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I approve of this thread however I need to rewatch the game first since my feed was earlier
Not sure where to post thoughts about last night game... so I thought a post game discussion thread could be useful when no game grades thread are on
Discuss tbh
I approve of this thread however I need to rewatch the game first since my feed was earlier
Kyrie Irving looks lost in Cleveland. He needs to be traded for two lesser but more system-fit players for LeBron.
Rewatching. "The Beautiful Game" is still alive and well. 35 made field goals on 26 assists, and the offense is still generating a lot of open looks. Only reason we can't break games open this year (and why the offense looks "ugly") is because the Spurs are in a shooting slump from 3 and missing two 3 point shooting specialists. The only blemishes offensively this game is when they 4-downed Duncan in the post and he let the ball stick. Duncan seemed to have a '03 flashback and got somewhat selfish this game, wanting to take Love and Varejao on the block.
Leonard is going to be a very strong offensive player. He is a beast on the block, has a very quick first step, great at leading the break from a d-board, and is showing flashes of being a solid penetrator. Just needs to improve his handles a bit and get more comfortable with his larger offensive role.
Diaw was great tonight. Hopefully this game grows his confidence and he becomes a legitimate 2nd or 3rd option when Manu or Tony is off their game.
And the defense was, once again, elite. Per the stats, the Spurs now have the best overall defense in the league (98.1 DRTG and an 80% defensive rebounding percentage, both NBA bests).
Scary to think the defense will probably get better once Tiago returns.
When the offense rounds into form, the Spurs could go on a terror. All the numbers look good, so once the shooting regresses to the mean, watch out.
Its astounding how the Spurs are winning right now. The offense is a complete mess (inconsistent aggressiveness by Parker, Kawhi trying too much in the wrong situations, Duncans TOs, etc etc) ... watching how other teams in the league are hitting threes in bunches and one of the better shooting teams in the league just cannot get it started. I mean, a thread like "will the Spurs ever score 120 points again?" will be opened soon. Thankfully the defense is very solid despite Tiagos absence, especially defensive rebounding looks supreme. Remember how Kevin Love punished the Spurs when he was with the Wolves. Now he stands so far outside the Spurs have no problem getting most of the rebounds.
It really pays off having all players back on board this season. Despite the good defense I still think Anderson "Tingletangle Bob" Varejao should not score so many points on you.
the cavs don't have good interior defense
And Duncan is 38...
Sadly, he just can't finish like he used to off an array of post moves.
He's best when he flashes, catches deep, and quickly finishes.
can't be a coincidence that it happened with beli out.. now if danny and kawhi would make their open threes, everything would be great.
that's actually making them look better than they actually are..
It's not necessary for the offense to score 120 a game with the defense playing the way they are.
I agree w/ Venti, Irving does not seem like a good fit with James (or the offense for that matter), at least at this point of the season. Hope to not have to eat crow about that later in the season though.
Solid win against a team who is still trying to find itself. The Spurs wins have not been big this season but they are wins nonetheless; being able to close out games the way they have will be solid come later this season if they can stay healthy.
When people talk about our "three point shooting specialists" I wonder who are those guys.
Danny is our best shooter but we know he goes from cold to hot and vice versa quicker than any shooter in the league.
Tony is working hard but he's still developing his shot.
Kawhi is battling with vision issues and his three point shot looks broken (last three games: 1-13 from three 7.6%, rest of his shots 12-21 57.1%).
I wouldn't say Manu and Boris are deadly three point shooters.
Maybe Marco's three-point shooting percentage in last regular season helped the team but he wasn't a reliable option in playoffs.
Anyway, last season the Spurs started off slow shooting behind the three point line, too. I have no doubt the Spurs will improve their three-point field goals field this season, just like they did last season.
Ok just done watching the replay, few of my ideas....
1. Boris Diaw should hold the basketball and be allowed to facilitate every time he's on the floor. The dude is the smartest on the team, respected player so he will surely get defensive attention giving guys much needed space and with Bobo's passing? Deadly.
