These last two losses showed that our chance to win it is very, very small.
Ball movement crumbles when the other team is locked in on D and TP can't seem to avoid huge drops off when he is covered by a taller defender.
I really think that Kawhi needs to move up to the third option on offense. We really need someone to create for themselves, or at least, draw fouls and get to the free throw line. Can't rely on hitting jump shots and ball movement to win every game. Elite defenses aren't going to allow you to pass the ball around willy nilly. You're going to need a few players that can create shots for themselves. Kawhi is one of them, and he needs even more reps so we can see what he can do. Gary Neal is another. Even though I do not want him at backup PG, I at least like that he can create his own shot. That will be valuable in the playoffs, but I don't know if his other short comings should allow him to be on the court much.
I will say that at least the defense has improved. That is a very good thing. They need to keep working on that and try to get even better on the defensive end of the court.
We were due one upset at home this year. I think the Kings beat us at home last year while we were hot. Losing to the Knicks and Clippers early on was "ok" at least they're playoff teams. This will be our 1 fluke.
I do hope Tim starts to get back into the form he was early on this season, I know he missed a lot of games. But we need he and Manu to start getting back into game shape soon.
Tim, Tony, Manu, Kawhi, Dejuan, and Nando all missed at least one free throw in that game.
Not hitting free throws has cost them a road game against a WC playoff team, and a home game against a WC lottery team, 2 out of the last three times they have stepped on the court.
I wonder if the All-Star break and homecoming have affected the team's collective focus? Not a good sign for a team that depends on crisp execution to defeat their opponents.
Hopefully last night was the wakeup call needed to kick off a successful homestand, with some curse-laden Pop tirades thrown in for good measure.
JR Smith has a much different thought process than everyone else.
They deserved a night off.
Last night was the after-effects of that delicious In-&-Out meal..it just took a couple of days to get washed out of the system. They will be fine next game.
His numbers look solid, but after watching the game I completely agree with the grade.
It's pretty telling that a 34 year-old Jermaine O'Neal who has been hobbled for much of his recent career was elevating over Timmy on every play. All of his misses were short, his free throws were flat, his post moves lacked any fluidity, and his defense was weak. He got pushed around in the paint all night. I'll give it two more weeks. If he's not back to form in two more weeks, then it'll be clear that his issues are due to the knee injury. If that's the case, then this team's chances of ringing just went from slim to none.
Just a really sloppy all around game from the spurs i.e missed freethrows, not executing a fastbreak. They showed flashes like the were ready to blow the game wide open but then they would turn it over or take a bad shot and continue to let the suns hang around. It also didn't help that Jermaine O'Neal played like it was 2003.
Disgusted. going to the game Friday. They better get their together. Sick of these ty free throw displays. WTF Manu. My hero is a human.
I'm not worried about this one, they just hit every long 2s if you watch closely the game (especially in the first quarter) and a miraculous shot. If guys like abaka and Arthur have to look like all stars to beat us then we have to tip our hat to them...
Almost any NBA player can hit wide open mid range jumpers, which is exactly what the spurs were giving up all night.
We got Sac at home tomorrow, which will probably a bounce back win. OKC is in Denver on Friday, LAC are in Indy tonight. Gotta start taking care of business while the teams behind us deal with their tough schedule.
Don't sleep on Sac, they took Miami to double OT, and murdered the Magic.
The Magic aren't very good obviously, but I didn't expect Sacramento to blow them out of the water.
Spurs need the #1 seed more so than any of the other top 4 teams in the West. Going by how poor the Spurs have played on the road in the playoff series they have been eliminated in the past 4 years I would say HCA is crucial for SA.
