On Monday, the Spurs welcomed back Manu Ginobili. Tonight, the Spurs welcomed back Tony Parker after a three-week absence due to a sprained ankle. In his AT&T Center official welcome back party, the Spurs took care of the Memphis Grizzlies by a final score of 109-98.
With the Grizzlies hanging around with seven minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Ginobili hit a three-pointer to put the Spurs up by six. George Hill then followed with an and-1 off of a fast break assist by Ime Udoka to extend the lead to nine points. The game was never in again.
After losing to the Spurs in Memphis on Monday, the Grizzlies played much better in this contest. Rudy Gay and OJ Mayo were both excellent – hitting contested shots from virtually every angle. Combined, the duo hit 24-of-37 from the field for a remarkable 64.9%. The defense wasn’t great for the Spurs but they didn’t have much of a chance with how well Gay and Mayo were shooting.
In the 15th game of the season, San Antonio finally got to see their Big Three in action. While Ginobili and Parker still need a few more games before they are 100% healthy, the early returns look fantastic for the Spurs. The offense was clicking and the on-court chemistry was noticeable no matter the combination Pop threw out on the court.
Tim Duncan
31 minutes, 11 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks
4-for-9 from the field, 3-for-6 at the line
Darko Milicic might go down as a gargantuan bust but you have to give him credit for how well he has guarded Tim Duncan in the last two games. He uses his length and bulk to keep Duncan off balance and out of his comfort zones. Thankfully the Spurs didn’t need too much offense from Duncan with as well as his supporting cast was playing. That said, he provided six of his 11 points on the night during a two-minute stint in the fourth quarter when the Spurs were putting the game away. Defensively, Duncan wasn’t too active, but he did do a good job on the boards.
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Manu Ginobili
21 minutes, 14 points, two assists, three turnovers
6-for-10 from the field, 2-for-4 on three-pointers
Although his stats were nice, the most promising sign for Ginobili against the Grizzlies was how well he was moving. After being a bit stiff in his first two games, Ginobili moved more smoothly in his third contest of the season. That allowed him to play better defense and be more active overall. His scoring was once again very good and outside of a few careless turnovers, Ginobili played another flawless game. Considering that he’s coming off of surgery, Ginobili is playing at an extremely high level right now.
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Tony Parker
17 minutes, 15 points, 7 assists
6-for-9 from the field, 3-for-5 at the line
Tony Parker seemed to shake off the rust instantaneously and played extraordinarily well. He made very good decisions all night long and was particularly impressive passing the basketball. His speed and explosion looked to be close to 100% and his outside jumper still looked as smooth as it was earlier in the season. Parker, who came off the bench in his return, looks ready to be put back into the starting lineup and pick up where he left off.
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Roger Mason, Jr.
35 minutes, 20 points, five assists, three rebounds
8-for-13 from the field, 4-for-6 on three-pointers
Roger Mason, Jr. has scored more points as a Spur but this might have been his best offensive game of the season. Not only was he hitting his shots, he was making great passes – especially off the dribble. With the Big Three intact, Mason should begin to flourish even more. Defenses won’t be able to key in on him and his three-pointers will become even more open. As it is, Mason leads the NBA in three-pointers made, has hit at least two three-pointers in 13 of 15 games this season and is shooting 53.1% from deep.
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Michael Finley
28 minutes, 12 points, four rebounds, two assists
5-for-9 from the field, 2-for-4 on three-pointers
After two games in which he struggled shooting the ball, Michael Finley rediscovered his stroke on Friday night. His shot selection was good and he did a fine job of moving without the ball. Defensively, Finley didn’t play too well but he did help out on the boards. His 2-for-4 showing from beyond the three-point line was good to see considering he was just one for his last 15 from downtown.
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Bruce Bowen
15 minutes, two assists
0-for-3 from the field
The last time Bruce Bowen matched up with Mayo he got the better of the matchup. This time, Mayo adjusted and played well versus Bowen’s defense. With Bowen unable to slow Mayo, Pop decided to look elsewhere and limit Bowen’s minutes. Overall, it was Bowen’s first sub par defensive performance in a few weeks, although his effort and aggressiveness weren’t a problem. On the other end of the court, Bowen was 0-for-3 and is in his first shooting slump of the season, as he’s hit just two of his last 11 attempts.
