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Duncan was affected by his stomach bug IMO fwiwtbh.
Kawhi on curry, Parker on klay >> vice versa
The defense had many holes in it tonight, but there were 2 issues that stood out to me:
- Duncan in the pick&roll..this was one of the worst defensive games I've ever seen him play..simple screens that he couldn't get out to defend, allowing Curry to make open 3s..when Tim did close out hard, Curry got layups and created easy shots in the lane..
- Parker wasn't able to hide against anybody..his defense was good against Jarrett Jack down the stretch, but they made it a mission to run offense through Parker's assigned man throughout the game..the Spurs had trouble defending the Warriors wings with Parker..
How do you fix these 2 issues?..
Duncan was affected by his stomach bug IMO fwiwtbh.
Kawhi on curry, Parker on klay >> vice versa
It seemed like anybody Parker was guarding was posting up against him, but it was mainly Thompson. Maybe putting him on Jack is the only option, leaving Kawhi on Curry and Green on Thompson...
With Splitter out, Diaw is our only above average PnR defender, so more playing time for Diaw should help.
Whoever is defending Curry is gonna have to get over that screen quickly no matter what.
If the spurs are going to take parker off curry for more than half the game, which appears to be the game plan, GS is going to continue to thrive by running 2 or 3 sf out there and forcing parker to guard a much taller guy. That guy is going to get super-clean mid range looks, because parker is going to have his hand up near their chins... Parker can't guard Thompson, but Thompson can slow parker, so that is a tough matchup. Fouling Thompson out was great for us, because Thompson was the 2nd leading scorer for GS, and once Curry got tired, they had to scramble to score.
I think the spurs gameplan to guard curry is just fine. the adjustment that gs has to make is to rest curry a bit earlier in the game, to save him for the 4th. Once splitter is back, he will make a huge difference, because he is mobile, can guard the pnr way better than duncan, and can score on the move. Splitter will make this series a lot easier. i hope he is back next game, but he is essential for us to win one in GS.
Hope Tim feels better for Wed
And Kawhi needs to check Curry 75% of the time..
Duncan was hampered big time by that stomach bug, hopefully he's feeling better by Wednesday night. Splitter needs to man the up and play; with him starting the Spurs' defense improves immensely.
Tony is going to have to produce on the offensive end to offset what he gives up on D, but tbh he improved as the game went on so I'm not all that worried.
1. Hopefully, this is mostly attributable to his stomach flu. Either way, I know it's not how they typically have him defend them, but he he has to step up on the high pick and roll (not hard show or hedge, just come up a step, so as to give Parker enough time to recover and not get close enough that Curry can blow past). Curry is too insane a shooter to cede even a split second of daylight to and that daylight is going to be there, even with Parker attempting to fight up over the top (which he has to do a better job of).
Doing this will leave Bogut on the roll, but the rotations can be predicated on their surrounding personnel. If they foolishly start Ezeli again, obviously help off of him. If Green is out there, despite his recent shooting, help off him. Even Landry from mid range or Barnes from three, they have to live with that.
2. Don't overreact to the post up. One time, Barnes had him posted a foot inside the three-point line and Bonner overreacts and comes to double. Make Thompson, Barnes, Green, whoever, prove they can post him for profit first.
Spurs terrible bend over and give mid range shot pick and roll defense is being exposed this series
but the problem is with Curry is that if you go under the screen he hits a 3
over the screen he gets a layup
if you double/trap he finds layups
Spurs perimeter defenders are all horrible at going around screens but they are suprisingly good isolation defenders
the best solution imo is to have Leonard guard the other teams 4 who sets the pick and Green on Curry
then when the screen comes you can switch everything and force him to beat you in isolation
i can live with a Draymond Green/Barnes at the 4 posting up and killing Green over Curry drilling open jumpshots
with Bogut setting the screen and Duncan defending i have no idea what they can do
but the rotations have to be tight and Bonner/Blair can never be in the game at the same time
Spurs have to decide whether they give up a 3 or shut down the paint
not do both half assed that happens with that horrible pairing
Ya, you have to figure that Barnes and Green are going to regress at some point..Barnes was an average player all year, and Green was a horrible offensive player during the regular season..
I agree with TD21 about the over reactions..they need to let Curry's supporting cast beat them in isolation or post up situations, you can live with it..
Bonner should never be on the floor when the Spurs are planning on trapping, btw..his traps are horrible..
