Spurs v. Hawks Recap...::Sigh::

by Big50 on Mar 22, 2010 11:27 AM CDT

Well, this was just one of those games. The Spurs couldn't catch a break after the 1st quarter and then didn't help themselves by turning over the ball and giving several games worth of offensive rebounds. It seems to be a trend that Manu Ginobili going off doesn't mean a Spurs win. Manu had 38 points to go along with Tim Duncan's 29 last night and it still wasn't enough.

This sums up my feelings on this game...

The one glaring thing that killed the Spurs in this game it was defensive rebounding. The Spurs shot 81 times for 50.6% and the Hawks shot 46.9% on 98 shots. Those percentages show that the Spurs should have won this game fairly easily, but the Hawks shot 17 more times off of 21 offensive rebounds. I will grant you that this Hawks team is very athletic and would be a rebound mismatch for most NBA teams. That being said the Spurs did a good job on defense and killed themselves with rebounding.

I'm not sure why Antonio McDyess didn't play hardly at all, if at all, in the second half. He seemed productive both on the defensive end as well as a few nice offensive rebounds, he had 10 rebounds in only 17 minutes. Matt Bonner played hard, but got owned on the defensive boards, 6 rebounds in 33 minutes isn't good enough. DeJaun Blair didn't get as much time (12 min) as I thought he should in the first game of a back to back. The worst news of this game is that Duncan and Manu both played a ton of minutes in this game. Never a good thing in a loss.

We did see that coach, and we didn't like it

George Hill has been off the last few games and with Tony Parker out this team can not afford for Hill to be average. Come on George, we know you can pick it up. Richard Jefferson played well, but we need to see more from him on the offense. RJ scored 12 points, but he helped with 8 rebounds (3rd most) which was one or two less than I'd like to have seen. For the life of me I cannot figure out why Malik Hairston only played 3 minutes. Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams were causing all sorts of problems for Kieth Bogans and RJ. I think Hairston is good enough on defense to play more and he's so much better than Bogans on offense I think he should get at least half of the 25 minutes Bogans played.

The good news is that while this team is not clicking on all cylinders they are playing better. Having your two best players playing really well means the Spurs don't need a lot more from their roll players. Also, when Parker comes back that will only help this team avoid offensive droughts like they had in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. This is a tough loss, but the Spurs are playing better and with a win tonight have a chance to move up in the standings.

Here are your three stars:

3: Richard Jefferson, 12 points, 8 reb, 4 assists, 1 stl and blk

2: Tim Duncan, 29 points, 13 reb, 3 assists.

1: Manu Ginobili, 38 points, 6 assists, 1 reb

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Comments

The Charlie Brown pic is way better than chupacabra lady. Nice work.

Spurs Basketball. Improving [other] NBA teams since 2010! - swgeek

by Tim C. on Mar 22, 2010 11:51 AM CDT reply actions

Chupacabra Charlie Brown anyone?

Alfajores cause mojo! - janieannie

by J.R. Wilco on Mar 22, 2010 12:04 PM CDT up reply actions

Glad you approve…I didn’t want to stir the pot too much.

by Big50 on Mar 22, 2010 12:58 PM CDT up reply actions

“lady.”

by Cedarpark on Mar 22, 2010 4:42 PM CDT up reply actions

Good point Ceadar…good point.

by Big50 on Mar 23, 2010 9:55 AM CDT up reply actions

Cedar…sheesh, sorry ’bout that

by Big50 on Mar 23, 2010 9:55 AM CDT up reply actions

Also, while the foul count was similar, I felt like the Hawks got away with a ton of pushing and shoving. Unfortunately, that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

by thedooj on Mar 22, 2010 12:25 PM CDT reply actions

I also wondered why McDyess didn’t see more action. I know the Hawks play smaller and Pop matched up more, but with the way we were getting killed on the boards, I figured we could have used McDyess.

And I know we can all list his many many weaknesses, but this game seemed like a good chance for Mahinmi to play. Young, athletic, relatively tall team. First game of back to back. Seems like he could have helped on the boards and at least kept up with some of their players. I guess this continues to show that the Spurs really don’t have any long term plans for him and that we need to address the issue in the offseason of getting another big or two.

by GMac14 on Mar 22, 2010 12:35 PM CDT reply actions

I whole heartedely agree. We were controlling the game with 2 bigs down low. Bonner played pretty well but he is not the rebounder McDyess is. We needed someone to block try and block out Horford. He was the beast on the boards that we want Blair to become.

by Ohio Spurs Fan on Mar 22, 2010 6:44 PM CDT up reply actions

It looked to me like Bonner helped us to get back into the game, and Pop decided to leave him on the floor. I wish though he would bring a better rebounder in. Dice, Blair or Mahinmi would probably match better against Horford.

We should start rebuilding around Durant

by Kondor on Mar 22, 2010 11:31 PM CDT up reply actions

So it came down to one big thing (rebounding) and two little things (TD’s turnover before the half giving up 2 pts and Manu’s turnover near the end that tied the game).

My guess is that Pop played Dyce and Blair so little knowing that TD may not play @OKC tonight. Without the turnovers, or Hill having a bad shooting night, this strategy would’ve worked for a huge regulation win and perhaps allowed Duncan to play limited minutes tonight.

How many games have we truly just handed away this season?

