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I remember sitting on the couch to watch the game, falling asleep, waking up losing, thinking "WAAAH?" then falling back asleep. I'm glad they pulled it out.
Yes, the Sacramento Kings are a lottery team. Yes, the Spurs probably should have played better. But that said, the Spurs rallied late to emerge with a 101-98 victory against the Kings. A loss would have likely meant starting the first round on the road – an unnerving proposition for a team so out of rhythm.
The Kings played hard throughout. Reggie Theus has had a successful first year as head coach. Even without Ron Artest, Kevin Martin and Brad Miller, the Kings played well enough to come away with a win. It’ll be interesting to see what Theus can do once the young players on his team start to mature a little bit more.
Other than the win, there isn’t much to be excited about if you are a Spurs fan. The defense was shaky for most of the night. The offense lived or died by Tony Parker creating shots for himself or others. The effort was there but the Spurs are just not playing well right now. They’re out of rhythm and the team desperately needs Manu Ginobili to return from injury.
Overall, the win was a nice. It was looking bleak there for a while until Parker led a comeback in the closing minuets. But outside of the win, there weren’t any signs of forthcoming playoff success. It was the same ol’ Spurs we’ve come to expect in the last few weeks.
-Tim Duncan stats look pretty nice but I again wasn’t impressed with his play. He battled foul trouble all night and most of his fouls were of the bonehead variety. With homecourt advantage on the line, one would hope that Duncan would play smarter. He finished with 19 points, five rebounds and three assists, while shooting 6-for-7 from the floor. I’m really hoping that Duncan is just trying to coast into the playoffs and then will turn it on once the games begin to mean something. If the Spurs have this version of Duncan in the playoffs, they’ll be heading to their vacation destinations of choice within two weeks.
-Tony Parker deserves a huge amount of credit for this win. He was dominant in virtually every facet of the game and came up big when the Spurs needed him the most. Without Parker in this game, the Spurs would have gotten annihilated by the Kings. Parker finished with 32 points, 11 assists, three rebounds, two steals and only one turnover, while shooting 12-of-22 from the field. The Spurs will likely need a few performances like this one in their upcoming first round series. To show how dominant Parker was against the Kings, the team was outscored 28-12 in the eleven and a half minutes Parker wasn’t on the court.
-I was really disappointed in Bruce Bowen’s defensive effectiveness. He defended John Salmons for a large stretch of the second half and Salmons was able to get basically whatever he wanted. Bowen seemed confused with Salmons’ game and was oftentimes caught out of position. This was Bowen’s worst defensive game in a long time. Bowen was so inept that Pop had to bench him in the fourth quarter. Offensively, Bowen had five points on 2-for-5 shooting from the floor.
-Michael Finley showed even more signs of life in the win against the Kings. Finley scored 19 points, pulled down three rebounds and dished three assists. He also hit 8-of-15 shots from the field. Finley’s offense was vital throughout the contest. After being left for dead earlier in the season, Finley has come back to life. In April, he’s hitting nearly 50% of his shots from the floor. If he can continue this level of shooting going into the playoffs, that will help immensely.
-I’ve been hard on Fabricio Oberto lately for his erratic play but he really performed well against Sacramento. Oberto had one of his better games of the year and was easily the best bigman on the court for the Spurs for much of the night. He finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists and a steal in 36 minutes of action. He also hit 8-of-10 shots from the floor. With Duncan struggling with foul trouble, Oberto’s play was even more vital. The only negative about his game were the unusually careless passes he authored.
-Kurt Thomas played pretty decent but he seems to be regressing a bit. In 29 minutes, he went scoreless with five rebounds, a steal and a block. With the Spurs desperate for muscle down low, Thomas was invisible for a majority of the game. This trade looked golden a few weeks ago but now with Thomas playing like a slower version of Oberto, the Spurs have to wonder about that draft pick they gave up. Hopefully Thomas picks it up at some point in the playoffs. Otherwise, he’ll have been an expensive three month rental.
-Ime Udoka took over for an ineffective Bowen late and did a marvelous job defensively. The last half of the fourth quarter might have been the best defense he’s played all season. He’s not too quick, he can’t jump, he’s a plodding runner but he gets by defensively on Mario Elie type toughness. Offensively, Udoka had nine points on 3-for-6 shooting from the floor. I’m beginning to trust the fact that Udoka will be able to shoot under pressure in the playoffs. That’s his next major obstacle.
-Jacque Vaughn was really bad. He’s hesitating and overdribbling again offensively, which kills the offense. Vaughn is doing a good job of pushing the ball but in halfcourt sets, he has to be more decisive. If he’s open he needs to shoot. If he’s not, he has to pass the ball ASAP.
-Matt Bonner played a little bit over six minutes and didn’t dent the box score at all. That’s pretty impressive for a guy who is usually good for a foul or a missed three-pointer within a few second of entering the game.
