Game Thoughts: Spurs @ Timberwolves - Nov. 30

[timvp]

These are the types of games that help you prepare for the playoffs. The Spurs were sleepwalking against the Minnesota Timberwolves for nearly the first three quarters before they flipped the switch defensively and destroyed the T’Wolves. While the sleepwalking aspect wasn’t nice to see, it made the Spurs buckle down and only play perfect basketball to get the win.

The score was 80-66 with 1:24 seconds to go in the third quarter. The Spurs ended up winning 106-91. For those without a calculator handy, that’s was a 40-11 run to end the game. How did that happen? I’ll get more into that later.

As far as the Timberwolves, I was really impressed by Al Jefferson. Offensively, at only 22-years-old, Jefferson has some of the best footwork I’ve ever seen for a bigman that age. On defense, he has a long ways to go but Jefferson has the ability to be really, really good. There is a bit of other talent on the Minnesota roster but no one really stands out as the second star next to Jefferson.

-Tim Duncan was quiet for much of the game until Mark Madsen made the mistake of waking him up. Madsen authored a couple hard fouls that Duncan took exception to. After a Duncan technical for jawing at Madsen, Duncan took his game up another level. Finishing with 20 points, 14 rebounds and four assists, Duncan had one of his better outings of the year -- especially in the second half of the game.

-Manu Ginobili was spectacular. He’s had some great games this year but this might have been his best. The first thing you look at when you see his stat line is his 31 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field and 7-of-9 shooting from beyond the three-point line. While his scoring was really, really nice, it was his defense that sparked the 40-11 run to end the game. When the T’Wolves put a lineup with no real point guard on the court, Pop countered by putting Ginobili at point guard. Ginobili pressured the ball and just destroyed Minnesota’s offense single-handedly. For the game, Ginobili had an astounding plus/minus of +35. But even that number doesn’t really indicate how huge he was this game. If Ginobili can bring that level of defense consistently and stay that aggressive offensively, he could become one of the very best players in the league.

-Tony Parker’s stats look good. He had 17 points, nine assists and four rebounds, and has now had at least seven assists in seven consecutive games and nine out of his last ten games. However, I wasn’t really impressed with how he played. He was a bit sloppy and wasn’t getting the team into their offense well enough. His plus/minus of -3 was a bit indicative of his struggles. That said, I do have to give him props for his passing. He’s done one of the most impossible things a basketball player can do – improve his court vision. No longer can someone say Parker can’t pass or doesn’t see the court well. Outside of Steve Nash and Jason Kidd, I’m not sure there are many other point guards who are passing the ball as well as Parker is right now. His chemistry with Ginobili and Brent Barry specifically is through the roof.

-Bruce Bowen was all over the court tonight. He didn’t have one specific target to shut down, so he switched from everyone from Jefferson to Sebastian Telfair defensively. He was basically just the human fire extinguisher tonight. Whoever got hot, he went and cooled them off. Offensively, he had ten points, including a couple of the biggest shots of the game when the Spurs were making their run. His plus/minus of +20 was better than any other starter.

-Fabricio Oberto had a decent game. He had eight points and hit 4-of-5 shots from the field. On the season, he’s now shooting 63.9% from the floor. The problem for Oberto tonight was the fact that the opposing bigman he was guarding was oftentimes a three-point shooter and Oberto was slow to rotate and put a hand up. The T’Wolves did a good job of exploiting Oberto’s lack of mobility on the perimeter. (Oh and I have to apologize to Oberto for jinxing him. After the last game, I pointed out that he had only three turnovers on the season and was leading the league in fewest turnovers per minute. Tonight, Oberto had two turnovers. My bad, Fabby.)

-One thing Michael Finley isn’t is afraid to shoot. He got up 11 field goal attempts in less than 23 minutes of action. The problem was Finley only hit one of those shots. He missed a bunch of jumpers, including all six of his three-point tries. It’s been ridiculous how streaky Finley has been of late. Too bad that much of that streak has been in the wrong direction. The good news for Finley is he’s doing a great job of not turning the ball over. He has only seven turnovers in 414 minutes this season, putting him in the top five in the league in fewest turnovers per minute. (I’ll apologize in advance.)

-After a substandard game from Brent Barry last time out, he turned it around this game and was one of the better players during the Spurs’ run to take control of the game. He finished with eight points, three assists and a big steal in 21 minutes of play. As I said earlier, he’s working really well with Parker right now. It seems like almost all of his three-pointers of late have come on passes from Parker.

