timvp
02-06-2008, 03:54 PM
Welcome back, offense. After literally being the worst offensive team in the NBA over their previous ten games, the Spurs went into Conseco Fieldhouse and beat the Pacers 116-89. The 116 points were the most points the Spurs have scored in a non-overtime game since the team scored 116 points against the Sonics on Nov. 25.
The story on the night for the Spurs was their new starting point guard Damon Stoudamire. With Tony Parker out until at least after the All-Star break with an injured ankle, the Spurs signed Stoudamire over the weekend and he produced immediate results. I don’t think he was the main reason the offense got back on track – but I also don’t think it was a coincidence.
Defensively, after a rough first half, the Spurs clamped down in the second half. They did a great job contesting shots and switching up their defense to limit the number of open jumpers the Pacers could create in their halfcourt offense. As a result, a 59-59 first half was followed by a 57-30 second half, allowing the Spurs to cruise to victory.
The Pacers play like a typical Jim O’Brien team. They rely on a lot of drive and kick on offense and blitz everything defensively. It’s a unique style but the Spurs did a good job of figuring everything out in the second half.
Overall, it was a good win and a needed win. Any victory with Parker sidelined is extremely welcomed at this point.
-Tim Duncan had a very Tim Duncan-like game. He was effortlessly efficient and dominated without breaking a sweat. He finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and a blocked shot, while shooting 7-for-12 from the field in 32 minutes of action. Duncan did all that while only turning the ball over once. My only criticism is he was a bit lazy coming out to defend shooters to begin the game, but he picked it up in that area as the game progressed. On a whole, you can’t ask for much more out of Duncan.
-Manu Ginobili had a streaky outing. He began the game struggling from the field but doing a great job of finding open teammates. Ginobili eventually found his rhythm by driving the ball to the basket and getting some easy shots. It wasn’t the prettiest of games by Ginobili but he finished with a very solid line of 15 points and seven assists to go with only one turnover. He also hit 6-of-13 field goals, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Ginobili was helped a lot by not having to play point guard. Instead, he could concentrate at creating in the halfcourt setting – something he is very good at doing.
-Damon Stoudamire surprised me by how well he played in his first game for the Spurs. He seemed supremely confident in himself and ran all the plays like he knew what he was doing. I must have underestimated his basketball IQ because I’ve never seen a new player step into the Spurs system and play like he knew everything his first game out. Either Stoudamire is smarter than I thought, or he does a good job faking it. The area he most helped the Spurs was ball movement. I was impressed by how he’d bring the ball up and initiate the offense right away. There was no standing around waiting for things to develop. Instead, Stoudamire got the ball moving and the rest of the team followed. He also appeared to be in good shape, considering he hadn’t played in a game in over a month. His quickness was there and he didn’t seem to get winded. On the night, he finished with 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field in 22 minutes. However, the scoring was just an added bonus. Now Stoudamire has to prove that his first game out wasn’t a fluke. If he can continue to play like he did against the Pacers, the Spurs might have finally struck gold by picking up an old point guard reclamation project for the first time since … forever, actually.
-Bruce Bowen hitting shots again was a good thing to see. In 26 minutes, Bowen scored 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field. The 14 points marked the first time Bowen has reached double figures since a Jan. 4 game against the Knicks. When Bowen is knocking down shots, the Spurs become a much more difficult team to defend. I give part of the credit to improved ball movement that allowed Bowen to get open shots in rhythm for the first time in a while. Defensively, Bowen wasn’t too good in the first half but stepped it up in the second half to his normal level.
-Fabricio Oberto must have thought it was the playoffs. He was as active as he’s been all season. In 24 minutes, Oberto had ten points and eight rebounds on 5-for-9 shooting from the field. He also finished with a team-best plus/minus of +27. It appeared that part of the Pacers’ gameplan was to force Oberto to hit some shots. Oberto responded by playing inspired basketball.
-Michael Finley, who came off the bench because Ginobili started again, played a sloppy game for the Spurs. In 34 minutes, Finley totaled 11 points on 4-for-11 shooting from the field and five turnovers. Contrary to popular opinion, Finley has actually played better off the bench this season for the Spurs, so I won't blame the poor showing on his bench role. Finley appeared to be a bit rusty and was also bothered by the long athletes on the Pacers.
