Quote:
Originally Posted by dougp
:rollin I just love this! Never gets old!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dougp
:rollin I just love this! Never gets old!
When Ginobili doesn't play this well its nice to know that Splitter has the ability to be the x-factor for that second unit. The guy has consistently scored at will on the pick and rolls and I don't see any reason why it would stop now.
I think the real story of the game is that the Spurs totally got it done with defense. Not that the Spurs built up a 21 point lead, but that midway through the fourth quarter, they had only allowed Utah to score 60. Not that the Spurs won by 6, but that they held their opponent to just 81 points, and 36.4% from the floor - which is usually good for a win. Take a moment to go back and re-read the grades, and the descriptions that follow. Most of the positive comments were about the players who stepped it up on defense, even though their offense was less than stellar.
If there's a moral to the story, it's this: the steady improvement in the Spurs' defense over the latter part of the season appears to have been real, and not illusory. That final 21-6 run notwithstanding, the Spurs still won this game with solid D.
This game is a testament to the fact that the Spurs can win on both ends of the floor. And it gives the remaining teams a lot more to worry about - because focusing on stopping the Spurs outrageous offense is no longer enough. If the other team is expending loads of energy on the defensive end, the Spurs are also capable of winning an ugly, low-scoring affair.
It was great to see Tiago hit the court several times and not shatter into a thousand pieces. Good sign.
This game felt like a loss.
The Spurs offense was crap in the late second half. Luckily the Jazz offense was crappier for the majority of the game.
The Clippers won't be going 0-13 from three point range at any point during the series.
This game felt like a loss.
The Spurs offense was crap in the late second half. Luckily the Jazz offense was crappier for the majority of the game.
The Clippers won't be going 0-13 from three point range at any point during the series.
moral of the series, no dancing bear = sweep
Typical media obsessed Popovich antics. First he wants to get into more highlight reels so he gets a bunch of guys who can dunk and starts cranking up the tempo. When that doesn't get the attention he wants he decides to go on monstrous winning streak. When that doesn't get him enough coverage he pulls the starters and makes some drama happen at end of the game. Serves his camera craving ass right that the Clips and Grizz went to OT and got even more attention.
The Spurs were just shooting some shots...just sweeping a team they were supposed to sweep...no surprises there. :lol
Thanks for that!
http://ist1-2.filesor.com/pimpandhos...dyxsnn7q8p.jpg
Thanks for the writeup Tim.
There was a span in the second half where Jackson pulled down 3 consecutive rebounds. If I recall correctly he directly or indirectly had an affect on half a dozen plays in succession.
The only blip I saw from him towards the later stages of the game when he bricked a three short... but he came down that very same sequence and helped break up a play for the Jazz that would have cut it to a one possession game, leading to a steal and a wide open layup for Manu that sealed the game.
He may not be hitting 3 straight daggers to break spirits like he did in his younger days, but Jackson's contributions are in full swing.
One area where I thought Pop erred was the final six minutes. I much prefer Neal to Mills as long as either Manu or Tony are in the backcourt with him and he's the shooting guard, but if Tony and Manu are both on the bench then Mills has to be on the floor to bring the ball up the floor and ignite the offense no question. I don't trust the ball-handling of a Neal-Green backcourt at all. Mills can at least beat a trap.
Also, I thought Tiago was on the floor too many minutes. He checked in with what, like five minutes to go in the 3rd quarter and Pop had him out there for 12 straight minutes? That's stretching his stamina a bit, I think, especially when he was touching the ball quite a bit on offense and banging down low on the other end. I think the right move there would've been to go back to Blair who was fresh and would've been hungry to score a couple of garbage buckets.
It was kind of senseless that the big three had to go back into the game to close it out, but maybe, for you CIA Pop conspiracy theorists out there he wanted the Jazz to make a run and get the game close so he'd have something to yell at the team about at practice during the next week.
Thanks for the writeup... as an addendum, the Spurs never trailed at the end of any quarter during this series...
SJax hit some 3's early on in the game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yuixafun
Just saw the game.
Great game.
1) Defense is visibly improving as games go by.
2) Up by 21 with 6' to go, the game is over, the folks are laughing on the bench. Carrol and the Jazz start to pressure, Neal/Green panick. TO after TO. The bad thing is that neal completely lost control of the tempo.
I would have put Mills into it: he's too fast to pressure. He might force some shots? A forced shot is still better than a TO.
This situation will be seen A LOT if Spurs play the Clippers.
I really didn't like what I saw from Neal.
3) Manu needed minutes and he got them. He was focused.
I particularly liked the last -very intentional- hard foul on Harris.
Mr. Harris, dear baby, you don't talk hard fouls, you MAKE them.
That's the Argentine way.
That's the right way.
:toastQuote:
Originally Posted by roycrikside
Didn't see it posted.
Very true. And that makes me feel better about our chances. We all said the Spurs wouldn't go far if they couldn't play decent defense. The whole team seems committed to it and so is Pop. Why else has Neal's minutes significantly gone down in the playoffs? I'm even liking Bonner's defensive intensity.Quote:
Originally Posted by GSH
I know it was just the Jazz but that team put up 100 against us in the two of the regular season games. It's safe to say the Spurs turned up the defensive intensity in the playoffs. We don't need to play 48 mins of defense (cough eyestalker cough). This team knows when they need to get stops and they have done it so far.
That's a great picture in your sig... I can see someone easily photoshopping Kwa in Bowen's spot and Diaw in Horry's.
Bonner.
+20.
King.
The Spurs Way
By Elias Sports Bureau
The Utah Jazz had three starters score at least 16 points; no San Antonio Spurs starter scored more than 11 points. The Jazz had three starters collect at least 10 rebounds; no Spurs starter had more than five rebounds. So what was the final score? San Antonio 87, Utah 81, as the Spurs completed a sweep of their first-round series.
Manu Ginobili came off the bench to score a team-high 17 points; among the starters, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker led with 11 points apiece. The Spurs' victory was the first in the NBA's past 591 playoff games in which no starter on the winning team scored as many as 12 points. The previous team to win a playoff game in that manner? Gregg Popovich's Spurs, of course. Back on April 30, 2005, the Spurs topped the Nuggets, 86-78, in Game 3 of a first-round series in Denver, with Duncan leading the starters with -- you guessed it -- 11 points, and Ginobili coming off the bench for a game-high 32.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime