SB Nation User Blog: spurchief

Squashing the Bugs - Spurs/Hornets Recap

spurchief — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 22:44:20 -0000

Absolutely all you ever need to know about this game can be summarized in this picture (worth a thousand words, of course).

via a.espncdn.com

If you want to know more about the game, read on, but this pretty well sums it up: Manu is back.

It would be pretty easy to downplay the significance of this game. The Hornets are still not healthy: Tyson Chandler, who has been somewhat effective guarding Timmeh at times in the past, is still out. Mo Peterson, a competent two-guard, is still out. The Hornets were on the segababa (and a loss at that).

All that said, I do not know how important this game was. My feeble basketball mind (and that part of my brain where the Spurs homer lives) thinks it may have been a pretty big deal though. Make no mistake - we crushed this team tonight. After the midpoint of the first quarter (coincidentally, the point when a certain Argentianian guard entered the game), it was not a contest. And, I would reiterate ATS's point that the game was not as close as the final score would indicate. CP3 went on an incredible streak in late 3rd/early 4th when he went 5-6 from downtown, or this would have been a 20-point win. Stick that in your Power Rankings machine, Mr. Hollinger, and see what comes out. The rest of the season - and in particular, the rodeo road-trip - will tell us a lot about how big a deal this game was, when we look back on it.

But for me, this was the game when we saw Manu again, for an entire game. We saw him - as ATS again astutely observed - in the 4th quarter of the Jazz game. We saw him in fits and spurts in Phoenix. But tonight, he was all here, all the time, and he wore out every single defender that NO threw at him. Hilton Armstrong, in particular, got the brunt. Not just on the receiving end of the flush in the picture, but also on several Manu drives and layups or drive and kick out, where young Hilton was out of position. Wore. Him. Out. And it was beautiful to behold.

I'm setting aside my usual quarter-by-quarter analysis for this recap. In part because I think I have captured the key points above (and will mention a few others below), in part because ATS already posted his excellent in-person account (complete with appropriate digs at SiMA), and finally, because I accidentally deleted the game from my DVR when I went to delete Lost after the game. Crap.

Random Notes / Thoughts:

- Unlike most people, I enjoy watching a good blowout. The WCF two years ago against the Jazz was one of my favorite playoff series ever. I like a good close series too, but watching that series was like watching a Basketball 101 clinic. Most of you that read my recaps know that I am a bit of an X-and-O nut. I really enjoy dissecting the game and looking at the player and ball movement that led to the play. If you want to know how to play good team basketball, take advantage of mismatches, and get every shot you want, replay that series. It was some of the most beautiful, free-flowing, radiant, poetic, exhilirating offense you will ever see. What I saw at certain points in this game was beautiful Spurs basketball, like we saw in that series and like we have seen at many times over the years (but not much last year). Again, I don't want to say this was a watershed game or the overused "turning point" game or any other cliche. At the end of the day, it was one win in January. But time will tell if it meant something more, because I could not believe I was watching the same team that collapsed at LA 7 days earlier.

- Please indulge me in a personal note:

Dear Chris Paul:

You are great. I don't mean 2 or 3 time All Star great. I mean when your career is over, if you stay healthy and get a better coach and some new teammates, GOAT-at-the-point kind of great. You have to go back a long, long way to find a point guard that does things you do so smoothly, so effortlessly, so casually, yet with the intensity and fire that you have. I'm man enough to say it - I am in love with your game.

But, right now, you are one of the least professional players in the league. Your constant whining, your us-against-the-world attitude and the flopping. My god, I can't even begin to describe the flopping. I know it seems ridiculous for a Spurs fan to ridicule another player for flopping; after all, we have Manu. We have Bruce. And we had the very underrated flopper Robert Horry in his flop-o-licious prime. But Chris (I will never again call you CP3 until this cleans up), you make all three of these guys look like AMATEURS. In the third quarter, Mase brushed against you and, for a second, I would have sworn that ATS or Matthew grabbed a sniper rifle and took out your hip. It looked devastating. Until you got up and ran back to your man like nothing happened. And that was one of 10 documented instances I counted in this game (my own personal Chris Paul flopometer). On rick2g's old levels of flopping chart (anyone else remember that?), I think several of yours last night would have been off of the scale.

