The Notebook: Thunder-Spurs, 3/31/09

by Graydon Gordian

Well, it’s official: I will never take a game against the Thunder lightly again.

The Spurs fell to 1-2 on the season against Oklahoma City with their 96-95 loss this evening at the AT&T Center. After coming back within one in the early fourth (having been down 17 in the third), the Spurs let the Thunder rebuild a double digit lead. Just to tease the faithful, the Spurs were able to crawl back to within one with under a minute left. But SA was unable to steal the victory (and I do mean steal) after Michael Finley missed a mid-range jumper on a chaotic final play.

After tough losses, I tend to spread the blame around. I generally don’t think that any one individual can be blamed for all the things that go right and wrong over the course of 48 minutes of play. But today, I’ll make an exception: Coach Pop, this one is on you. Popovich made some of the more misguided rotational decisions he’s made all season. It took almost 3 full quarters for Pop to commit to a defense-first unit, and it proved to be too little too late.

From a rotational standpoint, the game wasn’t merely mismanaged: It was just plain odd. Ginobili, Parker and Duncan all started. George Hill and Bruce Bowen never saw the court. Jacques Vaughn played for 13 minutes. Kurt Thomas played 7 (all of which came in the fourth quarter). From the opening tip right up until our disorganized final possession, this game was a distasteful combination of confusing and frustrating.

The most baffling aspect of tonight’s loss was how long it took Pop to recognize how ill-equipped Michael Finley is to guard Kevin Durant. At 25.7 per game, Durant averages the fourth most points of any player in the league. Michael Finley has always been a defensive liability, much less at the ripe age of 36. But Popovich left Finley on Durant for extended stretches and subsequently the rising star had his way with the grizzled vet to the tune of 31 points on 12-19 shooting.

From the outset, I hungrily awaited the moment Popovich would sub either Bowen or Udoka for Finley and we could finally slow Durant’s potent attack. Clearly Pop did not feel the urgency I did; Finley played for 35 minutes while Udoka played only 14 (most of which came in the fourth quarter) and Bowen received a DNP-CD. If my notes are correct, only 5 of Durant’s points came while Udoka was covering him (as did at least 4 of his 7 misses). Udoka did an excellent job being physical with Durant; by bodying him aggressively, he severely limited Durant’s off-the-ball mobility. If Pop had chosen to counter Durant with a stopper instead of a scorer from the outset, this game would have gone quite differently.

A close second in the baffling category was the court time Jacques Vaughn saw. Mason lacks the ball-handling and penetration ability to play back-up point. Hill lacks the maturity. But Vaughn is not the answer. While on the floor, the defense was paper thin. I would have much rather had Hill see all of Vaughn’s minutes. Yes, the offense may have suffered (and I emphasize may; Vaughn was 0-2 with 1 assist), but Hill’s defensive prowess would have more than made up for it.

This ties in to my confusion regarding Ginobili’s start: If Pop is concerned about the guard play of the second-unit, why rob our bench of its best ball-handler and slasher? Manu is more than prepared to play point. I’d love to see Hill get more minutes alongside Manu so Hill’s offensive deficiencies aren’t so glaring. Either way, when the Spurs have given up 81 points through 3 quarters, I see no reason the rookie shouldn’t get a chance to make a few stops.

Just another item on the long list of tonight’s oddities was the few minutes Kurt Thomas played. Thomas has been excellent in recent weeks and he would have given Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic (who combined for 32) some trouble.

After remembering that they are supposed to be one of the league’s marquee defensive teams, the Spurs buckled down during the fourth (or rather, Pop used players who have the ability to buckle down) and held the Thunder to 15 points. After Tim Duncan blocked Jeff Green’s layup with under 15 seconds to play, the Spurs pushed the ball up the court and fumbled their way through a poorly executed final possession. The ball, headed out of bounds in the corner, was barely saved by Manu and eventually made it’s way to the hands of Finley. He ended up taking a 19-foot fadeaway that clanked off the back of the rim as the buzzer sounded.

Headed away from this game, one question looms above the others: Why have the Spurs failed to set a rotation? It’s not merely that we haven’t gelled. It’s that our rotation has grown more chaotic as the playoffs approach, not less. Players like Hill and Bowen, who had seemingly found their admittedly limited niche, are now receiving DNP-CDs with some frequency. Players like Vaughn, who was for all intents and purposes a glorified assistant coach before today, come storming back into the rotation at any given time. The Spurs have 8 games left. Popovich needs to clarify the rotation and clarify it fast.

Our next game is Friday in Indianapolis. It is the first game of a 3-game road trip that includes stops in Cleveland and Oklahoma City.