Game Thoughts: Spurs vs. Rockets Jan. 19th

[bigfundamental21]

Yes, the switch needs to be flipped. I myself am getting impatient and tired of watching lackluster performances. The Big 3 are trying to carry the team, but with Pop giving inconsistent minutes to the rest of the team, it is hard for anyone to get any rhythym. Does anyone think that Pop will put Manu in the starting lineup at some point? He seems to do this every year and I am just wondering if that time is coming soon. With 12 of the next 14 games on the road, we need to flip that switch soon or we will be looking at a number 7 or 8 seed in the West. I know it doesn't look good now, but you have to believe that the Spurs still have it in them. Believe.

[duncan228]

If the Coyote would have made the short jet ride over to Houston, I’m sure Pop would have figured out a way to get him out on the court.

Thanks for the thoughts and the humor.

It's strange, but I'm not that concerned. I was more concerned last year at this same point.
I believe they will work it all out. This team is old but they are experienced and they know what's at stake. The next few weeks are crucial. I expect them to come together on the road, and I expect them to be on the rise heading into the ASG.
I'm not watching the win/loss column right now, I'm watching the team. Their at ude is what pulls them together on the RRT, and I've seen seen flashes of it in the last 2 games. By SPAM I think we will see the team we know fall into place.

[whottt]

Again I'm going to challlenge your stance that Barry isn't a good match for the Rockets...

One of the best games of Barry's career as a Spur came against the Rockets...with Tim Duncan out, and we blew the Rockets out in the 4th quarter of that game, in large part because of Barry.


Yet for some reason Pop usually elects not to play Barry much against the Rockets, and those have been some of the most frustrating losses of the past 3-4 years.


Just show me a game where Barry did get a lot of minutes against the Rockets that justifies your(and Pop's) stance that he isn't a good matchup for them...

[LaMarcus Bryant]

whawhotttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt???


pznwnt


BTW, home court advantage. It's good for the spurs to not have home court advantage, makes them earn their victories through harder work come playoff time.

[exstatic]

Championships have turned Spurs Fan into the iest of all fans in existence outside of Yankee Fan.

I think it's more like the annual swoon/recovery that does it.

[da_suns_fan]

No mention of the fact that the Spurs only scored 81 points. This is the seventh time in eleven games the Spurs have failed to reach 90.

How do you only score 81 points in an NBA game?

I looked at the boxscore expecting the shooting percentages to be in the low 30s. They weren't (45% shooting for the Spurs).

The Spurs did miss almost half their free throws, but even if they would have hit them all, they would have only scored 89.

Were there a ton of turnovers? Nope. They only had twelve.

So how in gods name do you only score 81 points in a 48 minute NBA game?

[spurms]

No mention of the fact that the Spurs only scored 81 points. This is the seventh time in eleven games the Spurs have failed to reach 90.

How do you only score 81 points in an NBA game?

I looked at the boxscore expecting the shooting percentages to be in the low 30s. They weren't (45% shooting for the Spurs).

The Spurs did miss almost half their free throws, but even if they would have hit them all, they would have only scored 89.

Were there a ton of turnovers? Nope. They only had twelve.

So how in gods name do you only score 81 points in a 48 minute NBA game?

that's because playing a half court offense always plays into the hand of the rockets, and spurs are that sort of team.

[Kori Ellis]

So how in gods name do you only score 81 points in a 48 minute NBA game?

By missing over 1/2 your freethrows and letting the Rockets get so many O boards. Rockets shot 12 more FGA than the Spurs due to the O boards and the turnover difference.

[ploto]

The points about this so-called "switch flipping" are dead on and exactly the point I've been hammering on for a few weeks now. What if there is no juice left when the Spurs attempt to "flip that switch?"

I wrote about this a few days ago and got hammered-- timvp writes it, and now it is Gospel.

[timvp]

Again I'm going to challlenge your stance that Barry

Shocking.

At least with Barry back you are posting again

One of the best games of Barry's career as a Spur came against the Rockets...with Tim Duncan out, and we blew the Rockets out in the 4th quarter of that game, in large part because of Barry.

Which game is that? I'm not like you -- I don't mentally reference games by how well Barry plays.

Wait, are you talking about that meaningless game at the end of the '06 season? The game better known for Beno getting stripped by Chuck Hayes and basically ending his Spurs career?

Please tell me you aren't talking about that game. Neither team was trying and it was a meaningless game for both teams. IIRC, Duncan, Parker, McGrady and Yao all didn't play that game.

Seriously, please don't tell me you are speaking of that game. Pointing to that game as "one of Barry's career best games" would be your lamest take of all time. Preseason games are played with more intensity than that game -- literally.

Yet for some reason Pop usually elects not to play Barry much against the Rockets, and those have been some of the most frustrating losses of the past 3-4 years.

