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Through three quarters, the Spurs and the Hornets couldn't have played a closer ballgame; neither team led by more than four points at any moment. With New Orleans shooting well and the Spurs discombobulated, San Antonio was actually fortunate to remain within striking distance.
Finally, in the fourth quarter, the Spurs were able to distance themselves from the worst team in the Western Conference. A 14-2 run in less than four and half minutes gave the Spurs a 12-point lead. That cushion allowed the home team to cruise to a W.
The defense wasn't a strength until the middle of the fourth quarter. Then, with Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter patrolling the paint, the Spurs held the Hornets scoreless for a four-minute stretch. Who would have guessed that having the team's too best bigmen play at the same time would have positive results? Shocking, I know.
Tim Duncan A
Playing for the fourth time in five days, Tim Duncan's minutes were limited. His production, however, was not. Looking extremely spry, especially given the cir stances, Duncan again had a throwback performance. He scored in the paint, used powerful moves to get to the free throw line and mixed in a couple outside jumpers. Defensively, Duncan was extremely solid; his movement and awareness level never waned. Add in a very strong night on the boards and the Spurs couldn't have expected much more out of their true centerpiece.
Tony Parker B
In the first half, Tony Parker was really bad. He was a mess on offense and even worse on defense. He oscillated between sleepwalking and being way too aggressive. The third quarter was better but it wasn't until the final period that Parker finally exploded. In the beginning of the fourth, he scored or assisted on five field goals in less than two and a half minutes to single-handedly ignite an 11-2 run that grew the lead to 12 points. Parker was marvelous in that stretch and played much, much better D in the second half, but it's tough to completely forget that train wreck of the first two quarters.
Richard Jefferson C
Richard Jefferson celebrated Groundhog Day with another identical outing. He was aggressive with his outside shot but lackadaisical on defense, not a presence on the boards, didn't provide any energy … stop me if you've read this before. At this point, we know what Jefferson is going to bring to the table. Unfortunately, it's not much.
DeJuan Blair C-
Earlier in the season, DeJuan Blair was one of the best finishers in the league. He was getting a lot of looks in the paint and scoring at a high rate. These days, that's simply not the case. Blair isn't creating quality looks for himself and he's compounding the issue be forcing shots. As a result, he's hit just one-third of his shots over the last five games and is scoring only 3.6 points in 18.4 minutes per game. Surprisingly, he's been able to salvage some of his value by playing really hard on defense, but Blair just isn't worthy of playing time unless he's an asset on the offensive end.
Gary Neal B-
Getting the start in place of Kawhi Leonard, Gary Neal was saddled with foul trouble for most of the night. When he got to play, he wasn't bad -- but he wasn't very good either. His shot selection was questionable and he missed wide open teammates a number of times. Defensively, aside from the fouls, Neal was good. Now that he's in shape, he's much improved on that end of the court. He's sacrificing his body and grabbing contested boards, which tells you he's feeling a lot better after that preseason appendectomy.
Danny Green B-
Danny Green had another up-and-down affair. Offensively, he missed a few wide open looks, but made up for it by getting to the charity stripe. Green's ability to penetrate off the dribble and either shoot at the rim or find an open man seems to be improving. Defensively, I wasn't overly impressed with his play … until the fourth quarter, that is. In the fourth, Green was all over the place and was one reason why the Hornets scored only 13 points in the final quarter.
Tiago Splitter A-
With Duncan playing limited minutes, that opened up more playing time for Tiago Splitter and the backup center didn't disappoint. He once again was very efficient on the offensive end. His combination of patience, strength and touch around the rim is extraordinary right now. And when he's in a pick-and-roll with Parker, it seems like it's an automatic two points one way or another. Defensively, Splitter was really good; whether it was protecting the rim or venturing out on the perimeter to contest a jumper. With the Spurs playing such good defense down the stretch when Splitter joined Duncan on the court, let's hope the coaching staff will want to see more of that.
Matt Bonner D
Last game, I applauded Pop for playing Matt Bonner extended minutes. Tonight, I'm wondering how Bonner managed to play 23 minutes without Pop blowing a gasket. He wasn't good in any area. He was making mistakes by the bushel on defense and was weak on the glass. Offensively, he was a tad too aggressive, especially since he wasn't shooting straight. (I took timvp jr to his first game tonight and his favorite player is Bonner, so he was happy with the amount of playing time for the Red Rocket. But sometimes he got confused and cheered for Splitter thinking that it was Bonner. That got me thinking, perhaps the same thing happens to Pop sometimes ... which could explain his nonsensical bigman rotations so far this year.)
