DeChoker, again

[MarCowMar]

It's like the Spurs are afraid to run their offense in the last two minutes of the game. When our players are moving around the line and drive and dishing I feel good about the shots we get, and they're frequently open threes.

ISO DeMar/Aldridge/Gay for two is just crap when defenses are dialed in and everyone _knows_ those three hold the ball too long. I don't know if it's a case of Pop telling them to ISO or they have sticky hands.

[RC_Drunkford]

people in here talking about DeMar should've drove to the rim. We all know how that ends in the clutch, he creates contact, misses the shot and whines that no foul has been called. He made some clutch shots against Dallas, Lakers and even in the Golden State game, but most of the time he either loses the ball or misses the shot. That's just who he is. It's on Pop to run the right play to get the team a good shot. I also think the #1 closer should be Rudy Gay, cause he has a history of making game winners

[Spurs Homer]

I'm looking at the glass half-full....

DDR & Aldridge and the Spurs 3 pt shooters - if we get lucky and the Spurs find a groove -

are going to present SERIOUS problems for some unlucky higher seeded team in the playoffs!

DDR played his balls off - I do not get the hate?

[SwansonInSibagat]

He hit big shots when? never in the last 2 minutes.
Today he had a good game, so in a vacuum I can understand giving him the ball for the last shot. Only, the histoy already proved he would have choked it. Which he did. But most of all is the way he choked: he took long shot with the defender in his face, and jumped BACK for christ sake..Try at least to get a ing call if you can't shoot a decent shot. The guy is a total loser.

Surely you can't be serious. The first game of the ing season against Minny? That go - ahead jumper against Dallas? The shot against Memphis at the nigh - last second that would have won the Spurs the game had it not been for the refs calling a foul on Gay? And this is just off the top of my head.

Goodness gracious.

[cd98]

He hit big shots when? never in the last 2 minutes.
Today he had a good game, so in a vacuum I can understand giving him the ball for the last shot. Only, the histoy already proved he would have choked it. Which he did. But most of all is the way he choked: he took long shot with the defender in his face, and jumped BACK for christ sake..Try at least to get a ing call if you can't shoot a decent shot. The guy is a total loser.

Just from the top of my head, he hit what should've been the game winner against the Grizzlies before the refs gave Gasol a BS call.

[TDomination]

people in here talking about DeMar should've drove to the rim. We all know how that ends in the clutch, he creates contact, misses the shot and whines that no foul has been called. He made some clutch shots against Dallas, Lakers and even in the Golden State game, but most of the time he either loses the ball or misses the shot. That's just who he is. It's on Pop to run the right play to get the team a good shot. I also think the #1 closer should be Rudy Gay, cause he has a history of making game winners

This this this

Honestly, the fact that DDR even got a shot up made me happy. What i mean is, it didn't end up in some stupid TO or some offensive foul. He gets stripped so much when going to the basket. He is better off shooting a fadeaway.

With that said, Pop needs to figure this out. They need to practice this in practice. last possession of the game, what are you going to do. Situational basketball.

DDR never looks to pass. And when he does, the player is typically not in good position cause he thought DDR was going to shoot. (like bertans against the Raptors)

An ISO is good when trying to make sure your shot is the last shot of the game, but man there's gotta be a more creative way to get a better shot than a 20ft fadeaway.

[TDomination]

Surely you can't be serious. The first game of the ing season against Minny? That go - ahead jumper against Dallas? The shot against Memphis at the nigh - last second that would have won the Spurs the game had it not been for the refs calling a foul on Gay? And this is just off the top of my head.

Goodness gracious.

He is serious. And don't call him Surely. lol good ol Airplaine!

And yeah, DDR has had plenty of clutch shots. Minny, Dallas twice, Lakers once or twice can't remember. And those were all with less than a minute.

He had that big turnaround over Klay Thompson against the warriors too. That was less than 2 minutes.

[spurs1990]

Let's not understate the confounding nature of that last play:

1) Spurs get the rebound with 20 seconds left
2) DeRozan holds the ball for that ENTIRE duration - never even thinks about passing to setting up a play, with the possibility of him getting it back anyway
3) DeRozan settles for a fully contested fall-away jumper around 20 feet from the goal, with a Belinelli-esque lean to the side, that is BADLY missed

I absolutely concur with the OP in that the other players were sunk in OT because of that.

That Derozan play was the definition of iso-ball, hero-ball, low IQ at its highest.


And to note - I don't blame DeRozan here. He didn't want to be in San Antonio, and the Spurs sure as wouldn't have signed him to a max deal under any hypothetical scenario. I believe the FO sought to punish Leonard by sending him to Canada instead of California, and this guy was the best they could get back.

