Grades: Spurs @ Kings - Nov. 12, 2018

[timvp]

San Antonio's three-game road trip kicked off with a dud. The Spurs never got out of first gear offensively in their 104-99 loss in Sacramento.

Despite uneven play, the Spurs came back to tie it at 90 with five minutes remaining in the contest. But, unfortunately, that's when things fell apart. Over the next two and a half minutes, DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge combined to turn the ball over three times and miss both of their field goal attempts. That inept stretch by San Antonio's two stars sparked a 10-0 run by the Kings and essentially ended the game.

Overall, this was just a poor performance by the Spurs. Their offense struggled to string positive possessions together and their defense was a step slow. They had an opportunity to use their veteran savvy to steal a win late but instead fell on their collective face. If the good guys want to make the playoffs, these are games they need to win.

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LaMarcus Aldridge

The good: LaMarcus Aldridge rebounded really well and defended the paint better than usual; he was particularly stubborn in the paint defensively in the fourth quarter. His outside jumper was hitting net more often than not, which has not be the case much this season. The bad: While Aldridge's halfcourt defense was solid enough, his transition defense was lacking. His slow jogs back on defense led to the youthful Kings getting a lot of clean looks in transition. Offensively, Aldridge never really asserted himself against his weaker counterparts. Only a few times did he use his strength advantage to power the ball into the paint. To make matters worse, he was sloppy with the ball and often inexplicably tried to dribble in traffic. His passing was also non-existent. All in all, the Spurs needed Aldridge to dominate the action more often than he did.
Grade: C+
Summary: Aldridge did well in some areas but didn't give the Spurs a foundation to build upon.

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DeMar DeRozan

While DeMar DeRozan's offensive stats look fine -- 23 points on 17 shots along with a game-high eight assists -- they don't tell the whole truth. In reality, DeRozan never found a groove within the Spurs offense. When he produced, it was usually him going one-on-one as others watched. While that's obviously not all his fault, he needs to do a better job of being a consistent threat. Tonight, he was either blending into the background or forcing the action. The Spurs need him to be reliable -- not on or off. Defensively, this was a step backwards. He had trouble staying in front of his man, was lazy fighting around screens and just didn't have the needed intensity.
Grade: C
Summary: DeRozan wasn't as helpful as his numbers suggest.

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Derrick White

After a really good game against the Rockets, Derrick White came back down to earth with an okay-ish outing. Offensively, his shoot-pass decision-making left a lot to be desired. When he did make the right choices, he was able to author a few fine passes. His ability to hit difficult shots was also on display. Defensively, he had his moments but also made mistakes -- he was slow to rotate a few times and failed to close out quick enough on three-point shooters a few other times. To his credit, he did well staying in front of his man; not many of his teammates can say the same.
Grade: B-
Summary: White is learning on the job and his evening was marked by hiccups.

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Bryn Forbes

Offensively, Bryn Forbes was a few more made shots away from having a solid night. As it was, he just didn't quite create the spark the Spurs needed. Since he's one-dimensional, a lot of Forbes' value rides on his shooting stroke. Defensively, he was caught being too aggressive a number of times, which left him susceptible to backdoor cuts. The intensity was there on that end but the execution was missing too often.
Grade: C+
Summary: Forbes was efforting but he ended up hurting more than helping against the Kings.

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Dante Cunningham

Individually, Dante Cunningham had one of his better performances. He hustled on defense and his ability to defend out on the perimeter was useful against Sacramento. He did well on the boards and ran the court hard. On offense, he caught fire for a two-minute stretch in the second quarter when he poured in all nine of his points. While he did fine, Cunningham's presence made life difficult for the rest of his teammates on offense because the Kings basically ignore him. On defense, though he handled his business, the Kings were able to simply attack other weaknesses that Cunningham was powerless to cover up.
Grade: B
Summary: Cunningham played relatively well but his overall impact was minimal.