Cory Joseph C
Parker was playing so poorly early in the game that there wasn't much of a drop off when Cory Joseph subbed in for him. That, though, is about as much of a compliment as I can give Joseph. He was more assertive than usual and wasn't bad on defense, however Joseph is still extremely green. He's played enough that you would hope he'd start flashing true NBA potential, but I haven't seen it yet.
Kawhi Leonard C
Kawhi Leonard played 12 minutes off the bench and other than making his only field goal attempt, Leonard didn't make a mark in the stat sheet. No rebounds, assists, steals, fouls … nothing. As you might imagine, he was very passive during his minutes and blended in on both ends of the court. Why was Leonard benched? My guess is that it was solely due to matchups. The Hornets don't have a perimeter scorer of note, so his defense wasn't needed. In fact, Leonard didn't start the second half the last time these two teams played. With Kevin Durant coming to town on Saturday, we'll quickly learn if this was a one time adjustment or if Pop is going with Neal as the starter until Manu Ginobili returns.
Pop B
I obviously liked that Pop played Splitter good minutes and paired him with Duncan down the stretch. Honestly, I couldn't figure out why he wasn't doing it earlier, especially since none of the Hornets bigmen are overly quick. I also liked that Pop went with Green again in the fourth quarter instead of turning to Jefferson. As long as starting Neal was simply to suit New Orleans' personnel, I'm fine with that lineup switch. On the other hand, I thought Bonner played too much and I would have preferred to see James Anderson given another shot rather than go with Joseph. And while hindsight points to Pop being right about playing Duncan, I thought tonight was the perfect opportunity to sit him. The fourth game in the five nights against perhaps the worst team in the entire NBA? That sounds like the perfect scenario to rest Duncan to me.
I think he should be graded on the expectations of a backup point guard, which he mostly is performing poorly. Time and time again he would pick up his dribble and get stuck. It seemed like he could never set a play and has no idea on how to pass the ball inside. his jumper for the most part is equally inept and his defense is barely serviceable.
For a backup NBA PG on most nights, like last night he is a D rating. That is not to say he will be good one day, but that is just where he is right now. Currently, he is the worse player on the team followed closely by Blair.
No one else on the team has been hurt more from Manu's injury more so than Blair. I think once Manu gets back Blair will be getting easy looks at the bucket.
I've seen him exhibit athleticism so I don't think he's declined that much. But it is odd that he doesn't attack as much as I think he's still capable of doing. Could it be by design or is it really just "personal" decision.
I would think that if it were a personal decision by Jefferson...Pop would address it more and ask him to be more aggressive to the rim. Which leads me to believe it's more by design.
I don't know...good points you bring. Just confusing as to why.
Solid write-up, as usual. I think that RJ's lack of driving is by design, it's not that he has lost a step. What's not clear is why the Spurs need an $10M per season jump shooter specialist. His defense is also average.
When RJ was traded to the Spurs, I remember Pop saying he would bring another dimension offensively, in a sense that he requires more defensive attention (then Bowen), making it easier for the rest of the players. Pop even said something about RJ being S-Jax without the "drama".
So far, his athletic talent isn't much used, which is strange since Manu is out. It could be something with Duncan and Splitter operating more in the paint in the last games.
http://www.nba.com/spurs/video/120202_pop
Pop acknowledging the Parker/Tiago bromance.
Did anyone else get pumped up when Splitter kept going straight to the low block when he and Timmy where on the court together? It wasn't mentioned in the game blog, but that was consistent. Something else that wasn't commented on at all in the game blog was Splitter's sneaky drive to the hoop. If he had dunked it there would have been half a page of, but since he only layed it up there were only crickets...
Btw, where do you find the stat for player percentages within 5 ft? Splitter was 2nd only to Prince James, and he had a couple sub-50% shooting nights afterwards, but he shot 78% last night so he is back on track. He might have made >85% of his shots if Timmy/Neal/Joseph had kept their eye out for him like Tony.
I really like this team when Splitter and Green play 30mins. Also, Splitter continues to impress, not only with his efficient scoring but with his passing ability and occasional shot blocking. You could make an argument that he is the best passer on the team.
I still think we need another defensive minded big man so lets hope we can get one before the deadline. That should make us a pretty dangerous team come playoff time especially if Ginobili and Ford back in the fold.
