Grades: Spurs vs. Kings - Mar. 31, 2019

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Poeltl doesn't start, the Spurs lose. I could coach the Spurs to more Ws than Poop.

If the dumbasses on this site were running the Spurs you'd make Sarver look smart.

[GreekSpursfan]

You know its bad when Bryn Forbes is your best player. TANK NEXT SEASON

[slick'81]

We atleast know spurs can beat the hawks coming up

[John B]

What a delusional . You probably think Pop coaches like a re sometimes so he can throw opponents off as well, "CIA"

Is there really any gain on showing all your cards at this stage of the game when seeding is pretty much set? I’m not delusional to think will beat Nugs. But the little they know helps, and maybe enough to steal game 1. And then who knows? Call it CIA or what but Pop has over .700 win percentage so I trust the system.

[Dex]

Patty finally with a well-deserved "F". Dude thinks he is like Steph Curry or something out there.

[spurraider21]

Patty finally with a well-deserved "F". Dude thinks he is like Steph Curry or something out there.

curry aint got on patty's culture

[monty4329]

Is there really any gain on showing all your cards at this stage of the game when seeding is pretty much set? I’m not delusional to think will beat Nugs. But the little they know helps, and maybe enough to steal game 1. And then who knows? Call it CIA or what but Pop has over .700 win percentage so I trust the system.

What makes you think we'll make 7th? I guess OKC has the same motivation to win games. We both suck at this time, so it is about 50-50, not really enough to start strategize a series against Denver....

More realistically, in the last ten days this team has imploded, is playing like and can't close games. If it is recoverable, we'll see. The longer we play like that, the more we fall towards GS in the first round.

[TD 21]

Derrick White

Rookie wall, meet Derrick White. He says he's healthy so that's the only explanation at this point. White scored three baskets in the first two and a half minutes of the second half ... and that was about the extent of his contributions. His defense was okay at times but it was mostly disappointing -- not as intense or as quick as we've seen previously on that end. His playmaking was meh, he had some uncharacteristic mistakes with the ball and his three-point shot looks diseased. It's not a coincidence that the Spurs suddenly appear listless after White's game started to go south in the last two weeks. For San Antonio to put together any type of run, they need White to return to form.
Grade: D-
Summary: This was a s of White.

This franchise has so brainwashed, deluded and softened a significant portion of the fan base over the years with their schtick, that there's seemingly a growing consensus that a 24 year old, who's already shown shaky confidence before, has logged a whopping 1,600 minutes on the season and isn't tasked with carrying a heavy offensive load, is fatigued.

To put this in perspective, Mitc and Simmons logged over 1,000 more last regular season, while Tatum logged over 800 more, then another roughly 400 more in the playoffs for the first two and 600 plus for the latter, yet they were all still going relatively strong until the end. In Mitc 's case, he did so without another featured offensive player.

In reality, he's more than likely going through a somewhat untimely slump. He's also quickly become overrated. Not in terms of meaning to this team, but upside. He's clearly got elite role player potential, but that shouldn't be confused with someone you build a franchise around.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

We atleast know spurs can beat the hawks coming up

The Spurs have been awful against the bottom of the east this year. "Can" and "Will" are two different things. On any given night the Spurs have proven they can beat just about anyone, and they've also proven they can lose to just about anyone. Heck, give the Spurs back a few of their dumb sleepwalking losses, and we would be talking about jockeying for a much higher seed than the 7-8. The road losses to the Suns and the Knicks...home losses to the Magic, Heat, Grizzlies, Hornets and Kings. Give the Spurs just 4 of those 7 highly favored losses back, and they'd be 48-29 and within a game of Portland and Houston battling for the 3 seed. Sad that the Spurs were willing to give so many games away this year.

[MultiTroll]

Patty Mills

Bad shooting nights are understandably, they happen to every player in the league. But Patty Mills' brainless play tonight was difficult to stomach. When he wasn't being caught unaware of two-for-one opportunities, he was running away from the man with the ball or failing to realize the Spurs needed to foul late in the fourth. Add together only mediocre energy, wayward shooting and a series of low basketball IQ plays and Mills was a millstone around the team's neck versus Sacramento.
Grade: F+
Summary: Patty Millstone.

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Pop

Starting Gay turned out to be a mistake, as Gay played poorly with the bench and Poeltl never found a rhythm. The Kings are smaller than average but Pop could have gotten away with starting Aldridge and Poeltl together. I also have to place blame at Pop's feet for getting ejected. Yes, that ref made two bad calls in a row but the current Spurs team is a difficult one to coach due to all the moving parts (namely White struggling and the complicated rotations Pop has used to close out games). Ettore Messina drew up some fancy plays but almost none of the plays actually worked and he appeared to be unsure of what buttons to push down the stretch.
Grade: D+
Summary: Pop wasn't good. Messina took over and made matters worse.

[ZeusWillJudge]

on patty's culture

[spurs10]

Really great write-up and yes it's hard to know what to think about a showing like that. It does look like a team that doesn't expect to make a 'push' at all in the playoffs. Someone said on here "tanking" for the 7th spot and the truth is we'll have to play hard and win at least 4 of the last 5 not to sink to the 8th spot. I wasn't thinking we'd land in the 8th spot, but certainly think it could happen now.

I just want to play anyone other GSW, so I can enjoy a few more games. Do I think we will beat the Kind Buds of the Rockies? Not with any conviction, but who knows?

[Capt Bringdown]

It's pretty clear that playing Patty as the closer ahead of White, even when White's play is spotty, isn't helping anyone. I think most of White's struggles as of late are due to Pop's short leash and panicked-stricken lineup management.

[vavvi]

The Spurs have been awful against the bottom of the east this year. "Can" and "Will" are two different things. On any given night the Spurs have proven they can beat just about anyone, and they've also proven they can lose to just about anyone. Heck, give the Spurs back a few of their dumb sleepwalking losses, and we would be talking about jockeying for a much higher seed than the 7-8. The road losses to the Suns and the Knicks...home losses to the Magic, Heat, Grizzlies, Hornets and Kings. Give the Spurs just 4 of those 7 highly favored losses back, and they'd be 48-29 and within a game of Portland and Houston battling for the 3 seed. Sad that the Spurs were willing to give so many games away this year.

Yes. Actually this is surprising. Spurs were always famous for getting their own against bottom-feeders. Not anymore, I guess.
This season I feel like there's no other playoff team who dropped so many games to the scrubs.

[RC_Drunkford]

I think Aldridge's grade is a little too low, he was putting the team on his back in the fourth and was the only reason they got back in the game from being down 11

[vavvi]

I think Aldridge's grade is a little too low, he was putting the team on his back in the fourth and was the only reason they got back in the game from being down 11

Yeah he wasn't so bad. This game was lost by the bench.

Actually the Poeltl-LA starting five which is so beloved by most posters here is -3.4 points per 100 possessions for the season while our bench-mob + Gay is almost +25 points per 100 possessions. Our bench was winning us games all season long while starters were barely capable to stay even out there. This game for some reason our bench failed miserably. And its not like the Kings reserves are so good outside of Bogdanovich.