Game Grades (12/24): Spurs vs Blazers

[Boomersgold]

The Blazers have the worst defensive efficiency in the league at 110.7, so it’s no surprise that the Spurs shot 50% from the field and 60% from 3 point territory. Let’s be honest here, no one thought the Blazers had a chance of winning, so there was nothing unexpected about the result. The Spurs were missing some key rotation players in Parker, Gasol and Manu, but still managed to play a very good game. The Spurs got a bit lackadaisical in the final quarter, but that wasn’t enough to let the Blazers back into it.

The final score: Spurs 110 - Trail Blazers 90.

Patty Mills: A

Mills played a fantastic game, scoring 23 points on 7-9 shooting and 5-7 from 3. Pop gives him the green light on offense. He also had 5 assists and 2 steals. One facet of his game that I’ve seen a noticeable improvement in is his passing. He’s thrown some on point alley-oop passes this season and attempted the same tonight with Dedmon and Aldridge. Mills always plays well when Parker’s out.

David Lee: C+

David Lee played 20 minutes and had 4 points and 9 rebounds. Not a bad night from the backup PF. He seemed to turn his ankle in the first half, but managed to walk it off. I will say that his rebounding numbers are a bit misleading. He’s a terrible interior defender who got scored on almost every time someone drove down the lane.

Lamarcus Aldridge: B+

Aldridge returned to the place where he was drafted and played for 9 seasons. You could hear the fans booing him on every possession, which probably got to him a little. The Spurs looked to get him involved early and run their offense through him, dumping the ball down to him on every possession. He struggled in the first half, shooting 2-9?, mostly on post-ups, but looked unstoppable in the second half. Overall, a great game from Aldridge, who was very aggressive without Gasol in the lineup.

Danny Green: C

A quiet night for Green. He had a three early in the game, but couldn’t find his rhythm on offense. There’s not much to say about his performance.

Kawhi Leonard: A+

Leonard had his best game in a while, scoring 33 points on 15 shots and hitting 5-7 from 3. He never forced any shots and let the offense come to him. He destroyed the Blazers’ non-existent defense in the 4^th quarter.

Dewayne Dedmon: C+

Dedmon started tonight in place of Gasol. He played 27 minutes and grabbed 7 rebounds. He missed some wide open gimmes and got yelled at by Pop for not defending the three point shooter. He was also badly matched up with Meyers Leonard who for some inexplicable reason has a three point shot. He did have some good blocks though. He’s had much better games as a backup.

Dejounte Murray: B-

With Parker out, it was surprising to see Murray get the start as Laprovittola is usually the one who gets it. Unlike Laprovittola, who’s a passing point guard, Murray seems to be a scoring guard and wasn’t afraid to create his own opportunities on offense. He had some careless turnovers, but they were just rookie mistakes. Had a nice steal and layup in garbage time.

Jonathan Simmons: B+

Simmons is no doubt elite at attacking the rim. He’s the most athletic on the team and it definitely shows. He scored numerous buckets in transition and had some above the rim plays. A really exciting player to watch.

Davis Bertans: D

Nothing to say about him. I didn’t even notice him on the floor. I don’t think he registered a stat. What’s happened to his shooting?

Kyle Anderson: C-

Fans affectionately call him “fathead”, a nod to the huge brain that gives him his high basketball IQ. I just don’t see it. He travelled on a pass from Leonard instead of taking a wide open three. He scored 1 bucket and had 2 rebounds. He did, however, have a net positive effect on the game as he was a +10 in + / -.

Pop: A-

No complaints from me. After some terrible coaching last game vs the Clippers, I feel that he played a solid rotation. He showed some passion when he lit into the refs after a terrible call.

Merry Christmas, folks! I did this pretty quickly as I was short on time. Feel free to disagree with my grades!

[HarlemHeat37]

Thanks for the grades

I would have given Aldridge an A-, but agree with everything else for the most part..

[Robz4000]

LMA shot awful but he was great in every other facet. Otherwise I'm good with the grades.

[YGWHI]

Thanks for the grades!

Dewayne Dedmon: C+

Dedmon started tonight in place of Gasol. He played 27 minutes and grabbed 7 rebounds. He missed some wide open gimmes and got yelled at by Pop for not defending the three point shooter. He was also badly matched up with Meyers Leonard who for some inexplicable reason has a three point shot. He did have some good blocks though. He’s had much better games as a backup.
C+

Lillard couldn't get to the rim with Dedmon there, that's one of the visible benefits of playing him more minutes than Gasol.
He just needs to learn how manage his fouls...

