How Do You See the Glass After Game 4?

[Fireball]

It does not matter if the glass is half full or half empty ... be thankful we have a glass and there is still something in it

[temujin]

Seriously? You've obviously never been to a Spurs Playoff home game then. The crowd gets a of alot louder than they do in the regular season that's for sure. And IIRC, they were pretty damn loud during Game 1 and 2 of this series...

1) Obviously.
2) I agree that those that bothered staying till the end of Game 1, were a bit more into it.
3) Forgive me, but European crowds, notably Southern European crowds, the ones I am sort of being used to, are actually playing the game with the players. For some of them, it doesn't really matter what the score is, they just go on chanting and booing. Not to mention the overnight noise around the opposing teams' hotel, the packed Gym hours before to "greet the opposing team, the threat to officials sometimes, the throwing of stuff into the court etch. A road game is a REAL road game in some places.
Seriously, I think that the big three, for all they have done in their magnificent career woulde deserve a SE crowd. A Pionir-type of crowd, for what could be the last PO game of the trio.

[temujin]

Pop is just outcoaching himself as per par. The never ending beef with Splitter and propensity to bench him every time he starts to get it going...
the absolute refusal to unleash his only physical rebounder (Baynes) all season...in a series where the spurs are getting eviscerated on the boards...The unending love affair with Bonner and Neal even when its clear matchups don't favor them....yada yada same different year

I wrote that the GS match-up zone that bothered Denver so much (in my opinion what won GS the series) was to be used in desperate cir stances.
It was long overdue and it came at the beginning of the 3rd. Very predictable (Bogut 3 fouls, TD 14 point in the first half).
Spurs did not look very prepared and had some terrible possessions: next thing you know the lead is gone.

[Typical London Boy]

Haven't read all six pages so apologies if I'm repeating anything.

Generally, I'm at half-full. Essentially, we've got a best-of-three series, against the sixth seed, with home court advantage. At the start of the season you'd probably take it.

Would I have been happy with 2-2 at the start of the series? No. After Games 1 and 3? No. But after Game 2, when we'd lost home court advantage? Yes, 2-2 would've suited me just fine.

Another 'half full' satisfaction is that the Warriors eliminated the Nuggets, as I definitely wouldn't fancy our chances quite as much against Denver.

[K-State Spur]

Even if they weren't playing pretty, I've damn enjoyed watching Spurs in the early-mid 2000's. It' wasn't a flashy basketball but it was a very cohesive team, with a great iden y and well driven by Pop.

Right now, I'm taking little pleasure watching them play as a team. Spurs are just playing a very low quality basketball and are surviving against mediocre teams because they have some high level players. As a basketball fan, it's not what I like to see.

I don't know if that's fair. The good ole days weren't always good and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems.

The '03 team lost 2 games to 44 win Suns and won the last by 2 points. This was Starbury & not yet ready for primetime Amare led team. '05 team scuffled with 50 win Sonics group that had only 2 reliable scorers, one of whom (Lewis) was nothing more than a spot up shooter. '07 group rolled through playoffs, but took advantage of the field knocking out the toughest compe ion before we had to play them.

As frustrating as it was to give the game away yesterday - Spurs played some of their best playoff defense that we have seen since '07. Our guys worked the ball for open shot after open shot - and missed open shot after open shot.

This year's team isn't as good as the champions, but that's to be expected as those teams featured the Big 3 in prime. They can still play, but not at that consistent level anymore. But the biggest difference in decrease for championship hopes for this year lies in the juggernaut on the other side of the bracket. I think there is still a conceivable (albeit unlikely) path to victory against them - but it involves a combination of good fortune that can't be banked on (big 3 getting to 100% health, at least 2 of Green/Leonard/Neal/Bonner getting hot from perimeter 4 times, Kawhi bothering James, and Wade playing at his Hyde level rather than Jeckyl).

But Miami's presence and ability to build a complete team around the best player in the game playing at (or near) his highest level shouldn't affect how we feel about our team.

[Maddog]

I don't know if that's fair. The good ole days weren't always good and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems.

The '03 team lost 2 games to 44 win Suns and won the last by 2 points. This was Starbury & not yet ready for primetime Amare led team. '05 team scuffled with 50 win Sonics group that had only 2 reliable scorers, one of whom (Lewis) was nothing more than a spot up shooter. '07 group rolled through playoffs, but took advantage of the field knocking out the toughest compe ion before we had to play them.

As frustrating as it was to give the game away yesterday - Spurs played some of their best playoff defense that we have seen since '07. Our guys worked the ball for open shot after open shot - and missed open shot after open shot.

