild. Hopefully a few 10 game losing streaks to end the year puts the nail in the coffin of this experiment. Another losing season missing the playoffs means we are less likely to run it back and guys like Rudy, DDR and Mills will be less inclined so stay. Win win situation.

[Prime BEEF]

Well, we are 3 games from avoiding the play in....and 4.5 games from having a top 8 pick in the draft... Which do you think we have a better shot at reaching? Which are you more excited about?
Obviously the later on both

[couchman]

The energy was crap and we need more 3 ppint shooting. Luka would have been nice. We missed Lonnie and his outside shooting. A packed paint hurts DJ, DDR, nmd Keldon

[Floyd Pacquiao]

Is Derozan the only guard you’ve seen terrified to shoot a 3?

[PrimeMinister]

Keeping Demar was a bottom out move

I’ve watched every minute of spurs basketball this year. Every time the man sits the defensive intensity picks up. The spacing improves, the rotations are on point and those wide open 3 point shots go away. They can employ a trapping defense with the athleticism they have on the floor defensively with him out to great effect.

He’s been a crushing negative on this losing streak. He’s been out scored in every single game on this streak while on the floor and is routinely the most negative player on the team by +/-. He is -3.1 this year per 100 possessions which puts him at like #300 league wide- it’s abysmal.

All the same complaints about LA not being able to hold weight on defense outweighing his offensive contributions apply to Demar. Couple that with demar’s inability to stretch the defense, create space for his team mates and do anything other than clog the lane, and you have a losing team led by a losing player that will continue to lose ball games.

they could waive him tomorrow and this team would improve I am absolutely certain of it. If Demar is kept past this season it would be one of the most unforgivable moves by a basketball FO in the modern era.

[TheChillFactor]

Calling Derrick White "listless" after he got a tooth knocked out and stayed in the game...ehhh....

I thought at the time he might have a concussion or something the way he reacted, just walking around aimlessly.

[sananspursfan21]

My biggest discouragement in the past few weeks is seeing just how physically overwhelmed our guys look. I know size isn’t everything in basketball (go ahead with the middle school jokes :lol) but when our guys can’t get clean passes and good shots consistently, it looks problematic. And on the defensive side, the other team just has to bulldoze our guys over and get good looks at the rim. I don’t know, am I crazy or do our guys look like a highschool team physically against the league’s best? Basketball’s about more than height and strength, but being physically imposing is a key advantage, particularly on defense.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

My biggest discouragement in the past few weeks is seeing just how physically overwhelmed our guys look. I know size isn’t everything in basketball (go ahead with the middle school jokes :lol) but when our guys can’t get clean passes and good shots consistently, it looks problematic. And on the defensive side, the other team just has to bulldoze our guys over and get good looks at the rim. I don’t know, am I crazy or do our guys look like a highschool team physically against the league’s best? Basketball’s about more than height and strength, but being physically imposing is a key advantage, particularly on defense.

You don't need size, speed, or shooting, all it takes to win is #kulture :pop

[MultiTroll]

Calling Derrick White "listless" after he got a tooth knocked out and stayed in the game...ehhh....

I thought at the time he might have a concussion or something the way he reacted, just walking around aimlessly.
SpursTalk posters lost a tooth last night and kept posting no doubt.

[rjv]

poeltl is not starting center material.

[rjv]

also, what is bothering me the most about gay at this time isn't that he's been so bad lately (although that is troublesome); it's that his awful minutes are coming at the expense of luka's opportunity to get more meaningful playing time.

[KobesAchilles]

poeltl is not starting center material.
You'd be surprised how many people here think otherwise. We are the minority

[rjv]

and your comments on pop were spot on. as the 4th quarter painfully dragged on, i kept waiting for pop to try something (anything) with the line-up. instead, he just stuck with a group that was doing nothing but playing the part of a really bad team.

[Jordan Jackson]

poeltl is not starting center material.

This is true. But some don’t want to accept it. Toronto came to that conclusion and shipped him. Spurs think they can fix him - I don’t believe they can. But he is a solid back up - spot starter.

[sananspursfan21]

You don't need size, speed, or shooting, all it takes to win is #kulture :pop

:lol but really :cry

[mo7888]

Keeping Demar was a bottom out move

I’ve watched every minute of spurs basketball this year. Every time the man sits the defensive intensity picks up. The spacing improves, the rotations are on point and those wide open 3 point shots go away. They can employ a trapping defense with the athleticism they have on the floor defensively with him out to great effect.

He’s been a crushing negative on this losing streak. He’s been out scored in every single game on this streak while on the floor and is routinely the most negative player on the team by +/-. He is -3.1 this year per 100 possessions which puts him at like #300 league wide- it’s abysmal.

All the same complaints about LA not being able to hold weight on defense outweighing his offensive contributions apply to Demar. Couple that with demar’s inability to stretch the defense, create space for his team mates and do anything other than clog the lane, and you have a losing team led by a losing player that will continue to lose ball games.

they could waive him tomorrow and this team would improve I am absolutely certain of it. If Demar is kept past this season it would be one of the most unforgivable moves by a basketball FO in the modern era.

It would be slightly worse than not trading him at the deadline..

[MultiTroll]

As bad as Popped was -par for the course.....

How about that nigra Reggie Jackson becoming Prime Curry in the 4th.

F'r was dropping everything he threw up. Not like they were uncontested shots. Season high.

[GreekSpursfan]

Just stop expecting AllStar-Numbers from a 9mill-guy. If you want that you have to put more money on the table. Spurs get what they've paid for. And don't act like the other guys - the 13+ mill guys - played better.

What all star numbers, i'm expecting my starting center to box out well and either grab the rebound or help someone else to grab it. We couldn't rebound and that was the main reason we lost the game and is our first priority in every game and falls primarily on the center. Pay attention to the game.

[ragas]

What all star numbers, i'm expecting my starting center to box out well and either grab the rebound or help someone else to grab it. We couldn't rebound and that was the main reason we lost the game and is our first priority in every game and falls primarily on the center. Pay attention to the game.

Pay attention to the stats. He had more boxouts than Zubac in this game, but somebody needs to grab the ball. Unfortunately there‘s no other big on the floor for rebounding. Spurs are too small. Same problem when Poeltl defends on the perimeter - nobodys capable of helping out for him. And pay attention to what I wrote. He‘s getting paid like a backup, so don‘t expect to get more out of him.

btw: Poeltl had 24 contested shots, Zubac 11

[RC_Drunkford]

What all star numbers, i'm expecting my starting center to box out well and either grab the rebound or help someone else to grab it. We couldn't rebound and that was the main reason we lost the game and is our first priority in every game and falls primarily on the center. Pay attention to the game.

So we score 30 points in the 2nd half and our main issue was rebounds. Ok got it :lol

[r0drig0lac]

My biggest discouragement in the past few weeks is seeing just how physically overwhelmed our guys look. I know size isn’t everything in basketball (go ahead with the middle school jokes :lol) but when our guys can’t get clean passes and good shots consistently, it looks problematic. And on the defensive side, the other team just has to bulldoze our guys over and get good looks at the rim. I don’t know, am I crazy or do our guys look like a highschool team physically against the league’s best? Basketball’s about more than height and strength, but being physically imposing is a key advantage, particularly on defense.

only people who have never played would disagree with that

[sananspursfan21]

only people who have never played would disagree with that

Real recognize real. I was a 6’3” center going up against 6’8”-6’10” guys. That wasn’t enjoyable, no matter what fundamental skills and athleticism I possessed...