Game Thoughts: Spurs vs. Cavs Jan. 17

[timvp]

The Cleveland Cavaliers came to San Antonio and escaped with a 90-88 victory over the Spurs. The Spurs have been struggling of late and it was more of the same on Thursday. While it wasn’t all bad for the Spurs, the team is still a long ways off from being in playoff form.

Regarding the Cavs, I thought they played pretty well. Mike Brown coached a really good game and put his team in a position to pull off a victory. He kept LeBron James on the bench when the team was doing well without him. He stayed big even when Pop went with a small lineup, which allowed his team to get a number of key rebounds. The Cavs record isn’t very impressive but there’s no reason why they can’t become a better team than they were last year.

For the Spurs, their two weaknesses in recent weeks continue to haunt. First of all, their defense is inconsistent. The Spurs actually did a good job of defending the Cavs when LeBron James was in the game. However, the team let its guard down and didn’t continue their defensive intensity when James went out of the game.

The Spurs other weakness recently has been their offense. The Spurs had a half step of improvement in terms of their Big Three playing relatively well, however the rest of the team did nothing. While the Big Three had 74 points on 27-for-53 shooting (50.9%), the rest of the team had 14 points on 6-of-23 shooting (26.1%). That simply won’t get it done against a quality opponent.

-Tim Duncan was defended well by the Cavs. He struggled a bit with his shot making and to compound issues, his passing wasn’t very good, either. For the game, Duncan finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks in 40 minutes of action. However, Duncan also missed 10-of-17 from the field and had only one assist to go with three turnovers. Duncan was wearing a wrap around his thumb on his right hand during the game, which he wasn’t wearing in the last few contests. That could be part of the reason why his offense wasn’t as effective as it’s been in recent games.

-Manu Ginobili played really well. This was probably his best game since returning from his finger injury. He totaled 31 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals, while connecting on 10-of-15 from the field and 4-of-6 from beyond the three-point line. Offensively, he couldn’t have played any better. If I had to nitpick, I’d say he wasn’t as active defensively as he can be, but a lot of that could be because he was carrying the team offensively.

-Tony Parker continues his highly inconsistent play. If he’d ever have a game where he plays consistently well, the Spurs might be able to break out of their slump. From minute to minute, it’s impossible to know what to expect from Parker. For a stretch in the game, he was playing too recklessly. To his credit, he ended the game playing a lot better. He either scored or assisted on the team’s final 15 points. However, what will be remembered this game is the two free throws Parker missed with 29 seconds to go that could have tied the game.

-Bruce Bowen played a pretty decent game. Defensively, he guarded James about as well as possible. James was forced to take tough shots all night – and that’s all you can really ask. Bowen had a team-high plus/minus of +7. On the other end of the court, Bowen’s offensive struggles continue. He hit only 1-of-4 shots and shot a few more ill-advised shots. His offensive game is in a funk, which isn’t helping the team find its overall rhythm.

-Michael Finley hit 2-of-5 shots from the field – and that was actually the highest percentage of anyone not named Tim, Manu or Tony. Finley also had three rebounds and an assist in his 18 minutes of action. With the Spurs failing to get offense outside of the Big Three, Finley probably deserved more minutes in this game.

-Fabricio Oberto did little in his 18 minutes of action. He wasn’t holding his ground against the Cavs’ bigs defensively, while offensively Oberto didn’t even take a shot. Oberto’s play was a far cry from what we saw in the NBA Finals last year.

-Brent Barry was back from his calf injury and he played 15 good minutes. The first time he touched the ball he made a good pass to Ginobili who hit a three-pointer. That type of ball movement is what the Spurs have lacked in recent weeks. Barry showed his rust when he missed his first four attempts, however he did bounce back by nailing two three-pointers in the fourth quarter. Barry’s six points led the players who are not a part of the Big Three.

