Tony Parker's defense in the 4th quarter was Bruce Bowen level.
Ye folks, it was THAT good.
@ stampler
"yeah im not a hater"
GMAFB
I feel more like an A/A- for Manu last night. Yeah, he could've exercised a little better shot selection and put the ball on the floor more, but he was the one who brought them back from being down 8 to 10 pts to tied and then ahead. TD was huge down the stretch and Horry put the nail in the coffin but the Spurs were in that spot thanks to Manu.
I actually thought Manu played really good defense last night. The whole team did, for the most part.
I think you forgot to mention another guy who really helped the Spurs win
J.R. Smith
Just for coming into the game.
Grade: A+
The main complaint I have about Duncan is that he's playing way too soft down in the low post when he gets a rebound or a pass. He's missed some very easy shots when he's right under the basket by not going up with authority and slamming them down.
Instead he's put up some soft little short shots off the backboard--and missed them. He needs to be more forceful when he gets the ball in that position.
Re: our high pick and roll and high iso plays for Manu and Parker. They aren't working as usual because Denver is packing the paint to take them away. When they do try to force their way in, they often get the ball taken away or have to bring it back out. Denver is going to continue that strategy because they think they can beat us by taking Tony and Manu out of their favorite and best options.
Re: Bowen. As much as I've complained about his offense being a liability, he shot enough to make his presence known if not feared. At least one was a breakaway dunk and that doesn't count for presence, but let's hope he does even better in the next game.
Defensively, I thought he was lucky last night in the fact that those refs were calling the offensive players all night when they pushed him with their off hand or lowered the shoulder. Let us be thankful for those calls, I doubt another set of refs will be giving him those calls against the Denver stars like Melo and Ai and putting them in foul trouble.
In the end, it wasn't individual play, but the team working together on our defensive concept that took the advantage away from Denver and won that game. They were mentally tougher down the stretch, including making the crucial shots and steals, etc.
Go Spurs Go! Let's end this series.
damn... all these games are played at the exact same pace... shows just how great the spurs are making the nugs play their way.
the winner of these games has scored: 95, 97, 96, 96
the loser of these games has scored: 89, 88, 87, 89
You think Manu being tired late in the game has anything to do with the al ude?
Nice work on the grades! Horry deserves that A...he's as ice as the Iceman!
Your comment on the Manu isolation play I totally agree with as well. Teams know it's coming and set up defenders to strip the ball now. Pop needs to change that up.
"good defense last night. The whole team did"
... giving up 56 pts in the paint?
interesting...
Because my nerves are shot, I only watched the second half.
Manu didn't look handling the ball and besides a few good plays I'd have to give him a C for the second half.
Horry- A+
Finley- B-, He hesitated on a couple of shots.
Barry- C, he had a few good passes, but he's got to knock down those 3s
Tony- B, He stunk in the 3rd but was fantastic in the 4th
Tim- A, he finished down in the blocks or got to the line. Plus he rebounded his but off. Dude is awesome!
Oberto- A, defense was fantastic and he was finishing.
Vaughn- A, He hit that jumper and made an excellent pass to Fin.
Pop- B+, that play he called that got stolen and blake hit the 3 drove me crazy. Let the players play. He learned quick and let Tony do his thing.
They made stops when they had to. Didn't you see Bowen's block on Carmelo?
Keep your grades coming, I always enjoy it!
Tony Parker's defense in the 4th quarter was Bruce Bowen level.
Ye folks, it was THAT good.
"yeah im not a hater"
GMAFB
You're an idiot. I gave Tony a "B" for Game 3, TimVP gave him a "C+".
Go make a snappy comeback to that one.
As soon as Parker put the pedal to the floor and drove, you could tell Pop was trying to set up a 2-for-1. Parker dished out to Horry with 33 secs. remaining. It was a surprise move that actually made some sense and minimizing the chance for Denver to hold the ball and go for the win, had Horry not converted.
It depends on the game and the situation at that particular time.
What do you do....just read the box score and decide to hate for the heck of it?
Is objectivity in your vocabulary?
Elson still getting a decent grade? IMO, he was horrible throughout the game.
So you're also gonna ignore that I've said Tony has played well the last two games. All anyone here does is read what they feel like reading and ignoring anything positive I say.
I could say Tony is the best point guard since John Stockton and half of you would scream at me, "Why don't you think he's better than Stockton, you hater..."
I was wondering that myself last night. I figure the Nuggets would be used to the al ude, but the Spurs would not be. One mile above sea level is not all that much when you're just walking around, but in a physically demanding contest like an NBA playoff game, it would be noticeable. Does the NBA allow oxygen on the sidelines like the NFL does?
Great job grading. I agree with almost every one of them.
However, I AM THE FIRST to comment on Manu's incredibly insane fast-break shot that went over both defenders, including Nene coming in from behind. That was probably the most spectacular play I've seen all playoffs, and that's really saying something. The half-courter from Davis had a lot of luck on it, but that Manu shot was purely amazing. I wish I had a 10th of that guy's split-second decision making ability.
Also, the Bowen block was HUGE. There's just no other word for it. That took Melo out of his rhythm and probably hurt his confidence a bit. I thought it was Duncan reaching over the top with how high up and perfectly blocked that was!
christ, dry your eyes Carmello and man up.I could say Tony is the best point guard since John Stockton and half of you would scream at me, "Why don't you think he's better than Stockton, you hater..."
Naw, most games Carmelo fouls out in the first half if he's pushing off that much. What basically happened after Game 2 is George Karl told Melo and AI to just push off Bowen and Parker every play. They've listened and probably committed like 20-25 offensive fouls last night with only a couple being called.
If the dumbest ref in the league wasn't the crew chief last night, Melo would have either fouled out early or would've had to stop pushing off.
I'll agree that there were more fouls than were called, but those fouls don't often get called, especially against the team's superstars.
On the other hand, it's always cool to have inside information on Karl's instructions to players so my hat's off to you.
Truth. I remember several in Game 3 that were OBVIOUS. Nuggets fans started whining in the game thread asking us which to say which charges were actually charges. I asked them which charges called weren't blatantly OBVIOUS.... they never responded to it.
Melo and AI could have both fouled out last night. They're lucky they didn't. It's the price you pay for being that bull-headedly aggressive -- you get lots of points, but when the D player has position on you, you're already going 20 mph with no hope of stopping.
Whatever. You're a liar and a phony and that goes double for TimVP.
I said way back in March that it's not important for this team how much Tony scores as it is for him to play smart and play good defensively. You guys are supposed to be Spurs fans, and some of you don't undestand the simplest thing: IT'S THE ING DEFENSE, STUPID.
When Tony played awful defense in Game 1, we lost. When he played great defense the next three games, we won.
Same goes for Manu.
The difference between our best players and other teams' best players is ours play defense. Offensively our stars are no better than other teams' stars. It's defense that gets us rings. When your best players play it, everyone else buys in. That's why AI and 'Melo have their thumbs up their butts right now.
It's the ing defense.
So forget all the "hater" bull and "oh you don't don't want Tony to score" nonsense. It doesn't mean anything. Just play smart and play D and we'll be fine.
You all want to marginalize me, fine. I know for a fact I could come to this board under any other name if I wanted to and people would agree with everything I say, but they see the aaronstampler name and they don't focus on what I'm actually saying. God forbid you argue against Mr. Kori Ellis on this board.
I've been right about everything this series and you can't deal with it.
By the way TPark... SPURS IN FIVE! Ha.
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