Grades: Spurs vs. Timberwolves - Oct. 17, 2018

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The San Antonio Spurs kicked off the 2018-19 campaign with a 112-108 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Spurs trailed by two points heading into the fourth quarter but thanks to two timely three-pointers by Davis Bertans and a clutch performance by DeMar DeRozan down the stretch, San Antonio was able to begin their season on the right foot.

LaMarcus Aldridge
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Playing a game-high 42 minutes, LaMarcus Aldridge had his fingerprints all over this game. Offensively, Aldridge was extremely aggressive -- to a fault, in fact. He took a few ill-advised, contested jumpers. However, Aldridge going 7-for-23 from the field wasn't simply a case of taking bad shots, he missed a handful of looks he usually knocks down. His best attribute on offense on opening night was his work on the offensive glass. On defense, I thought Aldridge was really, really good. He not only dominated that boards on that end, he guarded the paint with force and was nimble on his switch-outs on the perimeter. Without Aldridge, the Spurs would have been in big trouble on defense.
Grade: B+
Summary: Aldridge's very good defense and great work on the boards made up for his shooting woes.

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DeMar DeRozan
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I was impressed by DeMar DeRozan's first outing in silver and black. Yes, he missed a couple of easy shots and rushed a few other possessions, but DeRozan did what the Spurs needed him to do. Defensively, he was San Antonio's best perimeter defender. While that's a sobering thought considering DeRozan has long been considered one of the worst perimeter defenders in the league, let's give him credit. He was far from great on defense but he competed, stayed in front of his man reasonable well and stayed mentally engaged on that end. On offense, DeRozan was literally the team's only reliable playmaker. He created a number of open shots for his teammates; he would have finished with double the number of assists if his teammates had knocked down open shots. In addition to taking on point guard responsibilities by bringing the ball up the court a number of times, DeRozan was able to produce in halfcourt situations by getting into the lane to either create a good shot, draw contact or kick to a shooter. To cap his Spurs debut, DeRozan lived up to his clutch reputation by scoring San Antonio's final six points by hitting both of his field goal attempts and both of his free throws in the game's final 90 seconds.
Grade: A
Summary: It wasn't DeRozan's cleanest game but he tried hard on defense and came up big on offense when it counted.

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Rudy Gay
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Rudy Gay continued his strong play from the preseason into the regular season. He has looked great on the offensive end -- he's getting good elevation and his touch has been deft. He's bullying smaller defenders and using his athleticism to blow by bigger defenders. Against the Wolves, Gay was also very helpful on the boards. His defense was decent to begin the game but after he hurt his foot, his mobility became extremely limited. He just didn't look the same after coming up hobbling. Let's hope that it's nothing major and Gay is able to quickly bounce back.
Grade: A-
Summary: The Spurs will need offense in order to win games this year and Gay was offense in a bottle tonight.

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Bryn Forbes
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With Dejounte Murray and Derrick White sidelined, Bryn Forbes is the Spurs starting point guard to begin the season. Game 1 was definitely a learning experience for him. Defensively, he was bad individually. He just couldn't stay in front of Minnesota's guards, particularly Jeff Teague. Other team's point guards are going to continue to feast until Forbes learns how to keep quicker players in front of him. His help-defense was actually pretty good tonight, though. On offense, Forbes hit enough shots to keep the defense honest but he wasn't helping matters much on that end. His passing was sub par as he missed open teammates on a number of occasions. His ball-handling was weak -- so weak, in fact, that DeRozan brought the ball up whenever Forbes got pressure. The Spurs need Forbes to play better but he did just enough this game to keep hope alive that he has the ability to keep San Antonio above water until White gets back.
Grade: C
Summary: Forbes didn't embarrass himself but he also rarely moved the needle much in the positive direction.

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Jakob Poeltl
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Jakob Poeltl got the start at center but only played eight minutes. In those eight minutes, we witnessed what Poeltl brings to the table in a nutshell: very good offensive rebounding, poor defensive rebounding, good passing, too many fouls and an ability to finish at the rim. That was the book on Poeltl heading into the season and we witnessed it all. Early foul trouble had him on the bench less than five minutes into his Spurs career. Does Pop plan to put Poeltl on the DeJuan Blair one-stint-at-the-beginning-of-each-half plan? That looks like a strong possibility, at least to begin the season.
Grade: B+
Summary: Poeltl did what Poeltl does.