This year's team isn't as good as the champions, but that's to be expected as those teams featured the Big 3 in prime. They can still play, but not at that consistent level anymore. But the biggest difference in decrease for championship hopes for this year lies in the juggernaut on the other side of the bracket. I think there is still a conceivable (albeit unlikely) path to victory against them - but it involves a combination of good fortune that can't be banked on (big 3 getting to 100% health, at least 2 of Green/Leonard/Neal/Bonner getting hot from perimeter 4 times, Kawhi bothering James, and Wade playing at his Hyde level rather than Jeckyl).

But Miami's presence and ability to build a complete team around the best player in the game playing at (or near) his highest level shouldn't affect how we feel about our team.

Jeez, you have to ruin the thread with a rational and reasonable take?
In all honesty- I think I lean to slightly half full. The Spurs Shot .355 from the field and >560 from the FT line and lose on the road in OT. if they had shot 40% from the field and 60% from the FT line they would have won going away.

[dbreiden83080]

I think the Spurs basically lost the game yesterday because they just ran out of gas. They have outplayed the Warriors the last 2 games and finally stopped all the open 3's and easy penetration in the lane in games 1 and 2 and game 4 felt a lot like game 3 in terms of the Spurs controlling the tempo. However you could see it coming yesterday even when they were up in the 4th qtr. It looked to me like they were dragging themselves up the court watching the clock just hoping to squeak the game out. Youth definitely prevails in a situation like that. They better have the energy to finish the deal tomorrow night because the game plan to win is there..

[silverblackfan]

Definitely glass half-full. The FT % was the story of the game. The Spurs missed at the line and had to go into overtime, which they were too gassed to handle. GS just got hot at the end of the game to pull this out in front of a fired up crowd. If the Spurs were shooting at lest 60%, then they would have held the lead and won the game in the 4th quarter.
Hats off to GS, but can they do it 2 more times? Who knows? That is why they play the games.

[Keepin' it real]

I think the Spurs basically lost the game yesterday because they just ran out of gas.

That's inexcusable for a team whose stars "rest" during the regular season more than any other team's stars. Plus one week off between rounds 1 and 2. Inexcusable. The Spurs' strength and conditioning coach (if they have one) should get axed.

[SenorSpur]

Half empty. It's pretty obvious too.

Warriors eeked out a win in a game where the Spurs were in control the entire way and Curry was injured.

Series shifts back to S.A. where the Warriors have played better than the home team.

Spurs have shown a woeful lack of physicality and allowed themselves to continously get outrebounded.

Parker's leg injury has left his mobility compromised, Duncan is gassed, Splitter is playing soft and both Green and Leonard are not shooting well.

Spurs role players have lacked playing time, confidence or both.

Aside from Game 3, the Spurs have reverted back to their pre-playoff poor play.

They can salvage themselves by winning Game 5, but they're now pushing a boulder uphill.

[UZER]

This is reminds me of the Seattle series from 05.

[Kori Ellis]

That's inexcusable for a team whose stars "rest" during the regular season more than any other team's stars. Plus one week off between rounds 1 and 2. Inexcusable. The Spurs' strength and conditioning coach (if they have one) should get axed.

Rest during the regular season or time off early in the playoffs doesn't matter when you have a quick turnaround (and yes, a day and a half is a quick turnaround) on old legs.

As for the original question of the thread, even though the Spurs have played pretty horribly in this series so far, I'm going to go with half-full (though I'm generally a pessimist about the Spurs). Despite Parker being off and the rebounding being atrocious, if they would have hit their FTs, they would have won. As long as Parker can get a little more treatment, I think they'll be fine.

[Mouth is Bleeding]

This loss still stings. Spurs did a lot of things right and managed a lot of control defensively.

Looking forward that's a good sign when it comes to Curry and Clay and avoiding game 1 and 2 repeats. I also noticed Bogut at times, even after sitting out because of the foul trouble, barely being able to move up and down the court.

I do fear though, that the Spurs energy levels once again won't be great in the next game, similar to game 2, and that means we're in for another nail-biter even with the issues GS are having, making this should have been a win even more costly.

Random thoughts:

I think the 3rd quarter was the worst and most costly. Diaw especially was just off.

Neal is so frustrating and he continues to cause easy baskets defensively.

The effective period for Splitter that people are raving about definitely coincided with the period where Lee was a traffic-cone on D and Spurs got easy layups.



I also think early on Barnes in the small GS lineup went past Splitter EASILY and that kind of sealed the deal for POP who not unlikely was right that Barnes being the volume shooter with Parker or Neal, rather than getting to the basket, all in all was lower effectiveness for GS.
But yeah I do want both Splitter and Diaw to play more instead of the ultra small lineup with Neal and all the other guards. Actually I'm now almost certain, I'd prefer Joseph getting Neal's minutes, especially now that Spurs overall have a better grasp of Thompson and Curry who is hurting.

[EVAY]

Half full because Parker should be better with another couple days rest after his bruise.

