Author: Stephen Hale (Page 8 of 22)

Season 49, Game 60
San Antonio 97, Detroit 81
51-9, 2nd in the West

That might have been one of the more boring and yet interesting games the Spurs have played all year. The Spurs beat the Pistons 97-81 and this one was pretty much done before it began. Or so we thought. It was honestly a weird game.

The first half was pure rubbish, for both teams. No one really wanted to play defense. Each team kept putting together 12-0 runs and the pendulum continued to swing back and forth. About half way through the second quarter, I remember thinking, “Why isn’t this a blow out?”

The Pistons actually have a nice group of players. Tobias Harris basically fell in their lap at the trade deadline. Paired with Marcus Morris (the quieter twin) and Andre Drummond, they have the makings of a pretty good front court down the road. They have a ton of athleticism and a good coach to guide them along the way.

Harris and Morris had their way at times, particularly when Kawhi found himself guarding the lightning quick, Reggie Jackson. I stress the phrase “at times,” because frankly, they weren’t that good overall. But they had their moments. Long quick 3s and 4s can cause our 3s and 4s some problem. Kawhi can’t guard everyone and with Drummond mucking up the paint, you can’t exactly bring help from there.

But while Harris and Morris had their moments on offense, they really got worked over on the defensive end. Duncan, Aldridge, Boris and David West just man-handled them. Thankfully in the first half, when there was little to no ball movement, the one thing that did seem to work was a rim-run down to the block where one of the Spurs bigs would pin down Harris or Morris and it was basically a layup drill for them. When Drummond got his second foul within the first four minutes of the game, he promptly headed to the bench.

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Enter Aaron Baynes.

Guys, I am going to be honest here: Baynes is terrifying. Not as a basketball player. No, not even close. But good grief he is huge. And that beard? And that hair? It’s unreal. Baynes came in and kept the Pistons in it for much longer than they should have been. He was everywhere in the first half, running into people and hitting 13-foot jumpers. I started to think to myself, “Man, he has really improved. Maybe the Spurs should have tried to keep him.”

Then Tim Duncan, who is almost 400 years old, gave Baynes a head fake and there went Baynes, flying into the bleachers. I mean, how many times did he see that head fake over the last few years? And he still falls for it? But he wasn’t the only one. Morris, Harris and Drummond all were trying to do their best Dwight Howard impersonation and swat shots into the third row. But as Sean Elliott says, our bigs did their work early, got great position and gave them a simple head fake. Easy bucket. Tale as old as time.

Nevertheless, the Spurs only led by one going into halftime. I’m not sure what Pop told his guys at the intermission or what Stan Van Gundy told his guys, but one was right and one was wrong.

The Pistons were god-awful in the second half. These guys couldn’t hit the water if they fell out of a boat. They came out and shot 4-18 in the 3rd and score a whopping 14 points. To put that in perspective, LaMarcus Aldridge had 13 points on 5-7 shooting. So yea, the Pistons weren’t good.

And just as bad as the Pistons were, the Spurs were equally as good. In the 3rd quarter alone, nine different guys played for the Spurs: eight of them were positive in plus/minus. The only one who wasn’t? Andre Miller, who signed with the team earlier at breakfast. The Spurs hit 12 of their 23 3rd quarter shots and that was pretty much the end of that.

San Antonio marched on to their 51st win of the season and clinched a playoff spot (they actually clinched with a Utah Loss, but eh, whatever). They are now on pace to win 70 games, which is mind-boggling: a feat that would have people’s head spinning if the Warriors weren’t on pace to win only 3 more.

Here’s a couple other key notes from last night’s win.

• Kawhi is unreal. Just so it’s clear, he isn’t going to the win the MVP this year and maybe not ever, because of how he plays. Last night, he was 13-22 and had 27 points, six boards, five dimes and two steals. He was +23 for the game. But you know what? One three point made. 1 for 6 actually. In a league where Steph Curry hits his 12th 3-ball of the game, from 32 feet, to win a game, in overtime, Kawhi is boring.

It’s insane really. Kawhi is defensively the equivalent of Curry offensively. But Curry is not nearly as good defensively as Kawhi is offensively. And that’s what makes me angry. Kawhi is flat out lethal. Every second he is on the court, he can destroy you, with or without the ball. It’s a shame his improvement is lost in the explosion that is Steph Curry. His ability to fade, shimmy and shake, stop on a dime, get to the rim in one dribble from behind the three point line or guard Marcus Morris and Reggie Jackson on the same play: it’s unheard of. He’s a monster and frankly, he’s the best all-around player in the freakin’ League.

• LaMarcus Aldridge looks like LaMarcus Aldridge. Man is he smooth. Oh, and does he look comfortable now in that offense or what? He’s really come along fast. He does have a pattern of following up two or three really good games with a dud, but in general, he’s been a rock star in 2016. He’s comfortable, he’s smooth and he’s money from 18 feet. I finally am starting to believe that every mid-range jumper he shoots is going in.

