You'll probably be seeing more of these than you'd like, which means I'll probably be writing more of these than I like, but frankly, I'm not going to get to every game, and I don't actually have television, which means I won't catch any of the nationally televised games either (blacked out on League Pass). I'm already kind of flailing to catchup with everything, so if you didn't get your news fix, Tony Parker signed an extension. Yay. Okay, so what this boils down to is what I can read from the box score.
Saturday I was a little busy so I didn't watch the game, but I was needless to say, disappointed that the Spurs lost to what seems to be an aimless Hornets organization. Of course with that in mind, I noticed that the Hornets are now 3-0 in the regular season... hrm... Well anyways... here are my notes:
- The fact that both Timmeh and Tony played under 30 minutes leads me to believe that Pop ceded this game fairly early on
- Paul only had 5 assists... I don't know what to make of that.
- Paul, West, Thornton, and Green all scored in double digits, going a combined 4-6 from beyond the arc. I'm led to believe that we were killed on mid-range jumpers.
- DeJuan Blair was only 2-10 and blocked 3 times, methinks he's forcing things a little offensively, especially considering he didn't shoot a single free throw. Though 11 rebounds is nice.
- Team only shot an overall 38.8%... yeesh. Are we settling or forcing? Either way, not good. Maybe shots just weren't falling?
- Manu had 23 points but had to take 19 shots with 42% shooting to get it.
- Only TP (50%), RJ (63.6%), and Gary Neal (50%) shot anything resembling a respectable FG%.
- The bigs (McDyess, Duncan, Blair) went a combined 7-28. I know Okafor is decent defensively... but David West and Jason Smith?
I think this is a degree of inconsistency with the role players we have to get used to. I'm glad that Jefferson is showing great efficiency in the first couple of games of the season and I hope that continues, because that will be a great benefit, but with Timmeh seeing reduced minutes and decreased production thereby, we're going to need other players (namely Hill and Blair) to step it up. Hopefully having Splitter back soon will help.
Showing posts with label Recap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recap. Show all posts
Monday, November 1, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Notes on the Season Opener
I was able to catch about 2 and a 1/2 quarters on League Pass before going to bed last night (I got home late and I was tired, sorry), and overall, seeing the 122-109 victory we had over the Pacers I'd say that we're looking in pretty good order for the most part. Of course, that being said, there are points of concern for me personally. This probably isn't going to be a full-fledged recap, but just some things that I've noticed with in this game.
The Good
- Early in the game the Spurs were pressuring the ball on defense, causing a lot of miscues and were able to poke the ball away for some easy buckets. Good job at keeping the ball in play, I like how Tony knows to leak on those opportunities.
- RJ is playing aggressively, some easy shots aren't falling, but he's not letting that get to him. I also like how he's starting to be very active without the ball and attacking the basket consistently. He won't be the Paul Pierce or even Corey Maggette type foul machine, but he'll get to the line a good bit if he keeps this up. 16 points on 6 shots, I like the efficiency.
- Timmeh is hitting mid-range jumpers like he's a shooting guard. 10-12 from the field, 23 points that I didn't catch watching most of the game. He's sticking with what he knows works. He won't be backing people down, but the pick and pops with Tony are working very well.
- James Anderson has a sweet shot. I hope they find him more. I also liked his hustle on both ends of the court. Michael Finley 2.0 people, I'm calling it.
- Antonio McDyess has a very smooth 12-15 foot jumper, gives Manu and Tony a ton of room to operate.
- DeJuan Blair has developed an immensely smooth free throw. I like how he's hustling for the ball, while the box score may not have been entirely favorable for him last night, if he does the dirty work he'll get more than his fair share of free throws, and with his touch from the line now I'm sure it'll make a huge difference.
- Overall everyone looked really comfortable with whatever lineup on the court, there is excellent chemistry and everyone seems pretty comfortable with their parts are whatever role they need to do.
- Manu is healthy, and Manu.
The Bad
- I shouldn't have a whole lot of call-outs here, but I can't say that the game was perfect, I mean, I know the Pacers are a hot-shooting offensive team, but we did allow 109 points.
- While I liked the hustle on the defensive end, and I understand what Dwight Howard means when he says Darren Collison is "jerky", there was way too much penetration. Defense seemed to be sort of like an every-other play thing. I appreciate us being able to run with the Pacers and keep up with them, we mirrored them too much defensively as well.
