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i thought Poeltl sucks but hes become my favorite player on this team, what a turn around compared to how he was playing earlier in the season
The Spurs got back to their winning ways with a 111-103 victory over the Western Conference-leading Nuggets on Wednesday night. Unlike San Antonio's recent wins, this one wasn't a blowout.
For the first 38 minutes, it was a back and forth affair, as neither team was able to get a firm grip on the game. Then, with nine and a half minutes remaining and the good guys trailing 80-79, the Spurs caught fire. Three-pointers by Marco Belinelli and Bryn Forbes sparked a 15-0 run over the next three minutes. A couple minutes later, three-pointers by DeMar DeRozan and Derrick White bumped San Antonio's lead up to 18 points, 102-84.
But a funny thing happened after Denver cleared their bench: they almost completed a miraculous comeback. A 10-0 run got the Nuggets within eight points with 94 seconds remaining. Malik Beasley then hit three three-pointers over the next 54 seconds to make it 108-103 with 40 seconds left in the game.
Thankfully, that's where Denver's luck ran out. White blocked Beasley's next three-point attempt and DeRozan sank three of four free throws to ice it.
All in all, it was a very good win for the Spurs. Yes, the Nuggets are banged up -- but so is just about every team in these dog days of the NBA season. Denver is still dangerous; the Spurs had to play well to beat them. And they did.
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LaMarcus Aldridge
LaMarcus Aldridge stepped up to the challenge in his matchup against Nikola Jokic, a surefire All-Star who's generating MVP chatter. As the numbers suggest, Aldridge outplayed his much ballyhooed counterpart. Offensively, he was physical in the paint, played through contact and non-calls, and had a soft touch from the perimeter. He was also extremely efficient; Aldridge was 13-for-19 from the field and went without a turnover despite a deluge of touches. Defensively, he was also above average. He defended the post well and was willing to move his feet outside of the paint. Although Aldridge had a really good game, especially when factoring in the compe ion, I do have a few critiques: his help-defense was iffy, his rebounding work wasn't up to par and he sometimes hurt the offensive flow by forcing himself into the middle of the action. But, again, he was rather impressive tonight.
Grade: A-
Summary: Aldridge once again illustrated that on any given night he can be as good as any bigman in the NBA.
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DeMar DeRozan
Good game by DeMar DeRozan. First off, I thought he did a better job than usual of keeping his emotions in check after a few whistles didn't go his way. Instead of forcing the issues, he kept his composure and played through it. Well done. Defensively, I thought this was one of his better games. He fell asleep on the weakside a couple times but outside of that he competed very well on that end. On offense, he was efficient on his way to 30 points for the first time in three weeks (for accuracy's sake, let the record show that his point total and efficiency were both aided by seven made free throws at the end as the Nuggets played the foul game during their comeback attempt). DeRozan did a good job of playing within the offense while making plays and limiting his mistakes. He attacked the basket early and often. Oh, and his three-pointer was his first one since Nov. 24 in Milwaukee -- he had missed nine consecutive from downtown before tonight's make.
Grade: A-
Summary: DeRozan was rock solid.
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Rudy Gay
This was a rare aesthetically unpleasant outing from Rudy Gay this season. Offensively, he missed all three three-point attempts despite entering the game shooting 46.8 percent from deep. He seemed unsure of himself when going to the rim and also hesitated when taking midrange jumpers. Most damning of all, Gay was consuming too many possessions for a guy who didn't have anything going. Defensively, he was okay. He had some strange matchups this game (he started the game defending Mason Plumlee, for example) but he was able to hold his ground for the most part. Gay helped on the boards and had an important blocked shot after the Nuggets called a play to try to take advantage of Plumlee's size advantage. The good news: none of Gay's issues seemed to be health related -- he was moving and jumping fine.
Grade: C-
Summary: Gay didn't have it tonight.
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Bryn Forbes
The bad: Bryn Forbes had three of San Antonio's nine first half turnovers. His individual defense was inconsistent. I thought he passed up a few three-pointers he should have taken. The good: After the sloppy start, Forbes cleaned up his play in the second half. He had a couple of muscly drives to the basket and finished well at the rim. Forbes' passing was also a plus. On defense, while he wasn't too hot individually, he was very attentive to his help responsibilities. In fact, this might have been his best game help-defense-wise ... although, admittedly, that wasn't a high bar to clear.
Grade: B+
Summary: Forbes did more good than bad.
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Derrick White
Derrick White is at that frustrating stage of his development where he's right at the precipice of being a really, really useful player but he seemingly can't get out of his own way at times. Defensively, White was the man most responsible for Jamal Murray's struggles. He guarded him really tightly, even applying fullcourt pressure for stretches. It looks like the coaches are starting to use White as the team's perimeter defensive stopper and it appears as if he's up for the challenge. Offense was where he struggled. On one hand, he had two important buckets in the fourth quarter and made a couple beautiful passes. But White was also scared to shoot for a majority of the game, even when the Nuggets were going way, way under screens. He also ran away from open three-point looks, which was hurting the offensive spacing. Overall, I thought the second-year man played decently well but he definitely has areas that need to be cleaned up. (Stat of the night: White has nine blocks in his last 132 minutes after going blockless in his first 432 minutes of the season.)