-Apparently, Jacque Vaughn doesn’t appreciate the writing that’s on the wall. With Stoudamire joining the squad, it’s likely that Vaughn will fall out of the rotation once Parker is healthy. Vaughn responded with one of his best games as a Spur. In 26 minutes, Vaughn scored 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor. He also chipped in five assists and one steal. In this game, Vaughn had more acrobatic layups around the rim than he had all season. It’s like he attended the Tony Parker School of Finishing during the recent break in action. It’ll be interesting to see if Vaughn’s level of play continues to be high now that he has competition for the backup point guard job.
-Ime Udoka wasn’t knocking down his shots, however he was doing everything else. He hit just 2-of-7 shots from the floor, but had five points, six rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks in 24 minutes of action. It was a really nice all around effort from Udoka, who has become a source of production on a nightly basis. His passing has impressed me more and more as the season has gone along. He’s now one of the best on the team at feeding the ball inside to Duncan. His large hands allow him to palm the ball and seemingly reach around defenders to get the proper angle on his passes. Udoka also has shown some ability to penetrate and kick recently.
-Robert Horry actually had a good shooting game. That alone might be worthy of a Riverwalk parade. He shot 3-for-5 from the field on his way to seven points, three rebounds and a block in 16 minutes of action. The three made field goals were a season-high. It wasn’t a great performance but the ball actually going inside the basket when Horry shot was a good change. Hopefully this is the beginning of a turnaround for Horry.
-Matt Bonner and Francisco Elson were both out of the rotation again. Each received five minutes of garbage time at the end of the game. Bonner played like this was the last time he’d ever get to play basketball, shooting five times in his five minutes. He hit three of those shots and scored eight points. Elson was credited with two blocked shots. He returned the favor by getting blocked on his only field goal attempt.
-Gotta give props to Pop for not wasting any time and inserting Stoudamire into the starting lineup. The move paid immediate dividends as Stoudamire not only spaced the floor with his jump shooting ability, but he also helped the chemistry offensively. One of Vaughn’s weaknesses as a point guard is he’s not overly quick at giving up the ball, which was killing the ball movement and resulting in a lot of forced shots within the offense.
Pop also did a better job of resting Duncan and Ginobili in this game. The last couple games, Pop had overplayed his best two players – which isn’t something we see too often from Pop.
The bottomline is it was another important win for the Spurs. The fact that the Spurs actually looked good in victory was just the cherry on top. With a game against the Wizards tonight, a win in Washington would really help raise the confidence of the team and keep the Spurs well within reach of a top spots in the Western Conference playoff chase.
The story on the night for the Spurs was their new starting point guard Damon Stoudamire. With Tony Parker out until at least after the All-Star break with an injured ankle, the Spurs signed Stoudamire over the weekend and he produced immediate results. I don’t think he was the main reason the offense got back on track – but I also don’t think it was a coincidence.
Defensively, after a rough first half, the Spurs clamped down in the second half. They did a great job contesting shots and switching up their defense to limit the number of open jumpers the Pacers could create in their halfcourt offense. As a result, a 59-59 first half was followed by a 57-30 second half, allowing the Spurs to cruise to victory.
The Pacers play like a typical Jim O’Brien team. They rely on a lot of drive and kick on offense and blitz everything defensively. It’s a unique style but the Spurs did a good job of figuring everything out in the second half.
Overall, it was a good win and a needed win. Any victory with Parker sidelined is extremely welcomed at this point.
-Tim Duncan had a very Tim Duncan-like game. He was effortlessly efficient and dominated without breaking a sweat. He finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and a blocked shot, while shooting 7-for-12 from the field in 32 minutes of action. Duncan did all that while only turning the ball over once. My only criticism is he was a bit lazy coming out to defend shooters to begin the game, but he picked it up in that area as the game progressed. On a whole, you can’t ask for much more out of Duncan.
-Manu Ginobili had a streaky outing. He began the game struggling from the field but doing a great job of finding open teammates. Ginobili eventually found his rhythm by driving the ball to the basket and getting some easy shots. It wasn’t the prettiest of games by Ginobili but he finished with a very solid line of 15 points and seven assists to go with only one turnover. He also hit 6-of-13 field goals, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Ginobili was helped a lot by not having to play point guard. Instead, he could concentrate at creating in the halfcourt setting – something he is very good at doing.
