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I agree with you on Pop's patience, but I'd give Pop an A- for not giving Blair or Bonner a second of playing time.
Tim Duncan B+
All in all, he did pretty well. His production was commendable and he kept his nose to the grindstone no matter what was happening around him. However, he did have his flaws. On offense, he held the ball too long at times. On D, his rotations to defend the rim were slow too often. The good news is he looked healthy.
Tony Parker D-
Well, damn. Prior to the game, I wasn't worried about Parker physically. Now I'm scared. It was sad to watch him out there. He was limping through the game and had no burst at all. I don't know what's wrong but hopefully it's something that can heal quickly.
Kawhi Leonard A+
The indisputable bright spot from this game. There were stretches of time where he was the most impactful player on the court. Offensively, he continues to use his dribble as a weapon. He's powerful going to the rim, shot it well from deep and made great passes. On D, he competed and made few mistakes. Well done.
Danny Green D+
I liked his defense for the most part; admirable hustle and activity -- though he did get hurt by penetration and made ill-timed rotations at times. On O, he was limited due to the lack of playmakers. He tried to do too much and it backfired. Mix in a few costly mistakes and it was a night to forget.
Tiago Splitter D-
What … the … . Sure, the refs were allowing contact amongst the bigs but Splitter has to play tougher. His finishes around the basket were too soft. He again didn't take advantage of his size. His defense was porous. When Duncan sat, Splitter basically just allowed OKC to do whatever they wanted.
Boris Diaw B
It's difficult to ascertain whether he helped or not. While his offensive production was adequate on paper, OKC was paying such little attention to him that he needed to do more. On D, he rebounded better than usual and had a few notable plays -- but oftentimes got overwhelmed by their athleticism.
Gary Neal C+
Neal had a night of extremes. The Good: The Spurs were desperate for points and he provided. His mobility continues to look much improved. The Bad: his decisions were so, so maddening. On both sides of the court, it was like his brain was disconnected from the rest of his body. *blood boils*
Nando De Colo C+
His raised aggression level on O was again appreciated. He provided the team with the liveliness it sorely lacked on this night. He limited his mistakes and kept his composure on O. But his D was a whole 'nother story. Westbrook basically emasculated him in money time -- and De Colo showed little to no fight.
Pop B+
What could he do? No Ginobili or Jackson. Parker had nothing. Splitter and Green struggled mightily. Through it all, the Spurs were somehow only down by three points with five minutes remaining. Pop preached patience throughout the night -- and that patience almost resulted in a miracle.
I agree with you on Pop's patience, but I'd give Pop an A- for not giving Blair or Bonner a second of playing time.
Nando's lateral move is too slow to avoid any contacts that Westbrook tried to create. I really wished that Pop could have given CoJo some minutes to see the result.
Kawhi was great for the most part but I wouldn't give him an A+ after he missed a couple easy fastbreak opportunities. Granted, those were mostly De Colo's fault but he's still not aggressive enough on the offensive end to my liking. He hesitates a little too much and looks to get bailed out by rushing a pass to the closest man when he actually had the better look to the basket. It's still great to see him grow before our very eyes and he still looks on the verge of busting out to be the next All-Star we desperately need.
Really worried about Tony now. Spurs could survive without Manu for a bit in the first round but if Tony is down the Spurs may get embarrassed again.
In a game against the Thunder, we may have had the best SF on the floor.
Derek Fisher hitting those 3's in this game might be excellent in the playoffs, and he can be the best midseason acquisition for the Spurs. If he plays rather than Reggie Jackson/Thabo, we have a better chance of winning.
I would add: fastbreak and layup drills for everybody, tbh... amazing how we can't finish simple, easy points... at first it looked like it was the odd game, but it happens too often and you can't give those advantages to good teams. Tonight we missed easily 6-8 easy plays.
The fast break problem is inexplicable, these aren't 3 on 2s they are 2 on 1s which you should score at a 90% clip, but the spacing is horrible and the ballhandler always too passive and slow to react. Can't win when you blow the easy ones.
