Memphis Grizzlies 97, San Antonio Spurs 104
For the first time this season, the Spurs look like a team that can consistently beat quality opponents. Last night’s advanced box score tells the story in numbers, but the game also gave rise to a few developing trends. I’d like to use this recap to highlight this game’s place in that context.
George Hill. Gregg Popovich inserted Hill into the lineup six games back, and, on an individual level, the results are impressive. As a starter Hill is averaging 15.9 points while shooting 46.9% from the field. He’s aggressive on offense and defense, gets to the rim and does his best to pester his man. Most importantly, Hill’s play making abilities have improved throughout the season. Earlier this year, he did a poor job of including others in the action, which is not such a great thing for a point guard. But, as I said, he’s improved on that front. The only disadvantage to increasing Hill’s minutes is that the Spurs-whether featuring Hill-Parker, Hill-Ginobili, or Ginobili-Parker-are typically outsized by opposing backcourts. Smart coaches, Phil Jackson-smart coaches, will look to exploit their size advantage in a playoff series.
The decline of small-ball. With the gradual return of Matt Bonner and the inclusion of Antonio McDyess into the starting lineup, the Spurs are not featuring as much small-ball. This is a two game sample, and other factors come into play, but their interior defense looks better because of it. And the spacing that Bonner and McDyess provide is helping to open things up for their guards. San Antonio’s smalls play better when the team goes big.
I’m not a small-ball basher. It has its place. But the Spurs are a better team when their personnel allows them to serve small-ball up as a side dish, not an entree. At heart San Antonio is a defensive team. And there are two shot-bothering bigs at the heart of their defense.
Starting Antonio McDyess also provides the benefit of bringing DeJuan Blair off the bench. In my estimation, Blair’s hustle and energy serve the Spurs better in that capacity.
By quarter scoring. Unfortunately, there is at least one discouraging trend. San Antonio has consistently played better basketball in the first half of the game, jumping out to a big lead before seeing it diminish through the final two quarters. This was the case last night, and it has played out this way since opening night.
| Â | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
| Spurs | 25.8 | 26.3 | 23.9 | 24.5 |
| Opponent | 23.4 | 24.9 | 23.9 | 23.4 |
| Times Leading | 28 | 27 | 24 | - |
| Times Trailing | 11 | 14 | 18 | - |
| Draw | 4 | 2 | 1 | - |
*Numbers courtesy of hoopstats.com
This final talking point, the fact that the Spurs are a better during the game’s opening quarters, is difficult to assess. My gut tells me it’s a combination of two factors. The first is that the new guys aren’t executing as well down the stretch because the Spurs’ reduced playbook doesn’t allow Gregg Popovich the range of halftime adjustments he’s enjoyed in the past. The other gut-level guess is obvious: the Spurs’ best three players are either old or injured. LJ Ellis of SpursTalk takes up this discussion in his recap.
Without Tony Parker, the Spurs put their offense in Tim Duncan’s hands — and with good results. Duncan facilitated the offense well, made smart decisions and kept everyone involved. When he looked for his own shot, he was decent but he did take a lot of awkward shot attempts. In his last five games, he’s shooting just 35.8% (28-for-81) from the field. Defensively, he was a step slow sometimes when it came do help defense — though his individual post defense was very solid. All in all, Duncan played a heady game but didn’t look 100% physically. Why? Not sure but hopefully it is just fatigue.
Manu Ginobili continues to have very similar outings. While he’s struggling converting his field goal attempts, he’s making fantastic passes and he’s playing with a lot of energy. Another common thread is the fact that Ginobili is fading down the stretch of games. He was 0-for-3 against Memphis in the fourth quarter. On the season, Ginobili is shooting just 35.3% from the field in fourth quarters, including 23.1% from beyond the arc.
For these reasons, and several others aside, I’m increasingly convinced that the Spurs are an impact player away from a championship. They need to land more punches over the back 24, and some of this is helped by not whiffing on as many swings. But adding another slugger would help.
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