Coming into this contest, I thought this was a near must-win for the Spurs because losing against the Lakers without Kobe Bryant would be a confidence-deflating turn of events. I didn't want the Spurs to be knocked off the high horse they've been riding for the last couple months. Unfortunately, not only did the Spurs lose, they got dominated by the Lakers.
The 98-84 final score doesn't even begin to explain how much better Los Angeles was on this night. The Lakers had a huge height advantage and capitalized on that advantage over and over and over again. In contrast, the Spurs looked small, slow, soft, disengaged and totally unprepared.
Without Bryant, it was Andrew Bynum leading the charge for the Lakers. To say he controlled the paint would be the understatement of the season. He grabbed 30 rebounds -- the all-time record against the Spurs -- and protected the rim better than any player has all year against the Spurs.
As for the Spurs, this is obviously a very disheartening turn of events. While I'm not going to say they were exposed as a fraud tonight, this could be the beginning of the end if the ship isn't righted ASAP. Thankfully, San Antonio takes on Memphis tomorrow and will have an opportunity to partially erase the bad taste left behind after tonight's bitter defeat.
Tim Duncan D+
Tim Duncan did some good things tonight. First of all, while 14 points doesn't look too impressive, it's an enormous improvement considering he scored 12 points in 85 minutes against the Lakers all of last season. Secondly, his post defense was really good. The main reason why Bynum and Pau Gasol shot so poorly was Duncan's interior D. However, both of those positives were more than negated by his flaws. Offensively, he held onto the ball way too much, killed the ball-movement, had iffy shot selection and wasn't nearly physical enough. But his most unforgivable negative was his defensive rebounding. Considering Duncan is rebounding better than ever on the defensive end, it's shocking how poor he was tonight. I know that Bynum is long and reasonably athletic but there's simply no way to excuse getting out-rebounded by 28 boards. That just can't happen.
Manu Ginobili D+
Coming into this game, the one area where the Spurs had a significant advantage was their bench. Manu Ginobili is the head of that snake and San Antonio needed him to destroy L.A.'s reserves. Instead, the Lakers grew their lead when Ginobili entered the game. Offensively, while he made a few really good passes, the rest of his production was subpar. He had no explosion when going to the rim and didn't attack with any assertiveness. Ginobili also was responsible for more than half of the team's turnovers. Defensively, he had energy in spurts but was below average on the whole; Ginobili didn't offer much effective help in the post and his closeouts on shooters were slow.
Tony Parker F
It was just a pathetic, pathetic effort by Tony Parker. He couldn't hit an outside jumper to save his life, which was especially damning because the Lakers were going under every screen. While I can accept Parker missing shots, I can't accept Parker wilting and playing a timid brand of basketball. He's a leader (if not [i]the[/b] leader) on this team -- he has to play like it and show some heart. Curling up into a fetal position on offense and playing pitiful defense is not the answer. If the Spurs are going to do anything in the playoffs, they can't have Parker fail to compete like he did tonight … and like he did last year in the playoffs, for that matter.
Danny Green A-
Danny Green is one Spurs player who could leave the arena with his head held high. Early on, I thought his tenacity was the only thing that kept the Lakers from blowing the game wide open. He drove the ball to the basket, took open shots with confidence and even mixed in a few great passes. His help-defense was really good, especially when doubling on the post. Green cooled off a bit in the middle two quarters but then stepped up and was able to make things respectable in the fourth quarter. Overall, I was really impressed with what I saw out of him. When everyone around him was playing tentatively and seemed afraid to make the wrong move, Green was going all out in a desperate attempt to keep the Spurs afloat. I think this outing proves he deserves to keep his starting spot for the foreseeable future.
Kawhi Leonard C
First of all, Kawhi Leonard played five minutes in the fourth quarter so only about 13 of his minutes came in the guts of the game. During that time, Leonard really made little to no impact. Offensively, he oscillated between being too passive and too aggressive. (Leonard is now 0-for-5 on three-pointers in the month of April -- that's something to keep an eye on.) Defensively, he tried to help defend Bynum and Gasol but he didn't make much of a difference; Leonard needs to learn how to be more forceful when coming to double-team bigs. With the Lakers dominating the glass, it would have been nice if Leonard pulled down a few contested boards … but that didn't happen. After scoring in double-digits in 11 of 14 games, Leonard has scored less than eight points in six straight outings. It's safe to say he has hit some sort of rookie wall. Let's hope it's temporary.
