Dallas Mavericks 103, San Antonio Spurs 94: Where we see that Tony Parker can have a bad game

Don’t forget about the free throws when noting the role reversal.

Spurs shot 25/27

Mavs shot 20/31

It’s like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” out on the court.

Didn’t see game, but reviewing play-by-play from 4:45 mark in 4th qtr to 1:44, the Mavs made baskets (4 for 4 with a FT) while the Spurs did not (0-4). We can look at problems that occurred throughout the game (18 turnovers, unbalanced scoring- Manu/Hill accounting for 54 of the 94 points) and the 4th qtr defense (32 points), but going scoreless for 3 minutes in the last quarter AT HOME cannot occur again. At least 2 players have to take it upon them-selves that the team gets points down the stretch, no matter who the opponent is or the circumstances-low- or high-scoring game. Work to get wide open shots, or drives to the basket to force shooting fouls. (One very good positive from the game- making 25 out of 27 free throws-lets definitely keep that up!!

Keys to the loss:

(1) Turnovers - 18, and a minus 4
(2) Tired offensive execution: 13 assists, and a minus 15
(3) Sloppy defense: opposing FG% 53% — 69% in the 4th Q - and putting Chandler on the line 16 times is ridiculous.
(4) Out-rebounded for the 3rd straight game - the 3rd best rebounding team is now 6th: a minus 3 tonight.
(4) Ineffective minute allocation: Parker was listless all night - at 38 mins., he should have received fewer minutes - more minutes to Hill & Neal, and maybe even Udoka instead of so much 3-guard units since RJ clearly had an off night. Bonner was also ineffective for the 2nd straight game - should have received less than 23 mins. - in favor of more minutes for Splitter (8) & McDyess (13), and/or perhaps even DeJuan Blair (13).

Pop has done a very good job for the most part in his substitutions & minute allocations this season. Tonight’s game was not one of his best outings in this regard in my view.

Let’s get the Hornets on Sunday. That’s the more important one of the two because we’ve already lost to them.

A warning: It’s not a good idea to let our rebounding advantage continue to slip. We’re getting too enamored with our new-found offensive fire-power, and overlooking the down & dirty stuff that makes one a winner on a more consistent basis. Lets get back to basics.

mostly agree with anoop and jim. totally agree with doriestreet…with 4:30 left to go, it was anyone’s game. the mavs gutted it out at the end, the spurs did not. (jim’s point #3.) the spurs need to step up and gut out a win in their next close game. easier said than done, yes, and this is the group that can do it!

3-guard units only work if you have a solid big man protecting the rim, rebounding the ball and scoring from the post. TD is not that big anymore….Pop will have to use him more like a David Robinson towards the end of his career and not rely on him as much for all those crucial aspects of the game. Timmy, now more than ever, needs an effective big man next to him who can help on PnR defense, rebounding and effective post play. Can someone here please explain why Tiago doesn’t get a chance to play? He’s our big free agent signing this offseason….from the sparing minutes he’s had, it shows that he can do all those things the Spurs need in their front-court.

Has any of you seen NBA.com’s Top ten plays? The play by Hill in the fourth quarter that gave us our last lead of the game, was Top 3. I believe it was indeed an out of bounce play, he obviously stepped in the line there. But i guess the reason why he wasn’t called for it was because it was actually the referee’s fault that he stepped out of bounds. LOL. It was a dumb positioning by the official and so he couldn’t call the turnover because he was blocking Hill’s way. Haha.

Anyway, I thought I’d feel bad all day because of this loss, but the Lakers’ loss to Jazz just made my day. The streak was going to end anyway, might as well end it in a day LA loses as well. Haha.

Go Spurs!

