Grades: Spurs vs. Thunder - Feb. 3

[Cry Havoc]

Following Thursday's win over New Orleans, Popovich ridiculed a reporter who suggested that 7-footer Tiago Splitter attempted anything but layups, saying his last jumper was probably in Spain in 2003. Two nights later, Splitter badly missed a 13-foot fadeaway with the shot clock running down.

[Obstructed_View]

Wow, we're being awfully nitpicky about Splitter. One of his turnovers was a bull travelling call when he should have gotten an and-1, one was after getting a block and securing a rebound, and the third was on a moving screen makeup call 40 feet from the ball. His passing was very good and his defense and rebounding were excellent. I can't say enough about how hard he worked on the glass. He certainly did something to piss off the refs, though. Still not sure how Kevin Durant running into him at full speed cons utes a foul.

[therealtruth]

All our bad play is concentrated in 1 position though, and Bonner is fine as a 4th big/floor spacing big. He's an efficient scorer, and while defense and rebounding leave a bit to be desired, we can't reasonably expect the defensive play off the bench to be elite. The Bulls have Gibson and Asik, but having that is unreasonable. Splitter/Bonner is pretty good in reality. It's replacing Blair with a better mobile defender, and a pure 4 that's the issue. But if you can fill that hole, We're in good shape.

Another option is starting Tiago at pf and getting a backup big who can rebound and defend.

[rmt]

In the playoffs, Spurs need to get lucky with match-ups - avoiding teams with offensive big men (like LA and MEM) - the only way they have a chance. Blair/Bonner at PF is not going to cut it against good big men. Don't know what Pop has against Splitter - every other (perimeter) rookie/2nd year player gets more minutes when he plays well except Splitter. Pop is determined to live and die by the 3 (Bonner).

[Manufan909]

Only plausible explanation I can think of is that Pop is so averse to Tiago's tendency to turn the ball over that he limits his minutes as much as necessary, even though his longterm goal is to get Tiago more minutes.

I think Pop is still being very 2011esque in his rotations going towards individual game wins.
We are all questioning Pop's rotations and ing about Splitter but we just beat the number 1 team in the entire league pretty convincingly.

It's Spurstalk man, we wouldn't be ourselves if we didn't and beat dead horses ALL THE ING TIME. I'd put a smiley after this mini-rant, but there's no angry+depressed+sad one to choose.

[biskvito]

Let's hope this game won't wake up Manu_Forever from his cave...

[FkLA]

Regarding the Splitter situation, I remember him being the first big off the bench for like the first 5-8 games or so...cant remember if he was subbing in for Duncan or Blair though. If its the former I think its pretty clear that Pop only sees him as Duncans back-up and nothing more, unfortunately. Because thats basically the only way this is getting minutes as of late.

[ManuTastic]

Fun win, fabulous night from Toneee. Hats off. And the rest of the grades were accurate as well.

But... I'm having flashbacks to last year, and they're not good ones. High-scoring 3-pt-raining offense in the reg season, then exposed in the playoffs due to lack of size in the paint. Anyone feel me here? Love that we have good depth in the backcourt, but dam we need an upgrade on Blair.

[SpurNation]

Another option is starting Tiago at pf and getting a backup big who can rebound and defend.

If the Spurs had such a player (a big that could rebound and defend), he would more than likely be starting next to Duncan with Blair moved down the bench after Tiago and Bonner.

[will_spurs]

Basketball reference

Drexler with the 8 steals

Great game by Tony, and of course I missed it

[acoelho1]

When Parker is aggressive and plays with a chip on his shoulder, he as good as any point guard in the league. I'm excited about this team when Manu comes back but we are not going anywhere in the playoffs with Bonner/Blair playing most of the minutes at power forward. Pop needs to play Splitter with TD so they can get accustomed to being on the court together. Unfortunately, this probably means a backup role in the playoffs as well. It will take us losing a couple of games in the playoffs and getting dominated at that position for Pop to see the light but it may be too late.

[dbestpro]

Pop sees the big next to Duncan as someone who doesn't get in his way. Blair is small so he does not get in his way so much. Otherwise, the only type of big that Pop will play next to Duncan is one who shoots from outside.

Our only hope to improve in this area is to get Dice out of retirement, sign Rasheed for the stretch run, or make a trade for someone who can pick and pop.

[wildbill2u]

Geez, Pop oughta get an A+. Bottom line: Any win with Manu and Ford out is a great job.

But I hear a lot of niggling criticisms about minor issues when we beat the best team in the league.

Just win, baby.

[Budkin]

Finally got around to watching the game on DVR. TP was simply unstoppable. Awesome win!

[jesterbobman]

Another option is starting Tiago at pf and getting a backup big who can rebound and defend.

Yeah, both are options, Just want to always have at least Tim or Tiago out there, and the mobile defensive PF is likely to be more common than a good 7 footer, Just because a 7 Footer is far less common than a 6'9" or 6'10" PF.

[Leetonidas]

And what makes it worse is that the PF position is clearly the most stacked position in the WC playoff race. It may have something to do with why the Spurs have success against the Thunder (relatively).. the Thunder dont have an elite PF that can abuse the Blair/Bonner combo like every other team does.

Dirk
Gasol
Aldridge
Griffin
Randolph
Nene
Love
Scola

These are the 4's currently in the playoff race that Blair and Bonner will be forced to guard for long stretches in the playoffs.

Dirk, not much to say.

Gasol, Tim/Tiago will probably pick him up, hopefully Pop isn't stupid enough to start Blair or Bonner on him.

