Game Thoughts: Spurs @ Mavs - Nov. 15

[leemajors]

A few thoughts
1) Refereeing. We really need to learn the Pat Riley method of dealing with half-assed reffing. If you are going to get called for pussy fouls, DON'T ease up. Instead, HIT HARDER... Trying to avoid fouls is nearly impossible when the refs are being pussy. Instead, try and get your money's worth. If you think you might get called, take a serious piece of the guy; leave a bruise or three. The refs tend to back off when they realize that pussy foul calls means that your just going to hit harder...

2) If Darius Washington is good enough to keep him on the bench, then use him. If not send him to the Toros. His getting 2 minutes simply is not enough for his development and if he is only getting 2 minutes then he's not good enough to be on the bench...Vaughn, although a decent guy and a reliable veteran, is really a 3ed PG talent. Play Darius so he can learn to be 2nd PG by doing, or send him to the Toros to learn his craft (hopefully he'll learn fast enough to come back up as 2nd PG come February).

3) I was hoping to see Dirk vs. Mahinmi. Mahinmi is perhaps the one player on the roster with the combination of Athleticism, size and power to give Dirk the S-Jax treatment...Defending Dirk is not really a matter of defensive talent. Rather it is a matter of physical capability; neither S-Jax or Matt Barnes is really that skilled defensively (they are not masters of defensive positioning, defensive footwork, or even have particularly sticky hands). However, their combination size, athletic ability and aggressiveness really give Dirk fits. I think Mahinmi can do everything those two do, with an extra 2 or 3 inches thrown in for a good measure...

dirk could foul ian out in under 2 minutes. ian would not get any sort of benefit of the doubt from the refs.

[Findog]

Agreed. He is a good player, but no superstar like people say. And without Tim Duncan, I don't even know if he is an all-star, considering it is Duncan who gets him all the open layups, and it is clear that his confidence is based on his layups. If people prevent him from making those easy layups, then his shot stops falling, then he is a completely useless player, considering he is not a good passer or defender, or anything else for that matter.

Yeah, he's a good player, but a great portion of his success is due to the presence of Duncan making things easier for him. He's also in a system that plays to his strengths and hides a lot of his weaknesses. He's also been coached very well, whereas who knows how he would've turned out if he had been drafted by a struggling franchise.

[Holt's Cat]

Hamilton missing a rushed shot at the end of overtime despite average defense by Parker?

That was "average defense"? Why couldn't Rip get around him to get a decent shot off?

[stretch]

First off, any fan of a DFW pro sports franchise shouldn't be calling anyone else a bandwagoner.

I just did. Sue me, got.

Yup, it shows that us insecure Spurs fans have no response for an intelligent basketball discussion.

The odds of baggery are rather high for me.

Fixed.

[stretch]

That was "average defense"? Why couldn't Rip get around him to get a decent shot off?

Because he didn't have time? The play they ran was terrible, and Rip should not have even been shooting that shot. It should have either been Rasheed or Billups.

[Findog]

I just did. Sue me, got.



Fixed.

You know the usual suspects are in here dissecting the loss and showing how much they know about basketball. Then there are those stuck with bitter beer face because their favorite team LOST A GAME!!!!!! OH NO!!!!!!!!

[Holt's Cat]

I just did. Sue me, got.

My my someone's mad. Too bad your joke of a favorite team can't win a le. Nobody remembers teams that have a good regular season against the champs. Hakeem's Rockets were 0-8 against Kemp and Payton's Sonics in the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons.

[Holt's Cat]

You know the usual suspects are in here dissecting the loss and showing how much they know about basketball. Then there are those stuck with bitter beer face because their favorite team LOST A GAME!!!!!! OH NO!!!!!!!!

You don't know jack about basketball. Stick to football or tetherball.

[Holt's Cat]

Because he didn't have time? The play they ran was terrible, and Rip should not have even been shooting that shot. It should have either been Rasheed or Billups.

He didn't have time? He had enough time to try to pump fake TP twice before he went up with the shot.

[stretch]

My my someone's mad. Too bad your joke of a favorite team can't win a le.

Nope, not mad. Just amused by your utter cluelessness.

Nobody remembers teams that have a good regular season against the champs. Hakeem's Rockets were 0-8 against Kemp and Payton's Sonics in the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons.

Ok...

[Findog]

Parker isn't as overrated in here as Harris is overrated by Mav fans.

Harris is a nice player who can play some d, runs the floor very well, finishes at the rim consistently and can flop as well as Manu. On the flip side, he tends to telegraph his passes, doesn't always use his speed wisely, sometimes overdribbles in an attempt to do too much and his jumper is iffy.

But Tony Parker is the best in' player in the League. Book it!

[leemajors]

I've always thought Parker is overrated. He's not a good defender, and what does he bring to the table if he's not scoring? He doesn't run that offense very well, Manu is much better at creating for others than he is. I don't care that he looked like a Hall of Famer against Cleveland.

parker is a good defender, not an elite one. he had a very bad game all around, but he is capable of playing very good defense - the spurs wouldn't have kept him around him this long if he couldn't.

[timvp]

2) If Darius Washington is good enough to keep him on the bench, then use him. If not send him to the Toros.

