Grades: Spurs @ Celtics - Apr. 4

[Mel_13]

Yeah, I was talking specificall about after the half. There was a stretch where the Spurs were jacking up 3's on just about every possession. And it wasn't because that's all they wanted to shoot. I know the C's turned up the defense, but that was ugly.


Just looked at it. 6 out of 7 shots were 3's. Tim got blocked, and Manu gave them a steal. If you add the next few possessions, it was really 7 out of 9 shots were 3's, and Manu coughed up another steal. Only that shot by Tiago at the rim broke the monotony.

Yep. That 2nd half was as ugly as it gets. Hopefully, we won't soon see another game where both Tony and Manu play so poorly for such an extended period of time.

[jestersmash]

I didn't get a chance to watch the Hornets game last Saturday (I heard it was an ugly win), but Friday's (re)-match against the Hornets provides a great opportunity to see if Pop and co. are capable of analyzing film from a squeak out win/near loss, making proper adjustments, and executing.

Granted, we're still talking about the Hornets, but this is exactly the kind of skill the Spurs will need playing the same team 4-7 times in the playoffs. The poor game against the Hornets last Saturday won't be that far removed from Friday's game.

The back to back against Utah on Sunday/Monday should provide a good test of this as well, although the lack of rest between the two days probably makes any major film session adjustments unfeasible.

[therealtruth]

I think many times GMs just our-smart themselves. Imagine if they still have Perkins and Tony Allen. They would still be the favorite in the east.

Allen didn't want to come back and they didn't know J. Green would need heart surgery.

[Paranoid Pop]

I hope they meet in the finals as well but only because I think the Spurs would win in dominating fashion.

Boston's defense was beautiful to watch and I'm convinced that its sustainable for them but they don't have much else.

-25th in the league in offensive efficiency. They don't have an inside presence (KG only takes 20% of his shots around the paint), they don't have shooters (besides Ray Allen), and good defensive teams can get away without ever double teaming.
-Last place in rebounding
-Prior to Avery Bradley's defensive emergence, they had nothing resembling a bench. They might be the most unfortunate team this year. 1. David West bails on them 2. Jeff Green out for the season 3. JO out for the season 4. Injures to Ray Allen, Mickael Pietrus, Daniels.

Yet we only won because they missed a lot of freethrows, what does that say about us?

[angelbelow]

Yet we only won because they missed a lot of freethrows, what does that say about us?

Obviously we didn't play well tonight but that doesn't change the fact that I would love to play them in a 7 game series playoff series for the NBA le.

Boston turned up their defense in the 2nd half and did a great job disrupting our passing lanes but we still had nice opportunities to score. Most of our shots in the 3rd were actually good looks, some even wide open. I also thought Tiago was schooling KG on offense but we failed to exploit that match up.

Additionally, we had a number of players play poorly. Parker, Ginobili were especially off. Kawhi Leonard, Bonner, Neal have all seen better days. We shot 27.5% from 2s, 11.8% from 3s, turned the ball over 10 times, and only shot 6 free throws. Yet we still won, what does that say about us?

[jestersmash]

Interesting statistic from ESPN.com (Elias Sports Bureau) -

From Elias: The Spurs defeated the Celtics on Wednesday despite no San Antonio player scoring 15 points. (Danny Green led the team with 14 points.) It was the fifth win in the Spurs' NBA history in which they didn't have a player score 15 points, and their first since Mar. 27, 2004 against Phoenix.

Edit: I posted a small postgame snippet up above, but here are full postgame videos from the Celtics -

Doc Rivers:


Paul Pierce:


Avery Bradley:


Kevin Garnett:


Rajon Rondo:

[mosdef17]

Manu Ginobili F+
Manu Ginobili has had a great season but, wow, was he ever bad tonight. His five turnovers don't even begin to tell the story about how sloppy he was with the ball. When he wasn't turning the ball over, his lazy, looping passes were putting his teammates in horrible positions. For whatever reason, Ginobili refused to turn the corner when he had the ball and instead made poor decision after poor decision. Defensively, he wasn't nearly as bad as he was on offense … but he was still bad. Outside of short bursts of energy, he was a non-factor on that end as well. I gave him that plus because he hit a shot in the fourth quarter and had a key offensive rebound. But really, I don't know if it's possible for Manu Ginobili to play worse.

