Game Thoughts: Spurs vs. Sixers Jan. 4

[timvp]

Doesn't it seem like the Spurs are playing with a bit more passion this year? About this time of year I am generally going nuts because the Spurs start playing like they don't give a damn- it's just a regular season game.

That's pretty true. I think a lot of it has to do with all the injuries. That has forced the Spurs to play at a higher level earlier in the season to make sure they don't slide down the standings.

Hopefully they don't get to the point where they get comfortable and go on their annual streak of underperforming in the winter months . . .

Quietly, Finley is putting together a really nice season so far. With the exception of a couple of games here and there, he's been shooting consistently, and defending as well as he can.

Well said. I was skeptical of signing Finley but it's paying off so far this season.

That said, I still don't like the idea of the Spurs relying on him come playoff time. He's been far too off and on in the postseason while with the Spurs to bank on consistent production from him.

Honestly, I'd like to see Mason, Bowen and Hill take some of his minutes to get Finley's minutes to around 25. Recently, Finley is playing about 35 minutes per game and I don't think that's good for the Spurs or Finley . . .

btw. I think Spur will try to double team Wade more then in previous years.
Good strategy considerating Miami got no power inside.

Pop has used a lot of blitzing lately so you could be right. Bogut made them pay but you're right in that Miami doesn't have a similar player.

[polandprzem]

Well yea, we used to have Bowen, so we were able to concentrate on other aspects of defense that aiming attention on one player only.

Now it's different when Bowen is step slower and is playing less minutes.

Ahh, how great is to watch games from 2005?

[T Park]

I think for Finley's sake and the Spurs limiting his minutes to 25 would be a great idea.

A fresh Michael Finley usually more often than not, proves to be a damn valuable one.

He has suprised me as well with his good play. Have to give FInley credit for getting a nice sized contract, and then going out and getting into fantastic shape and getting on a good diet as well.

[T Park]

Well yea, we used to have Bowen, so we were able to concentrate on other aspects of defense that aiming attention on one player only.

Now it's different when Bowen is step slower and is playing less minutes.

Ahh, how great is to watch games from 2005?

I disagree, Bowen is not a step slower, Roger Mason while not the defender, has brought solid D but brings a huge playmaking ability and I think thats where Bowen's minutes have gone.

I mean so far, Mason has proved to be a good defending Brent Barry.

If you think about it, thats a pretty damn good ball player.

[timvp]

And when Ginobili is paired with Hill, he scores 30.7 points per 40 minutes.
In other words, when paired with Hill, Manu is a better scorer than Kobe or Lebron.

Yeah, when Ginobili is paired with Hill, it turns into The Ginobili Show. He scores at a great clip but he also turns the ball over a lot and gets less assists than usual. I think if Hill can demand more respect from the defense, Ginobili could still score a lot but the entire burden of the offense wouldn't have to be on him.

The good news is that Ginobili has never scored this well when paired with a backup point guard so Hill must be doing something right. Hill does a good job of making sure Ginobili gets the ball ... now he has to start looking at the rim, too.

I think it's up to Hill to find a way to be in a position to score when playing with Manu. Cut to the basket or something and hopefully Manu will find him. It's odd because Hill is supposed to be the point guard but in reality Manu is playing the Parker role when he's out there and Hill lets himself become an observer.

Good observations. I agree that it's up to Hill to figure out how to help out offensively even when Ginobili is on the court. He needs to do more than just pass it to Ginobili and run to the corner. He needs to at least share the point guard responsibilities instead of relinquishing totally.

Interesting. It seems that our newer role players seem to be struggling more in how to play with Manu and Parker than in just playing the game itself. Are they deferring to Manu and Parker out of respect? Are they intimidated by those guys? Are Parker and Manu not trusting or looking to get the new guys involved?

Hill's struggles are obvious, but I know Mason has struggled as well (although he appears to be finding his spots now).

Good point about Mason. His scoring is down when playing with Parker or Ginobili (although he shots well with Parker on the court). Part of that is just because he's going to get less shots but I do think Mason and Hill are deferring a bit too much.

And really, it's not a bad thing at this point of the season. I'd rather those two defer too much rather than take the ball out of TP and Manu's hands too much.

