Yes, Another Tournament

We play again this weekend with games at 2:00 and 6:00 on Saturday then at least two more games on Sunday. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to watch the game, much less when.

Oh, and did I mention Saturday is my anniversary. Yeah, sneaking game updates will even be risky.

Tony Allen and Tayshaun Prince Minutes

A lot is being made of Lionel Hollins cutting Tony Allen’s minutes in game 2. He hasn’t. Tony has played pretty consistent minutes this entire playoffs. He’s averaging 28 minutes per game. In games 1 and 2, he played 26 and 25.

Now, Tayshaun Prince is another matter. He’s been averaging 32 minutes per game and his 16 minutes in game 2 says something. Some of the drop is to be expected. Tayshaun logged a lot of minutes against Durant and his crazy length makes him uniquely suited to cover KD. It also meant he was tasked with a bunch of primary defender time. In this series, it is totally different. He is going to be called on as a help and rotation defender. Hollins can probably get that type of defense from Pondexter, a player who has been in the system longer, just as well as he can get it from Prince. In this case, I think Hollins will go with the shooter.

A Good Practice

We had a pretty good practice tonight. Lucky me, I got to be the 10th guy again. I don’t pace myself very well. I do a lot of cutting and a lot of running and then end up gassed pretty quickly. I’m starting to get a little better at handling the pace of the game now. Last week, I couldn’t maintain control of the ball or make layups. Tonight I was a better. I finished some around the rim and didn’t just lose the ball out of bounds. My court vision is coming back as well. Or, rather, it doesn’t disappear when I get tired. I still can’t play a lick of defense.

Pop Vs Hollins

I think the world of Lionel Hollins as a coach and I don’t necessarily think he is out of his league with Pop in this series. Hollins just doesn’t have as much to versatility to work with and he has precious few options. It is in this series that the Grizzlies need Rudy Gay. The three players the Grizzlies got in that trade were Ed Davis, Austin Daye and Tayshaun Prince. Tayshaun is the only one that played in game 2 and all the series analysis is that Prince needs to be benched for Pondexter.

Rudy Gay isn’t the greatest, but what he gave the Grizzlies is flexibility offensively and another weapon. They need that weapon now.

The Spurs, on the other hand, have a seeming wealth of options. They are scoring from all over with a variety of weapons. The Spurs versatility on offense is what makes them dangerous. They can get double digit points from a good nine guys: TP, Tim, Tiago, Kawhi, Danny, Manu, Boris, Bonner and Neal.  Throw out Boris and Bonner and I’d say the rest could easily put up 15 in any given game. The Grizzlies have five that are likely to be in double digits: Conley, Randolph, Gasol, Pondexter and Bayless. I’ll throw in Allen because he’ll take a lot of shots. NOTE: Pondexter and Bayless have only reached double figures 5 times in this playoffs. Darrell Arthur hasn’t at all.

Pop has really done a number on Zach Randolph. He has taken away his bread and butter which is getting the ball in the low block. The Spurs are fronting Zach with a bigger defender and smothering him. As I expected, Hollins got the ball to Z-Bo some when covered by Tim, by running some high screen and roll. The problem with this action is that Z-Bo is a terrible perimeter shooter right now. Look at this horrific chart. Outside the paint in the playoffs, Zach is shooting 14-54 (26%).

The Spurs’ strategy of jamming the paint with length will be impossible for the Grizzlies to change. Neither Grizz’ big can pull the Spurs’ bigs out of the paint. What is Hollins going to do? Play small with Conley, Pondexter, Bayless and Allen/Prince/Dooling/Wroten? He did some in game 2. I can’t see that being any kind of long-term win for his guys though.

Game 3 Outlook

This will be a battle from the get go. I think this will go one of two ways. A complete battle to the end or we get hot from outside and absolutely bury them. I lean toward the former but some weird part of me expects the latter. I’m reminded of game 3 against Phoenix in ’08. We won game 1 on Tim’s crushing 3-ptr that sent it to OT. We then squeezed out a tight win in game 2 to send it to Phoenix with us up 2-0. Tony then went OFF for 41 points as he torched the Suns with a never ending sequence of mid-range jumpers. A rested Tony is very capable of destroying the Grizzlies.

Now, let’s see what I think.

We Get Buckets

In support of Bart’s statement that “it’s only Grit and Grind if you win the game”, it would be like the Grizzlies having a “We Get Buckets” slogan with their current team. If you can’t shoot and you can’t score, well…

…I might go with “We Play One Quarter”. How does that sound?

Tony Was Great

Tony was not just good, he was great. Easily his most dominant performance in which he didn’t shoot 50%. If you had told me that Tony would go 6-20 and would play great, I would have smacked you.

The Grizzlies Going Offensive

A lot has been made about the Grizzlies not being able to play Prince and Allen because they can’t shoot. It’s true, they can’t shoot. But, it’s not as if their replacements are all that. Pondexter and Bayless combined to shoot 10-24 (41.6%) and 2-9 from 3-pt. If that is the Grizzlies *good* offense…

I’ll add that at least one, if not two, of Pondexter’s three makes were layups on the break. Two were definitely layups.

