Series Grades: Spurs vs. Suns

SPURS 4 - SUNS 1

Series Preview: Spurs vs. Suns

Game 1 - 117-115 OT - Game Thoughts
Game 2 - 102-96 - Game Thoughts
Game 3 - 115-99 - Game Thoughts
Game 4 - 86-105 - Game Thoughts
Game 5 - 92-87 - Game Thoughts


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Tim Duncan
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/basketb...ayers/3173.jpg
FIRST ROUND STATISTICS
Points: 24.8
Rebounds: 13.8
Assists: 2.6
Blocks: 2.4
FG%: .495
FT%: .613

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Tim Duncan's points, rebounds and blocked shots were all up compared to his regular season. His assists, field goal percentage and free throw percentage were down a bit. After a decent regular season, Duncan again proved he as another gear to go to in the playoffs.

ANALYSIS
In Game 1, Tim Duncan had one of his best games of his life to kickoff the playoffs for San Antonio. He had 40 points, 15 rebounds and five assists, not to mention his game-saving three-pointer. He wasn't as dominant in the remaining four games but he was solid throughout. Duncan posted five double-doubles, played good defense and continued to be the foundation this franchise is built upon.

FIRST ROUND GRADE
A-
He didn't play a flawless series but considering he had a 350-pound player leaning on him for all five games, Duncan did about as much as could be expected.
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Manu Ginobili
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/basketb...ayers/3380.jpg
FIRST ROUND STATISTICS
Points: 18.2
Rebounds: 3.8
Assists: 2.0
FG%: .451
3P%: .350
FT%: .870

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Manu Ginobili played exactly the same amount of minutes per game that he did in the regular season, however his points, rebounds, assists, field goal percentage and three-point percentage were down, while his turnovers and fouls were up.

ANALYSIS
Manu Ginobili’s numbers don’t look overly pretty for the series, although I don’t think those numbers do him complete justice. For the first three games of the series, Ginobili played really good basketball. His only poor outing was in Game 5. Additionally, Ginobili's defense was impressive, both on the perimeter and on the low block. The only aspect of the game he struggled throughout the series was his assist to turnover ratio (he finished with averages of 2.0 assists and 3.2 turnovers). It should be noted that Ginobili battled a groin injury and an ankle injury during these five games.

FIRST ROUND GRADE
B
His numbers don't look great but he played well for a majority of the series. Compared to last year versus the Suns, Ginobili was much more consistent.
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Tony Parker
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/basketb...ayers/3527.jpg
FIRST ROUND STATISTICS
Points: 29.6
Assists: 7.0
Rebounds: 3.4
FG%: .523
FT%: .762

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Compared to his regular season numbers, Tony Parker's production was up across the board. He had three games with at least 30 points, including a career-high 41 in Game 3.

ANALYSIS
While Duncan is still the foundation of this team, Tony Parker was the engine against the Suns. His scoring and playmaking were extremely important for the Spurs. Outside of the first half of Game 1, Parker rarely had trouble finding holes in the Suns' defense. In Game 2, Game 3 and Game 5, Parker was the best player on the court. If he can continue to play at this level, the Spurs will gladly accept it. Defensively, Parker was also very good. In Game 2 and Game 5, he played suffocating D.

FIRST ROUND GRADE
A
While Parker won the Finals MVP last season against the Cavs, he was much better in this series.
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Bruce Bowen
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/basketb...ayers/3167.jpg
FIRST ROUND STATISTICS
Points: 0.8
Rebounds: 1.8
Assists: 0.4
FG%: .167
3P%: N/A

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Bruce Bowen averaged 22 minutes per game but produced remarkably little on the stat sheets. He averaged a combined three points, assists and rebounds per game. Or to put it differently, Bowen averaged 1.8 points per 48 minutes.

