Game Thoughts: Spurs vs. Bobcats - Jan. 30

[timvp]

The Spurs entered their affair with the Bobcats riding an eight-game winning streak. While the game wasn’t always easy, San Antonio eventually breezed to No. 9. Their 102-78 victory improved their record to 37-11.

Three-pointers by Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard helped the Spurs open up an 8-0 lead 2:20 into the first quarter. San Antonio kept a decent cushion for the duration of the period until the Bobcats scored nine of the final 13 points to make it 25-23 going into the second quarter.

A Leonard jumper put the Spurs up by 11 points with 8:37 remaining the first half. Unfortunately, the offense came to a screeching halt. San Antonio would go scoreless for the next four minutes. Charlotte, though, didn’t take advantage -- cutting only six points into the lead. San Antonio got back on track in the latter stages of the second quarter. A 10-0 run gave the Spurs a 15 points lead. At the half it was 49-37.

In the early third quarter, it appeared as if San Antonio was going to blow this thing open. A Tony Parker layup at the 6:39 mark gave the Spurs a 19-point advantage. But the blowout didn’t materialize; that turned out to be the high-water mark for the period.

The fourth began with the good guys up 74-60. A 5-0 run to begin the final stanza pushed the Spurs back up to a 19 point lead -- but, again, San Antonio stalled. Charlotte scored eight straight points to make it a ballgame again. It wasn’t until the last four minutes that the Spurs gained safe separation. A 10-0 late run pushed their lead to 20 points. Then, with two minutes remaining, the Bobcats finally ran out of time.






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Tony Parker

Coming in with a streak of three consecutive great games, Tony Parker didn’t quite live up to his lofty expectations. Obviously, his scoring efficiency was great; putting up 22 points on 9-for-10 shooting is outstanding. Parker’s defense was fine and he did well pushing the pace at times. Where he was slightly off of his game was in the playmaking department. His orchestration of the offense wasn’t as crisp as it needs to be and his decision-making process wasn’t as fast as needed. Those small flaws added up and resulted in Parker’s five turnovers and played a role in the team turning it over a season-high 23 times. The Spurs would have been in trouble against the Bobcats without Parker but running the offense in a fluid and steady manner is undeniably part of his job description.
Final Grade: 89
Season Average: 87.7
Adj. Average: 87.7
Last 10 Average: 91.8
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Manu Ginobili

Other than a heaping of sloppiness, Manu Ginobili was quite good in his 21 minutes. He scored well, found teammates and otherwise created offense at an impressive clip. Defensively, his individual D wasn’t noteworthy but he rebounded well and swiped a couple more steals. Regrettably, Ginobili’s hamstring tightened up on him in the fourth and he was forced out of the game. Let us hope that the Argentine legend can soon put the hamstring injuries behind him.
Final Grade: 91
Season Average: 84.8
Adj. Average: 84.7
Last 10 Average: 87.2
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Kawhi Leonard

Kawhi Leonard hit his first five attempts from the field to jumpstart a fine offensive showing. He was shooting with no hesitancy and exhibited an exciting ability to make plays off the bounce. His 18 points were his most since the season opener. Shooting 4-for-5 on three-pointers pushed his three-point percentage on the season all the way up to 40.2%. Against the Bobcats, Leonard also did admirable work on the defensive end. He gave very few points in isolation situations, rebounded the ball well and was extremely active. All in all, Leonard might have been the only player on the team who was more meticulous than muddled.
Final Grade: 94
Season Average: 84.4
Adj. Average: 84.4
Last 10 Average: 84.2
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Danny Green

The Good: Danny Green shot extremely well. He pulled down contested rebounds. Defensively, he made plays away from the ball and was extraordinary in transition. The Bad: Green’s passing was so very bad. When he wasn’t tossing it to the other team, he’d either hesitate and ruin the rhythm of a player or be off target and mess up a surefire bucket. On the defensive end, his individual defense lacked fundamentals and his closeouts on shooters were undisciplined.
Final Grade: 85
Season Average: 82.5
Adj. Average: 82.9
Last 10 Average: 81.6
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Tiago Splitter

I liked Tiago Splitter’s aggression on offense. He refused to blend into the scenery and instead tried to impose his will. Alas, his actual production was only mediocre. He didn’t finish as well as usual and his passing wasn’t precise. Defensively, he had a few solid plays but his feebleness on the boards was troubling and he had a few plays where he didn’t show an ample amount of compe ive fire. Thus, despite a healthy amount of production in many categories, Splitter’s night was middling rather than praiseworthy.
Final Grade: 81
Season Average: 85.5
Adj. Average: 86.2
Last 10 Average: 88.4
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Boris Diaw

Offensively, Boris Diaw’s aggression was here one minute and gone the next. That said, his bursts of aggression were enough to force the Bobcats to account for him -- and that’s usually half the battle. Once Charlotte got up on him, Diaw was able to drop off a handful of lovely passes while also refraining from mistakes. Defensively, he didn’t rebound well but his D -- both inside and out -- was stout. He was particularly good when offering help defense.
Final Grade: 85
Season Average: 81.3
Adj. Average: 82.2
Last 10 Average: 83.7
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Stephen Jackson

