Quick Grades: Spurs at Timberwolves - Nov. 24

[timvp]

Quick Grades: Spurs at Timberwolves
By LJ Ellis | San Antonio Dispatch

The winning streak looked like it was over. The Spurs were listless, couldn’t knock down an open shot and watched the Timberwolves connect on difficult attempt after difficult attempt. However, after trailing by as many as 21 points, the Spurs kept on chipping away and finally started to hit big shots in the fourth quarter. After forcing overtime, San Antonio’s defense stiffened and the Spurs won their 12th straight game 113-109 to improve to a league-best 13-1.

Tim Duncan D+ I didn’t think I’d ever type this but Duncan was thoroughly dominated on both ends by Darko Milicic. Duncan couldn’t stop him defensively and had a lot of trouble scoring against him. Give Milicic some credit but Duncan’s lack of energy played a major role in his poor play.

Manu Ginobili B+ Overall, Ginobili had a choppy game. He oscillated between passive play and relentless effort. Thankfully, Ginobili once again peaked at the right time. His three-point shooting in the fourth lead the charge back into the game. Defensively, he wasn’t too impressive until overtime. At the end, he got a steal and block to seal the win.

Tony Parker B+ The best part of Parker’s performance was his defense. He pressured the ball really well and he was very active in rotations. Offensively, Parker wasn’t quite as good as he has been in recent games but he hit a couple big shots and kept the tempo in San Antonio’s favor.

Richard Jefferson B- Jefferson had the task of slowing Michael Beasley and did good work, though a lot of Beasley’s struggles seemed to be self-inflicted. I thought Jefferson could have helped out more on the defensive boards. On offense, Jefferson’s shooting was way off but he had a couple nice drives to the basket.

DeJuan Blair C- Blair played six foul-plagued minuted and didn’t do much other than watch Kevin Love play like the Spurs wished Blair could play.

Matt Bonner B- For much of his minutes, Bonner was pretty damn bad. He was missing wide open three-pointers while getting dominated on the boards. I thought Pop was crazy for keeping Bonner in the game … and then Bonner knocked down the biggest shot of the game. His three-pointer with 49 seconds remaining in overtime gave the Spurs their first lead of the game.

George Hill B Though still suffering from stretches of neutered play, Hill’s production is headed in the right direction. Against Minnesota, he created shots for himself when the Spurs were desperate. Hill also rebounded well and played swarming defense.

Tiago Splitter B With Duncan not playing like Duncan, Splitter stepped in and did a decent impersonation. He was a presence on the post and in pick-and-rolls. On defense, he was active though he had a few rare fundamental breakdowns. Splitter had a chance to really impact the game but didn’t quite succeed in doing so.

Antonio McDyess B For the first time this season, I thought McDyess wasn’t overflowing with energy. Luckily, he revved it up when needed and came up with a few key rebounds and defensive plays. On offense, I didn’t like his shot selection — he forced a couple unnecessary off-balance shots.

Gary Neal B- Neal was 1-for-5 from the field, with all shots from downtown. He struggled on defense and got yelled at by Pop a few times. So how did he still manage a decent grade? With the Spurs down by three points and 16 seconds remaining, Neal got fouled on a three-pointer. The pressure apparently didn’t bother him as he sunk all three freebies to essentially send the game into overtime.

Ime Udoka B+ Udoka didn’t have to wait long to make his return official. At the end of the first quarter, he came in for a three-minute stretch. On defense, he looked like he was in really good shape and came up with a pair of steals. Offensively, he struggled to figure out when to shoot and the defense paid little attention to him. In other words, nothing changed from his last stint in silver and black.

[galvatron3000]

Ime Udoka B+ Udoka didn’t have to wait long to make his return official. At the end of the first quarter, he came in for a three-minute stretch. On defense, he looked like he was in really good shape and came up with a pair of steals. Offensively, he struggled to figure out when to shoot and the defense paid little attention to him. In other words, nothing changed from his last stint in silver and black.


I was like well at least he's consistent cause that's exactly what he look like before hopefully he will do the usual in the playoffs and wake up a bit.

[Darkwaters]

Bonus points to McDyess for the timely block on Ridnour as regulation expired. That was clutch.

[igruex]

Where's Beasley grade?

[Texas_Ranger]

Michael Beasley A+

[Pauleta14]

I was surprised at first that Tony had the same grade than Manu, but thinking about it, his D was good and 0 TO with 6 ast in very good...
(I would still give Manu a slightly better grade though...)

Concerning Duncan, the silver lining is that he will probably want to bounce back against the mavs friday...
+ Love and Milicic were waiting for that game against a guy they admire and has been their model growing up!
Specialy Milicic who has clearly improved, but probably won't produce as much very often this year...

