:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/23975227/20131125_sng_sq8_126.0.jpg)
Have you ever seen Pelicans strutting around, showing off? Well let me tell you, it isn't pretty. I saw it in person last night and couldn't believe my eyes.
With 4:32 remaining in the 3rd quarter Pelican Anthony Davis caught a pass high in the air from Pelican Tyreke Evans and dunked it, in a play called an "Alley-Oop." Spurs fans and players were confused as to what just happened. Around here we like seeing bounce passes and fundamentals and winning 13 out of 14 games.
Fortunately, that's exactly what the Spurs gave us.
Seven Spurs scored in double figures for the game and the Vegas Lineup of Manu, Marco Belinelli, Patty Mills, Tiago Splitter, Boris Diaw and Matt Bonner (because Bonner has to spell Diaw when the Vegas Lineup is rolling) stretched the lead to 10 early in the 2nd quarter en route to taking a 57-40 half-time lead. In the 3rd quarter the Spurs extended the lead to 26, even with the very odd Alley-Oop play that still has me a little freaked out, and then got Nando some minutes in the 4th to finish things out.
Standard Pop Quote
He's always in a great position and he understands spatial relationships and how to do his work early to be in a position to help us- Coach Pop on Tiago's defensive abilities
Spur of the Moment
It has to go to Manu as he plowed Pelicans like he was driving one of those swamp boats in the Louisiana bayous where all the wild Pelicans ravage the swamps. Manu had 16 points in 19 minutes on 6 of 7 shooting including making 4 out of 5 from the 3 point line. Throw in 5 rebounds and 6 assists and Spurs fans start dreaming about things.
By the Numbers
- 41%: Pelicans' 3 point shot % coming into the game
- 14%: What the Pelicans shot tonight from beyond the arc. (2-14)
- 11: Rebounds for Kawhi Leonard. Watching Kawhi do work in the paint is fun.
- 24:40: Minutes played by Tim Duncan and Tony Parker
- Every time: Number of times Tony Parker traveled when he pump faked, according to Pelicans coach Monty Williams.
- 3: Number of giant french fries a lady threw into a giant french fry holder during one of the timeouts and some lucky fan won some free ketchup. I'm not joking.
Odds and Ends
- With 3:52 to play in the 1st quarter the Pelicans called a timeout and the Coyote came out with the t-shirt cannon and of course the AT&T Center turned into the set of Oprah when she gives away earmuffs and cars to her audience and grown men were crying and women were holding their babies in the air, all hoping to catch a t-shirt. So the Coyote does his thing and shoots a bunch of t-shirts and the crowd is working itself into a complete frenzy and then the Coyote starts doing the DE-FENSE hop stomp as he leaves the court and people are absolutely losing their minds. The Pelicans inbound the ball but the Coyote keeps stomping and the crowd keeps chanting and the Spurs DJ keeps playing the beat and the shot clock is winding down so holy crap this is working and then Ryan Anderson steps back and hits a 19 footer. Dangit.
- I don't understand how Assistant Coach Sean Marks doesn't sweat through his suit during the game. He works those bigs hard in pre-game and I can't imagine going and putting on a suit soon afterward. Of course, I sweat when I eat and in the shower so maybe I'm not the best judge.
- Sitting directly behind Bill Schoening as he interviewed Marco Belinelli during pre-game warm-ups has to be the most Philly thing I've ever done.
- There was a guy court side that caught my attention. He was wearing a silver vest and turquoise pants, which is probably why I noticed him. But during the 3rd quarter another Spurs fan caught my attention as well. He was a triple amputee so I assume he is a veteran. He was walking with the help of two prosthetic legs and had a prosthetic right arm. His seats were good, but not as good as the turquoise man. But the turquoise man did something very poignant. He and his wife traded seats with the vet and his spouse so this hero was only 6 feet away from the Spurs bench. I watched as he snapped picture after picture of Tim Duncan and the guys. Well done turquoise pants man, well done.
Tweets of the Night
To my knowledge, tonight was the first "Marco has a high basketball IQ" from Pop of the season. Usually hear that about new guys to team.
— Paul Garcia PS (@PaulGarciaPS) November 26, 2013
Anthony Davis on the loss to the #Spurs, "We didn't wanna play ... We didn't care." .... So that is that #Pelicans pic.twitter.com/KZN84jMjiC
— Jabari Young (@jabari_young) November 26, 2013
The Pelicans had 16 more field-goal attempts than the Spurs tonight, and lost by 19 points.
— Matthew R Tynan (@Matthew_Tynan) November 26, 2013
Ginobili has 14-5-5 in 16 minutes tonight. Not bad for a guy who's done.
— Michael Erler (@MichaelErlerSBN) November 26, 2013
It's time to start wondering if Boris Diaw is a top-five player in the history of the game.
— Alex D. (@DewNO) November 26, 2013
Going forward the Spurs need to:
- Don't fall into that newfangled trap of trying to do those Ally-Oops. Keep going with the 65 ft. bounce passes and fundamentals.
- For whatever reason I just love to see Kawhi with the ball in his hand. I'd love to see him handle the rock a little more while Marco and Manu find a spot to shoot.
- Tony Parker was 4-4 from the stripe. That needs to continue Mr. Parker, especially in the 4th quarter. I don't ever want to get into Hack-a-Tony situations in crunch time.
Final thought
In his pre-game interview Pelicans coach Monty Williams was asked if he's had a chance to watch the Spurs this season. "Every game," he replied.
"What do you see?" the reporter asked.
"Spurs"
That's not a Pelican strutting around. That's a Pelican showing respect.
Spurs fans get caught up in the soft schedule and the deficiencies and all the bad things that can happen, but around the league people see the Spurs playing Spurs basketball.
And that's a good thing.