Chris, it's got to stop. It just has to. I hate to do this, but I will: to quote Mark Jackson, "You are better than that". Much, much better. It affected your teammates last night to the tune of 3 technicals. You are the LEADER of this team. If you do this crap, Hilton Armstrong will think it's OK too. Is that what you want? Hilton Armstrong to get T'd up and cost you a playoff game? Be a man. Lead your team. Do not accept excuses - from the refs, from your teammates, from yourself. You are better than that. Now play like it.

Sincerely,

spurchief

- Byron Scott was a Coach of the Year? Really? You take out Chris Paul in a 10 point game with 7 minutes left when said player has just gone 4-5 from 3? Really?

Your Three Stars:

3 (tie). Michael Finley - Got us back in the game early in the first with timely and accurate shooting. 20 points on 8-10, +18.

3 (tie). Tim - Only 5-10 for 12 points and 8 boards. But a +22 and, besides, on his worst day, he has to be here. Tony and Manu are not Tony and Manu without Tim.

2. Tony - Just a fantastic game. 12-18, 25 points, 3 boards, 7 assists and a matching +22 with Tim. His defense on Paul does not look good in the box score (15-22, 38 points) but I would argue that this was one of his better defensive games as well. An otstanding effort for Tony all around.

1. Emanuel David Ginobili - He for whom stats are not always particularly relevant (but since you asked, 22 points on 7-15, 3 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, +14). He dominated this game. Every aspect of it. And still only played 25 minutes.

This was a great win to kick off the rodeo road trip, in more ways than one. I hope we can look back on this one later this season and point to this game as the one when we saw the real Manu again.

A very un-Magical game.... Recap Spurs vs. Magic

spurchief — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:11:26 -0000

As usual, I'm a day late with the recap. So here on the eve of The Great Laker Game, I'll go ahead and post this for discussion.

I suspect we will view this game (vs. Magic) very differently based on how the boys fare against the Lakers Wednesday night. If we beat the Lakers, the Magic game will simply be a loss to a team that shot the lights out for one night. If we lose to the Lakers, then this game suddenly becomes Exhibit A (and the Lakers game Exhibit B) in how the Spurs won't win the chip because the Can't Beat Good Teams. And Can't Win the Big Games. In reality - win or lose against the Lakers - I suspect the truth is somewhere in the middle. It's January people. No one wins the chip in January. But it can be lost in January. And at 2nd seed in the West, I just don't think that's where we are yet.

Anyway, the Magic game:

1st Quarter:

We started the game with a SWEET pass from Tony to Tim on the pick-and-roll, which got TD a layup. In fact, Timmeh had 6 of our first 8 points and I thought he would roll for 30. Dwight Howard is a major physical presence and is becoming a polished offensive player, but his defense is still suspect. He leaves his man too often, but not to double, just to roam in Richardson-land (named after Jason Richardson for the Christmas Day drift in between two players, but guarding neither). He also leaves his feet a lot for the shot block and when he doesn't get it, it becomes a layup. But everything settled down and the teams traded buckets for much of the quarter.

Two patterns emerged in this quarter that were consistent for much of the game:

1. The refereeing was incredibly, unconscionably inconsistent. Not unfair or unbalanced, but wildly varying based on what part of the floor you were on and which ref was in position to make the call. By the 6:00 minute mark of any game, a player ought to be able to know at that point what will be called and what will not. Into the 4th quarter, I don't think players on either team had a clue when contact would be called and when it wouldn't. If you watched the game, you saw how frustrated and confused the players were in the 4th.

2. The Magic hit a few early 3s and the Spurs missed their early 3s. And then the late ones too.

Highlight of the quarter: Bonner bricks a three that is headed out of bounds baseline. Manu grabs it and as two Magics are harassing him, he drives baseline, then out to the top of the key, but not before a no-look dropoff to Fin, who lays it up over his head facing midcourt. Very nice....