True, I'd take a solid D over a solid O anyday. But just to clarify what I meant, I think both the Clips and Thunder can score on this defense and at some point, it's going to come down to the offense. The Spurs just played two poor defenses in the Warriors and Suns while barely cracking the century mark in against both. The depth just isn't there like it was last year. Manu has taken a step backwards, Duncan's lost on offense settling for mid range jumpers eventhough his shot is way off, S-jax is finished, Neal can't buy a basket most nights, De Colo as a backup pg makes me want to vomit, and Splitter's numbers are down from last year with the exception of his freethrow % ( Yes, Splitters's defense has improved but primarily because he plays alongside Duncan).
Bad games happen but the Spurs have had more than their fair share of close calls where TP had to take over late. Tony Parker can't do it all. Somebody else is going to have to step up eventually if the Spurs want to win no. 5. Personally, I still think there are too many question marks surrounding this team right now to think they have a legitimate shot at a championship but we'll see.
Last edited by Hoops Czar; 02-28-2013 at 11:44 AM.
Oh yea most definitely. I think this team does a fairly good job of bouncing back after a loss. Had they won vs. Phoenix, I think the probability of losing to the Kings would be higher.
Absolutely must take care of business to get HCA.
You are right but I'd rather take a long two than a three or a lay-up (even contested) and you can't stop everything efficiently, unfortunately...Almost any NBA player can hit wide open mid range jumpers, which is exactly what the spurs were giving up all night.
A little worried about Duncan. His numbers look good enough but he's moving around like an old man.
Don't know what else to say about Manu and his missed free throws.
Really enjoying how Leonard is finding ways to get to the line.
We really need to figure out what to do when teams put a bigger defender on Parker. It's alarming that they haven't figured out an answer to that yet. Good thing Leonard and Green are getting better at handling the ball, distributing, etc... because that will only help in the playoffs.
One problem is that we're asking Tiago to make up the difference between Prime-Duncan and Now-Duncan, but that gap is growing wider by the day. At a certain point I think Tiago is gonna have to be the main big on offense. If Duncan can give us long jumpers, picks, and solid defense that's great, but getting post touches over Tiago isn't really effective at this point. Tim's reached that point in the season where his game slows way down and his post touches become unsightly, but Stiffler seems surprisingly effective with his back to the basket.
I've been wondering when the crying would start.You guys like this every year. I am great at my profession. But I have had days when everything went wrong and it has always been a for a great number of reasons. Notice I use the plural form of the noun reason.
So it is every year with our Spurs. After we lost those 3 games at Detroit during the NBA championships a few years ago you were all saying the same thing. Took that blocked shot at the last second to seal our 7th game victory, and the NBA championship.
This is another odd year.
I am confident, still. Been here before. EVERY year.
People are over reacting to this loss, the Spurs played a very, very bad game last night and we lost that is expected a couple of times over the entire season it happens to every single team. The Thunder have lost to Cavs, Wizards and Timberwolves and the Timberwolves practically have everyone injured on that team. The Spurs played hard and were on the road for a long time during this RRT, they came back to SA a little relaxed and there wasn't much effort during the game and the Suns played a good game, stuff like this happens. The Spurs played a absolutely terrible game and we lost by a Manu missed free throw and a Wes Johnson buzzer beater with 3 seconds left for them to beat us. I guarantee they bounce right back.
We are just tanking to evade the lakers...
If you watch enough games you'll find every NBA team has some inexplicable last second losses or someone does something spectacular to send a game into overtime.
Look at Sean's "miracle shot' or the last second 3 put up against the Lakers by Tim followed by Derek Fishers .4 shot. Last night in Houston, some team dribbled the ball for 20+ seconds and then passed to a guy who hit a falling backward 27 foot 3 to win the game.
So last game Manu uncharacteristically misses a FT and O'Neal makes a perfect outlet pass to an uncovered teammate downcourt who hits a shot to send it into overtime.
Not the end of the world. happens.
We call those things statistical outliers.
And re Manu's missed FT: There's a reason his foul on Dirk and his missed FT will live on in infamy. Because the guy makes a lot of game changing plays, and he's not a perfect guy, so even he will make bad plays, but overall his impact on the game is positive because he makes five great plays for every bad one.
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