Game Thoughts: Spurs vs. Jazz Apr. 4

[timvp]

The Utah Jazz have the best home record in the NBA and the Spurs saw firsthand why that is the case. The Jazz, who led by two points at the end of two quarters, dominated the Spurs in the second half to win 90-64.

You have to give props to the Jazz for obliterating the Spurs in the third and fourth quarters. After surprising everyone and making the Western Conference Finals last season, they look like a team that will be tough to eliminate come playoff time. Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer are surrounded by an even better cast than they had last season. A team has to play close to perfect basketball to go into Utah and escape with a win.

Defensively, I thought the Spurs were solid for most of the night. In the first half specifically, the Spurs did a good job of closing out on shooters and not allowing many easy shots. Even though the defense let up a bit in the second half, allowing the Jazz to score only 90 points at home is a good showing. In their previous five home games, the Jazz were averaging more than 120 points per game.

Offense and rebounding are where the Spurs struggled. After shooting 50%+ in five straight games, the Spurs went extremely cold from the outside against Utah. They shot just 36.4% from the field and made just two three-pointers. The Spurs also gave up 11 offensive rebounds and compounded that problem by allowing the Jazz clean looks after securing the boards.

Overall, it was a bad loss. You don’t want to get blown out in a game that meant so much to the chase of the number one seed in the Western Conference. The second half was ugly, ugly basketball on the part of the Spurs. If I’m going to take any positive from the loss, it’s that the Spurs played well defensively for most of the night.

-Tim Duncan deserves a good amount of the blame for the loss. Granted the Jazz were hacking him. Granted the referees could have blown their whistles more often. However, Duncan had to play tougher than he did. He was looking for helps from the refs all night long. Superstar bigmen on the Spurs have been getting hacked in Utah for 20 years now. Not getting whistles in Utah shouldn’t be surprising. Duncan got frustrated and his play suffered. He finished with 15 points, ten rebounds and three blocks in 26 minutes, while hitting half of his 12 attempts from the floor. While his numbers were solid, I just wasn’t impressed by Duncan’s mental or physical toughness.

-The Spurs needed Manu Ginobili to have a big game to get a win and Ginobili didn’t deliver. That in itself is notable in a regular season in which Ginobili has delivered on almost a nightly basis. Against the Jazz, he just didn’t have it. He was hesitating on his jumper. The shots he did shoot were often flat. When he tried to create, Ginobili didn’t have much success. I thought he was good defensively to begin the game but eventually that aspect of his game began to suffer as well. Ginobili finished with eight points, three rebounds and two blocked shots, while shooting 2-for-10 from the field. Ginobili just needs to forget this night and move on.

-Tony Parker was decent enough against the Jazz. It wasn’t one of his better games but compared to most everyone else, he was one of the few bright spots. He was doing a good job attacking the Jazz and his penetration produced the only halfway consistent offense all night. Parker ended the game with 17 points, four assists, four rebounds and one turnover, while shooting 7-for-14 from the floor. Defensively Parker was good enough against both Williams and Ronnie Price. I thought there were some possessions where Parker needed to make quicker decisions but overall this loss wasn’t on him.

-Bruce Bowen had a mostly uneventful night. Bowen found himself matched up against Williams a lot of the night and did a good job against him. He mostly accomplished that by backing off of him and not allowing him to get to the rim. That worked tonight but in a playoff series, Williams would figure out how to adjust to that defense. On the night, Bowen had three points and five rebounds, while knocking down 1-for-4 shots. Bowen wasn’t playing particularly bad but he also wasn’t helping much.

-Michael Finley had a relapse on his way to recovery. Finley’s hot streak was quieted against the Jazz, as the starting shooting guard had only two points and one rebound in 19 minutes. He hit 1-of-4 shots from the field and had trouble getting open looks against the Jazz. Coming into this game, Finley had scored in double-figures in five straight games. Hopefully he’ll soon return to his blazing form and that streak won’t go down as an anomaly.

-While there were a lot of poor performances from the Spurs on Friday night, Fabricio Oberto might have been the worst of the bunch. Offensively, he was fumbling away passes, missing chip shots at the rim and making poor decisions. Defensively, Oberto was a non-factor who was responsible for a lot of the team’s rebounding trouble. When your starting center goes without a defensive rebound in 23 minutes of action, there’s going to be a problem on the boards. For whatever reason, Oberto has just been horrible in games at Utah in the regular season in the last two years. In 89 minutes at Utah, Oberto has a total of two defensive rebounds against the Jazz – an absolutely horrible showing. It’s especially confusing because he was dominant at times last year against the Jazz in the playoffs.

-Kurt Thomas started the second half in place of the ineffective Oberto and played pretty well. He finished with six points, three rebounds, one steal and one block in 25 minutes of action. Thomas was willing to lay the lumber against the Jazz and was easily the most physical player on the Spurs. If the Spurs end up playing the Jazz at some point in the playoffs, Thomas will be useful.

-Ime Udoka played decent basketball. He didn’t do much on either end but also didn’t make many mistakes. He played solid defense for much of the evening on his way to two points and three rebounds in 20 minutes. He was one of the many Spurs who couldn’t find any space to produce offensively.

-Jacque Vaughn missed all four of his shots from the court but otherwise was decent enough. He gave good effort defensively and wasn’t forcing anything offensively. His three turnovers were costly though and overall his play has started to come back down to earth after playing a couple of great weeks.

