timvp
01-04-2008, 12:54 AM
This was old school Spurs basketball tonight in the contest against the Denver Nuggets. The Spurs struggled all night to score, their star players didn't play too well and yet their defense almost pulled out the victory. If it wasn’t for some bad luck and some bad play in the final two minutes of the game, the Spurs would have pulled out a really impressive win. Instead, the Spurs ended up dropping the game 80-77.
I don’t think there’s anything much to be disappointed with about this loss. If Manu Ginobili is on the court, I think the Spurs win handily. That was the exact type of atmosphere he thrives in. Missing Brent Barry also didn’t help.
That said, you have to give some props to the Nuggets. They played hard and their bigmen were extremely active. With Marcus Camby, Kenyon Martin, Nene and Eduardo Najera, the Nuggets have some impressive bigs to throw at teams. Their blocks (seven for Martin, four for Camby and three for Nene) were the Nuggets’ biggest weapon.
-I though Tim Duncan played really hard. He got angry about a couple no-calls and instead of complaining, Duncan just played harder. I was really impressed with his overall effort. However, I wouldn’t say this was one of his more efficient games. He missed 13-of-20 shots from the field, turned the ball over four times and got blocked five times. He did effort his way to 20 points and 14 rebounds in 39 minutes, which was pretty impressive considering the waves of bigmen the Nuggets could throw at him. Bottomline is Duncan wasn't at his best but he did give it his all.
-Tony Parker was another player who struggled but played hard. He got blocked a mind-boggling seven times by the Nuggets and struggled all night with fatigue and a lack of explosion. I’m not sure if his ankle is still bothering him or the time off combined with the altitude did it, but Parker didn’t have his legs. Despite that, Parker kept plugging away and was one of the players to keep the Spurs close. He finished with 20 points, nine assists while only turning the ball over twice. Of the shots he didn’t get blocked, he hit 8-of-12. Parker also had the second highest plus/minus on the team at +8. Parker and the Spurs have to correct whatever is ailing him though because the Spurs need a healthy Parker to win a championship – not this non-explosive version of Parker.
-Bruce Bowen’s defense was again impressive. No matter if he was on Allen Iverson or Carmelo Anthony, he was defending both effectively. He looked as quick and as strong as ever. His defense was dominating at times, which helped him have a team-high plus/minus of +14. Offensively he didn't do much, which was the case for many a Spur tonight.
-Michael Finley again did a nice job serving as the team’s third option on offense. For a stretch in the fourth quarter, he carried the team offensively. He was coming off of screens nicely and opening up the offense for everyone else to operate. Finley also had a nice bounce pass for an assist late in the game that helped the Spurs go up by four – before the late game collapse. 18 points, eight rebounds, two assists, no turnovers on 6-for-13 shooting is a great line for Finley.
-Robert Horry got another start and yet again didn’t do much. The Spurs are obviously trying to get him in shape but his offense is worse than usual – even for Horry at this early point of the season. In this game, Horry was 0-for-3 and is now 4-for-22 on the season. He has missed his last 11 shots from the floor, with all but two of those attempts being three-pointers. It’s too early to give up on him but Horry’s offense needs to come around sooner rather than later.
-Matt Bonner had an odd game. Usually, Bonner is a guy who plays poor defense yet rebounds. This game, his defense was actually as good as it has been all season, but he only grabbed three boards in 24 minutes. Bonner’s defense was impressive, although he did have a timely mistake late defending against Martin which allowed the Nuggets to take the lead. He didn’t shoot too well (3-for-8 from the field, 2-for-6 from beyond the arc) but Bonner was relatively effective.
-Fabricio Oberto again struggled with his countryman out of the lineup. Oberto missed the only shot he took, dropping him to 2-for-11 since Ginobili has been out. With Ginobili healthy, Oberto was shooting 66.4% from the floor. In his 17 minutes of action tonight, Oberto had a team-worst plus/minus of -15. Whatever the reason, Oberto has been massively out of sorts as of late and it’s hurting the team.
