Game Thoughts: Spurs vs. Hornets Jan. 26

[SenorSpur]

Are these guys starting to show their age? I have faith they will pull it through and come April and May this team will be clicking on all cylinders but a concern is Tony's nagging injury and the latest injury to Brent. And is Roho finished or does he have one more left in the tank

That's the question we ask every year at this time. The problem is the answer is never known until the conclusion of the Rodeo Road trip and as the Spurs start the stretch drive toward the playoffs.

It seems that the lack of contribution from the supporting players is really wearing on the Big Three as they are shouldering most of the load.

I just wish this team had one or two other players that can create their own shots. As some have already stated, this team is evolving from an "inside-out" team into one that is "outside-in". That's not Spurs basketball.

The Spurs coaches and FO annually gamble that "the oldest team in the league" will coast a good portion of the season and "dial it up" come playoff time. It's a very dangerous game to play. At some point, this roster of older players will reach a threshold limit where it will not be able to "flip a switch". I hope it's not this season.

[timvp]

I would argue this team has more offensive problems than defensive ones right now.

I would argue otherwise. Especially coming off a game where the Hornets shot something north of 70% in the second half.

Especially when Manu is playing with the second unit. Now that Barry is out again, the only guy he can even pass the ball to is Udoka. He must be going crazy with frustration.

Even with the worst of lineups, Ginobili had opportunities to drive the lane. The Hornets pick-and-roll defense was also pretty horrible last night but only when Ginobili (or Parker) would drive off of the pick.

Also, I thought TimVP took it too easy on Parker on his evaluations. Defensively he was our worst player. Even Bill Land and Elliott, who normally never criticize any Spurs, pointed out that Parker being soft on the screens was why Peja eventually got all the open looks.

I can't believe we kept switching the screens all night.

How can you say he was soft on the screens when the Spurs were switching all the pick-and-rolls? Parker's responsibility in that situation is to just try to defend the big. Being soft on the screen would only come into play for the bigman not showing enough on the switch or the second bigman not coming over to bump the big so that he couldn't get an alleyoop.

You can say that Parker didn't do a good job on West after the switch was made ... which would have some merit to it. But the point guard in that situation doesn't have anything to do with Peja getting open looks. That's the team rotating after the switch of the pick-and-roll.

I can't believe we kept switching the screens all night. That's lazy. Good defenses don't switch on screens. We had Duncan guarding Paul and Tony guarding West all night. This kind of stuff gets you clowned by Charles and Kenny on TNT.

The Spurs have won playoff series with the same defensive alignment. Specifically against the Nash teams. It's nothing new, really. When a smaller big such as West is involved in a pick-and-roll, Pop has oftentimes had the team switch.

That wasn't the problem. The problem was the team's defensive rotations were a step slow and the bigs weren't showing enough on Paul to keep him from having clear passing lanes immediately after the pick was set. If the big can occupy the point guard for a couple seconds, the team defense can usually rotate to recover. But last night the big wasn't occupying Paul and the team defense was so slow that it became the worst of both worlds.

[timvp]

TIMVP
Love your game thoughts as I can't watch games from where I live.

Just wondering if the omission of Oberto by design?

My bad. I'll add him in later.

I don't like at all what Pop has done with Horry lately.
Horry clang everything during games and practices and was in a bad shape. At this stage, I don't think getting some playing time helps him more than practice and conditioning.
Pop should have given Horry's playing time to Bonner. It would have allowed Spurs to loss less games and Bonner would have gained experience in Spurs system.
Right now, Pop is doing the same mistake than with NVE in 06. He is sticking with a Horry and not working at a alternate solution. It's even worse than with NVE because Bonner looks like a better alternate solution than Udrih.

It's definitely a risk. It's understandable to me that Pop would much rather have Horry be the third big than Bonner or Elson. Horry is the best defender of the three, he's the smartest of the three and he's the clutchest of the three. That's like the three elements of playoff basketball.

However, I don't think Pop is dead set on the idea of Horry yet. I think he's giving him this time in hopes that Horry rounds into shape and proves he's not too old. I actually agree with the strategy because I'd much rather Horry fail now than to fail in the playoffs.

[Budkin]

The fact that Pop never made adjustments tells me that he was trying to prove a point to his players. There's just no other explanation for it.

[endrity]

Last night was as big as a regular season game can get for the Spurs. No need to minimize it. The hornets lead the WC, have been playing very well while the Spurs should start thinking about turning up their intensity very soon now. A lot of you were saying the same thing before the game as well. The implications of this game though can be felt in the standings. The Spurs lost a tiebraker game. It is very possible that the Spurs can be 5th in the standings now, since both NO and Dallas don't seem to let up. This means a first round matchup with Utah, and probably Dallas and Phx the next two rounds. That is not a good way to go about winning a championship.