Spurs still don’t get any respect around the league. Everyone Barkley, Smith, Mullin has L.A. number#1 and going all the way to the finals. Well L.A. just lost to Utah in Utah last night who we beat previously.
What will it take for the Spurs to get to the Finals and get past L.A.
1. Defense - Stops and especially transition.
2.. Taking caring of the ball better- turnovers
3. Better rebounding- defensive and especially offensive.
4. Protect the rim more- shot blocking
5. More people producing than just Ginobli all the time. R.J. needs to get involved in the offense more especially if he’s the Spurs 3rd leading scorer.
I’m not sure how many points the Spurs are allowing but they need to get back to holding teams to under 90 a game.
2010 SPURS- REFUSE TO LOSE
BEAT L.A.

zeanocroil: I feel you. I felt bad all last night and this morning but then when I realized that L.A. ; (and there cheating refs) lost to Utah in Utah ,who we had beat I felt alot better.
BEAT L.A. SINCE 1999

After all those Nice Words and Good Praises to Tiago early this Season by our Coaching Staff? Now, I started to wonder where those Nice Words and Good Praises by our Coaching Staff goes if they can only afford/award Tiago less minutes, less playing time, or sometimes not even playing? It’s all Politics!!! It’s true our Team was already good without Tiago but truly he is a big addition to our Team or just our Coaching Staff says that to gave us something to believing? Many of us as a San Antonio Spurs fans honestly believe on Tiago and we all know he can play this Game but I don’t know about our Coaching Staff believe on Tiago if they can afford and award him less minutes, less playing time, or sometimes not even playing? Forgive me if I’m wrong or offend someone and I honestly apologize? I wish somebody there can tell and explain it to me? Would be nice to hear and open to know. It’s always nice and good to have many win games to have early in the Season but having Tiago with less action? It’s very hard to guess late in the Season or Play off times if all ups in the air? I rather to see Tiago much more actions early as the Season rather than what might future’s hold? For sure there will be early struggles but surely will help Tiago grow and learn to understand the game late on the Season which I do believed we need Tiago most? So many games we won closed games early this season with smaller line up but as the season goes? For sure many of Teams will gear up, makes a bigger adjustments for the late runs and easy baskets will be hard to come by? Many Teams already know what Tiago Splitter can do and there’s nothing there for our Coaching Staff can hide? We already lost big time about Scola and very much chances are high we gonna lose Tiago also in different reason if this thing keeps going? As we all remember before the Summer Camp start? Tiago come with the right reason, positive mind, and honest personality which he didn’t disappoint us early this season not by number but so many variety of things what he can do on the floor and we all see and witness it? As a San Antonio Spurs fan we need to earn and get his Trust back on us and I hope our Coaching Staffs and Front Office realized that or otherwise we might lose him as well by losing his Trust, Confidence, having a Disappointment year, and what he can do on the Floor. My Honest Opinion? Our Team should be much more differ Team early Season having Tiago along side with Tim? Tiago is not a League MVP for NO Reason and absolutely Not a Coincident either? I know it’s a gamble to take but we do really needs Tiago that we appreciate him and understand that he can play this game and he has our back/trust in him and the result will be a positive long 2010-2011 Season. Win or Lose Go Spurs Go!!!

This loss can be a good thing. One of my biggest fears was going on a big win streak like Boston did in ’09 to start the season and as a result certain players get overused to keep the streak rolling. Next thing you know one of the key guys is injured for the playoffs and it takes a historic effort to get past the first round.

With our mediocre play against Min and the fact that we bounced Dal out of the playoffs last year, this should’ve been expected.

Our ball movement has dissappeared and Dal was fueling their fastbreaks with stops and our turnovers.

Does Pop really have the patience to develop the bench like we thought he might earlier this season?

As much as he hates it, I think Manu may have to start wearing one of those protective masks like Rip H. It’s pretty obvious that Manu is not the same player with his nose stuffed full of cotton. He can’t breathe and his mouth gets drive. Can’t imagine why he can’t focus on his shot. If he started now, maybe by the playoffs he’d be used to it. You can bet other teams will take note of his drop-off after his bloody nose and will start whacking him. Obviously, we’re not going anywhere without Manu at his best.

our starters looked a little gassed out there. the substitutions looked strange toward the end with duncan and ginobili playing nearly the entire quarter. if bonner is looking ineffective, he needs to be pulled. dallas shot poorly for most of the game, but the law of averages caught up when butler and terry’s shots started falling. despite poor ball handling and movement, we actually had a chance to win this game. ian mahinmi actually looked like an nba player. way to go, buddy. i hate these long win streaks…

