timvp
02-09-2008, 01:45 AM
After a thrilling comeback victory against the New York Knicks, the Spurs extended their winning streak to four games. The Spurs trailed by as many as 18 points, including a nine point deficit with under five minutes to go in regulation. Instead of conceding the game, the Spurs rallied back by hitting a couple of clutch shots and getting a few defensive stops. In overtime, the Spurs thoroughly dominated and left Madison Square Garden with a 99-93 victory.
Part of me wants to be critical of the Spurs making it a close game against the lowly Knicks, but right now I’m happy with wins in whatever form they want to come in. With Tony Parker still sidelined and the Spurs offense still streaky at best, any win is a good win. Yes, even against the disaster of a franchise that is the Knicks.
I’m not sure there was much to take out of this game other than the win. The Spurs executed well when they needed to, but it was against the dysfunctional Knicks so it really won’t transfer to a real game situation. However, the Spurs did utilize mental toughness in some situations that will be useful down the line.
Regarding the Knicks, their team is in obvious disarray. That said, they actually have a lot of talented players. It’s just a poorly coached squad with zero team chemistry. The two most impressive players to me were David Lee and Renaldo Balkman. Those guys bring boundless energy and they both have very good natural basketball instincts.
Overall, it was a nice win and the Spurs now sit at 4-2 on the Rodeo Road Trip with three games left. I said before the Rodeo Road Trip that all things considered going 5-4 would be a successful Rodeo Road Trip. The Spurs are just one win away from making that a reality.
-Tim Duncan struggled in the first half with his energy and was obviously frustrated with the referees. However, he picked up his energy level and focus as the game went on. By the end of the game, Duncan was playing very good basketball. Defensively, he was bad in the first half but became vintage Duncan by the beginning of the overtime period. He finished with 21 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and two steals, while connecting on 8-of-17 shots from the field. The refs were letting the bigs be physical in this game and Duncan eventually adjusted and played well.
-Manu Ginobili in the first half was horrible. He was playing passively on both ends of the court most of the time. When he wasn’t playing passively, he was forcing bad shots and bad passes. But credit Ginobili for sticking with it and coming up huge in the second half and overtime. He eventually found his groove and played very well. Late in the fourth quarter and overtime, Ginobili played point guard and did so admirably. The drastic way his game went from horrible to very good is evident in the plus/minus stat. In the first half, Ginobili was a team-worst -17. In the second half and overtime, Ginobili was an amazing +31. He finished the game with 20 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, five steals and six turnovers, while hitting 6-of-16 shots from the field. After factoring in his horrible first half and his heroic second half, Ginobili ended up doing more good than bad in this contest.
-Damon Stoudamire had his first hiccup as a member of the Spurs. In his 19 minutes, Stoudamire was 1-for-4 from the field for three points, three assists and two turnovers. To begin the game, Stoudamire was obvious exhausted and had almost no energy. Pop elected to start Jacque Vaughn in the second half of the game because Stoudamire just didn’t have much gas in the tank. His poor performance isn’t overly worrisome because Stoudamire isn’t in game shape after sitting out a month. He’s going to have to work his way back into shape over the next couple weeks. Hopefully he can eventually prove to be a quality acquisition.
-Bruce Bowen had an odd game. He wasn’t doing much defensively to start the game. Pop decided at one point to put him on Zach Randolph and although that alignment has worked in the past, it was a failure in this game because Randolph overpowered Bowen down low. However, late in the game Pop inserted Bowen to cool down Jamal Crawford and Bowen’s defense on Crawford was as important as anything else in the comeback victory. Crawford took advantage of the shorter point guards defending him and had 11 points in the fourth quarter to help the Knicks jump out to a lead. Enter Bowen. Bowen came into the game with 4:48 seconds to go with the Spurs down nine points. He proceeded to harass Crawford and held him scoreless until a couple meaningless baskets at the end of overtime. Bowen’s defense in that stretch was as good as any defense I’ve seen him play this year, especially considering it came against a smaller, quicker guard who has given him problems in the past.
-For the third straight game, Fabricio Oberto had a very solid outing. With eight points and eight rebounds on 4-for-5 shooting, Oberto seems to really be rounding into form as of late. He’s playing very well next to Duncan and is Ginobili’s favorite target. If I had to nitpick, I’d point out that Oberto had only four defensive rebounds in 34 minutes of action.