-Matt Bonner, Damon Stoudamire and Bobby Jones were each able to play extended garbage minutes. Bonner, amazingly enough, wasn’t able to get up a shot attempt in his 11 minutes. That’s unheard of for Bonner, who loves chucking in garbage time. All the points the Spurs scored in the fourth quarter were scored by Stoudamire. That sounds impressive – until you realize that the Spurs had nine points in the fourth quarter. Jones showed next to nothing in his extended playing time. He looked terrified to shoot and his defense was nothing special.

-I didn’t have a huge problem with how Pop coached the game. He was a bit slow to react to Utah’s run in the fourth quarter and then was fast to raise the white flag when the Spurs got down. I agreed with Pop giving up when he did because there was a better chance of a player getting hurt than the Spurs suddenly finding their shooting touch.

I thought Pop's strategies defensively were good. Offensively, the Spurs just weren't producing. Better ball movement and player movement would have helped offensively, but it really came down to not making shots. Pop can't really get on the team about missing shots, although I'm sure he'll get on the team for not showing enough physicality against a rough and rugged Utah squad.

Jerry Sloan, on the other hand, showed again how he coaches like he’s oblivious to the score. No matter the score, Sloan will keep his guys out on the floor. It doesn’t matter if the Jazz are up 20 or down 20, the starters play until the final few minutes. That was again the case tonight when the Jazz kept their starters out there when the Spurs had long given up.

The bottomline is the Spurs lost a big game that will likely cost them any chance they had at the number one seed. Now, the Spurs need to fend off the Lakers for the second seed. Next up on the schedule is the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday. The Spurs are going to have to come with a much better effort to win that road game against a team still giving good effort.

Believe.

[The Truth #6]

I had wondered what was up with Sloan when kept his starters in way too long and they ran up the score. Charles Barkley would have suggested to take one of their stars out when they go to the rim but that's not Spurs basketball. Nonetheless, it seemed "un-classy" on the part of the Jazz, but if that's what he always does then so be it.

[Phenomanul]

That loss was hard to watch...

The only way one wins at Utah is if either of the Crawfords is calling the game.

Everyone else is too intimidated by the crowd.

To make matters worse, the Gasol trade.... nevermind. :pctoss

[urunobili]

-Jacque Vaughn missed all four of his shots from the court but otherwise was decent enough. He gave good effort defensively and wasn’t forcing anything offensively. His three turnovers were costly though and overall his play has started to come back down to earth after playing a couple of great weeks.
Hey timvp... with all due respect... i love each one of your comments and i mostly agree with all of them... but i think Jacque Vaughn was worse than what you relate here... :depressed

[foodie2]

I had wondered what was up with Sloan when kept his starters in way too long and they ran up the score. Charles Barkley would have suggested to take one of their stars out when they go to the rim but that's not Spurs basketball. Nonetheless, it seemed "un-classy" on the part of the Jazz, but if that's what he always does then so be it.

Un-classy = Utah Jazz. Always.

And I agree about Tim's play. I love him and obviously he's most of the reason we have 4 trophies, but if there's anything that can make me as mad as fire during a Spurs game, it's watching him whine to the refs and not getting back into the play. As someone who has a son about his age, I have this mother-urge to go out there and slap him upside the head when he does that.

[ManuTastic]

A good write-up, as usual. This was really a case of Utah just showing up big as usual at home. And I have news for all the noobs: SA was never going to to run the table on the season. Spurs always throw some stinker games in, and this wasn't even that bad (only down 2 at the half).

Of note:

Timmy got frustrated by the non-calls, which is one of his Achilles heels. He needs to stop that.

Okur lit it up big time. Wasn't Tim usually covering him?

Oberto was just plain awful.

Parker is looking really good, especially the outside shot. Manu showed his fabled streakiness: the same guy who can drop 48 on you can also look like a lost little boy some nights. Deal with it, because he gives you way more good than bad. Seriously, who would you trade him for? Right now, today?

[SpurYank]

I picked the Spurs to win because I'm loyal and was taken in by their recent successes. However, I was sitting at mid-court in Salt Lake City last year in that playoff game of the championship series when the Spurs got blown out. It is easily the most threatening of places to play. It is so threatening that the refs also fear making calls against the home team. They fear they won't get out alive.

Couple that with all their shots falling in and the Spurs feeling the intimidation of the fans and you've got what we got.

This stuff happens. We'll be alright.

[xtremesteven33]

OMG Spurs own the Jazz......its a totally different atmosphere in a playoff series.....Duncan,Parker,Ginobili get more minutes, Pop comes out with all his schemes, People choke under pressure...and Okur will not show up.....

whats good about this though, if the Jazz stay at 4 and the Suns at 5, one of these suckas are going out.....SWEEETT!!

[bobbybob0]

I don't get why Pop played so many small ball against Utah :/

With their frontcourt you gonna get killed on the boards playing small ball.

And the line-up to start the 4th was just ridiculous

[thousandth]

My nut point

[ancestron]

oh no, we suck again!

[1Parker1]

Hey timvp... with all due respect... i love each one of your comments and i mostly agree with all of them... but i think Jacque Vaughn was worse than what you relate here... :depressed

Agreed, Vaughn was awful. But it was hidden since the majority of the Spurs played just as bad. Vaughn was overdribbling, forcing the issue, not running the Spurs offense well. I wasn't impressed with him at all. Then again, he's the best option we have.

