Looking to Game 4: Worries and Silver Linings

[Ice009]

I love how people are clamoring for Blair, after dogging him all season. What a bunch of hypocrites.

Blair has played well against the Thunder. No one wants Blair to play against teams like the Lakers, but against the Thunder he's played well. That is where that is coming from.

[timvp]

Other random adjustments:

-TP, you can't go horizontal off of a pick, go into the middle of nowhere and then pick up the ball.

-Manu, when Perkins is crouching down, don't be fooled -- he's still tall. You can't just shoot a lazy three-pointer over him. He'll stand up and block it.

-Duncan, this isn't 2002. The only time you should post up is if Ibaka is defending you. Trying to post up on Perkins when Perkins' post defense is arguably the best aspect of their defense is lunacy. Going against Collison isn't much better.

[cutewizard]

More Diaw running Point Forward

More hands in the face of midrange jumpers

More effort

More nasty

exactly my thoughts

[polandprzem]

LJ, it seemed like they were crowding the perimeter when the Spurs were setting high screens to eliminate any penetration. Why didn't we start making cuts to the basket? Am I just generalizing things here? Seemed like the easy answer watching their new defense.

Spurs were trying to cut on some occasions but OKC did a good job of disturbing the passing lane

[polandprzem]

Other random adjustments:

-TP, you can't go horizontal off of a pick, go into the middle of nowhere and then pick up the ball.

-Manu, when Perkins is crouching down, don't be fooled -- he's still tall. You can't just shoot a lazy three-pointer over him. He'll stand up and block it.

-Duncan, this isn't 2002. The only time you should post up is if Ibaka is defending you. Trying to post up on Perkins when Perkins' post defense is arguably the best aspect of their defense is lunacy. Going against Collison isn't much better.

I agree - they need to split the defenders more often.


Also Spurs were due to a gr8 startegy on D vs Durant - forcing him go one side and then bring 2nd defender from the other. Durant tends to spin and losing the eye contact with D for a second.

[therealtruth]

Tbh, while it's obvious Bonner doesn't have the intestinal for ude to play basketball at this level of intensity, the Spurs can usually withstand his sucking because his role is pretty basic. But Splitter is a HUGE part of the second unit; he's as involved as much as anyone including Ginobili because he sets screens on every play. If Splitter is negated by Fisher, that hurts a lot more than anything Bonner can do.

And if Splitter can't adjust, at least we know that Blair can set a screen and then score if a point guard switches off onto him.

I think you're being way too hard on Splitter. Did we even see a single successful Splitter-Manu pick and roll? I feel the Spurs really didn't even try to run their offense. I get that OKC was playing super hard but that doesn't mean you don't try. Manu and Parker need to do a better job of getting them into their offensive sets instead of throwing the ball away.

[pikkiwoki]

Its not fair to say Tiago got negated by Fisher. For the first time Ever, I saw Tiago try to post up when he had a midget on him and he got called for a bull offensive foul. Then he was the victim of two bull "makeup" calls in a row and had to sit for most of the 1h.

i didn't even see what he did on that offensive foul on fisher. it didn't even look like fisher flopped. tnt was too ashamed to even show a replay.

The foul was BS but it shouldn't even take a post move for Splitter to score on Fisher. He should just overpower him to the rim and lay it up like any other bigman would do outside of Bonner. Pulling out a dream shake to score on Fisher and getting called for a foul isn't a positive, IMO.

but to me it looked like that's exactly what splitter started to do, back down the midget. but the refs blew the whistle on first contact, wtf. need to see a replay

Yeah I too thought he was going to back him down and then I heard a whistle. At first I thought Fisher had grabbed him or something. I honestly have no idea what the call was. The only thing I can think of is he caught Fisher with an slight elbow or something but I don't even think that was the case.

Splitter just needs to bury Fisher under the rim before catching the ball and then go straight up for a layup/dunk. Splitter just made it too difficult. Fisher is going to flop on any type of post move and get the call a lot of the time (although it looks like Fisher got a gift call tonight without needing to flop).

