Quick Grades: Spurs vs. Warriors - Round 2, Game 5

[Baseline]

Idiot Pop blew our 14-point early lead by sitting Tim for what seemed like an hour. When Tim came back in, our lead was gone, and he was ice cold the rest of the night. Thank God TP was ready to take over. Whoever hit a spurt in the 3rd quarter was going to win this game. Thankfully it was us.

If we get out to an early lead in Game 6, Pop needs to keep his foot on the gas and put Tim back in before GS cuts it to a one possession game. That has been Pop's biggest mistake in this series...we've blown a billion leads, and needs to do a better job of stopping the bleeding. Tonight he got lucky because TP's calf loosened up. So Pop looked like a genius. Guess what? He's not.

[TE]

The crowd was electric throughout the game for the most part. Our team really fed off the energy during our runs.

I counted about 50 Warrior band-wagoner fans in the building sporting Curry jerseys...

[TE]

Hopefully we close it out in Oakland...I want no part of this Warriors team anymore. Harrison Barnes can ball tbh

[Rito3d30]

Did anyone see this



There's another push by Timmy
GTFO

[Stabula]

so you only do grades when Spurs win?

[will_spurs]

A nimble and slightly over-sized big like Diaw is exactly what's needed against a team that goes small like GSW. Maybe he's not yet 100% following the injury and Pop is always careful with minutes management. However more Diaw definitely helps. And if Diaw is healthy there's no reason for Blair or Bonner to see the floor next series, assuming the Spurs move on.

The inability of Splitter to post up guards is a real issue. There's the famous "Splitter couldn't post up on Fisher" line from last year, but he's doing it again. There's no way a team should be allowed to run with RJ at center and not be made to pay for it. Splitter should just practice that because at the moment it's basically a more efficient version of Hack-a-Tiago.

[Capt Bringdown]

...but this is still a far cry from the Splitter we witnessed for much of the regular season.

Why is he sucking so badly? Still not back from injury? Not ready for prime time? If he were playing in regular season form, it's likely this series would be over by now. The idea that a 7-footer can only score 4 points against the Warriors is pathetic.
I've been a Splitter fan from the get-go, but I'm very disappointed in his play against the Warriors.

[romain.star]

Can someone tell me real quick what it means when Patty puts his hand on his wrist and throws up the number 5 with his fingers? I've seen it like every game so far

5th ring maybe?

[chapnis]

so you only do grades when Spurs win?

Nah, Spurs win when timvp does grades.

[will_spurs]

5th ring maybe?

It's explained in the other thread: reference to Kawhi's "superpower" huge hands.

[hyhy]

5th ring maybe?

Patrick Mills ‏@Patty_Mills5h
“@krizzy_katee: @Patty_Mills I must know, what does this mean!? pic.twitter.com/gUsbzeABWA” The Hand! It's Kawhi Leonard Superhero sign

[hyhy]

Spurs win most of the time when parker plays >.50 ball. Today he did and we won. When he plays less than .50 ball, we are 50-50.

[quentin_compson]

Tiago Splitter C
Meh, I guess this was a step in the right direction -- but I'm not too thrilled. The Warriors used midget ball against him (including RJ at center) and Splitter never took advantage. He'd try to post up or otherwise hold his ground but would end up getting bumped out of position virtually every time. Give the Brazilian credit for a handful of commendable defensive plays but this is still a far cry from the Splitter we witnessed for much of the regular season.

I think you're a bit harsh on Splitter. His teammates just weren't looking to get him the ball at all in this game. There was a stretch of a couple of minutes in the second quarter when Splitter was being defended by Landry and didn't get one ball in the low post. Sure, sometimes he needs to fight harder to establish position under the basket in order to receive a pass, but they just kept ignoring him. And why not run a couple of P'n'Rs with him? Especially when Manu is on the floor, that play used to be almost automatic and seems to have completely vanished from the Spurs' playbook.

Boris Diaw B+
I don't know why he's not playing more. Diaw is a really good fit for this series because he's actually looking to punish smalls on offense, while on D he is quick enough to guard screens really well. Sure, it's annoying when he doesn't shoot open shots but the Warriors are a perfect fit for his skillset. I liked most of his passes tonight and his overall aggression level was adequate.

I was wondering as well why Diaw got so little minutes. This is a series where he could really shine, and he is probably the Spurs' best defensive option against David Lee.


TP was clearly not 100% (Curry as well) and looked gassed at the beginning of the second half. He never stopped being aggressive though, and that was great to see. Manu's shot wasn't there, but his playmaking was a huge plus. Hopefully him and Duncan get their shot back for the next game.

[rmt]

J.A. Adande @jadande
Pop angrily chased ref Ed Malloy to the other side of the court to get that timeout. Malloy: "Relax....It's loud."

lol

Why in the does Pop always call timeout when the Spurs are on a roll - just messes up the roll they're on. Let Jackson waste one of his timeouts stopping the Spurs' run. Don't see why Pop has to be so rigid - it's like "it's such and such time, timeout no matter what." Then he doesn't have enough timeouts to stop GS' runs. And why did he bring TD back in when the game was secured. Every minute's rest means he's less gassed in the next game. Pointless to have TD out there in junk time.

