Horrific Defense Dooms Spurs Against Blazers
by Wayne Vore (ATS) on Feb 5, 2010 12:57 AM CST
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Chalk up another loss to terrible defense. For the key stretch of the fourth, the Blazers scored on 9 of 10 possessions. Those 10 possession went like this:
- layup and a foul
- short jumper in the middle of the lane
- layup and a foul (missed free throw)
- 8' jump hook that was a tough shot
- a shot blocked by George Hill
- layup and a foul (missed free throw)
- contested made baseline jumper
- wide open layup
- wide open 3-pointer
- contest made jumper after an offensive rebound
You can't win games with defense like that. Especially, if that is the defense you play against a talent challenged team like these injured Blazers. I believe we are in deep trouble.
The team was terrible on defense. Just terrible. Even the 15 third quarter points was a bit misleading. The Blazers only had 19 possessions in the quarter and turned it over 5 times. We gave up 5 offensive rebounds and benefited from the Blazers missing 4-5 open shots. Yes, we did play hard in that quarter, but the pace was VERY slow.
Every other quarter was awful.
First quarter: 26 points on 22 possessions. Blazers scored on 10 of their last 12 possessions. 5 of those scores were uncontested layups. Only 1 make was on a contested jumper. Of the two stops, one was a missed wide open 3 by Fernandez and the other was a semi-contested 8-footer by Miller. 12 possessions and maybe 2 would qualify as decent defense.
Second quarter: 25 points on 21 possessions. Blazers score on 11 of their first 16 possessions. Of the 5 stops, 3 were turnovers, 2 of which were unforced ( a travel by Batum and a bad alley oop pass by Blake). The other two stops were a missed wide open jumper by Batum and a missed contested jumper by Aldridge followed by a missed wide open jumper by Cunningham. Of the 4 stops in the last 5 possessions in the quarter, two were missed wide open jumpers. I'd say we played 3 good defensive possessions in the quarter. Maybe.
To illustrate how much we got torn up by the Blazers offense, they had 30 assists on 39 field goals.
For my note-taking purposes, I consider a shot challenged if a guy has his hand up and is within a foot or so of the shooter. We challenged a fair number of Aldridge's shots. McDyess was pretty good on him. I consider a wide open shot a shot where the defender has no effect on the shooter's view of the rim. If there is even a defender in the area.
It should be pointed out that Matt Bonner only played 4:42 and was a +5. He was not solely responsible for our horrific defense. Oh, and did I mentioned that we got hammered on the glass 45-36 after jumping out to an early 9-2 advantage.
We get no stars. None. This was a horribly depressing game.
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The truth shall set you free, but it might also make you really sad.
I have flying monkeys at my disposal, and I'm not afraid to use them.
I believe we’re in trouble, but I gotta believe we’ll get better…I just gotta!
Honestly. You kids today, with your hippity-hop music and your Twiddle. - Lauri
It Is Lottery TIME!
"Mr. Gilmore deserves to be in the Basketball Hall of Fame damnit. Highest field goal percentage EVER"
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gilmoar01.html
Hey spurs fans
Good game tonight..
I dont know what is wrong with your team other than some bad D, but it seems like TD is looking a little old, and RJ seems kind of worthless.
I didnt think you guys had a chance for the trophy this year before the game, and now I really dont think you have a chance.
Parker looked fantastic but then disappeard in the 2nd half. Ginobili looks like his old self, McDyess did his thing, and George Hill is a nice young player.
Talent wise I think you guys have it if Duncan gets his legs.
Dont bother slamming the Blazers. Most of us already know that we arent doing anything huge this year. We pretty much just hope we can get 3-4 years with everybody healthy. Not looking good so far…… Man I hate the Lakers
Ball handling and dribbling are my strongest weaknesses."—David Thompson
If you had drafted Durantula with your #1 pick, you’d probably win 4 trophies in 10 years too. Good shooting in the 1st and 4th tonight.
Imagine if they had drafted Michael Jordan when they had the chance…
Tall people > shooting guards + small forwards = Draft fail.
We aren't who we thought we were.
Good point. I just think that even if Duncan looks “a little old” now, he still looks younger and healthier than Greg Oden. No offense, but the guy looked 50 when he was in college.
DeJuan Blair has healthier knees than Greg Oden and he doesn’t even have any ACL’s.
We aren't who we thought we were.
Man, these Greg Oden jokes get as good (or as bad) as “your mama’s fat” jokes.
When my grandpa was 96 he had less wrinkles on his whole body than Greg Oden has on his forehead.
because a 3 that needs the ball all the time and a 2 thats needs the ball all the time would work right?
[insert witty nomenclature and/or out of context quote from someone that makes more money than I]
by HallelujahHoeDown on Feb 5, 2010 2:49 AM CST up reply actions
Oh, and did I mentioned that we got hammered on the glass 45-36 after jumping out to an early 9-2 advantage.
