timvp
04-12-2008, 08:03 AM
In what was basically a must-win affair in regards to both playoff seeding and team confidence, the Spurs got the job done. The Seattle Supersonics put up a good fight for the first quarter and a half but eventually the Spurs found their shooting touch and ran away with it. The 95-74 victory wasn’t especially impressive, however it was an important W.
Regarding the Sonics, Seattle has a lot to be excited about (ignoring that the team is headed to Oklahoma City, of course). Specifically, Kevin Durant has taken huge strides in the last few months. He began the season as a straight gunner who couldn’t find a shot he didn’t like. Now he has already refined his shot selection – something that a lot of players never accomplish. Over his last 20 games Durant is shooting nearly 50%, which is an amazing number for a 19-year-old perimeter player who is a first option on a bad team. Earlier in the season, I wasn’t entirely sold on him. Now I see no reason why Durant can’t be a megastar.
The Spurs, who were without Manu Ginobili, played decent enough offense and solid defense. The Spurs held the Sonics to 38.6% shooting from the floor, while hitting 46.1% of their own shots. After trailing 20-13 at the end of the first quarter, the offense came to life and the defense remained stingy.
Overall, it was nice to see the Spurs get an easy victory – even if it was against a horrible team. Letting the key players rest was almost as important as the victory itself.
-Tim Duncan had another bad game. He missed a torturous amount of easy shots around the basket. Defensively he wasn’t anything special. Duncan just seems to be in a funk at the moment. He’s making it worse by complaining constantly to the refs and becoming easily frustrated. Hopefully he can bounce back and escape this funk before the playoffs begin. On the night, Duncan had 12 points, six rebounds and four blocks, while shooting 4-for-12 from the floor.
-Tony Parker played pretty well. Considering Ginobili was out injured and Duncan was ineffective, Parker had to shoulder the load for much of the game. He responded well, finishing with 20 points, seven assists, two rebounds and two steals. Parker stayed in attack mode for a lot of the game and made more good decisions than bad decisions. However, Parker was far from flawless himself. He had five turnovers and his transition defense was a step slow for much of the game.
-Considering how well Durant has been playing lately, Bruce Bowen did a fine job on defense. He’s at a major size and athleticism disadvantage when going against Durant, but Bowen did about as good a job as possible. Durant still got 20 points, however it took him 19 shots to do so. Offensively, Bowen hit 2-of-3 shots from the field. He also pulled down six rebounds – with five coming in the first half.
-Michael Finley’s stroke continues to look smooth. He’s shooting confidently and even when he misses, Finley has good balance and good rhythm. Defensively, he did a good job working hard against rookie Jeff Green. Finley finished with 14 points and four rebounds, while hitting 6-of-14 shots from the floor. Thankfully, Finley seems to have found his shot with the playoffs about a week away.
-Apparently, Fabricio Oberto can play basketball even if Manu Ginobili isn’t on the court. Oberto had one of his better games of the last month, finishing with ten points and ten rebounds against the Sonics. He also mixed in three assists and shot 5-for-8 from the floor. Oberto’s energy was up and he was crashing the boards harder than we’ve seen in recent weeks. It was Oberto’s first double-double since the first week of February. Hopefully Oberto has flipped his playoffs switch a week early.
-If you squinted hard enough, you might have confused Ime Udoka for Ginobili. Udoka played Ginobili’s sixth man role very well. He supplied energy on both ends of the court and was instrumental in the Spurs turning the game around in the second quarter. For the game, Udoka had 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and a highlight-reel block. He hit 5-of-9 shots from the field, including 3-of-4 three-pointers. As the team prepares for the playoffs, there’s really no reason to think Udoka isn’t going to play a major role in the postseason. Whether he’s successful in that role could very well decide how far the Spurs advance in the playoffs.
-Kurt Thomas played a solid all-around game in his 22 minutes of action. He provided six points, five rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. With Duncan struggling, Thomas picked up some of the interior slack. He seemed to have a little extra juice going up against his former team.
