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Thanks Robz... solid grades, tbh
The Story:
The Jazz came into the AT&T Center sporting a 1-2 record with losses to Portland and the Clippers and a win over the juggernut Lakers while the Spurs boasted a 4-0 record with wins over Golden State, Sacramento, New Orleans, and Miami. Unfortunately, the Jazz left with their biggest victory of the season.
To start things off, Pop opted to go with Simmons in the SL over Fathead. Unfortunately, this didn't work out well. The starters got outplayed and, to make matters worse, the bench also was outplayed for the first time this season. Before long the Spurs found themselves down by 16. Thanks to some heroics by the starters (most notably Kawhi and Pau) when they came back in, the Spurs managed to tie the game before the Jazz righted the ship a bit and went into halftime up 4.
The second half saw the Spurs open up with a quick 8-0 run to take the lead. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there. Thanks to some wonky rotations by Poop and terrible shot selection by everyone on the team (even Kiwi), the Jazz regained momentum and were able to hold a lead the rest of the way thanks to some timely shots by Joe Johnson and Trey Lyles as well as George Hill taking over the game when guarded by Porker/Manu/anyone not named Kawhi Leonard.
In the end the Spurs lost 106-91. Now the Spurs face the prospects of a 3-game losing streak with a road game against this same Jazz squad coming up Friday and a home game against the Clippers the following night. The ball is in your court now, Pop; don't let this happen.
Some things I noticed during the game:
-The Jazz really packed the paint on this one, and as DPG noted they should've been called for a handful of defensive three second violations. Good strategy by Utah, but most likely unsustainable.
-The Jazz displayed some absolutely beautiful ball movement in the first/early second quarters of the game that resulted in plenty of open threes (which they made for once this season apparently). This helped get their team in a rhythm that really paid off in the fourth quarter to keep the Spurs at bay.
-Too much overpassing. The team kept moving the ball around, even after finding the open man to take a good shot. This helped bog down the offense and took everyone out of their comfort zone. When they weren't moving the ball, the team was often standing around while Kawhi/Simmons/etc went to work.
-Just terrible shot selections from everyone all-around throughout the game. Not sure if it was unfamiliarity or if the Jazz's length gave them trouble, but many possessions were rushed and ruined early on in the shot clock resulting in desperation attempts.
-I know its a work in progress, but the LMA/Gasol combination is having some issues notable on the offensive end. They both have similar comfort zones and get in each other's way at times resulting in one trying to operate while the other stands off to the side. As the season goes on hopefully they figure things out, but it'll be something to watch.
-Parker quietly had one of his better games until the fourth. If he can average 5-6 assists with one or no turnovers while scoring ~8 points a game, I'll take it. His defense was fine until the final few quarter when the Jazz began running their offense through whoever he was guarding.
-LDN is really missed, and it'll show in the next few games. Outside the Dubs game, none of the Spurs' opponents thus far had any outstanding perimeter talent and the Spurs could get away with it. Not so for Jazz (albeit Hayward is out as well), Clippers, and Rockets (Gordon isn't exactly good, but he kills the Spurs for whatever reason). Spurs might be 4-4 by next Friday if they don't figure something out.
Kawhi Leonard - B
To begin the game Kawhi Leonard was hitting shots left and right while containing Joe Johnson on the other end except for a few occasions. He was also key in bringing the Spurs back late in the second to make a game of it. In the second half Kawhi started off well, then found himself on the bench for a bit of an extended period of time. When he checked back in Kawhi found himself drawing key fouls to give the Spurs points when they couldn't seem to find a bucket. However, soon he began looking for fouls by forcing the issue which resulted in several bad decisions that helped the Jazz put the game away. His state line is fairly impressive, but overall it wasn't his best game.
LaMarcus Aldridge - C+
LMA started off the game slowly, missing a few shots but made up for it with some decent activity on the other end. As noted above, at times he just stood around on offense while Pau went to work, which cannot happen. In the end he managed 21 on 8-16 shooting, which is great but only managed 4 rebounds which is unacceptable against a solid frontline like Utah's.
