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Took you 11 games to get Manu's grade right...
Tim Duncan
Duncan was a defensive monster tonight. He had nine blocks to go along with 24 points and 13 rebounds. When he's able to stay out of foul trouble and be that active on the defensive end of the court, he's as good of a defender as there is in the league. Offensively, he hit 11-of-19 shots, including a huge one late in the fourth.
Grade: A
Manu Ginobili
This was the performance Spurs fans have been waiting for out of Manu. 33 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and four steals on 11-for-17 shooting from the field? That's just ridiculous. Ginobili was everywhere. When he's playing like this, he's one of the top ten players in the game. He again set up his outside shots with early drives to the basket. After he got the Suns guessing what he was doing, it was game over for Phoenix.
Grade: A+
Tony Parker
Parker kept the Spurs in the game early and was aggressive throughout. When Parker brings this much energy and focus, the Spurs rarely lose. He did have an off shooting night as he finished 11-for-27, but it's tough to complain about 30 points, six assists and one turnover. Defensively, he continued to play stellar defense. The way he single-handedly shut down Leandro Barbosa this series was amazing. I'm not sure any defender in the league could stop Barbosa as well as Parker did.
Grade: A-
Bruce Bowen
Bowen struggled with Nash all series but in this close out game, he finally was able to figure him out. He harassed Steve Nash all night and put him into uncomfortable situations. He had Nash crying to the refs all game long and that no doubt how a negative impact for the Suns. At 35 and a good six inches taller than Nash, it's a great sign that he could keep up with the two-time reigning MVP. Perhaps he isn't as done as some would make it seem.
Grade: B+
Francisco Elson
Elson wasn't horrible but also wasn't that great. He had some decent rotations defensively. He knew where to be more times than not. However, watching him fumble away rebound after rebound got annoying after a while. Even his teammates started to get frustrated by his clumsiness. But with Elson, you take whatever good you can squeeze out of him.
Grade: B-
Michael Finley
Finley was quiet for much of the contest, but answered with some big shots late in the game. So far in the playoffs, it seems that he has a knack of knocking down momentum saving shots. His defense was also better than it had been since early in the series.
Grade: B
Brent Barry
Barry played 11 ghost minutes. He missed both of his shots and only cracked the stat sheet with one assist and one steal. Although he did have a couple good defensive plays.
Grade: C
Fabricio Oberto
When he was on the court, Oberto was an effective player. The problem was that he was in foul trouble for almost all game. Again, Oberto was noticeably into the game right from the tip. His energy and attention to detail has been fantastic so far in the postseason.
Grade: C+
Robert Horry
This one was for you, Rob
Grade: A
Jacque Vaughn
Major props to Vaughn for having his best playoff game when the Spurs needed it most. His play late in the third quarter was huge. He had a couple baskets and a pair of assists to help increase the lead.
Grade: A
Pop
The only real negative you can take out of this game coaching wise is that the Spurs continually stepped off the gas after establishing leads in this series. The blame has to go somewhere and it starts with the head coach. You don't win championships if you let teams back in games time and time again. Other than that, I thought the rotations were very good and I didn't disagree with any of the strategy.
Grade: B+
Took you 11 games to get Manu's grade right...
Right on... but you might like to add that those 1st quarter drives were with his RIGHT HAND!Manu Ginobili
This was the performance Spurs fans have been waiting for out of Manu. 33 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and four steals on 11-for-17 shooting from the field? That's just ridiculous. Ginobili was everywhere. When he's playing like this, he's one of the top ten players in the game. He again set up his outside shots with early drives to the basket. After he got the Suns guessing what he was doing, it was game over for Phoenix.
Grade: A+
Nice comment on Fin's knack for "momentum saving shots" - he's done that all playoffs, hasn't he?
"Tony's grade was too high."
i thought pop made a great decision by bringing in barry at the end of the 1st quarter instead of vaughn.
Nice job
I kind of disagree with your grade of Oberto though...he was way better than C+ tonight. That huge run we went on was with Oberto in for Duncan...and I don't care what the stats say, Oberto was freakin aweseome during that part of the game....where are the tapped ball and disruptive influence stats? I don't see how Oberto could have less than a B.
Jackie Vaughn gets an F for stripping Tim Duncan of his triple double!
j/k he did great that final second play, in the third quarter, where Manu was handling the ball. He really helped deliver when our guys recognize him being open.
C'mon Aaron, Manu took 11 games to get his grade right, not timvp!
He played very well in 1 game in the Nugs series, and okay in 2 others. He played very well in 2 games this series, and brilliantly in this one. I see a trend here, and we might see Manu Reale turn up from now on, now that he remembers he has a right hand and can knock down a jumper!
I think the big 3 all deserved an A+....had to be the best game by the big 3 combined ever...definitely in the playoffs.