- There were a couple (not a whole lot) of broken plays which ended in ugly Matt Bonner dribble-drives. Can he please not put the ball on the floor? 2nd unit needs to develop a go-to guy (not Matt Bonner).
- Until Tiago Splitter gets back I'm concerned about size. Roy Hibbert kind of had his way out there with us, which makes me sad because we were projected to have drafted him but Pacers took him early (we got Hill instead, so it ends up being okay). At the end of the 1st quarter Pop had a lineup of TP, George Hill, James Anderson, Matt Bonner, and Antonio McDyess. Yikes.
The Ugly (and other random thoughts)
- Manu drew a 3pt shooting foul on Danny Granger by doing the leg flail and accidentally kicking Granger in the 'nads. Ouch. Sorry Danny.
- Mike Dunleavy drew a foul away from the ball for not being able to move backwards near Manu without falling over.
- Overall, the reffing as per usual was a little suspect, but hey, it is what it is.
- Can somebody please box out Josh McRoberts?
- George Hill and RJ got in some foul trouble early in the game. Fortunately RJ had already done his damage by the end of the first half.
- While the Spurs were able to cling on in the frenetic pace, they need to set the tempo. I know they want to run, but at times it seemed they were trying to play a little too fast; not every team is going to be as sloppy passing the ball around as Indiana.
The Good
- Early in the game the Spurs were pressuring the ball on defense, causing a lot of miscues and were able to poke the ball away for some easy buckets. Good job at keeping the ball in play, I like how Tony knows to leak on those opportunities.
- RJ is playing aggressively, some easy shots aren't falling, but he's not letting that get to him. I also like how he's starting to be very active without the ball and attacking the basket consistently. He won't be the Paul Pierce or even Corey Maggette type foul machine, but he'll get to the line a good bit if he keeps this up. 16 points on 6 shots, I like the efficiency.
- Timmeh is hitting mid-range jumpers like he's a shooting guard. 10-12 from the field, 23 points that I didn't catch watching most of the game. He's sticking with what he knows works. He won't be backing people down, but the pick and pops with Tony are working very well.
- James Anderson has a sweet shot. I hope they find him more. I also liked his hustle on both ends of the court. Michael Finley 2.0 people, I'm calling it.
- Antonio McDyess has a very smooth 12-15 foot jumper, gives Manu and Tony a ton of room to operate.
- DeJuan Blair has developed an immensely smooth free throw. I like how he's hustling for the ball, while the box score may not have been entirely favorable for him last night, if he does the dirty work he'll get more than his fair share of free throws, and with his touch from the line now I'm sure it'll make a huge difference.
- Overall everyone looked really comfortable with whatever lineup on the court, there is excellent chemistry and everyone seems pretty comfortable with their parts are whatever role they need to do.
- Manu is healthy, and Manu.
The Bad
- I shouldn't have a whole lot of call-outs here, but I can't say that the game was perfect, I mean, I know the Pacers are a hot-shooting offensive team, but we did allow 109 points.
- While I liked the hustle on the defensive end, and I understand what Dwight Howard means when he says Darren Collison is "jerky", there was way too much penetration. Defense seemed to be sort of like an every-other play thing. I appreciate us being able to run with the Pacers and keep up with them, we mirrored them too much defensively as well.
- There were a couple (not a whole lot) of broken plays which ended in ugly Matt Bonner dribble-drives. Can he please not put the ball on the floor? 2nd unit needs to develop a go-to guy (not Matt Bonner).
- Until Tiago Splitter gets back I'm concerned about size. Roy Hibbert kind of had his way out there with us, which makes me sad because we were projected to have drafted him but Pacers took him early (we got Hill instead, so it ends up being okay). At the end of the 1st quarter Pop had a lineup of TP, George Hill, James Anderson, Matt Bonner, and Antonio McDyess. Yikes.
The Ugly (and other random thoughts)
- Manu drew a 3pt shooting foul on Danny Granger by doing the leg flail and accidentally kicking Granger in the 'nads. Ouch. Sorry Danny.
- Mike Dunleavy drew a foul away from the ball for not being able to move backwards near Manu without falling over.
- Overall, the reffing as per usual was a little suspect, but hey, it is what it is.
- Can somebody please box out Josh McRoberts?
- George Hill and RJ got in some foul trouble early in the game. Fortunately RJ had already done his damage by the end of the first half.
- While the Spurs were able to cling on in the frenetic pace, they need to set the tempo. I know they want to run, but at times it seemed they were trying to play a little too fast; not every team is going to be as sloppy passing the ball around as Indiana.
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