Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
by sungo on Jan 19, 2007 3:49 PM CST
in Game Threads
29 comments
I have read that authors should not write while mad. Or maybe it's journalists. Either way it's utter bullshit. I do my best writing when I am pissed the hell off and apparently so does stampler.
A full on diatribe listing all of the Spurs problems, including unabashed Tony Parker hating. Stampler's delirious with vitriol towards The Wee Frenchman at this point, and it's an awesome sight to behold. He's even rewriting history:
Yeah, Tony didn't get the job done on a 2-on-1. But "stolen from behind?" Smush was in front of him the whole time! And Smush never stopped the ball; if the roles had been reversed, with Manu on the ball and Parker on the wing, I don't think The Sickness would have passed the ball either. Of course he probably wouldn't have gotten ripped by Smush, either. How's that for waffling?
Stampeezie's hysteria about Frenchie McWonderbutts knows no bounds; he's even making up friends to back him up:
Manolis? Come on. I have a friend named Fiddlefaddle who swears Manolis is full of it.
Look, Parker is not a pass first PG. But he gets way too much criticism from Spurs fans. Look at his numbers:
TS%: 57.3% (from ESPN)
eFG% on inside shots: 66.7%
Now Manu's:
TS%: 60.1%
eFG% on inside shots: 60.7%
Now Duncan's:
TS%: 57.7%
eFG% on inside shots: 66.0%
We're complaining that a guy with a TS% of 57.3% (and a ridiculous eFG% in the paint) shoots too much? Tony is painted as Mr. Selfish while Manu is cast as Mr. Generousity. Yet Tony averages 6.8 A/40M while Manu is at 4.9 A/40M.
Yeah, "But Tony is a PG!!11!; he's supposed to pass the ball! Manu is a SG who's supposed to score!!@!@##11!"
Well, Jamal Crawford, chucker extraordinaire, is also at 4.9 A/40M, the same as Manu.
Yeah, "But the ball is always in Tony's hands, so Manu doesn't have the opportunity to pass!1!1!!!"
Well, 22.3% of possessions used by Tony end with an assist. Manu? 17.5%. Crawford? 18.4%. Iverson? 18.6%. Manu is 11th out of 30 SGs who play at least 25 MPG (I removed guys like Hinrich and Rondo who are basically PGs).
Parker is 23rd out of 31 PGs who play at least 25 MPG. He also has the 5th highest TS%. Ginobili has the 3rd highest amongst SGs.
What's my point? Look, obviously Parker looks for his shot more than Manu. But why shouldn't he look for his shot? He's a very efficient scorer who's been instructed by his coach to be aggressive. All of this "ignoring Manu and other open players..." I just don't see it. And Manu's my favorite player.
Does Manu need to shoot more? Certainly. But maybe his lack of shots is more his fault than Tony's? How many times did I scream at Manu for not taking wide open shots in the 2005 playoffs? About twice a game. Ask Matty da Blade, he was the one I was screaming at.
And does Parker take a lot of bad shots? I don't think so. Certainly not more than Manu, who's the king of step back 3s and rainbow fadeaways off the dribble.
And what the fuck does Eva Longoria have to do with any of this? (It smells faintly of misogyny in my opinion.) She's a beautiful, popular and extremely successful woman who maybe just happened to fall in love with a basketball player. Why do some people here assume she's behind the scenes playing Parker like a puppet? Because she shows up at a lot of games? Dude, if I had the money she had I would show up at a lot of games, too, and I'm not in love with any of the players. (OK, that's a lie, but Manu doesn't love me back.) And even if she tells him to shoot more, who cares? What is she supposed to say? Shoot less? Yeah, professional athletes love to be told stuff like that. (Back in CYO basketball I wish my mother would have yelled at me for missing the wide open guy under the basket; I would have been a better player for it.) Yeah, Eva should be focused on what's best for the Spurs. Whatever. She's not some succubus sent from Hades; she's a human in love; let's cut her some slack.
ok. So I went off on a tangent there and unintentionally misrepresented stampler's post. He rips into everybody, including Manu, and doesn't blame Parker for all the Spur's problems. And I pretty much agree with everything he said about every person not from, or in love with someone from, France.
Plus the post is absolutely hysterical. My favorite part: Timmy can't handle this. Or the orange cone picture. Or "Chief Big Triangle."
