In winning their fourth straight game, the Spurs went to Orlando and dismantled the Orlando Magic. This was a key game to validate the current win streak and continue the confidence building process.
The win against the Magic was a lot like the win against the Mavs – but the upgraded version. In both games the Spurs didn’t play too well in the first half but kept it close at the half. The Spurs made their run in the third quarters of each game, however the Spurs sustained their improved level of play better against the Magic than they did against the Mavs. And while the Mavs lost one player due to injury (Dirk Nowitzki), the Magic topped that by losing two players due to injury (Hedo Turkoglu and Jameer Nelson).
While I wasn’t too impressed with how the Spurs played against the Magic in the first half, I did like their second half performance. Their defense was very solid and their offense had a purpose. Although I’d like more than just one good half of basketball out of this team, it was better than the four or five minutes of good basketball we saw against the Mavericks.
Overall, it was a nice win. The Magic, with all their perimeter shooters who can also slash to the basket, are a tough matchup for the Spurs. San Antonio responded well to the challenge and now that four-game losing streak seems to be a thing a past.
-In the first half, I thought Tim Duncan was good. His one-on-one defense wasn’t great but it wasn’t too horrible. Offensively, he was very smooth. However, what I’m most excited about is his second half play. Duncan simply dominated the third and fourth quarters. Defensively in the second half Duncan was great. He defended Dwight Howard amazingly well and even rotated to cut off any drivers in the lane. Duncan finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds, four blocks and three assists. He shot 7-for-10 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free throw line. Considering that Duncan has struggled a bit over the last few weeks, it was great to see this level of play out of him.
-Manu Ginobili was once again very good. He has mastered the art of coming off the bench and instantly heating up. If Vinnie Johnson was “The Microwave” then Ginobili is at least “The Toaster Oven”. He roasted the Magic all night long on his way to 28 points, five assists and two rebounds. Ginobili connected on 10-of-19 shots from the field and all seven of his free throws. The one problem I had with Ginobili’s game tonight was he wasn’t looking for Duncan nearly enough. With Howard routinely fronting Duncan, the ball would get swung to Ginobili and Ginobili wasn’t making the entry pass to Duncan like he was supposed to. Instead, Ginobili would start freelancing. Even Duncan, who rarely ever gets mad at his teammates, was a bit perturbed at Ginobili not hitting him a couple of times when the Spurs were specifically running a play to get Duncan open. While Ginobili is playing great right now, he has to know that feeding Duncan should still be high on the list of priorities.
-All things considered, I thought Tony Parker played reasonably well. He had nine assists to only one turnover and was constantly attacking Orlando’s defense. Defensively, while Parker wasn’t great in terms of one-on-one defense, his team defense and rotations were very good. He was even throwing his body around a bit defensively, which is something we don’t see very often. That physical play also showed up in the rebounding department (6). Shooting and scoring was a struggle for Parker (4-for-13 for 11 points) but the rest of his play made this at least a par outing.
-Bruce Bowen played a team-high 42 minutes and did a nice job while he was on the court. In the first half he harassed Turkoglu and held him to only two points in ten minutes. While I don’t know if he was responsible for Turkoglu leaving with an injury, I’m sure Suns fans think he was. In the second half, Bowen switched onto Rashard Lewis and did pretty good work. Offensively, Bowen had 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field. While I’d be worried about Bowen playing big minutes as of late, he never looks tired so it’s tough to worry too much about him.
-I’m not sure who was wearing Michael Finley’s jersey tonight but it sure didn’t look like the Finley we’ve come to expect over the last couple weeks. This Finley was confident, aggressive, willing and able to knock down jumpers. He had a bounce in his step that had vanished recently. Hopefully this is the real Finley and he decides to stick around for a while. Finley ended up leading the starters in scoring with 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the field. I was shocked to see Finley play so well after the horrible game he had against the Mavs. With Brent Barry back on the bench, perhaps Finley heard footsteps. While that doesn’t seem too plausible since Finley is such a professional, Jacque Vaughn is equally as professional and he suddenly started playing a lot better once Damon Stoudamire was signed. The survival instinct can do amazing things.
-Fabricio Oberto started but played only 11 minutes due to matchup issues. With the Magic starting four perimeter players, Oberto wasn’t needed much in this game. He finished with two points, two rebounds and an assist.
-Ime Udoka didn’t shoot well but I though his overall game was solid. He played 24 minutes and had three points, four rebounds and two steals on 1-for-7 shooting from the floor. His defense was impressive and offensively he wasn’t forcing many shots. I can live with Udoka not knocking down shots as long as he stays calm offensively and brings it defensively and on the boards.
-I’m not sure what’s up with Jacque Vaughn but he’s playing outstanding right now. He’s not over-dribbling offensively and defensively he’s applying pressure without constantly getting burned. On this night, Vaughn finished with seven points on 3-for-3 shooting. Vaughn needs to bottle how he’s played in the last five games and save it for the playoffs.
