In yet another chapter of The Uninspired Regular Season Spurs, San Antonio got smacked down early and smothered by the Detroit Pistons. The Spurs went down big in the first half and never really made it a ballgame after that.
First off, props to the Pistons on a game well played. Detroit jumped on the Spurs and fought off each run. Their defensive and offensive execution throughout the game was impressive. This Pistons squad is better than last year’s version and should be able to push the Boston Celtics for a spot in the NBA Finals.
For the Spurs, the biggest problem remains the team’s chemistry. The team offensively just isn’t cohesive at all. And oddly enough, the three biggest culprits are the Big Three – Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. There is just no rhythm on the offensive end, while on the defensive end the help defense is a step slow.
This loss hurt a little more than your run of the mill uninspired regular season loss because it came against a team the Spurs should have shown up against. The Pistons are a legit contender yet the Spurs played like the game was held in dense fog.
Luckily, all the Spurs current problems are correctable. It’s ugly right now but there isn’t anything that should stop this team from regaining their championship level play. If you want to take something good out of this game, look at the defensive end of the court where the Spurs held their own after the first quarter.
-Tim Duncan played well enough for the Spurs to win. He finished with 24 points, 15 rebounds and five assists, while connecting on 8-of-16 field goal attempts and 8-of-9 free throw attempts. The numbers look nice and Duncan’s energy level was good but he still had a lot of room to improve. A number of times Duncan didn’t move the ball on the offensive end to find the open man. Defensively, Duncan again wasn’t the dominant interior presence the Spurs need him to be to play championship level basketball. His performance was a lot like his outing versus the Golden State Warriors as far as playing well but still not playing the overall team game we’ve come to take for granted.
-Manu Ginobili was one of the main culprits of the poor play on both ends of the court. When he entered the game with six minutes to go in the first quarter, the Spurs held a 13-10 lead. By the team he exited ten minutes later, the Spurs were down 40-21. While obviously it was hardly all his fault, his entrance into the game was when the on-court chemistry took a nosedive. Instead of playing team basketball, the Big Three took turns playing one-on-one and forced either bad shots or bad passes. Defensively, the effort and execution was also horrible during this stretch. For the game, Ginobili had nine points on 3-for-12 shooting and finished the game tied for the worst plus/minus at -20. After returning from his finger injury, Ginobili just hasn’t had the same cohesion with his teammates that he had before the injury.
-Tony Parker had a really, really rough outing. If he wasn’t missing a shot at the rim or missing a jumper, he was turning the ball over. He started the game off playing decently but fell into a huge funk and then seemingly couldn’t do anything right. He, like every other Spur, fell into the trap of playing too much one-on-one offensively. Parker’s aggression in the open court was often mistimed and usually ended poorly. Finishing with 12 points, four points, four rebounds and five turnovers on 4-for-13 shooting, Parker’s numbers actually look better than how he played. It’s been more than a month since Parker has had two very solid back to back games.
-Bruce Bowen didn’t have much to do with this loss. He only played 26 minutes and while his defense wasn’t great, it was good enough. Offensively, Bowen missed the only shot he took. When the Big Three is having troubles with cohesion and consistency, a role player like Bowen really suffers because his role becomes less defined.
-Michael Finley is one of the few role players who is having an active hand in the Spurs not playing as a team. It’s as if Finley got accustomed to being one of the featured weapons and now that he’s back to his true role, he’s still trying to do too much. It’d help the offense right now if he passed more and shot less. Against the Pistons, Finley finished with nine points on 3-for-9 shooting from the field.
-Fabricio Oberto was back into the starting lineup and he actually played pretty well. He was playing strong defensively as he was one of the few Spurs who would actually fight the Pistons for position. In 19 minutes, Oberto finished with four points and three rebounds, while also far and away leading the Spurs in plus/minus at +12. Expect Oberto to stay in the starting lineup for the rest of the season – unless Pop feels the need to defrost another bigman by inserting him into the starting lineup for a week or two.
-I was relatively impressed by Jacque Vaughn’s play. With the Spurs playing as if it were the preseason, Vaughn came in and competed with every ounce of his being. He finished with ten points and three assists, while connecting on all three of his field goals including his first three-pointer of the year. Vaughn tried to will the Spurs back into the game but it just wasn’t enough tonight.
-Matt Bonner was the fifth bigman to play for the Spurs in this game but he earned extended playing time by playing with energy. In 18 minutes, Bonner had two points, four rebounds and a blocked shot. He didn’t mind throwing around his body and was his typical active self. The problem was he missed a number of shots that could have really given the Spurs momentum. If he makes even one of his three shots from beyond the arc, the Spurs might have gotten back into the game.
