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  1. #1
    5. timvp's Avatar
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    The Spurs played really well in the first three games of their first round series against the Nuggets. In the first quarter of Game 4, San Antonio's strong play continued. But then, unfortunately, the wheels fell off.

    To begin the game, the Spurs were attacking on offense and swarming on defense. They were getting good shots, while Denver was struggling to generate any offense. At the end of the first period, the good guys were up by 12 points, 34-22.

    To begin the second quarter, Pop used the same lineup (Poeltl, Bertans, Gay, Belinelli and Mills) that in Game 3 resulted in a 16-0 run for the Nuggets to start the second. Once again, things quickly went wrong at the beginning of the period, as Denver scored ten of the quarter's first 14 points.

    A few minutes later, the starters came back in ... and things only got worse. The attacking offense was suddenly discombobulated and passive. The swarming defense was flatfooted and soft. The rhythm the Spurs played with for much of the series' first 13 quarters vanished.

    After getting outscored 32-20 in the second quarter, the doldrums continued after halftime. Denver took advantage, outscoring San Antonio 37-25 in the third quarter.

    In the final stanza, the Spurs never got within ten points; whenever they got a scintilla of momentum, the Nuggets answered with a big shot or a key play of their own.

    Denver's 117-103 victory ties the series 2-2 and sets up a momentous Game 5 in Denver on Tuesday night.

    -------------

    LaMarcus Aldridge

    In the first quarter, LaMarcus Aldridge was more productive than he's been all series. Playing all 12 minutes, he scored 13 points and pulled down five rebounds on 5-for-9 shooting from the field. He took advantage of the Nuggets not sending many double-teams his way and looked primed for a big night. But it didn't happen. Aldridge became increasingly passive as the game progressed, despite Denver playing him mostly one-on-one. Most glaring was his lack of physicality; even when he had a smaller man on him, Aldridge was too apt to settle for a finesse shot. With Aldridge not dominating, it allowed the Nuggets to stay close to the three-point shooters. All in all, 24 points in 29 minutes is usually good enough -- but it wasn't on this night. Defensively, I didn't have much issue with how Aldridge played. He defended Paul Millsap rather well and was good enough when switched onto Nikola Jokic.
    Grade: B
    Summary: Aldridge's stats look strong but the Spurs needed more to make the Nuggets pay for their defensive decisions.

    -------------

    DeMar DeRozan

    Like Aldridge, DeMar DeRozan was really good in the first quarter. He was 3-for-3 from the field and 2-for-2 from the line in ten and a half minutes and had four assists to go with his eight points. His passing was excellent, his court vision was impressive and he was taking the ball strong to the hole. But, like Aldridge, DeRozan failed to do enough the rest of the way. With the Nuggets playing him mostly straight up, DeRozan had the green light to try to carry the team -- particularly when everyone else was struggling. Instead, he was 4-for-10 the rest of the night and only had one more assist. On defense, he lost shooters too often and his help was oftentimes a step slow. DeRozan's night ended a little bit early after he got ejected for throwing the basketball at the direction of a referee. Thankfully, his long range accuracy leaves a lot to be desired because if that ball would have been five feet closer to the ref, DeRozan could be facing a suspension. That was the latest example of the 29-year-old guard letting his frustration get the better of him. He's not the type of player who plays well when he's mad so DeRozan really needs to work on keeping his cool.
    Grade: C+
    Summary: DeRozan started with a bang and ended with a fling.

    -------------

    Derrick White

    Welp, I guess it's not time to put Derrick White in the Hall of Fame just yet. A game after dazzling the world with a career-high 36 points, White came crashing back down to earth. He came out of the gates sloppy and never truly regained his composure. He was making mental mistakes on both ends. On defense, Jamal Murray took advantage of White's questionable decisions to pour in 24 points on 8-for-14 shooting. On offense, White looked to be pressing. The Nuggets showed him more respect than they did in the first three games of the series and White struggled to make correct decisions. Let's hope he can bounce back with some more magic in Game 5.
    Grade: D+
    Summary: White's trip to Springfield will have to wait.