I also thought Pop called it in way too early. It almost seemed like he was resigned with the fact the Spurs were going to lose this game after like 2 minutes into the 3rd quarter.He barely played Duncan at all.

Jazz showed the rest of the league the perfect recipe to get under the Spurs skin and defend them;

Take away their 3 point shooting, play physical with Duncan (since the refs are letting them get away with it this season), crash the offensive boards (as the Spurs are not a great offensive rebounding team), and you can beat them.

Spurs have been way to reliant on their 3 point shooting this season, especially. Their offense becomes way to stagnant without it.

[angel_luv]

I was out of town and so ( fortunately, it would seem) missed this game.

Here's hoping this was the Spurs last stinker of the year.

[1Parker1]

Oh and major Props to Utah. They are a great team. And on top of that, it's really refreshing to see another "old school" team still left in the NBA. Watching Utah reminds me of why I started loving the NBA. The physical play, the belief that you foul a player hard and make him earn his 2 points every time he gets in the paint, the keeping your starters in there even if your up 20 or down 20...all staples that Jerry Sloan has been using throughout his 20 years. It's nice that he hasn't changed his strategy despite the NBA and Stern's constant efforts to turn this league into a soft, whiny, run and gun style league.

[ploto]

Second chance points-- all you need to know

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

I didn’t have a huge problem with how Pop coached the game. He was a bit slow to react to Utah’s run in the fourth quarter and then was fast to raise the white flag when the Spurs got down.

I have to disagree with you on this LJ. The lineup Pop started the fourth quarter with wa s a strategic failure. We were still in striking distance (11 points) at that point, but that lineup at the start of the fourth was more fitting of garbage time than a game still in doubt.

[bigfundamental21]

Thanks, timvp, for putting the loss in perspective.

While all Spurs fans hate any losses, especially to the Jazz, this was probably a game that many thought the Spurs would lose. Unfortunately, it was a drubbing and our guys didn't respond in the second half.

I agree that Pop did what he needed to do in pulling the starters. No sense in wasting energy and risking injury in such a lopsided game.

Hopefully, this will be what the Spurs need to get themselves motivated to make their final push to the playoffs.

I agree that Duncan let the refs (or the lack of calls) get to him. Unfortunately, he has a tendancy of letting that get into his head. I hate that he lets it affect him that much. But, even though he was struggling to get himself past that, the rest of the guys really did not pick up the slack. Parker had some success, but the rest of the team didn't respond.

I know we don't have to have the # 1 seed to win it all. And we all know that having the #1 seed doesn't guarantee a title. It will be important though to go into the playoffs on a win streak. Let's hope we will close out the season on one.

BELIEVE!

[1Parker1]

Duncan did had some legit beef against the refs though. They were letting the Jazz get away with A LOT of physical play. But props to the Jazz for sticking with the game plan and playing the way the refs were letting them play.

You can't fault the refs though, because they were calling it even both ways. Spurs were allowed to play as physical as they wanted against the Jazz on the other end as well.

[balli]

Duncan may have had beef against the refs, but he shouldn't have. There were no eggrarious calls going either way and it was just as physical for the Jazz as it was the Spurs.

As a Jazz fan I was laughing out loud at Duncan's little temper tantrums. I've never seen a full grown man act like such a little girl over a ball getting poked out of bounds or an obviously clean block. Duncan needs to get over it; His and the rest of the teams' pompous, incessant whining is one of the primary reasons America hates the Spurs.

Also, call the Utah Jazz crowd un-classy all you like, but as for the players and coach- get a clue. We don't talk shit during games and we have a set rotation for our players. Oh... and we also don't bitch and moan like spoiled little girls every single time a ref's call goes against us.

[Fabbs]

Oberto was far beyond just "ineffective" to me.
Granted, this is only one or two plays, but with us up about 24-18 with the ball looking to create a bigger lead, Manu faked a shot and zipped a beauty pass to Fabs under the rim. As usual, Fabs was all spooked with the Utah bigs arounds, went up nervously and bricked the layup. Next trip or two down he is too freaked to shoot at all and instead dumps it off to (Thomas i think), when Fabs should have just gone up again for the auto layup.

To me two small but huge game precedents were set.

1. It got Utah right back into a quick tie, changed the atmosphere 180 degrees.

2. Manu might have been on his way to one of those off shooting but great floor games with mega assists, rebounds, etc. I think this pass gets completed and the mental edge is set.

Granted, it was only two plays....

[Cant_Be_Faded]

I gotta say, Pop's substitution strategies in the second half is what cost us any chance at winning this game.

He had Parker playing hardcore minutes with ginobili, all without Duncan in the third....by the time Duncan came back in, we had Vaughn and Finley surrounding him I believe. That was a huge mistake. We never once had all our best players on the floor in the second half for a good stretch.

[DarrinS]

Fab sucked in that game. He missed about 5 or 6 gimme layups and put-backs and could grab a damn rebound.


If we play the Jazz in the playoffs, KT will become VERY important.

[loveforthegame]

The frustration got the better of Duncan tonight. I remember during a timeout they showed Pop talking to Duncan on the bench about where he was keeping the ball. He was keeping it down low where it allowed the Jazz to swipe at it.

I'm sure Pop will make the adjustments needed to counter the double teams they were throwing at Duncan. Also need to get guys like Finley and Udoka moving without the ball to free up some shots for them when they do double Duncan.

