Grades - Spurs vs. Warriors Mar. 24

Tim Duncan B+
In the fourth quarter, Duncan looked as good as any point since he's returned from injury.

Tony Parker A-
He made putting up 30 points and 10 assists look routine.

Roger Mason, Jr. A-
Broke out of his slump and added another game-winner to his resume.

Matt Bonner B
Got a few threes to fall but lacked in the rebounding and defense departments.

Michael Finley C
Chalk up another ghost game for Finley.

Bruce Bowen B-
Too aggressive offensively but was once again impressive on the defensive end.

Ime Udoka B
His all-around play and his toughness were helpful on this night.

Kurt Thomas B
Choked at the line late but came up with big rebounds when they were needed most.

Fabricio Oberto B-
Didn't play as well as his last extended action but he was more active than usual.

Drew Gooden B
Looked to be starting to turn the corner in terms of actually helping the team win.

George Hill C-
Got buried early after aggression led to a turnover and a few misses.

Pop D
Was he trying to lose the game? He played with fire by going with a rotation that would have made Nellie blush.

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Please submit your own grades for this game. I will post the cumulative SpursTalk.com grades in two hours from the time of this post.

(Grading now closed. Results below.)

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SpursTalk's Average Grades

Tim Duncan B+

Tony Parkerhttp://spurstalk.com/up_arrow.gif A

Roger Mason, Jr. A-

Matt Bonnerhttp://spurstalk.com/down_arrow.gif B-

Michael Finley C

Bruce Bowen B-

Ime Udokahttp://spurstalk.com/down_arrow.gif B-

Kurt Thomas B

Fabricio Oberto B-

Drew Goodenhttp://spurstalk.com/down_arrow.gif B-

George Hillhttp://spurstalk.com/up_arrow.gif C+

Pophttp://spurstalk.com/up_arrow.gif D+

I cringed when Pop subbed-in Fin for Thomas in the last moments and Turiaf immediately took advantage of no Thomas box-out for an easy offensive putback. Thomas would come back in after the lead was down to nothing.

I'll have to admit I just gave my very first F, and that honor went to Pop. I don't think I'm even going to try to figure out whats on Pop's mind anymore becuase it seems completely gone at this moment in time.

I thought Finley looked better tonight. 2 of his missed shots were prayers as time was running out. Also looked lively on defense. Did a good job on Jackson early on and I don't recall him getting burned by anyone else.

Pretty quiet night in terms of rebounds or assists though.

The grades look spot on though. Thanks again for them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Solid D

I cringed when Pop subbed-in Fin for Thomas in the last moments and Turiaf immediately took advantage of no Thomas box-out for an easy offensive putback. Thomas would come back in after the lead was down to nothing.

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Why do I have a sinking feeling that the postscript of this season is going to begin with the words, "Why the heck did Pop put Finley into the game ......"

It's just insane. Pop uses the stupidest rotation I've seen from him yet this season ... however the one constant remains that he inexplicably finds room for Finley down the stretch.

:pctoss

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Solid D

I cringed when Pop subbed-in Fin for Thomas in the last moments and Turiaf immediately took advantage of no Thomas box-out for an easy offensive putback. Thomas would come back in after the lead was down to nothing.

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Damn me too. What was he doing with Finley in there man! His assistants need to stop him from doing that shit. PJ would have you know it. Stop the madness!

Good game for tim tp and mase 76 pts at 28 / 45. Even with these stats the spurs won by only 1 pt....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

Why do I have a sinking feeling that the postscript of this season is going to begin with the words, "Why the heck did Pop put Finley into the game ......"

It's just insane. Pop uses the stupidest rotation I've seen from him yet this season ... however the one constant remains that he inexplicably finds room for Finley down the stretch.

:pctoss

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Go post in my rotations thread. ;)

As for Tim, at the 6:30 mark in the 4th I said in the game thread: "Tim will not let us lose this game. He has that look on his face". And then he carried us, at both ends, right down to about 2:30 when Finley came in and Pop almost gave away the game.

My only criticism of Tim is that on that second last possession he should've known the double was coming... but no-one, not even Tim, is perfect! :lol

You put Fin in when the Spurs have the ball late in games up by 3 or more (foul shooting), and not when the Spurs are about to defend.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chomag

I'll have to admit I just gave my very first F, and that honor went to Pop. I don't think I'm even going to try to figure out whats on Pop's mind anymore becuase it seems completely gone at this moment in time.

