Ho-hum. As the Clippers announcers said late in the game, sometimes a team just has another team’s number. The Spurs have the Clippers number. We’ve won 17 in a row, apparently, and have barely lost to them in the Tim Duncan era. Granted, the Clippers haven’t been all that good ever, really. But they have talent on the team, and they’re certainly better than losing 17 in a row to one team.
And the win certainly felt good. After Saturday’s iffy performance against the Hornets, it was nice to see the team perform better and secure a fairly easy win. There were still some trouble spots, but it’s early, and in general, we played well.
What I Liked:
The shooting. I should single out Gary Neal and Richard Jefferson here. Oh my, can Neal shoot. And with good shooting comes scoring. Looks like Pop and Buford knew what they were doing when they signed him straight out of summer league. If he can give us a solid 10-15 minutes a night and chip in double figure points, that will be a boon for us.
And RJ just looks like a different animal this year. His stroke is much better, he’s confident, and he’s playing within himself and within the offense. Hopefully scoring will rarely be the issue for this team.
Overall, the team shot really well tonight (48% overall and 43% from 3). When we shoot that well, and especially when we shoot that well from 3, we’ll usually win. (Notice how poorly we shot from 3 against New Orleans.)
The Bench. Our second unit just annihilated their second unit. Positive contributions from Neal obviously helped, but McDyess and Anderson also played big minutes, as did Bobby Simmons. In fact, Neal and McDyess had the best +/- on the team with a +14 and +15, respectively. The next closest player was Tony Parker, with a +5 (not counting Hill, who only played 6 minutes). When a team angles to rest its starters in the regular season, a good bench is of paramount importance.
26, 18, 21, 23. The Clippers scoring, by quarter. Only one quarter over 25, and an even 44 split per half. We’re still allowing teams to shoot the ball too well, but we’re also creating more turnovers than in years past and rebounding better than in the last few years, meaning we’re giving teams more empty possessions and less extra possessions. I especially like the competitive will shown by the younger players to get out and guard on the wings.
Tiago Splitter. I know, he didn’t play that much or all that well. But it was his first NBA action ever, and really his first time even playing with the team. He made lots of mistakes–some from nerves, I’m sure–but threw down a monstrous dunk after running the floor with Ginobili, made a great baseline pass that led eventually led to a Neal 3, and, perhaps most importantly, showed great lateral quickness on defense.
What I Didn’t Like:
Sloppy and stagnant. Seems like we’re still a little sloppy and stagnant on O, especially in the half court sets. It used to be we were sloppy out on the break, but now we look very good on the break, but often sputter to a halt in the half court. It’s clear we’re moving away from giving the ball to Duncan on the block and just letting Parker or Ginobili create from the pick and roll. Hopefully it’s just early season growing pains, and we’ll figure it out as the season progresses.
Confused Beast. DeJuan just seems out of sorts. He’s getting owned by bigger centers on the defensive end, missing easy offensive conversions, and even making sloppy passes and decisions. He earned the starting position with his play in the pre-season, but I still wonder if he’s best suited coming off the bench and energizing the second unit (and playing against other teams second units that probably won’t contain 7-foot elite centers). Once integrated, Tiago might be the most natural starting center, with Blair coming off the bench with McDyess and Bonner.
George Hill’s takedown. Hopefully Hill is OK and will be back in action Wednesday night.
Observations:
Eric Gordon is a really good player. I hope he has a bright future and isn’t ruined by the Clipper stink.
Looking Forward:
The old rivalry with the Suns is renewed Wednesday night as the Spurs go into Phoenix for the first time after their season ended their last year. Since then, the Suns have lost A’mare and built an all small forward + Steve Nash offense. By all accounts, they seem to have taken a step back from last year, but whenever these two teams play, all bets are off. Despite our sterling record against them over the last 5 years, the though of Steve Nash running an offense against us still gives my nightmares. Still, this is a game we should win.
