Tuesday, March 9th, 2010...6:56 am
San Antonio Spurs 95, Cleveland Cavaliers 97
The unstated position of my Dime piece is straightforward: the Spurs’ defense is failing.
“Defensive transition was really poor in the first half. I thought we did a horrible job with that and we gave away 8, 10, 12 points just because they ran it right down our throat and our transition was God-awful. That was the worst part of the whole game.” Pop was talking about this game, but he could have been describing various aspects of San Antonio’s defense at any given moment this season.
San Antonio’s problem is, in a word, they’re merely mediocre. In the Popovich-Duncan era, the Spurs have never known mediocrity. They’re eleven games over .500, but the mood around the team is that they’re much worse. And maybe that’s true, but that God-awful transition defense wouldn’t look so bad if Pop wasn’t forced to measure the Spurs against the Spurs. One suspects that the pressure to win is only half as strong as the pressure to live up to their own impossible standard.
But that’s too simple. Much of this team is failing, a sentiment described in vivid color by various readers in our comment threads. I want to pick up on my theme that last night’s loss represents the season in miniature and ask what it means going forward.
Losing to an injury-riddled Cleveland squad is more of a defining moment for San Antonio than if they had beat the Cavs at full strength. The loss simply bore out the tendencies of the previous sixty games, and a win against a LeBron-led Cavs squad would have carried the weight of an outlier. Last night’s loss had the feel of a season-defining game.
“We had a great opportunity, not many teams can come in here and win,” Ginobili said. “LeBron wasn’t playing, Shaq wasn’t there and Jamison didn’t play the second half, so we blew a big one, so we are kind of upset with that.” His tone was more cheerful than the mood in the locker room. The Spurs see more slipping away than a single should-have-won game.
Coming into the season, the Spurs wondered if their core could reclaim previous levels of championship play, if they could return to a high level of dominance? Through 61 games, we can speak to that issue.
Tim Duncan’s numbers are down slightly, but not drastically. He’s still a top 5 big. Tony Parker’s numbers are down significantly, but we have every reason to believe his drop in production is tied to injury, not decline. It’s fair to say he is/could be playing at an elite level if his body was right. And Ginobili? He is, however improbably, back. If last night’s game taught us anything other than this team isn’t getting it done, it’s that Manu Ginobili is capable of unqualified superstar play. Last night he was 38 points of all man.
That’s big takeway No. 1. The core is capable of championship quality play, but the individual parts-the three most important individual parts-are sinking beneath the poor play of the surrounding cast. That poor cast is big takeaway No. 2.
Other than George Hill and DeJuan Blair, San Antonio’s bench is entirely deficient, if not on paper, than certainly on the court. I wonder if this summer will find the Spurs undoing the moves of last summer, save the draft selection of DeJuan Blair.
That’s big takeaway No. 3. The Spurs desperately need to retool their bench, and moving Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess seem like the best starts in that direction. Easier said than done, I know.
And it’s not just the new faces. 2009-10 buzzer beating hero Roger Mason Jr’s 1-10 shooting against the Cavs was not consistent with his typical percentages, but his performance was consistent with his ability (this season) to step up and help the Spurs when pinched by injury. Jefferson, McDyess and Mason are all fine players so far as they go, they’re just not getting it done in San Antonio.
For whatever reason, this Spurs team doesn’t work.
35 Comments
March 9th, 2010 at 7:12 am
That was the fastest first half i have ever watched in professional basketball.
Roger = 1/10 WTF?
McDyess = 2/8????
Jefferson only took 3 shots in a highly transitional game where he should have thrived…?
Timmy only 12 touches in understandable in transition…
March 9th, 2010 at 7:23 am
Manu Ginobili is amazing
March 9th, 2010 at 7:26 am
I wonder what the shooting % was for the 4th quarter, it felt like everything we put up missed
March 9th, 2010 at 7:35 am
The common factor in our last 3 losses: Parker-DNP. He is more important than most people want to admit.
