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i agree.....
so can i be myself again?
The Lakers are obviously the team to beat in the Western Conference and they proved that again on Thursday night. They played flawlessly in the first quarter and the Spurs were never able to dig their way out of the 18-point hole they allowed to develop in the opening stanza.
On the whole, the Lakers look even tougher than they did last season. Kobe Bryant is almost always under control now and the length and athleticism of players like Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza gives the Spurs a lot of problems. (And that's not even mentioning Andrew Bynum.) L.A. is going to be an extremely tough out this year in the playoffs.
The Spurs played well in the final three quarters but you can't lay an egg for an entire period when you are short-handed and going against arguably the best team in the NBA. That in itself was not championship level play on the part of San Antonio.
-Tim Duncan didn't play horribly but there's no way he's close to 100% healthy right now. He has to work just to make it up and down the court, he doesn't have any quickness and the explosion of his jump is severely lacking. The fact that he had both of his knees wrapped for the first time I can remember tells me he must be hurting. Duncan played better in the second half but if he's going to get handily outplayed by Gasol and the Spurs don't have Manu's services, that becomes a daunting equation.
-Tony Parker was pathetic in the first quarter. He couldn't make a shot from anywhere on the court. He was hesitating in the offensive sets. He was making poor passes. To top it off, he wasn't playing good defense. Parker started playing better in the second quarter but didn't completely break out of his slump until the second half. He played well after intermission but coming out of the gates impotently definitely cost his team.
-Thank the basketball gods for Michael Finley on this night. If it wasn't for his scoring early on in the contest, this game might have been a blowout of epic proportions. Finely looked like the only Spur not intimidated and not backing down from the pressure being applied by the Lakers. Overall, I thought he moved quite well and got good elevation on his jumper. His defense against Ariza let a lot to be desired but the job he did offensively outshined any faults in his game.
-Roger Mason, Jr. had an ineffective outing. He didn't shoot well and his shot selection was also shaky. His play at the backup point guard spot was extremely iffy, as was his defense. Mason had a few good possessions defensively against Bryant but he doesn't appear to give the Lakers superstar much of problem.
-I don't know if Matt Bonner is trying to lose his job but that's what his play would indicate. In his 13 minutes, he got demolished on the defensive end. He couldn't guard anyone and to compound the problem, Bonner was helpless when it came to rebounding. He didn't grab a single carom and had a plus/minus of -17. The one shot he hit was a lucky bounce off the back of the rim. Horrible showing.
-Kurt Thomas played decently well off the bench. I thought he struggled in his first couple of stints but he progressively got better. By his final minutes on the court, he was producing at a high level. Unlike Bonner, Thomas rebounded well, clogged the lane on defense and hit jumpers offensively to help the Spurs try to get back into it.
-George Hill couldn't continue his fourth quarter magic. The last two games, Hill had come off the bench to be arguably the team's best player in the final quarter. This time, he might have been the worst. He made a number of mistakes - everything from silly fouls to boneheaded violations. Hill got a shot against Bryant but he simply doesn't have the needed size. Bryant was able to shoot right over him.
-Ime Udoka continues his improved play. I liked his aggressiveness on the defensive. In fact, his toughness on that end seemed to change the momentum of the game at a point in which the contest could have gotten away from the Spurs. Udoka still has a lot of room for improvement but considering the depths of where he's come from, a Spurs fan has to be happy about his current level.
-Fabricio Oberto came off the bench for nine minutes and I actually really liked what I saw. He was physical on defense and seemed to be the only player who wasn't getting pushed around by Gasol. On offense, Oberto had a number of really good passes and set solid screens to open up shooters. With his recent play, the Argentine bigman is making a push to continue to have a role come playoff time.
-Drew Gooden got his first minutes of his Spurs career at the end of the first half and he played very well, all thing considered. Four rebounds and two points in four minutes without looking completely lost? I'll take that for a debut. His size when paired with Duncan gives the Spurs a more forceful look and he illustrated decent quickness out on the perimeter when forced to guard Odom. All in all, Gooden drew a promising portrait of what he could possibly bring to the table.
-Pop once again made a number of head-scratching decisions. The one I couldn't figure out was when he went to Hill at the end of the game after Mason picked up his fifth foul. First of all, that late in the game, you let a player stay on the court with five fouls. Secondly, if you are going for defense, there's one of the better perimeter defenders of all-time as an option. Going with Hill to defend Bryant when Hill was totally out of rhythm made no sense. I also thought Pop should have had a quicker hook with Bonner and there never seemed to be enough plays called for Duncan throughout the game. I do like that he got Gooden's feet wet in a no-lose situation and whatever he said to the Big Two at halftime obviously woke them up.
Tough loss. Time to swallow it and continue the mission of getting healthy and wrapping up the second seed in the West.
i agree.....
so can i be myself again?
the whole spurs thought they would lose when they first came out
WHY BECAUSE ING POP AND THE MEDIA SAYS THEY HAVE TO HAVE MANU
I am sorry had spurs came out not scared they would have beat the lakers
and with gooden in he will help against the lakers next year
The way I look at it...if Ime Udoka, Finley and Thomas can play well against LA, we'll whup them severely when healthy.
