Look what I found from our own timvp.
We all love your game thoughts threads here, it's was wonderful to find them on SpursZONE.
Have others been there and I missed them, or is this the first?
Hope you can continue it, and I really hope they paid you well. Your columns deserve it.
http://www.woai.com/content/sports/s...d-5cb307f0236f
Analysis: Duncan Back on the Court
By LJ Ellis
SpursZONE.com
First off, it was nice to see Tim Duncan back out on the court as the Spurs took on the Nuggets on Saturday night. It’s easy to take him for granted and forget how much easier he makes the game for everyone around him.
As far as the game, I thought it was a solid showing, especially considering Tony Parker was out with a sprained ankle. It wasn’t a great win because the Nuggets played horrible at times and made it easy for the Spurs, but it was at least nice to get back on the winning track. The Spurs got some good performances from a variety of players and were able to stay undefeated at home.
I wasn’t too impressed with the Nuggets. In the middle two quarters, their defense was pathetic. Offensively, it didn’t appear that they had a plan at all. I’ve seen them play better this season but this certainly was not one of their better outings. Without Kenyon Martin and Nene, Denver was much softer in the middle than usual.
-Tim Duncan’s stats are pretty ugly. He had eight points and five rebounds, while shooting 4-for-10 from the court. However, it didn’t take him long to show why he’s so valuable. Duncan attracts so much attention that the game become much easier for everyone around him. His defense wasn’t great but it was far better than anything the Spurs saw out of a bigman in his absence. Duncan looked relatively healthy even though he was moving painfully slow at times. Hopefully he was just taking extra caution as he worked his way back into action.
-Manu Ginobili looked good at times and bad at times. Most of the good came in the third quarter when he scored all 11 of his points and looked like the Ginobili we’ve come to expect this season. In the other three quarters, Ginobili was 0-for-6 from the field and failed to get to the line. You have to give him credit for his seven assists but overall he seemed out of sync and was forcing the action way too much, which led to a team-high four turnovers. Against the Nuggets specifically, Ginobili really missed having Parker at his side. For one, the Nuggets could put a better defender on him than they usually can because they didn’t have to worry about Jacque Vaughn. Secondly, Ginobili had to spend time defensively on Allen Iverson, which doesn’t happen if Parker is healthy. Overall though, this was a much better outing for Ginobili compared to the last two nightmares.
-Bruce Bowen had his hands full tonight spending time defensively on both Iverson and Carmelo Anthony. On the whole, Bowen did a very good job on whoever he was matched up against. There were a couple of possessions where he was out of position but there’s really no way you complain about his effort.
-Fabricio Oberto had yet another fantastic game. In one of the best games of his career, he had 21 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, one block and no turnovers, while hitting 10-of-11 shots from the field. He really played well in the first half, where he put up a team-high and already season-high 15 points. Oberto played great next to Duncan and his short jumper was as automatic as it’s ever been. Under the radar, Oberto has become a very legitimate NBA center. This nearly flawless outing was just another example of how well he has played this year.
-In a starting role, Michael Finley had one of his best games of the season. He had 21 points, six rebounds, four assists and knocked down 8-of-12 shots from the field and 4-of-5 shots from beyond the three-point line. His plus/minus showed just how well he played as he finished +27, which was far and away the best mark on the team. Finley has had a rollercoaster season but it seems that finally there are more ups than there are downs.
-Jacque Vaughn played much better in his second start of the season. In 34 minutes, he had ten points, six assists and three rebounds. The offense got stagnant at times while he was on the court but overall he played much, much better than he did against the Lakers. His all out hustle was on full display and his defense was quite good.
-Brent Barry was big early on in the game when the Spurs couldn’t make a basket. He came in and helped jumpstart the offense. He finished with 14 points, four rebounds and three assists, as he scored in double figures in back-to-back games for the first time this season. Defensively he wasn’t great but I liked how he stuck his nose in there and competed.
-I thought Darius Washington took a step back in his development tonight. His clock management, especially at the end of quarters and the end of shot clocks, was poor. He had a couple of possessions where he didn’t make the passes he needed to make. In fairness, he is still very raw but this game didn’t make Pop gain any confidence in him. He still has a lot of work to do before he’s capable of playing championship caliber basketball.
-First of all, I hope his ankle injury at the end of the game turns out to be not serious. It looked like he twisted it pretty good. Best wishes to him. But Francisco Elson was horrible. He had a plus/minus of -16 in less than 12 minutes of action. His defense remains clueless while his offense doesn’t help matters. He was going up against his idol Marcus Camby and didn’t do much of anything. Hopefully the ankle injury was Elson’s way of honoring Camby and wasn’t an actual injury that will sideline him.
