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nice work dude....
Tim Duncan
26.8 Points
13.7 Rebounds
4.2 Blocks
.573 Field Goal Percentage
This was an amazing series by Duncan. He adjusted well no matter the defense. If the Suns sent a double-team, he was unselfish enough to let others score. If the Suns tried to guard him with single coverage, he would dominate in the paint. Duncan also did a great job rebounding and blocking shots. It's hard to play much better than Duncan did.
Grade: A
Manu Ginobili
17.8 Points
6.8 Rebounds
4.3 Assists
2.5 Steals
.410 Field Goal Percentage
.367 Three Point Percentage
Ginobili had an erratic series. When he was good, he played as well as anyone on the court. When he was bad, he played as if his career was winding down. However, he came up big in Game 5 and Game 6, so that's all that will be remembered. His domination in various statistical fields was impressive.
Grade: B-
Tony Parker
20.8 Points
5.7 Assists
2.8 Rebounds
.451 Field Goal Percentage
Parker was solid throughout the series. He was a vital part of the Game 1 win and came up clutch in both Game 5 and Game 6. His playoff history told us he usually gets worse the longer a series drags on, but that wasn't the case against the Suns. Not to be overlooked was his defense. He slowed down Leandro Barbosa, who came into the series riding high with his ability to get to the rim. Parker took that away and made him shoot contested jumpers.
Grade: A-
Bruce Bowen
7.7 Points
5.2 Rebounds
1.7 Assists
2.2 Steals
.390 Field Goal Percentage
.480 Three Point Percentage
Bowen was the center of a lot of controversy in the series against Phoenix. However, what was lost in all the talk was how effective Bowen played. He rebounded far above what is expected from him and hit many, many big three-pointers. He gave great energy on defense but struggled at times with Steve Nash -- which is understandable going against a two-time MVP at the top of his game.
Grade: B+
Francisco Elson
2.5 Points
2.7 Rebounds
0.3 Blocks
.500 Field Goal Percentage
Elson never really got into any type of flow against the Suns. He had some good matchups to exploit but it never happened. His poor rebounding numbers are surprising seeing as it came against one of the worst rebounding teams in the league. The Spurs will need more out of Elson from here on forward if they want to win a ring.
Grade: C-
Michael Finley
13.3 Points
3.2 Rebounds
.414 Field Goal Percentage
.395 Three Point Percentage
Finley added the needed offensive punch. His defense was sporadic but was good near the end of the series. If he can continue to score and provide some defense intensity, he will be big part of what the Spurs do.
Grade: B-
Brent Barry
2.5 Points
1.3 Assists
.333 Field Goal Percentage
.231 Field Goal Percentage
Barry's stats don't look that good, but he came up big in the third and fourth games of the series. Without his Game 3 performance, the Spurs might have lost that contest. Overall though, the Spurs need better accuracy from Barry.
Grade: C+
Fabricio Oberto
3.0 Points
2.5 Rebounds
0.8 Assists
.727 Field Goal Percentage
Oberto's stats look pedestrian but he was a huge part of the series win. With other bigmen either struggling or suspended, he was the glue that held the frontcourt together. He played smart basketball on both ends of the court and brought great energy to the table.
Grade: B+
Robert Horry
4.8 Points
4.3 Rebounds
1.5 Blocks
.417 Field Goal Percentage
.500 Three Point Percentage
Horry, when he wasn't administering The Hip Check Heard 'Round The World, played well in the four games he played. His rebounding and blocked shots numbers were nice and he had a couple big three-point shots. Whether you agree or disagree with what Horry did to Nash, it turned out to work in the Spurs favor. That has to then score to his favor as far as grades go.
Grade: A-
Jacque Vaughn
2.0 Points
0.7 Assists
.353 Field Goal Percentage
Vaughn was horrible all series until a stretch in the late third quarter of Game 6. Other than that, the Spurs had to be longing for Nick Van Exel or even Charlie Ward. Vaughn has to show from here on out that he's not a huge liability when he steps onto the court.
Grade: C-
Gregg Popovich
Pop gets major points for not caving in and starting Ginobili when things started to look bad. He stayed with the lineup that has been working and the Spurs were able to fight through it. Pop also did a good job of keeping the team focused on the task at hand instead of the controversy that was swirling around the series. As always, he was gracious in victory and defeat.