The loss to Dallas should not have come as any surprise given the way the Spurs have been playing that last few games. Mental errors, players in a coma and lack of athleticism at the big position cost the Spurs the game. RJ and TP’s lack of interest in the game were apparent-something I’m sure Pop will address with them behind closed doors. Turnovers because of mental errors will be replayed adnauseum by Pop in video sessions and the players will need to get the focused for NO. An issue that will require moving players from the Spurs is the lack of an athletic big. For those of you that see upside to DeJuan Blair - lets look at the facts, first he 6 foot 5 and is not going to grow height wise, secondly he has no outside shot and has made no effort to add one. DeJuan Blair rebounds great but his height in the West is a liability and when you throw in the fact that he has no shot he is trade bait. Matt Bonner is a defensive liability he just cannot guard anyone with size and athleticism. Antonio McDyess’s value comes in the playoffs, and Tiago simply cannot play 40+ minutes a game-he does not have the stamina to run up and down the court. Tim is not 20something and he needs his minutes kept down
so he and his knee can go in the playoffs. The game Sunday will show whether this team mentally and physically can handle another athletic team. If Pop and the front office are going to make a move to get an athletic big better to do it now so the team can mesh-otherwise well we saw firsthand last year Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol shot over DeJuan Blair consistently.

DorieStreet
November 27th, 2010 at 1:26 pm

“I disagree somewhat on Bonner. He was retained with a nice salary increase for a reason–we need his timely production–each game. While he can’t be Vinnie Johnson of the 80′s Pistons, Bonner is supposed to (3) hustle; (2) play defense the best he can; (1) shoot the ball–score when presented a good opportunity to do so. you mention he’ 30–that makes him 6 yrs younger than McDyess/ 4 less than Tim / 3 less than Manu & Udoka. Until Anderson comes back & ppg for Jefferson & Blair increase to 18-19 / 10-12 respectively, Bonner’s minutes will have to stay around 20. To be honest, I want another tall PF on the roster who rebounds and blocks shots. The younger guys (Love, Milicic, Chandler, etc.) know Tim has lost 2 steps–Blair & Tiago will have step way up to counter the increased attacks by oppenents’ bigs.”

First of all, on Bonner’s salary: as a free agent if you sign with the same team you can be given a significant raise without it effecting your salary cap — apparently the Spurs wanted to keep him on the team in a stretch 4 role, and may have felt that there was another team that might pay him that 4 mil. if they didn’t give it to him — I don’t know — in any event his salary went up less than a mil. per year, and since Bonner is in the top fifteen all-time in career 3-point percentage, the FO felt he was worth it (I disagreed at the time, and still do). But the point is, Bonner is more worth his money for this team playing on average 15 mpg. as opposed to 20-25 mpg. The reason is because he is a below average defender (including being poor at steal & blocks), rebounder, and passer, and ends up hurting the team if he doesn’t make at least 2 out of his first 4-5 attempts from behind the arc, and those “attempts” need to be taken within his first 12-15 minutes on the court because that is BY FAR what he does best: shoot the three ball (spread the floor), particularly if he’s wide open.

Regarding the items you said Bonner was supposed to do, 2 of the 3 are not particular strengths of Bonner’s: “hustle” - that is absolutely mandatory of every player in every game; “play “d” as best as he can” - again, that is an expectation of every player on the floor. And the fact is we don’t need Bonner’s 3-point threat for more than 15 mpg. on average. Even without Bonner our 3-point % as a team would be more than adequate, probably in the top 5-10 in the league. On the other hand, if we keep playing Bonner 20-25 mpg. our total rebound rank will likely drop from about 3rd in the league to outside of the top-ten. We, as are most elite teams, are not constructed to win consistently without a top-five rebound ranking. And we don’t need Bonner’s scoring that much. In fact Splitter has a higher ppg. average per 36 than does Bonner. As a 3-point threat off the bench for about 15 mpg. he’s fine (at least during the regular season), anything more than that and he becomes a liability over time.

“….I want another tall PF on the roster who rebounds and blocks shots.”

