Game Thoughts: Spurs @ Mavs Mar. 23

[whottt]

The main reason I posted what I posted is that many fans are not with the team in the season. They don't care about ups and downs and they don't follow the team. That's why the "injury conclusion".

That post was not directed just towards you.
And realy I can't question your fanbase. I've been here long enough. And yea most people forgetting for how long I've been here even if there is this first spurs under my username.

I'm just not putting much weight into the regular season...


It's not the playoffs, and they know it.


Yes, if they fall out of the playoff picture I'll be more worried about it...


However, they haven't fallen out of the playoff picture, and I don't anticipate that is going to happen.

[whottt]

Poland...if you want to be get worked up about regular seasons losses, by all means do so...I just don't see good reasons for doing so.

[timvp]

MIF: The Spurs' 11 FTA per half ranks 27th in the league. 13 FTA per half would rank them 11th in the league.

So if the Spurs had one less trip to the free throw line in the first half, then you would have called out the team for being dilettante?

RIF: I didn't say the second half made me believe. I said the stretch in the third quarter.

Alright, since you are so into extrapolating, let's extrapolate out that 19-0 run. That run last 4:30. During that time, the Spurs shot five three-pointers and two free throws. That extrapolates out to 53 three-pointers per game and 21 free throws per game.

So in actuality, the Spurs becoming exceedingly more dilettante is what led you to believe. I guess you only don't like three-pointers when the Spurs aren't making them. You also don't mind the Spurs shooting less free throws as long as the Spurs are making threes.

Got it.

[slayermin]

I wish the Spurs would force Jason Terry left off the screen and roll. He is money going to the right with that little pull up of his. You take that away and the Mavs lose by double digits on Sunday.

[bigfundamental21]

And one more thing...not to our great analyst, but to some others in here. LAY THE OFF OF DUNCAN!

There is no bigger compe or in the league than Tim Duncan. If he's a little slower, not moving as well on rotations and defense...you bet there's a damn good reason.

Yeah, you can note he's not playing the best at times, but you ing know it ain't because he's not trying. If you think so...you don't know about this team.

I've been saying he's looked a little banged up all year, seen him trying to hide a limp at times. He's giving us everything he has to give...and he always HAS. Night in and night out. Remember, Timmy was ALL we had in the middle for the majority of this season with Elson and Fab doing precious little to help him. He was basically alone, until we got KT (one of the best trades the Spurs have ever done, imho.)

You know Timmy will be there... 100% or no.

You can not ask for anything more. He'll not settle for anything less.

True that !

Timmy may be slacking off a little, but we all know he will deliver when it matters most.

And to timvp, thanks for the honest game thoughts. It's hard not to get too giddy when the Spurs win and think that everything is great. You have a great way of analyzing the game from a perspective that it honest and realistic. You set the standard for game analysis. Yeah, people disagree because we won, but you are right about the team having to show what they've got now. The playoffs are coming and we have to be battle-ready. This year will be the toughest just to get out of the West. I believe our Spurs will be ready and I know that we will fight to keep our le!

BELIEVE

[polandprzem]

Poland...if you want to be get worked up about regular seasons losses, by all means do so...I just don't see good reasons for doing so.

Frankly on most ocasions it was as you said, but I got more matured in the being spursfan process and I'm not getting worked up as much as I used.

I just don't like the phrase "I don't care about regular season, I don't care if they win or lose".
It's like when you look at your kid, you want him to achive some goals, you watch him and try to help in some situations. You want to know where is he on his way achiving this goals.


The next topic:
It was Sunday noon (not spurs time for playing ball)
The spurs were struggling
FT stats don't mean , (the points are affecting the play)
They are old, so they will be trying to get all the energy in the last week before PO and the PO itself

[TampaDude]

A win is a win...

[Cant_Be_Faded]

now 2 games in a row the Spurs have played like crap and beaten them.

.............................................exact ly


this guy gets it.

[wildbill2u]

It's very hard to tell much from the game because the Spurs shot like and Dirk got hurt.

On the plus side, theSpurs really started palying good hard defense in the second half.

On the negative side the shooting by the entire squad was the worst I've ever seen. Part of the problem was they were passing up open shots when they got the ball, hesitating and then taking the same shot when the defense caught up. If they catch and shoot and rely on their reflexes they probably shoot better.

[grjr]

Questions:
1.
2. Will Udoka ever be able to be trusted inbounding on the side out-of-bounds?
3.