Grade: B-
Summary: White flourished in some aspects, struggled in others.
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Davis Bertans
Firstly, this might have been the best rebounding game I've ever seen out of Davis Bertans. He was boxing out with every fiber of his being, jumping for contested rebounds and actually came away with the basketball more often than not. I score him a perfect 9.5 out 10 for his rebounding prowess on the night. Offensively, Bertans knocked down his first two looks from beyond the three-point stripe. After that, the Nuggets didn't give him much breathing room. Still, Bertans helped the cause with a few slick dishes and exhausting movement off the ball.
Grade: A-
Summary: Is Bertans learning how to rebound? I mean, it looks like it.
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Marco Belinelli
Sure, Marco Belinelli's shot selection was head-scratching at times and his defense was often unsightly, but he undoubtedly helped the Spurs get this win. The 15-0 run in the fourth quarter started and ended with Belinelli three-pointers. His playmaking helped breathe life into the second unit and he played with an impressive amount of confidence even when things didn't go his way.
Grade: B+
Summary: Hurricane Belinelli was an asset this evening.
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Patty Mills
Patty Mills didn't do much right. He missed all five of his shots (all from three-point land, most of which were wide open). His time management was poor at multiple points in the game and he was more careless than usual. Mills held up defensively but that was mostly because the Nuggets didn't have the personnel to punish size mismatches.
Grade: D
Summary: Mills will want to forget this one.
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Jakob Poeltl
Alright, this big dude ain't bad. The defense with Jakob Poeltl on the floor was stunningly effective. Pop trusted Poeltl to defend Jokic one-on-one and Poeltl more than held his own. The Austrian was also quick to rotate, played good transition defense, avoided cheap fouls and was a beast on the boards. Offensively, his pick-and-roll game was strong, he scored on the break and he made heady passes. Truth be told, the Spurs just looked like a more cohesive team (particularly defensively) when Poeltl was on the court.
Grade: A-
Summary: Poeltl is very good at basketball.
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Pop
At the time, I thought it was mistake to throw so many early double-teams at Jokic but it turned out to be a shrewd coaching move by Pop. Going hard at Jokic early kept him out of rhythm scoring-wise and then he started making mistakes when Pop started shuffling the defensive tactics. I like how Pop used White as the defensive stopper, how he stayed away from Dante Cunningham despite the Nuggets using big lineups, how he found extra minutes for Poeltl even though Aldridge was on fire offensively (the Aldridge-Poeltl pairing actually worked pretty well tonight), how he played Bertans more than usual, and how he pulled the plug on Gay and Mills earlier than usual. No complaints.
Grade: A+
Summary: Pop was flawless.
Looking ahead: Next up, the Spurs head to Denver for the rematch on Friday. The following night, they head to Los Angeles to take on the Clippers.
Beating any team twice in a row in the regular season is difficult, especially a team as good as the Nuggets. That'll definitely be a challenge. A split of this back-to-back set would be good but let's hope the Spurs head to Denver with a greedy mindset.
i thought Poeltl sucks but hes become my favorite player on this team, what a turn around compared to how he was playing earlier in the season
Timvp, this is my first post ever. Thank you so much for your analysis! I read each of your posts and enjoy so much! By the way, what do you do for a living? A basketball coach or analyst? You have a great basketball mind!
- the confidence of Bryn, Bertans and Poetl
- It's good to see Aldridge 2017/18
Sup Timvp?
Im hoping they can take this show on the road and find a way to win. Now they know they can beat this team. Just gotta limit those TOs and continue to improve the rebounding
Thanks for the grades!
Definitely noticed Bertans rebounding, he was actually going after the basketball in the air rather than hoping it comes his way and lands in his hands. He’s now shooting 50-50-91 on the season.
Only a doof like you would think something like this all the time.Sup Timvp?
Spurs are 8-2 in last 10 games. Only Brooklyn, yes Brooklyn, has been better in the last 10.
I like White, and think he has potential to be a very important piece for us moving forward (not a star, but excellent role player). He has areas where he needs improvement and I think he is struggling as many young guys do under Pop trying to figure out how aggressive to be VS. How quickly will I get pulled if I make a mistake, miss shots, etc.
One issue is if you look at White's strengths right now (defense, court vision, good rebounder for size/position, and good in transition/fastbreak) only defense/rebounding translate to the starting lineup. The SL isn't really a good fit for White (unless he finds his 3pt shot/confidence) but you can't blame Pop because the starters are so desperate for a perimeter defender.
sean marks
My morning ritual drink two cups of coffee and read TIMVP analysts of the game excellent as always.