[Spurs Dynasty 21]

Spurs could have easily lost to the Heat, and if it wasn't for that amazing 2nd half they lose to the Lakers also



Pop joking around at the end of that game was very weird to watch

[timvp]

Last night was as big as a regular season game can get for the Spurs.

My hyperbole detector just exploded.

[greens]

-Pop coached a horrible game tonight. How can you get beat by a team that is running the same two plays continuously? He didn’t make any adjustment defensively until it was too late. The team’s defense was horrible but the coaching of the defense might have been worse.

Another thing is that I feel that Pop kept Tony too long on the bench during his rest period...TP was playing really well at the beginning, getting the points and the assists quite nicely...then NO went on a sort of a run, and Pop still didn't put TP back into the game...that's when the Spurs really needed him...and TD was also seating down at this time...

[Spaceman Spiff]

Another thing is that I feel that Pop kept Tony too long on the bench during his rest period...TP was playing really well at the beginning, getting the points and the assists quite nicely...then NO went on a sort of a run, and Pop still didn't put TP back into the game...that's when the Spurs really needed him...and TD was also seating down at this time...

He was great on the offensive end, but he was really struggling on defense. His defense was a big part of Peja going off in the first quarter and one of the central reasons the Hornets were putting up so many points early.

Maybe Pop didn't want to run him ragged since he's getting over the flu and everything.

[urunobili]

scary way to get into the rodeo trip

[mookie2001]

timvp is too soft on manu

hes like mccain on immigration

[ploto]

...the bigs weren't showing enough on Paul to keep him from having clear passing lanes immediately after the pick was set. If the big can occupy the point guard for a couple seconds, the team defense can usually rotate to recover. But last night the big wasn't occupying Paul and the team defense was so slow that it became the worst of both worlds.

Very good point.

[loveforthegame]

-Michael Finley reverting to his Maverick days and was a one-dimensional gunner tonight. Usually he does something else other than shoot, be it rebound, defend or make a few good passes, but tonight he was content on just getting up his shots. In 21 minutes, Finley hit 2-of-6 shots from the field while grabbing one rebound and dishing out one assist. Overall, this was a very poor performance from Finley.

I agree that Finley laid an egg on the boards, assists, steals, something but I didn't think he took enough shots early on. He had no shots in his first 6 minutes and was 2-4 at the half. He only played the first 3 minutes of the 3rd then sat till the 10 minute mark of the 4th. He took a shot almost immediately but we were already down 12 then his final shot came minutes later and we were already down 20.

[Ghost Writer]

This was as big a game you can get in JAN.

We need to beat Boston now.

[TMTTRIO]

Manu had an awful game but that block he had on Chandler was pretty cool.

[bigfundamental21]

scary way to get into the rodeo trip

This is definitely not the jump start we expected going into the RRT, but on the other hand, a loss like this could be just the fire this team needs. I know Duncan hates to lose, especially this bad to a team that we really needed to hold our own against. As timvp said, it's put up or shut up time. I still trust in the system and in the players to pull out of this funk and move toward their usual 2nd half dominance. History says that it will happen. True Spurs fans know to hang in there with the team. I, for one, am not ready to give up on them and fully expect a great response on the RRT.

SPAM.

[The Truth #6]

Regarding Byron Scott, he's a moron. In New Jersey I thought the consensus was that his assistant was the one who had the respect of the players and got everyone to play hard. On the 2003 Championship DVD I remember watching Byron make several dumb comments to his team in crunchtime. His coaching style might be like Riley in that they both make odd pseudo motivational speeches.

Back to the Spurs, I think our biggest problem is Tony Parker's nosedive in production. I realize he's probably hurt. I hope he gets healthy because we need his bonus points on the break. Lately, he's been diving into the lane lamely looking for contact and then falling down. I think his FG% is actually below 50%, which is insane considering it's been up near 54 to 55% the last few years. I think that's all we have to know about our offensive slump. The game has slowed down and no none knows what to do, except Finley who jacks it up with a guy in his face everytime.

I agree that Pop is auditioning Horry right now to see if he has a pulse left. If Horry shakes off the rust we all want him playing in the playoffs. The flipside is that if it turns out that Horry isn't going to play in the playoffs (assuming we make them, what are we, in the 6th seed and about to go on a 9 game road trip, good lord) I wonder what confidence Bonner will have when he gets back on the court. He's already shaky enough as it is (and I don't mean to be harsh because obviously the guy is cool.)

Last year a dread was set over the team with everyone wondering if someone (Barry) was going to get traded. There isn't that problem this year. There is no boost of confidence Pop can give the team. They're going to have to do it themselves. Obviously, we'll see what happens.

