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wrong le, TIMVP
The San Antonio Spurs are fresh off arguably their two best wins on the season. They now travel to Charlotte to begin a taxing three games in four nights stretch. Larry Brown and the Bobcats will be waiting and would love to end San Antonio's three-game winning streak.
Keys to a Spurs Victory
1. Push the tempo. The Bobcats are most comfortable playing at a slow pace. They are elite on the defensive end but poor on the offensive end, so slowing the pace allows them to try to grind out victories. If the Spurs can push the tempo, they could blow the game open.
2. Don't allow Boris Diaw to beat you via the pass. While Diaw is still an elite passer for a bigman, his offense has gone down the drain. He's shooting below 30% on three-pointers this year and has lost one-third of his scoring average from a year ago. Diaw usually gives the Spurs trouble but the gameplan this time should be not send help and turn him into a scorer.
3. Get Manu Ginobili going. Coming off of an 0-for-10 outing, Ginobili will be looking to bounce back. Calling a few plays for him early to raise his confidence should help. Considering he's shooting just 34.2% from the field and 28.8% from three-point land on the road this season, the coaching staff shouldn't just assume he'll automatically rebound.
Matchup to Watch
vs.
Gerald Wallace is having a very good season. Out of nowhere, he's become an spectacular rebounder. Prior to this season, the 6-foot-7 small forward never averaged more than 7.8 rebounds per game. This year, his average has jumped up to a staggering 11.5 boards.
The Spurs will counter Wallace's athleticism with Richard Jefferson. On the season, Jefferson is averaging just 3.9 rebounds per game -- the fewest since his rookie season. When he's not involved offensively, his rebounding rate drops even further. Against Wallace, Jefferson needs to be compe ive on the boards even if he's not getting many touches.
Inside the Numbers
Stephen Jackson has been playing extremely well as of late. In his last seven games, the former Spur is averaging 28 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.9 steals while shooting 47.2% from the field. Prior to this hot stretch, Jackson had a field goal percentage of 39.5% on the season.
Did You Know?
In the history of the Bobcats franchise, the Spurs have allowed Charlotte to score more than 86 points in only one out of 11 games. That lone game is also the only time the Bobcats ever beat the Spurs -- the infamous November of 2006 contest in which Adam Morrison somehow lit up Bruce Bowen for 27 points to lead the Bobcats to a 95-92 victory.
wrong le, TIMVP
I know the best way to beat the Bobcats is to play them like we played the Thunder...and hence the name of this thread
Thanks.
Good primer. I thought our effort against Wallace and the Bobcats last time was good.
I remember that game. We had like a million turnovers or something
Key to Victory?
Release the Beast
Previous Bobcat-Spurs game boxscoreI remember that game. We had like a million turnovers or something
We had an incredible 28 TOs but won by 19. SJax was 9-22 and Wallace only had 6 boards with none offensive.
The Spurs players were really exhausted at the end of the Thunder game...
Is one day of rest enough to find his energy back ?
I hope so !
I believe Tim Duncan will go for 35 & 15 tonight.
I hope Pop plays some Ian 2nite. He needs some more burn.
It's unbelievable we still won the game given how many to's we had.
I mean 28
I hope Jax will go on a "I shoot first, I'll think later" trend.
Bobcats play one of the most ugliest basketball in the league. Saying they play hard and are 14-4 at home. Spurs will need to take this game seriously to win it.
i hope jax gets a career high......................in turn overs
gospursgo
This is gonna be a game "Only a true spurs fan could love"
a defensive knock out drag out who can make the game the ugliest fest.
That being said, would be a perfect night to run Ian and Blair out there together.
Their length could work vs the Bobcats. Unless the 'Cats go uber small.
The scary thing about LB teams is he attacks your weakness relentlessly. Last year he saw RMJ struggles to get through screens so LB turned Raja Bell into Reggie Miller. The Spurs almost lost because of that.
Not sure what he'll do this year but it could include LB trying to take advantage of Wallace on RJ. Or forcing Parker to win the game via his midrange jumper. He's gonna try something . . .
Undercut Wallace.
Injure Adam Banks, and the Mighty Ducks can longer do the Flying V
Does Bogans get assigned to SJax?
The next three opponents all have records right around .500, but they all have huge differences in their home/road records. Charlotte, Memphis, and New Orleans are a combined 15-42 on the road compared to a combined 41-12 at home. All three games will be tough.
I assume so. That will be another test for the length-challenged Bogans. SJax has one of the highest release points in the league.
Very true. 2-1 in these next three games would be great.
timvp,
Do you think Pop sits any of the players tonight? (I guess Duncan is the only one in contention, other than Ian of course. Ha.)
2-1 would be great. but if the Spurs could win tonight by 8-10 without heavy minutes by Duncan, I would expect 3-0.
Dro210 mentioned on Kori's show the possibility of resting Duncan for Charlotte and playing him instead against Memphis the next night. It's actually an interesting idea because the Grizzlies are a lot bigger and Duncan would be more important in that matchup.
That said, I think Duncan plays tonight. The hope will be that the Spurs win easily enough to allow Duncan to play both nights.
The only way I see Pop sitting Duncan is if he thinks he can run small ball all night against the Bobcats.
is Chandler still injured, right? So they'll start with Nazr and...none from the pine. Bigs r ur key.
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