Stephen Jackson played 21 forgettable minutes. He turned the ball over too much, didn’t shoot straight, didn’t rebound, didn’t defend especially well and looked slow. The only microscopic bright spot was his passing ... but that clearly was overshadowed by all of his unsightliness.
Final Grade: 69
Season Average: 80.7
Adj. Average: 81.7
Last 10 Average: 77.8
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Aron Baynes

With Tim Duncan, Matt Bonner and DeJuan Blair all sidelined with knee injuries, the newly signed Australian got his first real look as an NBA player. I thought Aron Baynes did quite well. Offensively, he sets a mean pick, has decent enough hands and explosive hops. Defensively, he had a few good contests at the rim and he was extremely physical. And Baynes’ rebounding, like it was in Europe, was elite. Now, yes, he had plenty of mistakes. His pick-and-roll defense was abysmal. He got in the way too much on offense. But considering he’s fresh off the boat and has never played at this level, I was very happy with what I witnessed.
Final Grade: 90
Season Average: 90.0
Adj. Average: 90.0
Last 10 Average: 78.0
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Nando De Colo

Nando De Colo turned it over two more times and missed all four of his shots, but it wasn't a terrible night for the Frenchman. In fact, he did okay. His passing was slick. He ran pick-and-rolls effectively. De Colo also competed on defense and limited his errors. He was quick to loose balls and did well when pushing the pace. De Colo didn’t take a step toward winning the backup point guard spot but he also didn’t hurt himself.
Final Grade: 80
Season Average: 81.3
Adj. Average: 83.0
Last 10 Average: 79.7
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Gary Neal

This was like bizarro Gary Neal. If anything, he didn’t shoot enough. A couple times he caught the ball without a defender in his proximity and he froze. For a guy who says he considers himself to be open as long as he can see the rim, this was quite a change. Elsewhere, Neal also didn’t do much. I thought his defense was slightly better than normal … but that’s about the extent of his extraneous production.
Final Grade: 70
Season Average: 79.3
Adj. Average: 80.5
Last 10 Average: 75.2
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Pop

Welcome back, Pop. I don’t have many nits to pick this game. Finding a way to get Aron Baynes quality minutes was smart. It was interesting from a scouting perspective but it should also help Baynes break the ice and get comfortable. The rest of the rotation was odd at times but it didn’t negatively influence the proceedings much.
Final Grade: 85
Season Average: 84.0
Last 10 Average: 84.7
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Offense
San Antonio’s scoring rate wasn’t horrible. Their 23 turnovers? Yeah, that was horrible. Unless you’re playing the Bobcats in front of your home crowd, that’s usually going to result in a loss. The Spurs survived the turnovers by shooting wonderfully. In fact, outside of turnovers, there’s nothing else to complain about.
Final Grade: 79
Season Average: 84.1
Last 10 Average: 84.4
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Defense
The D was quite good. Forcing 24 turnovers while holding the Bobcats to 13 assists is great. Also great: the 24 points allowed in the paint and the three-point defense (4-for-19).
Final Grade: 94
Season Average: 84.4
Last 10 Average: 87.1
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Overall
This was an uninspiring win … but that’s understandable. Taking on a bad team after a long break is recipe for a ho-hum evening. Add in Baynes literally being in the middle of everything while not knowing exactly what to do, and it’s even more understandable that things weren’t perfectly smooth. The nine wins in a row are great and have the Spurs in a strong position with the Rodeo Road Trip looming. Tonight, let’s hope they finish this homestand off in style.
Final Grade: 82
Season Average: 84.5
Last 10 Average: 86.7
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[Strategic]

I thought Tiago's mental game was interesting. Whether he sees Baynes as a threat, sees him simply as a teammate that can help the team succeed further in the playoffs, or if he had something else on his head, who knows? I was encouraged by Splitter's new aggressiveness, though I'm not sure it's a positive to his game, or a positive for the Spurs' needs. Ahem. Concerning Baynes' game, I think he did well with showing some BB IQ. Most players at this level have extensive experience with the pick and roll, but the Spurs back court offensive sets are the best in the world. One does not simply walk into Mordor, it is folly. With a little time he may bring much to the table, hope so anyway. Nice work on the thread as always.

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

That Baynes pic has bad lighting.

I wish Kawhi were on a tier team so that all his weaknesses could be exposed and abused like MKG.

[Manu-20]

That Baynes pic has bad lighting.

I wish Kawhi were on a tier team so that all his weaknesses could be exposed and abused like MKG.

what don't quit get were your going with this your name is San Diego spurs fan right?

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

what don't quit get were your going with this your name is San Diego spurs fan right?

someone earlier this season (I forgot who) said that they wished Kawhi was on a bad team so that he could "expand his game" or something like that and used MKG as an example.

[Pauleta14]

wow tough on Tony timvp...

I gess your expectations are rising up!!!

[Manufan909]

Thanks for the game thoughts, timvp!