Game 3 Thread: Spurs @Grizz (8:30 PM CT/4:30 Riga/TNT) Sponsored By Getting Rook'd

[sasaint]

He wasn't playing in the rotation the entire season so he has limited opportunities and he plays with very high usage players.

Still an aggressive play that showed more athleticism than Kyle has shown before, you must admit. Give me more!

[noles1983]

nm

[daslicer]

Parker and Ginobili - $28,445,313, 0 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists tonight

Seems like a Kobe deal contract wise.

[noles1983]

That's average?

Todays NBA

[DPG21920]

Undeniably. That is unfortunate, too, because he cannot sustain that level of play, as we saw tonight. If he plays 2 good games for every poor one, maybe we can make some noise.

True. Especially when Mills/Manu really aren't doing much either. Very tough to have that many guards play poorly. We need one playing well every game at least. If we get 2, then we will be very tough to beat.

[sasaint]

And Manu had the 2 assists....

I'll say this: at least you are loyal! Where are you from in Argentina - BA?

[ElNono]

I'll say this: at least you are loyal! Where are you from in Argentina - BA?

I have family in BA

[sasaint]

tony and manu should have just retired with timmy.

Tony will not leave $15MM on the table.

[SAGirl]

We headed into the season with a guard rotation that was questionable at best, and Pop chose not to develop Dijon.

Pop's only move was to commit to develop Simmons, who IMO is the worst prospect of the foursome of Simmons/Anderson/Murray/Bertans.
Maybe he did that bc he's in a contract year and he must know whether he must be reupped or not, whereas the others are younger and under contract for cheap for more seasons, but it was a bad call.

At this point, Simmons shaky play is more than Manu has given in the series and Murray's 7 minutes were better than the 18 than Tony gave.

[TheCultOfPersonality]

Grizzlies shoot 50.6% from the field in this game. They shoot 43.5% on the season (Last in the NBA). I doubt this will happen again in this series.

[Horse]

Hilarious these announcers think this loss had anything to do with Memphis

[sasaint]

True. Especially when Mills/Manu really aren't doing much either. Very tough to have that many guards play poorly. We need one playing well every game at least. If we get 2, then we will be very tough to beat.

I would say it this way: If none of the guards play well, we are in big trouble. If 1 plays well, we have a puncher's chance - as long as the front court plays up to par. If 2 play well, then we can compete with the best teams, even the Dubs.

[DPG21920]

Fiz so chipper today.

[sasaint]

Pop's only move was to commit to develop Simmons, who IMO is the worst prospect of the foursome of Simmons/Anderson/Murray/Bertans.
Maybe he did that bc he's in a contract year and he must know whether he must be reupped or not, whereas the others are younger and under contract for cheap for more seasons, but it was a bad call.

At this point, Simmons shaky play is more than Manu has given in the series and Murray's 7 minutes were better than the 18 than Tony gave.

Simmons was the most athletic, which is paradoxical because it is not the most athletic guy who generates Pop's interest. Frankly, with Manu so obviously done, Simmons may now get a few meaningful minutes in this series - for better or worse. Kyle showed me something tonight. His first stint went poorly. But he had the mental toughness to come back in late and play with confidence. He was pretty loose - almost like the old summer league days. This may jump start him for next season - if not these playoffs.

[SAGirl]

Don't worry. Manu will be fine, Simmons will continue a scrub and Murray won't see significant minutes again in the playoffs unless it's a blowout. =)

I don't know how you can be so cavalier about it.
If Simmons was a scrub, so was Manu, and Tony this game, and a few others and I am not even that hot on Simmons.

[GSH]

That was exactly how I said the Grizzlies could beat the Spurs. Play very physical, ugly the game up, and figure that the zebras can't call them all. It didn't help that the Spurs missed a BUNCH of shots they should have made, and missed 12 damn FT's.

That inbounds play at the beginning of the second half. Looked to me like that ball was supposed to go to Kawhi, and he just got pancaked on the end line. That was the beginning of an avalanche. I thought the refs reacted to Fizdale and the crowd several times tonight, but I now that Memphis got it's "makeup game", I don't expect it to happen next game.

A lot of things had to fall together just right for this night to happen.

[GSH]

I don't know how you can be so cavalier about it.
If Simmons was a scrub, so was Manu, and Tony this game, and a few others and I am not even that hot on Simmons.

Simmons tied for the AST lead tonight, had no TO's, and was 2-3 from 3P. If the Spurs could get that from him every night, it would improve their chances this postseason considerably. He sure as wasn't any of the problem tonight.

We really need some of those flashes of greatness from Manu. He hasn't shown any signs so far, and that's a damn shame. He's still got the will, but it's really looking like he can't keep up with the young guys now.

[UZER]

That was exactly how I said the Grizzlies could beat the Spurs. Play very physical, ugly the game up, and figure that the zebras can't call them all. It didn't help that the Spurs missed a BUNCH of shots they should have made, and missed 12 damn FT's.

That inbounds play at the beginning of the second half. Looked to me like that ball was supposed to go to Kawhi, and he just got pancaked on the end line. That was the beginning of an avalanche. I thought the refs reacted to Fizdale and the crowd several times tonight, but I now that Memphis got it's "makeup game", I don't expect it to happen next game.

A lot of things had to fall together just right for this night to happen.

Refs definitively got caught up in it. Especially the 4 or 5 and-1 plays in like a 3-4 min span in the 3rd.

[kaji157]

I don't know how you can be so cavalier about it.
If Simmons was a scrub, so was Manu, and Tony this game, and a few others and I am not even that hot on Simmons.

Of course they were. I am just telling you what will most likely happen in the future based on how the season went.

[SAGirl]

Simmons tied for the AST lead tonight, had no TO's, and was 2-3 from 3P. If the Spurs could get that from him every night, it would improve their chances this postseason considerably. He sure as wasn't any of the problem tonight.

We really need some of those flashes of greatness from Manu. He hasn't shown any signs so far, and that's a damn shame. He's still got the will, but it's really looking like he can't keep up with the young guys now.

If anything.... I know guys are pissed off that Pop put the bench in, but he was getting nothing from either Manu or TP, and Manu for 3 games in a row is not showing signs of life.

It will be shocking if mid-playoffs Pop needs to move on and play any combination of these guys more, but I sure am glad Simmons, Anderson, Bertans and Murray took advantage of the chance they got and played well to end that game. They didn't fold over and play dead fish out of the water.

One doesn't know where this playoff run will finish but I was encouraged by their play. They actually even moved the ball better as a group and looked for each other better than the starters... even though on defense they made mistakes.

[TDomination]

It felt like Spurs just simply wanted to lose. Dont get me wrong, Memphis did what they needed and got physical. But it's still the Spurs series to lose. And tbh, no spur championship team has swept a team in the first round. Adversity in the first round seems to usually help. Hopefully they bounce back.

[Robz4000]

So what did Pop say postgame?

[apalisoc_9]

So what did Pop say postgame?

There's undiscovered Planets out there

[Fireball]

that went as expected ... backdoor sweep coming up

[cutewizard]

Cleveland vs the Bucks would be a of a series................!!!!