This is something I cannot understand. They lost Oden and Przybilla. Their best big man standing is Juwan Howard who is 60 years old and was overpaid even in his prime. So I can understand why we started 9-2. When what happened? How we managed to get -16 rebounds against a team without a decent center? Is it because Pop play RJ at 4? I thought it was bad enough that we were too thin at 3, but why should we play our only real 3 at 4 spot? What happened to Ratliff? Why Mahinmi doesn’t play at all? Why instead of killing them on the boards we try to imitate their weaknesses and play small ball? This is all beyond my understand I am afraid.
I honestly think there are some coaching problems. I love Pop but there something wrong.
just having fun...
by day_late_friend on Feb 5, 2010 1:31 AM CST up reply actions
We missed 10 more FG attempts plus one more FT. The offensive boards were even so their advantage in defensive rebounding is due to our missing more shots that could be rebounded.
You gotta bring ass to get ass.
True, some of the disparity is due to us missing more shots and the defensive team should get more of those reoubnds. Since we missed more shots, the offensive rebounding wasn’t really even. They corralled 27.7% of their misses. We got 22.2% of our misses back. I’m just saying that if we are missing that many more shots then the offensive rebound numbers shouldn’t be equal.
We specialize in misinformation around here. Facts and stats just get in the way.
by Wayne Vore (ATS) on Feb 5, 2010 9:56 AM CST up reply actions
KOndor…
I dont think the team as currently constructed can play Spurs type basketball.
Unfortunately, I dont think Pop can change his way of coaching to reflect this.
Lemmee ask you guys a question. Do you REALLY think Rick Adelman would coach a team with this much talent to such a mediocre record? Although I am not trying to say Rick is a better coach, I think that Pop is just too locked into one way of coaching. (That, and no one can play a second of tough defense )
...Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is forty five.
No one or no Jefferson? How many times does that guy get beat down the floor for an easy score or mismatch that leads to a wide open shot?
You gotta bring ass to get ass.
Actually in the first half, Rage never went hard for a rebound. It was soo obvious on tv even without focussing on him. But after Pop yelled at him for a blown cover, he perked up a bit on rebounds from there on.
At $14mil, Rage seems to lack the drive. There really is no solution to that. I haz sad.
the spurs are dead! but i will rather enjoy seeing them in the 8th seed and win a championship than being 2nd on the west and get eliminated in the 1st round. so, lets just hope for now that they will enter the playoffs..=)
This had nothing to do with the back-to-back. Or age. Or officiating. Or the Blazers being better. Or Pop. Or Bonner. Despite awful transition defense in the first half and a great scoring game by Aldridge, the Spurs were the better team on the road for over 40 minutes with an 8 point lead. Then it all went to hell due to unforced turnovers and poor execution on offense, which AGAIN led to easy points for the opponent. When will this repetition stop?
The final two minutes were the worst, but that never even becomes an opportunity if the previous few minutes had been played properly. Or the first few minutes of the 4th had seen the lead grow to 12+. How can such an “old” team make so many young mistakes?
You gotta bring ass to get ass.
oh ffs. the game is getting replayed here on tv in a few hours, and i was looking forward to watching had we won. now? i don’t know if i want to watch what sounds like a frustrating loss.
free george hill!
by sleep research facility on Feb 5, 2010 1:46 AM CST reply actions
As of right now, I agree with GT
GhosTown, please feel free to speak for me. You have one comment; I hope you make it count. All I ask is that you avoid expletives.
Allright, off you go. Do your worst ,as you aren’t likely to get this chance again.
Consider the gun jumped
5 in 10
It should be pointed out that Matt Bonner only played 4:42 and was a +5.
Bonner and or small ball = LOSING.
Yeah we got one part of the equation right but as long as we play small ball we are going to lose. It is just that simple. It doesn’t work for any team in the NBA and it won’t work for the Spurs.
RJ is a SF, he is trying to understand that position and then out of the blue he is thrown into the PF spot, and boy was he missing his defense rotations and completely out of rhythm on offense because he was in no mans land. I was as confused as he was watching that crap.
What kinda sense does it make to try and play a slow tempo with a small line up? That is just plain stupid. Why was TP sitting at the scorers table while we were losing the lead by turning over the ball repeatedly?
Pop needs to take Dunleavy’s lead and head back to the front office.
I really don’t understand how he was a +5. He looked lost out there, seemed to get in the way at times (when rebounding), and basically contributed next to nothing. How the hell does that end up as a +5? Shows how little I know about basketball.
I am not anti-Pop, he is a great teacher and a great coach, but do hate the Bonner and Small Ball fixation.
How often did we go small ball in this game? I’m not sure. The times I watched we always had some combo of TD, Dyce or Blair in the game.
You gotta bring ass to get ass.
