The Spurs began their six-game homestand the right way with a 133-120 come from behind victory over the Lakers. The Spurs trailed by ten points heading into the fourth quarter before dominating Los Angeles to the tune of 44-21 in the final period.
The bench was on the court to begin the fourth and their energetic play quickly cut into the league. DeMar DeRozan joined four bench players (Jakob Poeltl, Davis Bertans, Marco Belinelli and Patty Mills) with eight minutes remaining and that unit quickly took the lead and never looked back.
With the recent struggles in mind, this was a big win for San Antonio. The Spurs were staring at a second straight loss to the Lakers before their outburst over the final 12 minutes. Let's hope the positive vibes generated by the late rally carry forward and propel the Spurs to a successful homestand.
-------------
LaMarcus Aldridge
The good: I thought LaMarcus Aldridge started the game out the right way by being physical in the post and on the boards while moving his feet adequately defensively. At the end of the game, he had a smile on his face while he sat and watched the bench save the day. That counts for something, right? The bad: After an okay start, I thought he got more and more lackadaisical. He started settling for ill-conceived fadeaways on one end and stopped competing on the other end. We've seen Aldridge completely turn off his motor mid-game too much recently -- that can't keep happening if the Spurs are to be successful.
Grade: C-
Summary: Aldridge had the right ideas at the start but his effort faded as the game progressed.
-------------
DeMar DeRozan
This was truly one of DeMar DeRozan's best games of the season -- if not the absolute best. Offensively, his efficiency was off the charts: 36 points on 20 shots to go along with nine assists to only one turnover. He was consistently attacking the Lakers defense and his constant probing seemed to wear Los Angeles down. When DeRozan puts it in his mind to attack, that's when he's at his best. Defensively, I wasn't too impressed through three quarters. But then in the fourth quarter, DeRozan defended LeBron James and I thought he did a great job. He moved his feet, held his ground when James went at his body and even challenged a few shots.
Grade: A
Summary: DeRozan was the best player on the court.
-------------
Rudy Gay
Rudy Gay was sloppier than usual -- both in terms of dribbling and passing. His lack of mobility really, really limited his effectiveness defensively, particularly in one-on-one situations. However, to his credit, Gay battled through rough patches to find ways to help out. He attacked mismatches with his length, knocked down two more three-pointers, fought on the glass and got his hands on a lot of balls on defense. Gay is giving great effort and is doing just about as much as his body will allow.
Grade: C+
Summary: Gay didn't have a clean affair but there was definitely some good.
-------------
Bryn Forbes
Bryn Forbes is ice cold from beyond the three-point arc. After his 0-for-4 showing versus the Lakers, Forbes his now missed 11 straight three-pointers and 14-of-16 he has attempted in December. He had a handful of successful drives to the rim and a couple impressive finishes in the paint. That said, if he's not hitting from the perimeter, he doesn't space the floor nearly as well. Defensively, he was competing but Forbes didn't move the needle much on that end.
Grade: C
Summary: Forbes can't buy a bucket from downtown right now.
-------------
Dante Cunningham
Dante Cunningham was once again in the starting lineup with the task of attempting to slow down LeBron. The results were ... lacking. Cunningham had a few good defensive possessions against LeBron but those were sporadic, to put it kindly. Offensively, he did a much better job than usual of not allowing himself to be a total liability. He flashed hard to open spaces and made quick decisions to either shoot or pass. Overall, I don't think Cunningham was a revelation or anything but he was put in a tough spot and played admirably.
Grade: B+
Summary: Cunningham tried to slow LeBron and tried not to be a liability on offense.
-------------
Patty Mills
In the first three quarters, I didn't love Mills' shot selection or his overall energy level. But he was truly masterful in the fourth quarter. His passing in that period was as good as it gets; he had key dimes to Poeltl rolling to the basket and to Bertans parked behind the three-point stripe. Mills' defensive intensity also greatly improved in the fourth. While he wasn't the best player in the rally, his passion and emotion were contagious and certainly aided in causing the avalanche that buried L.A.
Grade: A-
Summary: Mills played a spirited fourth quarter that included numerous key plays.
