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Bonsu bensu doing good with rapsu repsu
If Gooden plays as well as I've seen him play in the past (the 4 minutes he played was a good glimpse of that), then we definitely have a very good chance against the lakers in the playoffs. That turn-around jump shot that he made was something Oberto, Bonner and Thomas could never make in a million years. He's much quicker than these 3 to the rebound and defending other players. He's also willing to use his body to bang around. If Gooden and Duncan are healthy in the playoffs, we are guaranteed at least reaching the conference finals.
The two nagging concerns would be
(1) Our backup point guard seems wilt against the Lakers pesky defense.
(2) Finding a player with enough length and athleticism to guard Kobe. What happened to Pops Mensah Bonsu?
Bonsu bensu doing good with rapsu repsu
if we want to win against the lakers we must dominate the boards. we can't get kill on the boards every time we played the lakers!!
The only thing that seems to make a smidgeon of sense is that Pop wanted to give Hill a baptism by fire?
That doesn't make much sense, but I don't know how else to process the decision not to put Bowen on Kobe, and/or the kneejerk reaction to pull Mason out. This year everything will have to go right in order for us to win a ring, and that includes Hill. Maybe Pop wanted to give him a taste of playoff intensity by being posterized.
I agree, Duncan looks creaky. Might as well rest him, HCA is a lost cause and we need to get healthy to prepare for what will likely be our last chance to go deep into the playoffs with this team as we know it.
hard to be optimistic right now.
Manu is still injured and we don't know if he'll be able to get back at full strenght for the PO. Probably not considering the time he took him to get back at full strenght (did he anyway ?) from his last injury.
Tim will probably not be at 100 % for the PO either.
Tony is carrying us for a long time now and this heavy efforts he provides could strike back in the PO too.
I have good hopes in Gooden level but i just can't see him able to be really efficient with so few time left till the PO.
i think that Bonner, Hill and probably Mason too will all be at best decent in the PO. I just can't see them at a very high level in the PO.
And despite all that, i still believe in our chances. i think we can beat every team in the west. but NO or Utah would be very hard to beat and LA is a big favorite against us.
i think it will all depends again on the Big four (tim, tony, manu and bruce), i'm not waiting too much from the others players and considering the health issues, it could be worrying.
we have worst luck with injuries in playoffs
i wish manu hadn't played for argentina
Yeah, that decision ain't looking too good now. Thanks, Manu.we have worst luck with injuries in playoffs
i wish manu hadn't played for argentina
A key adjustment from the Spurs in the second half was the way they attacked the Lakers extended half court defense. The Lakers, unlike most teams, play pretty tight defense out 10-15 feet past the 3 point line. The Spurs were trying to set the plays from out there and it was making the passes much more difficult and was bogging down the offense. Once Parker started attacking the defense from further out, the Spurs played some decent offense and I think it's a big part of beating this extended, pressuring Lakers half court D.
No moral victories, but I was happy to see the Spurs fight their way back into that game.
There's no way Bonner should ever start against the Lakers. They're just too big and athletic. I was impressed with Gooden, even though he only played a few minutes.
More than any other team, Phil really has a good scheme to defend Tony Parker.
I want to believe this...
and BTW... this Laker team is perfectly beatable if we get to play them healthy... i am not scared of them at all...
I've already said that but sometimes I'm lost with Pop. Why playing Drew just 4 minutes in the third ?? In 4 minutes he gave 2 pts, 4 rebounds and hope for what ? just to see if he can play 4 min against the lakers ? try to kill his confidence ?
I'd prefer not seeing him at all than 4 miserable minutes.
For the rest everything has been said. I particulary agree with the stop saying we miss manu it doesn't help the rest of the team to go through this reg season and maybe PO.
Last yeah after a breakout series against NOH he CHOKED big time against LA... so until he proves us wrong he aint no Lakers Killer... yet...
Was I watching the same game as Whottt? I saw nothing positive to take away from this game. Yes, the Spurs played well for 3 quarters, but a large part of the reason that the Spurs were able to come back was because of Lakers bench players coming in. In the playoffs, I doubt Phil gives his bench that long of a run.
