Believing Once Again? (Spurs @ Grizzlies - Game 6)

[silverblackfan]

And btw.

Tiago is the best screener on the team. I think even better then TD esp. when TD does not paying much attention to set good pick - not waiting long enough.

If you want to play slip you play slip but when you want to set pick set a good one not something between.


Also spurs D inside was better. They were doubling more and interrupting memphis frontcourt.

Damn I wish mem be in a shooting slump

I like Taigo's screens, but I think Dice does the best job. Especially setting hard screens. All that experience with Hamilton and Prince in Detroit shows.

[timvp]

When people come close to death they often turn their whole lives around with change. I hope with my heart of hearts they do. They become the spurs we saw earlier in the season.

Well said ... and I have the same hope.

Must win game at home and it took 2 miracle shots just to send it to overtime.

The Spurs are called the silver and black sometimes because their official team colors are silver and black.

Maybe Neal's heroics will finally rub off on Bonner.

It was hilarious when Bonner talked about Neal's shot.

“It was amazing to me that he had the composure not to take the first one. To take the dribble and create the extra space and then knock it down was something to see."

Bonner even talks like a guy who would be incapable of consistently delivering under pressure.

[Mugen]

Speaking of TD and free throws, it's amazing to me that he's only gotten to the free throw line 14 times in the five games. Duncan used to get to the line that much in one good game. I know he's older and not as involved offensively ... but you'd think he'd be due for a game where he earns a bunch of free throws.

He keeps expecting the refs to give him that call when he shoots the fadeaway hook on Gasol. They haven't and he needs to adjust and take it strong on the faceup.

Similarly, Manu needs to stop flopping every time Young/Battier/Allen take him to the post. They're not going to give him that flop in this series and I pull my hair out everytime he does it and his man gets an uncontested layup.

[spurs10]

Something clicked with Tony. If he plays like he did in OT, we've got a good shot. I think he's enjoying the game again. We haven't seen the team that kept winning all season long until OT the other night.....

[SA210]

Go Spurs!

[objective]

Splitter needs to play more, Bonner needs to play ZERO.

The whole "Splitter and Duncan can't play together" belief perpetrated by the media and others is a MYTH.

Everyone go back and re-watch that 3 minute stretch of q3 in game 4. Splitter wasn't a problem. , his missed shot was a great look that came off a feed from Duncan as Splitter got into the right place at the right time, just like Oberto used to. He missed the shot, but it was a great look and play from Splitter. Earlier in that possession Jefferson passed on a three, but that's RJ being RJ.

What else happened? Nothing that was Splitter's fault. Yes, he took a good foul on Gasol. Yes, he tried to take a charge on an unimpeded perimeter player.

But everything else, nothing to do with Splitter. A Parker turnover on a pick-and-roll with Duncan? Splitter and his man weren't there. A double from Tony Allen on a Duncan post up that got the ball loose and had George Hill vomit all over himself and unable to retrieve? Not on Splitter. A Sam Young jumper that fell over RJ? Not on Splitter. A missed open three from Parker that came as a result of a PnR of Manu and Splitter? Not on Splitter

A three man big rotation of TD, McDyess, and Splitter would be best with spot minutes from Blair if necessary.

AND NO MORE JEFFERSON

Play Neal, play Green, activate Fat Anderson, whatever it takes, because RJ got PAID.

The more Bonner and Jefferson play the harder it is for the Spurs to win.

[timvp]

RJs been pretty bad defensively all series. But he shot very well the first two games.

True.

The worst part about his defense is that it's just a lack of learning and understanding scouting reports. He's been falling for way too many pump fakes and he's been closing out too hard on non-shooters. On top of that, he's too soft to fight down low against the Grizzlies bigs.

During the regular season, RJ was best defensively when he had a specific job to do and didn't have to think things through. Against the Grizzlies, that's just not possible because his main job is to be a help defender. When his man gets the ball, he panics and almost always overplays the situation.

What the Spurs need from RJ is free throw attempts. Pure and simple. Everything else follows that.

In a perfect world, yes. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies all know there's about an 80% chance they can draw a charge if they just stand between him and the basket when RJ starts his drive.

The best chance at free throws is if they Spurs can get out and run a little bit. But that's easier said than done in this series.

