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I hope I get to watch it unlike last night being stuck in Kansas ing City.
I know we usually talk adjustments when a team loses a game, but what about analyzing the win? Does anyone have any concerns with what they saw in GM2? See anything you like? Any further adjustments in GM3 needed?
Since I am the eternal optimist, I will start with what I saw different in GM2 v GM1 that I liked:
o Overall offense: I felt the Spurs got much better looks overall. The spacing was much, much better and that alone opened up some spaces in the crowded painted area. Spurs didn't necessarily take advantage (missed a lot of layups, TP/Manu/Mills still couldn't really get to the rim), but it left a lot more room to operate. Reasons?
o Clippers Defense Regressed Some: They didn't appear to be nearly as aggressive as in GM1. They didn't seem to jump PnR's quite as hard or frequently. They weren't scrambling quite as hard.
o Wasn't just the Clips. Spurs seemed to do more side PnR than top of the key PnR. They also were much more crisp in their ball movement. They seemed committed to playing with a quicker pace and better spacing.
o Kawhi not doubled: Spurs got DPOY much better looks tonight - more space. He didn't get going in transistion as much as you would like, but overall, his decision making was better, they got him the ball faster and moved him around from that baseline/corner spot much more.
o Overall defense: Spurs had a defensive game, much like they had an offensive game in GM1. What I mean by that is they played well 80% of the time, really well, but the other 20% was mind-numbingly bad. They had so many frantic plays where they were confused, bunched up and it lead to some serious blunders (CP3 wide open 3's, Jordan alley-oops). You have to like keeping LAC under 100 in regulation, so job well done. Their switching of damn near everything looks chaotic, but seems to be working more often than not. If they can clean up the mental errors that are leading to CP3 getting 6-9 points on wide open looks, they should be very good here.
o From an adjustment perspective: Spurs started out with DPOY on JJ. It was interesting to see which way Pop went here with CP3 torching the Spurs in GM1 and he elected to go TP/DG on CP3 for the most part early it seems.
o The switching wasn't really anything new from GM1: but man it was an adjustment from the regular season defense.
o Spurs seemed to employ an aggressive strategy inside the 3PT line. Things were tight in there and a lot of activity.
Adjustments Going Into GM3: I am nervous. I know we should not have expected the %'s of guys like Green/others on the road to magically change in the playoffs against a legit opponent but damn. Game plan aside, while the Spurs are figuring out the Clips gimmicky hyper-aggressive trapping defense, they are missing a ton of good looks. Will home cure all? I really hope so. Clips offense is so good that you just can't afford to keep missing the great looks. Spurs should get plenty of them (assuming TP/Manu aren't done and can spearhead the offense with ball movement/handling), but you have to start hitting. Spurs also missing a ton of FT's. In a game where they are wrecking LAC at the FT line in terms of attempts (true attempts, not counting the hack-a-Jordan), they aren't getting any seperation from it.
From a defensive perspective, I felt they are playing much better overall. Clips offense is a machine, but outside of Blake/CP, Spurs have handled things well. I would like to limit one of CP/Blake a little more than we are (I think we have the better shot a stopping CP3 a little more due to Danny/Kawhi), but I am pretty good here as long as the Spurs get more comfortable with the switch everything scheme. First two games it's lead to some really, really bad defensive blunders and Clips are punishing us there (unlike the Spurs not punishing the Clips with their blunders).
The only adjustments I would like to see are:
o Play more Danny: Yes, he's struggling in the series with shooting. But so is Beli from 3. Beli is giving supreme effort, but talent wins in the playoffs and Clips offense is too good. Have to have more Danny for more stretches. Let's hope he hits enough 3's so Pop can't take him out.
o Stop Hacking when Spurs have a lead: It hasn't worked well. Leads have evaporated when we have done that and our offense has stalled out so badly. If Spurs are winning, it's for a reason. No need to do that especially when you see foul trouble racking up and the lead shrinking.
o More Kawhi PnR: Kawhi had a lot more breathing room and the results were very good. Put him in a few more PnR and let's see if he can be the one to get all the way to the rim. Worst case, it will spread things out a bit more and stretch their defense. Great way to get him the ball quickly and in a position to handle and trap or double more clearly.
Anyone else have concerns or thoughts going into game 3?
Last edited by DPG21920; 04-23-2015 at 04:34 PM.
I hope I get to watch it unlike last night being stuck in Kansas ing City.
