Spurs vs. Suns Game 1 - Grades

[timvp]

You lose credibility when you give Elson the same grade as Barry.

Brent was useless today, Elson made some great plays, including covering up a Duncan up that allowed Marion to get to the rim.

Elson was deserving of at least a B today.

You do realize he was guarded by James Jones and did nothing rebounding or offensive wise with that matchup. When Oberto is in, they at least don't put a shooting guard on him.

[Kobulingam]

No kidding. D'Antoni underplayed Thomas in the last regular season matchup, too.

He must be the only man in America who can't see that Thomas does a great job on Duncan and needs to be out there 30 minutes a game.

He'll need to get approval from Nash before that.

[Kori Ellis]

You lose credibility when you give Elson the same grade as Barry.

Brent was useless today, Elson made some great plays, including covering up a Duncan up that allowed Marion to get to the rim.

Elson was deserving of at least a B today.

The players aren't graded against each other.

Anyway, Elson ed up a lot today - everyone at the GTG was cussing him out almost in unison. He had some nice plays too ... but some of the time he was just horrid.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

You do realize he was guarded by James Jones and did nothing rebounding or offensive wise with that matchup. When Oberto is in, they at least don't put a shooting guard on him.

Uh, if we would have been posting up Elson on Jones with Duncan in the building somewhere, even you would have been calling for Pop to be fired.

[aaronstampler]

Elson might have had the worst traveling violation I've seen all year. He plays like a re at times.

[timvp]

Uh, if we would have been posting up Elson on Jones with Duncan in the building somewhere, even you would have been calling for Pop to be fired.

And that stops him from getting a rebound how?

[ploto]

His rotations were decent at best. He made a couple mistakes in transition defense by picking up the wrong guy. Offensively he did nothing that took advantage that a shooting guard was on him a lot of the time. Didn't take advantage of his height rebounding the ball.

Seriously, a C+ was pretty nice of me.

I thought you'd give him a D. Pop sure did-- 2 minutes into the third quarter, Horry was at the table and Elson was never seen again. Pop trusts Oberto more in the fourth quarter than Elson.

[Obstructed_View]

And that stops him from getting a rebound how?

He didn't get any rebounds? Damn.

[timvp]

I gave Elson props for Game 5 when he played well. This game, unless you get excited by blocked shots into the crowd when he could have blocked it to a teammate, I didn't see much he did well that would put him over a decent grade.

[Kori Ellis]

He didn't get any rebounds? Damn.

He had two.

[timvp]

The Spurs have sunken to a low point when their center gets props even when he has more turnovers and fouls than points and rebounds.

[JPB]

Tony is supremely confident in his jumper when he plays the Suns. I really trust him shooting that against the suns every time. No wonder why he's averaging like 28 + against them.

When Tony's jumper is on, he's basically unstoppable.

The rainbow one he hit when he was really hot after hitting the previous 3 spurs shot was disgusting for the suns defense.

I've also noticed than he doesn't use his TM teardrop as often as he was. that's probably cos he was confifent in his shoot.

Really great game from TP. I'm glad it was live here in Paris (2 AM right now)

Off topic, i liked the "on consoling Dirk" banner that appeared when ABC showed a a Nash ITW clip... I didn't put the sound on to watch the game and that looked a bit strange.

[aaronstampler]

I've got to give Tony credit, his jumper looked as good as it's ever been. he was more effective with it than driving to the basket for most of the game. Still, he has to trust his teammates, be smart with the ball, and concentrate defensively against Barbosa. As long as LB has games where he has to take 17 shots to score 18 points, I like our chances.

[timvp]

Oh and regarding Vaughn, he was horrible but he's not very good to begin with. An F for Vaughn would have to be even worse.

[1Parker1]

That was one of the oddest coaching moves I've ever seen.

Odder than thinking that Shawn Marion can stop........Tony Parker?

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

Odder than thinking that Shawn Marion can stop........Tony Parker?

Ha yeah, now that was just silly.

[aaronstampler]

Odder than thinking that Shawn Marion can stop........Tony Parker?

You gotta have Marion guarding somebody. He's your 2nd best defender if you're Phoenix. It's kind of a waste putting him on Bowen. Who do you want the Suns to put on Tony, Nash so TP can score 40?

[1Parker1]

Elson might have had the worst traveling violation I've seen all year. He plays like a re at times.

That's wrong but true. Sometimes he just looks so completely lost out there that's it's scary....

[JMarkJohns]

If he tried it, I missed it, but did D'Antoni ever try Bell on Parker? Not that it would amount to much, but he might make it tougher for penetration and allow for single defense on Parker more so than any other player. I know that frees up Manu, but I think Bell on Parker/Marion on Manu works better defensively than does the other way around.

[JPB]

I've got to give Tony credit, his jumper looked as good as it's ever been. he was more effective with it than driving to the basket for most of the game. Still, he has to trust his teammates, be smart with the ball, and concentrate defensively against Barbosa. As long as LB has games where he has to take 17 shots to score 18 points, I like our chances.

I think he did a good job at finding Fin or Horry for good shoots. 8 assists is fine to go with his 32 pts. Besides when you're hot, it's not a bad thing to play for yourself for some streches, specially when you go for 14 on 22 at the end.

But I still think he's not getting all the calls he would deserve specially at the end of games when refs are more reluctant to whistle.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

You gotta have Marion guarding somebody. He's your 2nd best defender if you're Phoenix. It's kind of a waste putting him on Bowen. Who do you want the Suns to put on Tony, Nash so TP can score 40?

That mismatch strategy with Tony only works with SF's like Lebron.

Marion on Tony is similar to Karl's mistake in putting Carmello on him. It's a mismatch and Tony's going to take the taller forward every time.

I actually would put Barbosa on Tony, just stay in front of Tony and lead him to Kurt and Amare or Diaw or whoever. Marion should guard one of our shooters like Finley, Barry or Horry. Since he's lanky enough to alter their jumpshots.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

If he tried it, I missed it, but did D'Antoni ever try Bell on Parker? Not that it would amount to much, but he might make it tougher for penetration and allow for single defense on Parker more so than any other player. I know that frees up Manu, but I think Bell on Parker/Marion on Manu works better defensively than does the other way around.

I think Manu would abuse Marion worse than Parker did.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

[timvp]

Plus/Minus For Game 1
Finley +12
Duncan +11
Parker +10
Bowen +7
Elson +6
Horry 0
Oberto -5
Vaughn -5
Barry -5
Ginobili -6

Elson's and Bowen's numbers are a little inflated since they both played a lot of their minutes with Tony and Tim on the court. For Horry, it was the reverse.

It's scary that Ginobili isn't even having an effect in the +/- stats. Even when he doesn't put up stats, you can usually trust that he's going to put up a decent +/-. The Spurs seriously need to find a way to get him going and Manu has to step up. Horry and Finley won't be playing this well forever.

[bigfan]

In the unsung hero dept, I agree with your A- for Oberto. He's not the biggest or fastest, but he plays smart and I think he gets alot done in the paint on both ends. Good passer and can make an occasional shot. Im glad we have him now.