Whereas normally players get an actual 6 to 7 seconds to inbound the ball (because the refs count slowly), Ime got an actual 4 seconds on that play. That's the first time I've ever seen a count that short in all my years of watching basketball.

[Obstructed_View]

Worst game thoughts ever. After a slow start to a noon game, which the Spurs are notoriously bad at, they buckled down and played spectacular defense and it changed the way they play. They erased a double digit deficit with Nowitzki in the game. They fought for rebounds, went to the bucket aggressively, hustled and passed the ball effectively. If they'd actually shot some of their jumpers in rhythm they'd have run away with the game much earlier. That they didn't suffer any letdown whatsoever without Dirk on the floor speaks volumes for the mindset of this team. Say what you will about the Mavericks, but this was a big game for both teams and two weeks ago this is a game the Spurs lose.

That said, it was one of the worst officiated games I've ever seen. It was really strange to see Timmy get hammered with no call and then see the officials call a BS travelling call on the Mavericks on the next trip down. I'm embarassed for NBA officials at that performance. That crew on Sunday should be at Pauley calling Bruins games.

[timvp]

That they didn't suffer any letdown whatsoever without Dirk on the floor speaks volumes for the mindset of this team.

ROFL. Biggest homer take ever.

That said, it was one of the worst officiated games I've ever seen.

Actually, that might have been the best officiated Spurs vs. Mavs games I've seen in the last three years.

It was really strange to see Timmy get hammered with no call and then see the officials call a BS travelling call on the Mavericks on the next trip down.

You've never seen a makeup call in the NBA?

[lefty]

The game was ugly. The win probably deserved an injury asterisk. But nonetheless, the Spurs won and that’s the most important thing right now. They certainly didn’t take any steps towards proving they are a championship team in their victory over the Dallas Mavericks, however a W is a W at this point.

The Mavs are in a world of hurt right now, literally and figuratively. Dirk Nowitzki injured his leg in an awkward fall and preliminary reports have him missing at least two weeks. Jason Kidd looks old and is playing with no confidence. Avery Johnson is suddenly on the coaching hot seat. The role players seem to have all lost the confidence that has been their trademark over the last few years. That said, the Mavs still gave the Spurs all they could handle. It’s not a stretch to say the Mavs would have won the game if Nowitzki wouldn’t have gotten hurt. The Spurs had made their run before he went down, but Nowitzki has a funny way of taking a game over from the free throw line in the fourth quarter against the Spurs.

Besides the win, there weren’t many positives to take away from this game. In fact, it might have been a step backwards in the grand scheme of things. The Spurs got fortunate on free throws (23-for-24) and turnovers (5), not to mention Nowitzki’s injury, and still barely snuck away with a win. Basically, it was just a lucky win. The Spurs play as poorly as they did on Sunday in a game that matters during the playoffs and they lose 99 out of a 100 times.

Overall, there’s wasn’t much to be happy about – other than the win, of course.

-Tim Duncan was really bad in the first half. He ended up starting 1-for-11 from the field. His outside shot wasn’t falling and he was compounding issues by not taking it up strong around the basket. His defense all game was only about average. I’ll give him a little bit of credit defensively from guarding everyone from Kidd to Nowitzki but he also had a number of blown assignments. Late in the game, Duncan finally woke up and found his touch. He finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while shooting 7-for-21 from the field. Obviously, going forward the Spurs need Duncan to play much better than he did against the Mavs.

-Manu Ginobili was the brightest spot for the Spurs. In the second half, Ginobili played near flawless basketball. He was scoring, creating, defending and fearlessly leading the Spurs to victory. His second half was great. His first half? Not so much. But that one half of quality basketball was a godsend for the Spurs. Without Ginobili’s second half performance, the Spurs likely lose in embarrassing fashion. All told, Ginobili finished with 26 points, eight rebounds, six assists, one steal, one blocked shot and no turnovers. He went 6-for-15 from the field, including 3-for-8 from beyond the arc. Even though his shooting wasn’t great, his concentration and focus were very good. It was only his second game all season without a turnover, which was an amazing feat since he had the ball in his hand so much of the game.

-Tony Parker’s first half was sub par. He was only 4-for-12 from the field in the first two quarters, but to his credit his 13 points were helping the Spurs stay in the game. Parker’s second half was horrendous. In every phase of the game he was just pitiful. He was out of rhythm, hesitating with his shot and making a mass amount of mental mistakes. It was probably his worst half of basketball all season. For the game, Parker finished with 13 points, four rebounds and three steals, while shooting 4-for-21 from the field, including 0-for-9 in the second half. The only good thing I can say about him is he finished the game without a turnover. Other than that, this is a game to forget – instantly.

