Initial Reaction: Spurs vs. Celtics - Mar. 20

[Mavs<Spurs]

KG played 15 min and bring 10 pts 4 reb and 1 assist which is more than Manu I guess
Ray came back from injury but played 40 mn !!! bringing 19 points, I guess he was ok to play
Pierce shot bad but maybe for once we can give credit to spurs Defense
Powe is not a significant element of the equation.

Boston didn't run on all cylinders but that was more than SA : no manu/tim at 70% and gooden that played only 4 games with the spurs

I think that's a fair assessment of the relative healthiness of both teams and who was hurt more by injuries.

Nevertheless, we still should have won this game. And it's not the injuries that got us, it was the third quarter and missing 6 free throws at the end that cost us this game. We could have and should have won it since the opportunity was there and that opportunity was there even with the injury situation. Since we had the opportunity and didn't capitalize on it, but actually threw it away, we have no excuses. This was a totally winnable game.

[raspsa]

The Spurs won in the boxscores with the exception of the 3-point shooting w/c was hoorendous. Its been mentioned a lot that the Spurs have become a team that lives and dies by the 3-point shot and this night they died. So be it. What I've a harder time accepting is the 6 misses from the line.. hopefully its an aberration.

Anyway, the Spurs had their chances and they blew it plain and simple. Against a Boston team that was struggling. The spurs defense was sporadic.. good at times then suddenly giving up open looks to perimeter jumpshots.. this game lacked the thrill of the game in Boston somehow even though it was closely fought.. maybe I just miss the passion and excitement manu brings to the team.

[VI_Massive]

Just checking. I know I'm in the minority, but I think his length, quickness, and athleticism make up for his lack of height. You may have a problem against a guy like McGrady, but other that I would be okay having a second unit of he, Manu, and Mason....preferably with Manu running point or at least setting up the offense. The Hornets worked it pretty well with Paul and Pargo last season.

I agree about his length, etc. That's what makes him able to guard a guy like Allen who has 3-4 inches in height on Hill. But I think against someone a bit bigger like Kobe or even Manu, George could be vulnerable to being shot over and/or posted up. Not that he can't be part of a package of guys used to contain someone crazy like Kobe, but I don't think you can stick him on someone like that and just be confident with his ability like you would with Bruce. That being said, I think Hill has crazy defensive chops, seems to be picking up lots of tricks and stuff from Bowen, and can be great at guarding guys up to about 6'4"-5".

[NewJerSpur]

I agree about his length, etc. That's what makes him able to guard a guy like Allen who has 3-4 inches in height on Hill. But I think against someone a bit bigger like Kobe or even Manu, George could be vulnerable to being shot over and/or posted up. Not that he can't be part of a package of guys used to contain someone crazy like Kobe, but I don't think you can stick him on someone like that and just be confident with his ability like you would with Bruce. That being said, I think Hill has crazy defensive chops, seems to be picking up lots of tricks and stuff from Bowen, and can be great at guarding guys up to about 6'4"-5".

His defensive adaptation to the NBA game came faster than I could've dreamed, that's for sure. Once his jump shot catches up, LOOK OUT NBA!!

EDIT: Also Dallas got away with it with Terry and Harris.

[VI_Massive]

His defensive adaptation to the NBA game came faster than I could've dreamed, that's for sure. Once his jump shot catches up, LOOK OUT NBA!!

Agreed. You know they wouldn't have drafted him if he couldn't hack in on D, but it is better than we could have imagined. Plus he seems confident enough to play in crunch time with a veteran team that eats up the pressure (excepting tonight). He finishes at the rim, he flies high for rebounds. I just love it. I would love to see him get more looks offensively when Parker isn't on the court.

And you're right, when his jumper gets better (its already solid) he's going to be a handful.

[NewJerSpur]

His jumper's gotten a bit better, but it's still working its way toward solid....of course, it's true he doesn't really take enough shots to truly judge its consistency at this point though. As long as he keeps slashing, that's enough for the coming postseason.