ANALYSIS
Grading Bruce Bowen in this series is difficult. On one hand, he may have broken an NBA record for the least amount of points per minute in a playoff series. He went scoreless in four out of the five games. Amazingly enough, Bowen didn't even attempt a three-pointer all series. The Suns obviously made it a priority to not give Bowen open three-pointers and they did a great job of doing just that. However, on the other end of the court, Bowen had a lot of success against Steve Nash. If Nash is the head of their snake, Bowen successfully defanged the Suns.

FIRST ROUND GRADE
C
Bowen's defense deserves much props but his offense made him a liability for much of the series.
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Michael Finley
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/basketb...ayers/3023.jpg
FIRST ROUND STATISTICS
Points: 7.0
Rebounds: 1.8
Assists: 0.8
FG%: .433
3P%: .364

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Despite playing significantly more minutes per game than he did in the regular season, Finley stats were almost all down. Only his field goal percentage was up (.433 versus .414).

ANALYSIS
Michael Finley hit a three-pointer in Game 1 to send the contest into overtime. After that, though, Finley didn't do much in the series. His defense was poor, he wasn't rebounding the ball and he wasn't finding many shots in the offense. However, to his credit, Finley also didn't force anything, as evident by his one turnover in 165 minutes of playing time. The Spurs will need more offense out of Finley going forward, although the Suns do deserve credit for covering Finley well throughout the series.

FIRST ROUND GRADE
C
Finley didn't play well defensively and wasn't producing much overall, but he also limited his mistakes.
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Kurt Thomas
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/basketb...ayers/3012.jpg
FIRST ROUND STATISTICS
Points: 5.0
Rebounds: 6.8
Blocks: 0.6
FG%: .367
FT%: 1.000

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Kurt Thomas did a very nice job rebounding the ball. Other than that, his stats don't appear too impressive.

ANALYSIS
While Kurt Thomas didn't light up the box score, he was an integral part of the series. His post defense against Shaquille O'Neal and Amare Stoudemire was vital. He battled on the boards and was just a physical force for the Spurs. Offensively, he missed a lot of jumpers, which resulted in his low field goal percentage. But even with the misses, the threat of his jumper helped space the court.

FIRST ROUND GRADE
B+
Thomas had a very successful first series with the Spurs.
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Fabricio Oberto
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/basketb...ayers/3988.jpg
FIRST ROUND STATISTICS
Points: 5.0
Rebounds: 4.4
Assists: 1.0
FG%: .769
FT%: .833

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Backed by his insane field goal percentage, Fabricio Oberto's scored points at a higher than usual clip against the Suns. However, his rebounding was down compared to the regular season.

ANALYSIS
Fabricio Oberto started the first two games of the series, but then made way for Kurt Thomas. His biggest problem this series was defensively, where he just wasn't a good matchup against either O'Neal or Stoudemire. That said, Oberto competed well and scored a few very important baskets. All things considered, Oberto did about as well as could be expected given his lack of size and athleticism.

FIRST ROUND GRADE
B-
The good news for Oberto is he won't face the same mismatches that he faced in the first round.
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Brent Barry
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/basketb...ayers/3017.jpg
FIRST ROUND STATISTICS
Points: 3.4
Rebounds: 1.4
Assists: 0.4
FG%: .556
3P%: .571

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
After missing much of the end of the regular season with a pair of calf injuries, Brent Barry held up quite well in the first round. He wasn't too aggressive with his shot but he hit the ones he took.

ANALYSIS
I thought Brent Barry was one of the unsung heroes against the Suns. He shot well, he passed the ball well and his defense was very solid for the most part. Overall, he brought a confident aura to the team, especially offensively. He seems to be getting healthy and should become a bigger part of the team going forward.

FIRST ROUND GRADE
B+
Barry played a small yet effective role for San Antonio.
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Ime Udoka
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/basketb...ayers/3501.jpg
FIRST ROUND STATISTICS
Points: 3.8
Rebounds: 3.8
Assists: 0.6
FG%: .400
3P%: .111

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Rebounding-wise, Ime Udoka had a very successful series. Offensively, Udoka was only 1-for-9 on three-pointers, but 7-for-11 on two-pointers.

