Grades: Spurs @ Lakers - Oct. 22, 2018

[SpursDynasty85]

Thanks for the thoughts timvp

Any idea why Poetl didn’t play?

Gasol was limited off the bench too because Lakers are a wing heavy shorted in the center position lineup team. Cunningham getting the start took all of Poeltls minutes and Gasols effectiveness this season and off the bench so far this season made him the backup vs Poeltl for Aldridge. Pretty much shows Gasol is ahead of Poeltl in the rotation but to even out the rotation Poeltl gets the starts.

[Spurminator]

[dabom]

MVPatty +++A. Saved the day. Good on ya Patty!

[rjv]

if we can get this from the spurs throughout the season, plus whatever white can provide and walker-should he ever get into the rotation- and i would be happy with a season like this, playoffs or not. at the least, it would show a team that is building some chemistry and the chance to build around a decent set of scorers.

[emanueldavidginobili]

Demar was definitely forcing it but more times than not he gets the foul call. They were not calling anything for him during the 4th and OT. I think he was banking on getting some calls when he kept going driving to the cup.

[james evans]

The most encouraging thing is that they didn’t fold in overtime and Cunningham might have a place on this team after all (fingers crossed). Thanks for the write-up!

I think I saw the one thing Cunningham does well and that's rebound. Gasol can't seem to grab rebounds around other players today.

[John B]

Thanks for the grades Timvp. I agree that Pops played Demar to exhaustion to the 4th and extended OT. And also that Pops could have kept any of the big 3 with the 2nd unit. Seeing Mills/Forbes/Belli/Bertran/Pau lineup was a disaster waiting to happen. Is Poeltl in the doghouse? Why didn’t he play? I like to see some Metu also but they blew up the lead. Overall it’s a great morale win over Lebron. Demar’s 14 assists is a revelation and I’m okay with Dante starting to get some rebounds and physicality. GSG

[DAF86]

I don't think Aldridge's offensive problems are solved yet, tbh. His jumper still looks broken. He missed tons of jumpers and free throws. It's good that he was smart enough to punish the Lakers midgets inside though.

[Ellsworth]

Chimezie Metu



Did a wonderful job cheering his teammates from the bench... he was also very compassionate as to wave goodbye to fellow JaVale McGee after the home team player committed his 6th foul & was walking straight back to his own bench.
Grade: BA
Summary: Pop hardly plays rookies... he much prefers veterans even if they're OTH

Looking ahead: Expect more from PM 2.0

[birdy219]

So glad to get a road win. It seems like forever.

[Russo21]

Resurgence isn't the word that I would use but I do think he could average something like 22ppg and 7 assists and 4 rpg. That's a more complete offensive version of him.

DDR averaged 27 just 2 seasons ago. I'm expecting him to put up something like that this season 👍 22 seems to low. 27 and 7 would be nice

[8FOR!3]

I think Pop’s intentions are to either start White/Forbes together or Lonnie Walker when they get back some nights to give DDR the night off.

Also, I think it’s a good sign that Forbes/Mills and obviously Belli aren’t afraid to take big shots. Good spurs teams require that and I think we kinda lacked confident shooters last year

[TDomination]

Thanks for the grades Timvp. I always enjoy reading them.

Demar was obviously gassed. Even that shot he banked in looked bad. but i was happy that he kept attacking. most players settle for jumpers and although there was a few that he settled for, he continued to attack the basket to draw a foul. thats all you can do at that point when your shot is not falling. so i felt like that was a positive in the midst of him struggle.

I'm loving some of these clutch shots by Rudy Gay. This is great! I'm actually beginning to want him to come off the bench to help shore up the bench unit a bit. But if that puts cunningham at the 3, I'm not so sure about that. So we'll see what happens when white and walker are back.

Props to Forbes hitting quite a few clutch shots. He hit some big 3's at the end of the 4th that was all for naught due to the lakers also hitting their shots. This is great experience for him. Who knows, he may end up a decent backup.

LMA was great overall. I'm feeling more and more confident in him. But man, he needs to stop hanging around Timmy during practice. Those FT misses are killers. Gotta hit the freebies!