I'm sure Pop will point out what needs to be done ... let's hope Splitter will adjust and we won't even have to discus this heading into Game 5.

It's just too easy to call BS fouls on either the unathletic white guy or the blonde dude from Brazil... refs don't have to justify it, and half the time you're left wondering if they didn't do something stupid, even when then don't. Count me in for giving Blair a shot. I would hand Matt's minutes to him (he's way over his head), and try Splitter for a bit. If he lays another egg, go small with Blair out there, or go Blair/Diaw...

joo gotta be keeding me meng. where's the foul?

make-up call for that fisher non-out-of-bounds call in game 2, tbh

[slayermin]

Not sure if this was mentioned.

Major Silver Lining: Spurs are healthy going into game four.

[ElNono]

tbh, I was rewatching some of the game, and we laid the big fat turd with our second unit, a couple minutes into the 2nd quarter... scared to shoot, extremely poor transition defense, no ball movement. It just put us in a bad position going into the third, where we our starters made some mistakes we couldn't afford being down.

[therealtruth]

Diaw can and should play 30+ minutes.

I agree Diaw may not shoot the ball but at least he can create something of the dribble unlike Bonner. I think Pop has wasted enough minutes seeing if Bonner can contribute. At best it's a wash but it's hard to argue he's contributing much. I think Pop needs to go with KL and SJax more for defending Westbrook and Durant. We need to force the other players to beat us.

[will_spurs]

When I saw Splitter being blocked by Derek Fisher, I knew we were in for a long night. Neal getting 11 minutes in the first half didn't help. And Anderson getting 1 minute in the 1st half was a really clear signal that Pop had decided to tank that game. He made no adjustments that might have helped the Spurs close the gap. Too bad, because we wasted a good game by SJax and we have no idea when the next one will be.

[therealtruth]

Last game Pop ran Westbrook ragged by putting him through so many screens and picks. Pop now has to adjust to the Thunder putting Thabo on TP. The Thunder won that move. I would go with SJax. He actually has a post game and can post up Westbrook.

[racm]

The biggest problem wasn't the shooting. It was the effort. Getting 20 wins in a row will go to anyone's head, even if they're Tim Duncan.

[will_spurs]

Oh, and for the record I don't think OKC "won that move" by putting Thabo on Parker. It lead to a bad start of the game but the Spurs soon climbed out of the 8-0 hole and after that I don't think this really played a role in this game. Especially since Thabo is such a liability on O. Last night he just hit a lot of shots he wouldn't normally make. Tomorrow he might 1-for-9 and OKC will be in deep because Thabo is not efficient enough on D to overcome such a poor offensive outing.

Another day, another game.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

I predicted we'd lose game 3, and it doesn't surprise me that we were blown out. OKC is a damn fine team. But I also think we were mentally exhausted from the first two games (coming back in game 1, fighting the 9min penalty to end game 2) and went to OKC concentrating on game 4 as the game to try and win.

I think you'll see a very different - sharper, faster, more dedicated, meaner - Spurs in game 4, and I think it might go down as one of the great games in history. Either game 4 or game 5 will.

This series is yet to have a close-all-the-way game, and I think we might have two of them coming up. Will we win them? Not sure, but I know we have a good chance.

Spurs by 2.

PS All this hinges on TP finding a way to make passes around Sef, and Manu not bringing Turnobili. That is undoubtedly the key.

[racm]

Yeah, the Spurs lost because they were half-assing it. Bonner did his usual disappearing act - the guy's a bigger choker than LeBron.

[mingus]

Splitter had good games 1 & 2, especially protecting the rim. Tonight he sucked, but he still needs to be the first or second big off the bench.

Tonight, I'm not sure Blair would have done much to help. His defense is worse than Bonner's and it is likely the Spurs would have turned the ball over an additional 3-4 times had he played in Bonner's place. He's a turn over machine. It boils down to the fact that we have three good bigs and the rest suck. It is probably this team's only weakness, and usually enough players play well to disguise it. However tonight pretty much everyone outside of Capt' Jack was off and it became obvious how thin we are at that position.