Timmy really lost confidence in his jumper - hope it's back for the next game.

Bonner shouldn't step on the court until next pre-season - why can't TD/Diaw/Splitter share the big man minutes.

Leonard and Green were great tonight.

Wish Pop would try McGrady instead of Neal.

Tony was gassed but saved a little for that spurt when the time was right.

[BillMc]

Did anyone see this



There's another push by Timmy
GTFO

RJ probably thought he could remember the play calling and was going to do a little spying. Tim and Manu would have none of that!

[DrSteffo]

I think you're a bit harsh on Splitter. His teammates just weren't looking to get him the ball at all in this game. There was a stretch of a couple of minutes in the second quarter when Splitter was being defended by Landry and didn't get one ball in the low post. Sure, sometimes he needs to fight harder to establish position under the basket in order to receive a pass, but they just kept ignoring him. And why not run a couple of P'n'Rs with him? Especially when Manu is on the floor, that play used to be almost automatic and seems to have completely vanished from the Spurs' playbook.

Completely agree.

[pgardn]

Splitter had more steals then touches this game tbh
the Spurs continually avoid him in the pick and roll
he actually was matched up with Lee whenver he was on the floor and the Spurs would rather jack up 3s over running Lee in a pick and roll

theyre gonna have to remember he isnt some garbage big and run something through him because without him theyre not beating Memphis
Spurfan cant on Splitter all season and say he doesnt deserve scoring opportunities then get mad when he doesnt magically become Kareem after getting 0 touches all season
same thing happens with Leonard
one of the first possession of the game was a Leonard post up vs Curry
hes had Jack switched onto him so much and his heroes avoid him

Tiago is getting pushed around on the blocks. Physically beaten on the offensive end. The players around him don't have a clue where to go now because he is getting open in the wrong spots on the floor because he cannot hold position. He has demonstrated he has to be next to Tim instead of giving him a breather.

He is playing decent defense. Offensively he has done one thing well, set screens. He is having offensive rebounds, important possessions, slip through his hands because the Warriors are shoving him around.

The above being stated we must have him on the floor if we move on. The disappointment this series is that he cannot be trusted to go more minutes unless paired with Diaw or Tim. One is fat and the other is clearly wearing down.

If we go forward and play Memphis he will redeem himself by giving Randolph and/or Gasol unlike OKC.

[pgardn]

The Hand??



T-MAC A+++
Unstoppable. Improbable. Crunslobbable A terror in the low post. Dangerous with the ladies. Wanted by the law.

Chris Webber A-
The announcer didn't say anything especially memorable. However, it seemed that all night long the former Golden State Warrior was saying the right things about the Spurs. Perhaps the hate San Antonio fans were pouring on him earlier in the series has something to do with him telling it like it is, and that GSW truly was the better team than SAS, at that point in time. All around good performance by the color commentator.

Weber has reinforced the fact that most ex-Jocks have no business speaking, to anyone.

[Obstructed_View]

What ever happened to the Manu-Splitter pnr that killed teams all year? We need to use that occasionally!

Or the Gary Neal-Splitter pick and roll or the anyone and Boris Diaw pick and roll. The only pick and rolls I've seen run are with Parker, and they didn't start to run it much until Parker got hobbled. The Spurs lived off that, and then just stopped the last 4-6 weeks of the season.

[Spurs7794]

Patrick Mills ‏@Patty_Mills5h
“@krizzy_katee: @Patty_Mills I must know, what does this mean!? pic.twitter.com/gUsbzeABWA” The Hand! It's Kawhi Leonard Superhero sign

Thats awesome... Baynes did it after Kawhi's big three in game 1.

[Spurs7794]

Tiago is getting pushed around on the blocks. Physically beaten on the offensive end. The players around him don't have a clue where to go now because he is getting open in the wrong spots on the floor because he cannot hold position. He has demonstrated he has to be next to Tim instead of giving him a breather.

He is playing decent defense. Offensively he has done one thing well, set screens. He is having offensive rebounds, important possessions, slip through his hands because the Warriors are shoving him around.

The above being stated we must have him on the floor if we move on. The disappointment this series is that he cannot be trusted to go more minutes unless paired with Diaw or Tim. One is fat and the other is clearly wearing down.

If we go forward and play Memphis he will redeem himself by giving Randolph and/or Gasol unlike OKC.

I don't agree that Duncan is wearing down...he's just had 1.5 bad games in a row. He'll be fine. As for Tiago, I think he should have been a little higher...his offense has sucked but he helped our d alot in the second half (he had 4 steals in the game!).

[Spur|n|Austin]

Can someone tell me real quick what it means when Patty puts his hand on his wrist and throws up the number 5 with his fingers? I've seen it like every game so far

Him and Baynes both do, must be an Aussie thing. Sorry if this was already answered, don't feel like reading through all.

EDIT:

Thats awesome... Baynes did it after Kawhi's big three in game 1.

That's awesome, though they do it whenever they get excited, not just KL plays

[Spur|n|Austin]

Did anyone see this



There's another push by Timmy
GTFO

That's f'n awesome, Manu and TD pretty much told him to GTFO.

[doobs]

Looks like RJ was trying to eavesdrop.

[iminol]

Danny Green was energizer on offense/defense all game till end. Woo hoo performance.