I guess I was the only one that saw him get the game winning rebound and assist. Granted it was nearly a turnover, that rebound was the game winner. It's tough for some people to see game winning plays outside of the player who scores the basket though. He was terrible in the rest of the game but F+ makes me question why I bother reading these...

[jiggy_55]

I don't know what Boris Diaw has got to do to get some important minutes. 2nd DNP-CD in 3 games, and he's clearly better on offense and on defense then both Blair and Bonner. He makes plays, moves the ball around, and can score a little bit if needed. His defense is definitely better than that of the other 2 idiots ahead of him. I really hope Pop doesn't plan on not using him much the rest of the way, would be a re ed move.

[TJastal]

Manu did manage to muscle that last rebound, attack and draw 3 defenders before somehow snaking the ball to Bonner for the game winner.

He should have shot it himself, the fool.

[will_spurs]

I guess I was the only one ... why I bother reading these...

If you had bothered reading it, you'd have seen that the offensive rebound is mentioned.

However it's about time Spurs fans start raving because Manu has ONE clutch play despite playing like a turd for the rest of the game. He could also just play better and no clutch plays would be necessary.

It's like saying CP3 is so clutch with the Clippers this year. If he wasn't sleepwalking through the first 3 quarters, there wouldn't be a need for 4th Q antics.

[TJastal]

I fear this may be our playoff rotation folks.

Yep this is gonna suck if this is a preview of what's to come.

No Diaw. Instead Dejuan Blair.
No Patty. Instead Manu/Neal turning the ball over.
No Splitter. Or very limited. Instead more Bonner.
Limited offense from Leonard.

And can we really expect either of Blair / Bonner to be anywhere near this productive as they were tonight in a playoff series?? Too many factors working against them IMO.

[TJastal]

Last night was one of those games where everything goes the Spurs' way. They shot almost 60% from the floor, and almost 50% from 3P. I've watched this for years now, and they virtually always come out the next game and get their asses kicked. This time it was even a B2B. The fact that they gutted this one out, and found a way to get the W is pretty amazing. Almost historic.

They may have pulled out a few W's after those near-perfect nights, but it can't be many. To do it on the second night of a B2B, against a team like Boston says a lot about their mental toughness. For the record, I'm picking the C's to come out of the East. Their D is as good as it gets. I'd love to see seven games between these two. But if the Spurs can't figure out a way to get the ball into the paint against the Celtics, I may regret that wish. I don't like to see them shoot 3's because they can't get anything else.

I agree the team is due a few losses and has finally ridden the hot streak to the end. But it's because of Pop's stupid rotations which always find a way to whittle down guys' confidence and eventually kill whatever momentum the team is riding. Once again, guys that play well for Pop (Diaw, Mills, Splitter) continue to receive less and less minutes (or none at all) while the ing turd towers reign supreme and Gary Neal tries to pretend he's a point guard.

[TJastal]

Speaking of Neal, if Leonard really has hit the proverbial rookie wall (as Timvp postured) Neal with it might yet still get an opportunity to play his natural position. I'm sure Stephen Jackson would have no trouble sliding over into the starting role which would thus open up minutes for Gary once again in the 2nd unit.

With yet another rookie in the starting lineup (Danny Green) I'm thinking this might just be the wisest choice at this juncture in order to help bring stability and scoring to the starting lineup.

[dbestpro]

Funny how Blair played his usual dead between the ears game, but gets an A because everyone else played the 2nd half the same way Blair plays all the time.