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Patty Mills

Patty Mills had one of his better performances defensively (although that's not saying much). He was active, physical and communicated well. Offensively, Mills' playmaking was better than usual, as was his decision-making. Unfortunately, his shooting was off and he missed a number of potential momentum-changing shots.
Grade: B-
Summary: Mills played hard but his perimeter marksmanship let him down.

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Rudy Gay

After missing three straight games, Rudy Gay was back in the lineup and it was like he never left. His play ended up being the brightest spot for San Antonio. He was aggressive on offense and the results were positive. His jumper continues to look pure and Gay was smart about taking advantage of mismatches. I was also pretty impressed with Gay's defense. The Kings didn't have much success going at him. He was strong on the post and moved well enough on the perimeter. Rebounding-wise, Gay's career-best season in that area picked up where it left off.
Grade: A-
Summary: Gay played well in all facets in his return from injury.

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Marco Belinelli

The good: Marco Belinelli had a couple good defensive possessions where he moved his feet better than he normally does. The bad: The rest. Belinelli took a couple terrible shots. He wasn't his normal active self on offense, which led to very little playmaking. With Gay coming off the bench and getting touches, Belinelli allowed himself to get lost in the shuffle. Unacceptable.
Grade: C-
Summary: Belinelli was missing in action.

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Jakob Poeltl

With Pau Gasol still out, Jakob Poeltl got the backup center minutes. Overall, he just didn't do enough good. He was better on the defensive boards than usual but that's about it. His defense was shaky, especially his protecting of the rim. Poeltl's mobility helped in some situations but there was not enough force behind his actions. For example, when he got the ball, he wasn't a threat to do anything other than hand it off to perimeter player. And, while he ran the court, he wasn't prepared to catch and finish.
Grade: C
Summary: Poeltl's transition to silver and black is still in its infancy.

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Davis Bertans

Davis Bertans didn't enter the game until three minutes into the second quarter. A few seconds later, he got hit in the face and sat out until after halftime. Bertans hit two late, meaningless three-pointers to improve his box score stats.
Grade: Inc.
Summary: With Gay back, Bertans moved further down the rotation.

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Pop

I continue to think Cunningham in the starting lineup does more harm than good. It forces DeRozan and Aldridge to score in one-on-one situations because the spacing isn't there to do much else. Pop playing Cunningham nearly 30 minutes made it difficult for the Spurs to win this game. In a related critique, Pop shoulders blame for never finding a lineup that looked cohesive offensively.
Grade: C-
Summary: The offense never clicked. Pop didn't adjust.

Looking ahead: Tough one. What makes it even worse is that the Kings didn't even play that well. Sacramento shot straight but the Spurs could have grabbed the W with even a B performance.

When the Spurs headed west for this three-game road trip, I said the Spurs needed two wins. Let's hope they can keep that goal alive when they take on the Suns on Wednesday night. A loss would in Phoenix would be a red flag.

[Chinook]

I gave my thoughts in the game thread, but I saw this as a game where the team clearly met its limits. I don't mean that they can't beat the Kings or play better or whatever. I just think we saw what an average game against an average SOS opponent was. I mean, yeah, they could have and should have won this played better. But the Kings could have played better too. Very few games on this schedule are truly "unwinnable" for the team. Even that home game against GS has some realistic chance of ending up a victory if Aldridge dominates. But in so far as what we can expect from this team, losing to a fringe playoff team on the road in a different time zone doesn't seem particularly disappointing. Losing to the Suns would be awful, but teams like SAC and LAC aren't layups to this squad.

There's still some room for improvement. I think Gasol over Poeltl could have really helped. Pop still hasn't figured out how to stagger White and DeRozan. DeMar is still playing way too much, and White gets very few minutes to be the lead facilitator. It just doesn't make sense. Right now, a bit part of the team's ceiling is White finding a way to make the Rockets performance his norm. He can't do that if balance is a passive, hot/cold DeRozan. The chance of having 48 minutes of quality lead-guard play is right in front of the, but they can't seem to grasp it.

