Eye on the Dubs: This team's 1st half coasting, tbh...

Feels we've been doing this for a month or so... we just coast in the 1st half, then really turn it on for a quarter, two tops... because the defense is historically great, it's enough to beat most teams, even some in the upper echelon, but there's no way that'll be enough against the Dubs. Kawhi even mentioned it in his interview after the Clippers, how this team really needs to play for 48 mins.

Now, there's no doubt that for a seasoned team like ours, this 82 game grind when you have such a lead with the #3 seed and playoffs are around the corner, becomes boring up to an extent. You kinda relish building a bit of a challenge, then raising to it, but IMO, this team really needs to start focusing on that. Will another beatdown by the Dubs send the message? Or this team won't wake up until the playoffs, tbh?

Spurs kept up with OKC, (the best 1st quarter team in the NBA) so hopefully they were just walking thru this game.

I can't imagine a scenario where they won't be pumped from the onset of the game after the 30-point blowout, tbh..

This Portland game's poor effort was just human nature..shitty team on the road sandwiched in between games vs. the other top teams in the league..these guys aren't robots..

U know in the game against the dubs.. Manu is going to show up.. I guarantee..

spurs need to stop Thompson. I am sure Steph is gonna go crazy, but at least try to stop everyone else.... But yea, play like tonight against Golden State and the Spurs will be losing by 30 at the half.

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Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37

I can't imagine a scenario where they won't be pumped from the onset of the game after the 30-point blowout, tbh..

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We did the same thing against the Clippers though, and they beat us last season and the previous game...

Players have been talking how these games are "great tests", but then generally been mailing in the 1st half for some reason.

It's also to be seen if Pop is really gonna go all out Saturday from a coaching standpoint. Hopefully he is, tbh...

LMA has been staring real fast lately. Our slow down has come from moving away from him and Kawhi when they get it going early. Against the dubs, hopefully they keep it going, although they're honestly due for a down game tbh.

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Originally Posted by gilmor

U know in the game against the dubs.. Manu is going to show up.. I guarantee..

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Manu needs to get back in shape... one game at a time. He's going to have nights like against the Kings, Clippers were he's going to carry the team, but other nights like tonight where he'll look old.

I'm more concerned with the top minute getters really putting in 48 mins of work. Hasn't happened lately, and I don't know if you can do that against the Dubs.

Also, some shades of KMart tonight that I thought were nice. He's still can't hit that 3 very well, but his penetration, cuts and drawing fouls could come handy, IMO.

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Originally Posted by ElNono

Manu needs to get back in shape... one game at a time. He's going to have nights like against the Kings, Clippers were he's going to carry the team, but other nights like tonight where he'll look old.

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Not to worry Nono, Spurs have Parker, Warriors don't.

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Originally Posted by Hoops Czar

Not to worry Nono, Spurs have Parker, Warriors don't.

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I never worry about Manu, tbh... you know that

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Originally Posted by ElNono

Feels we've been doing this for a month or so... we just coast in the 1st half

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Not sure if they just coast. It's also about Pop and his game plan.

I'd like to see Kawhi being involved on offense in the first minutes but it seems he must wait until the 2nd quarter because they try to establish Parker/LMA two-man game in those minutes, when Parker looks horrible or it just doesn't work...we lose by 10 in the first quarter against contenders.

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Originally Posted by Hoops Czar

Not to worry Nono, Spurs have Parker, Warriors don't.

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Not Parker.. More likely Mills..

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Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37

I can't imagine a scenario where they won't be pumped from the onset of the game after the 30-point blowout, tbh..

This Portland game's poor effort was just human nature..shitty team on the road sandwiched in between games vs. the other top teams in the league..these guys aren't robots..

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:lol Have you been talking to Draymond in the locker room?

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Originally Posted by Old School 44

:lol Have you been talking to Draymond in the locker room?

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??

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Originally Posted by ElNono

I never worry about Manu, tbh... you know that

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:lmao

To illustrate since March 1st:

Opponent	1st Half Margin	W/L Margin
vs Pistons	+1	Won by 16
@ Pelicans	-1	Won by 8
vs Kings	+3	Won by 10
@ Pacers	-13	Lost by 8
@ Wolves	+12	Won by 25
vs Bulls	+7	Won by 8
vs Thunder	-4	Won by 8
vs Clippers	+4	Won by 21
vs Blazers	+2	Won by 8

The Wolves is the outlier, and even the Pacers game we lost, we started really poorly and couldn't come back after putting in some work in the 2ns half.

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Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37

??

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I forgot which Warriors game it was, but the Warriors were doing poorly and at halftime Kerr commented on Draymond's shot selection. It set him off into a shouting tirade, where he screamed something like "we're not robots." A day later, Draymond was apologizing to his team and coaching staff for his outburst.

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Originally Posted by Old School 44

I forgot which Warriors game it was, but the Warriors were doing poorly and at halftime Kerr commented on Draymond's shot selection. It set him off into a shouting tirade, where he screamed something like "we're not robots." A day later, Draymond was apologizing to his team and coaching staff for his outburst.

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:lol right, I think I remember that now IIRC..

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Originally Posted by ElNono

Also, some shades of KMart tonight that I thought were nice. He's still can't hit that 3 very well, but his penetration, cuts and drawing fouls could come handy, IMO.

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He'll start hitting it soon enough as he gets more comfortable. He's a career 38% shooter, I'm not worried about his 3 ball

After we beat the shit out of everyone on our way to a 6th ring, will people still give a shit if the kerr's beat the record?

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Originally Posted by ElNono

Also, some shades of KMart tonight that I thought were nice. He's still can't hit that 3 very well, but his penetration, cuts and drawing fouls could come handy, IMO.

