Game Thoughts: Spurs vs. Hornets - Dec. 21

[timvp]

After losing four of their previous five games, the Spurs got back on the winning track by downing the Hornets by a final score of 99-94. The win kicked off a four-game homestand and improved San Antonio’s record to 20-8.

The Spurs began strongly, particularly on defense. Eight minutes into the game, the good guys were up 19-8. Unfortunately, New Orleans’ offense got going and the score was 26-21 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second, the Spurs kept pushing and eventually broke the game open beginning at the five-minute mark. In less than 120 seconds, San Antonio scored ten straight points to fatten their advantage from six to 16. Heading into intermission, the Spurs were up 54-42.

The third period was monotonous. The Hornets made a few runs but the Spurs kept their lead between eight and 16 points for the duration of the quarter.

Up by 14 points with nine minutes remaining, it appeared as if the good guys had the game in the bag. But New Orleans got hot, the Spurs went cold and the result was a 10-0 run in a three-minute span.

Holding only a lead of four points, that’s when the team’s trio of Frenchman took over. Tony Parker, Boris Diaw and Nando De Colo scored the team’s next 14 points to allow the Spurs to coast to victory. The Hornets never went away but the Spurs were never truly threatened once the France-led onslaught began.






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Tim Duncan

Tim Duncan had another strong out, especially in the first half. He was simply too smart and too slick for the Hornets to handle, as he totaled 11 points, six rebounds and three assists in 16 minutes before halftime. Though quieter in the second half, Duncan remained active on the boards and a force on the defensive end. In retrospect, the Spurs probably should have given him more touches but he still managed to put together a fine outing.
Final Grade: 91
Season Average: 90.3
Adj. Average: 90.6
Last 10 Average: 86.9
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Manu Ginobili

Since missing a game due to a quad contusion, Manu Ginobili has looked much better athletically. He’s moving quickly, his stamina is better and against the Hornets he even attempted a high-flying dunk with defenders in the vicinity. While he didn’t shoot the ball well, his aggression allowed him to get easy points at the charity stripe. Ginobili’s passing remains terrific, though his decisions can still use a bit of cleaning up. Defensively, I wasn’t too impressed with his individual D but he was active in the passing lanes and offered timely help.
Final Grade: 81
Season Average: 82.4
Adj. Average: 82.6
Last 10 Average: 82.0
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Tony Parker

Tony Parker’s stats look handsome but it actually wasn’t one of his better outings. On defense, he didn’t do a very good job of dealing with Greivis Vasquez’s size advantage. The Venezuelan took him to the low block and was able to create a number of shots for himself and teammates. On the other end, Parker was better. While he over-dribbled at times and was late with passes on occasion, his liveliness was very important and kept the offense afloat when the team’s intensity waned. Parker constantly got into the paint and finished well. Add in his carefulness with the ball and it was an above average night from Parker … but not much more than that.
Final Grade: 84
Season Average: 86.7
Adj. Average: 86.7
Last 10 Average: 85.6
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Danny Green

The Spurs can live with Danny Green missing three-pointers as long as he’s playing a well-rounded brand of basketball. On Friday evening, that was the case. He took the ball strong to the basket, yanked down contested boards, passed well and limited his mistakes on both ends. Everything about his three-point shooting was off -- from his shot selection to the form on his jumper to his follow-through -- but thankfully he was able to counterbalance that shortcoming elsewhere.
Final Grade: 81
Season Average: 81.2
Adj. Average: 81.8
Last 10 Average: 80.2
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Gary Neal

It wasn’t the easiest of games of Gary Neal. Early on, he didn’t get many open looks and once again looked fatigued. Then, the coaching staff put him at point guard, which didn’t exactly help the situation. Pressure from the Hornets caused him to make a couple mistakes; his showing while running the team was unsightly, to say the least. Defensively, Neal was somewhere between bad and very bad. It sounds like he will be heading back to the bench soon. Let’s hope he reacts well to the new role.
Final Grade: 69
Season Average: 81.1
Adj. Average: 81.9
Last 10 Average: 79.0
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Tiago Splitter

Tiago Splitter did well in the starting lineup once again. I liked his rebounding effort. While his rebounding total wasn’t astronomical, he boxed out aggressively and came down with a handful of boards when in a crowd. Defensively, he used his size well and was overall above average. On offense, the spacing wasn’t there for him to do too much but he stayed patient and made heady plays when given the opportunity. Other than his turnovers, everything else was smooth sailing for the Brazilian.
Final Grade: 89
Season Average: 85.1
Adj. Average: 85.9
Last 10 Average: 89.5
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Boris Diaw

Boris Diaw rode the momentum of a strong fourth quarter against the Nuggets and did very well against the Hornets. Offensively, he showed a lot more life than usual and wasn’t in a rush. He made the right play the majority of the time and did so within the rhythm of the game. As a result, he finished sans turnover for the first time in 12 games. Defensively, he could have been a little sharper but he was decent nonetheless. Diaw also rebounded relatively well and was very good about pushing the pace after corralling the ball.
Final Grade: 90
Season Average: 79.5
Adj. Average: 80.7
Last 10 Average: 78.0
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Kawhi Leonard

Welcome back, Kawhi Leonard. After missing about 40 days of action, the stoic sop re was back and hardly missed a beat. He got tired quicker than usual but other than that he looked to be close to 100%. Defensively, he was a difference maker right away due to his length, activity and ability to quickly cover large expanses of land. (Leonard’s knack of being a legit factor in the paint despite playing at small forward is something that isn’t fully appreciated until you have to go without it.) Offensively, he knocked down his first shot (a three-pointer) and looked comfortable throughout. He fit right back in and wasn’t shy about exhorting his will. As far as debuts following injuries go, the Spurs couldn’t have asked for much more.
Final Grade: 92
Season Average: 84.8
Adj. Average: 85.0
Last 10 Average: 92.0
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Stephen Jackson

