Sunday, November 14th, 2010...8:14 pm
San Antonio Spurs 117, Oklahoma City Thunder 104
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With a little over a minute left in the first quarter, the San Antonio Spurs trailed the Oklahoma City Thunder by 12. And then they started to adjust, and simply make baskets. The Spurs kept the game close until halftime, and then blew the contest open behind Matt Bonner’s hot hand (7-7 3pt, 21 points) and terrific second half team defense. Between the end of the first quarter and the final buzzer, San Antonio slowly, methodically wore the Thunder down with crisp offensive and defensive execution, coming away with a convincing 117-104 victory. A few brief thoughts:
- This was the Spurs’ first victory of the season against a quality opponent. Their 8-1 record is difficult to gauge given the Spurs’ favorable schedule. Still, this was an impressive win.
- DeJuan Blair and George Hill have played poorly to begin the season, but both players are looking more comfortable in their role as starter and sixth man, respectively. Blair finished with 9 points and 11 rebounds in 16 minutes of play. Hill’s stat line is deceptive. He shot a woeful 1-10, finishing with 6 points and 5 assists. But his game leading plus-19 and 32 minutes of play were earned because of solid defense. The Spurs’ second half defense was anchored by Hill, who was the best defender on the court for most of the game.
- The Spurs have scored 340 points in their last three contests. That’s a little different, right? But here’s where it gets weird: in those three games, Tim Duncan has only scored 19 points. Yeah, that’s right. 19. It’s true that the Spurs have had the luxury of resting Duncan due to large second half leads, but it’s also true that the Spurs did not power ahead of their opponents behind Tim Duncan’s offense. In fact, Duncan is 7-23 in the aforementioned games. The Spurs are getting offense from most of their roster (hooray!), but not from Tim Duncan. Let me play the optimist and say this is a great development. You can debate it amongst yourselves.
- The Spurs’ offense began the season in high gear, and it continues to motor along. Their team defense, on the other hand, started slowly but is noticeably on the rise. Whatever Gregg Popovich is saying at halftime is working. San Antonio has outscored their previous two opponents by 30 points in the third quarter. The Spurs threw a blanket over their opponents in those games. And it wasn’t just the rah-rah, go-team group approach-several Spurs have played impressive individual defense. Namely, Tony Parker, George Hill, Richard Jefferson, Tim Duncan, Antonio McDyess, and Tiago Splitter. And the entire roster is putting forth good defensive effort. Gary Neal, for example, is never going to wear the defensive stopper label. But he’s tough, and his contribution helps the whole. Here’s an early season prediction: we’ll spend quite a bit of time prior to the All-Star break mulling over San Antonio’s sudden offensive prowess, but by April most of our oohing and awing will be reserved for San Antonio’s defense. One can already sense a juggernaut taking shape.
- Gregg Popovich probably won’t win coach of the year, but he has my vote. I’m not sure what Popovich and the other Spurs coaches did with Richard Jefferson this summer, but someone should place big piles of praise outside their office doors. The time Popovich put in with Jefferson is more important than any single X or O scribbled so far this season. Richard Jefferson only had 18 point on 5-11 shooting against the Thunder, but he got to the line 7 times, and his defense on Kevin Durant was noteworthy. In short, he looks like a different player, and his play is probably the most crucial component of San Antonio’s 8-1 record. This, I think, is the mark of great coaching. That is, getting the best from one’s players. And, in this case, the coach transformed the player at a time better suited for vacationing.
- Finally, isn’t it great to have Matt Bonner back? He breaks off plus-10 before most people wake up in the morning. Matt Bonner makes the Spurs a dangerous team. Don’t kill the messenger.
80 Comments
November 14th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
I was unlucky enough to not be able to watch the game and had to settle for nba.com play by play, and everytime I saw Bonner 3pt Shot: Made It made me smile
November 14th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
RJ’s defense and Bonner’s shooter are what make me happiest about this game. With that said, the other Spurs like Hill didn’t give up despite the horrid shooting night he had.
RJ will never be Bowen, but he’s definitely looking like a suitable option for a wing defender. Heck, he played the 4 in a lot of their small ball and did well enough.
And Bonner has benefited the team in two straight games. Gives them more options when guys like Blair and Splitter get in foul trouble while still giving some time for Dice and TD to rest.
November 14th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
There were a lot of takeaways from this game.
*First of all, our defense got MUCH better in the second half while our offense continued to roll. We gave up 35pts in the first quarter, but only 38 pts in the entire second half. Westbrook and Durant were held to subpar shooting nights.
*Welcome back Bonner! The good thing about this year is the fact that we won’t have to rely on Matt every single game. He can have games like this and then turn around and go 1-6 from 3 and get scored on every trip down the court. Now, if he if the latter is occurring, we can pull him in favor of Splitter or Blair.
*If our defense will continue to get better we will be tough. I’m not sure if we can play with the Lakers, but then again, I was halfway expecting us to get blown up tonight.
*Last year, we would have folded (for some unknown reason) after when we got down by 12pts in the first half. This year, we have the depth (with Blair, a new RJ, and Hill) to fight back and win by 13 when being down by 12.
*We have a legit shot to start the season 9-1 as opposed to last year’s 4-6 start. This will be a huge difference later in the year when we aren’t 7th seed and attempting to improve our seeding situation.
*Good job, Spurs. This was our biggest win of the season!
November 14th, 2010 at 8:34 pm
I was lucky enough to be at the game (I am going to school in OKC) and every time Bonner hit a 3pt i yelled very loudly in the ears of the Thunder fans in front of me! = )
November 14th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
Great second half D by the Spurs. 48 minutes of team effort, but give RJ the game ball, fantastic hustle… I’m about 4 more games away from writing RJ a written apology. If Bonner can continue to shoot 100% from distance, I’ll send him a fruit basket as well!
Also, way to make them pay at the stripe, love that.
Great game!
November 14th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
“Finally, isn’t it great to have Matt Bonner back? He breaks off plus-10 before most people wake up in the morning. Matt Bonner makes the Spurs a dangerous team. Don’t kill the messenger.”
Can’t argue with this comment, at least for today. Great game Matty! Go Spurs Go.
November 14th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
Bonner’s return has seemed to give the team a boost. Pop has a lot more options with the frontcourt now, and the flexibility lets him out-strategize coaches with a more limited roster.
I shouldn’t bring up this next topic without the space or place to discuss it, but here goes. The Spurs are transitioning away from a team reliant and focused on Tim Duncan to something else, right now. This is despite the fact that both subjectively (to me) and statistically (from several different measures) Duncan was the most productive and important player we had last season, and of course all the previous seasons.
