Grades: Spurs vs. Lakers - Apr. 20

[emanueldavidginobili]

I was looking on the Lakers fan page earlier today and they're are all panicking right now, They're now trying to avoid the Spurs in the 2nd round hahaha

[TJastal]

The 2 wide open corner 3s in the first half were by Leonard.

(doesn't mean I don't agree re: Green, btw)

You're right.

I could have swore I saw him make a 3 early on, guess I'm thinking of Leonard like you mentioned, or his long 2pt shot or perhaps in my senile state of mind I'm thinking of the game before.

Regardless, the block and layup was the key turning point in the game I thought. He certainly is giving the spurs a bit of an x-factor out there.

And you gotta love the combination of him, Leonard, and Jackson which really bodes well for the spurs as far as shutting other teams best guards & forwards down and allowing the big 3 to focus almost exclusively on offensive execution which is going to be almost impossible for any team to stop when all 3 are healthy.

[Spur|n|Austin]

So just a few games back, after our first matchup, we were coming up with various ways to avoid the Lakers in the playoffs. Can we agree that it may be beneficial to see these guys? I think Pop's adjustments have completely thrown a wrench in Brown's game plan and we seem to match up perfectly against them, as long as Tiago is starting and we keep attacking their lack of speed we've got a of a chance.

[will_spurs]

I could have swore I saw him make a 3 early on, guess I'm thinking of Leonard like you mentioned, or his long 2pt shot or perhaps in my senile state of mind I'm thinking of the game before.

According to the boxscore Green made a 3, maybe it was early on in the game, can't remember.

[wildbill2u]

I've noticed in the 3 Laker games that sometimes Gasol is getting left alone at the top of the key with no one close to him. He promptly makes his wide-open shot from there while Tiago runs at him from down close to the basket..

I don't have a replay unit available but I believe Tiago is guarding him. Unless he's dropping off to defend the basket, he's way out of position. But that's the trouble with watching a rotating helping defense, you tend to follow the ball and the game is so fast that without the replay you can't really determine if someone else should be moving to cover Gasol.

[emanueldavidginobili]

What scares me more than ANYTHING about the Lakers is Kobe Bryant. He had 7 games off right before the playoffs he's going to be fresh and hungry for a 6th ring.

[DMC]

What scares me more than ANYTHING about the Lakers is Kobe Bryant. He had 7 games off right before the playoffs he's going to be fresh and hungry for a 6th ring.

That's what we're all hoping for. His hunger will lead to chucking.

[therealtruth]

I thought Leonard got called for a couple of things that he wouldn't have if he weren't a rookie, but managing 2 steals in 18 minutes is phenomenal. On one of them Bryant never had a chance at the ball because Leonard is so damn long.

And how about Danny blocking Metta on that drive?

Kawhi is a smart defender. He'll learn from his mistakes.

It seems like DG always has a couple of plays where he seems beat and comes from behind to get the block. I think it's works psychologically because it can get in the offensive player's head.

[therealtruth]

So just a few games back, after our first matchup, we were coming up with various ways to avoid the Lakers in the playoffs. Can we agree that it may be beneficial to see these guys? I think Pop's adjustments have completely thrown a wrench in Brown's game plan and we seem to match up perfectly against them, as long as Tiago is starting and we keep attacking their lack of speed we've got a of a chance.

I'm not so sure. If Tiago or Tim gets in foul trouble we are toast. I'd like to see Pop develop some plays to use Tim and Tiago. That way we can force their bigs to play defense.

[TheSkeptic]

That's what we're all hoping for. His hunger will lead to chucking.

I don't know. I actually thought Kobe was doing a great job of not hogging the ball and picking his spots wisely last game. His problem imo was that he was a little bit too passive. It wouldn't surprise me if Kobe continued to play smarter because I just think he really wants to win.

Wouldn't surprise me to see him start chucking either though honestly.

[therealtruth]

Spurs defense has been greatly helped by Gasol. He settled for perimeter shots instead of being aggressive. When he plays that way, Lakers are way easier to defend. By looking at his stats, it looks like he has done that the whole year. He needs to go back to the way he played before last year playoffs.

I agree the Lakers don't win 2 championships with Gasol playing as soft as he has. PJ really transformed him into a tougher player to win it all.

[therealtruth]

Blair can learn alot from Diaw about attacking taller players. You jump into the players body and can also use the rim to protect the ball. That way you don't have to throw up circus shots.

[pgardn]

I love to see Splitter fouling at the right moments. As long as he does not pick up crap fouls I absolutely love it. And Pop almost let him foul out. Actually, he was playing with 4 fouls I believe, when the game was not quite totally out of hand. I was impressed Pop would let that go, and very pleased he did.

