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Nice read, Thanks!
A game like that couldn't go without some kind of gales grades, so here is my try:
A b2b, the 7th game in 10 days, on the road, against a good team and without Parker, Duncan and Ginobili = no problem. Like a year ago against Miami, Spurs "bench" showed a lot of poise. The difference this year was a win and $250K more in Holt's pocket.
Boxscore: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/san-anto...rs-2013121909/
Kawhi Leonard: A
Kawhi Leonard was the one that bring back Spurs in the game while they were down by 14 after 15 minutes played. In the final 9 minutes of the second quarter he scored 14 points by attacking the basket and with a nice midrange game. His defense was good except for a couple of cuts to the basket from Klay Thompson. His 10 rebounds were also great and allowed Spurs not to be too dominated in that area with Duncan sitting.
Boris Diaw: C+
Diaw delivered in clutch time but the rest of his game was more so-so. His offensive game in the post was nice and his passing really helped Spurs in a game were there offense was limited. However, his defense and rebounding were atrocious for most of the game. If Lee had a monster game, it was because of Diaw. Diaw was just a traffic cone and didn't move at all his feet. His defensive activity level was abnormally low. 3 rebounds in 32 minutes is way too little.
You had to wonder in what physical shape Diaw was for that game. He is 31 years old, not in great shape, has played all this summer and was playing his 7th game in 10 days.
Aron Baynes: D-
After 2 good games against Utah and Toronto, this game could have been Baynes opportunity to show Pop he deserved more playing time and he just failed. He was a train wreck offensively and nothing special defensively. He had the wrong mindset at wanting to force the issue, while he clearly hasn't the level to do so, instead of letting the game comes to him. Understanding your role and your limitations is a key part to stick in the NBA when you aren't that talented.
Patrick Mills: A+
Our little Australian deserves tons of props for how he is playing this year. Against Warriors, these props are especially deserved.
Offensively, it was the classical good Mills. A good scorer but with little playmaking skills. Defense is the area where he should to be congratulated. With his lack of size, he will never be a great defender and he was sometimes outmatch by Curry, but he makes the best of what he has. The offensive foul drawn on Curry in the 4th quarter was especially big. He is now so pesky and active. The weight loss and the pride he now takes to defend have turned him into an annoying defender for opponents.
If he continue like that, Mills will be the second best backup PG, behind George Hill, of this last decade for Spurs.
Danny Green: C
In that kind of game, where players have to do a little more to compensate players not available, the lack of global skills of Green is even more obvious. Aside of being a great 3 point shooter and a good defender, the rest of his game is ugly. He can't dribble, make a layup or a complicate pass. He is an ultra specialized role player like Bowen was (I'm not saying he is as good as Bruce).
Marco Belinelli: A+
If Kawhi bring back Spurs in the game in the second quarter, Marco makes them believe they could win this game in the third quarter with 17 points scored. He was on fire with nice off the ball movement and a great shot selection. This shot selection and a not that bad defense makes him a so much better player than Gary Neal for Spurs.
I've been a huge fan of what Belinelli has done with Spurs this year.
Tiago Splitter: C
Since he came back from his calf injury, Tiago has lost his offensive rhythm. It was especially the case in that game where he made highly questionable choices and miss some easy baskets. He came huge offensively in the last minutes with that pass to Diaw and the tip in. Defensively, while he isn't at his pre-injury level, he is getting closer by being very physical.
Cory Joseph: D-
In the first 3 quarters, while Joseph wasn't good, he wasn't a disaster. He hit a couple of shots, played average defense but showed no playmaking skills. To start the fourth quarter, Warriors upped their defensive pressure and Joseph disappeared and nicely give the ball to them. It's so disappointing to see a young player regressing like Joseph is doing this year.
Matt Bonner: C
Matt Bonner did what Matt Bonner did. while being almost invisible on the court. He ended up with the team best +/- at +10 (tied with Mills).
Jeff Ayres: C-
In the first half, I found Ayres relatively good. He was playing way more under control than Baynes and Splitter. At least he wasn't hurting the team.