-Ime Udoka’s play was encouraging because he showed he was capable of guarding James when Bowen was on the bench. While his defense wasn’t as good as Bowen’s obviously, in the land of defensive mortals it was rather impressive. Offensively, Udoka wasn’t too impressive at all. More passing and less shooting or dribbling would serve him well.

-Jacque Vaughn played ten minutes and held serve. No shots, two assists and no turnovers is a nice stat line for Vaughn.

-Robert Horry played nine minutes and I thought he looked a lot more fluid than he has recently. He was moving pretty well and appeared to be lighter on his feet. In nine minutes, Horry had four rebounds and a steal. His shooting still needs work, as evident by his 0-for-2 showing from the field.

-Matt Bonner’s only minutes of the night were to start the second half of the game. In those six minutes he missed his only shot from the field and pulled down two rebounds. Right now Bonner is being used as an instant energizer.

-Francisco Elson was the second bigman off the bench but he didn’t get a chance to do much in his three minutes of play. He forced up a couple jumpers, pulled down a couple rebounds and then sat back down on the bench for the rest of the game.

-It’s tough to criticize Pop when he’s so uninterested in coaching to win games. He literally went with a 12-man rotation in this game. Mike D’Antoni would faint just pondering that coaching tactic. But seriously, with Barry back and the bigman situation clouded, Pop just decided to play everybody instead of forming a rotation. In a way, it was almost comical.

And really, it’s tough to blame the players outside of the Big Three for not hitting shots because none of those players know what their role is at this point. Pop picking nine or ten players to form a rotation would be the first step this team needs to take to try to win ballgames again. Until then, Pop is coaching like this is some sort of extended preseason.

X’s and O’s wise, I disagreed with a few things Pop did. He put Brent freakin' Barry at power forward for a few minutes in the fourth quarter to go up against Anderson Varejao. I’m not sure if Pop was just trying to be funny or what but hopefully he scraps that idea. I also don’t think Pop gave Ginobili enough rest. When Ginobili entered the game at the end of the fourth quarter, his fuel tank already looked empty. A rested Ginobili takes that rebound down the court and dunks it and sends the game into overtime.

On the positive side, I did like the strategy of not calling a timeout at the end. The Cavs are a really good halfcourt defensive team and their coaching staff knows all the Spurs' plays. Trying to catch them napping with either Ginobili or Parker taking it the length of the court makes sense against the Cavs.

The bottomline is while the Spurs aren’t giving it their all to win these games, it’s not always smart to play with fire. You give away these types of games now and then later in the season you might wish you had taken care of business. It starts with Pop setting a real rotation and then the players revving up the engine. The Big Three played better tonight but the cohesiveness and total team play on both ends of the court is still lacking.

[T Park]

You give away these types of games now and then later in the season you might wish you had taken care of business

eh...

[SpursDynasty]

I hate games like this....this was one of those games to where the opponent wasn't doing anything brilliant. Cleveland wasn't executing some game plan or anything like that, nor showing any above-average level of talent/skill. They just got their shots to go down and we didn't. That's all there is to it. I hate when little losses like these get lumped into the "Spurs are struggling" picture. This loss and the GS overtime loss were bullshit losses.

It's a matter of our shots not falling.

[duncan228]

Nicely done as always, thanks timvp.

I liked the energy I saw at times tonight, especially in the beginning of the game. They were showing more determination than I've seen in a while. It fell apart, but it was there and that is a good sign for things to come.

The other thing that I liked was how pissed Duncan got. If a close game in January can fire him up that much it must be getting close to the time they start to turn it around.
I don't know what the wrap on his hand was, but he rarely does that so there must be something that needed protection. I hope whatever it is clears fast and doesn't hang around and nag at him.

[J.T.]

I hate games like this....this was one of those games to where the opponent wasn't doing anything brilliant. Cleveland wasn't executing some game plan or anything like that, nor showing any above-average level of talent/skill. They just got their shots to go down and we didn't. That's all there is to it. I hate when little losses like these get lumped into the "Spurs are struggling" picture. This loss and the GS overtime loss were bullshit losses.

