Reply With Quote
Excellent breakdown. Prediction: 3 - 1, loss to the thunder in a close game.
Spurs Preview: The Week Ahead – Nov. 8-14th
By Raza Husain
San Antonio Dispatch
San Antonio Spurs (4-1) @ Charlotte Bobcats (1-5)
Monday, November 8th, 6 PM Central
Last Meeting: January 15th, 2010, Bobcats won 92-76
SCOUTING REPORT: Tied for last place in the Eastern Conference along with the Toronto Raptors, the Charlotte Bobcats need to figure out a way to get some points on the board — and quick. Of the 30 teams in the league, the Bobcats rank 29th in scoring, averaging a measly 89.7 points per game. While they allow just 93 points per contest, a very respectable number, their offense is so poor at the moment that the Bobcats are off to a 1-5 start. Their most recent loss was to the Orlando Magic, falling 91-88.
WHAT TO EXPECT: While the Spurs have always been known as a halfcourt team that loves to slow down the pace, this year’s squad is top three in scoring (a whopping 109 points per game) and second best in assists (26.2 per game). The rebirth of Richard Jefferson’s game this season should make for a key matchup when he goes up against the Bobcats’ Gerald Wallace. Former Spur Stephen Jackson will try to bother Manu Ginobili with his length, as the Bobcats look for their first home win of the season. The Spurs are on a roll right now but will have their work cut out for them, as the solid defense of the Bobcats makes them a team much more dangerous than their record would suggest. Look for Tim Duncan to get himself going early while the guards have their hands full with Jackson and D.J. Augustin. It will be interesting to see if the Spurs can keep up their hot shooting, or if Charlotte’s defense will prove to be too much.
-------------------------------
Los Angeles Clippers @ San Antonio Spurs
Wednesday, November 10th, 8:30 PM Central
Last Meeting: November 1st, 2010, Spurs won 97-88
SCOUTING REPORT: Mama always told Blake Griffin that there would be days like these. While Griffin looks to be giving John Wall a run for his money for Rookie of the Year honors, the Los Angeles Clippers as a team continue to struggle. Baron Davis is quietly being shopped around the league after coming into training camp out of shape and displaying a complete lack of commitment. New coach Vinny Del Negro needs to find a way for this team to generate more offense, as being ranked 25th in the league in scoring simply isn’t going to cut it given their lack of defensive potential.
WHAT TO EXPECT: The Spurs beat the Clippers twice in the past three weeks, once in preseason and once in the regular season — a week ago in a 97-88 victory in Los Angeles. Eric Gordon continues to remain a bright spot for this Clippers squad after a strong summer with Team USA. The Spurs will have to prevent him from attacking the rim, especially after he torched San Antonio for 23 points and 11 assists in their last meeting. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili will have to wreak havoc out on the perimeter and be aggressive going to the basket as Duncan keeps a body on Chris Kaman. Duncan had a slow first half in the last meeting between the two teams, but found his rhythm in the second half as the Spurs pulled away for the victory. Griffin will go up against DeJuan Blair and Antonio McDyess, who will have to watch out for his crafty footwork and freakish athleticism. The Clippers will be on a back-to-back (playing the New Orleans Hornets the night prior) so look for the Spurs to take advantage of some tired legs and run the opponent out of the building.
-------------------------------
Philadelphia 76ers @ San Antonio Spurs
Saturday, November 13th, 7:30 PM Central
Last Meeting: February 19th, 2010, Sixers won 104-96
SCOUTING REPORT: Finally getting their first win of the season with a come from behind victory over the New York Knicks, the Philadelphia 76ers have struggled coming out of the gates this year. Andre Iguodala doesn’t seem thrilled to be in Philly and Evan Turner, who was taken 2nd overall in this year’s draft, hasn’t hit his stride yet in his rookie season.
WHAT TO EXPECT: In the past, the Sixers would use their athleticism to wear out the Spurs. In fact, the Sixers have managed to take 8 out of the last 10 meetings in Philadelphia. However, this game is in San Antonio and with Iguodala possibly out with a strained achilles tendon, look for the Spurs to try and make quick work of the Sixers. With a contest against Western upstarts Oklahoma City Thunder less than 24 hours from this game, the Spurs may even dip into their reserves a little more to save the legs of their Big 3 on this first night of a back-to-back. Currently, Elton Brand has posted four straight games of at least 20 points, so it is crucial that Antonio McDyess guard him tightly on the perimeter and box him out on the boards. In last year’s meeting, Lou Williams had 14 fourth quarter points to nip the Spurs, so Parker will have to try to contain him while pushing the ball on the break. Jefferson and Manu should continue to attack the rim against these guys and get easy points at the free throw line. It is important that the Spurs get the win, and preferably do it with ease so that their starters can rest for the Thunder game.
