Reply With Quote
Glad to see Gary's positive performance (given the cir stances) didn't go unnoticed. I completely agree with his A- grade.
Playing without the Big 3, the Spurs gave the Jazz a run for their money. In front of the Salt Lake City crowd, the Spurs led by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter before the Jazz rallied for a 91-84 victory. The loss snaps San Antonio's 11-game winning streak and drops the Spurs to second place in the Western Conference standings.
The action went back and forth in the first three quarters; neither team was able to put together any sort of sustained run. After a Tiago Splitter free throw put the Spurs up by eight with 8:48 remaining, the Jazz responded with an 8-0 run to tie the game. Gary Neal then hit a triple to put the Spurs up by three, however Devin Harris answered with six consecutive points to put S.A. away for good.
Considering the Spurs were shorthanded and the Jazz desperately needed the win to keep their playoff hopes alive, this was definitely a good effort. No matter what, winning in Utah is a difficult proposition. To have been within a few plays of doing so without the team's three stars is worthy of praise.
Danny Green C
Early on, Danny Green had great tenacity on defense and was making plays offensively. In the third quarter, he added some timely hoops to help spark San Antonio's run. However, down the stretch in the fourth, Green missed each of his four shots -- all of which were good looks. His inability to score when it was needed most cost the Spurs dearly. Green's defense also became much less technically sound as the game progressed.
Stephen Jackson D-
Back in 2003, Stephen Jackson was known to lay eggs from time to time. Tonight, he reminded us that he's still very much capable of having a horrible shooting night. With the Spurs leaning on him to produce, Jackson failed. Nothing was going for him -- be it layups, long two-pointers or open threes. To make things worse, Jackson got sloppy with the basketball and he was oftentimes out of position on the defensive end due to trying to do too much. It would have been foolish to think that Jackson wouldn't have his bad games from time to time, however this was a poorly timed egg-laying. Even a mediocre performance from him tonight would have been enough to get the job done.
Patrick Mills B-
We're starting to learn more about Patrick Mills and what he brings to the team. The good: Defensively, he's better than advertised. He uses his speed to harass opponents and is able to stay in front of the ball even if he's pressuring full court. On offense, he's a fearless shooter, can score in a variety of ways and is a decent enough ball-handler. The bad: His defensive fundamentals are iffy and he doesn't guard pick-and-rolls well. On offense, he lacks many point guard skills. He doesn't have good court vision, isn't the most willing of passers, doesn't run the pick-and-roll effectively and he's not someone who can consistently create shots for others. Thankfully, when he plays next to Ginobili, most of his weaknesses will be covered and his strengths will be accentuated.
DeJuan Blair B+
The Spurs needed DeJuan Blair to eat a larger piece of the pie than usual and he did just that. He was very productive in his minutes. He actually carried the Spurs early on when the team got off to a slow start. Defensively, Blair had his moments but, overall, he was below average. When the Jazz took the time to isolate their bigs against him, they usually had success. Rebounding-wise, while his total appears adequate, I thought there were three or four more boards out there that he should have pulled down.
Boris Diaw C-
Boris Diaw looked especially slow tonight. I'm not sure if he was tired or what but he wasn't moving too swiftly up and down the court. Defensively, he ruined what could have been a very positive night by needlessly fouling a few times. Only pulling down four defensive boards in 44 minutes against the Jazz in the last two days is a concern. On offense, he just wasn't very helpful. His much-ballyhooed passing ability never made an appearance. Without his passing, the rest of his offense simply isn't good enough.
Gary Neal A-
His stats don't look pretty and some of his play was downright ugly but I think Gary Neal deserves a huge amount of credit for keeping the Spurs in the ballgame. He was the only player on the team who could consistently create shots for himself and others. Especially in the halfcourt setting, the Spurs were lost when Neal wasn't in the game. He continues to show a lot of growth as a player. Today, it's not uncommon to see him handle a ton of pressure and still be able to easily orchestrate the offense. Defensively, Neal was much better than usual. He had a few mistakes like always but he gave really good effort and his hustle garnered the Spurs a few extra possessions.
Matt Bonner C-
Matt Bonner is one Spurs player who will be actively rooting against the Spurs facing the Jazz in the playoffs. Utah has four bigmen and they basically all took turns throwing Bonner around. To his credit, Bonner was able to fight back a few times ... but that didn't happen too often. It was extremely difficult for him to defend the low post or rebound. Offensively, he was efficient for three and a half quarters. Then the pressure increased and Bonner fizzled. I can't say I was shocked.