I literally don't see a viable alternative to Cun starting. Gay needs to come off the bench both for the team and his body. Bertans has a target on his back at this point and can't seem to hold up at PF. Two bigs won't work, and someone like Pondexter is way too small/sucky to play the four. If the team can't acquire a starting-caliber forward, they may as well keep running with what they have. They need his not-below-averageness in their rotation, and he might as well start when you get to that point.

Would consider trading Poeltl if his value around the league is good. I still think he could be better, but honestly, it's looking like either guaranteeing Pau's money or cutting him and trying to bring him back more cheaply makes more sense for next year, and after that, I don't think Poe's the kind of guy you should pay an eight-figure contract to. He's just not skilled enough to make a huge impact. I'm not giving him away yet, but he's the "value piece" I'm most inclined to move if I have a choice.

[MoSpur02]

Spurs need better defenders out on the perimeter. They are getting torched by good guard play. I don't even want to imagine how they'll play against a team like Golden State. They need to acquire a defensive specialist out on the perimeter if possible.

I thought Pop's rotations were weak. He should've started Gay and brought White off the bench.

Marco is really pissing me off. The guy is way too trigger happy and inconsistent.

[cd021]

Spurs need better defenders out on the perimeter. They are getting torched by good guard play. I don't even want to imagine how they'll play against a team like Golden State. They need to acquire a defensive specialist out on the perimeter if possible.

I thought Pop's rotations were weak. He should've started Gay and brought White off the bench.

Marco is really pissing me off. The guy is way too trigger happy and inconsistent.

Starting Gay in place of Cunningham and letting Bertans play the backup 4 and Dante play behind DeRozen seems like the obvious move.

Cunningham gets in the way in the starting lineup; DeRozen and Aldridge aren't threats outside of 18 feet and teams playing off of him don't help things

White-Forbes-DDR, Gay, LMA
Mills, Beli, Cunningham, Bertans, Gasol

Beli definitely looks more trigger happy now than his first stint with the Spurs, it's looked ugly in large part because he's hitting only 32% on 3's and has even been missing open 3's in addition to taking a bunch of sketchy shots.

[objective]

i don't think DD works at SF and it's throwing him in a funk

trying White off the bench might be better sadly

[r0drig0lac]

i don't think DD works at SF and it's throwing him in a funk

trying White off the bench might be better sadly

and you are correct

[JeffDuncan]

i don't think DD works at SF and it's throwing him in a funk

Truth. Playing DDR at the 3 because "he's tall enough" is something a senile wino would do.

trying White off the bench might be better sadly

Not having White and Forbes on the floor at the same time would help.

[MVPCues]

Watching the game last night was simply a disappointing experience.

[RC_Drunkford]

Thanks for the grades TimVP

I just watched the replay of the game.

Forbes got destroyed on defense. I lost count in the first half already on how many 3s the Kings shot in his face. They just shot over him like he wasn't even there.

LaMarcus jumper was on, he should've got way more pick & pops. I don't understand why he only got 12 shots.

Also DeRozan as an offball player just makes 0 sense. Belinelli needs a leash, those off balance shots are useless. He should only shoot when open off ball movement.

Poeltl was a clear F. If 1 point and bad defense justify a C then he should get an A everytime he scores more than 5 points. Also Mills is nowhere near a B- if he shoots 25%/16.7% from 3 as this is the only thing he can do at an NBA level. The only good thing is that he played less minutes than Forbes/White

[vavvi]

I think DeRozan should play more as a ball-handler with Mills, Belli, Forbes, Gay and maybe Poeltl.
And White should play more with LA.
Otherwise wasting DeMar passing talent and no playmaking in the second unit.

[playbonner15]

I think DeRozan should play more as a ball-handler with Mills, Belli, Forbes, Gay and maybe Poeltl.
And White should play more with LA.
Otherwise wasting DeMar passing talent and no playmaking in the second unit.

I agree with White playing with LA. White seems to find LA in his spots, while Derozan seems to need to handle the ball to get into rhythm. Not good is Derozan and LA usually plays together, sometimes one of them steps back

[r0drig0lac]

I agree with White playing with LA. White seems to find LA in his spots, while Derozan seems to need to handle the ball to get into rhythm. Not good is Derozan and LA usually plays together, sometimes one of them steps back

so is this a Kawhi/Aldridge situation again?