Not really an adjustment, but TD, Boris and Tiago need to limit Deandre's defensive prowees by straight up attacking him. Jordan is a monster when you allow him to room around and play help defense..
They did that in game 2 and hopefully they continue on.
I think Danny Green has a big game coming home. He shoots better at home and he hasn't had a great shooting night yet. I look for him to go off in Game 3. I'm a little more concerned about Game 4. It's a quick turnaround 2:30pm game. That will be tough for both teams, but it adds unpredictability to that game. Who will it impact more?
Agree for the most part, especially on the Hack-a-Jordan. My main concern is missing all the chippies; its been a recurring issue all year and it doesn't seem to be getting any better.
Not much, but I was worried about all that Clips circus/monkeyballing fest doing so many alley oops like if they were playing a meaningless regular season game, Blake Griffin has progressed a lot since last season when he had a horrible FG% against OKC and that improvement needs some solid D to take him out his comfort zone whenever its a jump shoot or one of his drives to slam the ball.
I think we know how to play these Clips at this point but we need more Danny ¨milk carton¨ Green, if he finds his shot things will be much much better.
Will they double team Whi again?
What will Pop do regarding PG position?
I agree with more post ups for Kawhi, and just getting him going offensively from the jump.
Thanks for the writeup.
I feel the Spurs are still playing at about 60% on defense, some of that is Pop going with some lineup choices that I feel he's making in order to get more offense from the team. Possibly because he feels we simply can't defend this team that well with Tiago being substantially limited. But numbers dictate players like Green score substantially better at home, so hopefully we see a more balanced offense-defense lineups and we can play even better D. Also, let's hope Tiago continues to make progress.
I've no problem in general with the offense. As you mention, we've missed easy baskets, wide open shots, and freebies. That points to the offense generating such looks, which is good. If we can continue to generate that, the shots will eventually fall.
Lastly, I don't think we've seen a "Kawhi" game yet, or a "Manu" game yet, and while it might or to happen in this series, there's better odds of that happening at home.
The offensive shooting disparity at home vs. away for Green, Tony Prigioni and Ginobili is massive, tbh..
Tony Prigioni: 52% from the field at home vs. 43% away
Green: 47% from 3() at home vs. 35% away
Manu: 39% from 3 at home vs. 30% away
Clippers' D hasn't been nearly as good as the perception IMO, the Spurs have been missing a ton of open shots..that probably won't happen at home, I expect the offense to be a lot smoother..
I'd like more random hack attack. Like one or two a quarter. Basically just mind games.
tony prigioni
What's weird is that the Spurs had plenty of chances to foul DJ during the course of the game when he was under the basket, and didn't do it.
I think those are the little smart defensive things the team has not made yet.
still think clippers in 7?The offensive shooting disparity at home vs. away for Green, Tony Prigioni and Ginobili is massive, tbh..
Tony Prigioni: 52% from the field at home vs. 43% away
Green: 47% from 3(
Manu: 39% from 3 at home vs. 30% away
Clippers' D hasn't been nearly as good as the perception IMO, the Spurs have been missing a ton of open shots..that probably won't happen at home, I expect the offense to be a lot smoother..
Did you record it or do you need a link?
Not sure..I didn't think the Spurs could win on the road, they've been so bad this year, I expect them to win both at home, but you never know with this inconsistent 2015 Spurs team..
I think game 2 definitely demoralized the Clippers, though..losing that game with Parker and Ginobili out, Spurs choking a 10-point lead, Duncan with 5 fouls, at home with a chance to take full command of the series..pretty tough to come back from that..
Give Mills and Green more minutes, especially for Mills in Parker's absence. Neither Patty nor CoJo can run the offense as effectively as Parker can, but Mills is more energetic and a much better shooter. Kawhi and Splitter seem to feel more comfortable with him on the floor vs. LA. Green will break out of his shooting slump eventually, and probably at home, but his defense should earn him more minutes. Marco is shooting well and can go for stretches, but he's bad defensively and his offense isn't worth it against the Clips.
Hope that Splitter can keep going for longer and longer stretches.
Attack Jordan. Most of his heart-stopper blocks come on help defense against smaller guards. Make him work harder inside against Diaw, Splitter, Duncan.
Get Kawhi one-on-one touches as often as possible. Open up the Clips defense with ball movement and make it harder for them to throw doubles at him.
