Grades: Spurs vs. Sixers - May 2, 2021

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/grades-san-antonio-spurs-philadelphia-76ers-game-63/

:wow

[kht]

Our young guys played with a lot of guts and heart in a losing effort against an MVP level talent and a team with title aspirations. I am a proud Spurs fan tonight.

[playblair]

i havent watched a spurs game since opening day.......this was my first viewed match in months because derozan/lma were not in lineup....... timvp can u explain why luka isnt a primary ball handler? he has better handles than the guards & knows what do with the ball when driving unlike keldon/walker/murray

[TheGreatYacht]

Doc said the other week that Simmons and Thybulle were the best perimeter defenders he’s ever coached and he wasn’t lying. Lonnie really slowed down once the Sixers made him their primary focus and had those two take turns on him defensively.

He’s very clearly the most offensively gifted young player on the team, and he’ll learn from this.. even if it’s under a different coach that lets him free. In a game where Rudy is starting, for him to be the 3rd guy off the bench and as hot as he was, would’ve only played 25 minutes had there not been OT. Unacceptable.

Back to the corner next game for him as he ball watches the black holes that are 50 Mills and Rudy.

[BillMc]

Thanks for the grades OP!

[spurs10]

Thank you for the grades!

[MultiTroll]

Pop n Patty :rollin

Tonight, great seeing more potential of what the Young Uns are and could be.

Will Weatherspoon ever be used?

[duncan2k5]

It's unfair to say Lonnie ran out of gas... There were many times in the 4th it looked like he wanted the ball, but Patty and Gay were doing their tag team of terror... So when he finally got the ball, u could tell he just wanted to force up any shot because he didn't know when he would have the opportunity to control the ball again

[Fireball]

Thybulle shut Lonnie down at the end of the game because he was a little out of gas ...

[Fireball]

i havent watched a spurs game since opening day.......this was my first viewed match in months because derozan/lma were not in lineup....... timvp (https://www.spurstalk.com/forums/member.php?u=8) can u explain why luka isnt a primary ball handler? he has better handles than the guards & knows what do with the ball when driving unlike keldon/walker/murray

Ball handling is not Luka's strength ... even if it did look solid last night he was not so good at it when he played ... so making him a primary ball handler right now is not a good idea

[R. DeMurre]

To me, the game was lost in the distribution of minutes at center. Dieng looked like the best player on the court for the Spurs, and Eubanks looked overmatched against Embiid. The idea of Dieng being a three point threat, spreading the floor, and pulling Embiid away from the basket-- where's he's the best interior defender and best defensive rebounder-- seems like the best strategy to me. Doc played Embiid 35 minutes and Howard 18 minutes, even with Embiid in a little bit of foul trouble. Pop played Dieng 31 minutes and Eubanks 22 minutes. The numbers back up the eye test for me, with Dieng finishing at a team best +13, and Eubanks finishing with a team worst -15. That's a 28 point differential swing just between those two. If the distribution of minutes for Dieng & Eubanks mirrored the ratio between Embiid & Howard, I think the Spurs likely win this game in regulation.

Side note: I don't know the official condition of Dieng's shoulder, and whether or not he's on any kind of minute restriction.

[Fusternino]

Always love seeing Luka and KBD together. Both look like legit 3/4 combo forwards.

[dbestpro]

No one should ever get an a+ and lose.

[Blackhaus]

I like how Pop puts Patty in crucial pick and roll plays when the game is on the line, only to watch him fail and continue to not be able to generate a good shot for himself or anyone else then stomp and pout on the sideline. Mad old man

[Blackhaus]

No way Pop gets an A giving Patty 30+ min and running a play for him on the final play in reg with a very good defender on him. I know they were short handed but it doesn’t mean keeping that little twirp on the court all the time.

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

watching keldon take the ball up the floor and initiate the offense .... shades of tragic johnson

[Dejounte]

As I mentioned in the game thread, if Tre was anywhere near impactful this could have been a win. I like Tre, but he's overthinking things out there. Obviously a product of being a rook.

Keldon did a fine job for a game where he wasn't the 4th or 5th option for the first time. He's showing some decent passing skills. He should lean on his mid-range pull-up more often instead of forcing it when there's no opening.

I can understand Vassell missing shots, but he wasn't showing anything positive on defense last night. He was overhelping. I did like the one man fast break that he attempted.