ANALYSIS
It took Ime Udoka until Game 5 to hit a three-pointer but he was able to contribute in other ways. His defense was adequate, while his rebounding was really good. He hit a number of momentum changing shots in the series. Overall, he played his role of being a physical perimeter option.

FIRST ROUND GRADE
B-
If Udoka can find his shooting stroke, he might play more and more as the playoffs move along.
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Robert Horry
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/basketb...layers/830.jpg
FIRST ROUND STATISTICS
Points: 2.3
Rebounds: 2.3
FG%: .300
3P%: .286

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Like Barry, Robert Horry was coming off of an injury plagued regular season. His shooting percentages don't look too healthy -- then again, the percentages are in line with how he shot in the regular season.

ANALYSIS
Robert Horry didn't have an extremely memorable series, but he did make a few plays here in there. In Game 5, he hit a three-pointer to help extend the team's lead in the first half. At the end of the game, he came up with a key steal against Nash. The best news regarding Horry is he seemed to be in reasonably good shape by the end of the series. Going forward, he should have the ability to play decent minutes when called upon.

FIRST ROUND GRADE
B-
Horry didn't do much but considering it looked unlikely that he'd be able to play at all, his first round has to be thought of as a success.
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Jacque Vaughn
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/basketb...ayers/3195.jpg
FIRST ROUND STATISTICS
Points: 0.8
Assists: 0.8
FG%: .222

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Jacque Vaughn only played 5.5 minutes per game as Pop went with Ginobili and Barry as the backup point guards.

ANALYSIS
The Suns were making the Spurs pay whenever they put offensively inept players on the court. With that in mind, Pop limited Vaughn's minutes as much as possible. As the playoffs proceed, there could be series in which Vaughn will resume his backup point guard role.

FIRST ROUND GRADE
C+
Vaughn was pretty good at Hack-a-Shaq.
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Damon Stoudamire
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/basketb...ayers/3009.jpg
FIRST ROUND STATISTICS
Points: 5.5
Rebounds: 1.5
Assists: 0.5
FG%: .500

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Damon Stoudamire had pretty good success when he played in garbage time.

ANALYSIS
While Damon Stoudamire didn't play a role in the first round series against the Suns, he showed enough in garbage time that Pop may look at him if there's an emergency. As a third string point guard, he's not bad.

FIRST ROUND GRADE
B+
Hopefully he continues not to play. Otherwise, something went wrong.
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Gregg Popovich
http://espn.go.com/photo/2007/0605/n...povich_275.jpg
FIRST ROUND STATISTICS
Hack-a-Shaq: 26
Buttons Pushed: 86
Rotations Followed: 0

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Pop was very hands-on this series. From Hack-a-Shaq to an ever-changing rotation, Pop was using all the tricks in his coaching bag.

ANALYSIS
While Pop had a few questionable decisions, it was a wildly successful series for Pop on the whole. Hack-a-Shaq was a smashing success. The mid-series starting lineup change was a success. Limiting Bowen's and Vaughn's minutes was a great adjustment. Not only did the Spurs win the series, he got everyone involved.

FIRST ROUND GRADE
A-
Pop's championship experience shined brightly against the Suns.
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I honestly don't agree with your "C" grade for Bruce Bowen. His defense on Nash throughout the series was spectacular (especially in that pivotal game 5 near the end). Vaughn has a higher grade (C+) than Bowen?

That really does not seem right to me. I consider Bowen to be more important than Vaughn.

If your grades are not a reflection of how important a player was to the Spurs' victory in this series, then I suppose your grades could potentially be O.K. However, it makes intuitive sense to give a grade based on their total relative importance to the team's success. Maybe that's just me though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jestersmash

I honestly don't agree with your "C" grade for Bruce Bowen. His defense on Nash throughout the series was spectacular (especially in that pivotal game 5 near the end). Vaughn has a higher grade (C+) than Bowen?

That really does not seem right to me. I consider Bowen to be more important than Vaughn.