DeJuan Blair D
On paper, DeJuan Blair versus Bynum is a mismatch. In reality, it was a mismatch of epic proportions. Blair tried hard to defend Bynum on the block but it was futile. Rebounding-wise, Blair's shortcomings on the defensive glass were magnified. Blair didn't even register as a speed bump when Bynum wanted to grab an offensive board. On the other end, Blair had no hope when looking to score over the Lakers bigs. Honestly, while Blair was a massive negative, I don't know if he's even capable of fulfilling the role the coaching staff asked him to fulfill. I'm not sure what more could be expected when Blair is going against players who are faster, more athletic, more talented and a half-foot taller.
Stephen Jackson B+
Outside of Green, I thought Stephen Jackson was the bright spot. He brought much needed physicality to the game. Jackson was strong when defending the post, came with purposeful double-teams and his individual D was solid. He also gave really good effort on the boards. Offensively, Jackson took smart shots, passed the ball well and kept running the plays even when everyone else was panicking. He probably could have attempted to pick up more of the slack but I was satisfied with the way he played. If more of his teammates played with his level of fight, things would have been much different.
Patrick Mills D-
With Gary Neal out with a stomach ailment, Patrick Mills was the backup point guard. Let's just say that the Spurs really missed Neal. In all facets of the game, Mills was extremely underwhelming. He didn't have his typical energy on defense. Instead of pestering the ball, he could only offer half-hearted hand-waving. Offensively, he took a few horrible shots and just didn't play smart. Assertive shooters work in the Spurs system … but Mills is taking it too far. Mixing in more passes and getting the Spurs into their sets with crisper action would have really helped. As ugly as Neal is to watch at times, he runs circles around Mills right now when it comes to being able to create plays for his teammates. That said, I suspect Mills was tired tonight. He just wasn't moving with his usual pizzazz.
Matt Bonner D
While Matt Bonner knocked down his three-pointers, that was the extent of his positive play. He was much too active with his dribble; I don't mind it every now and then but it can't be a staple of San Antonio's offense. Defensively, he was definitely part of the problem. He played some passable post defense but he was mostly just too small and too weak. The lowlight of his night was when he allowed Josh McRoberts to blow by him for a dunk. And do I even need to explain why Bonner needed to pull down more than one rebound in 20 minutes?
Boris Diaw C-
If Boris Diaw is trying to earn a spot in the rotation, he's not doing a very good job. Offensively, his passing up of shots was annoying -- especially since the Lakers bigmen were sagging so much. Diaw's three assists came long after the game was already in the bag for the Lakers. Defensively, he didn't do anything special. His post defense was decent but not much of an improvement over anyone else. He double-teamed a lot but his timing was poor. Diaw wasn't bad but he also didn't give the coaching staff any reason to make room for him in the rotation.
Tiago Splitter C+
On offense, Tiago Splitter took advantage of the few touches he received. He could have been more demanding about getting the ball but most of the blame should be directed at his teammates. Splitter has been a huge part of the bench's success yet he was largely ignored tonight. That's something that needs to be addressed going forward. Defensively, I didn't like much of what Splitter did. He allowed Gasol and Bynum to get optimal position on him repeatedly. He also wasn't protecting the rim as much as usual. Splitter didn't box out well and he was definitely another weak link on the boards.
Pop F
I've been whining all season about Pop failing to build chemistry between Duncan and Splitter. Tonight we saw why I've been so adamant about the importance of that combination. When faced with a tall frontline, Duncan and Splitter should be an option. However, due to Pop's complete and utter mismanagement of his bigmen, he doesn't have the ability to trot out Duncan and Splitter with any sort of cohesiveness. It's a huge coaching mistake that may ultimately cost the Spurs their playoff lives. On top of that, I thought Pop should have given Leonard more time since he's the best perimeter rebounder on the team. He should have had a quicker hook with Blair and given more minutes to Jackson and Green. And while it was good to give Mills playing time so he could gain experience, I thought he should have pulled the plug and gone with Ginobili as the backup point guard.
Duncan had more blocks than rebounds, wtf. I wonder how many times he's done that in his career
Solid grades. Hopefully the Spurs can turn it around against the Grizz. Tiago needs to start starting
Lakers are the worst matchup for the Spurs in the West...also didn't help that Joey Crawford was officiating...I swear the game really went to after he didn't see the ball went off Artest and the Lakers capitalized with two easy points
I honestly don't think I can watch another series this postseason against a team with two 7-footers. It was seriously infuriating me last year that Pop wasn't giving Splitter more time against Memphis, I thought for sure he had learned his lesson and was confident it would change this year...boy was I wrong. If the Spurs run into LA or Memphis again it's going to be trouble, and maybe I'm wrong, but in my mind Pop deserves to be fired for his poor management of the development of Splitter.
thanks!