It’s not hard to remember a time when the offense was through Tim first and screen and roll second. _the play_ used to be set up Duncan on the post and cut through so he can work. With the maturation of Parker and Manu it changed, screen and roll became the play with Duncan as the Yin part of that and the second option with his post game. In last season and this one, we’re seeing the guard’s role in the offense increase and other bigs getting the SnR (or pick and pop for McDyess) called for them, even if Tim is on the court.
Part of this is Blair just fell into our laps, and without access to the synergy numbers on it I still bet you he rates very well in the SnR. We’re transitioning the Tim Duncan out of the Tim Duncan play.
November 14th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
^Duncan will be back, when the post season run comes. However, the longer you can shield him from the banging, the better off he is for the post season.
Bonner’s biggest asset is taking away minutes from Dice and Duncan. Once Splitter is up to task, Pop can utilize Splitter/Blair/Bonner and remove minutes from Duncan/Dice. This is a nice option.
November 14th, 2010 at 9:26 pm
Great game tonight. Our depth is outstanding and we have such unique talent sets to work with. We have a brutal few weeks coming up, but I’m much more confident with this test passed.
I love me some Bonner.
November 14th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
As someone who has defended Matt Bonner time and time again on this and other forums, I have to say that tonight feels real good. I’m happy for the Ginger. He’s like the Jackie Robinson of Gingers, proving the haters he belongs in the pros by letting his game speak for itself. There are those who said a Ginger didn’t belong in the big leagues. That Gingers’ lack of athletic ability meant they could never compete at the top level. Well tonight the melotonic barrier was shattered. Yes, he’s yet to perform like this in the playoffs, but you have to admit that he’s never performed like this in the regular season either. He’s got another year of experience under his belt and he’s due for a good playoff performance.
@Greyberger
November 14th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
I’m for the team becoming less Duncan dependent. If we can win on most nights “without” Duncan - and by that I mean without him really breaking a sweat - then he’ll be a fresh boost come playoff times to help push us over the top. If we can become a top seeded playoff team “without” Duncan, then we’ll be a championship team with him performing at his best.
November 14th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
That was a great second half, all around. I don’t think an NBA team should depend on the 3 as a matter of course, but what the heck. When you play good defense and rally like that, you might as well ride the red hot rocket.
I thought I should mention that Tony Parker looks great so far. An explosion of guard talent in the last five years combined with TP’s poor health and subsequent drop in production has rightfully cut him out of the running before this season. But he’s beating guys up and down the floor again, shooting pretty well, and most surprising of all, making timely passes to open men.
This is great news, especially now that he’s starting with Manu and RJ. He can tear up the zone and exploit aggressive defenders, and if he can’t beat his man he’s got at least two guys on the floor who can either hit open shots or drive. If he keeps this up all season I think he’s a top 5 PG again, and I think he’s been working hard for that recognition in spite of the injuries these past few seasons.
I don’t mean to slight RJ’s major contributions so far, but Tony is driving this offense and I think it’s important to recognize his return to form in addition to the wetness of our young shooters.
To be sure, I miss RMJr. a little bit too, I hope he’s doing well (with the Knicks?)
November 14th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by San Antonio Spurs, Andrew A. McNeill. Andrew A. McNeill said: 48MoH / San Antonio Spurs 117, Oklahoma City Thunder 104 http://dlvr.it/8XwLn [...]
November 14th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
i yelled louder with each bonner 3!!! =P glad we got this win. can’t wait for the game vs bulls! also, yay for improved defense in the 2nd half! =)
btw, lakers lost to the suns!!!! =) today’s been a great day! =)
November 14th, 2010 at 9:58 pm
I only got to look at the stats for this game, and one thing concerns me: we only shot 40.9% overall. Meanwhile, we shot an unbelievable 55% from behind the arc.
It doesn’t take a rocket seismologist to put two and two together: we won this game in large part because of some insane 3-pt shooting. That’s not to take away from a great defensive effort (that’s what I gather from everyone’s comments-again, I didn’t get to watch the game), but I think the following is a valid point to consider: what will happen if we were to meet OKC in the playoffs?
We all know 3-pt shooting runs hot and cold. Some games it’s there, and some games it’s just not for no rhyme or reason. Could we win a 7-game series against OKC without relying on 3-pt shooting?
Not if we’re shooting 41% overall. For all the praise of our defense tonight, I still see that we allowed the Thunder to shoot 45.2%, while we only managed 40.9%, and that’s including a rick-diculous 55% from downtown.
Just something to think about. Twawk amongst yourselves.
November 14th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
I mean it’s pretty obvious that 3 pt. shooting is an unsustainable offensive strategy unless you’re playing for the NIT crown or trying to beat the Spurs in the conference semifinals. But it’s something we’re good at right now, and if it helps win games while our very raw team defense jells, I have no complaints.
RJ, James Anderson, Gary Neal and (as of tonight) Matt Bonner have all been getting wide open looks. They should take those shots whenever they’re available. For whatever reason, opposing defenders have tended to sag on shooters or come under screens so far this season and you have to be able to make them pay. If the Spurs were popping up prayers in transition it would be one thing, but these are legitimate, open shots. Otherwise those guys are just wasting space on the court.
Obviously Manu is exempt from this discussion and is free to chuck em up at will, at the top of the clock, on the break, while doubled, etc.
November 14th, 2010 at 10:26 pm
each of our bigs took advantage of playing off of duncan in several of their big plays when the game was still close… i think we agree that the spurs will rely on td in playoffs as much as is neccessary. Pop does seem to be playing a great game of chess this season managing minutes to win the war, and if we keep improving, the battles too.
Tony is doing his thing alright, but I wouldn’t say that he’s better than RJ or Manu. It’s starting to remind me of Larry Brown’s championship Pistons (only better), just such a team effort. Dice doesn’t look ready for retirement to me, maybe he’ll look to play out his contract. The overall chemistry is really great, especially regarding RJ’s key place on the team. So radically different from last season. In terms of the turn-around, the bench is a big part of it, but RJ is really making them a different team… I gotta believe that the whole team is giving it up to him after these wins. He was awesome tonight. He won’t make the all-star team ahead of melo, dirk, durant, maybe milsap or randolf, but he’s right there with our all-star caliber players… what a great mix of talents. I’m starting to let go of the aching in my heart left behind by bruce bowen… just starting to, anyway.