-Bruce Bowen did a good job of adjusting to whoever the Spurs needed him to guard. At different points in the game, he found himself defending Nowitzki, Josh Howard, Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse. It wasn’t a dominating defensive performance but he deserves some credit for all of Dallas’ perimeter players being held relatively in check. In a team-high 41 minutes, Bowen finished with five points and nine rebounds, while shooting 2-for-8 from the field. His shooting was poor but he did knock down a big three-pointer late in the game. Bowen’s nine rebounds were a season-high.

-Michael Finley started and was horrible. Mark Cuban’s money was well spent in this game. After two games in which Finley’s shot appeared to be on the way back, he laid an enormous egg against the Mavs. Hopefully Finley was just in the Easter spirit because otherwise Pop might have to start tinkering with the starting lineup again. The Spurs can’t win a championship with a starter who is prone to celebrating Easter on a semi-nightly basis. Finley finished with two points and five rebounds on 0-for-7 shooting from the field. Not only is he missing shots, he’s just not moving well at all.

-Fabricio Oberto didn’t play well. The Mavs were giving him room offensively and he didn’t take advantage of the situation. Defensively, Oberto was below average and only grabbed one defensive rebound in his 14 minutes of playing time. For the game, Oberto finished with four points and five rebounds, while shooting 2-for-6 from the floor. He played hard and with good energy in his first couple games after he was re-named the starters, but since then Oberto has fallen back into zombie mode.

-Ime Udoka played 30 minutes and I thought he played really well. I’ve been hard on him for looking for his shot too much but this game he did a good job of only shooting good shots. He was really active defensively and just did a solid job all the way around. Udoka’s pull up jumper late in the game when the Spurs needed a basket was also nice to see. Overall, Udoka finished with seven points, four rebounds, one steal and one block.

-Kurt Thomas continues to supply quality bigman minutes from off the bench. He already looks almost completely comfortable in the Spurs system, which would be the fastest bigman acclimation period in recent Spurs history. He’s not going to put up big stats with the Spurs but his workmanlike approach is a good addition to this team. Against the Mavs, Thomas finished with six points, five rebounds, one steal and one block.

-Jacque Vaughn once again played very well. In his stint in the second half, Vaughn was virtually flawless. With the way Parker struggled, the Spurs really needed a lift from Vaughn and he provided just that. In 11 minutes, Vaughn had six points, two assists and hit 3-of-4 shots from the field. Vaughn is currently playing the best basketball of his Spurs career.

-Damon Stoudamire, Matt Bonner and Robert Horry didn’t play. The good news regarding Horry is the MRI on his knee injury didn’t reveal any further damage, however he was non-committal about when he’d play again.

-Brent Barry re-signed with the Spurs on Sunday, which in itself deserves special mention. With the way Finley is playing, Barry can’t come back soon enough. Hopefully he’s healthy and ready to knock down some three-pointers to space the court.

-Pop did a good job. It was a crafty coaching move to put Duncan on Kidd and it worked out nicely. Kidd doesn’t want to shoot and can’t really finish anymore when he drives to the basket so Pop treated him like a total non-offensive threat. The Mavs were never able to exploit that matchup.

I was skeptical when Pop went to small ball so early in the game but it turned out to be the right call. No matter how much Spurs fans complain, it’s impossible for the Spurs to defend the Mavs when Nowitzki is moved to center without going to small ball. It’s just a fact of life that Spurs fans are going to have to deal with. Luckily, Udoka is proving to be a nice option as a small ball power forward.

Pop really can’t be too happy or sleep too soundly after watching the Spurs play on Sunday. The team played unbelievably bad for long stretches of the game. Forget championship, the Spurs wouldn’t be able to get out of the first round with the way they played against the Mavs.

The bottomline is the Spurs got the win. They can definitely improve their play and I think and trust that they’ll do just that. Against the Orlando Magic on Tuesday, the Spurs are going to have to go Orlando and play much better to get a victory.

Believe.

We had a 19-0 run before Dirk's injury

[Manu_Ginobili]

The game was ugly. The win probably deserved an injury asterisk. But nonetheless, the Spurs won and that’s the most important thing right now. They certainly didn’t take any steps towards proving they are a championship team in their victory over the Dallas Mavericks, however a W is a W at this point.