Play With Pace, Not Frenetic

I think Cory Joseph was just a bit too wound up in game two. The Spurs are obviously trying to push the pace all the time. But, they have to balance and not be frenetic. The second unit with Cory, Manu and Boris were passing the ball too quickly. They weren’t giving the other players time to get to their spots. Fast feet, slow mind.

Three Days Off

We need these three days of rest. We were on fumes. The relatively quick turnaround from a late Thursday game on the West coast to an early start on a Sunday isn’t enough to recharge. In fact, I feel fortunate that we were able to get both games at home.

Offensive Rebounds

A lot will be made, and has been made, of the Grizzlies 19 offensive rebounds. I’m not all that concerned about them. They had 5 on one possession in the second quarter. The Grizzlies then had 5 more in OT. Get rid of the one possession and OT (which is just one ridiculous possession from a 48 minute game) and the Grizzlies only had 9 offensive boards. And *THAT* is a very acceptable number. Yes, that’s a big “just don’t count the one thing” type of assumption, I’m just saying it isn’t systemic.

What really amazes me is that the Spurs only had 4 offensive rebounds. Now that is something to be concerned about.

The Officiating

Yes, I think the refs screwed us. Yes, I think the Grizzlies got every call. But, that’s what happens when you are a tired team. You don’t stick to your fundamentals when a team gets aggressive and you rack up fouls.

I actually think the refs were really good. The Manu flagrant was a letter of the law flagrant. My only problem with it is that it isn’t enforced consistently *at a league level*. Tony Allen tripping Tony Parker is a non-basketball play that is dangerous. If “grabbing a players arm” while they are about to jump is a dangerous play then there needs to be a lot more flagrants called. League-wide.

I’d also add that Tony Allen is an ass clown. But, we already knew that.

Game Three

Game 3 will be a war. The Grizzlies will come out crazy aggressive. I expect the rested Spurs will be ready to match their energy. I bet it is chippy and a lot of fouls are called early. And, get this, I hope we get Joey Crawford for this game. He doesn’t put up with any of that kind of crap no matter how big the game is. Anything that can suck the energy and hostility out of the game is to our advantage. I’ll take our composure over theirs any day. Jo-E, Jo-E, Jo-E!

- The story from the Spurs side will clearly be the officiating. And yes, Memphis got 26 FTAs to San Antonio’s 13 in regulation. And yes, there’s no question it had an impact on the game, both in getting Memphis easy points and breaking the flow of the Spurs offense. And yes, the Spurs blew an 18-point lead, not because of the officiating. It’s not either/or, people. Both narratives can be – and are – true.

- The thing I hate most about this Grizz comeback: it feeds this whole Grit and Grind thing that Memphis keeps talking. It’s only Grit and Grind if you win the game.

- Pop has to be secretly chuckling about the result in this game. A second blowout might have been really bad for a team that has had letdowns when they are frontrunners. Lots to coach up while looking at the second half tape.

- Also lost in this is the Spurs terrible shooting in the first quarter. If they had hit open shots in the first, the lead would have been bigger and the whole game may have played out differently.

- I don’t know if Lionel Hollins will start Pondexter and Bayless in Game 3, but I bet they will be on the floor quickly. As I mentioned in the Game 1 recap, I don’t think you can play Tony Allen and Tayshaun Prince that many minutes without paying for it with terrible offense. All of the Memphis runs in this series have come with those two out.

- If I’m concerned about one thing after Game 2, it’s Tony Parker and his rest during the game. He had to come in earlier in the 4th, because the lead was slipping, but he was clearly gassed. Somebody – looking at you, Manu – has to facilitate the offense when Tony is out and give him the rest he needs to finish the game. The offense bogged down twice when he was out.

- Manu’s job in those situations has to be “patience”. He can’t be Hero Manu, but he just needs to be consistent and run the offense.

- If Memphis plays big chunks of the game small, you still have to double Randolph and live with Bayless/Q-Pon jumpers. And then you have to punish the heck out of those two on the other end. Everytime Bayless is in the game, you put he and Z-Bo in the pick-and-roll and you score and score and score.

- Marc Gasol was barely been a factor in this series. He’s hesitant to shoot his midrange jumper and his high post passing has been negated by defensive pressure. And Mike Conley – except for the game-tying floater – had the most invisible 18 points I’ve ever seen.

- Can’t end this post without giving massive credit to Diaw, Splitter, and Kawhi. A huge job, doing hard work fronting the Grizz bigs in the post. One play that cracked me up in the 3rd: Q-Pon took Kawhi down to the right block and Kawhi immediately started to front him, but realized who it was.

- Tony has owned all but 6 minutes and the overtime of this series so far. This was one of his finest games. Just a masterful job of controlling and running the offense, hitting open teammates when they’re open and taking it himself when needed.

- I thought it was a flagrant foul. I also think Tony Allen should get a fine for flopping. Again, both narratives can be true.

A regular recap up on TBF sometime tomorrow. Until then, try to get some sleep.

