Initial Reaction: Spurs vs. Mavs - Game 1

[Ice009]

I think it's time to start TP again. Hill can come off the bench and no more Mason Jr. at all.

Dallas look very, very good though. I thought Kidd was brilliant tonight. LOL I am going to hit someone next time they leave him open. Props to Kidd for nailing those big threes. Spurs gotta get up on him.

[TampaDude]

All you need to know about Game 1 is in the box score. We were playing 5 on 8 all night. The only way we could've won is by playing mistake-free ball. We didn't do that, and the refs sealed the deal. There is serious officiating bias in the NBA for certain players, that is clear. Dirk is just one of those players that gets the calls. What's sad is that Dirk is an elite player and is good enough to win games without extra help from the refs. All those bull calls only diminish Dirk's accomplishments on the court.

[Biggems]

didnt hill reinjure himself against dallas, in dallas......kind of fishy to me.

[badfish22]

I agree. If I was Pop I would start Parker in game two.


I hope he doesn't though.

[G-Nob]

I should have mentioned Kidd somewhere in that post. The guy simply doesn't age. He can't finish at the rim like he used to but he shoots better than ever, knows how to perfectly run a team and he can defend multiple positions well. Physically, he is moving better than he has in a couple years. Tonight his stats weren't jaw-dropping but it felt like he was the player most responsible of the pace ... for both teams.

That being said. He should be the player the spurs decide to dare them to beat them in game 2. Dirk & C-But should see doubles all night long.

[Ice009]

All you need to know about Game 1 is in the box score. We were playing 5 on 8 all night. The only way we could've won is by playing mistake-free ball. We didn't do that, and the refs sealed the deal. There is serious officiating bias in the NBA for certain players, that is clear. Dirk is just one of those players that gets the calls. What's sad is that Dirk is an elite player and is good enough to win games without extra help from the refs. All those bull calls only diminish Dirk's accomplishments on the court.

Spurs threw away too many turnovers. Tim Duncan is a big culprit, not just tonight, but the whole season Tim has been worse than I have ever seen with unforced errors. He's been uncharacteristically throwing bad passes and throwing the ball away this season more than any other season.

I'm not going to talk about the referring. You HAVE TO SIMPLY PLAY BETTER to beat the Mavs.

[NewJerSpur]

FT's aren't a moot point (though it is out of the team's control), but the Spurs do have to do a better job of securing the ball on rebounds and executing better passes....the "no-look" thing is getting tired and predictable.

As someone mentioned in the Game Blog: I don't think you can play a lineup with Bogans, Mase, AND Bonner all at the same time...none of which are true playmakers and it limits what the team can do offensively (and to a certain extent defensively) and negates whatever positives any of them might be able to contribute....you've got to break that up, which I assume Pop will. I think Temple should have seen a look, the same way Hill should have last year.

Looking forward to Game 2.

[TampaDude]

We win Game 2 and we're in the driver's seat.

[timvp]

Thanks LJ, good writeup.
Side question: How many boards did Bonner had?

Added the box score.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

I should have mentioned Kidd somewhere in that post. The guy simply doesn't age. He can't finish at the rim like he used to but he shoots better than ever, knows how to perfectly run a team and he can defend multiple positions well. Physically, he is moving better than he has in a couple years. Tonight his stats weren't jaw-dropping but it felt like he was the player most responsible of the pace ... for both teams.

We have to find a way to minimize him.

More tony.

[Ice009]

I think you pick of between Bonner, Mason Jr., and Bogans. You can't play all three. Pick one of those players and don't play the rest of them. I'd say Bonner is the one you can give a few minutes too. I would not play the other two at all. If you are forced to because of fouls then make sure you have all of the big 3 on the court at the same time.

[L.I.T]

Taking nothing away from the Mavs, they were clearly the better team.

But, I can't help but remain fairly optimistic after the game.

There are clear differentials that told the story. If the Spurs can get their uncharacteristic TOs under control, fix the transition defense and get more aggressive on the offensive end they have a shot.

Dice showed up. Hill + RJeff need to follow suit on the offensive side.