But we were so worried about Howard that we doubled on every touch and our defensive rotations to 3-point shooters SUCKED. So at the end of 1, Magic: 34, Spurs: 28.

2nd Quarter:

Nice start - Mason jumps a passing lane, steals, and passes ahead to a streaking George Hill for a pretty dunk. Albatross can fly when he wants to.

The rotations on the 3-ball improved this quarter, but the Magic kept hitting shots. Tony owned this quarter offensively, but KT played well also. He only had 6 points in the period, but he was incredibly active, he rebounded, and made Howard pay every time he left to double a penetrating guard (basketball is such a phallic game to describe....). The end of the quarter sucked. Tony got a nice layup with 9 seconds left, then we gave up a 3 on the other end from Jameer Nelson with a second left. It looked like there was confusion about who was guarding him and Manu went under a screen, which gave Nelson a wide open look. It was the poop floating in the pool of our otherwise decent first half. Magic: 55, Spurs: 50.

TP had 18 and 6 in the first half. Howard had 13 on 5-7 shooting. The Magic were also 8-11 from 3-land, while the Spurs were 0-3. When was the last time you saw the Spurs only take 3 3-balls in a half? I'm thinking it probably goes back to when Larry Brown was coaching... SA shot 55% in the first half and were losing by 5. Yeah, that percentage is going to last....

3rd Quarter:

This is the quarter that the officiating got under everyone's skin, on both sides, but it seemed to especially affect Tim. He was clearly frustrated on a number of occasions and he looked like he stopped being aggressive for a while because he did not think he would get a call. I'm not one to cry about reffing very often - I tend to be the guy that waves off the call at the playground - but some of the calls in this quarter were pretty ridiculous. But again, the weird calls went both ways and you have to play the game you're given.

Tony continued his hot streak - 5 minutes into the quarter, he was up to 25 points.

It was a frustrating quarter. Every time the Spurs would get a lead of 5 or 6 points, the Magic would sink a three and close the gap. End of the third - Magic: 74, Spurs, 72. Held them to 19 points, but only scored 22. The Magic are 10-15 on 3-balls, and we are 1-6. And Tony has the one. Go figure.

4th Quarter:

I really don't even want to rewatch this quarter, because it pissed me off when I saw it live. But for you, my dear PtR friends, I suck it up and press on. Orlando starts the 4th with 3 straight three point attempts, two of which go in. Both covered pretty well, just good shots. Let's be honest - if Keith Bogans is going to jack up a three at the end of the shot clock, you can live with that, right?

We took the 86-85 lead at the 6:23 mark on a Mason-dog 3-ball (our first and only non-Tony / non-Manu 3 of the night). Tim smoked Howard a few moments later with a pump-fake, up-and-under to tie it at 90. Tony hit a jumper with 4 minutes left to tie it at 92 (for his 31st point ) and that was it. Neither Tony nor Tim scored again. Meanwhile,Nelson hit back-to-back shots (a 3 and a 2) and gave them a 5 point lead and the rest was basically free throws. Tony missed two shots at the end of the game but they weren't bad shots - open floor, on the break, just did not go down. Manu and Fin both had looks at a 3 and nothing would fall in the last 3 minutes of the game. Tough breaks.

Final - Magic: 105, Spurs: 98.

Random Stats / Thoughts:

- Orlando was 63% from 3-point in this game. That's not a typo. 14-22 from the arc. You don't beat many teams that shoot like that. Ever. They were only 22-52 inside the arc. Wow. (Spurs finished 3-13, btw).

- Tim and Manu were -13 and -19 respectively. Let that sink in for a minute....

- Our only plus guys were Fin and Bonner at +3 each and KT at +6.

- Yeah, Tony was a little selfish and shot too much tonight. He was 13-22 and no one else got more than 14 shots (Manu). But if he had not been on, this would have been a blowout in the 3rd quarter.