    -------------

    Bryn Forbes

    Comparatively, Bryn Forbes played pretty well. Before garbage time, the Spurs had only three made three-pointers and Forbes tallied two of those (Aldridge had the other). Forbes was out of control sometimes but with most of his teammates in a daze, his activity was welcome. Defensively, he was about as good as he gets. He stayed with Gary Harris well and got back in transition consistently. The only area on defense Forbes struggled was the timing of his double-teaming, as the Nuggets usually saw his help coming and easily found the open man.
    Grade: B
    Summary: Forbes held up his end of the bargain.

    -------------

    Jakob Poeltl

    Despite dealing with intermittent foul trouble, Jakob Poeltl played 30 minutes. (After playing 30-plus minutes once in the regular season, he's done it twice in the last two games.) All in all, I was pleased with how the big Austrian played. Offensively, he was assertive when rolling to the rim, consistently crashed the glass, authored heady passes and finished well in traffic. With the intensity turned up a notch or two in the postseason, it's great to see Poeltl able to hang on the offensive end. Defensively, he didn't have as much success in Game 4 as he had in Game 3. Jokic missed some shots against him but generally the Nuggets star was able to do what he wanted (Jokic not turning the ball over despite his deluge of touches was a leading reason for Denver's offensive success). Poeltl's help defense was okay but it's been better. Rebounding-wise, though, he was stout on the defensive glass and he was one of the few players playing with enough physicality on that end.
    Grade: B+
    Summary: Poeltl continues to look like a building block going forward. In the short term, though, dealing with Jokic is a handful.

    -------------

    Davis Bertans

    After hardly playing in Game 3, Davis Bertans led the bench in minutes. The good: His burgeoning ability to make moves off the dribble paid dividends here and there. Although he didn't grab any rebounds, he was boxing out with muscle and the Spurs grabbed almost all available defensive rebounds when Bertans was on the court. The bad: Bertans turned down a couple open three-pointers, which really hurt because the Spurs weren't getting many decent looks from downtown. He's usually great at running the court and hunting for open space ... but he's just not doing much of that thus far in the playoffs. And when he is getting open, he's too often passing it. While Bertans is a better-than-you-think defender and has some other skills, if he's not shooting and making threes, his value is limited.
    Grade: C
    Summary: Bertans did a few small things but not enough big things.

    -------------

    Patty Mills

    After a really bad showing in Game 3, I can't complain about Patty Mills' production in Game 4. He went to the line eight times (he was fouled on three-pointers twice), which is his most visits to the charity stripe since the last time the Spurs won the championship. With no one around him willing to take control of the reins, Mills even started attacking the paint and finishing at the rim -- that's not something we see too often out of him. He made a few good passes, didn't turn the ball over and he successfully upped the tempo when he was in the game. Defensively, he did enough flailing and flopping to disrupt Denver at times. All that said, the fact that Mills has only one three-pointer in four playoff games is really hurting the spacing of the second unit.
    Grade: B+
    Summary: Mills shouldered more of the burden than usual on offense and did enough on defense to avoid being too much of a liability.

    -------------

    Rudy Gay

    Out of nowhere, Rudy Gay suddenly can't hold onto the basketball. Whenever the ball is in his hands, he's either fumbling it away, preparing to fumble it away or making an iffy decision. After a putrid 0-for-7 showing in Game 4, he's now 6-for-28 (21.4%) in the series outside of Game 1's second quarter. Gay being unable to produce is even more damning that it appears on first glance. Why? Because it allows the Nuggets to dictate the rotations. If Gay isn't taking advantage of his athleticism against big players or taking advantage of his size against small players, Denver doesn't have to think twice about deviating from whatever is working best on the offensive end. Gay's value to the Spurs is his ability to exploit mismatches. He's not doing that right now, at all, and it has left a large, gaping void. In addition to his poor offense, Gay was almost as equally bad on defense. Ouch.
    Grade: F+
    Summary: No word yet if the Easter Bunny is going to hide the egg Gay laid.