Girl Can Play

She wore #22 and her uniform was green. That’s all I know about her besides this: she was the single best defensive player I have ever seen at any level in these two months that I have been coaching. That’s qualified, of course, by her talents and age (maybe 16). But, for what she brought to the court, she had the best technique I’ve ever seen. She was her team’s small forward and she was guarding the other team’s best player, the point guard. A little quick thing.

#22 got down in her defensive stance and just took the point guard right out of the game. She never came out of her stance. Her retreat footwork when the point guard penetrated was picture perfect and it kept her from getting beat. Her length and strength kept the girl from passing around her or being able to dribble by her. Whenever the guard would take a half step back to create space, the defender used an attack step to close the space. The entire time she used her hands, extended at full length, to aggravate the dribbler and close passing lanes. It was remarkable. A truly beautiful moment in a basketball coaching world. My coach and I marveled at it. I complemented her mom heavily on her daughter’s performance.

Terrible Start

Our first game was at 4:30 on Saturday. We left Georgetown — just north of Austin — a little before noon. The three hour drive turned into a four-and-a-half hour drive thanks to construction. We got to the gym at 4:15. The boys I had in my car farted around and got to the court just as the game started. As a result, we went down 20-3 to start the game. We fought back to within two late in the second half. Our small forward got a steal and went in for a layup. He was intentionally fouled from behind which is two shots AND the ball. He missed both free throws and then missed on a drive to the rim. They hit a 3-ball and the game was pretty much over. The loss dropped us to 3-10 on the season.

Some Winning

Our next two pool games were against teams that lacked the height and athleticism to give us a lot of problems. We got to a nice lead in the first one — 28-13 at the half — and let a lot of it slip away with shoddy play, but held on for a nice 8-pt win. The second one was a big time blow out.

Spurs-Grizzlies Game 1 By Box Score

About the same time we were finishing up our blow out, the Spurs were tipping off against the Grizzlies. Following online was quite the roller coaster. My first glance at the score had us up 35-19. Then, I saw the lead dwindle to 10, but get back to 14 at halftime. When I checked next, the Spurs lead was down to 6. This was about the time our semifinal game tipped. I didn’t get to check again until the end. I was feeling some unnecessary stress.

The Final

We got pushed around in the final by a bigger team. It was the same team we lost the opener to. With the fifth game in 28 hours with seven players, our guards didn’t have the energy to expose our advantage. It was a bad game to be missing our two post players — who didn’t go to the tournament — and we ended up getting pushed around and bludgeoned in the paint. Our guy really battled, but Zac just didn’t have the size nor help. We fought, but we went down by 10.

Spurs-Grizzlies Game 1 By DVR

(my DVR just died about an hour ago) I got home about 1:30 Sunday night and proceeded to watch the game. Here are my thoughts.

The Spurs were getting wide open looks from 3-pt. If they continue to get THOSE kind of looks then they’ll continue to shoot that kind of percentage. I don’t expect us to continue to get those kind of looks though. Shame.

Kawhi Leonard is a whole lot better than Tayshaun Prince. I expect Kawhi won’t score as much in game 2, but will heavily influence the game in some other manner. Like rebounds and shutting down Mike Conley when the Grizzlies go to him because nothing else is working on offense.

I expect the Grizzlies to play far better. They didn’t play with any intensity and they lost track of players. They were very undisciplined and THAT is not a Lionel Hollins team. There won’t be any magic adjustments from Hollins, he just needs his guys to put in some effort.

One wrinkle he does need to figure out is getting Z-Bo the ball. My guess is that it will be bringing Z-Bo out to play some high screen and roll with Conley where the purpose it to get Randolph the ball on the wing against Duncan. Tim smothered Z-Bo down in the block with his length. But, move Tim out and make him defend on the move and the Grizz might have something.

Maybe it shouldn’t have been though. The last two games against the Warriors, we began to see flashes of the Spurs offense we knew and loved; the defense started coming around late in Game 2 and worked well for the remainder of that Warriors series. Now, with a much more traditional team to face (which can have problems scoring in big spurts), this was much more in the Spurs wheelhouse.

Song of the Game: Train, “Free”

I’m a big fan of early Train, because it had this great Southern-but-not-too-Southern vibe to it. Their later music (beginning with Drops of Jupiter) morphed into the same old radio-friendly adult alternative crap that everyone else plays. But their self-titled first album, where this song is from, remains an amazing piece of work.

I was reminded of this during the game because this is how the Spurs played: free and easy. Run the offense, move the ball, work your butt off on D, lather, rinse, repeat. And like this album, when it’s on like it was today, there is no better show in basketball.

Play of the Game: Tony’s OMFB

One of my big concerns coming into the series was Tony’s health. He looked both tired and beat up by the end of the GSW series. And he has to outplay Mike Conley in this series. Simply has to. But was he right, physically? Question answered at 8:30 of the second. Conley misses a short floater and Tim does one of his leading bounce passes to hit Tony in stride. Kawhi is running ahead of Tony, but Prince is clearly shadowing him. Tony Allen and Gasol are ahead Tony, but only for a second and neither player really gets in front of him.  Tony uses a beautiful hesitation to freeze all 3 Grizzly players before jetting to the rim for a layup. Hence, OMFB (one man fast break).