What's truly tragic is we are probably left with DD for two more seasons with his untradeable contract, and Leonard is on the Clips this July.
We (the Spurs) got our just desserts for the petty play to banish Leonard. Something poetic about that.

[SwansonInSibagat]

Let's not understate the confounding nature of that last play:

1) Spurs get the rebound with 20 seconds left
2) DeRozan holds the ball for that ENTIRE duration - never even thinks about passing to setting up a play, with the possibility of him getting it back anyway
3) DeRozan settles for a fully contested fall-away jumper around 20 feet from the goal, with a Belinelli-esque lean to the side, that is BADLY missed

I absolutely concur with the OP in that the other players were sunk in OT because of that.

That Derozan play was the definition of iso-ball, hero-ball, low IQ at its highest.


And to note - I don't blame DeRozan here. He didn't want to be in San Antonio, and the Spurs sure as wouldn't have signed him to a max deal under any hypothetical scenario. I believe the FO sought to punish Leonard by sending him to Canada instead of California, and this guy was the best they could get back.

What's truly tragic is we are probably left with DD for two more seasons with his untradeable contract, and Leonard is on the Clips this July.
We (the Spurs) got our just desserts for the petty play to banish Leonard. Something poetic about that.

Season ain't over yet, sir. There's games yet to play. No telling who's getting them just desserts yet.

[monty4329]

Surely you can't be serious. The first game of the ing season against Minny? That go - ahead jumper against Dallas? The shot against Memphis at the nigh - last second that would have won the Spurs the game had it not been for the refs calling a foul on Gay? And this is just off the top of my head.

Goodness gracious.

OK, Minnie, Dallas.... Ages ago against lottery teams. You call that "big shots"? I'm sure he made some "big shots' in practice once or twice, should we count them too? You can't be serious. The guy cannot close games, it is so obvious I don't even try to explain it anymore. Either you see it or you don't.

[GreekSpursfan]

I think Pop is afraid he'll lose DDR if he doesn't force feed him the ball, to keep his confidence up.

I agree with this plus i don't see any other reliable closer on this team. Gay used to be one of those guys but not at this stage of his career, LMA nope. We have to be real, we don't have a closer or better a last min decision maker.

[monty4329]

..., but man there's gotta be a more creative way to get a better shot than a 20ft fadeaway.

Plus, it certainly is not conductive to a positive team spirit. You bust your ass to watch a moron that plays like Melo with one tenth of Melo's talent? And Melo sucked...

[itzsoweezee]

The DDR apologia might be a new lowpoint for spurstalk.

The eye test, the stats, the history (every raptors fan is familiar with DDR's testicular infor ude), are all clear on this point.

How many more years on this overrated dude's contact? By the way, don't look at his on/off numbers. It's not pretty.

[SwansonInSibagat]

OK, Minnie, Dallas.... Ages ago against lottery teams. You call that "big shots"? I'm sure he made some "big shots' in practice once or twice, should we count them too? You can't be serious. The guy cannot close games, it is so obvious I don't even try to explain it anymore. Either you see it or you don't.

There's also that shot againt GS, hombre.

Admit it. You got carried away by your histrionics that you just spewed whatever you felt would back up your agenda against DeRozan. Can't wail against facts.

[SwansonInSibagat]

There's no DDR apologia or whatever. Some of us just prefer to support the team come or high water. DeRozan has his flaws, but to condemn him like he's done nothing good for the team is just pusillanimous posturing.

[spurraider21]

people in here talking about DeMar should've drove to the rim. We all know how that ends in the clutch, he creates contact, misses the shot and whines that no foul has been called. He made some clutch shots against Dallas, Lakers and even in the Golden State game, but most of the time he either loses the ball or misses the shot. That's just who he is. It's on Pop to run the right play to get the team a good shot. I also think the #1 closer should be Rudy Gay, cause he has a history of making game winners

or he just gets his shot blocked

i agree that if we're going to have an iso type play, the ball should be in gay's hands. as much as we dont like the iso stuff, its the only way you can really control the clock and actually plan to get the shot off right at the buzzer. other sets can have plans change if the defense aggressively doubles and rotates well, forcing you to swing the ball around and there might not be time for that. so your only option then is to start the set way earlier in the clock at the risk of giving the other team a chance at the ball back

[SpaceCoast Spursfan]

I will add a few additional thoughts. First DDR played a very good game overall. As far as driving to the basket I agree he is not the best finisher especially when there is contact but there is no excuse for him making no effort to get closer to the free throw line area where he is much better shooter. I also wouldn't mind us actually running a play/set and try to create a decent shot even if it ends up not being taken by one of our stars. Last I will agree with Drunk RC if we are going iso would prefer Rudy as he has the size to get his shot off over just about any defender and seems much tougher mentally.