Season Grades
Pop F
in the 2 games the big three played and the games were close(boston)or a loss(LA) the refs aren't making any calls. They are letting the oppostion hack the crap out of us and not calling them. We only hade 9 fta tonight. In the Boston game it wasn't much more.
So now the league has developed a formula to stop us. Don't call fouls on either side......and let the hacking take care of itself.
The worst LA team in recent years without Kobe or the Zen master, thrashing what was supposed to be a much improved Spurs team.
I didn't think much of Mike Brown's coaching before, but he may have turned out to be a great fit for the Fakers as he is now the master of Pop.
Pure Pwnage
Duncan, being the tallest Spur on the floor, was the designated shotblocker to challenge the Lakers' big men. So it's reasonable to expect him to be out of position to grab rebounds. That task falls on the rest of the team. Fortunately for the Lakers, the Spurs' head coach never quite got over himself and his infatuation with his small ball lineups. And the rest was history...Duncan had more blocks than rebounds, wtf. I wonder how many times he's done that in his career
Solid grades. Hopefully the Spurs can turn it around against the Grizz. Tiago needs to start starting
Lakers are the worst matchup for the Spurs in the West...also didn't help that Joey Crawford was officiating...I swear the game really went to after he didn't see the ball went off Artest and the Lakers capitalized with two easy points
Going forward, I hope to see this height disadvantage being negated by simple common sense. It's not like the Spurs can't throw two nearly 7-footers to counter Gasol and Bynum, or whatever big lineups from the Grizzlies.
Last edited by Snaq O'Meal; 04-12-2012 at 02:21 AM.
I think you're being too hard on Duncan. He can't box out two seven footers by himself but two seven footers can box him out pretty easily.
Not buying this at all.
Boston's defensive reputation allows them to play a more physical brand and ditto for LAL although not to the same extent. Against the Lakers, the Spurs and Tony were mostly settling on the perimeter anyway so it's not like there were all that many fouls to call.
As an aside, Timvp I think your grades are better than the ones at 48 Minutes. Normally their marks and yours are more or less in the same range but when I clicked over there and saw this line: "Should the Spurs meet the Lakers in the playoffs, I can see Bonner starting."
Link: http://www.48minutesof .com/el-co...#ixzz1roA8OkbH
I just...I mean I wouldn't put it past Pop at this stage but the writer didn't sound nearly as furious about the idea as I would be...
So I guess this is just a really long way of saying "Thanks".
I thought pop quit when the lakers were on their first run early in the 3rd to increase the lead to 20. Obviously the spurs needed a time out, but pop let his frustration get the best him him and let The game get out of control
Duncan had 3 blocks in the first quarter, I know he should have finished with more than that.
Have to chime in before knocking out...
Not playing Splitter and Duncan together will cost the Spurs any chance at being able to compete with the Lakers or similar teams posing analogous match up problems. I read in a thread before coming to see Timvps grades and it contained the notion that Splitter isn't played because he's not good enough, that's horse . You don't teach height, period. Splitter ain't very good or great (however one wants to think of it) but he's the next best thing to counter the imposing frontcourt of the Lakers. I posted a comment in the game blog regarding the possibility of the assistant coaches questioning his moves. After a couple of hours of thinking about it............. I still can't believe no one has called him out, whether it be a matter behind the scenes or whatever, someone has to help him strategize against teams like the Lakers because he looks like he has lost it. I wish someone could take Pop for hostage and tie him to a chair in front of a TV airing Spurs games vs Lakers/Grizzlies. After seeing his mad genius rotations fail time and time again, maybe then would he entertain the idea that his current rotations are a recipe for playoff exits.
End rant.
Thanks for the grades Tim.
AGREED!
Be nicer to Timmy, please.
Another advantage of starting two seven footers is you can play volleyball when teams use small lineups.
Thanks for the grades. I am really embarrassed and ashamed of the overall team play. Even at the half I would have bet a huge amount of money that we would pull out a win. I was so looking forward to this matchup, because the Lakers are still the arch rival ... once again disappointment set in and within in one night the Spurs became pretenders again. I agree that Pop has to try to play Splitter and Duncan together, so that Tiago at least plays 25 minutes.
I am at work right now, but my mood is so sour ... someone throw a blanket over my head please ...
