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Thanks Bruno.
I know they've got spacing issues amongst the bigs (considering Pop appears done with Bonner and Ayres apparently forgot that he's capable of making mid range jumpers) and lack forward depth in general, but considering Diaw's age/mileage and their reliance on him in the big picture, he's the one player outside of the big three that should receive the odd game off. Since they need him in games where they rest the big three, in order to have a punchers chance, they should sit him the game before they sit them from now on.
As far as individual performances go, nothing really surprised me. I knew Leonard, Diaw, Belinelli and Mills would step up, I knew Splitter and Joseph would struggle mightily and I knew Green would be somewhere in between.
Thanks Bruno.
Tim was surprisingly well dressed, you can tell he's back in the game.
BTW, if you are interested in having grades after each games and if there are enough posters willing to make it (like a dozen), we can organize a games grade calendar. Posters pick the game they want to grade and we made a calender thread to avoid having 2 people grading the same game. If some of you aren't comfortable with grades, game thoughts would be fine too.
I don't know if you are interested in that idea or if there will have enough posters to do grades/thoughts but I'm just throwing the idea. It might be fun and bring a new lightning from a different fan after each game.
Has anyone else noticed or thought that green just seems either reluctant or hesitant to pass kawhi the ball? Over the past couple of games I've found myself yelling because green either misses kawhi or ignores him when he's open.
Nice work Bruno
Bruno, Harlem, ElNono and Horse should take turns with game grades.
Horse is obviously for his unintentional comedy. Harlem isn't allowed to grade any games vs. the Heat. And Nono has to put an asterisk next to Manu's grade for every game.
Excited about Baynes despite the grade. Dude WILL average at least 10 and 10 for the San Antonio Spurs in the near future.
I love having more than 2 players taller than 6'7.
Agree on Tim's grade
Bruno.
my favorite moment of this game was seeing Duncan, as well dressed as you'll see out of him, jump out of his seat at a great play. I wish we could clone TD.
Great reading Bruno! Thanks for the grades.
Thank you!
Thanks, Bruno. I was keen on doing the grades myself. So many NBA games are being telecasted live, here, in India these days as one channel has dedicated itself to showing as many as possible. We get to see one Spurs game almost every week (sometimes even 2/3), mostly because of their status as near-winners of the finals last year.
Getting to your grades itself, I would have graded Boris Diaw somewhat higher. I think he showed a lot of B-ball IQ in the second half, taking advantage of the Spurs being in bonus in the fourth quarter, and good offensive moves. The usual frustrating passiveness in a play or two where he should have taken a shot was there, but his offense was very important. I agree that he was not good at all against Lee, but he did well in the fourth quarter (the block of Curry was a highlight).
Great win for the Spurs which should boost the confidence of guys like Mills. Some of the plays he makes every game are just ridiculous -especially the double steal of his Aussie teammate Bogut followed by the 3. That was just outrageous - trying to rob Bogut off his hands and then doing it again in 2 seconds. Then, that statement 3 pointer in transition when there was a 2 for 1 situation.. that was Reggie Miller like. No wonder, his teammates are proud of him. If it gets us fans going.. I am sure ultra-team players like DUncan would have been super-excited and that showed in his reactions.
I love this team.
Thank you Bruno for taking the time!
I wish my english writing was good enough to participate to your proposal, but I would really apreciate if you could do it more often!
ps/ Still no news of timvp?
Danny and Cory looked like they were lost out there getting caught out of position, biting on pump fakes or getting screened to oblivion. Their offense was also just as atrocious
I'll try to do a few when I get back home in JanuaryNice work Bruno
Bruno, Harlem, ElNono and Horse should take turns with game grades.
Horse is obviously for his unintentional comedy. Harlem isn't allowed to grade any games vs. the Heat. And Nono has to put an asterisk next to Manu's grade for every game.
And thanks Bruno
Many ignore the fact that GS has two decent bigs who can bang in the paint. They don't use them well, but they have them. Add to that the fact that there are only a few decent bigs in the league right now and you begin to realize that all the Spurs need from bigs (other than TD) is rebounding and some mid level paint defense. You cannot expect either Ayres or Baynes to provide TD level play because they don't even know the Spurs system. They are just out there trying to not get in the way, and quite often are out of position on defense.
Defense is harder than offense because you cannot sit back and let your superstar do it all, and you cannot hide on defense.
Thank you for your time, Bruno.
Thanks Bruno for stepping up, we are all missing game grades
Looks like a good idea while LJ is out of business. / I wonder if he still cares about ST ? /
Maybe he got caught up with the criticism and gave a rest ...
Worth thinking with the grades- if anybody can stand my English
btw. You are doing great work here Bruno lately
I hate to say this but baynes in today's NBA is somewhat situation based. Baynes isn't skilled enough on offense to be a premier presence, and he is to slow on defense to guard the perimeter or even really out past 10 feet against quicker power-forwards. Against other bigs that don't have a jumpshot beyond 10' and aren't particularly mobile he looks very good defensively. Though he is a bit foul prone. On a switch or against faster bigs he's in trouble. Getting burnt on defense also seems to effect his offensive game. If you look at the NBA 5 to 7 years ago when all the teams had a big center to counter shaq he would have been an above average example. Personally I think considering he relatively late start to basketball. If the spurs and the D league can find consistent minutes for him to work on his repe ions at anticipating positioning and getting his stamina up he will be a serviceable 3rd or 4th big on a high level team. He is a raw second year player.
Ayers on the other had has considerably more basketball experience though not a huge amount more NBA experience. His body type is actually more suited to current NBA standards but his instincts and mind don't seem to be there. From my point of view at least Baynes works very hard but is oft times just a bit to slow and has a bit of a bull in a china shop feel to him. Some of which is due to other players realizing that they will get a foul call for flopping/exaggerating against baynes as he plays more against high level compe ion his anticipation will get better. For ayers he seems the human embodiment of Murphys law as it applies to basketball.
Yea, I'm frickin worried about out frontcourt situation. Both Ayers and Baynes are disappointments as , esp. Baynes. We clearly miss a guy like K. Willis or Massenberg. Just to provide experience and calm and some /mental/ boost of the bench
I don't believe that this can be emphasized enough. Mills has gone from designated towel waver to an integral part of the rotation based upon the work he did over the summer to improve his fitness and make himself into a decent enough defender to get regular playing time. Kudos to him.
If you look more globally, Spurs roster is split apart this year. On the one hand there are 9 quality players with Parker, Mills, Belinelli, Green, Ginobili, Leonard, Diaw, Splitter and Duncan. On the other hand, there are some bad players with Joseph, De Colo, Bonner, Ayres and Baynes . The gap between these two groups is quite huge.
It's really nice to have a quality depth of 9 players but 10 would be perfect. When you look at this 9 players roster, a mobile PF or big SF would be the perfect complement.
you can blame the NBA mgmt and owners for that, diluting the talent pool of players, coaches, staff over twice-too-many teams.
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