Matt Bonner… I have to wait and see, but he’s a hard working guy. I always wondered why guys coming back from injury don’t always have a beautiful looking stroke, and increased FT accuracy. Looks like big red came to play, put in some work to vindicate himself. To that point, I know James Anderson has a new born, but I hope he’s doing some quality homework as well.
November 14th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
I sat next to BrazilSpursFan at the game. It’s true. Everytime Bonner launched, we knew it was good. There was much yelling and high fiving.
And for all the praise his offense is getting-and since i was at the game, i’m not sure how it looked on TV- his defense has been just as solid. He had a couple deflections, and even when the Thunder went super small Bonner was one of our better defenders in one of our best defensive outings of the season. He did an excellent job staying right in front of whoever he was guarding (and frequently it seemed to be James Harden), and forcing either a tough, off balance jumper, or a long contested two. His box score will never show his defensive skills, but he did an excellent job tonight. His play was a HUGE part of us coming from behind. I dont know if he came in while we were down 12 or 5 (for most of the first half it seemed like we were bouncing between the two with no inbetween), but the lineup with him and Blair seemed to give the Thunder all kinds of problems.
In a playoff series against the Thunder, we win in 6. They dont have the balance to beat us. Kristic shot out of his mind tonight (and frequently was making long distance two’s over Duncan), Green played well, and Ibake has improved quite a bit. I dont know what their lineup needs. Their bigs arent phenomenal, but they are solid. Their team, though, as a whole just feels like it is missing *something*.
In response to New York City,
I think they are counting missed tips in the fg%. I wouldnt worry about that stat tonight. In addition to the missed tips, Manu missed 3-4 layups I think he would usually make. Manu, Duncan, and Hill all had off shooting nights.
We’re also 8 games in, and shooting almost 50% from 3 for the season (without looking I think its around 45%), even with one of our best 3 point shooters (Hill) in a funk. I dont think we have to worry about that percentage ever dropping below 40 for the season, barring major, major injuries.
Basically, we’ve got SO MUCH firepower. It really is impressive.
November 14th, 2010 at 10:34 pm
The way Red Rocket shoots makes me think he sees his arms as a mortar and calculates the appropriate angle relative to distance and wind velocity in advance of every shot.
November 14th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
NYC,
we had two long field goal dry spells, one pretty early in each half. To start the game, OKC didn’t miss for awhile, but the Spurs kept it from looking too scary because we were drawing fouls on almost every offensive posession. And we were hitting all our free throws! Our first 3 points were manu going 3 for 3 from the line and we kept at it until somebody finally found the net. That had a big impact on the low FG% for the night. I think in the PO, we would be more aggressive and finish more often for the “and 1″.
In the second half drought, a little bit into the 3rd period, OKC wasn’t doing much better than we were, and our defense was starting to really come alive. The 3s were timely and beautiful, no doubt and repeatedly put a wet towel on their emotional momentom, but we sure didn’t look like a Raptors team on a good night, rest assurred of that much at least.
November 14th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
@BrazilSpursFan
Ain’t it great to watch a game in enemy territory? And by where I’ve lived, these last 6 years have been great! I was at many of those Western Conferance Finals and Semi-Finals games. I could have done without last year’s early exit though!
November 14th, 2010 at 10:53 pm
that was like 48 minutes of hell!!!
November 14th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
I know I’m stating the obvious, but our offense has been lights out this year. Here is a quick comparison between this season and last.
FT shooting
2010 2009
77.8% (13th in league) 74% (24th in league)
3pt shooting
2010 2009
42.7% (1st in league) 35.8% (11th in league)
PPG
2010 2009
107.9 (3rd in league) 101.4 (15th in league)
FTA/Game
2010 2009
25.9 (14th in league) 24.0 (tied 18th in league)
Points per shot
2010 2009
1.3 (3rd in league) 1.25 (tied 10th in league)
Although it’s still early in the season, it’s clear to see that we are shooting much better from both the FT line and 3pt line as well as getting to the stripe a bit more often. Let’s hope these trends continue.
November 14th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
As someone who always bashed Bonner in every Spurs forum on the web, I gotta say wow! Great performance tonight Matty! Check out these stat lines I just pulled from online about 2 players I’ve been saying we should’ve kept over Red Rocket! Guess that’s why R.C. Buford’s in charge of the Spurs and I work at the real-life basis for the movie “Office Space”!
Ian Mahinmi #28 C
2010-11 STATS
0.4PPG 0.8RPG 0BPG
Pops Mensah-Bonsu #44 C
2010-11 STATS
0.4PPG 2.2RPG 0BPG
November 14th, 2010 at 11:00 pm
LOL you thought Pops Mensah-Bonsu was better than Matt Bonner
November 14th, 2010 at 11:03 pm
SpursfanSteve,
I agree that OKC is missing something, and to me it’s pretty obvious what. With their guard situation, they don’t do a great job of running a the offense. Westbrook is a tough mathchup, he has a good two-man game in Durant, and both those guys do a good job of finding the shooters, but it’s just sort of half-baked without a true point guard or manu-type playmaker. Someone like Hedu or Diaw would help them. If they want to build with youth, they should consider trading for Terrence Williams maybe. Easist fix is to slide Westbrook to the 2. That said, Ibaka is frightening. Soon enough he will take over starter’s minutes, he does so much when he’s on the floor. He’s a monster. They have the makings of a big 3 that can just cause a hell of a lot of trouble, it just needs some glue.
2 random comments
Some have said that the way the game is called these days, that defense is less of a factor. I disagree, but one thing that is always important is hitting your free throws. I would take a lot of satisfaction in the Spurs being able to win some tough games at the line, and improve to a top 8 team in FT%.
Once again, we are good coming out of time-outs and the half-time break. Mental toughness, and good coaching!
8 - 1! Let’s rest up and get those Bulls.
November 14th, 2010 at 11:19 pm
we were shooting 42.7% from distance, but after tonight we pushed it to 44%. i think, as others here seem to, the fears of relying on 3s is premature, as we haven’t revved up duncan yet (i love that we’ve been able to rest him).
SpursfanSteve
November 14th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
“Basically, we’ve got SO MUCH firepower. It really is impressive.”
i really think this is one of the amazing early trends of the season; we all knew we’d have to rely on duncan less and less, but how many of us thought we could win without his scoring this soon? truly heartening for the future of the spurs.
otherwise, really encouraging win, and honestly, i don’t think our defense is that far away. we’re still allowing the least free throws in the league (no big surprise), but by my eyes, it looks like we’re forcing more turnovers than the past few years.
as jim said in the last post, we’re 8th in defensive rating, which ain’t bad. there’s 5 teams that rank in the top ten in both offensive and defensive rating: heat, bulls, lakers, hornets, and us. the celtics and, surprisingly, pacers are not far off, but you look at a list of title contenders, and aside from the pacers, that’s not far from the entire list.