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Grades are based on each player's expectations.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jestersmash

If your grades are not a reflection of how important a player was to the Spurs' victory in this series, then I suppose your grades could potentially be O.K. However, it makes intuitive sense to give a grade based on their total relative importance to the team's success. Maybe that's just me though.

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If I graded like that, Duncan would get an A, Parker and Ginobili would get a C and everyone else would get an F-.

Haha, I love Pop's stats :lmao

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If I graded like that, Duncan would get an A, Parker and Ginobili would get a C and everyone else would get an F-.

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Fair enough, but I'd still say you're grossly underestimating Bowen's importance on the defensive end (giving him an F- along with the other non-big 3 players).

Edit: I'd probably bump Tony's score up at least to a B as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jestersmash

Fair enough, but I'd still say you're grossly underestimating Bowen's importance on the defensive end

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:lol

Stick around for more than one day and see if that holds true.

Yeah Bowens offense blew but you gotta be pretty harsh to give him anything less than a B+ for making Steve Nash look like garbage throughout the series.

He'd get some crazy fallaway shot on TP all the time in the first few games, but whenever that started happening pop put bowen on him and Nash was back to being passive.

Suns vs. Spurs Series Plus/Minus

San Antonio Spurs
Finley +25
Thomas +18
Parker +17
Barry +14
Ginobili +12
Vaughn +5
Stoudamire +1
Duncan -3
Oberto -3
Horry -5
Udoka -10
Bowen -21

Phoenix Suns
Stoudemire +16
O'Neal +15
Diaw +8
Giricek +7
Bell -6
Nash -14
Hill -16
Skinner -19
Barbosa -29

What can we take from these numbers? Basically, if the Spurs put offensive players on the court and made Nash actively defend, the Suns were toast. The Suns were best when Nash could be hidden on defense and when Shaq was on the court.

Quote:

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Michael Finley hit a three-pointer in Game 1 to send the contest into overtime. After that, though, Finley didn't do much in the series

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3rd quarter game 2?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

Michael Finley
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/basketb...ayers/3023.jpg
FIRST ROUND STATISTICS
Points: 7.0
Rebounds: 1.8
Assists: 0.8
FG%: .433
FT%: .364

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FT% : 5/5 = 1.000
3P% : .364

Same error with Brent Barry.

:p:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timaios

FT% : 5/5 = 1.000
3P% : .364

Same error with Brent Barry.

:p:

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Fixed thanks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by T Park

3rd quarter game 2?

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Didn't do much, not didn't do anything.

GJ (good job)

I'm not gonna to say that I do agree with grades or not, but I was surprised that you gave Obrto such high grade esp. when you was all over him all series long.

I'm worried about Finley and him losing the offensive rythym after game two. The Suns made it difficult for him. He is not that qiuck to get himself into good position and creating space to take jumpers. Hopefully Scott will not make a priority of closing all the guys accept for big three - the big load the heavy lifting everybody is talking about may be too much for the athletic squad the Scott have there in New Orlean.

I think that game one will be the most important in setting the series momentum, although spurs can break series momentum I think the Orleans freaks can gain from it and storm spurs. We will see.


Back to the Suns series
I think Tim was realy great, not much more to say. He won with Shaq and that can be the argument when talking about places in history.
Bowen was fabulous IMO. At that age he was almost as good as in 2005.
Ginobili was slowed down by those ankles and groins and he made some bad decisions in the series. I hope he will be fine enough to produce on higher level against Petterson


I don't see Oberto in the series much. I think that Kurt will get more playing time of he is able to, cause Chandler Armstong and West can eat Oberto alive. What can save Oberto is his IQ on O and playing along Tim Duncan - we will see.

Damn as much as I wanted to talk about Suns series I just couldn't say something about NO series.


look out!

Nice work as usual :tu

I may have given Parker an A+ because I am not sure he can do better than that (Career game + 3 very good game + 1 decent game). But your ratings are quiet accurate.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

SPURS 4 - SUNS 1

A
While Parker won the Finals MVP last season against the Cavs, he was much better in this series.