Pau Gasol - B-
Pau started off the game with a nice jumper, which has gradually been rounding into form the last few games (and something Timmy sadly couldn't give us last year in his final season). That will help make things flow much smoother on offense as the season wears on. His passing is also just as good as Timmy's, if not better. However, like LMA, he tends to stand around at times when he isn't involved in a play. He was instrumental alongside Kawhi when the Spurs made their brief comeback in the second quarter with some impressive rim protection and timely passing/jumpers. However, he missed a few bunnies that could've altered the outcome of the game and became a turnstile on defense at times in the second half.
Jonathon Simmons - C-
A lot of ups and downs with the Juice tonight. He started in place of Fathead tonight, and really didn't do much good with it. He brought a lot of enery on both ends but wasn't able to do much with it. Couldn't hit a jumpshot to save his life tonight (including a long airball on a wide-open three) but had a really nice dunk during the third quarter. Actually thought his defense was above-average when he was guarding bench players, but when matched up on Joe Johnson (much higher BBIQ than JSimms) or Hood (completely negates JSimms athleticism advantages with his own) he couldn't do much. Should've finished with 6 or 7 assists if anyone could hit a jumper tonight.
Tony Porker - B+
I usually give Tony a lot of these days for his play, but tonight was a pretty solid game from him (until the fourth at any rate). He started off doing nothing of value, but as the game went on he started generating shots for teammates, showed flashes of MVPorker at times, and best of all never became a ball-stopping heroballer. However, he's gonna need a pillow to sit down the next few days after the Jazz ran a train on him in the fourth quarter. Not his fault these days as he's not the defender he used to be and Pop insisted on keeping him in, but god damn it was ugly.
Manu Ginobili - D
Outside of a three early on, Manu was a trainwreck on both ends. He couldn't get to the rim, couldn't hit a shot, and seemingly had more turnovers than the 3 he was credited with. He did manage to draw 5 freebies and hit all 5, but his team leading -23 +/- actually tells the story force him tonight. He's been so good to start the season, however, that I'm not too worried about him, but the team needs to find ways to win when he does have bad games like these (and he will have plenty the rest of the way).
Patty Mills - C-
Not a particularly bad game from Patty Thrills, but definitely would've been a good game for him to score 20+ and make his case for 6MOTY. Unfortunately, he couldn't hit a three tonight and didn't do much else to try to will the Spurs to a victory. When both Mills and Manu struggle, this bench is going to struggle; Mills needs to find a way to be more consistent in order to give this bench a punch when Manu can't get it done.
Fathead - F
I'm really getting tired of Fathead being so lost on both ends of the floor, in his third season in the system no less. I know he's gotten used to starting so far this season, but when LDN comes back and he goes back to the bench he'll need to find his niche or he'll (hopefully, if he plays bad) find himself out of the rotation. Two points and one rebound in a game that saw Manu and Patty struggle won't earn him any love.
David Lee - D+
Well, he finally had his first bad game as a Spur. When he tried to score he did fine, but three shot attempts is abysmal. Didn't really help on the boards, albeit when he was in the Jazz were draining a lot of their shots. Defensively he was pretty bad and was part of the reason Trey Lyles got going from 3 late in the third.
Dewayne Dedmon - C-
Barely noticed when he was in, but should've probably gotten more burn to help defend the perimeter and PnRs. When I did notice him he was missing bunnies and getting blocked on his shot. Had a couple of bad fouls as well. Might be too much to ask with his seemingly terrible hands, but he needs to work on catching passes from his teammates when they find him. Also needs to play further away from the rim which is contributing to his getting blocked/missing chipshots as he has nowhere to move the ball to better position it for a dunk.
The Rest - F
They hardly played more than 30 seconds or so, but they let the score 5 points in about 10 seconds. They can diaf.
Pop - F-
One of the worst-coached games I've seen from Poop the last few years, and there have been a couple. His decision to insert Simmons in the SL over Fathead was head-scratching in this match up, he continually threw out lineups that had negative impact at random, wasted timeouts that would've come in handy when the Jazz started regaining momentum in the third/fourth quarters, and insisted on keeping players in the game that were hurting the team time and time again (Fathead/Porker in the fourth). Must've really wanted a loss to humble the team after their unexpected good start, but chose a bad game to have it against as the next two are gonna be tough. You got your wish, Pop.