Go to spursdynasty.com and read it. Now.
Tonight's lines (standings do NOT include Laker game):
New Orleans @ San Antonio: SA -14.5
Detroit @ Minnesota: MIN +2
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Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
by adam8065 on Jan 19, 2007 3:54 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
by sungo on Jan 19, 2007 3:57 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
by schwazz on Jan 19, 2007 4:32 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
by adam8065 on Jan 19, 2007 4:03 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
by spurfan81 on Jan 19, 2007 4:12 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
$66 on Nooch.
by schwazz on Jan 19, 2007 4:35 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
Should become Butler's personal trainer and nutritionist! Yell at him; motivate him; beat him; whatever it takes to get Butler to lose weight! Fuck, tell him if he loses 30 pounds you get him 4 girls at once! Or tell him we will trade him for 3 Big Macs and a large bucket of fries.
by adam8065 on Jan 19, 2007 5:06 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
Me telling anyone to lose weight is like Britney Spears calling somebody a skank.
by Aaronstampler on Jan 19, 2007 5:11 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
- Manolis is a real person. It's a Greek name. In fact, he's the best friend I went to Vegas with, along with Roh. I have never seen him dislike anyone in my entire life until that weekend, so there your exhibit A about Roh.
- You accuse me of misogyny like it's a bad thing.
- Jeff Van Gundy deserves the credit for Big Chief Triangle, not I. Sadly, I'm noticing a pattern in my posts where most of the lines you enjoy the most don't in fact come from me. But I'll take credit for Nooch and the wee rapping Frenchman (TWaRF) and Frenchie McWonderbutt. And I'm surprised "Schnozzo" didn't send you into a giggle fit as well. It even had your requisite letter "z"s in it.
by Aaronstampler on Jan 19, 2007 5:09 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
Also, Tony's shooting doesn't bother me, because Jason Terry couldn't pass it to the Kraken and his team is doing ok. May I remind you all that Nash and Stockton combined have two fewer rings than Tony. If Manu "gets off" on the Savior role, that's cool with me, I'd rather Tony score 20 in the first half and us not depend on him in the fourth quarter than to have Manu bustin' his huevos for three quarters and be exhausted in the fourth. Our Big 3 are fine, it's the stiffs we have to worry about. And I agree with the idea to bench Bruce. He's a specialist, now more than ever, and that's where specialists belong.
by davidpj24 on Jan 19, 2007 5:29 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
But thats Pops decision not Tony's. If Pop lets Tony do what he wants I can't blame Tony It's like leaving your children with Michael Jackson, and being suprised when they tell you Mr. Jackson tried give them Jesus juice and sleep in the same bed as them.
by adam8065 on Jan 19, 2007 6:23 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
by davidpj24 on Jan 19, 2007 10:28 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
by davidpj24 on Jan 19, 2007 10:29 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
If I've got Bibby on Tony and Ron-Ron the maniac on Manu, I'd go with Tony too.
by Aaronstampler on Jan 19, 2007 7:04 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
by FirebatM3 on Jan 19, 2007 9:13 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
Pop wants these guys to be self-motivated instead of having to yell at them all night.
by Aaronstampler on Jan 19, 2007 7:28 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
Hope Tony was listening (to be fair, he was super clutch in the 4th today. Really finished the game out.)
by JamesR on Jan 19, 2007 9:49 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
Yeah, he falls in love with his 20 ft jumper now and then, but if it's not consistantly going in, it's not like he's forcing the issue. This isn't Steve Francis or Juan Dixon or Gilbert jacking up 23 shots on a night when they missed their first 8 or 9. Tony's getting good shots, and he's doing a decent job of mixing his penetration and his jumper so that team's can't pack the paint in the 4th quarter and hope to contain him.
This whole assumption that Manu's not getting his because Tony is a chucker has transcended the realm of borderline offensive to the realms of completely asnine. Manu and Tony have shared the spotlight before, and nothing from their actions or their play suggests they can't now. The problem so far this season is that Manu and Tony have both been maddeningly inconsistant game to game, and that when either one heads to the bench, the offense loses most of its punch. Realize that the part where the Lakers game was lost was when Tony went to the bench and the Lakers proceeded to demolish the Spurs to the tune of 10-2 run and about 3 straight turnovers on 3 straight Spurs possessions. This team's problems are way greater than "well, Tony is being selfish" or "Manu is not being aggressive enough." Our problem is simply this "The makeup of our roster is seriously flawed."