Unfortunately the upcoming series of games will do little do regain confidence. The Spurs as they are built now are just a punchbag for teams with 2 decent bigs. There aren't that many of them in the league (but we're going to face at least one of them in the playoffs) AND we haven't played them so far, which helps us in the standings. However playing the Lakers 3 times and Memphis once in the last 11 games was exactly what this team didn't need. I fail to see how there's any hope to rebound when we're going to be served just more of the same tomorrow night, with Blair going on an impossible mission to defend Gasol or Z-Bo and Splitter rotting away on the bench.
To add insult to injury, one would have thought that, of all nights, tonight would have seen Duncan + Splitter minutes reaching at least 48 minutes (i.e. at least one of them on the floor at all times, if we can't have both) but they only played a total of 39 minutes (and I will assume they were never both on the floor at the same time), meaning we gave the Lakers 9 minutes of utter small ball, whereas Bynum + Gasol played 77 minutes combined, at least 29 of them together on the floor.
As an outside observer, I'd guess Pop was trying to throw away this game.
There's a silver lining to this however: on the Spurs side, several players played like crap, which never helps; whereas on the Lakers side I see Kobe coming back as a positive for us, as the ball will be less in the hands of the players who can really crush us. I'd rather have Kobe being the only player on their team taking 20+ shots, compared to Bynum taking 20 and Gasol taking 24.
This is why I think our chances are better against Memphis this year ... their frontcourt is not as deep as last year and Rudy Gay (like Bryant) takes away possessions for the big guys. Still not confident about tonight though ...
48 MoH's irrational love affair with Bonner goes back a long time, so I wasn't surprised by this bizarre writing.As an aside, Timvp I think your grades are better than the ones at 48 Minutes. Normally their marks and yours are more or less in the same range but when I clicked over there and saw this line: "Should the Spurs meet the Lakers in the playoffs, I can see Bonner starting."
Link: http://www.48minutesof .com/el-co...#ixzz1roA8OkbH
I just...I mean I wouldn't put it past Pop at this stage but the writer didn't sound nearly as furious about the idea as I would be...
So I guess this is just a really long way of saying "Thanks".
One of their main writers was on the ESPN NBA Today podcast as a guest last season with Russilo and was 100% serious when telling Russilo that the reason the Spurs could beat the Lakers was because Matt Bonner was the secret weapon who would be a huge match-up problem for the Lakers bigs.
Unbelievable. Are they on Pop's payroll?
What I don't get is how practically nobody in the comments section seems to pick up on stuff like this. Then again, they seem to be a bit behind SpursTalk in terms of their consensus opinion on the team and its players...
Embarrassing to say the least. The Lakers aren't better without Kobe, they're just different - but they have the potential to be much more deadly with Bryant on the court. Which makes this loss incredibly disheartening. Additionally, we like to point to our bench as a clear advantage over theirs - yet we couldn't come close to winning when their depth was further weakened by Kobe's injury.
Bonner played about as well he could, probably deserves a B+ because he was 3/4 from beyond the arc. Pop deserves the F here for overextending him. Even after the Lakers fully adjusted to Bonner's offensive presence, Pop kept him in there. Why Bonner was given the 2nd most minutes is beyond me and frankly not fair to the guy.
Splitter had a few soft moments but was physical in general. I thought he, along with Bonner, Green, and Jackson were the bright spots tonight. I don't remember him giving up position after position. But then again, you probably re-watched the game where as I was trying to not to storm out of the room from too much taunting. Question of the night for me: "Why doesn't your coach play Splitter?"
I woke up for this game just after 3 am
And that was a waste of everything for me.
The second time after being full of hope I'm now doubt in the spurs. The previous time was against Boston and now against LA. Spurs are unable to do anything vs better defenses.
They are helpless, and Pop wanting more offense clearly did not prepare the spurs in practice against tougher defense.
Spurs looked bad and I do not see any positives.
Yea me too. I watched all but 4 Spurs games this season and we Europeans always need to wake up a 2,3 or 4 a.m. It's not really a problem but when you have to go to school in the morning then you're ed, especially if your teams plays like they are on a picnic party.
The Spurs look like the Suns, they can go and score 120 points against teams that don't play defense, but when a team like Boston comes we start looking like . The same problem's with teams that have great bigs. Lakers just raped us, I mean Bynum did it. Can't wait to see what will Pop do against Gasol/Randolph tonight. If Splitter and Tim won't play together for at least 10 minutes then I say LOL to everyone who said this team is different from last year. We just have a bunch of shooters and no inside game.
Bynum looks taller than 7'. It was comical to see a 6'5" Blair running around him. The guy had no chance. So Pop's secret weapon was Matt Bonner? No decent defensive coach is going to allow Matt Bonner to beat them.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
