So what happened tonight....

[james evans]

And all that money for more FAs that will refuse to come here, even more so after Aldridge went to after getting here. I know Aldridge sucks because he's a pussy, but the perception will still be there.

Aldridge needs to be gone now. I don't care if we trade him for a ball boy. He's too high maintenance and fragile. Cut the dead weight. Can't waste more of Kawhi's prime years.

If you were a FA, would you come to SA and have your years wasted by rest and having to put up with Parker and ginobli(who 2 years from now I don't doubt will still be playing)

[duncan2k5]

You said they were not posting up Harden in the original posts and I replied that they did. Gasol and LMA scored every time Harden was on them. I can only remember 1 play where they didn't score on him. The only guy who could not take advantage of Harden in the post was David Lee. Spurs lost this game due to the Rockets making all their 3's and lack of rim protection when they drove for layups. There was a key stretch where Pop was stupid enough to go super small and have Lee play the center which resulted in a bunch of Rocket layups and triggered their confidence in their shooting.

[duncan2k5]

Stop switching kawhi off of harden...Go under the pick and roll...When you switch, he scores everytime....Why am I the only one seeing this?

[ceperez]

David Lee really shouldn't be in the rotation. He's doing nothing. He literally brings nothing to the table. At least dedmon can bring defense and bertans can shoot and drive and kick. Lee can't do anything.

It is very odd that Spurs need length and speed and the two guys who have that are on the bench.

I think pop is deliberately not playing these two.

[ceperez]

What I saw tonight is houston put their ING GUARDS ON OUR 7 FOOTERS AND DARED THEM TO TRY TO SCORE IN THE PAINT!!!!!!. When Aldridge finally realized Harden is only 6'5 in the 3rd, it was too late by then. Another thing I noticed is that we are letting Harden rest on defense. He's guarding Pau and Pau is standing at the 3 point line. The same thing with Anderson. Once Aldridge and Simmons started attacking him, he started breathing heavy. Why is this hard to comprehend? Other teams attacked our worst defender(Parker) but we give guys like Curry and Harden a break. wtf

We pay our bigs $20m and $15m per season and they can't even post up guards? It is a big joke.

[jermaine]

I don't really understand the fantasy that many have here about savior Dedmon. He's too limited on offense, and even on defense, he fouls and misses rotations.

But at least he'll Sprint down court,fight for a rebound, an make it a tad bit harder to lay it up! He gets 6 fouls, ing use them idc.

[jermaine]

It is very odd that Spurs need length and speed and the two guys who have that are on the bench.

I think pop is deliberately not playing these two.

An the crazy part is people are saying they miss rotations... the mutha amuthasuckas that he's playing misses rotations, won't rebound, won't run the floor, won't post up, etc. I can go on an on!!!

[NameLess Scrub]

What happened is that Rockets made the shots they always have anyway.

Spurs can't even use mismatches, except for a couple of plays when LMa or Pau actually decided to go for it vs a guy half a foot shorter than them that's widely regarded as bad defender.

This is gonna happen 2 more times. Rockets in 6.

[hater]

No HOTS, tbh.

/thread

[hater]

I don't really understand the fantasy that many have here about savior Dedmon. He's too limited on offense, and even on defense, he fouls and misses rotations.

Yup Deadmans limitations are glaring. Foul machine, very creppy offensive game, mediocre hands, not even a better rebounder than Lee

Dont get me wrong lee sucks but Deadman is not mich better he coukd actually be a worse big.

[bklynspursfan]

I don't really understand the fantasy that many have here about savior Dedmon. He's too limited on offense, and even on defense, he fouls and misses rotations.

It's what people do here lol. They like to think a simple move changes the outcome of the game, and it's not a reality honestly. Pop played a similar rotation, and they were successful last game. Houston hit some really tough shots, and hit 19 3's, while we only had 7. I don't see how Dedmon changes that, but I guess whatever makes folks feel better after an L

[NameLess Scrub]

What I saw tonight is houston put their ING GUARDS ON OUR 7 FOOTERS AND DARED THEM TO TRY TO SCORE IN THE PAINT!!!!!!. When Aldridge finally realized Harden is only 6'5 in the 3rd, it was too late by then. Another thing I noticed is that we are letting Harden rest on defense. He's guarding Pau and Pau is standing at the 3 point line. The same thing with Anderson. Once Aldridge and Simmons started attacking him, he started breathing heavy. Why is this hard to comprehend? Other teams attacked our worst defender(Parker) but we give guys like Curry and Harden a break. wtf

See? We saw the same thing. This is supposedly a bad defensive team and Harden is supposedly a horrible defender, but he's not paying for it.

[coachmac87]

Rockets won game 1, then relaxed in game 2. The "we stole one in their place" mindset.
Spurs won game 2 after the embarrassment of game 1. Spurs won game 3 - extra focus from losing home court and Tony's injury.
Spurs relaxed in game 4.
All were sort of predictable after the Game 1 blowout.

