Game #67 Recap: Inverse Déjà vu, Heat beat Spurs by 30

Hill played for 29 minutes and 46 seconds and managed to get a -30. How efficient.

We have had the tendency to roll over this year. We have also shown that we can come back vs. The good teams. New Orleans and Chicago come to mind. However, it’s becoming increasingly obvious when the team just doesn’t care, I’ve noticed it nearly to the point that I can call a game in the 2nd or 3rd quarter because the team just doesn’t care.

I hope POP can fix that.

to continue the discussion that started at the end of the quickcap thread…

the spurs now have a defensive rating of 115.3 in march. for context: if we had a completely league average defense, we would be expected to have a defensive rating of 107.9 in march against the teams that we faced. the spurs are operating at a defensive rating 7.4 points worse than league average — and, perhaps more tellingly, 12.1 points worse than what they had in the entire rest of the season. 7.4 is the gap between the #30 defensive team and the #10 — 12.1 is the gap between the #30 defensive team and the #1.

pro spurs thoughts: we still have by far the best record in the league. we’ve won more games against elite teams than any team in the league and have nothing to prove at this point. we are playing bored, but still have ample time to improve this. the schedule has included back to backs, thigafoni situations, and 4 away games to 4 home games. our starters haven’t started playing super-big minutes yet. this is, all things considered, a rather small sample and may just be a temporary blip. the lakers/celts sucked after the all-star break and look where that got them last year. we could lose all our remaining games and still make the playoffs. despite how bad this loss looked, it was still a 12 point game early in the 4th and the heat left their starters in to run up the score. it wasn’t nearly as thorough a blowout as our 30 point win — we had a quarter of scrubs, they played lebron 42 minutes and wade 39. and we are adjusting to some lineup changes, as well.

neg spurs thoughts: this is a huuuge dropoff. we were supposed to step our defense up a notch after the break, not let it become worst in the league. small sample size or not, eight games is almost 10% of a season (and longer than a playoff series that goes the distance, one must note). the team is actually very young, and only tim/manu/tony/dice have significant playoff experience — the team may not have the sort of institutional knowledge necessary to just turn it on like the celts and lakers did last season. while we may not have anything to prove, building lazy habits is setting ourselves up for the kind of disjointed and disappointing playoff run the cavs made last year. the extent to which some bad calls can take our spurs out of the game is starting to become worrisome. will pop have to curb resting our stars to get our defensive chops back…?

thoughts, ₤ers? please be civil. we must all take it upon ourselves to be radical to one another.

at one point in the 3rd quarter: SA was 3-4 from FT and miami is 21-22. is that even normal?

REVENGE

Knicks win, then spurs revenge
Spurs win, then heat revenge
Spurs win, then lakers revenge
Spurs win, then bulls revenge

*So .. Spurs need to win the game vs Celtics

If anyone remembers, Spurs were streaking into the post season and put on a good show in against Dallas in order to get into the second round. What happened next? They got swept.

As long as there is a tomorrow, everything can change in either direction.

Lakers played like crap heading into the post season and ended up winning. Boston was losing a lot of games and ended up taking Lakers 7 games.

No one situation is the same, but it’s not over until it is over….

Meh. The Spurs I know will come back from this bullying and get revenge on the next bully that will come his way. Just like this kid:

http://vimeo.com/21020148

I hate this. I woke with dream having told me to leave this here.I don’t know why. One of the songs, On The Limb (probably the best of the three) , doesn’t seem to be available on youtube or elsewhere. No matter though, you cannot really get the gist unless you get the Johnny Winter And, or J.W.And Live Album somehow. I need to do this to be able to go back to sleep. Poor substitute for fine songs from a son of Texas links follow:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvq1z6EnFLo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWBNXhoXGWc

Relax you guys. The Spurs got this.

why the hell did we only play Matt Bonner eight minutes? He was kinda like you know, our major x-factor reason for beating the Heat last time! (and them not being able to prepare for Parker)

Bonner needs to be getting more minutes. Ever since Dyess got moved to starter, Bonner has been playing way less. Actually, we’ve not been playing too well ever since that move.

There comes a time in the season when Coach Pop becomes the Coach and not just Pop. Where upon he reviews, reflects and responds. This happens with Pop on the fly but usually and with the most impact during the AllStar break. This year he had to work. Right now, this week is when it will hopefully take place. Behind the wall with nobody talking about it Pop will go one on one with everyboby. Laying out his desires. Re-directing and centering in his expectations. He set the stage last night by keeping them in when they wanted and thought they would come out. This is the time. Time to sharpen those rowels Coach Pop.

Did anyone else see the post game interview on FoxSW with Manu? He could barely talk – bad throat. He was fine after the Houston game, so something “got him” over the weekend.

I’m not worried yet. This is the NBA guys, at any given time the best team can lose. And lose by a lot. We tend to really get slammed because Pop will take and keep the starters out. How long was James in ? I didn’t watch after half time, I’m quitting smoking so I’m sleeping as much as I can. According to SA.com James and others were dunking hard late in the game. Can you see Pop allowing that to go on?? Let them think the Spurs winning by 30 was a fluke. Of course, them winning by 30 was the truth. Whatever.

A lot of smart discussion in this thread. There’s one thing that’s starting to bother me about Pop’s rotations. We haven’t played well since we switched. Sure, we have won 2 of 3, but something seems off.

