Saturday, March 13th, 2010...8:42 am
Timberwolves 85, Spurs 103
Richard Jefferson shook off a string of bad performances in his return to the starting lineup and two key players got some much needed rest.
Given the quality of the opponent, and the nature of the game, extracting any other meaningful insight or trends from last night’s game would be an exercise in futility.
Dunks have been a rare treat for Spurs fans over the past few seasons, so when Jefferson took off from the baseline and put Darko Milicic in a poster, it was an awesome sight. But by the end of the night after watching a virtual layup line against a Timberwolves teams merely waiting for next year, it was almost a desensitizing experience.
That’s not to detract from Jefferson’s night however. Reunited with Manu Ginobili in the starting lineup, Jefferson rebounded from the worst performance of his career with 19 points and continued his renewed aggression on the boards, pulling down nine rebounds.
“I thought Richard (Jefferson) was aggressive the entire game, and he rebounded,” head coach Gregg Popovich said. “We want him to rebound with that body and at that position. He should do that quite often.”
Ginobili’s insertion into the starting lineup has provided the playmaking needed in Tony Parker’s absence, but has come at the expense of the bench, which has been nonexistent over the past few games. By starting Jefferson again, the team can maximize the pair’s time together and get the most from their struggling small forward.
“I’ve been inconsistent throughout the last few games, the last couple of weeks,” Jefferson said. “For me, it’s all about trying to get a little more consistency with how I attack.
“Pop just keep on telling me to keep being aggressive, keep attacking and good things will happen.”
Popovich’s lineups and rotations have been a mystery for much of the year, further exasperated by Parker’s injury, but this very well could be the lineup we see for the rest of the year barring further injury. It may weaken our bench’s production, but it should enable the Spurs to see more of the Jefferson they expected, as pointed out in a post earlier this week.
It’s little wonder that Jefferson was able to find somewhat of a niche when paired with a resurgent Ginobili off the bench. Over the past several weeks Ginobili has gotten back to drawing that third or fourth defender, moving defenses out of position and opening up Jefferson’s game for the occasional 20-point night.
The Spurs return home tonight for a game against an equally struggling Clippers team with a rested Duncan and Ginobili (25 and 28 minutes each against Minnesota). With a brutal stretch run it’s important the Spurs take care of business and continue to keep finding rest for key players.
24 Comments
March 13th, 2010 at 10:07 am
I’ll take it.
March 13th, 2010 at 10:24 am
Yeah, it’ll take a more hardcore fan than I to break this game down. The difference in talent between these two teams is big but the important difference is between trying and not trying. Only in the opening minutes did Minnesota look like they were going to make a fight of it, and once the benches got on the court and it was clear the Spurs would have the edge there too it was basically over.
If there’s anything to remember remember that - the bench did good w/o manu hill or RJ.
March 13th, 2010 at 11:36 am
Am glad that we traded for RJ and his 29mil$ contract to help us beat Minnesota. Awesome!
March 13th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
It was nice for the young guys and Cedric to get time.
March 13th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
Guys, this is completely off-topic, but I just read on Si.com that the Spurs had offered Portland Tim Duncan for a chance to draft Oden. I just cant believe that.
“One source close to the team said general manager Kevin Pritchard was swayed toward Oden not only because of the Blazers’ needs but also because nearly every GM inquired about making a deal for the right to choose Oden, including San Antonio, which was said to be open to offering Tim Duncan. If rivals were considering trading cornerstone players for Oden, it’s hard to blame Pritchard for making that choice”
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/frank_hughes/03/12/oden/index.html
March 13th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
18 point road win where the two stars play under thirty minutes? I’ll take it. Note how Dallas and OKC have struggled lately to win big against bad teams. I also like the amount of time the younger guys are getting. With all these upcoming games in so few days, they’re going to play regardless of score, so more experience makes it more likely they’ll play well.
