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Thanks. The Spurs' experience is vital in today's games. I expect a barnburner..
Now that the Spurs won Game 2 and figured out to beat these guys, the series is basically over, right?
Slow your roll, sis. The Spurs hardly dominated the Grizzlies in Game 2. With Memphis playing on their home-court the next two games, it will definitely be a challenge for San Antonio to win one on the road. In the Western Conference, only the Spurs and Nuggets had a better home record this season than the Grizzlies.
Can we boil down the Game 2 win to the return of Manu Ginobili?
I could agree with that. Ginobili was fantastic and his energy was contagious to everyone on the arena. He was a difference-maker -- but it wasn't his typical formula. Ginobili led the team with a plus/minus of +14, however his route of reaching that number was different. Typically, Ginobili's presence on the court supercharges San Antonio's offense. He also usually joins the bench unit on the court and helps annihilate the other team's bench unit to rack up his gaudy plus/minus numbers.
In Game 2, Ginobili made his mark on the defensive end. In his 33:42 minutes on the court, the Grizzlies scored only 53 points -- a rate of 75.4 points per 48 minutes. When Ginobili was on the court with Duncan, the defense was ungodly. In those 22:18 minutes, the Grizzlies managed only 26 points (56.1 points per 48).
Impressive. Why was Ginobili so effective defensively?
First of all, his legs were obviously fresh from playing all of two minutes in the previous 11 days. Even though his elbow was in a brace, he didn't hold back at all and was his usual kamikaze self. If anything, Ginobili played even more fearlessly than usual.
But an even bigger reason why Ginobili was a beast defensively was the fact he could defend Tony Allen. For all of Allen's defensive talents, he's not a good outside shooter and he's a poor ball-handler. Ginobili, knowing this, played a free safety role when matched up with Allen. The only thing Ginobili had to worry about was Allen diving to the basket. Other than that, Ginobili was free to roam the court and cause as much havoc as humanly possible.
Going forward in the series, this is a matchup Ginobili and the Spurs need to continue to exploit. Whenever Allen is on the court, Ginobili has to play like Ronnie Lott and make life for the Grizzlies. We saw it on Wednesday when Ginobili went for countless steals and blocks. That needs to continue.
How can the Grizzlies adjust to keep Ginobili from dominating on the defensive end?
If Allen can't figure out a way to make Ginobili pay for roaming off of him, the Grizzlies will be forced to go with O.J. Mayo and Shane Battier at the wings. This adjustment would change Ginobili's defensive responsibilities dramatically. Instead of roaming, he'd have to stick with a three-point shooter -- a role Ginobili historically struggles with. That said, taking Allen off the court will weaken the Grizzlies defense, so it'd help the Spurs on the other end.
What adjustments do the Spurs need to make to win Game 3?
The gameplan shouldn't change much from the first two games. The Spurs have done a good job of neutralizing the Grizzlies strengths to the best of their abilities.
Defensively, Game 3 will probably come down to energy and physicality. The Grizzlies and their fans will be hyped. Memphis will try to overwhelm San Antonio by using their superior size and athleticism to cram it down their throats. Any soft play by the Spurs could result in a blowout by the Grizzlies.
On offense, the Spurs need to be ready for even more rough play than usual from the Grizzlies. Driving the ball to the hoop, embracing the contact and knocking down free throws will be important. The Spurs also need to do a much better job of spacing the court and moving the basketball than we saw in the first two contests.
San Antonio's bench will play a vital role. The Grizzlies can trust on getting much better performances from their bench players at home. The Spurs simply can't count on George Hill to carry the reserves' offensive punch. That is especially true because Hill hasn't been nearly as good on the road this season. A player such as Gary Neal, who actually shot better on the road during his rookie season, will need to step up and give the Spurs good minutes.
How important is Game 3?
Well, at the very least, the Spurs need to split these next two games. But realistically, Game 3 is the much more winnable game. The Spurs have had a ton of rest recently and they could take the confidence away from Memphis if they come out and execute early and often in Game 3. But if the Spurs lose this game, they will have a young, talented team on their hands that smells blood. And with games every other day from here on out, that would quickly become a scary predicament.
Thanks. The Spurs' experience is vital in today's games. I expect a barnburner..
I think the Spurs outta go under picks instead of fighting to go over, the Memphis guards are just gonna keep blasting past and keep getting Tim, Dyce, and Blair in foul trouble. Sure Connelly and OJ can shoot, but their no Ray Allen and aren't Kobe clutch. Let the young guys either shoot or over think themselves out of this series instead of giving them a lane to the hoop and letting them build confidence at the line.
Adjustment #1: Play Tiago.
Adjustment #2: See Adjustment #1.
^^^ that's a fresh take.
No word on Tony Parker? He's the one we need to step up and lead the offense.
I think we need to turn this into a shooting contest. Get up the floor quickly on their misses, take the open shot, make Memphis try to score a 100. We have a massive advantage in our backcourt and need to take advantage of our skilled shooters. The Grizz want a half-court, smash-mouth, in the paint, slow game in the 80s. The Spurs need to change that dynamic, because Memphis controlled the pace the first two games.
If parker doesnt get outplayed by conley again we will be fine
The problem with "getting up the floor quickly", is that we still need to send almost everyone to our D boards to secure them, and that means fewer leak outs. Any breaks will likely be Parker only. Luckily for us, he's pretty good at solo fast breaks. SA should also take advantage of the secondary break to run to the corner for the threes we so seldom see in the half court this series.
Agree that Tony needs to step up this time around. Make your jump shots and get the Grizzlies big men away from the post. Manu and Tim have had decent rest so they should be good. The spacing of the first three games has been good for the Spurs so they need to cash in tonight.
I feel you, but from what i'm seeing its cause the Spurs game plan seems to be to go over picks aggressively, but Gasol and Z-bo set great picks so their just leaving a clean for lain for Conley and hes exploiting our slow, small bigs and he's making the bigs stack up fouls, and he's getting a feel for his stroke at the line, and getting the other guys off (no ) by making great passes. All of this could change if we start checking his resolve and letting him chuck it a couple of times, maybe he'll lose his confidence and maybe it'll put some doubt in his mind, u know CIA pop .If parker doesnt get outplayed by conley again we will be fine
Agreed. I'm not saying take chances on the defensive glass, but I don't want to see us walking the ball up. Scoring in transition can be done without scoring on the break, and the Spurs need to take advantage of their vast superior perimeter shooting
We just need to do what we've been doing all year. If Manu is good to go, we should be able to do that. We cannot get to the playoffs then change our game and expect to win.
Lakers won easily, Mavs winning big, so hopefully the Spurs don't suck it up tonight. It's the Spurs' turn to bring it and make a statement.
it's fun that the 3 first items had to only with Manu Ginobili, is like Manu is half of the team.
every year im amazed how bigger the importance and the legend of Manu to this team grows...
I remember last year where timvp posted the keys to win Dallas in 1st round, and the very first one was Manu Ginobili itself. I remember him being a rookie and knowing that his talent was special, that he could make history with some team.
He has something i'd never seen before in a player, he's loveable and a rare player.
Parker was great as a distributor in game 2. I hope when see more of that and less of the selfish play he is sometimes capable of.
I think we are going to see a huge dose of Tim Duncan tonight. I wouldn't be surprised by a vintage 30 and 15.
I have a feeling Parker's really gonna shine tonight.
Randolph and Gasol are murdering us, we aren't doing a good job.
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