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The Spurs improved to 3-1 in exhibition play by defeating the Rockets by a final score of 116-107. The starters built an early lead by setting a defensive tone. While the lead (and the defensive tone, for that matter) eventually evaporated, the bench unit scored enough in the second half to capture the victory.
Tim Duncan
Although his numbers weren’t sexy, Tim Duncan continues to show great mobility. His running of the court was particularly impressive, as was the agility and timing he illustrated when protecting the rim on defense. On offense, Duncan relied mostly on jumpers against the Rockets -- with subpar results. But all in all, Duncan being in fantastic shape bodes well for the beginning of the season.
Manu Ginobili
After missing the last two preseason games with a sore foot, Manu Ginobili was back in action. He had a few strong drives to the hoop, so I’ll assume his foot is feeling fine. Ginobili had a couple of great passes early on but his court vision blurred the longer he was on the court -- probably due to exhaustion. Defensively, he wasn’t very good but overall I’m happy about his conditioning level and the fact that he appears to be in a really good rhythm for this point of the season.
Tony Parker
Tony Parker’s play is trending the wrong direction. He was very strong to begin the preseason but has progressively worsened since then. Versus Houston, Parker’s defense was his best attribute. On offense, he did little right. It doesn’t look like he’s getting his normal lift, which is resulting in most of his shots falling short. Parker also wasn’t creating much off the dribble or on the break. Let’s hope it's simply a case of preseason doldrums.
Danny Green
Finally. For the first time since the Clippers series, Danny Green played like the Danny Green that erupted onto the scene last season. He was releasing his jumper with confidence whenever he got a chance. I also thought his form looked better -- he used more legs and held his follow-through longer. All it took was for a few of his shots to find the bottom of the net and Green’s vivacity returned to its previous level. Defensively, he was a lot more active and he wasn’t simply spotting up on the offensive end. While it’s a bit concerning that Green allows his overall play to be influenced by whether he’s making shots, it was at least reassuring to see this version return.
Boris Diaw
This was Boris Diaw’s best game this preseason. The trimmer Frenchman looked especially quick and used the added dexterity to his advantage. He was extremely fast to loose balls and cut to the hoop -- with and without the ball -- to create shots for himself and others. Diaw also passed the ball very well on the interior, which led to his team-high tying five assists. Defensively, he was active on the perimeter and held his ground in the paint. The one thing we haven’t seen out of Diaw this preseason is his outside shot. Since it’ll be important for him to stretch the court, let’s hope he rediscovers his stroke at some point before the beginning of the 2012-13 campaign.
Wesley Witherspoon
Wow. Talk about making the best of an opportunity. The coaching staff sat Kawhi Leonard and Stephen Jackson, which catapulted Wesley Witherspoon into the starting five. The undrafted rookie out of Memphis looked very sharp and once again passed the eye-test. He’s a long 6-foot-9 small forward with well above average athleticism and agility. On defense, his length and quickness allowed him to disrupt jump-shooters and obfuscate passing lanes. Even though he has a reputation of being a soft player, I really liked how hard he hit the defensive glass. Offensively, he spaced the court well and got a number of clean looks with his extremely high release. In transition, while he’s not a smooth ballhandler, he’s capable enough to push the pace on his own and get to the rim. Though Witherspoon remains a longshot to make the squad, he gave the Spurs front office something to think about.
Gary Neal
For the third straight preseason game, Gary Neal saw his minutes at shooting guard. And, like always, Neal wasn’t afraid to make sure the "shoot" in shooting guard was emphasized. But against the Rockets, he went a little overboard. I know he feels pressure to produce so that he can win a spot in the everyday rotation -- but it got unsightly at times watching him hoist contested jumper after contested jumper. Defensively, he was also worse than usual. His closeouts on three-point shooters were poor and he wasn’t fighting to get around screens in a timely manner. Neal is a talented player but he’s trying to do too much right now and it’s unlikely that he’s winning any points with the coaching staff. It’d serve him better if he went back to the basics of playing all out on defense while allowing the offense to naturally create open looks for him.
