Game Thoughts: Spurs vs. Grizzlies Dec. 30

After a poor first quarter in which the whole team outside of Bruce Bowen played soft defense, the Spurs stepped it up and crushed the Memphis Grizzlies 111-87. In the last three quarters, the Spurs outscored the Grizzlies 89-55 as they rolled to a relatively easy 24 point victory.

Winning without both Manu Ginobili and Brent Barry was a plus. It was a little over a week ago that the Grizzlies beat the Spurs on a Rudy Gay three-pointer at the buzzer. This time, the Spurs gave a much better effort and had some players knock down some difficult shots.

For the Grizzlies, Gay impressed yet again. At only 21-years-old, there’s no reason Gay can’t become a star. Pau Gasol, who was out injured the last time the two teams played, had some moments but was held in check for the most part.

-Tim Duncan had a vintage Tim Duncan game. In 34 minutes, Duncan finished with 24 points, 17 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks, while connecting on 10-of-20 shots from field. The only downside to his game were his five turnovers but otherwise Duncan was fantastic. His energy level was high and he came out and played determined basketball. His teammates also did a good job of finding him in spots where he could produce. After a sub par outing against the Toronto Raptors, it was a nice bounce back game for Duncan. Duncan had his sixth straight game with at least 11 rebounds. During that stretch, he's averaging 20.8 points and 14.8 rebounds. Against the Grizzlies, Duncan had a team best plus/minus of +30.

-Tony Parker did a better job of being much more aggressive than he was last game. Against the Raptors, Parker wasn’t attacking as much as he should. He came out against the Grizzlies in attack mode and it paid off for him. He finished with 24 points, nine assists and four rebounds in 34 minutes of action. His aggressiveness helped him get to the line as he went 12-for-12 from the charity stripe.

-Bruce Bowen had one of his better defensive performances of the season. Matched up against Mike Miller, Bowen didn’t even allow Miller to get off a shot attempt until halfway through the third quarter. That’s a huge improvement from the last game against the Grizzlies where Miller had a season-high 31 points. Bowen had the second highest plus/minus on the team at +21.

-Michael Finley again did a good job of finding spots in the offense to get his shots. This time, he did a very good job of connecting on those shots. Finley scored a season-high 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field. Finley also banged in 5-of-7 three-point attempts. Finley has quietly started to heat up. This was his eighth straight game with double-figures in points, and the tenth time in his last eleven contests. In those 11 games, Finley is averaging 14.6 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 46.2% from the field and 40.9% from three-point land. With that kind of production, Finley becomes a huge asset for this team.

-Robert Horry got the start but didn’t do much. In 16 minutes, Horry had two boards, two assists and no points. He missed all three shots he attempted, dropping his field goal percentage to 21.1% on the season. Sooner or later Horry will turn it around. However, he needs to start showing signs of some sort of offensive life to keep the coaching staff confident in him.

-Matt Bonner had a very good outing. He infused a lot of energy into the game for the Spurs in the first half on both ends of the court. His 14 first half points helped the Spurs seize control of the ballgame. After a slow start to the season, Bonner has really come on strong. He’s shooting well as of late, connecting on 50% of his field goal attempts and 40.6% of his three-point attempts in his last 15 games. In that time span, Bonner is averaging 8.1 points and 4.5 rebounds in 17 minutes per game.

-Ime Udoka had his second straight poor shooting night. With Ginobili and Barry out, Udoka had a shot to carve out his niche in the rotation. However, his poor shooting has disrupted those plans. He finished 1-for-6 from the floor and 0-for-2 from beyond the arc. He played good defense in his time on the court but he has to knock down more shots to earn more playing time.

-Jacque Vaughn had one of his better games of the season. In 20 minutes, he had eight points, four assists and no turnovers. He finished with a plus/minus of +14 for the game. Amazingly enough, he even put in some quality minutes at shooting guard. Vaughn and Parker played six minutes together, during which time Parker ran the point and Vaughn went to the off guard position. Vaughn responded with a couple of baskets out of that formation. Defensively, Vaughn threw his body around like usual.

