Grades: Spurs vs. Nuggets - Mar. 4

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Pop D-
Pop was going for the cover of Mad Scientist Weekly with his rotation tonight. Playing all 12 players when the team was challenged as it was to figure things out with all the new pieces added to the mix? That made no sense. I know Pop had a lot more toys to play with than usual but the answer wasn't to just throw everyone out there willy-nilly. On top of that, he made other questionable decisions such as drawing up multiple plays for Green, putting in Anderson early, not playing Neal much in the first half, waiting so long to go back to Leonard in the second half and suddenly switching to Ford. The Spurs needed a calming hand, instead Pop seemed intent to increase the difficulty.

Timvp, first off, I want to thank you for getting back to doing the grades this year. The first thing I read after a Spurs game is your analysis, because it's the best recap and evaluation of the team's performance that you can find. Amazing work!

To the game last night, this grade for Pop is spot on. He left me scratching my head with his decision-making, especially down the stretch. Watching Bonner getting destroyed in the 4th quarter, and then have Pop replace him with Jefferson was painful to witness. Jefferson wasn't trying on either end of the floor, and to have him play vital 4th quarter minutes made no sense to me. Denver's energy was destroying the zone D Pop was running there for a stretch, and we needed some energy guys on the floor to match up. Jefferson is the anti-energy guy.

Our self-imposed dependence on Bonner and Jefferson will ultimately be our downfall in the post season...again.

[DPG21920]

Tim, do losses like this overly concern you and do you think the Spurs are actively pursuing trades (in particular for a big man)?

[ajballer4]

Didnt want to start a whole new thread for this, but TJ Ford is practicing with the Toros today, from Marc Spears

[Horse]

Thanks for the writeup. IMO, disappointing loss at home against a shorthanded team.

Frankly, I'm alarmed to see this team slowly regressing into the 3 ball team from last season when it appeared we were making strides on the defensive end pre-ASG.

This team is incredibly frustrating to watch when they play the brand of defense they played last night.

Denver shot 41%, and scored 99 pts that's less than they average. Is that terribel D? After the first quarter when they were sleep-walking I thought they did pretty good.

[ElNono]

Denver shot 41%, and scored 99 pts that's less than they average. Is that terribel D? After the first quarter when they were sleep-walking I thought they did pretty good.

Denver was missing 3 guys, two of which provide a sizeable amount of their offense. Mozgov was also dinged up. I thought our defense was really bad outside that stretch when we made the comeback. We just couldn't make stops when it mattered and they almost always ended up recreating their lead to 6 or 7 points.

This was a home game against a extremely shorthanded Nuggets team, especially on offense. The fact they were able to drop 99 points on us tells you all you need to know about our D.

[jag]

I thought Manu did a terrific job on Afflalo after he was torching us in the 1st quarter. And that was individual defense.

Manu's individual defense was very impressive, especially the times he was matched up against Andre Miller.

[Bill_Brasky]

Manu looked like Manu, I was very impressed. When he came back from the hand injury he was slow.....but this time he had some explosiveness and had legs under his shot, playing good defense to boot.

Pop disappointed last night. We were getting massacred on the boards and he stayed small. We needed TD/TS/KL out there together.

[tenbeersbold]

Expectations. Parker is an All-Star and has been playing some of his best basketball of his career, while Ginobili is returning from another injury plus also adjusting to having a plate in his hand. Not an even playing field for the time being.

Not to be picky but is 25 pts not playing to expectations...just wanna be sure 'bout this

[SenorSpur]

Watching the undermanned Nuggets outwork and outhustle the Spurs, particularly with Kenneth Faried on the inside, only highlghts the obvious - the Spurs are still weak along the frontline. They simply are lacking a physical, athletic PF-type, who can score, rebound and defend the post.

While I do not expect anything to happen this year, but the FO simply HAS to draft a young, physical PF, who can do some of this dirty work and prevent Pop from having to resort to this incessant brand of small-ball - using a SF as a PF.

I certainly hope they can do what they did in last year's draft, and that is use some assets (Anderson perhaps) as bait to swap spots to improve their position in this year's June draft.

