timvp
03-21-2008, 12:53 AM
While there’s really no such thing as a must-win regular season game in March, this game against the Chicago Bulls was close. The Spurs owned a four-game losing streak coming into the game and really couldn’t afford to make it five straight. After an ugly first quarter, the team got it together and easily dispatched of the Bulls 102-80.
Most exciting for the Spurs is how the played in the middle two quarters, outscoring the Bulls 64-41. Their offense got into a good rhythm and their defense was solid. Once the Spurs got up, they never allowed the Bulls to make a run back into contention.
To be fair, the Bulls were pretty horrible on their own. That is a team with no direction that desperately needs a tough coach and a few veteran leaders. As they are constructed, it’s basically a bunch of young players looking to get their stats so that they can get rewarded with big contracts in the summer. The teamwork on both sides of the court was non-existent for Chicago.
As a Spurs fan, there’s no way I could complain about this win. The Spurs needed a win desperately. It was just a bonus that the starters got to rest in the fourth quarter, which should help against the Sacramento Kings in tomorrow’s back-to-back affair.
-It appeared that the Spurs entered the game with a plan to feature Tim Duncan early and often. Duncan didn’t disappoint, as he scored the team’s first eight points of the contest. He was aggressive in fighting for position and used a nice array of moves on the low block. In 26 minutes, Duncan finished with 22 points, ten rebounds and three blocked shots. He also knocked down 9-of-14 shots from the field and all four of his free throws. Duncan’s defense was also impressive and he finished the game with only one turnover. Simply a workmanlike effort.
-Manu Ginobili didn’t do much. Luckily, the Spurs ended up not needing anything out of him. In 27 minutes, Ginobili had six points, four rebounds, two assists and three turnovers, while shooting 1-for-8 from the field. Ginobili was loose with both his passing and his ballhandling. It was a good sign that the Spurs were able to win handily despite the poor game from Ginobili. Recently, the Spurs have needed Ginobili to play great to have a chance against any caliber of team. Since Ginobili is a streaky player by nature, the Spurs are at their best when they can win even when he doesn’t play well and crush teams when he does play well.
-Tony Parker played a good game. Parker’s defense had been poor in the last three or four games but he defended Ben Gordon well. Offensively, Parker stayed in attack mode and that was what the Spurs needed. He finished with 23 points and six assists, while shooting 8-for-18 from the field. Especially with Ginobili on the bench to start each half, Parker has to come out looking to create points for himself or others right away. This Spurs will need more complete efforts like this from Parker if they want to return back to their championship form.
-Bruce Bowen played 20 minutes and performed well defensively. He went against a bigger and stronger Luol Deng and held him in check. Offensively, Bowen was left open a lot and failed to make the Bulls pay. He finished 2-for-8 from the court, including 2-for-6 on three-pointers. Bowen has shot his three-pointers extremely well lately so hopefully this was just one off night from beyond the arc.
-Don’t look now but Michael Finley might have taken his first step at getting himself out of his shooting slump. Finley played 22 minutes and hit 4-of-6 shots from the field, including both of his three-point attempts. If Finley’s stroke can return, that’d be a huge boost for this team. When Finley is cold, the spacing is ruined because teams stop respecting his jumper. All wasn’t well for Finley, however, as he only pulled down one rebound. Early in the season, Finley was doing a great job rebounding the ball. Lately, he has corralled caroms at an extremely low rate – at about half of his early season rate.
-Fabricio Oberto has responded well to his placement into the starting lineup. Against the Bulls, Oberto had four points, seven rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes of action. Although he ended up fouling out, he gave very good energy and was relentless on the glass. If Oberto can play as well as he did last year in the playoffs, the Spurs could turn around their bad fortunes quickly.
-Ime Udoka led the bench in playing time and performed rather well. In 27 minutes, Udoka had 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals, while shooting 5-for-11 from the field. Overall, I was happy with the way he played. I do wish he’d lower his aggression level on offense just a bit. The Spurs don’t need Udoka to do much offensively. He has a tendency to play as if he’s responsible for carrying part of the offensive load. Defense, rebounding and hitting the open shots should be the only three things Udoka worries about on the court.