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Patty Mills
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Patty Mills played 30 minutes off the bench but it's difficult to explain why. He was really bad on defense -- clearly the worst on the team. Quick players ran right by him and everyone muscled him out of the way. The Spurs just couldn't find a place to hide him on D. Offensively, he didn't bring much to the table. San Antonio was desperate for ball-handlers and playmakers yet Mills couldn't help in either category. I liked what I saw from Mills in preseason when he was pushing the pace and causing havoc with the bench unit. That tenacity was missing in the season opener.
Grade: D-
Summary: The Spurs and their point guard platoon are going to suffer this season unless Mills plays much, much better.

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Pau Gasol
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Pau Gasol has found a home coming off the bench. Outside of DeRozan, Gasol was the team's best playmaker (as scary as that is to type). His passing was elite, as evident by his game-high six assists. He did very good work on the glass, defended the rim well and was rarely caught out of position. The offense slowed to a halt at times with Gasol out there but the Spurs wouldn't have won without his production.
Grade: B+
Summary: The Spurs leaned on Gasol's talent and he delivered.

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Marco Belinelli
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The Spurs needed every ounce of life Marco Belinelli injected on opening night. His perpetual motion in halfcourt sets opened up opportunities for himself and others. Belinelli's trigger finger, as it was in the preseason, remains itchy. He's at his best when he's being uber aggressive and that was the case against Minnesota. Defensively, Belinelli was iffy at best -- his poor transition defense had the coaching staff fuming at times. In retrospect, I would have liked to have seen Belinelli play more minutes given what the Spurs got from Mills and even post-injury Gay.
Grade: B+
Summary: Belinelli isn't Ginobili but he's the closest the Spurs have to that.

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Davis Bertans
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It looked like Pop was hesitant to play Davis Bertans at all to begin the game. By the final buzzer, Bertans was indispensable. In fact, the Latvian played the game's final ten minutes. On offense, Bertans' ability to spread the floor at power forward was very much in focus. He shot with confidence and dropped two huge threes in the fourth quarter. Defensively, Bertans' mobility was helpful since the defense resorted to swarming the strong side of the court in order to get stops. His individual defense was lacking and he didn't help on the glass but the Spurs have to be happy with what they got out of Bertans overall.
Grade: B+
Summary: Bertans hit big shots and did enough on defense to aid the cause.

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Dante Cunningham
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Yikes. Dante Cunningham had a rough outing in his maiden voyage. During his first stint, Pop had him at small forward and it was a disaster. He got in the way on offense and repeatedly lost his man on defense. Cunningham was slightly better in his second stint in which he played power forward. That said, with this Spurs team needing as much talent as possible on the court at all times, it's difficult to justify giving a hustle player like Cunningham minutes. He simply doesn't do anything well enough -- from what I can tell, at least -- to justify rotational playing time.
Grade: D
Summary: Cunningham played seven minutes too many.

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Pop
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Pop realized that Aldridge and DeRozan were going to have to carry huge loads in order for the Spurs to win and he allowed them to do just that. Pop also deserves credit for drawing up the play out of a timeout that led to a momentous three-pointer by Bertans. The defense wasn't great but the coaching staff produced enough smoke and had enough mirrors to help further discombobulate the chemistry-lacking Timberwolves. On the other side of the coin, I thought Mills and Cunningham played too much. A backcourt of Forbes and Mills should be actively avoided and Cunningham at small forward is an experiment that should already be over.
Grade: B
Summary: It wasn't pretty but Pop led the Spurs to yet another win to begin the season. He's now 20-2 as Spurs head coach on opening night.

Looking ahead: Let's hope Gay is healthy as the Spurs head out on the road to face the Trail Blazers in what promises to be a much more difficult test.

Good stuff. :toast

Just happy to get dat W. This team has a long way to go in terms of chemistry, especially on team D.

wtf is up with the lighting on the photos for Poeltl and Bertans, they look like albinos.

Patty & Bryn as the defensive backcourt the last 4 minutes of the game....Derozan at the 3 (even though he competed at least).....good God :shootme

Pretty much agree. Just unsure who else Spurs can go to at SF with Gay hurting his foot and DD needing rest.

82-0 is still in play!

All pretty spot on but I reckon Cunningham was worse than Mills, and Mills was bad except for taking the charge that got Towns fouled out.

