Tim Duncan
Duncan had his first off game of the Finals in the Spurs Game 3 victory. He was aggressive and the effort was there but the results weren't. He finished with 14 points and nine rebounds on 6-for-17 shooting from the field. His defense was decent but he could never really get into a flow on either end of the court tonight.
Grade: C+
Manu Ginobili
Ginobili was missing in action tonight. He was 0-for-7 from the floor and missed a late free throw that kept the Cavs in it. He basically went scoreless outside of the four free throw attempts he got at the end of the game when the Cavs were trying to foul. Defensively, Ginobili didn't make up for his lackluster offensive showing. The one positive is he did lead the team with five assists.
Grade: D
Tony Parker
The Cavs made stopping Parker there number one priority coming into Game 3. Parker had some moments of struggle, but overall Parker played well considering the defensive pressure he was under. He didn't overly force the issue much and played a very cerebral floor game. Parker ended up with 17 points, leading the team in scoring for the third consecutive game. Defensively, he had by far his best showing of the Finals, holding Daniel Gibson to 1-for-10 shooting.
Grade: A-
Bruce Bowen
This might have been a career defining game from Bowen. He played fantastic defense as he held LeBron James to 9-for-23 shooting from the field. Offensively, Bowen had 13 points on 4-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc. He also chipped in nine rebounds in 44 minutes of action. As an all around game in a series where he plays as big a role as anyone on the team, Bowen has never played better.
Grade: A+
Fabricio Oberto
Oberto had a productive 21 minutes with six points and four rebounds. He played tough, physical basketball and was giving it his all every second. He had a couple poor decisions in regards to shot selection, but other than that there isn't much to complain about. However, he does get part of the blame for the Spurs giving up 15 offensive rebounds.
Grade: B
Michael Finley
Finley finally had a decent Finals showing. He had seven points, including a big three in the fourth quarter. Defensively, he had one of his better games of the playoffs. He still has room to improve in this series but at least he's on the right track.
Grade: C+
Robert Horry
Horry didn't have quite the impact he had in Game 2, but it was still an pretty good overall performance. He had three points, five rebounds, two assists and no turnovers in 20 minutes. Horry didn't get many open looks, but did knock down the one shot he took.
Grade: B+
Jacque Vaughn
Vaughn didn't do too much in his nine minutes ... and that's a good thing. Vaughn entered the game, went 1-for-1 from the floor and committed no turnovers. His stats wouldn't blow anyone away, but for Jacque Vaughn it was exactly what his role is.
Grade: B+
Francisco Elson
Elson played six minutes quiet minutes where he had one point and one rebound. Nothing really to write back home to Holland about.
Grade: B
Brent Barry
Barry came up huge. He led the Spurs in plus/minus with a +13. He hit 3-of-4 shots from deep and was one of the few Spurs who had any zip to his game. Barry showed great heart and bounced back from some bad misses in Game 2 to have one of his better playoff games of his Spurs career.
Grade: A
Pop
Pop's defensive game plan has been superb all series. He dissected the Cavs offense and has them playing totally out of sorts. He's forcing the Cavs into situation they haven't been in all season. Offensively, he really didn't seem to have any answers for the Cavs defense. The rotations were pretty good and it was very smart of him to play Bowen extended minutes.
Grade: B+
Last edited by timvp; 06-13-2007 at 06:11 AM.
First of all, I don't want to hear from the Manu apologists. He had an off game. Life goes on. Spurs up 3-0. All is good.
Second of all, I'm rooting for Duncan to be the MVP. Parker has had a nice series and Bowen has been fantastic but none of this happens without Duncan so he gets the MVP.
And thirdly, I'm damn proud of this team. They struggled throughout but showed great heart and gutted this victory out. Fantastic job and it's great to be a Spurs fan right now.
Good stuff...although I think Duncan probably deserves a little better grade. He didn't have the fire he had in the first two games, but he still hit some timely shots, and he was still Duncan.
Now that I think of it, I'm thinking maybe Bowen for MVP. This guy has been great the last couple years and has nothing really to show for it. No DPOYs, no All-Star appearances.
I could live with Bowen getting MVP because it'd finally be some recognition for the guy who always does the dirty work.
No pun intended, of course.
None of it happens without Duncan...but this is exactly why singling individual play out for a team achievement is kind of screwed up..
You can also make a case that it doesn't happen without Parker or Bowen.
Honestly if you just look at matchups...the guy who is winning the toughest matchup in this series is Bruce Bowen.
But I have a feeling Parker is going to take this finals MVP....he's just getting his name mentioned too much...lots of sportscenter coverage. And it's a popularity contest as much as it is a best player contest.
Bowen will never get it. If he can't get DPOY, he's not going to get MVP.
I would love him to get it but at this point, I just want the Spurs to sweep the Cavs ass and "gas up the riverboats."
I think your grade for Bowen is too low...
I haven't been watching espn, but I've watched all the press interviews on NBA TV after each game, and it seems like the only press members bringing up the MVP issue is press from outside the US, be it Spain (last night), China or elsewhere.
give them all an A+....
