Game Thoughts: Spurs @ Wizards - Nov. 26, 2012

[timvp]

The Spurs took on the winless Wizards on Monday night. Following a 118-92 dismantling, the Wizards dropped to 0-12 while the Spurs improved to 12-3 and moved to 4-0 on their six-game road trip.

For most of the first two quarters, it was actually a compe ive ballgame. The Spurs didn’t grab control until the final three minutes of the second period. A 10-0 going into halftime put the Spurs up by 12 points.

Midway through the third quarter, San Antonio engineered the coup d'état. Leading by 11 points, the Spurs scored 11 straight points to double their advantage and end Washington’s hopes of experiencing their first victory of the 2012-13 campaign.

The ensuing quarter-plus of garbage time was well-timed considering the twin overtimes the Spurs endured the previous day north of the border.






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Tim Duncan

The resurgence continues. Tim Duncan was again fabulous. Offensively, he couldn’t have been much better. With his outside jumper falling, the Wizards were powerless to stop him. When they sent extra help his way, Duncan picked them apart with his passing. Defensively, he was strong as well. Duncan defended the rim well and his help-defense was almost always timely. On the road trip, Duncan is averaging 20.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 32 minutes per game on 55.6% shooting from the field. Wow.
Final Grade: 95
Season Average: 92.0
Adj. Average: 92.3
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Manu Ginobili

This is another step forward for Manu Ginobili. He looked much more comfortable on the court and it appears as if he’s nearly 100% healthy now. His jumper had improved arc and rotation, plus he was much more judicious about when to unleash his outside J. Passing was another positive. Ginobili rebounded well for the second straight game. His individual defense was lacking but he was usually attentive to his team responsibilities.
Final Grade: 94
Season Average: 82.0
Adj. Average: 82.7
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Tony Parker

Tony Parker came into this road trip having hit only 40% of his shots on the season. After his 6-for-10 performance against the Wizards, Parker is shooting 61% on the trip and has raised his season percentage to 48.1%. Not only is he on fire on his pull-up jumper, Parker’s ability to finish at the rim has gone from a weakness back to a major strength in record time. Against Washington, he once again crisply ran the offense and rarely took his foot off the gas. His defensive effort wasn’t up to normal standards but he wasn’t a liability on that end.
Final Grade: 92
Season Average: 86.5
Adj. Average: 86.5
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Danny Green

Danny Green’s streak of consecutive games with at least one made three-pointer ended at 32 games. That wasn’t the only negative news. Outside of a few good passes and a couple hustle plays, Green just didn’t play very well. He was absent on the boards and his individual D was inconsistent. Green, who was extremely streaky last season with his shooting, is showing signs of that streakiness carrying over to this campaign. He has hit just four of his last 18 hoists from deep.
Final Grade: 78
Season Average: 82.2
Adj. Average: 82.2
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Gary Neal

While his shooting percentages were commendable, Gary Neal might have been trying too hard to impress his hometown fans. It was uncomfortably obvious most of the night that Neal was the only guard not making the extra pass. On the other end, Neal was relatively good on defense. He was mostly assigned to Bradley Beal and the rookie had a difficult evening.
Final Grade: 81
Season Average: 82.2
Adj. Average: 83.5
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DeJuan Blair

The Good: DeJuan Blair played hard and rebounded very well. On the season, it’s heartening to see that his rebounding numbers have improved over last season’s disappointment. The Bad: More missed easy shots. He let Kevin Seraphin get going early due to lackluster defense and he was extremely loose with the ball in garbage time.
Final Grade: 76
Season Average: 81.0
Adj. Average: 82.2
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Tiago Splitter

That stat line is staggering. Fifteen points on five shots to go along with 12 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks? All of that in only 23 minutes of action? Amazing work by Tiago Splitter. Just as notable as the final stats are the cir stances surrounding those numbers. These numbers weren’t put up in garbage time and weren’t a result of endless pick-and-rolls. Splitter put up these stats in a supporting role that usually featured him away from the action. In fact, a healthy portion of the numbers were amassed while playing next to Duncan. Considering that Splitter has historically struggled to produce offensively when paired with Duncan, this was an extremely encouraging turn of events. If the Brazilian can learn to be this effective without plays being called for him on offense, while also rebounding with fervor and being fanatically active on defense, the Spurs would have a damn good player on their hands.
Final Grade: 98
Season Average: 82.1
Adj. Average: 83.2
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Boris Diaw

Another game, another season-high in points for Boris Diaw. Not only was he more aggressive on offense, he was smarter about his movements in the halfcourt sets and got out and ran in transition. When Diaw is willing to break a sweat and take advantage of open space, he’s marvelous offensive player. His scoring opens up his passing, which becomes nearly indefensible. On the other end, Diaw wasn’t especially good. His individual D was acceptable but his lack of rebounding led to a number of second attempts by the Wizards.
Final Grade: 90
Season Average: 80.1
Adj. Average: 82.1
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Patrick Mills

