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Time to blow it up for some picks. Celtics style.
Kawhi will play by himself regardless
The Story:
The Spurs found themselves playing in the basketball mecca of Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon against a Knicks team that had lost their last four games at home, sometimes in embarrassing fashion (det Clipper game). Unfortunately for the Spurs the writing was on the wall for a bad loss (the team struggles in MSG regularly, Knicks have plenty of Spur killers in Rose, PorzinGOD, Lee, Jennings, and even O'Quinn, nationally televised game, and Hornacek called the team out after their last loss), and they didn't disappoint.
The first quarter started out with the Knicks jumping out to a quick lead behind Rose and PorzinGOD making shots. Meanwhile, the Spurs couldn't seem to buy a bucket outside some early shots by LMA and Green going in. Thankfully, behind some quick hands and good rebounding on both ends, the Spurs made up for a poor shooting quarter to take the lead going into the second.
The second quarter belonged to Kawhi Leonard. He simply couldn't be stopped on either end, imposing his will on whoever was unlucky enough to be matched up with him. Behind that play the Spurs found themselves up 12 with two minutes to go in the half. At that point for whatever reason the team decided to stop going to him and instead forced up terrible shots while letting NY back into it on the other end. This resulted in the lead shrinking back to 6 by the half.
The third quarter saw the Knicks quickly take control of the game, continuing a run from the first half up to 15-0. While the Spurs began limiting turnovers to stop the bleeding, outside Kawhi no one was able to get into any sort of rhythm offensively the rest of the way.
In the final stanza the Knicks seemed poised to run away with it with Kawhi on the bench, but some awful mistakes on both ends by the Knicks gave the Spurs a brief gasp of light and behind some more MVP-level play by Kawhi the team nearly pulled it out. Unfortunately, Kawhi ran out of gas and his teammates made some terrible mistakes of their own (Mills and Green running the worst fastbreak in history) to allow the Knicks to put the game away.
It doesn't get any easier for the Spurs as tomorrow night they go into Indy to face a Pacers team that, while losers of their last two games, have really been playing good ball as of late. After that they close out the Eastern half of the RRT with a game against a Magic squad with another familiar Spur-killer in Abaka who can win a game against the Spurs by himself. Then the first game after the ASB is a game against the Clips who, even without CP0, have owned the Spurs since 2015. We could be looking at a pretty rough stretch of basketball over the next few weeks, so buckle up.
Some things I noticed during the game:
-These meltdowns at the end of the first half have become a truly fatal trend for this team. We can blame it on lazy play or a lack of execution, but at the end of the day a good coach would nip this in the bud and make it a point to correct. Pop, OTOH, seems content to do nothing. I know there's still a lot of you who think Pop can do no wrong, but on top of terrible rotations/resting players at terrible junctures/overall lack of good decision-making and his past comments about not caring about winning really have me upset. If you don't care about coaching to win, then don't ing coach.
-Kawhi Leonard's game is almost complete. I'm not sure where can grow as a player from here (outside better conditioning to play extended minutes) but even if this is it if he maintains this level of play for 7-9 years he'll go down as a first-ballot HoFer.
-What the is wrong with Parker? Physically he looks fine but my God he just can't seem to do much of anything scoring-wise. Don't even get me started on his defense. Considering how well he looks physically and how he was playing not even a month ago in similar physical condition, I just can't figure out what the problem is. Overfeeding LMA/Kawhi? Broken jumper? Mentally checking out? Something to watch.
-Mills is an absolute disaster right now, there's no other way to put it. Can't hit a shot, not even an average playmaker, and his defense is some of the worst in the league. At this point on top of Parker's poor play I don't see how Murray doesn't get minutes, it just makes no sense.
-Yes, LMA is struggling with his shot, but you gotta admire his hustle and grit the past few weeks. He has had some embarrassing moments but it isn't due to a lack of effort. HarlemHeat37 brought up a good stat the other day: LMA is a Top 5 rim protector this season, an the four players ahead of him on the list all exclusively play Center, and it shows by the eye-test too. Pretty impressive stuff.
-The team as a whole has been playing collectively-horrible basketball sine New Years. Kawhi's play has hid a lot of it, but this team is underperforming to a level we haven't seen before. I've been an outspoken critic of this team all year (still think OKC can beat them in a series if both are fully healthy unless the team truly finds it's stroke from 3 again) but there is no reason for the struggles we've been witnessing the past 5-6 weeks. LMA hasn't forgotten how to shoot, Green hasn't forgotten how to defend, Mills hasn't forgotten how to be an NBA-player, etc. It's all mental with this team and it's up to the coach to figure out what's wrong, but so far Pop has been content to let things ride out. These are dangerous times for the Spurs; one bad stretch and we could see them drop to the three seed and a first-round matchup with a Clipper team they won't beat even fully healthy.
