I know Tim wasn't in the paint defending, so I can't get too upset, but at this pace, Dallas, and Phoenix can torch us up with ease. Its comforting to know that we can keep pace on offense, but its not the Spurs basketball we're used to.
Any thoughts on the D tonight?
I don't have any thoughts on tonight's defense, since we were without our only significant defender..
Our defense in general obviously needs A LOT of work, and everybody here agrees with that..Bogans' playing time is a step in the right direction, so we're seeing some progress..McDyess is progressing game-by-game, so that will make a difference as well..
The defense was also looking a lot better down the stretch against Portland, which was another good sign..
Tim and McDyess don't close out on three-point shooters. The Spurs were exceptionally lazy at that tonight.
The defense will improve, but at least we know that the offense is there... I think team chemistry and how fast they
gel together is more important at this point.
As soon everyone gets comfortable with each other and know their spots, the defense will improve.
Well a couple of notable missed assignments..
Mason and Bonner completely ed up the pick and roll D on Jack on the last shot of the 1st quarter..he fumbled the ball and still got a great look..
Bonner helping on Bosh, leaving Bargnani wide open for 3 with nobody closing out at all..
Finley was too slow to get back on 2 screens that led to 3s..
I can't really think of others off the top of my head..Raps did make some tough shots though, especially that 3 to end the 3rd..
Yea, while Bonner had a good line tonight, his pick and roll defense is disgusting. Instead of hedging the pg out on the arc, he actually turns his back on him to catch up to his man. So, he gets in the way of our defender trying to go under the screen AND his back is to the pg (or sg), leaving a WIDE open 3 ball, or long 2.
I've long admired Duncan for his perimeter hedging that keeps the opposing player from just launching 3's all night. You would think that this would be a point of emphasis from Pop to Bonner since it's so glaringly obvious. Not that I actually counted or anything, but I swear he cost the Spurs like 12 points from that alone.
Yea, the defense was really bad tonight and I don't expect us to keep scoring like that. On the plus side, we had a good rebounding game. Thanks Dejuan!
yah tim sucked so bad on D that he was only allowed to guard the gatorade
The Spurs letting a team put up 124 on them is pretty disgusting. I know Duncan is our defensive anchor, however it's still pretty inexcusable and I'm sure Pop is unhappy with them.
On a good note, it's nice to see that a team without Duncan or Tony can put up 131 in regulation.
I don't disagree about the Spurs being lazy in this regard tonight, but a lot of it was the product of being severely undersized in the post and having to double or trap which eventually led to kick-out's, skip passes and ball reversals and concluded with an open three for a Raptor. This is where having Duncan helps. Because of his sheer size and length in the post, the Spurs don't have to double the post (at least against the man Duncan's guarding) and can therefore stay home on three point shooters.
Bonner's pick-n-roll defense has ALWAYS been atrocious.
The Spurs have given up 60+ points in a half 2 out of the last 3 games.
It's hard to believe that the team the Spurs will play on Wednesday (Mavs) are playing better defense than the Spurs. They held the Raptors into the 80 pt range on Sat.
The shots were thankfully falling, otherwise, we would be calling for Pop's head. It is amazing how the Raptors scored on 59.2% of their shots. Terrible defense.
We need more Theo
As good of a rebounder as Blair is, when his man gets him deep in the post his size becomes a disadvantage. I'm not sure what we're going to do there. Blair is just going to have to prevent people from getting position that deep on him for now. but in the long run he needs to lose weight and work on his vertical. he needs to be able to contest shots when he's manning bigs up in the paint.
This was McDyess best game defensively, although there were times he just wasn't trying. But he was rebounding a lot better tonight
Last edited by VivaPopovich; 11-10-2009 at 02:24 AM.
I lol'd; I couldn't even get mad it was so ridiculous..
If I didn't know any better, I actually might have thought 'Dyess baited Bosh early and changed his tactics late; his denial and the way he shaded him towards the end really helped the cause. But there's pretty much nothing you can take from this game defensively as it pertains to the team. The Spurs' defense is a essentially a puzzle, and it needs it's pieces; more specifically, it's centerpiece.
I thought Bosh was going to score 50 the way he started. He actually distributed his scoring pretty evenly: 17 in the first half and 15 in the second, but the impact was a lot less in the second.
+10000
how can we defend so badly the 3s ???
Mcdyess has been gambling on defense all season and losing. Until the last few plays last night he was getting burned going for those steals and was staying with the roll man too long and not rotating fast enough to the third option. But I think he'll get better the more playing time he gets.
You can see him and the other guys asking questions to the bench during games and consulting with one another. I think everyone's just a little lost on defensive rotations right now but that will shore up over time.
Another thing I've noticed is that the Spurs have a lot of bigs with a lot of fouls to give. I think this will be an advantage come playoff time and help keep Tim in the game.
Yeah I've gotta agree with you. More than anything, I've gotta be more patient than this. After last years slow start, we got better with less talent and still won 54 games. I suppose that's the silver lining.
Where's the savior picture? Ian's been on this team long enough that he should know the defense better than any big not named Bonner or Duncan. He's supposedly healthy now, and the Spurs clearly need defense or they wouldn't be starting Bogans.
THROW IAN IN THE ING WATER AND SEE IF HE SWIMS.
Raptors were 59.2% from the field and 64.7% from the 3 point line.
Very hard to have better offensive numbers that that.
So to proclaim the obvious, defense was non-existent, even in the 4th quarter.
We just out scored them, plain and simple, just 38 points in the final period.
If Ian knew the system the Spurs would have picked up his option.
Tidbit from Manu after the game:
"I think we're going to score, we just got to play better defense," Ginobili said. "We were talking before the season about trying to be the best team in the league defensively, and so far we're not even close."
Thank you Captin Obvious.
We are missing length at the bigs spot. When Bonner, McDyess, and Blair do happen to make it to their spots the "put your hands up and hold your ground" is not enough against taller and longer bigs. They get shot over every time. The only players that can use that tactic effectively is Duncan and Ratliff. But when either of them have to play help defense it opens up a whole new set of problems. Not sure why Pop doesn't try playing both of them together. A true twin tower setup. I also agree that we should give Ian a shot. At the least he might be able to disrupt the other teams offense if they are rolling.
The defense will come around once the rotations are figured out. Spurs defense requires a lot of recognition and effort from all 5. All it takes is just one player to faulter in their recognition or rotation to allow easy baskets for the opposing team.
The bigs are most susceptible since they are required in the system to be taken out of defensive positioning in the paint in order to cheat out on the perimeter if the wings can't rotate soon enough.
If the wings can rotate sooner out on the perimeter I think this will help eliviate some of that extra load placed on our bigs and we'll see lower FG%'s by the opposing teams.
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