i guess that little window of hope that tp was faking/holding back for the playoffs is gone
something is wrong with him
- Parker looked physically horrible, he didn't blow by Blake even once, tbh..Blake had 3 or 4 clean strips against him, too, tbh, and he blocked him from behind..a healthy Parker would have blown by Blake at will, tbh..
I'm very concerned about Parker..
- Ginobili looked great, his shot was on..he was hesitant to create a shot at first, but it seems like his confidence grew as the game progressed..
- I didn't have a problem with Neal's shot selection..there wasn't anything unusual about his performance tonight, same old, you live with the good and the bad..
- Kawhi has no offensive chemistry with the team as a ball-handler, tbh..everybody looks lost when he has the ball, particularly the bigs.. I'm not expecting much from Leonard offensively against MWP, but it's even more unlikely considering the lack of chemistry..
He needs to start making his 3s again, though..
His defense was very good and he rebounded at a high level, though..
- I didn't have a problem with Green's offense, but he doesn't seem to be focused enough on D..he's getting lost too much and not going hard enough for loose balls, etc..
- Joseph played great basketball..I always on him, but he deserves credit today..I hope he doesn't lose his aggression like he did after his first few successful regular season starts..
i guess that little window of hope that tp was faking/holding back for the playoffs is gone
something is wrong with him
I'm surprised at Bonner showing up and playing good. Joseph was a surprise too. I hope they can keep it up and I hope Kawhi can improve on his offense(I'm sure he will), Tiago needs to actually make a FG shot and rebound a bit more. Neal and Green? Just shoot better.
No. He would've gotten Bonner's minutes however.
I don't trust Bonner. He's a huge liability on defense. He got away with it today, but he won't over the course of the series. And he's still gotta be wide open on those 3's or else he's useless offensively. By the way guys, why was T-Mac in street clothes? I wanna see him play!
Too harsh on Splitter - he battled D12 and Pau all night and should have gotten a few calls when D12 blatantly threw him. He also passed well and was unlucky a couple of his shots didn't fall. ST loves a whipping boy, and lately it's Splitter, IMHO unjustifiably. Check your heads.
Overall, not a pretty win, and still some concerns such as TP lacking explosiveness, but overall I think it's a step in the right direction. We just need to beat these guys in 5 or 6 and get some confidence and momentum going and you never know what can happen.
Actually, Bonner's had running hook/floater for 3 years now. It's a decent counter. Still, I'd rather have Boris in there.
Spurs haven't had "the band" together since like February. There will be kinks.
If Game 1 is any indication, the Spurs couldn't have asked for a better first round opponent. By the end of the walloping we'll give the Lakers, our guys should be fairly healthy, gelling together and playing well.
Sounds about right. Manu is back and we are a greatly improved defensive team. Our bench out scorred them 40 to 10. It's good to be a Spurs fan!
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Manu Ginobili showed why his energy, passion and impact were missed. I wouldn't expect him to be able to conjure up a performance like this every game anymore, but it was sure nice to see - and I would love for him to prove me wrong.
Watching Tony Parker was really troublesome. His inability to finish in the lane and his overall sluggishness indicate that he's not yet 100%.
Is Danny Green starting his Matt Bonner-like swoon again? He only had 4 rebounds. I don't know if that warranted a B-grade, but if that's a good night for him, then ok.
The epitome of softness had to be what Jeff Van Gundy described as a Tiago Splitter's imitation of a Luis Scola-like scoop shot while backing Howard down in the lane. It was just awful. This guy could have so much more of an impact on the game if he would make a conscious effort to be more aggressive. Let's hope he gets the message in this series because, assuming the Spurs oust the Fakers, it will not fly going forward.
It's premature for anyone to have Matt Bonner Day in San Antonio, and I admit his mental toughness is still a question, but at least for one playoff game he finally showed some competency. However, let's wait until he has his first good road game and demonstrates some consistent shooting before we give him a "A"..
IMO, Cory Joseph was the surprise, "outta-nowhere" performance of the game. Could it be that Pop is flirting again with a new backup PG?
