Game Thoughts: Spurs vs. T'Wolves Jan. 12

The best thing about this game against the Timberwolves is the Spurs got another W for their win column. And really, that’s about all you can take out of this game. The Spurs didn’t play too much better – they just played against the worst team in the NBA.

Regarding the T’Wolves, Al Jefferson once again impressed. He has a very polished low post game and should develop into a top flight scorer down low. The team has a couple of decent other prospects but right now that team is just playing for lottery balls.

The Spurs, on the other hand, were actually trying to win but didn’t do a good job of that for much of the game. Their offense had no rhythm and was sloppy. Their defense was porous and largely ineffective. The T’Wolves shot 48.6% from the floor and had a lot of good looks rim out. Really, the Spurs won because they got 23 more trips to the free throw line and they recorded an uncharacteristically high amount of steals (15).

This game certainly wasn’t a game that will get the Spurs back into their rhythm. For that, we still have to wait.

-Tim Duncan had a decent night. He didn’t do anything too amazing but some aspects of his games were improved. He had three blocked shots in his 31 minutes of action, which were the same amount of blocked shots he had in 154 minutes over his last four games. His 15 points and nine rebounds weren’t too special, but at least he was an efficient 7-for-12 from the field. After hitting 22-of-25 free throws over the last two games, he was 1-for-6 tonight. Overall, it was basically the type of ho-hum yet effective game Duncan can play in his sleep.

-Manu Ginobili seemed more comfortable shooting the ball than anytime since he returned from his finger injury. Ginobili hit 6-of-10 shots from the floor, including 3-of-5 from three-point range. In total, five of his six baskets were on jumpers. Ginobili’s all-around game was good as he finished with five rebounds, five steals and three assists to go along with his 22 points. He was, on the other hand, a bit loose with the ball (four turnovers) and his defense was more gimmicky than solid. This was a step in the right direction for Ginobili in terms of getting back to how he was playing earlier in the season, but there’s still room for improvement.

-Tony Parker’s stats look acceptable but it was another patchy outing for the Spurs’ point guard. He finished with 21 points and 8 assists, while shooting 7-for-14 from the floor. However, Parker had six turnovers and didn’t pull down a rebound in his 29 minutes of play. Parker’s energy was only satisfactory and he’s having trouble jumpstarting this mostly snoozing squad. In Parker’s favor, he did lead the team in plus/minus with a +21 and he was competitive on the defensive end.

-Bruce Bowen wasn’t of much use in this game as the T’Wolves don’t have a dominant perimeter scorer. In the 20 minutes he did play, Bowen didn’t do much of anything. He scored one point, handed out one assist and missed his only two attempts.

-After a rough stretch of games, Michael Finley played much better. He settled back into his role and wasn’t forcing the issue as much. In 20 minutes, Finley had 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting and hit 3-of-5 from downtown. This was the first game since Ginobili returned that Finley looked comfortable on the offensive end of the court for the Spurs.

-Fabricio Oberto had his second straight very solid performance. In a starting role, Oberto totaled six points, seven rebounds, two steals and an assist, while hitting all three of his shots from the floor. Most notable, however, were his three blocked shots in 20 minutes played. Oberto was much more active than usual in terms of jumping and trying to block shots. Perhaps it was by design since the Spurs are currently second to last in the NBA in blocked shots – ahead of only the lowly New York Knicks. Coming into this game, Oberto hadn’t blocked a shot in his last six games. In fact, his last three blocks came over a span of 13 games and 268 minutes.

-The best player on the court for the Spurs tonight was Jacque Vaughn, hands down. His energy was beyond compare. He had a handful of jaw dropping hustle plays throughout the game. Without Vaughn, the Spurs might have sleepwalked their way to a loss. Vaughn finished with a season-high eight assists, a season-high three steals and zero turnovers. Perhaps just as important, Vaughn wasn’t looking for his own offense. He went scoreless while missing his only two shot attempts, but really that’s when Vaughn is at his best. A Vaughn who goes onto the court to play defense, hustle and distribute the ball is a very valuable Vaughn.

-Ime Udoka has done a good job of recovering from the rough shooting stretch he had a couple weeks ago. He gave the Spurs 19 solid minutes in which he hit half of his four three-point attempts and scored nine points. Since shooting 3-for-18 over a three game stretch, Udoka is now 12-for-22 since that time. Defensively, Udoka is learning the system at a fast rate and was very effective tonight.