I think Pop deserves an A but I don't know him as much as you guys. One reason is that the Suns are always gonna go on runs to try to get back in games. Two the reason Vaughn had that type of game was because the way Pop decided to use him when we doubled Timmy. He knew the Suns weren't gonna guard him so he threw him under the basket and got him involved. Luckily for Vaughn too that he made 2 out of his 3 shots. If the Suns were quick enough and/or cared to try to get a man on him Vaughn would just kick it out. Nice work. But I guess it is alot easier to do that sort of stuff when Manu and Parker go off like they did.
I subtracted points from Oberto for getting in foul trouble. With Horry gone, Oberto had to know that he had to stay on the court.Nice job
I kind of disagree with your grade of Oberto though...he was way better than C+ tonight. That huge run we went on was with Oberto in for Duncan...and I don't care what the stats say, Oberto was freakin aweseome during that part of the game....where are the tapped ball and disruptive influence stats? I don't see how Oberto could have less than a B.
Considering his play per minute and ignoring fouls, you was definitely B material. Right now he's playing so well it's scary. I just hope he keeps it up.
He busted his game potential wide open today. Like Timvp said, that statline is insane, and he's definitely on par as a top ten player from these big game moments. He can only get better as the playoffs roll on, I feel.C'mon Aaron, Manu took 11 games to get his grade right, not timvp!
He played very well in 1 game in the Nugs series, and okay in 2 others. He played very well in 2 games this series, and brilliantly in this one. I see a trend here, and we might see Manu Reale turn up from now on, now that he remembers he has a right hand and can knock down a jumper!
6:1 A/TO and great defense on LB. No complaints here.
Yeah, he really is playing his best ball as a Spur right now. he's like a big, shaggy hustle machine, and now that he knows the system he's rarely out of position.
Props to Oberto, a guy most of us gave up on in year one when we should have known better - ie. that once he knew the system, he'd be a useful player, despite his ground-bound game.
Here's to you, Shaggy!
If anything could bump Pop up to an A it would be his decision to slash Vaughn to the rim every time Tim got doubled with Vaughn's man. That gave Tim an easy pass to Vaughn right under the basket causing Barbosa to collapse off of Bowen and giving Bowen two wide open shots that he drained for 5 points. Huge adjustment.
I got one comment..
A+ for TiMVP for diligently doing this game-after grading all this while.. It really benefits overseas Spurs Fans like us..
Yeah it was tough finding fault in Duncan and Parker this game. I thought Duncan could have demanded the ball a little more at the end of the game, but tough to knock him for that. The only thing I have against Tony was his field goal percentage. But if you think back on it, he had that shot at the end of the half and about two or three other desperation shots that shouldn't count against him.
Parker on Barbosa was a thing of beauty to watch. Barbosa destroyed everyone else in the league this year. When the Spurs got back on defense and put Parker on him to negate the any quickness advantage, they turned him back into 2005 Barbosa.
And Manu was just stupid good. Sure he had a couple ugly turnovers but he was just so damn good. Thinking about it, it might be his best playoff game ever. Against Raja Bell, in a semi must win elimination game and factoring in his rebounds and steals, this might have been Manu at his best. Although it's tough to top what he did Game 7 against the Pistons given the stakes of that game.
Have Tony and Manu ever had 30+ points in the same game? I don't remember it happening off the top of my head.
Parker forced his way into two defenders around the basket too many times.
Finally he gets an A! (not his last one, I hope!) ing unbelievable
This game was so perfect
Spot on. I might have given Pop a little bump for the adjustments and Oberto a little slack for a couple of seemingly ticky tack calls on him. Credit to carrot-hands for stepping up. I thought Bowen's defense on Nash bordered on legendary, especially considering how badly he got beat by Nash until tonight.
Great win. Now we have a nice fresh Horry to throw at the Jazz.
It helps that he's been driving his expectations down for the entire playoffs. Same with Elson.Finally he gets an A! (not his last one, I hope!) ing unbelievable
This game was so perfect
Man I just finished watching the game beginning to end. That was the most fun to watch playoff game, start to finish, that I can remember. Even though they had tiny leads here or there, I never doubted we'd win and I wasn't stressed about it. And obviously it wasn't hard to notice how well the big three all played. I can't think of a single playoff game they all had it going like this before. Maybe Games 1 and 2 of the '05 series?
I can't imagine Manu and Tony having 30 in the same game before, regular season or playoffs. This was just an excellent sign going forward. I really couldn't be happier. Sloan is gonna look at this game film and a brick.
As I recall, the last time the big three played so well together, it was our last game vs. Utah.
And Duncan gets extra credit for bumping D'Antoni.
now I wanna see an A game by Elson... and I can die in peace
When did that happen? I want to tune it up on the dvr because I missed it live.
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