timvp
12-06-2004, 03:23 AM
Tim Duncan
With the tone that Duncan set in Milwaukee, the Bucks had little chance of stealing a game from the Spurs. Duncan came out of the gates and established his presence on the offensive and defensive sides of the court. Playing only 29 minutes of the 104-83 victory, Duncan totaled 20 points, seven rebounds, five blocks and four assists. Duncan was also very efficient as he hit 9-of-16 shots from the field, connected on both of his free throws and turned the ball over only once. Overall this season, Duncan has been more aggressive than anytime in his career and his teammates are feeding off that.
GRADE: 92
DECEMBER: 93
SEASON: 88.8
Bruce Bowen
Bowen’s defensive ability was on display Saturday night as he harassed Michael Redd into a sub par outing. Redd finished with 15 points on 7-18 shooting from the field. Bowen also held the prolific three-point shooter without a make from downtown. Redd is one of the more difficult covers for Bowen in the league and he responded with a big performance. On offense, Bowen did his job. He scored seven points as he shot 3-for-6 from the field, including hitting 1-of-2 from beyond the arc.
GRADE: 90
DECEMBER: 87.3
SEASON: 84.6
Rasho Nesterovic
After a string of unenthusiastic showings, Nesterovic took a step in the right direction against Milwaukee. Although he wasn’t in full rhythm on offense, he did hit half of his four field goal attempts to finish with four points. On defense, he was mobile and did a good job disrupting the Bucks’ offensive sets. Nesterovic finished with seven rebounds and one blocked shot in 30 minutes. A game after committing a season-high five turnovers versus Detroit, he vindicated himself with no turnovers Saturday night.
GRADE: 85
DECEMBER: 73.3
SEASON: 85.5
Manu Ginobili
Ginobili had a controlled effort against the Bucks. He kept it simple and cut out a lot of the wildness that had been plaguing him recently. He scored 12 points in 28 minutes, while shooting 4-for-8 from the field, 1-for-3 from three-point territory and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. His three assists and one rebound were both well below his averages in those categories, perhaps indicating a little lack of liveliness on Ginobili’s part. It’s been a wonderful year so far for the Argentinean, but the Spurs hope that he can keep up this pace. So far, so good.
GRADE: 87
DECEMBER: 87
SEASON: 88.8
Tony Parker
Parker’s early season slump is over. He’s had a string of good performances and continued that in Milwaukee. Parker scored 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field and ran the team well, finishing with eight assists. The Spurs need him to breakdown defenses and create off the dribble like he did Saturday night. When he’s not creating, their offense is too stagnant. After starting the season shooting an anemic percentage from the field, Parker has shot a blistering 56.7% from the field over the last five games. For the season, Parker is now shooting 43.6% from the floor.
GRADE: 91
DECEMBER: 91
SEASON: 83.7
Devin Brown
The Devin Brown Show is going strong. Brown played a career-high 30 minutes and didn’t disappoint. Scoring 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field, Brown continues to show the world why Popovich trusts in him. He brings energy and a fearless attitude to the court, which are important attributes for a player coming off the bench because Ginobili is now in the starting lineup. To go along with the points, Brown chipped in five rebounds and four assists.
GRADE: 92
DECEMBER: 92
SEASON: 85.5
Malik Rose
Rose has claimed the backup bigman minutes and shows no signs of relinquishing that hold. Against Milwaukee, Rose scored eight points and pulled down five rebounds, while shooting 4-for-4 from the field. He played 19 minutes on Saturday, the 13th consecutive game that he’s played at least ten minutes. Rose is in a good groove right now, as he’s hustling and concentrating on defense and rebounding.
GRADE: 89
DECEMBER: 86
SEASON: 86.1
Brent Barry
The Spurs want the real Brent Barry to please stand up. So far this season, it’s been tough to find him. He struggled again against the Bucks, recording five points on 1-for-5 shooting from the floor, 0-3 from downtown and 3-for-4 at the line. Over his last five games, Barry is shooting 22.2% from the floor and has missed all 17 of his three-point attempts. Unless Barry breaks out of this slump soon, Brown will take away most of his minutes.
GRADE: 65
DECEMBER: 69.3
SEASON: 83.1
Beno Udrih
The Spurs look like they have another draft steal. Udrih was dominant in his performance, scoring 13 points in 14 minutes. He shot 6-for-9 from the floor and looked in total control of the offense. After a relatively slow start to his rookie campaign, Udrih is now on fire. He’s shooting 57.8% over his last eight contests, showing an incredible midrange jumper to accompany his deadly three-point accuracy. The Spurs couldn’t be happier about his maturation.
GRADE: 93
DECEMBER: 87.7
SEASON: 82.5
Robert Horry
Horry had a quiet game against the Bucks. He played 14 minutes and finished with four points, one rebound and one assist. He missed his only field goal attempt but connected on all four of his free-throws.
GRADE: 83
DECEMBER: 84
SEASON: 83.6
Mike Wilks
Wilks played six minutes and had a couple good moments. He had a nice spin move that led to a layup. He finished with four points and an assist, while shooting 2-for-3 from the field. He’s a good insurance policy for the Spurs at the point guard position.