I'm starting being concerned about Manu's playing time, it's not that much, but the guy don't know how to be reasonable with his body, he always gives 110% and it's not a good thing so early...

[TJastal]

Wish I'd seen the game, I'd have a better perspective on Blair's struggles. But I'm starting to conclude that it's a foregone conclusion he would be better served as a bench/spark player in the nba. Time to bring on Splitter to the starting lineup. Might as well do it now and start getting things settled early in the season rather than waiting till the end.

[igruex]

IMO best thing about last game was Tiago stepping up...

Timvp do you see him in a big role in the future? Seemed to me that he fills a hole like nobody else. Yesterday, it looked like neither TD or Dice can physically compete with youth and size at the same time.. Splitter could be getting a lot of Blair's minutes in the future.

[Brazil]

For once I found the grades a little bit generous.
TP maintained the boat in the first half but has not been dominant during this game but made two big shots in the fourth.
Manu saved the day in OT but globally he struggled a little.
Matt has been clutch one time, the rest of the game was very poor. I didn't like Hill this game with him running the time, the ball movement stopped and he seems to be lost out there. Ime well Ime

[carina_gino20]

By the way, timvp, why don't you grade Pop, too?

[Brazil]

BTW I'm a big fan of the quick grades I think this is very useful and a good to give a quick overall picture.
The quick grades + a big sum up of the last 5 - 10 games is just a perfect combination.

Congrats timvp

[Bender]

oh what the spurs would be like with K-Love on the team...

[Dalamar_the_Dark]

I'm really starting to worry about Duncan.

[TJastal]

I'm really starting to worry about Duncan.

Well, the guy is left to guard the paint by himself night after night, thx to Pop's love of the crotch rocket.

I'm just shocked the decline is already starting to happen. I think it was that bulls game that really drained him, he expended a ton of effort to keep both Noah & Gibson off the boards while Bonner was jerking off in the corner.

[Pauleta14]

Well, the guy is left to guard the paint by himself night after night, thx to Pop's love of the crotch rocket.

I'm just shocked the decline is already starting to happen. I think it was that bulls game that really drained him, he expended a ton of effort to keep both Noah & Gibson off the boards while Bonner was jerking off in the corner.

The first point is more obvious/worrying than the latter, Pop has some responsability too for Tim's bad game!
I know Bonner 3pts shot is (very) usefull, but if that leads to make Tim work for two...?

Splitter is not ready yet, we have to save McDyess energy for the PO, Blair is too short, Bonner's never in the paint...

We don't have the tools to match the Lakers or even the Celtics in the paint!
Maybe during 1 game, but not in a 7 game serie...

[The Truth #6]

Well, the guy is left to guard the paint by himself night after night, thx to Pop's love of the crotch rocket.

I'm just shocked the decline is already starting to happen. I think it was that bulls game that really drained him, he expended a ton of effort to keep both Noah & Gibson off the boards while Bonner was jerking off in the corner.

Everyone should be concerned about Duncan in general but I wouldn't take last game as proof just yet. The WHOLE team looked dazed and confused for most of the game. Clearly, they all were out of synch as everyone was missing wide open shots. And just the game before Duncan looked younger than he has in at least 2 years. I doubt he aged that much over just one game. I've never liked Rocket playing a lot of minutes, but this year Bonner is shooting better than ever and it makes he should get some time in the regular season, though I'm still doubtful of him in the playoffs.

[Brazil]

The first point is more obvious/worrying than the latter, Pop has some responsability too for Tim's bad game!
I know Bonner 3pts shot is (very) usefull, but if that leads to make Tim work for two...?

Splitter is not ready yet, we have to save McDyess energy for the PO, Blair is too short, Bonner's never in the paint...

We don't have the tools to match the Lakers or even the Celtics in the paint!
Maybe during 1 game, but not in a 7 game serie...

Idk if Splitter is not ready but what I know is he is not going to develop if Pop keeps on "the one day you play the other day you don't" ... This is really stupid. For matchups I have no problem to see Pop limiting is PT but DNP is insane, Tiago should see a min of 10 mn per game, don't tell me there is no 10 min for him every game.

Look on the first quarter Tiago was very bad and improved a lot after playing a little. Tiago is enough right now to help Duncan !

Oh and the Ime stuff is pretty annoying, this guy was useless two years ago he is not going to be useful now.

[TJastal]

The first point is more obvious/worrying than the latter, Pop has some responsability too for Tim's bad game!
I know Bonner 3pts shot is (very) usefull, but if that leads to make Tim work for two...?