The biggest reason why I highly doubt the Spurs will beat the Lakers in a 7 game series, should it come to that, is Kobe. Spurs have absolutely NO ONE to guard him. Bruce Bowen is your best bet, and even he has lost a step which was noticable. Not only that, but the defense he provides does not make up for the offense that is lost at the other end of the court. You cannot play 4 on 5 against this offensively potent Lakers team and expect to win.
Secondly, Lakers role players have too much length and atheletism for the Spurs role players to defend. Ariza, Gasol, and Odom basically had their way with the Spurs. And even that stupid Luke Walton always seems to play great against us
Thirdly, Duncan did not look like Duncan, and that is not good news. Period.
You can argue that the Spurs were missing Ginobili and Gooden hasn't had a chance to play yet, etc. but the Lakers were also without Andrew Bynum. As great as Ginobili is, I'm not sure even he can be the person that carries us over the top against this Lakers team. It's just a plain bad matchup for the Spurs any way you look at it.
+1
l.a. does a grreat job of perimeter D on S.A. They disrupt the whole offense and Spurs end up shooting poor shoots at the shot clock. l.a. typically makes Tony look bewildered. Last night Tony finally started to impose his will.
In the past it was the Spurs that use to jam the triangle up high.
They can't do that anymore.
Bonner was useless and basically hurt the team each minute he was on the court. I hope Pop stops starting him automatically and instead subs him for Drew and Kurt. , Fab was better. Bonner's play completely lacked confidence and purpose.
Hill had no business guarding Kobe.
Bruce was underplayed AGAIN. Ime was nice, but I would never count on him. Finley had an incredible night. If he only had scored his average, we would have been blown wide open.
It took Parker an entire half to yank his tampon.
Mason did not look sharp at all. He does an awful job of creating his own shot. Stop with the low percentage long distance pull up 3s four feet beyond the arc Mase! Leave that to Rasheed.
Tim is not looking good at all...that's the most worrisome thing of all. When he runs up the court it's a lumbering plodding gait. Ouch, just hurts to watch.
Spotting the WC champs 18 pts in the 1st Q, grabbing only 3 offensive rebounds, committing 16 turnovers and missing 8 FTs won't get it done.
Better thank Phil Jackson let go off the accelerator pedal in the 2nd quarter or this would have been a beating of historic proportions. Also thank Finley.
duncan got owned all game long.
Wrong.
Kobe nearly played 40 minutes.
Gasol played over 40 minutes.
Good game. Loved the win (of course) but here are my observations:
- Spurs are really under-estimating the value of even a 70-75% healthy Manu. We know he's good for 20-25 points (or more when healthy) so if mathematical logic holds true, wouldn't a 70-75% healthy Manu give you 15-20 points?
- Pop just may be pulling his CIA antics to feel us out. I liked what I saw in Gooden last night. Why he didn't play more is beyond me. Thanks Pop!
- I love Bynum. Good defensive presence but maybe (just maybe) we are a little quicker w/o him and and having him last night may have thrown things off chemically speaking. Follow me Spur fan?
- Even I have to admit. I expected more from the Spurs. That run in the 3rd could have been the clincher had Mason hit more of his shots.
- Bonner? I may be in the minority here but Oberto seems to have more "girth" to give some of the LA front line some physicality.
Anyway, I still want to see Manu in to really gauge us.
Can't stand the Spurs but hope you guys get healthy to see you at the WCF's.
Don't lose hope just yet dudes!
Tough loss for the Spurs. And it's Pop's fault, too. That pregame speech of his really inspired the Spurs to come out and hand the Lakers an 18 point 1st Q lead. He even admitted that his speech prior to the game was pathetic when he was interviewed right after the 1st Q was over on ESPN.
Anyway the Spurs can't give an opponent like the Lakers that kind of lead after one Q and expect to win many of them. They out played them for the next 3 Qs but it wasn't enough. I understand that our FTs sucked - 8 for 16 - but it all boils down to what we did in the 1st Q. After that it was all uphill. We almost pulled it out but just couldn't get over the top.