It looks like every time we start playing well, Pop begins to worry “what’s going on? I should do something about it”. He sits Manu or Blair if they are on fire, plays small ball when we can dominate the boards or tweaks something else until we suck at the end of the game and another win slips away to turn into the loss. I think, Pop is after some ultimate challenge. May be he wants to get to number 8 spot, then unleash fresh Ratliff and Mahinmi on beaten down Bynum and Gasol and destroy and ultimately embarrass the Lakers this way. May be he wants to prove that he is able to coach the team into a losing record. May be he is just out of his freaking mind. It looks like something really strange is going on this eason.
Maybe PEN has it right, and Pop’s mind is being clouded/controlled by Phil Jackson’s gifts of tainted wine.
Consider the gun jumped
5 in 10
I hadn’t thought about small ball. So I looked it up for the Blazers game. We played 10 minutes of small ball, RJ at the PF, for a combined +3.
We did it for two stretches. Just short of 5 minutes in the second quarter for a -1.
Just over 5 minutes from the last 1:23 of the third to the 8:00 mark of the 4th for a +3.
All in all, those are bad numbers. However, that 5 minutes stretch of the second is misleading. We allowed them to score on 7 of their 9 possessions in that stretch and the only two stops were the unforced turnovers. We were only -1 because we were in a scoring streak.
The second half stretch was better and the lineup we went to AFTER the small ball lineup gave up 8 buckets on the next 9 possessions.
So, I would like to amend your equation to:
Bonner and/or small ball and/or big ball = BAD DEFENSE
We specialize in misinformation around here. Facts and stats just get in the way.
by Wayne Vore (ATS) on Feb 5, 2010 10:11 AM CST up reply actions
How did you figure that for a specific game? Just curiosity.
"If an expert says it can't be done, get another expert"
- DBG
The play-by-play lists the substitutions. The minutes for Duncan, McDyess, Blair, and Bonner add up to 86 minutes so I knew there was only 10 minutes of small ball.
We specialize in misinformation around here. Facts and stats just get in the way.
by Wayne Vore (ATS) on Feb 5, 2010 10:25 AM CST up reply actions
This game or the last Portland game was not Bonner’s fault.
Both losses are on Pop.
Pop is the one that apparently thinks we have some kind of advantage when we use small line ups. The 1st 5 mins we were killing them on the glass. Things were working. If we stay big we would have continued to dominate the paint. Maybe increase our lead who knows. Portland did the only thing they could have done against us to stay in the game and that was push the ball at us. Good job by them.
But I’m going to fast forward to the last 5 mins of the game. This is where a close game is won or lost.
Our best team was not on the floor at the 5 min mark. Nate made sure Portland had their best team on the floor and for 5 mins, they kicked our ass and won the game.
TP should NEVER be sitting as we enter the money minutes of the game. If we need to pin point one true reason we loss this game, it is because we didn’t have our play maker on the floor. We all heard TP say during halftime he was fine and was ready to go, so I have to believe it was Pop that held him out of the game for such a long time during the 4th period.
At some point it has to become evident that Nate is better at game time adjustments than Pop, what else explains him beating Pop 5 times in a row and twice without his best player.
Duncan played waay too much tonight. Pop is usually pretty good about managing minutes – winning this game (and the last) must have been really important for him. However, think it backfired at times – Duncan was mostly his usual solid self, but looked really slow and tired at times, especially in the fourth quarter. A few mistakes here and there cost us.
48 games played and we looked confused in the 4th qtr. This loss was more frustrating than the last time we lost to Portland. They are losing men and we are gaining men and we are still losing to them.
We have to take Bogans out of the rotation, and put Mase back in and give Bonner’s mins to Ian or Theo. If we don’t get big, and get big real F#*)@ soon we are going to lose every one of these road games against athletic teams.
You can’t give up 2nd chance points on the road and expect to win.
I agree with putting Mason and Mahinmi in. Pop needs to go on vacation and clear his head for a little while. He’s not helping RJ by making him switch from 3 to 4 every game.
just having fun...
by day_late_friend on Feb 5, 2010 2:09 AM CST up reply actions
Not sure how that’s Pop’s fault. RJ’s bad play is all on him.
Mason not playing at all makes me wonder about a possible trade.
You gotta bring ass to get ass.
It’s his fault because RJ is playing out of position way too much when we play small ball. He has to do too much. This is not how we looked in our championship years. We didn’t have players playing out of position.
And he doesn’t have to play RJ out of position, if he plays Ian or Ratliff.
Exactly. RJ struggles enough with playing 3, and when he is just strating to figure out how to play 3, Pop puts him at 4, and he is becoming absolutely confused. Besides, there is nobody behind RJ to play the 3. Pop plays Duncan, who always insists that he is a PF, at 5, plays RJ at 4, and puts one of our 2s at 3. How this mess is supposed to work, is beyond me. Quite predictably, it doesn’t work, time after time, and we are losing winnable games.
One thing baffling me is Pop’s reluctance of showing tough love on RJ. I mean, he has been the perfect synonym for inconsistency. Plus, he really looked lost when playing 4. Duncan’s defense has been above average at best and he allows RJ to be his partner in the paint.