Last night, specifically, Barry either had to chase around a small guard (Head), get banged around by a bruiser (Wells) or attempt to defend McGrady. Ginobili was on Battier. Bowen/Udoka was on McGrady. You want Barry on Head or Wells? He's not a good matchup for either.

And when he was in the game, the Spurs got smoked defensively.

Just show me a game where Barry did get a lot of minutes against the Rockets that justifies your(and Pop's) stance that he isn't a good matchup for them...

The Spurs have lost their last four games against the Rockets when Barry has played at least 20 minutes. Coming into this game, the Spurs had won their last five games against the Rockets when Barry played less than 20 minutes.

Read the above paragraph again to realize how much ownage you just ran into. That's some ungodly ownage.

whawhotttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt???


pznwnt

You, too.

[da_suns_fan]

By missing over 1/2 your freethrows and letting the Rockets get so many O boards. Rockets shot 12 more FGA than the Spurs due to the O boards and the turnover difference.

Thats true....I didn't see the game but assume the Rockets milked the shot clock after every offensive rebound.

[timvp]

So how in gods name do you only score 81 points in a 48 minute NBA game?

You were born to be a Sun Fan.

[whottt]

whawhotttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt???


pznwnt

Thanks


With even Pop claiming that the offense, not the defense, is the problem(which incidentally coincides with Barry's absence)...Barry needs to be getting more minutes.

BTW, home court advantage. It's good for the spurs to not have home court advantage, makes them earn their victories through harder work come playoff time.

Agree...a lot of mock drafts are predicting Kevin Love will go in the bottom 15 picks...this guy alongside Duncan would be a thing of beauty...

Of course, a youg bigman does not appear to be our greatest future need(that would be 2 guard), and Love has some legitimate defensive weaknesses, but still....it'd be awesome to have two players that are masters of fundamental play on our frontline...

[da_suns_fan]

You were born to be a Sun Fan.

I might make that my sig.

[whottt]

Shocking.

At least with Barry back you are posting again

Which game is that? I'm not like you -- I don't mentally reference games by how well Barry plays.

Wait, are you talking about that meaningless game at the end of the '06 season? The game better known for Beno getting stripped by Chuck Hayes and basically ending his Spurs career?

Please tell me you aren't talking about that game. Neither team was trying and it was a meaningless game for both teams. IIRC, Duncan, Parker, McGrady and Yao all didn't play that game.

Seriously, please don't tell me you are speaking of that game. Pointing to that game as "one of Barry's career best games" would be your lamest take of all time. Preseason games are played with more intensity than that game -- literally.

No...I'm talking about the final matchup against the Rockets of the 04-05 season where Duncan was injured...


To quote Kori Ellis:

Barry was frickin awesome.

Last night, specifically, Barry either had to chase around a small guard (Head), get banged around by a bruiser (Wells) or attempt to defend McGrady. Ginobili was on Battier. Bowen/Udoka was on McGrady. You want Barry on Head or Wells? He's not a good matchup for either.

Defense was not the problem....offense was, and Barry doesn't do any worse against MaGrady than anyone else does...

It'd be one thing if we stopped him...we don't. Might as well get some offense in there.

And when he was in the game, the Spurs got smoked defensively.

LOL the 5 minutes he was playing?


Well in that case Pop was correct to not play him...we might have lost otherwise

The Spurs have lost their last four games against the Rockets when Barry has played at least 20 minutes. Coming into this game, the Spurs had won their last five games against the Rockets when Barry played less than 20 minutes.

You can't just throw an arbitrary 20 minute mark out there and expect me to consider it relevant....


The fact that you do think you can pull that off is quite revealing..


What's next? You going to trot out last nights +/- numbers?

Read the above paragraph again to realize how much ownage you just ran into. That's some ungodly ownage.

Yeah? And go back and read some previous Timvp's game thoughts VS the Rockets from this season and see if you still feel you have owned anyone...

[td4mvp21]

The reason our offense is suffering is because over half of our plays are ISOLATIONS! I saw isolations for four guys-Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, and Finley. Worst of all, NONE of those guys passed it when they had no where to go-they continued to work the isolation and ended up jacking up tough contested shots. Thankfully, Ginobili and Duncan made a couple of them. Finley didn't hit much. This game Parker didn't force as much as he had been, he actually hit some very good shots with consistency. Furthermore, Pop draws up isolations for these players when there are NO OTHER THREATS ON THE FLOOR. The lineup at the end of the first, start of second, end of third, start of fourth are horrible and make absolutely no sense at all. To sum it up, there is no passing, no team work, and the offense is ing predictable. That is why it is suffering. It is very easy to stop. Especially considering our role players haven't been hitting their shots with any consistency.

[wildbill2u]

Amazing that all our experts here can't figure out what is wrong and agree on a way to fix it. Just imagine the dilemma Pop is in.

