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Thanks man
The Story:
The Mavericks came into this game with a 2-10 record riding a 5-game losing streak. On top of that they were without arguably four of their top 5 players. In classic Poop fashion, Porker and LMA were sat out tonight for "rest" despite having two days off coming into this game and another day off before the next.
The first quarter was relatively back-and-forth with the Spurs clearly coming into this game sleepwalking, albeit they seem to do that in every game these days. Overall it was a sloppy start to the game on both sides with some good shooting sprinkled in. However, while the Spurs worked hard to generate looks (most of them contested), Dallas seemed to find a plethora of open looks thanks to some miscommunication on D and otherwise poor effort from everyone. The second quarter was much of the same, only it was Seth "Steph" Curry lighting up the Spurs single-handedly. At the half it was Dallas with a one point lead.
In the third quarter, the Spurs quickly took the lead only to relinquish it and fall behind by 7 points thanks to more sloppy play and lazy defense. Eventually a few players, notably Mills, Lee, and Kawhi, woke up somewhat and managed to generate enough offense to offset Wes Matthews who decided to not be a scrub for a night and torch the Spurs through the entire third. With a tie game going into the fourth the Spurs managed to not suck as much as the Mavs up until the final few minutes where mistake after mistake led to the Mavs having multiple chances to take the lead and pull out the win. Thankfully Seth Curry realized he wasn't his brother, Wes Matthews remembered he had no Achilles, and Harrison Barnes had flashbacks of the Finals and all three blew wide open looks to help the Spurs secure the victory.
Make no mistake, the Spurs won, but this game was akin to a larger mentally-challenged child beating up on a smaller, crippled mentally-challenged toddler. There was nothing to take away from this game other than the mul ude of problems that plague this team.
Some things I noticed during the game:
-Resting players at this point in the season when there was no game the day before or a game the next day? Really Pop.
-I love Kawhi, but he needs to stop shooting; something is clearly wrong with his shot (and offense in general really). He's shown a nice upgrade in his passing ability this season so it'd be in the team's best interest for him to look to create more until his shot comes around again.
-Even without Porker directing things, the offense found enough of a balance between ISO and ball movement but everyone seemed to choose the worst times to take a shot. They either ended up with a wide open look only to continue passing into a high-difficulty shot by Kawhi or Gasol, or ended up attempting difficult passes that resulted in turnovers.
-Pop needs to realize this isn't 2014 (or even last year). This team doesn't have the depth it once did to "take games off" and expect to win, even against supposed bottom-feeders.
-Pop again: stop with these re ed rotations that make no sense.
- There is zero reason for Fathead to be closing out games, especially with how awful he's looked all season.
- Under no cir stances should Dejounte Murray, Davis Bertans, and Byrn Forbes be on the court together at this point in the meat of a game.
- Stop benching Kawhi and Danny at the same time when the opposing team's perimeter players start to get hot; it only exacerbates the problem.
- Practice what you preach and stop underestimating bad teams.
-I will say this though: regardless of who was on the court, the effort presented by everyone from Pop to Byrn Forbes was inexplicable. You are facing an NBA team regardless of who is wearing the opposing jersey; act like it.
Grades:
Kawhi Leonard - B-
Not too happy with his effort on either end. He did end up with a 24/9/4/1 statline, but Harrison Barnes was scoring pretty efficiently when Kawhi was his primary defender while on the other end Barnes gave him some trouble. Despite the W and having 4 assists to none, Kawhi was outplayed tonight by an inferior player. Most of the team didn't come out with the right focus, including Kawhi, but unlike most of the team he began to bring it towards the end of the first quarter which saves him from a worse grade.
Danny Green - C-
Green makes plenty of head-scratching decisions on D at times, but tonight was easily the worst I've seen from him in two seasons. Thankfully he played some great D at the end on Barnes to help seal the win, but unless his shot is falling (which it wasn't tonight) he can't afford these mental lapses on the defensive end.
Davis Bertans - C-
Hardly noticed when he was in tbh. I remember him missing multiple open threes and poor defense at times, but otherwise he was average. That said, even with those missed threes there's no reason he should've only gotten three shots. That's on both him for not being aggressive enough and the team for not trying to find him more often (especially with Dallas' lack of size).
Pau Gasol - C
We all know Gasol isn't known for his defense, but his effort tonight was unacceptable. He didn't have much in the way of opposing bigs to worry about, but his rim protection was nonexistent and he got bullied for rebounds more than a couple of times tonight. Offensively he missed some bunnies but was otherwise par for the course on that end.
