timvp
04-15-2008, 10:46 PM
Yes, the Sacramento Kings are a lottery team. Yes, the Spurs probably should have played better. But that said, the Spurs rallied late to emerge with a 101-98 victory against the Kings. A loss would have likely meant starting the first round on the road – an unnerving proposition for a team so out of rhythm.
The Kings played hard throughout. Reggie Theus has had a successful first year as head coach. Even without Ron Artest, Kevin Martin and Brad Miller, the Kings played well enough to come away with a win. It’ll be interesting to see what Theus can do once the young players on his team start to mature a little bit more.
Other than the win, there isn’t much to be excited about if you are a Spurs fan. The defense was shaky for most of the night. The offense lived or died by Tony Parker creating shots for himself or others. The effort was there but the Spurs are just not playing well right now. They’re out of rhythm and the team desperately needs Manu Ginobili to return from injury.
Overall, the win was a nice. It was looking bleak there for a while until Parker led a comeback in the closing minuets. But outside of the win, there weren’t any signs of forthcoming playoff success. It was the same ol’ Spurs we’ve come to expect in the last few weeks.
-Tim Duncan stats look pretty nice but I again wasn’t impressed with his play. He battled foul trouble all night and most of his fouls were of the bonehead variety. With homecourt advantage on the line, one would hope that Duncan would play smarter. He finished with 19 points, five rebounds and three assists, while shooting 6-for-7 from the floor. I’m really hoping that Duncan is just trying to coast into the playoffs and then will turn it on once the games begin to mean something. If the Spurs have this version of Duncan in the playoffs, they’ll be heading to their vacation destinations of choice within two weeks.
-Tony Parker deserves a huge amount of credit for this win. He was dominant in virtually every facet of the game and came up big when the Spurs needed him the most. Without Parker in this game, the Spurs would have gotten annihilated by the Kings. Parker finished with 32 points, 11 assists, three rebounds, two steals and only one turnover, while shooting 12-of-22 from the field. The Spurs will likely need a few performances like this one in their upcoming first round series. To show how dominant Parker was against the Kings, the team was outscored 28-12 in the eleven and a half minutes Parker wasn’t on the court.
-I was really disappointed in Bruce Bowen’s defensive effectiveness. He defended John Salmons for a large stretch of the second half and Salmons was able to get basically whatever he wanted. Bowen seemed confused with Salmons’ game and was oftentimes caught out of position. This was Bowen’s worst defensive game in a long time. Bowen was so inept that Pop had to bench him in the fourth quarter. Offensively, Bowen had five points on 2-for-5 shooting from the floor.
-Michael Finley showed even more signs of life in the win against the Kings. Finley scored 19 points, pulled down three rebounds and dished three assists. He also hit 8-of-15 shots from the field. Finley’s offense was vital throughout the contest. After being left for dead earlier in the season, Finley has come back to life. In April, he’s hitting nearly 50% of his shots from the floor. If he can continue this level of shooting going into the playoffs, that will help immensely.
-I’ve been hard on Fabricio Oberto lately for his erratic play but he really performed well against Sacramento. Oberto had one of his better games of the year and was easily the best bigman on the court for the Spurs for much of the night. He finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists and a steal in 36 minutes of action. He also hit 8-of-10 shots from the floor. With Duncan struggling with foul trouble, Oberto’s play was even more vital. The only negative about his game were the unusually careless passes he authored.
-Kurt Thomas played pretty decent but he seems to be regressing a bit. In 29 minutes, he went scoreless with five rebounds, a steal and a block. With the Spurs desperate for muscle down low, Thomas was invisible for a majority of the game. This trade looked golden a few weeks ago but now with Thomas playing like a slower version of Oberto, the Spurs have to wonder about that draft pick they gave up. Hopefully Thomas picks it up at some point in the playoffs. Otherwise, he’ll have been an expensive three month rental.
-Ime Udoka took over for an ineffective Bowen late and did a marvelous job defensively. The last half of the fourth quarter might have been the best defense he’s played all season. He’s not too quick, he can’t jump, he’s a plodding runner but he gets by defensively on Mario Elie type toughness. Offensively, Udoka had nine points on 3-for-6 shooting from the floor. I’m beginning to trust the fact that Udoka will be able to shoot under pressure in the playoffs. That’s his next major obstacle.