The Mavs are in a world of hurt right now, literally and figuratively. Dirk Nowitzki injured his leg in an awkward fall and preliminary reports have him missing at least two weeks. Jason Kidd looks old and is playing with no confidence. Avery Johnson is suddenly on the coaching hot seat. The role players seem to have all lost the confidence that has been their trademark over the last few years. That said, the Mavs still gave the Spurs all they could handle. It’s not a stretch to say the Mavs would have won the game if Nowitzki wouldn’t have gotten hurt. The Spurs had made their run before he went down, but Nowitzki has a funny way of taking a game over from the free throw line in the fourth quarter against the Spurs.

Besides the win, there weren’t many positives to take away from this game. In fact, it might have been a step backwards in the grand scheme of things. The Spurs got fortunate on free throws (23-for-24) and turnovers (5), not to mention Nowitzki’s injury, and still barely snuck away with a win. Basically, it was just a lucky win. The Spurs play as poorly as they did on Sunday in a game that matters during the playoffs and they lose 99 out of a 100 times.

Believe.

All bunch of non-sense posting for today's game - you watched the game with your behind...This is NBA! 2 players got injured but then R. Lewis and Doolly stpped up and had MONSTER game...Timmy blocked Howard 3 times, he was very solid in "D", the Spurs picked up when needed, midway 3rd quarter and in the last 5 minutes of the game when we allowed just 4 pts before the reserves took over...WELL Played game, WELL deserved Victory against a TOP team in the East with 23-14 at home...We should be happy Finley scored 24 pts, besides Tony P, everyone else played SOLID and well...STOP with the NON-SENSE...No way this game-victory deserves asterisk...You need that in the game...Last year Horry did what he did...you had that Game 5-asterisk WIN, an ugly one, BUT WHO CARES??? WE WON THE LE AFTERWARDS...

[duncan228]

All bunch of non-sense posting for today's game - you watched the game with your behind...This is NBA! 2 players got injured but then R. Lewis and Doolly stpped up and had MONSTER game...Timmy blocked Howard 3 times, he was very solid in "D", the Spurs picked up when needed, midway 3rd quarter and in the last 5 minutes of the game when we allowed just 4 pts before the reserves took over...WELL Played game, WELL deserved Victory against a TOP team in the East with 23-14 at home...We should be happy Finley scored 24 pts, besides Tony P, everyone else played SOLID and well...STOP with the NON-SENSE...No way this game-victory deserves asterisk...You need that in the game...Last year Horry did what he did...you had that Game 5-asterisk WIN, an ugly one, BUT WHO CARES??? WE WON THE LE AFTERWARDS...

Pay attention.

This thread is about the Mavs game, not the Magic game.

And Horry's game 5 heroics were in '05, not last year.

[timvp]

All bunch of non-sense posting for today's game - you watched the game with your behind...This is NBA! 2 players got injured but then R. Lewis and Doolly stpped up and had MONSTER game...Timmy blocked Howard 3 times, he was very solid in "D", the Spurs picked up when needed, midway 3rd quarter and in the last 5 minutes of the game when we allowed just 4 pts before the reserves took over...WELL Played game, WELL deserved Victory against a TOP team in the East with 23-14 at home...We should be happy Finley scored 24 pts, besides Tony P, everyone else played SOLID and well...STOP with the NON-SENSE...No way this game-victory deserves asterisk...You need that in the game...Last year Horry did what he did...you had that Game 5-asterisk WIN, an ugly one, BUT WHO CARES??? WE WON THE LE AFTERWARDS...

I'll give you credit. There were some damn weak replies in this thread but this one actually was pretty solid. I mean, really, it was like I almost watched the wrong game. I apologize.

[duncan228]

I'll give you credit. There were some damn weak replies in this thread but this one actually was pretty solid. I mean, really, it was like I almost watched the wrong game. I apologize.

[anakha]

How stupid does one have to be to forget to read the damn subject header?

[duncan228]

How stupid does one have to be to forget to read the damn subject header?

And how do you miss the Mavericks team name and players names and coaches name in the opening paragraph of the recap?

[ShoogarBear]

So in actuality, the Spurs becoming exceedingly more dilettante is what led you to believe. I guess you only don't like three-pointers when the Spurs aren't making them. You also don't mind the Spurs shooting less free throws as long as the Spurs are making threes.

Got it.

RIF #2:

The 19-0 stretch was caused by a pickup in defensive intensity that made me believe for the first time all year that they might actually be able to flip a switch come playoff time. I'm not totally convinced yet, but there was finally a sign.

I do hope you bring your A game for the next game thoughts.

[timvp]

RIF #2:


I do hope you bring your A game for the next game thoughts.