-Francisco Elson is apparently back into the rotation and played 19 minutes tonight – the most minutes he has played since the day after Christmas. He wasn’t great against the T’Wolves but he was relatively decent, finishing with six points and four rebounds. On the negative end of the spectrum, Elson hit only 2-of-6 shots from the floor and made a couple of mistakes on the both ends of the court. That said, he wasn’t as bad as he’s been for much of the season.

-If you look at Matt Bonner’s statline, the first thing you see are his five turnovers. To be fair, I don’t think he was as careless as that number indicates. Besides his turnovers, Bonner had a very good outing. In 17 minutes, Bonner finished with nine points, six rebounds and a blocked shot, while draining 3-of-5 shots from the field and 2-of-3 shots from three-point land. When the Spurs were struggling in the second quarter, Bonner hit a pair of threes to spark the Spurs.

-Jeremy Richardson got eight minutes of playing time, with more than half of those minutes coming in the first half while the game was still up for grabs. While it’s unfair to judge him based on such a small sample size, I wasn’t too impressed with what I saw. Since he’s on a ten-day contract, he only has a short amount of time to make an impact. In his eight minutes, it didn’t appear as if he was laying it all out on the line. He seemed to struggle with physical play and his defense obviously needs a lot to work. He did knock down a straight away three-pointer, but I thought his release point was quite low for an NBA player. Hopefully he gets another attempts to show what he can do but as of now, Richardson didn’t give the Spurs much a reason to keep him around for the long haul.

-If you’ve read this far, congratulations, you have just stumbled upon a juicy tidbit. Robert Horry only played six minutes but the story is what happened when he left the game. Pop called a timeout soon after the second quarter began after a botched offensive play and a turnover. Pop in the timeout simply told four players from off the bench to enter the game and then walked away. Horry obviously wasn’t pleased with getting pulled and there was a minor Horry versus Pop squabble. The squabble ended with Horry saying (if my lip-reading skills are accurate) "that’s not right, man, that’s not right". It wasn’t anything major but on a team that prides itself on chemistry, it was at least noteworthy. It was also noteworthy that Horry never went back into the game. However, I’m not sure how much you can read into that since Horry’s playing time has been erratic as of late.

-As the Spurs have struggled, Pop has mostly tried to let the team figure it out on their own. He’s not calling timeouts to stop the bleeding and he’s not getting overly animated on the sideline. In fact, Pop probably doesn’t really care that the Spurs are struggling. He’s from the Larry Brown School as far as he’s most comfortable when things are going wrong because he knows there are things the team can work on in practice. Pop becomes most uncomfortable when the Spurs are dominating in the regular season.

After this game, Pop had more reason to gush about the play of Vaughn. Praising Vaughn is Pop’s subtle way of telling the rest of the team that they need to pick up their energy level. In a way, this was a perfect January game for Pop since the Spurs struggled yet won the game and his prized bench hustle player shone brightest.

The bottomline is this game was basically a yawner. The Spurs broke their two game losing streak by beating a horrible team that wasn’t trying to win. Whoop de doo.

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Originally Posted by timvp

-If you’ve read this far, congratulations, you have just stumbled upon a juicy tidbit.

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:lol

Thanks for the wrap up.
It was good to get the win, through the first half I wasn't completely sure they would pull it out.

That play where Vaughn chased down the ball in the corner and did a Curly Neal might have been the best play by a Spur all year.

Of course, they didn't score off of it.

Pop was quite animated with Matt Bonner in the third quarter I think it was.

Got his ass chewed out, HARD!!!

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Their offense had no rhythm and was sloppy. Their defense was porous and largely ineffective. The T’Wolves shot 48.6% from the floor and had a lot of good looks rim out. Really, the Spurs won because they got 23 more trips to the free throw line and they recorded an uncharacteristically high amount of steals (15).

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sounded more like the suns or warriors were playing instead of the spurs.

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They already were struggling with the downtrodden Timberwolves when, on the Spurs' first possession of the second quarter, Minnesota's Marko Jaric stripped Tony Parker at midcourt and shot a layup to give his team a 26-24 lead.

Popovich signaled for an immediate timeout and, 23 seconds into the frame, subbed for everyone but Ginobili.

During the timeout, Robert Horry, one of the four players yanked, stood at the end of the bench, his perplexity evident. Popovich walked down from his seat and the two had a discussion that lasted for about 30 seconds, after which Horry did not return to the game.

