Grades: Spurs vs. Clippers - Game 1

[SuperDave]

Nice win, and it's always scary to play game 1 coming off a long layoff, so I'm happy just to have survived. Turnovers were a big problem, and we can't count on shooting that well from 3 in the future--- even with the looks we were getting. Game would have gotten a little scary if we had shot to closer to our average from the arc. Most impressive part of the game, besides Tim's dominance, was the individual and team defense on CP3. Keep Paul bottled up, and the Clips won't be able to score consistently enough to win.

[T Park]

hum, he played 4 sec in the 1st quarter and had one stupid foul

That was an intentional foul but he fouled the wrong guy. Had Evans and Martin in the game but fouled Martin :-/

[2centsworth]

I think Manu deserves slightly lower than an A-, did not play well enough imo to get any type of A. He took a couple of bad shots and ed around with that one three at the top of the 3 PT line trying to draw a foul leading to another basket for the Clips in part of their run.

I'm a little concerned with Manu because he still hasn't come close to playing to his potential offensively. He mainly just shoots 3s and sometimes drives but even when he drives he's still not 100% at finishing. And perhaps he's lost a step or two and can't shake defenders off and get by them as quickly. He's also rarely shooting mid-range jumpers, which is something he's added to his game over the last few years.

My thoughts too, but no lower than a b+ for knocking down early momentum threes, getting some fts and playing solid d.

[jjktkk]

Thanks for the grades and writeup Tim.

[wildbill2u]

The rust showed in our first half passing problems and other turnovers. I didn't expect the second half blow-out because of the relatively poor first half.

We used a lot more minutes on our starters than usual and surprisingly more than did LA. In fact, their second team logged more minutes that our second team which is unusual.

But all's well that ends well.

[Vito Corleone]

This was a 16-point win that could have easily been a 25-point win.

The Spurs are just better than the Clippers, and it showed last night.

I remember back in 2002 when we played the Lakers in the playoffs. I mentioned that we could play our game and do what we wanted and still lose because the fact was the Lakers were just a better team.

The Clippers are in the same boat, they played about as well as they could have and still got beat by 16 pts. I was watching the game with my dad and neither of us felt the Spurs brought their A game defensively yet we held them under 100 pts and beat them 16 pts.

I have a hard time seeing us lose more than one game

[ElNono]

Thanks!

[therealtruth]

I remember back in 2002 when we played the Lakers in the playoffs. I mentioned that we could play our game and do what we wanted and still lose because the fact was the Lakers were just a better team.

The Clippers are in the same boat, they played about as well as they could have and still got beat by 16 pts. I was watching the game with my dad and neither of us felt the Spurs brought their A game defensively yet we held them under 100 pts and beat them 16 pts.

I have a hard time seeing us lose more than one game

As long as we continue to make adjustments. The playoffs are all about adjustments. It's how teams that seem really good end up losing. They either don't adjust or can't adjust.

[Mugen]

Manu had one of the worst stretches of flopping I've seen from him in a long time. Worse was that he didn't even get any calls.

Other than that, i thought he was great and def deserved is A-.

Apart from him, the bench had a pretty subpar game. They will have to play better moving forward.

I would not be opposed to seeing Patty and DeJuan make appearances if Neal & Bonner continue to struggle.

[~Sweetmelody~]

I'll wait to see what John Carroll has to say. He's more authoritative tbh

Thanks for the laugh. I needed that.

[TMTTRIO]

Manu deserved a C+ or B- tonight. By the way I'm not sure if it's good to continue to use Manu as the Sixth Man anymore. I know they're starting to use him less and not rely on him so much because he's old but one of my concerns lately is that when he comes into the game now it takes him a long time once he gets in to start contributing or doing anything. It's not like it used to be where he could come in right away and produce right away or bring a lot of energy. Also I've noticed that the starters get us a huge lead in the first place which is great but then you bring Manu in to pretty much play really useless minutes and pretty much hope he doesn't get hurt again in those minutes. Also he seems to not play well with Neal out there. He needs to be out there with Tony now. By the way I've noticed his minutes are starting to decrease more and more.