Aldridge, he's a beast but the team around him isn't going to beat the Spurs.

Griffin, keep him off the glass and prevent him from catching tons of lobs and we'll be okay. Parker usually plays very well against Paul and other "top-tier PGs" so he should be able to disrupt his comfort. Clippers defense is non-existent really so slowing the game into a half-court match will benefit the Spurs and be a disadvantage for the Clips.

Randolph, probably out for the season.

Nene, isn't he more of a center? Gasol really is too. I'm not too worried about us getting beaten by Nene.

Love, well, his team is awful so who cares, they wouldn't stand a chance against SA in the playoffs.

And Scola... dude is crap this year

[Muser]

Most of those have never been elite.

[acoelho1]

The main point of Tiago starting is that we are simply better defensively when he is on the court..period! TD is mostly taking jump shots anyway so put him on the high post and in the long run if Tiago is not playing 30 plus minutes in the playoffs, we are not winning. Get them playing together now so they can learn all the nuances of each other's game. I don't care if the turds are playing together, which will probably be against the 2nd unit anyway. Blair/Bonner in the playoffs is a recipe for disaster. Rant over

[Solid D]

Spot-on, timvp! I especially like the information regarding TP's pts, assists & 0 TOs, the best since Larry Legend...plus good stat re the Spurs record of 46-10 when Matt Bonner hits 3 or more treys in a game.

[GSH]

Wow, we're being awfully nitpicky about Splitter. One of his turnovers was a bull travelling call when he should have gotten an and-1, one was after getting a block and securing a rebound, and the third was on a moving screen makeup call 40 feet from the ball. His passing was very good and his defense and rebounding were excellent. I can't say enough about how hard he worked on the glass. He certainly did something to piss off the refs, though. Still not sure how Kevin Durant running into him at full speed cons utes a foul.

I really appreciate people who look at facts and use logic and stuff like that.

Not that I disagree with Timvp - Splitter's turnovers have been too frequent over a series of games. But I hope that Pop is looking at more than raw numbers, before deciding that this game was the continuation of a trend. I remember the plays you described, and whether anyone thinks they were legitimate calls or not, they were hardly the same thing as a guy coughing the ball up under pressure.

The travelling call, at least, was indisputable - he put the ball down and took two steps. There's going to be blown calls, but that doesn't have to figure into any decisions about Splitter's minutes.

[dylankerouac]

Thanks for the grades Timvp. Went to the game and this was an instant classic. Thanks for the Larry Bird stat, and wow, I had no idea Kawhi was so effective, he has stats everywhere but it's like he did it quietly. (I made it a point to not look at the player stats during the game for fear of jinxing the Spurs, heck OKC was making it close in the fourth with Tony tired by then)

It was interesting to hear some Thunder hecklers open their mouths early in, talking about a certain 2011 All-Star PG. It was funny to see their empty seats in the fourth.

Anyway, I came back home and watched the game on the dvr and I especially loved the Kawhi Leonard and Parker show during the first quarter 4:39-2:04.

A sagging Durant leads to a Leonard 3.
Duncan drive, attracts Durant off Leonard, Duncan gets his own rebound and an assist, Leonard 3.
Leonard drive, spin, layup.
Parker (almost exact same thing Leonard does) drive, spin, layup.
Green drives, passes to Leonard, Leonard fakes (at this point Durant has to respect him and jumps) Leonard jumps into Durant and draws the foul.

WoW! He can become a really special player.

Tony, well he did what Tony does. Simply amazing performance and congratulations to him for his hard-earned record!

[timaios]

Great game by Tony, and of course I missed it

Tony Parker 42 points (+9 ast) vs Thunder full highlights (2012.02.04)

[will_spurs]

Tony Parker 42 points (+9 ast) vs Thunder full highlights (2012.02.04)

Merci !

[timvp]

Wow, we're being awfully nitpicky about Splitter. One of his turnovers was a bull travelling call when he should have gotten an and-1, one was after getting a block and securing a rebound, and the third was on a moving screen makeup call 40 feet from the ball.

Splitter doesn't have a lot of obviously bad turnovers this season. Most Spurs fans wouldn't even know he's been turnover prone because his mistakes usually happen in the flow of the game.

But whatever the excuses, Splitter has to cut down his turnover rate. He's turning the ball over significantly more than Duncan, Ginobili or Parker ever has. That's obviously unacceptable for a player who doesn't handle the ball very much.

That said, that shouldn't be a viable excuse for Pop not playing Splitter more often. A lot of the turnovers are due to simply not having chemistry with his teammates when it comes to hitting players on the go or the timing of the pick-and-roll. Playing time is the only solution.

Unfortunately, it's far from a certainty that Splitter will be given adequate playing time before it's too late.

[will_spurs]

But whatever the excuses, Splitter has to cut down his turnover rate. He's turning the ball over significantly more than Duncan, Ginobili or Parker ever has. That's obviously unacceptable for a player who doesn't handle the ball very much.

Splitter TO per 36 minutes: 2.9

Parker career avg TO per 36 min: 2.8 (3.1 in 09-10, 3.3 in 05-06)
Manu career avg TO per 36 min: 2.7 (3.1 in 07-08)
Duncan career avg TO per 36 min: 2.6 (3.1 in 97-98, 3.0 in 99-00 and 06-07)

I agree Splitter's TO rate is a bit too high compared to the time he spends handling the ball, but it's not extraordinarily high compared to his teammates.