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I disagree that the Spurs can't be a great defensive team. I think tonight showed how essential George Hill is to being a defensively great team.
Totally agree.
The Lakers length is still pretty amazing, especially out on the perimeter. They were all quick to get to our shooters. We passed up a lot of shots that we would take against most other teams, but if we can beat them on the interior then its a win.
I disagree that the Spurs can't be a great defensive team. I think tonight showed how essential George Hill is to being a defensively great team.
His gameplan was solid, but keep in mind this is still the same Laker team that, 2 nights ago, was lit up by a 5-foot-nothing PG on their home floor.
They're ALL outta sorts. The bigger test is Thurs.
This. Call me crazy, but Timmy looked bored out there really. He let Gasol get a few boards that he usually gobbles up.
A Dallas team @ DAL that is injured/missing Dirk and got beaten out by Toronto? Meh. I'm not saying it'll be a cake-walk - Dallas will play hard without Dirk, at home with a vicious crowd- but it's not going to be the game I anticipated a week ago.
I think the Boston game will be a bigger benchmark in that respect, provided the Spurs go up I-35 and take care of business the way they did tonight.
The interior D was jsut awsome. Weak side help was always there. Whats really amazing was that McDyess got a DNP. I would have never have guess that. I wonder if thats a CIA move for playoffs from POP??
Something to think about.
As a side note, just kinda scary how reliant our perimeter D is on Hill right now. But we'll take it.
About as big a benchmark as the Orlando game was. The Boston game is on the end of a back to back as well
James Anderson should help out a lot once hes back healthy.
really surprised by Manu's one on one D on kobe tonight. excellent effort all around.
Ghill still has flaws in his defensive game imo....undercut the screen, he allows the player too much distance on him which allows a open shot....
if hill is to anchor the perimeter defense, we still need the other players to be quick on there feet for the quick help defense and rotation on the floor
we lack size, but the active hands swatting ball is game on
Yeah, and the first game is against D'Antoni's Knicks, so those will be some tired legs in Boston the next evening.
splitters game was tonight aight on defense, he got good position and even though he doesnt attempt to jump block shots on man2man defense, it really showed he was willing to body down low with bynum and putting two hands up while not moving a square inch for bynum to work his game...
Meh. I'm not one to consider many games before March statement games or benchmark games; I was commenting on the idea of the real test being against a depleted Mavs team rather than the reigning world champs. As it goes, Boston is likelier of the upcoming stretch to be a tool to measure against, as they are going to be intact.
But really, no single game is a measuring tool or barometer of success. LA had a bad night tonight, and the Spurs could have one on Thursday. Or the plague of a back-to-back could kill them against BOS as it did against ORL (and really, better BOS than DAL, since they aren't in our conference).
I'm not the least bit convinced Dirk's sitting out Thursday. Dallas was just beaten by a Toronto team missing its leading scorer and leading rebounder. Obviously they are pretty lacking offensively without him and I just don't see him missing a game against a rival for a sprained knee.
That was said assuming Dirk plays that game. His ability to play through injuries is arguably unmatched, and I can't imagine he'd miss the game Thurs after the abortion against TOR tonight.
Ah. I agree, but I don't think he'll be at full strength if he does play. It might be better for Dallas if he doesn't play. Between the rivalry and smarting after tonight's loss, they will probably be more focused. If he's in and out (because I don't see how he could play to norm, super-human joints and freakish healing abilities notwithstanding) I think it could lessen that focus and disrupt their rhythm.
doesnt really matter if his at full strength or not, his game is just taking fkn jumpers midrange and nailing them, just his presence alone on the court changes things....just like the way duncan is playing....
dirk gains nothin out of playin this match...
I was still impressed by the Lakers. I think they are playing in a huge rut and will bounce back soon but their strategy was sound.
They were using their bench every bit as much as we were.
Their strategy, to me, clearly was to rack up points with Kobe early, then go Super Big lineup and get Spurs into the penalty every quarter. Then when we were in the penalty, go back to their normal Kobe lineup and run the Kobe Offense.
Spurs were getting soundly beaten by the Lakers big-lineup but still gave it a good fight. The big difference was us completely dominating the Lakers when they ran their Kobe Offense.
Add to all this that we had timely three's from every players?
We played a damn good ball game.
Yeah, maybe that it was the way to go (of course it's easy to say that after a performance like this). Maybe it's not about trying to match their size or relying heavily on McDyess and Splitter, but almost embracing being smaller and quicker and playing to that. I'm not 100% sold, though. We'll find out more in the next few meetings.
I've been married to this idea of McDyess being the second big and Splitter the third and playing a tight nine man rotation, etc., but I'm beginning to re-think things. Maybe the way to go is to play eleven guys (once Anderson is back), throw as many fresh, athletic bodies at them as possible (guys like Splitter and Anderson) and just flat out wear them down. They're running on fumes and it's only December. It's funny how, in three short years, the two teams have almost switched places in that regard.
It's only one game, but could this have been a more encouraging win? They didn't win because Ginobili saved the day, or Duncan turned back the clock, or they just flat out got hot from three. They won with defense and depth. As the game wore on, they began to exude confidence. It started with Hill standing up to Bryant and continued with Blair playing like he was shot out of a cannon in the 2nd half.
1. It was a great team effort on defense by the Spurs.
2. The Lakers can't play worse than they currently are, but they do have real issues that can be attacked even when they play better.
3. How many times when these two teams match up is DeJuan Blair going to be the most effective big man on the floor?
I'd also add in some down-the-road production from Splitter, too. All of which could make this a very lethal Spurs squad.
BTW, who got off the bench in the first half.
But but I thought he was in the doghouse?!!?
Yeah, but we can put seven six footers out there. Gotta be positive.
An absolutely masterful job by Pop in preparing the troops for this game. He clearly focused on taking advantage of some of Fakers weaknesses (transition D, poor guard play) and the Spurs literally wreaked havoc on the defending champs. It's even more impressive that this win came about without a healthy Manu, a big-time performance from Duncan and no sign of life from McDyess.
I still believe the Fakers will be one of the top four seeds by season's end. Because the game slows way down in the playoffs, I'd feel a lot better if the Spurs had another solid interior defender and shotblocker. However, that will not likely happen this year. That said, this also causes me to wonder whether Pop's game plan tonight will eventually work against this team in the playoffs?
Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see how this loss affects the Fakers, going forward. Of course, I want to see what Phil will do to counter this, come next game.
The Thunder youth and athletism gave the lakers fits last season.
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