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Fabricio Oberto
23 minutes, four points, four rebounds, three assists
2-for-4 from the field
Fabricio Oberto once again passed the ball great and set mean screens. This time, though, he actually mixed in a few rebounds. Although he still needs to rebound more, it was a good start. Oberto also did a good job looking for his shot, with his four field goal attempts being his most attempts in seven games. With Ginobili back in the fold, Oberto will likely see his offense improve due to the much utilized Ginobili and Oberto pick-and-roll.
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George Hill
25 minutes, 12 points, seven assists, three rebounds
3-for-5 from the field, 6-for-6 at the line
George Hill’s streak of impressive games was extended with his performance on Friday night against the Grizzlies. Even though his shot attempts were down, his impact on the game was the same. In fact, he led the Spurs in plus/minus with a +15 and it was his second straight game leading the team in that category. Offensively his passing was very good, no matter if he was at point guard or shooting guard. He continually made the right decision whether it was to pass the ball, attack the rim or pull the ball to run a play. Finishing with 12 points on five shots to go with seven assists and no turnovers is great no matter how you slice it. On the whole, it’s difficult not to be extremely impressed with Hill’s play and excited about his future.
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Ime Udoka
16 minutes, five points, two steals
2-for-4 from the field, 1-for-1 on three-pointers
Ime Udoka played well for the second straight game after being mired in a slump. He didn’t force the action offensively and was active on defense. Udoka still isn’t playing the lockdown defense he has played in the past and his rebounding has been sporadic lately. While he can definitely play better, Udoka at least no longer appears to be confused and unsure of himself.
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Matt Bonner
13 minutes, four points, three rebounds
2-for-4 from the field
Matt Bonner doesn’t fit defensively against the Grizzlies but he played well in his minutes out on the court. He rebounded well enough and found ways to score even though Memphis was running him off the three-point line. On defense he competed well despite being at a size disadvantage or a speed disadvantage in each matchup. Bonner continues to be a revelation since his re-birth a couple weeks ago.
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Kurt Thomas
nine minutes, seven points, three rebounds
3-for-3 from the field
After an extremely slow start to the season, Kurt Thomas played his second straight very good game. On defense, he’s both protecting the rim and grabbing rebounds. Offensively, he’s moving well without the ball and is hitting his jumper. If Thomas can keep playing at the level he’s shown in the last two contests, the hole next to Duncan in the frontcourt doesn’t look as deep.
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Anthony Tolliver
eight minutes, five points, two rebounds
2-for-3 from the field
Anthony Tolliver gave the Spurs a good amount of energy at the end of the first half. He ran the floor hard and played good defense. Tolliver also found ways to contribute offensively without resorting to the three-point ball. As a 12th man, Tolliver played exactly how he should play when Pop calls on him to add a spark.
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Gregg Popovich
Pop had a coach’s favorite hardship – juggling a wealth of talent coming off the bench. I thought he did a good job of finding minutes for everyone. It’ll become tougher to find minutes for everyone once Parker and Ginobili are healthy but the result will be a perimeter attack with a ton of options. I don’t think Pop can go wrong unless he doesn’t give Mason and Hill the needed minutes to continue their growth in the system. Against the Grizzlies, Pop did a good job of keeping the minutes in check, especially considering it was the first game of a back-to-back.
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Offense
The Spurs have to ecstatic about their offensive effort. Scoring 109 points on 56.6% shooting while draining 9-of-16 three-pointers is a very productive night at the office. The offensive explosion was mostly due to good ball movement, with the Spurs racking up 31 assists on 43 made baskets. On a personnel level, it was great to see Parker and Hill work so well together when Pop went to the small backcourt. We also got our first glimpse at the Parker, Ginobili and Mason trio that should see a lot of time together as the season progresses.