- The Magic are a team that is built to beat our defensive system. They take a solid big that almost demands a double team and surround him with 4 shooters (if you count Jameer Nelson, which tonight he was, but I'm not a fan). Too many bodies for our guys to cover after a kickout pass from the post if they are hitting outside.

3 Stars:

3. Tim - Because he always goes in here somewhere. Finished 18-10-5-3.

2. <vacant, apply within>

1. Tony - For all the crap he takes, I still take him over Jameer Nelson and all but about 3 other point guards in the league. Especially as long as Pop and Tim are around to keep him straight.

Final Thoughts:

I think this was just one of those games. The other team could not miss, SA could not hit a 3, and the weird officiating took the guys out of their game for part of the 4th quarter. It would be easy to look at this and say that the Spurs can't beat a good team at home, but a team shooting 14-22 from 3 is just ridiculous. Some of the defense could have been better, but it was not horrible either. Just one of those nights. We'll see how it all looks after Wednesday night.

I'll go on record now in predicting a Spur win against LA. They are playing on 2 days rest, they'll have a bad taste in their mouths from this game, and it's at home. SiMA, does that screw with mojo? I don't know all of the mojo rules.....

A game that matters not... 12/23 Minnesota Recap

spurchief — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 21:40:33 -0000

...except that it adds 1 to the win column.

I did promise to do this recap. But I'm not going to spend a lot of time on it. Here's why:

1. I'm late - The holidays kept from having the time to sit down and do this until today, 3 days and another full game later.

2. I'm not as funny or as photo-inclined at recaps as SiMA or LatinD, both of whom have raised the recap bar over the last few weeks (kudos, gents).

3. Lastly, the Spurs weren't really interested in this game either, so why should we be?

Starters: Tony, Tim, Bonner, Mace, Fin. This is the segababa, so it could always go either way where the old tired legs are concerned.

1st Quarter:

The Spurs jumped out to a substantial lead in the first, buffeted by a good shooting performance and some astoundingly crappy defense by the T-Pups. In fact, we started the game with a Windu cut, feed from Tim, and a lay-up. Fish in a barrel. 13-4 five minutes in, 30-21 at the end of the 1st. BY the way, KT played well and hit some midrangers in this quarter.

2nd Quarter:

U-G-L-Y. This was the quarter where the good guys realized that only a minimum effort would be required to win this game, so that's what they gave. The highlight of the quarter (see the replays on NBA.com if you can find them): early in the quarter, Telfair shoots, misses. George Hill grabs the board, dribbles, and has it stolen by Telfair, who dribbles and passes to Kevin Love. Tolliver made Love pump fake, which gve Hill time to come over and pack his lunch on a layup attempt. It was beautiful. T-Wolves won the quarter 19-18, Spurs led 48-40 at the half.

3rd Quarter:

My DVR crapped out for the first five minutes of the half, but apparently, we didn't miss much. Tolliver got a fair amount of time. Tony played quite well. His 18-footer was on and NO ONE was around him most of the evening. Manu got a step-back three to end the quarter. SA won the quarter 35-27 and led 83-67.

4th Quarter:

We could have predicted this. You've heard of a trap game? Well, this was the trap quarter. Let's go though the list:

- Big lead? Check

- Crappy opponent? Check

- Segababa? Check

- Big game against Phoenix in less than 48 hours? Check

All of the elements were there. And we did not disappoint. A 16-point quarter and we still ended up winning by 6, but it was tense and they closed to within 3 with about 2 minutes left. SA did just enough to win this one in the 4th and not an ounce more.

Final: 99-93

Random Thoughts:

- Al Jefferson can score. From anywhere, on anyone, at any time. He had a bad game, with the eyeball test during the game, but a peek at the box score shows this: 11 of 17, 28 points, 6 boards. He's a bad defender and undersized for a 4, but he can fill it up. He and Foye (same mold, good scorer, bad defender) make Minny one of those dangerous bad teams (as opposed to the just plain bad teams). With a healthy Mike Miller, they will give a lot of good teams tough games. And still lose by 5.