Now, with it best out of 3 things will get really tight. Should be fun... Bet the games get closer. Neither team will lose focus now. (Though there is a small chance if Spurs win Game 5, they mail it in Game 6 to try and win the series at home in 7).

Great post. I started a thread couple weeks ago called "Playoff Emotion" detailing the ups and downs/swings there are in playoff series. After each loss/win you feel the momentum swing..

Typical Spurs fan on this forum went from "We're getting swept" after Game 1..and then felt so confident after going up 2-1 like some almost expected to close in 5...But since we lost and it's 2-2 the sky is falling again

[Keepin' it real]

It is very odd that Spurs need length and speed and the two guys who have that are on the bench.

I think pop is deliberately not playing these two.

I think it's accidental.

[NameLess Scrub]

Great post. I started a thread couple weeks ago called "Playoff Emotion" detailing the ups and downs/swings there are in playoff series. After each loss/win you feel the momentum swing..

Typical Spurs fan on this forum went from "We're getting swept" after Game 1..and then felt so confident after going up 2-1 like some almost expected to close in 5...But since we lost and it's 2-2 the sky is falling again

I don't get it. It's clear from the beginning it's Rockets in 5 or 6.

Ryan will now go mindless in SA, then they'll close out in HOU where SA's bigs will be afraid to post up Harden again.

[DMC]

Spurs came out soft. Lots of deferring, passing to just get rid of the ball (even running the shot clock out a couple times). It's as if Pop grilled the team on not taking shots too early in the clock.

What really happened: Spurs were making a push in the 2nd when Pop called a quick timeout because Harden got to the rim. After that you could see the Spurs never had any fire. I have a feeling Pop doesn't think the Spurs can play on the same floor as Houston, that he needs to micromanage every possession to ensure his will is done.

LMA looked like he had given up, so did Pau. Neither would take it to the hole or shoot the ball, wide open. That changed a little later but it was too late. Either way, Spurs have home cookin' back but it doesn't matter, win or lose, because the Warriors are on a mission.

[DMC]

Watch how -eating-possum happy Pop gets if they lose the series. Great learning opportunity for the team, humbles them a bit, helps them get over themselves. In 4 or 5 years, they'll be ready for the next step.

[r0drig0lac]

Subpar defense and lucky three point shooting. They won't shoot that crazy good again.

Yes, they will (probably)

[r0drig0lac]

An the crazy part is people are saying they miss rotations... the mutha amuthasuckas that he's playing misses rotations, won't rebound, won't run the floor, won't post up, etc. I can go on an on!!!

[skulls138]

Pop seems very willing to waste Kawhi's prime years.

Othewise, he wouldnt get on his team old guys and bigs who cant play against elite and fast guards in the West

You cant just magically replace all weaknesses like that (snap). We just got LA who is supposed to be our Pippen, Mchale etc. Manu has a right to see if he has one more year left in him. Its just the way it is, and its not necessarily Pops fault.

[skulls138]

I agree! One of the problem though is they're getting the ball too high on the post requiring them to dribble.They need to be closer to the rim to make it more effective. Aldridge had success when he is close to the rim. It's a disaster if they have to dribble to get closer to get to the rim.

That was definitely the secret to LAs success in game three. Hes a terrible ball handler but they made that adjustment in the second half of giving him the ball lower and it was all gravy.

[polandprzem]

What I saw tonight is houston put their ING GUARDS ON OUR 7 FOOTERS AND DARED THEM TO TRY TO SCORE IN THE PAINT!!!!!!. When Aldridge finally realized Harden is only 6'5 in the 3rd, it was too late by then. Another thing I noticed is that we are letting Harden rest on defense. He's guarding Pau and Pau is standing at the 3 point line. The same thing with Anderson. Once Aldridge and Simmons started attacking him, he started breathing heavy. Why is this hard to comprehend? Other teams attacked our worst defender(Parker) but we give guys like Curry and Harden a break. wtf

I was thinking the same. Attack harden - he is not that great of a defender tbh

[Leetonidas]

They got 8 threes in the third and pop quit. Yeah we didnt play well but it was 4 at half and spurs were down like 10 with 8 or 9 mins to go and pop just said it. He took Leonard out with 3 to go in the third and never put him back in. There's your ball game.

[Leetonidas]

Also, harden just got hot. We got destroyed in the 4th after pop quit but it was closer than the score indicated imo. Harden hasn't been hitting those step back threes when the big gets switched onto him and he hit like 3 or 4 of them yesterday, iirc were on consecutive possession in the third and really swung the momentum.

[quentin_compson]

When a team is taking 43 threes and is shooting over 44% on them, it is always going to be tough to beat them. And yet the Spurs where right there with the Rockets at halftime. In the 3rd quarter, however, they let Houston get to play at the quick pace they want to and weren't able to punish them for playing small. That was certainly disappointing from a mental point of view.
But they got the split in Houston. Win Game 5 and see if the Rockets will be this hot from downtown at a similarly crazy volume again.