Game Thoughts: Spurs @ Suns Jan. 31

[timvp]

I just watched the Spurs beat the Suns and I have no idea how they did it. None. The Spurs played poorly for almost the whole game. They turned it on for the final two minutes and escaped with a victory.

It’d be easy for me to complain about how the Spurs played and how ugly the game was – but the Spurs desperately needed this victory. This team was losing confidence fast and they were sliding down the standings. With Tony Parker out until sometime after the All-Star break, they need all the wins they can get. Right now any win is a great win.

Truthfully, the Suns played poorly. This was far from their best effort. It was like the Spurs lulled them to sleep by slowing the pace of the game. Usually the Suns play with a lot of energy – especially at home. That was just not the case tonight.

I was most impressed by how the Spurs kept chipping away. They didn’t lose their focus throughout the game, no matter what went wrong. Pop made a few changes as the game went along but the team kept their basic strategy. They kept chipping away at the rock until Phoenix cracked and the Spurs got the win.

-While Tim Duncan wasn’t playing great basketball, he showed a lot of heart and competed very well. The Suns were throwing all types of defensive looks at him and it rattled Duncan a bit early on. He finished the game with five turnovers but he eventually figured out what Phoenix was throwing at him and adjusted really well. Defensively, he was only average until the fourth quarter. In the fourth, he was a beast around the rim. For the game, Duncan finished with 16 points, 17 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks. It was just an all-around well fought game by #21.

-Manu Ginobili got the start at point guard and really struggled coming out of the gates. He couldn’t get the Spurs into their offense at all, and to compound the problem he couldn’t knock down shots of his own. Throughout the game, whenever Ginobili tried to play like he was a point guard, the outcome was almost always bad. Luckily, in the second half and particularly in the fourth quarter, Pop made an adjustment to move Ginobili off the ball and run the offense through Duncan. After being held scoreless in the first half, Ginobili scored 19 points in the second half. Most of his damage was done from the line where he went 12-for-12 on the night. He never really found his stroke from the field (3-for-14) and had six turnovers compared to only two assists, but overall Ginobili competed well and hit big free throws when the Spurs needed him to. It was far from a pretty game out of Ginobili but I’ll take the win.

-Bruce Bowen’s defense on Steve Nash was great. Bowen has really gotten good at guarding Nash. He forces Nash into tough shots and doesn’t give him much room to operate. While it’s true that Nash missed some shots he usually makes, I give Bowen a lot of credit for wearing him out. Bowen’s offense wasn’t great but he did just enough. He hit 3-of-7 shots from the field, including a big jumper late to give the Spurs a lead. Overall, it was a job well done by Bowen.

-Michael Finley had a rollercoaster game. At some points, he was playing really bad basketball. However, at the end, Finley came up huge. His three-pointer with a minute to go and the Spurs down four points was no doubt the biggest shot of the game for the Spurs. His activity on defense, which was horrible at the beginning of the game, also increased as the game went on. On the night, Finley had 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting and had the best plus/minus on the team at +11.

-When Fabricio Oberto was on the court, it was difficult for the Spurs to matchup to the Suns. That’s evident by Oberto’s team low plus/minus of -10 on the game. He actually didn’t play too horribly, it was just a matchup issue. On the night, Oberto totaled seven rebounds, two points and a steal in 19 minutes.

-Jacque Vaughn didn’t get the start but came in and played decently well. Usually, Vaughn is asked to take as few shots as possible. However, tonight the Suns were daring him to shoot the ball and Vaughn obliged by hoisting up 15 shot attempts. At one point in the game, Vaughn had more shot attempts than Duncan and Ginobili combined. Usually that’s a bad sign but with the Suns totally ignoring him, Vaughn had to shoot. He finished the game with a season-high 17 points on 6-for-15 shooting from the floor. He also got two assists and three steals in his 31 minutes of play. It’s going to be interesting to see who will be higher in the depth charts come playoff time – Vaughn or the newly acquired point guard Damon Stoudamire.

-Ime Udoka still has quite a bit to learn but his play tonight was impressive. When he was at the power forward position, the Udoka’s boxing out and rebounding was huge for the Spurs. In 30 minutes, Udoka had ten points and nine rebounds. He also had the team’s second best plus/minus of +10 on the night. Udoka made some mistake throughout and missed a couple open shots but his ability to play power forward was a huge asset.