[cd98]

LOL at people that think it's incredulous that DDR takes a fadeaway jumper in the waning seconds to win a game. Uh, Kobe did that a million times. So did Jordan. Jordan's most famous clutch shot was a double pump jumpshot in the Cleveland series. Was that a good shot? Even Manu hit a fade away jumper a few years ago to beat the Bucks. Kawhi shots fadeaway jumpers at the end of games all the time. It's very common for a game winning shot to be some kind of a fadeaway jumper in the NBA. A fadeaway jumper in isolation. Very common.

[cd98]

Let's not understate the confounding nature of that last play:

1) Spurs get the rebound with 20 seconds left
2) DeRozan holds the ball for that ENTIRE duration - never even thinks about passing to setting up a play, with the possibility of him getting it back anyway
3) DeRozan settles for a fully contested fall-away jumper around 20 feet from the goal, with a Belinelli-esque lean to the side, that is BADLY missed

I absolutely concur with the OP in that the other players were sunk in OT because of that.

That Derozan play was the definition of iso-ball, hero-ball, low IQ at its highest.


And to note - I don't blame DeRozan here. He didn't want to be in San Antonio, and the Spurs sure as wouldn't have signed him to a max deal under any hypothetical scenario. I believe the FO sought to punish Leonard by sending him to Canada instead of California, and this guy was the best they could get back.

What's truly tragic is we are probably left with DD for two more seasons with his untradeable contract, and Leonard is on the Clips this July.
We (the Spurs) got our just desserts for the petty play to banish Leonard. Something poetic about that.

Dude, the score was tied. You eat clock and make sure you get the last shot. You don't pass the ball around and risk a turnover and you don't get into a shot quickly and give the other team the ball back. He did exactly what you should do in that situation. Let the clock run down and then make a move. A step back jumper is a very common shot in that situation and DDR has shown he can make them. Sometimes jumpers on the final possession don't go in. Just ask Kobe and Michael, who missed plenty of them but were still credited as being clutch players.

Not a lot of teams are giving up layups on the last possession to lose a game.

[Spurs Homer]

Dude, the score was tied. You eat clock and make sure you get the last shot. You don't pass the ball around and risk a turnover and you don't get into a shot quickly and give the other team the ball back. He did exactly what you should do in that situation. Let the clock run down and then make a move. A step back jumper is a very common shot in that situation and DDR has shown he can make them. Sometimes jumpers on the final possession don't go in. Just ask Kobe and Michael, who missed plenty of them but were still credited as being clutch players.

Not a lot of teams are giving up layups on the last possession to lose a game.

Good post.

I'll add that DDR was having a pretty good game and for a good stretch - he was as unstoppable as Kemba was later - and in OT - that is just bball -

had it gone in - we would be celebrating.

[Kurgan]

LOL at people that think it's incredulous that DDR takes a fadeaway jumper in the waning seconds to win a game. Uh, Kobe did that a million times. So did Jordan. Jordan's most famous clutch shot was a double pump jumpshot in the Cleveland series. Was that a good shot? Even Manu hit a fade away jumper a few years ago to beat the Bucks. Kawhi shots fadeaway jumpers at the end of games all the time. It's very common for a game winning shot to be some kind of a fadeaway jumper in the NBA. A fadeaway jumper in isolation. Very common.

The shot is not the problem. It's the player that's taking the last shot. Derozan is historically one of the most unclutch players in the league. A playoff choke artist as well. Any team that chooses him as their closer is doomed.

[cd98]

The shot is not the problem. It's the player that's taking the last shot. Derozan is historically one of the most unclutch players in the league. A playoff choke artist as well. Any team that chooses him as their closer is doomed.

Historically one of the most unclutch players in the league? What? Historically? Ha. Such hyperbole.

[vavvi]

Missed shots are different.
I’m more mad at how DDR misses in the clutch than at the fact he misses.
For some reason he can’t keep his composure with the game on the line. Crunch-time DDR is a different player from non-crunch time DDR, and that’s frustrating. You can’t say that about LeBron (who missed a bunch of crunch time shots) or other stars. Most of them remain themselves. But DDR loses his passing and his poise, and without 3pt shot that are his main assets. Crunch time tunnel vision may be incurable, so maybe... just maybe Pop should put the ball in the hands of White or Rudy.

[Spurtacular]

This seems like a cry thread. It's not like we have a Paul Pierce type of closer in lieu of DeRozan. Larry Bird ain't walking through those doors...

[itzsoweezee]

This seems like a cry thread. It's not like we have a Paul Pierce type of closer in lieu of DeRozan. Larry Bird ain't walking through those doors...

Here's an option, draw up a play and run it