Grades: Spurs at Pelicans - Dec. 27, 2020

[John B]

Thanks for the grades. It’s tough on a b2b and our guys competed until the last possession. We can only be proud of their defense that kept them in the game. Proud of our young guys rallying behind 14 points and not easily giving up, when last year’s team would’ve lost by 30 points at that point. Again Murray needs to be aggressive attacking and scoring. He cannot be too cute with his handles. The assist will come, like Patty does. Demar needs to keep cool AT ALL TIME. Granted the refs are not calling the fouls, but his frustration cost them 5 points turnaround. Aldridge needs to demand the ball inside. Pop needs to have him catch it at the post to get him going. Vassell is overthinking out there. He needs to just play basketball. Overall I’m happy with them not giving up.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Well, this group is more fun to watch than last year. An off night like this would have been a 25 point beatdown last season. At least this group can fight in a grind-it-out type game. The vets really let us down tonight with the exception of Patty. This is the second night in a row that LMA looks outmatched by whoever he's guarding. The young guys did all that could be expected. The Spurs could have benefitted from White's presence tonight. And whoever the gray was up above ^^^ , someone's troll account I would guess, saying Vassell is a bust, is an absolute idiot. The kid's going to be a very good player.

[John B]

I would’ve Pop put another defender on Ingram, maybe Diop? Or a double team instead of Lonnie the whole game. I always thought we could’ve kept Reynolds. Spurs could’ve used his length. Everybody else I think our guys did a pretty good job, including on Zion.

[r0drig0lac]

Aldridge...

[Dejounte]

I would’ve Pop put another defender on Ingram, maybe Diop? Or a double team instead of Lonnie the whole game. I always thought we could’ve kept Reynolds. Spurs could’ve used his length. Everybody else I think our guys did a pretty good job, including on Zion.

Yeah, watching Lonnie defend Ingram was sad to see. If there's such a mismatch there, you should at least try to make him feel uncomfortable. Lonnie was guarding him too lightly, tried to use his length but it didn't work. He's gotta be more physical.

[Dejounte]

I agree with Chinook though,

You can't rely on Keldon to guard players like Zion the whole game.

You have to have some reliable defenders to spell Keldon, and let Keldon focus on the offensive end.

Kawhi yearned for a more offensive role and his defense took a major hit because of it.

Will Keldon get tired of being assigned the hard defensive assignments WHILE being counted on for offense (in the future)?

Who knows.... maybe he wants to take that challenge by Pop and not pussy out like Kawhi.

Otherwise, we will need someone in the future to alternate with Keldon from time to time, even to just give him a breather.

I don't want Keldon to ever pussy out like what Kawhi did during last year's playoffs against Doncic.

Could that be Vassell? Boy better gain some weight.

[Shakril]

The game was not lost in the Fourth Quarter, but in the third. Spurs had to make up so much that in the end after a B2B the energy was not there anymore. Of course missing open shots hurts and Demars Stupid Technical and fouls at the end did not help, but all in all Spurs lost only by 3. Bench is making a good job at the moment, starters need to play better.

The first 3 games played in the +/- stat all Starters are negative. That shows me, they are losing the Starter Match Up every time and the bench has to make up too much.

LMA - 27
LW IV - 26
DMR - 12
Lyles - 8
DJM - 5
Keldon - 4
Vassel + 33
Mills + 36
Poeltl + 39
Gay + 44

[Truth4sale$]

Great write up.
Really tough cover for Lonnie due to his lack of experience and giving up about 4-5 inches to Ingraham,. That being said. I like that he is finally getting some time to grow and develop. He makes mistakes but will learn from it and improve. I would have liked to see Murray cover Ingram. He has more experience.

[Chinook]

I agree with Chinook though,

You can't rely on Keldon to guard players like Zion the whole game.

You have to have some reliable defenders to spell Keldon, and let Keldon focus on the offensive end.

Kawhi yearned for a more offensive role and his defense took a major hit because of it.

Will Keldon get tired of being assigned the hard defensive assignments WHILE being counted on for offense (in the future)?

Who knows.... maybe he wants to take that challenge by Pop and not pussy out like Kawhi.

Otherwise, we will need someone in the future to alternate with Keldon from time to time, even to just give him a breather.

I don't want Keldon to ever pussy out like what Kawhi did during last year's playoffs against Doncic.

Could that be Vassell? Boy better gain some weight.