It's a matter of our shots not falling.

Such is the tragedy of the NBA when night after night, inevitably, one team must have more of its shots fall than its opponent's to win the game.

[SouthernFried]

Actually, I thought some of the calls at the end of the game deserved some mention. Parker getting clobbered in the face on a layup and no call...the charge lebron didn't get called for, and the charge he took that did get called...both calls were wrong. At the end of the game, this could and would have been the difference between a win and a loss.

Nobody likes talking about the refereeing, and I know you shouldn't blame the refs, Spurs shoulda been in a better position anyway...but, sometimes, it is worth noting.

Other than that, Timvp nails it again. Team still looks a little tired and old to me, I still think better conditioning and weight training programs could help this aging team.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

On the positive side, I did like the strategy of not calling a timeout at the end. The Cavs are a really good halfcourt defensive team and their coaching staff knows all the Spurs' plays. Trying to catch them napping with either Ginobili or Parker taking it the length of the court makes sense against the Cavs.

I agree. I watched the post game comments of the Spurs. They all seemed to be on the consensus that they liked that play.
And it's sometimes a good strategy, because it doesn't allow them to get their D set.
During the game it seemed like a pretty good chance to tie. I like how Pop is testing out their decision at this point in the season.



Such is the tragedy of the NBA when night after night, inevitably, one team must have more of its shots fall than its opponent's to win the game.

:lol

I thought the Cavs did a good job defensively (save for the parts when they were clocking Tony in the head three times.), and they also made some key rebounds that they normally would give up on us.

[MagnusKrauss]

i agree that even though the Spurs lost, it was a good game defensively (overall) for the team.

now if only the rest of the team could pick up their offensive game, we'd be set for the RRT.

Go SPAM!!!

[Bruno]

And really, it’s tough to blame the players outside of the Big Three for not hitting shots because none of those players know what their role is at this point. Pop picking nine or ten players to form a rotation would be the first step this team needs to take to try to win ballgames again. Until then, Pop is coaching like this is some sort of extended preseason.

Agree.
Pop said in November that he wasn't comfortable with his players' rotation. Two months later, he looks not only uncomfortable but also lost.

[MONTENEGRINO]

As always, you're brilliant timvp!:) No mistake.
Trade Tony for CP3...

[ShoogarBear]

Your rug is in danger again.

[polandprzem]

What is rug?

[WalterBenitez]

Anyhow, this game was a kind of statement, they could come here and win; even with TP + TD + Manu combined for 20 + 31 + 23; I don't see big differences in the box scores, which means the game was very close.

I won't say that was TP's fault I thik as a team Cavs did a little things better than us, it is january blah blah blah, still hurts this games, losing against those caliber teams are messages sent to entire league.

[slayermin]

At least Barry is back.

I need to temper my expectations for Udoka. I expected him to be the guy that took the Spurs to another level. I guess that isn't happening anytime soon.

[urunobili]

i don;t see here anything about the non called fouls by the referees and also remember.. we lost to this team in the regular season last year too... it is nothing more but a bored Spurs team more concerned about health than basketball at this point

[MONTENEGRINO]

Maybe Spurs are more concerned about health, but c'mon, lose against this caliber Cavs?! Bull..it...

[Slomo]

Nice recap, maybe even a little too nice to the team. I agree it is too early in the season to panic, but we're getting there. I hope the RRT will work its magic as it has in previous years.

I specially hated how the double/triple teams on TD worked. He was unable to break out of them or to pass to the open man, which I thought was the result of poor movement without the ball by his teammates.

I'm not panicking yet. Would mildly concerned be appropriate?

[ata]

I just want to know, when the coach for the ASG will be determinated. I don't expect any stellar play until than.

Face it, Pop doesn't want to coach on ASG - hence cruising.