“Gregg Popovich probably won’t win coach of the year, but he has my vote.”
at the beginning of the year, we weren’t on that list, and to be honest, a lot here weren’t sure if we would even challenge, but you have to give it to pop in this early going. he’s doing a heck of a job reviving hope for a 5th title.
November 14th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
Monty Williams will get coach of the year… and be out of a job in two seasons.
November 14th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
If we can continue to play D like we did in the second tonight, we’ve got a serious shot at enjoying some summertime basketball! This team has some mojo working and it’s not all on Tim’s back. Great team win!!
November 14th, 2010 at 11:56 pm
This spread-the-wealth San Antonio squad, indeed, has all the makings of a fifth-championship team, and once the defense really picks up, look out everybody out there! - Lakers, Celtics, Heat, not necessarily in that order, included.
November 15th, 2010 at 1:44 am
Enjoyed the Ginger attack. Enjoyed even more seeing the team respond to an early road deficit by matching bucket for bucket, then turning on the defense and running right by the home team. You’d have thought the Thunder were the team playing a back-to-back.
The emphasis on pushing the ball for easy scores continues to pay off. So many guys look confident in their shot and know that more open looks will be coming. It also means that coming back from a big deficit doesn’t have to be a game long grind.
November 15th, 2010 at 2:17 am
@Jason - Hey, I’m as happy for the ginger-haired folks as the next guy. But Matt Bonner as the Jackie Robinson of Ginger? I think you may have forgotten a Deadhead named Big Red…
November 15th, 2010 at 2:23 am
@New York City - A “rocket seismologist”? I know rockets vibrate a lot at liftoff, but it still doesn’t seem like a profession that would draw the finest minds… In other words, it’s not like it’s brain burglary.
November 15th, 2010 at 2:35 am
I’m with mac: With all due respect to Pop, Monty Williams has been the coach of the year. By a mile. It takes a lot of huevos to bench Marcus Thornton for Marco Bellinelli AND Willie Green in order to improve your team’s defense. Amazing job and kudos to Dell Demps as well. The really scary part? They’re not satisfied with the 8-0 start:
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/11/10/report-hornets-looking-at-trades-even-called-about-iguodala/
November 15th, 2010 at 3:38 am
Finally got to watch a whole game front start to finish. And it was (in the first) when it was making go…Oh No, Not Again, Like Last Year.
And great observations by all. It makes this site one of the best for seeing perspectives that one might not always see or be in tune to looking for.
A little on what some haven’t responded to yet.
I agree about Hill’s defense. Even though he got tagged on a couple of questionable calls. And there were plenty to go around in that game. He kept up the intensity and didn’t back down.
And that’s what I liked about Tiago tonight though he had 3 fouls in 2 minutes. The bogus calls he received (especially the blocking foul that should have been a charge on Durant) didn’t make him stop playing intense D. And that ‘s when it seemed the team started playing better defense. I don’t know if that was a rallying moment for the team…but it sure seemed like it.
The play of Gary Neal is a much welcomed site. This kid is for real. And though he’s not a lock down defender…he’s been playing some tenacious defense himself. Neal was a great complement out there tonight. And I’m sure he’s only going to get better.
If they can keep this up, the excitement (and expectation) level is only going to grow.
I’m trying my best to temper that within myself and not allow the wins or losses to mean too much at this time. But that giddy feeling. That level of expectation one might have. That’s getting harder to control with each game being played.
And that’s what I’m liking so far about this year. That and Duncan actually being allowed to play limited minutes and still able to win without having to go through him. One of the most balanced team the Spurs have put together in a long time.
November 15th, 2010 at 4:04 am
Go Spurs Go!!
November 15th, 2010 at 4:35 am
Great win SPURS, let keep the momentum going. The defense is a pleasure to watch form, happy to see the red rocket hit his shots but stil don’t want to see him out there for more than say 10 mpg it’s a match up/game decision thing really. for me the development of Splitter and Hill is paramount these are the guys who are goin to rest the big 3 need to keep leads etc with the hot hands of Neal/Anderson (Booo for hs injury) and now Red lets ride em while they last!!!
GO SPURS GO!!
November 15th, 2010 at 5:53 am
All Bonner haters, please stand up and be counted!!
Go Spurs Go!!
November 15th, 2010 at 6:19 am
What I’m liking most about this team recently is the throwback to our championship teams, especially the ’05 one. They’d keep it close until half time and then in the second half they’d just slowly, methodically turn the defensive screw ever tighter until they just sucked the life out of the opponent. Last night it was palpable as the Thunder just got more and more discouraged with each possession until you could tell they just said, “fuck it” and gave up. You could see it in their faces and in their body language. That’s Spurs basketball. Friday against Utah should be real test as they’ve been relying on fourth quarter comebacks.
November 15th, 2010 at 6:38 am
@ mac
Ha! I totally agree about Monty! Just like Avery Johnson and Mike D’Antoni and other coaches who aren’t as smart as Popovich who hasn’t won NBA Coach of the Year!
November 15th, 2010 at 7:08 am
I know we’re only 9 games into the season, but you have to be excited and proud when you look at the standings and see the Spurs with the 2nd best record. They were 4-5 last year. We’ll be even stronger when James comes back.
@agutierrez
I agree about Utah. It will be a great test and I hope the Spurs can shut them down. Keep it up!!
November 15th, 2010 at 7:13 am
ohh, matt bonner. this love hate relationship is killing me. so where do we find minutes for tiago? keeping dice on the bench? our front court is crowded with versatility. this is a problem, but certainly not a bad one.
November 15th, 2010 at 7:42 am
I jumped straight to type my comment before reading the 30+ left prior to mine. This game was great. Held KD to 23….we broke his streak of 25+ points last season I believe. We guard him better than most teams. Jim….your boy is looking GREAT out there. His style of play will garner him fouls but I’d rather that than him shooting 15 footers. Red Rocket was even more impressive than your boy Blair. So it goes to show your assessment can be hit or miss. Yes it’s a young season but we wouldn’t be fans if we didn’t speculate early and often. TD looks ok 2 me. Just not needed and that’s a GOOD thing. Hurting my fantasy team but my Spurs fandom out ranks fantasy. TP is looking unstoppable out there in my opinion. He looks slightly slower but his IQ paired with his still above average speed has him looking elite.
