timvp
12-16-2007, 01:28 AM
First off, it was nice to see Tim Duncan back out on the court. It’s easy to take him for granted and forget how much easier he makes the game for everyone around him.
As far as the game, I thought it was a solid showing, especially considering Tony Parker was out with a sprained ankle. It wasn’t a great win because the Nuggets played horrible at times and made it easy for the Spurs, but it was at least nice to get back on the winning track. The Spurs got some good performances from a variety of players and were able to stay undefeated at home.
I wasn’t too impressed with the Nuggets. In the middle two quarters, their defense was pathetic. Offensively, it didn’t appear that they had a plan at all. I’ve seen them play better this season but this certainly was not one of their better outings. Without Kenyon Martin and Nene, Denver was much softer in the middle than usual.
-Tim Duncan’s stats are pretty ugly. He had eight points and five rebounds, while shooting 4-for-10 from the court. However, it didn’t take him long to show why he’s so valuable. Duncan attracts so much attention that the game become much easier for everyone around him. His defense wasn’t great but it was far better than anything the Spurs saw out of a bigman in his absence. Duncan looked relatively healthy even though he was moving painfully slow at times. Hopefully he was just taking extra caution as he worked his way back into action.
-Manu Ginobili looked good at times and bad at times. Most of the good came in the third quarter when he scored all 11 of his points and looked like the Ginobili we’ve come to expect this season. In the other three quarters, Ginobili was 0-for-6 from the field and failed to get to the line. You have to give him credit for his seven assists but overall he seemed out of sync and was forcing the action way too much, which led to a team-high four turnovers. Against the Nuggets specifically, Ginobili really missed having Parker at his side. For one, the Nuggets could put a better defender on him than they usually can because they didn’t have to worry about Jacque Vaughn. Secondly, Ginobili had to spend time defensively on Allen Iverson, which doesn’t happen if Parker is healthy. Overall though, this was a much better outing for Ginobili compared to the last two nightmares.
-Bruce Bowen had his hands full tonight spending time defensively on both Iverson and Carmelo Anthony. On the whole, Bowen did a very good job on whoever he was matched up against. There were a couple of possessions where he was out of position but there’s really no way you complain about his effort.
-Fabricio Oberto had yet another fantastic game. In one of the best games of his career, he had 21 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, one block and no turnovers, while hitting 10-of-11 shots from the field. He really played well in the first half, where he put up a team-high and already season-high 15 points. Oberto played great next to Duncan and his short jumper was as automatic as it’s ever been. Under the radar, Oberto has become a very legitimate NBA center. This nearly flawless outing was just another example of how well he has played this year.
-In a starting role, Michael Finley had one of his best games of the season. He had 21 points, six rebounds, four assists and knocked down 8-of-12 shots from the field and 4-of-5 shots from beyond the three-point line. His plus/minus showed just how well he played as he finished +27, which was far and away the best mark on the team. Finley has had a rollercoaster season but it seems that finally there are more ups than there are downs.
-Jacque Vaughn played much better in his second start of the season. In 34 minutes, he had ten points, six assists and three rebounds. The offense got stagnant at times while he was on the court but overall he played much, much better than he did against the Lakers. His all out hustle was on full display and his defense was quite good.
-Brent Barry was big early on in the game when the Spurs couldn’t make a basket. He came in and helped jumpstart the offense. He finished with 14 points, four rebounds and three assists, as he scored in double figures in back-to-back games for the first time this season. Defensively he wasn’t great but I liked how he stuck his nose in there and competed.
-I thought Darius Washington took a step back in his development tonight. His clock management, especially at the end of quarters and the end of shot clocks, was poor. He had a couple of possessions where he didn’t make the passes he needed to make. In fairness, he is still very raw but this game didn’t make Pop gain any confidence in him. He still has a lot of work to do before he’s capable of playing championship caliber basketball.
-First of all, I hope his ankle injury at the end of the game turns out to be not serious. It looked like he twisted it pretty good. Best wishes to him. But Francisco Elson was horrible. He had a plus/minus of -16 in less than 12 minutes of action. His defense remains clueless while his offense doesn’t help matters. He was going up against his idol Marcus Camby and didn’t do much of anything. Hopefully the ankle injury was Elson’s way of honoring Camby and wasn’t an actual injury that will sideline him.
-Ime Udoka was like the swingman version of Elson tonight. He had a -12 plus/minus in eight minutes of play. He looked out of sync more than usual and wasn’t really helping in any area. Udoka has shown glimpses but remains a project at this point.
-Robert Horry played just six minutes and missed all three of his shots, all from downtown. This was the first game that Horry looked his age. He wasn’t moving too well and his lack of conditioning was evident. But then again, this is Robert Horry and he’s going to have regular season games like this.
-Matt Bonner was victim of a classic Pop DNP-CD. After starting two consecutive games, Bonner didn’t get off the bench for the Spurs tonight. It’s tough to blame the coaching staff though because last game against the Lakers Bonner put up a goose egg when he could have really made a case for himself in terms of getting minutes in the rotation.
-Pop did a good job overall. He let Duncan get out there for 20 minutes to shake the rust off and kept him on the bench when the Nuggets were making their late run. I also liked how he didn’t overplay Ginobili even though Parker was out. The Spurs stuck to their guns after a difficult first quarter and broke through in the middle two quarters, outscoring the Nuggets 68-41. The fourth quarter got ugly but that’s what happens when Duncan is on the bench, Parker is out and Ginobili is out of rhythm. Bottomline is it was a good win but more importantly it was nice to have Duncan back in the fold.