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I gave a D- just to have done the necessary to win late in th 4th with the vets: tim kurt bruce parker

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Solid D

You put Fin in when the Spurs have the ball late in games up by 3 or more (foul shooting), and not when the Spurs are about to defend.

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That logic is too complex for our head coach. And apparently the other suits on the bench too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RuffnReadyOzStyle

Go post in my rotations thread. ;)

As for Tim, at the 6:30 mark in the 4th I said in the game thread: "Tim will not let us lose this game. He has that look on his face". And then he carried us, at both ends, right down to about 2:30 when Finley came in and Pop almost gave away the game.

My only criticism of Tim is that on that second last possession he should've known the double was coming... but no-one, not even Tim, is perfect! :lol

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I agree but 2 bad TOs with few min left almost cost us the game

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Brazil

I gave a D- just to have done the necessary to win late in th 4th with the vets: tim kurt bruce parker

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Thats about what I gave him on the last game. However I think he just hit the last of :wtf limit that I could take from his rotations.

Man, I still don't know the reasoning behind some of the rotations Pop has been experimenting with lately. However, I'm pretty sure i don't ever want to see Mason handling the ball again, or small ball with Finley playing PF.

Ime's recent play has definitely been a bright spot, which is a testiment to his hard work and professionalism. Honestly, I was counting the days until the offseason when we could dump the guy, but he may be making a case for a short-term contract, especially with Bruce set for retirement. I guess we'll see how he does in the playoffs.

Funny how Pop's been making these stupid personnel decisions for four or five years now, and it's taken this long for folks to start to recognize it.

I thought Udoka down the stretch was almost as bad as Fin in.

I nominate a new nickname for Fin, Michael "The Ghost" Finley. Since that is what we get more often than not, then that should be the nickname, right?

you're grades are way too high for a one point game against the warriors... i would start with a c minus as the top of the mark and work your way down from there...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

Why do I have a sinking feeling that the postscript of this season is going to begin with the words, "Why the heck did Pop put Finley into the game ......"

It's just insane. Pop uses the stupidest rotation I've seen from him yet this season ... however the one constant remains that he inexplicably finds room for Finley down the stretch.

:pctoss

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LOL about time you guys woke up. If Pop doesn't have a plan behind all these crazy rotations then he has contributed to messing the team up. Very messy job from Pop again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by superbigtime

Damn me too. What was he doing with Finley in there man! His assistants need to stop him from doing that shit. PJ would have you know it. Stop the madness!

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I loved one game when PJ took over coaching for Pop after he was ejected a couple of seasons ago.

They had the mike in the huddle and PJ said something like "Stop messing around, grab the rebounds and blow this team out". I think we won that game quite handily.

Pop needs to demand that these guys put teams away. Punish them. We should not be going down to the wire against a team of this caliber. Not to take anything away from the Warriors as they played hard tonight.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KenGee21

Man, I still don't know the reasoning behind some of the rotations Pop has been experimenting with lately. However, I'm pretty sure i don't ever want to see Mason handling the ball again, or small ball with Finley playing PF.

Ime's recent play has definitely been a bright spot, which is a testiment to his hard work and professionalism. Honestly, I was counting the days until the offseason when we could dump the guy, but he may be making a case for a short-term contract, especially with Bruce set for retirement. I guess we'll see how he does in the playoffs.

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Good post. Pop hasn't broken Ime. The guy is proving he is a tough player and a professional.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Solid D

I cringed when Pop subbed-in Fin for Thomas in the last moments and Turiaf immediately took advantage of no Thomas box-out for an easy offensive putback. Thomas would come back in after the lead was down to nothing.

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Spot. Fucking. On. You just said what I came into this thread expecting to say, except one thing: did you see Pop's boner when he called Finley from the bench?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Obstructed_View

Funny how Pop's been making these stupid personnel decisions for four or five years now, and it's taken this long for folks to start to recognize it.

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Examples? He's made some dumb moves (2006 Mavs, for example) but this high level tinkering hasn't extended this long into a season.

Encouraging that Timmy played better.

He shot better than 50% from the field, and had another 20 10 game.

However, he was 11 for 13 from the free throw line. He was efficient, but didn't make a lot of field goals (only 5). Will he make that percentage of free throws normally and shoot that many free throws?


