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Another game this season where luck prevailed over a .500 team. A little luck never hurt anyone.
Although it obviously wasn’t Spurs Basketball, the San Antonio Spurs were able to come out victorious on Saturday night against the Philadelphia 76ers. After leading 40-19 after the first quarter, the Spurs did just enough to hold on to win by a final score of 108-106.
With the game tied at 106 with about ten seconds to go in the fourth, Manu Ginobili got his hand on an Andre Miller pass and Tony Parker scooped it up. On the other end, Parker drove the land and fed Ginobili for a three-pointer that he missed. Thankfully, Parker grabbed the rebound and connected on an improbable buzzer beating fadeaway jumper from the baseline.
For the Sixers, Miller played extremely well. He sliced and diced San Antonio’s defense and finished 12-for-14 from the field. Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young were both impressive with how they used their athleticism to score at the rim. Although the Sixers were without Elton Brand due to injury, they might be a more difficult matchup for the Spurs without him.
Overall, the Spurs can’t be too happy with this win. The defense in the final three quarters was really bad. The offense after the first quarter wasn’t too impressive either. The Spurs will take the win but if they play like that against a quality team, they will get run out of the building.
Tim Duncan
34 minutes, 26 points, 12 rebounds, three assists
11-for-15 from the field, 4-for-8 at the line
Offensively, Tim Duncan was really good – especially in the first three-quarters. Going into the fourth, he was 10-for-11 from the field and was scoring in a variety of ways. In the final stanza, Theo Ratliff played him well and forced Duncan into tougher looks. On defense, Duncan wasn’t nearly as impressive. In fact, his defense over the last three quarters was extremely underwhelming. He wasn’t defending the pick-and-roll well and his help defense at the rim was missing in action. This was the second straight home game that Duncan has struggled defensively. If he doesn’t pick it up on that end of the court, the Spurs won’t be able to field more than a mediocre defense.
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Manu Ginobili
29 minutes, 21 points, three rebounds, two assists, three steals
8-for-13 from the field, 2-for-5 on three-pointers, 3-for-4 at the line
Manu Ginobili had a good showing. He only needed 13 shot attempts to score his 21 points and he also came up with the game-winning steal. Ginobili seems to be driving to the basket better and he’s not having as much trouble stopping when he’s going full speed. Over the last week, he has really picked up his defensive intensity. Ginobili is averaging 2.6 steals in his last five games and for the season he has a career-best rebound rate.
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Tony Parker
38 minutes, 15 points, ten assists, three rebounds, four rebounds
7-for-17 from the field, 1-for-2 on three-pointers
Tony Parker’s buzzer beating definitely had high marks for degree of difficulty. He also had another jumper with two minutes remaining that put the Spurs up by two. However, Parker didn’t play overly well on the whole. After a masterful first quarter in which he had five points and six assists, Parker seemed to take his foot of the pedal. For the Spurs to have kept their big lead early in the game, they needed a more consistent outing from Parker. And while his defense wasn’t solely responsible for Miller’s big game, he didn’t do much to curtail Miller. All in all, it was a very good start, a blah middle and a game-winning end for Parker.
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Michael Finley
35 minutes, 14 points, two rebounds
5-for-9 from the field, 4-for-6 on three-pointers
Michael Finley is making Pop look smart for giving him the starting small forward job. On offense, he’s been lighting it up as of late. In his last five games, he’s averaging 12.2 points on 53.3% from the field and 59.1% on three-pointers. Against the Sixers, he was again hitting his shots and he also mixed in a few good defensive possessions. Finley’s defense wasn’t nearly as good as we’ve seen previously but it also wasn’t one of the leading problems on the night.
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Roger Mason, Jr.
32 minutes, 19 points, three assists, two rebounds
6-for-10 from the field, 5-for-5 on three-pointers
Bouncing back from a 1-for-11 performance, Roger Mason, Jr. proved once again why he was such a good offseason addition. He hit all five of his looks from beyond the arc and also made some good plays with the ball to keep the Spurs’ offense flowing. His defense was relatively decent, especially in one-on-one situations. After going through a stretch in which he didn’t play 30 minutes for eight straight games, Mason seems to have regained Pop’s trust. In his last six games, Mason is averaging 30.8 minutes per game.
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Matt Bonner
28 minutes, nine points, six rebounds, three assists
3-for-8 from the field, 3-for-5 on three-pointers
Matt Bonner seems to be slowly but surely getting out of his slump. Although he still had a sub par rebounding game, his six boards were the most he’s pulled down since he grabbed six boards against the Kings on Dec. 22. His trio of three-pointers were only the second time he’s reached that mark since the Hornets disaster. Against the Sixers, Bonner deserves credit for getting the Spurs off on the right foot. All three of his three-pointers came in the first quarter – with the first two coming in the first minute of the game.
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Bruce Bowen
18 minutes, four points, two steals
2-for-3 from the field, 0-for-1 on three-pointers
Bruce Bowen played decent defense out on the perimeter but had trouble keeping his man out of the paint. That led to him reaching more instead of him moving his feet and trying to turn the Sixers into a jumpshooters. On offense, Bowen continues to make the most out of his opportunities. When coming off the bench, Bowen is shooting 50.9% from the field and 51.6% from beyond the three-point line.
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Kurt Thomas
15 minutes, two rebounds, two assists
0-for-1 from the field
Kurt Thomas continues to be unimpressive after he seemed to have a breakout stretch of games. He didn’t rebound well against Philadelphia and wasn’t doing much in the pick-and-roll defense. Offensively, he did make a few good passes out of the low block. Overall though, Thomas hasn’t done much to prove to Pop lately that he deserves 15-20 minutes per night.
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George Hill
Six minutes, one assist
0-for-1 from the field, 0-for-1 on three-pointers
George Hill had a passive performance that led to Pop benching him in the second half. Hill seems to be struggling to find his place in the offense, especially when paired with Ginobili. His natural preference is to defer to Ginobili but Hill needs to stay aggressive enough to warrant his playing time. On the season, when Hill is paired with Ginobili he is scoring 12.1 points per 48 minutes. When Hill is on the court without Ginobili, he’s averaging 23.1 points per 48 minutes.
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Anthony Tolliver
Five minutes, two assists, one rebound
0-for-2 from the field, 0-for-1 on three-pointers
Anthony Tolliver played one of his typical games. Good effort on the boards, very good passing and very bad shooting. Tolliver has an important day coming on Wednesday. That’s the day the Spurs have to decide to either keep him and guarantee the rest of his contract or waive him. The fact that he’s still in the rotation points to the Spurs still trying to figure out what they should do.
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Gregg Popovich
I thought Pop did a decent coaching job. It would have been nice for him to find a way to correct the defensive woes within the game. Perhaps Bowen earlier could have helped. Hill at shooting guard may have evened out the athleticism advantage for the Sixers. But at least Pop limited the minutes for Duncan and Ginobili, which is something he hasn’t always done in tight contests.
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Offense
It’s tough to be too upset with the offense. Scoring 108 points should always be enough for the Spurs to win. On the game, they shot 53.2% from the floor, hit 15-of-26 three-pointers and had 27 assists compared to only 12 turnovers. The most glaring negative mark on the night was the free throw shooting. Only 14 attempts against a team without much of an inside presence isn’t nearly enough.
Defense
At times the Spurs defense was so bad that Mike D’Antoni would have blushed. The Spurs couldn’t keep the Sixers out of the paint and when they did get in the paint, the Spurs rarely contested their shot at the rim. As a result, Philadelphia shot a disgustingly high 54.4% from the floor. The Sixers were also able to get 19 assists while turning the ball over only eight times. Also damning for the San Antonio was Philadelphia’s 40-32 advantage on the glass.
Drive to Five
While the Sixers game was definitely not an illustration of championship level basketball, the win improves the Spurs’ record to 22-11. On Monday, the Spurs travel to Miami to take on the Heat. If they play defense like they did against the Sixers, Wilt’s 100 might not be out of reach for Dwyane Wade. Let’s hope they actually show up defensively and get back to Spurs Basketball.
Believe.
Another game this season where luck prevailed over a .500 team. A little luck never hurt anyone.
tony saved this forum from another meltdown. you can bet there would have been half a dozen "tony should have passed the ball to mason" threads had the spurs lost.
Thanx for the thoughts timvp...
All the ing about Tony is getting old.
BTW, good game from Manu. I predict a monster game from him next week
.On the season, when Hill is paired with Ginobili he is scoring 12.1 points per 48 minutes. When Hill is on the court without Ginobili, he’s averaging 23.1 points per 48 minutes
I think it's in major part due to the games he started when TP and Manu were injured and in which he did really well.
All of you that keep saying..."We won, shut up and move on," need to take this statement to heart. Hopefully as we get deeper into the season this team will focus and play games for 48 minutes, because the road is going to get substantially rockier.Overall, the Spurs can’t be too happy with this win. The defense in the final three quarters was really bad. The offense after the first quarter wasn’t too impressive either. The Spurs will take the win but if they play like that against a quality team, they will get run out of the building.
Well guys this was my 1st Spurs game since April of 07' and wow was i treated to a damn good game! The 1st quarter guys was UNREAL! Ive never seen so many 3's in my life lol. Bonner, Mason, Manu, even TP got in the act. A couple things I noticed from watching my 1st game live since 07'
1. Mason's release on his shot is CRAZY quick.
2. Tim Duncan has and always will be my favorite player of all time, seriously, he dominated in the first half.
3. Michael Finley has found some sort of fountain of youth lol. His 3's look farther in person than on tv, some were 2-3 feet away from the line lol. He also had a pretty good athletic block on someone.
4. Kurt Thomas is a damn good rebounder and defense player. He has also found some sort of fountain of youth in him. He packed one of the 6er's pretty damn good cant remember who exactly.
5. Manu is starting to slowly look and play more like himself. His drives and attack-mode was more Manu-esque.
6. Tony's shot in person was UNREAL. I thought he would have gotten it blocked by Miller or in person thought he wasnt gonna get the handle of the ball in time to even get up a shot, but as he released it it seemed as if everything was in slow motion, and as soon as the shot went through, EVERYONE jumped up and down in joy in one motion and
were screaming like crazy. Loudest I have ever heard the arena of the 5-6 times I've been at AT&T.
Well just wanted ya'll to know how my night went and how I saw things in person. Peace guys!
Really nice thread. Keep up the good work.!!!
Thanks for the thoughts, TimVP. Doesn't it seem like the Spurs are playing with a bit more passion this year? About this time of year I am generally going nuts because the Spurs start playing like they don't give a damn- it's just a regular season game. Then they go on the rodeo trip and catch fire. This year it seems like they want to win. When things jell during the trip they are going to be in championship form.
Quietly, Finley is putting together a really nice season so far. With the exception of a couple of games here and there, he's been shooting consistently, and defending as well as he can.
I don't know if Pop should try to play Hill at SG when Gino is on the bench? We still can use manu and Roger backing up PG position when Parker is drinking gatorade on the bench.
btw. I think Spur will try to double team Wade more then in previous years.
Good strategy considerating Miami got no power inside.
i still feel something is missing from this team......
that something to put us over the edge....
Finley is really a good surprise for me, I didn't expect that kind of performances in particular on Defense he is defending pretty well. If Manu keeps on improving our back court will be impressive. Have we mentioned somewhere that the last piece of the puzzle is a big to help tim ?
And when Ginobili is paired with Hill, he scores 30.7 points per 40 minutes.
In other words, when paired with Hill, Manu is a better scorer than Kobe or Lebron.
And the scariest part is that Manu isn't at 100% for the moment and is scoring all these points very efficiently with a really high FG% and tons of FTs drawn.
I'm sure that Hill could/should be more aggressive but it's not easy when you are paired with someone playing at that kind of level.
Last edited by Bruno; 01-05-2009 at 10:24 AM. Reason: fixed, thx mathbzh
Not exactly, Kobe and Lebron score 36 per 48 (Wade 37)In other words, when paired with Hill, Manu is a better scorer than Kobe or Lebron.
sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. but the Spurs are good too.
My bad, the stats I've given were per 40 min. But Manu when paired with Hill does score better than Lebron and Kobe.
Really?
That's great
Just one question, where do you find these stats?
Last edited by mathbzh; 01-05-2009 at 10:51 AM.
38 minutes, 15 points, ten assists, three rebounds, four rebounds
LJ which is it or did he have 34 boards?
good read dude thanks....
and to the dude that went to the game thanks for your insiders point...sounded pretty dope.
That's a good observation about Manu and Hill. Manu is super aggressive when placed with Hill. He dominates the ball, and it makes sense considering how well he is doing. I think it's up to Hill to find a way to be in a position to score when playing with Manu. Cut to the basket or something and hopefully Manu will find him. It's odd because Hill is supposed to be the point guard but in reality Manu is playing the Parker role when he's out there and Hill lets himself become an observer.
Perhaps Pop needs to play Tim and Hill together for a few moments without Tony or Manu to see if Hill can get into his own rhythm. I realize that sounds counter-productive in the short run but Hill's game is going consistently south and we need to find a way to jump start him, at least offensively. His defense has still been good on more than a few occasions so that's not the same concern.
Interesting. It seems that our newer role players seem to be struggling more in how to play with Manu and Parker than in just playing the game itself. Are they deferring to Manu and Parker out of respect? Are they intimidated by those guys? Are Parker and Manu not trusting or looking to get the new guys involved?
Hill's struggles are obvious, but I know Mason has struggled as well (although he appears to be finding his spots now). Finley's game has actually improved since the return of the big 2. It's an interesting dynamic going on with the team this season.
Couldnt agree with ya more.sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. but the Spurs are good too.
Good perspective on what happened versus the 76ers, timvp.
Gino and Hill work well together for 2 reasons. One, they are great at trapping the ball and working steals. Secondly, Gino gets more touches with Hill than with TP. TP tends to over-dribble but makes up for it with his scoring. When the Spurs are running their screen/roll offense with the ball in Parker's hands, Manu has not been a good fit so far as the off-guard unless he is knocking down his threes. Mason and Fin have been a much better option for TP to dish to.
The combo of Hill and Ginobili is good but it could be so much better if Hill would remember how to finish at the rim and get some confidence in taking open shots when he has them.
I'm a little concerned with Hill. If the Spurs want to win a championship they need all the help offensively they can get (and judging by their defensive FG %, their defense isn't anything to write home about either)
I understand he's just a rookie, but I really miss his aggressiveness when it came to driving to the basket. The dude is quick and long and he should have no problems getting free throws out of his attacks to the rim at the very least.
Maybe he needs to play more shooting guard, because at point guard sometimes it feels like he just plays so as not to make mistakes as oppose to playing to make an impact (at least on offense anyway)
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