What worries me is the careless play by our vets in the closing minutes. Remember how we let those games get away in that six game streak late in the season?
Careless passing errors, allowing steals, bad shots and we went from a comfortable 8 point lead to hanging on by out teeth last night. Granted that Memphis MADE those bad plays by our vets so worrisome, but they were better focused that we were it seems.
We finally closed it out, but the vets can't keep making rookie mistakes if we are to win the series, much less the Championship.
I'm happy every time more fans understand to what they call "the church of Manu".
His contribution are far beyond the boxscore, as Duncan has always been (I'd be considered from the church of Tim too, it happens that Tim is more recognized, IMO, so there's no need to remember his value).
Anyway, the +16 of Manu and the +7 of Tim should give everybody a hint of contribution beyond the usual stats, even if they don't have their best day.
Last edited by Dartherus; 04-21-2011 at 09:41 AM.
Very physical game. The Grizz are no slouches.
Ding ding ding... I just don't get the love for Bonner last night. Obstructed hit it out of the park. Whenever Bonner didn't get help, he got scored on.
Manu
It's really striking how much this team relies on him - not just basketball-wise, but in terms of leadership and a certain extra lift he gives them.
True, his shot and his passes were a bit off at times (not too surprising), but it was a vintage Ginobili performance nonetheless.
Tim was good, but could have made quicker decisions at times when he had the ball on the offensive end. Bonner was as decent as he can possibly be on D and even pulled down a couple of contested boards. With Blair doing more good things than bad as well, right now, it seems more unlikely than ever that Splitter will get any kind of run in this series. Well, maybe if Dice continues to underperform.
Tony has been far from showing what kind of a player he is - one of the best scoring PGs in this league. He just needs to do better, but I kind of expect a breakout performance by him in one of the next two games. Maybe the best thing overall so far has been the Spurs' rebounding. They're really working hard to keep the Grizz away from the offensive glass, especially Randolph.
If that's what you came away with after all the work I put in, then I feel sorry for you.
Let me recap:
Bonner was GREAT on defense
Dice was on defense.
Whenever Bonner, Dice and Blair didn't get help, they got scored on. At least Bonner kept his guys from getting right to the front of the rim before scoring, and Bonner rotated very well.
The Spurs can not win an NBA le with Manu playing with his arm like that.
I don't think it's ever been a question of his hustle. Every time I'd see Bonner play, he looked like he was really trying (aside from a few loose balls, haphazardly bouncing across the floor). I've never doubted his desire. It seems like that's what you're applauding. I could be wrong (like AHF more obviously was)...
Again, as you said, the sad part is that out of all his hustle, he's still got very little upside when he's not "spreading the floor." Bonner's play on the court is like mine in the bedroom. The energy's there...but nothing typically comes of it.
The fact is, Bonner is at his absolute ceiling playing the way he played last night defensively, but nobody's passing him the ball and he's not drawing fouls or wearing down the other team's bigs. For that, you might as well have you-know-who in the game. I'd rather have Bonner used when he's actually going to shoot, or if you need him as a decoy.
Bonner could be spreading the floor, but as I said, they aren't even looking for him. The Spurs are ed if they can't get him some shots. But they're also not drawing fouls from the other bigs, and that's a problem for Duncan because he's the only one fouling.
And if I'm making recommendations based on the first two games, I'm giving Dice's minutes to Splitter and letting Bonner play as long as people pass him the ball. I don't expect Bonner to be making threes at the end of games in the conference finals if you're going to beat him up for 25 minutes every night.
Nice writeup OV, thanks.
One question... do you think the lack of looks from Bonner and Dice was due to over-penetration or something else? It seemed, especially in the first half, that they would collapse when Tony drove but he would get in too deep and not have passing lanes to the arc. But that's just gut feel, I haven't rewatched the game.
Like... what?
Timvp posted before that it takes max, 3 weeks for this injury to heal, and much more commonly 2. Manu got a full 9 days off before Game 2, discounting practice and drills.
Ah, I see. Makes sense...especially the bolded.
I'm not in the Bonner-bashing camp. I appreciate the things he does/can do well. I didn't rewatch the game, but from what I saw upon first viewing, while the Spurs weren't actively looking for him by setting up plays, he did get the ball several times on the perimeter. It looks like MEM is making a conscious effort to collapse on him almost immediately, forcing him into a bas ized version of Manu's "herky-jerk" stylings to the basket. The promising (albeit unorthodox) drives he appeared to have cultivated earlier in the season seem to have all but disappeared. If he could rediscover them (QUICKLY), I think it'd bode well for everyone. It'd solve that "drawing fouls on THEIR bigs" issue as well as leave him some room on the perimeter, assuming MEM begins to (relatively) respect his cut.
As far as giving Split Dice's minutes, I've all but given up on that pipe dream. Dice will continue to play until he breaks a hip on the court, and "small ball/defensive purposes" Green will come into replace him. Simple as that.
Bonner hasn't been getting the ball nearly enough. He got two passes to him in the entire game and made one of two threes. He had another three attempt when he got the ball and decided to shoot it (after hesitating) even though he was 28 feet away from the basket, and had a loose ball dribble to him once in the corner but no room to shoot. He was alone in the corner maybe ten or fifteen times while his man went into the paint to help defend, and that doesn't even count the times he was alone at the top of the circle. They did exactly the same thing to Dice when he was in the corner. Bonner's distance made no difference, so having a three point shooter there was completely pointless.