This long-standing hole at the PF slot absolutely MUST be filled.

[TD 21]

Watching the undermanned Nuggets outwork and outhustle the Spurs, particularly with Kenneth Faried on the inside, only highlghts the obvious - the Spurs are still weak along the frontline. They simply are lacking a physical, athletic PF-type, who can score, rebound and defend the post.

While I do not expect anything to happen this year, but the FO simply HAS to draft a young, physical PF, who can do some of this dirty work and prevent Pop from having to resort to this incessant brand of small-ball - using a SF as a PF.

I certainly hope they can do what they did in last year's draft, and that is use some assets (Anderson perhaps) as bait to swap spots to improve their position in this year's June draft.

This long-standing hole at the PF slot absolutely MUST be filled.

What's the rush? They've got plenty of good years left with Duncan and Ginobili. Preserving some future 1st round pick is far more important than taking a serious run at a championship. I'm sure the instant they clear cap space, the next batch of superstars that become unrestricted free agents will be flocking to San Antonio.

[Brazil]

didn't see the game but looking at the comments and the grades... still not sure how we lost this game... to sum up, parker played well enough to win this game againts a shorthanded team, manu has been good considering he is recovering, tim looked ok, matt scored, tiago seemed to be ok too... its all on pop ?

[LakerHater]

I did enjoy Duncan smacking tat boy in the head and then dunking on him though...

[therealtruth]

Watching the undermanned Nuggets outwork and outhustle the Spurs, particularly with Kenneth Faried on the inside, only highlghts the obvious - the Spurs are still weak along the frontline. They simply are lacking a physical, athletic PF-type, who can score, rebound and defend the post.

While I do not expect anything to happen this year, but the FO simply HAS to draft a young, physical PF, who can do some of this dirty work and prevent Pop from having to resort to this incessant brand of small-ball - using a SF as a PF.

I certainly hope they can do what they did in last year's draft, and that is use some assets (Anderson perhaps) as bait to swap spots to improve their position in this year's June draft.

This long-standing hole at the PF slot absolutely MUST be filled.

What I really like about Faried is he plays within himself and his limitations.

[SenorSpur]

What I really like about Faried is he plays within himself and his limitations.

Same as he did in college. His play only confirms that skills like rebounding and a having a high motor can instantly translate to the next level.

[Manu-of-steel]

TP played great. The problem is that we didn't have a good shooting night. We missed wide open shots. And we were manhandled in rebounds. I was also impressed with how manu shut down afflalo.

[Horse]

Denver was missing 3 guys, two of which provide a sizeable amount of their offense. Mozgov was also dinged up. I thought our defense was really bad outside that stretch when we made the comeback. We just couldn't make stops when it mattered and they almost always ended up recreating their lead to 6 or 7 points.

This was a home game against a extremely shorthanded Nuggets team, especially on offense. The fact they were able to drop 99 points on us tells you all you need to know about our D.

Denver is a team kind of like us where all there players are good with maybe no superstar, so the drop off is not that much when some of their players are out, they're very deep. I also believe right before the ASG the D was coming around, and they'll get it together especially with more Manu. And hopefully shorter rotations and more Kawi and Tiago.

[TJastal]

Manu looked like Manu, I was very impressed. When he came back from the hand injury he was slow.....but this time he had some explosiveness and had legs under his shot, playing good defense to boot.

Pop disappointed last night. We were getting massacred on the boards and he stayed small. We needed TD/TS/KL out there together.

But the data shows that Tiago and Tim can't play good basketball together. Pop tried it once and they gave up, like, alot of points and . And didn't score much either. It was a worthy effort though. I'm sure Pop talked about it alot before the game. And even got out his clipboard once or twice.

Well, maybe we'll get to see them both play when the spurs are down 3-1 in the 1st round again like last season. That was a hoot.

[superbigtime]

If the team is healthy with a full roster, there is absolutely NO reason to play Anderson unless it's garbage time or special situations like giving a foul. He has nothing going for him right now. I am beginning to wonder if Green is going to ever be consistent. Pop can't play everybody (well, he did but looked what happens), so why not play the guys who play well?