[baseline bum]

-DeJuan Blair provided a good amount of energy in the first half. He played with toughness and threw down a memorable dunk over Nowitzki to get the bench on their feet. In the second half, he was rewarded with two minutes and thirty seconds of playing time. Huh? I realize his defense leaves a bit to be desired and the rookie obviously doesn't have experience but I thought the Spurs could have used his beastliness for more than eight minutes tonight.

This was one of my worst fears: that Blair would get the treatment Hill got last year from Pop.

[tlongII]

LOL Jason Kidd. If you can't stop that relic you deserve to lose.

[Phillip]

Taking nothing away from the Mavs, they were clearly the better team.

But, I can't help but remain fairly optimistic after the game.

There are clear differentials that told the story. If the Spurs can get their uncharacteristic TOs under control, fix the transition defense and get more aggressive on the offensive end they have a shot.

Dice showed up. Hill + RJeff need to follow suit on the offensive side.

spurs shot ridiculously well, especially the big 3

people keep saying mavs barely won despite playing well, but the spurs played incredibly well themselves

[Killakobe81]

I Think Duncan played REAL well just not quite as dominant as usual (playoffs) but his bar is REAL high he scored 27 ...I think another area of concern is he is trading body blows with Haywood AND Damp ... His dunk was sick though.

Everyone wants the Spurs to get a center they have one. Move Duncan to Center and get a decent PF ...Dirk, Amare, Gasol Aldridge will be problems NEXT year as well ...

Get a PF stop with the Tim at center stuff. Tim cant guard aNY of the guys I listed and if you get a good traditional center THEY wont be able to guard them either.
plus Pop loves small ball anyway ...I think he is done with traditional centers ...and wont play one besides Tim regardless ...

I still think spurs have a shot but RJ has to at least contain Caron if he is not going to score.
You will need similar strong efforts from Big 3 and play Parker more rest Hill until Game 3

Dirk will average 30 against you guiys ...but he will miss more than 2 shots in a game.

[phxspurfan]

-I thought Pop coached decently early on but then he reverted to his small ball tactic against the Mavs -- with predictable results. The Mavs outrebounded the Spurs 45-37 and seemed to have control the entire way. With Hill gimpy, Pop needs to put Parker back in the starting lineup and play him big minutes. More minutes for Blair would be nice, as would less minutes for Mason and Bogans. Even if it comes down to playing Temple, Mason and Bogans need to see pine. Overall, the Spurs still have a chance to avoid a third consecutive series loss to the Mavs but they need to play a smarter brand of basketball in Game 2. They have the talent, they need to prove they have the cohesion.

This is the truth.

We need to give up on Hill for the next week or so and let his ankle heal up completely (or more, even if it takes the rest of this season to heal). Sending the timid '08-09 Hill out there, which is what he's playing like with the bum ankle, is only going to ruin our lineups and possibly his career (see Hill, Grant).

I agree with everything up in the quote. Give Temple some first half minutes in Dallas and see what he can do against a guy like Barea -- a guy he should be able to score and pass against. His length can also be an asset to make Barea struggle to initiate what will be Dallas' #1 option next game, post entry passes to Dirk.

Of course, don't leave him out there against the experienced guys like JKidd or Terry b/c they will light him up but if JJ can play for Dallas, so can Temple for SA. It's not like he will be any worse than Mason at this point.

And RJ ...well I just don't want to even write about him.

[L.I.T]

spurs shot ridiculously well, especially the big 3

people keep saying mavs barely won despite playing well, but the spurs played incredibly well themselves

Mavs won by 6.

Spurs shooting did keep them in the game. But outside of the Big 3 they shot 10/26. Excluding Dice's 5/9 they were 5/17. Hill only playing 17 minutes and taking 2 shots, with RJeff going 1-4 clearly limited their potential firepower.

Manu and TD also accounted for 11 of the Spurs 17 TOs. During the regular season they averaged 3.9 TOs between them.

The Spurs, while they shot well, played a sloppy and poor game.

So, as a Spurs fan, there is optimism for improvements during the rest of the series.