Dieng was solid. I don't take away too much from a player who makes his open shots, that's their job. But his defense on Embiid was disciplined, especially compared to Eubanks who fucking jumped on everything.

Rudy Gay was solid. Relied on for too much offense as usual, but this time he made his shots. Had needless turnovers in the clutch which forced this to go overtime.

Patty Mills had momentum-breaking turnovers. Absolutely ridiculous. Mistake after mistake. This is a man who doesn't want an NBA contract after this season.

KBD and Luka were both solid in their minutes.

Lonnie did great. I'd like to see him put forth a scoring performance while also picking up assists. It's usually just one or the other. I'm not going to ask for defense from him, it doesn't feel like he has it in him.

[R. DeMurre]

Dieng was completely fearless and full of confident energy going against an MVP candidate-- it showed in his body language.

Last night's game reminded me of a story a friend told me about his high school basketball team. He had a coach in his sophomore and junior years that everyone on the team loved and this guy had a philosophy that the players rallied around: he called it Feed the Monster. Basically, he said that if someone was really feeling it and having a monster night that it was the team's job to feed the monster. This coach left after landing a job to coach a college team, and the guy who replaced him was fond of giving players rest after outbursts of scoring, which left all of the players exasperated... Jack is red hot! Why the fuck are you sitting him now?? I couldn't help thinking about this last night. Dieng was clearly the best player on the floor in the first half, not intimidated by the 76ers at all, and so I immediately thought: watch, he definitely won't start in the second half. And on top of that, Dieng currently has the highest seasonal 3pt% of any player on the Spurs-- would it be a good idea to run just a few plays for him to get free for some threes, with the added bonus that it keeps Embiid away from the paint, where he's the best interior defender, rebounder, and shot blocker? Pop decided instead to to play the strategy called Ignore the Monster, he's not real.

[GreekSpursfan]

Pathetic that we lost to a tip in by Draymond Green 0.5, unacceptable. The two guys under the basket should be ashamed of themselves, its called boxing out for fuck sake.

[Dex]

As I mentioned in the game thread, if Tre was anywhere near impactful this could have been a win. I like Tre, but he's overthinking things out there. Obviously a product of being a rook.

Keldon did a fine job for a game where he wasn't the 4th or 5th option for the first time. He's showing some decent passing skills. He should lean on his mid-range pull-up more often instead of forcing it when there's no opening.

I can understand Vassell missing shots, but he wasn't showing anything positive on defense last night. He was overhelping. I did like the one man fast break that he attempted.

Dieng was solid. I don't take away too much from a player who makes his open shots, that's their job. But his defense on Embiid was disciplined, especially compared to Eubanks who fucking jumped on everything.

Rudy Gay was solid. Relied on for too much offense as usual, but this time he made his shots. Had needless turnovers in the clutch which forced this to go overtime.

Patty Mills had momentum-breaking turnovers. Absolutely ridiculous. Mistake after mistake. This is a man who doesn't want an NBA contract after this season.

KBD and Luka were both solid in their minutes.

Lonnie did great. I'd like to see him put forth a scoring performance while also picking up assists. It's usually just one or the other. I'm not going to ask for defense from him, it doesn't feel like he has it in him.

Somebody needs to send the memo to Patty.

[Sugus]

Pathetic that we lost to a tip in by Draymond Green 0.5, unacceptable. The two guys under the basket should be ashamed of themselves, its called boxing out for fuck sake.

Agreed. As others mentioned, it was Gay's fault leaving Simmons open and unattended, and Keldon shouldn't take the blame, but still the Spurs are pathetically bad at boxing out, collectively. It routinely costs them the battle of rebounds, and gifts the opponents multiple chances to score, meaning they have little resort to stop the opponent from creating leads when the offense isn't clicking. Also makes for some funny posts when posters isolate Jakob as the problem regarding rebounds, when our lack of size/strength at PF and collective inability to box out are by far bigger culprits. I don't know if it's Pop not emphasizing it as much, or "lack of practice" as he calls it, but it's really notorious in a bad way.

[rjv]

other than being caught ball-watching on the last play of the game, keldon was great. he does need to develop an ability to recognize when he needs to bring the ball back out on some of those fearless drives to the basket because there were some OT possessions where he did not always make the right decision. walker didn't get a rest from about early 4th quarter on and it showed. he had no lift on his shot. mills continues to demonstrate that he is on the tail end of his career. luka and walker both need to recognize just how good they can be if they just open up.