November 15th, 2010 at 8:01 am
“the melotonic barrier”
That’s just all kinds of awesome.
Fun game to watch. Wouldn’t have been so fun without the Rocket’s Red Glare, but I won’t complain. I loved the 24 Minutes of Hell. Looking forward to seeing it stretch to 36.
November 15th, 2010 at 8:24 am
Suprisingly no one has yet to mention the game changing spark that Blair provided in the opening minutes of the third quarter before picking up his fourth foul. He was gobbling up boards, getting steals, and And 1′s.
November 15th, 2010 at 8:52 am
[...] 48 Minutes of Hell: “The Spurs’ offense began the season in high gear, and it continues to motor along. Their team defense, on the other hand, started slowly but is noticeably on the rise. Whatever Gregg Popovich is saying at halftime is working. San Antonio has outscored their previous two opponents by 30 points in the third quarter. The Spurs threw a blanket over their opponents in those games.” [...]
November 15th, 2010 at 9:16 am
What is really great to see, we have 3PT shooters! Yes, I used the plural form of shooter. Having multiple guys that are making shots from outside (Bonner, RJ, Manu, Neal, Anderson) makes it so we don’t have a single-dimension player with 4 others trying to make 3′s but can 5 studs on the court.
It’s good to see Duncan not need to score. With other teams with dominant big men (Lakers) we need Duncan to worry about playing defense and getting rebounds. Let Kobe chase our scorers around the court wondering who will make the shots. Just stay rested and stay healthy Spurs!
November 15th, 2010 at 9:20 am
1. We only had 12 turnovers last night. Yay!
2. We still only shot 41% from the field, which would have affected us had we not shot 55% from 3′s. Blair, Ginobili, and Hill combined to shoot 9-35 (26%), although they shot a collective 16-17 from the free throw line.
3. I’m still not ecstatic with Blair’s shot selection (by my count he got blocked 3 times), but he’s rebounding much better, and had 7 offensive boards in 16 foul trouble shortened minutes. That’s his game, no need to take Ibaka 1-on-1 all the time.
4. Someone stated on here that they were encouraged my the way Splitter continued to be aggressive even though he had 2 fouls early. I agree. He needs to stay aggressive until Pop pulls him, not matter how many fouls he has.
5. Ibaka looks like Mutombo 2.0. The guy is a complete freak. He’s shooting 83% free throws on the year, too.
6. RJ did a solid job on Durant last night.
7. I’m not worried about Timmy’s output the past few games. As long as he can get a few reps to keep sharp, he’ll be ready to go for a long playoff run.
This was a quality win against a quality opponent. We beat a super athletic team and now we get the super disciplined Jazz. It will be a contrast in styles but I’m confident we’ll do very well.
November 15th, 2010 at 9:48 am
Just to add to the discussion…
- Great that we were able to have Timmeh play both back to backs. I’m all for us having him be our defensive anchor and having the rest of our team carry the offensive load, especially during the season.
- As everyone’s mentioned, Tony’s playing as well as he’s ever had and he seems to be seeing the court better as well. Defensively, it also seems to be able to see the passing lanes better and seems to be able to get more pesky steals than usual.
- Is it me or does it seem like whenever Gary Neal is on the floor (whether he’s hot from outside or not) just seems like he’s EVERYWHERE? I really like this guy’s energy, a true spark plug off the bench.
- Body language wise, it actually seems like the everyone likes RJ this year. Couldn’t say that last year, except for maybe Manu.
- Love our ball movement this year, and the fact that Neal and Anderson (ugh) can both handle the ball a little does wonders for our flexibility.
- Our improved 3-point shooting is going to open up so many things for us offensively (driving lanes etc.). 3 pt shooting might not be something to live by, but its certainly something you can’t live without in today’s league.
- It’s so nice that we’re hitting our open looks this year (compared to last). If we would have done during the NO game we would be the undefeated team, not them.
- I wonder how much of our success this year will come from teams just plain not being used to our new up-tempo, guard-dominated play? They have to prepare for an entirely different team this year.
- I still think we give us entirely too many points in our first quarters. Maybe I’m just having a brain fart but I can’t think of a team that has played this up-tempo yet at the same time has been able to play strong defense. Let’s hope it lasts.
November 15th, 2010 at 10:07 am
just wanted to add that this is how we want to use Timmy. In the first 8 games they were just establishing their chemistry playing t0gether, so we needed him, but going forward, I would like to see carreer low usage against weaker opponets. His days of being a the kind of true pro who brings is night in and night out, aren’t the issue anymore, we are playing a more calculated season-long strategy. We’ll need him in certain match-ups, and sometimes against weaker teams (like the Clippers game), but I am sure he’d trade additional all-star appearances for finals appearances… so I am very happy that we are seeing this, it is what I was hoping for.
It would be nice to see a similar plan start to affect manu and tony’s minutes as well. Neal can handle a increased role, and hurry back Mr. Anderson. Glad to see the praise for Hill’s efforts, he will definitely be capable of doing some heavy lifting as the season progresses. A solid 11-man rotation is an underappreciated thing. If things go really well for us, no spurs will make great fantasy starters. RJ won’t always deliver his unconcious jumper, so the best fantasy choice is probably TP, but, like I said, I’ll take a lower usage rate please.
Do RJ and Hill join TD on the All-Defensive team this year? I hope so!
We are obviously excited to get a nice road win, but let’s temper our enthusiasm for a franchise best start. All it means is that we are gonna have a tougher schedule when the other good teams have ironed things out a bit too. Two less games of padding v. the clippers when the races are tight. I don’t like it. Yes, splitter and blair will come along, so that helps. I like to see such improvement regarding turnovers, and defensively, and am waiting to see the trends continue, but it’s not like we are gonna go undefeated through the month of November.
November 15th, 2010 at 10:20 am
“5. Ibaka looks like Mutombo 2.0. The guy is a complete freak. He’s shooting 83% free throws on the year, too.”
Count me among the really impressed. I knew he was strong and athletic (Gary Neal found out first hand), that he could block shots, but his skill level was what impressed me. His jumper looked great. It was smooth, he didn’t hesitate, he was confident. He might be their 3rd best player this year. Is there a better 21 and under big in the league? Cousins, Favors maybe? He’s the entire package from what I’ve seen. If he keeps improving….yikes.