[sananspursfan21]

What an abysmal game to watch. I’m still not seeing the motivation to win out there. I really believe this could be a good team as the roster’s constructed, but there’s gotta be some level of effort

[vavvi]

so is this a Kawhi/Aldridge situation again?

Not really. I don't see a real problem in DeMar - Aldridge chemistry. It's just we don't have a deep and talented roster and we just can't waste scarce resources we have -- like DeMar playmaking & White playmaking with zero playmaking outside of them. DeMar doesn't spread the floor and doesn't defend on above average level -- so he should have ball in his hands while he's out there. So I would try to make sure one of DeMar & White is always playing

[Jay.From.NbTx]

We made Blejicenaja look like KD
Fox look like Kyrie and Bogdonavick looked like Kobe tbh
Horrible defensive effort and we the bed in crunch time when we could have taken control

[SAGirl]

i don't think DD works at SF and it's throwing him in a funk

trying White off the bench might be better sadly

A good point and something one of the posters here mentioned as soon as it happened. Since he was moved to SF, demar has been below his average.

[John B]

Thanks Timvp for the grades. I believe it’s a matter of not playing together as much and finding the right combinations. It would help also if we’re sinking open shots. Staggering White and Demar is spot on. Demar is a combo guard and has demonstrated that he is very effective with the ball in his hand. Sadly White needs to come from the bench and get the 2nd unit going. I think bringing in Blossomgame at SF would help. He’s athletic, can hit open 3’s, can run fastbreaks, etc. Poeltl needs to play at Austin to develop. He is very raw and has a lot of potential. I hope LW4 can develop as a better perimeter guard. Anyways, I’ll wait for Pops’ next move. He always ended up figuring. GSG

[dbestpro]

Set Bertans free. He will end up on another team and become a 3 point shooting star.

[Spurs Homer]

Cannot agree with the posts above regarding playing DDR & ALDRIDGE and/or White - separately -
makes any sense.

You don't see Golden State thinking - Durant/Curry/Thompson/Green/ - should be split up because of any uncomfortable combos - they just play their most talented players the most. The talent will learn how to mesh - or a good coach will figure it out.

I am sure Pop can make a decent transition while playing -

White-Gay-DDR-Aldridge - and ANYBODY ELSE in that lineup.

Let the best players play the most minutes and during the season they will click. IMO.

[Dex]

[rjv]

this definitely feels like a team going through a transition year with one of their best defenders out for the season. it's going to be very up and down and i fear that the spurs record is going to take a nosedive hear with the upcoming schedule. december will have to be a bounce back month for the spurs if that happens.

[ducks]

ordan Howenstine
@AirlessJordan
·
10h
DeMar DeRozan has a total of 300 points this season.

Only Spurs in history with more than 300 points through 12 games: David Robinson & George Gervin.

[sasaint]

i don't think DD works at SF and it's throwing him in a funk

trying White off the bench might be better sadly

The entire problem was/is caused by Pop's refusal to bring in a legit, starting-caliber (not even "star-caliber") SF. That would result in a SL of: White, DeMar, Starting SF, Gay, LMA. Second unit: Forbes, Patty/Marco, Bertans, Dante, Pau.

[sasaint]

this definitely feels like a team going through a transition year with one of their best defenders out for the season. it's going to be very up and down and i fear that the spurs record is going to take a nosedive hear with the upcoming schedule. december will have to be a bounce back month for the spurs if that happens.

Not sure this team has a "bounce-back month" in it, tbh.

[RC_Drunkford]

the thing is Pop has Derrick White handling the ball too much. When White handles the ball DeRozan is parked in the corner and he can't shoot 3s effectively. Now if DeRozan has the ball and White, who's a good 3-point shooter, is parked in the corner that makes way more sense and should be how they attack on offense. Even if White ain't open he can then put the ball on the floor and make a play