Grades:
Kawhi Leonard - A-
Best player on the court tonight by far, but unfortunately it wasn't enough. He struggled early on with his shot and terrible decision-making with the ball, but as the game wore on he got better and better and shot the ball much more efficiently. He nearly managed to single-handedly drag this team to a win they did not deserve, but clearly ran out of gas by the final minutes. His defense was inconsistent in the second half, but by that point it was apparent he needed to focus his energy on the offensive end.
LaMarcus Aldridge - C-
LMA shot like , there's no other way to put it. His jumper has been broken for nearly a month now and it doesn't look like it's getting better until after the ASB at the earliest (hopefully rest does the trick). On the other hand, he continues to play great post defense and protect the rim at a high level, and tonight he was clearly hustling to try to make up for his terrible offense. I know there's a few of you out there clamoring for an LMA/Fetmelo trade, but at this point it'd be a serious downgrade for the Spurs even considering LMA's offensive struggles.
Danny Green - C-
Green actually started out pretty well on both ends, draining his first two attempts from three while playing good-to-great D on Fatmelo and Courtney Lee. Unfortunately that was the extent of his contributions on offense. He had several disastrous forays into the paint that led to turnovers while executing one of the worst fastbreaks I've ever seen alongside Mills. Thankfully he continued to play well on D, but if he can't rediscover his stroke soon, on top of the rest of the team struggling (besides Kawhi) there's going to be a lengthy skip coming up.
Tony Parker - D
God damn Parker has fallen off a cliff. Heard somewhere during the game (whether on TV or in the gamethread) that Parker has 8 points in the last four games...which was completely wrong it turns out. Surprised he actually has that much. He was terrible at running the offense, often over-dribbling and throwing it to Kawhi with the shot clock running out. Meanwhile on defense Rose was undressing him seemingly every time down the court. I just can't see how Murray can be any worse at this point.
Dewayne Dedmon - D-
In the opening few minutes of the game I was impressed with DD and thought we might see a repeat performance from Detroit. However, it became quickly apparent that that wouldn't be the case. He hardly impacted the game at all defensively as we've come to expect, he dropped half-a-dozen easy passes that would've led to an easy dunk or layup, and was dominated in the post by Kyle ing O'Quinn. It wasn't his worst game as a Spur, but it was pretty damn close.
David Lee - B-
Can't fault Lee for a lack of effort tonight, he was making plays on the boards all game and even had a couple nice defensive sequences to boot. However, at the end of the day he just isn't a good enough defender to see more than 20-25 mins a game. From what we've come to expect, however, tonight was par for the course from him.
Kyle Anderson - C+
Fathead made a cameo appearance early tonight due to Simmons' absence and actually did a pretty decent job offensively, drawing a nice And-1. However, once he passed up an open 3 yet again (even though he forced his way to the line) I knew that was it for him this afternoon and, sure enough, he never saw a minute of playing time after that stint. It was another quality defensive performance for him on defense, which is why he got a +.
Manu Ginobili - D+
With the rest of the team struggling so much on offense I had it in my head that maybe SuperManu would make an appearance for his last game in the Garden. Unfortunately, it just never happened. Manu was a mess offensively as much as anyone else. To his credit though, at this point that isn't his job anymore. Defensively he made a few plays but for the most part was invisible within the Spurs' scheme.
Patty Mills - F
At this point it's time to push the panic button on Mills. He hasn't looked competent as a SG, much less a PG, since New Years. If you had told me he'd look this bad back in December I would've laughed in your face but he is legitimately one of the worst rotation players in the NBA right now. Tonight he seemingly couldn't hit a shot to save his life, couldn't make a pass without turning it over, and his decision-making was just deplorable; the less said about his defense, the better. Patty very well might be playing his final games as a Spur over the next few days.
Davis Bertans - C
Not a good showing from Bertans, but he was far from the problem. Couldn't guard his contemporary from Latvia a lick, but he was active on defense and altered a few shots. The team never made it a mission to find him for shots despite the fact no one else outside Kawhi could do anything offensively.
Pop - D
More than a few of us have been saying it for a while now, but Pop really has seemingly stopped caring about Spurs basketball. His rotations were awful yet again, he refused to call timeouts when the team clearly needed them (whether due to numerous mistakes or even just fatigue), and the team has seemingly regressed since the start of the season even with time for new players to develop chemistry/rhythm. This has been the 5th game since New Years alone where the Spurs have had a double-digit lead near the end of the first half, only to choke it away and give the opposing team momentum and inevitably the win. That trend is on the coaching, not the players.