[George Gervin's Afro]

my Thought:

WE GOT BITCHSLAPPED AND NEVER RESPONDED. WE PLAYED LIKE LITTLE BITCHES AND NOT LIKE THE DEFENDING CHAMPIONS

[crc21209]

Duncan may have had beef against the refs, but he shouldn't have. There were no eggrarious calls going either way and it was just as physical for the Jazz as it was the Spurs.

As a Jazz fan I was laughing out loud at Duncan's little temper tantrums. I've never seen a full grown man act like such a little girl over a ball getting poked out of bounds or an obviously clean block. Duncan needs to get over it; His and the rest of the teams' pompous, incessant whining is one of the primary reasons America hates the Spurs.

Also, call the Utah Jazz crowd un-classy all you like, but as for the players and coach- get a clue. We don't talk shit during games and we have a set rotation for our players. Oh... and we also don't bitch and moan like spoiled little girls every single time a ref's call goes against us.

Jazz fan? Your team says Atlanta Hawks, so stfu and get outta here, jackass.

[ducks]

fabb and manu were left in sa or atleast their minds were

[wildchild]

Fab sucked in that game. He missed about 5 or 6 gimme layups and put-backs and could grab a damn rebound.


If we play the Jazz in the playoffs, KT will become VERY important.

I think Oberto really sucked on O. Even so, I guess on D Boozer/Okur were a good matchup for him.

I like more Oberto on Boozer than KT. I don't know what. Oberto has something with Boozer and drew him 2/3 fouls in all games.

In that game Oberto drew 2 Boozer's fouls in a row and sit him.

Sadly the Spurs didn't take advantage of that, of Jazz without Boozer for a lot of minutes.


I gotta say, Pop's substitution strategies in the second half is what cost us any chance at winning this game

I agree. His choice in lineup and strategies sucked against the Sloan's job and Jazz D.

[balli]

Jazz fan? Your team says Atlanta Hawks, so stfu and get outta here, jackass.

Yeah. God forbid that someone roots for more than one team. LOL. Why don't you cry a little bit more crc21209?

[BuzzerBeater]

I posted my game thoughts in the game thread so I'll just one-liner a summary:
Timmy pout, early out
Fabs jitters, offense quitters
Finley retires, 3 pt. game expires
Manu sputters, expletives uttered
Kurt shines, others whine
Jacque's O was a no-go
Ime's game tame but no blame
Tony's early success helps us later secure the West

[DarrinS]

I posted my game thoughts in the game thread so I'll just one-liner a summary:
Timmy pout, early out
Fabs jitters, offense quitters
Finley retires, 3 pt. game expires
Manu sputters, expletives uttered
Kurt shines, others whine
Jacque's O was a no-go
Ime's game tame but no blame
Tony's early success helps us later secure the West


There once was a man from Nantucket... :fro

[BuzzerBeater]

There once was a man from Nantucket... :fro
...who saw the Spurs sputter and said f---it!

[DarrinS]

...who saw the Spurs sputter and said f---it!


:toast

[ancestron]

Pop threw this game. He didn't even care about winning last night. He just wants to get the season over, not risk any injury, not get his guys involved in a street fight with Jerry Sloan's thugs right now. CIA pop in full effect. Also, apparently someone had the officials convinced it would be the Utah Jazz show anyway, and Pop knew it.

[roycrikside]

I don't get how Pop can go small against this team, of all teams. They had their super big line-up in there with Okur, Boozer and AK, and we're going small against that. Brilliant.

Also, it's not surprising the offense sucked, we never moved the ball. It was either Parker taking it the whole possession or Duncan posting up and everyone watching. You need to play fast and have some ball movement and player movement against Utah. If you get slow and stagnant, they'll clamp down on you. They foul like hell, especially in this building and dare the refs to call it.

[balli]

Also, apparently someone had the officials convinced it would be the Utah Jazz show anyway, and Pop knew it.

Yeah, you guys lost by 30 points because Pop knew the refs were biased and quit. LOL. Give me a fucking break. The refs let them play physical. That doesn't mean it was a poorly called game. For all the bitching from spurs fans today, I'm yet to see someone actually name a specific blown call that went against the Spurs. Again, give me a fucking break. You lost for one reason; Last night the Jazz played better than the Spurs... much better. Deal with it.

[balli]

They foul like hell, especially in this building and dare the refs to call it.

Can you please list the specific plays where you were "fouled like hell" and the refs didn't call it? Oh wait... That didn't happen.

I'll say it again- You lost for one reason; Last night the Jazz played better than the Spurs... much better. Deal with it.

[SouthernFried]

Also need to get guys like Finley and Udoka moving without the ball to free up some shots for them when they do double Duncan.

This has been a major problem all year, and not near noticed enuf.

Everyone says we need to "move the ball more"...but, if people aint moving "without the ball" they aint gonna be open to move the ball to.

Our movement without the ball is fucking atrocious. Isolation plays for Manu, Duncan, and TP is about all we have. If those guys are "on"...it's all we need, and everyone else sits and watches and plays D. But if just one of them is off...well.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

I agree with the assessments on the big 3. Athough his stats were pretty good Tim didn't really have a dominant game, Manu had a bad shooting night, and Tony did a pretty good job out there.

[WalterBenitez]

We lost because TP didn't pass the ball to Manu when he was open, because Oberto can't catch my grandma's ass, because Jazz played with balls and beacuse POP was drunk.