March 13th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
Was writing “exasperated” instead of “exacerbated” a Freudian slip? Remember that Finley is gone now…
March 13th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
The spurs offering TD for a chance to draft Oden? Seems like b.s.
March 13th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
Oden for TD? Hard to believe.
March 13th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
I can’t believe the Spurs would trade Tim Duncan under any circumstances.
Also, I’m sure Portland got a ton of trade offers for their #1 pick that year, but does that mean teams wanted to draft Oden? Maybe teams went for the #1 pick instead of #2 to make sure they could get Durant.
I guess the point is, Portland screwed up that draft pick, big deal. I find it funny that so many sports writers keep trying to justify the pick by saying every other team in the league would have taken Oden over Durant. Now apparently teams were offering their star player to draft a guy who was injured in college, and high school (right?). Yeah, not likely!
March 13th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
* It was an injury during his senior year of high school that carried over into college.
March 13th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
oden for td. if that happened, buford would be fired.
nice win. we got some rest
March 13th, 2010 at 5:44 pm
19 against Minn. is not a big deal. Im justglad the team did not have a mental breakdown. I really do not think he Spurs got RJ to rebound. I will raise the B.S. flag on Pop. They brought him to score and take the pressure off the big three. No more excuses for RJ, step up against the top teams and maybe you will get some props.
March 13th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
@BayAreaSpursFan,
Actually, rebounding from the 3 spot is a big thing, especially from a dynamic forward. With Duncan, if he can’t get the ball, he’s going to box out and hope a teammate picks it up.
With RJ, he gives you a player who can get off the floor and grab the loose ball. Ideally, RJ bringing someone who gives you near 20/night was the top reason for getting him. However, defense and rebounding were right behind there, especially as the Spurs lack a lot of size and athletic rebounders.
March 13th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Jeff could score 99 points against a losing team and people would still complain. Get realistic in your criticism of Jefferson and maybe we will start believing you. We didn’t sign him to score 20 anyway, just double digits every night. Maybe he gets back on track.
March 13th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
Chillfan
So……what is your stance on RJ then? It is hard to argue that he has under-performed this season. No one is said that he needs to score 20 ppg this season. The Spurs brought him in to impact games. He has failed to do this on a consistent basis. There are maybe 3-4 games this season where the Spurs can look and say that RJ WAS the difference in winning. On the other hand, there are 7-8 losses where he COULD HAVE been the difference but disappeared.
Scoring 10ppg/night doesn’t cut it for what he is expected to do. Have you watched this guy play for the past 8 yrs? Is that all you expect?
March 14th, 2010 at 4:43 am
tony parker sucks on D
tony parker is a shoot first point guard
when tony plays everybody just stands around and let tony do his work.
in other words blair dick and dice wont score a lot of points and suck.
id rather have ginobli to be the playmaker
pg- hill
sg- ginobli
sf- dick
Pf- duncan
C- dice
we should continue to ride with this line up. so we could ‘gel’ till playoff time.
Bring tony of the bench!
tony sucks on D, and he will ruin the chemistry PERIOD!
March 14th, 2010 at 6:47 am
RJ 268-597 Manu 273-644 RJ just needs more shots. when he shoots more than 12 we win except the houston game this year.
March 14th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
Colin
March 13th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
“So……what is your stance on RJ then?……..the Spurs brought him in to impact games. He has failed to do this on a consistent basis.”
Now, isn’t this the main point!? RJ has the ability to be a solid all-around contributor (NOT JUST IN SCORING, but rebounding, defensively, etc.), and to exert a positive IMPACT in many games. And that is why the Spurs signed him. Unfortunately, he has NOT consistently delivered in the least, for WHATEVER reason.
I can tell you one thing, Pop & the FO not only didn’t expect RJ to avg. anywhere near 20 ppg., THEY NEVER WANTED THAT FROM HIM. An “occasional” 20 pt. game is different; that’s fine. But what they REALLY WANTED OUT OF RJ was “aggressiveness” on BOTH ends of the floor. That’s when he’s at his best (think of the NJ team in 2003 when they lost to us 4-2 in the NBA Finals). RJ averaged 15.5 ppg., 6.4 rpg., only jacked up 24 three’s that year, yet had a major “impact” on that team.
