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Thanks man.
Very good takes. What is crazy is that the Spurs have been coasting and they still have the best record. This team can still be very dangerous when properly motivated. The playoffs can't come soon enough.
Thanks man.
Awesome write up man, keep it up!
that game was brutal.
Good thoughts.
Matt Bonner -5
You mean since splitter went out????
Great takes Benefactor, thanks!!!
Thanks.
thought this would be a great matchup.Last night, the Spurs had one of the most forgettable victories in recent memory. Not only did they blow a double digit lead in the closing moments, they allowed the game to go to overtime and allowed the Big 3 play way too many minutes on the front end of a back to back. One could easily speculate that Pop would decide to tank tonight’s game and rest Duncan and Parker(Manu was not going to play anyway due to hamstring tightness), but that would be far from the case. Instead, the Spurs stars would respond in a way no one expected…fighting through the fatigue and summoning championship level mental focus that would lead them to blow out of the Dallas Mavericks at home.
Tony Parker
Good aggression early despite the back to back and quite frankly did not look anything like a player that had just played 40 minutes the night before. He tried to do a bit too much early on and wound up with as many turnovers in the first half as he had assists. In the third quarter, he dialed in with sniper like precision, pouring in 14 points and only one turnover. The offensive explosion would snuff out any hopes the Mavs had of mounting a comeback and would send Parker to the bench for a well-deserved 4th quarter rest.
Tim Duncan
Duncan, in a word, was dominant. He was so dominant that only one half and some change of him was needed to make the Mavs wave the white flag early. His all-around presence around the rim and his complete destruction of the Mavs on the glass in the first half helped the Spurs keep the Mavs at arm’s length even though neither team was shooting well. He scored well, got to the line and played at the level we were all accustomed to seeing him play last season. Hopefully this win springboards him into more vintage performances.
Boris Diaw
Boris the Animal was Boris the perfect complement tonight. If he made a bad play, I don’t remember when it was because so much good basketball was just flowing out of him. A truly beyond the box score performance, filled with great passing, great court awareness and an outstanding defensive effort on Dirk which led to Dirk never getting a chance to get in any sort of rhythm. He was also very good at playing the quarterback role with the bench players with Manu gone. In the words of Walton, “This guy has it all.”
Kawhi Leonard
Leonard took over as the third of the Big 3. Picking up where he left off last night, he was all over the court with boundless energy. Great defense, great on the boards, opportunistic around the rim…Leonard was a disruptive force on one end and a source of second hand points and good, stead offense on the other. He even had a post up and knocked down a three. With Parker going into god mode in the third, he only needed to watch on offense, but he continued to play with great energy.
Danny Green
Danny wasn’t really needed tonight. He missed some shots early but contributed on the glass to offset that. He stayed in late in the game and helped the Spurs prevent any sort of replay of last night’s debacle by playing good defense, continuing to rebound well and knocking down a few shots. Since that was the extent of what the Spurs needed from him this evening, I’d say he served his purpose.
Marco Belinelli
It was an uneven game for That Dude. He was extremely shaky early on with some poor decisions/ball handling, but overall I’d say he didn’t really help or hurt much in the first half. In the second half he had a four point play opportunity that seemed to ignite him. Coupled with energy provided by the ignition of Tony Parker, Beli morphed into the player that we have been used to seeing most of the season…scoring most of his 17pts late in the game while leading the unit that kept the blowout intact.
Matt Bonner
Bonner missed some threes early and played in garbage time late. That’s about it.
Jeff Ayres
It was a mixed bag tonight from ST’s favorite son. Had 3 offensive boards in 4 minutes in the first half but also had 3 fouls in that same time span. He had a good cut to the basket for a finish in the second half. All of that is better than the alternative that we experienced last night.
Patty Mills
Patty was part of the poor shooting in the first half as well with a couple missed threes, but came back in the second half and helped the garbage time unit preserve the lead. He made a great saving pass to Joseph for a three late in the game which was the highlight of his evening.
Aaron Baynes
Played the length of a drawn in breath in the first half then in garbage time. Ayres seems to be Pop’s new project and it’s at Baynes expense. January tinkering, tbh.
Cory Joseph
Joseph played with Parker and Mills in the third and made quite a nice contribution for a player that has gotten zero burn lately. He had a couple of really good defensive plays that led to easy baskets while the Spurs were on their tear in the third quarter. He also did a nice job as floor general during garbage time with 9pts, 5ast, 3stl while going 4-4 from the stripe.
