El Conclusion: Some good and some bad in Spurs win

Phoenix Suns

100

San Antonio Spurs

	Tim Duncan, PF 24 MIN \| 6-13 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 7 REB \| 5 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 12 PTS \| -6 Weird stretch of games for Duncan. Didn’t do any scoring against the Wizards, then was better against both the Pistons and Suns, but he didn’t play a ton of fourth quarter minutes in either games. I’m not sure if it’s a match up thing, or an effort thing or a minutes conservation thing. Either way, I find it tough to be too critical when he’s not getting in the game. At the same time, when he’s in he doesn’t look bad aside from getting beat on defense once or twice (Alex Len got him once or twice Friday night).
	Marco Belinelli, SF 24 MIN \| 2-9 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 3 REB \| 1 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 2 TO \| 4 PTS \| -9 Bad defense, wasn’t making his shots and he had to play more minutes then usual because of Manu’s back spasms. Seriously, when he’s the last line of defense on a fast break I just assume it’s a 3-point play because he can’t get out of the way or commit a hard foul.
	Tiago Splitter, C 31 MIN \| 3-7 FG \| 1-2 FT \| 14 REB \| 1 AST \| 0 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 7 PTS \| -14 Cleaned up the glass and looked good on defense (plus/minus can be deceiving sometimes), but he’s looking more and more like the Tiago from last season and he’s playing serious minutes, which also shows he’s healthy.
	Tony Parker, PG 22 MIN \| 3-9 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 1 REB \| 1 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 5 TO \| 7 PTS \| -9 He’s not 100% yet, that much is clear. If he were ineffective, that’d be one thing, but some of the turnovers were just killer. The Dragic/Bledsoe/IT combo is a tough trio for him, so going against Mo Williams and Zach LaVine Saturday night should be easier (assuming he plays).
	Danny Green, SG 35 MIN \| 6-13 FG \| 4-4 FT \| 4 REB \| 1 AST \| 2 STL \| 2 BLK \| 0 TO \| 20 PTS \| -1 Starting to be less and less weird when Green’s the Spurs’ best starter and they win. Great shooting, solid defense. Contract year Danny Green is making Free Agent Danny Green a lot of money.
	Jeff Ayres, PF 14 MIN \| 1-3 FG \| 3-4 FT \| 3 REB \| 1 AST \| 2 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 5 PTS \| +15 Solid work from Ayres filling in for the Baynger. Caught some passes, even scored on a post move.
	Kyle Anderson, SF 3 MIN \| 0-0 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 0 REB \| 2 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 2 TO \| 0 PTS \| +6 I’m not giving him a grade here because he only got 3 minutes of action, but he did pick up a steal and a couple of assists during a Spurs 4th quarter run so deserves praise for being ready to contribute.
	Matt Bonner, C 10 MIN \| 2-5 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 0 REB \| 1 AST \| 0 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 6 PTS \| +12 Hit a couple of really big 3’s in the fourth during that big run. He’s still trying to take over the title of “Master of the Floater” from TP, which is just fun to see more than anything.
	Boris Diaw, C 14 MIN \| 4-7 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 1 REB \| 5 AST \| 0 STL \| 0 BLK \| 4 TO \| 9 PTS \| +2 He was really good in the first half and fine in the second half. What he really did that I liked was take it upon himself to be a set up guy once Manu literally left the game and Parker metaphorically left.
	Patty Mills, PG 28 MIN \| 5-11 FG \| 2-2 FT \| 2 REB \| 2 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 1 TO \| 15 PTS \| +6 First time since returning from injury that he’s looked like 2013-2014 Patty Trillionaire.
	Cory Joseph, PG 24 MIN \| 4-8 FG \| 3-6 FT \| 3 REB \| 5 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 1 TO \| 11 PTS \| +12 He defended Goran Dragic as best as you could. He’s been really good lately. Without him, the Spurs would’ve won even less games in December then they did. They would’ve lost the Wizards game and they would’ve lost Friday night against Phoenix.
	Manu Ginobili, SG 10 MIN \| 2-4 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 2 REB \| 3 AST \| 2 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 4 PTS \| +11 He looked fine when he was in there, but we’ll have to wait and see if these back spasms linger.
	Gregg Popovich Did we see a hockey substitution? I can’t remember seeing one. I thought his ability to mix and match the point guards was good and he’s better than any other coach in the league at trusting a hot line up.

DorieStreet

I don’t see a “minutes issue” at PG. Given the long and lingering hamstring injury to Parker, I foresee 25 minute games, along with some DNP-CDs for him the rest of the regular season. Mills gets more minutes to get back to full stamina and regain his shooting touch and Joseph gets some starts to improve on handling the offense.
Bruno Pongas Fernandes Batista

I agree with you when you say that Joseph earned his spot. Now, I see him “stealing” the minutes form Marco Belinelli, who is terrible defending and sometimes can’t even make his shots. I Aldo believe that both Patty and acory can play together, but if I was Coach Pop I’d play Joseph as PG and Patty as SG.
Bruno Pongas Fernandes Batista

I agree with you when you say that Joseph earned his spot. Now, I see him “stealing” the minutes from Marco Belinelli, who is terrible defending and sometimes can’t even make his shots. I also believe that both Patty and Cory can play together, but if I was Coach Pop I’d play Joseph as PG and Patty as SG.
Governmentname

Only became the FIRST team in NBA HISTORY to score at least 40 in the 4th after 10 or less in the 3rd.
Andrew

I really like the decision to play Joseph and Patty at the 1 and 2. Both are immensely quick, great on D, and terrific ball handlers. Patty makes a great undersized shooting guard. Joseph has been amazing. Too amazing. He can be the PG of the future for us if he wants to stay and play a 6th man role for a couple years as Parker ages, but I don’t blame him if he wants to leave to start elsewhere.

