Wednesday, January 13th, 2010...1:43 pm
Managing Minutes in the Thunder
Ah yes, the second night of a back-to-back. In previous years, tonight would treat us to a game where the Spurs would show their age and wear down late in the contest. Sloppy plays would occur and fans would thank their lucky stars that there are no back-to-backs in the playoffs.
But since infusing some young legs into the team’s roster (See: Hill, George and Blair, DeJuan), San Antonio has used the second night of these two-day tests to rest older rotation players and give some playing time to fringe players. All while remaining competitive on both nights.
With that in mind, there are two things to expect tonight: Tim Duncan played 40 minutes last night. Don’t be surprised if he plays half that total tonight against the Thunder. The other thing to expect? A large dose of DeJuan Blair. The beast only played seven minutes last night against the Lakers and will face a better matchup with Oklahoma City.
Other things to watch for include Tony Parker’s foot. As Jesse mentioned this morning, Parker announced that he’s playing with plantar fasciitis. How he moves against quick guards like Russell Westbrook and James Harden will be interesting. Will they go after him with this newfound knowledge?
The Spurs have struggled against the Thunder since the team moved to Oklahoma City, going 2-3 this season and last. Assuming San Antonio can exorcise their demons and steal a road win, the Spurs could start to haunt the rest of the Western Conference in 2010.
Related posts:
25 Comments
January 13th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
I’ll be at the game tonight. My roommate and i splurged and bought lower bowl tickets. He’s wearing an old school Robinson Jersey and i’m wearing one of Tim’s newer ones. We’ll be the guys out of place. We cant decide if we want to bring signs or not. Any suggestions?
January 13th, 2010 at 2:59 pm
Have fun man!!! Take a laser pointer and bother Kevin Durant with it
Just kidding of course… Us Spurs fan have way more class than that!!!
January 13th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
Come on you Spurs!
January 13th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
“exercise their demons”? Don’t you mean “exorcise”? All demons I know despise physical activity.
Go Spurs!!
January 13th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
@DaveInBoise
Good catch. Spell check sure doesn’t check for intent, does it?
January 13th, 2010 at 4:20 pm
Don’t bench Duncan until the 2nd qtr. Let Duncan start, keep everyone in their roles, play Mahinmi or Haislip to rest Duncan and McDyess.
C’mon Pop, use the youngsters on the bench that are hungry and spirited to carry the vets for 4 or 5 minute stretches to earn a road victory. Don’t just throw the game away like you did in Toronto.
January 13th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
What a disgrace tonight not to play Mahinmi. I don’t mind not playing Duncan, coming off a 40 min game. It’s an insult to a guy that supposdly works his ass off in practice, get’s a shot at playing. He does good but most likely doesn’t get to play again all year. Same with Haislip. If the money wasn’t soo good, I’d refuse to come in the games in just garbage time. Giving up offensive rebounds time in time again in this game….wow thank god for Tim Duncan or Pop would be out of coaching by now.
January 13th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
ha ha wow! what a game! lol
January 13th, 2010 at 8:20 pm
HUGH sigh of relief! We almost gave this one away, but we eked out a win- and I’ll take it! A win is still a win. I’m so relieved we didn’t blow this one, even though Pop seemed intent on doing just that by playing god!mn small ball and not having any big warmed up behind McDyess.
What the hell did you think was going to happen when Blair picked up a 5th foul within the first minute of the fourth quarter? Anyone could see it coming, and sure enough he fouls out. We almost lost it because Pop is in love with small ball. What the hell is he trying to prove?? I’m seriously starting to think he doesn’t want to win these regular season games. We won tonight’s game IN SPITE of Pop.
And all you Parker haters: that’s funny; I don’t hear anything out of you now. How about you shut the hell up for the remainder of the season and let the kid play? And Pop, how about giving Parker a rest too? Or are you intent on sabotaging our post-season like you almost did with the fourth quarter of this game?
January 13th, 2010 at 8:26 pm
Wow!!Quiet night yesterday for Blair, absolute monster night against OKC!! Manu changed the scenario with his crazy dive and RJ hit a tough one! Great win! We nearly let that one slip away though..
January 13th, 2010 at 8:29 pm
Wow, NYC. I’d hate to read your thoughts if we’d lost.
I hope this is a sign of things to come. Our point differential is amongst the best in the league because we win big but have lost close games. Hopefully we can start pulling more of these out.
January 13th, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Hope SpursfanSteve and his roomie made it safe out of there tonight.
January 13th, 2010 at 8:40 pm
CORRECTION: It was OT in which Blair fouled out, not the fourth quarter. My mistake.
-This fan lives in New York City! NEW YORK CITY?!?
January 13th, 2010 at 8:59 pm
Yeah, we just made it back. Some quick observations from the game:
1. We could have ran the pick and roll with Manu and Blair all game. Those two have a natural chemistry, and OKC didnt stop that play one time, all night.
2. Parker was really aggressive and even hit a few threes. He took on the offensive responsibility with Duncan out.
3. Watched Haislip warm up before the game, he was pretty much on fire.
4. Roger was off tonight.
5. Hill is a beast. Him, Parker, and Blair are the future.
6. My roommate is a missionary kid and grew up in brazil. He’s seen Splitter play at several national games. He said if we get half that much from Blair and Ian plays, well, ever, Splitter wouldnt even be a necessity for post-Duncan ball.
