Reply With Quote
Thanks for the grades as always.
I think Tony's D problems have to do with him being hurt. Maybe we should bring Tim and Leonard back for Orlando, and rest parker? Then have all 3 back for OKC.
Tony Parker C-
Scoring-wise, he was fine. He went up against a stout defense without much help around him and was efficient. He had multiple difficult hoops that kept the Spurs in it. Unfortunately, he had two glaring flaws this game: his passing was horrendous (missed countless open teammates) and his D lacked tenacity.
Danny Green D+
Couldn't get it going on offense. Missed his shots ... and his attempts to create off the dribble were usually unsightly. His defense was better than his offense -- but it was still below his normal level. He got lost in rotations multiple times and guarded poorly against penetration.
Stephen Jackson A-
He was one of the bright spots. His shooting obviously still has room to improve and he was a bit too sloppy with the ball -- but we also witnessed a lot of good. He looked stronger going toward the basket. He mixed in a few slick passes. His help-defense was tremendous and he rebounded very well.
Tiago Splitter B+
On O, he looked even more coordinated than usual. His hands were marvelous and he finished well. He rebounded well and his D was solid. Unfortunately, his night was marred by foul trouble. His disqualification in the fourth really hurt San Antonio's chances of winning.
Boris Diaw C
He was in attack-mode -- and that typically means a positive outing. But that wasn't the case tonight. He had trouble converting his open looks -- and that just made Memphis leave him open more often. His rebounding was poor. I liked his D at times but he didn't fight for position ... and that's deadly vs. Memphis.
Gary Neal B
He was all over the map tonight -- a lot of good and a lot of bad. Starting with the bad: he made a number of costly mistakes going down the stretch. His D was never good. The good: there were glimpses of his underrated playmaking skills. His passing was better than normal and, overall, he looked healthy.
DeJuan Blair A
Where did that come from? Out of nowhere, he played a very smart and balanced affair. He didn't force anything on offense. His passing was great. He found open spots. On D, his rebounding was adequate, he fought hard on the block and exhibited quickness on the perimeter.
Matt Bonner B+
Scrapped and clawed on defense -- he wasn't always effective but he gave it all he had. His rebounding effort was much, much better than we're used to. His O was ragged at times but his main issue was a lack of touches. His teammates missed him wide open a handful of times.
Nando De Colo B
I called on him to be more aggressive after the Heat game -- and he obliged. The five turnovers were a result of that ramped up aggression level but at least they were mostly miscues due to trying to force the action. He provided a useful scoring punch and was very impressive on the boards.
Pop B-
On one hand, getting that close without Duncan, Ginobili or Leonard should be commended. On the other hand, the Spurs dropped what would have been a HUGE win with shoddy decisions in the fourth. Pop had a hand in a few of those decisions, so he too deserves some of the blame.
Thanks for the grades as always.
I think Tony's D problems have to do with him being hurt. Maybe we should bring Tim and Leonard back for Orlando, and rest parker? Then have all 3 back for OKC.
Thanks for the grades, agree on all but TP. He deserves higher, he can't be asked to carry the entire scoring load and facilitate when our 3 top offensive options are all MIA against one of the toughest defenses in the league on the road in a back 2 back after the Heat. B at the worst.
I thought Bonner passed up on too many shots. Opted to pump and drive. Traveled once, got us in bad shot clock situations. He's got to fire the trigger when he's out there.
I thought Nando did really well, and I wasn't as mad about Neal as others on this forum seem to be. I thought Neal had a pretty solid game. I agree on the Blair grade. He was playing like the Dejuan Blair of 2011. Diaw competed well, but he just missed so many shots.
Neals defence (or lack thereof) has to drop him at least half a grade IMO. But thanks as always timvp.
thanks for the grades, i missed the game and im not watching the replay of this one
The last sequence where he lost Conley is enough to demote him to a C-/D+.
Wow, five games in a row which are decided by a last second shot ... sadly the Spurs are 2-3 in these games. The loss against the Heat still hurts more than this one ... Grizzlies are as scrappy as they come and the refs helped them in the end. I hate Bayless btw.
thanks for the grades ...
thanks for grades. It's good to see Nando improving, playing more instinctively, i've been a fan since he came over. I think he needs work but I think he will be good for us. if Parker is still hurt than I think he should sit out against Orlando, or play minimal minutes.
For once I don't like these grades.
Boris and tp are too low / too high are: jax, Neal, pop.
apparently I did not see the same game
Neal DF is too bad !!
Gary Neal is such a bad player now there's no way he deserves anything better than a D-. He is not good and cannot defend in the NBA. He was awful again. Yawn
All Neal has to do to earn a 'B' grade is hit a couple 3's .... lmao
Good grading except for Neal...dude was like a D at best.
Parker C- is fair mostly because of his two last possessions....
Ask Conley how good Splitter's help defense was in the final seconds.
I agree I don't know what game you were watching because Stephen Jackson was a stud. He to me turned back the clock and looked identical to 2003 Jack.
I'm curious what people want from Gary Neal. Cause he's almost literally playing on one foot.....
if thats the case, then i want him to sit down. one foot or not, the play where he ignored jack running open ahead of him and he pulled up at the free throw line.................stupid stupid stupid. selfish plays killed the spurs tonight.
between that and tony's final 2 possessions......those may be the 3 worst single possessions i've seen this team run in a long time.
i wouldn't be surprised if pop is STILL chewing them out this morning.
his foot is not the problem because I doubt it influences his decision making (shoot or pass) ... that fast break where he took the shot instead of passing to SJax for a layup was the icing on the cake ... every time he hits one shot he makes a heat check
Gotta get this damn train back on the track Wed..
Nice job. I'll make a short comment on a contradiction I notice here. I've wondered if you grade based on a curve or if it's based on what you think a man's top end could be. Even if Green and Neal were combined into one and the very best court qualities of both players were brought forth, there is still no way that I would compare that player to MJ, at least as far as BB on court is concerned, but I'll use MJ as an example for my point.
MJ's college career is defined, if not epitomized, by a shot he took in the waning moments of a championship game.
MJ's pro career is defined, if not epitomized, by the shots he took in the waning moments of championship games.
I know there is importance to playing the whole game. Stat sheets are filled and your team is put in the position to execute in the final moments of games. If you're involved in the final moments, isn't that the critical? Now my point concerning the critical final moments:
You give Green a D but do not mention specifically that his man scored the game winning points by making a simple move and making a lay up. I don't mean an eye popping NBA type move, just go to the hoop and make a lay up. Green is not a pauper by any means, he is well paid for his job.
You give Neal a B but do not mention specifically his reluctance to pass the ball to Jackson for a lay up in the critical final moments of the game. He saw the man for the lay up, or Jax may have had to shoot foul shots on the play, but just didn't pass the ball to him.
Neither one of these guys are young rookies, but they both got bit by the execution bug. I know you can't win them all. It's true that a loss by 2 is no different than losing by 30, but that means that it counts only one in the loss column. The Spurs just lost 3 of 5 tough games. Were they beat by better teams or did they just not make the decisions and plays necessary?
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