Trending Up: Bonner, Kawhi

Whereas the Red Mamba didn’t have much of a role in the GSW series, he will likely be in the 20 minutes per game range against the Grizzlies, I suspect. Even if he’s not making shots, he still forces the Grizz to account for him, which they completely whiffed on today. On 3 of his 4 treys, he was so open, it was ridiculous. Matt Bomber indeed.

Before the game, it was reported that Kawhi’s balky knee was flaring and that he may not see much time. Ok. Other than a worse than usual rebounding effort, I thought Kawhi was sharp. Great shooting, moved well on defense, and even got a few post plays in.

Trending Down: Grit, Grind

With all of the promises of an ugly set of games for this series, it was a beautiful display of basketball. It was physical, yes, but not in the way that Memphis would like for it to be. Memphis will be better than in this game, but I think it’s an uphill batlle for them (lots more on that thought below).

Stat of the Game: 18 minutes

Pop went with the small ball lineup, either with Bonner or Diaw or Kawhi (in a short stretch) as the 4 for most of the second half. Thus, Timmy and Tiago, who totaled 7 points, played only a combined 18 minutes in the second half. Extra rest for our two bigs in a series where their defense is absolutely critical? Yes, please.

Random Thoughts (Lots of them, and long. Hang on.):

- Do not let the box score fool you. Tim was really good today. He took only 9 shots (3 makes) and in many possessions, barely touched the ball on offense, except to facilitate to an open shooter or Tony on the dribble-handoffs. His defense on Z-Bo and Gasol was exceptional. This was just not a “Timmy Day” in the offensive game plan. Most of this series may not be. Likewise, Tiago didn’t have a great stat line, but the eyeball test (and a +16 on 16 minutes) tell a different story. He was brilliant defensively. On offense, a chunk of those open 3-point shots came because someone had to duck in to cover him on the rolls from the high screen.

- Related, I strongly suspect a 18 point kind-of-game from Tiago in Game 2. After Hollins yells at every employee of the Grizz organization about staying home on corner shooters, Tiago may find lots of room to roam down the lane for his patented reverse layups.

- Call me crazy, but this game reminded me a lot of Game 1 of the 2007 WCF (exactly 6 years and 1 day ago, in fact). The heralded Spurs were at home against a rugged, bruising Jazz team with good bigs and solid point guard play. And they put on a clinic, jumping out to huge lead with precision basketball on both ends. This was one of my favorite series in Spurs history, because for entire halves, the Spurs showed what real team basketball can be. The difference between 2007 and today? No blown leads. The Jazz were down by as much as 20 and came back for an 8 point loss. Today, the Spurs swept the leg.

- Two other stats, because I can: 28 assists on 40 field goals. That’s scary good. And the Spurs were great from 3 (48%) and good from the paint (57%). But they were also good from the long two range, shooting 11-for-21 (52%). Those percentages aren’t sustainable, but I’m thrilled by the low number of attempts from that range.

- Wayne gave you a great preview for the series, but I’ll throw my prediction for the series here as well (decided before Game 1, I promise). I went with Spurs in 6. Actually, my head said 6, but my heart was screaming 5. I just think the Spurs provide some matchups for the Grizz that are really tough. Z-Bo isn’t being guarded by DeJuan and McDyess anymore. This is Splitter and Diaw, both of them full-grown men. Likewise, I don’t think the Grizz have enough offense to stay with San Antonio. When Tony Allen and Tayshaun Prince are playing so much (25 and 28 minutes respectively), the Spurs are basically going to ignore them when the Grizz have the ball. That kills spacing for a post-up team and makes all those post entry passes really tough, as we saw today. It also makes the double teams on Z-Bo and Gasol come from a closer distance. As crazy as it sounds, the Grizzlies’ best bet might be playing small for big stretches, but that means taking either of those bigs off the floor, which is exactly what Pop would love anyway. And you simply cannot leave Z-Bo in as your only rim-protector; that’s a recipe for disaster. So, that means Gasol and 4 smalls, which means he can’t play high-post, his preferred spot on the court. Lots of questions, no answers.

- What’s that all mean? I think it will be a telling bit of philosophy by Lionel Hollins. Will he stick with who he feels his team is (big and bigger) and simply try to overcome the disadvantages that brings? Or will he try to adapt on the fly and go to something that his team has not fundamentally been all season? That, dear readers, is the chess match of this series. Whereas Pop has options with his roster (wing defenders who can also score, stretch 4s who can guard bigs), Hollins has the proverbial classic Henry Ford Model-T; you can have it any color you want, as long as it’s black. For Hollins, he can play an offense lineup or a defense lineup, but it’s really tough to put both on the floor at the same time. That’s what makes me lean toward 5 games. I don’t think they’ll be nearly as easy as Game 1 was, without question. It will still be a grinding series where many of the games come down to the end. But today was a microcosm of what the Spurs can do to a team built like Memphis when they are clicking and it’s going to be up to Hollins to figure out how to respond. Your move, Memphis.

Two years ago, I went to Spurs-Grizzlies game 5 because I was afraid it might be the last game Tim Duncan ever played and I wasn’t going to miss it. Hah!
 