-Francisco Elson, Matt Bonner and Robert Horry combined for six minutes of action as Pop went with a seven man rotation. Bonner came in first but quickly picked up three fouls in the first quarter. Elson was the next to enter the ball game but left after playing three minutes and doing nothing. Horry never saw the court. I thought it was a brilliant move by Pop not top play Horry in this game, especially when it was apparent that the Suns and their crowd were asleep. No need to wake up the city of Phoenix just so Horry could get a couple minutes of action.

-Pop coached an effective yet desperate game. Playing Duncan 43 minutes and Ginobili 41 minutes was a sure sign of desperation from Pop. He knew the Spurs needed this win and was willing to play his stars extended minutes to get the job done.

Pop started the game with a big lineup and while it didn’t turn out to be effective, I thought it was the right move. I liked how he adjusted the gameplan on the fly to help Ginobili. Ginobili was really struggling running the point, so Pop took the ball out of his hands and let Ginobili go back to his usual role of playing off the ball and made Duncan the quarterback. Overall, Pop didn’t panic and made sure that the Spurs just kept plugging away. Eventually it was enough to get a win.

Sloppy, ugly maybe even lucky win, but a win is a win at this point. The Spurs don’t play again until Tuesday when they face the Pacers. In this time off, hopefully the Spurs can rest up and figure out how to win a few more games on the second leg of the Rodeo Road Trip.

[Tu Pac]

Thug Life

[DannyT]

yeah we all love mike and jacque...but we will back to talking shit about them next week

[duncan228]

Thanks for the thoughts timvp, I'm glad I stayed up.

It was ugly, it was hard to watch.
Getting the win was thrilling. They hung around, they ground it out, they never gave up.
Duncan's game represented tonight, and you summed it up perfectly.


It was just an all-around well fought game by #21.

#21 did it, and it was a welcome relief for those of us still believing.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

best win of the year

[Streakyshooter08]

Thanks Timvp! It pisses me off that we don't get to see a lot of Spurs games over here. :pctoss It is always great to read those comments. Keep it going. :tu

[MagnusKrauss]

ugliest game/best win yet this season.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

yeah we all love mike and jacque...but we will back to talking shit about them next week
Finley's hard to hate on the offensive end, because he's a shooter, and his J is pure. It's his D that's spotty during games. This was a pretty good win for him to be involved in.

It's not the most enjoyable as a Spurs fan to see Vaughn play the role, where a more talented guard is needed...but he seems like a nice guy and puts in a good effort. He also has earned a lot of Pop's respect, with his grit, so can't fault him for taking those open jumpers.

At the end of the day, they've (Vaughn and Fin) already helped us win a ship' before, so it's hard to really 'hate' on them.

Anyway, Nice Recap TiMVP :tu

I liked this win a lot :clap because not one player had to make up for the others' deficiencies. They all played awful as team at the beginning, and then they all shined at the end each of them contributing. We needed this kind of win.

[whottt]

I'm just going to say that the more Ime Udoka plays, the more I like him. He's a good player and I am glad we signed him in the offseason. He's not a star and never will be, on either side of the ball...but he's definitely a nice role player. He's a good tough player and I hope he's in the rotation to stay.


I think Jacques Vaughn played a pretty good game as well all things considered.


All in all, I am happy Duncan was such a big part of things tonight and IMO, this was a classic grind it out Spurs victory....still good enough to beat the best teams in the NBA.


As for how the Spurs actually beat the Suns, lol, the Suns shot worse than the Spurs did.

[popshark86]

nice recap timvp

[TDMVPDPOY]

is it safe to say bonner/horry/elson doesnt fit in our plans no more

time to trade there candyasses for a championship

[urunobili]

is it safe to say bonner/horry/elson doesnt fit in our plans no more

time to trade there candyasses for a championship
just keep horry so he has some more records broken... :p:

[romsho]

.
-Pop coached an effective yet desperate game. Playing Duncan 43 minutes and Ginobili 41 minutes was a sure sign of desperation from Pop. He knew the Spurs needed this win and was willing to play his stars extended minutes to get the job done.


Four days off allowed for a little extra desperation without being foolish. I would be surprised to see Duncan or Ginobili get that many minutes in a regulation game even once more this season.

[timvp]

Four days off allowed for a little extra desperation without being foolish. I would be surprised to see Duncan or Ginobili get that many minutes in a regulation game even once more this season.Ginobili played 40 minutes last game and Duncan has played 40+ minutes in 5 of the last 13 games. Pop has been coaching a tad desperate for a while now.

