Quick Grades: Spurs vs. Warriors - Dec. 8

[timvp]

Quick Grades: Spurs vs. Warriors

[ShoogarBear]

Assuming he starts getting consistent minutes, I think Tiago's role will be different every night.

He's going to be asked to set picks and muscle in the paint and do a bunch of stuff that won't appear in box scores. Other than that, it's going to depend on matchups. On offense I see him a lot like Oberto, taking only what's given to him, (except without the range). The nice thing is that neither he nor Blair (nor Bonner) will slow down the offense if the Spurs want to run.

I do wish he was a better rebounder than he's shown so far.

[jag]

I do wish he was a better rebounder than he's shown so far.

He gets to the ball well, it just doesn't seem like he has very good hands. At least not rebounding. He seems to have decent hands receiving passes in the paint and off the pick n roll.

[HarlemHeat37]

His hands are easily his problem when it comes to rebounding, it has been the same all year..it's puzzling..the way he tries to grab them is so awkward..

He actually does a great job of boxing out and getting position most of the time, he just can't grab the board..

[ducks]

he rebounds better then bosh

[sananspursfan21]

didn't get to catch this one. wasnt too worried about it either, it is the warriors... maybe im gettin too y. thanks for the grades

[Mel_13]

he rebounds better then bosh

The numbers are actually pretty close.

[timvp]

Splitter has never really been a good rebounder but yeah he sometimes whiffs on boards he should easily get. To me, it looks like he doesn't really jump and go after the ball enough. He's usually off-balance and reaching. And then even if he gets the ball in his grasp for a second, the ball is too far away from his body and it gets knocked away.

I would classify his hands as good in regards to catching but they are pretty weak when it comes to holding onto the ball in traffic.

[DPG21920]

Tiago still looks like the game is moving a bit too fast. Like Timvp said, he is off-balance. Once he gets adjusted, I expect him to improve in all areas.

[ElNono]

I thought he also could be more aggressive finishing. He had a couple of layups that looked pretty weak when he could just have stuffed it. It's not the wow factor that I'm looking for, it's that better/quicker defenders are going to block that 9/10 times.
But he's still figuring things out.
This was a good game in that while we had a few let downs here and there, we didn't get ourselves into a hole, and were in cruise control most of the time. I thought Tony and Blair had a great game too. Obviously, finding time for Tiago while resting Dice is always welcome.

Thanks for the grades, timvp.

[Mel_13]

One thing about Tiago, he's definitely not soft. He reminds me of Manu, in that he'll take a shot and not give the opponent the satisfaction of admitting it hurts. He just shakes it off and moves on.

[SnakeBoy]

I think Splitter will get better at rebounding when he gets more comfortable. To me it looks like he's thinking ahead about what to do with the ball before he actually has it in his hands.

[DPG21920]

Yeah, CBF and I were talking about that. He is tough and scrappy, but not aggressive. There is a major difference.

[Nathan89]

I give Blair A because he jumped on Lee jump-shot and let him drive straight to the basket. I know some of you guys give him a lot of credit for BBIQ but I don't think his BBIQ is so great. Just another good game against a small team and more stupid mistakes.

[Libri]

I agree, those 3s by Neal were tough. I think it's clear that Neal doesn't need to set his feet in order to make the three. He can do it on the run. If he continues to make those tough 3s and capture Pop's trust, we might see him in a situation where he will be able to contribute with a clutch shot.

[I Heart Ginobili]

Udoka B+? Every time the guy has the ball in his hands i cringe because he is so awkward out there, he may have fit in with the old spurs offense, but i don't see it working out for him in the faster paced scheme. cant wait til anderson is back so we can dump his ass

[spurs1990]

Everyone check out who is number one in Google Trends:

http://www.google.com/trends

[ShoogarBear]

. . . Aretha Franklin has pancreatic cancer?

[EricB]

Uh oh, did Ron Artest go back in the stands again or something?

[Fpoonsie]

One thing about Tiago, he's definitely not soft. He reminds me of Manu, in that he'll take a shot and not give the opponent the satisfaction of admitting it hurts. He just shakes it off and moves on.

Agreed, and I certainly appreciate that about him, but he needs to go up a LOT stronger. He seems entirely too timid when goin for a lay in or "crashing" (and I use that term loosely, thus, the quotes) the boards. I'm hoping that'll come w/ more playing time and a steady increase in confidence.

[Dex]

Uh oh, did Ron Artest go back in the stands again or something?

Actually, he said he's donating half of next year's salary to mental health charities, which is probably why he's a hot topic.

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2010/1...urable-encore/

[lurker23]

Rebounding has always been a bit of a weak spot for Splitter, going back a ways. While I'm not too optimistic about that ever changing, you would think that some of his problems would be correctable with steady drilling. We'll see how the rest of the season plays out, but if the off-season were to begin today, I'd hope the coaching staff would devote the summer with Tiago to rebounding drills and fundamentals.

[ShoogarBear]

Maybe he can go back and look at some old vids of Nazr.

[will_spurs]

Manu Ginobili A- Passed very well, especially on the break. Defense inconsistent.

So passing well but inconsistent defense and erratic shooting is enough to get Manu an A- grade... how the mighty have fallen (or at least your expectations).

[Fireball]

Once again I liked what I saw from Splitter last night. He definetely gets right in the middle of everything and does not care if he gets slapped in the face or knocked to the ground. So he is not soft at all. And as someone mentioned in the game thread, he actually gets a good amount of calls (both on offense and defense) for a rookie. As Blair seems to get it rolling, I look forward to the next games and how many minutes Splitter will get against the Hawks etc.