We have injury problems with the Spurs - Manu and TD. TD's knees looked pretty bad and like some others here have already stated I haven't seen that kind of brace on him ever, as well as him with the icebags. As for Manu it's a wait and see situation. I wasn't too happy to hear that he had soreness in the right ankle after the shootaround the other day. It may be nothing and that's what I hope it is. Just some soreness due to inactivity and nothing more. This is a concern since we all know that in order to win a le this team/any team has to be healthy. We need both TD and Manu back healthy. Period. This is a no-brainer from my point of view.
As for Bonner he really doesn't match up with the Lakers at all. No rebounds? That's terrible for a starting C. And if he can't score then he's worthless as the -17 indicated. This is a tough call for Pop. Bonner has played well for the most part this season but isn't a good matrchup against the Lakers. How can we hide his liabilities against them besides the obvious (bench)? Tough to change your starting lineup in the POs IMO. I think you have to go with him initially but with a quick hook. Hopefully by then Gooden has become comfortable in the system (as well as you can hope for considering how late he got here) and can take the extra minutes. Seeing him get 4 rebounds in 4 minutes is quite encouraging.
I'm still optimistic about uor chances in the POs. But we won't have any if TD and Manu aren't at least 85% or better and even that might not get it done, either.
Or the Celtics....Because they did it last year. But I do think the Spurs can beat the Lakers in the playoffs it's just gonna take a lot of effort and luck (healthwise)
Gooden test....testing....1, 2.
I think Pop saw and knew what we could do with him. I think he was trying to win without him. I don't think this win was as important as many think. There is no way we are catching the Lakers for first. I believe after tonight, Pop saw who he can play in rotations against the Lakers.
Props to our 2nd unit!!! Fun to watch them. In the 2nd half it was hard to watch our 1st unit come back and watch them slow our momentum the 2nd unit built.
Anyone else getting tired of Mason pulling the trigger on 3's 5ft away from the line? I like his deep threes, but the unneccesary ones with out passing and ball movement urk me.
Bonnner starting was a huge mistake. Oberto should of got his minutes.
Overall, if Pop wasn't worried about winning, why play Duncan a lot of mins, why not rest him?
I like the chances against the Lakers. Some more free throws and rebounds and win in our pocket.
Trying to be optimistic- maybe the knee pads are hindering Duncan's movement.
Oberto has always been the best Spurs big on Gasol.
The signing of Gooden seems to have put Bonner back in his funk.
Lakers beat the #3 team in the West and the #2 team in the West on back-to-back nights on the road. They are just that good.
You forgot to mention Bowen. He is the only spur that can play decent defense against Kobe, but in offense is a total liability. He can get hot a hit some 3s from time to time, but don’t bet on that for a PO series. Actually when he was in the game, Lakers were able to play better defense allowing Kobe to help inside, and rotate timely to outside shooters. Besides health issues, and size inside, the biggest question mark for the spurs right now is how to stop kobe; he only scored 23 last night, but we all know he’s capable of more.Good game. Loved the win (of course) but here are my observations:
- Spurs are really under-estimating the value of even a 70-75% healthy Manu. We know he's good for 20-25 points (or more when healthy) so if mathematical logic holds true, wouldn't a 70-75% healthy Manu give you 15-20 points?
- Pop just may be pulling his CIA antics to feel us out. I liked what I saw in Gooden last night. Why he didn't play more is beyond me. Thanks Pop!
- I love Bynum. Good defensive presence but maybe (just maybe) we are a little quicker w/o him and and having him last night may have thrown things off chemically speaking. Follow me Spur fan?
- Even I have to admit. I expected more from the Spurs. That run in the 3rd could have been the clincher had Mason hit more of his shots.
- Bonner? I may be in the minority here but Oberto seems to have more "girth" to give some of the LA front line some physicality.
Anyway, I still want to see Manu in to really gauge us.
Can't stand the Spurs but hope you guys get healthy to see you at the WCF's.
Don't lose hope just yet dudes!
I think after last night's game Pop has more questions than answers
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