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Not a good way to start off on March.
Thanks timvp
After beating the Trail Blazers four days prior, the San Antonio Spurs traveled to Portland for a rematch. From the opening tip, the Blazers illustrated why they are such a dominant home team. By the final buzzer, revenge in Portland was complete.
A Matt Bonner first quarter three-pointer put the Spurs up 10-9 but following three straight baskets by the Trail Blazers, the game quickly got out of hand. The Spurs were down by a dozen after the first stanza and trailed by 27 at the half. By the time the game mercifully ended, the Blazers had posted a 102-84 victory.
Although the Blazers are likely a bit too young to be a true championship contender this season, there’s no doubt that they have one of the top three most talented rosters in the entire NBA. Brandon Roy is blossoming into a superstar and LaMarcus Aldridge is now one of the best power forwards in the game. If a few of their other young players continue to improve, a championship appears to be in Portland’s future.
As for the Spurs, the only good news on the night was the return of Tim Duncan to the lineup. Outside of that, it was one of the most miserable games of the season. They were thoroughly outplayed, outworked and outexecuted. The four-game winning streak now seems like a distant memory and San Antonio desperately needs a win to stop the reeling.
Tim Duncan
26 minutes, 14 points, four rebounds, three steals, two assists, two turnovers
6-for-15 from the field, 2-for-4 at the line
Tim Duncan was back but the rust was apparent. He moved decently well but his explosiveness off of two feet was noticeably lacking. Hopefully this was just the first step in Duncan working himself back into shape. It’s too early to panic yet but the Spurs need Duncan a lot more mobile than he was on Sunday night. He had a couple of good moves offensively but his defense and rebounding were missing in action.
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Tony Parker
28 minutes, 15 points, four assists, two rebounds, two turnovers
7-for-16 from the field, 1-for-1 at the line
For the second straight game, Parker didn’t look like he was totally all there. His jumpers were again short and he missed a few layups at the rim. It appears as if that two-game Superman stretch has come back to haunt San Antonio’s point guard. On defense, Parker had his worst showing in the last five games. After shutting out Steve Blake in the AT&T Center, Blake found room to get his shot off this time around. Parker needs to get his legs back and help carry the team until Manu Ginobili returns.
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Roger Mason, Jr.
25 minutes, 13 points, four rebounds
4-for-9 from the field, 3-for-4 on three-pointers, 2-for-2 at the line
Offensively, Roger Mason, Jr. was good enough. He hit his three-pointers and was one of the few players able to penetrate the Blazers' defense. His defense, on the other hand, wasn’t nearly as favorable. He got toasted by Roy repeatedly and his effort and intensity on that end of the court wasn’t up to Spurs standards. For the second straight game, Mason let down his teammates on the defense and didn’t create enough offense to compensate.
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Michael Finley
15 minutes, one assist
0-for-1 from the field
Michael Finley had one of his patented ghost games. Unless you are related to Finley, you probably didn’t notice he played. In 15 minutes, he took one shot and handed out one assist – and that’s it. Defensively, Finley did nothing of note because he spot most of his time defending Nicolas Batum, who played the role of observer on offense. Let’s hope this isn’t a sign of Finley starting to trend back towards a cold streak.
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Matt Bonner
25 minutes, eight points, four rebounds
3-for-6 from the field, 2-for-4 on three-pointers
Matt Bonner had a decent affair. Offensively, he took advantage of the shots he was given. He might have forced the issue a couple of times but you can’t argue with his percentages. On defense, Bonner could have played much better. Going against Aldridge, he’s obviously at a physical disadvantage but he compounded the issue by letting Aldridge push him around. Bonner has lacked physicality recently and his defense and rebounding have suffered as a result.
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Malik Hairston
25 minutes, six points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals, four turnovers
3-for-9 shooting
Pop gave Malik Hairston an opportunity to win some minutes by playing him in the first half and almost the entire second half, however Hairston didn’t take full advantage. He showed some flashes of NBA ability, especially on the defensive end, but he still has a ways to go. Offensively, he needs to lose his hesitation and trust his jumper. He makes good decisions when he’s not second guessing himself, which is a good sign for his future. On defense, he tends to overplay too much in some situations but his D definitely is reason enough to keep him around. Overall, Hairston has made a case to leapfrog Udoka in the depth charts but he doesn’t appear to be close to a spot in the rotation.