-Fabricio Oberto came off the bench and did next to nothing in his 11 minutes of playing time. He finished with two rebounds, no points and two turnovers in his time on the court. He also finished with a team low in plus/minus at -9. Over the last four games without Ginobili, Oberto has really struggled. He has only six points in those four games and is 2-for-10 from the field. It’s too early to conclusively say Oberto is dependant on Ginobili but it’s starting to look that way.

-Francisco Elson didn’t get off the bench until garbage time but he actually played well in his four minutes of mop up duty. He had six points, three rebounds and hit all three of his shots. Now he needs to actually do that when it counts.

-Keith Langford and DerMarr Johnson got some decent run tonight. Both players knocked down perimeter jumpers. There’s nothing much to note other than Langford is tiny for his position while Johnson is extremely tall for his position. That's about the extend of what each showed while on the court. That said, Johnson did pull off a rare feat that might not have been accomplished during the Popovich Era. DerMarr sported cornrows, a headband and high socks – giving him a rare balla triple play. Somewhere Ghost Writer smiles.

-Pop did a better job of avoiding some of the more horrible lineups that he trotted out on the court last game. It looks like he figured out that without Ginobili or Barry, he has to play Bonner to spread the court. Bonner responded nicely with his play in the first half. However, the biggest difference this game is the players just played better. Against the Raptors, everyone was bad. This game, almost everyone stepped up and played well. The Spurs now have off until Thursday. Hopefully Ginobili will be ready to go at that point as the Spurs will enter a stretch where they play four games in five nights.

thanks again for the synopsis! Hope you can do this on all games that are not on national tv!

Thanks timvp.

I was so focused on Duncan's game that everything else fell to the backround.
Your thoughts always help me digest the game as a whole.

It was nice to see them play Spurs ball after the slow start.
I hope the time off lets them focus on maintaining that kind of play.

Oh...I don't think it's too early to conclude that Oberto's game is dependent on Ginobili. Oberto's play of late proves it.

-I pretty much agree with everything here. Duncan is still sometimes too slow figuring out what he's going to do with the ball, which is how he usually ends up getting his turnovers. But he's only been doing that for eleven years now.

-In contrast to the game against the Raps, where the Spurs looked to be in trouble despite it being close early, in this game I looked up i the first quarter and saw that the Griz were outshooting the Spurs 70% to 35% and only up by four, and wasn't too worried. The Spurs did an outstanding job on the boards. They kept even in rebounds with the Griz even during the huge shooting disparity, and they when Memphis cooled down they (meaning Tim) dominated the boards.

-I just hope that Horry didn't decide to retire one year too late.

-Oberto was bad, almost disinterested. There was one pass to him under the basket that he short-armed and then one of his rebounds was immediately stripped from him. (He had 2 rebounds and 0 points, not the other way around.)

-I noticed that Iavaroni wanted the offense down on his end in the second half. Also the Griz don't rebound very well or play D. So he's being true to his roots.
-Finshed the home stand 4 for 4 on the dots races. :smokin

-Fricking Coyote reads this site. He made an effort to shoot more T-shirts to the bench side.

-My Andy Rooney moment: what the hell ever happened to the Dead Ball Rule? I can maybe understand there are circumstances where people can't wait until a dead ball to leave their seats, but there is ZERO excuse why they can't wait for one to return to them.

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Originally Posted by ShoogarBear

-My Andy Rooney moment: what the hell ever happened to the Dead Ball Rule? I can maybe understand there are circumstances where people can't wait until a dead ball to leave their seats, but there is ZERO excuse why they can't wait for one to return to them.

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Preach on, ShoogarBear!! Preach!!

I have finally started taking it upon myself to educate those who don't adhere to the Dead Ball Rule about the simple courtesy involved in complying with that rule. I take it as a general, societal thing -- people are generally so self-absorbed that they don't even stop to consider that they might be acting discourteously; if they've got places to go or things to get, it doesn't matter how getting there might impact others.

I agree. The ushers used to be tight about it. Now it's like a free-for-all. It's really annoying.


Oh.. and nice recap :)

Yeah the people walking down the aisles during play blows.