November 15th, 2010 at 10:44 am
@td4life
I agree. It’s early. I always try to keep the perspective of “nothing is ever as good or bad as it seems.” So while we are winning games, we’ve got a long way to go. Inevitably, we’re going to go through some rocky stretches. We’ll drop some games we probably shouldn’t, Matt Bonner and Pop will get their share of hate mail, TP trades will pop up here and there, etc. We just need to keep pounding on that rock as a team.
I’d look for Manu and TD’s minutes to decline further - Manu is averaging 32.8 per game right now, which would be a career high (!) if he kept it up for an entire season. Probably not a career high we’d want him to achieve at this point.
Now having said that, the versatility and cohesion we’ve seen so far is what has me excited. And the best part? We’re not even firing on all cylinders. We’ve yet to fully incorporate all the new guys. As they learn the system and our team defense starts to get more consistent, we could be really good.
November 15th, 2010 at 10:47 am
RJ’s improvement speaks more to his work ethic and character than anything our coaching staff did this summer (not to make light of their efforts). We are seeing dividends of what RC and Pop invested in a year ago.
Does anyone think we would have RJ on the roster if he played this consistently well to end last season? I think he would have gotten 10-12 million per year from NJ, LAC, or NY after LeBron spurned them.
November 15th, 2010 at 10:52 am
Didn’t see the game (ESPN highlights were lame). Sounds as if we’re improving on defense. Bonner making 3′s on the road-keep it up! And it looks like everyone is taking their freethrow shooting seriously this season. I would like to see the team get the turn-overs-per-game average below 10. That and 80% FT will get us 5-6 more wins this season.
November 15th, 2010 at 11:01 am
Trying to be an optimist, one thing that I find encouraging from Tim’s current slump:
In years past when Tim struggled from the field, he would often try and shoot wis way out, be it from the field or drawing fouls and getting pts from the line. He would exert a lot of energy in trying to get the shots to fall or draw contact, not to mentioned he had to play more minutes because it meant were were probably down. It would take away from Tim’s game on the defensive side as well.
This year it’s different, if his shots arent falling, he can confidently defer to whoever has the hot hand,
and concentrate on playing defense without wearing himself out. Timmy’s only averaging 7 pts a game the past three simply because he doesent HAVE TO do more to help us win. It is encouraging to know we are approximating a very good offensive balance.
November 15th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
@ Tyler
That alley over Neal was just humiliatingly awesome. We use to yell “Pantene” when a guy got dunked on like that, you know, since Neal’s going to need it to get Ibaka’s ball sweat out of his hair.
November 15th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
THE RED MOTHAFING ROCKET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 15th, 2010 at 12:14 pm
Hornets are willing to move Marcus Thornton and he is a cheap 23 year old scoring machine. Quin and future secoon round pick?
November 15th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
In order for Manu and TP’s minutes to drop slightly, Hill is going to have to pick up his point guard skills and also his scoring more consistently. Otherwise, one of them will always be the other guard with Hill for the majority of the game.
November 15th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
Red Rocket, how about the Ginger Avenger!!!!!!! Greay game Bonner, GO SPURS GO!!!
November 15th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
I have had it with all the critics.
“Look at who we have beat and how we beat them…”
Seriously - take a hike.
We won 50 games last season and played like crap for the first half of the season. I am really interested in seeing what we can do when we win the tight ones that we couldnt do last year.
At the end of the day - this is still the NBA. The most competitive basketball in the world. Any team can win on any given night. I think our record of 8-1 is incredible, considering we already had a half dozen losses by this time last year. Get with it folks, we are winning and you dont like it…
“A win is a win.”
Spurs fans are soooo spoiled. Will you ever be satisfied?
November 15th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
I do NOT want to see TP’s minutes drop. That man is 28 not 35. Injuries decreased his production last season but before that he was steadily improving. He seems to be back on track with that. Manu is also good for 32 minutes a game. I truly hate the way minutes are monitored. I remembered the teams of the 90′s minutes weren’t monitored as much no matter what the age of the player. If they’re still playing @ an elite level play them. There aren’t any 38 year olds on our team. I know many of the players have many miles on their legs but micromanaging is not going to help the team. Just my opinion. If you can’t play 8 minutes per quarter why are you on the team?
November 15th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
Im glad to see we have momentum going this early in the season, Im glad they spurs are playing with a sense of urgency. This is most definetly going to be a very different season than in previous seasons. It is so good to see Tim not having to carry most of the work load during the regular season, I feel like most teams already knew that if they shut TD down they shut down our offense, I am happy to see that now we have more options on offense, we keep opposing teams on their toes !
November 15th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Bankshot21
November 15th, 2010 at 7:42 am
“Jim….your boy is looking GREAT out there. His style of play will garner him fouls but I’d rather that than him shooting 15 footers. Red Rocket was even more impressive than your boy Blair. So it goes to show your assessment can be hit or miss.”
What do you mean? Bonner had a very hot shooting game. It says nothing different about his relative value game in and game out over an extended period of time. Bonner has always helped us win “some” games here and there as a result of his hot shooting, especially during the “regular” season. But in case you didn’t know, Bonner doesn’t shoot 100% from the three for his career, or even over a three-game stretch he probably never has. “My assessment” had nothing to do with isolated “game-by-game” performances. It had to do with average overall production game-in and game-out over a long period of time. That assessment has not been “hit or miss”.
By the way, Blair has had 23 rebounds in slightly less than his last 40 minutes of game time. Very few players in the league have done that recently, Kevin Love being the most prominent one.
Bankshot21
November 15th, 2010 at 8:24 am
“Suprisingly no one has yet to mention the game changing spark that Blair provided in the opening minutes of the third quarter before picking up his fourth foul. He was gobbling up boards, getting steals, and And 1′s.”
Yes, I was going to mention that. Kudos to you for giving it some attention. That was a big spark coming out of the half-time deficit.
ThatBigGuy
November 15th, 2010 at 9:20 am
“Blair, Ginobili, and Hill combined to shoot 9-35 (26%), although they shot a collective 16-17 from the free throw line.”
Manu, Hill, and TD shot a combined 7 for 31 (23%), a collective 17 for 20 from the line.
“I’m still not ecstatic with Blair’s shot selection (by my count he got blocked 3 times), but he’s rebounding much better, and had 7 offensive boards in 16 foul trouble shortened minutes. That’s his game, no need to take Ibaka 1-on-1 all the time.”