    -------------

    Marco Belinelli

    Marco Belinelli is taking bad defense to a new level. He entered the postseason as a top three worst perimeter defender in the NBA. Against the Nuggets, he's a few steps below that. I don't know if he's injured (remember, he missed some time late in the regular season) or whether the increased intensity is too much for him to handle. To make matters worse, Belinelli was terrible on offense, too. If he wasn't shooting an unnecessary leaner, he was missing a wide open teammate. Belinelli's only basket was a three-pointer deep into garbage time. Going forward, if he can't play defense better than a dead man, the coaches have to look elsewhere.
    Grade: F
    Summary: Ugh.

    -------------

    Donatas Motiejunas

    With Poeltl in foul trouble and Aldridge needing a rest, Pop dusted off Donatas Motiejunas for some real minutes. He didn't embarrass himself. The Lithuanian bigman obviously has good hands and good touch on the offensive end. However, it's also obvious that he's not capable of providing much on defense. He's too stiff and his reactions are too slow for him to have a chance of defending the Nuggets pick-and-rolls -- and Denver was well aware of that fact.
    Grade: Inc.
    Summary: Motiejunas was ready when called upon.

    -------------

    Pop

    I didn't like that Pop failed to learn his lesson from Game 3 and started the second quarter of Game 4 with the same lineup that previously resulted in a 16-0 run. The Nuggets went on another run ... a run that never ended. Obviously, the loss wasn't on Pop for trotting out the Poeltl, Bertans, Gay, Belinelli and Mills lineup but that lineup shouldn't hit the floor the rest of the series. I disagreed with Aldridge never touching the hardwood in the fourth quarter. Sure, the Spurs were down but with two days off until Game 5, putting him out there in hopes of a miracle wouldn't have hurt anything. Despite those questionable decisions, every coach in the league would struggle to find a way to win a game in which the opponent is red-hot from three-point range (15-for-30 in non-garbage time), your team can't hit a shot from deep (3-for-13 in non-garbage time), the opponent only turns it over seven times and your two leading bench scorer don't make a basket (0-for-10 in non-garbage time).
    Grade: B-
    Summary: Pop's coaching was far from great but he didn't have enough players playing well to have much of a chance to make a difference from the sidelines.

    Looking ahead: That was a disappointing collapse after how well the Spurs played in the first quarter. The good guys appeared to be on their way to a commanding 3-1 lead in the series ... and now they're back to square one.

    The hope going into Game 5 on the road is that the Spurs handily outplayed the Nuggets in Denver in the first two contests of the series outside of the fourth quarter of Game 2. Rekindle that level of play, get some more players along for the ride and go out and get another one in enemy territory.

  2. #2
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    Thanks LJ.

    Pop's grade is a little too generous. He has to give more minutes to guys like White and Aldridge. Should I say limit the minutes that guys like Bertans, Gay, and Marco play? There's no reason to not play your better players 35-38 minutes per game in the playoffs.


    Derozan's tantrums are past annoying. I wouldn't be surprised if the Spurs look to trade him this off-season. He's too weak mentally.

  3. #3
    Veteran tbdog's Avatar
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    Nuggets were hitting some pretty bad 3 point shots. It was very frustrating because Spurs positioning was pretty good. They were just rising up early and getting all but net. Spurs were aggressive and looking to score in the paint. Nuggets shooting was good everywhere, ft's, 2's, and 3's.

  4. #4
    Like I said... tmtcsc's Avatar
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    I don't see the Spurs winning another game tbh. Two more double-digit losses coming. LMA is not going to react well to Pop benching him and Demar is Demar. He'll score some points but he won't take you over the top. The rest of the team is too young, old or one dimensional to be counted on.

  5. #5
    Work in Progress Fireball's Avatar
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    our three point shooters are unplayable this series .. if denver hits so many threes the spurs cannot keep up

  6. #6
    Pronouns: Your/Dad TheGreatYacht's Avatar
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    Pop, a B-?

    It's okay to give him a failing grade, man. Game 2 was the worst coached game possible and he got a C. Just stop caring about what the vanillas will say.

