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Scalabrine was doing a damn good job tearing himself up.
Such Bull that Pop didn't play Bonner.
Bonner would have torn up Scalabrine. There can be only one!
Scalabrine was doing a damn good job tearing himself up.
Thanks timvp. I appreciate what are you doing every game.
Why against shorter defender took the ball only 4 times in the game? He wasn't playing good enough but I think Pop doesn't trust in Oberto's offensive. Doesn't count on his help and I don't know why.
The guy is effective and he has four double-digit scoring games in the last six (except in NY with 8p).
On pg.I don't dislike Damon and Jacques, quite the contrary but if the center with limited minutes like Oberto finish with more asist than pg really I miss Tony.
He played only 15 minutes what's the matter? 2p and totally unnoticed.
We lost this game because of turnovers caused by their defense. The refs may have let them get away with some fouls, but we didn't--or couldn't-- really contest their defense with good execution and deserved to lose.
LOL only one slow red headed white baller on the court at a time?
So Timvp is that a no on it being a good idea to play Udoka at the 4 vs like Dallas?
Guest ref:
Bizarro Matt Bonner!
Im gonna throw something out here... what do you guys think of going after Ron Artest? His contract is up at the end of the season and its highly unlikely he will re-sign with the Kings anyway. Artest basically owns Pierce, probably the only guy that can stay in front of him and match up with him strength wise. This would be huge against the Mavs also with J-Ho and Dirk. Just a though.... i think it could work here in this environment.
Perhaps a Barry + Elson and a second rounder.
I'd rather lose for 10 years and be in the lottery, than have Ron Artest on my team and win.
One Ron Artest conversation:
http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86227
And another one:
http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84027
Missed the game, but reading your thoughts leads me to this question/proposal?
Is there any reason why we couldn't have gone big?
Ginobili/Bowen/Udoka/Oberto/Duncan?
Ginobili has the ball in his hands when he needs it, Bowen on Pierce, Udoka on Allen, and Size mismatches on the Wee-Celtics.
I know Rondo can be a nightmare for back-up gaurds, but Manu could surely handle it.
sure did see a lot of fouls that went the Celts way.
what really bothered me was all the turnovers, i mean, were their minds even in the game?
the only good that came out of this game was pop telling the team that the offense sucked. the defense sucked too but i'm not sure if he included that.
thanks for the thoughts timvp!
What I wanna see is not even just the spurs in general attacking the basket more (I'm scared to lookup where they rank in FT attempts per game) but Michael Finley to attack the rim more. While he's up there in age, Finley can still dunk it better than most Spurs, and I wouldn't mind seeing him take it to the hoop more as he is also a very good FT shooter.
I am sometimes puzzled with his decent athleticism (for his age) that he settles for mostly jumpers
Agreed, he had no problems dunking in 2006 on Dallas. I mean, when Tim dunks he sometimes limps away like he pulled something, Finley should be able to, but he seems to really settle for jumpers, even if there is an open path.
exactly, I was mostly thinking about some his big dunks (the one on dampier comes to mind) from the 2006 series.
I don't mind Finley as a jumpshooter, but I would love to see this team cut to the basket far more, especially when their 3's aren't falling
Finley can dunk it...he just can't get by anyone to do it. Only people who can get to the rim on a regular basis are Manu and Tony, period...and TP's not here. JV does his best, but...
Turnovers are a function of bad passing generally. Spurs (especially Manu) rely on the baseball pass more than the bounce pass. Baseball passes are much easier to deflect. Easier to just reach out, or up, to deflect a baseball pass. Bounce passes are much harder to deflect, most people don't like to reach down to deflect that type of pass, but use their feet and kick the pass instead. Why Bounce passes generally get through over a baseball pass...and even if kicked, you get the ball back.
Manu's passing would improve if he focused on this more, imho.
And fer chrissakes...stop all this stupid cross-court passing!
So without our startin PG and with our 2 best players playing poorly we had a close loss against a team without his best player and his starting C. I wonder if this game means something. Time will tell.
If Spurs and Celtics make it to the finals, that will only add to the entertainment factor.
Then again I don't want to see Bonner get many key minutes if we make it to the finals.