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His shot selection/shot location was great tonight, despite the misses..granted it was against Portland, but still, have to get those reps in..

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Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37

His shot selection/shot location was great tonight, despite the misses..granted it was against Portland, but still, have to get those reps in..

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Agreed. He'll start hitting them soon enough as he gets more comfortable

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Originally Posted by ElNono

To illustrate since March 1st:

Opponent	1st Half Margin	W/L Margin
vs Pistons	+1	Won by 16
@ Pelicans	-1	Won by 8
vs Kings	+3	Won by 10
@ Pacers	-13	Lost by 8
@ Wolves	+12	Won by 25
vs Bulls	+7	Won by 8
vs Thunder	-4	Won by 8
vs Clippers	+4	Won by 21
vs Blazers	+2	Won by 8

The Wolves is the outlier, and even the Pacers game we lost, we started really poorly and couldn't come back after putting in some work in the 2ns half.

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Well the Pacers game I thought the athleticism and length of Miles Turner really gave us trouble in the paint. He alters shots and caused guys to rush shots they missed. I though Messina needed to make adjustments but he didn't. He rode Manu 20 minutes and his best players max minute s but didn't mix and match and he also didn't stay wit guys that were aggressive early like slo mo that game.

The other games there were a series of poor shooting nights by Tony. Those are simply hard to overcome. We can win RS games even when checklists poorly but it makes it very difficult for everyone and he doesn't help you win any other way since he doesn't make effort, hustle plays.

I though this game Pop wanted to see 3 things:
1. Tony needed to get in a groove. We are not going to win with him 0 points and a couple assists. I think taking the balk from him got him out of his comfort zone and Pop wanted to get him going. What happens with that we'll see it as an experiment by Pop.
2. Kmart with the bench is another experiment. This one about fit, as others have said since our bench survived with Marco they should be fine with him. But I will note for the record, his shots and most of his scoring save a single foul shot he made came in garbage time, not with the more realistic lineup in the first half. The second unit struggled to score and when they do, they will give up leads bc they can't stop anybody.
3. Boris was under strict instructions to be aggressive in this one and he delivered.

The last quarter was crazy. It was tough for KA or impossible for him to deal with Plumplee and cover up in the paint for so many mistakes from everyone which forced him to foul Plumplee. We didn't control tempo as a team and were super crazy all over but that was the entire team. I am sure he will get chewed up by Pop. Can't take much from that other than a lesson for him rightfully. For the veterans, wow! They should know better.

Bored nothing to see here

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ElNono

To illustrate since March 1st:

Opponent	1st Half Margin	W/L Margin
vs Pistons	+1	Won by 16
@ Pelicans	-1	Won by 8
vs Kings	+3	Won by 10
@ Pacers	-13	Lost by 8
@ Wolves	+12	Won by 25
vs Bulls	+7	Won by 8
vs Thunder	-4	Won by 8
vs Clippers	+4	Won by 21
vs Blazers	+2	Won by 8

The Wolves is the outlier, and even the Pacers game we lost, we started really poorly and couldn't come back after putting in some work in the 2ns half.

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The first quarters always involves a heavy dose of parker in the offense. Its a fact that the team struggles playing that way.

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Originally Posted by ElNono

Also, some shades of KMart tonight that I thought were nice. He's still can't hit that 3 very well, but his penetration, cuts and drawing fouls could come handy, IMO.

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Since the spurs are the worst in the NBA in drawing fouls and going to the free throw line, KMart helps immensely in that regard, especially in the postseason when the games slow down.

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Originally Posted by 100%duncan

Bored nothing to see here

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wahahaha

Just the Spurs superior bench allowing starters to be more rested than the opponent and it taking it's toll in the 2nd half.

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Originally Posted by ElNono

Feels we've been doing this for a month or so... we just coast in the 1st half, then really turn it on for a quarter, two tops... because the defense is historically great, it's enough to beat most teams, even some in the upper echelon, but there's no way that'll be enough against the Dubs. Kawhi even mentioned it in his interview after the Clippers, how this team really needs to play for 48 mins.

Now, there's no doubt that for a seasoned team like ours, this 82 game grind when you have such a lead with the #3 seed and playoffs are around the corner, becomes boring up to an extent. You kinda relish building a bit of a challenge, then raising to it, but IMO, this team really needs to start focusing on that. Will another beatdown by the Dubs send the message? Or this team won't wake up until the playoffs, tbh?

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This team has been coasting for a decade now... They are also too old for this shit.

I'm pretty tired of hearing of Curry tbh

I'm just glad Manu didn't have a good game yesterday b/c Turnobili would have reared it ugly face on Saturday since he can't play two good games in a row.:lol

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Originally Posted by Spurs9

I'm pretty tired of hearing of Curry tbh

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this. can't wait for the Charlotte games on Monday...

We need Dallas to do us a solid tonight. Give those fuckers their first b2b loss of the season and put us in striking distance....

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Originally Posted by houston spurs fan

We need Dallas to do us a solid tonight. Give those fuckers their first b2b loss of the season and put us in striking distance....

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Well, it looks like dallas has never heard of curry and thompson, so I'd bet its not happening. They're getting 3's at will, its pathetic

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Originally Posted by PopTheGOAT

Well, it looks like dallas has never heard of curry and thompson, so I'd bet its not happening. They're getting 3's at will, its pathetic

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It's amazing how Dallas is in striking distance despite the warriors hitting 15 3's at 71 percent shooting.

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Originally Posted by daslicer

It's amazing how Dallas is in striking distance despite the warriors hitting 15 3's at 71 percent shooting.

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yep, 73-67 at half. RIP defense

Bogut (big toe injury) won't return vs Mavs tonight.

No Iggy
No Bogut
No Festus
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If the Spurs dont win tomorrow they should be embarrassed