Eddy Curry
It’s getting more and more difficult to advocate not keeping Eddy Curry. Sunday afternoon was the best he’s looked in silver and black. Offensively, he was just a beast in the low block. When he wasn’t scoring with power moves, he was showing off a finesse touch on his hook shots or finding the open man. His passing, which has always been maligned, continues to be a bright spot. It should also be noted that his 5-for-5 shooting from the field with no turnovers performance came largely against Omer Asik, who is regarded as one of the very best defensive centers in the NBA. Defensively, he was active -- relatively speaking, at least. He remained mentally engaged and repeatedly offered quality help by using his bulk to close off the lane. Curry is always going to have his rough edges but it’s obvious he’s giving it his all to make this team.
Nando de Colo
Nando de Colo is going to be a highlight reel producer’s best friend this season. He had a handful of passes against the Rockets that forced me to rewind the tape and physically pick my jaw up off the ground. De Colo’s great passes are a result of equal parts vision, timing and courage. I also thought his ballhandling looked better today and his defense was adequate. Hitting all three of his shots and finishing sans turnover is the type of efficiency that could ultimately win De Colo the backup point guard job. As it stands, he’s giving the coaching staff plenty of reasons to consider using him as part of the regular rotation.
Cory Joseph
While De Colo was made for the highlight reel, Cory Joseph is pleading his case by playing tough, hardnosed basketball. Defensively, he’s really starting to live up to his potential. The Rockets point guards, especially Jeremy Lin, had a very difficult time dealing with Joseph’s pressure. His off-the-ball defense also remains a strength. On offense, Joseph did a much better job of attacking and not solely relying on the motion offense. In isolations, he drove to the basket and finished with power -- and that’s something we didn’t see at all last season. His outside jumper looks great and he too finished without a turnover. It’s safe to say the Spurs have never had this much depth at point guard. On just about every other team in the league, Joseph would be a shoo-in for a backup role.
DeJuan Blair
Though DeJuan Blair’s stats look great, the numbers were mostly compiled off of broken plays or in garbage minutes. He actually didn’t play very well today -- especially on the defensive end. While he sacrificed his body on a number of occasions, his sacrifices were often ill-timed with poor implementation. Offensively, Blair scored in the paint well but what stood out once again was his outside jumper -- both in live action and when he was at the line. It just looks fantastic. He still doesn’t get much elevation but the rest of his form is much, much improved. I’m hopeful that Blair actually does have a jumper out to about 18 feet because it would really aid his outlook as a prospect.
Derrick Brown
Welp, this was the end of the line for Derrick Brown. It would have been difficult for him to play any worse. In the halfcourt, he wouldn’t stick out more if he were wearing a pink jersey and a sombrero. He’s just totally worthless in that setting and I don’t see any hope that he can fix his shortcomings. Not only can he not shoot, dribble or pass, his instincts are horrible and he has no clue about spacing. Defensively, he’s truthfully not much better. His rotations have a molasses-like quality. Of the training camp invitees, he was probably the favorite. But right now, I’d be surprised if he’s still on the roster by the time the next preseason game tips off.
Tiago Splitter
Tiago Splitter was far from great but this was a step in the right direction. I didn’t like his interior defense or his overall physicality (or lack thereof) but he was better than we’ve seen previously in preseason. He did good work on the boards and had a praiseworthy move on the low post. For the second consecutive outing, Pop paired Splitter with Duncan. While the results weren’t stupendous, let us pray to the basketball gods above that Pop is looking to play that duo together more often than he did last season.