Other Notes
The Spurs had 8 offensive boards in the first quarter and with the Spurs shooting 41% and the Mavs shooting 35%, rebounding was clearly the difference in the game in the first half as the Spurs outrebounded the Mavs 36-18 led by Duncan who had 12. The starters carried the team in the first half and the lack of Manu was evident…as the bench shot a miserable 3-12. Both teams shot a combined 1-12 from distance in the first half but this disadvantage was much more glaring with the Mavs as the Spurs continued to attack the rim leading to opportunities at the line that they did an outstanding job of converting. By the end of the game they had only missed 3 of their 26 attempts. Parker’s contribution was key to the victory…but make no mistake…if you let a team go +18 on you from the stripe and +23 on the glass you are going to lose and lose badly 95% of the time.
Final Thoughts
This was easily one of the best wins of the season. What can be taken from this game is that the Spurs seemed genuinely pissed about the near loss last night and played like that from the opening whistle. It’s good to see because they have been doing a lot of coasting early in the season. It’s nice to know that when they are ready to dial it in and kick ass they still have it in them. Hopefully they save some of this fire for another great postseason run.
Ellis vs. Parker (speed on speed)
Timmy vs. dirk
and more importantly Pop vs. RC ...
Unfortunately Pop showed who is boss. Minus Manu and with heavy contributions from his bench it was a cakewalk. I dont even see how anyone (except Miami and maybe Indy) beats the Spurs. Without a significant advantage in talent (like OKC with harden) Pop's team are just better and more disciplined than anyone else. He has rebuilt Diaw's confidence. Salvaged Danny green. Helped (along with the shooting coach) built a jump-shot for Mills/Parker. He finds uses for Bonner, Ayers ...
Keep in mind, to beat the healthy spurs in the Pop/Duncan era it takes:
1. Shaqobe plus Phil Jackson
2. MVP Dirk
3. Prime Kobe (plus Phil)
4. Durant Westbrook and Harden ...
5. Lebron and the Heatles
The heat this guy takes on here is crazy. I would love Pop to take the torch from Riles to Phil and him ...
Best coach in the game. And if there was no superteam in Miami the hands on favorites to win it again.
You can see them beating a healthy OKC this year?
I don't see how Spurs fans can about anything. The Spurs have had an embarassment of riches over the past 15 years. Think of all the teams that have been good during that time, that have since been completely blown up.
We really shouldn't draw any conclusions from this game, neither the good nor the bad ones.
det Diaw
Thank for this. It always feels great to beat the Mavs, no matter how good or bad they are.Last night, the Spurs had one of the most forgettable victories in recent memory. Not only did they blow a double digit lead in the closing moments, they allowed the game to go to overtime and allowed the Big 3 play way too many minutes on the front end of a back to back. One could easily speculate that Pop would decide to tank tonight’s game and rest Duncan and Parker(Manu was not going to play anyway due to hamstring tightness), but that would be far from the case. Instead, the Spurs stars would respond in a way no one expected…fighting through the fatigue and summoning championship level mental focus that would lead them to blow out of the Dallas Mavericks at home.
Tony Parker
Good aggression early despite the back to back and quite frankly did not look anything like a player that had just played 40 minutes the night before. He tried to do a bit too much early on and wound up with as many turnovers in the first half as he had assists. In the third quarter, he dialed in with sniper like precision, pouring in 14 points and only one turnover. The offensive explosion would snuff out any hopes the Mavs had of mounting a comeback and would send Parker to the bench for a well-deserved 4th quarter rest.
Tim Duncan
Duncan, in a word, was dominant. He was so dominant that only one half and some change of him was needed to make the Mavs wave the white flag early. His all-around presence around the rim and his complete destruction of the Mavs on the glass in the first half helped the Spurs keep the Mavs at arm’s length even though neither team was shooting well. He scored well, got to the line and played at the level we were all accustomed to seeing him play last season. Hopefully this win springboards him into more vintage performances.
Boris Diaw
Boris the Animal was Boris the perfect complement tonight. If he made a bad play, I don’t remember when it was because so much good basketball was just flowing out of him. A truly beyond the box score performance, filled with great passing, great court awareness and an outstanding defensive effort on Dirk which led to Dirk never getting a chance to get in any sort of rhythm. He was also very good at playing the quarterback role with the bench players with Manu gone. In the words of Walton, “This guy has it all.”