March 9th, 2010 at 7:46 am
didn’t watch the game, but it looked like blair, mason, and mcdyess shot poorly. and how does rj take only 3 shots?
i guess the only positive to take from this is manu ginobili is still capable of being ridiculous.
if we are getting smoked in transition, maybe we should insert hairston and mahinmi (not necesarily the same time) to keep up? ian did turn the ball over 3 times in 5 min. the guy should not have the ball in his hands unless its under the basket or top of the key to pass to a guard. still managed +2. hairston’s numbers looked like he really hustled out there. if our bench isn’t getting it done, maybe these guys should earn a little burn? but i supposed minutes aren’t earned by one sucking, but by the other showing they deserve it.
this is a pretty sad post. i don’t reflect the same sentiments, but that is not to say i haven’t felt the same sentiments at other points of the season. we would have had a better chance to win this game if shaq played. the game slows even more than our half court sets when he plays, but nevertheless, we would have been enhiliated if king james played
March 9th, 2010 at 7:53 am
Richard Jefferson is the biggest bust of the season. And don’t give me this crap about needing time to adjust and fit in. Didn’t take Gasol long to fit in and instantly make the Lakers into contenders again. Didn’t take Artest any “time” to do the same. Shaq seems to have melded into Cleveland’s Club without problem. Shawn Marion and Caron Butler don’t need to offer any excuses about “fitting in”. The time for excuses is over. If all of pre-season, all the practices, and all 61 games of the regular season thus far aren’t enough time to “adjust and fit in”, to get familiar with the players and the offensive/defensive schemes, and to make yourself a reliable asset, then nothing ever will be. He has received far more minutes than George Hill ever had in his rookie season, and Hill is by far out-performing RJ.
March 9th, 2010 at 7:56 am
How do you lose to the Cav’s with out their star players?
I can answer that since I watched the game last night!!! The Spurs missed a ton of open jump shots and Richard Jefferson was a total joke!!! SIMPLE!!!
March 9th, 2010 at 8:01 am
I don’t know why everyone is complaining! Don’t you all know - POP IS A GENIUS! Nobody shall question him! He won 4 RINGS with his genius mind! Most mere mortals wish they could have half the GENIUS that Pop has. You can’t even be in the same room with him cause his GENIUS takes up too much space. I with I could say more, but….well, it’s just….GENIUS!!!!
March 9th, 2010 at 8:18 am
IN the last minute or so, Hill and Mason managed to miss 3 wide open 3s after incredible Manu assists (yes, those should count as assists, he did everything to leave the alone and open to just make it). And Manu gave another of this “assists@ to mcDyes who also missed a wide open 2.
All these plays happened in the las 2 minutes of the game. Manu had to do it all, and after all, he should have taken all the shots as well.
March 9th, 2010 at 8:35 am
Comparing the Spurs the the Liverpool Super Reds
http://entertainmebball.blogspot.com/2010/03/rooting-while-loosing.html
March 9th, 2010 at 8:36 am
Pop’s desire to rebuild the D is why he called Bogans the centerpiece. Can Bogans really handle the job? I see a lot of mistakes, like not blocking Delonte West out after good team D had forced a bad shot late in the shot clock. That play broke a 3 minute Cavs scoring drought and made it 85-82. But maybe these are correctable errors, maybe Pop sees potential I don’t.
If a perimeter stopper is really the centerpiece then we probably should have acquired a proven one instead of trying to create one on the fly before Timmy’s window closes.
March 9th, 2010 at 8:40 am
Sad game. Losing to Cavs with no Lebron, Shaq, or Jamison???
Watching Bogans torched on 4 consecutive possessions by Jawhad Williams??? Hairston sat on the bench.
Watching Bonner grab a rebound and have it stolen for a layup???
Watching Jefferson screw up a fastbreak with a travel cause he doesn’t know to dribble???
Watching Blair miss 3 tip-ins???
Watching Pop draw up a play for Roger Mason, who was 0 for 7 to tie the game??? Finley probably crying that he didn’t get that shot.
Watching Hill turn sideways, anticipating a screen, and letting Mo Williams and Delonte West dribble directly to the basket for layups, fouls(that’s how Blair got his 3rd foul in 3 min), or easy layups???
Sad, pathetic game.
Kudos to Ginobili for phenomenal game. Resign the man to a contract before free agency.
March 9th, 2010 at 8:59 am
The Frustrating thing is that they beat themselves.
@TIM yeah TP is sorely missed. You’d think people would be happy that he wasn’t playing?
THEY NEED HIM PEOPLE.
@SAS. Yeah any team can beat you when you can’t hit wide open shots.
I took a look at the 46 point game by Manu against the Cavs on youtube. You know what iced that win? BOWEN hitting the wide open 3s. Who set him up for those 3’s? MANU.