-Michael Finley played the role of clutch assassin tonight. His three-pointer with 4:35 to go in the game cut the nine-point Knicks lead to six. With under ten seconds to go in the game and the Spurs inbounding down three points, Finley hit a three with 0.4 seconds remaining. Derek Fisher is on the Lakers and they actually started the clock on time so this game went into overtime. In overtime, Finley hit a backbreaking three-pointer that put the Spurs up seven points and ended any hopes of a New York upset. On the game, Finley had 17 points on 5-for-6 shooting from three-point land. He also chipped in with two rebounds and one assist in 24 minutes of action.
-Jacque Vaughn subbed in early and often for an ineffective Stoudamire and played relatively well. In 25 minutes, Vaughn had five points, four assists and no turnovers. He also supplied the Spurs with some energy on defense when the Spurs appeared to be asleep at the wheel. He’s never going to be a scoring point guard or even a playmaking point guard, but you have to give him props because he’s been a vital part of this four-game winning streak. Extra props are due because he’s doing this even despite the Spurs blatantly trying to replace his role in the rotation by going after Stoudamire.
-Robert Horry is not only alive and well, but he’s making those early season struggles seem like a thing of the past. For the third straight game, Horry played extremely well. Against the Knicks, Horry had a season-high 13 points to go along with two rebounds, two assists and two steals in 18 minutes of play. Perhaps most importantly, Horry hit 5-of-6 shots from the field, including 3-of-4 shots from beyond the three-point arc. In the last three games, Horry has hit 11 of his 16 shots from the field. Coming into that stretch, Horry was shooting below 20% from the field. It simply can’t be overstated how important a healthy and in-rhythm Horry is to the Spurs come the playoffs. The Spurs chances of winning of a championship are much greater if Horry is playing well.
-Ime Udoka played 15 solid minutes for the Spurs. He had five points, two rebounds, one steal and one blocked shot. All but three minutes of his time came in the second half. Udoka had been struggling a bit lately but played well tonight. He seems to be gaining more and more trust from Pop, especially on the defensive end. Pop doesn’t hesitate to give Udoka the toughest matchup on the court, whether it’s a point guard or a power forward.
-Francisco Elson hit a new low. His play in the first half was the worst he’s ever played in his basketball life. Although it doesn’t seem possible, he almost single-handedly lost a game during his five minutes of pitiful play in the first half. It was literally tough to watch, to the point that I actually felt bad for him. He’s obviously out of rhythm, pressing and his confidence is shot. But the truth is he was the man with the shovel when the Spurs dug their hole in the first half.
-Matt Bonner didn’t play once again. It’s a bad sign if you are behind Elson in a rotation. I don’t know what Bonner did to fall to earn his current place in the rotation, but whatever it was must have been bad … very bad.
-I thought Pop coached a really good game. His decision to put Bowen on Crawford late in the fourth quarter was the coaching move of the game. The move also forced Ginobili to play point guard but Pop was smart about just calling pick-and-rolls when Ginobili was at point.
I didn’t like how Duncan and Ginobili once again played big minutes. While some of the minutes are due to the overtime period, 44 minutes for Duncan and 42 minutes for Ginobili are just too many minutes.
Pop also needs to do something about Elson. Either play him more minutes for a stretch of games to see if his season can be salvaged or don’t play him. Sending him out there for only a couple minutes a night hurts both Elson and the team.
It’s going to be interesting to see how the Stoudamire and Vaughn situation plays out. Pop is already showing that he prefers Vaughn more when he’s desperate for production. Will that continue or will he eventually become confident in Stoudamire? I guess we’ll find out.
The bottomline is the Spurs got the win. It wasn’t pretty but they gutted out a victory that seemed lost at a couple of different points in the game.
Next up on the schedule is a Sunday morning game against the Boston Celtics. It’ll be the Spurs first look at the new-look Celtics this season, however it appears like Kevin Garnett is unlikely to play. Either way I’m not expecting a win. The Celtics at home against the defending champions will have an ungodly amount of energy. The Spurs, on the other hand, will likely be listless like they usually are during morning games. A win would be great but I’m not getting my hopes up. However, I will be interested in seeing whether Pop utilizes a lineup consisting of Bowen and Udoka to counter Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.