[Hemotivo]

X’s and O’s wise, I disagreed with a few things Pop did. He put Brent freakin' Barry at power forward for a few minutes in the fourth quarter to go up against Anderson Varejao. I’m not sure if Pop was just trying to be funny or what but hopefully he scraps that idea.
:bang

[1Parker1]

That was a winable game by the Spurs. Their defense was not where it should have been...letting guys like Gibson hit wide open 3's in the clutch in the 4th quarter...not good. Parker has been highly inconsistent...you can tell he was limping noticiably in the 4th quarter. He's also developed Duncan-itis where he complains about every non-call...though in yesterday's game it was mostly true and it was what seemed to have angered him the most and got him to go on that 15 point spree in the 4th. Ginobili was Ginobili. I was more impressed with having Brent Barry in the lineup again. I was happy to see he still wasn't hestitating with his shot and just leting those 3 pointers fly. If he wasn't so rusty, I bet he would have made a couple more of those 3's and that would have opened up the game for the rest of the team.

I also think it's time for Pop to do a lineup change. Whether it's inserting Ginobili back in the starting lineup, or replacing Finley with Barry, it's obvious the Spurs need to do something with it.


Offensively, Udoka wasn’t too impressive at all. More passing and less shooting or dribbling would serve him well.

I do disagree with Timvp on Udoka. I think he's not shooting the ball enough. Every time he got the ball, he'd immediately pass it yesterday. How many shot attempts did he have? 2-3? Udoka's shot is like Barry's in that when he's not hesitiating and just shooting it, it tends to do well for him.

Bowen is also hesitating waaaaaaaaaaaay too much on offense. There was a play in the 4th quarter where Parker/Ginobili got him the ball in the corner 3 and instead of shooting it, he pump-faked and tried to drive it to the basket which he promptly missed! In a crucial time in the 4th, he should have just passed it if he was that hesitant. That play I think lost the Spurs a lot of their momentum also.

[whottt]

You give away these types of games now and then later in the season you might wish you had taken care of business.


I'm going to disagree with this one, at least as it pertains to the Spurs....

I'm no longer worried about if the Spurs have HCA in the playoffs...I think they progressed beyond that being a major need last season...

In fact I wouldn't care if the Spurs were the lowest seed in the playoffs, they'd get a nice player in the draft for sure...and I don't think it would effect their title worthiness in the slightest.

You want HCA for if you have a game 7 in the playoffs. Well, that's only happened one time to the Spurs in this era IIRC, and they had HCA, and they lost that game.


I just don't think having HCA is that big of a deal to the Spurs anymore...if it ever was.

[AFBlue]

What is rug?

My guess is that he's threatening to pee on it....a la Wu, the Chinaman.

[AFBlue]

Good summary overall.

The only thing I'll take issue with was Tony's play. All-in-all I think he played a relatively solid game. There were times that he was aggressive with the ball, took the ball to the hole, got hacked, but never got the call. I can recall two such plays off the top of my head (one late in the game).

Bottom Line: I think this was a decent game for Parker, but I am still concerned about his nagging injury.

[1Parker1]

You want HCA for if you have a game 7 in the playoffs. Well, that's only happened one time to the Spurs in this era IIRC, and they had HCA, and they lost that game .

I think you are forgetting one very important GAME 7 in the 2005 NBA Finals...I'd say having HCA came in very handy that game to push the Spurs to their 3rd title. So I disagree with you that HCA isn't important.

[LEONARD]

I hate games like this....this was one of those games to where the opponent wasn't doing anything brilliant. Cleveland wasn't executing some game plan or anything like that, nor showing any above-average level of talent/skill. They just got their shots to go down and we didn't. That's all there is to it. I hate when little losses like these get lumped into the "Spurs are struggling" picture. This loss and the GS overtime loss were bullshit losses.

It's a matter of our shots not falling.

Genius....pure genius...

SpursDynasty blew your recap away TimVP... :lol

[41times]

The Cavs team sux. I still don't see how they made it to the Finals last year.
But bottom line Lebron is going to get most of the calls, just like the one at the end of the game. The game should not have been that close. The Spurs have got to get more out of their role players. The Big 3 was fine. It's the rest of the dudes that have to step up and contribute.