-It was great to see Brent Barry out there on the court. The good news is he quickly got free for open shots and his passing to Duncan on the low blocks was superb. Hopefully he can continue to get in shape and become a factor at some point in the playoffs. (For the record, Barry’s overall play was poor. His shots didn’t look close and he was really stiff running up and down the court. His defense was scary bad. Sadly enough, right now he looks like a calf injury waiting to happen. However, I’m just glad he’s back out there. Oh and thanks again Brent for coming back.)
-Pop coached a pretty good game. Subbing in Udoka for Bowen turned out to be a game-winning adjustment. He wasn’t flawless but there was more good than bad.
I’m more concerned about how Pop will treat this upcoming game against the Utah Jazz. The Spurs really need to win this game. If they lose, they’ll most likely have to face the Jazz in the first round without homecourt advantage. The Jazz have been a great team at home this year and it’d be an extremely tall order for the Spurs to win that series.
With a win, the Spurs would likely face the Suns in the first round. While that series won’t exactly be easy, homecourt advantage would help a lot and it’d give the Spurs a fighting chance. The Spurs will need to get on a roll to do anything in the playoffs this year. Getting on a roll is easier at home than on the road. If the Spurs have to face the Jazz on the road to begin the playoffs, in all likelihood they’d return to San Antonio down 0-2.
What this means is Ginobili MUST play against the Jazz on Wednesday. If he’s fine enough to play this weekend, he’s fine enough to play against the Jazz. Basically, this upcoming game is a playoff game. Pop needs to coach it like it is a playoff game. If he has a laissez faire at ude about this contest, it could be a season-ending mistake.
The bottomline is the win against the Kings was important. Now the Spurs have to start their playoffs a game early. Beat the Jazz and head into the series against the Suns on a high note.
Believe.
I remember sitting on the couch to watch the game, falling asleep, waking up losing, thinking "WAAAH?" then falling back asleep. I'm glad they pulled it out.
I apologize for the delay. I had to savor the last game of the season against a lottery team. We don't get another of these for about seven months.
I thought you didn't want to do it 'cause Manu didn't playI apologize for the delay. I had to savor the last game of the season against a lottery team. We don't get another of these for about seven months.
Awesome smiley is awesome. Thanks, as always, for the recap.
By the way, thanks for your game thoughts, timvp. If i ever miss a game, they always get me up to speed. There is officially no more time for excuses. The drive for five is now, es!
¡GO SPURS GO!
I'm confused about Oberto.
I spoke about this in another thread, but it seems like Oberto plays at his best when he's actually active.
What I mean by that is that you rarely see Oberto have a game where he shoots like 0-7. Normally a bad game from him, he's like 0-2 and pulls down 2 boards.
But when he plays well, his shot attempts go up by a solid margin and that in turn seems to help his rebounding.
I guess Oberto is just one of those dudes who coasts and then kicks it into high gear when he feels like it. Because when he attempts to get his head in the game he actually plays really well. Oberto's performance against SAC was one of his best for the season. He was cutting to the basket and hitting his jump shot with regularity.
It's just good to know that when he wants to play well, he can. Just seems odd that he either plays really well, or shows up as virtually invisible in the box score.
Tony was brilliant, just exceptional. It looks like he understands that he's going to have to carry the team for long stretches to make any noise in the playoffs this season.
TD has to STFU about fouls, take it harder to the rim (try actually JUMPING, Tim), and rediscover the amazing help D he was playing a fortnight ago. He also has to play smarter - work out which guys to posts (smaller, weaker), and which guys to take out to the elbow nad drive on (bigger, slower). This season he has often gotten this wrong which amazes me.
About Thomas - can't he be resigned for cheap next year? He'd be perfect next to TD/Splitter/Oberto/Mahinmi going into next season.
Come back soon, Manu!!!
Is there no way we can play the Rockets in the first round? I fear that both the Jazz and Suns have our number right now, but one good playoff series could wake the team up and give us a shot in the second round.
If Duncan doesn't turn it on I'll be convinced he's hurt and we don't know it.
If he doesn't come on strong in the Playoffs there's no other explanation. He's always risen unless he's been hurt.
I don't buy the "it's in his head" argument. Not at this stage of his career. He can get into a funk, anyone can. I hope that's all this has been. As the stakes rise he'll get himself out of it. He's a warrior, he's been through this battle his whole career, 4 times he came out a Champion. He knows what it takes. He'll be there. If he's not, I have to believe it's physical, not mental.
(I also don't buy the "he's old" argument. He'll be 32 this month, he's in great shape, he's not out of his prime quite yet. We've seen games this season where he's been incredible. That doesn't disappear overnight.)
Oh, and thanks as always timvp. I look forward to your recaps.
He was a go to guy in Europe and in the final of the 2002 world cup when Manu got injured he had a monster game (30 something points and 10 plus rebounds) so it's good to know that he's it in him.
Vaughn did pull the trigger on open jumpers -- he just air-balled them, bricked them, and bricked them again.
Pushing it up on the break he doesn't look as bad as in the half-court. That's because he passes it as soon as humanly possible and usually doesn't touch it again unless they have to set up a half-court play. Then the offense stalls out entirely like it does whenever he runs the point.