[Joe Schmoogins]

good thoughts... I'm thinking that this RMJ @ point experiment will soon come to an end... hopefully it coincides with the return of ginobili

[Thomas82]

Garnett just came back from injury and didn't play at all in the 4th quarter, Ray Allen just came back from injury, Pierce shot uncharacteristically bad and they had no Leon Powe. I wouldn't consider Boston running on all cylinders...

Well, at least we can say that we have already beat Boston with them running on all cylinders.

[mexicanjunior]

Well, at least we can say that we have already beat Boston with them running on all cylinders.

It's too bad the Spurs haven't played at that level since...There is no guarantee they will with Duncan in worse health and Manu not guaranteed to return to form.

[Austin_Toros]

I'm guessing the hate Mike Fin fan club will be coming out soon?

[Trainwreck2100]

My initial reaction

"What the was that "

true story

[NewJerSpur]

Finley's general discouragers (the die hard ones that hate on him even with the season he's had compared to last year) will have to make room for the contingency posting Mason on their crap list.

[Capt Bringdown]

-I liked how Pop was coaching until a fateful subs ution in the fourth quarter. With four and a half minutes left in the game, he inexplicably put Finley into the game. Finley wasn't doing anything offensively and he came in and quickly made the offense worse.

We've seen it all season. Frustrating doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about it. On the other hand, Mason was in brick-layer mode, so who's he gonna put in, Udoka?

For me the play of the game was Allen's steal and layup to end the first half. That's the kind of crafty veteran play we used to inflict on our opponents.

So, at this point in the season we're finding new ways to lose. Wonderful.

[024]

it was a good outing defensively. probably the only positive i can take from this game is that bowen seems to be rounding back into shape. pierce and allen were both held to low field goal percentages. other than that though, the spurs role players really dropped the ball offensively. both literally and figuratively.

[timvp]

We've seen it all season. Frustrating doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about it. On the other hand, Mason was in brick-layer mode, so who's he gonna put in, Udoka?

Mason was already in. I would have kept Bowen on the court. If not Bowen, then Hill. If not Hill, then Udoka. If not Udoka, then Manu in his suit.

[Blackjack]

We've seen it all season. Frustrating doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about it. On the other hand, Mason was in brick-layer mode, so who's he gonna put in, Udoka?

For me the play of the game was Allen's steal and layup to end the first half. That's the kind of crafty veteran play we used to inflict on our opponents.

So, at this point in the season we're finding new ways to lose. Wonderful.

That was flat-out inexcusable.

He can remind you of Jack from time-to-time with his swagger and clutch shooting, unfortunately, he can also do the same with his careless/loose ball-handling and affinity for the turnover.

The other play that sticks out was the bull call between Tony and Ray.

Can anyone explain how Tony shoots the gap for a steal on Allen, to which there was no whistle blown, gets his hand on the ball and has clear sailing for an easy 2, only to hit the floor after being hit in the face (after Allen flailed looking for a call or in frustration of the steal) and then has the whistle blown and the foul assessed on him (Parker)?

I'm sitting there thinking the Spurs are about to go up 9 (maybe more if it was deemed a clear-path foul) but instead the Celtics get the ball, and all so predictably, a 3-point play immediately following the incident. I'm not going to sit here and blame the refs for the loss, afterall, the Spurs outplayed and had every opportunity to win this game had they made a damn shot outside of the paint or a free-throw, but there were a couple of momentum-swinging calls that had me thinking WTF?

[timaios]

Tony Parker couldn't hit a midrange jumper in that game.

He was 0/8 from 15+ feet.
He was 12/15 from 6- feet.

That could be an explanation for his awful FT shooting.

RuffnReadyOzStyle is the specialist of the TP jumper's form.
Maybe it was one of those games with the pre-Engelland form.

[crc21209]

Never ever in my life had I seen a team miss 6 free throws in a row in the last minute of a tight game...NEVER....just one of those nights....