As far as the game, I thought it was a solid showing, especially considering Tony Parker was out with a sprained ankle. It wasn’t a great win because the Nuggets played horrible at times and made it easy for the Spurs, but it was at least nice to get back on the winning track. The Spurs got some good performances from a variety of players and were able to stay undefeated at home.
I wasn’t too impressed with the Nuggets. In the middle two quarters, their defense was pathetic. Offensively, it didn’t appear that they had a plan at all. I’ve seen them play better this season but this certainly was not one of their better outings. Without Kenyon Martin and Nene, Denver was much softer in the middle than usual.
-Tim Duncan’s stats are pretty ugly. He had eight points and five rebounds, while shooting 4-for-10 from the court. However, it didn’t take him long to show why he’s so valuable. Duncan attracts so much attention that the game become much easier for everyone around him. His defense wasn’t great but it was far better than anything the Spurs saw out of a bigman in his absence. Duncan looked relatively healthy even though he was moving painfully slow at times. Hopefully he was just taking extra caution as he worked his way back into action.
-Manu Ginobili looked good at times and bad at times. Most of the good came in the third quarter when he scored all 11 of his points and looked like the Ginobili we’ve come to expect this season. In the other three quarters, Ginobili was 0-for-6 from the field and failed to get to the line. You have to give him credit for his seven assists but overall he seemed out of sync and was forcing the action way too much, which led to a team-high four turnovers. Against the Nuggets specifically, Ginobili really missed having Parker at his side. For one, the Nuggets could put a better defender on him than they usually can because they didn’t have to worry about Jacque Vaughn. Secondly, Ginobili had to spend time defensively on Allen Iverson, which doesn’t happen if Parker is healthy. Overall though, this was a much better outing for Ginobili compared to the last two nightmares.
-Bruce Bowen had his hands full tonight spending time defensively on both Iverson and Carmelo Anthony. On the whole, Bowen did a very good job on whoever he was matched up against. There were a couple of possessions where he was out of position but there’s really no way you complain about his effort.
-Fabricio Oberto had yet another fantastic game. In one of the best games of his career, he had 21 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, one block and no turnovers, while hitting 10-of-11 shots from the field. He really played well in the first half, where he put up a team-high and already season-high 15 points. Oberto played great next to Duncan and his short jumper was as automatic as it’s ever been. Under the radar, Oberto has become a very legitimate NBA center. This nearly flawless outing was just another example of how well he has played this year.
-In a starting role, Michael Finley had one of his best games of the season. He had 21 points, six rebounds, four assists and knocked down 8-of-12 shots from the field and 4-of-5 shots from beyond the three-point line. His plus/minus showed just how well he played as he finished +27, which was far and away the best mark on the team. Finley has had a rollercoaster season but it seems that finally there are more ups than there are downs.
-Jacque Vaughn played much better in his second start of the season. In 34 minutes, he had ten points, six assists and three rebounds. The offense got stagnant at times while he was on the court but overall he played much, much better than he did against the Lakers. His all out hustle was on full display and his defense was quite good.
-Brent Barry was big early on in the game when the Spurs couldn’t make a basket. He came in and helped jumpstart the offense. He finished with 14 points, four rebounds and three assists, as he scored in double figures in back-to-back games for the first time this season. Defensively he wasn’t great but I liked how he stuck his nose in there and competed.
-I thought Darius Washington took a step back in his development tonight. His clock management, especially at the end of quarters and the end of shot clocks, was poor. He had a couple of possessions where he didn’t make the passes he needed to make. In fairness, he is still very raw but this game didn’t make Pop gain any confidence in him. He still has a lot of work to do before he’s capable of playing championship caliber basketball.
-First of all, I hope his ankle injury at the end of the game turns out to be not serious. It looked like he twisted it pretty good. Best wishes to him. But Francisco Elson was horrible. He had a plus/minus of -16 in less than 12 minutes of action. His defense remains clueless while his offense doesn’t help matters. He was going up against his idol Marcus Camby and didn’t do much of anything. Hopefully the ankle injury was Elson’s way of honoring Camby and wasn’t an actual injury that will sideline him.
-Ime Udoka was like the swingman version of Elson tonight. He had a -12 plus/minus in eight minutes of play. He looked out of sync more than usual and wasn’t really helping in any area. Udoka has shown glimpses but remains a project at this point.
-Robert Horry played just six minutes and missed all three of his shots, all from downtown. This was the first game that Horry looked his age. He wasn’t moving too well and his lack of conditioning was evident. But then again, this is Robert Horry and he’s going to have regular season games like this.
-Matt Bonner was victim of a classic Pop DNP-CD. After starting two consecutive games, Bonner didn’t get off the bench for the Spurs tonight. It’s tough to blame the coaching staff though because last game against the Lakers Bonner put up a goose egg when he could have really made a case for himself in terms of getting minutes in the rotation.
-Pop did a good job overall. He let Duncan get out there for 20 minutes to shake the rust off and kept him on the bench when the Nuggets were making their late run. I also liked how he didn’t overplay Ginobili even though Parker was out. The Spurs stuck to their guns after a difficult first quarter and broke through in the middle two quarters, outscoring the Nuggets 68-41. The fourth quarter got ugly but that’s what happens when Duncan is on the bench, Parker is out and Ginobili is out of rhythm. Bottomline is it was a good win but more importantly it was nice to have Duncan back in the fold.