-Francisco Elson wasn’t too bad this game. He had four points and three rebounds in 14 minutes of action. He had some of the same problems that Oberto did as far as not being able to defend the three-point line. He got pulled rather quickly in the second half after making a few mistakes. Overall, it was a better performance than what we usually have seen out of Elson the last couple of weeks.

-It’d be great of Jacque Vaughn wouldn’t try to do too much. There should never be a time that Vaughn brings the ball up and shoots a jumper without passing it to anyone. There should never be a time when Vaughn drives the lane and attempts a layup. Vaughn didn’t do much damage in his eight minutes of playing time but he hasn’t been very good lately at understanding his own limitations. He’s literally one of the worst finishers in the NBA, yet he drives the lane like he’s Tony Parker. Bring the ball up the court, pass it, get out of the way. Rinse. Repeat.

-Bonner got only six minutes of playing time but played pretty well. In plus/minus, he was a +10. He did a better job than the other bigs at closing out at the three-point shooters. However, he has apparently lost his spot in the rotation yet again, which is understandable since he hasn't played very well this season. And with Robert Horry back suited up and almost ready to go, Bonner better get used to the feel of the bench.

-Pop went into his bag of tricks to pull out this win. When the Spurs started off slow, he got a let-me-try-to-fire-up-my-team technical foul. When Duncan got pissed at Madsen, he made sure to keep Duncan involved and on the court (Duncan played a season-high 40 minutes). When the Spurs defense needed a spark, he put Ginobili on the ball and told him to apply pressure. And it wasn’t a mistake that the Spurs started their 40-11 run when Pop went small in the second half. The T’Wolves were torturing the Spurs’ bigmen on the perimeter. When Pop went small, Minnesota no longer had a weakness to attack. Overall, it was a nice win by the Spurs and it was the type of game that helps a team grow.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

Good reads.

-It’d be great of Jacque Vaughn wouldn’t try to do too much. There should never be a time that Vaughn brings the ball up and shoots a jumper without passing it to anyone. There should never be a time when Vaughn drives the lane and attempts a layup. Vaughn didn’t do much damage in his eight minutes of playing time but he hasn’t been very good lately at understanding his own limitations. He’s literally one of the worst finishers in the NBA, yet he drives the lane like he’s Tony Parker. Bring the ball up the court, pass it, get out of the way. Rinse. Repeat.

I agree with this 100 percent.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Great assessment as always.

Tony Parker’s stats look good. He had 17 points, nine assists and four rebounds, and has now had at least seven assists in seven consecutive games and nine out of his last ten games. However, I wasn’t really impressed with how he played. He was a bit sloppy and wasn’t getting the team into their offense well enough. His plus/minus of -3 was a bit indicative of his struggles. That said, I do have to give him props for his passing. He’s done one of the most impossible things a basketball player can do – improve his court vision. No longer can someone say Parker can’t pass or doesn’t see the court well. Outside of Steve Nash and Jason Kidd, I’m not sure there are many other point guards who are passing the ball as well as Parker is right now. His chemistry with Ginobili and Brent Barry specifically is through the roof.

Exactly! And yet in the game thread some people are still bagging his passing!? Wake up, he has somehow improved a skill, court vision, that to most is unlearnable. Like adding to his finishing, improving his left hand, and adding a jumper, Tony has yet again added to his skillset this year, and more props to him!

[Mr. Body]

Tony Parker’s stats look good. He had 17 points, nine assists and four rebounds, and has now had at least seven assists in seven consecutive games and nine out of his last ten games.

My fantasy team sure appreciates it!

[gospursgooo]

The good news for Finley is he’s doing a great job of not turning the ball over.

Finley turned the ball over by not hitting his shots!

[milkyway21]

I read a paragraph of one article:


Mark Madsen spent much of the game upsetting Duncan. Madsen drew a foul on the nine-time All-Star with an Oscar-worthy flop following a light forearm to the chest in the first quarter in front of San Antonio's bench, angering coach Gregg Popovich to the point of drawing a technical foul.

In the third, Madsen was called for his fourth personal foul for some rough stuff around the basket involving Duncan, who got mad and directed an expletive at Madsen. Madsen walked away with his back turned, and Duncan was whistled for a technical.

Duncan had only two field goals over the first 31 minutes, but he warmed up and finished strong.
-----
somebody shld try upsetting Duncan more in their future games it brings more fire in him

Manu was hot. This time I will curse the NBA if they won't try looking his way again for that 6th-man award.

[AFBlue]

My fantasy team sure appreciates it!

