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yep.
Besides the obvious lack of 3pt% shooting, turnovers in the fourth, etc. I feel there was a bigger reason Spurs lost. Even with the horrendous percentages', etc. games can still be won.
I think Pop's mistake of not taking a timeout to get Parker in the fourth quarter sooner, lead to Spurs frustrating loss. Parker made his mark on this game and left the 4th at 8mins and didn't come back until 1:46. Wow. He didn't seem tired. Pop looked like he was mimicing Phil Jackson and letting his team play through the Blazers run. But Hill looked very hesistant running point with GINO in the fourth and the Spurs discombobulated offense needed a true PG...especially one that was having a great game.
yep.
I disagree.
Blazers run could have been negated by our BEST player of the night countering with points or a better offensive flow. Parker played 30 mins., like he never lost a stride after being injured. put him in those seven minutes and we win.
We "make" it.
I agree with Flux. I just posted the same thing in that other thread.
I think Pop was trying to be cautious. He didn't want to risk anything since it was TP's first game back since the injury. The biggest problem with this team is that it feels like everyone is just waiting for the playoffs to start so that they can start playing their best.
Yeah, putting back in the player that far and away was leading in plus/minus wouldn't have been a bad thing. Not to mention giving a breather to the rest of the team.
Agreed. Parker looked spry and as quick as he has all year. The Blazers didn't have a single guard that could keep him out of the paint and they had no shot blocking at the rim. Pop should have gotten him back in at the stoppage around the 5:30 mark. Instead, he completely overdid it with resting him (I believe he played 12 second half minutes) and the Spurs suffered their latest worst/most embarrassing loss in a season filled with them.
What the happened to this team in crunch time? Out of non awful teams, they've got to be the worst in the league executing down the stretch. And it's not just the new guys or the young guys. Duncan had trouble holding onto the ball the entire fourth quarter; often looking nervous. This guy's one of the most experienced players in the history of the game, so why the is he nervous in some game in February against a middle of the pack team? Ginobili hoists an absolutely ridiculously deep three, for no reason, when the Spurs desperately needed a good shot; preferably one going to the rim. This is doubly stupid considering that Ginobili, like Parker, was getting to the rim whenever he desired tonight. He also had a terrible turnover, trying to force a pass to Duncan.
This is unacceptable. Something's got to be done because, this team isn't going anywhere. They can't win on national TV, they can't beat the Nuggets, Trail Blazers, Jazz; they get their token one win a season against the Lakers and Mavs and other than that, can't beat them. Those are the best teams in the West. If this team can't beat them, not even when they're wounded to the point of missing their go-to scorer, their two centers and their sixth man, then how the can they expect to beat them in a playoff series? If they even make it to the playoffs, we're looking at a one-and-done team at this point. I don't see how they can beat any playoff team in a series.
Spurs 0-3 vs Portland (Roy missed 2 of 3 on top of this)
Spurs 0-4 vs Jazz.
Spurs 0-2 vs Nuggets.
Spurs 2-4 vs Suns/Rockets/Mavs.
'Nuf said. Excuses are old. We ain't a contender no more.
Pop has some questionable calls, but every coach, especially an untouchable one like Pop, has his share.
i think Pop too often focuses way too much on the big picture--that is, championship or nothing...to that extent, he'll take the small short-term hits, disregarding the possibility that ulative short-term hits can also have a big impact (kind of like bizarro pounding the rock)...
I think Pop didn't call the time-out in the 4th because he probably wanted to see if the team had the character to withstand the run...he probably thinks if the team can't withstand that kind of pressure at this point in the season, then the team probably wouldn't win the championship anyways, so might as well see if the team's up for it...
pops you have lost your mind
I shall now give you the summary of the game. Rap style.
My man Michael Finley playing the minutes, cause he sucked my .
The real , however, blew his load and sucked, looked so damn sick.
George Hill, the teacher's pet, I threw him into the fire.
Tony Parker was in the doghouse, he is now up for hire.
DeJuan Blair, ing beast, but he is a rookie, so I am sitting his ass.
Manu Ginobili, what a choker, missed the shot, looked like he ran out of gas.
Antonio McDyess, I slammed the scorer's table cause the mother er missed another rotation.
Matt Bonner, why didn't I play him more, the plus and minus sensation.
Keith Bogans, I just love useless vets who do no .
Me myself don't get the blame cause I am such a big hit.
So Spurs fans, how my ass taste? Tell me about it!
“Handled the ball well all night then turned it over down the stretch and didn’t shoot well,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. “The combination of poor shooting and the turnovers down the stretch gave us the loss.”
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/pos...ile-spurs-wilt
Parker watches while Spurs wilt
February, 5, 2010
By John Hollinger
PORTLAND -- All Tony Parker could do was sit and watch. Marooned at the scorer's table while he waited for a whistle to get him back in the game, he saw the clock tick inside 4 minutes ... and 3 ... and 2 ... while a six-point San Antonio turned into a dispiriting 96-93 defeat to Portland.
Parker’s whistle never came, courtesy of a 3:32 stretch without a dead ball, and by the time Parker got back in his team was trailing 88-87 and he was ice cold after spending five fourth-quarter minutes on the bench. San Antonio went 3:29 without scoring, encompassing five entry trips, until Manu Ginobili's lay-up with 18.5 seconds left and the outcome largely in hand.
