Game Thoughts: Spurs vs. Grizzlies Nov. 28

[sonic21]

thanks timvp

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

hey i know this is not Spurs related, but how friggin' good is Mayo?!

[picnroll]

hey i know this is not Spurs related, but how friggin' good is Mayo?!

Damn good.

He was hot last night but he may end up being the best out of the draft. Immense natural scorer. McHale should just shoot himself now and get it over with.

[Whisky Dog]

With the Spurs now looking deeper than most other teams the 4th quarter should consistently be owned by the fresher Spurs.

I hadn't realized how many players played at least 8 minutes.

[SequSpur]

timvp fails to mention the most important stat of the night that will lead to five.

[urunobili]

thanks timvp! i don;t think Pop will take Mase out of the starting PG position tonight...

[exstatic]

hey i know this is not Spurs related, but how friggin' good is Mayo?!

He was much better this game than last. Even though the scoring wasn't much different, he got about 75% of his points in the previous game during garbage time when the game was well out of hand. He manned up and scored in the teeth of the game this time, and was generally a BEAST out there with the ball in his hands.

[Bender]

timvp fails to mention the most important stat of the night that will lead to five.

JV DNP ?

[Jet915]

LJ, I think you're mistaken. Tolliver has been promoted to 11th man.

Jacque Vaughn is our new permanent 12th man now.

Here here for the 11th man, the A-Train!

[Borosai]

Scoring droughts seem to be a thing of the past. Finally.

[benefactor]

Defense

The defensive stats look poor on paper. The Grizzlies scored 98 points, including 62 points in the second half. Memphis was also able to shoot 54.5% from the field, which is by far the highest percentage the Spurs have given up since getting off to a slow defensive start to the season. While the stats point to bad defense, a lot of the credit goes to Mayo and Gay for hitting a number of miraculous shots. Those two players were on fire and even though the Spurs could have defended better, it wasn’t all the fault of the defense on this night. On the plus side, the Spurs won the battle of the boards 37-31.

Its not all on the D though. Memphis is playing hard and has made some tough shots.

A lot of people were trashing the defense without reason in the game thread but it is just like you said, Mayo and Gay were simply off the scale. It certainly wasn't as great as we have defended in previous games but a lot credit goes to Memphis for really bringing it. People seem to forget how much talent is on that team.

His scoring was once again very good and outside of a few careless turnovers, Ginobili played another flawless game. Considering that he’s coming off of surgery, Ginobili is playing at an extremely high level right now.

This should be a sign that he is completely back to normal. It wouldn't be good ole reckless Manu without few careless turnovers.

Anthony Tolliver gave the Spurs a good amount of energy at the end of the first half. He ran the floor hard and played good defense. Tolliver also found ways to contribute offensively without resorting to the three-point ball. As a 12th man, Tolliver played exactly how he should play when Pop calls on him to add a spark.

Exactly. I have seen a lot of people talking about cutting him for another roster spot but why? Why rob yourself of the depth? As long as he is not jacking up 7 or 8 threes a game and costing us possessions there no reason to entertain the idea of getting rid of him. By the way he played in this game it seems he is content with finding other ways to help offensively. This is a very good sign and as long as it continues to be coupled with the energy he brings it will better for him and the team going forward.

This game was really a welcome sight. Not only is it good to have Tony and Manu together again and Mason and Hill looking like they will make a seamless transition, but its good to see question mark players like KT and Tolliver come in and contribute. Once Tony and Manu round back into form, I honestly think we can make a run if we continue to get what we got out of everyone.

[igruex]

With all the quality players we have on the backcourt right now, it'll be possible to let Manu and TP rest a lot before the playoffs. Pop will have to figure out how to be sure that TD is rested enough when it matters.

[lefty]

KFC is ting in his pants right now

[toki9]

i'm amazed that we went 12-deep...can't recall any team doing that on a non-blow out...and it doesn't seem like this was a blow out (i didn't see the game, just surmising it based on posts and recaps)...

[xtremesteven33]

Its good to see Timmy so motivated so early in the season. Usually he kinds sleepwalks thru it until Rodeo road trip and then wakes up but hes pumped and excited for this year with good reason

[E20]

!!!!


I'm a excited about this squad. At the begining of the season, I was like DAMN!!! Spurs need a miracle. But was I wrong. Mason and Hill are fitting in perfectly and the whole team is playing so effcient with the minutes given. If Spurs stay healthy and continuging meshing, time put up them FIVES.

[timvp]

I wonder if the backourt Hill-Parker can really work out, I have bad memories of the Beno-Parker experiment Pop tried out, but it was different because if I remember well Beno was PG and Tony was the SG and now it seems in those situations Parker will be the PG and Hill the SG.

Good take. Yeah, I also never liked the Parker and Beno backcourt. But like you said, this combo should work better because Parker is the point and Hill plays off the ball. With Hill having experience on and off the ball already in the system, there's no reason why it can't work.

I think Pop will start TP/Mason/Bowen with Hill/Manu/Finley off the bench and Ime would be a PF small ball

That's the lineup that makes the most sense to me. There's no need to bring Bowen off the bench right now. While TP and Manu were out it made sense because the Spurs needed scoring. With Manu and Hill coming off the bench, perimeter scoring shouldn't be a problem.

We'll see though because Finley has also played well and Pop may think he deserves to keep starting.

Great job LJ...What did yall think of Pop's rotations last night?

Pop used his trademark 12-man rotation. He did some of that last year when the Spurs were playing well. I could see him using in this year against teams that aren't that good. Against top teams -- like the Rockets -- he'll probably cut it down to a 10 man rotation.

Oh, and while I'm thinking about it..."Hey, how about that Darrell Arthur!"

Arthur looked horrible in his two games against the Spurs. He went scoreless and IIRC had as many turnovers as rebounds. Duncan last night blocked him without jumping twice, even though he only got credit for one of those blocks.

LJ, I think you're mistaken. Tolliver has been promoted to 11th man.

Jacque Vaughn is our new permanent 12th man now.

Actually, Vaughn is the 13th man right now. Soon to be the 14th man if Mahinmi can get onto the court

hey i know this is not Spurs related, but how friggin' good is Mayo?!

Mayo looked really good. He has a good jumper and can score off the dribble or taking it all the way to the hole. He's much more in control than he was at USC. I also thought his defense was pretty good.

With his skills, he'll probably be able to average close to 30 points one day.

Exactly. I have seen a lot of people talking about cutting Tolliver for another roster spot but why? Why rob yourself of the depth?

Tolliver is a good fit as the 12th man. He brings energy and gives the Spurs a bigman with quick enough feet to guard hybrid forwards such as Hakim Warrick last night. It's also good to have Bonner insurance in case Bonner starts struggling again.

Tolliver isn't a great prospect but he's good enough to keep around and see how he grows the rest of this season and into next season's training camp.

[tlongII]

The most recent "Game Thoughts" thread seems to be missing?

[polandprzem]

The most recent "Game Thoughts" thread seems to be missing?

You are so intrested in it?

btw. spurs lost so there is nothing to write about