Game Thoughts: Spurs vs. Wizards - Nov. 28

[whottt]

No offense, but that's ludicrous. Duncan has the best hands on a bigman I've ever seen. He might have the best hands period in NBA history.

And really, Oberto's low turnovers are as much a testament to Duncan's hands as they are to Oberto's hands. Most of Oberto's dangerous passes are to Duncan on some sort of high-low look.

Passing doesn't have as much to do with hands as recieving...in any case. I wasn't slighting Duncan's hands...I was praising Oberto's...and Oberto's got damn good hands...as you yourself pointed out. Forget about offensive fouls...he's got that low TO rate because of his hands.

Oberto has good hands but there isn't a large area that he covers. If you hit him in the hands, he'll almost always catch it. But with Duncan, you just need to get it anywhere in the vicinity and he'll come up with it even if there are multiple players around him. When Oberto gets a pass, he's almost always wide open.

He's the only guy that consistently catches Manu's rocket passes...not even Duncan can say that. They go off Duncan with a good deal of regularity.

His D was horrible.

I thought you said you were going to start holding Barry accountable for his defense? Now you're going back to the blame-a-Pop game?

RIF...
I conceded he played crappy defense and he can play better...but are you goinng to say his offensive potential isn't far greater than his defensive potential? He's not ever going to be a great defensive player. Nor will it ever be where his heart lies.


You want to remedy that by another benching...which will result in a ty Barry. I want to remedy it with an asschewing...My way is better and will produce a better result.

Haven't you always argued that Pop "doesn't understand Barry's game ... only I do"? At least you are giving Pop the green light to get after him, finally.

I don't think I've ever said Pop shouldn't get after him a single time, in fact I've said Barry needs to be knocked to the ground at least once per game.

I've been against Pop summarily benching him with little or no reason given. In fact...I've always said Barry plays better when challenged...you're the one who's said he doesn't, you're the one who has always said it's fear even though you never had consistent proof. I've always said it was getting benched when he was playing good offensively that screwed him up. Pop finally figured it out. Guys without heart don't play better after an assreaming...they pout. Barry plays better...


In fact...his best game as a Spur happened right after his worst assreaming as a Spur.

Apology awaited.

[ShoogarBear]

I was impressed by their team play and their defense wasn’t as horrible as usual. (In fact, Agent Zero [that number, coincidentally, also quantifies how much Arenas cares about setting up his teammates] usually plays horrible at San Antonio, so I was a bit sad he was out.)

Wiz fans were playoff-starved for so long, they refused to see any of Arenas' faults. Now I think the light is beginning to go on. Arenas had by far the most talent on the team, but the dfense and offensive cohension is so much better now it's ridiculous.

Best case scenario, the Wiz play close to the 8 seed until Arenas comes back, and then he fits into the team concept and they becomes a dangerous low seed.

Worst-case, and more likely, is Arenas comes in and plays for his contract-year stats, the Wiz go down the tubes, and management lets him go.

[timvp]

In 04-05, 05-06 and 06-07, Duncan's best month during the regular season was November.

Points per game wise, yeah, November is usually good to Duncan.

Defense and energy level wise, Duncan always peaks later in the year. That's why the Spurs defense is always best during SPAM.

I think a valid reason why Duncan's scoring is down early this year is because Parker and Ginobili are both off to good offensive starts. Usually to start the season, either Parker or Ginobili is struggling. That was especially the case last year when Parker and Ginobili both basically sucked in November. However, once those two got rolling, Duncan took his customary role in the backseat during the regular season.

Saying that, I don't think November will be Duncan's best month in 07-08. He should turn it on when Spurs will need it and for the playoffs. However, it's only wishful thinking until he does it. You can't really dismiss the possibility that age/mileage is catching him up.

In Duncan We Trust.