Of the 240 total minutes played, the Big 3 played 112 minutes and scored 74 points. The rest of the entire team played 128 minutes and scored 14 points! that's pitiful.

So now the Cavs have beaten both the Spurs and the Mavs on the road..........go figure.

[Harry Callahan]

I am getting tired of other teams taking liberties with our players - bludgening Duncan down low, hitting TP in the head on layups and no foul. Oberto getting head butted by queen james and no call (and the queen gets a charge against MG just a few moments before).

That was a disgraceful job by the officials and had a hand in the outcome of the game. I am not surprised those idiot refs had stuff thrown at them as they left the court - a pitiful job last night. I have not seen Duncan that mad very often. I'm tired of the abuse he is taking on a nightly basis with not enough fouls being called.

You'd think the Spurs had just come off of a 30 win season with the amount of BS calls they have been enduring lately.

I hope TP is not having a heel injury that becomes planter fascitis (sp) and dogs him the rest of the year. That is not something we need.

[SAGambler]

Tony says that left foot is still bothering him quite a bit. Will it ever heal with him playing? Maybe he should have sat out a few more games.

Not too worried about them yet. Basically the refs handed Cleveland the win. I normally don't blame losses on missed calls. But last night, so many of them were so blatant and right in front of an official. I can't believe they all watched James lower his head into Fabs stomach, knock him down, and not call an offensive foul. It was so bad, that the Spurs decided why take the risk, when they aren't going to get the call anyway.

I'm also getting rather disillusioned about some of the shots Duncan is taking lately. Certainly taking some non quality shots that have very little chance of falling.

I'm also tiring of Jacque Vaughn "holding serve". Hell, he didn't even seem to have the normal hustle last night. Maybe now that Barry is back, he could serve as the backup point guard. I think some of the stagnation on offense comes when Vaughn first enters the game, and ball movement pretty much ceases.

At least we have Manu playing like Manu again.

I also have a suspicion that once the AS coach is named, and it's not Pop, the Spurs will pick up the intensity. And please don't let the coaches select Tony to the game. He needs R & R for a few days.

[703 Spurz]

The bottomline is while the Spurs aren’t giving it their all to win these games, it’s not always smart to play with fire. You give away these types of games now and then later in the season you might wish you had taken care of business. It starts with Pop setting a real rotation and then the players revving up the engine. The Big Three played better tonight but the cohesiveness and total team play on both ends of the court is still lacking.

You really think the Spurs are just fucking off for the hell of it?

[CavsSuperFan]

When Lebron lowered his head & trampled over Alberto…Was that aggressive play or possibly a foul?

Does anyone have the photo?

[SpurYank]

Still don't understand why all this criticism of a Spurs team that looks like this every year. All they end up doing is win championships. It can't be that Pop is "uninterested in coaching" and it can't be that the Spurs aren't giving it their best. I wonder if Celtics fans felt this way after the Wizards beat them twice, or when the Mavs lost to the Kings recently, or the Lakers last night in their loss to the Suns at home.

What I do believe is that there are hundreds of intervening variables, including heightened performances by opposing players, calls by refs that are very judgmental and could really go more than one way. For example, had it not been Lebron making that drive for the basket for the last two points scored, had it been say Manu, Barry, Tony, a charge could have been called when Oberto did that great job of acting. But it wasn't, had it been a charge and Manu scores, the Spurs win.

I wonder how this thread would look then?

We should wait until it's over before we start being critical. Eva Longoria is right. When professional athletes, in any sport, are in the middle of a game, only the game matters. Nothing else does. Tony's two missed shots go in over 80 percent of the time. Last night was in the 20 percent range.

Win or lose, I enjoy every game the Spurs play, as I did last night's.

[SenorSpur]

Another superb summary!