^ i was about to make a thread about that lols
do they run fastbreak drills? i guess not, spurs cant take advantage of 3 on 1, 3 on 2, 4 on 2 fast break, it's a joke, their spacing is always wrong
they got so used to one man fast break from either parker or ginobili tbh...
kawhi leonard showed something tonight that's going to be huge if he's going to be an allstar, he got to the rim and looked natural doing it, he made strong quick effective moves to attack the basket and it was just a great sighting
and yeah the tp sitution, it's very concerning, he hasnt looked right since he hurt his finger a few games back, it could be a couple of other injuries slowing him down
this team always talk about getting healthy is number1 priority heading into the POs, but their getting UN-healthy at the wrong time
Yeah, what the is up with the fast break fails? That is a skill that any NBA player should have mastered, but nearly everyone on the team appears inadequate.
Random Chazley thoughts:
Kawhi was spectacular tonight. Manu's injury could be an incredible blessing in disguise for the Spurs if KL keeps this up. With TP out, the Spurs put the ball in Kawhi's hands more than I have ever seen in a regular season game where Pop played all his healthy players. The two missed free throws near the end were crippling for our chances. At times, you can tell he really needs more experience with the offense going through him, but the flashes he shows become more and more frequent. Future all-star, little doubt about that now. Only complaint: he needs to get the line more often - he did a good job of that tonight.
I really hope TP just needs some rest. Craig Sager said he has a sore neck, back, and ankle. I can't believe he even played 26 minutes tonight, he had absolutely NOTHING to give. A true warrior to even give it a go. The fact that he played tonight let's you know that Pop and the Spurs want that number one seed BAD. Thunder have a tough one tomorrow against Indiana on the road, and the result could influence alot of the decision making going forward regarding playing time/nights off.
Tim Duncan looks spectacular. One particular play stands out to me. He was iso'd against Nick Collison, and just blew buy him for a nice shot right near the rim. He couldn't do that the past 2 years. Duncan is playing well enough to carry this team through a first round playoff series where we potentially have a banged up TP and Manu trying to work themselves back into the lineup.
Tiago Splitter has too many problems with consistency. Tonight, he got absolutely hacked on some shot attempts and didn't get foul calls, but that doesn't excuse his 4 pt/6 rb effort against a Thunder team who has a 4 that loves to help off his man. Tiago Splitter needs to step his game up for the Spurs to have a chance. Manu being out and TP not being able to foray inside 3pt line on offense tonight really hurt him. Pick and roll is his bread and butter offensively, and tonight exposed some serious shortfalls in his offensive game when he isn't able to play off our guards.
You have to wonder if the Spurs front office doesn't just let Manu walk this offseason. It's kind of unbelievable, but I'm not sure if he fits as well with this team anymore. Kawhi has shown flashes as a secondary playmaker for this team, and I already can't stand it when Manu takes the ball out of Tony's hands this season at the end of games. He has to show something in the playoffs that let's us know he can still play at a high level for stretches, or else he could become more of a drag for this team than he helps.
Overall, I was very encouraged with tonight's game. On the road, we got down big twice and fought back twice. I hope Pop continues to get Parker/Duncan rest but let's Kawhi continue to play and run this team. He needs the reps, and he gets more and more impressive the more he handles the rock. Tiago needs the reps as well. These last 6 games are all about getting our team right for the playoffs. Keep your head high Spurs fans, we're on a dry-streak in terms of winning but I personally have had a positive outlook after each game. Playoffs are gonna be a doozy this year.
still a good effort by a team that played without 2 of their Big 3 and without SJax as well ... Kawhi Leonard is a beast and has to play exactly these 41 minutes or even more in the playoffs
thanks for the grades
Glad to see that Pop went 45 min with Kawhi
I'd give Green a higher grade just for the block on Perkins. That was awesome just to see Perkin's face in disbelief. I like our athleticism better. I think we matched-up better in the end. I like Nando's lenght. Sometimes Tony can be overpowered by bigger guards. Just too many uncalled fouls on Tim, Splitter and and-1 on Neal. but tichy-tac foul on Durant was a maddening sometimes. The only thing is we left Fisher open too many times when his only purpose in being there is to shoot the 3. But overall we can beat this team when healthy, better than last year. Go Spurs Go!
