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The last time we saw the Spurs they were struggling to score in the second half against the Celtics. On Friday night, the Spurs erased the memory of those offensive woes by dismantling the Hornets by a final score of 128-103.
While the Hornets have the worst record in the West, New Orleans is actually a decent defensive squad -- which makes this scoring output even more impressive. The Spurs have altered their equation and are going to try to win a championship riding their offense; games like tonight allow Spurs fans to believe it may actually be possible.
With the Thunder and Heat losing tonight, the 39-14 Spurs now have the best record in the West and the second best record in the NBA (behind the 43-13 Bulls). Add those facts to the current 10-game winning streak and times are good for Spurs fans.
Tim Duncan A-
Despite the winning streak and the lowly opponent, Tim Duncan didn't take this game for granted. He came out focused from the start and gave quality effort on both sides of the court. He apparently didn't want to waste time getting this team back on track following the near-loss against Boston. Offensively, his nearly flawless shooting tells the tale of how took apart New Orleans' defense. Duncan had good lift on his jumper and his moves around the bucket were swift. On defense, he covered a lot of ground and got his hands on a lot of balls. The only glaring negative on the night were his turnovers.
Manu Ginobili A
One game after we saw Manu Ginobili play perhaps his worst game of his career, the Argentine sensation was back with a vengeance. In fact, it was one of his most amazingly efficient games of the season. On offense, when he wasn't authoring a breathtaking pass, he was scoring the ball himself. Defensively, Ginobili was very active with his hands and did good work staying in front of his man. To encapsulate how well he played, consider this: with Ginobili on the court, the Spurs outscored the Hornets 64-35 in only 21 minutes of action.
Tony Parker B+
Production-wise, Tony Parker was really good. He was making plays consistently and he defended well. However, I’m a little worried about Parker because he wasn't moving well in the second half against the Celtics and didn't move very well tonight. I’m not sure if he’s tired, hurt or a combination of both. While he has played well lately, it’d be nice to see a handful of vintage performances out of Parker before the end of the regular season. To go far in the playoffs, the Spurs need Parker playing like an MVP candidate and not merely an All-Star.
Kawhi Leonard C+
Though Kawhi Leonard had a few highlight reel plays against New Orleans, it can't be overlooked that he was asked to defend Eric Gordon and wasn't very effective, to put it gently. Gordon seemed to get any look he wanted, whenever he wanted. In the future, Leonard needs to better use his length advantage when taking on Gordon. On offense, Leonard was improved compared to his recent play. He ran the court extremely well and that dunk over Chris Kaman was mean.
DeJuan Blair B-
This game had a little bit of everything we’ve come to expect out of DeJuan Blair this season. Offensively, he had questionable shot selection but converted a few difficult looks around the rim. His passing was a plus but he got sloppy on a number of occasions. Defensively, he wasn't very involved but did manage to make a few mistakes and was invisible on the glass.
Danny Green B-
Danny Green was one of the few players who couldn't find a rhythm tonight. Offensively, he was hesitant and never seemed quite sure about what he wanted to do. Defensively, Green had some decent activity but it wasn’t anything to write home to New York about. Although he does deserve some credit on defense for keeping Trevor Ariza quiet.
Stephen Jackson B
Throughout his career, Stephen Jackson has always been a mediocre rebounder. However, since joining the Spurs a second time, Jackson is rebounding better than ever. Tonight was another example. Offensively, he was an asset. Jackson played at a good pace, scored efficiently and made smart passes. Defensively, though, he was below his recent high standards. He got blow by a couple times and wasn't as timely with his rotations.
Patrick Mills A
It’s difficult not to be really, really impressed with Patrick Mills. He has played 53 minutes for the Spurs and has 41 points, six assists, five rebounds and only three turnovers, while shooting 17-for-25 from the field and 7-for-11 from beyond the three-point arc. Obviously, he’s going to cool off at some point but the start of his Spurs career couldn't have been much better. Tonight, his speed was again very impressive. He’s not quite Tony Parker fast … but he’s close. The best part about Mills and his speed is he utilizes it in every aspect of the game; he’s never not going 100 MPH. He took smart shots against the Hornets, played aggressive and effective defense, and his all-around hustle was contagious. Playing point guard next to Manu Ginobili can be tricky but Mills seems to have already figured it out and isn't holding onto the ball too long. So far, the Australian has done great work.
Boris Diaw C+
It just wasn't a very good game for Boris Diaw. Defensively, he got caught out of position a few times and ended up being forced to foul. While he made a couple really nice plays on D, his overall production on that end was a negative. On offense, his passing was uncharacteristically off target. The timing wasn't there and he wasn't hitting shooters in their hands; too often players had to reach for Diaw's passes. Also uncharacteristically, Diaw showed a healthy amount of aggression when it came time for him to score.
Gary Neal B
Gary Neal had a solid affair that didn't have the ups and downs of his recent outings. When running point guard, he sometimes dribbled too much and wasn’t getting the team into their sets quickly – but the end results were usually good and he finished the game without a turnover. Neal had relatively good shot selection and his defensive level was acceptable. He still had a few errors but his effort on that end was much better than it's been lately.
Matt Bonner B
It was a nondescript yet quality outing for Matt Bonner. On defense, he pulled down a few contested boards and also held his ground in the paint very well. Offensively, I thought his shot selection was a little bit iffy but you'd rather have Bonner be too aggressive than too passive.