- It was obvious that SA was already on the charter to Phoenix in their minds, especially in the 4th.

- Don't know how many of you heard Pop's comments (during the Suns game) about letting the team coach during a game last week. My wife asked me if it was this one (she watched it with me and even she - a non-sports person - noticed the loose nature of the game). I personally think it was the Kings game. There was a lot of laughing and cutting up during that game, as I recall.

3 stars:

3. Might be either Mason or Finley, both played OK. I'll go with my favorite line in the box score: The JV, DNP-CD.

2. Tony played a great game. 13 of 17, 10 of 12 FAs, 36-8-4 with 3 TOs. He owns these guys, for whatever reason.

1. Timmeh was his usual subdued dominance: 19 on 9-20, 12 rbs, 5 asts, 4 blks. I'm finding myself appreciating the little things he does more and more every season. It's clear he hates to lose, but he also understands that a regular season game against the Wolves is different that Game 6 against the Knicks or a Game 7 against Detroit.

Mt. Mutombo?

spurchief — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:15:35 -0000

Not done
Once Dikembe Mutombo passes out his gifts, he hopes to return to the NBA for a final season, possibly with the Celtics.
The 7-foot-2-inch, 260-pound center said last week he hopes to sign with a team after spending Christmas with his family in Atlanta. The four-time Defensive Player of the Year said among the teams that have shown interest are Boston, San Antonio, and Miami. The former Rocket also said Houston has "not answered me." The 42-year-old, who has blocked 3,278 shots during his 17-year career, said he is in "good shape" from working out three hours a day with spinning classes, yoga, and weightlifting.

"You'll see me in the next two weeks," Mutombo said. "I will be somewhere. I really need to go back to playing. I've just got to make sure that I go to a place where I can be happy. There are about four to five teams that I've been looking at and about seven teams that have shown interest. It's up to me to make my decision."

This is from a Boston Globe article that ran today. Could be just a guy throwing around teams, or it could be that the Spurs reached out to him and showed some interest. I would think, given he still lives in Houston, that SA might be a preferred place for him to land, if they want him.

Save the old man jokes. Yes, he might be Pop's age. But we have all said that what the Spurs are lacking is a defensive big that does not need the ball. That statement defines Deke to the point that it will probably be on his tombstone when he dies.

Can't believe I'm saying this, but he would be a big help come playoff time against the Lakers, Hornets, and Celtics of the world.

Discuss. Is this a good idea? And who loses their roster spot if it is?

Recap, Game #14: Bulls @ Spurs

spurchief — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 19:13:14 -0000

I'll confess: My DVR did not capture the first 10 minutes of the game, so I'm not sure who started (if it was different than ATS' preview) or how the early tempo of the game went. I picked up the action with about 2:20 left in the first quarter and the Spurs leading 21-16. Stupid DVR.

1st Quarter (what I saw of it):

One of the first things I saw was Manu making a sweet pass to Tim from a pick-roll and Tim being so shocked to get the ball, he muffs the bunny lay-in. The chemistry is going to take a little time to get back. Then The Sickness makes a drive past Rose and Gooden for a lay-in. In the last minute of the quarter, he blocks a lay up attempt by Larry Hughes. He's not 100%, but Manu at 85% is better than all but a handful of the players in the NBA. Interesting lineup near the end of the first: Manu, Hill, Mason, Bonner, Timmeh. End of the quarter: Mason drives the lane, misses a layup, but KT is there to pick up the trash.

Spurs lead: 25-24. Manu: 6 minutes, 7 points, 2 boards, 1 assist. 1 block. Wow. Just wow.

2nd Quarter:

Spurs gave up a lot of 3-point shots in this quarter. I was going to chide them for poor defensive rotations, but in watching the tape again, it's really much more a function of Chicago's style of play, which I'll mention more at the end. Hill plays well this quarter: he starts out missing a layup, but tipping in his own miss. We'll see that again before the end of the day.