It's almost insulting to Aron Baynes for Pop to bring him in just to execute that Hack-A-Howard strategy. It would be great to see Baynes earn his fouls legitimately, while getting some real minutes - even if it's just a few.
I certainly didn't understand why Pop would employ that stinking "hacking" strategy after the game was already well in-hand.
YEP..........
Was TMAC on the bench in uniform?
He wasn't dressed in uniform. He was sitting next to Diaw.
Thanksi was in meetings at work all day and missed the game. Suppose i have to wait for SportsCentre! I wasn't expecting him to get PT but would be nice to see him suit up and be ready to go.
I'm not getting why some here keep thinking Neal will eventually take full possession of the back-up PG spot as the playoffs move forward. The dude could chuck the team out of a game if Pop doesn't reign him in. As for Green, is he the new Bonner now? , Green, what's with the deer-in-headlghts act? Nut up, dude! Speaking of pussies, Tiago is also playing like Brittney Griner trying make the Mavericks roster after Cuban drafts her. But enough of the concerns, very encouraging game from Manu, Bonner, CoJo and another steady game from TD. I know alot of you are worried about TP but I think he'll get better. He doesn't have his speed back yet but he moved around better than he has in weeks. He can't keep making Blake look like Gary Payton, though.
It was a satisfying, workmanlike effort, but nothing from this game shows that the Lakers are done yet.
If Manu plays like that every game, then yeah, sure. But not something to count on.
Parker and Nash were both out of synch; Parker shot considerably better in the 2nd half. I'm going to assume that Nash will get better as the series goes on, which means Parker has to as well.
The Spurs were fortunate to beat LA this game getting almost nothing from Splitter, but if that can't continue.
Good D/passing/great screens/box out. I don't know why people are expecting Splitter to be a factor offensively vs Gasol/DH, the backcourt got the easy matchups in this series...
He had a few soft moves down, and that scope Gervin-like shot he pulls needs to be banned from his repertoire.
I know it's only been a couple of years, but Danny Green has yet to show he can be counted on in the clutch. At best you just hope he will hustle on defense.
Neal's raison d'être is to shoot, on the other hand. He's hit big shots in the past, so as long as he isn't playing scared, I'm willing to put up with the rest.
Spurs looked like a wounded animal out there. Not in a sense they were raging and fighting for life but in a sense that they needed to get the job done even with the struggles and not being 100% health wise and rhythm wise.
I was satisfied just because it seemed like they starting to get motor running and hopefully I'm right.
Parker was the picture of what I mentioned and he starting to look better and better. He was attacking as much as he could but it will take time for him to feel comfortable to go fullout on the defense of the opponent.
Manu made me say wow- Manu? I hope he can continue his play.
Of course Pop had to go with Bonner as we did not want to play small ball against LA and we wanted them /LA/ to move on D. Bonner did the best he could and provided what all spurs fans wanted.
You all say Splitter was soft. But that's the way he plays. Soft technical basketball. He is not gonna change into bully out there. He needs to play diffferently. That's all. His passing was good as usual.
LA will play better the next game but spurs also will play better. This game was more about feeling your opponent and figuring him out. Measure stick to this series is the next game.
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Hey am I the only one who thought Parker didn't look right?
As usual..
Guess Harlem is blind too.
It seems that the spacing disappears whenever Leonard has the ball in PnR's or ISO's out on the wing.
He doesn't really have great court vision (yet) with the ball and he often dribbles right into the bigs or into congested areas on the floor, which ruins fluidity within the offense and puts his teammates in a shot clock/bad shot situation whenever he picks up his dribble when he's in trouble.
I would like to see Pop utilize Leonard in horn screens off the ball to create separation from Artest, where he receives the ball in the mid range area. He wouldn't have to necessarily utilize his ball handling (which has obviously bothered his overall vision) in off the ball screens like such. With Parker not being right and being inefficient, Spurs got to figure out different ways to get Leonard going.
Last edited by MaNu4Tres; 04-22-2013 at 03:24 AM.
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