2011 Game One

Here are the list of players for the Grizzlies who logged minutes in game 1 of the 2011 series that are still with the team: Randolph(41), Gasol(39), Conley(44), Allen(25), Arthur(15) and Haddadi(1). Here are the guys who logged minutes who are not with the team: Young(15), Battier(25), Mayo(30), Vasquez(4) and Ish Smith(1).

Now for the Spurs: Duncan(36), Parker(41), Bonner(24), Neal(25) and Blair(22). Not with us: Jefferson(37), McDyess(13), Hill(41). Special mention to Danny Green who apparently checked in but had less than a minute of playing time and no stats. Tiago Splitter was on the bench and never played.

So, for the Spurs, of the guys who played in game one 2011, only two are still seeing any meaningful minutes. Tim and Tony. Bonner barely plays, Neal plays very limited minutes and Blair doesn’t get off the bench. If you look at the changes, almost every one — with the exception of losing George Hill — is an improvement in defense.

It pleases me that we are so much better. It terrifies me that I thought that was such a good team.

2013 Game One Defensive Matchups

I personally like the way we match up with the Grizzlies now. I think Tiago is a great defensive presence who can handle both Gasol and Randolph. Tiago does a good job against Randolph by being strong, moving his feet and not jumping at his fakes.

Boris can probably handle Randolph in short stretches to give him a different look.

Bonner can still do his Bonner thing. Matt and Kawhi (if the Spurs go small) also have the benefit of pulling Randolph out of the paint on the other end.

I think Parker and Conley will go toe-to-toe almost all series. They are both tough guys who work the whole game on both ends of the court. I’ll be very interested to see if Cory Joseph is effective guarding Conley. Conley is more physical than the Warriors guards.

Kawhi can cover Randolph, Prince, Allen or Conley. I think he gets some of Randolph in little stretches when Pop wants to change the flow of the game.

But, the one in the middle is the big one.

Tim Duncan vs Marc Gasol

Duncan and Gasol will beat the hell out of each other. They’ll post up, elbow for rebounds and set mean screens. However, that’s not what will decide this matchup. This matchup will be decided 16′-18′ from the basket. A HUGE part of both of these offenses are these guys being able to make their mid-range shots. Whichever big can knock down a higher percentage of them will give their team a giant lift. If I’m looking for a barometer stat in this series, this is it.

My Hoops Team

I practiced Thursday. My ribs are killing me today. I woke up several times in the night with some back and rib pain. It’s funny how the body can’t handle the little things. I mean, it’s not like fell over somebody or came down awkwardly. I just reached for a pass and collided with a guy. Happens all the time in the game.

We travel to Dallas today for a tournament. The day is off to a great start as it looks like we lost one of the players on the team. It seems like he has decided to play with another team. Team chemistry is fragile. Losing has its costs. Personalities have to fit. Everything matters, but you never know which things will make the difference. I’m hoping that it is the adversity that the team needs to bond. Turn a bad into a good. That kind of thing.

Making Shots

I really think we can handle the Grizzlies offense and I KNOW the Grizz will go through stretches when they can’t score. I want to know who on the team will make shots. In particular, shots from the perimeter. Will Green and Leonard shoot with confidence? Will Manu and Neal being able find their rhythm (they always shoot with confidence)? Will Tony get his mid-range jumper back?

I really like our chances with Memphis, but before I get to that series I want to dump my final thoughts on this one.

The Refs, Especially Joey Crawford

It seems that the crowd was chanting “Joey Sucks” and the Twitter was full of Spurs’ fans hating. To be honest, I thought it was an exceptionally well called game. They let both teams get away with a lot of physical play, they called obvious hatchet jobs, and nothing stupid happened. Did they miss some calls? Of course. The Boris travel when Barnes got hurt was bad. But, it happens.

Overall, I’d give that game an A to A+ for the quality of the officiating.

Harrions Barnes’ Head

Man, what a rugged fall. I like how Mike Monroe of SAEN was speculating that he hurt his hip. Seriously? Hip? Anyhow, it was a great fake by Diaw that got Barnes airborne, and out of control, and it was an unfortunate fall as Barnes got his legs tangled around Diaw’s torso. The dude is a tough nut and when he came back in the third quarter he played well.

The Warriors’ Future

I’m not all that positive on the Warrior’s bright future. Not in the short-term, at least. They have too many killer contracts right now, are over the luxury tax, still have to sign Jarrett Jack, and have no draft picks this year. Maybe they’ll find somebody to take on Biedrins or Jefferson. Seems unlikely. Their development will have to come from within and they will have to hope that Bogut and Lee can get and stay healthy. Even then, I don’t see them cracking the top 4-5 in the West next year.

Tiago Splitter

Tiago had his best game of the series in game six. Several of his buckets came at the expense of David Lee’s terrible defense. Tiago still didn’t rebound well, only 4, but he did a marvelous job at cutting off dribblers and challenging shots.