Score goes back and forth. Defense is OK, not great, and the Bulls get some open jumpers, many of which they hit. Bonner plays well also - nice drive and dish to KT, who misses but gets fouled by Nocioni. Mace Windu is clearly not shooting well, but he's continuing to look for his shot in rhythm. Have to love the way he plays - never tries to do too much and knows when to shoot and when to pass.

Spurs finish the quarter shooting poorly, with only a couple of Duncan baskets and some free throws contributing to our point total for the last 3 minutes of the quarter. But after all of that, it's tied at 45 and the Spurs have shot like CRAP for most of the first half. So, we got that going for us.

Spurs tied: 45-45. Tim has 18 at the half, by the way.

3rd Quarter:

Fab opens the scoring with a low post reverse and spinning layup that I did not know he was capable of. Then, Windu hits his 2nd three from a high post pass from Timmeh. This followed a bit later by a feed from Tim to the Findog cutting down from the free throw line. A beautiful play.

But, the shooting cools off and the Bulls keep hitting (open jumpers from Gooden (x3), Rose, and Gordon). The defense from SA is not great, but not awful. The jumpers Chicago is getting are not uncontested - except Gooden from 18, which I think you give him - but when they are hitting their jumpers, they could beat anyone....

...until the 5:20 mark of the third, when Manu takes a pass by the 3-point line on the left wing, drives baseline, gets hammered (no call), tucks the ball ("like a running back" says Sean Elliott), and hits a reverse layup that announces to the world that The Sickness has officially returned. The ankle is fine. Opponents, fear him now.

After that, the game changes dramatically. The score was 67-58 Chicago before the reverse layup. After that, Bonner hits a 3, Tim hits a free throw, and Manu hits a sweet layup (he goes left, Bulls). Gooden hits a jumper to make it 69-66, then Fatality goes off with back-to-back triples, the 2nd one on a pass from Manu that I had to watch 3 times. I can't describe it, other than to say it looked like a left-handed hook shot going 90 mph over the key to the right corner. The Spurs lead 72-69 and the rout is on.

The Bulls only add a bucket before the end of the quarter (a 16-4 run for our guys) and the Ginobilis lead 76-71.

4th Quarter:

George Hill owns this quarter. He hits a jumper from the the top of the key and a lay up high off the glass to extend the lead to 10 with 8:30 left. KT hits a jumper (assist from Hill) to make it 12, followed by another Hill foray through the paint for a layup (Gooden got juked) and then, steals from Gooden on the defensive end.

The Bulls get their 2nd basket of the quarter on a jumper by Gooden with 5:00 minutes left in the game. Read that again, I'll wait. Yes, the Spurs played great defense and the Bulls went cold. It's 89-75 and SA pretty much cruised the rest of the way. Tim sat most of the 4th, as did Manu.

Final: Spurs 98-88.

Random Thoughts:

- My assessment of the Bulls: This is a Suns-like team in many ways. They rely heavily on the jump shot and have little rebounding to go with it. They have several players who tend to take those jumpers out of the rhythm of the offense, meaning that the other players on the team are still getting in position to receive the ball and not getting in position to rebound, which leads to 1-shot-and-done possessions. Derrick Rose can play. Flat-out play. But this is a tough team for him to be on. He needs a team where he can initiate the offense and get the ball back. Except for Deng and maybe Noc, this is a sticky hands team. If they can remake this team around Rose, I think they can be very successful in a few years. Also, Lindsey Hunter is getting 2nd team minutes from them at this point. He is old. And doughy. That tells you what you need to know about Chicago.

- The defense is still improving. The rotations are better, which we all began noticing a week or two ago, but the pick-and-roll defense has improved as well. The bigs are much more active.

- Manu is not 100% as I said above. They showed him stretching the ankle during the 2nd quarter, so I suspect it's still stiff and sore. It may be a few more weeks before he gets into full-on Manu mode.

- The top 5 +/- stats tonight: IUPUI (+24), Red Rocket (+19), CrazyEyes (+10), The Sickness (+7), and Fatality (+4). In other words, our entire second unit.

- The JV: DNP-CD. My heart is aflutter with joy.

