Quick Grade: Spurs @ Blazers - Nov 10, 2012

[dunkman]

Splitter is a very good backup C. He's struggling early in the season, its not a big deal. The Spurs only have to sign an starter quality PF, otherwise the roster is quite impressive. Martin is still available, I'm not sure why the Spurs dont give him a shot.

[will_spurs]

funny. diaw had the same passive reputation while on the bobcats.

"it's because he wasn't on a winning team "

It's not a reputation, it's the truth, and if anybody brought up the "winning team" argument they were wrong. This being said, there's a difference between passive (or more specifically: not looking to shoot) and uninterested (which Diaw was in Charlotte because the team sucked).

All in all I don't see the point of piling on on Diaw when so far he's been a clear positive for the Spurs, be it at the end of last season (when his integration into the system was very smooth) and this year (where his passing and IQ have already been very useful).

Splitter is another problem entirely. I'd say part of his struggles are due to Pop's doing his utmost to put him in unfavorable situations, limiting his minutes for god knows what reason and so on; but the other part is that he is just WAY too soft to be a difference maker in the NBA, and his ceiling is sadly a lot lower than we expected and hoped for. Unlike many other Spurs prospects who got the boot before getting the opportunity to prove themselves, Splitter has had many opportunities now, and at his age and experience he's extremely unlikely to morph into the kind of player the Spurs really need. Of course on a team that desperate with bigs that Bonner is a rotation player, he's still better than nothing. At this point I wouldn't mind seeing him traded, except we don't need a lateral move but an upgrade, and I can't see who the trade kicker could be in order for another team to send us a better version of Splitter.

[dunkman]

Tbh, if Duncan can put 20/10 stats in the post season, the Spurs will be good with Diaw or eventually K-Mart. Even when those players dont have much offense, they are good defensively. Splitter will eventually recover his form and be serviceable as Duncan's backup.

The problem is when the Spurs play with Blair or Bonner at PF. The defense gets horrible, also the perimeter players drive more easily for high % shots. I don't think the Spurs can make the finals if those players get meaningful minutes at PF. Even playing Kawhi or Jack at 4 makes more sense.

[CGD]

Tim "Instagram" Duncan going old school on cats. Can't believe he's looking so spry. He even has his legs on those midrange jumpers.

[CGD]

We only made the run because Terry Stotts (Blazer's coach) got y and decided to play his scrubs, Will Barton, Sasha Pavlovic, Jared Jeffries etc. Having a 14-0 run against a team like that isn't something to be THAT proud of.

Jared Jeffries: -14
Will Barton: -9

Well he DOES have to rest his starters at some point. Not our fault their bench only had 4 points!

[Boomersgold]

Well he DOES have to rest his starters at some point. Not our fault their bench only had 4 points!

Here's what I said after:
Wow. I thought they were third string players. In that case then, Portland may have THE worst bench in the NBA. I mean, Babbitt, Jeffries, Barton, Pavlovic? These guys wouldn't even make the roster on a playoff team.

[boutons_deux]

impossible to predict when he came into the League, but Batum has progessed extremely well in key categories.

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/nicola...eer_stats.html

[Brazil]

A win in Portland without TP, really ? poor tlong

[Bruno]

b2b, on the road, Spurs suffering from sickness.... That's a great win even if it's only the Blazers.

The DeJuan Blair injury worries me. There were rumors about his knees being in really poor shape this summer and he is now missing a game because of it.

[DMC]

Problem with Diaw isn't that he doesn't shoot, but that he's a really good shooter who doesn't shoot. Some people we don't want shooting, but Boris needs to look for his offense. The feeling out period should be over, Tony needs to tell him to shoot the ball, but then the Spurs are cursed/blessed with so many scoring options that Boris probably doesn't feel pressured to shoot the ball. He passed up some wide open looks after some crafty ball movement. That equals risk without reward. If he's going to do that, there's no need to have him be atop the key waiting for a pass. He's simply too talented and good to be so removed from the offense.

Bonner needs to never be on the floor again during any meaningful stretch of play. It's like they pulled some guy from the crowd and put him out there. He's not even NBA material.

We have some really good talent at the PG spot but we are PG heavy like crazy.

Tim is simply amazing. He's so polished and fluid out there. It's like a pro playing with amateurs some of the time (even though the Blazers looked fantastic imo).

The rookie PG in Portland looks pretty impressive.

[DMC]

Yeah I find it quite troubling we struggled so hard against a team with no bench to speak of. Sure TP was missing but just his absence isn't an excuse for a game against a team of their caliber to be so tight if we want a shot at winning a WCF this year.

It's early season. Every win now will add up in the standings regardless, and though we don't have a reason to jump up and down about it, we too are finding ourselves. We seem to treat every opponent as not being worthy, but then they are all NBA teams. We win even with 21 turnovers. I'll take that. When we start becoming fluid again and protect the ball, that will translate to even better success against teams like that who play so well at home.

[therealtruth]

It's early season. Every win now will add up in the standings regardless, and though we don't have a reason to jump up and down about it, we too are finding ourselves. We seem to treat every opponent as not being worthy, but then they are all NBA teams. We win even with 21 turnovers. I'll take that. When we start becoming fluid again and protect the ball, that will translate to even better success against teams like that who play so well at home.

I have no problem with racking up wins early as long as we continue to improve the defense and make the offense more consistent. Of course the downside to racking wins early is we lose some of our edge later in the season.

[DMC]

I don't think we lose our edge just because we build a cushion. Pop sits players and we play the bench more. That appears as losing an edge when it's really not. I think Pop prefers the option to sit guys. Any coach who doesn't is a moron.

[Gagnrath]

Diaw has always been passive on offense since he came into the NBA. This was true with the hawks, with Phoenix, and with the Bobkittens as well. It has been a feature of him as long as he has been in the NBA, other teams have at times essentially dared him to shoot. No one can really figure out why this is as most NBA players are more than willing to be a feature of the offense if they are given their choice of offensive shots, Diaw has in certain games on some nights essentially been willing to score, which makes everyone wonder why he doesn't more but for a guy who has had fairly consistent 20+ minutes of playing time for the last 8 years is unlikely to suddenly become a guy who is going to shoot more.