Disappointing lost, but love the fight the team showed tonight.
If Parker is still not yet at full strength, perhaps Pop should just sit him for a few games and go with CoJo and Nando.
If Splitter doesn't get an F for last night's fest then I don't know. Even Rasho Nesterovich thought he played light.
Danny Green was especially bad tonight.
Green and Splitter were equally terrible - something that absolutely CANNOT happen during a 7-game series.
I wonder if 82 games for the spurs is too intense of a season.
I mean come on. Even with the most careful minutes given to each player spurs tend to fall apart.
Of course I would give TP a higher grade for trying to play through what is obvious even to Reggie Miller that he is hurting...a lot. I always thought that the grades were supposed to be based on what a player was capable of giving, and it is painfully clear that TP is not physically capable of giving much right now. Yet, despite that, he played as hard as he could and tried to help. He clearly is not moving well laterally and has no lift on his shots. But we will beat him up for playing hurt, nonetheless. What a fan base.
Splitter is the one I felt really disappointed in tonight regarding actual performance vs. potential performance. He just made me mad with his passivity. Sometimes I feel that he tries to let Tim be dominant when Tim wants to be, and he clearly has wanted to be of late. But they need to work out a system of letting both of them get some dominance in the paint, and we have never figured out how to do that.
I thought that DeColo was brilliant at times, showing defensive aggression and execution, and I was glad that Pop stayed with him as Tony's backup. He also kept us in the game at one point with his three point shooting, but then got inexplicably passive in the fourth. Pop needs to help him with that.
Overall, as someone else said, with only one of our big three functioning, we did pretty well vs. this team. During the earlier part of the season, when TP was the only one of the big three on the floor (when Tim and Manu were both out) he was able to carry the team to some impressive victories. It is concerning but realistic to note that when he is not on the floor, no one, including the mighty Tim, can do the same. Without Tony, we go nowhere. He was clearly acting as a decoy early on, and that is what Tim used to do in his heyday often. And it is a good strategy when it works. Later, though, he (Tony) was just struggling to bring the ball up, and when the opposing team figures out that he doesn't have it, he is useless out there. I thought it was smart to send him back to the locker room and let deColo finish the game.
Can lateral mobility, quickness, "sliding", be improved at pro level? never seen any mention of such training.
Regarding deColo's alleged passivity on Westbrook late in the game. It was clearly a team mantra not to send the Thunder to line very much last night, and late in the game, when the Spurs had pulled within three points, the refs started giving them foul calls every time they went to the basket. It broke up our offensive rhythm, gave the Thunder a chance to get a cushion without having to make field goals, and put deColo in a position of picking up three fouls in short order.
So, if you are deColo and Pop has made a point of saying do not send them to the line, do you continue to try to be aggressive or do you back off so as to avoid a free throw parade? DeColo did the latter, and is being criticized for it. I think he was just doing what the coach said to do, sort of like when Fisher went off on threes after Pop said to leave him alone. The players occasionally get criticized for executing the game plan that the coaches set up.
And let's give credit where credit is due...Westbrook may be a player we all love to hate, but he played a brilliant game last night, perhaps the best I have ever seen him. That is not necessarily our fault. It seems that we beat our own team up for other players have great nights, when sometimes it is just that the other player has a great night.
Lol at the idea of giving pity grades for "trying". And De Colo can't guard fast point guards, he's more fit to play SG in the nba, tooling De Colo doesn't mean that Chuckbrook was unguardable tbh
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