Quick Grades: Spurs @ Mavericks - Dec. 30

Tim Duncan A-
Very strong D in the paint; altered many shots. Rebounded very well. Effective on O, especially early.

Manu Ginobili A+
Grabbed contested boards. Rabid on D. Great passing. Used full repertoire on offense. Big plays galore.

Tony Parker B+
A bit inconsistent orchestrating the O. Very strong for stretches but took his foot off the gas at times.

Kawhi Leonard B+
Fantastic post defense; good on the perimeter. Commendable glass work. All-around hustle was a plus.

Danny Green B+
Dominant when defending Mayo. Stayed in front and challenged shots. Buried a couple more threes.

Tiago Splitter B
Solid in the first half but quiet after halftime. Could have gone up stronger at times. D good not great.

Boris Diaw B-
Bad in the first half -- painfully passive on both ends. Bounced back and played well in second half.

Stephen Jackson B
Very patient outing. Waited for his opportunities to chip in. Solid yet unspectacular on both ends.

Patrick Mills C-
Got a shot to impress as backup PG job. Didn’t do it. Impotent on offense; no creation. D was adequate.

Nando De Colo Inc.
Couple good passes and a couple mistakes in garbage time.

DeJuan Blair Inc.
Tried to go up for a layup and literally didn’t get off the ground. Ouch.

Matt Bonner Inc.
Hit an open jumper at the end.

Pop B
One of his worse lineups of the year let the Mavs back in. When he got serious, the Spurs cruised.

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Originally Posted by timvp

Pop B
One of his worse lineups of the year let the Mavs back in. When he got serious, the Spurs cruised.

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Which lineup was that? I never felt that the Mavs were allowed back "in" at any point in the game.

Concise and thoughtful. Thanks LJ.

Whatever lineup allowed the mavs within 5 about 3 minutes into the 4th.

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Originally Posted by Boomersgold

Which lineup was that? I never felt that the Mavs were allowed back "in" at any point in the game.

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I'm guessing the lineup with Patty at PG with no other playmakers on the floor.

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Originally Posted by timtonymanu

I'm guessing the lineup with Patty at PG with no other playmakers on the floor.

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Wasn't Patty played with Manu though?

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Originally Posted by Boomersgold

Which lineup was that?

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The lineups that featured Mills at PG along with two non-creators (usually Green and Leonard) were tough to watch and killed momentum.

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Originally Posted by ElNono

Concise and thoughtful. Thanks LJ.

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lmao

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Originally Posted by Boomersgold

Wasn't Patty played with Manu though?

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I hink it was Mills, Green, Leonard, Jackson and Tiago in the second quarter.

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Originally Posted by DAF86

I hink it was Mills, Green, Leonard, Jackson and Tiago in the second quarter.

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Ah k. I didn't watch the first half of the game. I assume that that lineup wasn't used for long.

i liked leonard guarding 4s and hedging on the pick and rolls
he was able to help guard penetration and recover on the mid range shot
finding another good perimeter defender who could cover a durant/james might be more important then another big man
just put leonard on abaka and he can switch or hedge onto westbrick/durant and cover abakas shot
another strong perimeter defender would let them trap P&Rs completely and force bad ball handlers like a mayo/durant into turnovers

someone like mbah a moute

Tiago seriously played twenty straight minutes too start the game

i don't think I've ever seen that. It's like pop challenged him to play as long as possible

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Originally Posted by Darius McCrary

Tiago seriously played twenty straight minutes too start the game

i don't think I've ever seen that. It's like pop challenged him to play as long as possible

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He played just 15 in the first half, there is no way that he played 20 straight

It's looking like Pop might finally be committed to the twin towers. 3 years late but better late than never. I can't imagine what our ceiling would have been if he had committed sooner. It might not affect the regular season too much but I think the bigger benefit is in the playoffs.

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Originally Posted by timvp

Patrick Mills C-
Got a shot to impress as backup PG job. Didn’t do it. Impotent on offense; no creation. D was adequate.

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The motion offense works well with an inside-out mentality. I don't see Mills being able to lead it, at least not this year. Manu can do it with the rotation players, not problem. My concern is relying on MG to live in the lane on offense might get him hurt. I'm afraid this is leading up to no relief for Parker in the playoffs.

