timvp
12-31-2007, 01:17 AM
After a poor first quarter in which the whole team outside of Bruce Bowen played soft defense, the Spurs stepped it up and crushed the Memphis Grizzlies 111-87. In the last three quarters, the Spurs outscored the Grizzlies 89-55 as they rolled to a relatively easy 24 point victory.
Winning without both Manu Ginobili and Brent Barry was a plus. It was a little over a week ago that the Grizzlies beat the Spurs on a Rudy Gay three-pointer at the buzzer. This time, the Spurs gave a much better effort and had some players knock down some difficult shots.
For the Grizzlies, Gay impressed yet again. At only 21-years-old, there’s no reason Gay can’t become a star. Pau Gasol, who was out injured the last time the two teams played, had some moments but was held in check for the most part.
-Tim Duncan had a vintage Tim Duncan game. In 34 minutes, Duncan finished with 24 points, 17 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks, while connecting on 10-of-20 shots from field. The only downside to his game were his five turnovers but otherwise Duncan was fantastic. His energy level was high and he came out and played determined basketball. His teammates also did a good job of finding him in spots where he could produce. After a sub par outing against the Toronto Raptors, it was a nice bounce back game for Duncan. Duncan had his sixth straight game with at least 11 rebounds. During that stretch, he's averaging 20.8 points and 14.8 rebounds. Against the Grizzlies, Duncan had a team best plus/minus of +30.
-Tony Parker did a better job of being much more aggressive than he was last game. Against the Raptors, Parker wasn’t attacking as much as he should. He came out against the Grizzlies in attack mode and it paid off for him. He finished with 24 points, nine assists and four rebounds in 34 minutes of action. His aggressiveness helped him get to the line as he went 12-for-12 from the charity stripe.
-Bruce Bowen had one of his better defensive performances of the season. Matched up against Mike Miller, Bowen didn’t even allow Miller to get off a shot attempt until halfway through the third quarter. That’s a huge improvement from the last game against the Grizzlies where Miller had a season-high 31 points. Bowen had the second highest plus/minus on the team at +21.
-Michael Finley again did a good job of finding spots in the offense to get his shots. This time, he did a very good job of connecting on those shots. Finley scored a season-high 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field. Finley also banged in 5-of-7 three-point attempts. Finley has quietly started to heat up. This was his eighth straight game with double-figures in points, and the tenth time in his last eleven contests. In those 11 games, Finley is averaging 14.6 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 46.2% from the field and 40.9% from three-point land. With that kind of production, Finley becomes a huge asset for this team.
-Robert Horry got the start but didn’t do much. In 16 minutes, Horry had two boards, two assists and no points. He missed all three shots he attempted, dropping his field goal percentage to 21.1% on the season. Sooner or later Horry will turn it around. However, he needs to start showing signs of some sort of offensive life to keep the coaching staff confident in him.
-Matt Bonner had a very good outing. He infused a lot of energy into the game for the Spurs in the first half on both ends of the court. His 14 first half points helped the Spurs seize control of the ballgame. After a slow start to the season, Bonner has really come on strong. He’s shooting well as of late, connecting on 50% of his field goal attempts and 40.6% of his three-point attempts in his last 15 games. In that time span, Bonner is averaging 8.1 points and 4.5 rebounds in 17 minutes per game.
-Ime Udoka had his second straight poor shooting night. With Ginobili and Barry out, Udoka had a shot to carve out his niche in the rotation. However, his poor shooting has disrupted those plans. He finished 1-for-6 from the floor and 0-for-2 from beyond the arc. He played good defense in his time on the court but he has to knock down more shots to earn more playing time.
-Jacque Vaughn had one of his better games of the season. In 20 minutes, he had eight points, four assists and no turnovers. He finished with a plus/minus of +14 for the game. Amazingly enough, he even put in some quality minutes at shooting guard. Vaughn and Parker played six minutes together, during which time Parker ran the point and Vaughn went to the off guard position. Vaughn responded with a couple of baskets out of that formation. Defensively, Vaughn threw his body around like usual.
-Fabricio Oberto came off the bench and did next to nothing in his 11 minutes of playing time. He finished with two rebounds, no points and two turnovers in his time on the court. He also finished with a team low in plus/minus at -9. Over the last four games without Ginobili, Oberto has really struggled. He has only six points in those four games and is 2-for-10 from the field. It’s too early to conclusively say Oberto is dependant on Ginobili but it’s starting to look that way.
-Francisco Elson didn’t get off the bench until garbage time but he actually played well in his four minutes of mop up duty. He had six points, three rebounds and hit all three of his shots. Now he needs to actually do that when it counts.
-Keith Langford and DerMarr Johnson got some decent run tonight. Both players knocked down perimeter jumpers. There’s nothing much to note other than Langford is tiny for his position while Johnson is extremely tall for his position. That's about the extend of what each showed while on the court. That said, Johnson did pull off a rare feat that might not have been accomplished during the Popovich Era. DerMarr sported cornrows, a headband and high socks – giving him a rare balla triple play. Somewhere Ghost Writer smiles.
-Pop did a better job of avoiding some of the more horrible lineups that he trotted out on the court last game. It looks like he figured out that without Ginobili or Barry, he has to play Bonner to spread the court. Bonner responded nicely with his play in the first half. However, the biggest difference this game is the players just played better. Against the Raptors, everyone was bad. This game, almost everyone stepped up and played well. The Spurs now have off until Thursday. Hopefully Ginobili will be ready to go at that point as the Spurs will enter a stretch where they play four games in five nights.