Matt Bonner
Matt Bonner emerged from his two-game hiatus in underwhelming fashion. The copper capped sharpshooter passed up about a half dozen open shots, which will surely draw Pop’s ire in tomorrow’s film session. Bonner also didn’t do very well on defense and just looked extremely rusty, no pun intended. Should we take anything from Bonner getting two DNP-CDs followed by a third game that saw him play fewer minutes than anyone else? Probably not, to be honest.
Pop
I thought it was interesting that Pop kept Neal at shooting guard even though both Ginobili and Green played. Does that mean De Colo and Joseph have moved past Neal on the depth chart at point guard? It’s possible but far from a certainty. Starting Witherspoon ended up being a great move. I don’t know if he’s someone the Spurs would actually keep on their 15-man roster but they now know he’s a prospect who they should follow closely. It was difficult to make much sense of the bigman rotation (what was with all the odd combinations and why didn’t Josh Powell play?) but I liked that he gave Curry a longer than usual look.
thanks!
Wouldn't be surprised if Joseph turns into a lighter version of George Hill.
Interesting predicament for the front office. With Parker, Mills, de Colo and Joseph what do you think they will do at this four deep position? I imagine Mills with his great Olympic outing really increased his trade value - though there may be a date that must be reached before trading him.
If they do trade him, coupling Mills with possibly Blair and Neal becomes an option. Personally I like Mills but setting up other players for easy baskets is not his strength, this can only help in the playoffs. His replacement can't be any worse than last year when we had no depth at the one. If traded de Colo is an interesting option when the Spurs need some play-making and the big three are out. Joseph can provide nice defense and possible offense but is it too soon for him in the big pressure filled stage? At the same time, if Joseph is the future his presence this season will likely help him greatly.
Also, between Witherspoon, Curry and Brown there is space for two of those guys right? From previous posts it sounds like most people are thinking the Spurs will keep a spot open for an unknown later in the season. How likely do you think Witherspoon goes to the Toros? Three deep at the three doesn't sound that great with Kawhi and Jax already there. There is potential for Jax to be traded but I am sure we all have doubts about Pop trusting a rookie in the playoffs; actually, I agree with that unless Kawhi is playing 40 minutes a night.
Crossing my fingers and hoping we keep Curry.
Thanks for the write-up and analysis.
Thank you!
Joseph seems to have a better concept for the team game than Hill did. Not that Hill was selfish mind you.
As an aside, Curry seems like a natural in the post. It's interesting to watch. He doesn't have to 'fight' for position like you see some guys. At lest against Htown he just walked to his spot, leaned on the guy, and put his hand out for the ball. After he scored like it was nothing against Asik I started getting pissed at Neal --again-- for not finding a way to get it to him in the post. When Neal would instead chuck up another contested three he would really piss me off. Neal is frustrating at times.
Curry at one point got the ball down on the right block and held it. A couple of guards came up trying to get the ball and dribble around the perimeter some more and he wasn't having any of it. He waitied for someone to make a cut, Blair, and then made a nice pass that got a layup. I decided after that play i like Curry.
him and blair usually does this out of the flow of the game when someone has a hot hand, the ball movement just stops going to the hot hand, but wankers on the team chuckn up shots for no apparent reason.....i wish neal returned to his SG role and that was a spot up shooter only, now with PG duties he seems to pull the trigger everytime he feels like it....there are better scoring options on the team available if needed
We need more DeColo+Joseph and less Neal (-4) ... pciking someone for the 15th spot seems extremely difficult ... Curry has a case and Witherspoon played great last night. About Curry though - he is good on offense, but without TD on the floor our interior defense is not existing. Nor Curry or Splitter do anything in that regard ...
Curry's an intriguing addition because the Spurs weren't all that good on post-up plays last season, ranking in the bottom third in the league. So a post scoring threat like Curry could see some minutes with the second unit, which needs to be a net neutral on defense because the starting five will be amazing defensively all because of Tim Duncan.
i think u either pair curry up with a guy who can play a decent level of defense and rely on the wings for help defense....diaw/kl/jax....u have to remember rasho also played with avg defense and he got away with it, i dont think curry will have a problem tryin to play avg defense
Exactly. Team defense should be a thing he should work on (i.e., not get lost on too many rotations and spend floor time with guys not named Blair or Bonner)
I am all in for Curry as there are no better options in the middle right now ... we just have to live with TD being our only interior defender.
