What did you think of the Spurs defense?..

[Obstructed_View]

He needs to be tough on offense, he was way too soft when he attacked, but the refs are going to call him for everything if he holds his ground on every play, tbh..

Splitter doesn't get love from the refs against Sacramento, let alone Memphis..

Yeah, I agree on that end. He had a layup and he decided on a pass at the last second instead. He needs to go harder to the rim. Actually, he's very tough on offense, but not so much when it becomes time to get his own shot. His screens and movement have been very sharp, which is why the Spurs score so much when he's in the game, even if he's not the one doing the scoring.

[ducks]

no double teaming will keep them fresher for the finals

[spurraider21]

Playing tight defense on Marc when he's at the top of the key in limiting the impact of his passing/vision. It make it difficult to feed Zbo or connect on the backdoor pass.

Meh. i'm fine with letting Marc get his. its not like he's ever going to drop 30 on us, especially if they're on outside looks. Let marc shoot and clamp down on Z-Bo.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

What did you guys think of the defense today?..

+ Guarding Randolph with Duncan and swarming him..great strategy, the length bothers him, and while he has improved as a passer, he still has tendencies of a black hole at times..

+ Making Prince beat you..no double teams, let him post up, give him the shot on the pick&roll..the only problem I had was Kawhi going over the screen in the 1st quarter, but it was fine, overall..

+ Guarding Bayless with anybody other than Neal..this will play a huge role in the series, tbh..

+ The lack of double teams against Gasol..they only sent another man a handful of times, they were letting him shoot..Gasol's mindset is to pass first, Spurs should continue making him a scorer..

- Ginobili, Green and Neal falling asleep against Pondexter..he's their only consistent 3-point threat, yet he still had a lot of open looks..most of these looks were due to guys falling asleep, tbh..they can't let him go off..

That last point really pissed me off during the game. After Pondexter hit the first one I posted that he was their only real threat from deep and why didn't we have Green or Leonard shadowing him. Then he hit 2 more. I bet that gets tightened up in game 2, or Pop will have an aneurism.

[Obstructed_View]

Meh. i'm fine with letting Marc get his. its not like he's ever going to drop 30 on us, especially if they're on outside looks. Let marc shoot and clamp down on Z-Bo.

I agree. Gasol's a really really good shooter, but he's going to have to hit a ton of those before I'll suggest the Spurs do anything about it.

[exstatic]

I agree. Gasol's a really really good shooter, but he's going to have to hit a ton of those before I'll suggest the Spurs do anything about it.

To HIT a ton, he's going to have to SHOOT a ton, and he's really just a big white Diaw, more content to pass than shoot. That works in our favor. Stay at home on everyone else when he holds the ball. NEVER double him. He gets what he gets.

[TheGoldStandard]

Gasol and Z-Bo are not going to put up 30 a piece, it's okay to allow him to get his 15-18 a game, heck Z-Bo can go for 15 too but everyone else we need to watch. I think we were pretty laxed when Pondexter was out there, Manu with his hand down etc.. Better closeouts on there shooters and rebounding will win this series from here on out.

[InRareForm]

Spurs defense definitely got a lift from facing such a potent offense with the warriors, not having to chase two pure shooters is nice to suddenly a subpar grizz shooting team.

[Mugen]

The defense has been wonderful the last 5 games tbh. Outside of inexplicably losing Pondexter, the Spurs pitched an almost perfect game on defense today.

[Mel_13]

I haven't seen it mentioned elsewhere, but Memphis opened the 4th quarter with a smallball lineup. I don't think anyone could have predicted that they would go small before the Spurs.

Also, the Spurs have been playing some good defense against the Grizz in the games played since the 2011 playoffs.

Memphis scoring in regulation in the nine games since then:

82
73
84
97
87
95
82
92
83

The Spurs are 7-2 in those games with both losses coming in Memphis, one in OT and the other a 2 point loss in a game without Duncan and Leonard.

[Obstructed_View]

To HIT a ton, he's going to have to SHOOT a ton, and he's really just a big white Diaw, more content to pass than shoot. That works in our favor. Stay at home on everyone else when he holds the ball. NEVER double him. He gets what he gets.

Agreed whole-heartedly. If he goes Ibaka for two games, then it becomes an issue.

[100%duncan]

Leaving Pndxtr was the only negative on D on this game imho.

[jyra]

I like the coverage of Gasol with both Tiago and Tim really pushing up and making him put the ball on the floor. I remember Gasol driving a couple of times only to throw up a prayer around the basket. He won't beat you with his foot speed.