This isn't a problem that can be solved by passing more and more to Manu, it's a problem that can only be solved by 1) getting a playmaking PG to play with the 2nd unit or 2) getting a guy who can create his own shot to come off the bench. There are guys like this avaliable, but it'd require a large investment and risk (Andrei Kirilenko, Corey Maggette, Andre Miller). So I think for the next month, what we should be focused on is whether or not the Spurs front office responds to our roster's flaws.
Also, while I was also terribly disappointed by that 2-1 break at the end, you're just making up shit to justify your hate now stampler. You're crafting a personality for a player you dislike in order to dislike him even more. Shit, why not give him a Harry Potter obsession? Then he'd be French and an mal-adjusted mid-20s something who's apparently self-obsessed and only concerned with being the man despite the fact that there's 3 years of evidence that point to the contrary. There's a difference between having poor court vision (which I think is the problem) and being a selfish player. You can say that Tony has the former, but I don't think it's fair to say that he's the latter. I think more than anything, the problem now is that Tony and Manu and maybe even Tim, are pressing. They see this team becoming slower and more apathetic every day. So right now, everyone is trying to pick up the offense in hopes of keeping this team in contention until the front office fixes the personel issue or that Finley and Bowen discover the fountain of youth. I can't fault any of the big three right now because right now, they're probably as frustrated as we are. You think Manu should get to shoot more, and I agree, but don't denigrate another player for this team's shortcomings, especially when that player has been probably our most consistant offensive threat this year.
I think we can win playoff games on the road, and I think Finley and Bowen will give it their last gasp in the playoffs, so I'm not going to write us off yet. And I also think Red Rocket and Elson are surprisingly underrated given that they bring things (hustle, athleticism, shooting), that this team sorely lacks right now. Right now, things are going bad, but to heap shit at the feet of one player and accuse him of being selfish while allowing another to be let off with a slap to the wrist is rather disingenuous.
Oh, and Bowen did play Kobe like he always plays Kobe, and Kobe responded as he always does - by screening him off at the top of the key and elevating over him. He's been doing it since 2003. There are many signs that Bowen has lost a step or 3 (the Denver game comes to mind), but that wasn't one of them. Sometimes, I wonder how much you watch Spurs games, and how much it is an execercise in Manu worship. It's a sad day when my Saints, Wild and Rangers blogs are more positive than a Spurs blog.
by FirebatM3 on Jan 19, 2007 9:51 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
- The only part of your post I enjoyed was the Harry Potter angle. That is fabulous. From now on, let it be decreed that Tony is totally obsessed with Harry Potter. (Manu is more of an Anne Rice guy, and you don't even want to know what kind of sick shit Beno Udrih is into).
- At different points in your post you've described Tony as "maddeningly inconsistant" [sic] and "our most consistant [sic] offensive threat."
- I bet I had a lot more fun writing my irrational hate-filled 2,700 word column than you did writing your ultra-serious 790 word critique of said column.
- I bet most people would agree mine was a lot more fun to read too. See these things are supposed to be enjoyable diversions.
- I don't hate Tony. I don't hate any Spur on the fundamental rule that they're Spurs. But I guess I'm a sucker for a fundamental old-school pass-first point guard. Sue me.
- I have every right to demand more of Tony as a passer than Manu or anyone else on the team. He's the point guard and he's got the ball in his hands all the time. It's like Peyton Manning. He gets the glory, he gets the blame. That's how it is with point guards. If you want me to think of Manu and Tony differently, than tell Pop to make Manu the point guard and Tony the shooting guard. I'll bet you a thousand dollars Manu would average over eight assists a game if he was our starting point guard.
- If Matthew didn't think the column was worth reading, he wouldn't link to it, and if he didn't think I was good enough to write for his site, he wouldn't have asked me to. So by insulting me, you're implicitly insulting him. Ponder that one grasshoppa.