I really like CJs agility and lateral movement on defense! (from about 3:10 to 3:40)
Damn, Lin spilled spaghetti all over the court
keepin curry is probably the best available big man on the cheap as insurance, just in case any of the bigs get injured....
None of these training camp guys will make a huge impact defensively. I like Curry because he is good in the post and can score. That is a pretty good weapon to have coming in off of the bench.
He might be able to get the others teams bigs in foul trouble if they can't stop him. He might not be able to stop someone like Dwight Howard, but who says that some of these other guys can stop him? If he gets the other team's big men in foul trouble then that would be huge for the Spurs. Easy baskets are always good, especially if the Spurs have a dry spell when the big three are not on the court, it would be great to have someone like Curry who you can dump the ball into to get you and easy basket inside. That would really keep the offense flowing, no more of those Tiago Splitter plays where he can't score on Derek Fisher .
I'm now even more convinced Curry would be a good edition to the team. As long as he is motivated and tries to do the right thing by playing defense, rebounding, passing the ball and setting good screens then he is worth keeping around IMO. Even if he doesn't excel in any of those areas, as long as he gets in better shape, gets his conditioning up and puts in the effort, he should make the team.
One guy I think that can help the Spurs really improve defensively if he ever gets healthy enough to give it a go again is Greg Oden. I really would like the Spurs to take a look at him when/if he decides to give it another go.
Last edited by Ice009; 10-15-2012 at 03:43 AM.
Again, the Spurs had mediocre post offense last season, even if they had the best offense in the league...
I think we should keep Curry and send Witherspoon to the Toros. That way we could get Witherspoon back if we trade Jack.
Also, right now I want CJ to get the backup PG spot. Really good defensively and he's shown that he can attack and make plays for himself. It's just a matter of more experience tbh.
It's funny how the Spurs went from having no real backup PG when Ford retired to having too many options.
Article about Witherspoon
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.c...summer-league/
Forgot he played the 4 in college. Great place (the Spurs) for him to improve his focus and game. Which until this one I really had no clue how talented he was. Seemed to be a better fit than Derrick Brown who has 4 years experience over Witherspoon. It's not easy as a rookie to play with the starters and perform well. But he did.
Thanks for the write up. Quality as usual.
You have to love how hard Curry is trying to make the team. If there were some way to guarantee he would stay in shape, I think the Spurs have to keep him. He is too big and talented enough to handle that bench role. On a team with many options, it gives us one more vs the big line ups.
Brown has not been memorable. Certainly did not live up to the hype on the board when he was invited to camp.
Witherspoon was also quite a surprise. He really did remind me a lot of Sean Elliott with his quickness, length, and shooting. It would be nice if we could retain the rights to that guy. Hopefully, we will see more of him in the next few games.
Nando continues to be a revelation. Attach that guy to Manu for all of training camp. Another Manu might kill Pop, but really exciting to the Spurs fans to see someone else who can pass like that.
Highlights, all FG, damn he's got moves down low
Scoring on Omer Asik?
Thanks.
Spurs are going into this season with many expendable pieces that can be bundled into a trade sometime down the line. Especially if Curry can win Pop over and display effective efficiency on both ends of the court (which could mean Splitter could become expendable; esp. with his contract situation coming up).
So far, Curry has been very impressive from what I've seen. I can't imagine him being cut.
How quickly people forget. Eddie Curry was always a talented offensive player. His work ethic, weight, lackluster defense and at ude was his achilles heel. If he is motivated the spurs would be insane to not pick him up. Enough of the armchair GM stuff. Just my 0.02
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