-Jacque Vaughn had one of his better games of the last few weeks. In 18 minutes, Vaughn had seven points, six assists and only one turnover. He hit 2-of-4 shots from the field and all three of his foul shots. It was good to see the Good Jacque Vaughn make an appearance.
-Matt Bonner got 19 minutes and did a fine job. He pulled down ten rebounds and played solid defense. His shooting was off (2-for-6) but he took good shots. While it’s unlikely that he’ll have a role in the playoffs, he’s relatively trustworthy – considering he’s the team’s fifth bigman.
-Damon Stoudamire played 14 minutes and was 1-for-6 from the field. While that shooting looks bad, I thought he played decently enough. He actually was helpful in pushing the tempo and getting the offensive rolling. As a veteran third point guard, he appears to be serviceable at this point.
-DerMarr Johnson was signed by the Spurs for the rest of the season and had a six minute cameo against the Sonics. He’s a good choice for this team as an emergency swingman. Think of him as a poor man’s Stephen Jackson and you’ll know what to expect if the Spurs ever call his number.
-Brent Barry and Robert Horry continue to miss action. The good news is that hope isn’t lost for either player. In fact, Barry and/or Horry could see playing time in the next couple games.
-Pop coached a good game. He didn’t make too many panic moves when the team fell into a hole early and the offense appeared DOA. He kept it simple and the Spurs eventually found their way.
Nobody played more than 29 minutes, which was very nice to see. It’ll be interesting to view what Pop has in store for the last three games of the regular season. Will he play it safe and keep the minutes down or will he go for wins? I guess we’ll find out.
One strategic change Pop made that I like was keeping Parker at point guard when he paired him with Stoudamire or Vaughn. The last few times he went with this alignment, he switched Parker over to shooting guard – with disastrous results. Parker is best at point guard and Stoudamire and Vaughn are best when they have the ball as infrequently as possible.
The bottomline is the Spurs won a game they had to win. With three games left in the regular season, nothing is decided in the Western Conference standings. The Spurs could conceivably finish anywhere from the first seed to the sixth seed. To ensure the best possible seed, it will be important for the Spurs to go to Los Angeles and beat the Lakers on Sunday afternoon. With homecourt advantage on the line, I’m hoping the Spurs come out trying to win – and are successful.
Believe.
Regarding the Sonics, Seattle has a lot to be excited about (ignoring that the team is headed to Oklahoma City, of course). Specifically, Kevin Durant has taken huge strides in the last few months. He began the season as a straight gunner who couldn’t find a shot he didn’t like. Now he has already refined his shot selection – something that a lot of players never accomplish. Over his last 20 games Durant is shooting nearly 50%, which is an amazing number for a 19-year-old perimeter player who is a first option on a bad team. Earlier in the season, I wasn’t entirely sold on him. Now I see no reason why Durant can’t be a megastar.
The Spurs, who were without Manu Ginobili, played decent enough offense and solid defense. The Spurs held the Sonics to 38.6% shooting from the floor, while hitting 46.1% of their own shots. After trailing 20-13 at the end of the first quarter, the offense came to life and the defense remained stingy.
Overall, it was nice to see the Spurs get an easy victory – even if it was against a horrible team. Letting the key players rest was almost as important as the victory itself.
-Tim Duncan had another bad game. He missed a torturous amount of easy shots around the basket. Defensively he wasn’t anything special. Duncan just seems to be in a funk at the moment. He’s making it worse by complaining constantly to the refs and becoming easily frustrated. Hopefully he can bounce back and escape this funk before the playoffs begin. On the night, Duncan had 12 points, six rebounds and four blocks, while shooting 4-for-12 from the floor.
-Tony Parker played pretty well. Considering Ginobili was out injured and Duncan was ineffective, Parker had to shoulder the load for much of the game. He responded well, finishing with 20 points, seven assists, two rebounds and two steals. Parker stayed in attack mode for a lot of the game and made more good decisions than bad decisions. However, Parker was far from flawless himself. He had five turnovers and his transition defense was a step slow for much of the game.
