Game Thoughts: Spurs @ Rockets - Oct. 7th

[Obstructed_View]

I heard somebody seriously refer to Bonner as a "7 footer" on this forum the other day. Obviously they aren't the only person with that delusion.

[jjktkk]

I disagree. He's worthless from the bench too. He's simply not a piece for a team that's aspiring for a championship.



He is a terrible defender. We must have seen different games, because he didn't hold his own at all. Who did he held his own against?
And I absolutely agree he doesn't have the tools to do it, which is why it's baffling he's still around.

Last year Bonner more than held his own against Menmphis' Zach Randolph. Look it up. But most knowledgable basket people realize Bonner is not a dominat 4, or 5. He is a big that can shoot and play passable defense.

[elemento]

Bonner's role is basically 3P shooting. He can't do anything besides that.

The starters looked great, except for RJ. He showed some improvement, but it's still not enough. I hope he gets better during the season.

[ElNono]

Last year Bonner more than held his own against Menmphis' Zach Randolph. Look it up. But most knowledgable basket people realize Bonner is not a dominat 4, or 5. He is a big that can shoot and play passable defense.

I had to go look it up... This is how Zack did against us last season:

23pts - 15rbs: Spurs lost (Matt didn't play this game)
19pts - 13rbs: Spurs win (Matt played 10 mins, Zach 38 mins)
15pts - 7rbs: Spurs win (I assume the game you recall, 4-12 for Zach here)
28pts - 15rbs: Spurs lost ()

Here's the rebound stats for Matt in those games:
DNP
0 rebounds in 10 mins
5 rebounds in 25 mins (decent, he also had the highest +/- with +28)
4 rebounds in 34 mins ()

And this was against a Memphis team that ended up with a 40-42 record. We're not even talking top tier team here.

I agree he's not a 4 or a 5. We need a good 4 or 5 to help Tim and he's not it. Let's hope Tiago is.

[yavozerb]

I had to go look it up... This is how Zack did against us last season:

23pts - 15rbs: Spurs lost (Matt didn't play this game)
19pts - 13rbs: Spurs win (Matt played 10 mins, Zach 38 mins)
15pts - 7rbs: Spurs win (I assume the game you recall, 4-12 for Zach here)
28pts - 15rbs: Spurs lost ()

Here's the rebound stats for Matt in those games:
DNP
0 rebounds in 10 mins
5 rebounds in 25 mins (decent, he also had the highest +/- with +28)
4 rebounds in 34 mins ()

And this was against a Memphis team that ended up with a 40-42 record. We're not even talking top tier team here.

I agree he's not a 4 or a 5. We need a good 4 or 5 to help Tim and he's not it. Let's hope Tiago is.

Not sure what your trying to prove with those numbers..Randolph was an all-star and had similar numbers against most teams last season. I am pretty sure we are all in agreement that Bonner is a below average rebounder. thanks for the rebound numbers i guess..

[ElNono]

Not sure what your trying to prove with those numbers..Randolph was an all-star and had similar numbers against most teams last season. I am pretty sure we are all in agreement that Bonner is a below average rebounder. thanks for the rebound numbers i guess..

You asked me to look up how Bonner held his own against Zach Randolph last season. I did, and I don't see it. If you do, good for you.

[GSH]

The Spurs took more field goal attempts and made more field goals than the Rockets. They pulled down more rebounds, and dished out more assists. They committed fewer turnovers, and outscored Houston by 14 points in the paint.

That would normally be enough to get a win. But when it was all said and done, they couldn't overcome a deficit of 16 from the free throw line. The Spurs actually shot a higher percentage from the line than Houston - but the Rockets made up for it in sheer volume.

I know it's still pre-season, but it's one of my big worries for the team this year. It's hard to overcome a deficit in FTA's night after night. And I think we are going to be in that position often against the better teams in the league. Duncan isn't drawing as many whistles as he used to. RJ is nowhere near the foul-drawing machine he used to be. Tony doesn't get as many whistles as the other top-tier PG's in the league. Bonner almost never gets to the line. You get the idea.

Hopefully Manu will get his share of calls, and Hill will learn how to sell the fouls even better. (He's not bad, for a young player, but we need more.) If Blair gets a little more respect from the refs, and Splitter commands some hard fouls, we may be okay. But without those guys getting to the line, we're going to have a lot of uphill battles.

[jjktkk]

You asked me to look up how Bonner held his own against Zach Randolph last season. I did, and I don't see it. If you do, good for you.

Never said anything about rebounds. Bonner is a below average rebounder. I though we were talking about Bonner's defensive ability, not his subpar rebounding stats.

[polandprzem]

Everything cool and all but why Parkers name is not bolded?

timvp forgot it?

But why did he not forgot to bold Manus name?



Interesting/

[polandprzem]

It was a nice game, but still RJ is not looking much differently in style from the previous season.
Simmons got good fundamentals but lack of athleticism will not let him play IMO for this team. But maybe Pop will find other advantages that Bobby can bring? Ala Massenburg

Hopefully all out in good shape big three gonna stay at this shape type level for the rest of a season. But I'm concerned they won't be able to speed up for the playoffs.

[Bruno]

What is surprising in this game is that Pop gave RJ 30 minutes in the first preseason game while all the other vets get less than 20 minutes.