Get used to it. He’s experiencing a fairly large learning curve during his transition to PF. His offensive game as a PF is not going to be transformed overnight. Far from it. It’s a multi-year process, just as it was for Paul Millsap.
“….but he’s rebounding much better, and had 7 offensive boards in 16 foul trouble shortened minutes.”
That’s an understatement. He had 11 total rebounds in 16 minutes, which is 33 rpg. 48! He’s one of the best rebounder’s per minute in the entire league. Because he’s had some struggles in the early going this year is essentially meaningless.
“Someone stated on here that they were encouraged my the way Splitter continued to be aggressive even though he had 2 fouls early. I agree. He needs to stay aggressive until Pop pulls him, not matter how many fouls he has.”
I don’t know how someone can rationalize that someone committing 3 fouls in two minutes is good. It’s just one game, so it’s obviously nothing to panic about. But it’s not good. He’s going to need to figure out how to reduce his fouling.
November 15th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
Jim Henderson
“I don’t know how someone can rationalize that someone committing 3 fouls in two minutes is good. It’s just one game, so it’s obviously nothing to panic about. But it’s not good. He’s going to need to figure out how to reduce his fouling.”
2 of those fouls were questionable at best. He only got them because of his tenacity. That’s what was good about them. It showed he wasn’t passive and hanging back.
He’ll get more like that too until the league and him get better acclimated to each other. In the game against Philadelphia…Tiago took a charge just like the one against Durant. Difference was in the Philadelphia game it was a charge and against Durant it was a blocking foul.
Blair averages 5.3 fouls per 36. Something he needs to improve upon as well. And probably will. Just like Tiago probably will improve.
3 (stupid) fouls in 2 minutes is not good. 3 (2 being questionable) fouls in 2 minutes playing tenacious D is a good thing to see.
November 15th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
grego,
Obviosuly:
the more minutes that Hill earns, the fewer that TP and Manu will have to play… with Hill on the floor you can rest one of them, without Hill, you can’t really rest either. Simple math, 6 more minutes from the bench (and Hill is the main option as the sixth man), could potentially get Manu’s average down to around 28-29, and Tony’s down to 32 or so. Which over the course of the season, helps protect against injury. Hill can rest more when Neal is on the floor, but the more court time Hill gets, the more capable he will be of taking over with Manu and Tony resting, and run the second unit. If we play well enough against weaker competition, then we can rest our starting guards much more often than we saw in 6 of the first 9 games, and get our bench valuable court experience. But Hill also gets the nod when we need defense, so I think it’s reasonable to expect him to eat into our stars’ mpg.
November 15th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
In the last post I was referring to the ideal. With James recuperating, Hill will be resting RJ, so that plan skews things, but I like getting Neal in there as well (and he can stretch the floor subbing for Jefferson).
November 15th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
@Jason
I am happy Bonner had a good game too. However, I am one who believes he should be traded unless the Spurs use him in the right way. First off he is a below average defender. The Spurs need to hide him defensively (that is put him on somebody who won’t exploit his weaknessess) or double team his man. I have no problem with him gaurding Ibaka, C. Frye, M. Camby, T. Chandler, N. Collison, or even SF’s that don’t score. However, he should not be gaurding Dirk, Pau, Bynum, Odom, Scola, D. West, Amare, D. Howard, Boozer, or anybody that can take advantage of him. He is what he is a 5th big and 4th at best. If Pop begins to understand that then I have no problem with him on the team.
November 15th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
If I may chime in on Hill. Hill has proven to be a good defender; A good scoring guard; But he’s not a facilitator like a true PG would be.
Now if the Spurs can continue to mask that flaw…that’s a good thing. And they can. And they have.
But several times in the game against Oklahoma (or many games for that matter)…Hill missed on several opportunites to give it to the best option on the court to score. And even ill advisibly forced some shots on his own when a better option were to be made to dish to a better option on the court.
I know it’s still a learning curve. But he’s had 3 seasons to become better at this. Hopefully he will grasp the nuances of playing PG better when it comes to finding, knowing and distributing the ball.
And I think he can. It’s just probably hard to not do what comes natural than to consciously do what doesn’t.
November 15th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
@ Jim
“I don’t know how someone can rationalize that someone committing 3 fouls in two minutes is good.”
As rob pointed out, 2 of his fouls were questionable. I wasn’t really applauding the fact that he got 3 fouls in 2 minutes, I was applauding the fact that he didn’t let the number of fouls make him play timid. Some games he’ll get that charge call, sometimes he won’t. But if he’s playing timid, he doesn’t attempt to draw the charge, and Durant dunks. Instead, he made a great effort and sent Durant to the line to earn his points.
November 15th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
i just don’t see george hill as a consistent offensive spark off the bench. i think a comittee of hill neal anderson(healthy) and bonner will provide the offense while splitter dyess provide the interior d.
November 15th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
I’m surprised no one mentioned how much better Duncan’s defense is this year. Especially this game. Last year he could never get to help in time. This game his help defense was amazing, especially on Westbrook.
November 15th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
The Beat Counselor
November 15th, 2010 at 9:48 am
“Is it me or does it seem like whenever Gary Neal is on the floor (whether he’s hot from outside or not) just seems like he’s EVERYWHERE? I really like this guy’s energy, a true spark plug off the bench.”
Yes, one of the main reasons he gets some minutes even when he’s not shooting well is because he’s very “active” out there, and is not afraid to go in among the tree’s and rebound the ball. In fact, at 6’3″, his 7.1 rpg. per 36 minutes is even ahead of Matt Bonner, and only behind Blair, Duncan, McDyess, & Splitter.
As far as the OKC game:
We played one half of decent defense. We will not continue to beat top-tier teams with that kind of effort (66 points given up in first half). The consistency must pick up or we’re going to garner some losses over the next week or so. The offense is looking good, but we can’t afford to rely as much on 44% shooting from behind the arc to save our ass, and we’re still not getting out on our opponent’s 3-point shooters well-enough.
November 16th, 2010 at 12:01 am
I casually follow the guys I once hoped the Spurs would acquire, so I check in from time to time on Dorrell Wright, the shooter and defender who left Miami for the Warriors… he’s not bad, and hitting 47% of his threes… but the thing that I keep noticing, and waiting to change, is that Monta friggin’ Ellis is hitting over 51% of his FGs through 10 games. What? Monta Ellis? I know it’s early, but if he keeps that up, he’s got my vote for the first player in history to win the Most Improved Player award twice.