[romsho]

Ginobili played 40 minutes last game and Duncan has played 40+ minutes in 5 of the last 13 games. Pop has been coaching a tad desperate for a while now.

The need for Ginobili to play point guard the last two games has bumped up his minutes. Without looking, I don't think he hit the 40 minute mark before the Seattle game. The Damon Stoudamire signing should put an end to that. I doubt Pop likes playing TD the extended minutes, but the combination of getting nothing out of Francisco Elson, subpar performances as of late from Oberto/Bonner/Horry which leads to the small lineup- it falls on Duncan. Hopefully the trend will not continue.

[WalterBenitez]

I'm still enjoying this win, JV, TD had a good game ... Udoka and Manu, well ... nothing to say.

I still think we need an xtra help before tradeline

[Tu Pac]

Finley's hard to hate on the offensive end, because he's a shooter, and his J is pure. It's his D that's spotty during games. This was a pretty good win for him to be involved in.

It's not the most enjoyable as a Spurs fan to see Vaughn play the role, where a more talented guard is needed...but he seems like a nice guy and puts in a good effort. He also has earned a lot of Pop's respect, with his grit, so can't fault him for taking those open jumpers.

At the end of the day, they've (Vaughn and Fin) already helped us win a ship' before, so it's hard to really 'hate' on them.



I'm not to sure about all that...yeah Mke is a shooter and yes shooters get in slumps...but we all know Fin Dawg has not been a consistent shooter for us. As of late he has picked his jock up and started playing with more balls when needed. But once the line ups are back intact and we get into the playoffs I'm not sure he will be there for us. I like Mike I just wish he would be more aggressive when is shots not falling instead of continuing to fire his .45 thats only throwing out blanks. And then theres his defense.... And Jacque don't get me started on that little dude. Once again I love his heart and effort he uses it to make up for his skills but at some point you're going to need someone who people are going to want to and have defend. The reason I really posted that comment was because all you have to do sit and watch the "FANS" on this site and how quick they switch their take on these two players....just like now everyones calling for Horrys head and how lame hes playing. But in April when we are playing and theres a last second shot by Manu to win the game and its missed and tipped back out by Timmy to RoHo and he nails it everyone will love his ass again. People just act like he has never did shit for us. Give the dude a break...if he doesnt ever do shit for us he still hit one of the greatest shots in spurs history....right there with AJs corner jumper, and Sean's Memorial Day Jumper

[MaNu4Tres]

I thought a huge adjustment in the game was when Pop went with the Manu/Finley/Bowen/Udoka/Tim lineup and instead of our offense being the Jacque Vaughn 20 foot shootout, Pop finally made the adjustment which had the players actually cutting when Tim was double-teamed. I have no idea why Pop had Jacque Vaughn on the same side of the court where Tim would recieve the ball for the majority of the game in the first place. I'm looking forward to the addition of Damon Stoudamire. He's going to add spacing with his 3 point shooting and teams won't be able to recover as fast in their rotations like they would when Vaughn is setting up for his 17-18 footer. In other words, team's won't be able to cheat and play free safety whenever Tim is getting the ball on the block and Vaughn is on the court.

[1Parker1]

The Spurs offense is what's looking mighty desperate lately. How they managed to score only 34 points at half time against arguably one of the worst defensive teams in the league remains a mystery.

And I don't know if it was neccesarily Bowen's defense, but Nash looked very un-Nash line. As if he was sick/hurt/or something. That definitely didn't help his cause.

Oh and Amare Stoudamire and D'Antoni are greatly overrated.

[sribb43]

Nice win by the Spurs...fell asleep in the 3rd primarly bc the game was poorly played on both sides. what a shot to the suns mentally this must be, losing at home to the spurs without TP

[MrChug]

I think I'd just had to add something that probably makes me sound like 1000 other posts that have taken place about this game:

THE SUNS FANS CONTINUE TO BE THE MOST WORTHLESS WHINY BITCHES I'VE EVER SEEN.

It was no secret that every offensive foul we drew, foul me committed, or shit EVERY TIME WE TOOK A BREATH we got boo'd. Classless...what goes around comes around and they got embarassed. Fuck 'em :flipoff

[sribb43]

I think I'd just had to add something that probably makes me sound like 1000 other posts that have taken place about this game:

THE SUNS FANS CONTINUE TO BE THE MOST WORTHLESS WHINY BITCHES I'VE EVER SEEN.

