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Did bonner at lest move his fkn feet this game or are they still nailed to the floor like they were against mia and phx?
In a battle of attrition, the Spurs won their first road game of the season by defeating the Magic in overtime by a final score of 85-83. With both teams playing with heavy legs, penetration was rare, running was unexpected and shooting was abysmal. Thankfully, the Spurs did just enough at the end to get the win.
On paper, it looks like this was a defensive victory for San Antonio, as they held Orlando to 33.3% shooting. However, the truth is the Magic missed a ton of open shots. The Spurs deserve some credit -- just not a whole lot.
That said, I like how hard they played and their overall focus. And with as poorly as the Spurs have performed on the road to date, any success on the road is appreciated.
Tim Duncan B+
Things weren't always easy for Tim Duncan. He had trouble creating shots for himself or others. Rebounds were often hard to come by. Duncan even had trouble getting up and down the court at times. But in terms of effort and toughness, he was fantastic. He fought Dwight Howard all night and didn't give up an inch. He's not as good as he used to be but Duncan was a warrior tonight. He earned this win as much as any player on the team.
Tony Parker A-
In the first quarter, Tony Parker did next to nothing. In the middle two quarters, he remained quiet. However, the fourth quarter came and Parker put the team on his back. His offensive prowess kept the Spurs afloat; without him, this was another blowout loss. He seemed to wear down a bit late but, all in all, he did just about everything he could. Defensively, I thought he had one of his best games of the year and he even pulled down a few contested defensive boards.
Richard Jefferson D+
I wasn't too thrilled with the way Richard Jefferson play. He lacked hustle and appeared content to expend the minimum amount of energy possible. The Magic missed 58 shots yet Jefferson managed to pull down only one board in 38 minutes. On offense, he remained silent for most of the night until a key floater in the lane in overtime. Needless to say, the Spurs need more out of Jefferson.
DeJuan Blair B-
DeJuan Blair continues to do a great job finishing around the basket. In his last seven games, he's shooting 61.8% from the floor. Against the Magic, I thought his defensive play was surprisingly solid, however his lack of boxing out played a big part in Orlando grabbing 18 offensive rebounds.
Kawhi Leonard C+
The rookie looked fatigued for much of the night. To begin things, Kawhi Leonard was invisible. He eventually picked up his intensity but he never made a major impact on the game. The most notably aspect of his evening was when he was switched onto Jameer Nelson defensively. It was the first time we've seen Leonard defend a point guard. It'll be interesting to see if we see more of that going forward.
Danny Green B-
It was an odd night for Danny Green. Less than 24 hours after hitting 6-of-7 threes against the Heat, Green couldn't buy a shot. Many of his five misses from deep were wide open. That said, he made a few big plays with his passing off the dribble and he ran the court well. Defensively, I was mostly satisfied with his mixture of aggression and smarts (other than, of course, that Ginobili-esque foul on a layup late in the fourth when the Spurs were up three points). When he plays hard yet stays within the team framework, he's a valuable player -- as evident by the 38 minutes he played tonight despite not hitting a shot all night.
Gary Neal C+
Speaking of not hitting a shot all night, Gary Neal was in Green's boat. And then, with 28 seconds remaining in overtime, Neal drained a three-pointer off of a down screen. He showed no fear in taking and making the biggest shot of the game. Defensively, while he still wasn't anything to write home about, I thought it was by far Neal's best outing of the season.
Matt Bonner D+
I'm not exactly sure how Matt Bonner ended up playing 20 minutes. He had a few moments of competence here and there, but he was usually a liability. He wasn't spreading the court, wasn't doing anything special on defense and was horrible on the glass.
Tiago Splitter A-
On the other end of the spectrum, I definitely disagree with Tiago Splitter only playing 18 minutes. During his time on the court, especially in his first stint, he was pretty damn dominant. The Magic couldn't stop him on the low block and he was extremely active on defense. There's not much else to say other than to reiterate that Splitter deserves more minutes.
Cory Joseph B-
In the first half, Cory Joseph wasn't very good; Pop couldn't wait to get Parker back in the game. In the second half, Joseph was better. After hitting an outside shot, he showed a lot more confidence on both ends.
Pop D
I can't explain what Pop was thinking this game. Bonner playing more than Splitter is the ultimate headscratcher. Pop almost torpedoed San Antonio's chances by failing to give Parker an appropriate amount of rest. Going small when the Spurs couldn't keep Howard off the glass was risky, to say the least. And even though a few of them worked, I wasn't too thrilled with the plays the team ran following late timeouts. The win was good to see but I don't give any of the credit to Pop tonight.
Did bonner at lest move his fkn feet this game or are they still nailed to the floor like they were against mia and phx?
If Pop doesn't think Splitter should play more minutes then I don't want Pop as the Spurs coach anymore.
Pop.
While everyone is writing to congress about that SOPA bill, all Spurs fans need to acquire Pop's e-mail, cell #, and home address and let him have it regarding the Bonner/Splitter situation. I would definitely write to him expressing my frustration.
Josephs grade seems a bit high, maybe its the low expectations but hes pretty much a game manager out there. He doesnt even try to look for his shot unless he absolutely has to...he looks like a younger Vaughn at times tbh.
Solid grades.. I would've given Leonard a few more points though. He wasn't spectacular, but he did have a couple of key plays (like a block on Nelson and that dunk in the lane from yet another really good cut).
Someone should start a "Stop Pop" thread.
The front-court of the Spurs is weak especially its defense. And Pop just still sticked to Bonner over Splitter even when Bonner kept missing 3ptrs and sucked on defense. I don't get it.
As an aside Reggie Evans is a beast on the boards
I continue to disagree with the scores for Blair. He's getting some points, but he gives up a ton more than he gets. Whenever he was on the floor Orlando would go right at him. He right now is not better than Bonner on defense and maybe even worse.
His rebounding is abysmal. The rebound where ANderson just reached over Blair's head to grab arebound was imbarrassing. There is a reason Pop pulled him for most of crunch time. Blair gets a D+, because he still does not give this team what it needs, which is defense and rebounds.
The only reason I can think of is that Pop thinks Tiago is injury prone. He had some nagging injuries last year and during NT play in the summer.
Maybe he's saving him his body during a rigorous season since the only way Bonner can get hurt is if somebody dunks the ball too hard on his face.
I'm grasping for straws because there is absolutely no logical reason why this is still an issue this season. Tiago should be an automatic 25-30 mins a night.
Hopefully next game against the Kings, Pop would sit Duncan and Parker. They both played so much that they need a rest.MIAMI — Though Spurs coach Gregg Popovich can’t yet name the time or the place, Tim Duncan could be due for a day off soon.
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...st-for-duncan/
Two back to back gut wrenching games and for different reasons.
Parker and Duncan gave a vintage performance. Splitter was a beast when Dwight was sidelined.
The Magic really could've used Marcin Gortat, Splitter just abused the Magic's "frontcourt depth". Good god, how the does Otis Smith still have a job as a GM???
Maybe he wants to save Splitter in case of foul trouble too, but yea more Splitter would be good.
This Splitter/Bonner situation is laughable and has been the past year or so.
Kudos to Pop
Wasn't Duncan hobbling after the 4th? Looked like he pointed at his knee
Pop is a strong supporter of the +/- stat. Therefore he plays "the king of +/-" aka "the red rocket" aka " the sandwich hunter" aka "matt bonner".
PJ was the big plus/minus stat guy. I'm not sure if Pop even knows what that means.
Only logical reason, tbh.
For the same inexplicable reasons that Danny Ainge still does, I imagine.
If RJ and Bonner get more minutes than Leonard/Splitter next game, you have your answer.
Pop still thinks Splitter is a pansy from getting hurt in training camp (or being hurt going into it) of last year. I think that's why he treats him like he can't play more than 20 minutes or so. It's a stupid grudge, and it's going to end up being really damaging to the Spurs. The only way to tell if he's a pansy, is to make him play 35 minutes and see if he falls apart. Pop should try it for a few games.
If this is true, it's hard to believe that a professional coach, especially one as respected as Pop is, would resort to such junior-high school-level antics. Splitter was the most effective bigman for the Spurs during most of his time on the court. There is absolutely no reason to deny the team Splitter's production. Pop has to know that he's hurting the team by keeping him chained to the bench. If Pop is truly holding onto such a stupid grudge against Splitter, then he is a big ol' hypocrite and perhaps it is HE, who needs to "get over himself".
I usually find my myself yelling at different spurs through the tv most nights but tonight all I could do was yell at Pop. A headscratcher is a good way of putting it, I cannot understand how Bonner is getting minutes over Splitter after the dominant start Tiago had. The only thing I can think of is an uber attempt to somehow raise Bonners trade value haha; or as Kori said, a grudge. Coach needs to grow up if that's the case, but this is getting ridiculous. FREE SPLITTER!!
The biggest problem with all this is that this was also the same he did ALL LAST SEASON!!!!!
And everyone made excuses for Pop...saying that Splitter is injury prone...Splitter is a rookie....Splitter will learn the offense his 2nd year...Bonner is OK for 5-10 minutes....blah- in'-blah....
Same ...another season in the ter....
POP....
I want that head gone...
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