Hope that Tim is physically capable of playing this well the rest of the season because we need it.

This play out of Tim is probably good enough for our team to get to the WCF and lose to the Lakers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ice009

LOL about time you guys woke up. If Pop doesn't have a plan behind all these crazy rotations then he has contributed to messing the team up. Very messy job from Pop again.

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If you've followed along, I've been complaining about his rotation for almost the entire season.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

If you've followed along, I've been complaining about his rotation for almost the entire season.

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Hopefully with Manu coming back Pop can ease our concerns and stop with the BS rotations and settle on a good consistent rotation now.

SpursTalk's Average Grades

Tim Duncan B+

Tony Parkerhttp://spurstalk.com/up_arrow.gif A

Roger Mason, Jr. A-

Matt Bonnerhttp://spurstalk.com/down_arrow.gif B-

Michael Finley C

Bruce Bowen B-

Ime Udokahttp://spurstalk.com/down_arrow.gif B-

Kurt Thomas B

Fabricio Oberto B-

Drew Goodenhttp://spurstalk.com/down_arrow.gif B-

George Hillhttp://spurstalk.com/up_arrow.gif C+

Pophttp://spurstalk.com/up_arrow.gif D+




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Looks like we all basically agree.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

If you've followed along, I've been complaining about his rotation for almost the entire season.

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I don't think Ice has a clue. Almost no one here thinks Fin getting the minutes he has this season were earned. A handful of games here and there, but he is immune to Pops rule of taking out useless players. Wish he treated Fin this season like he did with Matt last season. He starts off cold, play fucking Bowen more minutes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

If you've followed along, I've been complaining about his rotation for almost the entire season.

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Well yes, you have critiqued his rotations, but I think you've also said he is doing it because he is trying to find a rotation and I don't remember you saying he has no clue what he is doing.

What I am saying is that it's starting to look like a mess and it's very hard to see by now if he even had a plan in the first place. You have said it, but you haven't really ripped into him until now have you? Maybe I missed those posts if you did. So I guess I gotta do some more reading.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Manufan909

I don't think Ice has a clue. Almost no one here thinks Fin getting the minutes he has this season were earned. A handful of games here and there, but he is immune to Pops rule of taking out useless players. Wish he treated Fin this season like he did with Matt last season. He starts off cold, play fucking Bowen more minutes.

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Where in the fuck did I say to give Michael more minutes? Are you high?

I've been asking for more defense all season. I've been asking for more Bruce Bowen, Hairston, Udoka, guys that actually play defense.

In the preseason I asked for another defensive big. I asked for Watkins over Tolliver. I love defense.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chomag

I'll have to admit I just gave my very first F, and that honor went to Pop. I don't think I'm even going to try to figure out whats on Pop's mind anymore becuase it seems completely gone at this moment in time.

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I agree with you..CIA Pop is a fucking bullshit. Phil jackson with his lakers blew Thunders out of the window and keep winning while Pop try different rotation and barely win against low seeded Warriors. I also dont want to know what in Pops mind....i think we just have to admit that playoff will be tougher than ever and we might not win it all this year. Irony since this year supposed to be the odd one

I believe solid, reasonable, fundamental court play and coaching decision-making will pay higher dividends in the playoffs than an entire season of tinkering and micro-management.

OK, we've had injuries - so isn't that the time to bear down, solidify and work out the rotations so that when the injured players come back there will be an easier transition?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

Examples?

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Ummm....let's see...Udrih, Van Exel, Finley, Horry, Udoka, smallball, miniball, microball...questionable lineups and reliance on underperforming veterans coupled with brutal denial of minutes to other players for minor mistakes, many times starting or extending very late into the season or even into the playoffs is nothing new. Pop had his rotations for the most part set by a couple of weeks past the all-star break most seasons before about 2005, and we all know that he's gotten more brave at tinkering as time has gone on, arguably as the media talks about what a top level pro coach he is. This year's crew has been fairly banged up, so he's due some consideration for that, but the head-scratching game-costing personnel and lineup decisions that he makes have been around for a long time, and it's gotten worse the last three seasons since he's tried to focus more on offense. Fortunately for us, it seems he's gotten his head around that problem just in time to get the defense ready for a playoff run, and if the core players are healthy and contributing, the Spurs again have as good a shot as ever.