- I am loving every aspect of this team. It looks like a Spurs team ought to look. I am excited to get to our second unit now, which I have not been since the Manu / Kevin Willis / Stephen Jackson days. If their good play continues, we won't have stretches of the game where we have to pray that we can hold serve until the Big 3 get back on the floor. The negatives are as described: rebounding and a defensive big to guard Gasol, Bynum, Garnett, Powe, 'Sheed, etc. And we still have not played top-notch competition in the past few weeks. But with this bench and two key additions (Windu and IUPUI), this is going to be a fun season, and that's not something I was prepared to say when we kicked it off in late October. I look forward to bantering about it with all of you here.

Three Stars:

3. Tim - I have a philosophical issue with excluding Tim from the 3 stars ever. He is the foundation. He played great in the 1st half and wasn't needed much in the 2nd. 28 minutes, 8-12 from the floor, 21-8-3 with 2 blocks and a +3. He is great. The sky is blue.

2. Manu - His stats were great (18 minutes, 15-3-4, with a steal and a block) but his energy changed the game in the 3rd quarter. It will be interesting to see if he ends up a starter or coming off the bench again when he's fully healthy.

1. George Hill - Followed up his 20-point games with 19 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal, a block, and a +24 in 32 minutes. But the stats don't tell the story. He played extremely well. He dominated the 4th quarter and iced this win for the Spurs. All of us (myself included) who questioned the Braintrust after the draft need to formally apologize. Pop, RC, I was wrong to want Mario Chalmers. Just wrong. G Hill is the right guy for this team.

Game #6 Recap: vs. Knicks

spurchief — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 06:03:40 -0000

This is my first recap for PtR, so bear with me as I try to separate the snide comments and sarcasm from the facts of the game, so those you not fortunate enough to have watched it could get a feel for what happened.

A couple of lineup notes before the game even started:

- 2 new starters: George Hill got his first NBA start in place of Tony (out with an ankle, if you have been living on another planet); Ime Udoka starts in place of Bowen, who serves as a sub for the first time in 550 games (his entire Spurs tenure). That ticking sound you hear is Father Time, marching on.

- Mason starts: Over Fin again. Might be a trend, but Pop has clearly favored Mason over Findog for the past few games.

- Oberto back at "center": KT started against Miami, but Fabs moves back into the starting lineup for this game.

1st Quarter:

Timmeh had a hand in the first 6 points: four of his own and an assist to Fabs. Curious George finally got a bucket without TD with a drive and layup. The Knicks first two shots were corner 3s from Zach Randolph and Chris Duhon (both misses). That pretty much summed up the opening stanza.

Tolliver got in midway through the first and managed not to look completely petrified. The JV came in and got off 4 shots in his first 6-7 minutes in the game. Pretty sure that was not in the game plan.

The Spurs defense was poor (more on that later) and the Knicks got a ton of open looks, but only hit about 45%. Fin hit a big 3 that tied the score at 20 at the end of the quarter.

2nd Quarter:

One offensive series: Fabs with a drive from the corner of the key, spins, shoots falling away. Tony, Manu, please come home. A few series later, Pop calls a play for Fab out of the timeout - a turnaround that he buries. It was as horrifying to watch as you might imagine.

The JV starts off the second with a drive and missed layup. The Spurs begin to fall behind a bit as the quarter wears on. The offense looks stagnant, except for the Big Fundamental, who is putting a clinic on for Zach Randolph and David Lee, who appear to have never looked at a scouting tape (guys, Tim likes to put the ball on the floor and spin back baseline quite a bit, or he'll put his head down and drive middle. And watch out for the bank shot jumper, in case you have never noticed).

This version of the Knicks looks absolutely no better offensively than last year's version, despite the new genius coaching them. Methinks D'Pornstache will at some point during this game text Nash: "I miss you."

Halftime: Knicks, 41; Spurs, 38.