In the second half, as pointed by Reggie Miller, his defense was a disaster. He was in a no man's land defending nothing on the P&R. On a side note, it was the only good remark made during the game by Reggie, my sister is more manly than me, Miller.
Nando De Colo: C-
What a difference a year make. Last season, Nando shined in the Miami game but he showed nothing against Warriors. A missed doable layup and that's all. His future should be on a lower level NBA team or in Europe.
Tim Duncan: A+
Tim is just amazing. In his 17th season, after 4 rings, 2 MVP les... Tim was on the bench actively cheering his teammates for a December game. Spurs' fans are so lucky to have him. Aside of the amazing player he has been, he has an amazing character. When you see what kind of assholes are most of the other great players, it's awesome.
Thank you, Tim.
Coach Pop: A+
He played the right players to win the game and had timely timeouts. A very nice coaching job.
This is the kind of game that show why Pop is the best coach in the NBA. He has created a great system and culture in San Antonio. Even when the top players are out, the team is still trying to win and is playing the right way.
The contrast with Mark Jackson was so big. His timeout talk showed on TV was just pathetic.
Nice read, Thanks!
Missed the game unfortunately. Anywhere I can catch a full game replay?
Thanks for taking time to do the grades Bruno. It's nice to have someone give an unbiased assessment of a game since Timvp no longer does. Great write up.
Coach Pop deserves an A+++. It takes a lot of courage to bench your remaining members of the Big 3 when you've already faced a league fine of $250,000 last year for doing the same thing.
But to actually win this game with the bench including some scrub play by Joseph, Green and Ayers was a ing miracle. Sure there was some luck involved, but he had those guys playing like they thought they could win--or maybe they were afraid of what Pop would do to them if they didn't produce for him when he showed that confidence in them. This was truly a case of the mason, hammering on the rock until it finally gives up and breaks.
Thank you Bruno!
Astounding Read
Personally, I hope Baynes' performance last night will shut some Spurs fans up about how 'bad' Ayres is. Ayres is a poor player yes, but he can at least catch the damn ball while playing under control. Ayres is the kind of player that won't help your team's chemistry, but he won't absolutely ruin it (See: Richard Jefferson/Gary Neal)
Baynes on the other end is terrible. He has tiny hands, slow feet, bad rebounding instincts, doesn't have the IQ to consistently be a threat in the post, he tries to do too much (A walking foul I'd say) and due to his lack of quickness/IQ the Spurs look awkward on both ends whenever Baynes is in. I think Ayres gets too much hate, tbh.
in the 4th quarter Joseph had to back people down just to cross half-court. it was pretty ugly for an nba point guard to have to resort to that every possession
^^I've been saying Baynes sucks for a while, too, but he isn't any worse than Ayres, tbh..neither of them should be in the rotation of a team with le aspirations, and I'd much rather see Bonner on the floor, as unfortunate as that is..
As Bruno said, Ayres was tolerable in the 1st half, he was under control, but like Joseph, when the Warriors increased their intensity, Ayres looked like the D-league player that he is, tbh..making mistakes like giving Curry an abundance of room when defending the pick&roll is inexcusable for a 27-year old veteran that doesn't provide any standout basketball skills, tbh..his hustle and his IQ should be his strengths, but only the former has been evident, so far..
I also agree with Bruno about Diaw, Pop should consider resting him at certain points of the season, he's essential to this team's success..
Good grades, I agree with most, nice to include Duncan, tbh..it's cool seeing Tim look even more excited than the players on the floor..there are other legends in the NBA that take $48 million, salary-cap killing extensions, while downplaying their team's 10-9 record without him through the media, but I won't name names..
Wow, Bruno, what a great read, thank you so much. I do think Boris Diaw could have used the night off, too, but he came through when it mattered. I credit Coach Popovich with deciding to let Corey Joseph burn some of the first half minutes to save Patty Mills some energy for the final push. This was IMHO a statement win, especially considering we had trouble with this team during the playoffs in our house WITH the big three playing! I thought that Golden State took their foot off the gas, getting y when they were up early in the game.