It was no secret that every offensive foul we drew, foul me committed, or shit EVERY TIME WE TOOK A BREATH we got boo'd. Classless...what goes around comes around and they got embarassed. Fuck 'em :flipoff

Worse than Mavs fans? :p:

[SAGambler]

I don't understand it. A few nights ago, Bonner got hit with a 3 sec standing in the lane on Defense, and his BB IQ was severly questioned.

Last night Duncan has:

A. An offenseive goal tending costing Vaughn 2. Luckily he was also fouled.
B. A 3 second violation on Defense.
C. A technical foul. And was probably real close to a second one.
D. A foul on AS with about 8 seconds left that could have tied the game.
E. Missed multiple 2 pt layups
F. Committed a team high 5 turnovers.

And we get:


It was just an all-around well fought game by #21.

[SenorSpur]

Thanks Timvp! Excellent analysis, as always.

I'm glad you pointed out the facts about Udoka. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it. Udoka is already THE 2nd best rebounder on this team. His ability to anticipate ball flight, his tenacity around the bucket and his desire to "put a body on someone and box out", all help him to collect rebounds at a good pace for someone of his size. There's no doubt that rebounding is something he enjoys. Rebounding is a valuable commodity and something that this team sorely lacks.

[hsxvvd]

Turned this game on after work, just after half time and despite being down, I was confident we'd win it. We managed to control the tempo and Phoenix had really shot itself in the foot by trading away Thomas, the doubles and triples is all they can do, and the whole team is built to deal with teams who are stupid enough to do this.

[Don Quixote]

I just can't remember the good Phoenix Suns message board. I went to PHxSuns.net, but they're pretty civil, and boring.

I want the one where I went trolling and eventually got banned last year. IT's a good one. Anyone remember?

[hsxvvd]

I don't understand it. A few nights ago, Bonner got hit with a 3 sec standing in the lane on Defense, and his BB IQ was severly questioned.

Last night Duncan has:

A. An offenseive goal tending costing Vaughn 2. Luckily he was also fouled. Didn't see it, but would you expect Vaughn's shot to go in?
B. A 3 second violation on Defense. He always does this. It comes with playing a fine line with the rules
C. A technical foul. And was probably real close to a second one.This team needs a few T's to get it going
D. A foul on AS with about 8 seconds left that could have tied the game. He was moving his arm down and away - a bullshit call
E. Missed multiple 2 pt layups Only missed shots I saw where when he had the entire Phoenix team in his grill.
F. Committed a team high 5 turnovers.We ran the offence through him while he was doubled and triple teamed - besides Manu had 6

And we get:


It was just an all-around well fought game by #21.

What did Bonner do?

[MoSpur]

I applaud the Spurs on this win. They did whatever it took to win and hung in there no matter how ugly it got. Like Tim Duncan said after the game, I don't know how they did it.

[leemajors]

the vaughnfense was scary at times last night.

[MoSpur]

Vaughn kept letting it fly. I was very upset, but he did well. I was actually a little impressed by Vaughn.

[smeagol]

Manu was sucking big time. His only contribution was the free throughs, but they were big because of the pressure under which they were executed. To appreciate the difference, compare Manu's performance under pressure at the line to Amare's. 'Nuff said.

JV had a huge game, IMO. Muy huge!

[FromWayDowntown]

I don't understand it. A few nights ago, Bonner got hit with a 3 sec standing in the lane on Defense, and his BB IQ was severly questioned.

Last night Duncan has:

A. An offenseive goal tending costing Vaughn 2. Luckily he was also fouled.
B. A 3 second violation on Defense.
C. A technical foul. And was probably real close to a second one.
D. A foul on AS with about 8 seconds left that could have tied the game.
E. Missed multiple 2 pt layups
F. Committed a team high 5 turnovers.

And we get:


It was just an all-around well fought game by #21.

You're right; Tim Duncan clearly hasn't earned a little leeway in terms of the way he's evaluated by Spurs fans. Because his production is the same as Matt Bonner's, he should really be judged by the same standards by which we judge Matt Bonner.

[bigfan]

Man, that was a big win. We really needed it and I think what this shows is even if you are shooting like crap, if you play good defense and keep it close to the 4th quarter, you can turn on the afterburner and get a win. Props all around, esp Manu hitting his foul shots under pressure, Tim playing big all game and even JV playing pretty good. We needed this one.