7. OKC fans are classy. During the first quarter, one of their guys was shooting a free throw and the net got stuck up near the rim. Dejuan jumped up and pulled it down and pretty much everyone in my section (no other spurs fans) said “Thanks Dejuan!” it was pretty funny.
8. I cant really remember much else, but it was an awesome game.
9. Blair is an awesome defender. No more complaining, Spurs fans. He’s good at weakside help, he’s good at staying on his man. He’s short, but he doesnt look small on the court. His wingspan is huge.
10. Jefferson still doesnt know the system very well. Manu became visibly upset several times tonight having to tell him where to go.
Also, i got on the big screen. If anyone else was there, i was the guy they put on the overhead and they photoshopped a thunder jersey over my spurs jersey. I think thats the first time thats ever happened to me.
January 13th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
A few quick notes:
For one night at least, DeJuan Blair was the best center in the #NBA. With Blake Griffin out, does this push him higher in the ROY watch list? After tonight, it’s pretty clear. Blair’s easily the best rookie big man in the NBA.
Only Manu Ginobili could go 0-10, fill every other statistical category, still manage a +5, and save the game in OT. Amazing.
It’s fitting that Richard Jefferson’s shot won this game for a few reasons. His slight hesitancy on D allowed the Westbrook shot that put us into overtime in the first place. Also, his turnover late in the game the last time we played OKC was a pretty big reason for that loss. I’d say he made up for both of these with that quick shot tonight.
All in all, I’d say these two games have been the biggest of the season. We’re now the hottest team in the West and tied with Cleveland as the hottest team in the NBA. Duncan will sleep well tonight.
January 13th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
@SpursFanSteve
I remember seeing you on the big screen tonight. Ha!
On that play where Blair knocked the net back straight for the free throw, I noticed Jeff Green asking the ref if he could do it, and the ref didn’t seem to answer yes. So Jeff went back to his spot, and Blair fixed the net. It was a classy move.
When the court switched sides, a similar thing happened when a Spur was shooting free throws (I forget who now) and Jeff went up and knocked the net free for him.
So I’m not sure what the rule is on someone messing with the goal/net, but it didn’t look like it is allowed. Maybe that’s just my impression though.
Thunder fans have been lamenting our lack of rebounding from our 4 and 5 position all year. Blair really exposed us. I’m just hoping that will spur management (pun not intended) to make a move somewhere to improve.
Good game. Second only to our 1 point win over the Jazz on New Years Eve.
January 13th, 2010 at 9:31 pm
In the jungle, the mighty jungle, Tim Duncan sleeps tonight…
January 13th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
I still don’t understand why pop didn’t play ian m. At center for some size against nick collison and let blair get eaten up by collison. Smallball kills us on the defensive end. Why do you do this pop? Mcdyess proved his value on the offensive and defensive end and therefore I give him a pat on the back. Great game spurs!
January 13th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
The small ball is what built us the lead in the first place. You cant say it hurt us defensively when we played it literally the entire first quarter, and had the lead the entire time. Our offense was what bogged down in the third, our defense had some lapses- mostly RJ being confused about whether or not to switch on screens. Every jumper Durant had was contested. They just started making shots they had been missing and we started missing shots we had been making. We won without Duncan and with Manu missing every attempted FG, including several wide open 3’s. Mason shot poorly as well. RJ even had a bad game. Tonight was all Blair, Tony, Mcdyess, and Hill. Manu did do a lot of the playmaking though.
January 13th, 2010 at 11:15 pm
Quick recap
Parker eats plantar fasciitis for breakfast
Blair kills everything
Ginobili signs a 4 year/$50 milllion contract
Duncan forgets his robe and wizard hat
January 13th, 2010 at 11:47 pm
Just the kind of games the Spurs always win.
The kind of games they were losing earlier in the season with bad offense and too many turnovers.
NOt tonight.
I say forget all the negs for a second and take in this win. It was huge. First they blow out the Lakers and then they beat a young team that has given them trouble.
Now for the negs, just a little. Both tonight and last against the Lakers the Spurs Offense went cold. Not because of the other teams D, but because the SPurs went cold.
I think its safe to say we miss The REd Rocket and Finn Dog. Im sure they could have kept the Offense going with some wide open shots.
Having said that who cares. This is the best the SPURS have looked all year.
January 14th, 2010 at 1:37 am
getting a little bit tired of posts showing up only after wins.
January 14th, 2010 at 2:43 am
Fun game to watch. There was a period of time when we had TP, Hill, Mason, Ginobili and Blair on the floor during the 3rd period! Talk about small…
Too many minutes for Parker…on a back to back…and just right after announcing flantar fasciitis…
What a dive by Manu though…
And Blair=Monster!!!
January 14th, 2010 at 8:43 am
Best game of the season for the Spurs given that it was on a back-to-back, without Tim Duncan and against a uber-athletic team that always gives the Spurs fits! And so good to see Spurs games actually featuring dunks!
January 14th, 2010 at 11:57 am
In my defense, Jimmy, I am very lazy and don’t post after many of our wins as well.
Leave a Reply