Sure, it wasn't pretty all the time, but Rockets are a team that can be tough to guard, and despite Harden getting to the line a lot, his 6-16 shooting indicates he was covered pretty well.
Also of notice, the Spurs held the Rockets to 40% shooting from the field (6% lower than their average) and 34.5% from downtown (2.5% lower than their average).
The rebounding was perhaps the area where the Spurs needed to do a better job (Rockets +6), but credit Asik: he was physical and dominant in the rebounding department.
All in all, the Spurs will win more games than lose playing this kind of D, IMO. The 18 turnovers is probably where this game was decided, but that's an aspect of the offense and warrants it's own analysis.
I said I'd be happy if we can limit the TO's and hold them under 100. We did one of the 2. The defense was definitely solid overall.
Still pretty miffed Parker didn't get the ball on that last possession. It seems late in games he either hit's a big shot or is able to drive and find the open man.
The D kept the Spurs in it, along with Tony. The issue was the Spurs couldn't afford to lose this game considering how tough the next few opponents are gonna be. Spurs will more than likely lose to the Heat as well as Memphis if Pop leaves players at home. Gonna lose HCA to the Thunder.
anyways.....what in the world was pop thinking running a same play from the warriors game.....come on pop your better than that...give it to Tony Parker
Good thread. I am much more encouraged by this loss than by the 119-113 win over the Cavs.
Especially considering it failed miserably the 2nd time in that game.
I do think the positive is how well this team has responded to losses. I think beating Denver and then the Clippers at home is not out of the question. The whole Miami/Memphis b2b is where it gets tricky, but getting 3 out of 4 would be a real success.
Also have to factor Memphis will be playing without Marc Gasol more than likely.
you can also add harden's super flop shot
Manu's play on offense has been holding us back as of late. I'm still 100% confident he'll come around
Well one thing we have in our favor is that Gasol will most likely be out for that game against Memphis.
I thought the D was pretty good overall too. Mind you, i had to bail the last quarter and a half, so I missed out on crunch time. But til that point, I thought we were doing alright. I also liked what I saw out of Nando.
.....in that context, I should be more pissed with this loss. I still think the Spurs can beat Denver or LA at home, but it's going to be about how much they want it, because both teams will probably be bringing their A game. As for Miami, I'd rather not show them everything and take a loss.
Agree with the OP. Houston's D wasn't bad either.
Glad OKC no longer has Hardin.
If TP had forced the issue all night long and not just the final 8 minutes we could have trounced them. Defense was good (although it was largely negated by Officially Licensed NBA Free Bonus Charity Points) but it was a mistake to run TD into Asik all night long. Bank shot wasn't falling and he wasn't getting good looks, especially without any Pick and Pop opportunities at the top of the key.
Houston's d is good, but man a first round series with them would be fun.
also would be a much better preparer for later rounds IE Denver in 05,07 Phoenix in 03...
28th in points allowed and 18th in defensive efficiency and the Spurs couldn't crack the century mark. That's pretty much all that needs to be said.
Fat Gasol out indefinitely with abdominal muscle strain.
I didn't like the D
I hated the rebounding
Yeah, but the Grizzlies are still good enough to beat the Spurs at home if Pop rests Tim and/or Tony
Reduce Harden's free throw attempts to a more reasonable 10 or so and the Spurs win that game. Totally agree that the defense was pretty stout. Loved that Pop had Kawhi on Harden in crunch time. Refs had to bail out the bearded one several times.
The Rockets won the game on the non-foul called against Kawhi with a minute or so to go. KL was so worried about being whistled that he failed to block the shot that was right in front of him. Some knowledge of the rules would have been helpful on his part; a player can't change direction and jump into the defender to get a call, which is what Harden did, and why it wasn't called.
liking what I see on D so I'm not too worried.
I rather have a strong D team with offensive challenges than what we had last year.
bump
Slipped in the 2nd quarter, but the other 3 quarters, it was pretty phenomenal, IMO... held another playoff team well below their average (Denver averages 105ppg)
Some missed rotations. Allowed too many points in the paint. Other than that the defense was solid.
I posted this in the game thread:
CBS dude Matt Moore posted on twitter that Spurs defensive percentage allowed has gone down from Jan-March since the 2011 season. This year is no different.
The stats say we simply are not defending as well as we were earlier in the season. Spurs Suck in March should be the new slogan.
Considering Denver scores all of its points from attacking the paint, FTs, and (hopefully) getting hot from 3, taking away the 3 point line and not allowing them to ac ulate too many free throws helped.
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