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so what are your guys opinion on Greens defensively plays where his biting everything and playing erratically full of energy....seems like pop has given him the keys to roam freely on the court as long no stupid bonehead ....
Spurs/Pop can't be fine with that situation. They will try to change it as quickly as possible. Saying that, it's going to be difficult to do this year and it's, indeed, more likely that they will solve that this summer.
so what are your guys opinion on Greens defensively plays where his biting everything and playing erratically full of energy....seems like pop has given him the keys to roam freely on the court as long no stupid bonehead ....
Great job as always. I do however think sometimes you can't just go on FG% to see how the D played. I know they've played better but teams this yr have a real knack for hitting tough shots or shots you want them to take, and last night was no exception. I don't know if I've ever seen a game where a team hit as many long 2's as the raptors did.A trip north of the border couldn't cool off San Antonio. Winning their ninth straight game, the Spurs beat the Raptors 113-106 in a surprisingly high scoring affair. It wasn't always a thing of beauty but improving to 5-0 on the Rodeo Road Trip is no small feat.
For the second straight night, the Spurs blew what appeared to be a comfortable advantage. And for the second straight night, the Spurs made enough big plays late in the game to pull out another win. Once again, Tony Parker played a starring role in the final stanza. Playing all 12 minutes, Parker had 14 points and three assists as the Spurs held off a suddenly red hot Raptors squad.
Defensively, the Spurs had by far their worst showing of their winning streak. Going against a team missing three of their top six scorers including leading scorer Andrea Bargnani, San Antonio allowed Toronto to shoot a blistering 54.7% from the field. DeMar DeRozan, who scored 53 points against the Spurs last year in their two meetings, poured in a season-high 29 points.
The Spurs are next in action Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles against that city's best team.
Tim Duncan C
Tim Duncan's streak of five consecutive double-doubles came to an end -- partially by design. The coaching staff obviously wanted to rest Duncan as much as possible on the second night of the back-to-back and their goal was accomplished by sitting him for essentially the last 18 minutes of the game. While he was out there, Duncan wasn't very active; it was the first time he looked tired in a couple of weeks. Defensively, he was slow to rotate to defend the rim and didn't offer much help against the pick-and-roll. On offense, Duncan settled for jumpers; seven of his eight shots were outside the paint. It wasn't a horrible night at the office but the future Hall of Famer had been playing at a much higher level as of late.
Manu Ginobili B
Though the rust is still apparent, Manu Ginobili is making strides. Defensively, he looked much better tonight. He was able to stay in front of his man and maneuvered well around picks. In fact, he had more success defending DeRozan than anyone else. Offensively, Ginobili's lack of chemistry with his teammates oftentimes hurt the flow. He wasn't very crisp running pick-and-rolls and his timing was a bit off when it came to passing and spacing. On the plus side, Ginobili was able to score three buckets a night after being held without a field goal. It was great to see him knock down his first three-pointer since his return, if only so he could prove to himself that he can still shoot with four screws in his hand.
Tony Parker A
With Duncan and Ginobili limited, Tony Parker proved once more than his All-Star berth was well deserved. His playmaking was consistently outstanding. He was finding shooters on the perimeter and running two-man sets to perfection. In the second half, I thought Anthony Carter played great defense against him yet Parker still found ways to power the offense to the highest point total since Jan. 7. By going 12-for-12 at the line, Parker is now shooting better than 80% for the season. Defensively, I wasn't too pleased with his play in the first half. However, in the final two quarters, he gave much better effort on that end of the court. Overall, I give a lot of credit to Parker for realizing that the Spurs really needed him tonight and relentlessly attacking from opening tip until the final buzzer.
Richard Jefferson B
I thought Richard Jefferson played one of his better first halves of the season. Defensively, he was energetic and played with much more passion than usual. Instead of just reacting to what the Raptors were doing, Jefferson actually made plays on D -- which has been a rarity for him this year. On offense, he was making quick, sharp decisions. Unfortunately, that quality play took a nosedive after halftime. After getting benched for a couple defensive mistakes in the beginning of the third quarter, Jefferson was silent the rest of the way.
Danny Green B
Like Jefferson, Danny Green thrived in the first half. He hit all four of his attempts from the field, which included three three-pointers, and both of his free throws. For someone who has seen few shots hit net during the winning streak, let's hope it's a sign of things to come. On defense, Green was solid early and especially spectacular on the defensive glass; he had all seven of his rebounds in his first 11 minutes of action. The second half, though, wasn't nearly as kind to Green. Defensively, he was horrible at getting around screens and the Raptors smartly exploited that weakness over and over and over again. On the other end, he was held without a point.