For those that didn't watch the TNT telecast, Charles Barkley brought up an interesting point regarding the Spurs, who he's been a card-carrying, bandwagon fan for several seasons. His point was this:

Winning those championships and playing so many playoff games deep into the summer each year is a good thing, but it comes with a price. Those factors combined with the active summers for Parker, Ginobili and others, who played for their international teams over recent years, will eventually wear down players over time. Especially for a team that is the perennial "oldest team in the league". He cited the Spurs annual "lack of energy" at this time of the year as evidence.

The Spurs and their FO have chosen to continue to "push the envelope". Rather than tweaking their roster, they elected to bank on the same roster that won the title last season. If they win the title again, the FO will be hailed as geniuses. If it fails, they will be reviled as idiots.

The Miami Heat are suffering the painful consequences of Pat Riley's inaction now. The Pistons learned their lesson this past spring when they couldn't muster up the effort needed to beat Cleveland in the NBA playoffs. Joe Dumars is now very committed toward developing a very formidable bench that includes a couple of young, hungry players behind his veteran starting five.

My point has been, at some point the Spurs will try and "flip the switch" to "dial up" their effort during the season and there will be nothing there. We'll find out after the Rodeo road trip.

[da_suns_fan]

The west is tough....the good news is that the big three are ALL underachieving this year and have the same records as teams like the Trailblazer, Lakers and Hornets who have over-achieved.

Parker has got to make his free throws. Theres no excuse. In fact, his 73% shooting from the line this season is pretty bad for a guard.

[CavsSuperFan]

The Suns are in the "Big Three"... :lol

[da_suns_fan]

The Suns are in the "Big Three"... :lol

I see....so who should replace the Suns in the "Big three" then?

[ploto]

Regarding the Cavs, I thought they played pretty well. Mike Brown coached a really good game and put his team in a position to pull off a victory... He stayed big even when Pop went with a small lineup, which allowed his team to get a number of key rebounds.

I was so pleased to see a coach stay big when the opponent went small-- for once in today's NBA. :)

[wildbill2u]

The rotations by Pop caused a problem IMO> Two of the Big Three would look up and find they were on the court with three guys they weren't used to, playing out of position (Barry at PF?).

For the most part, Pop just left them alone without any instructions to see if they could figure it out for themselves--and they went to one on one basketball. I couldn't believe how many TOs we had. Not Spurs basketball. The shooting percentages were predictable under those circumstances.

Defense was a little lackadaisical until the fourth when Tim and some players and the coach got a little more serious.

The team is a long way from where they were at the beginning of the season. Whether its boredom or Pop's tinkering, they aren't playing nearly as well.

It's stupid to lose home court advantage by losing so many midseason games. The West is too good and we're not THAT good.

[SpursDynasty]

There isn't a "Big Three" in the West. It's the Spurs as the best, and then everyone else.

[wildbill2u]

When Lebron lowered his head & trampled over Alberto…Was that aggressive play or possibly a foul?

Does anyone have the photo?
I think it was just before running into Oberto that James stiff-armed whoever was guarding him, pushing him down and out of the play, and then went around the Cav setting the pick and into Oberto.

One of the announcers said James had played high-school football and that play looked exactly like a running back bulling into the line.

I don't like to bitch about calls because they usually even out, but I thought there were some obviously flagrant fouls that the refs missed last night.

[ShoogarBear]

I think you are forgetting one very important GAME 7 in the 2005 NBA Finals...I'd say having HCA came in very handy that game to push the Spurs to their 3rd title. So I disagree with you that HCA isn't important.:tu whottt only remembers games involving his beloved Mavs.

[whottt]

I think you are forgetting one very important GAME 7 in the 2005 NBA Finals...I'd say having HCA came in very handy that game to push the Spurs to their 3rd title. So I disagree with you that HCA isn't important.


Good call on the finals 1P1...I forgot about that one.

Still...the finals format is different than every other series with the 2-3-2 sequence, and while I agree that having HCA against the Pistons was huge and probably the reason we won that series...