You forgot having Neal guard Jack, and giving minutes to Blair... Tony on Jack works, IMO... also Curry looked a bit bothered when Diaw was on him... mobile big on a switch might be the answer
1. Have Duncan not be sick.
2. Have Parker not take 8 days off between game 1 and game 2.
Tiago Splitter goes a long way towards fixing that. He does a lot better job protecting the rim and defending the pick and roll.
Duncan was sluggish too. More fluids and a day of rest could go a long way.
Parker just got beat up. That's how Thompson ended up on the pine. Spurs made adjustments to neutralize Bogut's presence much like they did to Duncan. Voila, Parker starts getting his game going.
When the Spurs went on that run to begin the 2nd half and Jackson called a timeout, the Warriors and Curry started ing us up. I figured the impossible happened. Mark Jackson outcoached Greg Popovich. Popovich then started taking away Curry's angles off pnr and shut off spots in the lane where he had been raping us. Gary Neal's draws a charge. Curry is forced to dribble back out or give up the ball. The weakside rotations finally started getting to that second pass.
The Spurs brain trust came right back. Awesome performance.
Having Bonner in the game to start the second half was a complete disaster. The Spurs scored pretty well and found themselves down further than when they started. At one point the Warriors scored four or five straight baskets because Matty couldn't stay in position, rotate, block anyone out, put his hands up or see where the ball was at any point.
Duncan was clearly still weak from the stomach flu. He actually put up decent numbers, but his defense was not up to his usual standards. Even at his best he is likely to have problems in pick and rolls involving Curry, because that kid is just flat out good. What hurt more was that Duncan wasn't able to protect the rim. Kawhi funneled Curry into the paint twice late in the game and he got easy floaters as Duncan couldn't react quickly enough, despite having good position. Duncan will be back to form by Wednesday, and the paint will close down at least somewhat for the Warriors.
As for Parker, I think the Spurs will have to settle for him being at a disadvantage against guys like Thompson and Barnes. You don't want to run him all night against Curry. Its not that Parker can't guard him (I think he was a bit rusty tonight), you just don't want to tire him out like that through the series. I thought Pop did a great job throwing different looks at him. After game 1, it is clear that Kawhi did the best job on him. When Curry begins to heat up in future games, Pop needs to immediately put Kawhi on him. I think Parker will play better defense going forward though.
The way I see it, we took Golden State's best shot tonight. They played an amazing game for three quarters, probably their best of the year. They played good defense, made the right passes, and then Curry topped it off by exploding in the third. Despite all that, and the fact that the Spurs played well below their potential through three quarters, they couldn't get the win. Next game, I expect the Spurs to play much better, and for Golden State to come down a peg or two.
I'd rather have Klay taking tough midrange shots against Parker a whole lot of possessions than Curry getting whatever he wants. He made a couple of them in this game but those ones he hit on Parker are too tough to make a huge percentage with a lot of shots. I'd give up that before letting Curry get open looks
Hopefully getting Splitter back means no Blair at all and less Bonner....
Don't overreact to the post up on Parker. Pop sent the double immediately which is a mistake IMO. TP can hold his own and I can live with a Thompson/Barners fadeaway.
Kawhi is going to have be on Curry the majority of the game. He can recover faster from the screen and his length bothers him.
I can live with Draymond Green/Barnes shooting those 3s and Curry hitting tough floaters tbh.
Btw, these obviously weren't the only defensive problems, but the rest can't be fixed..
Bonner, Neal, Blair and Ginobili were all atrocious on D..other than maybe Manu, there isn't much hope for the others, tbh..
Throughout the season I've noticed that Klay Thompson always seems to be in foul trouble. Whoever he is guarding needs to attack him and draw fouls on him to get him out of the game more...
Does anybody else think it's absolutely nuts that Jackson played Curry the entire game? I don't care how young you are, you're gonna get tired. Even a 5 minute rest helps...
I agree..
Curry is the only consistent player on the Warriors roster, tbh..
I can live with anybody else winning the game, including Thompson..
I don't think they should be giving anyone open looks. I've seen pro basketball teams shoot well enough to win four out of six when you leave them wide open. I've never seen a pro basketball player do it when you give him 40 contested shots and don't give him any place to pass.
When Jack is in the game, the matchups become somewhat easier because we can put TP on him. The problem is that at the start of the game and at the start of the 3rd quarter, the Warriors go with Curry/Klay/Barnes vs TP/Green/Kawhi. If you don't put TP on Curry, the other 2 are bigger than him and can post him up. Too bad Danny Green can't post up Steph Curry.
Hope Splitter plays game 2. I would attack the paint with Duncan or Splitter post-ups (based on whoever is not guarded by Bogut).
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