Initial Reaction: Spurs vs. Lakers - Mar. 12

[VI_Massive]

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.

I think after last night's game Pop has more questions than answers

I agree on Bowen. It would be great to have him out there, but he's a hole on offense and the Lakers take advantage of that. They'll put Kobe or Fish on Bowen and they'll leave him to double Parker, Manu, or Duncan. They'll keep doing it until they get killed by open 3s which may or may not come from Bruce. Its like they did last year in the Finals against Rondo, because they didn't respect his jumper. It caused serious problems for Boston until Rondo burned them a few times.

If someone can't hurt them offensively, the Lakers just won't guard that guy and will direct their defensive attention elsewhere.

That's why Hill was out there against Kobe. Pop's trying to give him some shots at guarding Bryant to see if its a usable match-up in the playoffs (I think it is, on a limited basis) and Hill was hitting shots last night and had to be guarded.

[TheManFromAcme]

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.

I think after last night's game Pop has more questions than answers

Your right. Bowen has had some damn good games against Kobe but his offense has been questionable. I don't think we should under-estimate Manu. They boy CAN play some ball and has killed us in the past with his penetrations although I am almost confident our line-up should put a little damper on Manu's game should he come back, but I am stilil not going to underestimate Gino. Got to admit. He is an intricate part of that offense.
I am just not putting our Lakers leagues and leagues ahead of the Spurs. They are 2nd for a reason and Pop is no Isiah Thomas as far as coaching goes. The man knows his stuff.

Edge to Lakers nontheless.

[xtremesteven33]

This game didnt bother me at all.

Our current health status does though.

[TwinTowers]

Your right. Bowen has had some damn good games against Kobe but his offense has been questionable. I don't think we should under-estimate Manu. They boy CAN play some ball and has killed us in the past with his penetrations although I am almost confident our line-up should put a little damper on Manu's game should he come back, but I am stilil not going to underestimate Gino. Got to admit. He is an intricate part of that offense.
I am just not putting our Lakers leagues and leagues ahead of the Spurs. They are 2nd for a reason and Pop is no Isiah Thomas as far as coaching goes. The man knows his stuff.

Edge to Lakers nontheless.

There is no doubt we can't take the Spurs lightly, and Manu has enough game to take over games. We might be better than SA right now, but we have to be more consistent come playoff time specially against those teams that we are likely to face in the first round.

Last night's game gave us a chance to test our toughness, and it was nice to see the team keep their composure when the Spurt cut the lead two 2 points.

[Brazil]

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!

classy post

[Brazil]

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.

I think after last night's game Pop has more questions than answers

When the big 3 is healthy we don't need the Bowen scoring, it's hard to defend 4 out of 5 Offense threats especially when you know that you cannot let the corner 3 open for the fifth element. I think and maybe I'm worng that in PO mode you will see much more Bowen.

[EricB]

Mason's off night, no Ginobili, Duncan not at 100%, and lose a squeeker against the best team in the league?

Eh, nothing to be 100% worried about.

Very intrigued to see how Gooden does tommarow against Houston.

[Spurs Brazil]

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.

That what make me very mad at Bonner. He has 0 mental toughness.

Gooden to the Spurs started on March 1st and in march Bonner is shooting 8-22 from 3PT. This for a guy who was shooting 50%.

Bonner was playing a very good season and I'd like to see that Bonner in the playoffs. If Bonner keep playing scared bench him and start Gooden

[lefty]

i agree.....

so can i be myself again?

[lefty]

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!

[aka_USAPA]

No worries, if Pop had wanted to win this game he would've trapped Kobe more instead of guarding him with Hill. Hill didn't do that badly he just doesn't have the height to guard Kobe.

So Popovich tanked the game? Is that what the Spurs have turned to? Tankers? If that's true, Pop should be fired!!!

[xtremesteven33]

If the Spurs had a 18 point lead in the first half and blew it to lose the game...

then i would be worried about this teams chances of winning it all.

im just worried about health right now. IF healthy we are just as good as the Lakers IMHO

[hater]

Good points, whottt. The glass half full look at this game is that the Spurs played like death in the first quarter, didn't have Manu, Gooden wasn't available for a full workload ... and the Spurs still almost won.

Not sure I agree with an assessment that rosy but this wasn't a typical devastating loss to the Lakers.

wake up. Phil Jackson took his foot off the accelerator in 2nd quarter and his team cruised after that point.

Do not fool yourself. This loss was BAD, the scoreboard does not show it but IMO it is equivalent to a 40+ pt loss. The Lakers and especially that asshole Jackson was toying with us.

only positives I saw was Spurs remained poised and did not get totally rattled. That is a huge positive. Another positive, Gooden looks good.

[xtremesteven33]

wake up. Phil Jackson took his foot off the accelerator in 2nd quarter and his team cruised after that point.

