Reply With Quote
That kinda of math does not work in Basketball. Green is one of our better defenders, I think it's ok to give him that experience, as part of a growing process. We didn't loose the game because of him.
Damn bro, Manu's first grade below B of the season (IIRC) has you in rare form
There's not much more I can say if the Spurs getting lit up to the tune of 80 points in less than 28 minutes of action shouldn't knock Manu down from a B+ or A or whatever it is you think he deserved. Especially when it was players he was defending and the aspect of the defense he's most responsible for (perimeter defense) causing most of the damage.
If we are going to ignore Manu's shortcoming on defense last night, we might as well never criticize what he does on defense again because whatever he does in the future will look great compared to last night.I'm just looking at Neal with a B- and scratching the dozen or so hairs I have left my head, that's all. I understand you rate players on expectations. I also understand that last night's game was a great occasion for manu to be super manu, and it didn't happen.
But I thought he was far and away our best offensive player and his defense, while awful, wasn't necessarily that much more awful than Neal, Green (or frankly, everybody else).
The fact this is the first time I disagree with your grades this season and it's the first time Manu is rated below B is very likely purely coincidental...
That kinda of math does not work in Basketball. Green is one of our better defenders, I think it's ok to give him that experience, as part of a growing process. We didn't loose the game because of him.
Parker is the only guy on the Spurs besides Ford (and he is not as quick) who can actually stay in front of Paul if not picked off. That is huge.
This Clipper team can put up big numbers on any defense if they are hitting outside shots after Paul penetrates. Of course our D was not good, but people are again reading way too much into individual games. We are as good as ANY team in the Western conference right now. Further defensive lapses with Parker playing would be a cause for concern. We already knew we are not that good defensively. Im waiting to see if we really suck. The addition of Splitter playing time has made sure we are not as bad defensively as we were last year.
For the record, I didn't mean to insinuate that Parker shut down CP3. I only meant that putting a bigger player on CP3 wasn't effective.
In the first two games of the series, Pop had Bowen on CP3, Manu on Peja and TP on Peterson. And Peja responded by scoring 47 points on 7-for-11 three-pointers in those first two games. When Pop switched Bowen to Peja, Bowen eliminated him from the series: Peja scored 43 points on 4-for-12 three-point shooting in the last five games of the series.
Vintage Bowen, tbh.
You're right, IMO. Too many championships.
Pop doesn't stress individual defense as much anymore. But with TD and Bowen Pop used to be able to take out two guys from the other team on offense. Now the Spurs really don't shut anyone down individually. It's a dangerous game when you allow multiple guys to get hot on offense.
Lineup changes and injuries.I've yet to hear a better explanation of why the spurs suddenly went from a 11 game winning streak to dropping 4 of the next 7, starting with that loss to the blazers.
Or perhaps I am imagining that too.
Dip .
Danny Green was the worst defender out here. He gives way too much room in the hope of staying in front of his man. If the guy he's guarding is quicker off the dribble and has a steady jumper . Look-out.
The scary part was he seemed satisfied letting a 5-foot-10 guy simply shoot over him extending his arm only at the last moment on defense. It took a defensive play from Tiago to show how it's best done.
To be fair to Green, when on the pic'n''roll involving Duncan it's pretty much fending for yourself. Don't expect a switch or help.
It's simple: Because Ford has missed the majority of the season, without Parker they don't have another small, quick guard to chase the likes of Paul and Williams, which is why those two predictably lit them up yesterday. And those two aren't even jet setters.
More like F. I had no problem with the decision to sit Duncan and Parker against the Trail Blazers, but this is just nonsense. They need as many wins as possible during this stretch before a couple of grueling back-to-back-to-backs and he's sitting out his two PG's, even though neither has an identifiable injury. One's got bumps and bruises and the others dealing with what, trauma? Then he compounds this by still not starting Ginobili and predictably playing him under 30 minutes. He might as well have given Duncan and Ginobili the night off, because he gave his team no chance to win.Pop C+
On one hand, Pop should be commended for doing enough to keep the Spurs in the game against one of the better teams in the West without the team's All-Star player. But his utter lack of imagination on the defensive end was baffling. It was painfully obvious that Green on Paul wasn't working but Pop stubbornly stuck to his guns. Pop of the past would have kept changing things up until he found something that was working on the defensive end. Tonight, he seemed resigned to the fact that the Spurs were literally defenseless.
And when is he going to stop pretending the defense will get better as "the young guys get more used to the system"? They've been at home for a while, have played no back to backs in that span, have been about as healthy as they've been and had plenty of practice time, yet the defense is about as bad now as it was early in the season. He needs to wake up. It's not about experience, it's about personnel.
Parker pretty clearly hurt his knee/thigh in the previous game. TJ Ford was dealing with yet another paralysis scare. No coach would have played Ford and I'd assume a majority would have sat Parker.
Can't really disagree with that.
Relatively speaking, of course. By NBA standards, they're not. Obviously, they're on the quicker side though.
I saw it. I also didn't hear an actual injury afterwards. What I basically heard was the equivalent of bumps and bruises. In other words, part of the NBA grind. Because most coaches are constantly concerned about their job security, he'd have absolutely played in most cases, unless he told them he couldn't go. Which I doubt he'd have done in this case. With Ford, he had the two days between games. If this is a mental hurdle (understandable), then retire. But a "stinger" does not cons ute an injury either.Parker pretty clearly hurt his knee/thigh in the previous game. TJ Ford was dealing with yet another paralysis scare. No coach would have played Ford and I'd assume a majority would have sat Parker.