These are 3 biggest letdown guys on the roster and they killed the Lakers tonight. Ime Udoka nearly singled handedly tied the game at one point tonight.
Thomas actually his open J's.
Finley played one of the best games I have ever seen Michael Finley play.
No worries, if Pop had wanted to win this game he would've trapped Kobe more instead of guarding him with Hill. Hill didn't do that badly he just doesn't have the height to guard Kobe. He did make Kobe miss the next shot he took after that 3.
We saw just about everything Phil will throw at us but Pop didn't throw everything at LA he could. It was almost like he wanted to see if we could beat them with our worst LA matchup supporting players carrying the team....and they almost won it for us.
spurs play well 44 minutes
made their free throws they win this game
Good points, whottt. The glass half full look at this game is that the Spurs played like death in the first quarter, didn't have Manu, Gooden wasn't available for a full workload ... and the Spurs still almost won.
Not sure I agree with an assessment that rosy but this wasn't a typical devastating loss to the Lakers.
finely went nuts otherwise it could have gotten away very fast for spurs
I'm actually going to agree with you Ducks. I wanted to say this about a week ago. I kinda started getting tried of Pop and the team always saying we need Manu, we need Manu, we need Manu, while true that is not really instilling confidence in the rest of your players if you keep saying that.
Ime is starting to play some ball now. Michael was great (sorry for jumping on Mike in the game thread) and I thought TP showed some real mental toughness in the second half.
I won't get on Tim anymore than I did in the game thread. I really don't know how much he is hurting to rag on him.
Manu
This Spurs team is tough. Healthy and in form I'd be happy with that. I think we got a shot.
Also, while I think Bonner is helpful against some teams I think he is pretty much useless against LA. I don't know if he should get any court time against them.
Look at the boxscore...Spurs basically outplayed them in every aspect of the game except FT shooting and rebounding.
Two things Drew Gooden does extremely well.
I saw Gooden come in and grab 4 boards in 3 minutes...and he wanted some more of the Lakers. If he's going to play against them like that and with that kind of focus...the Lakers are going to get their ass kicked.
Pop wasn't that worried about winning this game IMO. If he was he wouldn't put Hill on Gooden down the stretch.
spurs have to believe they can win without him
because he is not playing
the sooner they realize it the better
when spurs did not have manu and td
tp came out scored right away and spurs believed
basketball is a game of confidence spurs have to believe they can win with who is on the court
if not they are not going anywhere
booner is useless against lakers not other west teams
Hill on Gooden? That would not be a smart move from Pop.
In each meeting with the Fakers this season, Bonner has been useless.
George Hill absolutely has no business guarding Kobe. If Pop doesn't trust him to run the backup PG spot, why would he entrust him with the single biggest defensive assignment of the game?
Drew Gooden needed more time.
As big of a Finley basher as I've been, the guy played great. If he has the hot hand, ride it until it falls off. Parker should've made sure Finley got as many touches while he was on fire.
Parker cannot have a bad game.
Duncan in clearly laboring.
Spurs unable to keep the Fakers off the glass. Rerun of last year's WCF.
At this moment and with Manu out and Gooden not up to speed, the Fakers are a terrible matchup for us.
Thanks for not using words like 'soft' and 'no heart'.
I can't remember Duncan wrapping both knees either.
I think he's more hurt than we know. His left knee is chronic, and it was bugging him already this season before the tendonosis on his right came on.
I think his game is greatly impacted, and I've got to give him credit for playing through what's apparantly painful. I hope he can get some kind of decent rest to make the push for the Playoffs.
I was concerned before the tendonosis, now I'm moving toward worried.
It looked like Bryant wasn't trying too hard either. He was playing like in second gear out there.
I'm hopeful but it's going to take a heck of an effort for the Spurs to beat the Lakers. They'll need to be healthy plus Gooden will have to play a significant role. As well as KT played, he's not a very good matchup athletically to the Lakers. Gooden might be able to give the Spurs the lively big they need.
the Lakers shld have been more worried of their near-collapse in the 2nd half
BTW, Spurs 8-16 FT
Yeah I tried to recall the last time I saw him with both of his knees wrapped but I couldn't think of a time. Maybe in the 2001 season.
Was it me or did it look like he added even more padding to his knees in the second half? His right knee looked like Barry Bonds' right elbow when he was at the plate.
Timvp is right. Much of the loss' blame has to be put on Pop's head and his ridiculous decisions on personnel in the fourth quarter. All said and done, the Lakers showed that they are a better team. To beat the second best team in the conference at home and emphatically required them to be that and they showed that. Tough, considering that this was a back-to-back as well.
Waiting for Manu to be back. That should get the team over the hump.
spurs missed 8 free throws tonight!
timvp, you're absolutely right. TD does not look like himself. Do you think Pop will start to rest TD a LOT more now that Drew has gotten his feet wet? Kind of slowly work TD out of the lineup for the remainder of the season, and work Drew in?
Giving up eleven offensive boards doesn't help either.
GOODEN IS GOING TO FIX THAT
have to play gooden against lakers
Not really. If Duncan is going to play, it'd be difficult to limit his minuets any more than Pop already does.
The best hope is to wrap up the 2nd seed in time to let Duncan rest for at least a week before the playoffs begin.
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