Kawhi Leonard
Leonard took over as the third of the Big 3. Picking up where he left off last night, he was all over the court with boundless energy. Great defense, great on the boards, opportunistic around the rim…Leonard was a disruptive force on one end and a source of second hand points and good, stead offense on the other. He even had a post up and knocked down a three. With Parker going into god mode in the third, he only needed to watch on offense, but he continued to play with great energy.
Danny Green
Danny wasn’t really needed tonight. He missed some shots early but contributed on the glass to offset that. He stayed in late in the game and helped the Spurs prevent any sort of replay of last night’s debacle by playing good defense, continuing to rebound well and knocking down a few shots. Since that was the extent of what the Spurs needed from him this evening, I’d say he served his purpose.
Marco Belinelli
It was an uneven game for That Dude. He was extremely shaky early on with some poor decisions/ball handling, but overall I’d say he didn’t really help or hurt much in the first half. In the second half he had a four point play opportunity that seemed to ignite him. Coupled with energy provided by the ignition of Tony Parker, Beli morphed into the player that we have been used to seeing most of the season…scoring most of his 17pts late in the game while leading the unit that kept the blowout intact.
Matt Bonner
Bonner missed some threes early and played in garbage time late. That’s about it.
Jeff Ayres
It was a mixed bag tonight from ST’s favorite son. Had 3 offensive boards in 4 minutes in the first half but also had 3 fouls in that same time span. He had a good cut to the basket for a finish in the second half. All of that is better than the alternative that we experienced last night.
Patty Mills
Patty was part of the poor shooting in the first half as well with a couple missed threes, but came back in the second half and helped the garbage time unit preserve the lead. He made a great saving pass to Joseph for a three late in the game which was the highlight of his evening.
Aaron Baynes
Played the length of a drawn in breath in the first half then in garbage time. Ayres seems to be Pop’s new project and it’s at Baynes expense. January tinkering, tbh.
Cory Joseph
Joseph played with Parker and Mills in the third and made quite a nice contribution for a player that has gotten zero burn lately. He had a couple of really good defensive plays that led to easy baskets while the Spurs were on their tear in the third quarter. He also did a nice job as floor general during garbage time with 9pts, 5ast, 3stl while going 4-4 from the stripe.
Other Notes
The Spurs had 8 offensive boards in the first quarter and with the Spurs shooting 41% and the Mavs shooting 35%, rebounding was clearly the difference in the game in the first half as the Spurs outrebounded the Mavs 36-18 led by Duncan who had 12. The starters carried the team in the first half and the lack of Manu was evident…as the bench shot a miserable 3-12. Both teams shot a combined 1-12 from distance in the first half but this disadvantage was much more glaring with the Mavs as the Spurs continued to attack the rim leading to opportunities at the line that they did an outstanding job of converting. By the end of the game they had only missed 3 of their 26 attempts. Parker’s contribution was key to the victory…but make no mistake…if you let a team go +18 on you from the stripe and +23 on the glass you are going to lose and lose badly 95% of the time.
Final Thoughts
This was easily one of the best wins of the season. What can be taken from this game is that the Spurs seemed genuinely pissed about the near loss last night and played like that from the opening whistle. It’s good to see because they have been doing a lot of coasting early in the season. It’s nice to know that when they are ready to dial it in and kick ass they still have it in them. Hopefully they save some of this fire for another great postseason run.
good job bene. nice touch adding the box score. solid formatting too.
You might as well be watching a cartoon if you watch spider man.
great post, if only more laker fans were like you. I agree Pop gets waaaay too much hate on here (although the decision to bench Tim in game 6 and similar situations this year is pretty debatable) but he is definitely the best coach in the game
Well that was random.
I admit I am baffled by it and posted a great SI article on the last 28 seconds ...
In that article he mentions how irritated he was at Green for leaking out when Lebron bricked that first late jumper, yet he took out one of the NBA's all time great rebounders, even though Bosh was subbed back in the game ...when he took out Duncan previously to match Spolestra who went "small".
you let Timmy get that rebound. or at the very least he blocks out Bosh ...
But again Not Phil, Nelli or Riles are perfect. Great coaches make mistakes and/or gambles and lose.
yes. I can because I dont think we will see a 100% Westbrook. And even if we do see him get close ... harden was the key difference in 2012.
I think SPurs win a close series ...unless Durant takes a Lebron type leap.
Blair has better Spurs numbers for a career at center than Tiago.... sad
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