Tony and Manu: Unprecedented Clangfest

Whew, that was rough. Manu made one finger roll. Tony made his second jumper which means he missed 12 straight shots before hitting his two big 3s. Both guys had strings of terrible turnovers as well. But, they fought through it. You could see that they were still encouraging each other. They were still pushing each other to believe in themselves. I challenge you to find another pair of teammates that would have each other’s back like that. I HUGE chunk of this game is upstairs and you can chalk Tony’s big finish up to Manu and Tim and Pop.

Can you believe that Tony and Manu combined to go 4-22 and the Spurs won a playoff game on the road?

All that said, I’d like to see some progression to the mean against the Grizzlies. You?

Attack Stephen Curry

The Spurs relentlessly attacked Curry’s defense. They did it with Danny Green. They did it with Cory Joseph. They did it with Kawhi Leonard. The Spurs just physically punished Curry. They ran him on fast breaks, they ran him off screens and they ran him into the post. The Spurs got a whole lot of points out of the deal and they wore out Curry.

Practice

Speaking of “wore out”. That about describes my body this morning. We have a 9-player team now which means I’m the 10th man for scrimmages. It was a nice long stretch I ran and I am hurting. My hips are crazy sore as well as my groins. I’ve also got a pretty good bruise in my ribs from taking a shoulder trying to beat a guy to the passing lane.

On the plus side, I can still see the floor. I’m probably the best guy we have at finding open players for shots. On the negative side, I can’t do much else at full speed. I missed layup after layup, mostly left-handed. Some were missed badly. I also can’t maintain my dribble at a full run. I lost control time after time. It’s funny how it all comes rushing back. I remember now how hard it is to play at full speed. How you get out of control and loose the ability to play well when pushed just the smallest amount passed your comfort zone. It’s the piece that we as fans miss or forget. Playoff basketball, and intense basketball, is about making your opponent just a little bit more uncomfortable. When you make them that little bit uncomfortable shots start to miss and turnovers start to happen.

I watched a lot of basketball this weekend. Game 3 Friday, the second quarter of game 4 on Sunday, two girls’ basketball games on Sunday, a couple of boys’ games waiting for us to play, and we played three ourselves.

Girls Play Hard

I saw two girls games. The first looked like they are 7th or 8th grade. The second was ninth graders. The skill level was all that impressive, but in the first four minutes of the second game more girls hit the floor diving for loose balls than our boys have done in our first 12 games. They really busted their butts. They hustled. They ran the floor hard. They ran plays. They executed. Frankly, I was impressed. There are a few teams I’ve seen on the boys side who weren’t street ball, but a very low percentage played such a well organized game.

Ugh, Game 4

By the time I remembered to ask my wife to record the game, she was already out of the house for the day. I watched most of the second quarter at Taco Cabana and listened to a lot of the second half in the car. I then caught the last two minutes of OT when I got home. Sounded awful. I’ll pretend it didn’t happen, which allows me to pretend that Manu hasn’t made any shots this series. See! I get to keep my talking point.

Manu

Make no mistake, I love Manu. He’s one of the greatest Spurs’ players ever. He’s a first ballot hall of famer. He’s one of the sports greatest competitors. More importantly, he very well could be the finest man I’ve ever been around. That is not hyperbole. I really think he’s one of the best people, as a person, walking the planet. My criticism isn’t hating.

But, he needs to take better shots. He is taking too many 3-ptrs and he is taking them off balance. I think he needs to be a little like Jason Kidd. Get by on his head a more now than before and not play quite as chaotically. Yes, he has always thrived in chaos, but I just don’t think he can do it at the elite level any more. He needs to adjust his game just a bit, in my opinion, and play a little more within himself. Probably easier said than done, but I know he can do it. He’s that kind of guy.

And, for what it is worth, I can’t imagine the Spurs not bringing him back next season.

The Harrison Barnes Strategy

Tim Varner called today just to ask my thoughts on Pop’s strategy to give Harrison Barnes whatever he can get. I said, “I’m all for it”. The more shots Barnes takes the better. 26 points on 26 shots. I’ll take it. 25 points on 18 shots. Great. The key, to me, is that Barnes has exactly two assists in the last two games and he has taken 44 shots. If you combine those numbers with Jarrett Jack’s 32 shots and six assists, then you see what is going on.

The Spurs will let Barnes and Jack go one-on-one if it means they aren’t getting anybody else involved. In particular, the shooters Curry and Thompson. Barnes and Jack have also combined for 11 turnovers in the last two games.

A huge side effect of having Jack and Barnes iso, especially Jack, is that the Spurs can take care of the defensive glass. The Warriors only had 7 offensive rebounds in game 5. One was by Bazemore in garbage time. Another was RJ getting Jack’s air ball of a layup on a 3-on-1 fast break. All these numbers are a recipe for success.

Painful Regression

My basketball team had a terrible weekend. It was a huge regression for us. We paid for all our sins. Bad practice habits. Mentally weak. Poor offensive execution. Poor transition defense. Poor communication. It was really hard to watch.

More than anything, we don’t play through adversity and we don’t follow instructions. It’s interesting to see up close when your most talented players don’t have the mental toughness to lead the team. It breaks the team and everything goes to hell. We, the coaches, have our work cut out for us. The changes needed aren’t on the court, they are in the head.

