Spurs vs. Nuggets Game 1 - Grades

[nkdlunch]

Tim Duncan
Grade: D-


Manu Ginobili
Grade: D-


Tony Parker
Grade: D+


Bruce Bowen
Grade: D


Francisco Elson
Grade: F


Michael Finley
Grade: B+


Brent Barry
Grade: D-


Fabricio Oberto
Grade: B


Robert Horry
Grade: B+


Jacque Vaughn
Grade: D+

POP
Grade: C


After looking at this and we barely lost? this is very encouraging

[2centsworth]

I disagree on Ginobilli, I'd give him a C- to a D. He was hustling and had some nice passes to the corners for open 3s. Also, mixed it up on the boards a little. He just couldn't hit his jumper and was very ineffective to the Rim.

I would also give Parker a C-. He made some plays, but his decision making was awful all night. Plus, the choke on the layup. However, he hit some tough shots down the stretch.

Tim Duncan gets a big fat F. Though his numbers would be great for the likes of Drew Gooden, Duncan was Soft last night and has the skill and talent to get 25 and 15 this series. Plus, the TO in critical situations were back brakers.

[bdictjames]

Vaughn sucked last night.

Duncan, Ginobili and Parker sucked at the first quarter, but managed to pull it through and play better in the other three quarters.

[upTD]

I disagree on Ginobilli, I'd give him a C- to a D. He was hustling and had some nice passes to the corners for open 3s. Also, mixed it up on the boards a little. He just couldn't hit his jumper and was very ineffective to the Rim.

I would also give Parker a C-. He made some plays, but his decision making was awful all night. Plus, the choke on the layup. However, he hit some tough shots down the stretch.

Tim Duncan gets a big fat F. Though his numbers would be great for the likes of Drew Gooden, Duncan was Soft last night and has the skill and talent to get 25 and 15 this series. Plus, the TO in critical situations were back brakers.

, Ginobilli's homer.

[Cry Havoc]

I disagree on Ginobilli, I'd give him a C- to a D. He was hustling and had some nice passes to the corners for open 3s. Also, mixed it up on the boards a little. He just couldn't hit his jumper and was very ineffective to the Rim.

I would also give Parker a C-. He made some plays, but his decision making was awful all night. Plus, the choke on the layup. However, he hit some tough shots down the stretch.

Tim Duncan gets a big fat F. Though his numbers would be great for the likes of Drew Gooden, Duncan was Soft last night and has the skill and talent to get 25 and 15 this series. Plus, the TO in critical situations were back brakers.

It was ridiculous the amount of contact they were giving Duncan. As soon as he got inside the free throw stripe area, they were physically pushing him out of the lane, and they weren't even being subtle about it. Last time I checked, that's not legal, but hey if they're going to attack you, Duncan should start clearing them out with his backside.

Perhaps we should run the pick and roll with Duncan, and when we feed it back to him and Nene tries to play rough, Duncan can just steamroll right over him with the momentum. A few plays of that should get him back in the flow of things.

[romain.star]

Come on aaronstampler.... what a biais point of view.... i hope argentinian journalists are a bit more objective than you

[boutons_]

Tim getting pushed around, leaned on, aggressively fronted by Nene and Eduardo brought back images of Tim getting pushed out to the arc and shut down by Karl in the 04 second round.

Tim getting the ball at or near the arc makes me cringe.

[T Park]

the shot selection, and the lack of agression from Manu speak volumes.



I have no vendetta against Manu, Manu when agressive is the number 1 option on this team in the 4th quarter.

He decided to be passive last night and that was that.


Now you accuse me of being a Parker homer, but I said Parker's shot selection and decision making was suspect last night as well.

BUT, he was agressive, unlike Ginobili.

[T Park]

BTw, people are ripping duncan, in that first quarter he was getting shots at the rim, and he just missed em.

Those go down, his agression goes up.


his interior D though has got to improve dramatically though.

[Sportcamper]

Fabricio Oberto looked good....
Horry got his butt kicked....

[baseline bum]

I'd give everyone but Finley, Oberto, and Vaughn an F. Oberto earned a B, and Fin and Jacque had passing grades of C. Duncan, Ginobili, and Horry were maybe F-, and Elson's grade was academic dismissal.

[Que Gee]

For whatever reason he hardly touched the ball in the 2nd half. I don't know if he was in a funk at half time at being 2 for 12 or they just didn't call any plays for him, but it's like he didn't even play the 2nd half.

He was with a ghost squad in the second half. That genious of a coach Pop, decided to stick Manu out on the floor with, Fab, Horry, Vaughn, and Bowen. Manu, Fab, Horry, Vaughn, and Bowen...WTF?!!!! That group hasn't played together all year. Who the in Manu supposed to play off of in that rotation? Who is supposed to set him up? Pop looked like a ing idiot with that group getting EXTENDED minutes on the floor in the second half. Thats on Pop, not Manu. At the very least, Finley or Barry HAS to be out there in that group for passing or another scoring option. This was brutal.

[Budkin]

Excellent analysis as always timvp!