Asked afterward if there was a reason for Horry's benching, Popovich was succinct.

"Yes," he said. "I chose to play other players."

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...r.2a84f54.html

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And during that timeout, it was Finley talking in the huddle. :lol

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"Yes," he said. "I chose to play other players."

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@pop
...

Whoop de doo.

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It wasn’t anything major but on a team that prides itself on chemistry, it was at least noteworthy.

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Actually, this is worrisome to me because I've been thinking that maybe the team's chemistry is a bit off. Does it seem like they are jawing at each other on the court a little more than they have in other years? I'm just watching on TV so I only see what the cameras show, but last night I saw a couple of instances of on-court unrest. (And they didn't involve people yelling at Elson, because that is normal.) :lol

I've noticed that "Bruce didn't play well," and/or "didn't do much of anything" is becoming a trend these days. Has Bruce lost a step this season?

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Originally Posted by ShoogarBear

That play where Vaughn chased down the ball in the corner and did a Curly Neal might have been the best play by a Spur all year.

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:tu

My respect for Vaughn has grown leaps and bounds this year. He has obviously worked very very hard to fit in well with the spurs and will not let overall lazy team play phase him. Watching this season makes it very obvious why Pop has such high regard for Vaughn.

I'm curious about this. Because in the past, you might argue that Pop is just trying to motivate his team or using psychology on his players. But, at this point, it looks like genuine frustration on Pop's part. We're talking about 75 year old Robert Horry and a team core group of players that won three NBA titles. Is there any real concern that Horry might really be done?

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Originally Posted by JamStone

Is there any real concern that Horry might really be done?

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Every year.

As long as he comes alive in the Playoffs, the concern gets put to bed.
So far he's proven the concern to be premature.

this is wall against the wost team in the NBA, so there should be an * next to everyones stats

I'm glad Bonner got his ass chewed out; just means Pop cares.. He is a good player that needs to improve a lot for the playoffs but he has a great role on this team and he has done a good job so far.

Thanks for explaining the Robert/ Pop situation. I was curious about that.

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Originally Posted by JamStone

I'm curious about this. Because in the past, you might argue that Pop is just trying to motivate his team or using psychology on his players. But, at this point, it looks like genuine frustration on Pop's part. We're talking about 75 year old Robert Horry and a team core group of players that won three NBA titles. Is there any real concern that Horry might really be done?

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Horry didn't do much of anything in last year's playoff run either if I remember correctly. And he wasn't much effect the year before in 06 either. More than his clutch shots, Horry usually brings a high level of basketball IQ that works well alongside Duncan.

Problem is this season especially, Horry looks like he's not even trying. And his once brilliant Basketball IQ is looking on par with that of Nazr Mohamed. Which is probably why Pop got pissed with him the other night.

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Originally Posted by 1Parker1

Problem is this season especially, Horry looks like he's not even trying. And his once brilliant Basketball IQ is looking on par with that of Nazr Mohamed. Which is probably why Pop got pissed with him the other night.

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Ouch!

http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2044053

That's what Pop said in early November :

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"Last year we played him more than people realized," Popovich said. "We wanted him to be in shape. We made a conscious effort to play him on a more consistent basis throughout the year. We held him out of back-to-back situations as best we could, but we tried to be consistent with him throughout the year so he'd have a base.

"This year it looks like it could be a little different. Maybe we'll be just hoping for the best at the latter part of the season to get him in shape."

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I wonder if it's still what Pop planed to do.

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Originally Posted by 1Parker1

Horry didn't do much of anything in last year's playoff run either if I remember correctly.
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Denver back breaker!!

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Originally Posted by 1Parker1

Horry didn't do much of anything in last year's playoff run either if I remember correctly. And he wasn't much effect the year before in 06 either. More than his clutch shots, Horry usually brings a high level of basketball IQ that works well alongside Duncan.

Problem is this season especially, Horry looks like he's not even trying. And his once brilliant Basketball IQ is looking on par with that of Nazr Mohamed. Which is probably why Pop got pissed with him the other night.

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I wrote something similar in the game thread a couple of games ago and totally agree. I think we might be watching the end of Horry's career, and I don't expect him to be a part of the playoff rotation unless he suddenly rediscovers his bball IQ and a step of quickness between now and the playoffs. May happen, but don't count on him to be big in the playoffs as he has been his entire career.

As for the game in general, I thought there were glimpses of the pre-injury offensive chemistry during the second half, 1-2 minute stretches where they moved the ball and looked really good.