- The real reason I "hate" Tony is that Eva dumped me for him. There, the cat's out of the bag. Watch me on Oprah next week when I pimp my novel, "I Hope She Chokes On a Baguette: My Forbidden Love Affair With Eva Langoria"
- Seriously it took you 40 games to figure out that this entire "Spurs blog" is one big convoluted excuse to publicly worship Manu? How old were you before you figured out that Santa wasn't real?
- You've given me a great idea. From now on I'm just gonna tape the games and fast forward through all the parts where Manu isn't touching the ball. It'll be a big timesaver.
by Aaronstampler on Jan 20, 2007 1:36 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
- Given his low basketball IQ, tendency to throw his own shooting mechanics out of whack, thurough softness and laziness and his stubborn inability to make adjustments, I have come to the conclusion that Beno Udrih can't actually read.
- I mean inconsistant as in traditional PG skills. His offense in terms of point production has almost always been there (save that Bulls game), but the problem is that he sometimes makes great, crisp passes, and sometimes he seems like he can't throw the ball to a wide open cutter. Maybe it's the execution of the team, I don't know, but I do know that Tony has scored on a more consistant basis than anyone, including Manu. My apologies if that wasn't clear.
- Everyone with access to cable TV and a old Dennis Leary tape could have made a 2,700 word hate-filled rant against a person they barely know . Shit, I was tempted to write on against you myself. Afterall, this place seems to degrade further and further into a non-stop cycle of blame where regardless of what he does, Tony Parker rarely gets credit and always gets the blame. It's also seems to be a place where you come to post cute little quasi-humorous, but ultimately worthless critiques that seems to hold many illusions - most of which makes me wonder what team you've been watching these last 40 games. And then you post the said critiques to get a few laughs and participate in what is, essentially, intellectual masturbaition with several other posters.
Look to put it simply - you've become this blog's version of Bill Simmons. You write the occasional charming pieces, but really, it's the same fucking schtik over and over again. Hell, I can even take the bill Simmons approach to your write ups, it's like everything is written for the outline and all you do is insert random stolen jokes and change the name of the opponnet. We know you think Tony should be a pass-first guard, we fucking get it. Move on to something else because right now, Tim Duncan deciding that he has to rest on the floor DURING THE ACTUAL GAME, Beno Udrih proving that he did learn from Nick van Exel and Pop playing the exhumed corpses of Michael Finley and Robert Horry are much more detrimental to our success as a team than anything Tony or Manu have done. I don't understand bashing Tony when he's doing pretty damn well. Move on and get some new material, and stop mailing it in like Simmons has been for the last 3 years. What are you going to do next, provide us with a running blog of an Eagle's game?
by FirebatM3 on Jan 20, 2007 3:14 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
The team doesn't "need" Tony to be anything except to be the best player he can be in every phase of the game. He's not a score first point guard because Pop loves the concept of score first point guards. It's because after three years Pop just gave up trying to fit a round peg into a square hole with Tony. But there's a reason this team tried to get Jason Kidd, so don't just assume that Pop isn't old school enough to appreciate pass first point guards.
Kidd turned us down, not the other way around. Of course the way it worked out Manu + Tony have proven to be much more valuable than just Kidd would have been, but always remember this was pure luck. Just like trading Nomar for the Sox and getting rejuvinated with Orlando Cabrera for three months was pure luck. Sometimes trades work out and sometimes the trades you don't make work out, but still you can bet your sweet bippy that Pop wishes Tony was a better passer just like he wishes Tim was a better free throw shooter and Bowen could hit a shot from somewhere other than the corner and so on.
Anyway, I'm done talking about this. If you think I've never praised Tony, you haven't paid attention. How many times have I given him the 1st star this year? Or 2nd? I've acknowledged he was our best regular season player last year and that he was our MVP in December this year. So fuck off if you can't take a joke.
I've slammed every Spur on the team at some time or another and pointed out how crappy RoHo and Fin were playing long before you noticed. God dammit this is supposed to be fun. If you dislike my writing or my analysis then don't read it.
(And don't read any articles or listen to any postgame quotes after the Hornets game where Manu said and PJ elaborated that both Gino and Tony have to pass more and trust their teammates more, no matter how many jumpers they miss, because when they don't pass and force shit then turnovers happen, and that's even worse than missed shots.)
