Reply With Quote
I thought the Spurs weren't making the playoffs?
Hollinger's PER Diem: Nov. 25, 2008
By John Hollinger
I wrote Monday night about the Rockets surviving the early-season grind to stay afloat in the West, but they're not the only team in Texas that's doing so. Dallas has quietly won four straight to move up to sixth in our daily Power Rankings, and the Spurs, in their typical below-radar fashion, are back on the good side of .500 after their win in Memphis.
It was a landmark win in a couple of ways. First, it marked the return of Manu Ginobili from ankle surgery. Though he only played 11 minutes, Ginobili pumped in 12 points and added four boards and an assist, suggesting he'll keep putting up the freakish per-minute averages he posted a season ago.
Additionally, George Hill (PER 17.06) and Roger Mason (17.07) continued to play extremely well in Tony Parker's absence. The duo combined for 38 points and six assists Monday to supplement Ginobili and Tim Duncan, an area in which the Spurs looked to be lacking on paper.
While those two will take on a less prominent role once Parker comes back in two weeks, they'll remain important because they give the Spurs some unexpected firepower off the pine -- after it appeared age and attrition had reduced San Antonio to just three viable scorers.
However, the most important development in San Antonio is on the other side of the ball. The Spurs' defense was shockingly bad in the season's first two weeks, but no longer. San Antonio has improved from 29th in defensive efficiency all the way to 14th and has held six of its past eight opponents to less than 90 points. Supposedly, the Spurs scrapped some new defensive tactics they were trying and went back to the old stuff that worked. Whatever the cause, these now look like the buttoned-down, suffocating Spurs we're familiar with seeing.
Upcoming home games against Chicago and Memphis figure to allow the Spurs to put some distance between themselves and the break-even mark before a showdown in Houston on Saturday, with the winner earning the survivor award for the first quarter of the season -- and, most likely, the Southwest Division lead.
I thought the Spurs weren't making the playoffs?
They've been playing all scrub teams.
Can only play the schedule you're given.
They pulled out wins against Houston and Utah, which surprised the general consensus.
Denver was the only game in this stretch that the Spurs really looked outmatched, and that was more because Tim and Roger both put up bunnies.
The Spurs at this moment are exactly one game behind the #2 spot in the western conference-- and this, after playing the entire season without their all-star shooting guard, and half the season without their all star point guard. I think it's fair to say any predictions that had them missing the playoffs were just a tad premature.
For the millionth time, Hollinger stating the Spurs were gonna miss the playoffs were only if they were to play the entire season without Parker/Ginobili.
I'd be interested in knowing about the "new defensive tactics they were trying"...
What a flipflopper. Last week he says Spurs may miss the playoffs, now that they've won like 3 games, age and attrition has reversed???
I remember vaguely one of the coaching staff maybe even Pop saying they wanted to take a close look at some of Boston's schemes from last year.
I believe there's also something else around about they changed the way they defended the pnr as well.
Utah minus Boozer, Williams, and Korver. C'mon.
Scrub teams = keeping them all under 90 pts.
Keeping Scrub Teams under 90 ppg >>>>>>>>> Losing to Scrub Teams 105-88.
Read the Ludden piece.
nice.
Hollinger's mis-use of statistics is pretty annoying. He is right to look at efficiency, rather than raw numbers. It is amazing how many fans think a player who scores 20ppg on 40% shooting is better than one who scores 17 ppg on 48% shooting. His main problem is that he forgets that basketball is a TEAM sport and that all statistics are the result of the team and the system they play. Tony Parker not having a ton of assists is a reflection of the type of plays the Spurs run, just like Nash having 11 apg was partly a product of the system they were running. Another HUGE problem with Hollinger is that many things that players do on the court do not show up on the boxscore, like setting pick and rolls, ball movement, help defense, and on and on. Oberto is a great example of a player who does a lot of things to help his team, but they don't contribute to his stats. The only way to evaluate NBA players and teams is to watch the games. Reading TIMMVP's game summaries is a real help when that isn't possible. He really looks for the little things and notices what is going on away from the ball.
Games i bet you didn't view winabla just a week ago...was wondering when this quote was going to come out.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