He's good at dribbling in when they close out on him. An indication of how few times he got the ball is that he had zero shots other than the ones I mentioned. Unfortunately his lack of shot attempts is also an indictment of his ability to get offensive rebounds.
The lack of looks are a failure of gameplanning. Manu, Parker and Hill aren't even looking Bonner and Dice's way, and the Grizzlies seem to know it. Parker may have overpenetrated once or twice but he's still breaking down the defense when he does that, and that's never a bad thing as long as the turnovers aren't rampant.
I need to keep a closer eye on Matty-boy without the ball. Missing shots does enough do hurt a shooter's confidence (especially one like Bonner that seems to get so easily frazzled). Not even looking his way can only further shake it.
If he is as open as you say he often is, you're right. That's poor game-planning...which isn't altogether that surprising nowadays.
Good news is that RJ and Bonner have had arguably their best consecutive playoff games in Spurs uniforms.
Will it continue? God I hope so, because it's barely been enough to split against an inexperienced 8-seed at home.
Bonner had one pass to him before the beginning of the fourth quarter, and he took that pass from Blair and calmly knocked it down. As I said, I'm more worried about his legs after beating on the bigs of the Grizzlies and the Thunder if they should get that far. At some point he'll wear down and miss shots because his legs are gone and Spurs fans will say "see, I told you so".I need to keep a closer eye on Matty-boy without the ball. Missing shots does enough do hurt a shooter's confidence (especially one like Bonner that seems to get so easily frazzled). Not even looking his way can only further shake it.
If he is as open as you say he often is, you're right. That's poor game-planning...which isn't altogether that surprising nowadays.
Darrell Arther owns Matt Bonner and carries him around on his hip at the mall.
Blair's work on Zack has been a revelation so far. It being the play-offs where refs are letting them bang more i think helps Blair's game . Hope to see Pop give him more mins on the road.
Bonner getting a lot of love. Just looked to me that he benifitted from a strong team defense more-so than personal defense. It's true , this is as good as it's probably going to be from him. I found it fustrating that he often bailed memphis out with silly fouls when it should of been good defensive play and a stop for the spurs..
Read my notes if you have the time. That's where my praise for him comes from. He had basically one foul in the whole game that could be called silly, which was his first, but I wasn't able to think of any where he bailed out Memphis. Arthur flopped on him twice and he prevented two dunks with the other two. None of his fouls were in the penalty, and the shooting fouls resulted in one point on three free throw attempts.
ok so they weren't costly fouls but they were fouls which if they weren't would of rewarded the Spurs with possesion.
Honsetly i dont have the time but i will get to them asap.
Working 50 hours a week, looking after a crazy 2year old, keeping the missus happy while fitting Spurs games and spurs talk makes time precious.
I don't think any of his fouls would have ended up with the Spurs getting possession. He didn't foul anyone on a missed jumper or get a touch foul at the end of the shot clock. His first foul was on Arthur as he was making a pass that Blair intercepted, but I don't know if the steal was due to Bonner's disruption or not. Feel how you want about him, but you can't really say that he often bailed Memphis out when it's possible that he didn't do it a single time.
That's a big assumption on your part in thinking none would of ended up with the Spurs getting possesion.
Didn't do it a single time? You missed the loose ball foul on Bonner where Manu got the rebound at 10.44 of the second. That's a bail-out in my book . Next play resulted in a Vaquez three so costly as well.
Has nothing to with how i feel about Bonner the player. More about the team busting their asses out there on D and then wasting it away because Matt Bonner getting physical equals playing outside the rules of the game.
Fustrating . That's all.
It wasn't an assumption, it was a statement of fact worded to be polite. Not one of Bonner's fouls were bailout fouls. Not one. I gave you the benefit of the doubt on the first one because Blair ended up with the steal.
I didn't miss it. I said Arthur flopped on him twice, and that was the first. It was a loose ball foul that wasn't in the penalty and had nine seconds left on the shot clock. Bonner did the exact same thing to Arthur in game 1 in the exact same situation. And blame Gary Neal's horrid rotation for giving up the Vasquez three, not Bonner.
Obviously it has something to do with how you feel about Bonner because he played amazingly good defense, busted his ass on D more than anyone on the roster and the only thing you walk away with is how he "wasted away" the team's effort because he "often bailed out the Grizzlies" with, at absolute MOST, two fouls in the first half.
I'm sorry you made a statement that's so awkward to back up because there's no basis in fact to back it up with, and I'm sorry that you won't just concede that you were wrong because you were watching Bonner with a jaundiced eye. I'm happy to leave the point alone if you don't keep bringing it up.
You missed it, by simply assuming Arthur flopped. Funny how the refs didn't. Watch the game the third time and im sure Matt Bonner will look like he's the second coming of David Robinson to you.
You are blowing up Matt Bonner on this board in dumb way.
He simply did what he supposed to do, when he wasn't fouling. Matt Bonner is a player with limited abilites on the defensive end. The team defense helped hide that. We are all gratefull for that adn the win. Thats about as good as it's gonna get from him.
The rest of your post is pathetic . "Amazingly good defense" and i wont concede Matt Bonner isn't fustrating to watch . Ya no worries, you keep telling yourself that.
get some sleep. Tomorrow is brand new day.
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