[Mikesatx]

From about 8 minutes to 5 minutes left when the game was still within reach every Dallas posession ended in a bucket, trip to the line or second chance. Way too many backtaps against us. Alot more Blair in the game pushes those bodies away from the rim and the second chances for Dallas come way down.

[crc21209]

Mavs won by 6.

Spurs shooting did keep them in the game. But outside of the Big 3 they shot 10/26. Excluding Dice's 5/9 they were 5/17. Hill only playing 17 minutes and taking 2 shots, with RJeff going 1-4 clearly limited their potential firepower.

Manu and TD also accounted for 11 of the Spurs 17 TOs. During the regular season they averaged 3.9 TOs between them.

The Spurs, while they shot well, played a sloppy and poor game.

So, as a Spurs fan, there is optimism for improvements during the rest of the series.

Exactly....the Mavs ONLY won by 6 with the Spurs only getting 14 FT's to the Mavs 34 and no one outside of The Big 3 and Dice playing well...

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

DeJuan Blair provided a good amount of energy in the first half. He played with toughness and threw down a memorable dunk over Nowitzki to get the bench on their feet. In the second half, he was rewarded with two minutes and thirty seconds of playing time. Huh? I realize his defense leaves a bit to be desired and the rookie obviously doesn't have experience but I thought the Spurs could have used his beastliness for more than eight minutes tonight.

-I thought Pop coached decently early on but then he reverted to his small ball tactic against the Mavs -- with predictable results. The Mavs outrebounded the Spurs 45-37 and seemed to have control the entire way. With Hill gimpy, Pop needs to put Parker back in the starting lineup and play him big minutes. More minutes for Blair would be nice, as would less minutes for Mason and Bogans. Even if it comes down to playing Temple, Mason and Bogans need to see pine. Overall, the Spurs still have a chance to avoid a third consecutive series loss to the Mavs but they need to play a smarter brand of basketball in Game 2. They have the talent, they need to prove they have the cohesion.

Sadly, we're back to Pop's mancrush on small ball and those who aren't rookies.

Blair needs more run, and frankly Temple needs some time at the point over Mason. But we all know it won't happen. It'll be like last year. We'll get down to the last game, be getting our asses kicked, then finally we'll actually get to see Blair and Temple on the court, but it will be too little too late.

[polandprzem]

Is Blair and Bonner a small ball lineup?

Pop tried not to use much of the small ball, but somehow he was forced to give it a try. It failed and I'm worried if McDyess will continue his good play. He was really good tonight.

It's tought to defend Nowitzki when all his jumpers have mandatory FT in it.

RJ's inability to recreate his shot costing us a slasher.

Mavs were good on tighting defense, colapsing on guys with the ball. We need new passing lanes and move the ball. It won't be easy as this team is not tested in moving the ball fluidly and fast. It leads to turnovers.

They also did their homework with Ginobili. manu basicly was passing the ball the ight way, the way he always does, but mavs players were there to steal. That was costly TO's as manu screenroll situations are the most effective.

In dallas team everybody can hit a shot, and late in teh game Dirk went to pass the ball more, and that killed spurs to death

[AFBlue]

Great analysis...agree on every single point. I thought small ball was dead, but Pop resurrected it for some odd reason. And being forced to play Mason is possibly the worst scenario at this point. I hope Hill gets plenty of rest and heals before the Wednesday rematch.

Still believe the Spurs have this one...Dirk plays out of his mind and the Spurs only lose by 6. My only worry...Terry will not stay this quiet all series long.

[polandprzem]

Uhh yea - mason was a disaster in absolute way. He is worthless 3 months now or so. He is not bringing much to the table - I would rather live with hairston mistakes in period of time that Mason had


hill - tough for the kid to overcome this injury.

[Waps1980]

spurs shot ridiculously well, especially the big 3

people keep saying mavs barely won despite playing well, but the spurs played incredibly well themselves

They may have looked good scorewise but.......
TD had slippery fingers usually someone with great hands
Manu threw the ball away on multiple occasions
TP is still stuck in 2nd gear.
These things will change next game.