Tiago Splitter A
The Jazz were throwing everything they had at Tiago Splitter but the Brazilian was still able to produce at a high clip. Offensively, he found ways to score -- whether it was on post-ups, in pick-and-roll sets or on the offensive glass. Defensively, I thought this was his best outing since he missed time due to back spasms. He was physical, protected the rim well and showed a lot of mobility. Overall, this was a step forward for Splitter as he proves to the coaches that he's ready for the forthcoming playoff battles.
Kawhi Leonard B+
There was a lot to like about Kawhi Leonard's play. Offensively, he took it upon himself to create plays at times and he had some success. Though he made mistakes, most of his errors were good thoughts gone bad. Defensively, he played solid individual defense against a number of different players. His quickness and length allowed him to make a key plays on D. My sole issue with Leonard tonight is I thought he could have made all the difference if he would have been more focused on cleaning up the defensive glass. The Spurs were desperate for defensive boards and Leonard is one of the few players who was capable of coming up with those balls.
Pop B-
On one hand, Pop deserves a lot of credit for having this team ready to play hard and confidently enough to almost escape with a victory. On the other hand, his rotation was flawed -- especially in hindsight. Going with more of Splitter and Blair would have helped. On the perimeter, less of Jackson and Green along with more of Neal and Leonard would have made things easier. All in all, I agree with Pop resting the Big 3 because health is more important than everything right now. With two noteworthy upcoming games against the Lakers and Grizzlies, it'll be interesting to see how quickly the role players can put this loss behind them and move forward.
Glad to see Gary's positive performance (given the cir stances) didn't go unnoticed. I completely agree with his A- grade.
Nice choice of words
and yet, despite Bonners' C- and anti-clutchness, the Spurs were not outscored while he was on the court
so Bonner @ C- > Splitter @ A
Good write-up. Can't say I really disagree with any grade outside of Bonner (he played a man's game tonight defensively and his three rebounds were hard-fought) who should be given a B-.
As much as I love DaTrillStak5 I thought he deserved an F. Bounce back Capt. Jack! Bounce back!
was really upset at sj tonight
I thought he would man up tonight and go for 25
thought green could have made more shots to
It would've been nice for Pop to give Anderson a shot when it was clear that Green and Jackson both didn't have it tonight. We played more than well enough to win defensively. Just needed a few more buckets.
Would have loved for us to steal this one in Utah but the loss isn't a big deal. Better to be ready for Wednesday game against the Lakers. I've seen enough of this Jazz team and would love to play them in the 1st round.
While benching the big 3 certainly made things harder for everyone else basketball wise, I thought it had a negative effect on the rest of the team's mentality. Only Blair and Leonard played with their usual energy and intensity - everyone else flopped.
Tiago Splitter - Really disappointed in Splitter tonight. I think his leadership is non-existent both verbally and symbolically. First, he got destroyed by the refs and all he does is smirk, tilt his head to the right, and walk away. What he should be doing is snapping and getting T-ed up to send a message. Second, he was clearly shoved by Al Jefferson on a few rebounding opporun ies but instead of retaliating he just takes it. Third, and this is subjective, but I hate when players give up before the horn sounds. Green was still pressuring the ball but Tiago decided it was time to sulk and go for a causal stroll. Additionally I think this should have been a statement game from him with Duncan out. IIRC, Blair has always played well when the big 3/ or Duncan sits. I have no doubts about Splitters talents or skill level. And I still think he needs to play 25+ minutes per game.. but he is no leader. Luckily, we don't need him to on this team.
Matt Bonner - Shot the ball well in the first 3 quarters, but struggled in the 4th. I thought most of them were good looks so he needs to stay confident and keep shooting. Something to keep an eye on for the rest of the month: April 2012 (5 games): 35% from 3s. April 2011 (13 games including playoffs): 33% from 3s. April 2010 (14 games including playoffs): 35% from 3s.
Green - Really needs to work on his drives. Looks way too soft and out of control.
Jackson - Struggled on offense but that was mainly because he had an off shooting night. It wasn't a result of chucking, bad shots, selfishness or trolling etc and that's important to note. He was also one of the only guys trying to execute the offense and move the ball as the game was coming to a close. His animated and enthusiastic reaction to some of the bogus fouls were awesome to watch as well.
Diaw - Did he play tonight? I tried looking for him but he was no where to be found.
Devin Harris - Lol.. hitting 3 3s against us again. And this time, 2 in crunch time. Standard.. I guess.
Hayward - Did some nice things tonight and looks like a completely different player from last year. His ballhandling and passing isn't as bad as I thought and he has some athleticism. But like with every wing from the weak draft of 2010, I wonder if James Anderson would be more productive he traded places with Hayward.
