timvp
12-15-2004, 05:27 AM
Tim Duncan
In one of his most efficient games of his career, Duncan single-handedly dismantled the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night. He was virtually flawless offensively, connecting on 13-of-15 shots from the field on his way to 34 points. Defensively he owned the paint, blocking four shots and altering many others. Although he only finished with seven rebounds, that was more of a case of the Spurs not missing too many shots. For the game, the Spurs shot 66.2% from the floor. Also encouraging for Duncan was his free throw shooting. He was 8-for-10 from the charity stripe and is 73.8% from the line for the month of December.
GRADE: 98
DECEMBER: 89
SEASON: 88.3
Bruce Bowen
The Cavaliers dared Bowen to beat them from the outside, and Bowen did his part to make that happen. He scored 20 points, shooting 8-for-11 from the field, 3-for-5 from beyond the arc and 1-for-2 at the line. When Bowen is shooting that well, it is nearly impossible to stop the Spurs. On defense, Bowen was solid but LeBron James still had a big night. James finished with 23 points, 10 assists and six rebounds despite being guarded by one of the top defenders in the league.
GRADE: 94
DECEMBER: 84.1
SEASON: 84.1
Rasho Nesterovic
Nesterovic seems to be finding his rhythm. Having struggled for the better part of two weeks, he’s come around the last couple games and is now playing well again. Nesterovic had two dunks against the Cavs, his second and third dunks of the season. He also hit both of his free-throw attempts for only the second time this year. All in all, it was a very good performance for the Spurs’ starting center. In 29 minutes, he finished with 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field. He was still far from perfect however, finishing with only two rebounds and no blocked shots.
GRADE: 87
DECEMBER: 73.6
SEASON: 81.7
Manu Ginobili
Ginobili had a rough game Saturday. He scored only two points, as he hit 1-of-5 shots from the field. In the last three games, Ginobili has a total of only three made two-point field goals. With fatigue most likely the main culprit, the extra few days the Spurs had off should really help the Argentinean energizer. With the amount of effort he puts into each play on the court, it’s no wonder how he can tire fast. Although he wasn’t very effective offensively, he did help out in other areas as he finished with four assists, three rebounds and a steal.
GRADE: 78
DECEMBER: 84.4
SEASON: 87.7
Tony Parker
In his best overall game of the season, Parker was a dominating force – creating, distributing and scoring. He finished with 18 points and a season-high 13 assists, ten of which came in the first half. Parker led the Spurs’ offensive attack and produced plenty of open shots by breaking down Cleveland’s defense. As a playmaker, Parker was as good as it gets. He also shot the ball well, hitting 5-of-9 shots from the field and 7-of-9 from the line. The downer was the fact that Parker hurt his groin at some point in the game, putting his availability for Wednesday night’s game against the Orlando Magic in doubt.
GRADE: 98
DECEMBER: 88.3
SEASON: 84.2
Devin Brown
While the scoring wasn’t there for Brown, his all-around game flourished. He had five rebounds and five assists, to go along his four points on 2-of-5 shooting from the field. His five assists tied a career-high. Scoring has been the most obvious part of Brown’s game in recent weeks, but the Spurs need him to defend, rebound and create for others just as much as they need him to score.
GRADE: 89
DECEMBER: 89.6
SEASON: 85.9
Beno Udrih
It was another day in the sun for the Spurs’ rookie point guard from Slovenia. The 22-year-old finished with 12 points and three assists, as he was 4-for-5 from the field and 3-for-4 from three-point land. For the month of December, Udrih is shooting 63.3% from the field. It is hard to think that the Spurs imagined that he could be playing this well this early in the season. With Parker questionable for the upcoming game versus the Magic, it will be Udrih stepping into the starting role if Parker is unable to play.
GRADE: 94
DECEMBER: 85.6
SEASON: 82.3
Robert Horry
Horry looks to be playing better and better as the season progresses. In 16 minutes of playing time, Horry was all over the place. He scored four points, pulled down four rebounds, blocked two shots and had two steals. When he can play that total game where he is being active on the court, he’s a plus for the Spurs. The only negative was him tying his season-high for turnovers with three.
GRADE: 88
DECEMBER: 83.7
SEASON: 83.6
Malik Rose
Despite playing with a dislocated finger on his left hand, Rose had a good showing against Cleveland. In ten minutes, he had seven points including a vicious one-handed throw down over Brazilian rookie Anderson Varejao (or “Sideshow Bob” as he was called after the game in reference to the character on “The Simpsons”). Though he had some foul trouble, the Spurs’ coaching staff also limited his minutes to give his finger more time to heal. Sideshow Bob probably now wishes that Rose had been given the night off.
GRADE: 85
DECEMBER: 84.7
SEASON: 85.6
Brent Barry
Who? The Spurs’ big free-agent pickup of the offseason is barely seeing the court now for San Antonio. With three straight games with less than ten minutes of playing time, neither Barry nor the Spurs could be too happy with the current situation. In all likelihood, Barry will work his way back onto the court by playing solid defense and hitting open shots. However, until his does so, he’ll have plenty of games like he had against the Cavs – one points, no assists and no rebounds in eight minutes.
GRADE: 75
DECEMBER: 73
SEASON: 81.8
In one of his most efficient games of his career, Duncan single-handedly dismantled the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night. He was virtually flawless offensively, connecting on 13-of-15 shots from the field on his way to 34 points. Defensively he owned the paint, blocking four shots and altering many others. Although he only finished with seven rebounds, that was more of a case of the Spurs not missing too many shots. For the game, the Spurs shot 66.2% from the floor. Also encouraging for Duncan was his free throw shooting. He was 8-for-10 from the charity stripe and is 73.8% from the line for the month of December.
GRADE: 98
DECEMBER: 89
SEASON: 88.3
Bruce Bowen
The Cavaliers dared Bowen to beat them from the outside, and Bowen did his part to make that happen. He scored 20 points, shooting 8-for-11 from the field, 3-for-5 from beyond the arc and 1-for-2 at the line. When Bowen is shooting that well, it is nearly impossible to stop the Spurs. On defense, Bowen was solid but LeBron James still had a big night. James finished with 23 points, 10 assists and six rebounds despite being guarded by one of the top defenders in the league.
GRADE: 94
DECEMBER: 84.1
SEASON: 84.1
Rasho Nesterovic
Nesterovic seems to be finding his rhythm. Having struggled for the better part of two weeks, he’s come around the last couple games and is now playing well again. Nesterovic had two dunks against the Cavs, his second and third dunks of the season. He also hit both of his free-throw attempts for only the second time this year. All in all, it was a very good performance for the Spurs’ starting center. In 29 minutes, he finished with 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field. He was still far from perfect however, finishing with only two rebounds and no blocked shots.
GRADE: 87
DECEMBER: 73.6
SEASON: 81.7
Manu Ginobili
Ginobili had a rough game Saturday. He scored only two points, as he hit 1-of-5 shots from the field. In the last three games, Ginobili has a total of only three made two-point field goals. With fatigue most likely the main culprit, the extra few days the Spurs had off should really help the Argentinean energizer. With the amount of effort he puts into each play on the court, it’s no wonder how he can tire fast. Although he wasn’t very effective offensively, he did help out in other areas as he finished with four assists, three rebounds and a steal.
GRADE: 78
DECEMBER: 84.4
SEASON: 87.7
Tony Parker
In his best overall game of the season, Parker was a dominating force – creating, distributing and scoring. He finished with 18 points and a season-high 13 assists, ten of which came in the first half. Parker led the Spurs’ offensive attack and produced plenty of open shots by breaking down Cleveland’s defense. As a playmaker, Parker was as good as it gets. He also shot the ball well, hitting 5-of-9 shots from the field and 7-of-9 from the line. The downer was the fact that Parker hurt his groin at some point in the game, putting his availability for Wednesday night’s game against the Orlando Magic in doubt.
GRADE: 98
DECEMBER: 88.3
SEASON: 84.2
Devin Brown
While the scoring wasn’t there for Brown, his all-around game flourished. He had five rebounds and five assists, to go along his four points on 2-of-5 shooting from the field. His five assists tied a career-high. Scoring has been the most obvious part of Brown’s game in recent weeks, but the Spurs need him to defend, rebound and create for others just as much as they need him to score.
GRADE: 89
DECEMBER: 89.6
SEASON: 85.9
Beno Udrih
It was another day in the sun for the Spurs’ rookie point guard from Slovenia. The 22-year-old finished with 12 points and three assists, as he was 4-for-5 from the field and 3-for-4 from three-point land. For the month of December, Udrih is shooting 63.3% from the field. It is hard to think that the Spurs imagined that he could be playing this well this early in the season. With Parker questionable for the upcoming game versus the Magic, it will be Udrih stepping into the starting role if Parker is unable to play.
GRADE: 94
DECEMBER: 85.6
SEASON: 82.3
Robert Horry
Horry looks to be playing better and better as the season progresses. In 16 minutes of playing time, Horry was all over the place. He scored four points, pulled down four rebounds, blocked two shots and had two steals. When he can play that total game where he is being active on the court, he’s a plus for the Spurs. The only negative was him tying his season-high for turnovers with three.
GRADE: 88
DECEMBER: 83.7
SEASON: 83.6
Malik Rose
Despite playing with a dislocated finger on his left hand, Rose had a good showing against Cleveland. In ten minutes, he had seven points including a vicious one-handed throw down over Brazilian rookie Anderson Varejao (or “Sideshow Bob” as he was called after the game in reference to the character on “The Simpsons”). Though he had some foul trouble, the Spurs’ coaching staff also limited his minutes to give his finger more time to heal. Sideshow Bob probably now wishes that Rose had been given the night off.
GRADE: 85
DECEMBER: 84.7
SEASON: 85.6
Brent Barry
Who? The Spurs’ big free-agent pickup of the offseason is barely seeing the court now for San Antonio. With three straight games with less than ten minutes of playing time, neither Barry nor the Spurs could be too happy with the current situation. In all likelihood, Barry will work his way back onto the court by playing solid defense and hitting open shots. However, until his does so, he’ll have plenty of games like he had against the Cavs – one points, no assists and no rebounds in eight minutes.
GRADE: 75
DECEMBER: 73
SEASON: 81.8