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:wow

Timvp, I'd like to hear what you anticipate of the CP3/Parker matchup (and I am sure I am not the only one).

Stoudamire's grade is a joke, right?

How many Hack-a-Shaq's were there, really?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DAF86

Stoudamire's grade is a joke, right?

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I don't know, what did you expect him to do? I expected him to be in a suit sitting behind the bench.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Obstructed_View

I don't know, what did you expect him to do? I expected him to be in a suit sitting behind the bench.

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That's exactly why I think it has to be a joke. He only played a few "garbage" minutes in the entire series. You can't grade that.

Hey, timvp don't let us hanging, is it a joke?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DAF86

That's exactly why I think it has to be a joke. He only played a few "garbage" minutes in the entire series. You can't grade that.

Hey, timvp don't let us hanging, is it a joke?

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OV was right. The grades are based off of expectations going into the series. I expected Stoudamire to either not play or suck when he did play. He actually hit a few shots and didn't play horribly. That's more than I expected.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

OV was right. The grades are based off of expectations going into the series. I expected Stoudamire to either not play or suck when he did play. He actually hit a few shots and didn't play horribly. That's more than I expected.

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OK, thanks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ForeignFan

Timvp, I'd like to hear what you anticipate of the CP3/Parker matchup (and I am sure I am not the only one).

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timvp/Kori Ellis Spurs vs. Hornets preview coming later in the day.

:married:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

timvp/Kori Ellis Spurs vs. Hornets preview coming later in the day.

:married:

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dayumn

Damn, tough crowd. I see why you went away from doing grades in the first place, everyone likes to bitch about semantics.

Bottom line? The Spurs dusted off a top 4 or 5 team in 5 games. A team that, according to the experts, was supposed to win the series. Very impressive.

I say " A's" for everybody. It was a group project and they got the job done.

Yea, Spurs!

Do people always have to ask the same stupid crap after every grade posting?

"wwwwwhoa, LJ, how could you give kurt a B, its almost the same as manu whaaaaoaa"
You sound like idiots.


On another note, rotations followed, is that series or on Pop's side?

I agree with most of the ratings. I thought Manu's grade was accurate. If he was healthy, I would have given him a D+, but playing through the injury like he did is absolutely huge. The fact that he DIDN'T try to do too much in the close-out game was great for us.

The only other problem I have is that Pop deserves an A+. Has he ever dominated more from the sidelines? His rotations and subs got in D'antoni's head. I have never seen a coach so thoroughly owned in 5 games. Parker/Duncan might have won the series for us, but Pop's head games absolutely controlled the Suns.

He didn't have PERFECT switches, but so what? He had a huge hand in not letting this series go past 5 games, and that is the absolute BEST thing a coach can do. I'm not sure a perfect series has ever been coached. This is as close as it gets. This is a display of why having a great coach makes a difference in a close series.

Vintage performance dusting off the "grades"...I don't remember seeing them in a long while. People will always complain about grades (trust me, I know) so I can see why you might feel less appreciated after whining comments, considering the great work you put in.

Timvp, as a former teacher I fully understand the difficulty in trying to give grades because, as people are mentioning, there are many possible (and reasonable) standards to use, many of which would give significantly different results.

I understand how the measure you used, "expectations," tells us how well they played compared to 1) how they played in the regular season, and therefore 2) If they were play the role assigned well. I think this is a valuable measure, it is really saying "For Manu, you played at 70% so that is a c," or "for a garbage time point guard, you played well Damon, B."

However, the other measure that might also be valuable would be how well they played on an objective continuum, either impact on the game or as an NBA player at their position. I think other people mentioned the former, and your comment was that duncan would get an A, Tony and Manu would get C's and everyone else would get an F if considering game impact. I think but that is probably hyperbole. The other players were important on D for the most part, and Manu and Tony were very important in scoring.

That said, thinking about it as a whole it would be too cumbersome and time consuming to add these additional factors into the grade or to even have multiple grades, so I think looking back I think good choice on method.

Quote:

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Do people always have to ask the same stupid crap after every grade posting?