-Jacque Vaughn again played better this game when he was at shooting guard rather than point guard. In Vaughn’s first stint at point guard when he came in to replace Parker, he let a three-point deficit escalate to a 14-point deficit. In his next stint on the court, he came in at shooting guard and helped the team erase a big Nugget lead. The problem is Vaughn needs to play well when he’s at point guard. The last few games, teams have gone on big runs with Vaughn at point guard. Without Ginobili, Vaughn’s job gets a lot more difficult but he can’t continually put the Spurs in big holes that they have to climb out.
-Ime Udoka played some passable defense against Anthony – and that’s the most positive thing that can be said about Udoka tonight. His offense was poor and he didn’t rebound at all. In his 11 minutes of playing time, the Spurs were -11 in plus/minus. Udoka missed all three of his shots, making him 3-for-18 from the floor in the last three games. This stretch of games has pretty much closed the door on Udoka becoming a serious contributor this season. He had a chance to step up with Ginobili and Barry out and has failed to do so.
-Francisco Elson and DerMarr Johnson got a couple minutes against their former team. These two ex-Nuggets did little of note. Elson failed to chase down a loose ball once and Johnson got a layup off of a nice pass – but that was about the extent of their combined production.
-This would have been a really nice win and it’s disappointing that some of the blame late in the game belongs to the coaching staff (and career 14% three-point shooting Anthony Carter hitting one from deep). I thought Pop should have called a time out to setup a play when the Spurs had a chance to re-take the lead late. Even if Pop felt confident that the team could get a good shot, the players were obviously winded and could have used the timeout. After the Spurs missed the shot, Pop also should have had the team either foul right away or try to get a rebound. Fouling late in the shot clock made no sense.
Overall though, I was happy with the effort the team gave. They were shorthanded playing against a very good home team that averages 110 point per game in their arena. To hold the Nuggets 30 points below their average at home was perhaps the best defensive effort of the season. The offense will be there, especially when Ginobili and Barry return, but this is the type of championship level defense the Spurs need to show they can play this season.
I don’t think there’s anything much to be disappointed with about this loss. If Manu Ginobili is on the court, I think the Spurs win handily. That was the exact type of atmosphere he thrives in. Missing Brent Barry also didn’t help.
That said, you have to give some props to the Nuggets. They played hard and their bigmen were extremely active. With Marcus Camby, Kenyon Martin, Nene and Eduardo Najera, the Nuggets have some impressive bigs to throw at teams. Their blocks (seven for Martin, four for Camby and three for Nene) were the Nuggets’ biggest weapon.
-I though Tim Duncan played really hard. He got angry about a couple no-calls and instead of complaining, Duncan just played harder. I was really impressed with his overall effort. However, I wouldn’t say this was one of his more efficient games. He missed 13-of-20 shots from the field, turned the ball over four times and got blocked five times. He did effort his way to 20 points and 14 rebounds in 39 minutes, which was pretty impressive considering the waves of bigmen the Nuggets could throw at him. Bottomline is Duncan wasn't at his best but he did give it his all.
-Tony Parker was another player who struggled but played hard. He got blocked a mind-boggling seven times by the Nuggets and struggled all night with fatigue and a lack of explosion. I’m not sure if his ankle is still bothering him or the time off combined with the altitude did it, but Parker didn’t have his legs. Despite that, Parker kept plugging away and was one of the players to keep the Spurs close. He finished with 20 points, nine assists while only turning the ball over twice. Of the shots he didn’t get blocked, he hit 8-of-12. Parker also had the second highest plus/minus on the team at +8. Parker and the Spurs have to correct whatever is ailing him though because the Spurs need a healthy Parker to win a championship – not this non-explosive version of Parker.