1. We aren't likely to have HCA in the finals this season anyway.

2. This team is much more seasoned and experienced than the 05 team.


I still don't think HCA means what it used to for the Spurs...I think now the only way a team beats them is if they are good enough to beat them, and where the games are actually played is of little or no consequence. Not as the defending champions after winning 2 of the last 3 titles...3 out of the last 5 if you go back to 03.

I just don't think HCA matters that much to a team with that kind of experience and seasoning.


Call me silly but I literally don't care where the Spurs are seeded this season, and looking at some players that might be available in mid and late rounds of the draft...won't bother me at all if they go in to the post season with a low seed. I'll be more interested in who they'll be able to draft...

[ShoogarBear]

When Lebron lowered his head & trampled over Alberto…Was that aggressive play or possibly a foul?

Does anyone have the photo?I think it was unquestionably a foul, and a Star Call for LeBron.

HOWEVER, I will say this. The problem with floppers (and Oberto is definitely one) is sometimes they're shuffling their feet trying to execute the flop than just getting to and holding good position. I haven't seen but one replay, but I recall it looked like Fab may have been up on his toes when LeBron hit him.

[duncan228]

I think it was unquestionably a foul, and a Star Call for LeBron.

Just out of curiousity, if it had been Duncan LeBron ran into instead of Oberto would the "Star Call" have gone to Duncan or LeBron?

[ancestron]

The refs were letting Cleveland get away with murder last night. At one point I saw Larry Hughes with this kid-in-a-candy-store look on his face like he could not believe they were getting away with so many fouls.
Don't usually gripe about the refs, it tends to even out, all that, but the officiating for this game was particularly atrocious for the home team.
Parker has a black eye and Oberto has a bruise on his chest shaped like the top of LeBron's head, both off non-called fouls.

[DazedAndConfused]

The moral of the story is never expect the refs to bail you out in crunch time. Play hard and play physical and don't worry about calls not going your way. This is what the Spurs did to the Suns last year in the playoffs and the Spurs walked away with a ring while the Suns went home empty-handed.

[SpurOutofTownFan]

Very shortly I'm gonna say I agree this game was supposed to be won and it may hurt the spurs later on. I don't buy into the january/february struggle desease. You better start playing the game the right way or the spurs won't even get to 60 wins. I don't know how smart is to end up being 5th or 6th seed.

[remingtonbo2001]

Our record of recent comes down to two things.

1. Pop's experimentations- Whether it be with the rotation, or coaching style (letting the players work it out). This is part of the reason why we struggle through the All-Star break. When Pop is tweaking, there isn't much consistancy in terms of rotation. During this time,Pop and the players are trying to reanalyze their roles on this team. When you add new pieces, even someone such as Udoka, it causes everyone to re-valuta their contribution and role to the team. I many view it as adding another piece without others changing to that addition.

And the most glaring issue is our injuries thus far. It makes it much easier for Pop to set the rotation when everyone is healthy. I personally would sit Parker for indefinite amount of time until he is fully recovered. Im not a physical trainer, so I can't say what needs to be done, but hopefully the Spurs Staff will make the right decision.

[SpursDynasty]

Our only real losses this season have been to Dallas the first game and then the Detroit game....The rest were pretty much bullshit games where you know the other team shouldn't have won. Whether it was missed calls, lucky shots, lucky bounces, or an off night for the Spurs, the fluke losses have piled up....no big deal though.

Because the Spurs are the only team that knows how to get things done in the playoffs.

[temujin]

Excellent job.
When I can't see a game, I refer to this guy for a fair review.
Having read reviews of games I watched, I trust him.

In general, unlike past years, the situation smacks of blatant "ubris".

The FO made some obvious mistakes.

-3 years/10 Millions for Oberto: good player when the other 4 on the floor are great and playing great; totally irrelevant otherwise.

