San Antonio Spurs 85, Chicago Bulls 92: the Late Edition
Although a disappointment, I’m hesitant to read too much into the Spurs Thursday night loss to the Bulls. The Spurs may have gotten younger this offseason but, as I said during the “early edition” of my recap, the Spurs are going to struggle on the second night of back-to-backs when on the road against high energy teams like the Bulls.
It’s not just that the Bulls have youth and athleticism on their side: several of Chicago’s players (Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah most notably) are momentum players who, when backed by crowds like the raucous one that attended last night’s game, are going to play well. I also think, given the team’s personality, the Bulls are likely to struggle on the road. My point is: when we look back in April, I wouldn’t be surprised if an away loss at Chicago is a black eye a couple of contenders have.
The other reason I am not terribly concerned about last night’s loss is that one starter, one eventual starter and one eventual heavy-minute bench player are still learning the system. Until Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess and DeJuan Blair get more accustomed to Pop’s offense and complicated defensive schemes, there are going to be nights where one or two, and maybe even all three, don’t look that sharp.
That is not meant to be an excuse for their mediocre performances. Implicit in the optimistic idea that they can get the work done is the admission that there is much work to be one.
Of the three, Jefferson’s performance so far may be the most disappointing. Although he didn’t shoot well on Wednesday, his passing and defense helped produce the balance and cohesion that brought about our opening night victory. Last night he continued to shoot poorly while making less significant contributions in the other two categories.
The one thing Jefferson is doing well is drawing contact when he decides to go to the hole. My only request is that he decide to head for the basket more often. He went only 3 of 6 from the charity stripe last night which is obviously far from ideal. But I am not as concerned with his 50% free throw shotting as I am with the fact the he only took six free throw attempts.
When we are shooting poorly from outside and getting beat on the boards, Jefferson (as well as Ginobili, Hill, and Parker) should be headed for the lane and looking for contact. The best cure for a stagnant offense is a series of trips to the line. On top of that, the players most likely to get called for the foul are the opposing big men. Send the opponent’s starting frontline to the bench with a few too many fouls: Offensive stagnation solved; rebounding deficit closed.
It’s not that I want Jefferson to starting eschewing three point attempts entirely. In order for this offense to hum he is going to have to settle into a place where he is comfortable catching and shotting on the perimeter with some frequency. But there has to be a balance between continuing to work on long-terms goals in-game, and sacrificing those goals to make sure me still get the W. When the threes just aren’t falling, start heading for the rim, RJ.
Last night McDyess failed to make much of an impact either, but on the whole I’m happy with his decision making. Although he went 0-for-4 from the field, I believe all four shot attempts (at the very least three) were some version of his patented mid-range jumper. Although they weren’t falling, those are shots I am fine with him taking consistently.
As far as McDyess’ defensive contributions are concerned, he and I spoke about exactly that topic after the game. McDyess, with a self-deprecating charm, understated the progress he’s made learning Pop’s complicated system.
“It’s coming along,” said McDyess. “Slowly, but it’s coming along.”
McDyess further confirmed reports that, in order to speed up that process, Popovich has made the playbook simpler.
“I don’t think he’s throwing everything in right now,” said McDyess. “So far it’s been pretty good but down the road I’m pretty sure it’s going to get a lot more difficult.”
McDyess and I also spoke about the pedagogical relationship he has developed with DeJuan Blair.
“I’m always talking to him,†said McDyess. “I tell him keep playing hard and keep playing smart. Just think about what he’s doing on defense.”
“He was frustrated because he went in the game and things didn’t got the way they normally do for him. For me, on the bench, I’m sitting there like, man, this is your second game, and you got a second half. You gotta put that behind you. We got a second half and 80 more games to go.”
It’s nice to know that McDyess has taken Blair under his wing. Between Duncan and Dice, Blair would be hard pressed to find a wiser set of veterans from whom to learn anywhere in the league.
For obvious reasons, Blair’s situation is dramatically different from those of McDyess and Jefferson. At a certain point this season I expect McDyess and Jefferson to reliable contributors, night in, night out. Blair certainly has the potential to reach a high level of reliability but it’s misguided to assume any rookie automatically will.
Before the game Popovich said DeJuan Blair needs to improve on every element of his game except rebounding. But if Blair really wants to earn heavy minutes, the area of his game that needs the most improvement is defense. As I wrote in this morning’s Daily Dime:
He has a preternatural sense of spacing that lends itself to the complicated rotations Popovich’s defenses require. And he has the core body strength to be physical without being foul prone.
But as things currently stand, he is both physical and foul prone. He plays far too much defense with his hands, and far too little with his feet and chest. His unbelievably long reach only exacerbates the problem. Once he commits himself to the necessity of lateral movement, his length will be an asset. Currently, his 7 foot 3 inch wingspan serves as a crutch.
After the game, I asked both Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich about the amount of small ball they played last night (I believe at one point coach Pop had Duncan, Hill, Parker, Mason and Finley on the floor).
“We did it last year to, so it’s not much of an adjustment,” said Duncan. “It kind of puts pressure on everyone kind of putting a body on someone and really blocking out and finishing possessions in that way. It helps us spread the floor. We get some of our wings guys a lot of open shots, a lot of driving lanes, so its’ good for us.”
Pop cut more directly to the chase.
“We’re trying to score,” said Pop. “So we’re putting a small lineup out there just to see if we can try to generate some offense. It worked as well as my initial game plan.”
Our small ball lineups are something I will be following closely this season, partially because I am not sure how I feel about them yet. Part of me sees the wisdom in deploying a 1 forward/4 guard unit against a team like the Bulls: Chicago’s team is a bit undersized and Duncan was playing quite well. On top of that, as Pop so bluntly put it, we needed to score.
But at the same time, given how poorly we were rebounding, slowing the game down and reestablishing dominance over the glass seems like an equally prudent option. As the season unfolds the success of our different looks is something I will be tracking closely.
Before I wrap this up, I wanted to let everyone know that I experienced a right of passage last night: I got my first disdainful glare and one word answer from coach Pop. During Pop’s pre-game press talk, I asked him whether or not he was happy with the Spurs defense on Wednesday, considering how well the Hornets shot from the floor (50% from the field, 50% from beyond the arc). It was the first time I had ever spoken to Gregg Popovich.
He looked at me sternly, growled “no” and moved on to the next question. At the time I felt deflated: it’s not exactly comforting when one of the men you admire most shoots you down the first to you speak to him. In his defense, I left the door wide open by asking a question that could easily be answered with a simple yes or no. I made sure to phrase my post-game question in terms of “either/or.”
That being said, by no means was I the reporter who received the harshest treatment from Pop. But I’ll save that story for another day.