I hope the reason is that RJ will get a DNP-CD today against Miami. Pop said that the first criteria for the backup SF spot will be defense. A matchup against Lebron James will be perfect to judge Gee's, Simmons' and Anderson's defensive abilities.

[SenorSpur]

What is surprising in this game is that Pop gave RJ 30 minutes in the first preseason game while all the other vets get less than 20 minutes.

I hope the reason is that RJ will get a DNP-CD today against Miami. Pop said that the first criteria for the backup SF spot will be defense. A matchup against Lebron James will be perfect to judge Gee's, Simmons' and Anderson's defensive abilities.

...or it could be the worst possible scenario for any Spurs player trying to defend him. LeQuit is likely make all of them look like children.

[Chieflion]

...or it could be the worst possible scenario for any Spurs player trying to defend him. LeQuit is likely make all of them look like children.

Pretty much going to happen. He made Durant know who is still the best after he declined his party invitation. The Spurs' contenders for backups at the 3 spot wouldn't know what hit them.

I would personally be more worried about the matchup against Bosh if the game is meaningful. Bosh, I believe has actually led the Heat in scoring in the games at least twice, with extremely good efficiency.

[SenorSpur]

After watching last year's playoffs, one of my biggest worries about this Spurs team is their ability to defend on the perimeter - or lack thereof. We were all witnesses (pardon the pun) as to how PHX repeatedly exploited the Spurs and literally ran circles around their defense last spring. While Tiago will help defend pick-n-rolls, as well as providing an interior presence, it still doesn't solve the issue on the outside.

This was probably the Spurs biggest area of weakness heading into the offseason and quite frankly, there wasn't enough done to address it. Unless one of their existing players emerges as a plausible perimeter defender (Gee, Gist, Simmons), I fully expect the Spurs to have the same issue again this season. Which means certain teams will again be able to exploit them the way PHX did.

I'm curious if anyone else feels the same.

[Chieflion]

After watching last year's playoffs, one of my biggest worries about this Spurs team is their ability to defend on the perimeter - or lack thereof. We were all witnesses (pardon the pun) as to how PHX repeatedly exploited the Spurs and literally ran circles around their defense last spring. While Tiago will help defend pick-n-rolls, as well as providing an interior presence, it still doesn't solve the issue on the outside.

This was probably the Spurs biggest area of weakness heading into the offseason and quite frankly, there wasn't enough done to address it. Unless one of their existing players emerges as a plausible perimeter defender (Gee, Gist, Simmons), I fully expect the Spurs to have the same issue again this season. Which means certain teams will again be able to exploit them the way PHX did.

I'm curious if anyone else feels the same.

In the playoffs last season, the Spurs regularly trotted out a lineup of perimeter players of Parker, Hill and Ginobili. Someone was going to get abused no matter what, because there would be a mismatch at the SG position or the PG position because both Nash and Richardson can score anywhere, and they know it. When Jefferson was in the game, Grant Hill dribbled in and took mid-range jumpers, which the Spurs don't usually contest very well.

Unless a team in the playoffs has a combination of at least 2 players on the perimeter that are good scorers, they can't abuse the Spurs like the Suns did. The Spurs would match up bad against the Heat (Wade and LeBron), Celtics (Rondo, Allen, Pierce) and Magic (Nelson, Carter), but they are all in the East. I have doubts about the Celtics combination because of age and the Magic's combination because of inconsistency but the Heat's combination would destroy not just the Spurs but every team in the league.

[Fabbs]

Richard Jefferson
I wish I could say that Richard Jefferson looks much improved from last season ... but I can't. I was especially unimpressed by his transition defense and how slowly he navigated himself around picks. He's in better physical shape but we'll see if that translates to improvement on the basketball court. The best news regarding Jefferson is his offensive aggression from the perimeter. At the end of last season, he didn't like shooting from the outside. In the scrimmage and in the preseason opener, Jefferson has been letting it fly from range. Now if he can only starting making said attempts . . .

[will_spurs]

I didn't see the game and have never seen Cousin play... what positions could he possibly play? any chance he could be of use as a backup SF at some point?

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Matt Bonner nailed a three-pointer a few seconds after he entered the game ... and then didn't do much the rest of the way.

Good to hear Bonner is already in playoff form.

[ChumpDumper]

I didn't see the game and have never seen Cousin play... what positions could he possibly play? any chance he could be of use as a backup SF at some point?

Cooze can play mostly center and a little bit of center.

[ohmwrecker]

So, I got called out on another thread for not " ing" about Timvp being negative about RJ. I don't feel like doing that. So, I will just defer to Pop . . .

“I think he’s been aggressive looking for his shot, they didn’t fall tonight but he looked for it,” Coach Pop said. “We want that aggressiveness out of him.”


“I thought he worked hard on ‘D,’ and he’s in very good shape,” Pop said. “So, just what we want him to do.”

[benefactor]

[ohmwrecker]

You are on the outside, but on the inside.

[benefactor]

You are on the outside, but on the inside.

Forgive me for intruding. I will go back to my thread while you continue your RJ ball cupping in peace. Carry on.

[ohmwrecker]

Forgive me for intruding. I will go back to my thread while you continue your RJ ball cupping in peace. Carry on.

I thought that's what you were doing? You know, like when you are mean to the girl you love because you are confused by your emotions . . . Do you love RJ?

[benefactor]

Nope...they are completely clear. Much like yours.