I personally thought RJ had an A game, but agree with the rest.
Neal had a C game too IMO.
Quick Grades: Spurs vs. Bulls
By LJ Ellis | San Antonio Dispatch
Coming out of the gates, it seemed as if the entire Spurs squad was emotionally drained. (Perhaps due to the Tony Parker rumors that involved a former teammate.) After the early malaise wore off, San Antonio got rolling — big time. The Spurs turned a 17-point first half deficit into an 18-point second half lead thanks largely to the 37-12 third quarter. Though the Bulls were able to make it a game at the end, the Spurs won 103-94 and now have eight victories in a row.
Tim Duncan B Another handful of missed easy shots but helped with D and rebounding.
Manu Ginobili B+ A couple errors on both ends but overall efficient and energetic.
Tony Parker B+ Had a few lulls but attacked well and helped O thrive in second half.
Richard Jefferson B Played with a lot of juice and kept going at it no matter yet.
DeJuan Blair C+ Boarded well but struggled to deal with perimeter oriented Bulls.
George Hill B- Followed similar pattern: passive early, more aggressive late.
Matt Bonner B+ The king of the plus/minus has now sunk his past nine three-pointers.
Antonio McDyess B+ Beastly on the boards. Relentless hustle. Little bit too careless.
Gary Neal B- Missed his three-pointers but made impact off the dribble and on D.
I personally thought RJ had an A game, but agree with the rest.
Neal had a C game too IMO.
That third quarter was absolutely brilliant to watch. It was energizing and fun. I can't recall being this entertained and engaged by a Spurs team in a long while, so I really enjoyed this game.
The fourth was more of a nail-biter, but they pulled it out, and that was the important thing.
Pretty much agree. Neal played a decent game off the bench. Although he missed his 3's, he hit a couple runners and played solid D on Korver.
Another tale of two halves. Team looked drained and discombobulated in the first half (but I though defense was relatively ok until that stretch in the second quarter when the Bulls made their run). Intensity in the second half was much better. It also helped we started to make shots. Playing all 48 minutes is something this team is still working on. The third quarter was the model we need to follow. Very solid D there.
All in all, a great win
Best 3rd quarter from the Spurs I've seen in a long time.
Parker situation may have been a factor.
Hill is turning it around, Blair unfortunately continues to fall off a cliff, he needs to turn himself around.
Pop had a great moment when he just sat on his ass during a timeout....and I liked watching ESPN when they didn't have an audio feed for the first 2 minutes except for game sounds.
Anderson's absence is starting to be a factor.
I couldnt help but smile as I was watching the 3rd quarter. Watching your favorite team struggle missing chip shots in the 1st half is torture, and then watching them make a complete turn-around and comeback and to end up winning the game was just ing awesome.![]()
Really? Even you LJ?
This is not the first time we have that kind of start of the game...
Drama = hits for SAD
Don't hate the playa just hate the game. I'd do the same if I had website. Drama = hits = $.
If you think Parker drama had no effect on the team, you must think the players are robots. Especially adding in the Erin Barry factor, there's no way it was just another game.
Bonner starting the 2nd half in place of Blair was huge. His presence spaced the floor so much better. The matchup zone the Bulls threw at the Spurs in the first half broke down, partially due to Bonner and partially due to the Bulls being tired. Bonner was a big key to the Spurs scoring as many points in the 3rd quarter as they did in the entire first half.
I didn't think I'd ever say this but Matt Bonner made everyone better tonight.![]()
Anybody else surprised to see that Neal actually might have a passable slashing game? I liked that little runner off the hesitation dribble. He's had a handful of timely 3 pointers, a couple of nice assists, a couple of stretches with fundamentally sound perimeter defense (not all in this game, obviously). I'm liking his progress so far.
I'd give Manu an A- tonight. He made some huge plays in the 2nd half, including that sick drive past Rose and Noah after the Bulls had cut the lead to 7 with 2 minutes to play. Dribble-drive, behind the back oops change his mind back to the left hand, rise and flush! Ballgame.
It's think all this is too new/fresh to have a real effect (so early) on them.
They probably have followed the same routine as usual before a home game, they did not meet reporters, ...
You're right that they are not robots and this may have an impact in the near future (let's hope not), but TODAY?
Didn't this kind of low start reminded you a few past games?
It's no big deal, but I think it was "easy", not accurate and I really didn't expect that from you (and it's a compliment because I think highly of you/your posts...)
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+1. This and the fact that they got down 17 points and then came back furiously and even led by double digits against a pretty good Bulls team is what impressed me the most...
Bonner is still a mystery for me...
I don't understand how a big who never rebounds always gets the best +/_ of the team!
This is one of the dumbest things I think I've ever seen posted here.
Thats saying alot.
He forces his defender to honor is 3 point shot, opening up the lanes for parker/ginobili to drive more easily and either score or dish back out (to him or others) for an open jump shot.
But, all this talk about "spacing" will probably fall on deaf ears when it comes to the Bonner haters on this board. They don't actually believe that Bonner helps to space the floor.
How ironic.
You're saying that sensational headlines/news stories don't garner more attention?
There's a media frenzy about Parker-Eva at this moment. I'm suggesting that having hyperlinks to the tony-eva breakup in other threads can only help to promote more hits to sanantoniodispatch.
Are you suggesting the opposite?
I don't appreciate the personal attacks. Calling it a "dumb comment" makes you come off as elitist and immature. Why don't you actually explain your position next time in a more thoughtful and sincere manner?
That 2nd half was in' awesome. Team came back in a hurry, manu smashin on everyone, great game.
Spurs keep rollin' baby
Bonner did good at hitting a couple of shots but when your big man only has 1 rebound in 22 minutes of play how is that not a negative strike?
If Bonner is getting out-rebounded by his own teammates, it's not a big deal.
When Bonner fails to box out the opposing team and gives up too many offensive rebounds, that's when you penalize him.
True, every player on the Spurs that played tonight had more rebounds then him if you don't count Green's few seconds of play.![]()
Good old Bonner. As poor as his interior defense and rebounding abilities may be, he's a hard guy to hate. He's not arrogant, he doesn't demand attention; he seems like a simple, down to earth guy.
His charisma/at ude almost certainly contributed to his new contract.
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