-Pass on Scola, leaving Duncan the only Spurs with a post game (OK they won 07 with that). Anybody that watched 5' of ANY Argentina game will tellyou that you give 3/years/10 Ml to Scola and send Oberto to Houston.

-No attempt to keep Spanoulis, not even a look at him (the guy can score more in a quarter than Vaughn in a season, including warmups).

-Getting rid of Udrih for Washington, only to get rid of the latter. Now Udrih is having a fine season, even showing some balls in the clutch (maybe he WAS a Spur, in the end).

These two points would go unnoticed with a healthy Parker. But that's ubris, Parker is apparently not 100%.

-An unSrpurs-like ballet of no names, apparently brought in so that they could eventually tell their nephews they actually took a shower in the same locker room with Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili.

Add to the recipe the fact that the competition if tighter this year, the favourable calendar is misleading.
This suggests that if the Spurs continue to play .500 ball, and lose more than they win on the road, they might even be out of playoffs picture.

My feeling is that they can relax less and better wake up before the road trip.

And now, the bright spot.

Manu Ginobili is back.
With this guy, anything is still possible.

So much for my thoughts.

[SenorSpur]

Our record of recent comes down to two things.

1. Pop's experimentations- Whether it be with the rotation, or coaching style (letting the players work it out). This is part of the reason why we struggle through the All-Star break. When Pop is tweaking, there isn't much consistancy in terms of rotation. During this time,Pop and the players are trying to reanalyze their roles on this team. When you add new pieces, even someone such as Udoka, it causes everyone to re-valuta their contribution and role to the team. I many view it as adding another piece without others changing to that addition.

And the most glaring issue is our injuries thus far. It makes it much easier for Pop to set the rotation when everyone is healthy. I personally would sit Parker for indefinite amount of time until he is fully recovered. Im not a physical trainer, so I can't say what needs to be done, but hopefully the Spurs Staff will make the right decision.

Spurs seem to lack that annual mid-season energy boost. Call me crazy, but perhaps Pop should have took the Joe Dumars approach. The Pistons have built a very strong bench behind their veteran group of starters. They are force feeding them minutes and developing them on the fly. Their starters are getting rest, while the newbies are gaining valuable, in-game experience.

The Spurs ARE the oldest team in the league and it's shows up during these "dog days" of the season. Maybe they should have brought Ian, D-Wash and Marcus into the fold sooner and taken the same approach.

[MavDynasty]

Spurs are trash and last years finals was a fluke.SAS got all the calls to go their way and Cleveland just wasn't making the shots they normally make.

[SenorSpur]

Spurs are trash and last years finals was a fluke.SAS got all the calls to go their way and Cleveland just wasn't making the shots they normally make.

:smokin

:lmao

[bigfundamental21]

I also think it's time for Pop to do a lineup change. Whether it's inserting Ginobili back in the starting lineup, or replacing Finley with Barry, it's obvous the Spurs need to do something with it.

A lineup change could shake things up and force other players to step up. Although if we move Manu back into the starting lineup, then our bench will have to produce. Aside from Manu, the bench is not provided much support.

[remingtonbo2001]

Spurs seem to lack that annual mid-season energy boost. Call me crazy, but perhaps Pop should have took the Joe Dumars approach. The Pistons have built a very strong bench behind their veteran group of starters. They are force feeding them minutes and developing them on the fly. Their starters are getting rest, while the newbies are gaining valuable, in-game experience.

The Spurs ARE the oldest team in the league and it's shows up during these "dog days" of the season. Maybe they should have brought Ian, D-Wash and Marcus into the fold sooner and taken the same approach.

Im not neccessarily in disagreement, but I'd go with Pop before Joe.

He did hire Flip Saunders as his head coach. Really, I think I need to say more.

EDIT: Kings just put 100 on the Pistons for the win.

[m33p0]

Spurs are trash and last years finals was a fluke.SAS got all the calls to go their way and Cleveland just wasn't making the shots they normally make.
cavs are ranked liked 25th in FG% which tells us that they don't normally make shots anyway. :wakeup