• Parker still has gas in the tank. Like, a lot of gas. He torched Caldwell-Pope and Reggie Jackson in the 3rd quarter. Reggie Jackson is a fairly fast guy and Parker blew right by him. I think there is a perfect parallel to be drawn between Parker and Jackson. The difference between the two is one has a ton athleticism and uses his brain when athleticism fails. The other has a ton of brains and uses athleticism when his brain allows. I’ll take the latter for 15 years and a winning record, please.

• Danny Green had zero points on 0-3 shooting. Bad game, right? WRONG! Shame on you. Danny had an awesome game. Three blocks and two steals and 10+/-. He held Kantavius Caldwell-Pope to four points. It was a long, ugly night for KCP and the primary cause of that was Green. Danny did so many things last night that just will not show up in a stat column: batted balls, help side defense, contested shots. For a guy who played 33 minutes and didn’t score, that was about a good a game as you can play.

• Tim Duncan should never change. He’s on borrowed time and looks really, really old at times. Kids, when your coach tells you to play like Tim Duncan, he means the Tim Duncan from 2015 and earlier. I don’t know how Tim makes half the shots he does: off one leg, over the right shoulder into the defender, line drive, without using the glass. And one. Still managed 12 and 8, plus 18 +/-. Never change, Tim.

• I’m a little concerned about that “juice” unit right now. Johnny Simmons has been a little out of sorts the last two games, it seems. He seems like he is worried about not making turnovers so much that he makes turnovers.

SlowMo on the other hand looks like he is playing in his 14th season. He’s slow like an old guy, but savvy. How many guys are going to foul him on jump shots? He’s like the 8th guy on the team?!?!

Patty Mills looks like Danny Green from last year. Hot and cold. Only difference is, Patty will shoot it and his shot will come around. We want him to keep shooting the ball. And Patty wants to shoot the ball. I am not worried at all.

Boris. Boris, Boris, Boris. I want to be like him when I grow up. Not a particularly great game, but that could be because he ran out of K-cups before the game, or he lost his memory card for his camera. I’m not worried about him either.

• So now, let’s talk about Andre Miller. I admit, I was a little skeptical of this move. I kind of liked Ray McCallum and thought he could be a nice player, but I was never overly impressed. I was more concerned that the Spurs traded him for a second-round pick, which I thought was great at the time. But after waiving Ray and signing Miller, essentially the Spurs traded a second-round pick for literally, the oldest player in the league. Head scratcher.

But after chewing on it for a day I came to realize this: Ray didn’t play anyways. There weren’t really minutes to be had for him. He’s not much bigger than Patty and not nearly as good a shooter. He’s on a huge learning curve and I always felt was a little… star struck.

But Miller is a different point guard all together. He’s not quick like Tony and he doesn’t shoot like Patty, but he is strong as an ox. We saw some odd minutes for him when he was inserted into the lineup in the 3rd quarter. He did fairly well. On first impression, I noticed how stocky he was.

One of the most important factors in any system is where you start the offense. The Spurs have several “drag” plays that result in high screen and rolls. But their sideline Screen and Roll, their “Thunder Down” (the PF screens for the C on the block and the C gets a FT corner jumper) sets, and that “Hammer” action we all love (baseline pass for the corner 3) usually starts Free Throw Line extended. I have an unproven theory that’s why we don’t see more “Thunder Down” action with Patty Mills: he doesn’t get that deep to start the offense.

But Miller is perfect for these types of sets. When you think of point guards who post players up, you think Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Mark Jackson, Chris Paul – point guards who start the offense deep with their back to the basket. That creates a real mess for defense. Do I collapse? Do I double team? Do we switch on screens? Andre Miller is one of those Point Guards.

I think Andre Miller is Shaun Livingston insurance. I think he is Chris Paul insurance. I think he is J.R. Smith insurance. Can those guys go by Andre? Of course they can. But the Spurs play a team defense system. They can afford the “blow by.” They can’t afford the bully up. Those guys I just mentioned play exceptionally well in the low block and Free Throw line extended and have really had their way with our guards, particular our back up PGs in the beginning of 2nd and 4th quarters. Miller can start the offense deep in the paint and he can also stand his ground when he is backed down. I love the signing.

Lastly, this Kevin Martin business. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. First off, it might not even happen. But if it does, how I feel about it will determine who the Spurs waive to sign him. Ask yourself this: who has impressed you more this year, Matt Bonner or Rasual Butler? But then ask yourself, who do you love more, Bonner or Butler?

Butler is the better player, but Matt is in my heart. But basketball is a business and your heart can mislead you. Sorry Mamba, but you’re snake bit.

All that is to say is this: I don’t really want Martin anyways. He’s not a great defender and he’s a little too pretty for me. He seems to care more about how his jersey fits than how his game fits. He’s like a better version of Austin Daye.

We’re running a poll on our Twitter account.

If the Spurs sign Kevin Martin, should they waive:

— Spurs Dynasty (@saspursdynasty) March 2, 2016

It looks like most of you are ready to part with the Red Mamba.

The Spurs play tonight against the Pelicans. It’s a game they should easily win. Now that the Spurs have clinched a playoff spot, it will be interesting to see how Pop manages things moving forward. Does he rest guys? Mix-match lineups? Redistribute minutes? