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nice off to read
After Pop voluntarily ended the team's 11-game winning streak by resting Tim Duncan and Tony Parker against the Blazers on Tuesday, the Spurs wasted little time starting a new streak. Versus a banged up Nuggets squad, the Spurs got up early and coasted to a 114-99 victory.
With the Spurs up by a point early in the game, DeJuan Blair made a layup that sparked a 19-1 run in a span of five and a half minutes. Denver made a run in the fourth quarter -- they got within 12 points with 6:41 remaining -- but there was relatively little turbulence the rest of the way.
The win put an exclamation point on an 8-1 Rodeo Road Trip. Needless to say it was a very successful trip that surpassed any reasonable expectations. The Spurs can now relax. First up is the All-Star weekend, which will then be followed by a seven-game homestand. Good times for the silver and black.
Tim Duncan B+
While the Spurs were building their lead, Tim Duncan was the dominant figure in the paint. On defense, he was thwarting any and all drives to the rim. His transition defense was especially good tonight. Offensively, Duncan hit a few outside jumpers early, which forced the Nuggets bigs to step out further on the court -- and that fueled a vintage performance on that end. Overall, it was just a strong, steady outing for #21.
Tony Parker B+
Tony Parker was by far the best player on the court in the game's first 33 minutes. He was running the offense perfectly and had ten assists and no turnovers at that point. Unfortunately, he took his foot off the gas and suffered through some rough patches late in the third quarter and in the fourth. But Parker eventually recovered enough to stymie the Nuggets comeback. For the first time in his career, Parker has four consecutive double-doubles. He's the first Spurs player to have at least ten points and ten assists in four straight games since Rod Strickland 21 years ago.
DeJuan Blair A+
There you go, DeJuan Blair. In undoubtedly his best game of the season, Blair did good work in all phases of the game. He was attentive on defense and made good rotations -- both in the paint and out to the perimeter. On the defensive glass, he showed his best effort in a long time. Offensively, he made quick decisions and used his girth to his advantage. Blair also made a number of quality passes and illustrated good overall awareness. Amazingly, he did all of this even though he didn't seem to be moving all too well. Let's hope he builds on the mental focus he had tonight and brings it to the second half of the season.
Danny Green A
Early on, Danny Green was all over the court. The Nuggets came out flat and Green took advantage in a big way. Virtually every loose ball or contestable rebound had Green involved. His energy and tenacity seemed to ignite the Spurs and played a key role in the 19-1 first quarter run. Offensively, he was really effective as well. After last game, I wrote that I wanted Green to continue taking the ball hard to the rim and look for contact when at all possible. Tonight, the youngster did just that -- highlighted by a pair of and-1 conversions within 20 seconds of each other in the opening period. Personally, I think he's athletic enough and strong enough to not have to rely on floaters and runners as much as he did in the first half of the season. We'll see if he makes that adjustment going forward.
Richard Jefferson A
Perhaps the most surprising development of the night was Richard Jefferson showing some life. Defensively, he was closing out on shooters really well -- especially in the first half. He also offered timely help D and crashed the boards. On offense, he made the most of his open looks from beyond the three-point arc. Pop drew up a few plays for him and Jefferson produced each time. I'm not sure if this was his best game of the season but it was at least his best game in a long, long time.
Matt Bonner B
On the offense end of the court, Matt Bonner did what Matt Bonner does: hit three-pointers and make careful yet good decisions with the basketball. Defensively and on the boards, Bonner looked tired. All those extra minutes he has played lately seemed to catch up to him. The All-Star break couldn't come at a better time for the Red Rocket.
James Anderson D-
James Anderson definitely didn't hide while out on the floor. Too bad for him that all his activity led to very little actual production. He had a few good moments offensively but his shot was off and his defense was putrid. His lateral movement on D looked especially suspect tonight.
Gary Neal B-
Although he's obviously still far from a true point guard, Gary Neal continues to show growth in that area. When advancing the basketball, he was able to keep his head up and made a few very good crosscourt passes while on the move. His shooting was off but those passes alone made him an asset on offense. Defensively, he too looked a little tired but he competed.
Kawhi Leonard Inc.
Kawhi Leonard scored an early bucket but then soon was sent to the bench for the rest of the night. Apparently, something tightened up and they decided to not risk it. Let's hope the rookie is healthy come next Wednesday.
Pop A
Well, all those tears shed about the Blazers game look foolish in retrospect. The Spurs showed no loss of momentum or anything like that and finished off a fantastic Rodeo Road Trip. While the Nuggets were banged up, it's easy to forget that the Spurs were without both Manu Ginobili and Tiago Splitter. Considering all the cir stances, this easy of a win was not expected. Pop managed the lead well and didn't overly panic. A tip of the hat to the job he did tonight and thus far this season.
Last edited by timvp; 02-24-2012 at 09:19 AM.
nice off to read
timvp, what do you have to say about pop treating his rotation as if this were a playoff game?
He leaned on his 5 starters like crazy, regardless of the injuries we are dealing with
I tweeted to Danny Green about taking it strong to the rim and that he is one of the few on the team with that ability; his reply was a genuine thanks for the advice, I'm working on that and thanks for the support.