-Robert Horry returned to the bench and laid an egg. Actually, he was worse than that. Horry was simply horrible tonight. Offensively he did nothing except turn the ball over a couple of times. Defensively Horry did nothing of note. His plus/minus of -20 in nine minutes of play speaks volumes this game. All that said, I hesitate to blame Horry for the loss. While he was far from helping the Spurs this game, Horry’s role for the team isn’t big enough for him to single-handedly lose a game in nine minutes of action. Sure, he sucked but it’d be foolish to pin the entire loss on him. Horry playing a poor game shouldn’t be the difference between a win and a loss.
-Francisco Elson was back on the court for the Spurs. After racking up three consecutive DNP-CD’s over the last three games, Elson was seemingly back in the rotation for the Spurs. Perhaps Pop remembered how well Elson played against the Pistons last year (21 points and 28 rebounds in two contests) and decided to dust him off. Truth be told, Elson actually played pretty well against the Pistons yet again. He had six points and a rebound in seven minutes of action and hit all three of his shots. With Oberto back in the starting lineup, Elson might find himself back in the everyday rotation as the team’s backup center.
-Udoka was one of the reasons why the Spurs were even in the game at halftime. Over a four minute stretch in the second quarter, the Spurs’ only points were two three-pointers by Udoka. His defense was impressive for the most part and he probably deserved more playing time than the seven minutes he received. In fact, he didn’t play in the second half until the final few minutes after the game was decided. He wasn’t playing any worse than any other perimeter player in this game for the Spurs.
-Jeremy Richardson got into the game to make his Spurs debut. Come on down, JRich, you are the next contestant on The End of the Bench Merry-Go-Round. Richardson didn’t touch the ball in his one minute and 27 seconds of playing time. Some scouts have compared his game to a poor man’s Richard Hamilton and Richardson looked to have the same build as Hamilton -- but probably stood an inch shorter. You also have to give it up to Richardson for breaking out an awkward looking grey t-shirt beneath his jersey.
-I’m not sure what Pop can do right now for the Spurs. There isn’t a magic button he can push to instantly improve the chemistry. The Spurs are just going to have to play their way out of this funk and get back to their winning formula. Improved ball movement offensively and improved defensive rotations would do wonders for this team.
Pop has to also decide what he’s going to do with Horry. Is he going to keep playing Horry to get him prepared for the playoffs or is he going to start looking for another bigman option on the bench? Personally, I still trust Horry to show up in the playoffs. No matter how bad he looks in the beginning of January, he’s still my first option out of all the bench power forward and center options come money time.
It’d also be nice to get Brent Barry healthy again. Barry is perhaps the best player on the team at coming in and instantly improving the team’s ball movement. He did so a couple times last year in the playoffs when the ball wasn’t moving as it should. Barry was expected to miss two weeks with his calf injury -- and those two weeks have come and gone. It'll probably be another week or two before you see him in the lineup.
The bottomline is this was another tough game to swallow for a Spurs fan. While, yes, games at this time of year hardly matter when looking at the big picture, this type of lackadaisical effort against a good team shouldn’t be excused.
As it stands right now we suck.
Only time will tell if that ever gets corrected.
I'm not wasting my time trying to figure it out, will just wait and see if these guys are content with their les or are still hungry for more. If they're content, so be it.
While Jacque maintained the Pistons lead, Beno Udrih was droppin dimes all night. How can you praise a point guard that does nothing? Energy doesn't win games, skill does and he lacks it.
Same thing as Bonner, he doesn't do to turn the game into a victory, he is a player, that's it. he has no impact on what matters most. He is a little better than Carl Herrera on a good night, that's it.
Elson sucks.
Tony Parker suddenly can't shoot and has no confidence.
Tim Duncan is soft.
Bruce Bowen is worthless.
Oberto and Horry are terrible.
Ginobili is out of control.
Udoka is doing okay, but again, when you have to play the udoka's of this world in an nba game.. guess what? lotteria.
The spurs just suck ass the past month or so. I don't see any bright spots.
If Tp and Manu sucks at the same time, TD and the rest of the crew can't handle a NBA's top team
You ever wonder why the Spurs can't score when they have players out there that can't shoot for ?
It's not rocket science.
Thanks, as always, timvp. I appreciate your game thoughts.
This was a "tough to swallow" loss.
The Spurs have to play through this slump. And out of it.
And getting through this will make them stronger.
I agree with Udoka and Oberto.
Personally, in the third instead of Elson coming in for Duncan.
It should've been Oberto and Udoka for Duncan and Finley.
IMO pop screwed up there.
Udoka was playing very well and should've gotten alot more time.
Typical Spurs january game.
Nothing to see here.
Honestly why?This was a "tough to swallow" loss.
What was so important about this game?
Honestly?
I can still remember him saying Stephen Jackson should be "selling sodas up in club 200"
I expected a compe ive game.
The loss isn't the problem in and of itself, it was how they lost.
The way they got outplayed in the first quarter was hard to watch. The turnovers, the inability to adjust to Detroit's defense. The inability to adjust their own defense to stop Detroit.