-Like Oberto, Kurt Thomas wasn’t needed in this game. He came off the bench to play seven minutes and score two points. A matchup like the Magic is the reason why I always thought he should come off the bench. You have Duncan and Thomas on the court at the same time against the Magic and they’d go crazy from three-point land.
-Matt Bonner got one minute of garbage duty. Amazingly enough, Bonner didn’t get off a shot. You don’t see that often. In garbage time, Bonner usually plays like he has a bonus in his contract that will kick in if he can average more than two shots per minute. Damon Stoudamire didn’t play in garbage time. I don’t know if he was even at the game. Robert Horry also didn’t play but the news regarding his knee injury sounds positive. He should return in the not too distant future.
-Pop coached well. He went to small ball early and often, which was the right call. If you play two traditional bigs against the Magic you’re toast. Whatever Pop said at halftime worked because the Spurs really picked up their defense in the second half.
I hope that Pop doesn’t fall into the trap of starting Ginobili in the second half, like he did against the Magic. Ginobili coming off the bench works for a mul ude of reasons but in the second half it’s important for Ginobili to get his rest early. When Pop starts Ginobili in the second half, he almost always overplays him and Ginobili is running on fumes in the last few minutes. While the Spurs have struggled to start the third quarter in recent games, the answer isn’t starting Ginobili.
The bottomline is the Spurs won again and their confidence seems to be building. The team needs to start putting together games where they bring defensive intensity from tip to buzzer, however the good news is that it appears as if the team is slowly but surely headed in that direction. Tonight the Spurs take on the Los Angeles Clippers in the AT&T Center. Though fatigue could be an issue, this is a win the Spurs need to go out and get. No excuses.
Believe.
Last edited by timvp; 03-26-2008 at 06:18 AM.
Thanks for the recap. I didn't see the game, so this was a good indicator of how the team played. While it's sad to see Tony struggle to score the ball, at least he is contributing in other ways and applying pressure to the defense....he's a real gamer.
One more note...
Not exactly true (Gino w/ 28).Finley ended up leading the team in scoring with 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the field.
Fixed. Thanks.
I was very impressed with last nights victory...the offensive flowed very welll for the Spurs. Defensively they held the Magic to within 100 points and didnt allow them to chove Howard down our throat. VERY GOOD VICTORY......and they great thing to know is we do not have a full roster yet. Horry and Barry are good offensive playmakers that we need already.....
Timvp wrote "Finley ended up leading the starters in scoring with 24 "
I'am a fan
Duncan, Manu and Finley were great in this game.
Duncan Defense wasn't great in the first half mainly because he was in foul troubles. He played in the second quarter with 2 fouls and tried not to pick a third one before the half.
If Finley can continue to get his time machine working then we'll be in MUCH better shape.
great game by ... Finley, after ing him for many weeks, apparently the guy woke up.
Nice shots here and there, I am amazed (one more time) about how Bruce body can resist 42 minutes, even that I liked the overall game, POP changed the system and/or Manu decided to
Great win!
He fixed it after it was mentionedTimvp wrote "Finley ended up leading the starters in scoring with 24 "
I'am a fan
I will start with : If Finley was in his normal disposition, the spurs would lost!
As for the Magic game it was tough to watch for me, not only the game started at midnight but I think that was not that great outing from the players with black jerseys and shorts. Damn when I hit the bed I was fighting for life with the sleep, so I decided to get up to see every action not every third action in cut movie.
I went to the chatroom where I found some spurs fans, what a surprise came into my body seeing them there. But it took me on my feet (acually on my ass as I was sitting).
Random thought: There was a guy names Shoogarbear an I must say he does not know NBA at all. I asked on the chat who is that ref with predator hairs named Violet Palmer, he responded that it was Joey Crawford (I said dayumn - he changed after he hit TD with 2 techs last year). All in all Shoog should take some lessons.
Ok I came my blah blah to an end.
The game itself was not much impressive to me. Orlando was not playing great. They feed Dwight as much as they could. It was good tactic as long as Howard was not doubled. He harased TD esp in the first half. Good that TD responded on O and brought D in the 2nd half. First half on D end was shacky for Tim (if shacky is a correct word in that situation).
Spurs ofense need some fluid, still I don't like the quickness of the spurs players on transition and half-court on offense. Orlando were faster and they got some steals because only of the good positioning and being faster. Decision making for Udoka is something he must improve, but it won't happen. Everytime he gets the ball he is thinking what to do. He does not have an instinct what to do immediatly.
I would ove to see spurs playing against full Mavs team, full Orlando team and full Boston team.
As for Tony - First time I got worried about his play. He don't have his usual attack flashy play. He struggles on FT line and his shot is incosistent.
Bowen was real good hiting his spot shots, and he had great timing in making them. Every time Orlando was gaining the game confidence he burned them with one of his shots. His D was good, not great, but good.
I don't know why is SVG not using Arroyo more. He has good vision and is real good passer.