-------------
Marco Belinelli
This had to be Marco Belinelli's best game in quite a while. Over a span of three minutes shortly after checking in, Belinelli hit three three-pointers and a long two-pointer to quickly put 11 points on the board. Belinelli cooled off after that (in fact, he went 0-for-4 after those four quick hoops) but the good news is he actually played a lot smarter than usual. His shot selection was sane and he didn't try to do too much passing-wise. Belinelli was on the court for the fourth quarter rush and managed to not get in the way. At this point, we'll classify that as a success.
Grade: B
Summary: Belinelli played a smarter-than-usual brand of basketball.
-------------
Jakob Poeltl
In the first quarter, Jakob Poeltl really struggled. He had three turnovers, his defense was a step slow and he just seemed to get in the way. However, his slow start was all but forgotten after his outstanding showing in the fourth quarter. Playing with a lot of outward emotion, Poeltl had ten points, four rebounds, three blocked shots and an assist on a Bertans three-pointer. Needless to say, that was probably his best stretch of the season to date. Poeltl is proving to be a heady player who rolls to the basket with good pace, has soft hands, better than expected agility and top-tier finishing ability at the rim. On the other end, he's defending the lane better and better and is also making big strides when it comes to pulling down contested defensive rebounds.
Grade: A-
Summary: Poeltl was absolutely huge in the fourth.
-------------
Davis Bertans
Davis Bertans was all but invisible until the fourth quarter; he hardly impacted the statsheet at all during the game's first 36 minutes. But the Latvian came alive during winning time. He sank four three-pointers in the fourth, including a momentous four-point play that pushed a tenuous three-point Spurs lead to a more peaceful seven-point margin. Like the rest of the team on the court, Bertans was playing with a lot of vigor and thoroughly enjoyed delivering Los Angeles their fourth quarter comeuppance. All in all, Bertans rebounding was iffy and his defense was mediocre -- but his flurry of threes erased those memories.
Grade: B+
Summary: Bertans catching on fire helped ignite that 44-point fourth.
-------------
Derrick White
This was basically the opposite of the previous game. Derrick White entered the contest but instead of taking the reins and pushing San Antonio to new heights, he looked shaky with the ball, made tentative decisions and then spent a lot of time sitting on the bench.
Grade: Inc.
Summary: White didn't do much to help during his limited minutes on the court.
-------------
Pop
This is a difficult grade to dole out. I have no idea why DeRozan wasn't put on LeBron earlier in the game (or last game at all). To me, it has been the obvious move considering Cunningham can't slow him at all, Gay is too immobile to slow anyone right now and DeRozan falls asleep when he's off the ball. Doing so also allowed the Spurs to keep five competent scorers on the court ... and the fourth quarter showed why that's advantageous. And while I somewhat understood limiting White in tonight's particular game, that's not a habit Pop should acquire going forward. On the other hand, I thought it was a wonderful move to keep Aldridge on the bench and let Poeltl finish what he started. I also thought Pop had a number of other subtle positive moves: limiting DeRozan's minutes a little bit more to assure he had gas for the final push, having a quicker hook for frosty Forbes and calling more pick-and-roll plays revolved around Poeltl.
Grade: B-
Summary: Pop's coaching was an improvement over last game.
Looking ahead: That was an important win with the playoffs in mind. To continue the momentum, San Antonio hosts a Jazz team that destroyed the Spurs by 34 points in Salt Lake City a couple days ago. Between then and now, the suddenly sizzling Jazz dismantled the Rockets by 27 points.
A win on Sunday and a postseason appearance will once again look theoretically possible. A loss would be the latest example of the Spurs recent trend of following up one step forward by taking two steps backwards.
Nice write-up!
I couldn’t believe my eyes but I think I actually saw some coaching going on this game by Pop, and not just a willingness to stick with the pre-game rotations and script in spite of the results. I’m still hopeful the Spurs make a move or two to strengthen the roster, but this game showed me there’s hope for this bunch yet.
I think Belinelli, Poetl and Bertans has their best games of the year. Gay’s health scares me because the Spurs need him, and you can tell he’s hurting. LMA....blah. I hope he starts contributing in a bigger way soon otherwise I think you look for ways to turn him into a trade asset if there are any takers out there willing to trade something of value.