What's the next move? Sign Blossomgame to a two-way and have him compete with Q-Pon and Dante for minutes as a 3&D specialist at the 3? Cut Q-Pon now and sign Acy and see if he can do that job? This is the most glaring hole on the team outside of the injuries to our backcourt and Gay.

Wolves, Blazers, Lakers, Pacers, Lakers. That's a pretty tough start to the season.

Great write up.

If Derrick and Lonnie can earn the current roles of Patty and Forbes by March..watch out.

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Originally Posted by MaNu4Tres

Great write up.

If Derrick and Lonnie can earn the current roles of Patty and Forbes by March..watch out.

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You know that will never happen.

lonnie looked lost over the summer tbh... white has a chance since bryn is incapable of playing pg

Let Forbes play . . . and then use him as a trade asset.

Next game might be a rare event in the NBA. Two guys on the same team going for 50 each (Lillard and McCollum).

Cool. I really enjoyed Pop staggering LMA and DMDR. I think he really wanted to play two of them or Gay at all times. That's probably the best he can do to manage the roster as it stands now. The lack of a three is predictably killing the team. Gay could only do it as well as he did in this game because Wiggins isn't a good shooter. Cun can't get it done. I guess we'll see if Pon gets minutes going forward. The Spurs likely will be looking at cycling players pretty soon. With Gay's injury scares, I think Pop will rest him more going forward, which will mean more minutes for the stars, which means more rest games for them if possible. The 15th-17th spots will be important for the next couple of months until White and Walker return.

Bertans should be the first forward off the bench. I really do like what Gasol brings with Aldridge, but I'm putting Davis in at PF for Poeltl and only bringing Gasol in when Gay sits. They just need more minutes with legit spacing around Aldridge and DeRozan. I like the bench well enough, but they need some structure. Pau is a decent focal point when he plays well, but he's too passive to be the main driver of the second unit. Dude passed up open shots too many times. Beli hasn't met a shot he doesn't like, but having him as your main perimeter creator is a recipe for an awful stint. Without White, Mills isn't doing much either. Playing one or two of the top guys with the unit will help, but asking all three of them to have top impacts every game (they averaged 22 points each) just won't work. I'd still look into a trade that would allow Rudy to move to the bench again.

I still think the defense will be better. The Wolves seemed to have decent chemistry on the court outside of Towns. Holding them down enough for a win despite all of the misses and TOs was a nice accomplishment. They played a number of possessions of lock-down D. Minny actually shot worse in this game than they did in last year's season opener. They are likely going to foul more than we're used to, and they simply aren't going to be as good at stopping teams from scoring, but a lot of their higher-than-expected points-allowed totals are going to be due to the faster pace they'll play at this season. Pop had planned to run with Murray, but even with the injury, DeRozan and Forbes will continue to push the ball down the floor. The new rule on offensive rebounds will also add a couple of possessions to every game. I don't expect a full track meet, but I do expect to see them score over 100 points in more games than last year.

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Originally Posted by Fusternino

Let Forbes play . . . and then use him as a trade asset.

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Dont you have to actually show something positive to be considered an asset?

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Originally Posted by NASpurs

Dont you have to actually show something positive to be considered an asset?

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No, you only need Pop to praise you (true or not) after every game as something positive.

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Originally Posted by Chinook

Cool. I really enjoyed Pop staggering LMA and DMDR. I think he really wanted to play two of them or Gay at all times. That's probably the best he can do to manage the roster as it stands now. The lack of a three is predictably killing the team. Gay could only do it as well as he did in this game because Wiggins isn't a good shooter. Cun can't get it done. I guess we'll see if Pon gets minutes going forward. The Spurs likely will be looking at cycling players pretty soon. With Gay's injury scares, I think Pop will rest him more going forward, which will mean more minutes for the stars, which means more rest games for them if possible. The 15th-17th spots will be important for the next couple of months until White and Walker return.

Bertans should be the first forward off the bench. I really do like what Gasol brings with Aldridge, but I'm putting Davis in at PF for Poeltl and only bringing Gasol in when Gay sits. They just need more minutes with legit spacing around Aldridge and DeRozan. I like the bench well enough, but they need some structure. Pau is a decent focal point when he plays well, but he's too passive to be the main driver of the second unit. Dude passed up open shots too many times. Beli hasn't met a shot he doesn't like, but having him as your main perimeter creator is a recipe for an awful stint. Without White, Mills isn't doing much either. Playing one or two of the top guys with the unit will help, but asking all three of them to have top impacts every game (they averaged 22 points each) just won't work. I'd still look into a trade that would allow Rudy to move to the bench again.