Last edited by Robz4000; 02-12-2017 at 07:21 PM. Reason: Incorrect Porker stat
Time to blow it up for some picks. Celtics style.
Kawhi will play by himself regardless
Where do you come up with this crap? Parker has 8 points in the last 4 games??? He has 20 points and 21 assists in the last 3. Where do you guys come up with this stuff? Hahaha no wonder you guys think Parker is so bad. You literally have no clue with what he's doing.
And did you even watch today's game? Rose had 6 points on him on 3/7 shooting. Honestly where do you come up with these outright lies? Does it make you feel better to literally just fabricate reality to fit your petty agenda?
Incorrect stat, I apologize.
Thanks for the emergency write-up
Yep; on Mills: I can't believe I have gone from hyping him up for 6MOTY award in December to being open to trade him for something before he's let walk in matter of 50 days..He's not just slumping, he has completely fallen off cliff, in a heap, t in almost every facets of the game (shooting, decision-making, while becoming an even bigger joke on defense)..
Excellent write-up - one of the best of the season.
Your observations about Pop's not doing the things on the bench that a good NBA - no, make that basketball - coach would do when his team is struggling are spot-on. And so are the comments about this team's issues being mental. They are playing without character and without pride - things you'd think Pop would recognize and do his best to remedy. It makes me wonder if there aren't locker room issues - worse ones than the Spurs have seen in several decades.
Haha so why don't you change it in the write up instead of perpetuating ridiculous nonsense?
I agree outside of the actual facts.Excellent write-up - one of the best of the season.
Your observations about Pop's not doing the things on the bench that a good NBA - no, make that basketball - coach would do when his team is struggling are spot-on. And so are the comments about this team's issues being mental. They are playing without character and without pride - things you'd think Pop would recognize and do his best to remedy. It makes me wonder if there aren't locker room issues - worse ones than the Spurs have seen in several decades.
If you go back and read it I did.
Pop either be ready to go down with the Murray ship or make a bold move to address the back-court situation...The alternative: this team will flame out in familiar fashion..they won't make it to the Warriors, once again..
I know, limited assets/market options, and whatnot, but for starters, Mills/Simmons/Anderson, and this year's 1st Round pick should be on the table..
Last edited by spursistan; 02-12-2017 at 07:56 PM.
Hahaha why does it still say "surprised he even has that much" when he actually has 250% more than that? No way you're that out of touch with reality...you're doing the write up for crying out loud.
Murray needs to be the back up already.
Cash in the chips for Barros.
My patience for the inevitable next year is wearing thin.
Aldridge and Green got C's? HOW??? They were horrible!
2017 Pop would have Parker and Stephen Jackson glued to the bench.
Some of the grades are very generous.
thanks Robz... missed most of the game, tbh, bad timing for me today...
As bad as they were on offense, both had pretty strong defensive outings.
Sometimes there is no need for over-analysis : a team that has 35-year-old David Lee in his first season as its second most consistent player night in, night out (relative to expected production) is simply ed..And even Lee has played above his head and is due a regression soon..
Danny green got pulled for his lack of defense. How can you say he played well defensively. Lee was 5 of 6 at one point. And Melo torched him the second half.
Not true with green at all
I still think we can beat the warriors with everything falling down into place. But they wont. And this team has relied on KL the whole season, time to make some moves IMHO.
Not sure what the stats that put LMA in the top rim defenders mean. I guess if he is standing there he can play some defense, otherwise a lot of players are simply motoring past him on their way to the rim while other folks have to rotate and try to cover for him. then they look bad on rim defense.
I know he has always been a great post up player when he can play withing 15 feet of the basket, and if he could stay at that distance his defense could probably pick up. I just don't see how he fits in the defensive scheme if he has to go out to the peririmeter to guard someone.
Last edited by wildbill2u; 02-12-2017 at 08:47 PM.
Posters used to that Parker was taking too many shots while taking shots away from everybody's man crush Kawhi and LMA. Now, he takes very few shots and he gets slapped for not scoring points. This forum
Or maybe the Spurs were playing over their heads and now they're regressing to the mean. You should really spend more time ing about the leagues so called top ranked defense (
Hence the part right after the section you bolded...Posters used to that Parker was taking too many shots while taking shots away from everybody's man crush Kawhi and LMA. Now, he takes very few shots and he gets slapped for not scoring points. This forum
The defense has been better since Gasol went out, and dysfunctional or not the Knicks aren't a bad offense. The point is its hard to win games when the coach plays five players at the same time that are all below-average offensive players.Or maybe the Spurs were playing over their heads and now they're regressing to the mean. You should really spend more time ing about the leagues so called top ranked defense (
Melo was 6-18 with Green as his primary defender until that horrible fastbreak that resulted in Melo getting that open three on the other end.
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