Grades: Spurs vs. Lakers - Apr. 20

Say what you want about Bonner but he's really solid on the boards.

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Originally Posted by Obstructed_View

Remember that the grades are based on individual curves, so a "Jack didn't do much" game is far far better than an "RJ didn't do much" game, even though the grades are the same.

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Right, when I read 'not doing much' I tend to remember Jefferson (damn it even makes me ache when I type his name) litterally being useless out there. Lets get the RF thing over, Jack is back :downspin:

I was looking on the Lakers fan page earlier today and they're are all panicking right now, They're now trying to avoid the Spurs in the 2nd round hahaha

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Originally Posted by will_spurs

The 2 wide open corner 3s in the first half were by Leonard.

(doesn't mean I don't agree re: Green, btw)

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You're right.

I could have swore I saw him make a 3 early on, guess I'm thinking of Leonard like you mentioned, or his long 2pt shot or perhaps in my senile state of mind I'm thinking of the game before. :wakeup

Regardless, the block and layup was the key turning point in the game I thought. He certainly is giving the spurs a bit of an x-factor out there.

And you gotta love the combination of him, Leonard, and Jackson which really bodes well for the spurs as far as shutting other teams best guards & forwards down and allowing the big 3 to focus almost exclusively on offensive execution which is going to be almost impossible for any team to stop when all 3 are healthy.

So just a few games back, after our first matchup, we were coming up with various ways to avoid the Lakers in the playoffs. Can we agree that it may be beneficial to see these guys? I think Pop's adjustments have completely thrown a wrench in Brown's game plan and we seem to match up perfectly against them, as long as Tiago is starting and we keep attacking their lack of speed we've got a hell of a chance.

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Originally Posted by TJastal

I could have swore I saw him make a 3 early on, guess I'm thinking of Leonard like you mentioned, or his long 2pt shot or perhaps in my senile state of mind I'm thinking of the game before. :wakeup

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According to the boxscore Green made a 3, maybe it was early on in the game, can't remember.

I've noticed in the 3 Laker games that sometimes Gasol is getting left alone at the top of the key with no one close to him. He promptly makes his wide-open shot from there while Tiago runs at him from down close to the basket..

I don't have a replay unit available but I believe Tiago is guarding him. Unless he's dropping off to defend the basket, he's way out of position. But that's the trouble with watching a rotating helping defense, you tend to follow the ball and the game is so fast that without the replay you can't really determine if someone else should be moving to cover Gasol.

What scares me more than ANYTHING about the Lakers is Kobe Bryant. He had 7 games off right before the playoffs he's going to be fresh and hungry for a 6th ring.

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Originally Posted by emanueldavidginobili

What scares me more than ANYTHING about the Lakers is Kobe Bryant. He had 7 games off right before the playoffs he's going to be fresh and hungry for a 6th ring.

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That's what we're all hoping for. His hunger will lead to chucking.

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Originally Posted by Bill_Brasky

I thought Leonard got called for a couple of things that he wouldn't have if he weren't a rookie, but managing 2 steals in 18 minutes is phenomenal. On one of them Bryant never had a chance at the ball because Leonard is so damn long.

And how about Danny blocking Metta on that drive?

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Kawhi is a smart defender. He'll learn from his mistakes.

It seems like DG always has a couple of plays where he seems beat and comes from behind to get the block. I think it's works psychologically because it can get in the offensive player's head.

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Originally Posted by Spur|n|Austin

So just a few games back, after our first matchup, we were coming up with various ways to avoid the Lakers in the playoffs. Can we agree that it may be beneficial to see these guys? I think Pop's adjustments have completely thrown a wrench in Brown's game plan and we seem to match up perfectly against them, as long as Tiago is starting and we keep attacking their lack of speed we've got a hell of a chance.

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I'm not so sure. If Tiago or Tim gets in foul trouble we are toast. I'd like to see Pop develop some plays to use Tim and Tiago. That way we can force their bigs to play defense.

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Originally Posted by DMC

That's what we're all hoping for. His hunger will lead to chucking.

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I don't know. I actually thought Kobe was doing a great job of not hogging the ball and picking his spots wisely last game. His problem imo was that he was a little bit too passive. It wouldn't surprise me if Kobe continued to play smarter because I just think he really wants to win.