Duncan is going to have to step up some. Part of the reason we've been so succesful is that he's played well. However his offense of late seems to have reverted back to just a little better than last year in a matter of a week. He's going to have to find a way to score on the low block and relieve some of the load off of Parker and Manu. The Parker and Manu attack is becoming too predictable. That was a big factor in why we lost to Memphis last year.

I think our championship aspirations depend just as much on Duncan being able to contribute offensively as anything.

[Durant 35]

Spurs certainly need to improve with the P & R

[therealtruth]

Splitter had good games 1 & 2, especially protecting the rim. Tonight he sucked, but he still needs to be the first or second big off the bench.

Tonight, I'm not sure Blair would have done much to help. His defense is worse than Bonner's and it is likely the Spurs would have turned the ball over an additional 3-4 times had he played in Bonner's place. He's a turn over machine. It boils down to the fact that we have three good bigs and the rest suck. It is probably this team's only weakness, and usually enough players play well to disguise it. However tonight pretty much everyone outside of Capt' Jack was off and it became obvious how thin we are at that position.

Duncan is going to have to step up some. Part of the reason we've been so succesful is that he's played well. However his offense of late seems to have reverted back to just a little better than last year in a matter of a week. He's going to have to find a way to score on the low block and relieve some of the load off of Parker and Manu. The Parker and Manu attack is becoming too predictable. That was a big factor in why we lost to Memphis last year.

I think our championship aspirations depend just as much on Duncan being able to contribute offensively as anything.

Diaw as a secondary playmaker needs to be used. It's worked in the past when they tried to shutdown Parker's pick and roll.

[Ice009]

Does anyone think we should give bonners minutes to Kawhi? He can do everything bonner does and more, he can drive past his man, rebound, hustle, probably shoot better ,close out and rotate quicker.

Absolutely. If Pop doesn't want to play Blair and cut Bonner out I would much rather small ball with Kawhi in Bonners place and more minutes for Diaw. Bonner is total trash.

[mando6599]

home cooking is serious business,

all of ibakas blocks are fkn clear goal tendings thats not being called at home

spurs shouldve continue to pound the rock and force the refs to call fouls

Agreed.

[Spurs1234]

I thought it was pretty bad when watching it, but big picture, look at the box score. The spurs were in it every quarter, even the third and fourth (for some reason i thought those were blowouts) it was respectable and they won the first which was amazing considering they were down 8-0 and the energy in that building was amazing. It's that second quarter, they got dominated. That was the difference in why it was a blow out. Without that second quarter swing, i still think the thunder when the game with a spirt in the fourth, but that was why it was a blowout. The second good news I saw in the boxscore, was parker was 6 of 12 and had 16 points and 4 assists. He was not "totally" shut down like everyone said. If he played the entire fourth like usual, he would have had 24 points 8 assists and a decent game.
Anyone remember games 3 and 4 in detroit in 2005, game 4 vs. seattle in 2005, game 4 vs. the suns in 2005, game 3 vs. UT in 2007? After those losses, you would have thought the spurs could never drive in the lane and not turn it over ever again. And we won those series. OKC is a good team, they were bound to win game 3.

[Obstructed_View]

Its not fair to say Tiago got negated by Fisher. For the first time Ever, I saw Tiago try to post up when he had a midget on him and he got called for a bull offensive foul. Then he was the victim of two bull "makeup" calls in a row and had to sit for most of the 1h.

This. I'm not sure what ing game you were watching, LJ. Nice that you use it as an excuse to beat on Splitter for the ing loss.

[Leetonidas]

I think it's time for Pop to bust out his go-to move and start Ginobili. Putting Parker/Ginobili in the starting lineup forces Westbrook to guard Manu if they're going to put Sefolosha on Parker and Ginobili has the court vision to work effectively with Manu out there, especially if Diaw is at the PF spot.

[Leetonidas]

Also the second unit was awful. Why the was Gary Neal playing so much? It's time to put Manu as full-time ball handler with the 2nd unit because Neal can't dribble the ball up for , it's like watching Beno out there. Soooo many lazy passes last night.