[Dex]

Agreed. As others mentioned, it was Gay's fault leaving Simmons open and unattended, and Keldon shouldn't take the blame, but still the Spurs are pathetically bad at boxing out, collectively. It routinely costs them the battle of rebounds, and gifts the opponents multiple chances to score, meaning they have little resort to stop the opponent from creating leads when the offense isn't clicking. Also makes for some funny posts when posters isolate Jakob as the problem regarding rebounds, when our lack of size/strength at PF and collective inability to box out are by far bigger culprits. I don't know if it's Pop not emphasizing it as much, or "lack of practice" as he calls it, but it's really notorious in a bad way.

All of our bigs would rather tap the ball out (which ends up going back to the other team half the time) than actually secure a rebound.

That wasn't the issue with this play...expecting Keldon to box out two guys at once is probably not a great gameplan. But it still drives me nuts.

[Sugus]

All of our bigs would rather tap the ball out (which ends up going back to the other team half the time) than actually secure a rebound.

That wasn't the issue with this play...expecting Keldon to box out two guys at once is probably not a great gameplan. But it still drives me nuts.

Yeah, enraging. I was hoping Luka to be a strong rebounder kind of player, and he does sometimes grab them out of the air with authority, but not nearly enough to my liking, and especially not on the offensive glass. You definitely need to pair Jakob with a rebounding PF to make it work. Luka also didn't shoot any 3's yesterday, which was disappointing... The dunk was great, his driving is good, but if he's not trying to space the floor along with it, he loses a lot of value and the path for him to start at PF becomes much more complicated, considering the rest of the SL.

[KobesAchilles]

Agreed. As others mentioned, it was Gay's fault leaving Simmons open and unattended, and Keldon shouldn't take the blame, but still the Spurs are pathetically bad at boxing out, collectively. It routinely costs them the battle of rebounds, and gifts the opponents multiple chances to score, meaning they have little resort to stop the opponent from creating leads when the offense isn't clicking. Also makes for some funny posts when posters isolate Jakob as the problem regarding rebounds, when our lack of size/strength at PF and collective inability to box out are by far bigger culprits. I don't know if it's Pop not emphasizing it as much, or "lack of practice" as he calls it, but it's really notorious in a bad way.
According to Kerr, it is a real problem in the NBA. And I have been noticing it for years now. I can't speak for how the game is taught today, but when I was growing up, even as a guard, we were taught to have a hand on the opponent when the ball was in the air for a shot. And if one of your guys got an offensive rebound, you were made to run after practice and then during practice you had to box out basically the whole damn team. I've never been more tired in my life than that. Fun coach I had. He would bench a player for missing a lay up, but then I had back to back steals on the opposing point guard and missed both fast break lay ups and the look he gave me was hilarious. But he didn't bench me :lol

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Dieng was dieng good!

Rudy might be the one veteran I wouldn't mind the Spurs keeping around.

Pop coaches better when he's not managing egos. His in-game coaching decision-making and sharpness ramp up whenever DeRozan's out I've noticed.

[KobesAchilles]

Does Vassell kinda suck? The dude can't make a shot

[Dejounte]

Does Vassell kinda suck? The dude can't make a shot

He's shooting 0.375 for the year.

It's posts like this that make me wonder if posters on this board actually watch the games, or if they just come on after reading the box score and post whatever shit they can come up with.

I don't blame you if you don't have league pass or don't have access to these games.

It's quite common for people to react to games on an individual basis.... "Oh he score 3 points! Bad scorer!" "Oh he had 7 turnovers? Can't handle the ball!" "Oh only 4 threes? Not a shooter!" "Oh he have 4 rebounds? He no rebounder! Bad big! Bad big!"