Do not fool yourself. This loss was BAD, the scoreboard does not show it but IMO it is equivalent to a 40+ pt loss. The Lakers and especially that asshole Jackson was toying with us.

only positives I saw was Spurs remained poised and did not get totally rattled. That is a huge positive. Another positive, Gooden looks good.

Playing Gasol and Kobe over 40 minutes after a B2B isnt toying....

[hater]

Playing Gasol and Kobe over 40 minutes after a B2B isnt toying....

I agree Lakers bench is their achilles heel. But regardless they were cruising

[TwinTowers]

When the big 3 is healthy we don't need the Bowen scoring, it's hard to defend 4 out of 5 Offense threats especially when you know that you cannot let the corner 3 open for the fifth element. I think and maybe I'm worng that in PO mode you will see much more Bowen.

Still I don't know if he would be able to play heavy minutes regardless the rest he is getting. Personally, I don't expect him to have the same impact he had in previous season, but like you said "maybe I'm wrong"

[urunobili]

Playing Gasol and Kobe over 40 minutes after a B2B isnt toying....

[PDXSpursFan]

We need to these changes immediately:

1) Gooden = starter, Bonner = backup
2) Manu = starter, Mason = backup
3) No more Mason as PG
4) No more Hill as SG

[Chomag]

No Manu...

Guys we really can't keep playing the Manu card anymore. There might be a possibility he will no play this season. Even if he does there is still that possibility he wont be healthy,nor he wont have much time to get back into his rhythm.

Hey, I miss him too but we can't keep saying "I wish Manu was here" every game the Spurs play because the fact is he isn't. I know how important he is to our team,and how great he is but we have to think about trying to find ways to win without him.

As for TD, I'm really worried about him. Those knees just will not get better unless he can rest them. If TD is struggling this bad why wont they just give him a week or 2 off? Why keep playing him and not allow him to heal since he can't contribute much right now at his current state?

Hill IMO did a very good job on Kobe. You got to cut the Kid some slack. Why do some of you want to bash him for that one 3pt shot Kobe made on him? Honestly Kobe would have made that same shot on any of our defenders. He has made those shots many time ageist us and many other teams in the past and it wasn't Hill guarding him. Yes, Kobe is an ass but he has alot of talent and hitting that shot when it matters is one of them.

Bowen is still our best defender on Kobe but it really does look like he has lost a step or two. To bad Hairston is in Pops dog house. He did a awesome job on LBJ when he was given a chance and I would have loved to have seen what he can do for us against Kobe.

The weakness of our team is greatly exploited when we play up against Athletic teams. Thankfully we do have that High IQ from our vets and we are going to need the best of that from them to overcome them. I still believer we have the pieces to win a Championship this year but there is no doubt other teams feel the same way. its going to be a very compe ive playoffs this year and I can't wait.

All in saying that bring us a 09

[DrHouse]

The Lakers didn't cruise but you could tell they were getting tired in the 2nd half.

Spurs took advantage and clawed their way back into the game.

Still one has to wonder how a team can shoot 65% from 3pt land and still lose the game.

[PDXSpursFan]

No Manu...

No Manu... = No realistic chance to beat Lakers as simple as that

[callo1]

The Spurs came out and played as bad in the 1st quarter as they have all year and they still had a great shot to win this game late in the 4th.

The Spurs won 3 of the 4 quarters. (yeah I know, they lost the game)


Fin, Ime and Hill are all playing well.

We got nothing from Bonner, and TD had a crappy game.

Drew looked great in the 4 minutes he got.

I don't feel worried in any way about this loss...frustrated by giving away the 1st quarter...yes, worried, no.

It was clear that the Lakers wanted the game more by the energy they played with in the opening quarter.

Life goes on

[Flux451]

The Lakers didn't cruise but you could tell they were getting tired in the 2nd half.

Spurs took advantage and clawed their way back into the game.

Still one has to wonder how a team can shoot 65% from 3pt land and still lose the game.

One has to wonder how a team can shoot 50% from the free throw line and win this game.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

The Lakers didn't cruise but you could tell they were getting tired in the 2nd half.

Spurs took advantage and clawed their way back into the game.

Still one has to wonder how a team can shoot 65% from 3pt land and still lose the game.

5-13 on ft's and outrebounded by 9

Not that hard to fathom. If anything, the 3 point shooting is what kept us from getting really blown out.

[lefty]

Ime Udoka continues his improved play. I liked his aggressiveness on the defensive. In fact, his toughness on that end seemed to change the momentum of the game at a point in which the contest could have gotten away from the Spurs. Udoka still has a lot of room for improvement but considering the depths of where he's come from, a Spurs fan has to be happy about his current level.

Udoka pissed me off; his focus wasn't there, he didn't block players out at all, allowing them to take eaaaaasy rebounds.
He also had a re ed foul