I really believe he is the biggest liability -- bigger than injury, depth, bench scoring, etc...
Vaughn = getting outscored 10 - 0 until Tony comes back in.
Tony, therefore, is KEY to this playoff run. More important than a consistent Timmy or an electrifying Manu -- TP will have to play balls out all the time and,
, Pop! -- keep Vaughn off the floor!
JV plays well when his position in the rotation is under threat. Only two weeks ago he was ripping teams up and leading the second unit like we know he can.
Maybe Stoudamire should back up against the Jazz to get JV's compe ive fire going again, then unleash JV in the first round!
I think that Oberto is capable of more offensively, but he doesn't want to take a lot of shots considering who his teammates are. I have read that when he was younger and in the Euro league he actually had post up moves and would go to the basket some. In the Utah series last year Oberto played at a more effective level than I have ever seen.
Vaughn played well that one week and everyone said "whoopdeedoo!" He hustled hard very early in the season and played active, if not adequate D -- that's what earned him his spot (and that there was no one else.)
Apart from that, Vaughn has sucked total ass. Vaughn = lead killer. When he runs the point I see 24 sec violations, offense standing around doing jack-all, terrible perimeter passing, turnovers, and ty penetration. I see fast break point after fast break point after fast break point by the opponent.
He has or had great low post moves, the problem is that he hasn't use any since he's in the NBA so i think that he might be a little rusty by now.
timvp is a bandwadgoner.
Lebowski, not true. Vaughn has played at a high level for a number of stretches this season, usually when Pop threatens his minutes. He was also great in the Finals last year so we know he can handle pressure.
Sometimes I think he forgets that he's not there to dribble or create, same with Stoudamire, and that all he really has to do is distribute and play hard-nosed D. Threaten his minutes and watch him knuckle down again.
Also, what option do we have? I don't trust MM any more than JV, Barry has just come back, and Manu is injured.
Vaughn sucks....wtf...
tp almost has to play the full 48
unless barry can spell him
spell?
Yes, the Spurs were quite fortunate to come away with a win against this chippy, over-achieving Kings squad. To think that 4 players who have started against the Spurs in previous encounters, in fact playoff encounters (Brad Miller, Kenny Thomas, Ron Artest, and Kevin Martin) were missing and the game came down to the final play. Whew, what a sigh of relief. Had John Salmons hit just one of his last 3 or 4 shots, the game may have ended differently. In fact, had Salmons not chosen to turn and take the last 3 himself at the buzzer.. a wide open Beno was standing right in front of his face awaiting a simple hand-off. Beno could have sent it to OT with just an ounce of consideration. (Sigh of relief)
I must admit, one of the major surprises to me this year has been Reggie Theus' coaching job. I thought he would bomb, big-time. I also must admit that I would have never expected to see Spencer Hawes curling off screens knocking down mid-range jumpers as a set play....multiple trips.
That 3-2 zone is a great call against this iteration of the Spurs. The Spurs will need to keep Oberto out of foul trouble for the 4th quarters now. Fab, Tim, Manu and pre-injury-form Brent Barry are the best Zone Busters the Spurs have, IMO.
Finley, you were feelin' it and your shot-making really helped get that win last night.
Kurt Thomas needs to spend the next week in Fab Oberto's hip pocket learning how to run screen rolls and cut to open-space. He hasn't correctly timed a single screen-roll with Tony Parker in 2008. We are waiting, Kurt.....
Here is a feast or famine scenario that we are seeing way too often: Tony Parker dribbling off a screen, then a re-screen, then a re-screen, a pass and then a return pass to TP, coach Mike Bud yelling 5, 4, 3 and then a shot is hoisted from TP with 2 seconds left on the shot clock. Scenario 1: TP makes 20 footer; Scenario 2: TP misses 20 footer.
Manu and Brent, the Spurs need you healthy!
If San Antonio win, Phoenix win & Houston lose then
3 San Antonio 56 26
4 Utah 54 28
5 Phoenix 55 27
6 Houston 54 28
Totally agree this is not a mental issue for Timmy and he has not gotten old overnight. The whole idea that Shaq is in his head if the Spurs play the Suns is ridiculous when he has played great against him when Shaq's fat ass was in his prime. Tim is a warrior as you said and he will be there for the playoffs and kick ass as long as he is healthy. I think he is healthy just in a funk with the rest of the team. Game 1 of the playoffs he will rise like the champ he is. You don't win 4 les and 3 finals MVP's for nothing, the real Timmy is coming
Believe.
Go Spurs
Go Suns
Go Clippers
Yeah its gonna be Spurs Jazz or Spurs Suns it looks like...
WTF is wrong with you? Verb, "to spell": to relieve (someone) from work by taking a turn.
Another comment - in this game, the Suns game, and just about every other game in the last 30 in which we have struggled, it has been against the zone. It is almost as if the players have forgotten how to play against one. Is this because the 3s aren't falling right now, or is it that the plays are too predictable? We don't seem to drive and dish that much against the zone, and thus get into Solid D's awful scenario where TP hoists poor, contested 20fters. What's the deal, McNeil?
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