I’ve never seen a team miss so many wide open shots. ANd its been like this the whole season.
What happened to RMJ? MCDEEZY himself could have won this game for us if he just made a couple of more wide open shots.
I think MANU might bail. He’s trying his hardest and the other guys just aren’t getting it done. I forget after which play but let’s just say it was after a missed shot. Manu set up somebody and they couldn’t finish. The camera cuts to MANU and he just puts his head down.
March 9th, 2010 at 9:25 am
As far as hitting open 3’s goes, substitute Bogans/RMJ for Finley/Bowen and you know why we suck! Everybody knows this.
March 9th, 2010 at 9:28 am
Seriously.. Jefferson should have dominated, I mean we seen in this very game how he could have just attacked the rim and at least getting fouled… but no, instead let’s travel in a crucial play by Manu …
Also, we just don’t do anything against any big man attacking the rim… McDyess should have been our answer to that..
In the offseason we made all the things looking real right on paper, but no one seem to put it down..
At least we had a really good surprise in Hill and Blair.. I think next year is our last chance
March 9th, 2010 at 9:36 am
With Manu at this level, and the other players at their ones, does it fit por him to extend his contract with the Spurs? Or he should leave to a contender?
March 9th, 2010 at 9:37 am
Cavs fan here. Just gotta say that the comparison of the Spurs to Liverpool is pretty spot on in the link that David G. provided.
I’m a fairly observant Euro soccer fan as well as an avid NBA fan. Liverpool came into the season as the hot pick to win the title (although chelsea was the betting favorites) but as the season has gone on it has become apparently clear that their roster just can’t do it. A. Certain guys can’t get it done like they used to (Caragher) and B. just maybe certain guys don’t play well enough together (Rierra hasn’t been very helpful to Torres this year). It just feel’s like Liverpool needs to make drastic changes this season if they want to compete with a Chelsea team willing to spend on everything, an Arsenal team that has the most young talent in the league, and a Man U. team that is just Man U.
You get this same feeling with the Spurs. It just feels over. The difference here is that the Spurs made it count when they could. They won 4 titles. Liverpool didn’t. You also have a coach that is proven and you can confidently good about the future so long as he is at the helm. Liverpool doesn’t (Rafa should have been fired last year).
March 9th, 2010 at 9:58 am
an example of how useless the +/- stat is: Mason +5 and RJ +2
March 9th, 2010 at 10:00 am
That last play wasnt designed for RMJ. watch the highlight, Hill is WIDE open for 3. That’s who it was drawn up for. I was puzzled by Pop leaving RMJ in instead of Bonner or Hairston in the last two minutes.
March 9th, 2010 at 10:14 am
And to think that some fans blame Pop or assumed the big 3 were no longer capable of leading a championship run. It’s not those guys. It’s the supporting cast. Instead of Bowen, Horry and Barry we have guys that can’t even shake off a rough night to hit one clutch shot in the 4th. One shot somewhere along the line wins the game. Better transition defense in the 1st quarter provides more buffer late in the game.
It’s not nor has it ever been about the key pieces. It’s the role players not getting it done. 9 points from five key players. Piss poor.
March 9th, 2010 at 10:18 am
Is a bench overhaul really even possible this summer? I’m sure Holt will want to do it, but can it be done?
March 9th, 2010 at 10:26 am
Jefferson needs to grow a pair and start playing some ball. He had a great chance to play well. The lineup that he was in could have gotten alot of fastbreak points. What is McDysse doing shooting 20ft jumpers? He has a mid range of about 15ft. Regarding the earlier piece about Bogans is bogus. I think Pop is trying to sugar coat this disaster of choice to give him minutes. This was a perfect game to get a win without having to struggle with LeBron in the game. The three previous wins gave us fans a false hope of this team turning it around. I just want to see some good basketball from this team the rest of the year no matter what the outcome is.
March 9th, 2010 at 10:47 am
Without Parker:
-10 points in the paint
In 2011, we have been held under 40 points in the paint 6 times now:
@ Wizards 16 Points (Parker went 5 of 17 but Duncan shot 10 of 16)
@ Raptors 34 Points
Nets 32 Points
Rockets 36 Points (January 22, not February 26)
@ Pacers 34 Points
@ Cavs 30 Points
So after starting the year with 3 of 5 games below 40 points, we have only sunk that low 3 times in the last 26 games; last night being the lowest of those 26 games. We are 2-4 in these games, but wins over bad defenses like New Jersey and Washington where it isn’t hard to get open looks aren’t surprising or impressive.
