timvp
12-03-2007, 04:33 AM
Obviously, this game was overshadowed by the Tim Duncan injury scare. Duncan going down holding his knee is more important than any early season game. That said, the Spurs did a good job of playing through the adversity and easily handled a decent Blazers squad, winning by a final score of 100-79.
Memo to Mr. Schedule Maker:
Please refrain from ever giving the Spurs a meaningless afternoon game again. Tim Duncan, also known as our franchise, seems to either play poorly or get hurt – or both. The last time Duncan went down in such an ugly manner was against the Detroit Pistons in an afternoon affair in 2005. From now on, the Spurs aren’t to play any earlier than 6PM CST.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Spurs Nation
-Tim Duncan’s day was going poorly even before he got injured. In 11 minutes, he was 1-for-7 from the floor with two points and two rebounds. Hopefully, Duncan’s MRI will come out clean and he’ll only be out a short while. Seeing as he apparently hurt both his ankle and his knee, he’ll probably be out a couple weeks – even in the best case scenario.
-Lost in the Duncan panic was the fact that Manu Ginobili actually was the first Spur to take a nasty fall. In the first quarter, Ginobili went up for a layup and collided in mid-air with a Blazer. Ginobili landed hard on the ground and was slow to get up. Reports after the game indicated that Ginobili suffered a strained ligament in his left index finger. Ginobili played the rest of the game but struggled with his shot. In 23 minutes, Ginobili scored 11 points on 2-for-8 shooting from the floor and 6-for-9 shooting from the free throw line.
-Tony Parker played a near flawless game. I’ve found faults in his recent games but this game was nearly perfect for Parker. He finished with 27 points, eight assists, four rebounds and only one turnover in 35 minutes of action. Parker kept the pressure on the Blazers nearly all game. For the contest, Parker was an impressive 11-for-15 from the field.
-Bruce Bowen had another Bruce Bowen game. Matched up against Brandon Roy, Bowen held the reigning Rookie of the Year to only four points on 1-for-9 shooting in 33 minutes. Bowen hit 2-of-3 three-pointers to raise his percentage on the season to 48.9%.
-Michael Finley had yet another tough shooting game. Finley missed 8-of-10 shots and is now just 3-for-21 over his last two contests. Early in the game, Finley’s defense was extremely poor. However, his D improved as the game went.
-Fabricio Oberto was solid ... again. In 25 minutes, Oberto had six points, nine rebounds and made all three of his shots from the field. Oberto is now shooting a blistering 65.3% from the field on the season. Over his last five games, the Argentine bigman has connected on 18-of-23 shots from the field.
-Now is the time for Francisco Elson to step his game up. With Duncan down, he’s going to have a lot of playing time. Against the Blazers, he did well enough. He finished with four points, four rebounds, two assists and a block in 22 minutes. We’ll see how he reacts to increased playing time.
-Brent Barry’s impressive play continues. For the most part, he’s been impressive since his return from his ankle injury. In 25 minutes against Portland, Barry had 17 points, five rebounds and three assists. Barry hit 5-of-7 shots from the field, including 3-of-5 from beyond the three-point line.
-Jacque Vaughn was in the zone on Sunday. Vaughn had ten points on 5-for-6 shooting from the field. He also had two assists, a rebound and a steal. However, the big news was Vaughn’s offense. Vaughn made 3-of-4 shots in the paint against the Blazers, which is shocking. Last season, Vaughn was last in the entire NBA in terms of field goal percentage in the paint at a shade over 39%. This season, Vaughn entered the game even worse – making just 33% of his shots in the paint. Props to Vaughn . . . but I still would rather see him pass than attempt a contested layup.
-In 17 minutes, Matt Bonner finished with seven points on 2-for-4 shooting from the field. The bad news is he grabbed only one rebound in the game. Bonner is another player who is going to have to step up with Duncan out. Luckily, Bonner is actually shooting well as of late. In his last five games, he’s shooting 62.5% (10-for-16) from the floor.
-Ime Udoka played eight quiet minutes. He made 1-of-3 shots from the floor and played decent defense. Udoka is progressing but he’s still not ready to contribute.
-It was really nice to see Robert Horry back out there. Seeing his first action of the season, Horry had two rebounds and two blocks in six minutes. He looked a little heavier and less mobile than usual, but that’s to be expected. His jumping ability looked fine and his defensive awareness was great as usual. Horry is going to really help this team defensively, as he’s easily the team’s second best defensive big.
-You have to give Pop props for keeping his troops focused despite Duncan going down. The Spurs didn’t feel sorry for themselves at all and just kept playing. Pop has done a really nice this year in terms of giving everyone freedom offensively. There are fewer restraints offensively than ever and the players have responded nicely. Against the Blazers, the Spurs had only four turnovers all game. Their defense on a whole was also much improved, as the Blazers shot just 40% from the floor. All that being said, the most notable thing to take from this game is Duncan’s injury and forthcoming MRI. Hopefully the MRI won’t show any major damage and Spurs Nation can exhale.
Memo to Mr. Schedule Maker:
Please refrain from ever giving the Spurs a meaningless afternoon game again. Tim Duncan, also known as our franchise, seems to either play poorly or get hurt – or both. The last time Duncan went down in such an ugly manner was against the Detroit Pistons in an afternoon affair in 2005. From now on, the Spurs aren’t to play any earlier than 6PM CST.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Spurs Nation
-Tim Duncan’s day was going poorly even before he got injured. In 11 minutes, he was 1-for-7 from the floor with two points and two rebounds. Hopefully, Duncan’s MRI will come out clean and he’ll only be out a short while. Seeing as he apparently hurt both his ankle and his knee, he’ll probably be out a couple weeks – even in the best case scenario.
-Lost in the Duncan panic was the fact that Manu Ginobili actually was the first Spur to take a nasty fall. In the first quarter, Ginobili went up for a layup and collided in mid-air with a Blazer. Ginobili landed hard on the ground and was slow to get up. Reports after the game indicated that Ginobili suffered a strained ligament in his left index finger. Ginobili played the rest of the game but struggled with his shot. In 23 minutes, Ginobili scored 11 points on 2-for-8 shooting from the floor and 6-for-9 shooting from the free throw line.
-Tony Parker played a near flawless game. I’ve found faults in his recent games but this game was nearly perfect for Parker. He finished with 27 points, eight assists, four rebounds and only one turnover in 35 minutes of action. Parker kept the pressure on the Blazers nearly all game. For the contest, Parker was an impressive 11-for-15 from the field.
-Bruce Bowen had another Bruce Bowen game. Matched up against Brandon Roy, Bowen held the reigning Rookie of the Year to only four points on 1-for-9 shooting in 33 minutes. Bowen hit 2-of-3 three-pointers to raise his percentage on the season to 48.9%.
-Michael Finley had yet another tough shooting game. Finley missed 8-of-10 shots and is now just 3-for-21 over his last two contests. Early in the game, Finley’s defense was extremely poor. However, his D improved as the game went.
-Fabricio Oberto was solid ... again. In 25 minutes, Oberto had six points, nine rebounds and made all three of his shots from the field. Oberto is now shooting a blistering 65.3% from the field on the season. Over his last five games, the Argentine bigman has connected on 18-of-23 shots from the field.
-Now is the time for Francisco Elson to step his game up. With Duncan down, he’s going to have a lot of playing time. Against the Blazers, he did well enough. He finished with four points, four rebounds, two assists and a block in 22 minutes. We’ll see how he reacts to increased playing time.
-Brent Barry’s impressive play continues. For the most part, he’s been impressive since his return from his ankle injury. In 25 minutes against Portland, Barry had 17 points, five rebounds and three assists. Barry hit 5-of-7 shots from the field, including 3-of-5 from beyond the three-point line.
-Jacque Vaughn was in the zone on Sunday. Vaughn had ten points on 5-for-6 shooting from the field. He also had two assists, a rebound and a steal. However, the big news was Vaughn’s offense. Vaughn made 3-of-4 shots in the paint against the Blazers, which is shocking. Last season, Vaughn was last in the entire NBA in terms of field goal percentage in the paint at a shade over 39%. This season, Vaughn entered the game even worse – making just 33% of his shots in the paint. Props to Vaughn . . . but I still would rather see him pass than attempt a contested layup.
-In 17 minutes, Matt Bonner finished with seven points on 2-for-4 shooting from the field. The bad news is he grabbed only one rebound in the game. Bonner is another player who is going to have to step up with Duncan out. Luckily, Bonner is actually shooting well as of late. In his last five games, he’s shooting 62.5% (10-for-16) from the floor.
-Ime Udoka played eight quiet minutes. He made 1-of-3 shots from the floor and played decent defense. Udoka is progressing but he’s still not ready to contribute.
-It was really nice to see Robert Horry back out there. Seeing his first action of the season, Horry had two rebounds and two blocks in six minutes. He looked a little heavier and less mobile than usual, but that’s to be expected. His jumping ability looked fine and his defensive awareness was great as usual. Horry is going to really help this team defensively, as he’s easily the team’s second best defensive big.
-You have to give Pop props for keeping his troops focused despite Duncan going down. The Spurs didn’t feel sorry for themselves at all and just kept playing. Pop has done a really nice this year in terms of giving everyone freedom offensively. There are fewer restraints offensively than ever and the players have responded nicely. Against the Blazers, the Spurs had only four turnovers all game. Their defense on a whole was also much improved, as the Blazers shot just 40% from the floor. All that being said, the most notable thing to take from this game is Duncan’s injury and forthcoming MRI. Hopefully the MRI won’t show any major damage and Spurs Nation can exhale.