Stephen Jackson’s return from injury continues to be a slow process. He was a little bit better defensively, although that was partially due to him playing in the paint more often and less on the perimeter. Offensively, Jackson’s reinstatement was again bumpy. He didn’t shoot well and, even more damning, he halted the ball-movement at times by holding onto the rock for too long and not making the right passes. It’s not time to get too worried but if Jackson doesn’t turn it around soon, he could get pushed further toward the end of this deep roster.
Final Grade: 76
Season Average: 83.2
Adj. Average: 83.8
Last 10 Average: 75.0
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Nando De Colo

The Bad: Nando De Colo could have been better defensively. He wasn’t horrible but he played the pick-and-roll wrong a few times. All in all, he was mostly blending into the background during his 14 minutes of action. The Good: De Colo seamlessly fit into the flow no matter if he was at point guard or shooting guard. He again gave good effort on the glass and, per usual, his passing was impressive. And while his impact was limited, he picked great times to shine -- most notably a three-minute stretch in the fourth quarter that featured a nifty and-1.
Final Grade: 88
Season Average: 83.4
Adj. Average: 85.9
Last 10 Average: 85.5
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Pop

I usually don’t mind Pop experimenting but he took it a little bit too far in this game. It seemed like whenever the Spurs got momentum, he’d pull a trick out of his hat -- such as Neal at point guard, small ball with Diaw at center, etc. Going with no semblance of a rotation from quarter to quarter is dangerous when the team really needed a win. All that said, I liked how Pop worked in Leonard and gave De Colo minutes in the fourth.
Final Grade: 76
Season Average: 84.1
Last 10 Average: 82.3
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Offense
A vast majority of the offensive numbers look good. Why then did the Spurs only score 99 points in 96 possessions? Firstly, the Spurs shot poorly from three-point land … but that’s forgivable. What’s more difficult to look beyond is the anemic work on the offensive glass. Two offensive rebounds against a below average defensive rebounding team is unacceptable. That points to a lack of physicality.
Final Grade: 79
Season Average: 84.0
Last 10 Average: 82.4
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Defense
The Spurs did mostly good work on the defensive end. They limited free throws, three-pointers and assists. Regrettably, San Antonio allowed New Orleans to thrive in the paint. More than half of their points came in the basket area and just about all their players had success in the lane at some point during the night.
Final Grade: 81
Season Average: 82.9
Last 10 Average: 82.3
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Overall
Honestly, the best part of this win was recording the W. The Spurs didn’t play poorly but they didn’t play especially well either. Give credit to the Hornets for turning it into a ragged affair. Chalk up the win and move on.
Final Grade: 80
Season Average: 83.6
Last 10 Average: 82.1
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[polandprzem]

We really need to find our iden y and Pop still making experiments.
As far as I'm not concern about big rotations, I'm bit worried about guys not having their working area which builds the confidence.

Damn Mills is making a case with his superior shooting to be there on the floor, on the other hand Neal is still Neal.

One thing must be done quick. A Tony backup. From the beginning of a season I wanted De Clo to have this job and work through it all season. That is not the case unfortunately.

This game was awful. Spurs should have blown the pelicans out of the gym. But those fricking birds kept coming!

[Paranoid Pop]

Thanks good stuff like always.

When you say SJax could lose his place, to who? I know if Pop could clone Danny Green he would probably do it... Boris is the only who could do it and he's much needed at PF... Gelabale wants to come back to the nba but obviously there was no contact with the spurs or else everyone wouldn't be aware he was available. I know you're talking about Pop's love for microball but it's not rejoicing...

Other than that TIago-Boris doesn't seem to work, could use a veterean center to come off the bench with Boris.

And the Danny Green experiment has to stop, he doesn't even strech the floor, his supposed specialty. Put a playmaker out there who can enhance the twin tower (and basically shoot as well as Danny). Danny's point guard defense is not needed with the first unit since TP is the best point guard defender when he's motivated, on the other hand we could use Danny switching on the back up PG off the bench against an animal like Bledsoe. And there's no sense in having 1 playmker on the starting unit and 3 off the bench...

[Chomag]

Matty with 4 minutes and not one stat yet he still gets a +2 in +/-.

[DPG21920]

That was a much needed win. Spurs were on an ugly little streak (all excuses aside). Hopefully the team can stay healthy and Pop can settle in on a more firm rotation. I can't wait to see the potential of the starting unit with Tiago/Kawhi in it.

[Chinook]

I thought most of Green's good offense came during one stretch in what I believe was the second quarter. He was playing with Leonard, and for the first time in weeks, Green looked like himself. I really do think that once Leonard gets back into the starting lineup, Green and Neal will both be better. They did a good job in holding down the fort at first, but playing out of position/rotation was really getting to them by the end.

[DPG21920]

Plus Neal is hurt and exhausted. He gets a pass in my book. He filled in pretty admirably but he needs minutes reduced.

[timvp]

When you say SJax could lose his place, to who?

PG Neal
SG Ginobili
SF Jackson

could easily turn into:

PG De Colo/Mills
SG Neal
SF Ginobili

[timvp]

Plus Neal is hurt and exhausted.

That's certainly what it looks like. I'm hopeful that he'll begin to look better off the bench when he doesn't have to use so much energy.

[Manufan909]

Thanks for the thoughts timvp! I can't wait to see KL in the lineup averaging 30+ min again, that will solve so many problems with the Spurs rotations.

[playblair]

blair dnp......