GRADE: 85
DECEMBER: 82.5
SEASON: 84.3
With the tone that Duncan set in Milwaukee, the Bucks had little chance of stealing a game from the Spurs. Duncan came out of the gates and established his presence on the offensive and defensive sides of the court. Playing only 29 minutes of the 104-83 victory, Duncan totaled 20 points, seven rebounds, five blocks and four assists. Duncan was also very efficient as he hit 9-of-16 shots from the field, connected on both of his free throws and turned the ball over only once. Overall this season, Duncan has been more aggressive than anytime in his career and his teammates are feeding off that.
GRADE: 92
DECEMBER: 93
SEASON: 88.8
Bruce Bowen
Bowen’s defensive ability was on display Saturday night as he harassed Michael Redd into a sub par outing. Redd finished with 15 points on 7-18 shooting from the field. Bowen also held the prolific three-point shooter without a make from downtown. Redd is one of the more difficult covers for Bowen in the league and he responded with a big performance. On offense, Bowen did his job. He scored seven points as he shot 3-for-6 from the field, including hitting 1-of-2 from beyond the arc.
GRADE: 90
DECEMBER: 87.3
SEASON: 84.6
Rasho Nesterovic
After a string of unenthusiastic showings, Nesterovic took a step in the right direction against Milwaukee. Although he wasn’t in full rhythm on offense, he did hit half of his four field goal attempts to finish with four points. On defense, he was mobile and did a good job disrupting the Bucks’ offensive sets. Nesterovic finished with seven rebounds and one blocked shot in 30 minutes. A game after committing a season-high five turnovers versus Detroit, he vindicated himself with no turnovers Saturday night.
GRADE: 85
DECEMBER: 73.3
SEASON: 85.5
Manu Ginobili
Ginobili had a controlled effort against the Bucks. He kept it simple and cut out a lot of the wildness that had been plaguing him recently. He scored 12 points in 28 minutes, while shooting 4-for-8 from the field, 1-for-3 from three-point territory and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. His three assists and one rebound were both well below his averages in those categories, perhaps indicating a little lack of liveliness on Ginobili’s part. It’s been a wonderful year so far for the Argentinean, but the Spurs hope that he can keep up this pace. So far, so good.
GRADE: 87
DECEMBER: 87
SEASON: 88.8
Tony Parker
Parker’s early season slump is over. He’s had a string of good performances and continued that in Milwaukee. Parker scored 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field and ran the team well, finishing with eight assists. The Spurs need him to breakdown defenses and create off the dribble like he did Saturday night. When he’s not creating, their offense is too stagnant. After starting the season shooting an anemic percentage from the field, Parker has shot a blistering 56.7% from the field over the last five games. For the season, Parker is now shooting 43.6% from the floor.
GRADE: 91
DECEMBER: 91
SEASON: 83.7
Devin Brown
The Devin Brown Show is going strong. Brown played a career-high 30 minutes and didn’t disappoint. Scoring 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field, Brown continues to show the world why Popovich trusts in him. He brings energy and a fearless attitude to the court, which are important attributes for a player coming off the bench because Ginobili is now in the starting lineup. To go along with the points, Brown chipped in five rebounds and four assists.
GRADE: 92
DECEMBER: 92
SEASON: 85.5
Malik Rose
Rose has claimed the backup bigman minutes and shows no signs of relinquishing that hold. Against Milwaukee, Rose scored eight points and pulled down five rebounds, while shooting 4-for-4 from the field. He played 19 minutes on Saturday, the 13th consecutive game that he’s played at least ten minutes. Rose is in a good groove right now, as he’s hustling and concentrating on defense and rebounding.
GRADE: 89
DECEMBER: 86
SEASON: 86.1
Brent Barry
The Spurs want the real Brent Barry to please stand up. So far this season, it’s been tough to find him. He struggled again against the Bucks, recording five points on 1-for-5 shooting from the floor, 0-3 from downtown and 3-for-4 at the line. Over his last five games, Barry is shooting 22.2% from the floor and has missed all 17 of his three-point attempts. Unless Barry breaks out of this slump soon, Brown will take away most of his minutes.
GRADE: 65
DECEMBER: 69.3
SEASON: 83.1
Beno Udrih
The Spurs look like they have another draft steal. Udrih was dominant in his performance, scoring 13 points in 14 minutes. He shot 6-for-9 from the floor and looked in total control of the offense. After a relatively slow start to his rookie campaign, Udrih is now on fire. He’s shooting 57.8% over his last eight contests, showing an incredible midrange jumper to accompany his deadly three-point accuracy. The Spurs couldn’t be happier about his maturation.
GRADE: 93
DECEMBER: 87.7
SEASON: 82.5
Robert Horry
Horry had a quiet game against the Bucks. He played 14 minutes and finished with four points, one rebound and one assist. He missed his only field goal attempt but connected on all four of his free-throws.
GRADE: 83
DECEMBER: 84
SEASON: 83.6
Mike Wilks
Wilks played six minutes and had a couple good moments. He had a nice spin move that led to a layup. He finished with four points and an assist, while shooting 2-for-3 from the field. He’s a good insurance policy for the Spurs at the point guard position.
GRADE: 85
DECEMBER: 82.5
SEASON: 84.3