Or Pop could save that look in case the Celtics are lucky enough to meet the Spurs in the NBA Finals.
Believe.
:smokin
Part of me wants to be critical of the Spurs making it a close game against the lowly Knicks, but right now I’m happy with wins in whatever form they want to come in. With Tony Parker still sidelined and the Spurs offense still streaky at best, any win is a good win. Yes, even against the disaster of a franchise that is the Knicks.
I’m not sure there was much to take out of this game other than the win. The Spurs executed well when they needed to, but it was against the dysfunctional Knicks so it really won’t transfer to a real game situation. However, the Spurs did utilize mental toughness in some situations that will be useful down the line.
Regarding the Knicks, their team is in obvious disarray. That said, they actually have a lot of talented players. It’s just a poorly coached squad with zero team chemistry. The two most impressive players to me were David Lee and Renaldo Balkman. Those guys bring boundless energy and they both have very good natural basketball instincts.
Overall, it was a nice win and the Spurs now sit at 4-2 on the Rodeo Road Trip with three games left. I said before the Rodeo Road Trip that all things considered going 5-4 would be a successful Rodeo Road Trip. The Spurs are just one win away from making that a reality.
-Tim Duncan struggled in the first half with his energy and was obviously frustrated with the referees. However, he picked up his energy level and focus as the game went on. By the end of the game, Duncan was playing very good basketball. Defensively, he was bad in the first half but became vintage Duncan by the beginning of the overtime period. He finished with 21 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and two steals, while connecting on 8-of-17 shots from the field. The refs were letting the bigs be physical in this game and Duncan eventually adjusted and played well.
-Manu Ginobili in the first half was horrible. He was playing passively on both ends of the court most of the time. When he wasn’t playing passively, he was forcing bad shots and bad passes. But credit Ginobili for sticking with it and coming up huge in the second half and overtime. He eventually found his groove and played very well. Late in the fourth quarter and overtime, Ginobili played point guard and did so admirably. The drastic way his game went from horrible to very good is evident in the plus/minus stat. In the first half, Ginobili was a team-worst -17. In the second half and overtime, Ginobili was an amazing +31. He finished the game with 20 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, five steals and six turnovers, while hitting 6-of-16 shots from the field. After factoring in his horrible first half and his heroic second half, Ginobili ended up doing more good than bad in this contest.
-Damon Stoudamire had his first hiccup as a member of the Spurs. In his 19 minutes, Stoudamire was 1-for-4 from the field for three points, three assists and two turnovers. To begin the game, Stoudamire was obvious exhausted and had almost no energy. Pop elected to start Jacque Vaughn in the second half of the game because Stoudamire just didn’t have much gas in the tank. His poor performance isn’t overly worrisome because Stoudamire isn’t in game shape after sitting out a month. He’s going to have to work his way back into shape over the next couple weeks. Hopefully he can eventually prove to be a quality acquisition.
-Bruce Bowen had an odd game. He wasn’t doing much defensively to start the game. Pop decided at one point to put him on Zach Randolph and although that alignment has worked in the past, it was a failure in this game because Randolph overpowered Bowen down low. However, late in the game Pop inserted Bowen to cool down Jamal Crawford and Bowen’s defense on Crawford was as important as anything else in the comeback victory. Crawford took advantage of the shorter point guards defending him and had 11 points in the fourth quarter to help the Knicks jump out to a lead. Enter Bowen. Bowen came into the game with 4:48 seconds to go with the Spurs down nine points. He proceeded to harass Crawford and held him scoreless until a couple meaningless baskets at the end of overtime. Bowen’s defense in that stretch was as good as any defense I’ve seen him play this year, especially considering it came against a smaller, quicker guard who has given him problems in the past.
-For the third straight game, Fabricio Oberto had a very solid outing. With eight points and eight rebounds on 4-for-5 shooting, Oberto seems to really be rounding into form as of late. He’s playing very well next to Duncan and is Ginobili’s favorite target. If I had to nitpick, I’d point out that Oberto had only four defensive rebounds in 34 minutes of action.