Bertans was in beast mode on Offense and Defense I thought he was going to get in a fight a couple of times you could tell he was getting into the heads of Denver bigs. So glad for him I know how hard he has worked to finally start getting regular minutes and man oh man no one has a prettier shot ....well maybe Belli. Lol
Speaking of the Italian Stalion man he has been on fire the last several games I love him coming off the Bench and taking over Manu role. The guys has great handles and just knows where everyone on the court is he has such a high basketball IQ.
Poodle was great he was really battling Denver bigs who are pretty damn good. It seemed Poodle was saying “ Oh you think your good well I am the 8th pick in the first round”. He is getting closer to becoming the first team center for us for several years if he continues his upward trend.
Ok ok I am going to take some heat I have to give Forbes some credit the guy really is getting better. Kudos to him for putting in the hard work and not giving up. He needs to focus more on not giving lazy passes and taking it to the rim a little bit more - Oh and he needs to stay away from Cra Cra girls come on little buddy you know that saying “Fool me once shame on you Fool me twice shame on me”.
TimVP's grades were the thing that drew me to this site in the first place so as always they are much appreciated. The OP obviously holds a teams superstars to a higher standard because I have yet to see LMA with an A+ even in near flawless games but I can understand that line of thinking. However I would have given Patty an F last night, didn't see one redeeming thing about his play. Not good enough to start and even the bench played better when he was demoted back to towel waving.
Thanks Timvp. Agreed on everything. I would have liked to see LW4 especially defensively to protect the lead because, if anything, that is the main problem of this team, squandering the lead the last quarter/minute. Other than that very much satisfied. I still think Spurs has the the best 2nd unit. That lineup of Mills, Belli, Bertans, Poeltl was a thing of beauty
OP with the goods as always. Many thanks.
Patty deserved an F. It's not that he missed his shots, it's just how stupid he played last night. Supposedly he's a vet but he played like a rookie. Shooting immediately after the offensive rebound to give us the final shot of the half was stupid and he was very lucky Denver didn't convert on the other end. Also that save the ball from going out of bounds throw to half court was beyond stupid. He had a teammate right next to him and he decided to throw it to like 3 nugget players instead.
Marco takes and makes the hardest shots, but I guess he is like Finley in that he likes to lean left when he shoots. But when Marco is feeling it then it really makes us look like a modern NBA team.
Bertans shooting has been amazing but it's his sudden rebounding that makes him playable. His defense is also vastly underrated. He moves his feet well for a big and keeps his hands straight up which makes the level of difficulty in scoring harder (even if it seems like the opponent always scores when they drive on him). This is the player I imagined him to be and the player we need him to be since we chose him over flathead.
White needs to shoot the ball. Period. Denver treated him like Rubio or Rondo and he responded lime Rubio or Rondo. He refused to shoot even when he had like 10 feet of space. It got to the point where his teammates ignored him on the offensive ends. There were several times where DeRozan saw white wide open and decided against giving him the ball bc he didn't trust him. A few times Gay did the same thing too. But I feel like Pop said something to him at half bc he played like a different animal in the second half. He was decisive and attacked the basket and made a 3. Baby steps this season but I'm glad pop didn't bench him after his first half performance. Also White is by far our best perimeter defender and a really good one. Once he gets his name known, I expect him to improve and not get as many bogus calls against him.
It's a fact right now that we need Aldrige to get going early and get him engaged in order for us to win. We need him to win and it seems like his play is greatly affected when he doesn't get his touches early. He is a player who needs to build a rhythm and that can hurt us as a team bc sometimes he never gets in rhythm and has games like against Houston. But we NEED LMA to play At a high level just to make the playoffs and have any chance in the first round
White needs to be sent back to G-league to remember how it feels to play without deferring to other players. He should be looking to shoot the 3 and not being afraid of taking it.
play poeltl tbh
Moon Landing Denier with the DNP-CD
Demar taking that 3 was great to see. He needs to practice a lot of that, practice with Davis, Forbes (don’t want Belli rubbing that leaning scissors shot on him). If he adds 3’s to his arsenal, dang he’d be a beast and could make Spurs really play modern basketball. I can’t get over that 2nd lineup. It’s a thing of beauty with 4 deadly shooters with Poeltl and was on display when they took a 15-0 run. Poeltl on Jokic was a revelation. He stood his ground and showed he belongs out there, and there’s more to come. Bertans rebounding was a big plus. This dude can be a real X factor (any combination of him or Gay). If he can get more plays drawn for him to shoot more 3’s. He’s shooting a very high percentage and really transforms this team to modern basketball. Pops for sure is drawing up a new version of beautiful game, emphasis on passing which was displayed last night making the guys take extra pass, avoid too much iso games. It could be careless sometimes if everybody’s not in sync, but once perfected this can make them a very dangerous team. GSG!
MVPatty third Highest Plus/Minus +15. Needs more minutes. Rating of ++A.
Last edited by Hillary Clinton; 12-27-2018 at 11:30 AM.
What happens when Gasol gets healthy? It's obvious Purdle is the future at the 5.
Poeltl is the real MVP
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