It's very encouraging that the Spurs are tied at 1, going back home, despite playing some really sloppy basketball, so far..like you said, there are a ton of things they can still work on, even excluding missing open shots..
Just hope the Spurs come out swinging and bury these scrubs early. Last nights game was too much.
Belinelli's actually giving good minutes, so far, surprisingly..I wouldn't mind him on the floor, at all, but only if he's covering Matt Barnes..although Crawford missed a few against him, he really shouldn't be covering him..
He misses rotations, but you can live with Barnes shooting, all day..
I have a feeling the Clippers are going to lose some of their steam after losing in OT at home in a game they clearly should've won with a few minutes left. It's easy to keep winning when you're winning games, but not all teams can come back from a playoff loss at home.
IMO, the only good thing about hacking is momentum. I rarely see it being more beneficial for the score a part from slowing down an opponent run.
Offensively:
I liked what I saw from Kawhi. He let the offense come to him and things worked themselves out. Sure post ups for Kawhi would be nice but he'll have to attack or pass a lot quicker than in game 1 or it will just stall the offense. He's skilled enough to find his shots all over the floor so I'd like to see him continually attack from everywhere. If Duncan wasn't so hot I would have loved to see him take over when Manu and Tony were out. He had a few ugly turnovers but whatever, it happens.
Tony didn't have a great game, but he set the tone attacking the paint and it seems the team was less tentative going against Jordan this game. His shots weren't falling but it reminded me of when we were on the winning streak and he was looking to pass whether look for his own shot. He passed up a corner 3 though and that didn't really sit right with me. He can hit those.
Duncan was spectacular as always. Carrying the team at the ripe age of 39 is nothing but a testament to his greatness. I don't expect him to play as well as he did next game, but it was great seeing him have success posting up the bigger Deandre Jordan. The Clips don't have any other shot blockers besides Jordan, so if you go at him in the post(average post defender) it's a pretty good look. I'd like to see more post ups from our bigs on both Dre and Griffin.
Patty brought the thrills as usual. When we were down two and Griffin had just turned the ball over I was so sure he was going to pull up for three, and I was pretty confident he would make it
Manu had a pretty good game. He fouled out, but only because of Pop's silly hack a jordan. He attacked the basket and got the ball moving in the 2nd unit. I don't think he stuffed the stat sheet last night(I haven't checked) but we needed him for sure once Tony went out.
Defensively: We were pretty good. Didn't force many turnover that I can think of but the rotations and contests were good(Danny and Kawhi especially), sometimes they'll just hit shots(JJ Red ), but those are the shots you want them to take. We didn't foul much either until hack a jordan. We gave up some lobs, but it's pretty hard to stop a Griffin to Deandre lob tbh. We held their bench in check, no scrubs were going off last night per the usual(Baby Davis, Hedo, Austin Scrub, etc)
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Not much to say about Pop. He did a decent job with rotations and making timely timeouts to stop any potentials runs by the Clips. Terrible decision to start hacking Jordan while we had the lead, but overall he coached a good game.
He's giving good minutes for Beli. The effort is there, but his 3PT shot has failed him too and he's not a good defender. I don't mind playing Beli when he's this engaged and if his 3 shot falls, even better. But Danny has to play if we have any hope of slowing their offense down a little more.
With Spurs shots not falling (which we assume will change, but you never know), you have to rely on defense. I just don't want to see the TP/Beli combo.
Agree on this last part. We haven't even come close to seeing a truly mesmorizing game from anyone other than Tim. Kawhi had a very good game, but nothing like the GS game where he just flat out dominated. It would be nice to get Manu/Kawhi/TP/Green having one of those games.Thanks for the writeup.
I feel the Spurs are still playing at about 60% on defense, some of that is Pop going with some lineup choices that I feel he's making in order to get more offense from the team. Possibly because he feels we simply can't defend this team that well with Tiago being substantially limited. But numbers dictate players like Green score substantially better at home, so hopefully we see a more balanced offense-defense lineups and we can play even better D. Also, let's hope Tiago continues to make progress.
I've no problem in general with the offense. As you mention, we've missed easy baskets, wide open shots, and freebies. That points to the offense generating such looks, which is good. If we can continue to generate that, the shots will eventually fall.
Lastly, I don't think we've seen a "Kawhi" game yet, or a "Manu" game yet, and while it might or to happen in this series, there's better odds of that happening at home.
Spurs have been so close to just busting Clippers ass, but all the missed chip shots, FT and 3's have prevented that.
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