Degree of Angst over last nights loss

[Rummpd]

Is is high? Do you agree was just one of those nights when players and seemngly coach Pop have simultaneous brain locks, cold shooting, and a lack of energy against a weakened opponent? How pissed off are you over this loss, (I am about a 7/10 vs. some of other losses we threw away this year)?

I for one held back comment until I watched a tape this AM.

The bottom line this was a pathetic effort with poor execution and poor hustle and most tellingly terrible coaching. (I sound like Bouton but it is true, how can you not throw Nzar in there for at least 4-5 minutes to get him some experience?? It is not like he would be replacing a legend in Rasho right now and on a night with turnovers, one would think Beno might get some play).

Right now I give Spurs a pass s/p the change this week, but anything but a convincing effort in next 2-3 games and I will start to get worried.

They cannot rely on "turning it" on like they did in Houston = time to be dominant from the onset.

[Frenchise player]

The biggest reason why the Spurs lost last night was Malik's trade.
In his Radio show on Friday night, TP explained how much the lockeroom was different without Malik.
They were all sad, especially Tim, Tony and Bruce who knew him for a long time.
The Spurs is one of the few team is the NBA that is also a family, the players apreciate themselves and Rose was a strong link between them.
Tony said how hard it was for him losing the player who defended him when there was talks about Kidd's trade, Malik refused to dinner with Kidd to support Tony.
This loss must be a collateral effect of Rose's trade.

I just hope that they will be able to move on and win another championship for Malik.

[Jimcs50]

As I said, greed is what motivated this trade...nothing else. The Spurs got screwed by the Knicks for the 2nd time.

Rose and 2 draft choices >>>>>Mohammed

[dcole50]

Rose and 2 draft choices >>>>>Mohammed

let the guy play one second with the team atleast before you determine his ultimate worth.

this loss doesn't hurt too much. miami, houston, all hurt much more.

[boutons]

"I sound like Bouton but it is true"

I think it's the nature of this forum when one feels they have excuse oneself for being "true".

The really scary thing, as I've pointed out before, is that the Spurs offense can be seriously, fatally stopped by almost any serious, even nominal, defense. Grizz have done it twice, and so have the Rockets, and Heat once. The large majority of 42 wins is due to almost no NBA teams playing defense, combined with the Spurs NBA-best defense (most of those teams can't win against a good defense, either).

The second scary thing is the Spurs interior defense allowing 44 pts (48 vs Heat) while Spurs offense scoring only 34 paint points, and losing (like vs Heat). No Spurs defense = no Spurs win.

Another scary this was Tony playing quite aggressively for 3 qtrs, and turned in a pretty good stat line (7 RBs! great hustle) overall, but then played almost the entire 4th quarter invisibly, showing up only for:

4th Period
(11:45) [SAN] Udrih Subs ution replaced by Parker
(11:11) [SAN] Parker Turnover: Lost Ball (3 TO) Steal: Watson (2 ST)
(9:33) [SAN] Parker Turnover: Lost Ball (4 TO) Steal: Posey (1 ST)
(9:32) [SAN] Parker Foul: Personal (1 PF)
(8:58) [SAN] Parker Rebound (Off:2 Def:4)
(8:12) [SAN] Parker Jump Shot: Missed
(7:44) [SAN 65-63] Ginobili Jump Shot: Made (7 PTS) Assist: Parker (5 AST)
(5:06) [SAN] Parker Foul: Shooting (2 PF)
(4:26) [SAN] Parker Driving Layup: Missed
(3:45) [SAN] Parker Jump Shot: Missed
(1:36) [SAN] Parker Rebound (Off:2 Def:5)
(0:40) [SAN] Parker Jump Shot: Missed

... yep, Parker didn't score in the 4th, didn't get to the FT line, Spurs lose by 2.

And it's not the first loss this season where Tony goes flat in the 4th.

As Parker goes, so go the Spurs.

With Grizz were concentrating on Tim, there was entirely too much forcing te ball into Tim. Can't Pop come up with something different than going to Tim in those situations?

And why was Duncan not on the floor for the entire 12 minutes of the 4th? If Pop was saving Duncan, then when TF does he save him for if not the 4th qtr last night?

But congrats to Tim, having a horrendous night at the line (he alone missed ALL the Spurs FTs but one), for hitting 2 FTs in crunch time. Duncan misses 6 FTs, Spurs lose by 2. No way to varnish that ty stat.

There's no way to know whether Malik departure had the Spurs in a funk, but last night was a huge test for the Spurs, "just find a way to win", and they couldn't do it.

Another scary thing is that Spurs inconsistency is for the entire team. All players have a bad night, but the rest of the team can make up for it. The Spurs weak psychology seems to be that they all play badly, and on both ends. These Spurs simply aren't that tough, YET!

[wildbill2u]

Well, we can only hope that these professionals got their "Boo hoo, bye bye Malik" game out of their systems and will play like professionals for the rest of the season.