-Bruce Bowen’s defense was again impressive. No matter if he was on Allen Iverson or Carmelo Anthony, he was defending both effectively. He looked as quick and as strong as ever. His defense was dominating at times, which helped him have a team-high plus/minus of +14. Offensively he didn't do much, which was the case for many a Spur tonight.
-Michael Finley again did a nice job serving as the team’s third option on offense. For a stretch in the fourth quarter, he carried the team offensively. He was coming off of screens nicely and opening up the offense for everyone else to operate. Finley also had a nice bounce pass for an assist late in the game that helped the Spurs go up by four – before the late game collapse. 18 points, eight rebounds, two assists, no turnovers on 6-for-13 shooting is a great line for Finley.
-Robert Horry got another start and yet again didn’t do much. The Spurs are obviously trying to get him in shape but his offense is worse than usual – even for Horry at this early point of the season. In this game, Horry was 0-for-3 and is now 4-for-22 on the season. He has missed his last 11 shots from the floor, with all but two of those attempts being three-pointers. It’s too early to give up on him but Horry’s offense needs to come around sooner rather than later.
-Matt Bonner had an odd game. Usually, Bonner is a guy who plays poor defense yet rebounds. This game, his defense was actually as good as it has been all season, but he only grabbed three boards in 24 minutes. Bonner’s defense was impressive, although he did have a timely mistake late defending against Martin which allowed the Nuggets to take the lead. He didn’t shoot too well (3-for-8 from the field, 2-for-6 from beyond the arc) but Bonner was relatively effective.
-Fabricio Oberto again struggled with his countryman out of the lineup. Oberto missed the only shot he took, dropping him to 2-for-11 since Ginobili has been out. With Ginobili healthy, Oberto was shooting 66.4% from the floor. In his 17 minutes of action tonight, Oberto had a team-worst plus/minus of -15. Whatever the reason, Oberto has been massively out of sorts as of late and it’s hurting the team.
-Jacque Vaughn again played better this game when he was at shooting guard rather than point guard. In Vaughn’s first stint at point guard when he came in to replace Parker, he let a three-point deficit escalate to a 14-point deficit. In his next stint on the court, he came in at shooting guard and helped the team erase a big Nugget lead. The problem is Vaughn needs to play well when he’s at point guard. The last few games, teams have gone on big runs with Vaughn at point guard. Without Ginobili, Vaughn’s job gets a lot more difficult but he can’t continually put the Spurs in big holes that they have to climb out.
-Ime Udoka played some passable defense against Anthony – and that’s the most positive thing that can be said about Udoka tonight. His offense was poor and he didn’t rebound at all. In his 11 minutes of playing time, the Spurs were -11 in plus/minus. Udoka missed all three of his shots, making him 3-for-18 from the floor in the last three games. This stretch of games has pretty much closed the door on Udoka becoming a serious contributor this season. He had a chance to step up with Ginobili and Barry out and has failed to do so.
-Francisco Elson and DerMarr Johnson got a couple minutes against their former team. These two ex-Nuggets did little of note. Elson failed to chase down a loose ball once and Johnson got a layup off of a nice pass – but that was about the extent of their combined production.
-This would have been a really nice win and it’s disappointing that some of the blame late in the game belongs to the coaching staff (and career 14% three-point shooting Anthony Carter hitting one from deep). I thought Pop should have called a time out to setup a play when the Spurs had a chance to re-take the lead late. Even if Pop felt confident that the team could get a good shot, the players were obviously winded and could have used the timeout. After the Spurs missed the shot, Pop also should have had the team either foul right away or try to get a rebound. Fouling late in the shot clock made no sense.
Overall though, I was happy with the effort the team gave. They were shorthanded playing against a very good home team that averages 110 point per game in their arena. To hold the Nuggets 30 points below their average at home was perhaps the best defensive effort of the season. The offense will be there, especially when Ginobili and Barry return, but this is the type of championship level defense the Spurs need to show they can play this season.