Thanks for the game grades Bruno! Matty truly is
Good read (though a tad hard on Boris, I think). Still, many thanks and nicely done!
Why does TD get grades for the game but not Manu? They were both cheering the team on and I was at the game, Manu was doing his best Patty Mills-towel-waving impression in a few moments! He's gotta get some love for that!
C is about right. He score just 2 points through the first 3 quarters. He did have 6 assists. He did a great job late in the game, including the block and save. Also the steal on the final offensive play that got Splitter in position to tip the ball back in.Good read (though a tad hard on Boris, I think). Still, many thanks and nicely done!
Thanks for the grades Bruno! Great game! Wow!
Parker's grade is too high.
Bruno YTD A-
while gnsf god is MIA, Bruno deserves tons of props to step up and clean the house down the stretch. He is just here to talk basketball and his threads are always worth reading. While extremely solid taking care of the bb part, he also regulates fools left and right, his recent skull regulation is note worthy. Since the beginning of the season his work ethic is flawless, you can smell just by the le of a new thread that ST executioner will do his job and lock it in a timely manner. Letting timvpdpoy locked out of spurs forum is quite gold knowing his banishement is lasting forever and a lot of his groupies are whining.
Bruno just doesn't give a , doesn't look behind and carry ST on his shoulders like TP carried Duncan to his 5th finals last season.
Baynes didn't play well last night. Ayres hasn't played well his entire time as a Spur. I don't get where you see that Ayres can catch the ball; he's missed pretty much every pass that's been thrown to him this season. The only time he dunks is if it's an uncontested rebound or putback. 95% of the time Ayres comes in, the Spurs start losing or playing worse. That's called ruining team chemistry. Ayres doesn't get enough hate.Astounding Read
Personally, I hope Baynes' performance last night will shut some Spurs fans up about how 'bad' Ayres is. Ayres is a poor player yes, but he can at least catch the damn ball while playing under control. Ayres is the kind of player that won't help your team's chemistry, but he won't absolutely ruin it (See: Richard Jefferson/Gary Neal)
Baynes on the other end is terrible. He has tiny hands, slow feet, bad rebounding instincts, doesn't have the IQ to consistently be a threat in the post, he tries to do too much (A walking foul I'd say) and due to his lack of quickness/IQ the Spurs look awkward on both ends whenever Baynes is in. I think Ayres gets too much hate, tbh.
Because I'm French and I hate Manu since eh never pass the ball to Tony...
It was maybe because, unlike Manu, Tim was wearing a suit or because he was more animated but Tim enthusiasm caught more my eyes. On top of that, Tim is at another legendary level than Manu.
BTW, Duncan's gif during the Diaw missed layup and Splitter tip in (sorry, for the quality/size, I suck at gif):
Last edited by Bruno; 12-20-2013 at 04:29 PM.
I've hesitated between B- and C+ for Boris but his "defense" on Lee really pisses me off.
lol he's so oldBecause I'm French and I hate Manu since eh never pass the ball to Tony...
It was maybe because, unlike Manu, Tim was wearing a suit or because he was more animated but Tim enthusiasm caught more my eyes. On top of that, Tim is at another legendary level than Manu.
BTW, Duncan's gif during the Diaw missed layup and Splitter tip in (sorry, for the quality/size, I suck at gif):
Both of them are ing horrible. But Ayers can at least run the damn floor, and I know Ayres is no Tiago at catching the ball - but Baynes is something else in that department. Again, does anyone notice how uncoordinated he is?
Tbh, the fact we're arguing which scrub sucks more is quite the bummer.
I will admit this, Baynes has more all-around talent than Ayers due to his offensive touch. So his raw potential is higher. However, it's quite rare when raw bigs actually reach their potential.
This is the first game I have completely missed in several years, tbh, and I am really sorry that I didn't catch it. But your write-up, Bruno, is terrific for letting us know what happened.
Thanks a ton...for the write-up and for the ongoing moderating.
"Matt bonner did what Matt bonner did"
Possibly my favorite quote in a game thoughts ever. Sums up the enigma that is Matt Bonner in such a Yogi Berra-esque manner.
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