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hater
For this edition of The Grades, we'll take a look at the Spurs games that comprised the second quarter of this season. This quarter just so happens to be the last 22 games in which the Spurs have won eleven games and lost eleven games.
If you would like to see the grades of the season's first quarter, click here.
Overall, it was a tough stretch for the Spurs. Once you look at how a majority of the team struggled, it's really no wonder why the team took a nosedive.
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Tim Duncan
QUARTERLY STATISTICS
Points: 20.9
Rebounds: 13.1
Blocks: 1.9
FG%: .500
FT%: .677
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Duncan's rebound numbers are way up compared to his statistics during the season's first quarter. His scoring is also up, while both his field goal percentage and free throw percentage are down.
ANALYSIS
After a statistically slow start, Duncan really picked it up recently. Most noticeably, he has done a great job rebounding the ball. He's also becoming more of a focal part of the team's offense. His energy from night to night has been superb and he's putting in the needed effort to win games. However, defensively Duncan still has a lot of room to improve. His blocks aren't as high as needed and his defensive intensity has room for improvement.
QUARTERLY GRADE
A-
While the Spurs surely have struggled, they'd be dead in the water without Duncan's inspired play.
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Manu Ginobili
QUARTERLY STATISTICS
Points: 16.4
Rebounds: 4.7
Assists: 3.8
FG%: .384
3P%: .344
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Ginobili's number plummeted after his spectacular first quarter of the season.
ANALYSIS
After playing as good as anyone in the NBA over the first month of the season, Ginobili has struggled in recent weeks. His points, rebounds, assists, field goal percentage and three-point percentage are down while his turnovers are up. He's had some good games during this stretch but overall it has been a rough time for Ginobili. To be fair, he's struggled with an injured finger that forced him to miss a number of games. The Spurs will need for him to start playing better again to get back to their winning ways.
QUARTERLY GRADE
C
Ginobili's play during this stretch has been erratic -- with more bad than good.
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Tony Parker
QUARTERLY STATISTICS
Points: 18.4
Assists: 5.4
Rebounds: 2.4
FG%: .469
FT%: .723
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Parker's number tumbled after his impressive first quarter of the season.
ANALYSIS
Parker started the year playing at his Finals MVP level. That changed over the span of the last six or so weeks where Parker has really struggled. Just like Ginobili, his numbers in all major categories were worse in the second quarter of the season. Also like Ginobili, he's been dealing with an injury (ankle). Parker will have stretches where he'll play like up to his potential, but on the whole his struggles have contributed greatly to the team's struggles. If he can recover from his injury and regain some of the energy he has been lacking, there's no reason why he can't have a big finish to this season.
QUARTERLY GRADE
C-
Parker's lack of aggression and passion on a nightly basis has hurt the Spurs as of late.
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Bruce Bowen
QUARTERLY STATISTICS
Points: 5.0
Rebounds: 2.6
Assists: 1.2
FG%: .349
3P%: .358
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
After shooting great during the first quarter of the season, Bowen has really struggled shooting the ball recently.
ANALYSIS
Like Ginobili and Parker, Bowen just hasn't up to par recently. His offense, while never a great asset, has been horrendous as of late. Defensively, he's still bringing energy on must nights but not nearly as consistently as he was earlier in the season. Bowen had similar problems at this time last year offensively and he was able to fix it by the playoffs. The Spurs will need him to shoot better and to become more dominant defensively if they have hopes of winning championship number five.
QUARTERLY GRADE
C-
Bowen's offensive slump has made him a liability at times on the court.
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Fabricio Oberto
QUARTERLY STATISTICS
Points: 4.1
Rebounds: 5.1
Assists: 1.0
FG%: .615
FT%: .526
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Impressive field goal percentage again in the second quarter of the season but his overall production has been down.
ANALYSIS
Oberto is yet another Spur who just isn't doing as much as he did earlier in the year. His scoring has really fallen off as he's not finding many shots around the basket anymore. While his rebounding remains pretty good, his passing has almost disappeared as of late. Oberto has seen his role change from game to game over the last six weeks, which hasn't helped. He has gone from starter to bench player and back again countless times recently. If the team can get healthy and Pop can settle on a rotation, Oberto's numbers should climb.
QUARTERLY GRADE
C+
Lately, Oberto has been a role player without a stable role.
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Michael Finley
QUARTERLY STATISTICS
Points: 11.7
Rebounds: 4.4
Assists: 1.7
FG%: .419
3P%: .383
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
After a slow start, Finley's numbers are all improved during this stretch.
ANALYSIS
When the Big Three were banged up, Finley picked up some of the slack to keep the Spurs from totally collapsing. While his shooting still isn't where it needs to be, it's heading in the right direction. Finley did have some problems re-adjusting to becoming a fourth option on the team after the team got healthy again. As a starter, Finley is a good player as long as he understands his role and isn't shooting horribly.