Dejounte Murray - D
Other than a nice shot over Meiji and a couple solid feeds early on, this was a night to forget for Murray. He was responsible for a lot of the turnovers early on in the game and the offense devolving into desperation heaves. His athleticism is no joke and his handles are pretty good, but it'll be at least another two seasons before he's ready to play meaningful minutes, much less start for this team. Good luck in the D league this season, Murray!
Manu Ginobili - C-
Lot of inconsistent minutes from Manu tonight. Like Murray he was part of the cause for the turnover parade that took place much of the game and his shot wasn't falling, but he brought the energy in the fourth to help the team pull out the win
Patty Mills - B+
It was a tale of two halves for Patty. In the first he was a turnstile on D while bringing little of positive note on the offensive end. In the second half, however, Patty was extremely strong on the offensive end and went from awful to just below average on D though he did draw a couple helpful offensive fouls on Meiji who was giving the Spurs some trouble on the inside. Spurs don't win this game without his shot and his energy, so props MVPatty.
Jonathon Simmons - C-
Same story with Manu, just a lot of inconsistent minutes from JSimms. Definitely brought the energy while he was in and made 7 or 8 nice passes that only resulted in a score half the time, but his inability (or reluctance) to shoot is hurting his value to the team. He was also lackadaisical on D which resulted in Wes Matthews getting momentum in the third. That dunk he tried to force in the second/third quarter was a terrible decision that completely reversed momentum; if he simply lays it in the crowd goes nuts and Carlisle calls timeout, but because he missed it Dallas managed a fast break and scored on the opposite end to regain the lead.
Kyle Anderson - F(athead)
It's not a question of whether he's an NBA player; he's shown flashes of good to great play in the past. It's just that he most likely doesn't have a place on this team. Other than a nice putback late in the third, I can't recall one good thing Fathead did in the game. In fact, a missed rotation at the end resulted in a wide open three for Curry that he easily should've made to tie the game. It might be in the best interest of both the Spurs and Fathead to pursue a trade to a young lottery team where he can receive plenty of playing time to find his niche in the league.
David Lee - B
Another bright spot in an otherwise forgettable game. Lee wasn't exactly efficient tonight and he was poor as a rim protector at best, but he competed hard and made some huge plays throughout the game to swing momentum the Spurs' way. Honestly, without that steal and dunk in the fourth I'm not sure the Spurs find the energy to win tonight. Props to DLee for being a professional, unlike most of the team tonight.
Bryn Forbes - D
Made one three but otherwise was a negative on the court. It's looking like keeping him over Garino, Jean-Charles, and Anthony was a mistake. He was kept on for one skill, his shooting, and struggles to make a shot. He's young and this was his longest stint of playing time thus far in his NBA career, but damn he doesn't look good.
Pop - F
Ugh, where do I start? There comes a point in every coaches life where you need to look at yourself in the mirror and decide whether or not you still have the fire to be a coach. From everything I've seen so far from Pop this season outside a few notable exceptions (Dubs game, game at Utah) I just haven't seen much to convince me he really cares about Spurs basketball. Maybe he's looking ahead to coaching Team USA? Maybe his problems off the court (think I heard his wife was sick; I hope not) are worse than he's letting on? Maybe the election really is hitting him hard? Tim retiring taking a lot out of him like some of us? Regardless, he isn't getting this team to perform on a nightly basis and I'm not seeing much of an improvement on either end of the court (outside getting players back) that should be expected. The past few seasons his rotations have been questionable at best, but now it feels like this team is moving in the wrong direction which I can't say has happened before this early in a season to the Spurs in 20 years (at least with this level of talent on top of the league being so weak).
Thanks man
OP always makes the best write ups.
The truth bombs in here
Lol at f for fathead. That ought to rile up sag...
Anyways about Pop, the answer may be easier than anyone thinks. We don't have Duncan anymore! o. We need to develop an iden y tbh It takes time
It was a rather goty win, indeed.
FYI, that crippled mentally-challenged toddler nearly beat the larger mentally-challenged child.
In a re fight, nobody wins
Thanks for the write-up!
"That was a pathetic performance on the part of the Spurs," Popovich said. "They had some guys out. We had some guys out. But they had a lot more out than we did. I felt we showed a lack of humility, a lack of respect for the opponent. A very pathetic performance at both ends of the court, both in execution and in grunt, fiber and desire. It was an awful performance."
"Oh, and they deserved to win the basketball game," Popovich added. "I forgot to say that."
http://www.espn.com/blog/san-antonio...ic-performance
Pot meet kettle Pop.
First off, fantastic write up, this forum is sorely lacking in thoughtful analysis since timvp stopped posting so it's nice to see great thoughts after a game.
