Wednesday, November 18th, 2009...9:20 am
The Spurs and Mavs Hit Reset
Even though San Antonio and Dallas played one another just last week, that game is already ancient history. The Spurs were without Tim Duncan and Tony Parker in their first go-round with the Mavs, and Richard Jefferson led the team with 29 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. With Parker and Duncan back in the line up, this game is a beast of a different breed. San Antonio’s early struggles have included an inability to get all of their pistons pumping at the same time. Put differently, they’ve played more deliberately when short-handed by injury than when they’ve had a full deck. Playing better as a team is their primary challenge tonight. On both ends of the court.
Of course, a lack of chemistry early in the season is not a surprise given the roster’s new faces, and it might bear fruit later in the season. The Spurs have 11 different players averaging at least 15 minutes per game. As the season progresses, Gregg Popovich will tighten the rotation and everyone should play with a better sense of their role and the habits and preferences of their teammates. For some, that day couldn’t get here soon enough. But the fruit-bearing part is that the team’s core should be better rested from the current allocation of minutes.
The Mavs, for their part, are in on the shape-shifting act as well. Josh Howard is out with injury, Shawn Marion in listed as day-to-day with a sprained ankle, and Erick Dampier spent Sunday in a Detroit hospital. In that sense, this is not the same team the Spurs played last week. The Mavericks, for what it’s worth, are playing good basketball since losing to San Antonio last week, having won three straight in the intervening days.
Here’s what I’m watching this evening:
- Defense: The Spurs’ best defensive performance of the season came against Dallas. Can they have another strong defensive performance tonight, the kind of performance on which to build going forward. The subheads under this talking point are “Can Antonio McDyess have another effective performance against Dirk Nowitzki?” and “How will Popovich use George Hill?” Might Hill get an opportunity to start at shooting guard?
- Dallas shot 35% from the field in their first attempt against the Spurs. Part of that was San Antonio’s defense, but they were also playing the back half of a two night set. In other words, the Mavs did not always capitalize on open looks. Even if the Spurs play great defense tonight, don’t expect the Mavericks to shoot in mid-30s in consecutive games against San Antonio.
- On a related note, Jeff McDonald reports that George Hill welcomes the opportunity to guard Dirk Nowitzki. I admire George Hill’s enthusiasm, but I hope Popovich only plays Hill on Dirk long enough to show all parties involved that it’s a stupid idea. George Hill meet Jason Terry. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to crush him.
- If Erick Dampier is not able to go, Drew Gooden will receive a healthy dose of minutes. This could mean good things for all of San Antonio’s bigs. Drew Gooden is not the world’s greatest defender and tends to swallow the ball on offense. One less shot for Dirk Nowitzki is always welcome. I’m curious whether Popovich will match Rick Carlisle when he goes small (the Mavs could play small from tip to final buzzer) or if he’ll force the issue by staying big. The question might be settled by another consideration: who is tasked as Dirk Nowitzki’s primary defender? Antonio McDyess seems like the obvious choice, but the Spurs’ coaching staff might want to experiment with alternative looks in anticipation of a possible postseason match up with the Mavericks. In past seasons, the Spurs have given Dallas four distinct looks in each of their regular season contests.
- Chemistry: Richard Jefferson had his way with Dallas in the first game between these clubs. Will Tony Parker and the other Spurs seek to get him going early, or will Jefferson labor to find his role on offense?
- Finally, my heart wanders toward Spain, yet again. If Tiago Splitter were on the team, the tandem of McDyess-Splitter would be as effective as any defensive scheme in the league at covering Nowitzki. It’s a shame, but I digress.
The game is available on ESPN360 for those looking for an internet feed. 48MoH will be representing the Spurs’ faithful as part of ESPN’s Daily Dime Live chat. The game tips at 9:30 ET.
29 Comments
November 18th, 2009 at 9:42 am
Enjoyed the article. I think tonights match-up will all rest with the benches. The Spurs are too deep and too healthy (please don’t have me saying these words be the jinx). I am not a Vegas odds maker, but I think the Spurs are strong favorites to win tonight, I will be watching it either on TV (if I can get the reception to work in Haiti) or online (if I can get enough internet for espn360).
Also, one fact you mentioned, about the Spurs showing different looks to the Mavs, so as to not show their hand pre playoffs. I would love to hear/read more about that. Are there other teams that do that? Other teams the Spurs do that to? AKA dreaded Lakers?
Anyway, thanks, keep up the great work 48 minutes of hell Spurs loving team!!!
November 18th, 2009 at 10:00 am
I don’t know if I’m more exited or nervous about this game.
November 18th, 2009 at 10:13 am
“George Hill meet Jason Terry. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to crush him.”