Oh and Melissa looked smokin hot.

if duncan continues to play like this = we are unbeatable

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Originally Posted by TimVP

That said, Johnson did pull off a rare feat that might not have been accomplished during the Popovich Era. DerMarr sported cornrows, a headband and high socks – giving him a rare balla triple play. Somewhere Ghost Writer smiles.

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:lmao :lmao :lmao

I don't think Oberto was terrible. He was never set-up for any offensive plays, nobody gave him the ball.

But, he still is the first one out on the perimeter providing screens for ball handlers, always running out there to help them.

So, I think it's just more of Ginobli's ability to get him the ball off those screens, and the others inability to do so, that is affecting his point production. I guess that makes him somewhat dependent on Ginobli...but, it also shows a weakness in our PG's to take advantage of those type of plays. Barry is also pretty good at seeing them. I'd like to see TP trying to set those plays up a little more. To take advantage of Oberto's abilities, you gotta be looking to do just that. Mebbe one of TP's few weak points still.

Oberto was just bad tonight. He wasn't setting screens like usual and he was out of place on the floor a lot.

Tony had 9 assists tonight and Vaughn had 4, and Timmy had 7. Oberto just didn't do his job tonight. It wasn't on anyone else.

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Originally Posted by Kori Ellis

Oberto was just bad tonight. He wasn't setting screens like usual and he was out of place on the floor a lot.

Tony had 9 assists tonight and Vaughn had 4, and Timmy had 7. Oberto just didn't do his job tonight. It wasn't on anyone else.

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I haven't argument against Pop but I would think that Oberto wasn't seem to get his confidence back come off the bench.
I disagree with Bob in the starting lineup because he's still in a bad way.

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Originally Posted by wildchild

I haven't argument against Pop but I would think that Oberto wasn't seem to get his confidence back come off the bench.
I disagree with Bob in the starting lineup because he's still in a bad way.

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I'm guessing Pop put Oberto on the bench to try to bring some sort post presence coming off the bench. The thinking was the Spurs could run the offense through Oberto when Duncan was on the bench.

Also, it's an easy way to get Horry some cheap minutes at the beginning of each half to work his way back into shape.

I think Pop has put Oberto on the bench because Bonner is in the rotation instead of Elson.
If you start Oberto with Duncan, it's quite difficult to avoid a Bonner/Horry frontcourt at a point of the game.
Starting Horry with Duncan allows to have a more simple rotation to manage.

Once again, great recap Timvp.


I agree that Oberto is somewhat dependent on Ginobili, but I also think that Manu knows better than anyone on the team where to find Oberto in his spots where he can do something with the ball.

Duncan was awesome. He was a little shaky in the first quarter and his turnovers were terrible, but his defense was incredible and he was a monster on the boards. He abused Darko and when the Griz doubled he found the shooters on the perimeter.

Tony's aggressiveness always leads to victories. He was a little hesitant in the first quarter, but really turned it on in the 2nd half. I think even Sean made a comment that someone must have said something to him in the locker room about attacking the rim.

I don't think enough can be said about Finley's production of late. He has really picked up the slack since Manu went down and his defense has improved as well. I just hope he can continue this pace and keep it going once Manu returns. If he does, we will be unstoppable.

And what can you say about Bonner's efforts. He has infused a lot of energy into our team coming off the bench. In the Raptors game, his energy got us back in the game. Tonight, he brought the same energy and made some big threes to help pad the lead. I know most people think he is worthless, but if he can bring this energy when Manu comes back, our bench will be able to make even more of an impact on the game.

It was also good to see Elson have a good game even if it was in garbage time. He needed the success to build his confidence. I just hope he can do it when it counts.

Udoka struggled offensively, but had some really great defensive plays. He still seems to question when to shoot, but hopefully that will change as the season goes on.

And then there is Bowen. What a job he did on Miller :clap . He had Miller completely out of the game. It wasn't until the second half that he got a fast break dunk that he scored. Miller killed us last game and Bowen seemed to use that for motivation to stop him.

It was a good rebound game for the Spurs. Let's hope they can carry this effort into their next stretch of games and hopefully, Manu will be back in fold soon enough.

tim rules

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-Robert Horry got the start but didn’t do much. In 16 minutes, Horry had two boards, two assists and no points. He missed all three shots he attempted, dropping his field goal percentage to 21.1% on the season. Sooner or later Horry will turn it around. However, he needs to start showing signs of some sort of offensive life to keep the coaching staff confident in him.