-Michael Finley played the role of clutch assassin tonight. His three-pointer with 4:35 to go in the game cut the nine-point Knicks lead to six. With under ten seconds to go in the game and the Spurs inbounding down three points, Finley hit a three with 0.4 seconds remaining. Derek Fisher is on the Lakers and they actually started the clock on time so this game went into overtime. In overtime, Finley hit a backbreaking three-pointer that put the Spurs up seven points and ended any hopes of a New York upset. On the game, Finley had 17 points on 5-for-6 shooting from three-point land. He also chipped in with two rebounds and one assist in 24 minutes of action.
-Jacque Vaughn subbed in early and often for an ineffective Stoudamire and played relatively well. In 25 minutes, Vaughn had five points, four assists and no turnovers. He also supplied the Spurs with some energy on defense when the Spurs appeared to be asleep at the wheel. He’s never going to be a scoring point guard or even a playmaking point guard, but you have to give him props because he’s been a vital part of this four-game winning streak. Extra props are due because he’s doing this even despite the Spurs blatantly trying to replace his role in the rotation by going after Stoudamire.
-Robert Horry is not only alive and well, but he’s making those early season struggles seem like a thing of the past. For the third straight game, Horry played extremely well. Against the Knicks, Horry had a season-high 13 points to go along with two rebounds, two assists and two steals in 18 minutes of play. Perhaps most importantly, Horry hit 5-of-6 shots from the field, including 3-of-4 shots from beyond the three-point arc. In the last three games, Horry has hit 11 of his 16 shots from the field. Coming into that stretch, Horry was shooting below 20% from the field. It simply can’t be overstated how important a healthy and in-rhythm Horry is to the Spurs come the playoffs. The Spurs chances of winning of a championship are much greater if Horry is playing well.
-Ime Udoka played 15 solid minutes for the Spurs. He had five points, two rebounds, one steal and one blocked shot. All but three minutes of his time came in the second half. Udoka had been struggling a bit lately but played well tonight. He seems to be gaining more and more trust from Pop, especially on the defensive end. Pop doesn’t hesitate to give Udoka the toughest matchup on the court, whether it’s a point guard or a power forward.
-Francisco Elson hit a new low. His play in the first half was the worst he’s ever played in his basketball life. Although it doesn’t seem possible, he almost single-handedly lost a game during his five minutes of pitiful play in the first half. It was literally tough to watch, to the point that I actually felt bad for him. He’s obviously out of rhythm, pressing and his confidence is shot. But the truth is he was the man with the shovel when the Spurs dug their hole in the first half.
-Matt Bonner didn’t play once again. It’s a bad sign if you are behind Elson in a rotation. I don’t know what Bonner did to fall to earn his current place in the rotation, but whatever it was must have been bad … very bad.
-I thought Pop coached a really good game. His decision to put Bowen on Crawford late in the fourth quarter was the coaching move of the game. The move also forced Ginobili to play point guard but Pop was smart about just calling pick-and-rolls when Ginobili was at point.
I didn’t like how Duncan and Ginobili once again played big minutes. While some of the minutes are due to the overtime period, 44 minutes for Duncan and 42 minutes for Ginobili are just too many minutes.
Pop also needs to do something about Elson. Either play him more minutes for a stretch of games to see if his season can be salvaged or don’t play him. Sending him out there for only a couple minutes a night hurts both Elson and the team.
It’s going to be interesting to see how the Stoudamire and Vaughn situation plays out. Pop is already showing that he prefers Vaughn more when he’s desperate for production. Will that continue or will he eventually become confident in Stoudamire? I guess we’ll find out.
The bottomline is the Spurs got the win. It wasn’t pretty but they gutted out a victory that seemed lost at a couple of different points in the game.
Next up on the schedule is a Sunday morning game against the Boston Celtics. It’ll be the Spurs first look at the new-look Celtics this season, however it appears like Kevin Garnett is unlikely to play. Either way I’m not expecting a win. The Celtics at home against the defending champions will have an ungodly amount of energy. The Spurs, on the other hand, will likely be listless like they usually are during morning games. A win would be great but I’m not getting my hopes up. However, I will be interested in seeing whether Pop utilizes a lineup consisting of Bowen and Udoka to counter Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.
Or Pop could save that look in case the Celtics are lucky enough to meet the Spurs in the NBA Finals.
Believe.
:smokin