Quick Grades: Spurs vs. Pistons - March 3

[chapnis]

but this clown gets 26 minutes
should be getting Leonard 30+ minutes even in blowouts to let him develop his game
i liked what he did in the post tonight and he has a huge length advantage over most small fowards and if teams like to play small (Clippers and Kevin Martin or Westbrook at the 3 when they go small and Sefolosha is guarding TP) thats another matchup advantage they can use to their favor

Leonards knee is still not 100%, no point putting unnecessary pressure on it.

[John B]

Great win. The silver lining to TP's injury (if any) is the younger guys learning to play when the games depend on their plays, and not having to depend from the big 3. This will only prepare them better for the playoffs and get us to the next level. Great team win!

[Tim_duncan21]

Great game by TD.

Thanks for the quick grades

[cheguevara]

Neal had 7pts and 3ast in 9 minutes of play coming off injury. I'd say he deserves a grade.

[chapnis]

Neal had 7pts and 3ast in 9 minutes of play coming off injury. I'd say he deserves a grade.

Twas garbage time

[Brazil]

I'm pretty confident that the Spurs will be capable to sustain a good record >.50 during TP's injury healing. We have to bet on TP fast healing capacity so that the spurs have enough time to enter in the POs as good as possible.

Let's pray that Manu will stay out of trouble, he is stepping up right now, great game from him.

[Boomersgold]

Neal had 7pts and 3ast in 9 minutes of play coming off injury. I'd say he deserves a grade.

Players who play in garbage time never get timvp grades.

[Fireball]

Players who play in garbage time never get timvp grades.

And Neals grade would not be good ... he chucked up as many shots as he could in 9 minutes.

[Seventyniner]

Yea I agree. I like the De Colo, but he almost seems like the Blair of the guards. Meaning that he is a good player but he just doesn't fit very well alongside our other guards. He is not taking a starting spot from Danny, Tp, or Kawhi obviously. But he also does not play very effectively alongside Ginobili either. This makes it challenging to fit him into the second unit. It seems as though he is only effective in specific situations. I think this will change as he continues to develop, but for now he looks like he might be squeezed out of the rotation. Improving his outside shot this offseason would do wonders to his game though

I could see him getting some burn in the playoffs if Pop panics and starts Ginobili. De Colo is the best complement to Green (other than Tony and Manu of course).

[Bruno]

Great win. The unselfishness of the team was especially remarkable.

Manu and Tim get their rhythm back at the perfect movement which is great. Joseph just looked like a legit NBA player. If he confirms that in the next few games, Spurs might have found their backup PG.

[iminol]

DUNCAN yesterday:

at least: 16 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 blocks in .. 26 minutes.
How many dudes in 2012/13 did this stat line? Answer: 2.
How many times? Answer: 3 and 2 of them is #21.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/...5&order_by=pts

[superjames1992]

Neal had 7pts and 3ast in 9 minutes of play coming off injury. I'd say he deserves a grade.

He also chucked up seven shots.......

[freetiago]

spurs were scoring on a lot of cuts to the basket/fast break points off turnovers
the non stupid and long/athletic teams wont allow that
still would like to see if they can run the pick and roll offense well without TP
joseph was having some problems once they hedged and lost his dribble or didnt get any penetration
he was getting a lot of attention though, frank tried hard at the beginning to target him defensively and offensively

[Blake]

Any theories as to why Pop started Joseph?

Was it to keep the regular role players in their roles?

Personally, i would have liked to see what Mills could do with the starting unit.

[Mal]

Any theories as to why Pop started Joseph?

Was it to keep the regular role players in their roles?

Personally, i would have liked to see what Mills could do with the starting unit.

Mills isnt a PG. He has body of one.

CoJo started, probably, because with Neal not 100%, Parker out and weak as rivals it was only chance to see on what level, 3 years after being drafted, this one guy is playing.

[Fireball]

CoJo started, probably, because with Neal not 100%, Parker out and weak as rivals it was only chance to see on what level, 3 years after being drafted, this one guy is playing.

3 years? wow, time goes by ...

[Blake]

Mills isnt a PG. He has body of one.

I could say the same thing about Parker and Neal.

[Pop]

Any theories as to why Pop started Joseph?

Was it to keep the regular role players in their roles?

Personally, i would have liked to see what Mills could do with the starting unit.

It"s pretty obvious, the other two didn't cut it.

[Fireball]

It"s pretty obvious, the other two didn't cut it.

Or just because it was Sunday ...

[Bruno]

Something else to notice in this game was that Manu played some true PG minutes in the third quarter with Green and then Leonard playing SG.

[Mal]

I could say the same thing about Parker and Neal.

Parker matured and developed to be a complete, modern NBA PG.
To Neal I agreed. Maybe testing CoJo is plan to use Neal in other way ?

[benefactor]

Something else to notice in this game was that Manu played some true PG minutes in the third quarter with Green and then Leonard playing SG.

That's something we will likely see a lot of over the next few weeks. It's a good thing...as it will help Manu get back in full rhythm in preparation to be the lead decision maker for the bench in the playoffs. Hopefully his injuries are behind him.

[024]

one can only hope ginobili and joseph will play this well when parker comes back. this game was encouraging because it looks like ginobili's struggles may have been purely mental. i was beginning to think he was done physically. now that he's gotten his head out of his ass, the spurs might finally have a legitimate shooting guard starter. this reminds me of when ginobili went on a tear a few years ago when parker was also out. too bad he petered out/got injured in the playoffs like he always does. maybe this year will be different.

[Whisky Dog]

3 years? wow, time goes by ...

2 years. He was drafted in 11 and lost all summer/fall to the lockout before his rookie year last season.

[Fireball]

2 years. He was drafted in 11 and lost all summer/fall to the lockout before his rookie year last season.

I knew that, but the guy I quoted did not