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I know Horry usually starts slow and this season he also missed the TC and the 1st month of the season. But it's the slower start Horry has since arrive in San Antonio.

Do you think it's time to start worrying about Horry?

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Originally Posted by Spurs Brazil

I know Horry usually starts slow and this season he also missed the TC and the 1st month of the season. But it's the slower start Horry has since arrive in San Antonio.

Do you think it's time to start worrying about Horry?

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no. though his offense has been slow in developing, he has been solid on defense. horry has always been like this. he disappears for long stretches during the regular season. but he has developed that reputation of coming up big in the playoffs, which is what counts anyway.

- I'm not sure how i feel about the new, bulleted ShoogarBear.

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Originally Posted by T Park

Yeah the people walking down the aisles during play blows.

Oh and Melissa looked smokin hot.

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:oops Ain't you sweet.

It Was Weird Seeing Johnson In The Game. I Like The Fact That He Is A Long Three. Hope He Gets More Playing Time And Hope He Actually Gets To Stay On The Team For More Than Two Games.

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Originally Posted by leemajors

- I'm not sure how i feel about the new, bulleted ShoogarBear.

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:lol

-ShoogarBear will not be bulleting anymore because ShoogarBear flies out today and won't be going to any more games in person.

:smokin:smokin:smokin:smokin

wgaf, it was a home game against the grizzlies. everyone is supposed to look good.

Duncan had a very good game, but it was an unusual game. He had times where he looked great but also had a stretch where he had some off shots and several turnovers in a couple of minutes that included a nice one where he turned the wrong way into a double team and threw the ball to the Grizz. Then a few minutes later he was back to usual Tim.

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Originally Posted by ShoogarBear

-Fricking Coyote reads this site. He made an effort to shoot more T-shirts to the bench side.

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It's actually pretty nice of him considering you gave him the name Reggie the Fat Coyote :lol

The reasoning behind Oberto's play is simple: HE has become overly reliant on the only player on the team who consistently looks for him and passes him the ball: Manu.

a little out of topic, but who were those two posters who had a bet on how the Spurs would fare in December? It was a Spurs fan and a Cavs fan, I think.

The Spurs were 7-5 in December. :smokin

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Originally Posted by carina_gino20

a little out of topic, but who were those two posters who had a bet on how the Spurs would fare in December? It was a Spurs fan and a Cavs fan, I think.

The Spurs were 7-5 in December. :smokin

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one of them was king23... he got banned i think, which would make the bet obsolete. and even if he wasn't banned, he's out coz that's the bet or something like that.

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Originally Posted by carina_gino20

a little out of topic, but who were those two posters who had a bet on how the Spurs would fare in December? It was a Spurs fan and a Cavs fan, I think.

The Spurs were 7-5 in December. :smokin

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It was a bet on the last 11 games of December between CubanMustGo and a Cavs (it's not even sure that he was a Cavs fan) troll who has posted under various screen names like FastDunk or King23.
Spurs have finished 6-5 and CubanMustGo has won the bet.

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Originally Posted by FromWayDowntown

Preach on, ShoogarBear!! Preach!!

I have finally started taking it upon myself to educate those who don't adhere to the Dead Ball Rule about the simple courtesy involved in complying with that rule. I take it as a general, societal thing -- people are generally so self-absorbed that they don't even stop to consider that they might be acting discourteously; if they've got places to go or things to get, it doesn't matter how getting there might impact others.

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I totally agree. It really annoyed the hell out of me how people would be coming back to their seats whenever they felt like it until well into the 3rd Q. The Dead Ball rule should be absolute, and nuts to any who break it! :pctoss

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Originally Posted by carina_gino20

a little out of topic, but who were those two posters who had a bet on how the Spurs would fare in December? It was a Spurs fan and a Cavs fan, I think.

The Spurs were 7-5 in December. :smokin

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Too bad for louis/Fast Dunk/King23, except for the fact that he got himself Kori Ellis'd before he could get owned on that bet.

Unless he's already cooked himself up another username... :rolleyes