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Your are right, but its just sad to see such an effort by Tim Duncan got to waste ...
Yes, Blair's total uselessness on both ends of the floor as well as the fact that Mo Williams managed to get a shot off even when he was contested by the only healthy perimeter defender on the roster meant a Spurs loss, but consider the following:
1. It took a fluky game winner for the Jazz to win.
2. It took a last second contested 3 for the Jazz to win.
3. The Jazz are one of the best home teams in the league.
4. This was near the tail end of a cross-country road trip that began in Charlotte and ends tomorrow in Portland.
5. The Spurs have been on more road trips and more back-to-backs.
... and yet they're sitting pretty at 2nd seed thus far compared to OKC's home-heavy schedule (and this is considering that the Spurs don't get as much home cooking asStern's favorite golden boy).
The fact that they have an excellent record in the toughest stretch of the schedule should be seen as an advantage.
Your are right, but its just sad to see such an effort by Tim Duncan got to waste ...
Bigger picture. One game doesn't bother me. Its still good to see Tim is playing well overall. And I'm tired of hearing the Blair blame after tonights game
Did Blair play a single minute in the 2nd half? I don't remember him playing any important minutes late. He isn't why we gave away the 8 point lead late. I've been more disappointed in his play than most in this forum (because I actually had solid expectations, but he has seemingly regressed), but I can't sit here and say oh we lost because of Blair.
I think the bigger issue is not having Kawhi and Jax. These are two of our better perimeter defenders, and Jax could even play some 4. I don't think Gordon Hayward has the game he had if Kawhi is there, and I think Pop would stick Kawhi on Mo to close the game, much like he did with Kobe in the Laker game.
After our recent wins against the Wizards, Raptors, Rockets, I pointed at this upcoming stretch as one of the toughest stretches we will have in a long time. @Utah as you said is a daunting game. They are now 9-1 at home on the season and were 25-8 last year. Now we have to go to Portland on a b2b. Portland has disappointed this season in the standings, but anybody who has watched Spurs basketball in recent years knows that playing in Portland never seems to be easy for us. The silver lining is there is a solid chance Batum will sit it out. He had been battling a sore back and aggravated it in a recent game, and so Portland seems to want to play cautious with him now so as not to re-aggravate it yet again and turn it into a season long thing. So even though he turned in a practice, most reports aren't giving him a great chance of suiting up until he is 100%. If he does play, missing Kawhi and Jax will hurt. He tends to do well on us, especially if he can use his length advantage.
We also have to play against Boston (at home, this time). Boston isn't quite the juggernaut they were just a couple of years ago, and even then, they are team that tends to play much better near the end of the season and in the playoffs. Either way, a game against Boston is usually not an easy one. Then we have a road b2b against OKC (huge game) and Denver. Not much has to be said about OKC. They are our new rival out West and are the favorites to represent our conference yet again. We beat them early in the year without Manu, but if Kawhi and Jax both sit it out, Durant will have an even easier time than usual. And of course, as said, its a road game. We'd need monster efforts from each of the big 3 as well as Tiago to win that one. And then there's Denver. Stupid Denver. A perennial good team that can't quite turn the corner into elite status. Even then, they are a team that can get hot and beat you on any given night. Gallo can shoot, Lawson can ball, and Iggy can be an all star player any night. Then there's the question of which Javale McGee shows up, and if Manimal can stay out of foul trouble. Its an especially annoying game on the 2nd of a b2b, especially in Denver where the whole al ude shtick screws with people.
Going into this 5 game stretch I was hoping the good guys would come out of it 3-2 or better. Now that we've lost game 1, it adds pressure. Let see how the boys respond to a loss. I have a feeling Manu comes back with a vengeance against Portland
When you consider Spurs difficult schedule and the injuries, 18-5 is a damn fine record and Utah is tough place to win a road game.
Saying that, Duncan's resurgence should make Spurs' fans more ambitious. Having a great regular season record is fine but this team goal is to make some noise in the playoffs. Right now, I can't feel good about their chances in the playoffs because they are some key issues still unsolved (backup PG, weak at the PF spot).
That's frustrating.
Just read this game review on PTR ...
http://www.poundingtherock.com/2012/...t-buzzer-96-99
Of course I would have liked an extra call here and there, but this sounds a little too easy ...
This is why I think a mid-season trade isn't implausible. Giving up Jackson wouldn't be ideal but it would be a likelihood, since PATFO aren't going to give up any of the big 3 (Duncan has a no-trade clause for starters), and Kawhi and Tiago also look to be untouchable.
The problem is that the other tradeable guys like Blair don't have salaries large enough to get players like, say, Ed Davis.
Isn't just on Blair, Spurs defense was bad in the end of the game, offense was horrible too.
But when Blair is playing, Spurs always start slow, this game should be over by the end of the 3rd.
This is the worst way to lose a game tbh. Particularly as Duncan had a 20-20 with 6 blocks game.
The lack of KL and Jack finally caught up to the Spurs. Oh, well...we'll smash Utah in the playoffs if we face them.
Kawhi was missed in this game
Nope, not the worst...at least nobody got injured.
if we had to lose one game these past 2 weeks away in Utah is probably best bet.
All is fine.
But yeah, Blair sucks and Green sometimes reminds me of Jeff
It happens, sometimes you win games you were supposed to lose, and sometimes you lose games that you probably should have won. Even the great Bulls lost 10 games one year, you can't win them all. The thing is to not let it affect you losing the next game and start a losing streak.
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