[ClingingMars]

Duncan may have had beef against the refs, but he shouldn't have. There were no eggrarious calls going either way and it was just as physical for the Jazz as it was the Spurs.

As a Jazz fan I was laughing out loud at Duncan's little temper tantrums. I've never seen a full grown man act like such a little girl over a ball getting poked out of bounds or an obviously clean block. Duncan needs to get over it; His and the rest of the teams' pompous, incessant whining is one of the primary reasons America hates the Spurs.

Also, call the Utah Jazz crowd un-classy all you like, but as for the players and coach- get a clue. We don't talk shit during games and we have a set rotation for our players. Oh... and we also don't bitch and moan like spoiled little girls every single time a ref's call goes against us.

lol @ the troll, the jazz troll even complains when he wins

- Mars

[ClingingMars]

Yeah. God forbid that someone roots for more than one team. LOL. Why don't you cry a little bit more crc21209?

:dont

- Mars

[ClingingMars]

Yeah, you guys lost by 30 points because Pop knew the refs were biased and quit. LOL. Give me a fucking break. The refs let them play physical. That doesn't mean it was a poorly called game. For all the bitching from spurs fans today, I'm yet to see someone actually name a specific blown call that went against the Spurs. Again, give me a fucking break. You lost for one reason; Last night the Jazz played better than the Spurs... much better. Deal with it.

lmao, anyone who couldn't see a SINGLE problem with the refs must be a blind Jazz homer. I didn't even know those existed.

- Mars

[mando6599]

I had wondered what was up with Sloan when kept his starters in way too long and they ran up the score. Charles Barkley would have suggested to take one of their stars out when they go to the rim but that's not Spurs basketball. Nonetheless, it seemed "un-classy" on the part of the Jazz, but if that's what he always does then so be it.


Totally agree with you. I was listening and the time remaining was 41/2 mins. to go with the Jazz up by 19 and Sloan puts his starters Boozer and Williams in and maybe more, I'm not sure. He did this last year in the PO in our only loss to them and that was a blowout too. Although I'd never wish injury on any opposing team's players, when a coach does that in that type of blowout, I kinda hope there'd be some kind of injury just to make that coach realize how bad he actually looks to the other team or indifferent fans of the game.

[DazedAndConfused]

I'm not sure why the Spurs are giving up on games so easily as of late. It's not as if HCA is secured by any means. Unless the Spurs believe HCA won't be important for them...

[ThomasGranger]

They know they'll have to win on the road at some point anyway.

[crc21209]

Ballijuana is just jealous because he roots for a wack team who can only win at home and not on the road.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

-I didn’t have a huge problem with how Pop coached the game. He was a bit slow to react to Utah’s run in the fourth quarter and then was fast to raise the white flag when the Spurs got down. I agreed with Pop giving up when he did because there was a better chance of a player getting hurt than the Spurs suddenly finding their shooting touch.


Good observation. I get the feeling that Pop is willing to throw away these types games at this point rather than try to rally. Sometimes I almost think he would rather the Spurs come in as a 4 or 5 seed and be a little more hungry. He may be dialed into the Spurs players' mentalities which appears to be that they gear up better when they're the underdogs rather than the favorites. Defending champs with the number 1 seed might just be too high of a pedestal for the other guys to knock us off of, especially when the 1 through 8 seeds in the West are all very talented.




Strange game, though, considering how well the Spurs have played as of late.

[Manu_Ginobili]

The Utah Jazz have the best home record in the NBA and the Spurs saw firsthand why that is the case. The Jazz, who led by two points at the end of two quarters, dominated the Spurs in the second half to win 90-64.

You have to give props to the Jazz for obliterating the Spurs in the third and fourth quarters. After surprising everyone and making the Western Conference Finals last season, they look like a team that will be tough to eliminate come playoff time. Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer are surrounded by an even better cast than they had last season. A team has to play close to perfect basketball to go into Utah and escape with a win.

Defensively, I thought the Spurs were solid for most of the night. In the first half specifically, the Spurs did a good job of closing out on shooters and not allowing many easy shots. Even though the defense let up a bit in the second half, allowing the Jazz to score only 90 points at home is a good showing. In their previous five home games, the Jazz were averaging more than 120 points per game.

Offense and rebounding are where the Spurs struggled. After shooting 50%+ in five straight games, the Spurs went extremely cold from the outside against Utah. They shot just 36.4% from the field and made just two three-pointers. The Spurs also gave up 11 offensive rebounds and compounded that problem by allowing the Jazz clean looks after securing the boards.

Overall, it was a bad loss. You don’t want to get blown out in a game that meant so much to the chase of the number one seed in the Western Conference. The second half was ugly, ugly basketball on the part of the Spurs. If I’m going to take any positive from the loss, it’s that the Spurs played well defensively for most of the night.

-Tim Duncan deserves a good amount of the blame for the loss. Granted the Jazz were hacking him. Granted the referees could have blown their whistles more often. However, Duncan had to play tougher than he did. He was looking for helps from the refs all night long. Superstar bigmen on the Spurs have been getting hacked in Utah for 20 years now. Not getting whistles in Utah shouldn’t be surprising. Duncan got frustrated and his play suffered. He finished with 15 points, ten rebounds and three blocks in 26 minutes, while hitting half of his 12 attempts from the floor. While his numbers were solid, I just wasn’t impressed by Duncan’s mental or physical toughness.