Wouldn't surprise me to see him start chucking either though honestly.

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Originally Posted by Bruno

Spurs defense has been greatly helped by Gasol. He settled for perimeter shots instead of being aggressive. When he plays that way, Lakers are way easier to defend. By looking at his stats, it looks like he has done that the whole year. He needs to go back to the way he played before last year playoffs.

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I agree the Lakers don't win 2 championships with Gasol playing as soft as he has. PJ really transformed him into a tougher player to win it all.

Blair can learn alot from Diaw about attacking taller players. You jump into the players body and can also use the rim to protect the ball. That way you don't have to throw up circus shots.

I love to see Splitter fouling at the right moments. As long as he does not pick up crap fouls I absolutely love it. And Pop almost let him foul out. Actually, he was playing with 4 fouls I believe, when the game was not quite totally out of hand. I was impressed Pop would let that go, and very pleased he did.

I also like the fact that our youth, combined with Ginobili's nose for the ball, and Jackson's toughness let us corral so many lose balls and long rebounds. This, imo, is a huge diff. from last season. We just did not have the athletes to compete for 50/50 balls. We do now and a lot of breaks get started this way and/or possessions elongated. Even if we dont do well in the playoffs our upside in this area gives me hope that we can be a more versatile team than last year.

Duncan... I just dont get him. He did not make the allstar team, but is clearly still an allstar. The man is amazing. Makes the old guys feel good...



Grades seem reasonable and assessments as well. Thanks for the time.

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Originally Posted by TheSkeptic

I don't know. I actually thought Kobe was doing a great job of not hogging the ball and picking his spots wisely last game. His problem imo was that he was a little bit too passive. It wouldn't surprise me if Kobe continued to play smarter because I just think he really wants to win.

Wouldn't surprise me to see him start chucking either though honestly.

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If Kobe does not attack the rim and keeps shooting those contested fade aways I like him in the game.

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Originally Posted by pgardn

If Kobe does not attack the rim and keeps shooting those contested fade aways I like him in the game.

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True. True. :D

I guess my concern is that coaching and having Mike Brown for a coach has helped him turn over a new leaf.

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Originally Posted by pgardn

If Kobe does not attack the rim and keeps shooting those contested fade aways I like him in the game.

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Kobe is a top ten player ever. I do not want him on the floor no matter what hes doing out there.

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Originally Posted by emanueldavidginobili

Kobe is a top ten player ever. I do not want him on the floor no matter what hes doing out there.

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I want the Kobe we saw in the first half, especially the 1st quarter, on the floor at all times.

Holy crap, I just realized Bynum only had 2 rebounds.

What happened to his 30 rebound-nights?

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Originally Posted by emanueldavidginobili

Kobe is a top ten player ever. I do not want him on the floor no matter what hes doing out there.

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I agree. As much as I'd love to be the one to eliminate the Lakers, they'd be a tough match up. It doesn't matter how these last two games have looked.

I'd much rather take the Clippers in the second (another good team, but a level or two lower) and not have a really difficult match up until the WCF.

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Originally Posted by wildbill2u

I've noticed in the 3 Laker games that sometimes Gasol is getting left alone at the top of the key with no one close to him. He promptly makes his wide-open shot from there while Tiago runs at him from down close to the basket..

I don't have a replay unit available but I believe Tiago is guarding him. Unless he's dropping off to defend the basket, he's way out of position. But that's the trouble with watching a rotating helping defense, you tend to follow the ball and the game is so fast that without the replay you can't really determine if someone else should be moving to cover Gasol.

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Gasol's a good shooter, but if you're picking your poison, you want him shooting jumpers from 18-20 feet.

great grades as always

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Originally Posted by emanueldavidginobili

I was looking on the Lakers fan page earlier today and they're are all panicking right now, They're now trying to avoid the Spurs in the 2nd round hahaha

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They should have been panicking when they learned Mike Brown was going to be their coach.

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Originally Posted by emanueldavidginobili

Kobe is a top ten player ever. I do not want him on the floor no matter what hes doing out there.

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When a guy who shoots 43% is taking shots away from a guy who shoots 51% and a guy who shoots 56%, I want him on the floor.