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eh...You give away these types of games now and then later in the season you might wish you had taken care of business
The Cleveland Cavaliers came to San Antonio and escaped with a 90-88 victory over the Spurs. The Spurs have been struggling of late and it was more of the same on Thursday. While it wasn’t all bad for the Spurs, the team is still a long ways off from being in playoff form.
Regarding the Cavs, I thought they played pretty well. Mike Brown coached a really good game and put his team in a position to pull off a victory. He kept LeBron James on the bench when the team was doing well without him. He stayed big even when Pop went with a small lineup, which allowed his team to get a number of key rebounds. The Cavs record isn’t very impressive but there’s no reason why they can’t become a better team than they were last year.
For the Spurs, their two weaknesses in recent weeks continue to haunt. First of all, their defense is inconsistent. The Spurs actually did a good job of defending the Cavs when LeBron James was in the game. However, the team let its guard down and didn’t continue their defensive intensity when James went out of the game.
The Spurs other weakness recently has been their offense. The Spurs had a half step of improvement in terms of their Big Three playing relatively well, however the rest of the team did nothing. While the Big Three had 74 points on 27-for-53 shooting (50.9%), the rest of the team had 14 points on 6-of-23 shooting (26.1%). That simply won’t get it done against a quality opponent.
-Tim Duncan was defended well by the Cavs. He struggled a bit with his shot making and to compound issues, his passing wasn’t very good, either. For the game, Duncan finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks in 40 minutes of action. However, Duncan also missed 10-of-17 from the field and had only one assist to go with three turnovers. Duncan was wearing a wrap around his thumb on his right hand during the game, which he wasn’t wearing in the last few contests. That could be part of the reason why his offense wasn’t as effective as it’s been in recent games.
-Manu Ginobili played really well. This was probably his best game since returning from his finger injury. He totaled 31 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals, while connecting on 10-of-15 from the field and 4-of-6 from beyond the three-point line. Offensively, he couldn’t have played any better. If I had to nitpick, I’d say he wasn’t as active defensively as he can be, but a lot of that could be because he was carrying the team offensively.
-Tony Parker continues his highly inconsistent play. If he’d ever have a game where he plays consistently well, the Spurs might be able to break out of their slump. From minute to minute, it’s impossible to know what to expect from Parker. For a stretch in the game, he was playing too recklessly. To his credit, he ended the game playing a lot better. He either scored or assisted on the team’s final 15 points. However, what will be remembered this game is the two free throws Parker missed with 29 seconds to go that could have tied the game.
-Bruce Bowen played a pretty decent game. Defensively, he guarded James about as well as possible. James was forced to take tough shots all night – and that’s all you can really ask. Bowen had a team-high plus/minus of +7. On the other end of the court, Bowen’s offensive struggles continue. He hit only 1-of-4 shots and shot a few more ill-advised shots. His offensive game is in a funk, which isn’t helping the team find its overall rhythm.
-Michael Finley hit 2-of-5 shots from the field – and that was actually the highest percentage of anyone not named Tim, Manu or Tony. Finley also had three rebounds and an assist in his 18 minutes of action. With the Spurs failing to get offense outside of the Big Three, Finley probably deserved more minutes in this game.
-Fabricio Oberto did little in his 18 minutes of action. He wasn’t holding his ground against the Cavs’ bigs defensively, while offensively Oberto didn’t even take a shot. Oberto’s play was a far cry from what we saw in the NBA Finals last year.
-Brent Barry was back from his calf injury and he played 15 good minutes. The first time he touched the ball he made a good pass to Ginobili who hit a three-pointer. That type of ball movement is what the Spurs have lacked in recent weeks. Barry showed his rust when he missed his first four attempts, however he did bounce back by nailing two three-pointers in the fourth quarter. Barry’s six points led the players who are not a part of the Big Three.
-Ime Udoka’s play was encouraging because he showed he was capable of guarding James when Bowen was on the bench. While his defense wasn’t as good as Bowen’s obviously, in the land of defensive mortals it was rather impressive. Offensively, Udoka wasn’t too impressive at all. More passing and less shooting or dribbling would serve him well.
-Jacque Vaughn played ten minutes and held serve. No shots, two assists and no turnovers is a nice stat line for Vaughn.
-Robert Horry played nine minutes and I thought he looked a lot more fluid than he has recently. He was moving pretty well and appeared to be lighter on his feet. In nine minutes, Horry had four rebounds and a steal. His shooting still needs work, as evident by his 0-for-2 showing from the field.