DeJuan Blair C
Looking especially landlocked tonight, DeJuan Blair wasn't of much help. On offense, he was too shot happy and failed to a hit open teammates a few times. Defensively, Blair was bad in pick-and-roll sets, sagged off his man too far, didn't even attempt to protect the rim and only had one defensive board. Blair scored three quick baskets in the third quarter to save his performance from being deemed a complete disaster.
Tiago Splitter B+
Duncan has Tiago Splitter to thank for his half-night off. Splitter was playing well enough on both ends to man the frontcourt basically by himself for the last quarter and a half. Pick-and-rolls and post-ups continue to be his very successful bread and butter on offense. His ability to find open space while he's rolling continues to amaze. Defensively, I thought he could have been better in one-on-one situations but his team defense was good and he did admirable work protecting the rim. Rebounding-wise, he could have been more physical a few times on boxouts but he otherwise he did his job.
Gary Neal C
Tonight, Gary Neal shot well but his playmaking reverted to "highly questionable" status. He had one really good pass to Splitter but the rest of the night he struggled to find the open man. Defensively, Neal reverted a bit as well -- and if you remember his atrocious early-season defense, you know that definitely wasn't a good thing. And even though it looks like he rebounded well, most of those boards were simply a case of fighting his own teammate for an uncontested rebound. All in all, Neal didn't play nearly as well as his stat line suggests.
Matt Bonner B
It appeared like Matt Bonner was limping around all night but he still managed to be quite productive in his 20 minutes. With Pop running a few plays for the ex-Raptor, Bonner was as aggressive on the offensive end as we've seen him this season. On defense, while he boarded well, he had a lot of trouble staying with anyone out on the perimeter. When Toronto went small, Bonner wasn't able to keep up and that led Pop to going small as well.
Kawhi Leonard C+
Coming off the bench again, Kawhi Leonard just never made much of an impact. On offense, he was invisible. Defensively, Leonard was active but didn't make much of an impact. And really, the blame isn't all on the rookie. When the Raptors were scorching in the third quarter, Leonard was on the bench the entire period. Personally, I thought that would have been the perfect time to put him in the game but apparently Pop felt otherwise. Leonard got into the game in the fourth but by that time the Raptors had so many players hot that it didn't matter.
Cory Joseph Inc.
Playing in his hometown, Cory Joseph was given a few charity minutes at the end of the first half. As it turned out, it wasn't a very good decision by Pop. Joseph completely stalled the rhythm on offense and was out of position consistently on defense. It was a nice gesture but those few minutes helped the Raptors gain confidence heading into intermission.
Pop C+
Pop made a few iffy decisions in addition to Joseph's charity minutes and Leonard's omission from the third quarter. Playing Parker 39 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back in the middle of a long road trip was reckless. The playcalling in the second half didn't involve many of the role players. I understood going small but playing Parker, Neal, Ginobili and Green together for a key stretch in the fourth was pushing the boundaries between small ball and lunacy. That said, it's hard to argue with the results: another win with Duncan and Ginobili only playing a total of 39 minutes.
Well, maybe it's a flat sign on the court.that 3D "sign" isn't a sign, its a flat piece (pieces, actually) of the court, just FYI for a few of ya..
Whatever. They're big in Europe; no surprise the Raptors would adopt it.
Pop better not throw one of the remaining games to prove a point that we're not perfect. That would be incredibly stupid.
Given how well the bench has played I imagine it's more difficult for Pop to "throw a game" other than playing the Turd Towers or Joseph. More often the bench has outplayed the starters. Maybe he'll "throw a game" by playing that unskilled Brazilian guy a lot of minutes. Ha.
You take that back. Nothing is more annoying than that neon blue football field.
That raptors sign was super annoying. It made my eyes cross or something
Do the stats back up what you say about Dallas? It's not that I don't believe you, I just didn't think they were much better than average this season. I know the Spurs are still below average by most defensive measures, but besides the last 2 games, I thought they were getting better.
And timvp, if Tiago had scored 6 of 8, and manned the paint all by himself for around 18 minutes, along with recording a block and several rebounds/assists in the first game of the season, would he have gotten an A+, or an A++?
Last edited by Manufan909; 02-16-2012 at 10:21 PM.
They need better defensive schemes. I think with TD and TS playing together you can change up the schemes and allow the perimeter players to be more aggressive.
Thanks for the Grades Timvp !
I did not reply to the question concerning the grades, but, yes, if you still continue to manage to have the time, the way there are, it is just superb and worthy...
I am happy to feel you now came back to full form&energy...
Xap'
Dallas is easily a top 5 team defensively this year. It's been surprising since they lost Chandler, but they are significantly better than SA defensively.
Hopefully the Spurs can figure something out moving forward. Their D wasn't this bad prior to the Raps/Pistons games.
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