Spurs vs. Blazers Jan. 24th - Grades

[timvp]

Tim Duncan
Duncan, despite the loss to the Portland Trailblazers, played his third good game in a row. He’s rebounded from his struggles and is now playing the MVP-like basketball that has made him one of the top players in the league. His numbers on Monday night were 24 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three blocks in 39 minutes. In the fourth quarter, Duncan was noticeably fatigued and struggled down the stretch. However, his level of play was high in the other parts of the game.
GRADE: 84
JANUARY: 84.1
SEASON: 86.4

Bruce Bowen
Bowen struggled a bit against the Blazers and played a season-low 15 minutes. In that time on the court, he finished with two points on 1-for-4 shooting from the field. With Portland missing most of the perimeter firepower, there really wasn’t anyone for Bowen to guard, thus limiting his effectiveness. Recently, Bowen has begun to misfire offensively. In his last five games, he’s shooting 27.8% from the floor and 20.0% from beyond the arc.
GRADE: 77
JANUARY: 83.9
SEASON: 84.5

Tony Massenburg
After having his best game of the season against Sacramento, Massenburg followed it up with a sub par performance against Portland. He again started in the place of the injured Rasho Nesterovic and played 16 minutes, scoring only four points and recording just one rebound. It’ll be interesting to see how much longer Massenburg is in the starting lineup.
GRADE: 79
JANUARY: 85.8
SEASON: 84.7

Manu Ginobili
Ginobili gave a lot of effort versus the Blazers, but his tank was on empty. Popovich indicated after that game that Ginobili asked out after only five minutes. He ended up playing a total of 33 minutes and still was able to produce. He finished with 12 points, four rebounds and three assists, while shooting 3-for-8 from the field, 2-for-4 from three-point land and 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
GRADE: 83
JANUARY: 87.5
SEASON: 87.9

Tony Parker
Parker was one of the few Spurs who was able to play up to his potential. In 38 minutes, he finished with 20 points, seven assists and no turnovers, while shooting 7-for-16 from the field. He did a good job running the offense and was able to score when the Spurs needed him to. It was Parker’s best game in a while after having less than average games against Phoenix and Sacramento.
GRADE: 89
JANUARY: 85.6
SEASON: 86.1

Devin Brown
Brown’s play was the highlight for the Spurs. He came off the bench and almost won the game for San Antonio. He scored 20 points, pulled down three rebounds, handed out two assists and swiped three steals. Brown also didn’t commit a turnover in his 32 minutes of play, hitting 5-of-10 shots from the field, 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and 7-of-7 from the line.
GRADE: 91
JANUARY: 83.7
SEASON: 84.4

Malik Rose
Rose spelled an ineffective Massenburg and put up good numbers in his stead. He had ten points, seven rebounds, a steal and a block in 27 minutes. Although he had a couple of bonehead plays down the stretch, Rose was helpful for most of the game. If he can cut down on the mental errors and play smarter basketball, the Spurs could play him even more with Nesterovic out.
GRADE: 88
JANUARY: 82.1
SEASON: 84.4

Brent Barry
Barry was invisible in his 15 minutes on the court. He had only three points and one assist, while shooting 1-for-4 from the floor. His defense also let a lot to be desired. The Spurs need Barry to step up in a situation like this where their starters are fatigued and the bench needs more scoring.
GRADE: 80
JANUARY: 85.5
SEASON: 83.1

Robert Horry
Coming back after missing two games with an injured knee, Horry managed only 11 minutes before hurting his other knee. Over the past month, Horry has been hurt on numerous occasions. It’s unclear whether he’s becoming fragile or it is simply a string of bad luck.
GRADE: 84
JANUARY: 85.2
SEASON: 85.2

Beno Udrih
Much like Barry, Udrih didn’t respond when the Spurs needed him the most. Popovich tried to use some two point guard lineups with Parker and Udrih on the court at the same time, but Udrih wasn’t connecting on his shots. He had a couple of potentially huge momentum changing shots that rimmed out. For the game, he went scoreless and had one assist in nine minutes.
GRADE: 79
JANUARY: 85
SEASON: 84.6

[BigVee]

Good analysis. Even though the Spurs lost, they always had a chance. If Tony had looked behind him and seen Miles or if Beno hits one of those corner threes, or if the ref had called Miles for shoving Barry out of the way on Patterson's follow, they might have won that game. Is Horry okay for tonight??

[Kori Ellis]

I think Horry is probable.

[boutons]

"Even though the Spurs lost, they always had a chance"

Exactly, with so much stacked against them, the Spurs were tough enough, had enough effort left, not to be blown out (like @SEA), and were just a couple plays from winning it. This was a respectable "good loss" that are unavoidable by any team.

Somebody who has a database, how many teams have shot as well as the Blazers did AND lose? I bet no other NBA team could have beaten the Blazers Monday night.