Just do me a favor and for the love of God, stop whining about us losing games because our lesser players aren't playing good enough. If that's the case then it's up to our stars and the coach to make them play better. That's why they're stars. That's why they make the big bucks. It's called leadership, no excuses. I didn't see any columns during the Bulls heyday whining that goddammit, Craig Hodges and Will Purdue gotta bring it tonight.
And I'm the one who doesn't watch basketball. There's a reason stars are stars and role players are role players. Of course your lesser guys will have difficulty stringing two or three good games together. If they could, they'd be stars, or starters at least. The only guys on the team we have the right to demand good, damn near perfect play of night in and night out are the big three, so they will get the roses and the thorns. I have yet to see us lose a game when the big three all brought their "A" games to the table and I suspect I never will.
It's the same reason why despite his postseason heroics Horry's no Hall of Famer. Nobody ever expected a damn thing out of him his whole career and whatever he gave you was icing. So you worry about the icing and I'll worry about the cake, okay?
by Aaronstampler on Jan 20, 2007 4:47 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
I am sure that Pop wishes Tony was a better passer, but at the same time doesn't the fact that he has even accepted that Tony will never have the court-vision of Kidd tell you how unrealistic your expectations are? Tony is limited in his playmaking skills, and the only part of his true PG game he could realistic improve is decision making. I just don't see the point of repeatedly hammering a player for something that he can't improve upon. Look at the scoring guards of this league. Which one of them turned from a pure scoring guard to a great playmaker? I can't think of one. You have these ridiculous standards of what you want players to be when it's obvious to almost everyone that these standards are inachievable. Do I endlessly trash Manu for not being the athletic, rebounding, 48 minute a game player that he teased in the 2005 playoffs? No. It'd be ludicris to critique a player for not doing the impossible, so I don't understand why you don't just drop it and address the actual (numerous) problems on this team.
The idea that Tony should pass more because "he handles the ball all the time" is also pretty ridiculous. If you'd watch, the majority of the game, his handling the ball involves bringing it up court and feeding it to another player at the three point line/top of the key (usually Manu, Brent, Elson or Oberto) or giving it to Tim at the post. This initiates the motion offense. It isn't as if he's Iverson here. In fact, I'm pretty sure if a % percentage possession, Tony would get the ball in his hand about 30-40% of the time. No more, no less than a quasi-star PG in this league.
Like I said, the role players aren't doing well on this team, and there's nothing Tony or Manu can do to change that, save for moving Manu to the 2nd unit and having him be that shot-creating sixth man off the bench that we so sorely need right now. If you think the magical elixir for this team's problems is the stars "stepping up," you knew less about basketball than I gave you credit for. Stars stepping up can carry a team for a short stretch (see: Wade, Dwayne in 2006 Finals), but this team's problems are too numerous to be masked by a 6-7 game winning streak. This team needs a true backup point (might be Brent) and an athletic player who can rebound and score for when Pop inevitably tries to play small ball. Neither of those problems can be solved by Tony or Manu. The only one of our big three that can help improve this team right now is Tim. He needs to step it up defensively, because that's where we're getting gashed by good teams recently.
by FirebatM3 on Jan 20, 2007 1:11 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
I won't even use the occasion of his worst game of the season to rip Le Trou Noir. Everybody has a game where they're just not into it for whatever reason. Hell, Manu had one of these stinkers a couple of weeks ago at Cleveland. It's to Tony's credit that he's raised his game to such heights that when he comes up with an absolute wretched game such as this that it takes everyone by such surprise.
Pop noticed it, the media was all over it, even our worst player (Findog) made mention of it. I don't think Ginobili got anywhere this much scrutiny when he sucked it up and y'all can read into that however you want.
I even pointed out your double standard theory. Sure I'm guilty of it, but I'm hardly the only one, so I'd appreciate you not singling me out for it. And the reason people give Manu credit for doing the little things is because he does. Unlike Tony, Manu can change a game on both ends of the floor. We pretty much beat the Mavs in Games 1 and 5 last year thanks to Ginobili's defense in the 4th quarter. I guess you didn't notice.
But like I said, I can hold Tony to a higher standard because he's a star and our point guard. Plus he's only 24. I have all the right in the world to demand more from him. It'd be silly for me to demand Brent and Horry and Finley to play better when they're all practically retired, would it not? Those guys are all significantly passed their primes.