Patrick Mills was the first point guard off the bench and he took advantage of the opportunity. On defense, he pressured the ball well and helped out on the boards. Offensively, he took open shots, made simple passes and played virtually mistake-free. Mills still has a way to go to regain the rhythm he had last year but this was a step in the right direction.
Final Grade: 91
Season Average: 79.7
Adj. Average: 79.8
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Matt Bonner

Matt Bonner’s shooting is beautiful when there’s no pressure. Add in a few angry exchanges with Chris Singleton of the Wizards and Bonner was the second coming of Larry Bird in the fourth quarter. His defense was also reasonably good, although there continues to be little evidence that Bonner is capable of rebounding.
Final Grade: 88
Season Average: 81.3
Adj. Average: 82.1
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Nando De Colo

The rook can pass the basketball. Nando De Colo is unquestionably special in that regard. I was also impressed with him on the defensive end during a handful of possessions. Additionally, it was good to see him make a shot. He’s not going to have a chance at a regular spot in the rotation until he becomes more well-rounded offensively.
Final Grade: 84
Season Average: 81.5
Adj. Average: 82.7
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Cory Joseph

In his longest stint of the season, Cory Joseph illustrated some interesting talents. His court vision was really good. He handled the ball effortlessly and he looks like he’s much more explosive athletically compared to last season. Joseph’s deceptive length and quickness made him an asset on D. Despite his horrific rookie season, Joseph continues to show signs that he’s a legit NBA prospect.
Final Grade: Inc.
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James Anderson

James Anderson was skinnier than he was during his first two years in San Antonio. It also looked like he was jumping higher. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice much skill improvement. His lateral quickness is still lacking and his offensive game relies heavily on a wonky three-point stroke.
Final Grade: Inc.
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Pop

Pop’s biggest decision was made before the game. Should he rest any of the Big 3 after the double overtime game in Toronto? Pop decided to go with his entire roster and hindsight tells us it was the right move. He was betting the presence of the Big 3 would allow the Spurs to blow out the Wizards and avoid big minutes for anyone -- and that’s exactly what happened. I also thought it was a great decision to start Splitter in the second half to reward him for hardnosed play and to better matchup defensively.
Final Grade: 90
Season Average: 84.3
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Offense
The offense was fun to watch. (Yes, the compe ion was bad, but it was still fun to watch.) Knocking down 13-of-23 three-pointers helped, although that was far from the only thing going right. The Spurs passed extremely well, hit the offensive boards, took care of the ball and rarely hit any lulls.
Final Grade: 95
Season Average: 84.7
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Defense
Once again, defensive rebounding remains San Antonio’s most pressing issue. It was another horrible night in that area. The Spurs also didn’t force many turnovers (then again, Washington’s offense rarely featured more than one or two passes, so the Spurs didn’t have many opportunities to force miscues). The positives: kept them off the three-point and free throw lines, played very good transition defense, and controlled the paint.
Final Grade: 86
Season Average: 82.3
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Overall
Yeah, the Wizards are horrible, but the cir stances added some difficulty to the task at hand. A relaxing blowout win is what the doctor ordered and what the Spurs delivered.
Final Grade: 90
Season Average: 83.6
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[DPG21920]

Spurs are off to a very good start, but they have had a pretty damn easy schedule. The team needs to get and stay healthy so we know what we have as the Spurs have lost pretty much every tough test they faced this year (Clippers x2 and NY x1). The OKC win was pretty big, but the Spurs caught them in the middle of the aftershock of losing Harden and while the overall record looks very good, they have won a lot of close games that could have gone either way and had a breezy schedule IMO.

I think there are a lot of great signs, but the schedule will get harder and I still have my questions about this team and how good they are due to the aforementioned items.

This game was very fun to watch though. Let's hope Tiago can be consistent, play next to Tim and that Blair can find a way to be useful.

[temujin]

Harsh on Neal, compared to others playing mostly garbage time minutes.
Washington would stand little chance to make Euroleague top 16.

[Seventyniner]

The defensive rebounding woes have to have at least something to do with Kawhi and Jax being out.

I was about to crunch some numbers to see how many of the many offensive rebounds the Spurs have given up over the last 3 games have been by opposing SFs, but it's basically the opposing bigs that are doing all the damage. Do Kawhi and Jax box out opposing bigs on a regular basis? I don't pay close enough attention to know that.

[Stabula]

Please Splitter and Diaw don't fall off the face of the Earth next game like you always do following a great outing...

[ElNono]

It's still early, but the Spurs are ranked #18 in SOS (strength of schedule) right now per ESPN. Basically, middle of the road.

They've beat 5 teams at or over .500 right now (OKC, Jazz, Nuggets, Lakers, Celtics).

Some of the wins have certainly not been pretty, and the injuries currently don't help, but so far they've done pretty well.

[spurs10]

Thanks for the writeup once again. I think the next 3 games will be quite a test. Naturally, the Heat and the Grizz will be tough games. It will be interesting to see how Pop plays it. I bet he goes at them full strength for at least portions of the games. The Heat getting 4 days rest compared to our 4 in 5 days schedule is pretty insane.

[jjktkk]

Thanks Tim.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

If Tiago continues to play with fire like he has in the past few games we won't need to trade him for Varejao!