2. Tim is most successful when he decides quick. Shoot the jumper? Go. Face up baby hook? Sure. Just don't spend 3 seconds with your back to the basket allowing the defender to set up.
3. Cory Joseph is actually a good back-up pg. Gives you solid minutes, improved midrange jumper and has the quickness to drive and penetrate to the hoop. Fearless.
4. Kawhi and DG might be two of the best wing defenders of all time. You don't notice it since DG's defense is outshined by his 3 pt shooting and Kawhi's D is outshined, ironically, by his steals. What makes both of these guys elite defenders is that they force players to dribble too much causing chaos and turnovers, again not necessarily steals. Lebron scored what, 15 pts on 6-17 shooting? There's a reason for that, thank god for these two s.
5. We truly are a deep team despite the poor offensive performance. On the road against one of the most talented teams in the league, missing your best defensive big, 2 elite 3 point shooters, with Manu and TP playing like the whole game, yet they managed to win. You can not be more satisfied with that.
Diaw continues to impress more and more. He can be the MVP of the game on repeated occasions. The offense still looks broken, but I really do believe that a lot of that is the absence of Tiago, Marco and Patty - and last night Bonner too. I think that both Tony and Manu are purposely taking a back seat to trying to let others lead the offense, and I think that contributes to the awful looks occasionally. Neither Manu or Tony seem to know exactly what to do with themselves when they are not leading, so it will be interesting to see if the great experiment continues.
What I noticed in last night's game was how much better the offense looked when we started using known, set plays in the fourth. It was as if Pop said, "Okay, I've tried this and that and the other, but right now we are going back to the motion offense". Sets looked crisper and the shots were less contested. (Maybe it was Cav's defense breaking down from its earlier intensity, not sure). Thing is, even with the set offense working, the absence of our best three point shooters is obvious and it really holds down our scoring. I think we forget how much that contributed last year.
Parker looks a mess. I do think he is a step slower this year, and I think that Tiago's absence on the pnr offensive set is impacting us more than we realized. Tony did play a of a defensive game last night against Kyrie, but his offense - wow!
Boris was great and Kawhi has improved considerably when attacking the rim through penetrations this season.
did you see that cojo coast to coast with the slick behind the back and a finish on the reverse lay in? very polished. the mins will pay off huge, and by jan spurs will have mills to run with a upgraded cojo.
Agree but they aren't getting any younger so they just need to adapt and evolve their games. I'm not concerned about this, all players have undergone this process in their careers.
Tiago's absence has some negative impact in the offense too? Without his screens, they are struggling to shoot. Cavs didn't played their best by far, Love won't be so shy again, Le Bron was too passive, Irving looked lost. I think Yesterday game isn't a parameter for the Cavs.
Yes and the spurs will not be unhealthy again in June.
Not to mention 6 of those 15 pts came from 2 quick threes at the start of the game which didn't really matter in the long run. It's amazing how Leonard contains the best player of the planet tbh. Even in the finals, Bron's points came when we were already up by double digits.
Hustle and natural ability to stay within
The offense is struggling, but I assume the 3s will start falling at some point. Even if not to last year's levels, a higher percentage will blow many of these games open. Missing Belinelli and Mills hurts.
Ginobili isn't a factor to drive much anymore. That hurts to see, as a fan, but this does hurt the second unit a lot.
Daye is getting enough rope but right now he's not making it pay off.
Joseph is playing well. I'm liking his fearless at ude. His defense is fun to watch.
Leonard and Green are a luxury to have on defense. Superb players.
Cleveland will take a lot more time to get it together. Kevin Love is an empty-stat guy. I forgot he even played. Irving needs to change his mindset or get shipped off somewhere. I don't think LeBron expects to win this year at all, but some work needs to be done to get there.
Kawhi and Danny cant make a 3 right now. They'll snap out of their funk sooner than later no doubt. In the mean time i wished kawhi would handle the ball in a pick n roll situation more . I can remember last year in the golden state game (where the big 3 sat out) he handled the PnR fine. He looked real natural imo, he was creating, hitting a smooth pull up off it, etc etc.
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