You gotta bring ass to get ass.

by SpurredOn on Mar 22, 2010 12:49 PM CDT reply actions

Yeah, the handful of missed time TO’s did not help out.

by Big50 on Mar 22, 2010 1:01 PM CDT up reply actions

*miss timed

by Big50 on Mar 22, 2010 1:02 PM CDT up reply actions

Not playing Dice was bummer…when he played..he was great even though, few of this jumpers looked off.

by Heman on Mar 22, 2010 1:09 PM CDT reply actions

I meant few of his* jumpers.

by Heman on Mar 22, 2010 1:09 PM CDT up reply actions

the result was no surprise – too many of us suffer from amnesia and do not seem to recall this team, this season. We can beat the losing record teams but lose to the good ones – no surprise that we lost to two of the best teams in the East – Atl and Orl

"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

by Joe deLarios on Mar 22, 2010 1:17 PM CDT reply actions

I would not have been surprised before the game at the outcome. What’s surprising is the way the team played and in so doing giving themselves a chance to win which they lost because of poor defensive rebounding and TO’s.

by Big50 on Mar 22, 2010 1:21 PM CDT up reply actions

To be fair, this team already soundly beat Atlanta and had them beaten on the road last night despite not having one of their three best players. They also have home games remaining against Cleveland and Orlando though they will be shorthanded in both.

You gotta bring ass to get ass.

by SpurredOn on Mar 22, 2010 1:25 PM CDT up reply actions

True we have beaten Atl and Cle but we dropped the ball against Atl b/c of the inherent weakness of this team – poor defense (usually down the stretch) and TOs
Cle and Orl, we are at home which helps but I would not venture to make any predictions against either one

"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

by Joe deLarios on Mar 22, 2010 1:31 PM CDT up reply actions

Do you really think the defense was that bad, even down the stretch, last night? The game was tied on a fastbreak following a TO. The defense stopped ATL on two game winning shot attempts at the end and did well in OT considering the Hawks are a talented offense.

I agree with you that defense has been inconsistent to poor at times all season. But last night, without a third of the big-3, they outplayed the Hawks on their floor and defended well. It was the rebounding that sucked. Better blockouts would’ve resulted in the Hawks shooting close to 40% and losing by double digits.

You gotta bring ass to get ass.

by SpurredOn on Mar 22, 2010 2:32 PM CDT up reply actions

I think what Artis will say is that defensive rebounding is a part of defense and I have to agree. I thought all other aspects of the defense were solid, but if you don’t get the rebound on a shot you took all that effort to make as difficult as possible, it’s all for naught.

by Big50 on Mar 22, 2010 3:16 PM CDT up reply actions

Buck Harvey’s column today says Pop screwed up by playing Bonner instead of Dice. He basically says Horford wouldn’t have got all those offensive rebounds if Dice had played instead of the weak-rebounding Bonner. The fault in his logic is Dice and Bonner guarded Josh Smith (or a sub), not Horford. Blocking out Horford was Duncan’s responsibility.

There is a more subtle issue. When the Spurs play small or with Bonner all help defense falls on Tim. When he helps he’s not in position to block out. Playing McDyess or even Blair might help a little in that regard. But a lot of Horford’s offensive boards came off missed jumpers where help defense was not a factor. This was especially true in the last few minutes of regulation.

by doggydogworld on Mar 22, 2010 1:51 PM CDT reply actions

Oh, I also thought Bonner did a better job guarding Josh Smith. Among other things, Dice gave up that monster alley-oop.

by doggydogworld on Mar 22, 2010 1:55 PM CDT up reply actions

Yeah, I’m not sure I agree that Bonner did a better job. If they run that play on Bonner there’s still a monster alley-oop on the other end. Bonner was playing better offensively, outside of rebounding, and that’s the only way I see that he should have gotten more playing time.

by Big50 on Mar 22, 2010 3:17 PM CDT up reply actions

and the gaping hole of missing another athletic big appears again……..

"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

by Joe deLarios on Mar 22, 2010 2:09 PM CDT up reply actions

Horford was all over Duncan’s back on putbacks. Is that still a foul?

by richbruiser on Mar 22, 2010 2:16 PM CDT up reply actions

Depends. Is hooking Duncan’s arm as he goes up to shoot considered a foul these days? It wasn’t yesterday, so my guess is over the back is not either.
That said, we are not Suns fans – no point in whining about officiating – there were probably bad calls made the other way that we don’t notice with our biased viewpoint. We lost because of sloppy play, not bad officiating.

by swgeek on Mar 22, 2010 2:36 PM CDT up reply actions

Actually, it was b/c of both.

by 4Him on Mar 22, 2010 3:13 PM CDT up reply actions

by Big50 on Mar 22, 2010 3:14 PM CDT up reply actions

Not in the ATL

by Big50 on Mar 22, 2010 3:14 PM CDT up reply actions

Can’t really say Pop screwed up. Nobody on the team was screwing up big — in other words, I thought we played good D with good rotations and the rebounds they got, the most athletic guy in the vicinity seemed to get them and most of the time, that was a Hawks guy.

Meanwhile, ppl on the court were playing well by moving the ball decently etc etc. I can see why Pop chose not to disrupt the rhythm in a close game by not inserting somebody knew. And with a minute and half left, we were up by 4, until we laid a big one.

by LionZion on Mar 22, 2010 4:34 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

You took everything I wanted to say and verbalized it. Thank you, because I am lazy.

by Cedarpark on Mar 22, 2010 4:44 PM CDT up reply actions

All good points Big. In looking at the box score, it looks like last years team is what Pop is going with in the playoffs. That was a tight rotation, playoff type game lastnight. Sorry to see that Ian did not play. That was as good as we can play with that player selection and rotation.

by indiancharlie on Mar 22, 2010 4:21 PM CDT reply actions