Sunday, November 15th, 2009...10:09 am
Oklahoma City Thunder 101, San Antonio Spurs 98
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Ed. Note: After the games Tim and I have been posting charts like the one below. For those of you who are not familiar, the four factors were developed by basketball statistician Dean Oliver. Their purpose is to indicate who shot the ball well (effective field goal percentage), who took care of the ball (turnover percentage), who rebounded well (offensive rebounding percentage), and who made it to the line (free throw rate).
If you have further questions on the four factors (why did he pinpoint those specific indicators? Are they all equally indicative of victory or are they weighted?), you can read an essay about them by Oliver here.
14 Comments
November 15th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Disappointing again. Athletic young team beats us again (see Bulls game). Athletic young team outscores us in 2nd chance pts again 2-20 (see Bulls game). Parker, Ginobili, Jefferson, make hardly in baskets in the 2nd half again (see Bulls game)
With the Big 3 hurt, Popovich should be limiting their minutes. Mason Jr and Blair got the shaft in minutes played last night. With our depth no player except Hill should be on the floor for stretches longer than 6 minutes.
C’mon Pop, wake up. Demand all out 4 to 6 minute efforts and put them on the bench afterwards for a rest. We have the depth. 11 people should get at least 12 minutes a night so that we wear the other team down, as well as save the legs of the vets during the season. No player should be playing more than 30 minutes a night for the Spurs. No player.
Disappointing.
November 15th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
It comes down to understanding…We saw what the Spurs looked like with Hill,Ginobili, and Jefferson on the floor at the same time. The spacing was amazing and it left lanes for those(3) to drive to the basket or kick to a teammate for WIDE OPEN shots. In the past Tony had to be more aggressive on the offensive but in year 2009-10 he needs to become that facilitator that UNDERSTANDS that he is surrounded by players that cant take that pressure off of him. Maybe pass up a shot and make that extra pass to build that trust. That trust will translate on the defensive end, rebounding, and timely shooting.
Tony Parkers is ranked 13th in career assist totals among active player. And with his ability thats just not good enough. He has to make everyone better and he can start by passing the BALL!!!!!!
November 15th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I’m ok with it. It sucks, especially since Spurs have lost 3 straight to OKC. They are becoming the new Milwaukee Bucks.
They played solid though. They deserve props. They recently held Clippers to 10 points in the 4th quarter. Duncan didn’t have a point during the 4th. They caused continual problems for RJ.
The good news is Bogans and Hill still have a strong showing on the defensive end.
November 15th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Duncan was fine. Manu, RJ, Parker, and Blair all had sub-par performances.
- Parker seemed a little slow and limped a little. He’ll be fine once the ankle is fully healed.
- Manu was 0-276 from the field, but looked active and was taking proper shots, so just a fluke-y game for him.
- I think Blair only had 1 rebound. I would say that pure athleticism vs savvy/passion in a rebound war would shake out to be a 65-70% chance that savvy/passion will win out, but alas, it did not. I’m guessing Blair’s lack of height will be overcome by a combo of size and athleticism every once in awhile.
- RJ just looked out of sync. I’m still giving him a pass because he’s learning. However, I would have preferred the ball in Tony or Hill’s hands in that last possession after we got the steal.
- Bogans is looking like a very positive addition. He did all the right things, guarding Durant to start and doing an admirable job.
- Hill is a beast. He killed Durant defensively. Plus, he’s turning into a starter quality 2 guard offensively, too.
- Pop used about 38 different line-ups. Let’s be very patient with him as he figures out who plays well with whom.
Overall, the Thunder just played better. Durant didn’t explode, but was decent. Green killed us. Krstic hit a bunch of timely jumpers. Westbrook also played very solidly. Give those guys credit, they played well and beat us, fair and square.
November 15th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Duncan should not play 37 minutes, scoring 22 points and 10 rebounds, especially with a bad knee and right after coming back from an ankle injury. Same goes for Tony Parker, and as a point guard, he should not be the one who takes most shots in the team - him taking 18 shots and RJ taking only 4 shots in 35 minutes of action is just not acceptable. This team has played 8 games already and shows no improvement on utilising RJ and Dice. I’ve no doubt that Pop is a great coach and all that, but his decisions of late are very questionable.
November 15th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
@Ian, I agree completely. I’m just not sure what Pop is trying to do. I know you want the new guys to acclimate to the Spurs’ system and all, but there has to be a point when you “adjust your team to the talent that you have”… David Robinson said this in 99 when Tim Duncan came aboard. With Tim and Tony out, we saw what RJ could do when given the baton… why does that shift gears so abruptly when they return? I’ve posed previously that I’m a bit concerned about Tony. Of the Big 3, he seems the most uncomfortable with his role. He actually reminds me a bit of George Hill last year as a point guard not knowing when it’s the right time to pass or get yours. Obviously, we have to go to Tim cause let’s face it, a few games into this season and he actually looks in all star form even with the early injuries. Let’s just get it together and figure out what it’s gonna take to get a solid 48 minutes of play when the final buzzer sounds.