[roycrikside]

How can you say he was soft on the screens when the Spurs were switching all the pick-and-rolls? Parker's responsibility in that situation is to just try to defend the big. Being soft on the screen would only come into play for the bigman not showing enough on the switch or the second bigman not coming over to bump the big so that he couldn't get an alleyoop.

You can say that Parker didn't do a good job on West after the switch was made ... which would have some merit to it. But the point guard in that situation doesn't have anything to do with Peja getting open looks. That's the team rotating after the switch of the pick-and-roll.

The Spurs have won playoff series with the same defensive alignment. Specifically against the Nash teams. It's nothing new, really. When a smaller big such as West is involved in a pick-and-roll, Pop has oftentimes had the team switch.

That wasn't the problem. The problem was the team's defensive rotations were a step slow and the bigs weren't showing enough on Paul to keep him from having clear passing lanes immediately after the pick was set. If the big can occupy the point guard for a couple seconds, the team defense can usually rotate to recover. But last night the big wasn't occupying Paul and the team defense was so slow that it became the worst of both worlds.

On the play where they run the pick and roll for West, Parker was helpless. But the other play, the one they run to get Peja open shots, it started out with a screen on Tony, and he was so sluggish with it that it ruined the rotation for everyone else and that's why Peja was wide open. Even Elliott said so and he never rips anyone.

And when I said that the team has more offensive problems than defensive, I didn't mean for this game, I meant in general. They've been in an offensive slump for a long time and lost games to Houston and Cleveland where the opponents didn't score a lot of points. They only scored like 90 against Miami, the worst defensive team in the league, and needed to force a bunch of turnovers to score against the Lakers. The offense is just not working right now and I'm hopeful Tony can get healthier and Pop can settle on some kind of rotation. But playing Bonner instead of Horry would probably help a little too.

[timvp]

On the play where they run the pick and roll for West, Parker was helpless. But the other play, the one they run to get Peja open shots, it started out with a screen on Tony, and he was so sluggish with it that it ruined the rotation for everyone else and that's why Peja was wide open. Even Elliott said so and he never rips anyone.

Oh, okay. With you talk about switching, I thought you were talking about the plays in the third quarter that involved the pick-and-rolls with West where the slow rotation left Stojakovic open in the opposite corner.

If you are talking about when Peja got hot earlier then yeah, that was just bad overall defense with Parker being weak at the point of attack.

And when I said that the team has more offensive problems than defensive, I didn't mean for this game, I meant in general. They've been in an offensive slump for a long time and lost games to Houston and Cleveland where the opponents didn't score a lot of points. They only scored like 90 against Miami, the worst defensive team in the league, and needed to force a bunch of turnovers to score against the Lakers. The offense is just not working right now and I'm hopeful Tony can get healthier and Pop can settle on some kind of rotation. But playing Bonner instead of Horry would probably help a little too.

Yeah, overall it's tough to say which is struggling more -- the offense or the defense. I still lean slightly to the defense because it's basically been bad all year and continues to be bad. The offense is a problem right now but at one point this season it was running smoothly so when the offense struggles, it's stands out more. Basically, the Spurs are playing bad on both sides of the court

And I do agree that right now Bonner would help more than Horry. , Elson would probably help more than Horry. Pop surely isn't playing Horry because Horry has outplayed either Bonner or Elson. I truly think that Pop is giving Horry a trial to see if there is any gas in the tank. If there isn't and Horry keeps shooting 19%, Pop's hand will be forced.

It sucks for right now because Bonner or Elson would help the team win but I think it's the right move. The alternative would be to play Bonner and Elson heavily right now and then try to dust off Horry in the playoffs. If Horry's done -- and he might be done -- I'd rather Pop find out in January than May.

[polandprzem]

Thanks for the answer about Horry timvp which I asked about two games ago

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Timvp, your comment on Byron Scott was right on.


I was just having this conversation with some Suns fans I know out here the other day. We were talking about the league's best coaches and I said Byron Scott is easily top 4 these days. He really does seem to understand how to get the most out of his guys. New Jersey hasn't changed much, talent-wise the last couple of years...they just changed coaches. Pop's a great coach, Phil Jackson is a great coach, Jerry Sloan is a great coach. But if I had a fairly young and talented team that I wanted to see rise to their maximum potential I think the first person I'd call to coach them would be Byron Scott.

[Ghost Writer]

Timvp, your comment on Byron Scott was right on.

Pha.

He stole that comment from me in the Hornets/Spurs Pregame thread.


Act like you know.

[ancestron]

Best thing that could've happened to the Spurs at this point.