Love that line! Its time we crush Jason Terry! I hate him from the bottom of my heart. Thank God Stackhouse doesnt play for Dallas anymore. I genuinely despise them.
PS: I live in Dallas and will be at the game tonight.
November 18th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Thank God it is finally Wednesday!
There’s been some early season anxiety that has been compounded by the Spurs playing a league-low 8 games so far.
We need to get more games under our belt to get our rhythm and form some consistency.
I’m looking forward to the match-up tonight in hostile territory. HOPEFULLY, it doesn’t turn into a Nowitki free throw parade.
Does anyone know who the officials are tonight?
November 18th, 2009 at 10:40 am
* _irk Nowitzki
November 18th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Odds are RJ won’t have a repeat of Saturday and if Manu’s hamstring is better the Mavs will have their hands full. It’s going to be a dogfight I’m sure! Go Spurs!
November 18th, 2009 at 11:00 am
no wonder Pop gushes over Hill. The guy is our new pitbull. No fear, and this is at least the third interview i’ve seen with him where he says “i like to play defense”.
I’d like to see him get some time. Nowitzki likes to put the ball on the floor and if he does George will poke it right away. Dirk has an advantage if he posts up, but he would have to make his move quick. If Dirk goes into catch and shoot mode, George still has the length and athleticism to at least face guard. But like you said, worst case scenario is Pop tries it and he gets burnt a few possessions and switches onto Terry and shuts him down
November 18th, 2009 at 11:30 am
Give me some of this Georgie:
http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/182357/BruceBowenBlocksDirk_medium.jpg
November 18th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
This article is not filed under Tiago Splitter, so your heart hasn’t strayed for long.
November 18th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
I wanna see a repeat of last week’s game. Play RJ,KB,AM,GH and BATMANu more. They play well altogether…..
November 18th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Defense will not be as good as last week’s game because our two weakest defenders (for now) will play this time around.
Our best chance tonight is if Marion plays.
November 18th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Hard to evaluate the team with so few games played. But a 2-0 record vs Dallas (3-0 within the division) would say enough for the time being.
Go Spurs!
November 18th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
4 days since the spurs played last. They often come out flat after a layoff of that long.
November 18th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Even though he’s listed as doubtful, I wouldn’t be surprised if Marion or Dampier plays and even if they don’t, I expect this to be a narrow victory or a loss. It shouldn’t be, but until I see consistency from this team, I’m not going to assume anything.
The Spurs will likely play small mostly. That seems to be Pop’s preference the past couple of years and if the Mavs are forced into playing small, he’ll likely gladly oblige. I’m guess Blair is the big that get’s his minutes reduced and that Duncan and McDyess rarely see the court together.
November 18th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
yeah i do feel pretty nervous about this one, like Rye stated, they aren’t consistent, and i am actually concerned about parkers lack of sharing. i want to see the aggresive spurs tonight!!!!
November 18th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Parker’s out tonight..ankle, again.
November 18th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
I’m sorry, but what the hell are you guys talking about? The new love fest with George Hill, aka, George Pippen Hill, aka, George i’mgoingtostealparker’sjob Hill, is getting out of hand.
Here is what someone wrote above:
——-
I’d like to see him get some time. Nowitzki likes to put the ball on the floor and if he does George will poke it right away. Dirk has an advantage if he posts up, but he would have to make his move quick. If Dirk goes into catch and shoot mode, George still has the length and athleticism to at least face guard. But like you said, worst case scenario is Pop tries it and he gets burnt a few possessions and switches onto Terry and shuts him down
——————
You’re going to guard Dirk with 6’2″ George Hill? I understand you all think that you should trade Parker now, and that George Hill is Scottie Pippen, the best perimeter defender in NBA history, but how INSANE is this? LOL. Dirk is almost 7 feet tall. He gets more offensive rebounds in a game than George Hill gets rebounds in a career.
Sorry folks, George Hill is not Pippen and he is not stealing Parker’s job. George Hill is a backup guard who is an average NBA player. He can’t stop Lebron and he cannot guard Dwight Howard.
November 18th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Kaveh, check the stats. Dirk was 0-2 against Hill, 0-1 against Blair, and decent to above average against everyone else. I dont think George is Pippen, and i dont think he deserves Parker’s job- but he is an excellent defender. He is 6’2 but his wingspan is much, much longer than that. I’m one of the realistic George lovers. And nobody is going to stop Dirk- put a hand in his face and thats the best you can do. Hill can do that. Hell, Bonner did an excellent job on it tonight. All Dirk made in the second half was an open 3, a tip in, and lots and lots of contested fade a ways. I was happy with how we covered him. It was a tough loss.
And George is better than your PG at this point.