-Matt Bonner’s only minutes of the night were to start the second half of the game. In those six minutes he missed his only shot from the field and pulled down two rebounds. Right now Bonner is being used as an instant energizer.
-Francisco Elson was the second bigman off the bench but he didn’t get a chance to do much in his three minutes of play. He forced up a couple jumpers, pulled down a couple rebounds and then sat back down on the bench for the rest of the game.
-It’s tough to criticize Pop when he’s so uninterested in coaching to win games. He literally went with a 12-man rotation in this game. Mike D’Antoni would faint just pondering that coaching tactic. But seriously, with Barry back and the bigman situation clouded, Pop just decided to play everybody instead of forming a rotation. In a way, it was almost comical.
And really, it’s tough to blame the players outside of the Big Three for not hitting shots because none of those players know what their role is at this point. Pop picking nine or ten players to form a rotation would be the first step this team needs to take to try to win ballgames again. Until then, Pop is coaching like this is some sort of extended preseason.
X’s and O’s wise, I disagreed with a few things Pop did. He put Brent freakin' Barry at power forward for a few minutes in the fourth quarter to go up against Anderson Varejao. I’m not sure if Pop was just trying to be funny or what but hopefully he scraps that idea. I also don’t think Pop gave Ginobili enough rest. When Ginobili entered the game at the end of the fourth quarter, his fuel tank already looked empty. A rested Ginobili takes that rebound down the court and dunks it and sends the game into overtime.
On the positive side, I did like the strategy of not calling a timeout at the end. The Cavs are a really good halfcourt defensive team and their coaching staff knows all the Spurs' plays. Trying to catch them napping with either Ginobili or Parker taking it the length of the court makes sense against the Cavs.
The bottomline is while the Spurs aren’t giving it their all to win these games, it’s not always smart to play with fire. You give away these types of games now and then later in the season you might wish you had taken care of business. It starts with Pop setting a real rotation and then the players revving up the engine. The Big Three played better tonight but the cohesiveness and total team play on both ends of the court is still lacking.
eh...You give away these types of games now and then later in the season you might wish you had taken care of business
I hate games like this....this was one of those games to where the opponent wasn't doing anything brilliant. Cleveland wasn't executing some game plan or anything like that, nor showing any above-average level of talent/skill. They just got their shots to go down and we didn't. That's all there is to it. I hate when little losses like these get lumped into the "Spurs are struggling" picture. This loss and the GS overtime loss were bull losses.
It's a matter of our shots not falling.
Nicely done as always, thanks timvp.
I liked the energy I saw at times tonight, especially in the beginning of the game. They were showing more determination than I've seen in a while. It fell apart, but it was there and that is a good sign for things to come.
The other thing that I liked was how pissed Duncan got. If a close game in January can fire him up that much it must be getting close to the time they start to turn it around.
I don't know what the wrap on his hand was, but he rarely does that so there must be something that needed protection. I hope whatever it is clears fast and doesn't hang around and nag at him.
Such is the tragedy of the NBA when night after night, inevitably, one team must have more of its shots fall than its opponent's to win the game.
Actually, I thought some of the calls at the end of the game deserved some mention. Parker getting clobbered in the face on a layup and no call...the charge lebron didn't get called for, and the charge he took that did get called...both calls were wrong. At the end of the game, this could and would have been the difference between a win and a loss.
Nobody likes talking about the refereeing, and I know you shouldn't blame the refs, Spurs shoulda been in a better position anyway...but, sometimes, it is worth noting.
Other than that, Timvp nails it again. Team still looks a little tired and old to me, I still think better conditioning and weight training programs could help this aging team.
I agree. I watched the post game comments of the Spurs. They all seemed to be on the consensus that they liked that play.On the positive side, I did like the strategy of not calling a timeout at the end. The Cavs are a really good halfcourt defensive team and their coaching staff knows all the Spurs' plays. Trying to catch them napping with either Ginobili or Parker taking it the length of the court makes sense against the Cavs.
And it's sometimes a good strategy, because it doesn't allow them to get their D set.
During the game it seemed like a pretty good chance to tie. I like how Pop is testing out their decision at this point in the season.
I thought the Cavs did a good job defensively (save for the parts when they were clocking Tony in the head three times.), and they also made some key rebounds that they normally would give up on us.
i agree that even though the Spurs lost, it was a good game defensively (overall) for the team.
now if only the rest of the team could pick up their offensive game, we'd be set for the RRT.