"wwwwwhoa, LJ, how could you give kurt a B, its almost the same as manu whaaaaoaa"
You sound like idiots.

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Is this a joke? It's a forum, genius! You know, a place where you go to discuss and critique one another's opinions?


Same goes for this sentiment:

Quote:

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People will always complain about grades (trust me, I know) so I can see why you might feel less appreciated after whining comments, considering the great work you put in.

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Are we always just supposed to hold timvp's hand and say he's absolutely unequivocally "correct" all the time? There's no right or wrong answer to any of this.

I thought we were here to discuss the Spurs.


One more edit:

By the way, I hope this goes without saying but since people seem to be more uptight around this place, I obviously do appreciate the insight he put forth. His post was very thorough and methodical, and clearly he put a lot of work into it so certainly he deserves props for that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jestersmash

Is this a joke? It's a forum, genius! You know, a place where you go to discuss and critique one another's opinions?


Same goes for this sentiment:



Are we always just supposed to hold timvp's hand and say he's absolutely unequivocally "correct" all the time? There's no right or wrong answer to any of this.

I thought we were here to discuss the Spurs.

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Is SR still down? :pctoss

Why are you so emotional? Take some of your parents riches and go to the doctor to get that checked out. You've single-handedly doubled ST's emo-ness in your 24 hours on the site.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jestersmash

One more edit:

By the way, I hope this goes without saying but since people seem to be more uptight around this place, I obviously do appreciate the insight he put forth. His post was very thorough and methodical, and clearly he put a lot of work into it so certainly he deserves props for that.

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I'd rather you insult me. :td

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Originally Posted by angel_luv

I say " A's" for everybody. It was a group project and they got the job done.

Yea, Spurs!

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:lol

Quote:

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Is SR still down?

Why are you so emotional? Take some of your parents riches and go to the doctor to get that checked out. You've single-handedly doubled ST's emo-ness in your 24 hours on the site.

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Quote:

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I'd rather you insult me.

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What's wrong with my statement? I didn't think it was emotional at all. I was just questioning why someone would call another person "stupid" for providing alternative viewpoints on a forum.

The better question is, why are you so immature to the point where you keep hounding me for no real apparent reason at all? Did I say anything to annoy you in this topic? I thought we were past that little harmless interchange yesterday.

If you would rather me not post, that's fine, just ban me. Alternatively, I can just stop posting all together if it would make you feel better.

I thought this was a Spurs forum. Why is it that every time I try to discuss Spurs, I get jumped on by one of the site owners? I thought coming here to SpursTalk.com I would find a place where people would discuss, you know, the San Antonio Spurs. I'm not going to lie - it's a little annoying having to defend myself constantly against this random aggression.

I'll just leave then, no big deal. Just say it outright next time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jestersmash

What's wrong with my statement? I didn't think it was emotional at all. I was just questioning why someone would call another person "stupid" for providing alternative viewpoints on a forum.

The better question is, why are you so immature to the point where you keep hounding me for no real apparent reason at all? Did I say anything to annoy you in this topic? I thought we were past that little harmless interchange yesterday.

If you would rather me not post, that's fine, just ban me. Alternatively, I can just stop posting all together if it would make you feel better.

I thought this was a Spurs forum. Why is it that every time I try to discuss Spurs, I get jumped on by one of the site owners? I thought coming here to SpursTalk.com I would find a place where people would discuss, you know, the San Antonio Spurs. I'm not going to lie - it's a little annoying having to defend myself constantly against this random aggression.

I'll just leave then, no big deal. Just say it outright next time.

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Friendly ribbing, bro, friendly ribbing. Stick around :toast

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

SPURS 4 - SUNS 1


Michael Finley
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/basketb...ayers/3023.jpg
FIRST ROUND STATISTICS
Points: 7.0
Rebounds: 1.8
Assists: 0.8
FG%: .433
3P%: .364

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Despite playing significantly more minutes per game than he did in the regular season, Finley stats were almost all down. Only his field goal percentage was up (.433 versus .414).