The D was mostly horrible, although they did play an effective stretch of zone which really messed up Minne's rhythm. That only works against teams who miss their open jumpers though, so no great revelation.

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Originally Posted by snafu

Horry's had such a great career, I'm surprised he wants to go out on a sour note. You would think he would want to kick ass his final season and work for another ring... go out on a high note. Not just be lazy and let everyone else work for his ring.

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Wow, that's a pretty ignorant take. Did anyone stop to consider the idea that maybe Horry is done physically? We haven't seen a vintage Robert Horry since the Detroit series a couple of years ago.

I'm starting to think this is another one of those years where the reliance upon veteran role players (along with some younger guys who have not proven to be clutch - i.e., Bonner) will do the Spurs in when it comes to the playoffs.

Unfortunately I think Horry just can't bring it anymore and we're all seeing it happen before our eyes, and the Spurs staff is starting to realize it as well.

Horry still has it, but only enough for playoff 4th quarters.

Robert was never a highly physical, athletic, fast player, in the last 4 or 5 years, and maybe not before.

I think his biggest failing now is mental/attitude, not physical, coupled with little playing time.

I'm sure he wants the repeat that will give him his 7th ring and 4th repeat, which I think is the main reason he's playing this year.

What Robert Horry did for the Spurs against Detroit in 05, and the big shots last year against Phoenix and Denver is enough for me to keep him on this team until he's 80, if he still wants to suit up!

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Originally Posted by snafu

I'm a fan of him and his career, but I hate to see a large chunk of spurs salary spent on someone who... can't play anymore, or doesn't want to play anymore. Hopefully, if he's past the point of playing run & gun, he can be good for some interior defense, get some blocks, and give some hard fouls.

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Large chunk? 3.6 million of 70 million is a huge chunk?

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he should have retired before this season then.

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You've obviously never played sports before. Sometimes you just hit a wall where you're exhausted and can't go any more. He could have felt fine at the start of the season and then hit the wall at some point in the fall for all we know.

Yeah, it sucks, but this is what happens when your front office thinks the perfect offseason is hanging on to all its players over the age of 35.

and replaced him with who?

Who the HELL was available, thats better in the clutch and on the court than Robert Horry?

None.

Enough with that nonsense.

Thanks for the thoughts, timvp.

I am just glad to get the W at this point. I really do think that the Twolves were trying to win there for 3 quarters, but then we pulled away.

And as for our defense, I actually thought we did a much better job than we had in any recent game. Guys were actually rotating better and at least getting a hand on the ball... thus 15 steals as a team. And we had more blocked shots than usual. It wasn't great Spurs defense, but it was a step in the right direction.

That is one Natalie Gulbis.

The girl's golf team at my high school had hotties, not as hot as Natalie, but pretty smokin.

A girl that plays golf, is usually the coolest cause of two reasons.

1. she plays a sport.
2. shes a fan of other sports and likes to watch them.

Advice to high school guys, always date the hot golf chick :)

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ok I give in.

hopefully we will extend him a few years...

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Don't get me wrong Cigar, I don't 100% disagree, I think Robert has slowed slightly, I don't think hes 100% THERE either.

I just am not ready to proclaim big shot done, when last year at times he looked as bad and WORSE, than he currently does, and there he was in game 2 vs Denver witha HUGE blocked shot on AI, that turned into a Ginobili three, along with a game 4 clincher, along with big threes in game 1 vs Phoenix, along with snookering the Suns into a stupid move.

I have full 100% confidence Robert Horry will be there, mentally, and physically in April, may, and god willing june.

Eh, I've never seen him give MUCH effort in January.

Usually you start seeing him play good ball in February.

So if by the end of March he hasn't had a 12 point 8 rebound performance, or one of those games were your like "Damn Horry's stats don't show it, but he was HUGE" then theres time to worry.

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Originally Posted by Aggie Hoopsfan

Wow, that's a pretty ignorant take. Did anyone stop to consider the idea that maybe Horry is done physically? We haven't seen a vintage Robert Horry since the Detroit series a couple of years ago.

I'm starting to think this is another one of those years where the reliance upon veteran role players (along with some younger guys who have not proven to be clutch - i.e., Bonner) will do the Spurs in when it comes to the playoffs.

Unfortunately I think Horry just can't bring it anymore and we're all seeing it happen before our eyes, and the Spurs staff is starting to realize it as well.