What I find bizarre about Pop, is that this is a guy who coaches "appropriate fear" for your opponent yet he trots out the most insulting lineups possible. With the amount of turnover the Spurs have experienced he should be focusing on making sure Kawhi/LMA/Gasol are locked in because without them we don't go anywhere. It's early days and I totally understand experimenting with all the new players but the team has so many glaring flaws that this isn't the time to play mad scientist with a D-League starting lineup.
The one thing I will say in favor of Pop was during the first game of the season against the Warriors is that he looked locked in. That game felt like a playoff game and Pop was pressing all the right buttons. I mention it, because it gives me hope that he hasn't completely lost his fire. It's also times like this I wish we still had Bud as an assistant coach, because right now Pop is surrounded by yes men and that never benefits anyone in any situation (look at Kanye).
I also hope Dedmon gets healthy ASAP and plays meaningful minutes upon his return. I hate how Pop preaches players needing to get over themselves but the guy refuses to take a hard look in the mirror.
Not too sure why everyone is mad at Pop.
Want to develop your rookies?
Play them against the worst team in NBA.
It is on the players for not showing up.
Good grades, Robz. It was a pretty annoying game tonight. The lack of depth is starting to show and the team needs a shake up. Sean is especially more vocal this season with the team's lack of effort..
Robz4000, I really enjoy your game grades, thanks a lot.
I saw only patches of this game, including the final 6 minutes. Safe to say I won't bother watching the rest.
Bud was a yes-man too tbh, but he at least brought new ideas and wasn't afraid to voice them.First off, fantastic write up, this forum is sorely lacking in thoughtful analysis since timvp stopped posting so it's nice to see great thoughts after a game.
What I find bizarre about Pop, is that this is a guy who coaches "appropriate fear" for your opponent yet he trots out the most insulting lineups possible. With the amount of turnover the Spurs have experienced he should be focusing on making sure Kawhi/LMA/Gasol are locked in because without them we don't go anywhere. It's early days and I totally understand experimenting with all the new players but the team has so many glaring flaws that this isn't the time to play mad scientist with a D-League starting lineup.
The one thing I will say in favor of Pop was during the first game of the season against the Warriors is that he looked locked in. That game felt like a playoff game and Pop was pressing all the right buttons. I mention it, because it gives me hope that he hasn't completely lost his fire. It's also times like this I wish we still had Bud as an assistant coach, because right now Pop is surrounded by yes men and that never benefits anyone in any situation (look at Kanye).
I also hope Dedmon gets healthy ASAP and plays meaningful minutes upon his return. I hate how Pop preaches players needing to get over themselves but the guy refuses to take a hard look in the mirror.
I think Pop has no choice but to throw guys into the water and see who can swim. He carefully selected a weak opponent at home to do that and their mistakes and/or inadequacy was expected. The rookies specially just haven't even played enough and it was expected. Check Murray had been TO the ball like crazy in the dleague why expect anything less, but you do expect your veterans to bring it and they were inconsistent in their effort throughout the game and only turned things up in the second half.
The vets also made a lot of mistakes themselves, which added to those of the rookies were just too much. Kawhi, Manu, Mills, Lee increased the effort in the second half but they almost lost the game and their effort and play was so uneven throughout that it's difficult to feel good about it, but they won and Pop got his teaching moment and there might be more in the future so ready yourselves.
Robz is THAT guy... thanks brosep
They should get playing time, but not all at once and probably not this early considering all the new vets as well. The best way is to mix and match a rookie with the regulars, not throw them into the fire all at once unless this team is fine losing a lot. There's a reason you don't see contenders with several rookie rotation players.
Good call. Overall it was a burn the tape game if you're already familiar with this team's issues. I'd look to see Murray's shot early on though (first bucket of the game); it shows the potential is definitely there for him.
This Kyle Anderson hate is getting out of hand, considering he did not do any wrong, and Spurs were switching most of the game and towards the end. Anderson has shown he can defend better that half this team.
Are you new? Welcome.
coasting, Non-Issue
I agree tbh His stats say he's a good defender and he shows the effort. His use of angles and spacing on D is greatly improved. IMO he's only playing now because he's an above average defender. Better than his comp Simmons too. And we all thought that would be his weakness as a pro lol but it's the offense that he needs to just plainly pick spots.
The D league plays at a much higher pace so turnovers come in bunches. The pace in this game was half that, yet he had (or was responsible for) just as many against similar compe ion. Like I said though, he's shown flashes so he has the chance to be special, but right now he just isn't an NBA player.
Spot on. I can't believe this game made me miss parker
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