Every time someone on this team has so much as a paper cut, they're out. Meanwhile, Bryant could be decapitated and he'd still play. He does it for mostly the wrong reasons, but still. And don't think this will "put money in the bank"; it won't. Just like dropping Duncan's minutes from 31 pg to 28 pg last season didn't matter in the playoffs, this won't either. It'll only matter in the sense of making it more difficult for them to maintain the second seed, which will only make it more difficult for them to advance.
Kobe would have played tbh. Maybe that's why it's Kobe 5 > Spurs 4.
^ Shaq says Hi!
Man! I've been watching this same game (Spurs Vs other NBA teams) for over 40 years. The intervening variables that gave us a loss and a Clippers win are so many and so varied that all the ing, strategizing, what if's, etc., are so useless that you guys are wasting your time. I watched the game from up here in Maryland and thought Mo Williams and Chris Paul, being in the funk they were in last night, could have beaten any team in any league, anywhere. The Spurs lose 30 games each year and still manage to win a few championships, which many teams in the NBA are unable to do.
I enjoyed the out of this game. Can't wait for the next one (against my hometown Wizards.
Yep, and even with a lost step, he was so much better than Udoka. Who can forget that 1st game of the WCF against the Lakeshow...
QFT
I wish I wasn´t on vacation for the next 2 games, cuz even the small chance that the Spurs will lose one of those games is almost too much to bare, since I´ll have to read through all the ing and moaning.
Concerning the actual grades, it´s sad to hear that Splitter and Kawhi have both regressed in their own unique ways. Timvp, do you believe they´re both just in a funk?
The Spurs are B level athletes at best. It's just not possible for them to play defense on the perimeter that well. They need some shotblocking help inside so perimeter guys can not worry about getting beat of the dribble. The only way they can really play that way right now is with TD and TS.
Saw that too. Excellent point.
IIRC...there was an article regarding "clutch"?Matt Bonner C-
Friday night was an odd evening for Matt Bonner. Though he was effective off the dribble and made a few nice passes, his three-point touch failed him. Other than a few glaring exceptions, his post defense was decent and he wasn't a liability around the basket … but he was poor against pick-and-roll sets and in terms of switching to the open man. It added up to a negative night at the office for Bonner. To complete his underwhelming performance, Bonner missed his final three field goal attempts -- each of which would have been big shots in the fourth quarter.
Is it time to allow Kawhi to try his hand (in the right scenario) at PF to where he may emulate as a Josh Smith type of player?Kawhi Leonard C+
Earlier in the season, Kawhi Leonard could be counted on to bring a presence defensively but was a liability on the offensive end. Today, it's the other way around. He scored in double-digits for the fourth straight game. Over his last six games, he has 69 points in 130 minutes -- for an extremely impressive rate of 25.5 points per 48 minutes. He's also averaging 12.6 rebounds per 48 minutes over that time frame. That said, as was the case again against the Clippers, Leonard's defense has really suffered. He's decent at challenging jumpers but he isn't keeping anyone in front of him and his help defense is non-existent.
Regarding Splitter, he doesn't looking totally healthy yet. His stamina is back to being poor and his overall movement isn't nearly what it was before the calf injury. What will be interesting to see is if Splitter's stretch of games where he played at All-Star level per-minute production was a fluke or it's what should be expected when he's totally healthy.
Regarding Kawhi, his offense has never been better. His rebounding is really good. It's just that his defense has fallen off of a cliff. But, honestly, Pop doesn't seem to care. Pop will pull Green for any mistake but he looks the other way when Kawhi is getting burned again and again.
Kawhi's issue, IMO, is that since he's no longer starting and locked into a certain defensive matchup, he's just going through the motions on that end. And if Pop isn't going to care, it's difficult to expect a 20-year-old to care, tbh.
No. Kawhi at power forward should only occur if it's 100% proven he can't play out on the perimeter. His ceiling at power forward is pretty low ... probably even lower than Blair's ceiling.
For Kawhi's long-term success, Pop has to keep him at small forward. In fact, Kawhi's position of highest ceiling is probably shooting guard. His skillset at that position could be dominant. Though most likely, he's a small forward ... which isn't bad at all since a lot of scouts thought he'd be shaky at any place other than PF.
Can you get into a defensive rhythm though if Pop keeps changing your role and the lineups all the time?
He should start Kawhi to allow him to develop some consistency.
I'm confident he'll get back at least close to where he was, but it's still frustrating to watch him playing overly cautious while this team gets bludgeoned on the glass consistently in the process. His post scoring is nice, but they don't need it like they need his rebounding. Especially with Blair's minutes shrinking.
I think Pop is harder on Green because he's not a rookie. He played four years at a prestigious school, under high quality coaching. Then he had a year with the Cavs, under a quality defensive coach. Granted, he didn't play much then, but still. He probably sees his potential defensively and considers his background and thinks he should be more consistent. He probably also doesn't want him forgetting to think defense first, just because he's turned out better offensively than expected.
As far as Leonard, I'm hoping they start him after they sign Diaw, so as to offset the lack of rebounding in the starting lineup. With more shooting at the four, they can afford to sacrifice some at the three.
Good to see Mo Williams return to his normal % ...
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore...gid=2012031112
Chris Paul vs. Spurs with Tony Parker on the court this season
Minutes: 65
Points: 26
Assists: 13
FG%: 29%
3P%: 25%
Plus/Minus: -37
Chris Paul vs. Spurs with Tony Parker on the bench this season
Minutes: 50
Points: 39
Assists: 13
FG%: 56%
3P%: 57%
Plus/Minus: +14
Make of that what you will, tbh.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