-The Spurs needed Manu Ginobili to have a big game to get a win and Ginobili didn’t deliver. That in itself is notable in a regular season in which Ginobili has delivered on almost a nightly basis. Against the Jazz, he just didn’t have it. He was hesitating on his jumper. The shots he did shoot were often flat. When he tried to create, Ginobili didn’t have much success. I thought he was good defensively to begin the game but eventually that aspect of his game began to suffer as well. Ginobili finished with eight points, three rebounds and two blocked shots, while shooting 2-for-10 from the field. Ginobili just needs to forget this night and move on.

-Tony Parker was decent enough against the Jazz. It wasn’t one of his better games but compared to most everyone else, he was one of the few bright spots. He was doing a good job attacking the Jazz and his penetration produced the only halfway consistent offense all night. Parker ended the game with 17 points, four assists, four rebounds and one turnover, while shooting 7-for-14 from the floor. Defensively Parker was good enough against both Williams and Ronnie Price. I thought there were some possessions where Parker needed to make quicker decisions but overall this loss wasn’t on him.

-Bruce Bowen had a mostly uneventful night. Bowen found himself matched up against Williams a lot of the night and did a good job against him. He mostly accomplished that by backing off of him and not allowing him to get to the rim. That worked tonight but in a playoff series, Williams would figure out how to adjust to that defense. On the night, Bowen had three points and five rebounds, while knocking down 1-for-4 shots. Bowen wasn’t playing particularly bad but he also wasn’t helping much.

-Michael Finley had a relapse on his way to recovery. Finley’s hot streak was quieted against the Jazz, as the starting shooting guard had only two points and one rebound in 19 minutes. He hit 1-of-4 shots from the field and had trouble getting open looks against the Jazz. Coming into this game, Finley had scored in double-figures in five straight games. Hopefully he’ll soon return to his blazing form and that streak won’t go down as an anomaly.

-While there were a lot of poor performances from the Spurs on Friday night, Fabricio Oberto might have been the worst of the bunch. Offensively, he was fumbling away passes, missing chip shots at the rim and making poor decisions. Defensively, Oberto was a non-factor who was responsible for a lot of the team’s rebounding trouble. When your starting center goes without a defensive rebound in 23 minutes of action, there’s going to be a problem on the boards. For whatever reason, Oberto has just been horrible in games at Utah in the regular season in the last two years. In 89 minutes at Utah, Oberto has a total of two defensive rebounds against the Jazz – an absolutely horrible showing. It’s especially confusing because he was dominant at times last year against the Jazz in the playoffs.

-Kurt Thomas started the second half in place of the ineffective Oberto and played pretty well. He finished with six points, three rebounds, one steal and one block in 25 minutes of action. Thomas was willing to lay the lumber against the Jazz and was easily the most physical player on the Spurs. If the Spurs end up playing the Jazz at some point in the playoffs, Thomas will be useful.

-Ime Udoka played decent basketball. He didn’t do much on either end but also didn’t make many mistakes. He played solid defense for much of the evening on his way to two points and three rebounds in 20 minutes. He was one of the many Spurs who couldn’t find any space to produce offensively.

-Jacque Vaughn missed all four of his shots from the court but otherwise was decent enough. He gave good effort defensively and wasn’t forcing anything offensively. His three turnovers were costly though and overall his play has started to come back down to earth after playing a couple of great weeks.

-Matt Bonner, Damon Stoudamire and Bobby Jones were each able to play extended garbage minutes. Bonner, amazingly enough, wasn’t able to get up a shot attempt in his 11 minutes. That’s unheard of for Bonner, who loves chucking in garbage time. All the points the Spurs scored in the fourth quarter were scored by Stoudamire. That sounds impressive – until you realize that the Spurs had nine points in the fourth quarter. Jones showed next to nothing in his extended playing time. He looked terrified to shoot and his defense was nothing special.

-I didn’t have a huge problem with how Pop coached the game. He was a bit slow to react to Utah’s run in the fourth quarter and then was fast to raise the white flag when the Spurs got down. I agreed with Pop giving up when he did because there was a better chance of a player getting hurt than the Spurs suddenly finding their shooting touch.

I thought Pop's strategies defensively were good. Offensively, the Spurs just weren't producing. Better ball movement and player movement would have helped offensively, but it really came down to not making shots. Pop can't really get on the team about missing shots, although I'm sure he'll get on the team for not showing enough physicality against a rough and rugged Utah squad.

Jerry Sloan, on the other hand, showed again how he coaches like he’s oblivious to the score. No matter the score, Sloan will keep his guys out on the floor. It doesn’t matter if the Jazz are up 20 or down 20, the starters play until the final few minutes. That was again the case tonight when the Jazz kept their starters out there when the Spurs had long given up.

The bottomline is the Spurs lost a big game that will likely cost them any chance they had at the number one seed. Now, the Spurs need to fend off the Lakers for the second seed. Next up on the schedule is the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday. The Spurs are going to have to come with a much better effort to win that road game against a team still giving good effort.

Believe.

great post, publish a book...

[balli]

lmao, anyone who couldn't see a SINGLE problem with the refs must be a blind Jazz homer. I didn't even know those existed.

