Spurs vs. Mavericks: Stats of the Game

by BlaseE on Nov 12, 2009 11:00 AM CST in Game Previews

I love the Spurs. I was at our elimination game last year and needed this so bad. Thank you Pop for not playing around with the starting lineup and setting the tone for the whole game. The substitutions were predictable and made tons of sense.

Stats? After the jump....

I got a good song for you this time. It's Dredg's Savior. I know Tim likes them too and put one of their songs on a TWSS awhile back. Some of the lyrics fit tonight. Our savior tonight was RJ. Clearly he picked up some of the FSM gospel from watching Manu go crazy against the Raptors. It mentions some stuff about revenge (There's no need for forgiveness, It's already said and done, But don't let revenge consume and take hold of you, Cause it will blind you) which I'm sure a lot of us were craving tonight; not that a Spurs fan should openly admit that a regular season game is revenge for a playoff defeat.

1. Dirk had 29 points on 9 of 27 shooting. Sure he got to the line 10 times and made them all but he looked out of rhythm for 90% of the game. He seemed to be preventing anyone else from finding a real great streak too. This stat was my girlfriend's pick.

2. RJ had 10 FTA's. I don't care that he missed 5. FTA's are a measure of being aggressive and getting into the paint. Even if one player is missing them, they can speed up the opponent going into the penalty so other players can get opportunities. RJ had more than every other player on the team combined, 10 to 9 and Bonner's 2 were just a forced foul at the end by the Mavs. Usually Duncan takes contact in the paint and gets to the foul line for us. Without him, it was great to see RJ step up...

3. ...which leads me to RJ stepping up in terms of minutes. We knew going into this season that Parker, Duncan, and Manu were likely to see reduced minutes because of injuries or playing in the summer for Parker. We brought in RJ to carry some load. If we played this game last year, how many minutes do Manu and Hill play and we still probably lose. RJ played 41 minutes. Bogans shared the load and finished second with 34.

Hill had a respectable 33, and Manu was able to play an efficient 29. Sure, you can say Blair saw limited minutes because of foul trouble or being a risk on defense, but I think 20 minutes and his first career start is pretty damn good for the rookie (playing for Pop). He finished with a +6 and some decent rebounding numbers and had one of the top highlights of the night, his block on Dirk. We shouldn't have to ask Blair to play any more than 20 minutes a night and last night, we were able to limit him with a shallow rotation.

4. This is just a funny stat line to me. James Singleton played 1 minute with 1 foul and a -10 plus/minus.

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Poor Singleton. He must have been in for those end-of-quarter daggers from Manu and Bogans. Nice work, as always – too bad I can’t get the video behind this firewall.

The Spurs - now playing defense again! ...sometimes

by Tim C. on Nov 12, 2009 11:05 AM CST reply actions

Yeah, he came in with 4.8 left in the 1st to witness the Bogans 3. He then came in with 18.9 left in the 2nd but went back out at after only 3.2 seconds after Barea fouled Hill. Hill missed his 2nd and fouled Barea after the rebound, so Singleton reported back in at 00:13.2 left and got a close-up view of Manu’s half-ending bomb. At half he was -7 in 21 seconds of action, par for the course when you only play on the defensive end in each quarter’s closing seconds.

In the 3rd he finally saw extended seconds, playing over half a minute without a break. During this time Bonner hit a 3 and Terry missed one, completing Singleton’s -10.

Note that Singleton replaced Dirk each time. The main goal is probably to keep Dirk from picking up cheap fouls. Or maybe Carlisle is just pumping Dirk’s +/-?

by doggydogworld on Nov 12, 2009 12:55 PM CST up reply actions

The same thing happened to Hairston against the Raptors. He went in for 1 minute and had a -7.

by thedooj on Nov 12, 2009 11:42 AM CST reply actions

Wow. A -10 in one minute. We had that kinda offense last night?

by LionZion on Nov 12, 2009 11:44 AM CST reply actions

well, “one minute” made out of several 15-second chunks added together, during each of which we scored. D’oh!

by greyberger on Nov 12, 2009 5:39 PM CST up reply actions

Nice stat picks, BlaseE (not to mention a great music pick, too). I’m surprised Manu only played 29 minutes. He really is able to get more out of less.

And I like that Pop puts Blair in the starting lineup not just against some crappy team, but in a big game against a rival Mavs team who’ve won 2 straight. It should help accelerate the young fella’s development, even if a little bit.

The Roleplayer's Realm

by silverandblack_davis on Nov 12, 2009 5:08 PM CST reply actions

But apparently, Pop wasn’t please with something he did in the fourth and benched him. I hope Blair doesn’t lose Pop’s trust. We know when that happens, you end up being a “consummate professional who does his job even if it is for 1 minute or 41.” Or the human victory cigar.

"Yes, it's important that I have good numbers, and I'm well-respected as a player. But I think it's more important that I'm respected as a man." - Some Tall Guy Who Wore #50

by theonlyromeo on Nov 12, 2009 8:58 PM CST up reply actions