Game Grades (02.04.2017) - Spurs vs. Denver (121 - 97 W)

[Em-City]

nice review- the comments were thorough & well thought out. Grades are subjective, so I always take them with a grain of salt.

[Pauleta14]

18 points in 10 minutes gets you a B+?

[apalisoc_9]

I think because they both play so much iso ball it is always going to be hard to build chemistry when both players want the ball in their hands.

Great grades!

How do you watch so much basketball and still not understand this?

Kawhi and Lamarcus are designed to play off each other and are almost always on the opposite side.

They are barely going to interact except in Pick and Roll situation but even then Kawhi is better suited to play with a roller..Thats why he gets more screens with Lee and Gasol and Dedmon

[will_spurs]

Thanks for the grades. In this day and age if that kind of game doesn't get Manu an A+, nothing ever will.

[BillMc]

[BillMc]

[MI21]

Thanks for these, where are they from and are they available after every game?

[Blake]

Cool.

What's Kyle's km/hr?

[RodNIc91]

How do you watch so much basketball and still not understand this?

Kawhi and Lamarcus are designed to play off each other and are almost always on the opposite side.

They are barely going to interact except in Pick and Roll situation but even then Kawhi is better suited to play with a roller..Thats why he gets more screens with Lee and Gasol and Dedmon

Thanks dude!

Thanks for the grades. In this day and age if that kind of game doesn't get Manu an A+, nothing ever will.

Yeah, I totally missed he did that in 10 minutes. Should've grade him higher.

[Dex]

Great write up, Rod. Good analysis and comments.

- LMA definitely is engaged on defense whenever he feels involved offensively (Slowpoke much? Has everyone already caught on this?). Otherwise, he doesn’t care so much. This is disappointing considering both that he and Kawhi are 1A-1B supposedly and, that he doesn’t have to spend much energy on the offensive end so it shouldn’t be an excuse. His effort on that end of the court is night and day when he decides to care.

While I don't disagree with LMA dogging it on defense if he is not part of the offensive flow...I do think the team needs to do a better job of ensuring the latter.

I know Pop has obviously given the keys to Kawhi this season (with good reason), but that should mean Aldridge is in the passenger seat. Sometimes...it feels like he is riding in the back...or even in the trunk.

There may be reasons for this that aren't openly apparent, some of which you mentioned. Maybe he is trying to be more team oriented, or saving himself for the playoffs. Time will only tell.

But when engaged, Aldridge is easily the second most talented offensive player on the team, and it's mind boggling that he should be struggling for shots. He's not really the kind of guy who gives up the ball unnecessarily, but it seems like he'll go minutes at a time without even touching it. The guys should be looking for him, especially if they know it is going to affect his overall game.

Honestly, I don't expect this to be the case once the end of season or playoffs roll around...but I still think they should be reinforcing that habit now.

[Dex]

Davis with the highest speed on the team? Now that's surprising...and a great sign for his player progression.

[BillMc]

Thanks for these, where are they from and are they available after every game?

They are on an Eastern European Spurs chat community site and are usually available most games.

Beetans, Mills and Green run the fastest on average. Something about how they use their three point shooters I guess.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

How do you watch so much basketball and still not understand this?

Kawhi and Lamarcus are designed to play off each other and are almost always on the opposite side.

They are barely going to interact except in Pick and Roll situation but even then Kawhi is better suited to play with a roller..Thats why he gets more screens with Lee and Gasol and Dedmon

That makes a lot of sense, just with lamarcus's playing style I feel like he hardly has great chemistry with anyone as he loves to go to work on his own but what you're saying about them playing off each other on opposite sides makes a lot of sense.