Game 78 Vs. Sacramento: Spurs 109, Kings 100
Must…blog…on.
Hang with me, my pretties, we’re almost there. Just four more totally meaningless-“Oh wait maybe if the Suns lose a couple they’re meaningful”-“No wait, never mind, it’s not gonna happen, they are meaningless” games.
Should I be concerned that our defense was crummy for the third straight game? Well, we have played an awful lot of tinyball of late, (19 minutes last night) but I can’t really hold that responsible because we were +14 playing small and -5 the normal way. Now I’ll admit, I wasn’t exactly thrilled with some of Pop’s line-ups, and the idea of Oberto at center and Bowen at power forward doesn’t exactly scream out “rebounding and interior defense” at me. And some random gentleman named, lemme see here… Justin Williams, seemed rather unimpressed with them as well, gobbling up six offensive rebounds and finishing 7 of 9 at point blank range.
Whatever. We’ll play bigger, longer (where am I going with this?) when Frankie gives a shit. Why Pop didn’t give Bonner a shot, especially after he played so well against Portland? Because the man lives to drive me crazy, that’s why.
Speaking of people who live to drive me crazy, Monsieur Parker was the main reason we sucked on defense for over three quarters. Bibby had a lot of room to operate out there and for once he wasn’t atrocious. Now for the lion’s share of this season, defense has been one of Tony’s biggest strengths. Along with FT shooting, it has been his biggest improvement. And Pop has made sure to give him credit there when it was deserved, praising Tony’s D against Iverson and Billups for example. So when he said after the Portland game, “Tony had great energy on offense, and Jacque on defense,” well it wasn’t lost on me.
Tony’s D has been soft and/or indifferent for the past three games. Consequently his +/- has been, +3, -1 (in a game he scored 30 in!), and 0.
Dude was a -10 thru three quarters vs. Sac before finally turning up the heat several notches against Mini-me in the 4th. I heard after the game that his back was tight and it was doubtful on Wednesday morning that he’d even play, so I guess he deserves credit for gutting it out, but still we need him to close out on those shooters better, especially if Pop is hell bent on having us so weak inside.
All the bitching aside, I never doubted for a moment that we’d win. C’mon, this is the ___ramento Queens we’re talking about here. Their point guard’s defense makes Tony look like Dennis Johnson. In fact I think DJ could still check somebody better than Bibby, and he’s been dead for a month.
::crickets chirping::
What, too soon?
Besides, they’re coached by this knucklehead …
I said I wanted a double with no olives. FUCK! Photo: Eric Gay/AP
He has a drinking problem, he yells and screams a lot, and he inexplicably expects horrid defensive players to be good defensive players, just because he’s asking them to. What kind of loser organization would hire such a misguided individual?
Oh.
Just kidding, Pop, we love ya.
Offensively we shot 56% and pretty much got whatever we wanted, turnovers being the only bugaboo. For the second time in three games Tony and Manu combined for 14 dimes and we had 27 helpers overall. We even got Bones Barry back so we have another guy who can hit a three besides that dead eye marksman Michael Finley.
Vaughn even hit 5 of 7 and Timmy once again was much more proficient against living, breathing defenders trying (I’m guessing) to stop him than when he was standing a mere 15 feet from the hoop, straight away and all alone. Is it just me or has it been a while since we’ve played anyone who can play a lick of defense? Lookin’ forward to the Dallas game, even though I’m not sure how seriously they’ll (or we’ll) take it.
H-O-R… Photo Eric Gay/AP
Oh, while we’re on the subject of Timmy, I might as well put this out there now… Mr. Duncan is getting shafted not being considered for the MVP. He is, by far, the best combination of offense and defense for any elite player in the NBA and has been for a looooooong time. Take a look at your +/- leaders… Tim’s leading the second closest guy, MVP frontrunner _irk, by 123 points. That’s a massive differential.
To put it another way, every minute Tim has been on the floor, we have increased our lead, on average, by .273 of a point. He plays 35 minutes, that’s a +9.55. With Nowitzki, the number drops to .226. The only guy with a better rate is Devin Harris at .292. Gonzo is 3rd at .261. But you knew that.
No, Mini-Me, we do not gnaw on our kitty, we just stroke him and love him… Photo Eric Gay/AP
Doesn’t anyone else notice these things? One of these years we’re going to need Tony and Manu to slug each other on the bench or something. Stupid boring team.
Your 3 Stars…
3. Manu Ginobili – He only outscored KMart 14-12, but give Martin credit for taking five more shots, having 0 assists and being a -12. Man I wish we had this guy instead of our slug.
2. Michael Finley – 7 of 10 for 19 points. Holy 1999 Batman! He better keep this up because this recent hot stretch has pretty much nailed the coffin shut on my fantasy of a playoff run sans tinyball.
1. Tim Duncan – 26-13-4-4. It is getting kind of old hearing opposing broadcasters chuckle game after pointless game, “Is there ANYTHING he DOESN’T do well?” before quickly segueing into crap free throw shooting. See here’s why I could never be a color guy… I’d give the requisite fake laughter to my play-by-play partner before casually replying, “Well Bob, actually I hear he’s not all that impressive in bed.”
Sure my career would be ruined instantly, but I’d be a YouTobe immortal.
Record: 57-21 Streak: W-5
Up Next: @ Minnesota Timberwolves
The Big Ticket will be out for this one. He ignored mama Garnett and kept making that stupid fake intense face that never fools anybody and what do you know, now it’s stuck that way. The operati
on will be Sunday and we’ve all got our fingers crossed. If Tony is feeling gimpy, sitting this one out wouldn’t be the worst idea, I think we’ll be okay.