Kawhi

Andrew McNeill at 48MoH has a good article on Kawhi Leonard. While I do think Kawhi was a terror in game 5, and most of the series on the defensive end, I’ve been a bit mystified by Kawhi’s play on the offensive end. Until game 5, I felt that Kawhi was playing tentatively, almost afraid. Afraid of making mistakes. I’m used to his crazy ability to play within himself, but I thought he was taking a bit further early in the series. Like he lacked the confidence in himself and it’s not just his free throws.

It was in the passes he didn’t make and the shots he didn’t take. I got the impression he was having a hard time adjusting to having more responsibility this deep in the playoffs. Like most things with Kawhi, I’m pretty sure he’ll figure it out quickly and come out on top. Maybe game 5 was that moment. Let’s say I wouldn’t be surprised if he dropped 25 on the Warriors in game 6 on the road. It just seems like the kind of thing he would do.

Cory Joseph and Gary Neal

I won’t be surprised if Cory gets all of Gary’s minutes for the rest of this series. If Cory can be useful on offense — meaning not a liability and occasionally knocks down a shot — then I think Pop would prefer to have his defense on the court against Jarrett Jack. Cory is fantastic at fighting through screens, denying dribble penetration and then challenging a shot. With Manu running the offense when Tony isn’t in the game, Gary’s shot making isn’t quite as valuable.

Additionally, Cory keeps the speed of the Spurs’ offense much higher than Gary does. So there’s that as well.

The Spurs’ Offseason

Yeah, I know, it’s the playoffs. How can I be thinking about the offseason? Well, if you talk to Tim Varner then you HAVE to talk about the offseason. He lives for the trade machine. But, the gist of our conversation is this: What have we learned in these playoffs that will influence the Spurs this summer?

Our working theory is that the Spurs really care about which players can contribute in the playoffs. Sure, they like their depth for the grind of the long season, but they need to know which guys can play in the playoffs. Because those are the only guys you pay.

Our other major thinking point is that the path to a championship goes through OKC and Miami for the next few years. You need players who can defend on the perimeter more than you need a big front line.

One, Cory Joseph is a player. He is now Tony’s back up for next year and it sure looks like he can play in the playoffs. Pop is easing him in, but you can’t deny that he is rising to the occasion and his style is usable.

Two, Tiago Splitter isn’t looking like a playoff player. I really like Tiago and I think he’s been great all season. However, he’s looking at a big payday and his playoff production isn’t something I think the Spurs will want to throw $8-$10M per year toward. Sure, this Warriors series isn’t really for him because of the matchups. But the Lakers series was. He had 15 points and 12 rebounds in 71 minutes in that series. For me, if I’m paying a player something in the neighborhood of $10M per year, then he needs to be a lot more than a role player. Right now, that’s what Tiago is.

Three, Gary Neal isn’t fitting into this rotation with the emergence of Cory Joseph and…

Four, the emergence of Danny Green. Danny has shown that he can play in the playoffs now. He’s been fantastic in this series. Both knocking down shots and with his defense. The back court rotation of Tony, Manu, Danny and Cory has dried up Neal’s minutes.

Five, I like what Boris brings. Game 5 is the first time in the history of Boris Diaw that anybody — me — thought, “For crying out loud Boris, pass the damn ball.” The guy was like a black hole down in the block. That’s a good thing. I love an aggressive Boris.

Assuming we re-sign Manu — and that just has to happen — here are the guys we have locked up for the playoffs next year: Tony, Cory, Danny, Manu, Kawhi, Tim, Boris.

Tiago Splitter and Gary Neal are restricted free agents. DeJuan Blair and Tracy McGrady are free agents. Patty Mills has a player option and could be gone if he wants playing time. There is also Baynes and De Colo. Matt Bonner is on the books for $3.9M, but only $1M is guaranteed. I wouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t back.

The Spurs have a remarkably good cap situation. Of the playoff teams, only Atlanta has more cap space. Additionally, the Spurs have that cap space with the core of their team intact. Atlanta only has theirs if they let everybody walk.

The Spurs will have two major needs for next year’s playoff run. A big man and a back up for Kawhi. They’ll have a LOT of money to throw at those two players. It will be very interesting to see how they attack it.

And by the way, if you are looking for our Game 4 recap, neither Wayne nor I are acknowledging the existence of that game. There was a loss, of course, but the game was terrible and did not happen.

Song of the Game: Calexico, “Two Silver Trees”

Calexico is my favorite alt-country/mariachi/pop/folk band and this song, from Carried to Dust, is the band at the peak of their powers. I love bands with a unique and instantly identifiable sound and Calexico has that in droves.

Confessionally, I was reminded of this last night when the TV camera panned over to Timmy and Tiago before the game in the home silver jerseys. Two Silver Trees. Corny, I know, but that’s how my brain works sometimes….