He better prepare a valid explanation on playing Finley instead of Mason.
just having fun...
by day_late_friend on Feb 5, 2010 2:25 AM CST up reply actions
Bogans is a joke – get rid of him! He is too short to be a defensive stop like Bruce. Bruce could play 1-2-3-4s – Bogans is too slow for most 1s and too short for most 3s
"Mr. Gilmore deserves to be in the Basketball Hall of Fame damnit. Highest field goal percentage EVER"
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gilmoar01.html
I’m pretty sure 2 inches has little to do with it. We really can’t expect any one player to replace what he did for us. I’m still clueless why the FO didn’t want him back.
by Manu ex Machina on Feb 5, 2010 10:02 AM CST up reply actions
One more thing, what was Finley doing out there instead of Mase. Now I know Mase has been in a slump lately, but he is still a much better player than Finley at this stage in his career, and he should not be in the dam doghouse because his jumper is off. At least he is in game shape and has something to offer, Finley doesn’t.
These are the kinda of decisions that I don’t understand.
Bonner over Theo or Ian????
Bogans and Finley over Mase? Combined they had 23 mins of no defense or offense. Mase could have done that and at least he would have stretched the floor for the others to penetrate even if his shot wasn’t falling.
the mahinmi thing is the most confusing, he’s been developed for three years (or so), but he gets no time, is he that bad?
will no other team offer anything for him? if he doesn’t play, he can’t increase or decrease his value i guess
the rebounding must’ve been pretty bad, there are two reasons for losing rebounds, height/size and hustle/effort/fatigue, maybe that’s five, but they’re all inter-related
the webster three at the end, was just terrible defense
We can now only lose 12 games or else we’ll end our streak of 50+ win seasons. Yeah, that’s definitely going to happen.
Evey- "Are you a crazy person?"
V- "I'm quite sure they'll say so."
V for Vendetta, blowing your mind away since 2005.
This team will be lucky to limp into the playoffs – they should consider lottery
"Mr. Gilmore deserves to be in the Basketball Hall of Fame damnit. Highest field goal percentage EVER"
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gilmoar01.html
I felt strong yesterday. I felt they could still do it.
"…hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before."
Last night was the blow that cracked my hope. : (
"If an expert says it can't be done, get another expert"
- DBG
I apologize in advance for misusing such a wonderful quote.
"If an expert says it can't be done, get another expert"
- DBG
the gig is up. Record until now is 28-20 with a home win% of 65.5
Away% of 47.3
Predicted Final Record using this data———-
48-36 – Probably not good enough to get into the playoffs – unless this team makes some sort of insane turnaround this is the future of the season……
"Mr. Gilmore deserves to be in the Basketball Hall of Fame damnit. Highest field goal percentage EVER"
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gilmoar01.html
i stopped watching at the end of the 3rd quarter feeling good about the game so the wife and i could finish season 2 of Dexter.
i check the boxscore on my phone later (cause i love my spurs and have timmy/manu/blair on my fantasy team) and the spurs are down 2 very late in the game.
i get up, stop the netflix dvd on my ps3 and turn the game on.
think it was a jumpball that the spurs got but tony missed a jumper. we both still had hope..
well por misses fts and then pop draws up a great play for a wide open manu 3. damn.
then they show Roy on the tv, and wifey goes, “and Roy’s not playing and we lose again?!, put Dexter back on!”
According to Manu, in today’s SA Express, that play was drawn up for Hill to take the three, but Hill didn’t take his open shot and ditched it to Manu instead. Manu said he rushed the shot more than he should have.
Too true, Jane.
Don’t know why everybody keeps saying that it was drawn up for Manu. TD wasn’t set up to pass to Manu (directly behind him) but instead turned immediately and passed to Hill, who was all the way through the jump part of his jumpshot before bailing and dishing to Manu.
Consider the gun jumped
5 in 10
i couldve sworn someone jumped out at Hill which forced him to swing the ball to an open Manu in the corner.
by FreshmakerDTM on Feb 9, 2010 3:35 PM CST up reply actions
Hill was already in the air as the defender was coming, if he’d been truly committed to the shot, he’d have taken it.
But he must have either: 1) not been confident in taking it b/c of his takeoff, ball placement in his hands or something less technical and more rooted in not being “ready” for the shot, or 2) he say the defender out of the corner of his eye, mis-judged how close he was, and passed to avoid the possibility of being blocked on a potential game tying shot.
The intanglibles are with us tonite…its just those dang tangibles lke making shots and playing defense - bones
I am still completely baffled by Pop playing small. Why not use Mahinmi? Why not match old man for old man (Howard vs. Ratliff)?
And the deal with Mason is puzzling as well.
by Manu ex Machina on Feb 5, 2010 10:05 AM CST reply actions
I lol'd
Actually trading him for outlaw could help both teams quite a bit. It would give you more depth at the 3, and he can play the 4 if you move Duncan to the 5 for some instant offense. He’s not too great at the defensive end and can occasionally be a black hole on offense, but he could help. Trade machine worked if it was Mahinmi+Bonner for Outlaw+Pendergraph. Pendegraph is a rookie PF with a hard-nosed defensive mentality with a good mid-range.