-Jacque Vaughn was really bad. He’s hesitating and overdribbling again offensively, which kills the offense. Vaughn is doing a good job of pushing the ball but in halfcourt sets, he has to be more decisive. If he’s open he needs to shoot. If he’s not, he has to pass the ball ASAP.
-Matt Bonner played a little bit over six minutes and didn’t dent the box score at all. That’s pretty impressive for a guy who is usually good for a foul or a missed three-pointer within a few second of entering the game.
-It was great to see Brent Barry out there on the court. The good news is he quickly got free for open shots and his passing to Duncan on the low blocks was superb. Hopefully he can continue to get in shape and become a factor at some point in the playoffs. (For the record, Barry’s overall play was poor. His shots didn’t look close and he was really stiff running up and down the court. His defense was scary bad. Sadly enough, right now he looks like a calf injury waiting to happen. However, I’m just glad he’s back out there. Oh and thanks again Brent for coming back.)
-Pop coached a pretty good game. Subbing in Udoka for Bowen turned out to be a game-winning adjustment. He wasn’t flawless but there was more good than bad.
I’m more concerned about how Pop will treat this upcoming game against the Utah Jazz. The Spurs really need to win this game. If they lose, they’ll most likely have to face the Jazz in the first round without homecourt advantage. The Jazz have been a great team at home this year and it’d be an extremely tall order for the Spurs to win that series.
With a win, the Spurs would likely face the Suns in the first round. While that series won’t exactly be easy, homecourt advantage would help a lot and it’d give the Spurs a fighting chance. The Spurs will need to get on a roll to do anything in the playoffs this year. Getting on a roll is easier at home than on the road. If the Spurs have to face the Jazz on the road to begin the playoffs, in all likelihood they’d return to San Antonio down 0-2.
What this means is Ginobili MUST play against the Jazz on Wednesday. If he’s fine enough to play this weekend, he’s fine enough to play against the Jazz. Basically, this upcoming game is a playoff game. Pop needs to coach it like it is a playoff game. If he has a laissez faire attitude about this contest, it could be a season-ending mistake.
The bottomline is the win against the Kings was important. Now the Spurs have to start their playoffs a game early. Beat the Jazz and head into the series against the Suns on a high note.
Believe.
The Kings played hard throughout. Reggie Theus has had a successful first year as head coach. Even without Ron Artest, Kevin Martin and Brad Miller, the Kings played well enough to come away with a win. It’ll be interesting to see what Theus can do once the young players on his team start to mature a little bit more.
Other than the win, there isn’t much to be excited about if you are a Spurs fan. The defense was shaky for most of the night. The offense lived or died by Tony Parker creating shots for himself or others. The effort was there but the Spurs are just not playing well right now. They’re out of rhythm and the team desperately needs Manu Ginobili to return from injury.
Overall, the win was a nice. It was looking bleak there for a while until Parker led a comeback in the closing minuets. But outside of the win, there weren’t any signs of forthcoming playoff success. It was the same ol’ Spurs we’ve come to expect in the last few weeks.
-Tim Duncan stats look pretty nice but I again wasn’t impressed with his play. He battled foul trouble all night and most of his fouls were of the bonehead variety. With homecourt advantage on the line, one would hope that Duncan would play smarter. He finished with 19 points, five rebounds and three assists, while shooting 6-for-7 from the floor. I’m really hoping that Duncan is just trying to coast into the playoffs and then will turn it on once the games begin to mean something. If the Spurs have this version of Duncan in the playoffs, they’ll be heading to their vacation destinations of choice within two weeks.
-Tony Parker deserves a huge amount of credit for this win. He was dominant in virtually every facet of the game and came up big when the Spurs needed him the most. Without Parker in this game, the Spurs would have gotten annihilated by the Kings. Parker finished with 32 points, 11 assists, three rebounds, two steals and only one turnover, while shooting 12-of-22 from the field. The Spurs will likely need a few performances like this one in their upcoming first round series. To show how dominant Parker was against the Kings, the team was outscored 28-12 in the eleven and a half minutes Parker wasn’t on the court.