- Mars

Listen here you stupid fuck- I never said that the game was officiated perfectly. I just find it laughable how much you guys bitch about the refs, but can't highlight a specific BS call or non-call that went against you. I mean, that game was officiated just fine. It's laughable the way the Spurs and their fans bitch like little girls though. Laughable. Why don't you follow your own advice and stop feeding the trolls like me, you stupid fuck.


Totally agree with you. I was listening and the time remaining was 41/2 mins. to go with the Jazz up by 19 and Sloan puts his starters Boozer and Williams in and maybe more, I'm not sure. He did this last year in the PO in our only loss to them and that was a blowout too. Although I'd never wish injury on any opposing team's players, when a coach does that in that type of blowout, I kinda hope there'd be some kind of injury just to make that coach realize how bad he actually looks to the other team or indifferent fans of the game.

You are one stupid mother fucker man. Sloan sticks to that rotation every single game. No matter the score. It's not our fault that pop threw in the towel with 25% of the game left to play. Wish injury on our players- Fuck you asshole.


Ballijuana is just jealous because he roots for a wack team who can only win at home and not on the road.
Again, cry me a river, faggo.

[Agloco]

I have to disagree with you on this LJ. The lineup Pop started the fourth quarter with wa s a strategic failure. We were still in striking distance (11 points) at that point, but that lineup at the start of the fourth was more fitting of garbage time than a game still in doubt.


Ordinarily I'd agree with you, but the Spurs were ice cold and the team was simply out of sync in general. There was absolutely no indication that the team was going to be able to stay 11 down much less come back. Pop went with the game flow and decided to rest guys rather than force the issue and potentially get someone injured.

[Agloco]

Yeah. God forbid that someone roots for more than one team. LOL. Why don't you cry a little bit more crc21209?

You'd think you could pick at least one winner then........

[balli]

I did. When we beat your asses last night.

[itzsoweezee]

lol. jacque vaughn was complete utter trash.

[Agloco]

I did. When we beat your asses last night.


Nice. Keep those Northwest Division Championship banners coming.

[balli]

Okay. And you keep rooting for the team of pompous, whiny, little bitches that literally EVERYBODY outside of San Antonio thinks is the most boring and entitled group of crying dorks in professional sports.

Just remember- There are millions and millions of people who would rather see my team in the finals over your boring ass squad any day of the week.

[anakha]

Okay. And you keep rooting for the team of pompous, whiny, little bitches that literally EVERYBODY outside of San Antonio thinks is the most boring and entitled group of crying dorks in professional sports.

Just remember- There are millions and millions of people who would rather see my team in the finals over your boring ass squad any day of the week.

ballijuana = da_suns_fan__ ?

Seems as reasonable an explanation as any. :lol

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Just remember- There are millions and millions of people who would rather see my team in the finals over your boring ass squad any day of the week.
:lol We don't care.

[balli]

:lol We don't care.

Well... That's on you.

[Agloco]

Okay. And you keep rooting for the team of pompous, whiny, little bitches that literally EVERYBODY outside of San Antonio thinks is the most boring and entitled group of crying dorks in professional sports.

Just remember- There are millions and millions of people who would rather see my team in the finals over your boring ass squad any day of the week.


Yeah yeah....... and everyone wants to win the lottery too.

How does it feel to want BTW? Surely you and your million-man throng are familiar with that.......

[balli]

How does it feel want BTW?

Please respond coherently.

[Agloco]

Please respond coherently.


Mistyped, stay on subject loser.......

[Beno Udrih]

Well... That's on you.
:lol Thats on you as well. If the Spurs didn't inspire hate in the hearts of fans from other teams, then they wouldn't be doing their job right.

Do you honestly think the Spurs or Spurs nation could care any less if you witnessed what they (the San Antonio Spurs) accomplished???

Get real junior. Move along now. :smokin

[balli]

Mistyped, stay on subject loser.......
No. I'm done with this conversation. Fuck you Agloco. Your crying, gay-as-fuck team, that everyone hates is going out before the finals this year. Fuck you, fuck Texas and fuck the Spurs. I'm out.

[Beno Udrih]

No. I'm done with this conversation. Fuck you Agloco. Your crying, gay-as-fuck team, that everyone hates is going out before the finals this year. Fuck you, fuck Texas and fuck the Spurs. I'm out.
Translation = :cry :yield

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Well... That's on you.
Okay it's on me that Spurs fans want the Spurs in the Finals and not the Jazz. :lol

[Agloco]

No. I'm done with this conversation. Fuck you Agloco. Your crying, gay-as-fuck team, that everyone hates is going out before the finals this year. Fuck you, fuck Texas and fuck the Spurs. I'm out.


Just like the teams you root for come playoff time. What a great fit.........

[anakha]

No. I'm done with this conversation. Fuck you Agloco. Your crying, gay-as-fuck team, that everyone hates is going out before the finals this year. Fuck you, fuck Texas and fuck the Spurs. I'm out.

Awwww. Baby get a boo-boo?

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

there are jazz trolls now ? :drunk , or is it just the same troll who supports whoever is winning?

[balli]

Translation = :cry :yield

Or, uh... http://www.ogpaper.com/images/2008-NCAA-March-Madness-Tournament-Final-Four-games-preview-odds.jpg


Okay it's on me that Spurs fans want the Spurs in the Finals and not the Jazz. :lol

No, it's on you that you like the Spurs in the first place. I'm glad that I don't have to defend that decision.



there are jazz trolls now ? :drunk , or is it just the same troll who supports whoever is winning?