Portland could coast along with their superior talent and stay right with us. Now that Portland woke up, the hammer cometh down.
Bayless > Daffy Duck after 3 cans of rockstar
by Batumshakalaka on Feb 6, 2010 5:32 AM CST up reply actions
Why?
Why play Parker in the game if you are not going to play him in the last seven minutes? What is Popovich doing? Terrible game, terrible last seven minutes of coaching. Unless there is a long-term strategy by Popavich, this was pitiful.
Small Ball (Warning: Factual Content)
Spurs played small twice. Both were actually micro-ball, with Blair at center and RJ at power forward. What NBA coach puts five guys shorter than 6’-7" out on the floor? Anyway, the first stretch was almost 5 minutes in the middle of the 2nd with a plus/minus of -1. The other was a 5:22 stretch spanning the third and fourth quarters with a +4.
I understand the hatred, but it’s irrational to blame this loss on small ball.
Isn’t possible that we could do even better if we had bigs in? I think so.
by Manu ex Machina on Feb 5, 2010 10:33 AM CST up reply actions
Lineups with two bigs not named Matt Bonner were -11 for the game. We had McDyess/Duncan in for almost that entire 4th quarter collapse.
by doggydogworld on Feb 5, 2010 10:42 AM CST up reply actions
I’m with ddw. Small ball ain’t the culprit. And as irritated as everyone was by Doug Collins, I think that he made the salient observation that what is different now about the Spurs is the lack of execution. And that scares me, because that’s not something a coach can fix—as Pop has said before, that’s something that either happens or doesn’t. This team doesn’t feel cohesive to me; these guys aren’t in the trenches together. I kind of wish Tim wasn’t playing during the All-Star Break. I wish he would take the rest of his team off for a serious talk and some player-led practice. But that’s not what Timmy does.
But for what it’s worth, I’m not ready to throw in the towel on the season yet, even though the tape truck guys (who have seen many, many seasons of NBA ball between them) tell me that it’s over. I am NOT READY. I wouldn’t say the flame of hope leaps high within my breast, but the embers certainly smolder on.
I have flying monkeys at my disposal, and I'm not afraid to use them.
by Lauri on Feb 5, 2010 10:55 AM CST up reply actions 3 recs
Thank you
+1
"We suck on 'D. Both individually and team-wise, we suck. We're pretty consistent that way. I don't know if I have an answer to that. If I did, we wouldn't suck quite so bad." - Popovich
by Aaron "Hirschof" Preine on Feb 5, 2010 11:09 AM CST up reply actions
I’ve given up, the Spurs do nothing but make me miserable now. We made the worst decision in life last June (not that it appeared that way when the trade went down) and we are fucked, plain and simple. The only thing the Spurs can do for me this year is get the number 8 seed and upset the Lakers.
I’m now convinced that Stern is paying Jefferson to suck it up so bad, because that’s the only excuse for how terrible and overpaid he is.
Spurs is the lack of execution
Is directly related to who is on the floor to execute the plays you want to run.
If you have players on the court who aren’t executing you pull them.
But when you don’t have your main guy on the floor to get you executing your offense this is craziness.
It doesn’t matter what group of bigs you put out there, if the coach doesn’t have sense enough to put the best PG in the NBA on the floor what difference will it make.
TP needs to be on the floor executing our offense. Enough said.
That’s kind of circular, but okay. I’m not going to try to disprove something that didn’t happen (is there a Bell inequality for basketball?), but in case you didn’t notice, nothing I said contradicts your essential point. I do think you oversimplify the problem somewhat, but whattaya gonna do.
I have flying monkeys at my disposal, and I'm not afraid to use them.
I do think you oversimplify the problem somewhat
Basically that is the idea.
We have too much talent and we are making it complicated because we are not using that talent in the most simplest fashion to play defense. I made mention to this before in another thread, but Pop is trying to play chess when all he needs to do is play checkers. Marinate on that a little :)
We are losing because Pop is stuck in last year’s failures where we didn’t have enough scoring punch and now it seems like we spent the 1st part of the season trying to fit all our pieces together to get a fluid offense when we should be trying to fit our pieces together to get a cohesive defense, and let the offense take care of itself.
Let me explain:
Why did he wait 44 games before he decided to start his best perimeter defender, Ghill? I believe he did this because he was concern with the 2nd team not having a true point guard, when resting TP. If that was the case, this is not focusing on defense, this is an offensive decision. So my point is why be concern with offense if you haven’t fixed the 1st team defense yet. IMO, Manu and Mase should be PGs for the 2nd team. And Ghill should be focusing his energy on stopping people.
I keep hearing defense as we break the huddle, then in comes Bonner or small ball. How is this consistent with defense?