Defense
The defensive stats look poor on paper. The Grizzlies scored 98 points, including 62 points in the second half. Memphis was also able to shoot 54.5% from the field, which is by far the highest percentage the Spurs have given up since getting off to a slow defensive start to the season. While the stats point to bad defense, a lot of the credit goes to Mayo and Gay for hitting a number of miraculous shots. Those two players were on fire and even though the Spurs could have defended better, it wasn’t all the fault of the defense on this night. On the plus side, the Spurs won the battle of the boards 37-31.
Drive to Five
At 9-6 and the Big Three healthy, the Spurs are in a good position to tackle a tougher section of their schedule. The first test comes on Saturday night against a Houston Rockets team that will be looking for revenge. It will be a tough game to win but if the Spurs can pull out a victory they will move into first place in the Southwest Division.
Believe.
I didn't get to see the game and the box score was alarming from a defensive standpoint. I'm perfectly happy to chalk it up to an anomaly as long as it doesn't happen again any time soon.
Hey LJ, I think Georgie's gonna stick. Any chance someone's going to put up a picture of him in a Spurs uni? I haven't had any luck finding one for you.
Damn, life is good again.
Hill and Mason got their chanches and used them. We are deep again with some young power.
I got that one ready to roll out but I didn't want to change it while he's hot
thanks.
that's a better pic of hill. would also very much appreciate having hill placed right after the big 3 and mace.
Roger Mason, Jr. - ... As it is, Mason leads the NBA in three-pointers made, has hit at least two three-pointers in 13 of 15 games this season and is shooting 53.1% from deep.
damn, that's hot.
hey LJ when you look at how many players played in the game are you mad when you have to make notes about everyone of them? Or maybe you are happy you can put up something about every player?
btw. I like this spurs team. They are far more less predictable then last season. and that's great factor.
Also last year we had one slasher from wing spot and we had no shooters (that can give great impact to the game) on team.
Now we have fresher legs, we have better execution from outside, we have some depth esp. on offensive end, we have new quality in the energy area, we are less predictable we just need to keep going like we are right now.
Its scary how good this team can be come playoff time, if Oberto and Thomas bring that same effort, along with Mason and Hill.
If Mahinmi can ever man up and get out there and show what he did in Austin, then this team IMO can knock off the Lakers.
Feels really good being a spurs fan these days...
Seriously how good is Mason? This guy plays at a very high level right now in a system wich is known for taking time to be accomodated with. He's the real thing.
Got to be exstatic with our backcourt right now.
Never thought about it but now that I think about it the game thoughts would be much shorter if Mike D'Antoni were coach
Yeah it's amazing what adding three players to the rotation on the young side of 30 can do. This year's team doesn't feel nearly as ancient as last year's squad.
Plus those new guys can take much pressure off our trio.
Last year they (trio) had to do almost everything. And it took extreme from manu to provide some punch.
Now if Gorge and mason can punch and hitit will bring instant profit in a meaning that manu Tim and Tony will have more space to breathe on the court and will be much more dangerous as other teams also need to look out for those new spurs additions.
Also Mason can take over and Hill as well can do it in stretches and provide some runs.
Last year spurs could not take teams away and they had to fight till the end of many games and that used a lot of gas from their old tanks.
Thanks for the insightfull thoughts.
I wonder if the backourt Hill-Parker can really work out, I have bad memories of the Beno-Parker experiment Pop tried out, but it was different because if I remember well Beno was PG and Tony was the SG and now it seems in those situations Parker will be the PG and Hill the SG.
There is definitly hope for the second interior spot. Bonner is a matchup play but if he shoots like in the last couple of weeks, he will be an asset.
Oberto is likely to play better because he has that strong connection to Ginobili and he is a very smart player.
The key player is likely to be Thomas who is the best player out of the three and has a much needed physical presence.
On the other hand, the Spurs won 3 les with a combination of a declaining Robinson, Rasho (and his 5 rebounds per 25 minutes), Nazr and Oberto, the actual situation is not that bad.
I think today against the Rockets we'll have a idea of how the rotations will look.
I think Pop will start TP/Mason/Bowen with Hill/Manu/Finley off the bench and Ime would be a PF small ball
TP and Mason play very well together.