I still think the defense will be better. The Wolves seemed to have decent chemistry on the court outside of Towns. Holding them down enough for a win despite all of the misses and TOs was a nice accomplishment. They played a number of possessions of lock-down D. Minny actually shot worse in this game than they did in last year's season opener. They are likely going to foul more than we're used to, and they simply aren't going to be as good at stopping teams from scoring, but a lot of their higher-than-expected points-allowed totals are going to be due to the faster pace they'll play at this season. Pop had planned to run with Murray, but even with the injury, DeRozan and Forbes will continue to push the ball down the floor. The new rule on offensive rebounds will also add a couple of possessions to every game. I don't expect a full track meet, but I do expect to see them score over 100 points in more games than last year.

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Don't worry . . . we didn't even bother looking at Quincy Acy for a spot and didn't even offer Blossomgame a two-way. We totally went with the best options in Dante and Q-Pon for 3&D SF's.

Acy is cancer. Think they'd rather wait for Huestis.

BTW, he got away with it, but there's no reason to have both Mills and Forbes out there for defensive purposes at the end of games.

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Originally Posted by DAF86

BTW, he got away with it, but there's no reason to have both Mills and Forbes out there for defensive purposes at the end of games.

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Or offensive purposes.

Was at the game. On the defensive smoke and mirrors bit, I saw one play where Minny clearly looked to get Butler going against DeRozan (they were force feeding Butler a lot). Butler cut to the top of the key and DeRozan followed him. But as soon as Butler caught it and went iso, the Spurs switched to a zone look and Butler drove into a swarm with DeRozan hanging back on the opposite side of the court. Genius. Then on the next possession, Butler ran right to the rim before the zone could set up and got a layup.

This seemed like it could happen a lot with the defense this year. Good coaching schemes, but the players lack of talent on the defensive end (especially the perimeter players) could result in a ton of easy baskets for the opposing team.

Man, this team is not very deep. I loved the energy and the heart displayed though. DeRozan and Aldridge are our team, by and large; proven all-star caliber players who need to be out there 35+ minutes if the team has a chance of winning. You then have one (and only one) 20-30 minute 2nd tier starter, Rudy Gay, who needs to be effective every game for the Spurs to win, but is a cut below LMA and DD. You then have 4 guys that are situational players, Gasol, Belli, Bertans and Mills, that I’d say are 8 to 20 minute players, who, depending on matchups, will have a role of varying significance from game to game. Then there’s some young talent that might blossom into more in Poetl, White and Walker, that should get minutes, but on a better team wouldn't be depended on to provide much. Their minutes would be an investment in grooming them for the future. Forbes deserves the occasional plug as that 12th man in situations where you’re looking for that “microwave” to provide a couple of quick baskets, but then go right back to the bench. And that’s it. No other player on the roster should see the floor. Sucks about Murray...we need him.

240 minutes is tough to cover with that group. Still excited to see us over-achieve this year!!

As I said in a different thread, if Pop coaches this group to the playoffs he should get COY and our best players should get MVP votes.


Awesome write-up and spot on! :tu

Btw, game 1 of opposing backcourts going for 40. In this case, 50 actually. Some here were quick to say that won’t happen

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Originally Posted by Fusternino

What's the next move? Sign Blossomgame to a two-way and have him compete with Q-Pon and Dante for minutes as a 3&D specialist at the 3? Cut Q-Pon now and sign Acy and see if he can do that job? This is the most glaring hole on the team outside of the injuries to our backcourt and Gay.

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I would certainly rather have Blossomgame out there, but I think Pop's trying to go with a veteran just because there are so many new guys on the team (even though a lot of them are veteran players.) I think once White and Walker are back there won't be much extra rotational minutes to give so Pop's probably just trying guys out meanwhile to see if anything sticks and we're probably thinking too much into it.

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Originally Posted by phxspurfan

Btw, game 1 of opposing backcourts going for 40. In this case, 50 actually. Some here were quick to say that won’t happen

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Chinook will be right you. Give him time to roll out of bed.