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Meh, logically the sum of the grades should be lower but LeBron killed 'em so fast it's hard to fault any one player ... other than Jefferson of course.
Well, that was a memorable game. And not for good reasons. After building a 17-point lead in the first half in Miami, the Spurs got absolutely obliterated by LeBron James and the Heat in the second half. When the game mercifully ended, the Heat had handed the Spurs a 120-98 s acking.
In the first half, the Spurs were able to keep James under control. In the third quarter? Not so much. Over an eight minute stretch in the third quarter, James scored or assisted on every field goal as the Heat went on a 26-3 run. With the home crowd going wild and confidence sky high in South Beach, the Spurs never threatened again.
I tip my hat to James for that stretch. That was a case of the most talented player on the planet switching to god-mode and taking over the game. When he's shooting like that -- he hit three three-pointers in a stretch of two minutes after coming into the game with three total three-pointers all season -- he's simply unguardable.
As for the Spurs, I'm not too upset with the loss because James was just too good. That said, it was upsetting that San Antonio stopped competing after James punched them in the mouth. Championship teams can weather a storm and fight back. Tonight, the Spurs just sheepishly folded.
Tim Duncan B-
I loved Tim Duncan's energy in the first half. He was playing harder than anyone on the court. While the production wasn't very noteworthy, I couldn't fault how hard he was working. In the second half, however, Duncan wasn't nearly as active. His defensive intensity left a lot to be desired and he began to try to do too much offensively.
Tony Parker B
To begin the game, the Spurs built their lead thanks mostly to Tony Parker's penetration. He was scoring at will; his teardrop looked better than at any point this season. With the Heat focusing on keeping Parker out of the paint, shots opened up for everyone else. But like Duncan, the third quarter was completely different. The Heat were able to bottle up Parker and once the head of the snake was suffocated, the offense died.
Richard Jefferson F
With the intensity high, Richard Jefferson went into playoff mode. And, if you were watching last year, you know that's not a good thing. Jefferson was passive on both ends. When players got physical with him, he cowered. To say Jefferson was soft would be an understatement.
DeJuan Blair B
Next to Parker's penetration, it was DeJuan Blair's offense that really powered San Antonio to the early lead. He was doing a great job of using his body to score around the rim. His intensity on both ends was commendable to begin the game. Unfortunately, that intensity was missing in action in the third quarter. Blair came out fat and happy in the third quarter and the Heat were up double digits before he could say Whatasized A1 Thick & Hearty burger meal.
Kawhi Leonard B-
It's really difficult to judge how well Kawhi Leonard played in this game. In the first half, I thought he was fantastic. He stayed with James about as well as humanly possible on the defensive end. On offense, he was playing with confidence and uncommon smarts for a rookie. In the second half, though, Leonard had a front row seat to LeBron's LeBonanza. On first viewing, it appeared as if Leonard was doing everything he could to stop James; the Heat star was just too hot. I'll have to watch the tape to see if he could have done anything more.
Danny Green C-
Shooting-wise, Danny Green was great. There's nothing bad about nailing 6-of-7 three-pointers, including buzzer beaters at the end of the first two quarters. However, I wasn't thrilled with the rest of his performance. On offense, there were a handful of moments where he was trying to do too much. Defensively, Green just wasn't very good. When he was assigned to a shooter, he oftentimes helped too much. At the end of the first half, he got the James assignment for the last minute and a half. Up until that point, Leonard had held the superstar to three field goals. But to end the half, James got a three-point play and a three-pointer against Green ... which, one could argue, got his confidence geared up for the third quarter fireworks.
Cory Joseph B
In his second game as the primary backup point guard, I was again pleased with Cory Joseph. He brings hustle and a defensive mindset to the table. Though he's weak, he's willing to scratch and claw. Offensively, his ballhandling and passing again appeared to be adequate. There's no doubt that Joseph is raw but he has earned an extensive look.
Matt Bonner C+
In his first few minutes, Matt Bonner played pathetic defense. But after the slow start, Bonner settled in and was playing solid basketball on both ends for a stretch. In the second half, he didn't do anything of note other than witness the LeBron James Show.
Gary Neal C
Offensively, it was good to see Gary Neal start scoring again. Late in the second quarter, he gave the Spurs a boost that allowed San Antonio to remain in control at halftime. Defense, however, wasn't as kind to Neal. In fact, he was putrid at times on that end. For a while, it seemed like the Heat took turns shooting and making threes as Neal flailed in vain.
Tiago Splitter D
Tiago Splitter picked up three fouls in his first minute of play. While some of those calls were questionable, Splitter has to play smarter. With the lack of bigs on this team, he simply can't take himself out of the game like that. In the second half, Splitter got in after the Spurs were already down by eight points. The rest of the way, he didn't do much other than turn the ball over.
James Anderson Inc.
During the offseason, James Anderson worked out with Chauncey Billups. It's obvious he learned a lot. He's become pretty damn good at the pump-fake-and-lean-into-the-defender move that has been Billups bread and butter over the years. Unfortunately, Anderson's execution hasn't joined his technical advancements.
Malcolm Thomas Inc.
Dude has a neck that would make a giraffe jealous. He looks like he'd be about 6-foot-5 with a regulation neck. Other than that, he appears to be a fluid athlete who can jump. So far, I don't see any glaring flaws in his game.
Pop B-
In the first half, I thought Pop coached fantastically. I liked how he put Joseph in early and then had Parker available to run a bit with the bench unit. He also picked a perfect time to put Neal in the game in the second quarter. Overall, he was subbing whenever a player looked winded and was able to keep fresh troops on the court. As good as he was in the first half, I think Pop was partly to blame for the third quarter collapse. There was little imagination used on either end; the Heat just kept making plays while the Spurs stood around helpless. Doing something -- anything -- would have been nice to see. By the time he started juggling the lineup, the game was over.
Meh, logically the sum of the grades should be lower but LeBron killed 'em so fast it's hard to fault any one player ... other than Jefferson of course.
Didn't get to see the game, thx for the grades, as usual Timvp.
Damn though, Green with a C-? Was he really that bad on defense? I would think a B- would be more in line given his offensive performance.
wtf do you want danny green to do on offense when we were down 20pts? he was doing everything possible to get points on the board, while others on the court with him has no business playin alongside him chuckin up stupid shots and playin lazy defense on the other end...at least danny score 20pts tonight, the others didnt do to come close to the production he brought tonight
Thanks for the writeup. Definitely a tale of two halves. Sucks we folded and just show no fight. I don't see players getting mad at themselves. Not taking anything away from Miami, who were fantastic in the second half. But we're going to need a lot more fight against top teams even just to be compe ive on the road.
That's a lot of B's in a blowout loss!
Danny Green deserved at least a B. Although he made mistakes, he hustled, kept fighting, and most importantly kept playing D (somewhat). Everyone else just seemed to fold. It wasn't just Lebron going off, but the energy and D being non-existent in the 3rd quarter. The loss is definitely on the whole team.
Too bad for the Heat, and their fans, that this LeBrick didn't bother to show up in the NBA Finals. A superb game and superstar effort for LeBron. However, until he's able to dial up the necessary mental toughness required to translate this type of performance into a playoff situation, he'll continue to be the annual playoff choker that Matt Bonner has made famous.
On the flip side for the Spurs, it was disheartening to see them to "fold tent" and not so much as even fight back after Lebron's superstar performance.
Everyone gets a F!!
That was F'in pathetic!!
Pop gets an F- if he think he's going to win a Championship with Blair & Jefferson in the starting line-up!
I knew it was coming... just waiting for it. Green gets a worse grade than Gary Neal. Neal was worse on defense and worse on offense, but maybe it's the intangibles? The Spurs were already in trouble in the third. Neal came in and started chucking bricks and being generally lost on defense, and Pop pulled him 2 minutes and 20 seconds later. Neal's sole reason for existence is nailing 3's, and he didn't even sniff one until 11 seconds left in the trainwreck of a game. Whatever.
You didn't mention anything about Spoelstra's defensive adjustment at the half, or the fact that Tony couldn't break down the zone to save his ass? The Heat's defense to start the third is what changed that game.
Pop always says good defense leads to good offense. You've quoted him enough times, I know you must believe it. For the first 11:13 of the third quarter, the Spurs had scored 7 points. That's about a 30 point game pace. Our starters got their asses kicked by the Heat's defense, and the rest was an avalanche.
BTW - at the end of the first half, when Green fouled LeBron. Go back and look who Tony was chewing out. It wasn't Danny Green. Blair sat on his ass and watched, and didn't even TRY to help get in front of LeBron. Green got schooled on that last 3-pointer by LeBron - no doubt. But the idea of trying to blame that second half on Danny Green is... ? Let me put it this way: Before the season, you were slamming T.J. Ford, and talking about how utterly worthless he has always been as PG. My comment to you then was, "You're better than that." Same thing tonight. Green had his shortcomings tonight, but no - he wasn't resonsible for what happened in the third quarter. You're better than that.
in' Blair... that fat lazy tub not only gives up the highest average PER in the league but he drags his teammates down with him.
Neal's flaws are far more exposed with Manu out. Combined with Manu, you could hide Neal more frequently on the defensive end, while also relieving him of primary ball handling duties.
Now? Neal's flaws are making him almost unplayable for long stretches. His defense is so bad, I'm not sure if he can be on the floor in crunch time situations.
We lost this game also on us not being able to adjust to doubles they pressured on the ball handler, mostly being Parker. Parker and the team needed to adjust to the double teaming. they always did a high hedge but also stayed with Parker(it happened many times with Bosh and Anthony. Then after not being able to adjust on offense, LBJ went into god mode and nothing we did could of stopped it. I was also upset that we kept leaving their 3 pt shooters open over and over and over and over and over again. It was very frustrating that I did not want to watch the last 5 minutes for the first time since last season when we got blown out by Miami.