-Ime Udoka was like the swingman version of Elson tonight. He had a -12 plus/minus in eight minutes of play. He looked out of sync more than usual and wasn’t really helping in any area. Udoka has shown glimpses but remains a project at this point.
-Robert Horry played just six minutes and missed all three of his shots, all from downtown. This was the first game that Horry looked his age. He wasn’t moving too well and his lack of conditioning was evident. But then again, this is Robert Horry and he’s going to have regular season games like this.
-Matt Bonner was victim of a classic Pop DNP-CD. After starting two consecutive games, Bonner didn’t get off the bench for the Spurs tonight. It’s tough to blame the coaching staff though because last game against the Lakers Bonner put up a goose egg when he could have really made a case for himself in terms of getting minutes in the rotation.
-Pop did a good job overall. He let Duncan get out there for 20 minutes to shake the rust off and kept him on the bench when the Nuggets were making their late run. I also liked how he didn’t overplay Ginobili even though Parker was out. The Spurs stuck to their guns after a difficult first quarter and broke through in the middle two quarters, outscoring the Nuggets 68-41. The fourth quarter got ugly but that’s what happens when Duncan is on the bench, Parker is out and Ginobili is out of rhythm. Bottomline is it was a good win but more importantly it was nice to have Duncan back in the fold.
LJ Ellis is a freelance writer and Spurs fan. You can read more from LJ at SpursTalk.com.
awesome!! I love these! I hope all of San Antonio comes to enjoy them as much as I do.
Other have been there. timvp's game thoughts are on Spurszone for something like one month.
I'm thrilled to hear that.
sweet!!! way to go LJ!!!
Always nice to see the good guys get more exposure.LJ!
I don't think this is something new. I seem to remember reading LJ's writing at SpursZONE before.
I want a piece of your paycheck
Maybe one day he'll join Ludden at yahoo.. way to go mr. timvp!
Like I said earlier, I'm thrilled to hear that.
This is the first one I've spotted on SpursZone, and no one here had posted that his work was on SpursZONE.
I'm just happy for LJ, and I thought a round of applause from those of us who know and love his game thoughts was in order.
I know I wait after every game for that thread. Whether we agree or disagree with his thoughts, they are always articulate and well thought out.
And very appreciated, at least by me.
to LJ.
Honestly, I enjoy LJs commentary and Game Thoughts better than any of the local media covering the Spurs.
Granted, that's not saying a whole lot with McDonald and Monroe leading our reporting, but still...
The commentary is always spot on and insightful. Few national reporters are lucky enough to be as entertaining. Considering that this is something done out of his free time for the enjoyment of the board....
Last edited by Dex; 12-19-2007 at 02:46 PM.
Congrats! i am already addicted to his reviews and look forward to reading them more than the San Antonio express reviews.. way to go buddy! Cheers and happy holidays
Depends on how you define "well." If zero="well" then it's well.
I didn't mean to steal anything. I just didn't want anyone to think WOAI hired him or anything. I just copied and pasted his posts over there. I've done it with ChumpDumper's posts before too.
Go LJ! Congrats. =) Your thoughts are always great to read after a game.
LJ always gives great analysis night in and night out.
I actually wish ESPN would have designated writers for specific teams so we can get even more in depth look at our favorite clubs, and I know I'd give timvp my vote.
As a matter of fact, I enjoy hearing LJ's thoughts on other teams just as much as the Spurs.
the guy deserves his props.
I guess, but like someone said earlier in the thread, he's far better than the local coverage SA Express employs.
LJ really is a better writer than the local beat guys I read out of SA.
He's better than the local Lakers/Clippers beat guys I read in my newspaper every day.
LJ has passion for this team, it comes through his writing.
He's not afraid to call any of them out-from Pop and Duncan and down the line.
Because the Spurs are "my" team, I appreciate LJ's efforts. I don't have anyone in my "real life" to dissect games with, LJ does that for me and does it well.
Call it sucking up, call it anything you want.
It's how I feel. I stand behind it.
And lastly, I'd just like to add that the thing I respect the most out of LJ's analysis, is that he always offers up possible solutions to things he found wrong in the game. Whether he felt small ball shouldn't have been relied on too heavily, or Pop not making the right subs utions when needed, he doesn't just criticize, he does a great job of giving you both sides of the coin.
okay, NOW I'm done brown nosing
Another poster whose thoughts I wish were expressed even more so on here is Solid D. He always brings good takes.
I second that.
Solid D, FromWayDowntown, timvp, whott, and ChumpDumper all come to mind for having great takes on games.
Whether you agree with their takes or not, they're usually wonderful to read and full of insight.
I'm sure I left out plenty of other posters whose opinions I look forward to after games.
My apologies to them.
You forgot T Park
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