I guess we will never know, because stubbornness guarantees we have not seen the last of small ball or Bonner.
I also can’t help but wonder what the commentary today would be like had the Spurs scored with (or, dare I say, executed) that beautiful inbounds play drawn up (presumably) by the much-maligned Pop. And if Timmy hadn’t made those turnovers in the post. And if we had played some tighter defense. How much of a swing might that have provided? These (to me) are matters of execution.
I have flying monkeys at my disposal, and I'm not afraid to use them.
I like the way you think. It’s amazing how the same team’s story changes if the players simply do their job. They had an eight point lead after 40+ minutes on the road, despite not playing very good defense throughout the first half or having any one player have a great game.
They comitted almost as many turnovers in the 4th quarter as they had in the first three. The had only three individual trips to the FT line in the 4th quarter (7 total FTs, with three being missed) in a game they led. And in the final 2 minutes it was the big-3 that failed on offense. Timmy, Tony and Manu all missed shots plus turnovers from TD and Manu. And what was Manu thinking launching a very deep 3 with time on the shot-clock? If the key veterans are panicking, why wouldn’t everyone else?
You gotta bring ass to get ass.
I had work last night and couldn’t watch the game, but I’m glad because looking at the box score and reading this quick cap (especially the shit that went down in the fourth) i might have hurt myself and/or others
This is absolutely fucking ridiculous that we can’t close a game out, EVERY game it’s the same shit, different team and the fact that we’ve played almost 50 games and still haven’t figured it out is just deafening to me.
Whose fault is this?
- It’s a combination of things, but the person who stands out the most is that overpaid turd who only took 8 shots in the entire game and only made 3 of them. Bruce Bowen was a more effective small forward and was paid half the price (probably less don’t know for certain). I’m done with Jefferson, he sucks and we are not doing shit with him on the team. He’s so venomous that solid games it looks like from damn near everyone else (where the hell was Mason though) can hide the fact that he sucks.
Speaking as a Blazers' fan
It seems that the Spurs have inherited the curse of the Blazers (at least one that was present for many years…perhaps not so much any more) – the ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at the last moment. There were years of frustration at the Blazers as they ripped my heart out again and again. We finally seem to have shaken the curse, but it has fallen upon your team. How I wish it had landed on LA or Utah.
You guys should have won – the Blazers only really outplayed the Spurs in the 4th quarter.
"My shoulder is OK. And away we go." -- Nic Batum
"wang-dang diddly wubba SPROING wow-wow" -- Dave
I’m studying for a lengthy exam here in California, and the one joy I thought I would get during this time was to be able to watch the Spurs win. I don’t have a lot of free time, and there aren’t many Spurs games broadcasted in my area (I hate the Lakers even more since moving here—ugh, the fans are the worst). What do I do now? I am thinking no more breaks for the Spurs. They are tormenting me more this year than any exam possibly could, no matter how much importance I place on it. I had such high hopes this season too. Moreover, from what I saw last night, there’s no way Jefferson learned anything more about basketball past the pee-wee level and the Spurs defense devolves to that level in the second half. Rookies make us look stupid. Back to work…
In past years, when these idiotic LA fans used to say that the Spurs sucked, I had factual and visual evidence to prove the exact opposite and make them look stupid and jealous. (They really do have the lowest basketball IQ EVER) This year, I can’t help but agree with them. The best the Spurs can do now is somehow (not even likely though) sweep the season series against the Lakers so at least I can talk some shit once we get kicked out the playoffs in the first round.
Blazer fan here
I am a little surprised we won that game last night. This post talks about terrible defense but I sat and marveled at the defensive spacing. Andre Miller simply was not allowed to post up Parker and we had to adjust our game. Martell goes 5-5 from long range after being in a slump. Your team defense is sound it is just that rotations have to be constantly made because other than Duncan your man defense is poor.
I personally think, and this is not to meant to be offensive, just talkin ball, that your team was overrated from the get go. They are exactly about as good as I thought they would be. The Blazers have had their way with the Spurs lately because the bring a youthful energy that they just can not match. Acquiring Jefferson was a mistake from the get go. This Spurs team is one of the toughest playoff tested teams in history and you add soft as a grape Jefferson???
As far as all the talk about Oden, all of the rings that you Spurs have, were made possible by your center missing a year to injury. Lets all pass judgment on this kid after he gets over 30. Real basketball fans don’t want to see anyone injured for more than one game. As I am sure most of you didn’t mind Bayless banging his knee but hope to see him kick Laker butt.
Anyhow, good game. Maybe will hook up again in the playoffs.
I personally think, and this is not to meant to be offensive, just talkin ball, that your team was overrated from the get go. They are exactly about as good as I thought they would be. The Blazers have had their way with the Spurs lately because the bring a youthful energy that they just can not match.
No offense taken. I think this is quite possibly true.
I have flying monkeys at my disposal, and I'm not afraid to use them.