Mine too...

And the points from Manu...

And the boards from Duncan.

[whottt]

-Tony Parker’s stats look good. He had 17 points, nine assists and four rebounds, and has now had at least seven assists in seven consecutive games and nine out of his last ten games. However, I wasn’t really impressed with how he played. He was a bit sloppy and wasn’t getting the team into their offense well enough. His plus/minus of -3 was a bit indicative of his struggles. That said, I do have to give him props for his passing. He’s done one of the most impossible things a basketball player can do – improve his court vision. No longer can someone say Parker can’t pass or doesn’t see the court well.

I disagree with the take that Parker never showed signs of court vision or the potential to be a great passer...

Had you been a Spursfan in Parker's rookie season, you would have remembered him attempting nothing but pass his first few games in the NBA....and making some fantastic passes in the process. I remember Drob and Duncan being literally stunned to get the ball in perfect postion to score early early on in his career.

During the Kidd Parker wars, I always said Tony can pass and one day he would show that again. Because of the way he played early early on in his career...and I said it would probably be the last part of his game to be refined.

He's been playing like Pop wanted him too...Pop wants the PG's playing like ball hogs, that's why the one guy that doesn't play that way, Brent, is often at cross purposes with Pop.

There's a reason every PG we have plays like a ball hog...and it's because Pop wants it that way. He wants them to be scorers and agressive about taking it to the basket first...I can't think of very many times I have seen Pop yank a PG for playing that way....that's the telling fact right there.

My bad, Fabby.)

Hmm...is there some kind of announcement you need to make to the board(and Kori)?

-One thing Michael Finley isn’t is afraid to shoot. He got up 11 field goal attempts in less than 23 minutes of action. The problem was Finley only hit one of those shots. He missed a bunch of jumpers, including all six of his three-point tries

Translation: I hate Michael Finley for not playing like Brent Barry, and I hate Brent Barry for not playing like Michael Finley.

Got it

[AFBlue]

Finley turned the ball over by not hitting his shots!

When he's not hitting...those minutes can be long and painful.

What sucks the most is that he's the only option for Small Ball 4 on this team right now...and that is a set that Pop has been going to more and more.

With a guy like Finley, you just have to ride the wave because he's also one of the only guys that can hit a shot with defense draped all over him.

I just hope he's going to start streaking in the other direction soon.

Note: Streaking requires MORE than one game of solid shooting...which Finley has yet to accomplish this season.

[whottt]

Finley is a volume shooter and always has been...he needs to take a lot of shots to score well. Sometimes he starts off hot...but that's not the norm for his career...generally he takes a bunch of shots and eventually he'll get on a steak and hit a bunch.

Volume scorers generally make crappy bench players IME as well, if that's all they can do.


FWIW...I'm glad Finley isn't trying to make a bunch of passes...because he sucks at it and has a bad handle.

[timvp]

I disagree with the take that Parker never showed signs of court vision or the potential to be a great passer...

Whose take was that?

Back when I was a Mavs fan during Parker's rookie season, I remembered him attempting nothing but pass his first few games in the NBA.

Why'd you jump ship?

Hmm...is there some kind of announcement you need to make to the board(and Kori)?

Fail.

Translation: I ... like Brent Barry, and I hate .... Michael Finley.

Stunning.

[SequSpur]

Matt Bonner and Jacque Vaughn continue to be the tiest players in the Western Conference. they have no business getting minutes in an NBA game.

[timvp]

What sucks the most is that he's the only option for Small Ball 4 on this team right now.

Bowen was playing the small ball 4 when the Spurs made their run in the fourth quarter.

Note: Streaking requires MORE than one game of solid shooting...which Finley has yet to accomplish this season.

Finley had hit nine of this last 14 threes coming into this game. Or if you want to go back further, 17 of his last 33.

He was 0-for-6 tonight.

[anakha]

One thing I noticed from the previous game and this one as well...

This is the second straight game that Parker has outrebounded Elson and Oberto. Not a good sign for the Spurs' centers. Should this be a cause for worry down the road?

[mando6599]

Good. Thanks for that commentary again.

[bdictjames]

One thing I noticed from the previous game and this one as well...

This is the second straight game that Parker has outrebounded Elson and Oberto. Not a good sign for the Spurs' centers. Should this be a cause for worry down the road?

I think its because Spurs play so much uptempo now than usual, and other teams play uptempo too than last year. I dont think this should be a cause though.. it sure is winning us games. If it aint broke..

Then again Im just an average NBA fan. Not timvp lol..