Hey, it only took you 27 hours to come up with this gem. And props for cherry picking in a way to avoid all questions posed

I quoted what I was replying to, which wasn't your original post in the thread. And as you've said recently, you are more worried about the offense than the defense. Why would good defense make you believe when the offense was supposedly the problem?

And yeah, I'll be sure to use Shoog's "Spurs Win? Yeah! Spurs Lose? Boo!" © technique for the forthcoming thoughts.

[ShoogarBear]

Hey, it only took you 27 hours to come up with this gem. And props for cherry picking in a way to avoid all questions posed

I quoted what I was replying to, which wasn't your original post in the thread. And as you've said recently, you are more worried about the offense than the defense. Why would good defense make you believe when the offense was supposedly the problem?

Um, no. What I said was I was worried that the Spurs wouldn't be able to come up with the defensive play of old, and thus would be held hostage to how their offense performed to win games. This game was old-time Spurs-winning-even-though-offense-sucked.

And yeah, I'll be sure to use Shoog's "Spurs Win? Yeah! Spurs Lose? Boo!" © technique for the forthcoming thoughts.

It will meld well with your usual "make up stuff Shoog didn't say" technique.

[Obstructed_View]

ROFL. Biggest homer take ever.

I know you are angry that there was actually a post that didn't drool all over you in gra ude for your takes, but the Spurs have been playing like dog the last month, and that they didn't just completely stop trying once Dirk got hurt means something and you know it. Then again, you didn't recognize that they played good defense or crashed the boards. Or maybe you are just trying to be an asskiss to the Mavs fans around here who are probably in low spirits because Dirk got hurt.

Actually, that might have been the best officiated Spurs vs. Mavs games I've seen in the last three years.

You've never seen a makeup call in the NBA?

The above combined with your game thoughts leads me to believe you didn't actually watch that game.

[timvp]

And as you've said recently, you are more worried about the offense than the defense. Why would good defense make you believe when the offense was supposedly the problem?

Um, no. What I said was I was worried that the Spurs wouldn't be able to come up with the defensive play of old, and thus would be held hostage to how their offense performed to win games. This game was old-time Spurs-winning-even-though-offense-sucked.

Really?

Well, obviously I don't think the Spurs are just fine. There are some issues which actually have been brewing at least since last season, but they caught a break since they ended up not having to face Dallas or Detroit in the playoffs. (No problem with that, it makes up for the bad breaks of 04 and 06).

On defense, the troubles have been discussed ad nausium. They're older, and the decision to rely on corporate knowledge rather than some new young legs has hurt them there. In the playoffs, I actually anticipate that they'll do a bit better, if only for the fact that everyone tightens up in shooting.

Offense is a bigger concern. The Spurs are more reliant on the 3-pointer and jump shots than any time in their history. And correspondingly doing less in the paint than at any time in the TD era

http://spurstalk.com/forums/showpost...4&postcount=81

Apology Accepted.

It will meld well with your usual "make up stuff Shoog didn't say" technique.

Is this technique related to Shoog's "I said it but hopefully timvp can't find it" technique?

[timvp]

I know you are angry that there was actually a post that didn't drool all over you in gra ude for your takes

ROFL @ me caring what anyone thinks about what I post.

but the Spurs have been playing like dog the last month, and that they didn't just completely stop trying once Dirk got hurt means something and you know it.

I still don't understand how this is something the Spurs should be proud of. You seriously thought the Mavs minus Dirk were going to beat the Spurs? Maybe pre-Jason Kidd trade but not these Mavs.

Then again, you didn't recognize that they played good defense or crashed the boards.

Did you not read the thread? I've given them props on both of those categories. But again, outside of that 4:30 run in the third quarter, the Spurs allowed the Mavs to shoot 50% the rest of the game. How is that good defense? Seriously, I want to know.

Or maybe you are just trying to be an asskiss to the Mavs fans around here who are probably in low spirits because Dirk got hurt.

Wait, sit back and just think about you said. You accuse me of asskissing the Mav Fans when this entire thread I've been bashing the Mavs the whole time? You either didn't read the thread or need to read it again. I've repeatedly said the Mavs are so bad now that there's no way the Spurs should have needed a run in the third quarter and a perfect showing at the line to beat them. Explain to me how that is asskissing Mav Fan. If anything, that's the opposite.

The above combined with your game thoughts leads me to believe you didn't actually watch that game.

Link to anyone else complaining about the refs other than you? You are shocked at a makeup call in the NBA. Those happen multiple times in every game.