Winning without both Manu Ginobili and Brent Barry was a plus. It was a little over a week ago that the Grizzlies beat the Spurs on a Rudy Gay three-pointer at the buzzer. This time, the Spurs gave a much better effort and had some players knock down some difficult shots.
For the Grizzlies, Gay impressed yet again. At only 21-years-old, there’s no reason Gay can’t become a star. Pau Gasol, who was out injured the last time the two teams played, had some moments but was held in check for the most part.
-Tim Duncan had a vintage Tim Duncan game. In 34 minutes, Duncan finished with 24 points, 17 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks, while connecting on 10-of-20 shots from field. The only downside to his game were his five turnovers but otherwise Duncan was fantastic. His energy level was high and he came out and played determined basketball. His teammates also did a good job of finding him in spots where he could produce. After a sub par outing against the Toronto Raptors, it was a nice bounce back game for Duncan. Duncan had his sixth straight game with at least 11 rebounds. During that stretch, he's averaging 20.8 points and 14.8 rebounds. Against the Grizzlies, Duncan had a team best plus/minus of +30.
-Tony Parker did a better job of being much more aggressive than he was last game. Against the Raptors, Parker wasn’t attacking as much as he should. He came out against the Grizzlies in attack mode and it paid off for him. He finished with 24 points, nine assists and four rebounds in 34 minutes of action. His aggressiveness helped him get to the line as he went 12-for-12 from the charity stripe.
-Bruce Bowen had one of his better defensive performances of the season. Matched up against Mike Miller, Bowen didn’t even allow Miller to get off a shot attempt until halfway through the third quarter. That’s a huge improvement from the last game against the Grizzlies where Miller had a season-high 31 points. Bowen had the second highest plus/minus on the team at +21.
-Michael Finley again did a good job of finding spots in the offense to get his shots. This time, he did a very good job of connecting on those shots. Finley scored a season-high 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field. Finley also banged in 5-of-7 three-point attempts. Finley has quietly started to heat up. This was his eighth straight game with double-figures in points, and the tenth time in his last eleven contests. In those 11 games, Finley is averaging 14.6 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 46.2% from the field and 40.9% from three-point land. With that kind of production, Finley becomes a huge asset for this team.
-Robert Horry got the start but didn’t do much. In 16 minutes, Horry had two boards, two assists and no points. He missed all three shots he attempted, dropping his field goal percentage to 21.1% on the season. Sooner or later Horry will turn it around. However, he needs to start showing signs of some sort of offensive life to keep the coaching staff confident in him.
-Matt Bonner had a very good outing. He infused a lot of energy into the game for the Spurs in the first half on both ends of the court. His 14 first half points helped the Spurs seize control of the ballgame. After a slow start to the season, Bonner has really come on strong. He’s shooting well as of late, connecting on 50% of his field goal attempts and 40.6% of his three-point attempts in his last 15 games. In that time span, Bonner is averaging 8.1 points and 4.5 rebounds in 17 minutes per game.
-Ime Udoka had his second straight poor shooting night. With Ginobili and Barry out, Udoka had a shot to carve out his niche in the rotation. However, his poor shooting has disrupted those plans. He finished 1-for-6 from the floor and 0-for-2 from beyond the arc. He played good defense in his time on the court but he has to knock down more shots to earn more playing time.
-Jacque Vaughn had one of his better games of the season. In 20 minutes, he had eight points, four assists and no turnovers. He finished with a plus/minus of +14 for the game. Amazingly enough, he even put in some quality minutes at shooting guard. Vaughn and Parker played six minutes together, during which time Parker ran the point and Vaughn went to the off guard position. Vaughn responded with a couple of baskets out of that formation. Defensively, Vaughn threw his body around like usual.
-Fabricio Oberto came off the bench and did next to nothing in his 11 minutes of playing time. He finished with two rebounds, no points and two turnovers in his time on the court. He also finished with a team low in plus/minus at -9. Over the last four games without Ginobili, Oberto has really struggled. He has only six points in those four games and is 2-for-10 from the field. It’s too early to conclusively say Oberto is dependant on Ginobili but it’s starting to look that way.
-Francisco Elson didn’t get off the bench until garbage time but he actually played well in his four minutes of mop up duty. He had six points, three rebounds and hit all three of his shots. Now he needs to actually do that when it counts.
-Keith Langford and DerMarr Johnson got some decent run tonight. Both players knocked down perimeter jumpers. There’s nothing much to note other than Langford is tiny for his position while Johnson is extremely tall for his position. That's about the extend of what each showed while on the court. That said, Johnson did pull off a rare feat that might not have been accomplished during the Popovich Era. DerMarr sported cornrows, a headband and high socks – giving him a rare balla triple play. Somewhere Ghost Writer smiles.
-Pop did a better job of avoiding some of the more horrible lineups that he trotted out on the court last game. It looks like he figured out that without Ginobili or Barry, he has to play Bonner to spread the court. Bonner responded nicely with his play in the first half. However, the biggest difference this game is the players just played better. Against the Raptors, everyone was bad. This game, almost everyone stepped up and played well. The Spurs now have off until Thursday. Hopefully Ginobili will be ready to go at that point as the Spurs will enter a stretch where they play four games in five nights.