I think we need to put Blair back in the starting lineup. Having a defensive big come in helps more than starting with McDyess. A Bonner/Blair frontcourt doesn’t bode well for our interior defense. Miami took full advantage of this last night.

Lastly, I don’t know if it was fatigue or what, but the Heat got every single 50-50 call and ball last night. They were given the benefit of the doubt on nearly every call and on some of them, Hubie was nice enough to call out the officials. While the Spurs shouldn’t be let off the hook, there was definitely some home cooking. If we meet them in the finals, I expect Joey Crawford to ref every single game, with D-Wade getting 30 free throws a game.

If the Spurs had been playing full throttle to achieve their stellar record, and were now having trouble winning games, I would be more worried about their chances in the playoffs, because I would fear that they were just running out of gas. But I don’t think that’s the case, as the minutes have been managed with great care throughout the season, and everyone who needs the rest is fresh. As things are, with a lot of young players getting through the grind of the season, I think what’s a bit worn down is the attention to detail and focus, not the bodies of the players. I think this team, therefore, has not hit it’s ceiling yet, and that there is still room to improve, primarily in their offensive execution and defensive intensity. I hope that, in retrospect, we will look back on this past week as a final lull before the big finish. (Or we may just suck.)

One other point. Someone made the comment last night that an episode of Monday Night Raw seemed less scripted than the game. Now I’m gonna give myself away as a wrestling fan here, but it reminded me of a feud from 40 years ago that I recently watched. It was between Ric Flair, the self-proclaimed dirtiest player in the game, and Ricky Steamboat. Flair always cheated, and he admitted that was what he was doing. Steamboat, rather than complaining about it, accepted it as Flair’s strategy. He chose to win playing by Flair’s rules because there was no way he was going to win using his own.

Now, bringing this back to the Spurs, if one looks at the FT totals between the two teams, the ticky-tacky and 50-50 calls, everyone knows that was a cheap game. The Spurs’ response should have been so-what. Superstars receive preferential treatment in the NBA all the time (See Kobe’s cheap shots or Lebron’s Traveling). Last night showed that NBA officials seemingly wanted the Heat to win. Someone aptly put it as a 5-8 game. So what? We need to be good enough to beat them when this happens, because we most certainly won’t be good enough to get them to change their minds.

Pop knows this, as evidenced by his refusal to pull the starters in the 3rd. I also believe he can whip these guys into shape. But the basic point is this, if we can’t learn to overcome these games, we’re not going to be able to win the finals, let alone make it to them.

So what? We need to be good enough to beat them when this happens, because we most certainly won’t be good enough to get them to change their minds.

Exactly. I loved Pop keeping the starters in during the 4th quarter. It wasn’t a “get us back into the game” move. It was a “there is no more giving up” type of move.

Holy cow. It’s going to take me an hour to read all these long comments. Keep bringing it £ers!

Yeah, our defense needs to improve. But I’m less worried about that than I am about what I feel has been the Spur’s achilles’ heel for the last couple seasons- and that, in my mind, is our ability to go ice cold for long stretches on offense.

I told a buddy of mine recently—a guy who had recently taken up organized tackle football at age 30—that any time we can walk off the court or field at our age, literally walk, it is a win.

I think health is the biggest factor going in to the playoffs, more than homecourt, more than momentum; for this team especially.

My only genuine frustration with our guys was that they should’ve ended the 1Q with the lead. No, it doesn’t change the result anymore than less biased officiating, but it would’ve made for a more competitive game. The viewing public got robbed. In retrospect, that quarter held the answers for what lay ahead. Manu missed wide open assited 3-pointers. We didn’t score on a 4-on-1 break. That the deficit was three instead of being up told the story of what lay ahead.

In my mind, this was a typical road loss to a very good and motivated home team. No more, no less. Without the biased officiating for the first 2.5 quarters, the game would’ve game as it should: tied early, single digit lead at half for Heat, competitive 3Q, Heat pull away late, more of a 100-85 kind of game. Happens often, as our Spurs does this to teams all the time. Thus the great home record.

The final spread is what’s likely causing concern and certainly what makes the headline. But unlike our win over Miami that started with a 24 point lead and ended at 30, this was not that kind of boat race. Much like our sixteen point loss to LA was far bigger and more frustrating.

Just as spoken at the beginning of the season – we are missing size – very apparent when shooting is off. As long as someone is hitting the 3 ball all is good – if not we don’t have a defensive big (sides GOATPUFF) to slow down opposing team in paint (points or boards)

This is my totally off the wall bizarre explanation for what happened. Manu sounded awful (in the physically ill sense of the term) in his post-game interview. Since no one is saying anything about it, I am left wondering how many of the other starters were under the weather. So why did Pop leave them in the game so long? Only Pop and the players know the answer to that question.

I honestly don’t think this is the reason, but could CIA Pop have been resorting to biological warfare? Yes, I know that is sick and demented. (pun intended)

So, the Heat outscore the Spurs by 30 on a night when the rim seemed to be a moving target. And the Nets down the Celts by 9 with Deron Williams hitting a 3 pointer to clinch the game. The sky hasn’t fallen (yet).

What really, truly scares me is how dependent this team is becoming on Korean comics posted by me.

It’s one game.

The Spurs will be just fine. Matt Bonner, George Hill, Tiago Splitter, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili were in attendance at the Lady Gage concert last night. I know this because of my reliable sources…I mean spies…

OK, I bought a ticket.

You missed an opportunity to be funny and call this recap “Vuja De.”

JRW FAIL.