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George Hill
20 minutes, ten points, four assists, four turnovers
3-for-7 from the field, 1-for-1 on three-pointers
George Hill struggled mightily out of the gates and aided Portland in extending their lead. If he wasn’t missing shots, he was making bad decisions or turning the ball over. Once the fourth quarter garbage time arrived, Hill played much better. The best news is that he seemed to have found his perimeter jumper. He nailed two long two-pointers and his first three-pointer since Jan. 14 against the Lakers. Going forward, hopefully Hill has more confidence in his jumper because without it, he’s a borderline offensive liability.
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Bruce Bowen
19 minutes, five rebound, two rebounds, one block
2-for-4 from the field, 1-for-2 on three-pointers
By the time Bruce Bowen got on Roy, Portland’s two-time All-Star was blazing. Though Bowen was able to cool him off, it was too little, too late for San Antonio. Sunday night re-emphasized the case for Bowen going back to the starting lineup. If a star perimeter player on the opposition gets rolling, it’s easy to find your team down by double-digits before you can blink. Bowen, despite his age, is still easily the best answer on the team to slowing down the best shooting guards and small forwards the NBA has to offer.
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Fabricio Oberto
17 minutes, four points, six rebounds, one assist
2-for-3 from the field
Fabricio Oberto wasn’t really a bright spot but he was about as close to one as there was for San Antonio. It was nice to have someone willing to throw his body around and hit the boards with some authority. Overall, Oberto might have been the best bigman for the Spurs against the Blazers – which in itself would explain why the Spurs got annihilated.
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Ime Udoka
17 minutes, five points, three rebounds
2-for-3 from the field, 1-for-1 on three-pointers
Ime Udoka wasn’t quite as horrible as he was against the Cavaliers on Friday, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort. His defense was again bad and it took him until the game was almost over for him to get on track offensively. For reasons unknown, Pop allowed Udoka to play almost the entire second quarter. During that time, Udoka had two missed shots, two fouls and a turnover.
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Kurt Thomas
14 minutes, two rebounds
Where has the Kurt Thomas of a few games ago gone? Against the Blazers, Thomas looked like the player who couldn’t get out of his own way to begin the season. He didn’t even attempt a shot on the offensive end and his defense was unimpressive. Thomas needs to bring his hardhat on a more consistent basis, especially now that the Spurs are leaning on him for production.
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Pops Mensah-Bonsu
Seven minutes, four points, three rebounds
2-for-4 from the field
Pops Mensah-Bonsu played the final seven minutes of the game as the blowout was wrapping up. Once again, his athleticism was notable and he showed an improving amount of skill in his repertoire. Mensah-Bonsu hit a jumper, something he didn’t have in his game a few years ago, and also demonstrated an ability to play passable perimeter defense. For a player on a ten-day contract, he’s done a good job of opening eyes in both San Antonio and around the league. If he can keep his energy level high and realize he needs to rely on his hustle, Mensah-Bonsu should be able to find a spot somewhere in the league.
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Gregg Popovich
I didn’t like much of anything Pop did on Sunday night. Bowen needed to get into the game quicker when Roy was lighting it up. Udoka doesn’t deserve playing time right now. It would have also been nice to get a longer look at Mensah-Bonsu, if for no other reason than to evaluate his current status. After the Spurs got down, Pop had a herky-jerky player rotation that added to the mess. It’s deep enough into the season that Pop should start coming up with some semblance of a rotation.
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Offense
The offensive execution was extremely poor for much of the game. The cohesion was lacking and combined with a shortage of liveliness, the Spurs really gave themselves no shot. For the game, the Spurs shot 44.2% from the floor and hit 8-of-13 three-pointers. The problem areas for the Spurs were assists (16), turnovers (16) and free throw attempts (12).
Defense
San Antonio’s defense in the first half got shredded. The Trail Blazers scored 64 first half points and basically got any look they wanted. The Spurs were able to hold Portland to 38 points in the final two quarters but that was mostly due to the game already being over. On the night, the Blazers shot 48.6% from the floor, nailed 7-of-18 three-pointers and connected on 23-of-29 free throws. They also did a great job passing the ball (22 assists), taking care of the ball (11 turnovers) and rebounding the ball (42-35 advantage).
Drive to Five
While the Cavs loss was understandable and somewhat expected, this loss against the Blazers was much more distressing. The Spurs usually don’t get steamrolled without offering any resistance. Against the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night, the black uniforms need a bounce back performance.
Believe.
Not a good way to start off on March.
Thanks timvp
I'm glad that Hairston seems to belong. After summer league I figured he'd go the way of Marcus Williams pretty quickly.
Excellent analysis as always timvp! Keep up the good work!