I'm all for key Scalabrine minutes though!
My thoughts....
- I feel bad for Duncan. Yes he should have dominated moreso than he did, but I felt like he wasn't getting the normal respect for the refs that he usually does. Whether it's right or not, Duncan will normally draw a few ticky-tacky fouls in the post, then finish with ease. IIRC, going into the 4th quarter Duncan had attempted one free throw.
I actually thought he was plenty aggressive, but that he wasn't getting help....either by the refs or by his open teammates that didn't hit their shots.
- Small-ball isn't such a bad strategy and wasn't to blame for this loss. Guys like Ime and Manu actually rebound pretty well for their size, but rebounding is about will/intensity, and the Spurs just didn't have it yesterday.
Having said that, if the Spurs' other bigs (Elson and Bonner) aren't going to be trusted to play, then the Spurs should REALLY look to add a frontcourt player for the homestretch. Spurs simply can't play small-ball against everyone and expect to win.
- While I didn't like Vaughn starting, I agree with the Vaugh/Ginobili pairing in the backcourt. To me, the best starting 5 combination for this squad is Damon, Fin, Bowen, Duncan, Oberto. Key reserves are Vaughn, Ginobili, Udoka, and Horry. It's a similar formula to the one the Spurs have when they're playing with Tony...starting out with a "scoring" PG and bringing Manu off the bench.
I think that's what this road trip is all about, though. Trying different rotations and seeing what works best.
- To that end, however, I don't know that the Spurs are learning much about themselves on this trip....other than how unmotivated and out-of-focus they are to this point. Of course it doesn't help that they're one-time leading scorer and key piece to last year's finals is out. Still, it's tough to see how this road trip is turning out as a positive for the team.
Sorry to be a debbie downer...
But it looks like the Spurs will face another tough challenge (Bosh & Co.) tonight in Toronto.
I think Horry should have had more minutes. Rebounding was a key factor to the loss. On the oter hand, although I agree with Timvp about Ginobili's horrible pairing with any of the Celts starters, he will mostly go against the second unit. When he is on the court with the starters he should definitely go against Allen, and if Allen beats him off the dribble there is always TD waiting for him at the rim.
By the way, ugly loss. It is really scary how Spurs manage to loose against most quality teams.
Actually, I wasn't too disappointed. Seeing as how it was a Sunday noon start, which the Spurs never seem ready to play, and that Fin had a good shot to tie it with seconds left, this game was a lot closer than the final score seems. Add into that the group Pop was playing in and out, and actually I was surprised the Spurs still had a shot at the end to win it.The bottomline is the Spurs lost a very winnable game. The Spurs also had a few flaws exposed. But with a 4-3 record on the Rodeo Road Trip, the Spurs have two more games to make this a successful trip. At the least, the Spurs need to win one of the last two games. Monday the Spurs take on the Raptors and will be looking to avenge a blowout loss at home they suffered earlier this season.
Rebounding was our undoing. Simple.
I was most disappointed in Duncan. He made Big Baby Ds year. A guy he should have used and abused, got the best of the matchup. Un friggin believeable.
Is Brian Scalabrine really a "Boston fan favorite" as Mike Breen kept insisting yesterday? I could have sworn I heard booing after a few of his plays.
For a player like Brian Scalabrine to be a fan favorite in a city with such a rich history of great basketball players is unthinkable. He's clumsy and awkward; he doesn't compensate for his lack of athleticism with any notable basketball IQ; and it's not like he isn't well-compensated.
I know Boston loves their pasty white guys but I can't believe they'd celebrate such a wreckless oaf wearing the uniform of Russell, Havlicek and Bird.
Pretty simple way to win against Boston with or without KG. Tony Parker.
Parker comes in and ass rapes the Celtics PG's (They have none.........) Celtics have to focus more on stopping Parker's drives, then the paint is a much more easier place for TD to operate in and with the Celts focused on TP and Duncan, Manu is free to be Manu.
Tim Duncan should have a field day against Boston. They will never let KG play Duncan on D and with the Celtics C/PF's, as Timvp said, Duncan should utterly dominate. The only question is containing the Celts on the offensive end.
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