[Spurtacus]

Timmy was in old man beast mode last night.

Nice write up as usual.

[therealtruth]

Duncan's playing like he's back in 2007.

[DMC]

This was already posted on ESPN day after tomorrow.

[UnWantedTheory]

Hmmm, not really what I would say.

Here are mine, you will notice they're quite different:

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After more than 7 days of rest, the Spurs were back on the court. And for the 15th straight game, San Antonio's work resulted in a W. While the Clippers showed a lot of fight, the Spurs were able to coast with ease to a 108-92 victory.

Early on, the rust was felt on defense. The Spurs had a handful of breakdowns on that segment in the first quarter. The second period started off in pretty much the same way but eventually the good guys found their defensive groove. The Clippers didn't score for nearly five minutes to turn a one-point deficit into an eight-point lead.

By the third quarter, the Spurs were hitting everything and grew their advantage to as large as 19 points. The Clippers made a run in the end quarter to pull within eight points with 8:42 remaining. But again the Spurs were able to go on an 11-3 run over the next six and a half minutes to finish the game.

Los Angeles played hard but the Spurs just beat them with their skill, basketball IQ and execution. Hopefully the Spurs can stay healthy and get even sharper as this series progress, which would force the Clippers to play a flawless game to even win once in this contest.


Tim Duncan A+
During the week-long break, TD fretted about being rusty in Game 1. So much for that. Duncan was a robot from the get go. On Defense, he was supremely impressive. Duncan defended pick-and-rolls, was strong on the low block and offered help in a timely manner. When matched up against Blake Griffin, he had a smart gameplan and executed it to perfection. Duncan also ran back in transition and pulled down a number of contested boards. Offensively, his efficiency was lethal. While Duncan didn't do anything too flashy, he played wonderfully fast and was consistently making his good calls -- whether it called for a pass, a quick shot, a drive to the rim or a post move. All in all, it'd be difficult to expect the veteran hall of famer to play at a higher level.


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Pop A-
There weren't many huge surprises out of Pop tonight. I thought he was going to start Green off on Paul and then let Parker defend him late but Pop did it the other way around. Other than that, this game went according to plan. I was really happy he let Leonard, Green and Diaw play longer minutes. Going small when the Clippers went small was the right move. The bottomline is Pop got yet another win without taxing any of his players too much.

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As you can see the differences are subtle, but I feel quite meaningful.

Now if you'll excuse me I have to go talk to my editor.


P.S. Can you do these a little sooner next time? I'm way past my submission deadline.

Great write up as usual John. Thanks so much.

[maverick1948]

I tend to disagree with Timvp on Bonner's grade most of the time. He looks at Bonner and says "Oh well, it's Bonner. He will do something stupid." Well, this time I think you are wrong about the "bonehead plays on defense". He was on the court with Gary Neal. He was rotating to cover the area that should have been protected by Neal and got burned. Bonner does things that are viewed as mistakes on his part when he is trying to give help defense on a guard who has been beaten. Bonner is not a one on one defender, but he is a solid help defender most of the time. Getting burned by a guard is the biggest nightmare of every big man. He doesnt deserve an A or C. His short stint on the court should be at least a B or B-. As for offense, Utah and LAC have not left him open in the playoffs. I think in 5 games, he is shooting 50% from 3 point line. Do you think he is going to see many open shots? On a couple of his passed up shots, the pass led to a completely unguarded 3 from someone else. Please PLEASE watch the games closer.

[UnWantedTheory]

^^^So...you heart Bonner?

[Spurtacus]

This was already posted on ESPN day after tomorrow.

I paid for it.

[timvp]

The aspect of Manu I really liked was his defense. Perhaps my expectations for him were lower than they should have been since the last game against the Clippers was the worst defensive game I've ever seen him play, but I really liked his defense and his attacking of the basket. All those short guards of the Clippers are tough for him to defend but he was up for the task ... and then he was obviously an asset on the offensive end.