Half empty because NO ONE steps up when Parker is down. Clearly he didn't have any lift yesterday.

Why can't the Spurs Training staff give Parker something for pain the way the Warriors do every single game for Curry? That is a serious question. A bruise is not going to get worse by playing on it, but it will clearly keep a guy from being able to stop on a dime on either offense or defense and it will clearly limit his ability to set for a shot.

Rebounding cannot POSSIBLY be worse than it was yesterday. Bogut only played 27 minutes and we still got out rebounded by 15. NOT ACCEPTABLE.

Free throws. Had we made ours, we would have won. What the is going on with that?

[Raven]

half full tbh, there is no doubt in my mind that we have them figured out and we can exploit their weaknesses going forward.

[Darius McCrary]

Half empty simply because I was pretty disappointed by the lack of champion level fire i saw from this team. Ben waiting far too long for them to get their act together, time is near up.

[Spurs7794]

This isn't fun because it shouldn't be nearly this big a struggle against a team this mediocre. If this were a one off, maybe you don't read too much into it, but they've now done this three of the last four playoffs.

The Celtics and Lakers, the other two veteran, savvy, former champions, I don't ever remember doing this in series they were heavily favored in. In fact, the only series I can think of where one almost did, was the Hawks taking the Celtics to 7 in '08. But in fairness, it was the big three's first playoff series together. The Spurs have no such excuse, yet here they are again, hanging on for dear life against a mediocre team, proving all those who constantly insinuate that they're vulnerable, soft and just not that good, right.

Celtics 08 against Atlanta. Celtics 08 against Cleveland. LA 09 against Houston. LA 09 against Denver. LA 10 against OKC. LA 10 against Phoenix. Dallas 11 against Portland. Miami 12 against Indiana. Miami 12 against Boston.

Spurs championship teams: Spurs 03 against Phoenix, Lakers, Nets. Spurs 05 against Seattle. Spurs 07 against Phoenix.

This is why its half full to me. Before this weekend, I thought they'd wilt like the last 4 or 5 years. Instead, they have shown mental toughness (except for overtime yesterday) more reminiscent of their championship years and their defense has come along. We just need to get our offense flowing again.

[Mouth is Bleeding]

Healthy Warriors with the bonus of missing the injured Lee are really good. Their small lineups are kind of scary and someone like Green who people maybe weren't familiar with was advanced staticians college player of the year last season, meaning he is likely a lot more useful for a team than a team-killer like Lee. Their defense also gets even better. Overall, before Curry slowing down, they were even better than Memphis I'm guessing.

In their current state we have to beat them though and unless they come up with something new I agree that Spurs in many ways have figured them out. I just hope that the players won't lack energy similar to game 2 though. The scheduele hasn't done us any favors tbh...

[41times]

I see 2 glasses

one is 36% full
the other is 26% full

and neither glass is full enough to make me happy

Got to get the shooting stroke back and quick

Pop it is time for you to give one of your patented "talks" to the team.

[lmbebo]

half empty. Spurs will be kicking themselves for giving this game away...

It was theirs for the taking. Didn't rebound and didn't hit there free throws. Instead they gave new life back to a team that has been very dangerous...

Instead of looking to close out the series, we are looking at a 6 or 7 game series now. With the high likelihood, *if* we get past the Warriors, of facing a very physical grizzlies team.

[Spur|n|Austin]

I see 2 glasses

one is 36% full
the other is 26% full

and neither glass is full enough to make me happy

Got to get the shooting stroke back and quick

Pop it is time for you to give one of your patented "talks" to the team.

The shot needs to start dropping, that's really the basis of our problems right now. This could be caused by us not having out legs underneath us which could equal curtains for us..

[spurs10]

I've enjoyed this thread, but have been dismayed at the level of pessimism in some of the people. What matters is how we play tomorrow, and I can't imagine anything less than us leaving it all out there on the court. This is going to be a 'must win' situation for our guys. Tony will have had two more days of treatment and the home crowd will be an inspiration to the team. We were one missed ft from winning yesterday in regulation. Tim looked about as pissed off as he has ever been after the game, and a pissed off Tim Duncan is a problem for the opposing team! Should be a barnburner at the AT&T Center tomorrow night!

[Mugen]

Looks to me like the Spurs have figured out how to defend Golden State which was the main issue for the first two games.

They can't rebound any worse and the other two issues of Game 4 (Free Throws & 3pt Shooting) are things that usually improve when playing at home.

Even the le teams blew MANY chances to put a stranglehold on a series.

I picked the Spurs in 6 before the series and I still think that holds true tbh.

[EVAY]

I had originally picked the Spurs in 6 but later changed it to 7. That is what I still think.

But I am truly truly truly tired of listening to the announcers slobber all over the Warriors.

[RD2191]

Still can't believe they lost the game. The more games played the higher the chances of curry or thompson going off.