ANALYSIS
Michael Finley hit a three-pointer in Game 1 to send the contest into overtime. After that, though, Finley didn't do much in the series. His defense was poor, he wasn't rebounding the ball and he wasn't finding many shots in the offense. However, to his credit, Finley also didn't force anything, as evident by his one turnover in 165 minutes of playing time. The Spurs will need more offense out of Finley going forward, although the Suns do deserve credit for covering Finley well throughout the series.

FIRST ROUND GRADE
C
Finley didn't play well defensively and wasn't producing much overall, but he also limited his mistakes.
--------------------------------------------------

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Who stole Finley's jersey during halftime of Game 2 and got the Spurs started on that epic run? The Spurs got another win due in large part to the great start in the third period of that game.

I say C+.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jestersmash

I honestly don't agree with your "C" grade for Bruce Bowen. His defense on Nash throughout the series was spectacular (especially in that pivotal game 5 near the end).

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:rollin

Good lord...give me a break.

Wow! Game recaps and series grades from Timvp?!

I have to admit that I kept surfing into Spurstalk after game 5 looking for Timvp's recap and was disappointed that it was taking him awhile to get it posted. He sums up the games amazingly well. So then I basically just steal what he says and look like a stud basketball analyst when I'm talking to other people about the games.




I'm telling you, that guy should have his own website or something.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ed Helicopter Jones

Wow! Game recaps and series grades from Timvp?!

I have to admit that I kept surfing into Spurstalk after game 5 looking for Timvp's recap and was disappointed that it was taking him awhile to get it posted. He sums up the games amazingly well. So then I basically just steal what he says and look like a stud basketball analyst when I'm talking to other people about the games.




I'm telling you, that guy should have his own website or something.

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Or forum or something

I could see the argument for bumping Finley up a notch, if only because his heroics in Games 1 and 2 forced the Suns to spend at least some defensive energy to deny him looks, which opened things up a bit for Parker in the middle if only because at least one additional defender was forced to keep in touch with Fin (and Barry). I'd compare it to that LA series in '04 -- LA might have thought twice about packing the lane completely if someone like Hedo had drained a few big shots on them earlier in that series. With that, Finley, as you said, did a good job in not forcing shots once the Suns put a bit more attention on him and the other perimeter guys. Those aren't very tangible contributions, but I think they were meaningful.

Of course, you're right that Finley's defense was really, really bad at times, too. Perhaps the balance works out right in assessing his performance as average.

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Originally Posted by jestersmash

I'm not going to lie - it's a little annoying having to defend myself constantly against this random aggression.
...

I'll just leave then, no big deal. Just say it outright next time.

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:lmao

1. You get worked up too easily when someone comes back at you. You probably need thicker skin to post here or you are going to end up whining every day.

2. It's not random. You started a thread just to trash our site and tell us how strict we are compared to SpursReport. :lol Now you are saying how uptight it is here.

3. Asking to be banned or whining and saying you are going to leave is funny. You haven't done anything to be banned, and we aren't going to beg you to stay. So leave, lurk or post. It's not that serious.

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Originally Posted by FromWayDowntown

I could see the argument for bumping Finley up a notch, if only because his heroics in Games 1 and 2 forced the Suns to spend at least some defensive energy to deny him looks, which opened things up a bit for Parker in the middle if only because at least one additional defender was forced to keep in touch with Fin (and Barry). I'd compare it to that LA series in '04 -- LA might have thought twice about packing the lane completely if someone like Hedo had drained a few big shots on them earlier in that series. With that, Finley, as you said, did a good job in not forcing shots once the Suns put a bit more attention on him and the other perimeter guys. Those aren't very tangible contributions, but I think they were meaningful.

Of course, you're right that Finley's defense was really, really bad at times, too. Perhaps the balance works out right in assessing his performance as average.

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Agree.

His impact on the first round wasn't as huge as it was last year, but, it was close to as meaningfull.
I'm very interested to see how he starts out against New Orleans, who historically doesn't guard the SG well.

Great read timvp