[Larry O]

Timvp? You da bestest man! As always, thanks for your grades posts! My observations from last night's game was that in the 1st quarter, was that there was more ball movement than that darned motion offense, which to me, this team just doesn't have the personnel for. It seemed to be quite effective as they got that big lead as a result, then they seemed to abandonded it in the 2nd quarter. Aldridge: since he's a LA (lazy a**), he's working to get his "sea legs" back in this infant season, which means that hopfully he's getting his conditioning & rhythm back as he's playing, & play he did! It will interesting to see if DC33 will continue to remain in the starting lineup. I really think he was in the lineup last night for matchup purposes, but we will see come Wednesday. Also, Double-D10 played his butt off last night! Forty-five minutes with 32 points, 14 assists & 8 rebounds, plus having to share the load as PG, I'm sure all of that had him gassed by OT. But there was a couple of times when he did drive to the basket, that the refs swallowed thier whistles when he should have got the foul calls. I'm thinking that those no-calls may have messed with his head. Any who, this team is a work in progress with its chemistry and defense, but if they continue work on them, as well as bring it in every game with heart & hustle, they may squeak out a few wins! GSG!!!

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Thanks Timvp!

This team is not deep at all. The injuries hurt, but it's scary how shallow the bench is.

[cd021]

DDR averaged 27 just 2 seasons ago. I'm expecting him to put up something like that this season 👍 22 seems to low. 27 and 7 would be nice

I don't see that high of a number, though 22 may be too low. Maybe 23.5 and 7 is more realistic, that is still fantastic numbers and almost unprecedented in the Pop era with only Duncan and Cold Nephew putting up better numbers

[FkLA]

When are people going to realize that MBrynP is averaging 15 PPG, tbh?

[r0drig0lac]

When are people going to realize that MBrynP is averaging 15 PPG, tbh?

this is like 8ppg (which would be awesome for a guy like him) at a era when defense was allowed

[Stabula]

Forbes is a stud

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

When are people going to realize that MBrynP is averaging 15 PPG, tbh?

He might actually have a place in today's game. If the NBA still allowed defense he'd be lost, but yeah, it's a chucker's league and Bryn has a good stroke. He knows how to score points.

[TD 21]

Dante Cunningham

Well, I'll gladly eat some crow after Dante Cunningham illustrated it's possible for him to fit on this team. What the coaching staff stumbled upon is that Cunningham is useful as a starting power forward against a small team. With DeRozan, Aldridge and two other shooters on the court, the Spurs can get away with Cunningham spotting up for threes in the weakside corner and the spacing doesn't suffer too much. Defensively, he was pretty good. He defended LeBron in a number of possessions and did reasonably well, though it became an exercise in futility once LeBron had his effort level dialed up later in the contest. Cunningham's rebounding was huge and he also defended the rim well, particularly in transition. He's going to have to learn move to open spaces instinctively (and, for that matter, the fundamentals of the motion offense) but this was definitely a step in the right direction.
Grade: A-
Summary: Cunningham in the starting lineup as a small ball power forward appears to be an option going forward.

I remember someone mentioning this repeatedly and not being believed. Can't remember who it was though . . .

Pop

Starting Cunningham turned out to be a very wise move. The offense is clicking extremely well. Pop is obviously giving DeRozan the freedom to be an offensive superstar. I had two critiques with the rotation: First, I think the team should always have one of Aldridge, DeRozan or Gay on the court right now. Pop went with a complete bench unit at times and the tides turned swiftly. My second critique, which isn't entirely fair because it's based on hindsight, is that DeRozan wasn't given enough rest. Asking him to play the entire fourth quarter is probably too much, especially when he is taking on extra point guard duties on top of everything else.
Grade: B
Summary: Pop's belief in Cunningham paid off but is he (gasp) playing his star perimeter player too much?

Looking ahead: Good win. Good morale boost. It may sound crazy given that the Spurs just allowed 142 points but I thought the defense was actually better than it was against the Blazers. The effort, if nothing else, on that end was better. The Spurs now return to San Antonio to take on the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday in what will be another difficult yet winnable game.

With how predictably untenable playing 3 C's has proven, the 3 guard/wing injuries and them inexplicably refusing to waive Pondexter and/or utilize their open 2-way spot on a PG or wing, what choice does he have right now?

This team is going to be nip-and-tuck to make the playoffs. He can either try to get cute and throw winnable games in the garbage or do what's necessary to win, at least until White and Walker return and he has more viable options at his disposal.

[FkLA]

Good write-up Señor Ellis. Aldridge was a beast. Good to see that he can still dominate inside.