[resistanze]

You're right; Tim Duncan clearly hasn't earned a little leeway in terms of the way he's evaluated by Spurs fans. Because his production is the same as Matt Bonner's, he should really be judged by the same standards by which we judge Matt Bonner.
You're just being bias!

Just because he isn't the centerpiece of the Spurs offense, anchor of the Spur's defence, not subjected to double/triple teams, doesn't put up anything near to 17/16/7/2, shouldn't mean we give TD a free ride.

[Solid D]

When the Suns can't run the break and up-tempo, it really hurts their overall game. The Spurs junked up the game and they didn't take care of the ball, particularly in the first half. The Spurs' clanking shots may have rubbed off a bit on the Suns, too. That can mysteriously work that way on an otherwise fluid team.

With that said, the Spurs transition D was outstanding and the decision to run the offense through Timmy, even with collapsing and trapping down on him actually helped the Spurs keep numbers to their advantage in transition. Duncan had 7 assists and the rest of the Spurs had 6, however, it didn't matter because the strategy of continually feeding the post ensured 3 Suns at the baseline area on any missed shot attempt. The Spurs normally had 3 out on the perimeter, versus 2 Suns when the ball went up. Numbers win the transition battle almost every time.

The Spurs played strong, tough and active rotationally on defense and since they didn't try to run much, they were able to drop three to the lane to cut off slashes on Nash drop-offs. Ugly win, but the Spurs were money at money time.

[ploto]

With the starting point guard out, they actually remembered to run the offense through Duncan, and he started finding guys like Finley, instead of Vaughn, to shoot jumpers.

[manubili]

I just can't remember the good Phoenix Suns message board. I went to PHxSuns.net, but they're pretty civil, and boring.

I want the one where I went trolling and eventually got banned last year. IT's a good one. Anyone remember?


Here's a good one: http://arizonasportsfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=106070&page=14

You don't need to troll them, they are trolling themselves. Just like we were doing two nights ago. I don't mind the other teams fans proping the spurs, I like it better when they get mad!
:elephant

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

I don't understand it. A few nights ago, Bonner got hit with a 3 sec standing in the lane on Defense, and his BB IQ was severly questioned.

Last night Duncan has:

A. An offenseive goal tending costing Vaughn 2. Luckily he was also fouled.
B. A 3 second violation on Defense.
C. A technical foul. And was probably real close to a second one.
D. A foul on AS with about 8 seconds left that could have tied the game.
E. Missed multiple 2 pt layups
F. Committed a team high 5 turnovers.

And we get:


It was just an all-around well fought game by #21.

When Bonner starts drawing triple teams like Duncan was at times last night then we can start posting Bonner-Duncan comparisons. Timmy was one of the few guys semi-holding things together for the Spurs. I thought Timvp's assessment of his play was spot-on.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

-Jacque Vaughn didn’t get the start but came in and played decently well. Usually, Vaughn is asked to take as few shots as possible. However, tonight the Suns were daring him to shoot the ball and Vaughn obliged by hoisting up 15 shot attempts. At one point in the game, Vaughn had more shot attempts than Duncan and Ginobili combined. Usually that’s a bad sign but with the Suns totally ignoring him, Vaughn had to shoot. He finished the game with a season-high 17 points on 6-for-15 shooting from the floor. He also got two assists and three steals in his 31 minutes of play. It’s going to be interesting to see who will be higher in the depth charts come playoff time – Vaughn or the newly acquired point guard Damon Stoudamire.


When Vaughn had 11 points at the half I looked at it as a statistical anomaly because his play was so bad, IMO. His feeds into the post kept getting picked off, he was pulling the trigger on his jumper but you could tell he had no confidence in his stroke, and he was running an ultra-conservative offense (which was probably by design). Overall, though, the team as a whole did play a little better with him running the point. Whenever he took the ball to the hole he did pretty well finishing I just felt like he didn't do it enough.

Vaughn just isn't suited to play point for this team for extended minutes. 5-10 minutes a game, tops, where he can come in and give us energy on D, and not make too many bonehead mistakes is his perfect role.

When I was watching the game I thought that Damon would have run the offense better. He'll garner some defensive respect so opposing teams won't be able to sag off of him and blanket the post. This will allow Timmy to do his thing much more freely than he was able to last night.