[Shastafarian]

Went to the game with my gf. It was her first basketball game in person. In the 2nd half after a Duncan miss (one of many) she said, "Who is Duncan? He's the worst player out there." And the sad thing is she was right for some of the game. Slow rotating, weak shots, and a disappearance in the end made him seem old. And he is and that's ok. I'm glad there are no b2bs in the playoffs.

[Quadzilla99]

Patty Mills should be the backup point guard with Manu doing the primary ball handling when Tony is out of the game. Neal is a spot up shooter stretched beyond his limits. I screamed at the TV when he had the ball on the last play of the third (which resulted in him stumbling around before launching an off balance 25 footer) while Manu spotted up off the ball.

[Fireball]

I'm glad there are no b2bs in the playoffs.

This season will feature a b2b in the second round of the playoffs if I remember correctly ...

[sinok]

I'm glad there are no b2bs in the playoffs.

Actually, the possibilityof back to backin the second round hasn't been ruled out....

[Maddog]

second game of a B2B on the road against a team with two days off and a 5 game win streak
Your big three goes 11 for 32, your leading scorer gets only 14 points
Yet you win

I'd take that and throw away the game tape.

I must say having Danny Green and SJax in the game at the same time gives the spurs a little, well maybe a lot, more edge/toughness than I have seen in a while.

[YODA]

Pop D
Honestly, it just didn't feel like Pop ever had command of his troops. He tried pushing buttons in the second half ... but nothing worked. He literally never found a combination that showed any amount of cohesion in the final two quarters, which is a rarity for Pop. I thought playing Duncan 34 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back when he wasn't moving well was much reckless. I also think Jackson should have played more and that he should have given Boris Diaw a look in the second half, especially because the ball-movement had stopped and that's Diaw's specialty. To Pop's credit, I thought he was crazy to send Bonner into the game at the end but that ended up being the right call. And Pop having the sense to keep trotting out Ginobili despite the struggles paid off with a couple key plays at the end.


Im going to dissagree with you here a lot. You admit he tried to push buttons, but got no results. To me, thats going to happen. Sometimes you just dont get results no matter who you put in. All I really care about is he tried to find the right combination. I agree he might haver tried Diaw a little, but he stuck with Bonner and it worked. Above all else, they won. That being said, I think D is a very low grade here.

[SenorSpur]

I'm not discounting Bonner's double double(actually I am) but realize this that the Celtics are the worst rebounding team in the league, as they made Bonner look like Moses Malone. But if this really is the Playoff rotation then don't expect the Spurs to get far in the post season.

That's the sad part. An over-reliance on Bonner, not enough Diaw, which was not all that surprising.

Pop, in his post-game interview, even offered to cover up for Bonner's second-half cold streak, by choosing to focus only on "how he spreads the floor" and how he knocked down the game winner.

I guess I also shouldn't be surprised that Pop elected NOT to utilize Mills, when it was obvious Neal was struggling to man the point position against pressure.

I'll defer to Pop on Leonard, since he would obviously know better whether the rook has hit a wall or not.

[timvp]

Manu Ginobili F+
I gave him that plus because he hit a shot in the fourth quarter and had a key offensive rebound.

I guess I was the only one that saw him get the game winning rebound

Well played.

[DBMethos]

Pop, in his post-game interview, even offered to cover up for Bonner's second-half cold streak, by choosing to focus only on "how he spreads the floor" and how he knocked down the game winner

That's precisely why my reaction to the Bonner shot was "oh no, not him. ANYONE BUT HIM!" Positive reinforcement for Pop's insanity.

[Leetonidas]

We'll take it. Nothing to get too anxious over. Spurs played the hottest team in the league besides them in their own building on the second night of a b2b and still won. Honestly they looked tired in the second half. But if the Spurs can play, by far, their WORST half of ball all season and still manage to beat one of the top teams in the East then you have to take it a keep going

[T Park]

I'm fully convinced Bonner can do no right. The great minds of spurstalk would nitpick something.

Diaw not playing is ridiculous.

Great defense totally ignored because the spurstalk pet didnt get huge minutes...