Dejounte Murray: B-

With Parker out, it was surprising to see Murray get the start as Laprovittola is usually the one who gets it. Unlike Laprovittola, who’s a passing point guard, Murray seems to be a scoring guard and wasn’t afraid to create his own opportunities on offense. He had some careless turnovers, but they were just rookie mistakes. Had a nice steal and layup in garbage time.
B-

Impressive. A lot better performance than his game against Mavs.

[100%duncan]

I’m pretty sure Fathead is not some complimentary pet name

[spurs10]

Thanks for the grades

I would have given Aldridge an A-, but agree with everything else for the most part..

Thinking the same. He played great! Thanks for the grades. Really good job!

[BillMc]

The Blazers have the worst defensive efficiency in the league at 110.7, so it’s no surprise that the Spurs shot 50% from the field and 60% from 3 point territory. Let’s be honest here, no one thought the Blazers had a chance of winning, so there was nothing unexpected about the result. The Spurs were missing some key rotation players in Parker, Gasol and Manu, but still managed to play a very good game. The Spurs got a bit lackadaisical in the final quarter, but that wasn’t enough to let the Blazers back into it.

The final score: Spurs 110 - Trail Blazers 90.

Patty Mills: A

Mills played a fantastic game, scoring 23 points on 7-9 shooting and 5-7 from 3. Pop gives him the green light on offense. He also had 5 assists and 2 steals. One facet of his game that I’ve seen a noticeable improvement in is his passing. He’s thrown some on point alley-oop passes this season and attempted the same tonight with Dedmon and Aldridge. Mills always plays well when Parker’s out.

David Lee: C+

David Lee played 20 minutes and had 4 points and 9 rebounds. Not a bad night from the backup PF. He seemed to turn his ankle in the first half, but managed to walk it off. I will say that his rebounding numbers are a bit misleading. He’s a terrible interior defender who got scored on almost every time someone drove down the lane.

Lamarcus Aldridge: B+

Aldridge returned to the place where he was drafted and played for 9 seasons. You could hear the fans booing him on every possession, which probably got to him a little. The Spurs looked to get him involved early and run their offense through him, dumping the ball down to him on every possession. He struggled in the first half, shooting 2-9?, mostly on post-ups, but looked unstoppable in the second half. Overall, a great game from Aldridge, who was very aggressive without Gasol in the lineup.

Danny Green: C

A quiet night for Green. He had a three early in the game, but couldn’t find his rhythm on offense. There’s not much to say about his performance.

Kawhi Leonard: A+

Leonard had his best game in a while, scoring 33 points on 15 shots and hitting 5-7 from 3. He never forced any shots and let the offense come to him. He toyed with the Blazers’ non-existent defense in the 4^th quarter.

Dewayne Dedmon: C+

Dedmon started tonight in place of Gasol. He played 27 minutes and grabbed 7 rebounds. He missed some wide open gimmes and got yelled at by Pop for not defending the three point shooter. He was also badly matched up with Meyers Leonard who for some inexplicable reason has a three point shot. He did have some good blocks though. He’s had much better games as a backup.

Dejounte Murray: B-

With Parker out, it was surprising to see Murray get the start as Laprovittola is usually the one who gets it. Unlike Laprovittola, who’s a passing point guard, Murray seems to be a scoring guard and wasn’t afraid to create his own opportunities on offense. He had some careless turnovers, but they were just rookie mistakes. Had a nice steal and layup in garbage time.

Jonathan Simmons: B+

Simmons is no doubt elite at attacking the rim. He’s the most athletic on the team and it definitely shows. He scored numerous buckets in transition and had some above the rim plays. A really exciting player to watch.

Davis Bertans: D

Nothing to say about him. I didn’t even notice him on the floor. I don’t think he registered a stat. What’s happened to his shooting?

Kyle Anderson: C-

Fans affectionately call him “fathead”, a nod to the huge brain that gives him his high basketball IQ. I just don’t see it. He travelled on a pass from Leonard instead of taking a wide open three. He scored 1 bucket and had 2 rebounds. He did, however, have a net positive effect on the game as he was a +10 in + / -.

Pop: A-

No complaints from me. After some terrible coaching last game vs the Clippers, I feel that he played a solid rotation. He showed some passion when he lit into the refs after a terrible call.

Merry Christmas, folks! I did this pretty quickly as I was short on time. Feel free to disagree with my grades!

Nice grades. Many thanks.

Sadly, despite your assertion that "no one thought the Blazers had a chance of winning" there were several posters here who said we'd lose. Cliff jumpers gonna jump cliffs.

Not sure what's going on with Davis. He seems to have too many games where he never gets a shot off. No one minds misses from a sniper, but you gotta fire. Some of it is his teammates not looking for him but most of it is on him. Shoot, Davis, shoot or you won't play. If he keeps having these "was he out there?" games, Pops gonna sink him to the inactive list. Then his opportunity is gone.