I also like the fact that our youth, combined with Ginobili's nose for the ball, and Jackson's toughness let us corral so many lose balls and long rebounds. This, imo, is a huge diff. from last season. We just did not have the athletes to compete for 50/50 balls. We do now and a lot of breaks get started this way and/or possessions elongated. Even if we dont do well in the playoffs our upside in this area gives me hope that we can be a more versatile team than last year.

Duncan... I just dont get him. He did not make the allstar team, but is clearly still an allstar. The man is amazing. Makes the old guys feel good...



Grades seem reasonable and assessments as well. Thanks for the time.

[pgardn]

I don't know. I actually thought Kobe was doing a great job of not hogging the ball and picking his spots wisely last game. His problem imo was that he was a little bit too passive. It wouldn't surprise me if Kobe continued to play smarter because I just think he really wants to win.

Wouldn't surprise me to see him start chucking either though honestly.

If Kobe does not attack the rim and keeps shooting those contested fade aways I like him in the game.

[TheSkeptic]

If Kobe does not attack the rim and keeps shooting those contested fade aways I like him in the game.

True. True.

I guess my concern is that coaching and having Mike Brown for a coach has helped him turn over a new leaf.

[emanueldavidginobili]

If Kobe does not attack the rim and keeps shooting those contested fade aways I like him in the game.

Kobe is a top ten player ever. I do not want him on the floor no matter what hes doing out there.

[pgardn]

Kobe is a top ten player ever. I do not want him on the floor no matter what hes doing out there.

I want the Kobe we saw in the first half, especially the 1st quarter, on the floor at all times.

[Darkwaters]

Holy crap, I just realized Bynum only had 2 rebounds.

What happened to his 30 rebound-nights?

[Darkwaters]

Kobe is a top ten player ever. I do not want him on the floor no matter what hes doing out there.

I agree. As much as I'd love to be the one to eliminate the Lakers, they'd be a tough match up. It doesn't matter how these last two games have looked.

I'd much rather take the Clippers in the second (another good team, but a level or two lower) and not have a really difficult match up until the WCF.

[Obstructed_View]

I've noticed in the 3 Laker games that sometimes Gasol is getting left alone at the top of the key with no one close to him. He promptly makes his wide-open shot from there while Tiago runs at him from down close to the basket..

I don't have a replay unit available but I believe Tiago is guarding him. Unless he's dropping off to defend the basket, he's way out of position. But that's the trouble with watching a rotating helping defense, you tend to follow the ball and the game is so fast that without the replay you can't really determine if someone else should be moving to cover Gasol.

Gasol's a good shooter, but if you're picking your poison, you want him shooting jumpers from 18-20 feet.

[thOOdee]

great grades as always

[therealtruth]

I was looking on the Lakers fan page earlier today and they're are all panicking right now, They're now trying to avoid the Spurs in the 2nd round hahaha

They should have been panicking when they learned Mike Brown was going to be their coach.

[Obstructed_View]

Kobe is a top ten player ever. I do not want him on the floor no matter what hes doing out there.

When a guy who shoots 43% is taking shots away from a guy who shoots 51% and a guy who shoots 56%, I want him on the floor.

[YoMamaIsCallin]

Great game for the Spurs. I loved it all.

I want to quibble with Jackson's grade. He made terrible passes several times. He needs to stop that. His shooting is way off as well.

[Dr. John R. Brinkley]

I was intrigued to see how Leonard would fare defending the Mamba last night. Leonard will never be Bowen as far as how he defends, and given that it seems silly to think that Leonard could ever be a "Kobe stopper". But last night had me wondering. As Kobe's style of game has changed I realized that it fits perfectly to Leonard's strengths on defense.

Bowen had great lateral quickness which was crucial to defending Kobe during the last decade. But Kobe's game has now changed and he relies more on backdowns and post-ups...which luckily are exactly Leonard's strengths on defense. Leonard is actually fairly average at running around picks and defending quick ball handlers but he is great at denying points in the post.

It's hard to say if the Spurs will meet the Lakers in the playoffs, but I have faith that Leonard with his long arms and great sense in the post is the perfect player to guard this generation Kobe Bryant. I'm not saying it was on great display last night, but on paper this looks like a matchup that Leonard should be able to handle...in theory.

If Pop continues to start Splitter to help offset their size, and Leonard can hold down Kobe, this could negate their strengths and allow Parker to dominate the action on offense and eventually wear them down.

In other words, if we can negate their Big 3, our bench should be able to break the game wide open...just like last night.

I would love a chance to play OKC one more time before the playoffs to see how we now match up against them. The future is bright for this Spurs team in the playoffs. No teams are insurmountable. It's wide open and the Spurs are on a roll right now, eerily reminsicent of other past le teams...