Aside from the big three the only people on the roster we have a right to expect more from is Beno, Elson and maybe Jackie Butler. The other guys are trying, but if they're not good they're not good. What are you gonna do? How many different ways would you like me to state the obvious that Finley has sucked this year? What does it solve?
The team needs some youth and athleticism, especially at small forward, but until a move is made, we have to lean on the big three to get it done and on Pop to make do with what he has. And like it or not, but when it comes to the big three I will be more critical of Tony than the other two because the other two have built up more capital over the years with their playoff performances. Tony still has much to prove in that regard, or are you going to debate that too?
Plus both Manu and Tim have less days in front of them than behind.
Finally, your argument that Tony has been our most efficient player is false. Both Tim and Manu are more efficient and all the available data from both 82games.com and Hollinger's PER formula will back me up. Tony has lowered both his assist rate and total shot % this year despite using more possessions than ever. The only part of his game that's improved is his scoring, thanks to a big jump in his free throw percentage. Manu on the other hand is having a career season if you bothered to notice and hasn't been nearly as inconsistent as you've pegged him out to be.
Excuse me for finding it somewhat alarming that while Tony's scoring keeps going up, his assists keep down. We've been running the same system for years so it stands to reason that if he can improve himself as a scorer than he should be able to hike up other parts of his game as well. Like Adam says, when Tony is intent on passing, he can do it. He's shown he can do it. He's not a hopeless case in that regard and I'd probably be easier on him if he was.
by Aaronstampler on Jan 20, 2007 3:48 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
If you read the article he did rag on Manu too, just because he isn't praising our point guard doesn't make him delusional. Actually the game was lost when Manu picked up his 4th foul and went to the bench, and because of Manu's defense the Spurs came back.
Now Tony can score 20 points per game, I don't care , but he should become a better defender and average at least 8 to 9 assists per game. Then he can be a complete player. And there is nothing wrong with Tony's court vision, as I have seen him make some great passes, but that is far and few. Having poor court vision wouldn't have given him 12 assists in one half against the Clippers.
by adam8065 on Jan 19, 2007 10:40 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
Anywho, the reason we're losing is not Manu and certainly not Tony. Hell, they are the only two players (and sometimes Brent, though he is comically inept at times on defense) who seem to give 100% effort all the time. The reason we're losing is because 1) Tim Duncan has gotten really soft suddenly 2) Pop insists on playing small ball and 3) our Bench suck. Tony becoming less of a scorer does nothing to help improve any of these three areas. All it does is make our first unit (you know, the one that's actually playing well) become less effective.
Also, it has become apparent to me that Tony passes really well out of set plays because he knows where everyone is going to be and has a good idea of where the cutters are and so forth. Just watch, out of every time out, 3 out of 4 times, Tony would make a pass that'd be right on the money. He doesn't, however, recognize good shooters. When you can't execute of pick and pop with Matt Bonner of all people, you don't have good court vision. I like Tony as a player, but his value is as a scorer. And right now, scoring is very valuable to this team as Robert Horry's play is apparently contagious.
by FirebatM3 on Jan 20, 2007 3:25 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
One comment about Manu's assists ratio. We all have to remember that he plays at least 8-10 minutes with the second unit. At the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second quarter. Also the same at the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth. Now it's hard to get a lot assists with who is out on the floor. Finley, Bowen, Oberto, Beno, Horry, sometimes Vaughn, so his assists are going to be way less. It's not like he is out there just chucking it up every time he touches it.
And with his turnovers we know he tries to make great passes, and a lot of times his teammates don't catch the ball. At least he makes up for it by averaging almost 2 steals per game.
by adam8065 on Jan 19, 2007 11:11 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
I know we are an old team and falling could mean broken hip bones, but we are the Spurs dammit, and even if we have to use canes to do it, we will rise again!
by Hipuks on Jan 20, 2007 12:56 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
On a side note, I didn't realize that Devin Brown is now playing for the Hornets. Did the Spurs never give him serious consideration this past fall? I know that his worth ethic was a question, but I'm sure that he would have been much more motivated to improve in that area after having spent a year in Utah and then hanging around in SA for those many months. And he certainly played well in some big playoff games for the Spurs.
by 4Him on Jan 20, 2007 4:35 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Re: Game Thread # 41 -- vs. New Orleans
by 4Him on Jan 20, 2007 5:42 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
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