It's not that it's bad or poor quality (people whine so much) - it's that like I said all off-season that Spurs fans are spoiled. I'm not saying that in a mean way; it's just the way we have been exposed to unprecedented success.
Everything from the winning, margins of victory and championships all the way down to smaller but important things like having a low maintenance super star.
You can see it in these grades just like you see it with people blasting LMA for so many different things. Spurs fans, despite still having a top 5 team, are going to have to adjust and learn what things are like without a once-in-a-lifetime superstar at the helm for so long.
Good news is the future is still pretty damn bright which is amazing to me
I had a college professor who noted that we as society got away from the point of grades, which is to note the status of people's effort and to notate the room for improvement. Nowadays, grades are rather seen as rewards.Wow. I'm glad you were never one of my teachers in school.
Along the lines of my thinking. Kawhi and LMA should be held to a higher standard. As they go the team goes. We have playoff eliminations showing that.
Lol. Same. Here. Didn't we won't by 12+
What's wrong with being a tough grader? The Wiz are 5-10 and the Spurs one of the top teams in the league. A blow-out is expected and an average performance by the key players is enough, so average grades are warranted. Kawhi shooting 5-14 and grabbing 1 rebound isn't worthy of praise.
Terrible grades. OP is a got.
Though but good grades !
It's not that it's bad or poor quality (people whine so much) - it's that like I said all off-season that Spurs fans are spoiled. I'm not saying that in a mean way; it's just the way we have been exposed to unprecedented success.
Everything from the winning, margins of victory and championships all the way down to smaller but important things like having a low maintenance super star.
You can see it in these grades just like you see it with people blasting LMA for so many different things. Spurs fans, despite still having a top 5 team, are going to have to adjust and learn what things are like without a once-in-a-lifetime superstar at the helm for so long.
Good news is the future is still pretty damn bright which is amazing to meHa was thinking the same. Tough grader.
Appreciate the writeups thoughAbout four in five are saying the grades are too low as you can see. As I mentioned, short of doing grades the next day I had to do the grades fast and didn't have time to weigh everything with great care; so, what you're seeing is sort of kneejerk reaction. It's arguably more honest. I certainly didn't pander as you can tell. Though, I'm arguably more prone to misjudgments as well. But before getting to possible revisions, I should at least defend these grades because surely at least a part of me believed them to be adequate.You can tell he put some work on it, and that's appreciated, tbh, thanks...
but it's difficult to take these seriously...
1. Collectively, the team played strong defense in the first half, which really set the wheels in motion on a fairly easy victory. Had they played at or near that level defensively in the second half, I think they would have mostly received grade boosts; but they relented and gave up a 32 point 3rd (albeit while scoring 36) and allowed the Wizards to hit 100, and we gave their fans Chic Filet sandwiches. Nah, man; make those es pay!
In essence the team itself would receive a higher grade than the individuals. That's actually the sign of a good team though, the whole being a greater value than the sum of the parts.
2. Four starters averaged a C while another starter had a stellar game. Some argue that LMA deserved a B (perhaps that's an oversight). So, if we put it that way, then it's 3 C's, 1 B, 1 A. How is that necessarily so bad? How is that supposed to make one think we lost (even at 4 C's 1 A)? Maybe if we played a team that actually played inspired basketball, we could've lost with such grades. But the Wizards just didn't come out to play. They were never a threat. That's either the truth of the matter or I'm under rating the Spurs stamp on the game. I argue the former; but it's a bit of a gray area b/c ths Spurs generally played solid all the same, tbh. Regardless, there are certain opponents in which tonight's performances simply wouldn't have gotten the job done. Enjoy the win, but that's how I see it (and thus, I don't think I'm suffering from any 'spoiled Spurs fan' syndrome).
3. As I was considering grades during the game, it occurred to me that there was potential to be more critical than if I were just a fan watching the game. I would ascribe some of the disconnect to that. Go back and watch the game and then tell me the Spurs really played that great on a technical level to receive better grades....
4. The only one who received lower than a C-, which is the type of grades I would especially expect to see in a losing performance, was Davis Bertans. And he played all of 11:26. And in his case, I could've gave him and F, tbh.
5. Aside from the garbage time players, Kawhi, Pau and Anderson were the only three to receive as low as a C-. I already noted in another post that Kawhi eventually found some rhythm out there. But if he shot that poorly and took himself out of the offense like that against a better team we could've been in real trouble. Kawhi is held to higher bar fair or not. He's certainly paid at that higher bar. As for Pau, there have been detractors against him. I actually like it when the team runs some offense through him in the post; he can make great passes like Duncan did. But tonight he floundered more on the perimeter. The box score doesn't show that; but I didn't think he was particularly good for the offense tonight; and as I mentioned, his defense was a bit below what I'd want as well. Too many late rotations and half ass contests for my liking. Some of that is due to age, imo; maybe he has to pace himself. But that's not my problem when it comes to grades. That's why I was hoping TD would stay and Pau would sign and come off the bench, tbh. I don't think he's a high quality starter night in and night out. His grade reflects that.