If you're the only one defending while other starters are coasting or arnt good enough to outrun the opposition team . You would fade too. In that first half there was only one starter defedning and that includes a knee in guts from a lebron drive . Its demoralizing watching these guys lay on defense. If thats what you call it. I see alot of ball watching and hope.
Last edited by Slippy; 12-08-2018 at 06:56 AM.
This team will not make the playoffs with Cunningham starting. Bertans needs a bigger role, and needs to be given the same la ude Pop gives the guards when they make a defensive mistake. He will not learn from the bench. LMA does not play well at center. He is a PF who likes to play out on the floor. Poetl and LMA need time on the floor together to learn to gel. We need to get the best out of all three players, and that only happens if they are on the floor together. DDR needs to be considered the PG. We still are in desperate need of a defensive minded wing. Cunningham is just not good enough.
Poeltl moves his feet quicker than Rudy Gay atm . Needs to see more mins
What I liked most about Poeltl was how he defended Kyle Kuzma and didn't miss a beat in switching or defending in the paint in the 4th quarter. Bodes well
It's good to see some fight from the Spurs. I may be hopelessly optimistic, but I still think this team has a Utah-esque season turnaround in them (based on their offense instead of defence, of course). But unfortunately, it all starts with LMA. Since he probably won't play his natural position (where he is highly efficient) due to the Pau situation most of the time, he has to adapt to being an at least above-average five. The bench seems to be very much above average, so if LMA could be just efficient with DDR running the offense, they could be a LOT better than they are right now. Or if he wants to stay outside, they could run something that gets him an open FT line-jumper off a DDR penetration. And if he's feeling it, they can iso him, since his fadeaway is AT TIMES unstoppable. But really, seeing those no-movement isos three steps inside the arc in the first minutes of the game is just depressing (exactly the plays to aviod with DDR on the team).
And by god, I hope LW4 is good enough to get instantly featured in the starting lineup to shrink Cun's minutes from 30 to 0, as long as they are not playing the Lakers or Pelicans at least.
Thanks timvp. I'm happy with the win, but more pleased with seeing smiles on those guys faces. Hopefully this game can inject some much needed life into this season.
One of the few games I haven’t watched this season and I missed a real doozy. Wish I’d have caught it!
Poeltl is a Hero now! Can't wait, after a bad game he would be a loser again here in that Forum!! Believe me,everyone in the Spurs roster is good enough for playing in the NBA.You need only a haert und will and a little Luck for sucess! Some of the Team didn't play with heart!
-Hopefully Bryn continues to struggle and loses more minutes (to Lonnie sometime preferably) but it's Pop so I doubt it
-White, Bertans, and Poetl should be locked in for at least 20min a night tbh....again it's Pop so I doubt it
-DWhite + LMA + Rudy in one lineup and DD + Poetl + Bertans in another should be how the lineups are staggered.....but it's Pop so I doubt it
-Amazing how much more energy the team has when they dont have to wait/see which LMA they are going to get on the floor...
Looking for the tank to get back on track soon
LaMarcus is a very good player when he's aggressive and doesn't wait too long to decide what he's going to do. I noticed back in the game against Portland how effective both he and Derozan can both be when they aren't sharing the floor together for too long.
White 20 minutes? Why? He either will play really well -which he never did so far- and then deserves 27-30 minutes, or he plays like yesterday and deserves 0 minutes.-Hopefully Bryn continues to struggle and loses more minutes (to Lonnie sometime preferably) but it's Pop so I doubt it
-White, Bertans, and Poetl should be locked in for at least 20min a night tbh....again it's Pop so I doubt it
-DWhite + LMA + Rudy in one lineup and DD + Poetl + Bertans in another should be how the lineups are staggered.....but it's Pop so I doubt it
-Amazing how much more energy the team has when they dont have to wait/see which LMA they are going to get on the floor...
Looking for the tank to get back on track soon
The problem is that LMA is not by nature an aggressive player - going back to his Portland days. He gets aggressive (for whatever reason) about 1 out of every 5 games. He is a soft diva that needs to get traded now.
Young players need to grow. Court time not bench time is what is needed. Pop is fine gifting Bryn more minutes despite his failings. If a long leash is good for Bryn, it is better for White.
