Pregaming: Spurs vs. Bobcats

by

I’ll be totally upfront, I’m not excited at all about this game. I haven’t watched a Bobcats game since the preseason, and there’s good reason for that. They’re bad.

Now that you’re all hot and bothered for some Spurs-Bobcats action, here are a few notes from pregame:

  • I watched Eduardo Najera shooting 3s during shoot around and he hit probably 80% of his attempts. Najera’s release was slower than molasses, however, so I don’t expect him to be considered too much of a threat.
  • Spurs assistant coach Chip Engelland (a Duke alum) said during shoot around that he might not watch Saturday’s Duke-UNC game. Not a single person believed him.
  • Manu Ginobili won’t play tonight against Charlotte. He’s close, but not there yet. Everybody else (including Kawhi Leonard) will be in uniform.
  • This is usually the time of year that Pop starts nailing down his playoff rotation, so I asked him pregame if he was able to start doing that yet. Or if the injuries were preventing that process. He said he’s always thinking about rotations especially with all of the guys coming back into the lineup. He’s having to focus on incorporating guys without screwing up the rhythm of everybody else.

Related posts:

  1. Pregaming: Spurs vs. Bulls
  2. Spurs vs. Bobcats Gameday 3-on-3
  3. El Conclusión: San Antonio Spurs 102, Charlotte Bobcats 72
  4. How the second half was more than won
  • MSteele_in_Eire

    The first paragraph really said it all! This game does not excite me one bit, I’d bet that we learn absolutely nothing from this game (I’d also bet that Blair gets blocked 4 times/a whole load of times by Biyombo). I expect a double digit victory with maybe 6/7 players scoring in double figures, maybe Splitter leading the team with 16/7 points. One love Joby!

  • theghostofjh

    “I’d also bet that Blair gets blocked 4 times/a whole load of times by Biyombo”

    I’ll bet you that he doesn’t. He’s lucky if he gets Blair twice. In fact, I’ll bet Blair gets 15+ and 10+ if he merely gets 25 minutes or more of court time.

  • MSteele_in_Eire

    Looks like another stellar game from Blair. He’s been uber effective against a very strong front line. If he plays this well against the Cats I just can’t wait to see what he has in store for the bigger teams in this league.

  • theghostofjh

    Hey Sherlock, his last game he had 9 & 9 in just 23 minutes against the best rebounding front court in the NBA, and the team with the best record in the NBA over the last 120 games!

  • MSteele_in_Eire

    Yeah well we lost on the boards the other day. He’s just so consistent, I just know he’s gonna bring it every night. Looks like a lot of my predictions are working out.

  • theghostofjh

    “Yeah well we lost on the boards the other day.”

    Oh, so Blair’s responsible for the whole team’s rebounding for the whole game? Wow!
    Blair struggled on the offensive end tonight (and so did TD - 6-17), but I’ll take his 11 rebounds any day. “He’s just so consistent, I just know he’s gonna bring it every night.”He tries as hard as anyone else, and he actually plays in almost every game, without ACL’s. As a matter of fact, he’s played in all but one out of his first 198 games in the NBA. Nobody else on the team is even close.

  • MSteele_in_Eire

    No I didn’t say he was responsible for the whole team’s rebounding, I was simply stating that we lost the game the other day mainly due to their offensive boards. Our guys didn’t hussle enough to the loose balls, Blair included. Rebounding varies from game to game, depending on whether opponents shots are falling, the Bulls shot 42% the other day which means that there were more rebounds to be had than usual. Boozer and Noah simply bullied Blair, and Tim to a lesser extent.
    Tbh I never question Blair’s effort and I do admire him considering how many games he’s been able to play without ACLs but at the end of the day he’s simply not good enough defensively (or consistent enough offensively) to play for this team. He turns the ball over way too much for a guy who doesn’t have the ball in his hands an awful lot. He rushes shots under the rim because of his lack of size. He has lost any explosion he once had and his lack of a defensive presence leaves Tim often defending/boxing out 2 guys. I think he should either be the 1st/maybe 2nd big off the bench or we should package him with someone else and try to bring in a defensive minded 4. I’d be more inclined to keeping him. Just to make this clear I have no problem with Blair, in fact I think he’d be very good in a sixth man role, considering his salary but if he continues to start then this team ain’t going anywhere.

  • theghostofjh

    I’m glad you have it all figured out.