    He benched Aldridge in the 4th quarter even though he was the only one that showed up in favor of a 4 fingered freak who didn't record a rebound in 20 minutes. He continued to kill any momentum the starters were providing by subbing White out for 10 minute stretches. Doesn't know how to spread Derozan and White's minutes apart yet. They both sit together and come in together, leaving us with the foreign special olympics. Continues to waste his timeouts early leaving him without any when the Nuggets go on actual runs. He'll waste two timeouts trying to fix the Marco/Gay/Mills lineup instead of just realizing it won't work. We're 4 games in. Anyone that doesn't have autism would have done something already about that bench. Lonnie might not be the solution, but neither is limiting White's minutes like he's 40 years old. This 9 man rotation has to stop. Every team has a starter on the floor with the bench at all times. When will crater face adjust?
    Last edited by TheGreatYacht; 04-21-2019 at 01:32 AM.

  7. #7
    Veteran monty4329's Avatar
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    What a pathetic performace really.

    Defense was terrible, but the game was lost on offense. As soon as Denver decided to play aggressive on the ball, it was game over.
    I can't understand how Pop didn't manage to take advantage of the ton of fouls Denver was called for at the beginning of the game. It should have been a trip to the free throw line at every possession.

    Playoffs DDR is even worse than regular season DDR, what a loser. I almost hope he gets suspended.
    Pity that Gay and Beli are clearly not OK physically, but it is the ing playoffs, suck it up take a shot or two of painkillers and perform.

    Series is almost certainly over now. From up 19 and en route for a sweep, to this....

  8. #8
    Veteran BG_Spurs_Fan's Avatar
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    Denver were better and every bit the elite 3 point defending team they've been in the regular season. Impossible to win games when you get outshot that badly from 3 nowadays. They need some adjustments because if none of the better 3 point shooters can stay on the floor there'll more of the same in the remaining 2 or 3 games.

  9. #9
    TheDrewShow is salty lefty's Avatar
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    the long range accuracy comment on DDR

  10. #10
    All Rights Reserved caŽlo's Avatar
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    Those summaries had me rollling

    DeRozan started with a bang and ended with a fling.

  11. #11
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    B- for Pop is mind-blowing. That's what I expect if Jeff McDougal was doing grades.

    the SUICIDE LINEUP is an automatic F. Marco and his trash directly giving 5 points away in like his first 30 seconds is an F for Pop. Keeping Aldridge on the bench the entire 4th sure isn't above average either

  12. #12
    Believe.
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    I don't see the Spurs winning another game tbh. Two more double-digit losses coming. LMA is not going to react well to Pop benching him and Demar is Demar. He'll score some points but he won't take you over the top. The rest of the team is too young, old or one dimensional to be counted on.

  13. #13
    Veteran monty4329's Avatar
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    LMA is not going to react well to Pop benching him .
    Why? 4th quarter was all garbage time, game was already lost. LMA is not the issue.

  14. #14
    Veteran spurs10's Avatar
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    I think the grades are about right, especially Gay. I was there and every time he got the ball he either had it promptly taken from him or he had enough time to throw up a miss. Beli was just as bad. At least Mills and Bertans took it to the basket a couple of times, the only thing that seemed to work.

    Now I can suspect that LMA was going to play in the 4th, but things went further awry in the beginning of the quarter. I guess that's when Pop decided to spare LMA, but it was strange not seeing him in the fourth. DDR is not going to have much sympathy from the coaches who are surely worried about his temperament. Credit to the Kind Buds, after their dismal shooting in the 1st quarter they came back with a vengeance. It was brutal. I'm on the fence about going to Game 6.

  15. #15
    #ThankYouTD smaka's Avatar
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    Just look at the minutes distribution for us and Denver. Their key players play as many minutes as they have to, while Pop is babying our guys with rest for what, first round exit?

    Also, can't win in today's nba shooting 3/13 for three. Can't even win in a ing pick-up game after work in the backyard shooting like that.

  16. #16
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    I don't buy that Pop decided to rest Aldridge because things were already bad during the early fourth and why bother and such.

    Not with 2 days before game 5.

    It's more believable that Pop forgot he had LMA just like Boylan forgot he had Kawhi, and the yes-men & yes-women assistants were either too scared or too trusting to ask Pop why LMA wasn't being put in

  17. #17
    Believe. SpursFan0728's Avatar
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    Thanks for the grade as always.

  18. #18
    Veteran monty4329's Avatar
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    I don't buy that Pop decided to rest Aldridge because things were already bad during the early fourth and why bother and such.