I was not impressed by this victory. Less satisfied then I was after they won in Dallas.
This game came within a whisper of getting away. When Orlando was up 8 in the 3rd, Finley fouled Bogans on the trey. He missed all 3 FTs. The Spurs failed to score the next time down, and Orlando then missed a layup. They should have easily gone up 13. Instead, it was still 8, and that's when the Spurs seemed to get serious.
Manu was the leading scorer, but Bogans was the Spurs MVP. He missed 4 consecutive FTs, and just bobbled at least 2 easy passes out of bounds in the second half.
Al in all, a decent effort once they seemed to get motivated after their usual flat 3rd quarter start. Next three @home. Time to make hay while the sun shines.
I was very impressed....they didnt struggle to win at all...the only flaw i see in this victory is the fact that Hedo and Jameer didnt play in the 2nd half....i want to see the Spurs go against teams at full potential and full roster...im not saying that this was a cheap victory but i cant wait to face the LA Lakers APRIL 13......then well see what we are made of....
You and I both! TP, Manu, Finley, Timmey vs Kobe, Lamar, Pau & Bynum. That will be one epic game and with any luck, it'll be for the #1 seed.
Spurs are starting to look like last season's Spurs again. They started their SPAM run a little late this year (5-5 last 10 games) but are showing signs of the Champs again. Spurs should be able to win out the rest of this maddening March.
Good take on the game. I also thought Duncan played great and I agree that Manu needs to get him that entry pass vs. looking for his own shot so much. That said, Manu was absolutely torching them in the paint. I like to see him driving to the basket moreso than taking his perimeter shots.
excellent recap.
I was really impressed with Timmy's defense in the second half.
Mentioned in another thread: Would you relate Finley performance with the Spurs ball movement?
Thanks for the recap once again.
I'm quite surprised by how well JV is playing the past few games.
Always liked the way he steps on the court ready to give it all. But he's playing really well right now making good decisions getting some easy lay ups and knocking J when open.
Spurs fans have to recognize, he's improved to a level where we're not scared anymore when he gets in.
I don't know what they fed them, but keep the menu the same. It seems like it brought Finley back from the grave. However, one game doesn't mean he has it back if he starts bricking shots again. So I think we have to take a wait and see at ude for now.
As for JV, I have been down on him all year long. He just scared the outta me when he came on the court. I must admit these last few games he seems to have gotten it together, and left me not holding my breath the entire time he was playing. Don't know if it is because of having to fight for his job or what, but he is certainly playing a of a lot better now than he has all year.
We have the Clips and the TWolves coming up, so I would be disappointed if we drop either of those. But I think we have to meet and beat a couple more real contenders before we start planning the Finals.
Ball movement was good last night. I really think that is what this team has been lacking. It's like the movement motivates everyone to step up another notch. I really like it when Tony pushes the ball quickly down the court. He needs to keep that tempo up.
Like most everyone here, I can hardly wait for the Lake Show game. I think then is where we see if we truly have a chance for the repeat.
The Spurs should play the Orlando Magic more often so that Finley can actually hit a shot.
I disagree with your take on Ime. I wasn't too impressed with his overall play. He picked up some silly fouls and didn't do much in the time he was in there.
I was not impressed by this win. They barely beat a depleted Magic with no turkoglu and nelson. Manu again had to carry the team.
I just hope the wussiness Duncan played with against Dallas is gone for good.
I've always thought Manu should start the 3rd since teams tend to pounce on the Spurs at that time. Pop is just going to have to manage Manu's minutes.
Thanks for a great recap.
Solid team performance...good win. The Spurs have their next 4 games at home...Clippers and TWolves should be two more Ws, then the Rockets (on Sunday afternoon again...great...) and the Warriors. Let's make it 4 for 4, guys!!!
When will we see the consistency from these players that will be needed in the playoffs? It's nice for Finley to have one great night--but I'd rather see him have a long string of good ones.
In the past championship years, we really didn't have these worries about team consistency, cohesiveness and offensive play as the season neared its end.
It's driving everybody crazy.
Thanks for the recap. I always look forward to them.
It was good to see Finley look confident from the start. It's not like he hit a few shots then became aggressive. He just was from the start. That's 3 out of 4 good shooting games recently. Hopefully that means he's back from the dead now.
Thanks for the recap timvp. I as you do believe that the Spurs are regaining that confidence neccessary to succeed in the playoffs and win a ring. Let's see them go "tip to buzzer" before anyone starts proclaiming they are back to where they were about this time last year.
We're heading in the right direction but need more improvement. Ball movement continues to improve which is a good sign. Most of our perimeter shooters are spot up ones and can't really create off the dribble so we need to continue moving the ball around more.
Ime seemed to relax a bit on O and not force it like he has recently. He D is strong and Lewis had trouble at times with his strength.
All in all a good win but many of us expect a lot more improvement before the post season starts.
We're so damned spoiled!
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