-I was really disappointed in Bruce Bowen’s defensive effectiveness. He defended John Salmons for a large stretch of the second half and Salmons was able to get basically whatever he wanted. Bowen seemed confused with Salmons’ game and was oftentimes caught out of position. This was Bowen’s worst defensive game in a long time. Bowen was so inept that Pop had to bench him in the fourth quarter. Offensively, Bowen had five points on 2-for-5 shooting from the floor.
-Michael Finley showed even more signs of life in the win against the Kings. Finley scored 19 points, pulled down three rebounds and dished three assists. He also hit 8-of-15 shots from the field. Finley’s offense was vital throughout the contest. After being left for dead earlier in the season, Finley has come back to life. In April, he’s hitting nearly 50% of his shots from the floor. If he can continue this level of shooting going into the playoffs, that will help immensely.
-I’ve been hard on Fabricio Oberto lately for his erratic play but he really performed well against Sacramento. Oberto had one of his better games of the year and was easily the best bigman on the court for the Spurs for much of the night. He finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists and a steal in 36 minutes of action. He also hit 8-of-10 shots from the floor. With Duncan struggling with foul trouble, Oberto’s play was even more vital. The only negative about his game were the unusually careless passes he authored.
-Kurt Thomas played pretty decent but he seems to be regressing a bit. In 29 minutes, he went scoreless with five rebounds, a steal and a block. With the Spurs desperate for muscle down low, Thomas was invisible for a majority of the game. This trade looked golden a few weeks ago but now with Thomas playing like a slower version of Oberto, the Spurs have to wonder about that draft pick they gave up. Hopefully Thomas picks it up at some point in the playoffs. Otherwise, he’ll have been an expensive three month rental.
-Ime Udoka took over for an ineffective Bowen late and did a marvelous job defensively. The last half of the fourth quarter might have been the best defense he’s played all season. He’s not too quick, he can’t jump, he’s a plodding runner but he gets by defensively on Mario Elie type toughness. Offensively, Udoka had nine points on 3-for-6 shooting from the floor. I’m beginning to trust the fact that Udoka will be able to shoot under pressure in the playoffs. That’s his next major obstacle.
-Jacque Vaughn was really bad. He’s hesitating and overdribbling again offensively, which kills the offense. Vaughn is doing a good job of pushing the ball but in halfcourt sets, he has to be more decisive. If he’s open he needs to shoot. If he’s not, he has to pass the ball ASAP.
-Matt Bonner played a little bit over six minutes and didn’t dent the box score at all. That’s pretty impressive for a guy who is usually good for a foul or a missed three-pointer within a few second of entering the game.
-It was great to see Brent Barry out there on the court. The good news is he quickly got free for open shots and his passing to Duncan on the low blocks was superb. Hopefully he can continue to get in shape and become a factor at some point in the playoffs. (For the record, Barry’s overall play was poor. His shots didn’t look close and he was really stiff running up and down the court. His defense was scary bad. Sadly enough, right now he looks like a calf injury waiting to happen. However, I’m just glad he’s back out there. Oh and thanks again Brent for coming back.)
-Pop coached a pretty good game. Subbing in Udoka for Bowen turned out to be a game-winning adjustment. He wasn’t flawless but there was more good than bad.
I’m more concerned about how Pop will treat this upcoming game against the Utah Jazz. The Spurs really need to win this game. If they lose, they’ll most likely have to face the Jazz in the first round without homecourt advantage. The Jazz have been a great team at home this year and it’d be an extremely tall order for the Spurs to win that series.
With a win, the Spurs would likely face the Suns in the first round. While that series won’t exactly be easy, homecourt advantage would help a lot and it’d give the Spurs a fighting chance. The Spurs will need to get on a roll to do anything in the playoffs this year. Getting on a roll is easier at home than on the road. If the Spurs have to face the Jazz on the road to begin the playoffs, in all likelihood they’d return to San Antonio down 0-2.
What this means is Ginobili MUST play against the Jazz on Wednesday. If he’s fine enough to play this weekend, he’s fine enough to play against the Jazz. Basically, this upcoming game is a playoff game. Pop needs to coach it like it is a playoff game. If he has a laissez faire attitude about this contest, it could be a season-ending mistake.
The bottomline is the win against the Kings was important. Now the Spurs have to start their playoffs a game early. Beat the Jazz and head into the series against the Suns on a high note.
Believe.