[timvp]

Last night, the Spurs gave up 1.2 points per possession with Manu on the court and .94 with him off the court. Over a course of a game, that adds up really fast.

But uh yeah, Manu was the reincarnation of Michael Cooper in Game 1, what are you talking about timvp?

[timvp]

Furthermore, the Spurs dominated on the glass while Oberto was in the game. It looks like Oberto should see more time in Game 2.

In Game 1, Elson's PER was -5. The player he was guarding had a PER of 30.

If the Spurs can get regular production from the Big 3, get Manu and Parker to step it up defensively on the perimeter, Duncan to step up the D on the inside and get Oberto out there more, they should be fine.

[picnroll]

As SequSpur would say, "They all sucked".

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Almost forgot. . .

Pop
First of all, if he was going to trust Horry in the playoffs, how about letting play in the fourth quarters of a couple regular season games? Horry hadn't played a fourth quarter with the Big 3 in so long the chemistry was way off. Then I also have a problem sitting Bowen. Spurs fans can hate on Bowen all they want, but he's clearly the team's best perimeter defender. Taking him out of the game completely with AI and Melo on the court makes no sense to me. Again, that move went against everything that happened in the regular season. And overall, not playing the main players after the Dallas Debacle only seemed to hurt matters. There was no cohesiveness out there and the team was obviously rusty. Overall, the Spurs just looked unprepared and not in playoff mode.

I realize the Spurs last two championship runs started with a Game 1 loss, but you can only go to the well so many times. One of these years, the team is going to steal the second game and then it could get ugly.

The Spurs should still win the series, but this was a disappointing performance from the Big 3, to the head coach to most of the role players.

Not Spurs Basketball.

I agree with all of this.

My concern is that Pop is going to give Horry too many minutes to the detriment of the team. VanX started decent last playoffs and then Pop stuck with him as he sputtered and choked and robbed the other Spurs players of minutes. Horry played ok in my opinion, but not great. I understand saving BigShot for the playoffs, but I think Bonner could have done just as well and perhaps even grabbed more than 1 rebound.

It's an odd-numbered year, and Pop is supposed to coach pretty well in odd-numbered years. I hope he doesn't let me down.

[kris]

BTw, people are ripping duncan, in that first quarter he was getting shots at the rim, and he just missed em.

Those go down, his agression goes up.


his interior D though has got to improve dramatically though.

So what you are saying is a 10 year pro who is regarded as the best PF of all time misses some up close shots in the first quarter and that caused him to play like a flower the rest of the game?

You'd think the pyschology major would have learned to adjust to a few miss shots by now wouldn't you?

[ploto]

He was with a ghost squad in the second half. That genious of a coach Pop, decided to stick Manu out on the floor with, Fab, Horry, Vaughn, and Bowen. Manu, Fab, Horry, Vaughn, and Bowen...WTF?!!!! That group hasn't played together all year. Who the in Manu supposed to play off of in that rotation? Who is supposed to set him up? Pop looked like a ing idiot with that group getting EXTENDED minutes on the floor in the second half. Thats on Pop, not Manu. At the very least, Finley or Barry HAS to be out there in that group for passing or another scoring option. This was brutal.

I mentioned this in the game thread. Once again you and I agree. Scary- huh?

[shaq_h8ter]

I have to say Tim looked scared to do anything against Nene.
He also looked like he was thinking a little too much.

[hater]

F, F, F, F, F... shall I go on?

[doldrums]

bad game by Manu -no doubt, however , he would have had more assists if others could have hit wide open shots. Guaranteed 2nd game victory.

[wildbill2u]

TimVP said, "Him standing in the corner shouldn't have an effect one way or the other on the Big Three."

I've been pointing out for months the "Kapono Konundrum." (Kapono got 11 rebounds against us) When Bruce stands in the corner, waiting to take one of his few shots, the smart teams are gonna slough off of him and clog the lanes against Manu and Tony.

We wind up playing four-against-five on offense in the central part of the court. Also hurts our rebounding and scoring both. Even Bowen could get a few bounds when they bounce right if he was moving through the area.

Smart teams will challenge Bowen to beat them from the corner--if he can. He can't or won't.

[Brutalis]

Tim Duncan
Grade: C, he looked average

Manu Ginobili
Grade: D, was slow to do everything just about

Tony Parker
Grade: F, be consistent. hit shots and find the open man.

Bruce Bowen
Grade: C, hardly saw ya buddy

Francisco Elson
Grade: F, come on step up or sit on the bench

Michael Finley
Grade: A+, did what he was asked to do

Brent Barry
Grade: D-, listen to your brother

Fabricio Oberto
Grade: C+, don't be afraid to push good man!

Robert Horry
Grade: A+, did what was asked of him

Jacque Vaughn
Grade: C, nothing special at all except subbing for Parker with a big lead he can keep..

POP
Grade: C

[Que Gee]

Michael Finley
Grade: A+, did what he was asked to do

My God! I hope he wasn't asked to get 0 Reb and 0 Asst in 33 min of playing time. Thats ing horrible.