Grade: B+
Overall
It's tough not to be proud of the Spurs if you are a Spurs fan. With everyone outside of Bexar county rooting against them, they shut up the world and pulled out two impressive victories after the series was tied at two. The Big Three played better and better together as the games went on and everyone played with great passion. It's good to be a Spurs fan right now.
Grade: A-
nice work dude....
Did Beno play at all this series?
I agree that Elson has to improve if Spurs want to win another ring.
and tonight would be a good time to do so !
I'd give Finley more credit since you base the grades on what is expected of their talents. No one ever said that Finley was a defensive stopper in his career and his ability on defense is probably less right now due to age.
All in all, Finley did better in the playoffs than his regular season's performance would have indicated, so I'd ratchet up the score to at least B+/A-.
Elson cratered from his regular season performances, showing less BB IQ and hands of stone. He didn't seem to have learned anything about the system and how to apply his talents to it after all those regular season games. His vaunted athleticism and speed was of little apparent value during the series with the team where it would have been most useful. I'd lower his score--and I was a hopeful supporter early in the season.
Horry A- and Manu B-, dude Big shot only contributed pushing Nash out!
the rates are based on the players' role in the team... if a subs ute contributes more than expected, then give him an A. And Horry did great for a 37 years old subs ue and fully deserves his A-
Manu is part of the Big 3 and is supposed to play consequently from Game 1 to Game 6...
IMO DUncan did better in round 1 than in round 2. he was more dominant.
Parker and Manu did better in round 2.
No way, TD killed the Suns
He was by far the best player in that series
So, Manu will improve his grade next year only because he'll be older
OMG LJ. It's like you try to piss me off on purpose. How can you give Manu a "B-" when he bettered his season averages in everything but field goal%?
The guy pretty much saved Game 5 for us and was our best player in the close out game, plus he was pretty excellent in the Game 3 win too. I don't know what else you want from him.
I agree with all of the grades...and I especially think Horry earned his.
LJ, just give Manu an S for "SUPER" so aaron can stfu.
Great job LJ
Are you Argentine?
i give MANU A SM for SUPERMAN
woooowww i am just amaized with manu today, i mean 10 assists today wow talk about basketball IQ
Currently TD is arguably the best player in basketball. Screw all that Kobe hype. If there is one player in the NBA to build your franchise around, who could successfully argue that it should not be Duncan? His mere presence, even on a bad day, requires an incredible amount of attention and energy that makes opponents struggle like Sisyphus. His shot blocking abilities are menacing to everyone in the paint. His ability as a big man to move laterally is nothing short of awesome...and his bank shot is automatic. Having said that, Horry was the MVP of the Spurs/Suns Series and deserves an A+.
Last edited by UV Ray; 05-21-2007 at 04:42 AM.
Nice job Ray, agreed! Double points for mentioning Sisyphus!
Only black mark against Duncan this series was the 4th Q of game 4 when he went totally missing, although he wasn't the only one, and I think he was being fouled on his TOs. Just showed he is mortal... barely though, given his performance for the other 23 quarters of the series.
What about Amare and Boris missing Game 5? Whether it was intended or not, that automatically gets him an A+ in my book......
Show up to play in more than three out of six games. His averages don't indicate how he was MIA for part of the series.
And really, a B- is pretty damn good for having three sub par games in a six game series.
MVP of the series
Mike D'Antoni
Thanks for giving the Suns a victim mentality, not using your bench when you were under-manned, and not using available time outs in game 6.
Nice work, I agree with the grades.
Hopefully, the big 3 is playing better and better all at the same time
This is really pathetic from you. I can understand some people judging Manu solely based on points, but I expected better from you. The rebounds, assists, steals, none of it matters I guess.
It's interesting that in the Phx series both Tony & Manu shot about .70 worse than their regular season average, and TP averaged 3.5 turnovers a game, but you always excuse his mistakes and look the other way.
Plus I love when I pointed out the playoff PER numbers to you, you gave me some BS about "small sample size." Well is a 82 game regular season enough sample size? Are the last playoffs and the last regular season and the '05 playoffs and regular season enough sample size?
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