I totally agree about Bowen. Why is Finley starting instead of him? Is is part of Pop's efforts to get more offense on the court? Does he think Finley will play more of those "ghost" games coming off the bench? Does he think Bowen can't handle the minutes? Does he think he can just bring Bowen in to put out defensive fires if needed? I'm mystified.
Why is Finley always the one to get the finger pointed at him when the whole team plays like ? Just curious.
Yeah, Hairston has improved greatly since summer league. A lot of the reason is he's slimmed down and under that baby fat was a pretty damn athletic player. He looks like he can probably still shed a few more pounds.
Now if he can get a confidence boost and extend his range, he could become Devin Brown without the bad back.
*commence whottt meltdown*
I don't know what Pop's doing with Bowen now..I thought by this point, he'd be playing more..I don't even think he covered Lebron for one possession on Friday, and he barely covered Roy in this game..
is Pop just testing others out? what's the point? I guess he doesn't wanna show his hand until the playoffs, but it's March, Bowen needs to get in a rhythm with the team at this point..
Hopefully with a better work ethic as well.
Yeah, I'm really not understanding what Bowen is doing with Bowen. If Pop plays Bowen this few minutes when the games really start to count, that would be a huge coaching mistake. Sure he's old but Finley is almost as old and has many more miles on him.
Picking Finley over Bowen come playoff time would be an unforgiveable sin.
I hear ya, but its not like teams will be surprised that we have this great wing defender named Bruce Bowen. People know about him. I could understand holding back on a specific set of schemes or something, but just not playing one guy?
The only plausible reasons I can think of are:
1. Finley is terrible off the bench.
2. Pop wants to save Bruce's stamina for the playoffs.
3. Pop is starting Finley to put more offense on the court.
I think timvp's analysis was fairly harsh towards all those who deserved it for Sunday night. I was mentioning Finley specifically because I am not sure why Pop continues to start him when I think its better to start Bowen for a variety of reasons.
I tend to think pop really rather have finley on the court than bowen
counting on team D and offesive execution
i like finley but i really think of a mistake of van exel's proportion
Pop's a great coach but sometimes.................
Yeah because Van Exel averaged over double digits.
I'm still asking to this day, who should have played instead of Van Exel!?!? NO one will answer it for some reason.
4 TOs in 20 min for a back up PG w/o any agressiveness on Offense is not good, he has hit the rookie wall it's time for him to break it.
That's a long time. Let's hope this one get him goingHe nailed two long two-pointers and his first three-pointer since Jan. 14 against the Lakers.
this beno guy couldn't hava done worse
and you're mistaking my analogy, i named van exel just because pop has a man crush on vets, and he was a former all star also, not because of points, hair style, or anything else
I think timvp pointed quite a few fingers at folks.
But 15 mins with a single shot attempt and one assist......
Fail
by the way, this paloma girl is way too physically perfect to be a mere human
#2 is what I've been thinking the entire season so far, but I'm starting to have second thoughts..hopefully we see Bruce more in the playoffs..
#3 could be a possibility as well, and I keep hearing it, but Bowen isn't as big of a liability as it's perceived..he's shooting 44% from 3's this season, he's improved as a FT shooter, he's improved his offense everywhere actually..
Unless you are related to Finley, you probably didn’t notice he played
Ime Udoka wasn’t quite as horrible as he was against the Cavaliers on Friday, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort.Oh, Ime, what the happened...
If one accepts that Pop's mission is to appease Finley then everything makes "sense".
It's bad enough Finley's minutes eat into the possibility of developing a younger player, but now that Bowen is getting less burn it's even more irritating and head-scratching.
I like Udoka but I'd actually like to see him cut if that means more minutes for Malik and Bruce. There's needs to be some sanity to the rotation. Right now Pop is treating it like a wine tasting event where he randomly samples different combinations.
Are you saying you DON'T think the Spurs will pick him up?Pops Mensah-Bonsu
Seven minutes, four points, three rebounds
2-for-4 from the field
Pops Mensah-Bonsu played the final seven minutes of the game as the blowout was wrapping up. Once again, his athleticism was notable and he showed an improving amount of skill in his repertoire. Mensah-Bonsu hit a jumper, something he didn’t have in his game a few years ago, and also demonstrated an ability to play passable perimeter defense. For a player on a ten-day contract, he’s done a good job of opening eyes in both San Antonio and around the league. If he can keep his energy level high and realize he needs to rely on his hustle, Mensah-Bonsu should be able to find a spot somewhere in the league.
The thing that stood out for me in this game was Pop's bizaare and downright discouraging rotations. And I'll be glad to see the day when Finley hangs up his jersey for good.
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