Here's the difference defensively this season: other teams get corner / wing 3s against whenever they want to, because the weakside defense is awful. We are late on rotations and the other team either shoots it or gets the running defender in the air and penetrates, creating mismatches. I think it's fixable - the guys on the floor have to better anticipate better where the ball is going to go, not get caught looking where it is - but until it does get fixed, we'll have an inordinate number of: open jumpers from the wing / corner, fouls on bigs trying to contest penetrators, and broken TVs from LatinD and SinCitySpur throwing things at their screens (see Game Thread comments).

3rd Quarter:

Wow - apparently, Pop ripped everyone a new one about the rotations on defense. The Knicks went on a 7-0 run to end the 2nd and scored the first 2 of the 3rd. Then a few minutes in, SA ran off 4 minutes of the quarter where they held NY without a FG (just FTs). Some of it was simply misses by NY (they are not a good shooting team, except maybe Crawford), but the rotations were definitely improved and the bigs did a much better job of stepping out early and corralling dribblers in the paint.

Finley and Hill owned the 3rd quarter. Fin looked as active as I've seen him in ages and Hill ran the point, pushed the floor, and drove well. And oh, by the way, Tim played well in the 3rd also.

Twice in the 3rd quarter, Finley posted up on the block, once against Nate Robinson, who is short, and once against Jamal Crawford, who is not as short. The first one was a disaster. The second one looked bad, but he scored. This might be scary if that one goes in the playbook.

Bowen hit a 3 (he played pretty well off the bench) as time expired and the Spurs led by 3 67-64 to end the 3rd.

4th Quarter:

The Spurs simply took over the game at this point, with their best basketball so far this season (not saying much, I know, but it's something to hang your hat on). The Knicks went scoreless for the first 5 minutes of the game (again, a mix of bad shooting and good defense) and the Spurs began to click offensively. Mason made a sweet backdoor pass to Tolliver for a dunk. Fin shot without hesitation and swished a 3. Hill with an easy layup. Tim was Tim.

The Spurs maintained about a 10-point lead for the rest of the game, after leading by as much as 14. Crawford got hot (had 6 threes for the game), but we answered at every turn, from Bowen to Fin to Hill with more 3s of our own.

Final: Spurs, 92; Knicks, 80.

Random Notes:

- The Knicks shot selection is typical of a D'Antoni coached team, which is to say awful. The difference between Phoenix and NY is that in Phoenix he had guys who could shoot. Other than Crawford (and maybe Lee or Chandler), there's not one guy I'd want on our team.

- No minutes for Marbury or Curry for NY. Way to market them for a trade, guys.

- The JV played only 12 total minutes, none in the pivotal 4th quarter. Hill and Mason split the point duties in the 4th and both played well. With any luck, the JV will be spending most of the season in a suit, with TP, Hill sharing the point and Mason filling in as the 3rd guy.

- Powell is right: the scrubs bring energy. Hill really revved up in the 3rd and Tolliver was a hustler despite a poor night shooting. Oddly, Farmer did not get off the bench tonight.

Your 3 Stars:

1. Tim - The best player for either team on both ends of the floor and it was never close. 23-9-7, 11-17 from the floor, with 2 blocks. He "only" played 36 minutes and was +10 on the night.

2. George Hill - Only 4-10 from the field, but played with poise, played solid defense, and chipped in 5 rebounds. I think he's a keeper.

3. Could go with Finley here (14 pts on 6-9 shooting and 6 boards), but I'm going with Roger Mason, who shot like crap (2-10), but still finished with 10 points, 4 assists, and 7 rebounds. Led with a +13, brought energy and kept JV on the bench in the 4th, for which he gets extra credit. Proved he can contribute when his shot is not falling. He's already the best healthy guard we have.

So, the summary: A win over the Knicks. That's good, but the best part is that in spots of the 3rd and most of the 4th, they looked like the Spurs again, with ball movement, defensive rotations, energy, and a healthy dose of #21 keeping it all together. A loss here would have been a tough thing and this may give Pop some things to build on. I, for one, can't wait for this team to get healthy so we can see Hill, Mason, and Ian integrated in with the rest of the gang.