Then again, I just hopped over and checked his career stats, the last time he won the award he averaged .531(!) for 20ppg through 81 games… I guess the stats tell me a different story than my limited viewing of him have… I always thought he was just another Allen Iverson wannabe, just as inefficient as the icon himself.
November 16th, 2010 at 1:37 am
@td4life - with the current starting lineup, having Hill as the backup guard puts more pressure on minutes for both Parker and Manu. Obviously there’ll be some overlap and one guy will get rest. However, nearly every moment, Spurs need TP or Manu on the court.
While Duncan is getting more rest this season, more than ever, Manu’s minutes are going up. I mean he’s playing great, but there are times, when he’s becoming fatigued, because he has to be all over.
It’s tough to have a 2 guard lineup of Hill/Neal in without a ball distributor. Yes, when Anderson comes in, you have a better balance at the 3 position, but that doesn’t solve the ball distributor issue. Honestly, when Anderson is back, it’ll make it tougher for Anderson and Neal to get the time they deserve possibly.
Also, Hill isn’t the greatest at creating for himself. As much as I like Manu starting, it hurts Hill in the process. Although with Hill’s inconsistent shot, that probably wouldn’t help much. With Manu of even TP off the bench, there’s a better overlap on the minutes.
Hill’s at his best when he’s a 2 guard and be set up from Parker or Manu. Honestly, even if Hill’s not a PG, he needs to pick up more of the TP like scoring or he won’t grow any further.
That said, I love Hill.
@Jim
Yes, one of the main reasons he gets some minutes even when he’s not shooting well is because he’s very “active” out there, and is not afraid to go in among the tree’s and rebound the ball. In fact, at 6’3″, his 7.1 rpg. per 36 minutes is even ahead of Matt Bonner, and only behind Blair, Duncan, McDyess, & Splitter.
—-
Well this is party because Anderson is out. His minutes would balance out in a few months. The big men position is probably the worst one to look at as far as minutes go. Bonner is just coming back from injury. Splitter in the same boat. Blair has his story. And TD and Dice are old.
That said, Neal is a great option to have, albeit it short for the 3 position as a temporary stop gap (although Manu is playing the 3 to help cover this area at times when Neal’s in). I’m almost sure Neal will have a few game winners this season and at least one in the post season.
November 16th, 2010 at 1:52 am
@td4life - With Ellis, I think you’re seeing two things: First, just how difficult the relationship between Ellis and Nellie really was and second, a strong response to adversity. It’s that latter one that’s interesting. I remember Elvis Costello saying once that getting booed off the stage early in his career was the best thing that ever happened to him. Monta turned pro straight out of high school and never really faced doubts, boos, failure, etc., until recently. But after the moped accident he was really demonized. Some people respond well when they reach that kind of a crossroads, some respond poorly. Looks like he’s responding well so far.
November 16th, 2010 at 2:01 am
BTW, there were some interesting comments from RJ to the SA Express-News after the game. First, his response to all the praise for his defense of Durant was this:
“Whenever you have a scorer like that, you typically have an assignment, and then your teammates have an assignment,” Jefferson said. “My job was to drive him off the line or front him, and then your teammates have a job. It starts with me doing what I’m supposed to do, but it’s team defense. No one can get credit for an individual performance like that.”
I’m actually a lot more impressed by that than I am by how well he played! It wasn’t just your usual false humility, straight out of Bull Durham fodder for the press. He actually took the time to explain WHY he didn’t deserve to be single out. Nice.
There was also this, when asked about how he feels about his improvement this season:
“I love my job, regardless of what other guys say around me. You can’t let how you are playing dictate how your day goes,” Jefferson said. “But that being said, you want to play well and you want your team to play well.
“We won 50 games and beat Dallas and got to the second round of the playoffs. Only in San Antonio is that really a failure. You embrace that pressure and that respect that comes with this organization. So I think that’s why everybody had such a great summer working out, because it wasn’t good enough.”
Again, this really the epitomises the team concept. He was asked about HIS improvement and his response was about the TEAM’S improvement. It’s like a cross-pollination of John Wooden and Zen Buddhism. Very cool.
November 16th, 2010 at 5:20 am
As much of a Bonner-hater that I am, if he can consistently hit the 3, then he should play. However, I don’t think Pop should/will let Bonner slow the progress of Splitter. Bonner has bombed it in the playoffs the past couple years, so hoping that this year he’ll come out and nail those open threes is probably not the best how-to-win strategy we could have. Developing Splitter, however, could, and most likely will, pay big dividends at the end of the year.
Plus, I think Bonner plays WAY better when he’s the 4th or 5th option on the floor. If other people are hitting shots, it eases up the D on Bonner, and he hits his shots. Unlike last year when everyone was clunking shots and Bonner was expected to drill threes, and didnt. So developing Splitter, and Blair, would help Bonner as well IMO.
The great thing about Duncan is, he’s not playing many minutes, and the offense isn’t based on him anymore, and he’s fine with that. The guy really is a true professional, he’s more concerned with banner #5 than with MVP #3.
That obviously separates him from a guy like Kobe.. but also guys like Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. I know PP and KG want to win, but I think they want theirs too.
November 16th, 2010 at 6:31 am
Muscular young bulls like Blair and Millsap seem to match up well with Oklamoha City’s front line (We all remember Blair’s 20/20 game against them last year). This bodes well for any possible playoff match up this Spring. I think there is a very good chance that Blair will also match up well with Miami’s frontcourt (Millsap really roughed them up recently). I’m happy and proud to be a Spurs fan. It’s good to root for guys I respect.
November 16th, 2010 at 11:21 am
grego
November 16th, 2010 at 1:37 am
“Well this is party because Anderson is out. His minutes would balance out in a few months. The big men position is probably the worst one to look at as far as minutes go. Bonner is just coming back from injury. Splitter in the same boat. Blair has his story. And TD and Dice are old.”
Well, Anderson only averages 2 rpg. per 36 minutes. Whoever would be in with Neal at the SF instead of Anderson averages more, so that really doesn’t seem to make intuitive sense. It’s not like Neal is replacing Anderson at SF. Nobody ever plays SF in this league at 6’3″, 200 lbs. So if Neal wasn’t doing other things on the floor other than shooting, his minutes would stay about the same in Anderson’s absence, and additional “Anderson” minutes would go to RJ, Manu, & Hill. Also, even before Anderson went out after game six, Neal was averaging more rebounds per 36 minutes than any non-4/5 player on the team. There’s no question that Neal’s rebounding is a key factor that keeps him on the floor, even when having an off shooting night
November 16th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
They waived Alonzo Gee…
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