Tiago Splitter B-
Offensively, Tiago Splitter was a definite positive. His hands were great; Splitter saved a couple would-be turnovers by snatching the ball away from the defenders. His screens were even better than usual and his passing was really good. Unfortunately, I didn't like his work on the defensive end. He was a bit lazy at times and bit soft other times. I realize the Spurs had a big lead but Splitter can't afford to get bad habits when there is such a compe ion for minutes. It is also worrisome that he played so few minutes but still looked absolutely exhausted at times. I don't know if he's not in basketball shape since returning from his back injury or he's just not a player who can play a lot of minutes.
James Anderson B+
For a deep bench option, James Anderson is really useful. He's playing with a lot of energy on both ends of the court. His offensive confidence is growing, particularly his confidence in his ball-handling ability. I especially like that he's always ready to play. Even if he doesn't produce, it's not because he’s unprepared.
Pop A-
There’s really nothing to complain about regarding Pop. The Spurs got a blowout win and Pop gave first half minutes to both Diaw and Mills to help with their integration. Nobody played more than 25 minutes, which is important since rest will be such a rare commodity going forward.
Thanks
Great job as always. Your grades are always the first thing I check after a Spurs game.
great read
i thought jax played a little better than a B though, prolly an A- tbh
Its so great to have jax, when the defense run him off the 3 pt line, he can just put the ball on the floor and go to work and his ability to post up smaller players really give another dimension to the spurs offense
I think it's time for Pop to consider Jack in the starting lineup with Khawi hitting the rookie wall and being only 20 years old.
I think Pop erred in just not resting Tony completely. We've got a b2b coming up with Utah and you'd think Tim and Manu would sit out one each of those, so why not rest the youngest of the big three and the one the most banged up currently in this one?
LJ, I think you were too hard on Kawhi and not hard enough on Green. From what I saw Gordon had half his points on each of them in the first quarter. He scored a couple buckets on Manu in the 2nd, but overall I don't think he was torching the same guy over and over.
Ok so its confirmed he's going by Patrick instead of Patty?
thanks for the grades!
Duncan, Diaw and Splitter share the time on center?
More Diaw means less Splitter???
Looks like it.
Which is strange because I thought Diaw was a Power Forward myself.
The hits just keep coming for poor Tiago.
free tiago
The hits just keep coming for poor Tiago.
No joke. At this point, I wouldn't even get mad if he attempted to negotiate a buyout in the off-season. Though if he blew up on another team I'd be furious...
As an aside, it's good to see that Manu and Tim are really rounding into form.
Last edited by TheSkeptic; 04-07-2012 at 03:54 AM.
Thanks for the write up, not gonna disagree with you tonight. Spot on with every player analysis.
I hope/think that the reason for Splitter's low minutes tonight is cuz Duncan is due a night off or 2 with this upcoming brutal stretch, and then it will be expected of Splitter to play 30+mins.. I wouldn't be surprised if Popovich rests Duncan on that back to back 2nd game @ Utah..
GNeal14 Gary Neal
Shut The Up!!!!!
about 1 hour ago
What's that about?
Maybe some whiny and y fans?
So Danny Green has replied to him saying: "@GNeal14 delete dat bro, asap"
https://twitter.com/#!/DGreen_14/sta...60942827712512
Thanks for the recap as always!
Thanks for the grades! For the first time since I'm here I actually disagree with most grades lol.
TP looked to pass and he was doing a stellar running things early when it was still a game, it's like he's not even the same player as last year, not sure what else he could have done in 16 min.
Earlier in the season Kawhi had a hard time staying in front of 3s, now he pretty much fixed that but it's pretty obvious to me that his feet are not quick enough to guard 2s for long period of times, if anything that's on Pop imo.
Bonner looked way worse than Diaw on D.
Mills I'd say may very well be faster than Tony actually but he couldn't defend his man close to the basket to save his life, his hustle on the open court wasn't a bonus, he doesn't have any other choice but to go for steals, and his passing doesn't look much better than Neal (actually it doesn't look as good so far).
Last edited by Paranoid Pop; 04-07-2012 at 05:33 AM.
Thanks timvp!
Thanks for the grades.
Some observations:
Haha Dejuan really loves dunking against the Hornets.
Landry ate up Diaw's defense a few weeks ago. Boris was able to better stay in front of him tonight but couldn't limit Landry's production. Diaw's offensive rebounding has been solid so far. He puts himself in a good position for a possible tip in, straight up offensive rebound, or a tap out.
Good to see Gordon out there. During the great Clipper/Blake band wagon of 2011, I caught a large number of Clipper games because that's what everyone wanted to do. Gordon was the funnest to watch for me because hes tough, doesn't give up and loves pressure. Btw, Speedy defenders do a better job on Gordon because 1. hes actually not a great ball handler and 2. hes offensively good enough to abuse some of the best defenders in the league.
Matt Bonner isn't shooting the ball well. In fact, in the past 5 games, he is only shooting 23.8% from beyond the arc. However, I heavily disagree that his shots were questionable. They were either open or great looks (in the boston game too) so he should keep firing and hopefully, he doesn't not worry about the misses too much.
Nice to see Mills continue to play well. He inspires a lot of confidence for a 3rd string PG. If he can improve his play making and keep his defense consistent, hes probably a 2nd string PG too.
Didn't stick around for the 2nd half so those were all first half observations only.
Last edited by angelbelow; 04-07-2012 at 06:02 AM.
Thank TMVP, i appreciate ur writing as usual!
Splitter seemed a bit frustrated with the fact he was at the end of the bench, only ahead of Anderson. I think Pop is starting to get under Tiago's skin.
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