Common factor - Splitter, the most valuable, long-term, player the Spurs have.
Tiago Splitter is giving me renewed optimism for this season. Being honest I thought after last season he'd just be an end of the bench guy but damn he's such a beast.
Pop messed up the TS situation last year and continues to do so.
Tony likes to P&R with Splitter but we ain't seen nothing yet. Wait until Manu comes back with his astounding passes.
Given enough minutes and passing support, Splitter could easily average 15PPG and become a very good offensive option. Between he and TD we may average 20ppg from the 5.
I believe the Spurs average over 20ppg a game from the 5 spot, but the Spurs website won't show this season's stats atm, so you'll just have to trust me (site worked for me finally, Tiago+Timmy combine for 22.9ppg).
I also agree with whoever enjoys watching the Spurs the most when Tiago and Green play half an hour. I thought Tiago barely played 25 min, so I was happily suprised to see he played 28. My wishes for the rotation would be that once the PS starts; 1) Tiago averages 5 more minutes than any big besides Tim, 2) Green+Kawhi average 25-30 min more than RJ (they already average 15 more minutes already, but Pop could be a dunce and not target RJ, Anderson and Joseph for Manu's minutes), 3) Tiago at least starts against teams with big and talented frontlines. That would be Memphis, OKC, Chicago, and Denver. Odds are The Jazz don't meet the Spurs in the Finals, but I'd want Splitter to start against them as well. I doubt any of my wishes will come true, but it sounds like TP is converted to the CoS, so Pop will give in eventually. The Spurs need to pound the rock, the rock in this case being Pop's thick skull.
TD and TS are both capable of dropping 20 and 10 on an opposing frontline.
As much as I disagree with Pop's current use of Splitter, I am still optimistic considering that his role seems to be gradually growing as the season progresses. Splitter was still a quasi-rookie at the start of the season due to his lack of playing time last year, and it showed. His defense has generally always been solid, but his offense was just ugly and forced. As his playing time and role has increased, so has his confidence and understanding of where he can pick his spots.
To start the season, Pop seemed to be treating Splitter much like Blair; as a spare piece in the offense and more of a custodian-type of player; just cleaning up the garbage. Slowly but surely, Pop is integrating him more and more, running the occasional play for him and putting him out in lineups where he almost has to be the offensive focal point. You can also tell he is getting frustrated with players who fail to get him the ball in advantageous situations (as he did last night when Splitter was isolated on Vasquez).
And just last night, Pop finally went to the Splitter / Duncan look that we have all been waiting for in the crunch, and the defensive results were fantastic. Hopefully Pop took note, and didn't strictly make that move because Duncan and Splitter were hot and Bonner and Blair were not. Pop needs to realize that is going to be the case more often than not, because Duncan and Splitter are easily the two most talented bigmen on the team.
I think Pop is definitely reluctant to just hand the keys over to Tiago, but he is gradually letting himself work his way into the role. If that continues over the course of the season, then I think he will be where we want him to be come playoff time, and also increases the likelihood he reaches that point fresh and healthy. If this development stagnates and Tiago is utilized in April the way is utilized now, I'm afraid that would indeed be a mistake.
So does foresight. I realize not playing him would have changed the entire complexity of the game, but based on how it played out, they (not surprisingly) would have lost had he not played. Losing this game would have been a crushing loss, which was why sitting him made no sense. In this type of season, particularly in the state they're currently in, they need to win the games they should.
This somewhat relates to your take
From earlier today..
https://twitter.com/#!/EricDSal7/sta...31768382210048
You make some very good points.. but theres no doubt Pop has colossally ed the Tiago situation so far. The hardest part to swallow is I was calling for Tiago to play 10 games into last season (as were many others im sure).. and it takes the coach a full season and a bit to realise what he has..well then its kind of disheartening for a fan. Pop shouldnt be getting brownie points for realising what your average fan realised 10 games into last season.
Tiago was the exact same player last season.. he would have been playing like this within 20 games..he just needed to be given consistent minutes to adjust and make few mistakes. Instead he was looking over his shoulder worried about getting yanked when he missed a shot or someone scored on him. All the while Blair and Bonner were out there all season getting torched on defense, giving up rebounds with no consequences.
Its enough to make you sick tbh.
parker needs some rest he has not played a complete solid game in awhile
good second halfs usually
is pop trying to save him for the second half...
http://www.82games.com/1112/1112SAS2.HTM
but its not like the duncan-splitter lineup works that great by stats.
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