True, Webster was 5-5, but Fernandez was 0-6. According to my note taking, we challenged exactly 2 of the 13 3s taken by the Blazers. Teams will shoot 6-13 when that happens.
We specialize in misinformation around here. Facts and stats just get in the way.
by Wayne Vore (ATS) on Feb 5, 2010 12:18 PM CST up reply actions
I don’t have the number but the 3pt defense has been horrid this year, I mean Webster did not show anything other than hitting a wide open 3. What happened to funneling defenders to inside and rotating, I’m mean its clear as day our rotations are horrible.
I’ll tell you what happened. The three times I saw them run players off the three point line, one was a blocked shot, one was a walk and the third time it ended in a dunk when blake passed off to Aldridge and the man on the opposite side didn’t rotate. 33% is a lot better than ~50%, if you’re talking defense.
Like so many I am absolutely confounded by Pop’s refusal to even try Ratliff and/or Ian in this and previous games against teams that we are likely to meet in the playoffs. The Blazers rely heavily on Aldridge, particularly with Roy out. Aldridge doesn’t rely on a power game, more on just shooting over people. Both Theo and Ian are tall enough to challenge some of those shots and at least see if they have any success. Or as someone else suggested, try them on Howard, who is slow enough that he’s not likely to get many fouls. But Pop will have none of it, not against Portland or any other team. How in hell is he going to know what will and will not work come playoff time?
Also: I’ve come to the conclusion that RJ is just not very bright, at least not in a basketball sense. I think he’s relied on his athleticism with previous teams and largely played lackadaisical one-on-one defense. We need to consider a sobering thought: he may not be capable of learning Pop’s system.
Prognostication
Before this rodeo road trip I looked at the schedule and based upon the way the team is playing now and how the oposition in manyh cases is improving I made a guess on the trips upcoming results. So far I’m right on target with the Sacramento win and Portland loss. Just to see how it goes here is the rest of my predictions. LAC=W; LAL=L;
Denver=L; Indiana=w???; Philadelphia=W; Detroit=W. The last three could easily go the other way. Then I went over the rest of the schedule and came up with an overall 49-32 record which will put SA right on the edge of not making the playoffs. Of course this could change completely if the Spurs pull off a blockbuster trade before Feb. 18. Noticed that Pops patience with Jefferson is beginning to wear thin. Pop, please put Mahinmi in the game a bit more so we can see if he really is as bad as you seem to think he is. From what I’ve seen in his rare minutes is that he could really help defending inside. TD just doesn’t have the hops anymore to be a super defensive threat around the rim. Ian can get way up block dunk attempts. Duncan just turns away when a power dunk is headed his way. I hope I’m way off on my predictions, but unless something drastic happens, I don’t think I’ll be far off. We could win a game or two more, but just as likely lose two or three more.
I think our inability to close games is because Spurs has been very predictable with the ball. Teams know at the end of the game which spaces to clog. George Hill in his pg starts showed that he can find people but last night he was so tentative on the end game because he has to give the ball up as in the break where instead of just attacking he slowed down giving Blazers defense time to set up. RJ wasn’t getting the ball enough to get a flow to his game. As long as our pg doesn’t know how to control end game sitauations, it’ll be hard to close games. Last night Spurs end game possessions were terrible and without directions.
by 21td on Feb 5, 2010 12:28 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
Its time for a big-big shake up. If this current core cant get it done, how in the hell will the same group of guys come back next season and get it done? Because we added splitter ?
...Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is forty five.
Couldn’t it be argued that the size of the shake-up we just had is the problem? We kept, what, seven players and replaced the rest? And that, given more time together, synergy, team chemistry, and therefore execution could still improve?
Or is the answer to that, “Professional basketball players should be able to integrate and adapt within a matter of weeks, not months. If they haven’t gelled yet they never will.”
I’m inclined to tweak, not radically overhaul. But maybe I’m just hiding my head in the sand?
Hmm, I have an idea. More later.
I have flying monkeys at my disposal, and I'm not afraid to use them.
I have no doubt this team will be playing better by the end of the season ( Considering the pedigree and talent on the team, can they possibly play worse? ) But they would need to do a complete 180 and then some to have a true shot just to make to the WCF.
Yes, the shake up was part of the problem. Its funny cause everyone thinks we need a defense first big man, and a defensive small forward. Basically, we wish we could turn back into the old Spurs…
I dont know that Pop is capable of changing the way he coaches to reflect the personnel changes.
...Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is forty five.
I think the issue is the same someone mentioned above. Too much talent on the offensive side and not enough basketballs and PT to go around. While the idea was great, adding a 4th player who could score, I still think adding someone like Ariza would have been a much better move. Someone athletic who can defend the perimeter, can hit the open 3 and occasionally make a move to the basket. Hmmm, wait, wouldn’t that be like replacing Bowen?