The defeat continued a recent Spurs' pattern of floundering late in games, something Popovich mentioned before Sunday's game against Denver and again after tonight's defeat.
"We turned it over down the stretch," said Popovich, whose team made four miscues in the first 44 minutes but two in the five-possession sequence that basically cost them the game.
“Usually we’ve been a very mature team,” said Ginobili, “very experienced closing out games, and now we are not doing it right. I don’t think it’s a secret or something we’re messing up, but it’s a play here, a possession there... since we’re not winning that often it puts a lot of pressure on very possession and things are not going our way.
The ending ruined what had been a near-perfect start. With Parker back in the lineup from an ankle injury the Spurs looked like a much more formidable unit than the one that had lost four of six in its last homestand. Parker burned Portland for 16 first-half points by combining his speed off the dribble and periodic mid-range jump shots, and he finished with 18 and six assists in 30 minutes. Ginobili (23) and Tim Duncan (15 points, 12 boards) looked like the Big Three of old for much of the night.
Until the fourth quarter, that is, when a 76-66 San Antonio lead wilted under Portland's defensive pressure and clutch shooting by Martell Webster, who made all five of his 3-point attempts. LaMarcus Aldridge had a breakout game with 28 points and 12 rebounds to help the undermanned Blazers rally.
The Spurs had a chance to tie after a missed Andre Miller free throw left the door open and ran a beautiful play out of a timeout to free Ginobili in the corner, but he missed a wide-open 3 with 11 seconds left to seal the Spurs' fate.
“I thought [George Hill] was going to shoot it so I was going to the rebound and then I came back. But I had plenty of time, I stayed with the shot, but it didn’t look good form the beginning.”
Andre Miller left the door open with a brain-dead foul on George Hill with 2.1 seconds left and his team ahead by four. Hill made the first and intentionally missed the second, but the Spurs couldn't tap the ball out for another game-tying 3 attempt.
But the crucial sequence came with the Spurs up by four, just under five minutes left and Parker, who checked out at the eight-minute mark, at the scorer's table ready to check in for Hill. Popovich said the team weighed calling a timeout to get Parker back in the game, but never did until the Blazers called one of their own with 1:45 left.
While the timeouts proved useful at the end, helping design the play that nearly tied it, in 20-20 hindsight they probably wish they used it at the three-minute mark for Parker to help salvage an offense that was going off the rails.
If there’s a positive for San Antonio, it’s that Parker and Ginobili looks as good as they have all season. Ginobili told me this is the best he’s felt physically this season, while Parker tore up the Blazers defense in the first half in his first game back from a sprained ankle.
Nonetheless, the results need to change for the Spurs to start feeling good about the renewed vigor of their stars. San Anotnio’s Rodeo Road Trip continues with a winnable game against the Clippers on Saturday before heading into the break with a Lakers-Nuggets one-two punch, and it would help their psyche immensely if they can finish off a win against a quality team—something they’ve struggled to do in losing seven of their past 11 games.
"We just haven't played well and hit shots the last minutes of the game or executed the way we need to," said Richard Jefferson, and for a Spurs team that doesn’t deal in moral victories that will need to change quickly.
epic rap by rappin pop
"We just haven't played well and hit shots the last minutes of the game or executed the way we need to,""just"
I think Pop pulled a Phil given the cir stance.
Only way to get George some crunch time minutes is to play him crunch time minutes. He wanted to get TP in but at the same time he wanted to get Hill some experience and the lack of a dead ball was convenient.
It does result in some losses but for the most part, it's better for Hill in the long run.
I will be the first to admit that I do criticize Parker alot but last night he played like the Parker we all know. We lost this game again to the lack of ability by the teams smartass coach. When is Pop gonna come out of HIS slump?
I couldn't believe how much time had lapsed when Tony finally came in from the time i saw him at the bench waiting to re-enter. Pop took a gamble that didn't pay off. I would rather he play it safe next time.
Rappin' Pop is my favorite poster of all time on any board, and it ain't close...
Waiting on Hype Man Manu to make an appearance...
Pop seems to be thinking of other things in the past few games.....Things have really change on the way he coach after Bowen left.......He has become soft on talking with the players.... The Spurs are giving up a lot of games that I think the team can win....He really should have given guys on the bench some playing time if one of the player on the court is not contributing anything....
Pop is an absolute genius when it comes to Xs and Os. He is a good with people because he is a straight shooter and because of that veterans love him. He is, however, an average coach at best when it comes to rotations, half time adjustments, and time out management. He also has trouble sticking to what is working. He always seems to flutter away to try something else. Point in case the defense found itself last night by doubling the shooters. It caused various turn overs and poor shots by Portland. So what happens in crunch time? Straight up man to man.
Pop has also had a hard time with young players. Pop would have benefited bei8ng enlisted in the military instead of just being officer. The colonel barks his orders and expects them to be followed no questions asked. That's Pop. He could do with a litter sergeant who makes the same orders but then teaches the whole way to make sure that the private can accomplish the mission. That is not Pop.
I also despise the fact that he will never take responsibility for bad decisions. It's a bad statement for the kids.
So I guess the question I am left with is has Pop always been this bad of a coach as he is this year and the team won in spite of his quirkiness or is their something wrong with Pop. Maybe he is starting to exhibit a little OBS (organic brain syndrome - old mind.)
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