And the theory was (Pop, FO), RJ could play “more” that way again. Hell, he’s only 29 years old! Sure, his three has improved since back then, and that’s fine, but that was never intended to be his focal point. He was not brought in to be “Bruce” in any way! They’re completely different players. They never expected RJ to sit back & spot up from the corner on the offensive end. That’s NOT RJ’s game! They wanted an aggressive, athletic slasher that could hit the open shot when the opportunity presented itself, and who would also consistently hustle & rebound …….. and of course, be a consummate team player (as shown in the past).
In short, the Spurs wanted more of the 2003 RJ, but instead got much “less” of the 2008 RJ. And, contrary to popular opinion, the Spurs system is not completely RIGID; it allows for substantial fluidity within a general framework. It has outlets built in for RJ’s championship potential to come out (more of his 2003 “impact” type performances, only now with more 3 pt. capability WHEN NEEDED).
And we’ve seen a few flashes of this type of “game” during the year. The question remains, can we start to get these types of impact performances more CONSISTENTLY? Or has RJ simply gotten too soft, and too selfish as a high volume “scorer” over the past five years to reclaim the strengths that helped carry an under-talented Net team to two straight NBA final appearances not so long ago?
Time will tell, but at least for this year, that time is running out …… real quick.
March 14th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
I want to see Jefferson play well consistently against playoff calibar teams with good defensive rotations.
March 14th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Heres something zany,
We make the playoffs Tony comes back…and we bring him off the bench as the sparkplug 6th man while Manu stays in the starting lineup.
How about it? If anyone can re-energize a bench it’s a penetrating guard who you can space the floor around and kill any scoring droughts?
Blair TP & Co off the bench would give opposing coachs fits.
March 14th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
Jim
Good points. A little lengthy, but I get it and I agree with ya. I was more challenging the fact that Spurs coaches, fans, and front office RJ shouldn’t settle for mediocrity or settle with him to “just score double digits.”………..that’s not why he was brought in
I like Bucket’s comment: “I want to see Jefferson play well consistently against playoff caliber teams with good defensive rotations.”——-in other words….show up when it counts man!
March 14th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Bushka
March 14th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
If this current line-up continues to play well over the remaining 18 games, I think TP coming off the bench is a very likely scenario come playoff time (assuming TP heals in time to play).
There are a number of reasons for this. Number one, for even someone with TP’s experience, it is unlikely he will be in “playoff” game form by the end of the regular season. He’ll need at least a half dozen games under his belt to get even close (and that’s if his foot condition has almost entirely healed).
Number two, it’s very difficult to mess with your starting rotation right as you head into the playoffs. Set chemistry & rotations are crucial at this time.
And finally, Parker is the type of player that could very well be quite effective coming off the bench under these kind of circumstances.
Colin
March 14th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
Yeah, I was agreeing with your major points. RJ has clearly not met expectations by any criteria, and certainly his lack of consistency and habit of “disappearing” should be at the forefront of any critique of his performance. I was just expounding on the fact that RJ’s disappointment is much more of an “all-around” problem than a “scoring” problem. Indeed, his scoring would come if he took care of his lack of focus & passion to play hard at all times. And of course, that’s what Pop & the FO are upset about. RJ just not being “coachable”, and/or playing with the proper passion & focus EVERY night. That’s the thing that’s had them up at night, not his drop-off in shooting or scoring.
March 15th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
The original article had a quote from Pop that provides the insight into Pop’s displeasure with RJ:
———-
“I thought Richard (Jefferson) was aggressive the entire game, and he rebounded,” head coach Gregg Popovich said. “We want him to rebound with that body and at that position. He should do that quite often.”
————-
And just knowing the brass is unhappy will knock his game down a peg.
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