Pop - I liked his decision to bench the big 3. Normally I prefer to play rather than baby. But 8 games in 11 days is just dumb, especially with the playoffs around the corner. I thought he should have played Blair more because Bonner was taking a beating from Milsap and Favors. Leonard should have saw more minutes as well (unless he was trying to semi-rest him too). On the fence about this one, but Pop could have called a timeout around 2:10 because we took and missed 4 3pointer leading up to that moment. But I can see the value in letting the lineup play it out.
Despite all the negatives, we had a great shot to win the game. In fact, I think the Jazz got kind of lucky with Harris hitting 2 clutch 3s, Milsap being completely unchecked on that offensive rebound/put back (who was supposed to cover him I dont remember?), and the referees being whistle happy in favor of the Jazz.
Last edited by angelbelow; 04-10-2012 at 02:51 AM.
Thanks
Jax has always been just a passable shooter, but 16% when the chips were down isn't acceptable.
Anyone with the nickname "Capt" ought to be able to show the youngsters some veteran leadership at the very least-- and that didn't happen.
Jax didn't make love to pressure tonight. He let pressure with HIM.
Danke
I hope Jackson and Green come out with something to prove against the Lakers. I'm sure they'd like to forget this game too.
Interesting take.
It's kind of reassuring to know that Bonner's just going through his annual slump. He should probably just be bridging quarters and having his minutes reduced to about 10 in my opinion. I have no idea how the team plans to overcome his shooting woes in the playoffs when he's eating up 20-25 a game. The only solution is to play him as a situational player as opposed to a rotation big.
You know angel, I suspect that that's primarily a cultural difference. For a player who's just come from Europe and is only just seeing playing time, Tiago's leadership skills/chippiness (or lack thereof) are about where I'd expect them to be. Maybe one of the Brazilian/Spanish posters can elaborate on what he was like on the international scene.
I didn't have a problem with Jax overall outside of his shooting, but Leonard probably needed to play more. Anderson, as well, deserved a look because the others weren't really making their shots. As for the point guard situation, it went exactly as I feared. I really don't trust Neal without Manu or Patty Mills to run the point for extended periods although Neal is certainly getting better.
To be honest, I thought that's where the team really suffered this game. With someone like say TJ Ford, for example, I think the offense and guys like Tiago would've done better this game.
I was impressed that with no big three the team only had 14 turnovers. The offense looked downright ugly at times, so that is quite an accomplishment. Interior play was critical tonight. The Jazz got 13 blocks and altered far more shots. The Spurs missed a couple of easy layups that they should have made. That physical inside play is what everyone thinks will give the Spurs trouble in the playoffs. To only lose by 7 against that type of team without the big three is very reassuring.
Jazz played like from start to finish and the Spurs couldn't capitalize. Spurs destroyed on the boards again.... And anyone expecting much in the way of scoring from S-Jax this year is in for a rude awakening. How the f do you get rejected Devon ing harris???
The score of D- is far too kind for Stephen Jackson - the way he played today he deserved an E or worse.
Thanks for the game recap and grades Tim.
Thanks!!! Wish I could've caught the game, and seen all the young guys battling... wouldn't have enjoyed Jax sucking it up, but what can you do?
hopefully this shuts up the patty mills backup talk
hes nothing but a smaller more shot happy gary neal who shoots worse
has horrible court vision
hes actually better defensively but mostly because hes quick while gary is probably the slowest player on the floor outside of centers
this game also showed the impact duncan has
we didnt really need ginobili or parker but duncan alone would have won it
so many missed shots/free throws which duncan would have cleaned up that ended in offensive rebounds for utah
even at his age he gets it done with his fundamentals
Trainwreck of a starting lineup. How many days before we declare that Pop is just subbing guys in at random with no regard for how they're actually producing or playing together?
Neal can shoot a team right into, or out of, a game. And he did both. He was one of the only creators. But he took some very quick shots that got the Jazz started back the other way at an advantage. His shot selection as a PG is really not good. His instant offense as a two is his real role. Or at "point" with Manu.
Diaw is just not in shape. Back to back when fat, its not gonna work. He is not there yet. He is actually having to play hard.
Its fun to watch what happens with the backups when Tony, Manu, and Tim are not on the floor. It really helps show the limitations of players who try to do what they are really not capable of doing. But you have to give some of them credit for at least stepping up and not hiding.
With Green and Jax sucking badly I really would have loved to see more of James Anderson ... I bet he would have hit more threes than Jax in as many attempts. But I still like how the team played in the Jazz environment. And a big *lol* at the Jazz announcers for celebrating that win big time although the Big Three did not play for SA.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