Keldon is young. He can and should take as many hard defensive assignments as possible. He doesn't have to be a 30ppg guy any time soon. Guarding big strong PFs in particular is what would hamper him, because it's not just about energy. Guarding some wing and then going down and getting 15-18 points is totally doable. In big games/series, even getting 25 points isn't hard to imagine. That's basically just a question of conditioning. But when you're going against a weight disadvantage, it's a matter of putting real stress on the muscles and joints in the lower body. Youth can help, but not nearly as much.

[Chinook]

I would’ve Pop put another defender on Ingram, maybe Diop? Or a double team instead of Lonnie the whole game. I always thought we could’ve kept Reynolds. Spurs could’ve used his length. Everybody else I think our guys did a pretty good job, including on Zion.

I actually thought Walker started to guard Ingram really well in the second half. He seemed to take offense to Brandon's performance, because he stayed with him much better. Yes, there is a size issue that might not always be surmountable. It reminds me of Danny versus Durant back in the day. Sometimes, KD would just be too much. But Green got his too. If this were like a seven-game series, you'd have to get some TOs on Ingram to make the numbers work. Playing the screen more aggressively certainly helped. All in all, I was happy Pop left Lonnie out there, because I think it'll pay dividends down the line.

[Dejounte]

The next game with the Lakers will have similar match ups to this one.

Big, strong PF - LeBron
Tall, shooting forward - Kuzma

I'm not sure why Anthony Davis didn't play last night.

Hopefully Pop has something up his sleeves against Kuzma. I could see him killing us out there. He's not as much of a 3 level scorer as Ingram is. He's a streaky shooter from 3, so we might be okay.

[Dejounte]

Definitely a Tim Duncan post move

[TheChillFactor]

idk what you idiots are watching half the time.

stop looking for lebron james when you watch vassell and look for things that show promise. it's his third nba game.

i have been impressed (on the whole, through 3 games) with how he belongs out there from day 1, shoots when he is supposed to, passes when he should, shows promise defensively, and has shown willingness to put the ball on the floor here and there.

i wonder what this thread would have said about a rookie Duncan, Manu or heaven forbid Parker.

i'm surprised how so many of you have learned nothing from watching excellent basketball for 20 years.

[Dejounte]

[Dejounte]

Remember, small sample size

[B1gduff]

Lamo the same dumb that wanted Vassal to start over Lonnie are complaing. Its en 3 games, dumbass can understand this fact.

dude has 7 pts and 5 Rebs in 12 mins against a much better defensive team... STop complaing anf ing

[B1gduff]

Dejounte still needs to work on handles, 6 to can't have that. But he's showing flashes of what he can be.

Lonnie looks really good and comfortable. He could be our number scorer and the potential to be a number 1. Still needs to improve add more to his skill set, but he's heading the righ direction.

Keldon is our thired score and has the potential to a 20+ ppg scorer.

[BackHome]

Definitely a Tim Duncan post move

I have been low in Poodle not for his defense but because of his Zero offense. But I have to give him credit for really trying to improve and this at least a good indicator that hopefully he has been working with Timmy. As far as the team I am not concerned with wins or looses but more concerned that the young players are improving and adding to their game. So as far as Poodle as long as he keeps being aggressive on offense when he can I don’t mind if he makes it or misses it cause you can’t get better unless ya try.

[Capt Bringdown]

yo timvp start docking demar half a grade everytime he stands still on defense & watches the shooter set up & shoot without even attempting to close out hes does that ish every game

Murray may be the most over-rated player in Spurstalk history.

[Darius Bieber]

timvp should start doing a SpursTalk Podcast atleast during the pandemic shutdown period. I'd definitely listen to quick postgame thoughts after every game and a weekly rewind.

[John B]

Last night's game also showed Spurs needed another 6'7 defensive player. I was hoping what Diop could do there. I guess will see with the two games against Lakers

[poopbox]

LMA is so bad...to old to slow to dumb not motivated...yuck...

[Prose]

summary of the last two games: demar giveth, demar taketh

[Prose]

something I have noticed is if Rudy is our best player for the game we usually lose...maybe because for him to play well he ball stops, and it becomes a feedback loop where the wrose we play we ended up feeding him the ball

[Sugus]

Definitely a Tim Duncan post move

"Poeltl didn't work on his offensive game at all!!"

I don't remember which poster I was talking to about this (Drunkford?), but it's obvious he's worked on his game. Shooting = / = offense, despite this modern era being shooting-obsessed.