[cutewizard]

thanks man!

[Laughing Gravy]

Finally saw some of what I've been looking for from Murray. Cant believe the guy is 6'5", as I guess his slight frame makes him look smaller than he is. This game had me wishing for a longer Tony absence, even if it means a few L's due to the kids growing pains. I liked what I saw last night as it had me thinking that MAYBE this kid will be the one that Tony can finely pass the torch to. Hopefully he does it gracefully.

[SAGirl]

Thanks boomersgold.. taking the trouble to do this on Christmas ... much appreciated.

Merry Christmas for everyone.


Edit:
I have started to like Dijon lol. He's got things to work on but he's just 20. I think he will be good for the Spurs... since Tony is looking like he's looking and Manu is likely to retire and also looking like he's 39 anyways.. that is a good thing.

[Leetonidas]

LMA didn't shoot it well but it was nice seeing him locked in and aggressive. Aldridge is just a better player without Gasol next to him, plain and simple

[spursfaninla]

maybe my expectations have lowered for Anderson, but I thought he played a decent game. Defensively he was pretty solid, and except for the travel, he did not look afraid to shoot.

[Chinook]

You can definitely see Murray's potential more easily than you could during the summer. The dude looks tall and long and fast. Even being a bad defender, he managed to make some nice defensive plays. If he really works on his craft, he will end up being pretty good.

[picnroll]

I was overall pleased with Murray's defense and think he can become a very solid defender. I wish he would lose some of his fascination for taking difficult floaters.

[bklynspursfan]

maybe my expectations have lowered for Anderson, but I thought he played a decent game. Defensively he was pretty solid, and except for the travel, he did not look afraid to shoot.

I actually thought defensively he had a poor outing. Lazy fighting through screens and lost his man a few times.

Offensively he was better imo. He did have that pump fake/travel but that's expected at least once a game lol

[gambit1990]

can't wait for parker to be back on the court so our defense can be worse.

[tholdren]

Lee is the best rebounder on the team. Thats a fact

[SAGirl]

maybe my expectations have lowered for Anderson, but I thought he played a decent game. Defensively he was pretty solid, and except for the travel, he did not look afraid to shoot.

For some reason guys judge him harsher and nitpick every little thing.
Other guys make a mistake here or there but it's not a big deal so long as overall they are a positive. Anderson cannot make even the slightest mistake without it being blown out of proportion and made a huge deal. You have a normal expectation. It's others around here who have the unreasonable expectation IMO.

Edit: I will say, it wasn't his best game of the season... and he was just fine to help others enough to do their thing. He did get lost a couple of times... but that is why benching guys into oblivion is not a good thing. They can keep conditioning on their own, but timing and chemistry gets rusty.

I thought a C+ was fine.. but that is bc I'd want him to be better mostly...

yet in comparison the prior game he played very well I thought in the Clippers loss (he actually should have played more bc the others were struggling big time and he had a hot game for his standards + was making plays on defense... he still got a C or something... that just goes to show these things are completely subjective... lol)

[south side spur]

Lee is the best rebounder on the team. Thats a fact

That would be Dedmon but I'm definitely a fan of Lee he's been a solid pick up. I'd rather see him in the game than Gasol or Aldridge.

[ElNono]

Thanks OP

[spurs10]

Thanks for the grades! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! I love Christmas Eve more than Christmas (except I'm going to the game!) because of the tradition of having tamales with the family! So I hope a few of you are doing the same or something like it! I know Chinese is popular with some.

I was relieved to see LA play like he meant it. I'll take that every day!

[8FOR!3]

Pop passionate? Can't be. Everyone on SpursTalk tells me he no longer cares about basketball.

Murray looks like if he was aggressive he could drop 20 with ease

[duncan2k5]

I keep telling u guys about Murray...dude is pretty good...has really great potential... Needs significant minutes this year...

[bklynspursfan]

That would be Dedmon but I'm definitely a fan of Lee he's been a solid pick up. I'd rather see him in the game than Gasol or Aldridge.

Lee is probably the better rebounder. That's been his strength since he came in. Better at positioning and boxing out, etc.., Dedmon is taller & jumps higher so has the advantage there

[Kawhitstorm]

You can definitely see Murray's potential more easily than you could during the summer. The dude looks tall and long and fast. Even being a bad defender, he managed to make some nice defensive plays. If he really works on his craft, he will end up being pretty good.

He looks like a lanky version of Brandon Jennings who was also rail thin & a blur when he came into the league. Jennings is very good at getting deflections & jumping in the passing lane.