I like Vaughn, but after watching the game last night I'm really grateful Stoudemire is going to be a Spur. :tu

[Don Quixote]

Here's a good one: http://arizonasportsfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=106070&page=14

You don't need to troll them, they are trolling themselves. Just like we were doing two nights ago. I don't mind the other teams fans propping the spurs, I like it better when they get mad!
:elephant

Yes, that's the one. Thanks.

[Slippy]

Timmmy did a fantastic job of not letting the refs get to him in playing a great game. There were some BS calls, he just kept plugging on. He was all over the suns on D too.

The Suns did well to not allow Manu into his comfort zones out on the perimeter, manny times forcing him to the right. Didn't help that Vaughn's guy kept sagging off him to help on Manu and clog the lane-way.

Vaughn was a liability on offense untill he started driving to the basket. I was tearing my hair out when he kept missing those wide open jumpers.

Still a great effort on Defense and a gutsy win.

[MrChug]

Worse than Mavs fans? :p:

By a long shot! :toast

[CubanMustGo]

Ya know, glad we got the win, yadda-yadda-yadda, but I'll be happier when we actually play a whole game instead of part of one quarter.

We won because Phoenix sucked, not because we played well. Yeah the defense was good but our offense stunk against a team that doesn't do D. Let's not read too much into one win a couple of nights after losing to the friggin' Seattle Subsonics.

[ShoogarBear]

Truthfully, the Suns played poorly. This was far from their best effort. It was like the Spurs lulled them to sleep by slowing the pace of the game. Usually the Suns play with a lot of energy – especially at home. That was just not the case tonight.That's exactly the case. The game plan wa to keep it as slow and ugly as possible and try to steal it at the end. This was one game where PHX's inability/refusal to rebound killed them, as the Spurs could do things like play Udoka at PF and still hold the boards. If the Spurs weren't intent on official NBA ball giveaways to the Phoenix fans in the first half, they might have led most of the game.


-Manu Ginobili played the worst half of basketball in his career the first half, but came back strong enough at the end to seal the win with FTs.
FIFY. At the end of the first half, he should have had as many TOs as FGAs but someone must have taken pity on one of his passes out of bounds.

But, ugly ball = Spurs Ball. Good to see one of those again.



I think Jacques Vaughn played a pretty good game as well all things considered.
:lol JV played tough, but he made Avery Johnson look like Ray Allen tonight.

[Spurminator]

I like Vaughn, but after watching the game last night I'm really grateful Stoudemire is going to be a Spur.

Yeah I really liked Vaughn's effort... He did what he needed to do; unfortunately, he's just not very good at doing it.

[Don Quixote]

Some nuggets from the Sons' board ...

azsouthendzone: unreal......we are their bitch plain and simple until further notice. They are also our daddy.

boldinfan18: Man I feel so sick right now ugh spurs beat us without parker this sucks

Proteus: Sigh...the Spurs own us still.

azsouthendzone: Phoenix Suns, Paper Champions 1993, 2006, 2007, 2008

Proteus: Suns = Horrible chokers and mental midgets in the face of the Spurs

azsouthendzone: DiAntoni will never, ever, get this team over the hump. This season will end like it always does. We all know it.

Bufalay: Stern saves the day

azsouthendzone: Spurs win 12 out of last 16. They own us. We are their bitch. They are our daddy.

Ouchie-Z-Clown: they own us. we're a soft team.

[J.T.]

This was the first Spurs game I've watched in a long time when I didn't feel confident that the Spurs could bridge the gap of a four point deficit. The Spurs were down six at halftime and in a typical game you would think, just play good defense and follow through on your first three possessions and the game is tied, but not this game.

The Spurs need to beat the Celtics when they play them next week. A win against them would be a huge confidence booster, just like the win against Detroit on the rodeo trip last year gave them momentum for the post-ASG surge.

[TampaDude]

Turning point? I hope so. At least they get 4 days rest now.

[Windbush]

Ime plays a solid game and was key. He plays big in the small ball lineup and can cover the forward when Bruce has to drop down to cover the guard. He can shoot too. I can't remember how many times I winced every time Bruce took a shot inside the three point line or drove for a layup that always bounced off the rim.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

I loved seeing Ime and Bruce at the same time.

Coupled with Duncan must make it a nightmare to score on the spurs

[Strike]

I'm just stoked they won this game.

They needed it.

[wildbill2u]

TIMVP wrote: "I just watched the Spurs beat the Suns and I have no idea how they did it. None."