    Not with 2 days before game 5.

    It's more believable that Pop forgot he had LMA just like Boylan forgot he had Kawhi, and the yes-men & yes-women assistants were either too scared or too trusting to ask Pop why LMA wasn't being put in
    yeah, right, sure, you got it, he forgot...

    LMA will play 42 minutes next game, 4th quarter was garbage time

  19. #19
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    our three point shooters are unplayable this series .. if denver hits so many threes the spurs cannot keep up
    If Denver keeps attempting twice as many 3's as the Spurs, then this series is over. It's simple math that Pop refuses to acknowledge.

  20. #20
    Veteran RC_Drunkford's Avatar
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    Gay/Belinelli/Mills/Bertans are the issue. At least 2 of them should never ever see the floor again in the post season. I wish we could decide to not play any of these players, but we don't have a good roster. Play Walker and Montiejunas. play Cunningham if you have to, he's definitely better on defense than Belinelli.

    This series basically comes down to if the Nuggets hit their 3s or not. Spurs got a lot of lay ups still, but the Nuggets making 3s extended the lead. I don't expect a win in Game 5

  21. #21
    Veteran RC_Drunkford's Avatar
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    Pop, a B-?

    It's okay to give him a failing grade, man. Game 2 was the worst coached game possible and he got a C. Just stop caring about what the vanillas will say.

    He benched Aldridge in the 4th quarter even though he was the only one that showed up in favor of a 4 fingered freak who didn't record a rebound in 20 minutes. He continued to kill any momentum the starters were providing by subbing White out for 10 minute stretches. Doesn't know how to spread Derozan and White's minutes apart yet. They both sit together and come in together, leaving us with the foreign special olympics. Continues to waste his timeouts early leaving him without any when the Nuggets go on actual runs. He'll waste two timeouts trying to fix the Marco/Gay/Mills lineup instead of just realizing it won't work. We're 4 games in. Anyone that doesn't have autism would have done something already about that bench. Lonnie might not be the solution, but neither is limiting White's minutes like he's 40 years old. This 9 man rotation has to stop. Every team has a starter on the floor with the bench at all times. When will crater face adjust?
    spot on. This fool still trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Then thinks it's not working cause players don't listen and need more of his superb coaching.

  22. #22
    Veteran cd021's Avatar
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    Pop needs to play White more minutes, and stagger. Maybe play him the first 8 minutes of each half then bring in Mills to close the 1st and 3rd and then bring White back to start the 2nd and 4th. Take him out for a couple of minutes from the around the 8:00-6:00 mark following a timeout in the 2nd and 4th.

    He should be playing 36 minutes at the very least and if Beli is giving us nothing then playing Forbes more is fine tbh. Gay has been a trash fire, hard to play worse, there is really nothing Pop can do about he's just going to have to figure it out.

  23. #23
    Veteran cd021's Avatar
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    Gay/Belinelli/Mills/Bertans are the issue. At least 2 of them should never ever see the floor again in the post season. I wish we could decide to not play any of these players, but we don't have a good roster. Play Walker and Montiejunas. play Cunningham if you have to, he's definitely better on defense than Belinelli.

    This series basically comes down to if the Nuggets hit their 3s or not. Spurs got a lot of lay ups still, but the Nuggets making 3s extended the lead. I don't expect a win in Game 5

    playing White more and staggering so Mills won't play along side Beli is a start. Cunningham is a non option tbh. Pop's biggest adjustment should be to change the lineups to start the 2nd and 4th quarter, though Gay playing poorly is exasperating the situation.

    Maybe taking Forbes out earlier and having Beli play with White, DDR, LMA and Jacob would help him and more importantly keep him and Mills from playing at the same time. White, Forbes, Bertans, Gay, and Jacob can't be a worse lineup tbh.

  24. #24
    Believe. ShutUp SayItAgain!'s Avatar
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    Pop a B-?

    So his stupid Fatty Mills rotation is THE reason why Denver started their run that never ended but Pop gets a B- for that...ok.


  25. #25
    Veteran r0drig0lac's Avatar
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    Pop B-? really?

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