Play of the Game: Tony on the Floor

Halfway through the 3rd quarter, the Spurs were in the midst of a run, but Jarrett Jack was also having a Good Jarrett Jack Game, so no lead is safe. Cue big moment: Jack had the ball and was trying to turn the corner on a Bogut screen and he went to the floor. It was hard to tell from the replay whether Jack tripped on Parker or on Bogut’s giant Australian boats, but nonetheless, down he went. Tony sees the play and dove over Jack to grab the loose ball, jumped up to push the break, and then dished to a streaking Danny Green for a dunk. (Side question: Is Danny Green the 2nd most athletic Spur, behind Kawhi? Discuss.) This was a huge momentum play, pushing the lead to 11 and sparking the run that followed.

Trending Up: Tony, Kawhi

This was Tony’s game and he took the challenge and ran with it. A fantastic game from Parker. He passed early, scored late, and even played solid defense when asked on Curry and Barnes.

Kawhi was the second best player in this game and has been the most consistent player for SAS in this series. This is unarguable in my mind.

Trending Down: Gary, Timmy

Playoff Gary Neal did not get much of a chance last night, mostly because of the defensive matchups and Pop rolling with the 3 guard Tony-Danny-Manu lineup (with Kawhi at the 4) in the second half. He also “led” the team – in a bad way – with a -6 in under 5 minutes. There’ll be better days ahead, Gary.

Timmy was fantastic defensively and on the glass, but he could not hit anything after the first quarter. Seriously, those were some of the worst looking shots I’ve ever seen him take. He airballed a jumper from the key that literally had no arch at all. Mulligan.

Stat of the Game: 30

As in 30 assists. On 40 field goals. That, friends, is Spurs basketball.

Random Thoughts:

- There were very few adjustments in this game overall. The offensive sets were the same, the defensive matchups were just like the mythical Game 4. Pop’s dead on: the difference is the Spurs missed shots Sunday and made them on Tuesday. The defense was better too, without a doubt, but just a few shots falling on Sunday would have meant this series would be over.

- I can’t wait for the inevitable “what would have happened if Curry wasn’t hurt” media message if the Spurs move on. Folks, other than game 1, Curry has been pretty well contained by the Spur defenders (mostly Kawhi and Danny), including Game 2, in which he was healthy until the 4th quarter. I get the idea – they’d definitely be better. But I have never been in much doubt about how this series would play out, with Healthy Steph or not.

- Spurs win Game 6. I’m calling it now. Let’s go with 106-97.

- The early tipoff may be the thing I’m most worried about for Game 3. The Spurs, particularly notoriously anti-morning guy, Timothy Duncan, have not fared well in early starts, if memory serves in a while.

- I expected a lot more smallball than I got, but the variety of combinations that Pop threw out certainly worked. Tiago only played 19 minutes and was generally good, especially on defense. His back-to-back turnovers in the 4th quarter were brutal, though. Kawhi did play a fair mount of PF and was effective at everything he did all night, even though I don’t think Pop ever ran a play or even a post-up for him.

- Crazy plus-minus numbers for this game: Kawhi was the best at +17; Danny and Tony were the worst at -6. Everyone on the bench was a +, except Bonner, who was -1 in 6 minutes.

- Diaw was very good in this game and has been very good this entire series. I was shocked at his aggressiveness offensively last night.

- This was the first time in the series that the Spurs finally dictated what they were going to do to GSW, instead of be dictated to. Tony was decisive all night and knew what he wanted to do.

- I was surprised at Danny Green’s -6, because I thought he was tremendous on Curry last night. When Pop can keep Danny on Curry, it allows Kawhi to guard Thompson, Barnes, or Draymond Green, which is much better from a size and rebounding perspective. For what it’s worth, I also thought Tony was much more effective on Curry last night, as opposed to his work in Game 1.

- If you can figure out what to do with Manu Ginobili right now, please let me know. It feels like Pop is stuck. There are times you have to keep him on the floor because of his size and the heroic things he can do at any given time. But based on his play in the series (save the 2OT game winning shot), he’d never get off the bench. Too many long 3s, too many forced passes, and maybe worst of all, too many unproductive drives (that result in either a contested miss or a turnover). Plus, if you decide play small, with Kawhi at PF, Manu has to be the SF. Neal can’t guard anyone in this series, although it’s not for a lack of effort.

- The biggest questions for Game 4 right now is health: Tony’s and Curry’s. The Game 4 winner may actually be whichever has recovered faster.

- I have bad ankles too. Numerous (like, literally over 20) sprains on each ankle over 25+ years of basketball in my life. I wear ankle braces on both feet when I play, just to keep from doing what Steph did last night. Yes, they limit my lateral mobility and they are sometimes uncomfortable (but I’m so used to them now, I hardly notice). But I wear them so I can keep playing. I’m not sure what Steph’s reason is for not wearing them (and if he is wearing them, they’re not nearly as heavy duty as the ones I wear), but if your ankles are made of glass and something simple like a brace can keep you on the floor, you do it. It’s just that simple.

- My prediction on Game 4: I think the Spurs win, but this one will be a nail biter. We have not yet had the no-team-ever-leads-by-more-than-4 game in this series, and my gut says this might be it. I expect both teams to be a little tired and in a strange way, that may favor the Spurs. Look for some great late game execution and a “Pop play” at the end to ice it.