I think Pop knew there was a long rest and decided to give the guys a good workout.
It's hard to believe that this was the same DeJuan Blair, Richard Jefferson, etc. that we saw against Portland. How could such a spectacular turnaround happen?
I think Timvp answered that with a question, in the game thread, when he wrote "Wait a sec ... just how good are TD and TP considering the difference between last game and this game?"
The old cliche about "making other players better" isn't a cliche.
If Kawhi really did get hurt then Pop pulled a Mack Brown by playing his young bad ass so many unnecessary minutes in a blowout
Ginobili out. Splitter out. Leonard out. RJ said after the game that Neal tightened and was out. Bonner was dead tired so he was basically out. Dawson is a newbie. CJ sucks. Anderson was sucking.
The only other players on the team are the five who started, tbh. So not too surprising.
Denver sucked ass, that's how. No way Blair gets most of those looks against the real Nuggets, and if the game were tight, RJ misses or defers on every shot. Matt would be jelly.
I just ate my words. I didn't see an A coming out of Jefferson for the rest of the season.
No way he could average an A for the rest of the season and be Dr. J. in the playoffs...
yeah, didn't realize it was legit that Leonard had been 'out' I figured pop was monitoring his minutes.
We're beyond finished if Leonard is hurt
Maybe Bonner should get more sleep because he only played 6 minutes vs the Blazers.
Solid write-up timvp. Can't argue against anything. Lets hope the second half of the season is as fruitful.
Finishing 8-1 on this RRT is just crazy good. On the other hand I was shocked to realize we're only halfway through the season in terms of game played.
Timvp, would you know where to find the stat of when was the last time a team had a higher 3pt FG% than regular FG% in a game? It can't possibly happen that often and I thought it was a remarkable stat about yesterday's game.
Thanks for writeup Tim.
Your kidding right?
Did anyone feel blair was playing better because he was the roller on the pick and roll more often? And the spacing was great since he played with 1) Duncan who was hitting all the jumpers and 2) Bonner (since splitter is out) - atleast offensively this means he gets to set screens and score rolling to the basket. All his best plays (inclduing dunks) were always off the roll and not during his horrible one on one post move, dribble spin fadeaway hook.
Also since nuggets did not really have a low post player who punishes blair the defensive end was not bad either.
Another well-written summary.
Despite the blowout, I do wish this team would learn how to box out on the glass. The "rich-n-creamies" got too many second looks on the offensive glass. Bonner and Duncan were particularly poor and should definitely pay more attention to this level of detail.
He wasn't playing better. He was part of a team that outmatched it's depleted opponent (who was also tired as from their travel ordeals).
The Nuggets played like total in the 1st half, left our shooters wide open time and again. We actually lost the 2nd half.
So Blair was the recipient of a load of charity from the other Spurs starters, and from the lackadaisical defensive effort from the Nuggets in the 1st half.
That defensive 3 second violation he continues to get is like nails down a chalkboard. He's on his 3rd year and he still does that . Tiago did it for a while but he's over it. Blair just gets so lost on defense that he just hangs out.
This.
It really has been easy to forget. The fact that we have been dealing with injuries, big injuries, all year makes our potential really scary this year.
Let's all hope Kawhi is ok.
It'd be a real shame if both he and Tiago missed out on the rising stars game.
Thanks for the grades. Fun game to watch
-Even without Nene, Lawson (would have really been fun to see him go up against Parker) and Gallo, I knew we needed an extra boost from our role players to seal the win.
-Did a great job on Harrington, would have been annoying to see him go for another 25+ game.
-Unlikely heros, Blair and RJ stepping up big time tonight. I hope RJ catches fire like this in the playoffs. And for that matter, I hope Bonner stays this hot too.
-Is it me or is Blair trying to draw charges now? He had 2 last game and tried for at least one more today. He desperately needs to add this to his arsenal because hes not becoming a shot blocker anytime soon.
Like most NBA players, both are capable of improving dramatically overnight. Because its not a question of talent but effort, focus, determination, heart, and all the other mental attributes that make someone a winner.
Shame Blair doesn't play with the same intensity, focus and patience every game cause he could actually carve a nice niche in the NBA.
I like the grades.
So, how many years do you think would be enough proof that they are chokers?Thanks for the grades. Fun game to watch
-Even without Nene, Lawson (would have really been fun to see him go up against Parker) and Gallo, I knew we needed an extra boost from our role players to seal the win.
-Did a great job on Harrington, would have been annoying to see him go for another 25+ game.
-Unlikely heros, Blair and RJ stepping up big time tonight. I hope RJ catches fire like this in the playoffs. And for that matter, I hope Bonner stays this hot too.
-Is it me or is Blair trying to draw charges now? He had 2 last game and tried for at least one more today. He desperately needs to add this to his arsenal because hes not becoming a shot blocker anytime soon.
RJ and Bon-Bon, that is...
1 rebound, Tony Parker? Really? Come on. Trade this dude.
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