Spurs vs. Hawks Nov. 13 - Grades

[timvp]

Tim Duncan
Duncan set the tone early and did his part to dominate the undermanned Atlanta Hawks. He hit 10-20 from the field and 6-10 from the line to finish with 26 points. He was most impressive on the boards, grabbing 18 rebounds in 33 minutes. Another day at the office for Mr. Double-Double.
GRADE: 92
SEASON: 87.3

Bruce Bowen
After struggling for most of the season offensively, Bowen busted out in a big way. He scored a regular season career-high 22 points, including going 5-5 from beyond the arc. Coming into the game, the defensive specialist was only hitting shots at a 38.7% clip from the field. On the defensive end, Bowen did a very nice job on whoever he was matched up with.
GRADE: 98
SEASON: 83

Rasho Nesterovic
Against the smallish Hawks, Nesterovic had one of his better defensive efforts as a Spur. He was a great off the ball defender and rotated especially well. Even when he was forced to guard Antoine Walker, he did a very good job of staying in front of him. On top of his defensive output, he totaled a season-high 11 rebounds to go along with 10 points on 5-8 shooting from the field.
GRADE: 93
SEASON: 86.5

Manu Ginobili
Ginobili came into the game as the team’s leading scorer and while his points weren’t there against the Hawks, his passing was just as deadly. He finished with a career-high tying nine assists in 26 minutes of play. From the field he finished 2-6 on his way to a nine point performance, the first time this season he failed to reach double figures.
GRADE: 89
SEASON: 94.5

Tony Parker
The rollercoaster of a season continues for Parker. A day after posting a season best performance versus the Heat, the Spurs’ starting point guard struggled with the Hawks. Hitting only 1-7 shots and dishing out only four assists, Parker is still trying to find his groove on the court. Once he forgets about the $66 million and just concentrates on doing what he has done in the past, he’ll be fine.
GRADE: 65
SEASON: 75.5

Malik Rose
Rose was all over the court. Other than being slowed by a kick to the jaw courtesy of Hawks’ rookie Josh Childress, Rose was in attack mode. Although he finished 1-6 from the field, he corralled seven boards in 21 minutes of action.
GRADE: 85
SEASON: 84.5

Brent Barry
Matched up against his older brother Jon for parts of the game, Brent had one of his better showings as a member of the Spurs. Scoring 13 points and handing out four assists in 21 minutes, Barry’s full repertoire was on full display. He ran the break well, made nifty passes and bombed from the outside.
GRADE: 91
SEASON: 87.8

Beno Udrih
After three sub par performances, Udrih bounced back with a fine outing against the Hawks. He chipped in a season-high nine points, including a big three-pointer in the fourth quarter, in 14 minutes. While he only had one official assist, he did a fine job of distributing the ball.
GRADE: 89
SEASON: 78.2

Devin Brown
Brown finished with six points in 12 minutes as he seems to be finding a niche on the team. The Spurs need him to come off the bench and bring an instant offensive and defensive punch. Lately, Brown has been doing just that.
GRADE: 86
SEASON: 81.4

Tony Massenburg
Massenburg played nine minutes and provided his usual muscle. Past met present when former Spurs backup bigman enforcer Kevin Willis went head-to-head against current Spurs backup bigman enforcer.
GRADE: 82
SEASON: 86

[toosmallshoes]

You forgot to mention Barry's sick dunk!

[SequSpur]

Rasho is above 80? Bro, someone needs to break out the Will Perdue classics and show this mofo what he needs to do when he gets a damn rebound.

What is up with this tippin shit?, the turnaround fade aways?, the no look defensive rebound try?,

I understand that to be in the media and to go in the locker room nightly with these guys, you have to be a homer to keep your pass, but Rasho Nesterovic fucking sucks balls.

I will say this again. As long as Rasho is playing center for the Spurs, the Spurs will never win another championship. NEVER!

Rasho sucks.

[Kori Ellis]

:wtf

timvp doesn't have a press pass or go to the locker room, he can say whatever he wants about the Spurs.

[BigVee]

The thing that impressed me about Beno is that even though he had missed a couple of shots he still took that three when the Hawks had closed to 10. A lot of players, muchless rookies would have passed on that. Question: Why won't Rasho dunk the ball when he is two feet away?

[scott]

Is there a thread somewhere that explains the method of determining these grades - is it a standard formula, or a timvp invention? This is a very cool and informative way to track player performance.

[Rick Von Braun]

Why won't Rasho dunk the ball when he is two feet away?No one can answer this question. I think this is one of his most notorious deficiencies (in addition to rebounding), and he will probably never assert himself to do it. This is why he never goes to the line... he is not aggressive enough to take it to the rack. After 7 years in the league, we are not going to change this cat.

I am satisfied with Rasho though. He has improved his defense dramatically, and his passing in offense is great! If he could just dunk it with authority from time to time and rebound a little more, it would be awesome.

[Tres_Till_it_MHz]

Spurs will go a very long way with Rasho if not all the way. He is a key component to the Spurs and as long as he plays his role within the team they will be very difficlut to beat. He does not need to be Wormesque on the glass either with Timmy grabbing his fare share boards. I do hate to see when he does slap the ball away hopefully this be something to work on as the season rolls.

Side note on Will, he was one cool mutha. I met him on several occasions after games at the clubs here in town. Granted he wasn't a superstar of the league but he would actually take the time to chill and have a good time with everyone without the hollier than thou attitude.

[timvp]

Is there a thread somewhere that explains the method of determining these grades - is it a standard formula, or a timvp invention? This is a very cool and informative way to track player performance.

I watch each game live, re-watch it and then look at the box score before coming up with the grades. I try to grade players where 100 is the best they can do, 80 is and average game and 60 is a horrible game. I know it's not an exact science but hopefully it helps chart how each player is performing.

[xcoriate]

I agree good way to keep track of player performances. Keep it up.

[scott]

Thanks LJ - it is great for folks like me who are unable to see every game.