Go SPAM!!!
Agree.
Pop said in November that he wasn't comfortable with his players' rotation. Two months later, he looks not only uncomfortable but also lost.
As always, you're brilliant timvp!No mistake.
Trade Tony for CP3...
Your rug is in danger again.
What is rug?
Anyhow, this game was a kind of statement, they could come here and win; even with TP + TD + Manu combined for 20 + 31 + 23; I don't see big differences in the box scores, which means the game was very close.
I won't say that was TP's fault I thik as a team Cavs did a little things better than us, it is january blah blah blah, still hurts this games, losing against those caliber teams are messages sent to entire league.
At least Barry is back.
I need to temper my expectations for Udoka. I expected him to be the guy that took the Spurs to another level. I guess that isn't happening anytime soon.
i don;t see here anything about the non called fouls by the referees and also remember.. we lost to this team in the regular season last year too... it is nothing more but a bored Spurs team more concerned about health than basketball at this point
Maybe Spurs are more concerned about health, but c'mon, lose against this caliber Cavs?! Bull..it...
Nice recap, maybe even a little too nice to the team. I agree it is too early in the season to panic, but we're getting there. I hope the RRT will work its magic as it has in previous years.
I specially hated how the double/triple teams on TD worked. He was unable to break out of them or to pass to the open man, which I thought was the result of poor movement without the ball by his teammates.
I'm not panicking yet. Would mildly concerned be appropriate?
I just want to know, when the coach for the ASG will be determinated. I don't expect any stellar play until than.
Face it, Pop doesn't want to coach on ASG - hence cruising.
That was a winable game by the Spurs. Their defense was not where it should have been...letting guys like Gibson hit wide open 3's in the clutch in the 4th quarter...not good. Parker has been highly inconsistent...you can tell he was limping noticiably in the 4th quarter. He's also developed Duncan-itis where he complains about every non-call...though in yesterday's game it was mostly true and it was what seemed to have angered him the most and got him to go on that 15 point spree in the 4th. Ginobili was Ginobili. I was more impressed with having Brent Barry in the lineup again. I was happy to see he still wasn't hes ating with his shot and just leting those 3 pointers fly. If he wasn't so rusty, I bet he would have made a couple more of those 3's and that would have opened up the game for the rest of the team.
I also think it's time for Pop to do a lineup change. Whether it's inserting Ginobili back in the starting lineup, or replacing Finley with Barry, it's obvious the Spurs need to do something with it.
I do disagree with Timvp on Udoka. I think he's not shooting the ball enough. Every time he got the ball, he'd immediately pass it yesterday. How many shot attempts did he have? 2-3? Udoka's shot is like Barry's in that when he's not hesitiating and just shooting it, it tends to do well for him.
Bowen is also hesitating waaaaaaaaaaaay too much on offense. There was a play in the 4th quarter where Parker/Ginobili got him the ball in the corner 3 and instead of shooting it, he pump-faked and tried to drive it to the basket which he promptly missed! In a crucial time in the 4th, he should have just passed it if he was that hesitant. That play I think lost the Spurs a lot of their momentum also.
I'm going to disagree with this one, at least as it pertains to the Spurs....
I'm no longer worried about if the Spurs have HCA in the playoffs...I think they progressed beyond that being a major need last season...
In fact I wouldn't care if the Spurs were the lowest seed in the playoffs, they'd get a nice player in the draft for sure...and I don't think it would effect their le worthiness in the slightest.
You want HCA for if you have a game 7 in the playoffs. Well, that's only happened one time to the Spurs in this era IIRC, and they had HCA, and they lost that game.
I just don't think having HCA is that big of a deal to the Spurs anymore...if it ever was.
My guess is that he's threatening to pee on it....a la Wu, the Chinaman.
Good summary overall.
The only thing I'll take issue with was Tony's play. All-in-all I think he played a relatively solid game. There were times that he was aggressive with the ball, took the ball to the hole, got hacked, but never got the call. I can recall two such plays off the top of my head (one late in the game).
Bottom Line: I think this was a decent game for Parker, but I am still concerned about his nagging injury.
I think you are forgetting one very important GAME 7 in the 2005 NBA Finals...I'd say having HCA came in very handy that game to push the Spurs to their 3rd le. So I disagree with you that HCA isn't important.
Genius....pure genius...
SpursDynasty blew your recap away TimVP...
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