Maybe you should of posted 2 grades for each player, one for each half. I was beyond piss how many times we left Miami players whose name is not Lebron wide open.
The Spurs looked lost against the zone, and tried to shoot over it instead of attacking it.
Pop would call a timeout and the team would play worse. Miami played better defensively. The Spurs quit after Miami closed the gap, no one guarded anyone tbh.
Sure Miami went off, but they were down 14. The Spurs get down 10 and they quit.
It's a learning experience, for sure, but isn't it also a reality check for those Alice in Wonderland fans who think a group of obscure rookies, an edge of retirement Duncan and some "meh" players equals a formidable team?
RJ reverting back into full amnesty mode.
Thus far, Neal has been horrific - on both ends. Having him out there, along with Bonner, and the Spurs are instantly one of the worse defensive teams in the NBA - regardless of who else is on the court with them.
the problem is we are always playin either 3/4 on 5 ou there everytime we have anyone name bonner, blair, rj, neal on the court...
This game seemed to be all about the halftime adjustments. Coach Spo adjusted his defensive tactics and fired up LeBron (or did he?) and got his guys rolling into the 3rd quarter despite what could have been a deflating final first half shot by Danny Green.
On the other hand, Coach Pop had some adjustments to make after the opening moments of being torched by the three pointer (and new defensive schemes) early in the third quarter. During a timeout he could have done more to adjust his players' gameplan (or lineups) but he did seemingly nothing. We then saw the game slip away while the guys on the court and their existing gameplan looked helpless. Some simple messages like "stay on your man" and "they're on fire from the perimeter, so make sure we rotate back on transition" would have been good messages to stress.
This is all pretty funny for me to say as I last read the GM Survey article on nba.com which quotes the majority of the GMs in the league who say Coach pop is not only the finest coach in the league, but also the best at making in-game adjustments. Not so this game.
It's amazing just how terrible we looked in that third quarter. The half as a whole was some of the worst basketball I've ever seen the Spurs play.
What's mind numbing is that first half we played fantastic.
Leonard gassed badly in the second quarter. He was subbed out a couple of minutes after he should have been.
I don't know if it was the South Beach Flu catching up to him, or the physicality and size of Lebron, or just the load of minutes catching up to him, but he was on empty in the second. I don't think he got it back either.
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I think Pop mismanaged the 3rd. Bringing in Neal and Bonner instead of Green and Splitter was a bad move and I thought so at the time. They didn't need poor shooting non-zone busters, they needed some active players on defense with some hustle to just put a lid on things.
Expectations. Green has been pretty damn awesome. Neal has been horrible. Obviously if I was grading on an equal playing field, Green > Neal tonight.
I agree that the zone was effective for the Heat. While some of that blame goes to TP, the offense created a few weakside three-pointers that could have at least stopped some of the momentum ... yet the shots were missed by RJ and Neal.
Missing open threes against a zone on one end while LeBron James is hitting threes or assisting on threes on the other end is going to get ugly fast.
Check how Green defended that pick-and-roll. It was the same thing he did against Scola that allowed the Lowry three-pointer. He can't starting fighting the screen before it's even set -- he needs to keep separation. By contacting the big so early, he's going to get picked off no matter what happens.
Blair deserves blame on that play too but Green has to either go over screens or go under screens ... not just start wrestling. He'll learn, though. Later in the game, there was a similar situation and he played it much better.
Perhaps I'm wrong (well, technically, I put a condition on the statement) but LeBron was struggling until those final two shots to end the half. His confidence was MIA; he even passed the ball when isolated against Matt Bonner. LeBron hit those two shots and it seemed to spark him.
Maybe that's not what happened and LeBron would have gone buck wild even if he went into halftime still struggling. But as we've seen with scorers like Kobe over the years, all it takes is a couple series of poor defensive plays to set off an avalanche (See: Udoka, Ime in Game 1 of 2008 WCF).
And TJ was pretty damn bad outside of two games, fwiw
That's actually a pretty damn good idea and probably should have been how I handled it. As it was, the Spurs played well for about 25 minutes and then the game was over eight minutes later. That sudden of a death skewed the grades.
I always get a LOL when I hear that . The simple fact that he's bee trotting out Bonner for his 25 minutes a game the past 4 years should earn him an instant fail grade.
Frankly, the offense went to complete . You forgot to add that one of the 3 pointers was actually taken (and missed) by Tony. They were all seemingly broken up plays. Tony had a terrific first half, and gets all the credit for that. But he also needs to be called out for how easily he was shutdown by the Heat in the 2nd half. Sure, RJ and Neal sucked ass. But is it really unfair to ask for more from Tony (and Tim) when the team is in a tough situation like that?
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