[r0drig0lac]

i havent watched a spurs game since opening day.......this was my first viewed match in months because derozan/lma were not in lineup....... timvp can u explain why luka isnt a primary ball handler? he has better handles than the guards & knows what do with the ball when driving unlike keldon/walker/murray

Haha

[John B]

Thanks for the grades. It was a disappointing loss, but a very satisfactory performance from our youngsters.
I've been a big critic of Lonnie for letting me down, but boy he's winning me back fast. True, he's the most athletic player on the court, and Lonnie will be a stud giving more chances to shine. Keep it up Lonnie!
Keldon is a workhorse, and just keeps on pushing to win. I know he will just keep on improving because of his motor. He's going to continue working on mixing his drives with mid-range, dribble between the legs and fadeaways. I can't wait.
Dieng, I mean the guy is just fun to watch. I'm sorry Poeltl, but this guy deserves the starting gig unless you put 100% effort EVERY night. Dieng makes sure it's a hard foul on Embiid going up. And he opens the lane for Keldon/Lonnie to drive.
Tre, I'm quite disappointed. He has the poise, the defense, but come on, shoot the ball! I don't know if that's Pop, but he needs to be more selfish.

Overall I'm happy despite the loss. I'm excited for the future. The youngsters competed even without Demar. Too bad Rudy and Patty were there to spoil it, just saying. Okay Rudy was good almost the entire game, but really that turnover probably cost us the game. That and Patty losing the ball with that Green poking from behind. I mean these from our veteran players in the most crucial moments. And yes Patty should know that Green was behind him and should've secured the ball better. I expect more from the veterans, if that's why they're in the ball game in the first place.

[KobesAchilles]

He's shooting 0.375 for the year.

It's posts like this that make me wonder if posters on this board actually watch the games, or if they just come on after reading the box score and post whatever shit they can come up with.

I don't blame you if you don't have league pass or don't have access to these games.

It's quite common for people to react to games on an individual basis.... "Oh he score 3 points! Bad scorer!" "Oh he had 7 turnovers? Can't handle the ball!" "Oh only 4 threes? Not a shooter!" "Oh he have 4 rebounds? He no rebounder! Bad big! Bad big!"
What's his shooting percentage as a starter? Jw. Also what are his shooting percentages in month by month splits. There's probably a place that shows this

[SpurSpike]

WHY DID WE REST JAK?

It was obvious that the spurs could not match the size of the 76ers. Half our team seemed scared of Embiid and Howard tbh. We needed more big men in the rotation but we rested our best defensive big man... If Poeltl had played i think Spurs win this.

[John B]

WHY DID WE REST JAK?

It was obvious that the spurs could not match the size of the 76ers. Half our team seemed scared of Embid and Howard tbh. We needed more big men in the rotation but we rested our best defensive big man... If Poeltl had played i think Spurs win this.

haha I doubt it. Poeltl has good games, but he folds under big men competition. I'm sorry.

[GreekSpursfan]

Agreed. As others mentioned, it was Gay's fault leaving Simmons open and unattended, and Keldon shouldn't take the blame, but still the Spurs are pathetically bad at boxing out, collectively. It routinely costs them the battle of rebounds, and gifts the opponents multiple chances to score, meaning they have little resort to stop the opponent from creating leads when the offense isn't clicking. Also makes for some funny posts when posters isolate Jakob as the problem regarding rebounds, when our lack of size/strength at PF and collective inability to box out are by far bigger culprits. I don't know if it's Pop not emphasizing it as much, or "lack of practice" as he calls it, but it's really notorious in a bad way.

I agree for the most part. Boxing out is about having it as a habit which means practice but its about bball IQ as well as to how to use your body see Tim Duncan. Most of our young players don't have the bball IQ to do little things like that but these are the things that lead to victories and rings.

[KobesAchilles]

He's shooting 0.375 for the year.

It's posts like this that make me wonder if posters on this board actually watch the games, or if they just come on after reading the box score and post whatever shit they can come up with.

I don't blame you if you don't have league pass or don't have access to these games.

It's quite common for people to react to games on an individual basis.... "Oh he score 3 points! Bad scorer!" "Oh he had 7 turnovers? Can't handle the ball!" "Oh only 4 threes? Not a shooter!" "Oh he have 4 rebounds? He no rebounder! Bad big! Bad big!"
I thought so. He shot 32% from 3 in April. he's been sucking bro at the wrong time. Also 37.5% on less than 1 make a game isn't what I consider good, but we can agree to disagree with that.

[Floyd Pacquiao]

Forgot they played last night but not surprised to see they had a fighting chance with _Emar _eRozan out

[rjv]

devon has hit the rookie wall. if one really wants to give a fair assessment of his performance they'd have to compare his drop in shooting percentage to that of other rookies.

[Drom John]

Dieng > Markannen.