Thanks Robz... solid grades, tbh
Don't think TP's play tonight warranted him getting 33 minutes. Weird rotations by Pop.
Thanks Homie..
a b+ for tony
I don't know what happened to him. He doesn't take any risks now. He plays too cautious. He lets the game come to him and then passes on that even. It's shame. Hopefully he figures it out. Pop probably played him with the second unit to get him going. Maybe handle the ball a little more. Kyle...
B+what
Pop is experimenting just like Kerr is. Everybody needs to chill out in these meaningless games. I miss Timmy. First time I have not spent $200 on league pass in like 14 years. Pass the bottle please...
a b+ for tonyThat was mostly for the first three quarters tbh. Since everyone shat the bed in the fourth I curved grades for the most part.B+
If that's the case Kawhi should be A++++++
maybe take the 4th quarter into consideration as well?
game grades... not grades for the first three quarters...
I like it. He's showing some signs of transformation. He's staying to understand his role now. Last year Pop wanted him to be featured with KL and LMA but this year he needs to just get them good looks. He could average 8 assists easy imo. The pnp wit Pau and LMA is there all day. I also liked that he was a bit opportunistic with his scoring tonight. He picked his spots.
Eh, he played well in the first half. Third quarter he wasn't doing much.
I cracked up multiple times at how each player has their actual birthname/roster name as a bold heading in your post, and Kyle Anderson sits in between the rest as "Fathead". Whether you realized how funny it would look at the time you posted it or not, I applaud the humor regardless.
Thanks for the grades! Good write-up. I thought Kawhi looked strong most of the game, although he couldn't carry the team in the end as he often has done. They went right at Tony in the fourth, as you said, and indeed it wasn't pretty. Pop insisted on leaving him in and leaving him on George. We were really missing Danny tonight.
tony was okay in the first half. in the second half he had one assist.
was a liability defensively the whole game. also had the mostly costly turnover of the night.
b+
Thanks, tbh..
the assists parker racked up in the first half... they were passes anyone could make.
he's a liability on both ends of the floor.
he over dribbled plenty tonight. his probing does nothing. he's not nash, he's not cp3.
The team is too dependent on Leonard. Piss poor guard play and Woefully non historic defense and you're going to have an offense and defense that could struggle on any given night. Hopefully the Spurs can stagger their struggles so the offense can pick up the defense on some nights and vice versa. Jonathan Simmons has turned back into a pumpkin, Kyle is useless in every way imaginable and Pop just doesn't get and he's too old to care.
I am a bit of of a Kyle supporter, but his limitations became obvious in this one. My biggest issue with Kyle is because of his non athletic abilities and his limited scoring (which has more to do with his tendencies rather than his limitation), it makes playing him with the bench when you're down a massive discrepancy. When your first unit gets outplayed handsomely, like today, you want your second unit to be game changers. Scorers (Manu, Mills), shooters (Mills, Bertans, Forbes), offensive rebounders (Lee, Dedmon), shot blockers (Dedmon), athletes (Simmons, Dedmon). All those abilities can erase big leads, get the crowd into the game. Kyle is neither of those. Playing him when you have leads, to slow the game if things get too fast - when opposition teams start panicking, forcing passes, and his length disrupted passes, his good rebounding for his position . This is when you play Kyle. Not when you need the ball to go in the basket, or second possessions, fast breaks etc.
And that is why in this game, he was exposed, and hence the grade he got.
Good job on the review.... Thanks much Rob.
Sadly a loss. I hope Pop and crew figure things out..
Spurs kill Jazz in rematch tbh... won't even be close
When a team hits outside jumpers at that rate, you tell them good game and move on. Nothing else really matters.
Also starting backcourt scores 8 points and it's Kyle Anderson's fault.
Kyle had been blamed for guys nonperforming. That's clearly not been on him and what help he provided on defense was missed. He had been making wide open 3s too. In this one Jazz got off to a super hot starts and was playing summertime on the Spurs.Also starting backcourt scores 8 points and it's Kyle Anderson's fault.
Many guys played poorly in this one but starting Simmons showed that the 5th guy in the SL wasn't going to get many shots and what Kyle had been doing for them had been fine for what they needed.
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