Duncan or Bowen for MVP. Parker has had a breakthrough playoffs in terms of thriving under pressure and doing more of the things that get playoff victories. It might not show up in his stats but Parker has grown tremendously this playoffs. I've been hard on him in the playoffs in the past but he's erased a lot of the doubt I had about him.
That said, I don't think he's MVP of this series. Not for anything specific he did wrong but if you are going to go for offense and defense, you go with Tim. Just how Manu was awesome offensively in 2005, Duncan made up for his sub par offense with great defense and great work on the boards.
Now if the voters want to give the award to Bowen, I think it'd be well deserved. His time is running out in the league and he deserves his props. He's done a masterful job on LeBron and stepped up tonight offensively.
you're just sucking up to the wife...First of all, I don't want to hear from the Manu apologists. He had an off game. Life goes on. Spurs up 3-0. All is good.
Second of all, I'm rooting for Duncan to be the MVP. Parker has had a nice series and Bowen has been fantastic but none of this happens without Duncan so he gets the MVP.
And thirdly, I'm damn proud of this team. They struggled throughout but showed great heart and gutted this victory out. Fantastic job and it's great to be a Spurs fan right now.
Pretty good grades. Bruce is the MVP of game 3, IMO.
plus 4 steals that kept the Spurs within a few pts against the Cavs while Duncan sat on the bench.Michael Finley
Finley finally had a decent Finals showing. He had seven points, including a big three in the fourth quarter. Defensively, he had one of his better games of the playoffs. He still has room to improve in this series but at least he's on the right track.
Grade: C+
----------------
those guys who made the 3s-Bowen,Horry,Barry, Finley, TP.
Seriously...
IMO, the bottom line on this series is that if Bruce isn't doing what he's doing against LeBron...this series is a whole uva lot more difficult.
As I said at the beginning of this series...if Bruce can hold LeBron in the realm of mortals...the Spurs will sweep. I just didn't think there was a chance in he'd actually do it...I did not see him doing it...no ass covering, no excuses, I just didn't think it was going to be physically possible for him to do it...maybe one game, not three in a row....and not as stifling as the game 1 D was.
Well he's done it...and he's done it well.
That said...he hasn't got a chance in of winning the finals MVP...Bruce is neither popular(more like infamous), nor is he exciting to watch, nor is he an offensive player.
I am just talking about the ABC crew during the game, when cutting to commercials...Parker has been getting the most in game media coverage of any Spur in this series...and that three tonight is going to stay with people.
I think the only way Parker doesn't win the finals MVP is if he has a really bad game in elimination game and Duncan has one of his patented close out finals games...
Yeah seriously Bowen has no shot. I haven't even heard it mentioned that Bowen is even in the running.
I guess that means Duncan or bust. I think Parker is underrated and misunderstood by a majority of Spurs fans, but he doesn't deserve MVP. He can get a "shoulda been" MVP legend like Manu got in 2005.
Well done.
Amen.And thirdly, I'm damn proud of this team. They struggled throughout but showed great heart and gutted this victory out. Fantastic job and it's great to be a Spurs fan right now.
Gotta get one more!!
tp is underrated and misunderstood because (beyond the fact that TP might be a bit more selfish than his team mates and that he is french) there're many fans out there who believe that the spurs would be as successfull (if not more successfull) with any other decent point guard... whereas TD and Manu are seen as irreplaceable and unique players...
I agree with the sentiments of Duncan being the whole reason anyone else is in this position. Same with Parker not doing anything wrong, just that Duncan is the MVP of the Spurs.
Bowen had a pretty good game against one Los Angeles Lakers team in 2003 (I think) where he scored something like 29 and the Spurs blew out the Lakers. I might take that game over this one because the Lakers were so much better than these .526 Cavs.
Duncan is the true MVP but I can't believe Parker isn't going to be the sports writers choice, they want a different story. In a way if it carries over to an even more confident Parker next year that's okay.
He had the worst game of his life.belive me.I donīt really recall such an awfull game from him.It really hurted me watching him play yesterday,and watching his frustrating face too.Itīs all good though,Manu will comeback stronger in game 4.
In other hands,what was very rear was the fact that the spurs won with manu scoring 3 pts.I would like to know when was the last time that happened.
Me too.He is the man.Second of all, I'm rooting for Duncan to be the MVP. Parker has had a nice series and Bowen has been fantastic but none of this happens without Duncan so he gets the MVP.
damn right.And thirdly, I'm damn proud of this team. They struggled throughout but showed great heart and gutted this victory out. Fantastic job and it's great to be a Spurs fan right now.
The only grade I can not agree with is Brent Barry's A.
Why? Because of his two bad plays in two consecutive fastbreaks.
I still think Brent had a good game, but IMO he doesn't deserve more than B+.
Exactly. No one holds Manu down for long.
amen to that... but still, you're one of the very few objective and relevant ManuFans here...
Bowen's grade should be docked for that stupid attempted foul at the end. That easily could have been 3 and 1.
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