-Considering how well Durant has been playing lately, Bruce Bowen did a fine job on defense. He’s at a major size and athleticism disadvantage when going against Durant, but Bowen did about as good a job as possible. Durant still got 20 points, however it took him 19 shots to do so. Offensively, Bowen hit 2-of-3 shots from the field. He also pulled down six rebounds – with five coming in the first half.
-Michael Finley’s stroke continues to look smooth. He’s shooting confidently and even when he misses, Finley has good balance and good rhythm. Defensively, he did a good job working hard against rookie Jeff Green. Finley finished with 14 points and four rebounds, while hitting 6-of-14 shots from the floor. Thankfully, Finley seems to have found his shot with the playoffs about a week away.
-Apparently, Fabricio Oberto can play basketball even if Manu Ginobili isn’t on the court. Oberto had one of his better games of the last month, finishing with ten points and ten rebounds against the Sonics. He also mixed in three assists and shot 5-for-8 from the floor. Oberto’s energy was up and he was crashing the boards harder than we’ve seen in recent weeks. It was Oberto’s first double-double since the first week of February. Hopefully Oberto has flipped his playoffs switch a week early.
-If you squinted hard enough, you might have confused Ime Udoka for Ginobili. Udoka played Ginobili’s sixth man role very well. He supplied energy on both ends of the court and was instrumental in the Spurs turning the game around in the second quarter. For the game, Udoka had 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and a highlight-reel block. He hit 5-of-9 shots from the field, including 3-of-4 three-pointers. As the team prepares for the playoffs, there’s really no reason to think Udoka isn’t going to play a major role in the postseason. Whether he’s successful in that role could very well decide how far the Spurs advance in the playoffs.
-Kurt Thomas played a solid all-around game in his 22 minutes of action. He provided six points, five rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. With Duncan struggling, Thomas picked up some of the interior slack. He seemed to have a little extra juice going up against his former team.
-Jacque Vaughn had one of his better games of the last few weeks. In 18 minutes, Vaughn had seven points, six assists and only one turnover. He hit 2-of-4 shots from the field and all three of his foul shots. It was good to see the Good Jacque Vaughn make an appearance.
-Matt Bonner got 19 minutes and did a fine job. He pulled down ten rebounds and played solid defense. His shooting was off (2-for-6) but he took good shots. While it’s unlikely that he’ll have a role in the playoffs, he’s relatively trustworthy – considering he’s the team’s fifth bigman.
-Damon Stoudamire played 14 minutes and was 1-for-6 from the field. While that shooting looks bad, I thought he played decently enough. He actually was helpful in pushing the tempo and getting the offensive rolling. As a veteran third point guard, he appears to be serviceable at this point.
-DerMarr Johnson was signed by the Spurs for the rest of the season and had a six minute cameo against the Sonics. He’s a good choice for this team as an emergency swingman. Think of him as a poor man’s Stephen Jackson and you’ll know what to expect if the Spurs ever call his number.
-Brent Barry and Robert Horry continue to miss action. The good news is that hope isn’t lost for either player. In fact, Barry and/or Horry could see playing time in the next couple games.
-Pop coached a good game. He didn’t make too many panic moves when the team fell into a hole early and the offense appeared DOA. He kept it simple and the Spurs eventually found their way.
Nobody played more than 29 minutes, which was very nice to see. It’ll be interesting to view what Pop has in store for the last three games of the regular season. Will he play it safe and keep the minutes down or will he go for wins? I guess we’ll find out.
One strategic change Pop made that I like was keeping Parker at point guard when he paired him with Stoudamire or Vaughn. The last few times he went with this alignment, he switched Parker over to shooting guard – with disastrous results. Parker is best at point guard and Stoudamire and Vaughn are best when they have the ball as infrequently as possible.
The bottomline is the Spurs won a game they had to win. With three games left in the regular season, nothing is decided in the Western Conference standings. The Spurs could conceivably finish anywhere from the first seed to the sixth seed. To ensure the best possible seed, it will be important for the Spurs to go to Los Angeles and beat the Lakers on Sunday afternoon. With homecourt advantage on the line, I’m hoping the Spurs come out trying to win – and are successful.
Believe.