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Exactly.

So Robert Horry nailing that game winning shot vs Denver wasn't "vintage" ?

Interesting.

I didn't watch the game but these wrap-ups are just about the only thing you need to know about what is going on. I'm prolly not the only one doing this but when I open the page I just look for something starting with "Game thoughts...."

The Spurs need to shoot more shots and make the shots they shoot. Shooting a shot is good but it is better if the shot you shoot goes in the basket. That way it will count as 2 points. And every shot you shoot after that will couint as 2 more points, and it will just keep adding up. If the Spurs can get more shots to go in the basket than the other team then they will probably win. I wouldn't worry about Robert horry because right now he is just shooting fake shots.

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Originally Posted by snafu

ok, let's hope for the Playoff Rob one more year.

I was just saying, I think we're far enough in the season to start showing a little more effort. I always liked the guy, even on other teams, just maybe he could have retired in 2007.

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Horry hasn't started hustling this early in the season in about seven years, not sure why you are so put off by it at this point.

The bigger concern is the fact that Horry blew up when taken out. I don't think it's because of a rift with Pop, my suspicion is Horry feels he's in a rut and is honestly trying to get out of it but either isn't getting enough minutes to do so or he's realizing he doesn't have it anymore.

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Originally Posted by Aggie Hoopsfan

Horry hasn't started hustling this early in the season in about seven years, not sure why you are so put off by it at this point.

The bigger concern is the fact that Horry blew up when taken out. I don't think it's because of a rift with Pop, my suspicion is Horry feels he's in a rut and is honestly trying to get out of it but either isn't getting enough minutes to do so or he's realizing he doesn't have it anymore.

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Yup, that's what I was thinking.

People are not giving Horry enough credit for how well he played last year in the playoffs. Against Denver, Horry was huge. Behind Duncan and Parker, Horry might have been the third best player on the team in that series. He hit timely shots and had a couple key defensive plays. If he didn't have that block on Iverson in Game 2, the Spurs might have actually been eliminated in the first round.

Against the Suns in Game 1, he was also very good. In what may have turned out to be the most important game in the series (and, really, the playoffs), the Spurs don't win that game without Horry playing as well as he did.

Sure, after Horry got suspended, his play suffered. But by then, the Spurs had already moved past their toughest opponent of the playoffs and faced two teams (Jazz and Cavs) that Horry didn't matchup well against. Both of those teams are physical, rebounding teams, which was a much better matchup for Oberto.

For some reason, Spurs fans only remember Horry hitting that shot in '05. They don't remember any of his other big games from that year. And now Spurs fans are acting like Horry didn't do anything last year in the playoffs when he was brilliant against the Nuggets and very good against the Suns in perhaps the biggest game of the series. Without those performances, it'd be easy to imagine the Spurs not winning the championship.

Is there any more information on Horry's daughter? That's why he took the personal time to start the season.

I know she's been ill her whole life but something made him take that time.
Maybe something is still unsettling there and Horry can't find the focus he needs.

Just a thought, not an excuse or justification.

Oh and I've been a Bonner supporter since Day 1 ... but I don't even trust him closing out regular season games at this point. Much less a playoff game.

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Originally Posted by timvp

People are not giving Horry enough credit for how well he played last year in the playoffs. Against Denver, Horry was huge. Behind Duncan and Parker, Horry might have been the third best player on the team in that series. He hit timely shots and had a couple key defensive plays. If he didn't have that block on Iverson in Game 2, the Spurs might have actually been eliminated in the first round.

Against the Suns in Game 1, he was also very good. In what may have turned out to be the most important game in the series (and, really, the playoffs), the Spurs don't win that game without Horry playing as well as he did.

Sure, after Horry got suspended, his play suffered. But by then, the Spurs had already moved past their toughest opponent of the playoffs and faced two teams (Jazz and Cavs) that Horry didn't matchup well against. Both of those teams are physical, rebounding teams, which was a much better matchup for Oberto.

For some reason, Spurs fans only remember Horry hitting that shot in '05. They don't remember any of his other big games from that year. And now Spurs fans are acting like Horry didn't do anything last year in the playoffs when he was brilliant against the Nuggets and very good against the Suns in perhaps the biggest game of the series. Without those performances, it'd be easy to imagine the Spurs not winning the championship.

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Horry also had a nice game on the finals when he had blocks, stls, rebs and a lot of energy

I still trust in Horry in the playoffs