-Kurt Thomas played well off the bench. He seems to really fit well into that bench role Pop has him playing. As a backup center who enters the game for Duncan, Thomas is able to play a Duncan-like role on both sides of the court. Obviously, he’s not nearly as talented but the Spurs don’t have to go far into their bag of tricks with Thomas on the court. Against the Bulls, Thomas had four points and six rebounds in 20 minutes.
-You gotta love the way Jacque Vaughn played against the Bulls. Even when the Spurs had the game in the bag, Vaughn was throwing his body all around the court. His constant and unyielding hustle is fun to watch and has to be inspiring for his teammates. Not only was his hustle off the charts but he actually played rather well. In 18 minutes, he hit his only field goal attempt, handed out four assists, grabbed two rebounds and didn’t have a turnover. When Vaughn hustles like he did tonight and doesn’t force his own shot, he has the ability to be an important part of the repeat attempt.
-Robert Horry played really well in his 12 minutes of action. He’s getting more and more comfortable offensively and his defense is improving. Horry finished with three points, two assists and a rebound in his 12 minutes, connecting on his only field goal attempt – a three-pointer. The one part of his game that it appears that he just doesn’t have anymore is lateral quickness defensively. When a player is coming out him, he’s nothing more than a 6-foot-9 pylon these days. That said, he still has the ability to be a difference maker during the playoffs.
-Matt Bonner and Damon Stoudamire both played in garbage time. Bonner did a nice job rebounding the ball but only connected on 1-of-5 field goal attempts. Stoudamire was actually helpful in keeping the offense afloat just enough to keep the starters from having to go back into the game. Mighty Mouse and Underdog are actually a good duo to finish off blowouts because they’ll go out there and look to score right away.
-The most important thing Pop did against the Bulls, besides get the win, was making sure no one played over 30 minutes. Pop didn’t do much to win the game other than sticking with the rotation he set last outing against the Celtics.
Like I said after the Celtics game, I’m a big fan of this current rotation. If Finley is able to find his shot enough to even hit 39-40% of his attempts, that’d be really helpful. Once Brent Barry returns, I think he’ll seamlessly fit into the rotation. Barry will siphon his minutes mostly from Udoka and Finley, but will also be useful in making sure Ginobili and Bowen don’t play too many minutes.
The bottomline is the Spurs got the win. It wasn’t against a good team but I’ll gladly accept the W. A back-to-back victory against the Kings on Friday is mandatory to keep the momentum headed in the right direction.
Believe.
Most exciting for the Spurs is how the played in the middle two quarters, outscoring the Bulls 64-41. Their offense got into a good rhythm and their defense was solid. Once the Spurs got up, they never allowed the Bulls to make a run back into contention.
To be fair, the Bulls were pretty horrible on their own. That is a team with no direction that desperately needs a tough coach and a few veteran leaders. As they are constructed, it’s basically a bunch of young players looking to get their stats so that they can get rewarded with big contracts in the summer. The teamwork on both sides of the court was non-existent for Chicago.
As a Spurs fan, there’s no way I could complain about this win. The Spurs needed a win desperately. It was just a bonus that the starters got to rest in the fourth quarter, which should help against the Sacramento Kings in tomorrow’s back-to-back affair.
-It appeared that the Spurs entered the game with a plan to feature Tim Duncan early and often. Duncan didn’t disappoint, as he scored the team’s first eight points of the contest. He was aggressive in fighting for position and used a nice array of moves on the low block. In 26 minutes, Duncan finished with 22 points, ten rebounds and three blocked shots. He also knocked down 9-of-14 shots from the field and all four of his free throws. Duncan’s defense was also impressive and he finished the game with only one turnover. Simply a workmanlike effort.
-Manu Ginobili didn’t do much. Luckily, the Spurs ended up not needing anything out of him. In 27 minutes, Ginobili had six points, four rebounds, two assists and three turnovers, while shooting 1-for-8 from the field. Ginobili was loose with both his passing and his ballhandling. It was a good sign that the Spurs were able to win handily despite the poor game from Ginobili. Recently, the Spurs have needed Ginobili to play great to have a chance against any caliber of team. Since Ginobili is a streaky player by nature, the Spurs are at their best when they can win even when he doesn’t play well and crush teams when he does play well.