The Toros regular season is still a ways off.

3) I was hoping to see Dirk vs. Mahinmi.

Dirk would light Mahinmi up for 50. Mahinmi is a raw player and he's most raw on his perimeter defensive skills.

[Findog]

You don't know jack about basketball. Stick to football or tetherball.

I'm sorry, did I ask you a question? If I want to hear from you, I'll ask you about the Silver Starzz.

[stretch]

He didn't have time? He had enough time to try to pump fake TP twice before he went up with the shot.

Whether you want to believe it was great defense or not, explain to me how one play that in your eyes, was great defense, means a player is a good defender?

It doesn't.

[pad300]

dirk could foul ian out in under 2 minutes. ian would not get any sort of benefit of the doubt from the refs.

So long as Ian is following point #1, I don't care. Call me a thug... But I suspect that even if Ian fouls out in 2 minutes, it will buy a lot of "room the referees" for the rest of the team to actually get to play in. And a few bruises and floor burns might really throw off Dirk's game.

[Holt's Cat]

Nope, not mad. Just amused by your utter cluelessness.

Sure you aren't, Mr. Internet Tough Guy.

[Holt's Cat]

Whether you want to believe it was great defense or not, explain to me how one play that in your eyes, was great defense, means a player is a good defender?

It doesn't.

Uh, he's capable of shutting down a scorer like Hamilton in crunch time on the game's biggest stage.

[Holt's Cat]

I'm sorry, did I ask you a question?

Then don't respond, genius.

[whottt]

The Spurs were down by more than 10 points the entire time Barry was in the game. What part of that do you not understand? He helped trim an 18 point lead down to 10 in a meaningless game. Do you want him to win some sort of award?

Yet...

But November 5th in a game that the Spurs never trailed by less than 10 with Barry in the game, Barry played his first meaningful minutes against the Mavs of his Spurs career.

Coherence...what can it do for you?

Seriously, did you not watch the 2006 WCSF? Explain to me how Barry playing the final three minutes of the fourth quarter and the entire overtime of Game 4 after Manu fouled out wasn't Barry meaningful minutes. And that's only one example from that series.

Uh no...that is an exception to that series, which is why you hammer on it.

Not to mention that's Barry's worst playoff game ever...not to be confused with a typical Matt Bonner performance under pressure.


Basically Barry didn't get played more than a couple of minutes at a time till Manu fouled out...and that was like the first time he touched the ball in the entire series as any other than a spot up shooter.

I want an explanation on this one. Don't skip it on your reply. I seriously want to see you explain how playing in a November blowout was more meaningful than Barry playing the final 8 minutes of a must win Game 4 on the road. Thanks.

Because Barry got to be a bigger part of the offense....and didn't get his minutes he spurts, he got lengthy PT...with the best players on the team.

If by "different" you mean the game wasn't close, your point would be closer to reality. Are you trying to say the only meaningful minutes are minutes when the Spurs are getting blown out in a game that doesn't matter?



Thanks.

No...I'm saying being used as a viable part of the offense and getting a substantial chunk of minutes is being a bigger part of the team, and the game, than being isolated on an island and being subs uted in and out for every 30 seconds.


It's really not that hard to figure out....hence why I about Barry's minutes and usage when he gets 20 plus minutes of PT, and not when he gets 14.


You have definite bias against Barry...you have from day 1, and you also seem to not pay a whole lot of attention to how and when he is used. You tend act like he either shows up or he doesn't...and I promise you, that's not all on him...it's definitely got a lot to do with the way Pop uses him.


I'm sorry you don't see it...but the important thing is that Pop does...finally.

[stretch]

Uh, he's capable of shutting down a scorer like Hamilton in crunch time on the game's biggest stage.

Shutting down???



Oh... you were serious?



I wouldn't consider defending a guy who took a bad shot with 5 seconds on the clock to be shutting down a player in crunch time on the game's biggest stage. He just happened to be defending him on a last-second shot, which is much more often missed than made by most NBA players.

[leemajors]

Shutting down???



Oh... you were serious?



I wouldn't consider defending a guy who took a bad shot with 5 seconds on the clock to be shutting down a player in crunch time on the game's biggest stage. He just happened to be defending him on a last-second shot, which is much more often missed than made by most NBA players.

switching parker and bowen onto hamilton and billups was a key to winning that game. it was more than just a few possessions and threw the pistons off, allowing san antonio to win the game. if i remember correctly, it was most of the 4th quarter in game 7.

[Holt's Cat]

Shutting down???

I wouldn't consider defending a guy who took a bad shot with 5 seconds on the clock to be shutting down a player in crunch time on the game's biggest stage. He just happened to be defending him on a last-second shot, which is much more often missed than made by most NBA players.

Well, it was one example. Parker is a good defender. I wouldn't expect a Mav fan to be able to figure that out.

[Findog]

Well, it was one example. Parker is a good defender. I wouldn't expect a Mav fan to be able to figure that out.

Nor would I expect a Spurs troll to admit all of their players aren't on loan from God.

[Holt's Cat]

Nor would I expect a Spurs troll to admit all of their players aren't on loan from God.

Sorry, you're the only troll around here. Well, other than your latent buddy.