When Tim was fouled hard by Brand in the 4th, I thought he was going to get up and slap Brand, he looked like he wanted to, but he just nailed his FTs and when he drove against Carter, he ran into him like a truck. That was no flop. This team, once someone gets pissed, plays much better. If Parker is walking the ball up, we struggle. Don't judge that by the outcome against a team like Dallas, but like LJ said, we did let them back in and not all of that was shots not falling for us/falling for them. We tend to get a bit careless with the ball, and Diaw making all those extra passes when he was the "best" they look for in their ball rotation (almost every time) was hurting us.

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Originally Posted by Brunodf

He played just 15 in the first half, there is no way that he played 20 straight

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No way, unless pop took him out for a quick break middle of first Q. He started, and was still in the game well well into the second Q.

Feels weird that after so many successful years and a magnificent rivarly with our spurs, that the mavs are looking at missing the playoffs for the first time in yonks. Doesn't feel as joyful as i thought it would be. Kinda like the end of an era.

Also first time I believe a 9 man rotation was used. Pop testing out lineups perhaps?

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Originally Posted by Darius McCrary

No way, unless pop took him out for a quick break middle of first Q. He started, and was still in the game well well into the second Q.

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He took a quick break midway through the 1st quarter, IIRC, like usual.

splitter played til 6 left in the first and was subbed out til 3 left in the first
then he played a while and had the most minutes on the team in the first half

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Originally Posted by timvp

Tiago Splitter B
Solid in the first half but quiet after halftime. Could have gone up stronger at times. D good not great.

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Tiago going up stronger would be developing another skill. Seeing him do it once a game in the future is a lot to ask. Pop said earlier this year that we are seeing the Tiago that has been there all along. I think this is the one were gonna see, though I'm not trying to say we have seen all of his up side. Improving foot work may be our biggest hope for him.

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Originally Posted by spurs1990

Also first time I believe a 9 man rotation was used. Pop testing out lineups perhaps?

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Pop used a 9 man rotation when KL/Jax were out. The difference is that KL and Jax are back and Splitter starts, while Blair is out of the rotation.

It's worrying the backup PG position isn't set yet. Between De Colo and Mills Pop should pick one. I guess Cory's out of picture for this season. No way the Spurs play with Neal running the point for the playoffs. It's not that Neal isn't talented, but he's not good defending the point.

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Originally Posted by therealtruth

It's looking like Pop might finally be committed to the twin towers. 3 years late but better late than never. I can't imagine what our ceiling would have been if he had committed sooner. It might not affect the regular season too much but I think the bigger benefit is in the playoffs.

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I wouldn't be so sure. Based on his comments on it today, if he had his druthers, the starting PF would be a natural PF and a floor spacing one at that (not that that's exactly breaking news). I also think he'd prefer not having to do as much maneuvering as he has to with this current big rotation.

Splitter starting is for two reasons. 1) They're experimenting. They know what they have with Diaw starting (forget Blair; they're done with him) and want to see how Duncan-Splitter consistently playing together works. If they can't acquire the starting caliber PF they want, they may instead look for a backup C or at least someone who can capably play both big positions, so as to give them maximum flexibility. 2) He's by far their second best big and starting him not only increases his minutes, but gives them their best defensive tandem up front.

Familiar face at the game

http://i.imgur.com/EZyb8.jpg

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Originally Posted by swaggerjackson

Whatever lineup allowed the mavs within 5 about 3 minutes into the 4th.

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What game were you watching? They lead by double digits most if not all of the fourth Q.... I guess you meant the Cowboys game where they got within 3 late?

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Originally Posted by spurs1990

Familiar face at the game

http://i.imgur.com/EZyb8.jpg

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Big man situation solved. Fin at the 5

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Originally Posted by Darius McCrary

No way, unless pop took him out for a quick break middle of first Q. He started, and was still in the game well well into the second Q.

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He left at the 5:52 mark and came back at the 3:10 in the 1st. Then in the 2nd, he left at the 5:39 and didnt come back in the 1st half. That is a total of 9:18 in the 1st and 6:21 in the 2nd quarter. About 60 % of the 1st half on the court. Played about 1/2 of the second half. A good 27 mins for Splitter.

Green's defense on OJ Mayo was excellent. Mayo averages over 18 points a game, and settled tonight for 8 points on 14 shots.

Best part: Green blocked a pair of three balls.

Props to Danny.