Thanks for the thoughts, timvp.
It felt great to see everyone back on the court in this game. I was extremely pleased with Parker's performance, particularly his passing. When everyone is at full strength, the possibilities are endless.
Excellent read. Keep up the great work.
+1 !!!
The rockets will be a great matchup to see the real strenghts of this team.
Thanks LJ.
Great job LJ...What did yall think of Pop's rotations last night?
Thanks Timvp
Watching the Lakers/Mavs game last night I like how vulnerable the Lakers were to penetration and outside shooting. If the Spurs can get some decent rebounding I think the Lakers are going to have serious problems with the Spurs combination of shooting and penetration.
The thing that's "missing" this year are those pesky offensive droughts of 6-7 minutes. In the past, Pop seemed to be forced to always have one of Tony or Manu on the floor the entire 48. Now, Mason and Hill give him the luxury of options in his rotation when fatigue or foul trouble pops up.
The Spurs have four players who can shoot, handle, score, and create for themselves and others. in' eh. Get ready for greatness.
Oh, and while I'm thinking about it..."Hey, how about that Darrell Arthur!"
It's great that even with a relatively sub-par defensive performance we still won with a decent cushion.
The nightmarish early games of the season seem like a bad dream now.
In addition to TP looking quite good for coming off injury, for some reason I was most impressed with KT's production. It wasn't great specifically but he played excellent post defense a few times, hit his outside jumper, rebounded well, and in general looked much more like the player we traded a first round draft pick to acquire. I thought he should have got more minutes earlier to help battle Gasol. If he can continue to look like Kurt Thomas that we've seen over the years, then we'll be in at least decent shape down low and whatever positives Ian brings will be a wonderful bonus.
As for player combinations, TP/Duncan/Mason should be a solid trio to initiate offense. From the bench, Hill/Manu/Bonner might be a good trio as well, with Manu being able to be the initiator. Hill and Bonner have played a good two man game together in the past, with Bonner setting screens at the top of the key for Hill to penetrate, and with Bonner then finding his spot outside the 3 point line to accept the pass.
Anyway, as well as the team is playing there probably aren't too many rotations that won't work, though to be honest I do think it's best JV stays on the bench. With the way Hill is playing there aren't any minutes available for him.
I understand that Hollinger's PER is a mixed bag, and that many here find fault with it. But it's striking to me that George Hill (20.07) and Nico Batum (18.48) are 2 and 4 in his rookie ratings. Obviously, I group those two together because they are the players the Spurs wanted during the draft. The front office is doing just fine. And, before the draft, there were rumors that the Spurs were interested in Ryan Anderson, who is ranked 5 on the same chart.
League-wide, the Spurs have the #1 and 5 pgs, according to Hollinger's rankings.
It won't be long until he's gushing....
I went to the Toros game last night and watched Mahinmi play. On the first play of the game he went down with a twisted ankle and motioned to be pulled off the court. He went back to the locker room but came back out later and played some more. His production was downright horrible though. He was arguably the worst Toro on the court last night. In fact, I don't think he saw the court at all in the 4th quarter and maybe just a little in the 3rd. He looked very very bad. I hope it was just the injury, but there was nothing about his game last night that said "NBA" about it.
On the upside, despite lackluster shooting early Malik Hairston played well. In fact he forced overtime with a late 3 pointer and then knocked another one down early in the extra period. And he crashed the boards with authority.
LJ, I think you're mistaken. Tolliver has been promoted to 11th man.
Anthony Tolliver
eight minutes, five points, two rebounds
2-for-3 from the field
Anthony Tolliver gave the Spurs a good amount of energy at the end of the first half. He ran the floor hard and played good defense. Tolliver also found ways to contribute offensively without resorting to the three-point ball. As a 12th man, Tolliver played exactly how he should play when Pop calls on him to add a spark.
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Jacque Vaughn is our new permanent 12th man now.
Hollinger won't ever gush about the Spurs for one reason: he tries to make PERs something he can use to predict team performance, and it doesn't work. That pisses him off.
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