If not, they don't deserve the le of Champions and it won't be because Malik is gone, but because they don't play well.

[GoSpurs21]

the only thing that stops the Spurs offense is......Duncan when he takes to goddam long to make decisions. When Tim's making quick decisions the Spurs play O with much more flow.

[ducks]

parker has also hit alot of clutch shots in 4 quarter this year
you do realize that even kobe goes flat in 4 quarter now and then when he had shaq

[ducks]

"I sound like Bouton but it is true"

I think it's the nature of this forum when one feels they have excuse oneself for being "true".

The really scary thing, as I've pointed out before, is that the Spurs offense can be seriously, fatally stopped by almost any serious, even nominal, defense. Grizz have done it twice, and so have the Rockets, and Heat once. The large majority of 42 wins is due to almost no NBA teams playing defense, combined with the Spurs NBA-best defense (most of those teams can't win against a good defense, either).

The second scary thing is the Spurs interior defense allowing 44 pts (48 vs Heat) while Spurs offense scoring only 34 paint points, and losing (like vs Heat). No Spurs defense = no Spurs win.

Another scary this was Tony playing quite aggressively for 3 qtrs, and turned in a pretty good stat line (7 RBs! great hustle) overall, but then played almost the entire 4th quarter invisibly, showing up only for:

4th Period
(11:45) [SAN] Udrih Subs ution replaced by Parker
(11:11) [SAN] Parker Turnover: Lost Ball (3 TO) Steal: Watson (2 ST)
(9:33) [SAN] Parker Turnover: Lost Ball (4 TO) Steal: Posey (1 ST)
(9:32) [SAN] Parker Foul: Personal (1 PF)
(8:58) [SAN] Parker Rebound (Off:2 Def:4)
(8:12) [SAN] Parker Jump Shot: Missed
(7:44) [SAN 65-63] Ginobili Jump Shot: Made (7 PTS) Assist: Parker (5 AST)
(5:06) [SAN] Parker Foul: Shooting (2 PF)
(4:26) [SAN] Parker Driving Layup: Missed
(3:45) [SAN] Parker Jump Shot: Missed
(1:36) [SAN] Parker Rebound (Off:2 Def:5)
(0:40) [SAN] Parker Jump Shot: Missed

... yep, Parker didn't score in the 4th, didn't get to the FT line, Spurs lose by 2.

And it's not the first loss this season where Tony goes flat in the 4th.

As Parker goes, so go the Spurs.

With Grizz were concentrating on Tim, there was entirely too much forcing te ball into Tim. Can't Pop come up with something different than going to Tim in those situations?

And why was Duncan not on the floor for the entire 12 minutes of the 4th? If Pop was saving Duncan, then when TF does he save him for if not the 4th qtr last night?

But congrats to Tim, having a horrendous night at the line (he alone missed ALL the Spurs FTs but one), for hitting 2 FTs in crunch time. Duncan misses 6 FTs, Spurs lose by 2. No way to varnish that ty stat.

There's no way to know whether Malik departure had the Spurs in a funk, but last night was a huge test for the Spurs, "just find a way to win", and they couldn't do it.

Another scary thing is that Spurs inconsistency is for the entire team. All players have a bad night, but the rest of the team can make up for it. The Spurs weak psychology seems to be that they all play badly, and on both ends. These Spurs simply aren't that tough, YET!

you do realize spurs were still thinking about the trade with rose
and tp and rose were tight
tp will be fine
one game loss is better now then in the postseason

[boutons]

"spurs were still thinking about the trade with rose"

I don't buy that BS. The Spurs were running last night thinking about Malik? Then they are bunch of soft-headed nutcases with no chance of going all the way.

[ducks]

yeah how dare they not show up mentally after a close friend is got transferred to new york

if you were at work and that happened the next day on the job you would not be as mentally sharp as the other days

you really should find a new team
spurs play more conistency then any nba team since pop has arrived

[slayermin]

How about when Watson loses his dribble for a moment and no one notices? Bruce was so focused on his own man that he didn't notice he had a chance at the ball. I'm not blaming him but I think Manu would've have easily made that steal. But instead, Watson re-establishes control and hits that turnaround jumper.

[boutons]

"if you were at work and that happened the next day on the job you would not be as mentally sharp as the other days"

When you get old enough, get a job, and then let us know how it goes.

Who TF are you to be talking about "mentally sharp" ?

"you really should find a new team"

You really should kiss my ass, and go back to 4th grade to try again at basic English, you illiterate twerp.

[CosmicCowboy]

The Spurs lost because of turnovers.

The points in the paint differential wasn't because of bad interior D but because of fast break points off of...you guessed it...turnovers...

Memphis is a well coached team that goes 8-9 deep even with the injuries and they came out agressively and played smart ball...Spurs have a bullseye on them with every team in the league and the Grizz came out on top on this one.

it happens in an 82 game season...