We have too many scorers and not enough people to defend and rebound. The few we might have are either too old or don’t get playing time. I don’t know about you guys, but trying to outscore your opponents has been proven to be a failure by a few teams in the past (Warriors, Mavericks, Suns), and it’s a crappy strategy when you fail to score at the end of the game.
Guys, It might be time to break up the big three.
...Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is forty five.
Duncan is effective
but no longer dominant.
To win, you guys have to get huge games out of Manu, TP, and at least SOMETHING out of RJ or Mason Jr.
In my opinion, your run is done. RJ was a last ditch effort, but that guy looks washed up. Never been happier that the Blazers didnt get involved with RJ or Vinsanity as we were rumored to have been.
Dont take it so hard though. At least you dont have to live throught the Oden / Durant era like we do.
Ball handling and dribbling are my strongest weaknesses."—David Thompson
Duncan is not the problem, he’s actually been playing better than he has in the last few years. and I don’t agree that Manu and Tony need huge games to win, if we get our 20 from tony and 15-20 from Manu, and get a little help from our bench which is the best in the leauge scoring wise we should win.
Scoring is not the problem with this team, its the defense and lately lack of confidence.
Duncan is sucking on defense, hell Juwan Howard was scoring at will on him. He’s looking too slow on defense. Duncan needs help in the paint, he needs a true center playing along side him.
I agree with Benson, he’s effective but no longer dominant on offense.
I’m with you, Duncan hardly challenges any shot outside of 10ft from the rim, unless the game is close on the 4th quarter. The defensive strategy of funneling guys towards the bigs is no longer there either. While Duncan can’t jump like he used to, he can still block and challenge shots without even jumping most of the time…unfortunately we give more open outside shots than anybody else in the league so we can’t even give Duncan a chance to play defense in the paint.
WERD to that. But, don’t get me started. I don’t have the time to write and you don’t have the time to read anything that long.
We specialize in misinformation around here. Facts and stats just get in the way.
by Wayne Vore (ATS) on Feb 6, 2010 12:39 PM CST up reply actions
What isn’t opinion, period? But you know as well as anyone that there are degrees of openness, and that some networks are far more open to providing a voice to opposing opinions than others.
I have flying monkeys at my disposal, and I'm not afraid to use them.
Lakers got beaten soundly at home by the Nuggets without Carmelo. Dallas lost at home to the Timberwolves of all teams. Somehow it makes me feel better. Nobody in the west looks quite unbeatable. I still think the gap between the Lakers/Nuggets and the Spurs is smaller this year than last year. The Lakers actually look recently as discombobulated as the Spurs, though they looked much better at the start of the season. If we could only get our act together and improve a little bit. Like starting to make 3s again. Or make 2s in the 4th quarter. May be it’s just a wishful thinking, and this team is done. But I still want to hope that something magically will start clicking very soon.
Yeah the Mavs and Lakers home losses were very sweet to see, the bright spot of my day. I still think we might have an outside chance of catching Dallas for 3rd seed (and winning the div).
But it shows what a sad state our team is in that I have to look to get joy from other teams losing. Never had to go to such depths much in the past.
Wait! The Fakers lost? Damn it. I should have watched. I kept off bball news for a coupla days. I am more than a bit disappointed at this point. It is time for the leaders to step up a bit and show some leadership on the floor especially in the last two mins of quarters. I am looking at you Timmeh. You need to crack your knuckles and stop being hesitant in the last mins.
Not just lost, but they were beaten badly on their own floor. It looked like our games against Utah this season. If I were the Lakers fan, I would be very frustrated from the loss like that. Chancey Billups just made LA look like Minnesota. And the guy is not even an all-star.
WORST COACHED TEAM IN THE NBA PERIOD
you think thats over the top? well, name me a team in the nba with this much talent that sucks this much? we have everything we need. 3 seven footers, slashers, shooters, rebounders,and this piece of shit cant figure it out. his absolute refusal to put in some size and length is inexscusable. not giving mahimi or ratliff a shot when every team in the nba uses us like there in layup drills is disgusting. pops ego is really shining through. glaring hole in the middle,,NO RESPONSE
small ball not working: NO RESPONSE
matt bonner sucking: keep giving him minutes
mason: is you miss your out.
blair: if your hot, your out.
lay up drill: amhimmi and ratliff sit
this is about pops ego, about him not being able to change because it mite show he was wrong. he’s rather take the fucking ship down than admit that.
THE WORST COACHED TEAM IN THE NBA.. EVRYTHING ELSE IS JUST BS
Without Pop, your user name would be “pinkiering.” I’m not on the fire pop bandwagon (if it is one) yet, but I’m certainly not inclined to think he deserves COY this season.
Still, if it continues, this will just be the first really bad coaching year that Pop does. I give him the benefit of the doubt. If we get ousted in the POs, or if we don’t get there, and Pop doesn’t make adjustments along the way, then I could go ahead and blame him for costing us this season.
As it stands, I like to believe something good is going to happen, and we’re going to turn this season around.
"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 Feb 7, 2010 9:27 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
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