November 15th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
anybody out there think parker could be competing for his job for the next few seasons?
i know its early in the season and parker is battling injuries, but i think george hill is capable of being a starting point gaurd in this league. he has a greater upside and could be the offensive facillitator that parker isn’t and never has been.
teams have never been successful with score 1st point guards. tony parker is a spectacular scorer, but his inability to defend, lack of consistency in the assist margin, and his late game fizziling lead me to believe the spurs may have a tough desicion on their hands going forward.
i think george hill may be an insurance policy for the eventual retirement of manu and timmy. if the tony parker era proves to be fruitless, george hill would be a good starting point for a team in transition. at least they would have a solid point gaurd to build around. im sure many of you out there would have my head for such blasphemy, but this is a business and i think george hill has a huge upside for the future.
another scenario is trading george for some frontcourt depth. this would be an excellet desicion, but tony parker could provide that team youth makeover via trade the spurs will need in within the next three years. i think the future of the spurs could be with mr. hill, the new favorite spur
November 15th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Obviously early in the season and with all these lineup changes, its going to take a while to get good chemistry.
What worries me is if my memory from late late season is correct, that Pop was still tweaking the lineup way too much and at that point, heading into the playoffs, it was too late.
One of the reasons I think we got smoked by the Mavs, other than Manu being out.
November 15th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
lvmainman,
I’m no Spurs fan by a long shot, but second guessing pop doesn’t seem to be a wise move. Also, what you’re asking for is not realistic. Play a 12 man rotation for 4-6 minute stretches? Basketball is a game based on rythym. It takes players a few minutes just to get into the flow of the game. Thats why no team plays anything more than an 8-9 man rotation during the regular season. This may get cut down to a 7 man rotation during the playoffs.
Sometimes ideas which seem good to us are not good ideas in practice. That’s why Pop is a coach with 4 rings, and you and I are watching on the TV.
November 15th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
sj-papi, RE: Jefferson
Your question regarding Jefferson is a good one. This is the HUGE problem with Jefferson on the Spurs in my opinion, as I said so many times during the offseason.
Jefferson is an INEFFICIENT scorer. He is a volume shooter. For him to get his numbers, he needs a lot of shots. This gets him into the game. He is not a player like Blair, who is highly efficient or even like Manu, who is highly efficient. He is a Kobe/Lebron without all of the Kobe/Lebron skills. That’s why he played well when Duncan/Parker were out. He was part of the focus, he got his shots, he got into the game, etc.
But in the long run, Jefferson is a horrible addition to this team. Just look at his +- numbers from last year. The Bucs were a better team with him on the bench.
November 15th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Hi all, disappointing, yes but at least we played some defense. I feel like we still don’t know how to play Timmy and Parker with RJ and McDyess. RJ looked horrible last night, confused, unsure, rookiesh. I think Tony needs to really practice Pick n rolls, Ginobili had more assists in half the time Parker played and Ginobili can play pick and roll with Timmy. At times Tony went one on 3 to just try to score instead of passing the ball, maybe hes scared of George Hill taking his job and he should be, I really like Hill, hes more athletic, is a better shooter, and a far better defender. Hill is still no greater high assist player, hopefully that will change, he played 32 mins without an assist, this makes every player have to work supper hard for their shots and we don’t a lot players that cab create their own shots. I was happy with our defensive effort though, but it has been 8 games and we look very inconsistent at times. Is going to be ugly in Dallas!!!
November 15th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
I disagree with just about everyone that has posted so far. We have several new players and even our old players are semi-new (Manu has been in and out the past two seasons and Tim is dealing with the new realities of his game). It’s better to mix and match lineups now and see what combinations work then to seek out early wins and all costs. It’s what made the Spurs the Spurs the past decade.
I’m very disappointed and more than a little irritated at all the Tony Parker bashers that have come up. We play two inferior defensive teams while he and Tim are out with success and struggle in their first game back against a lengthy team and all of a sudden George Hill is the point guard of the future and Tony is the next watered down Allen Iverson.
I’ve seen every game in person or repeatedly on television (thanks to the magic of DVR). Parker and the entire Spurs offense are generating wide open looks. They’re just not going in. Bonner, Manu, Mason, Finley…every Spurs player except Hill are struggling to consistently hit outside jumpers. Neither Tim nor Tony are particularly explosive players. They need space. Both are generating open looks but if no one hits shots the lanes are going to clog up, our offense is going to bog down, and our defense is going to suffer.
November 15th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Kaveh - where were you when RJ helped the Spurs win two games? We know your schtick by now - RJ is inefficient/a volume shooter/look at his +/- with the Bucks (as you ’said so many times’). You have impressed these three points on every fan here. You can stop repeating, thanks very much. Your clever insights w/r/t Richard Jefferson are the _exact same_ now as they were 4 or 5 months ago. Please cultivate some original thought.
November 15th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
I agree with KB’s post about Parker. He is going to have to be a point guard this year instead of simply a shooting guard (which is what he has essentially been for his entire career). He has the most talented team he has ever been on and unlike in the past when he had to score 20+ for the Spurs to win, if he gets 14 pts and 10 assists, Spurs win. Period. Jefferson looked great when Tim and Tony were out. He stuffed the stats sheet and led us to victory both games. It is UNBELIEVABLE that he got only 4 shots in 35 min.!! In the meantime, Tony who’s been out for a week took 18 and made only 7. That can’t happen.
I know the season is young, but it appears that the key to really being an elite team is trying to achieve chemistry and balance with all these new weapons. The Spurs have 74 games to gell and can’t afford to have Tim and Tony on the damned injured list 5 games in. Now the team is back to square one trying to fit all the pieces together again in the midst of a starting lineup that is always changing due to injury. This team has to come up with some sort of consistency beginning now.
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