Defensive Adjustment I'd like to see for tonight:

-Manu on Young & RJ on Allen to start the game. Young has blown by RJ all series long. He's killing us.

Fully disagree. Young abused Manu in the fourth quarter in Game 5, while Manu has been fantastic against Allen. When Manu and Allen are in the game, Manu can just play free safety and interfere in whatever Memphis is trying to do. The rare times Allen tries to do something on Manu, the outcome is almost always very good for the Spurs.

RJ just has to do a better job on Young. There's no way the Spurs can change the matchup since Manu roaming off of Allen is about the best thing the Spurs have going in this series.

-Contain Arthur. Arthur has lit up Bonner all year long. I would not be adverse to a Bonner/Battier and RJ/Arthur cross matchup to try and throw something different at Arthuer.

Pretty good idea. Arthur against Bonner is basically an automatic two points. Might as well switch it up to see if better results can be had. Maybe Bonner can stay with Battier on the perimeter ... plus Bonner could defend that Battier-in-the-post play.

[igruex]

“It was amazing to me that he had the composure not to take the first one. To take the dribble and create the extra space and then knock it down was something to see."

I don't know what else could Bonner do to not play more than 5 minutes per game... yet he's playing 20. It's beyond comprehension at this point.

[mingus]

I would like to see RJ cut the the basket more w/o the ball. I think thats one way he can score.

I hope RJ developes a post game for next year. He's got a big enough body and he's more than tall enough to take other SFs not named Bron and Artest into the paint.

[igruex]

AND NO MORE JEFFERSON
The more Bonner and Jefferson play the harder it is for the Spurs to win.

For a lot of reasons Bonner and Jefferson would be (theoretically) much useful against OKH. Pop's showing his worse side (again) and that's his inability to adapt the roster to certain teams.

[DPG21920]

Only a day has passed, the night has gone by
But still they find time to put that bump off in your eye
Total chaos for these playas thought we was absent
We takin another route to represent the Spurs family

[mingus]

He's gotta find a way to be more effective in the halfcourt. His production value at his contract is laughable. He made strides last summer, hopefully he does the same. RJ likes the , not sure why he doesn't have a back-the-basket game in his arsenal.

[objective]

For a lot of reasons Bonner and Jefferson would be (theoretically) much useful against OKH. Pop's showing his worse side (again) and that's his inability to adapt the roster to certain teams.

Bonner wouldn't of much use against any playoff team that's left that comes to mind.

Bonner against OKC would get slaughtered by Ibaka, pulverized by Perkins, and bullied by Collison. And on defense he could easily be covered by either ignoring him while he doesn't even get the ball or clanks a shot, or covering him by rotating Westbrook or Maynor or whoever out to him so that he passes up shooting.

[fonzy16]

Neal with it!
Believe!

[objective]

Matt Bonner on Gary Neal:

“It was amazing to me that he had the composure not to take the first one. To take the dribble and create the extra space and then knock it down was something to see. And he hasn't even swindled the Spurs out of $10 million per contract yet! What's this guy's problem?"

full quote has been added

[DPG21920]

I met Neal and he hipped me to some clutch cutz
To activate and stimulate Spurs left and right nutz
Said baby boi you only funky as your last game
You focus on the past your ass will be hasbayne

[Splits]

full quote has been added

Bonner makes $3mil a year, not 10. He's the 7th highest payed player on the roster, making less than Splitter, Dice, RJ, and obviously the big 3. Everyone who makes less than him is either playing in their first contract or was picked up off waivers/d-league with the exception of Quinn.

[Mugen]

Fully disagree. Young abused Manu in the fourth quarter in Game 5, while Manu has been fantastic against Allen. When Manu and Allen are in the game, Manu can just play free safety and interfere in whatever Memphis is trying to do. The rare times Allen tries to do something on Manu, the outcome is almost always very good for the Spurs.

RJ just has to do a better job on Young. There's no way the Spurs can change the matchup since Manu roaming off of Allen is about the best thing the Spurs have going in this series.

I hear what you're saying but RJ has just been getting abused by Young. I think it'll be easier for RJ to stay on Allen and not over commit on Allen's pumpfakes and I lack the confidence in RJ's ability to adjust defensively to Young.