November 18th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Yuck.
That game left an awful taste in my mouth. Ginobili hurt, Parker hurt, Jefferson ineffective, Bonner overmatched, Mason “playing” point guard, very few minutes for younger players, etc, etc.
We lost to a team that was missing 3 starters, and we had several days to prepare for them.
Losing always sucks, but losing like this, to them, really hurts.
Yuck.
November 18th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
i really liked the way our defense is coming in, however i have a problem with pop and his infatuation with finley i mean yes the guy hit some shots tonight but his defense (except maybe one play 2nite) is always very poor, and you see the change as soon as the guy gets thrown in. i really do think that this is going to be a bad year for him. i hope im wrong. pop really needs to give hairston some p.t that kid is working hard, and you know what! he makes a mistake and pop is angry, but if finley makes a mistake he can play through it, im tired of that! let them play through it as well. i mean when we lose it’s easy to point out the bad things. so i do have to say i liked malik’s energy, george hills great performance, appreciate timmys play, and i really hope manu is ok he needs a healthy season.
November 19th, 2009 at 12:51 am
How long is Pop gonna take to finish tinkering with the rotations and come to the inevitable conclusion that nothing will work for Finley and Mason? If it’s really true that they want to mess around with the rotations to see what kind of combination of players work, why are we still seeing these two liabilities night in, night out when our best young players are stoning on the bench?
November 19th, 2009 at 1:34 am
^Finley wasn’t as much a problem as the times when Spurs were depending upon Mason to run the team. It got pretty ugly sometimes. I wish Pop put Malik out there when Hill, Duncan, McDyess, RJ were all on the bench.
There were of course some defensive miscues, but some of the big ones came from other players. Hill had to tone it down at times to stay in the game. That foul trouble hurt him midway in the 3rd.
Bonner played Dirk pretty well. You know its a long night when Gooden is going for a double double on your team though.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:53 am
This is really pathetic. So we bring in a bunch of new guys and we are 4-5??? The Celtics brought in KG and Allen, plus had a first or second year? Rondo as point, they were cruising from opening tip til the playoffs, staggered a bit, then pounded the Lakers.
Please don’t reply with the “Well it takes a lot of time to gel” or “Pop’s plays are complex” because its just frustrating. If Pop’s tactics are so complex it takes a whole season to learn them, well then maybe he should change then.
PS: I know Finley isn’t responsible for all of our troubles, but the guy sucks. Next year cannot get here fast enough because his contract runs out this summer and hopefully he’ll retire because I’m tired of seeing his lackluster ass on the court last year+ this year when we have some young hungry guys on our team who I am sure could play circles around this guy. He got a ring then he checked out and its sad Pop doesn’t realize it. I could be wrong, but hey, thats just how I see it.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:56 am
*Make that the last two years, plus this year, for Finley. In 08, against the Lakers, I swear he had a “Hey if we lose its all cool, I got my ring last year” look while on the court.
November 19th, 2009 at 3:20 am
The loss in the last game was at least more encouraging than the last four losses. It was a closely contested match in a road game against a tough Dallas team. Sure, Dallas was without three of their key players, but Spurs also had Manu and Tony out of the game, so I’d say it was pretty even.
At this moment, I don’t think Splitter would have been given a major playing time even if he joined the Spurs in the summer. Neither Haislip nor Mahinmi saw a single minute of playing time this season so far, and Hairston hasn’t played that much either. I know finding a regular rotation around the Big 3 is a huge priority for Pop, but he also needs to realise that maintaining their good health is equally high priority. He needs to give younger guys a chance while the Big 3 takes a rest. The recent injuries to Parker and Ginobili are quite concerning - I’m afraid that they will not last through the entire season and the post-season if they continue on logging heavy minutes.
November 19th, 2009 at 6:49 am
I agree with Ian, that was as good a loss as we could have had. The guys played well, and if we had our top two offensive players we probably win pretty easily. It isn’t time to panic. This team will be good… it’s just a matter of getting some consistancy from guys we KNOW can play.
November 19th, 2009 at 6:54 am
I’m so angry I won’t even say anything…. I bought the NBA League Pass so I could watch the Spurs from Chicago and so far… it isn’t paying off…
November 19th, 2009 at 7:03 am
gotta love the fact that when the Spurs win, their website has all sort of comments and Post game interviews, when they lose… is as if they didn’t play at all…
November 19th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
jt i noticed that too its funny. if everyone is bashing someone, it may seem crazy but if alot of people are noticing the same thing it usually has some truth to it! when pop brings in finley our d gets bad. pop should not put him in during the critical points of a game, which he has been doing. i understand finley knows are system and is a veteran, but thats even more of a reason to judge his play. he should know better.
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