[Bukefal]

What a game, again TP did a great job, bowen and thomas too, but the rest? TP was the only one who gave everything of himself, and fought for this game. Tim missed almost every shot, he looks like he is going to collapse of tiredness and what is mason's problem, doing his solo actions when he cant. This is just sad.

Things need to improve, and improve fast, the playoffs are close and TP is getting tired too for carrying the whole team, i hope he can stick to this superstar level in the playoffs. He does need to be on the top list of the MVP candidates though.

Looking forward for Sunday, will it be different?

[VI_Massive]

The other play that sticks out was the bull call between Tony and Ray.

Can anyone explain how Tony shoots the gap for a steal on Allen, to which there was no whistle blown, gets his hand on the ball and has clear sailing for an easy 2, only to hit the floor after being hit in the face (after Allen flailed looking for a call or in frustration of the steal) and then has the whistle blown and the foul assessed on him (Parker)?

I'm sitting there thinking the Spurs are about to go up 9 (maybe more if it was deemed a clear-path foul) but instead the Celtics get the ball, and all so predictably, a 3-point play immediately following the incident.

I saw something different. I saw Tony go hard at Allen and actually hit Allen in the face or neck initially. Then as Allen realizes that he's bit hit and is losing possession, he decides to give TP a little smack back to the face and they both end up getting hit. I may be totally wrong, but that was my interpretation of that little thing.

That thing was part of the nastiness that game developed. Tim and Perkins were battling down low and got in each other's face. You could tell after that encounter that they both wanted to guard the other and go at him each time offensively the rest of the game.

Then later, Gooden got tied up with someone down low and they had a little "wanna be startin' something?" moment.

Before it seemed like they were just two really good teams playing each other - not rivals really and marketed by the league as "the past two champs" - but now if they meet again they will have enough of a history to make it an absolute war.

[benefactor]

I really don't understand all the meltdown after this game. Was the free throw debacle bad? Of course it was...but by the reaction of some posters here you'd think we got blown off the floor all night long.

Tony couldn't hit a jumper(or his FT's late), we bricked a bunch of wide open threes, Manu is in a suit and Gooden is still pretty green....AND WE STILL ALMOST WON. Take your heads our of your asses, all of you.

[quentin_compson]

After a good night's rest, this loss is still really frustrating. This kind of choking-job at the line was very ugly.
Apart from that, the defense was pretty solid in that game and we nearly won despite not being able to hit anything from downtown. Timmy doesn't look comfortable at all and we can only pray that he gets better till April.
Mason was giving me the creeps as a backup PG; this guy just isn't good enough to do that, but with Manu hurt and George playing the 2, there is no other player available (except for Jacque Vaughn, but, well ...).

This must be a devastating loss for the guys and they will be really fired up for Sunday.

[Spurs Brazil]

Like Pop said we need to worry about things we can control.

He can't control the healthy status of Manu and TD but he can control the situation of the backup PG.

Mason SUCKS at backup PG. His ball handling isn't good and he holds the ball so much looking for a screen and his shot that stagnates the offense and nobody else get involved.

Like timvp said since moving to SG Hill is doing a fantastic job concentrating on D but I rather see him as a PG again

[raspsa]

Never ever in my life had I seen a team miss 6 free throws in a row in the last minute of a tight game...NEVER....just one of those nights....

Well Nick Anderson missed 4 FTs in the closing minutes vs the Rockets in their championship series.. he was never able to recover from that debacle and neither have the Magic. Fortunately Tony can make up for it in upcoming games.

[kace]

Tony Parker couldn't hit a midrange jumper in that game.

He was 0/8 from 15+ feet.
He was 12/15 from 6- feet.

That could be an explanation for his awful FT shooting.

RuffnReadyOzStyle is the specialist of the TP jumper's form.
Maybe it was one of those games with the pre-Engelland form.

Good point.

His shot was off tonight. the good thing is he still managed to find a way to score and be our leader on offense where almost all his teamates sucked again. we use to say that Tony is average when his J's is off, that was not the case tonight.

though, those missed clutched FT made this game a disappointing one for Tony.