You’re preaching to the choir here. If you’ve followed this blog over the past 6 months you will have noticed that I was the most prominent advocate for the type of “big” that you’re talking about. Of the those who were realistic to acquire without a major trade, Amundson was the most prominent of my suggestions (I would have signed Amundson, and not Bonner — but we could have done both if we had wanted to). In fact most recently I would have also picked up Dampier. But the fact is we have who we have, and I doubt the FO will be making changes to our front line this year. As a result, we must develop Splitter & Blair aggressively right now, because Bonner as our 2nd or 3rd big (in terms of minutes) will not give us a chance against LA for the WC title.

viper160
November 27th, 2010 at 3:07 pm

“For those of you that see upside to DeJuan Blair – lets look at the facts, first he 6 foot 5 and is not going to grow height wise, secondly he has no outside shot and has made no effort to add one. DeJuan Blair rebounds great but his height in the West is a liability and when you throw in the fact that he has no shot he is trade bait.”

I already addressed this with you before. You apparently don’t want to listen. I’ll briefly try one more time. Players do not “physically” play with their head. I think we can all agree on that. While “tallness” can be a general advantage for front court players, MANY of them are successful more so because of their long “wingspan”, “standing reach”, vertical leaping ability, and oftentimes as a result of their relative “girth”.

So let’s take a brief look at some measurements. First of all, Blair is not 6’5″, he is 6’6.5″. Splitter is about 5 inches taller, but Blair has the same 7’2″ wingspan that Splitter has, and Splitter’s standing reach is just 3 inches higher off the ground (as an example, Blake Griffin’s standing reach is 1.5″ less than Blair’s, but his vertical about 2.5″ higher). Blair also has a good 25 pounds on Splitter, is a bit quicker laterally, has about a 1.5″ advantage in vertical leap, and is a better rebounder than Splitter regardless of his “height disadvantage”. By far the biggest reason for Blair’s relatively large number of his shots being blocked is because of his “lack of experience” (as opposed to his height). He needs to learn how to use his girth better, and his shot selection is still inadequate, although it will improve in due time. Splitter does have the “experience” advantage over Blair, and as a result of that he could be a legitimate threat to Blair’s starting role “this” year. However, this is no panacea against the likes of LA. We’ll need all of our bigs to make important contributions to have a shot against them.

Regarding his outside shot: the idea that he’s made no effort to work on a mid-range jumper is an expression of ignorance. For a player with his background as a center in college that was not asked to do anything else but rebound and score at the rim, it will take some time for him to develop that outside shot at the NBA level. It’s not like taking set shots out in the back yard. In fact Blair’s excellent free throw shooting this year gives one an example of how making an outside shot within the offense is an entirely different proposition, and much more difficult than it looks.

“…..otherwise well we saw firsthand last year Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol shot over DeJuan Blair consistently.”

The fact is LA’s front line is so talented they shoot over, around, under, through most players on our team, and most front courts around the league. No point in pinning that one on Blair. DeJuan needs to continue to work on his position defense in the low-block and out on the perimeter, but his height is not his major problem.

Who is this “Splitter” I keep reading about in the comments? I’ve watched every game this year, and I’ve seen neither hide nor hair of anyone named “Splitter,” much less, some mythological seven foot Euroleague/Fiba scoring defensive stud that the Spurs hypothetically have had me waiting three frickin years to see, at least one year of which the Spurs seemingly suffered through with no starting center whatsoever. Nope, no “Splitter” here.

Tiago was a mvp in eu league right? Weren’t manu & Scola also mvp’s? I think he has enough of a track record in a serious pro league to warrant more playing time in the nba. I will go on the record and state that we simply will not win this year without adequate contributions from Tiago. What does adequate mean? I can tell u what it does not mean….8-10 min of playing time, guarding 2nd unit bigs, no impact on the game.

sg
November 28th, 2010 at 7:33 am

No argument there. The point is at this time of Tiago’s transition to the NBA & learning the Spurs system he should be stealing minutes from Bonner, not Blair.

Tiago should be getting more minutes. Duh. Blair’s minutes are on the decline. Duh. Tiago will get more minutes. I’m beginning to think Blair in the starting line up is a novelty. Like a lucky baseball cap that the pitcher always wears. Or like MJ wearing his UNC tights every game. While it’s working for us let’s not tinker with it. That’s the only explanation I can come up with.