Pop went with Oberto against Yao, giving up a lot of size and weight against a player who will kill you if you foul him. Props to Oberto for playing him that well and not fouling out. Incredibly, Pop put Elson in at the end of the game, cold, and not playing much lately. It didn't work.

[ClingingMars]

No mention of the fact that the Spurs only scored 81 points. This is the seventh time in eleven games the Spurs have failed to reach 90.

How do you only score 81 points in an NBA game?

I looked at the boxscore expecting the shooting percentages to be in the low 30s. They weren't (45% shooting for the Spurs).

The Spurs did miss almost half their free throws, but even if they would have hit them all, they would have only scored 89.

Were there a ton of turnovers? Nope. They only had twelve.

So how in gods name do you only score 81 points in a 48 minute NBA game?

how in gods name do you give up over 100 pts a game and expect to win?

-Mars

[timvp]

No...I'm talking about the final matchup against the Rockets of the 04-05 season where Duncan was injured...


To quote Kori Ellis:

Barry was frickin awesome.

Well at least you weren't speaking of that other game. Your lamest takes ever are safe, for now

Barry doesn't do any worse against MaGrady than anyone else does...

It'd be one thing if we stopped him...we don't. Might as well get some offense in there.

I spoke too soon . . .

Barry guards McGrady as well as Bowen and/or Udoka? You sure you want to stick to that take?

McGrady was held to under ten points last night. Granted he was returning from injury but Bowen and Udoka played him well. McGrady on one leg probably goes off for 30 on Barry.

LOL the 5 minutes he was playing?


Well in that case Pop was correct to not play him...we might have lost otherwise

Should Pop have just kept playing him? Spurs vs. Rockets has been a defensive struggle for years. The Spurs haven't scored 100 points versus the Rockets in I don't know how long. To beat them, you have to out-defend them.

You can't just throw an arbitrary 20 minute mark out there and expect me to consider it relevant....


The fact that you do think you can pull that off is quite revealing..

The Spurs win when Barry doesn't play against the Rockets and lose when he does. How much simpler do you want it?

You were the one asking for proof. It doesn't get much more elementary than that.

Yeah? And go back and read some previous Timvp's game thoughts VS the Rockets from this season and see if you still feel you have owned anyone...

While you are searching, maybe you can tell me what whottt said after Barry laid that 22 trillion against the Sonics in the playoffs.

[mbass]

That's been said before.

Spurs losing is not normal so anything what is not normal is being noticed and critisized. Everybody wants to win.

As for the spurs.
last year they were playing even worse at that time of the year, and I had great concern. Spurs won the le. Right now I'm not so much concern and maybe it is not that good.

Last year Kori said that the spurs won't win unless they will make a trade.


What about the rotation?
How should it look like at this stage?

Try Udoka at point ?????

TP
Fin
Bruce
TD
Oberto
-------
Barry
Udoka
Gino
-----
Elson
Voughn
Bonner
Horry


Extreamly hard to do it. Still probably we have to put Jaque into the 8-man rotation. What does that mean?

That meand there will be no chance for Udoka or/and Barry (depends if the spurs want to keep the small ball for longer stretches)

[duncan228]

Amazing that all our experts here can't figure out what is wrong and agree on a way to fix it. Just imagine the dilemma Pop is in.

Classic.

[baseline bum]

Championships have turned Spurs Fan into the iest of all fans in existence outside of Yankee Fan.

I was in full-panic mode last year at this time, and then the freaking team goes 16-4 on the way to winning a le. I have to confess to having no idea what to think about losses like this until March and April roll around.

[da_suns_fan]

how in gods name do you give up over 100 pts a game and expect to win?

-Mars

Score 101.

[SpursDynasty]

Well, as has been the case many times this season, the other team just happened to get their shots to go down, no big deal..There have been a couple of bull losses that we should have won:

December 13@Lakers: Lost 102-97, we were without Parker AND Duncan in this one. The Lakers just got a lot of open looks in this one.
December 17 vs. Phoenix: Lost 100-95, we were without Parker and we lost because we let Grant Hill go 8-for-12 from the field. A couple of bounces here and there and win this game.
December 19@Memphis: Lost 88-85 as some no-name Rudy Gay hits what will probably be the high point of his career, a bull game-winner. It didn't help that we were without Parker.
December 28 vs Toronto: Our shots didn't go in and theirs did. Simple as that
January 3@Denver: Lost 80-77. Once again, a bounce here or there and a miss here or there for them, and we win.
January 17 and 19: Two bull losses to Cleveland and Houston, each by 2 points. These 2 teams are among the league's worst with the league's most overrated fluke players behind Dwight Howard: LeBron James and Tracy McGrady.

[bdictjames]

I wish the grades were back.