6. The three main bench players received a B+, B, C+; so, clearly the grades reflect that the bench had a good night and would not make one think a loss was the likely outcome. Does anyone think Patty and Simmons somehow deserved higher? Someone made a case for D Lee deserving higher. It's possible. I was probably just casually watching for his minutes especially. I liked the spring in his hop on that dunk and the seven boards in limited minutes like I said; but I didn't think he had any sort of offensive rhythm or great defensive impact either. I've seen him have better games this season, and a C+ is still not bad when you think about it.
7. So because the Spurs were playing a back to back I'm supposed to grade on a curve? Is that the standard ya'll want? The other team doesn't say, 'hey we got to go easy, they played yesterday.'
8. I'll admit I can see how people see it as tough grades or tougher than usual. I've said that perhaps Lee and LMA could have their grades bumped up. If that were the case, would ya'll still think it was tough? And even Kawhi could be bumped to a C+ if I were to be generous. Like I say, I think he played a strong game as the game went on and that he was really at the heart of not allowing the Wiz to make a game of it. But we really want to tell our superstar it's okay to have a sh** quarter and a half? I mean it's okay in some respects because it happens to everyone. But why should I give him a lenient grade for it?
You know quality when you see it, good sir.
Safe space poster acting up.
Thanks for the grades, I thought they were pretty good.
What grade does Jimmer get?
Haven't watched the game but wow people are mad
You're supposed to grade things as you see fit, not how you think others want you to grade. I can and do disagree with some of the grades, but that doesn't mean I want you to change them. In general, I think your grades are curved to a C rather than a B or B-minus, which is what I feel has been the unspoken consensus for grades of far (we'll see what TheDoctor shows in his 20-game analysis next week). And if that's the case, maybe we should all explicitly establish a standard for what adequate/average play is supposed to grade out as.
But beyond just the grades, your analysis was great, and that's really what the people who miss games are here for. I don't think you misinterpreted anything, and your higher standards may seem very warranted in a couple of months when the Spurs (hopefully) hit their stride and start destroying teams on the regular like the Clips and Warriors are doing right now. I think it's clear that you paid attention and put in work, and I for one appreciate that. You're more than welcome to come back into the grading rotation whenever we have open spots.
Last edited by Chinook; 11-28-2016 at 07:35 AM.
Once again, obligatory nine-minute highlight video:
Ximo is a really underrated NBA contributor on youtube. The videos are ON 10-15 minutes after the game, it's crazy. I love his videos.
It can't be one person, can it? It's insane how many vids that channel puts out. Sure there are usually a couple of editing mistakes here and there. But however they do it, it's fantastic, especially in a context like this where people hadn't seen the game.
I must have watched a different game.
Dude you gave Simmons a B and I thought this was his best game since the Warriors game. And you cribbed about his shot selection, while I thought he finally hit some shots bravely without hesitating, when found open or when the defender wasn't placing a hand when he was about to shoot.
I thought Simmons deserved atleast a B+ ..infact I would have graded him A-.
But grades aren't important. They are subjective. Suggesting that Simmons would have got a D based on shot selection in a game when he played well and showed signs of the player we saw in the Warriors game was a fact to be appreciated, not to be denounced as you did.
Lastly, check his highlights out on youtube for this game. There is one spectacular block involved as well. The Spurs were missing athleticism last season in the playoffs and Simmons is showing signs of filling an important gap.
This is just one reason why I thought your write up was poor. And I disagree with Chinook.
This will probably be enough right? The game seemed to be boring. Only full game I've missed was the pistons one. Do you think this game is worth the time to watch?
I always find the letter grades meaningless. I have always been interested in what people noticed of players game to game with these write ups. It gives a make up of consistency and what their pit falls are against types of players an teams. How many people actually go back an reread write-ups from game 1 of the season to mid season? It's a fan analysis but people here have a decent to good judgment on what the players an team should be doing.
I agreed with OP's thoughts of what should be wanted of our players. Hopefully when the team sits to watch game footage these things come across. For the most part we have seen stark improvements from opponents we have played a 2nd time. So I feel confident with these team come playoff time.
It is just a completely different team from 2014. Some people just need to accept change that squad isn't coming back on the court so the beautiful game, etcetera speeches need to just die.
I agree with these grades. Feeling bad about wins seems to be the theme right now. When Morris was going off to start the game i was worried the Spurs were playing down to the compe ion yet again. This Wizards team is awful, it looks like the Beal vs Wall thing is a problem for them. Wall didn't look that impressive.
The grades to me are accurate because no player outside of Tony had a great game. It was a team win and the grades reflect that.
This is some of the stupidest I've ever read. Please don't do game grades or evaluation again. I give you a C-. Needs remedial work.
The grades are entirely subjective and I think just for fun. I disagree with guys' grades,very often on games I watched, but I appreciate the review regardless. Manny of the controversial points are just conversation starters which are still fun...
And specially when I missed the games the comments section in the reviews are the most interesting and revealing + difference of opinion is better.
So, thanks fir the review.
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