Neither do I. I live in Houston and don't have cable so I went somewhere to watch the game.

This game was so ugly I FELL ASLEEP on the couch with about 3 minutes to go and missed the win when "They turned it on for the final two minutes and escaped with a victory."

That's how ugly this game was.

[T Park]

I think saying the "suns played bad and the Spurs defense didn't have alot to do with it" is selling the Spurs D short.

Their defense in that 4th quarter while it wasn't perfect, is the best I've seen it in weeks.

IMO this is the game that helps em get goin a bit.

SHould raise the old confidence at least.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

-Ime Udoka still has quite a bit to learn but his play tonight was impressive. When he was at the power forward position, the Udoka’s boxing out and rebounding was huge for the Spurs. In 30 minutes, Udoka had ten points and nine rebounds. He also had the team’s second best plus/minus of +10 on the night. Udoka made some mistake throughout and missed a couple open shots but his ability to play power forward was a huge asset.
Hello smallball.

[BonnerDynasty]

Bonner wtf man.


Damn :( That was horrid last night.

[BonnerDynasty]

Also, Finley left a last minute CRUCIAL suns jump shooter OPEN AGAIN to take the shot. That is the 3rd fucking consecutive lame ass defense by Finley in the final seconds. Luckily Suns missed but wtf.

[T Park]

Also, Finley left a last minute CRUCIAL suns jump shooter OPEN AGAIN to take the shot. That is the 3rd fucking consecutive lame ass defense by Finley in the final seconds. Luckily Suns missed but wtf.

Wich one was this?

[bigfundamental21]

Thanks again for the thoughts, timvp.

I don't think it can be said enough about the improvement of the Spurs defense. While it was not the level of defense that we come to expect from our Spurs, it was a great improvement. We held the Suns to 80 points, when they are the highest scoring team in the league. As we know, defense wins games. While our offense may be suffering, as long as you play solid defense, you give yourself a chance to win and that is exactly what happened. We kept ourselves in it an at the end, just turned the defense up a notch or two and the result... a win.

Hopefully, this game is just what we need to get ourselves going and to surge through the second half of the season.

Believe!

[Spurs Dynasty 21]

Udoka was fantastic, and Vaughn had the ugliest 17pt game I had ever seen, if he hit 1/2 the open J's he had TD has a triple double

[wildbill2u]

Looking at Manu turn the ball over time after time, I wondered if anyone ever thought about comparing that to Beno.

Manu stunk up the place when he had the ball at PG last night. Stupid TOs.

Where is the old Manu? Someone snuck in a doppelganger in his place for the past month.

[T Park]

Looking at Manu turn the ball over time after time, I wondered if anyone ever thought about comparing that to Beno.



For that statement alone you should never be allowed to cheer Manu again.

[BonnerDynasty]

Wich one was this?

It was near the end. I don't have TIVO or DVR but I remember seeing it. The Suns missed the J so everyone probably didn't even notice it.

[Spurs Dynasty 21]

For that statement alone you should never be allowed to cheer Manu again.
like you bailing on the spurs after gm4 of the 2005 finals ??? :rolleyes :lol

[timvp]

I don't understand it. A few nights ago, Bonner got hit with a 3 sec standing in the lane on Defense, and his BB IQ was severly questioned.You're still hung up on this? Bonner's basketball IQ, especially defensively, is low. That's why he doesn't play much and that's why Pop is giving 88-year-old Robert Horry every chance to win the backup bigman spot. If Bonner had an average basketball IQ defensively and had a feel of where to go without being so robotic, he'd be in the rotation.

You got mad when I questioned Bonner's basketball IQ after a bonehead defensive three seconds violation. Watch it and tell me you don't see how blatantly dumb it was:


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Who was Bonner guarding? The Spurs drop into a zone and Bonner guards the lane as if the defensive three seconds violation doesn't exist. It's not like he was trying to get away with something ... he was just oblivious to the rule and oblivious to actually trying to guard somebody.

I like Bonner but I have to be honest in my assessment. He has no defensive instincts which is the main reason why Pop doesn't play him. Offensively there's no question he's better than Horry right now. But defensively, even 20 pounds overweight and in a wheelchair, Horry is much better.

[T Park]

Yeah Bonner has been dissapointing quite a bit, no question this season.

I would've thought he would catch onto the defensive schemes by now.

They might have to cut their losses this summer and package him up...