Don't get me wrong, I'm used to mid-winter Spurs blues. There will be more losses. To teams not as good as Detroit. And it will all work in the Spurs favor. I have complete faith that they will be playing at their best come the Playoffs.
But it's never fun to watch your team lose. If they leave it all on the court I find any loss easier to take. They didn't do that tonight. That made it tough to swallow.
Eh, I guess I shouldn't take losses so easily obviously.
Mad mad mad props to jacque vaughn. I respect him a little bit more after tonight's game, and he gained a solid 15 faith points. Nice to see someone wanted to win tonight.
I do not like the spurs playing uninterested but the fact is tonight I think they actually tried hard, relative to their recent streak of ty play. Which scares me. No doubt in my mind Detroit was gonna come out swinging after getting D-slapped last night in Allas. Spurs should have known this. We started fine and then Parker seriously let Chauncey get into his head. When Chauncey bodied up parker and got physical, it messed Parker up hardcore, rhythm-wise, and Parker was on a different page than the rest of the team the remainder of the game. When your point guard does that, offense gets discombobulated, and that's exactly what happened.
And Duncan's slow reactions on the defensive end are becoming painful to watch.
Another smashing summary.
The so-called "big three" are indeed playing AGAINST one another. When one of them has the ball, they are seemingly playing selfishly. Either it's Manu forcing the drive in between 3 defenders, or Tony is forcing the ball into the the paint when a teammate is wide open. If not that, then Tim is backing his defender down into a double-team and forcing some "wild-ass", off-balanced, one-hander. It's UGLY basketball.
LJ, I know you stated you still trust Horry, but I don't. It's a long season, but I have to question any player who needs "motivation" to get him going. If you can't get motivated to play - RETIRE!
This again is proof positive that Tim has NO HELP on the frontline. I liked it better when Nazr was here. Never thought I'd miss him. Sure, he had "hands of stone", but he hustled and rebounded. Nobody on this team, not named Duncan, is crashing the boards. Everyone wants to tap out at the ball.
Last edited by SenorSpur; 01-11-2008 at 02:39 AM.
Exactly, when this team's offense becomes stagnant. They become even more predictable. You get a bunch of one on ones and plays were players just stop and look at the player Holding the ball. And at that point it does 2 things.
1.Allows defenders from the week side to sag off their man and clog up the lane. And it also allows teams to have better help defense against our slashers as well as double down on TD.
2.By the time the ball is actually distributed, who ever is left holding it has to jack up an ill advised shot because of time expiring.
But you're right about these things being correctable. Now I understand its January and what not. But the Spurs are Champions...and they should play like it.
I know you are my husband and all that, but I just wanted to say that this is one of the best recaps that you have written.
That's all.
AAAAWWWWWWW.......
Just wanted to say, I stayed up so that I could read your game thoughts. I enjoy them so much. I thought that this one would be short and sweet.
Game thoughts: we sucked. Have a good night.
TD can't do much anymore.15 reb 5 assist per only 1 TO and shooting 50% with the whole defense of Detroit focus on him
The Spurs should be utterly embarrassed for the piss-poor effort they gave out. And on National TV at that.
A loss is easy to accept if the team plays hard. There was clearly no excuse for this paltry effort. Especially for a team that had 4 days off.
It's hard to add anything after TimVP.
We just don't look strong or awake out there. We know these guys have talent, we've all seen it. They just look, well...groggy all the time.
Conditioning and diet might have something to do with it.
Props to Detroit, they said before the game they were gonna stop TP, and they sure as did.
Ok, now that Pop has escaped the ASG maybe they can start palyig some basketball again?
I never thought Kori would be the first poster I'd use this picture on
On a more serious note. This was only the second game I got to see live this season and I can't believe I stayed up for this - and on a school night!
The Silver lining is, I guess, Udoka's play and Jacques' hustle and effort on defense, but I have to agree with Sequhe is not a very talented scorer. If this was one of his better offensive outings this year, I'm scared of thinking how he looks on a bad one.
The Spurs, as part of their new adjustable ticket rates, should stop charging full price for tickets in December and January.
1. This game thoughts were brought you by the word cohesive
2.hehe at the husband's sequs quotes
3. I remember when Detroit demolished us in 2006 in january, still the spurs were able to come up strong at the end of a year.
4. But still Tpark is watching the games and do not give a if the spurs win or lose. Is he a fan of a team? They would go 0-82 and he still would be happy and waiting for the playoffs ...
5. Udoka is in shape so Pop should play him more. Horry must explain himself and damn Elson is a question mark. We need Oberto there more then I thought. But I give Oberto time.
6. Big three - sleep well and be baq after ASG
7. Offense and defense. How much a ball movenment is about Barry in the game and how much about undertanding or MORE - FEEL FOR THE GAME - just look at Boston, guys movenment out there is fabulous. I wish spurs would move that easy. Defense - without nobody on the froncourt accept for Tim it will be tough to keep the box closed noturious. It's matter of April time when I will judge their chances of winning it all by a defense.
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