Manu was getting abused mostly to the flopping I mentioned earlier but if the Grizz want to make Young the focal point of their offense and try to attack Manu, that's fine with me. Less touches for Z-Bo/Gasol and less Conley open jumpers.

[timvp]

Splitter needs to play more, Bonner needs to play ZERO.

I'd have no problem with that.

The whole "Splitter and Duncan can't play together" belief perpetrated by the media and others is a MYTH.

The issue is that there isn't enough sample size to determine whether it's a myth or a fact. I believe it's a myth but no one can say with certainty one way or the other. And that's absolutely Pop's fault. The Spurs had 82 games to figure it out and Pop played those two together for a handful of minutes. Great planning ....

Everyone go back and re-watch that 3 minute stretch of q3 in game 4. Splitter wasn't a problem. ... Nothing that was Splitter's fault. Yes, he took a good foul on Gasol. Yes, he tried to take a charge on an unimpeded perimeter player.

First of all, that wasn't a good foul on Gasol. Gasol spun, had an open layup and Splitter nudged him with two hands as he shot it. Nine times out of ten that's a three-point play. Splitter should have either gone for the block, tried harder to stay in front of him or fouled him hard. A soft foul was the worst possible outcome.

That attempt to draw the charge wasn't very close. He's not going to get that call by sliding over as the penetrator goes straight to the rim ... especially as a rookie. Splitter also misplayed a pick-and-roll and that forced Ginobili to try to come in and swipe at the ball. So that was three fouls Splitter played a role in less than three minutes. Add a dumb foul by RJ and TD and the Grizzlies lived at the line and put the Spurs away.

Oh and offensively, look at the tape again and see Splitter standing right under the rim when TP and TD tried to run pick-and-roll plays. With Splitter under the rim, TD had nowhere to roll so when TP left his feet, he had no one to pass it to. Overall, the spacing was horrible in those first three minutes. But again, that's to be expected. I can't blame Splitter for that. He had never played next to Duncan for a meaningful minute.

Plus, like I said in the opening post, Splitter already made adjustments in Game 5. He knew where to be when he wasn't directly involved in a pick-and-roll. His pick-and-roll chemistry with Manu was even better. And perhaps most importantly, he is passing the is-he-made-for-playoff-basketball test with flying colors. He gives me a lot of hope going forward.

Speaking of Splitter, I like this stat:

2011 Playoff PER Leaders
1 LeBron James, MIA 29.89
2 Chris Paul, NO 29.62
3 Kevin Durant, OKC29.54
4 Dwyane Wade, MIA 27.63
5 Dwight Howard, ORL 26.76
6 Dirk Nowitzki, DAL 25.69
7 Derrick Rose, CHI 25.56
8 Tiago Splitter, SA 24.67

A three man big rotation of TD, McDyess, and Splitter would be best with spot minutes from Blair if necessary. ... The more Bonner and Jefferson play the harder it is for the Spurs to win.

I'm afraid you're right.

[Fabbs]

With regards to Richard Jefferson, it may come down to hoping he doesn't suck. That couldn't be said for his Game 5 performance. Outside of a three-pointer and a lucky three-point play, Jefferson was atrocious. His defense effort was poor -- both mentally and physically. He couldn't contribute offensively. Basically, it was a disaster. Let's hope against hope for better.

Like always, Matt Bonner got his 20 minutes. We can expect another 20 minutes in Game 6 … even though I have no idea why Pop keeps the faith. It's painfully obvious Bonner isn't a player who thrives in pressure. Add in the fact that Bonner is 0-for-8 on three-pointers in his last four postseason games played on the road and I can't say I'd be upset with a DNP-CD.
[/B]

Overcoming Coach Moron Dictator is going to be a huge challenge but i too believe it's possible.

[jag]

Overcoming Coach Moron Dictator is going to be a huge challenge but i too believe it's possible.

You suck so bad that i remember when i used to think there was no way you were an actual poster. I thought for sure you were trolling people.

[Fabbs]

You suck so bad that i remember when i used to think there was no way you were an actual poster. I thought for sure you were trolling people.

Enjoy yourself at the next PollyAnna Poppers Club meeting!

The rest of us are hoping for the Spurs legit players to pull it out vs Memphis.

[JR3]

Go spurs go!!!

[benefactor]

This is what I expect tonight....

[Cant_Be_Faded]

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mother
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Believe I SAIDDDDD