He was fresh at the start.
A trend which matches a player getting tired.At the end of the game, he had a smile on his face while he sat and watched the bench save the day. That counts for something, right? The bad: After an okay start, I thought he got more and more lackadaisical. ...
Motors also stop when they run out of gas.... seen Aldridge completely turn off his motor mid-game too much recently...
Again, a trend which matches with fatigue. The flaky roster situation has probably put too heavy a load on LMA this year, as he's another season older. He needs a day off (DNP - too damn weary) followed by a minutes reduction, I think. Pop was a pioneer for resting players, and it's probably time to begin doing that with LMA. My thought on the subject, anyway.Summary: Aldridge had the right ideas at the start but his effort faded as the game progressed.
...
The roster problems make it difficult to rest LMA, and also DDR, but what's the point of grinding them down, over the long season, on a team that's so iffy to make the playoffs? I would wonder.
When the lakers went up by 15 - they showed a flash of what Luke Walton I believe hopes will be their future.
I thought it was a disgusting peek into the lakers becoming GS Warriors lite.
Grab a board - sprint the court - jack up a 3 and hit it. Next time down - grab a board sprint even faster - run to the 3 point line - jack up another 3 and hit it.
Looked like they must have hit every damn 3 and all within 5 secs of the shot clock. Disgusting future look at the new NBA.
Luckily - those shots stopped falling when the Spurs bench - showed a little heart and began contesting those shots a little better. Bertans hitting those 3's to at least keep pace was a shot of adrenaline and saved the day.
I am also starting to hate the 3 pointer. I am surely in the minority but I don't believe the future is about finding 3 point shooters and joining the club and just jack up 3's all nite. There has to be another way and I hope this fad dies soon.
You should add your basketball CV while your at it.-Hopefully Bryn continues to struggle and loses more minutes (to Lonnie sometime preferably) but it's Pop so I doubt it
-White, Bertans, and Poetl should be locked in for at least 20min a night tbh....again it's Pop so I doubt it
-DWhite + LMA + Rudy in one lineup and DD + Poetl + Bertans in another should be how the lineups are staggered.....but it's Pop so I doubt it
-Amazing how much more energy the team has when they dont have to wait/see which LMA they are going to get on the floor...
Looking for the tank to get back on track soon
Belli finally reigning his curry and ray Allen complex in and playing more to his abilities.
Thanks for the grades Timvp. I’d give Poeltl higher grades just for his intensity alone. The guy is the hardest worker on the court every time and it’s contagious. I especially like him and Patty on the pnr. We saw this earlier in the season, him rolling and finishing. Now to add shooters around in case he’s double teamed to create open shots. I really think they can play more passing games, hard cuts, dishing to create good shots to better shots and allow shooters to be successful. More often players like Belli/Forbes try to take into their own hands to create and force an ill-advised shots instead of letting the game come to them. I sincerely hope they hang into this win and start believing team offense, ball movements. Great job Spurs.
Play poeltl..
At the halftime I thought Spurs were curiously bad defensively. So bad they must have been one of the worst defensive teams I've ever seen. They didn't guard threes and didn't guard drives to the basket. They showed no skill and no effort on that end. They committed stupid touch-fouls for end-1s. They couldn't stop Lebron, Kuzma or freaking Mikhailyuk. They were atrocious individual defenders and showed no quality help defense. Team defense was absent. Lonzo Ball was a better defender than our Spurs perimeter players combines, like another level better. Our 3pt defense strategy seemed to be: let everybody shoot uncontested.
So probably Pop saw the same thing and understood that it's impossible to play worse defense. So he put the best offensive line-up in the game in the 4th. And it worked.
It's always nice to defeat the Lakers but we need to do something with our defense.
And bench Forbes, please. Thank you.
I have always like the 3 point shot some of my favorite players have been 3 point shooters but to much of something is not good and becomes boring and takes the exciment out of it. Happened to me with football. Back in the late 70s and through the 80s teams would only use the shotgun with 3 or more receivers in hurry up offense or on 3rd and long situations which made it fun to watch. Now just about every play is ran out of shotgun and has made it boring. Same thing with the 3 point shot, it is now becoming boring.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