Well, I am a Jazz troll specifically. Still I root against the spurs every time they play. (except of course when they play the warriors, who I'm sure, we all root against)

[Agloco]

Or, uh... http://www.ogpaper.com/images/2008-NCAA-March-Madness-Tournament-Final-Four-games-preview-odds.jpg



No, it's on you that you like the Spurs in the first place. I'm glad that I don't have to defend that decision.




Well, I am a Jazz troll specifically. Still I root against the spurs every time they play. (except of course when they play the warriors, who I'm sure, we all root against)


Come back to play for a bit before the Heels crush Kansas?

[balli]

Crush? That seems optimistic.

[Agloco]

Crush? That seems realistic.


Fixed.

Kansas barely beat Davidson. I'm thinking a few more scorers would be more than they could handle.

[balli]

Cool. But the score is now 38-12 Kansas. God, I love being right all the time.

[IGNORANT MAVS FAN]

God, I love being right all the time.
fag! :lol

[ShoogarBear]

I'm out.

[FromWayDowntown]

The fans at the Energy Solutions Center agree that bitching about officiating is really, really unseemly. Really.

[timaios]

It is soooo stupid to quote the trolls !!!

:donkey

[Doctor J]

Thanks for your game thought, timvp.

I think there were two things we may point out as the main reasons of the defeat.

The Spurs' zone defence and small line-up.

We were defeated by their three point shootings and offensive rebounds.

[balli]

The fans at the Energy Solutions Center agree that bitching about officiating is really, really unseemly. Really.

Hey. Don't align me with those mormon kooks. You couldn't get me to attend a public event in UT. If there's one fanbase I dislike more than SA's it's UT's (even though they're my team). IMO rapist is better than mormon.

[Brutalis]

I'm not sweating it, a loss was coming just didn't expect a bad one. The Spurs are scary this year for sure. But every year it's like this almost.

We can't end the season with.. preseason games like we usually do, we need to win out and say ello to Dallas.

[TampaDude]

Cool. But the score is now 38-12 Kansas. God, I love being right all the time.

62-55 Kansas...it's a ballgame again...but Kansas will win this one...

[FromWayDowntown]

I'm not sweating it, a loss was coming just didn't expect a bad one. The Spurs are scary this year for sure. But every year it's like this almost.

We can't end the season with.. preseason games like we usually do, we need to win out and say ello to Dallas.

I'm not going to sweat a blowout loss at this point. Hell, the Jazz put just as big of an ass-whooping on the Spurs last May and by the end of Game 4, it meant absolutely nothing. Shoot under 40% in SLC and you're likely to get blown out, and that happened to the Spurs.

The blowout wins over Houston and Golden State were probably a mirage of sorts, but the blowout loss in Utah is equally unlikely to be any sort of long-term indicator.

There are lots of areas that could use improvement, to be sure, but there's still some time to get those things done while being smart about the fact that it's just the regular season.

[balli]

62-55 Kansas...it's a ballgame again...but Kansas will win this one...

Did anyone actually watch this shit. I tried, but damn if Hawks/Sixers and now SAC/DEN weren't ten times better.

I try and I try to see worth in it, but I always reach the same conclusion; fuck college ball. Here's to the NBA, eh? :toast

[polandprzem]

Wtf Pop did?

He should apoligize to fans for this shit!

[polandprzem]

Yea, but seriously, that game to me was meaningless as long as spurs know where they are.
I remember when the spurs played in 1998 vs Utah in 2nd round of the playoffs and Spurs demolished Utah in the third game losing the series 1-4.
Adding all the points Utah had one point adventage.

So, as Tim said - preperation.

Not that I'm not worried, but Spurs gave up

[Kori Ellis]

IMO rapist is better than mormon.

Curb this kind of trash.

Thanks.

[timvp]

I have to disagree with you on this LJ. The lineup Pop started the fourth quarter with wa s a strategic failure. We were still in striking distance (11 points) at that point, but that lineup at the start of the fourth was more fitting of garbage time than a game still in doubt.That was a pretty regular lineup that Pop has gone to in nearly every game recently. Manu surrounding by scrubs is even a lineup Pop used in the playoffs last year a lot. It's supposed to buy about three or four minutes ... problem is this game the Jazz destroyed that lineup.



Also, it's not surprising the offense sucked, we never moved the ball. It was either Parker taking it the whole possession or Duncan posting up and everyone watching. A Manu homer blaming Parker and Duncan for the loss. Why am I not surprised?


I'm not going to sweat a blowout loss at this point. Hell, the Jazz put just as big of an ass-whooping on the Spurs last May and by the end of Game 4, it meant absolutely nothing. Shoot under 40% in SLC and you're likely to get blown out, and that happened to the Spurs.

The blowout wins over Houston and Golden State were probably a mirage of sorts, but the blowout loss in Utah is equally unlikely to be any sort of long-term indicator.

There are lots of areas that could use improvement, to be sure, but there's still some time to get those things done while being smart about the fact that it's just the regular season.Well said. That loss doesn't especially bother me. It wasn't as bad as Game 3 last year.

We'll see, though. I'm more interested in how the Spurs bounce back from it. If they go into another tailspin where they dwell on the blowout, then this loss may end up meaning more.

[lrrr]

I know Pop always says he doesn't care who the team plays in the playoffs, so he doesn't try to get a particular seed, but is that REALLY the truth?

Deep down, would he rather play Dallas or Houston?