---------------------------------------
San Antonio Spurs @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Sunday, November 14th, 6 PM Central
Last Meeting: March 22nd, 2010, Spurs won 99-96
SCOUTING REPORT: Favored by many to be the biggest challengers to the Los Angeles Lakers in the West prior to the season, the Thunder don’t look like contenders yet to begin the year. Struggling against the better teams in the league, the Thunder have had recent losses against the Boston Celtics and Utah Jazz, in addition to an embarrassing loss to the lowly Clippers. Kevin Durant continues to impress, as does Russell Westbrook, but the team’s overall defense has been a step slow. Despite a superb preseason showing by James Harden, he hasn’t quite put together a solid showing when it matters, shooting an abysmal 25% from the floor so far this year.
WHAT TO EXPECT: Far and away the most important game of the week for San Antonio, the Thunder will be looking to defend their home turf. The Spurs took 3 of the last 4 meetings against Oklahoma last season, but 3 of the 4 games between the two were decided by 3 points or less. In spite of having a relatively undersized frontline, the Thunder still manage to be the sixth best rebounding team in the league with 44.6 boards per contest. It is imperative that Duncan, Blair and McDyess crash the boards hard as the Thunder are a very athletic team who have one of the league’s best rebounders amongst point guards in Westbrook. The Spurs will be on the second night of a back-to-back so look for their bench to bring in an extra spark as James Anderson and George Hill will look to score, while Tiago Splitter should continue to shore up the defense with his crisp rotations. If Jefferson can continue to remain aggressive, and Parker can do his best to limit Westbrook, the Spurs can look to pull out a win in what should be an absolute dogfight. Covering Durant is never easy but as long as the Spurs can keep his supporting cast under wraps, they have a great chance at stealing a victory on the road and continuing to build momentum on what is their best start since the 2008 season.
http://www.sanantoniodispatch.com/sa...ad-nov-8-14th/
Last edited by timvp; 11-08-2010 at 01:22 PM.
Excellent breakdown. Prediction: 3 - 1, loss to the thunder in a close game.
My first article for the SA Dispatch
I will be doing this every week
Pretty much what I was thinking.
I'm thinking 2-2. I could see them dropping the aways.
You wrote this? If you did, great job.My first article for the SA Dispatch
I will be doing this every week
OKC will be Blair's break out game, they don't have anyone that can stop him on their roster. He's gonna go off that night, book it.
Hopefully we can win those first 3 games, OKC on the road coming off a b2b will be hard to win.
Nicely done Raza and congrats on the gig.
Do you have the ability to edit this part in the Thunder preview?
the Thunder don’t look contenders yet to begin year
Congrats ! Very nice breakdown ! I loved it.My first article for the SA Dispatch
I will be doing this every week
I think we will get the win against OKC, OKC is struggling a little bit this year, jeff green is IMO, in the game, a step back compared to last year, KD is "below" expectation (for the moment he is having the same year than last year) and James Harden is a disappointment: he didn't succeed to break the starting 5 and more worrisome he is no more a pulse coming off the bench.
I'm expecting a loss against Charlotte, Diaw usually plays well against us, RJ is someday going to have a bad shooting night and Charlotte is a serious candidate to force that with their D, DJ could create a lot of problems to Tony if he is not focused on Defense, Steph and Theo will have a strong game against their former team. The only team we faced with a strong D was Hornets and we saw the result. I think we are not ready yet for this kind of dog fight.
The Clips mut get ride of Baron IMO, Eric Bledsoe is a nice young propesct who can flourish with griffin and gordon.
For the 76ers the hot guys are Elton and Jrue, Jrue could be the key factor but I don't see the spurs loosing.
I'd say 3-1 too but with a loss against Charlotte and a tricky game against the clips if Baron doesn't play.
Very nice.
Fixed, thanks.
And nicely done, Amuseddaysleeper
Good work, Amuseddaysleeper.
3-1 looks likely to me as well, I'm just not sure which one the Spurs are going to drop.
Hopefully, that Rockets game was a wake-up call for the team as far as the defense goes. There have been flashes of good defensive work, they just need more (a lot more, to be accurate) consistency on that end.
Great work Amuseddaysleeper. Thanx for the article.
I also think we'll go 3-1. That btb game agaist OKC will be tough.
Great job Amuseddaysleeper
Good stuff, Amused.
Thanks a ton guys for all the nice comments!
And thanks miserableman for the heads up on the Thunder preview section.
Good job with the article.
The Spurs fan in me sees "win win win win" and the realist in me sees the Spurs just lose complete focus in one of these games.
ST has gotten better this year. I've been here since 2003, but I like how this year is... members contributing well-written writeups and thoughts.
I usually click on the Dispatch links and read the stuff over there... not sure if that helps kori & LJ, but I do it anyway...
edit: thawts are not included in my opinion above...
Yea rightMy first article for the SA Dispatch
I will be doing this every week
It's Raza Husain who wrote this not you
Yea right
It's Raza Husain who wrote this not you
Great Job! I also see us dropping one at OKC, but I am hoping we step up that game.
Lets go 4-0!!!
Great job, 'sleeper.
Maybe the Dispatch could sponsor a toll-free BlogTalk show you could be apart of?
Well done and congrats. Look forward to reading it weekly!My first article for the SA Dispatch
I will be doing this every week
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