When Pop talks about this issue, he says they are deferring out of respect -- which I agree with. Now both Mason and Hill need to build back up their aggression levels because the Spurs do still need difference makers outside of the Big Three.

Gino and Hill work well together for 2 reasons. One, they are great at trapping the ball and working steals.

Yeah, defensively they go together well. They both like to drift off their man and either dig on the bigman or try to get in the passing lanes. Although their defensive chemistry also needs work because sometimes they both drift at the same time and they leave shooters open.

But yeah, going forward they are an exciting duo on the defensive end.

Secondly, Gino gets more touches with Hill than with TP. TP tends to over-dribble but makes up for it with his scoring. When the Spurs are running their screen/roll offense with the ball in Parker's hands, Manu has not been a good fit so far as the off-guard unless he is knocking down his threes.

Ginobili's lack of explosion off the catch is the thing missing most since his surgery. And that's what he typically uses to score when playing with Parker. So far this year, he tends to shoot it off of TP's penetration rather than mixing it up and sometimes driving to the basket on the rotating defense. Ginobili can explode somewhat when he's isolated with his dribble but the catch and instant explosion isn't there yet.

Over the years, Ginobili has consistently scored about 22 points per 40 minutes when paired with Parker. Right now he's at 17.6. Compared to last year, he's getting the same number of field goal attempts with Parker on the court, the thing that is really down is his free throw attempts. Which again goes back to his explosion off the catch . . .

The good news is that the Spurs as a whole are playing well when TP and Ginobili are paired together -- especially recently. In the last ten games, the Spurs are outscoring their opponents 102-89 per 48 minutes with Parker and Ginobili on the court.

[m33p0]

... Mason and Hill are deferring a bit too much.

QFT.

[kace]

And when Ginobili is paired with Hill, he scores 30.7 points per 40 minutes.
In other words, when paired with Hill, Manu is a better scorer than Kobe or Lebron.
I'm sure that Hill could/should be more aggressive but it's not easy when you are paired with someone playing at that kind of level.

Yeah, when Ginobili is paired with Hill, it turns into The Ginobili Show. He scores at a great clip but he also turns the ball over a lot and gets less assists than usual. I think if Hill can demand more respect from the defense, Ginobili could still score a lot but the entire burden of the offense wouldn't have to be on him.

The good news is that Ginobili has never scored this well when paired with a backup point guard so Hill must be doing something right. Hill does a good job of making sure Ginobili gets the ball ... now he has to start looking at the rim, too.

so basicaly you're saying that Manu scores a lot when Hill is with him on the court so that mean Hill helps manu to score ? i don't think so.

Tony scores the most per 40 minutes paired with 1.Udoka 2. Oberto 3.Thomas 4. Tolliver
Does that mean that they're great at making tony score easily or simply that tony has to score more because these 4 players aren't good offensive threat ?? the second option seems the right one for me.

Tim scores the most per 40 minutes paired with 1.Farmer 2.Tolliver. does it mean again that farmer and tolliver are good or just that they are poor offensive players and that Tim has to carry the offense more with them on the court ? Is tolliver so good to make both tim and tp score so much ? i don't think so.

The fact that manu scores so much when hill on the court isn't especially a good thing for Hill. that firstly means he's not scoring enough when he's on the court. it's not that hill isn't scoring because manu scores well when he's with him, it's more manu having, needing to score more with hill on the court.

and to compare Manu per 40 minutes scoring when paired with Hill (30.7) and say it's better than LBJ is a nonsense. Tony with Udoka scores 35.2 per 40. Tim with farmer scores 36.5 pts per 40 minutes. does it mean they are as good at scoring than LBJ when paired with these two scrubs ???

you can't compare LBJ average scoring per 40 minute to a player best scoring per 40 minutes paired with a specific player. it has no interest. otherwise you have to say that LBJ paired with Hickson is scoring 39.2 points per 40, way much that manu's best with Hill.

[jdev82]

i think mason did a great job, especially on d. hes an underrated defender, and he showed it in the philly game. at the end of the game, philly had a chance to tie or whatever, and they ran a screen, mason switched off on igudala, and they ran an iso off the mismatch. mason did a great job holding his own against a bigger stronger opponent. his hands were active the whole game, and he stepped it up and wouldnt let iggy get a shot off. great job mace.