Great thoughts! Nice to see Duncan finally get a double-double.

[AFBlue]

Finley had hit nine of this last 14 threes coming into this game. Or if you want to go back further, 17 of his last 33.

He was 0-for-6 tonight.

Thanks for the Bowen correction. I'm actually relieved that Fin isn't the only small ball 4 to turn to.....not that Bowen instills much confidence with his lack of rebounding or inside game, but at least there's another option and he plays solid D.

On Finley...I was talking about his overall game. As you know, Finley isn't just a spot up 3pt shooter, but shoots many of his jumpers from the mid-range... either fadeaway off a screen or the side-step seperation move then pull up.

He's only gone over 50% three times this year and even in games where his spot-up three pointer was falling, those other shots he takes weren't (i.e. Loss to Sacto...he was 3-6 on 3pt but 0-5 on 2pt).

[Amuseddaysleeper]

timvp, what'd you think of finley's D tonight?

[xamila rey]

i am studying for finals, and i took a break to read your thoughts.
Thanks timvp!!!!
Do you think Pop put Manu as a pg because of Vaughn was not helping or just to change the strategy??

[TMTTRIO]

Manu was pretty amazing tonight. I have noticed that Manu seems to have become somewhat consistant this season scoring wise. He's only had 1 night lately where he only scored in single digits. I wonder if he can continue to average about 19 ppg this season?

[loveforthegame]

One of the knocks on Fin in Dallas when his shot wasn't falling is that he didn't do much of anything else be it defend, rebound, steals, etc... I'm too lazy right now but I'll have to look up to see how he's been in those areas on a bad shooting night.

I was happy with the 6 rebounds and 2 assists tonight. If he at least gives effort on that end I'm sure Pop is happy.

[timvp]

timvp, what'd you think of finley's D tonight?

Pretty good. He was rotating pretty well. Overall, this season he's been a lot better defensively than he was in his first two years with the Spurs.

i am studying for finals, and i took a break to read your thoughts.
Thanks timvp!!!!
Do you think Pop put Manu as a pg because of Vaughn was not helping or just to change the strategy??

I think it was mostly due to matchups. The T'Wolves have two point guards: Marko Jaric and Sebastian Telfair. Jaric sprained his ankle earlier in the game so when Telfair went out, the T'Wolves put Greg Buckner at point guard. Buckner, whose natural position is probably small forward, is capable of posting up smaller defenders so putting Manu on him made more sense than Vaughn.

But with Manu pressuring Buckner, he killed whatever it was Minnesota was trying to do offensively.

[xamila rey]

Gracias!

I think it was mostly due to matchups. The T'Wolves have two point guards: Marko Jaric and Sebastian Telfair. Jaric sprained his ankle earlier in the game so when Telfair went out, the T'Wolves put Greg Buckner at point guard. Buckner, whose natural position is probably small forward, is capable of posting up smaller defenders so putting Manu on him made more sense than Vaughn.
But with Manu pressuring Buckner, he killed whatever it was Minnesota was trying to do offensively.

[Dex]

-Manu Ginobili was spectacular. He’s had some great games this year but this might have been his best. The first thing you look at when you see his stat line is his 31 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field and 7-of-9 shooting from beyond the three-point line. While his scoring was really, really nice, it was his defense that sparked the 40-11 run to end the game. When the T’Wolves put a lineup with no real point guard on the court, Pop countered by putting Ginobili at point guard. Ginobili pressured the ball and just destroyed Minnesota’s offense single-handedly. For the game, Ginobili had an astounding plus/minus of +35. But even that number doesn’t really indicate how huge he was this game. If Ginobili can bring that level of defense consistently and stay that aggressive offensively, he could become one of the very best players in the league.

Also don't think its been noted that 7 three-pointers is also a new Career High for Ginobili. (Previous high was 6 on two occasions)

There's definitely been a noticeable improvement to Manu's longball this year, and a game like that can only boost a shooters confidence.

As much as Manu gets beat up the paint, him shooting lights out from the arc is like win-win for the Spurs. Gets the three points without the wear and tear...and the free throw.

[2centsworth]

Also don't think its been noted that 7 three-pointers is also a new Career High for Ginobili. (Previous high was 6 on two occasions)

There's definitely been a noticeable improvement to Manu's longball this year, and a game like that can only boost a shooters confidence.

As much as Manu gets beat up the paint, him shooting lights out from the arc is like win-win for the Spurs. Gets the three points without the wear and tear...and the free throw.

maybe he spent time with Chip Englend.