-Tony Parker played a good game. Parker’s defense had been poor in the last three or four games but he defended Ben Gordon well. Offensively, Parker stayed in attack mode and that was what the Spurs needed. He finished with 23 points and six assists, while shooting 8-for-18 from the field. Especially with Ginobili on the bench to start each half, Parker has to come out looking to create points for himself or others right away. This Spurs will need more complete efforts like this from Parker if they want to return back to their championship form.
-Bruce Bowen played 20 minutes and performed well defensively. He went against a bigger and stronger Luol Deng and held him in check. Offensively, Bowen was left open a lot and failed to make the Bulls pay. He finished 2-for-8 from the court, including 2-for-6 on three-pointers. Bowen has shot his three-pointers extremely well lately so hopefully this was just one off night from beyond the arc.
-Don’t look now but Michael Finley might have taken his first step at getting himself out of his shooting slump. Finley played 22 minutes and hit 4-of-6 shots from the field, including both of his three-point attempts. If Finley’s stroke can return, that’d be a huge boost for this team. When Finley is cold, the spacing is ruined because teams stop respecting his jumper. All wasn’t well for Finley, however, as he only pulled down one rebound. Early in the season, Finley was doing a great job rebounding the ball. Lately, he has corralled caroms at an extremely low rate – at about half of his early season rate.
-Fabricio Oberto has responded well to his placement into the starting lineup. Against the Bulls, Oberto had four points, seven rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes of action. Although he ended up fouling out, he gave very good energy and was relentless on the glass. If Oberto can play as well as he did last year in the playoffs, the Spurs could turn around their bad fortunes quickly.
-Ime Udoka led the bench in playing time and performed rather well. In 27 minutes, Udoka had 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals, while shooting 5-for-11 from the field. Overall, I was happy with the way he played. I do wish he’d lower his aggression level on offense just a bit. The Spurs don’t need Udoka to do much offensively. He has a tendency to play as if he’s responsible for carrying part of the offensive load. Defense, rebounding and hitting the open shots should be the only three things Udoka worries about on the court.
-Kurt Thomas played well off the bench. He seems to really fit well into that bench role Pop has him playing. As a backup center who enters the game for Duncan, Thomas is able to play a Duncan-like role on both sides of the court. Obviously, he’s not nearly as talented but the Spurs don’t have to go far into their bag of tricks with Thomas on the court. Against the Bulls, Thomas had four points and six rebounds in 20 minutes.
-You gotta love the way Jacque Vaughn played against the Bulls. Even when the Spurs had the game in the bag, Vaughn was throwing his body all around the court. His constant and unyielding hustle is fun to watch and has to be inspiring for his teammates. Not only was his hustle off the charts but he actually played rather well. In 18 minutes, he hit his only field goal attempt, handed out four assists, grabbed two rebounds and didn’t have a turnover. When Vaughn hustles like he did tonight and doesn’t force his own shot, he has the ability to be an important part of the repeat attempt.
-Robert Horry played really well in his 12 minutes of action. He’s getting more and more comfortable offensively and his defense is improving. Horry finished with three points, two assists and a rebound in his 12 minutes, connecting on his only field goal attempt – a three-pointer. The one part of his game that it appears that he just doesn’t have anymore is lateral quickness defensively. When a player is coming out him, he’s nothing more than a 6-foot-9 pylon these days. That said, he still has the ability to be a difference maker during the playoffs.
-Matt Bonner and Damon Stoudamire both played in garbage time. Bonner did a nice job rebounding the ball but only connected on 1-of-5 field goal attempts. Stoudamire was actually helpful in keeping the offense afloat just enough to keep the starters from having to go back into the game. Mighty Mouse and Underdog are actually a good duo to finish off blowouts because they’ll go out there and look to score right away.
-The most important thing Pop did against the Bulls, besides get the win, was making sure no one played over 30 minutes. Pop didn’t do much to win the game other than sticking with the rotation he set last outing against the Celtics.
Like I said after the Celtics game, I’m a big fan of this current rotation. If Finley is able to find his shot enough to even hit 39-40% of his attempts, that’d be really helpful. Once Brent Barry returns, I think he’ll seamlessly fit into the rotation. Barry will siphon his minutes mostly from Udoka and Finley, but will also be useful in making sure Ginobili and Bowen don’t play too many minutes.
The bottomline is the Spurs got the win. It wasn’t against a good team but I’ll gladly accept the W. A back-to-back victory against the Kings on Friday is mandatory to keep the momentum headed in the right direction.
Believe.