Splitter is not ready yet, we have to save McDyess energy for the PO, Blair is too short, Bonner's never in the paint...

We don't have the tools to match the Lakers or even the Celtics in the paint!
Maybe during 1 game, but not in a 7 game serie...

Splitter may not be ready hit the ground running, but that's just too bad he'll just have to learn on the fly. I mean, c'mon. He'll have three future HOF'ers to play with it doesn't get any easier than that.

[Slomo]

Good grades.

Weird game.

Positive: The team showed heart and fought its way to a W (wouldn't have been possible last year).

What worries me: Manu's minutes.

[dunkman]

Darko is playing at very high level the last 3-4 games. He dominated against Gasol too. Duncan seems in cruise control, most focused on defense. Hopefully he wakes up for the playoffs.

[pgardn]

Where's Beasley grade?

I dont think you get a grade when you dont give a damn and are super-talented. Drawing a paycheck grade without caring grade:A+

Loved the timely passes. What the goes through this nut-case's brain at important moments in a game...

[buttsR4rebounding]

This was a classic trap game: Orlando, Minnesota, Dallas, NO. You add that to the fact that the game was in Minnesota the day before Thanksgiving in freezing temps with a vet laden team and you have all the makings of a group thinking about getting back home asap. The fact that they were able to gut it out says a lot about this team. And make no mistake, the post-McHale T-wolves have made some good moves and seem to be on the right track.

[pgardn]

Everyone should be concerned about Duncan in general but I wouldn't take last game as proof just yet. The WHOLE team looked dazed and confused for most of the game. Clearly, they all were out of synch as everyone was missing wide open shots. And just the game before Duncan looked younger than he has in at least 2 years. I doubt he aged that much over just one game. I've never liked Rocket playing a lot of minutes, but this year Bonner is shooting better than ever and it makes he should get some time in the regular season, though I'm still doubtful of him in the playoffs.

This is the regular season. I would expect this in a regular season game from a guy at Duncan's age. Sometimes the legs dont go, for whatever reason. The knees never fully get cured. He may experience some lack of mobility in the knees as arthritis slowly sets in. Game to game for Tim. Feel fresh, feel slow. And its not entirely predictable. He was absolutely mud slow last night.

I worry about Manu also. He expends way too much energy in the regular season. He killed himself last year and got us into the playoffs. But he really had problems in the playoffs after getting popped in the giant schnoze. Manu needs leg rest. Maybe before the playoffs, if we dont sustain any major injuries, Pop rests him. Manu is playing way too much imo.

[pgardn]

The first point is more obvious/worrying than the latter, Pop has some responsability too for Tim's bad game!
I know Bonner 3pts shot is (very) usefull, but if that leads to make Tim work for two...?

Splitter is not ready yet, we have to save McDyess energy for the PO, Blair is too short, Bonner's never in the paint...

We don't have the tools to match the Lakers or even the Celtics in the paint!
Maybe during 1 game, but not in a 7 game serie...

I agree. We got beat up second chance points, easy put backs last season with no real guy to take up the slack for Duncan. We got beat by lack of speed in Phoenix. I think Splitter will be ready. His mobility is amazing for a guy with his height. By the end of the regular season, its very possible we match up. Blair needs to shoulder some of the load. He needs to start beating on people without fouling. This type of game has become a difficult art with the way refs are calling the game, but needs to be learned.

[Pauleta14]

Idk if Splitter is not ready but what I know is he is not going to develop if Pop keeps on "the one day you play the other day you don't" ... This is really stupid. For matchups I have no problem to see Pop limiting is PT but DNP is insane, Tiago should see a min of 10 mn per game, don't tell me there is no 10 min for him every game.

Look on the first quarter Tiago was very bad and improved a lot after playing a little. Tiago is enough right now to help Duncan !

Oh and the Ime stuff is pretty annoying, this guy was useless two years ago he is not going to be useful now.

Splitter may not be ready hit the ground running, but that's just too bad he'll just have to learn on the fly. I mean, c'mon. He'll have three future HOF'ers to play with it doesn't get any easier than that.

I love Splitter too, I hate that Pop doesn't use him enough too, ...

BUT, let's not lie to ourself, even if he is special, he is still a rookie and a contender can't (reasonably) rely on the production of a rookie...

My point was the D in the paint in the only area that scares me despite ou record and the exciting potential of this team (with TP and Manu at 100%, RJ is ok...).

We are going to be ok for 90% of the regular season games, Blair or Splitter will each impress agains some teams, but again, against the Celtics and the Lakers, in a 7 games serie, Doc Rivers or Jackson are gonna take advantage of those match ups...