Game Thoughts: Spurs 101 - Pelicans 95

[apalisoc_9]

Thanks, Nono.

This was a big game for Leonard. He needed to show he could defend small two-guards after letting Ellis torch him. He's one step closer to being a lockdown defender. I thought he did a much better job at contesting shots last night. He's usually more of a ball-denial guy. Perhaps he's been taking some pointers from Green

Cory's going to be essential against OKC and Portland coming up. He may even start at the two. Either he or De Colo should so the bench can go back to how it used to be.

Gotta loves Ayres. He's a jump shot away from being a starter. Whenever he and Chip figure that out, the Spurs rotation gets that much stronger.

Wouldn't that be a worry? If pop is convinced that Kawhi can guard any player on the floor, he's probably convinced on relegating Danny Green to a 15 minute replacement..Favouring, a Leonard-Beli-Manu wing lineup the whole playoffs.

[Captivus]

La Bomba!!

[heyheymymy]

[Manufan909]

3 seconds left

I was gonna ask that too, even though I remember from the highlights that there was less than a second on the shot clock when the shot went in. Considering it was from damn near half court, the ball was in the air for a good 2 seconds (you can count 1 Mississippi 2 Mississippi while the ball is in the air).

Concerning Baynes, it doesn't look good for him this season. Even with Splitter out, who is theoretically the best big man to miss time in order for Baynes to get minutes, Baynes is averaging less than 10 min a game (probably closer to 5). I wonder if Baynes would be moved into the 4th big spot if Duncan missed a few weeks, not like I want to find out "knocks on wood". It almost reminds me of when McDyess was hurt back in '09 or '10 and Pop decided to go with a big man rotation of Duncan/Blair/Bonner over giving Ian some burn. And iirc that happened after Ian blew up against some ty Eastern team and Elliott was going nuts about how good he looked, and that he should be given regular minutes more often going forward.

Btw, sincere apologies for bringing up Mahinmi.

Does anyone else think it's weird that Baynes is constantly getting props from everywhere (ST, 48 moh, PTR) about how he protects the rim better than anyone but Timmy, but he has ZERO blocks this season? I won't go back and check, but I bet every single player on the Spurs (minus Nando, who hasn't cracked 100 min yet) had at least one block by the time they had played Baynes' total number of minutes. I remember him getting some blocks in the preseason (including an absolute man block on Ryan Hollins), but it hasn't transferred to the RS for whatever reason.

[Chinook]

Wouldn't that be a worry? If pop is convinced that Kawhi can guard any player on the floor, he's probably convinced on relegating Danny Green to a 15 minute replacement..Favouring, a Leonard-Beli-Manu wing lineup the whole playoffs.

It's not a worry if it works. There's no downside to Kawhi being a more-complete player. It would be awesome if they both could defend all perimeter players. Great switching anf platooning could occur.

[Bruno]

Thanks for the grades.

That quite remarkable to see Spurs at 30 wins in mid January while they haven't been that great. When you think that there will have more than a handful of teams that won't have 30 wins on the year, Spurs fan is a lucky dude.

[jeebus]

Does anyone else think it's weird that Baynes is constantly getting props from everywhere (ST, 48 moh, PTR) about how he protects the rim better than anyone but Timmy, but he has ZERO blocks this season? I won't go back and check, but I bet every single player on the Spurs (minus Nando, who hasn't cracked 100 min yet) had at least one block by the time they had played Baynes' total number of minutes. I remember him getting some blocks in the preseason (including an absolute man block on Ryan Hollins), but it hasn't transferred to the RS for whatever reason.

You should be a national writer. To them, blocks = great defense, defensive player of the year. that's usually preferred instead of playing actual team defense.

[ElNono]

Thanks for the grades.

That quite remarkable to see Spurs at 30 wins in mid January while they haven't been that great. When you think that there will have more than a handful of teams that won't have 30 wins on the year, Spurs fan is a lucky dude.

Agreed. Spurs are on pace to a 64-18 record, pretty amazing. They will probably slow down and rest a bit before the season is over like last season.

Overall, they've handled the injuries relatively well so far.

[Tim_5rings]

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Nice work!!

[BacktoBasics]

Keep bugging me, I don´t give 2 s about you

You asked for it. You're a keyboard hero who has failed so miserably at life that the only way to fill the empty void is to on the internet. We'll see exactly how durable you are.