	Tim Duncan, PF 24 MIN \| 6-13 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 7 REB \| 5 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 12 PTS \| -6 Weird stretch of games for Duncan. Didn’t do any scoring against the Wizards, then was better against both the Pistons and Suns, but he didn’t play a ton of fourth quarter minutes in either games. I’m not sure if it’s a match up thing, or an effort thing or a minutes conservation thing. Either way, I find it tough to be too critical when he’s not getting in the game. At the same time, when he’s in he doesn’t look bad aside from getting beat on defense once or twice (Alex Len got him once or twice Friday night).
	Marco Belinelli, SF 24 MIN \| 2-9 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 3 REB \| 1 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 2 TO \| 4 PTS \| -9 Bad defense, wasn’t making his shots and he had to play more minutes then usual because of Manu’s back spasms. Seriously, when he’s the last line of defense on a fast break I just assume it’s a 3-point play because he can’t get out of the way or commit a hard foul.
	Tiago Splitter, C 31 MIN \| 3-7 FG \| 1-2 FT \| 14 REB \| 1 AST \| 0 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 7 PTS \| -14 Cleaned up the glass and looked good on defense (plus/minus can be deceiving sometimes), but he’s looking more and more like the Tiago from last season and he’s playing serious minutes, which also shows he’s healthy.
	Tony Parker, PG 22 MIN \| 3-9 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 1 REB \| 1 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 5 TO \| 7 PTS \| -9 He’s not 100% yet, that much is clear. If he were ineffective, that’d be one thing, but some of the turnovers were just killer. The Dragic/Bledsoe/IT combo is a tough trio for him, so going against Mo Williams and Zach LaVine Saturday night should be easier (assuming he plays).
	Danny Green, SG 35 MIN \| 6-13 FG \| 4-4 FT \| 4 REB \| 1 AST \| 2 STL \| 2 BLK \| 0 TO \| 20 PTS \| -1 Starting to be less and less weird when Green’s the Spurs’ best starter and they win. Great shooting, solid defense. Contract year Danny Green is making Free Agent Danny Green a lot of money.
	Jeff Ayres, PF 14 MIN \| 1-3 FG \| 3-4 FT \| 3 REB \| 1 AST \| 2 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 5 PTS \| +15 Solid work from Ayres filling in for the Baynger. Caught some passes, even scored on a post move.
	Kyle Anderson, SF 3 MIN \| 0-0 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 0 REB \| 2 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 2 TO \| 0 PTS \| +6 I’m not giving him a grade here because he only got 3 minutes of action, but he did pick up a steal and a couple of assists during a Spurs 4th quarter run so deserves praise for being ready to contribute.
	Matt Bonner, C 10 MIN \| 2-5 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 0 REB \| 1 AST \| 0 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 6 PTS \| +12 Hit a couple of really big 3’s in the fourth during that big run. He’s still trying to take over the title of “Master of the Floater” from TP, which is just fun to see more than anything.
	Boris Diaw, C 14 MIN \| 4-7 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 1 REB \| 5 AST \| 0 STL \| 0 BLK \| 4 TO \| 9 PTS \| +2 He was really good in the first half and fine in the second half. What he really did that I liked was take it upon himself to be a set up guy once Manu literally left the game and Parker metaphorically left.
	Patty Mills, PG 28 MIN \| 5-11 FG \| 2-2 FT \| 2 REB \| 2 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 1 TO \| 15 PTS \| +6 First time since returning from injury that he’s looked like 2013-2014 Patty Trillionaire.
	Cory Joseph, PG 24 MIN \| 4-8 FG \| 3-6 FT \| 3 REB \| 5 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 1 TO \| 11 PTS \| +12 He defended Goran Dragic as best as you could. He’s been really good lately. Without him, the Spurs would’ve won even less games in December then they did. They would’ve lost the Wizards game and they would’ve lost Friday night against Phoenix.
	Manu Ginobili, SG 10 MIN \| 2-4 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 2 REB \| 3 AST \| 2 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 4 PTS \| +11 He looked fine when he was in there, but we’ll have to wait and see if these back spasms linger.
	Gregg Popovich Did we see a hockey substitution? I can’t remember seeing one. I thought his ability to mix and match the point guards was good and he’s better than any other coach in the league at trusting a hot line up.

El Conclusion: Some good and some bad in Spurs win

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El Conclusion: Some good and some bad in Spurs win

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