-Damon Stoudamire surprised me by how well he played in his first game for the Spurs. He seemed supremely confident in himself and ran all the plays like he knew what he was doing. I must have underestimated his basketball IQ because I’ve never seen a new player step into the Spurs system and play like he knew everything his first game out. Either Stoudamire is smarter than I thought, or he does a good job faking it. The area he most helped the Spurs was ball movement. I was impressed by how he’d bring the ball up and initiate the offense right away. There was no standing around waiting for things to develop. Instead, Stoudamire got the ball moving and the rest of the team followed. He also appeared to be in good shape, considering he hadn’t played in a game in over a month. His quickness was there and he didn’t seem to get winded. On the night, he finished with 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field in 22 minutes. However, the scoring was just an added bonus. Now Stoudamire has to prove that his first game out wasn’t a fluke. If he can continue to play like he did against the Pacers, the Spurs might have finally struck gold by picking up an old point guard reclamation project for the first time since … forever, actually.
-Bruce Bowen hitting shots again was a good thing to see. In 26 minutes, Bowen scored 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field. The 14 points marked the first time Bowen has reached double figures since a Jan. 4 game against the Knicks. When Bowen is knocking down shots, the Spurs become a much more difficult team to defend. I give part of the credit to improved ball movement that allowed Bowen to get open shots in rhythm for the first time in a while. Defensively, Bowen wasn’t too good in the first half but stepped it up in the second half to his normal level.
-Fabricio Oberto must have thought it was the playoffs. He was as active as he’s been all season. In 24 minutes, Oberto had ten points and eight rebounds on 5-for-9 shooting from the field. He also finished with a team-best plus/minus of +27. It appeared that part of the Pacers’ gameplan was to force Oberto to hit some shots. Oberto responded by playing inspired basketball.
-Michael Finley, who came off the bench because Ginobili started again, played a sloppy game for the Spurs. In 34 minutes, Finley totaled 11 points on 4-for-11 shooting from the field and five turnovers. Contrary to popular opinion, Finley has actually played better off the bench this season for the Spurs, so I won't blame the poor showing on his bench role. Finley appeared to be a bit rusty and was also bothered by the long athletes on the Pacers.
-Apparently, Jacque Vaughn doesn’t appreciate the writing that’s on the wall. With Stoudamire joining the squad, it’s likely that Vaughn will fall out of the rotation once Parker is healthy. Vaughn responded with one of his best games as a Spur. In 26 minutes, Vaughn scored 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor. He also chipped in five assists and one steal. In this game, Vaughn had more acrobatic layups around the rim than he had all season. It’s like he attended the Tony Parker School of Finishing during the recent break in action. It’ll be interesting to see if Vaughn’s level of play continues to be high now that he has competition for the backup point guard job.
-Ime Udoka wasn’t knocking down his shots, however he was doing everything else. He hit just 2-of-7 shots from the floor, but had five points, six rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks in 24 minutes of action. It was a really nice all around effort from Udoka, who has become a source of production on a nightly basis. His passing has impressed me more and more as the season has gone along. He’s now one of the best on the team at feeding the ball inside to Duncan. His large hands allow him to palm the ball and seemingly reach around defenders to get the proper angle on his passes. Udoka also has shown some ability to penetrate and kick recently.
-Robert Horry actually had a good shooting game. That alone might be worthy of a Riverwalk parade. He shot 3-for-5 from the field on his way to seven points, three rebounds and a block in 16 minutes of action. The three made field goals were a season-high. It wasn’t a great performance but the ball actually going inside the basket when Horry shot was a good change. Hopefully this is the beginning of a turnaround for Horry.
-Matt Bonner and Francisco Elson were both out of the rotation again. Each received five minutes of garbage time at the end of the game. Bonner played like this was the last time he’d ever get to play basketball, shooting five times in his five minutes. He hit three of those shots and scored eight points. Elson was credited with two blocked shots. He returned the favor by getting blocked on his only field goal attempt.
-Gotta give props to Pop for not wasting any time and inserting Stoudamire into the starting lineup. The move paid immediate dividends as Stoudamire not only spaced the floor with his jump shooting ability, but he also helped the chemistry offensively. One of Vaughn’s weaknesses as a point guard is he’s not overly quick at giving up the ball, which was killing the ball movement and resulting in a lot of forced shots within the offense.
Pop also did a better job of resting Duncan and Ginobili in this game. The last couple games, Pop had overplayed his best two players – which isn’t something we see too often from Pop.
The bottomline is it was another important win for the Spurs. The fact that the Spurs actually looked good in victory was just the cherry on top. With a game against the Wizards tonight, a win in Washington would really help raise the confidence of the team and keep the Spurs well within reach of a top spots in the Western Conference playoff chase.