As for Boris, I love the way he fits this team. He's becoming more comfortable with shooting, and I think his D is solid, now he just needs to hit the boards harder. I think he's a big part of what this team will do as the year goes on.

[Brazil]

When Tiago is playing like that spurs are a force to be reckoned with.

[spurraider21]

When Tiago is playing like that spurs are a force to be reckoned with.

[Manufan909]

Tiago Splitter

That stat line is ridumbsterologeious. Fifteen points on five shots to go along with 12 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks? All of that in only 23 minutes of action? Amazing work by Tiago Splitter. Just as notable as the final stats are the cir stances surrounding those numbers. These numbers weren’t put up in garbage time and weren’t a result of endless pick-and-rolls. Splitter put up these stats in a supporting role that usually featured him away from the action. In fact, a healthy portion of the numbers were amassed while playing next to Duncan. Considering that Splitter has historically struggled to produce offensively when paired with Duncan, this was an extremely encouraging turn of events. If the Brazilian can learn to be this effective without plays being called for him on offense, while also rebounding with fervor and being fanatically active on defense, the Spurs would have a damn good player on their hands.
Final Grade: 98
Season Average: 82.1
Adj. Average: 83.2

Fixed.


So if this is Splitter's best game, which is his 2nd best? My guess would be the Celtics game where he was 9-11, iirc.

[Fireball]

Spurs are off to a very good start, but they have had a pretty damn easy schedule. The team needs to get and stay healthy so we know what we have as the Spurs have lost pretty much every tough test they faced this year (Clippers x2 and NY x1). The OKC win was pretty big, but the Spurs caught them in the middle of the aftershock of losing Harden and while the overall record looks very good, they have won a lot of close games that could have gone either way and had a breezy schedule IMO.

I know we did not pass the test against the Clippers (which have now lost 4 in a row), but to say the Spurs had an easy schedule is harsh. They had to play an awful high number of games in November and many of them on the road where they picked up quality wins against Lakers, Boston and Indiana. And where other teams with such schedules have letdown games (Toronto, Washington), they still win.

[Warlord23]

Yes, by the same token, the Spurs caught the Clippers at the "wrong" time. The 2 wins that the Clippers had over the Spurs were part of a 6-game winning-streak for them where they also beat Miami, Atlanta, Portland, Chicago. Since then they have lost to OKC, Atlanta, Brooklyn and New Orleans.

[Manufan909]

I know we did not pass the test against the Clippers (which have now lost 4 in a row), but to say the Spurs had an easy schedule is harsh. They had to play an awful high number of games in November and many of them on the road where they picked up quality wins against Lakers, Boston and Indiana. And where other teams with such schedules have letdown games (Toronto, Washington), they still win.

Indeed. I wish the Spurs had caught them at a bad time. Even NO gave them an ass whooping!

[Obstructed_View]

Yes, by the same token, the Spurs caught the Clippers at the "wrong" time. The 2 wins that the Clippers had over the Spurs were part of a 6-game winning-streak for them where they also beat Miami, Atlanta, Portland, Chicago. Since then they have lost to OKC, Atlanta, Brooklyn and New Orleans.

They were embarrassed by the Spurs in the playoffs. Don't think they didn't get up for both of those games.

[wildbill2u]

There is a silver lining in the injury situation. With Kwahi and Jax out, some of the rotation players at the middle and end of the bench are getting minutes which translates into good experience and potential insurance down the line if the injury bug hits again. It's amazing that we are winning games without them and with Manu not up to par, especially on the road. The double OT game against the Raptors is deceptive since they are actually a pretty decent young team that has lost a few games by just a few points.

This team is going to be good through the regular season, but the playoffs are always a crapshoot. Meanwhile, Duncan is playing like a young puppy again and we're 27 out of our last 31 road games
Enjoy the ride.

[Fireball]

The double OT game against the Raptors is deceptive since they are actually a pretty decent young team that has lost a few games by just a few points.

We were also only the second team to beat the Wizards bei double digits ... I know they are bad, but they had enough chances to win some games as well

[DPG21920]

I'm not trying to say the Spurs are bad, just that the record could be a little deceptive based on how they have played and their SOS which is in the bottom half of the league so far. Teams are usually 50/50 on close games and the Spurs have come up aces in all except against a good team in NY. The quality wins they have are against teams that appear to be struggling nightly vs expectations (LAL, Indy, Bos...) & they lost all 3 games vs teams playing well/above expectations.

It's not to say they're doomed, just that I still don't know where they are at based on record alone. Having said that, Spurs have been dealing with injuries to key players and a lot of line up turmoil yet still winning. All this still points to me that the Spurs are still a bit of an unknown. Iden y is still being found as well as the ceiling

[timvp]

FWIW, the Spurs had the fourth hardest SOS in the league prior to the last three games. The SOS only took a nosedive because they played three straight sub-.500 teams, including the 0-11 Wizards and Bustnani's scrub team.

Thus, pointing to a "poor" overall SOS doesn't tell the whole story. It'd make more sense to say the Spurs had a difficult SOS and then they faced three cupcakes.

[Obstructed_View]

In addition, the Spurs aren't particularly healthy and they aren't playing particularly well. Still and all, they've done fairly well.