QUARTERLY GRADE
B
Finley stepped up when the Spurs needed him.
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Brent Barry
QUARTERLY STATISTICS
Points: 6.8
Rebounds: 2.5
Assists: 2.4
FG%: .403
3P%: .340
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Barry was having one of the best shooting seasons in NBA history before cooling off drastically.
ANALYSIS
Due to a couple calf injuries, Barry wasn't on the floor much during the second quarter of the season. Only playing in 12 of the games, Barry's shooting percentages fell. Barry was still helping the team by passing and rebounding better than usual. Scheduled to be out another month due to injury, hopefully Barry can bounce back and find his shooting touch when he does.
QUARTERLY GRADE
C
A lot of Barry's struggles can be blamed on injuries.
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Francisco Elson
QUARTERLY STATISTICS
Points: 3.1
Rebounds: 2.6
Assists: 0.1
FG%: .383
FT%: .800
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Elson is playing as poorly as ever.
ANALYSIS
Elson started this season off with a couple promising games but as of late he's disappeared. While it's true that Pop doesn't go to him much anymore, a lot of that was due to Elson's poor play. His shooting percentage is especially worrisome considering he's an athletic seven-footer who should be getting a lot of easy baskets. Elson can salvage this season but he's going to have to first work his way back into the rotation.
QUARTERLY GRADE
D+
If Elson doesn't turn it around, this will be his last year in San Antonio
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Matt Bonner
QUARTERLY STATISTICS
Points: 6.5
Rebounds: 4.3
Assists: 0.5
FG%: .430
3P%: .404
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Bonner played poorly to start the season but has played rather well lately when given the chance.
ANALYSIS
It's been a weird season for Bonner. To start the season he was playing poorly. Then Bonner started playing well, especially when the Spurs were counting on him for big minutes. Then out of the blue he stopped getting minutes at all. Part of the problem has been his poor defense, but even that aspect has improved since the start of the year. Although Bonner isn't playing much right now, there's still a chance he can find his way back into the rotation by the time playoffs roll around.
QUARTERLY GRADE
B+
When he's played, Bonner has produced at a nice clip.
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Robert Horry
QUARTERLY STATISTICS
Points: 1.4
Rebounds: 2.3
Blocks: 0.5
FG%: .179
3P%: .200
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Those numbers speak for themselves.
ANALYSIS
Pop has given Horry a lot of playing time recently and has even made him a vital part of the everyday rotation. However, Horry hasn't responded. His shooting is horrendous, to say the least. He's been a lot better defensively than offensively -- then again, that's not saying much. Horry has to at least put up respectable numbers soon or else he's going to end up on the outside of the rotation.
QUARTERLY GRADE
D
I didn't even know it was possible for an NBA player to shoot that low of a percentage.
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Jacque Vaughn
QUARTERLY STATISTICS
Points: 4.4
Assists: 3.0
Rebounds: 1.3
FG%: .433
FT%: .783
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Perhaps most impressive for Vaughn has been his 3.75-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
ANALYSIS
Vaughn has played well enough in his role for the Spurs to win games. He's not going to wow you with his play but he's a good complement to Parker. He's been shooting pretty well and he's passing well without turnover over the ball. Vaughn is playing about as well as you can hope for a Jacque Vaughn to play.
QUARTERLY GRADE
B+
Vaughn's grade is also helped by his countless hustle plays this season.
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Ime Udoka
QUARTERLY STATISTICS
Points: 6.1
Rebounds: 2.6
Assists: 0.6
FG%: .459
3P%: .350
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Udoka's numbers all shot up in the season's second quarter.
ANALYSIS
Udoka's play as of late might be the brightest spot on the team. While starting off the season like a chicken with its head cut off, Udoka has settled down and is now playing at a decently high level. His defense has been impressive and so has his offense. His shooting can stand to get a bit more consistent but overall he looks like he can be a valuable piece to a championship team.
QUARTERLY GRADE
B+
Udoka will get a chance to cement his place in the rotation with Barry out.
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On to the Rodeo Road Trip and the official start of the second half of the season . . .
Last edited by timvp; 01-28-2008 at 10:03 PM.
hater
i hate to, but i agree with all of that.
Damn, Bruce's 3P% is dropping like a rock. Remember when he was ~50%?
And now Manu's FG% is below 40%. Nobody's been able to throw a rock in the ocean for a month, except for Ime.
how is Udoka not an A?
did anyone really expect him to fit in and play this well his first year?
timvp you have a typo for Tony Parker's positives, just pointing it out.
Dang...
We suck!
True.
Luckily it's still Janua..................... F it, the Spurs need to actually start winning. This losing crap is getting old.
How the does Finley get a B?
And Parker should be a D.
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