March 9th, 2010 at 10:48 am
I really don’t get why Duncan took so few shots. Cleveland’s frontcourt was incredibly depleted. He should be posting up and demanding the ball a bit, especially when he’s got Hickson on him, who’s inexperienced and who gives up height. Get their few remaining bigs in foul trouble and score some points in the paint. I also thought he looked bad on that Delonte put-back. And on those two big turnovers in the fourth. I know his numbers are still good, but I think Timmy’s not what he used to be and this has to be part of the explanation of the way the season is going.
March 9th, 2010 at 10:51 am
Just to follow up on my last post, Duncan is averaging just 17 pts and 7 rebounds over the last five games; has he declined since starting the season so well?
March 9th, 2010 at 11:49 am
People that point to Parker being out I think are missing a larger issue - Parker’s play last season covered up a lot of the same problems we’re seeing now, but even last year the defense wasn’t good enough to win a ring.
March 9th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
As an FYI for Bonner taking the last shots - Bonner shoots around 33% in clutch time from 3pt land per 82 games. So even though he has been hot recently, his clutch 3pt shooting is not as solid.
—-
@AP - it’s going to have to happen anyway. A lot of guys are free agents. Even if Spurs bring in Splitter and bring back Manu, there’ll be a lot of roster spots open. Spurs will have to depend upon Vet Min and young players to fill in the roster.
March 9th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
“an example of how useless the +/- stat is: Mason +5 and RJ +2″
That’s certainly a useless thing to observe, but not something that demonstrates +/- is ‘useless’. In fact, if you had just looked at the on-court/off-court numbers for RMJ and RJ for this season, you’d see they make YOUR argument - Jefferson is a net -1.7 and Mason -0.7 on a team that’s +4.28 overall.
Tonight, Mason was +5 in large part thanks to playing alongside Manu for 90% of the game. His three assists were all to Manu for 3-pointers. By the same token Manu and Hill’s numbers tell you as much about their teammates’ play as they do about theirs’…
March 9th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
manu had 38 guys. everyone calm down. parker will be back for playoffs with ankles rested, duncan will step it up for playoffs, and manu is on an elite level right now. all is not lost.
March 9th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
exactly greyberger, +/- for an individual stat is useless. It depends on who is on the court w/you. If you want to give group of 5+/- when they are on the court at the same time is one thing but the individual +/- is useless IMO!
March 9th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
RJ you suck! It’s a phrase we all say quite often these days. Although last night I think even for him he took it to a new level. What a major meltdown. He is just imploding under the pressures that no one in SA, or more importantly no one with a championship ring, wants him on this team. RJ dude grow some coconuts! I’m not sure how player buyout’s work in the NBA, but is there anyway we could basically buy him out for this season, put him on waivers and hope someone signs him picking up his contract for next year? They would get use of him this year during a playoff run, at no cost to them, and have an expiring contact to bargain with next year if they choose not to keep him. FO RJ’s time to adjust has run out so cut your losses and move on.
March 9th, 2010 at 2:50 pm
Duncan is still a top five big? Ya think? Only Howard, you could argue, is a better all around big than Duncan.
I’m tired of people bringing up Nowitzki, who is terrible in every aspect of the game that doesn’t involve scoring. That’s not a dominant big, that’s a dominant scorer.
Gasol is the closest thing resembling Duncan’s game that there is today, but he’s soft, often comes up short in big games and has never been a credible lead player on a team.
Bosh, while a dominant scorer/rebounder, has little impact defensively and is a mediocre passer.
People need to start looking at how much a player impacts a game outside of scoring. Even in his diminished state, Duncan’s impact is still amongst the top two bigs in the game. PER bears this out. He’s been between 2-5 all season.
March 9th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
RJ played ok last night. We should know by now to not expect him to be an all star caliber player. Expectations for him need to be adjusted. We just need him to hustle and take what he can get within the flow of the game. He has definitely picked up the intensity the past few weeks even if his stats arent showing it.
March 9th, 2010 at 7:19 pm
Players on this team are now finding their roles and are finding ways to contribute. RJ is playing better now coming from the bench and Manu woke up. With Parker out, it’ll be hard to run an offense but others will step up. If this team develops solid offensive strategies and executes accordingly, this team will win.
March 10th, 2010 at 9:24 pm
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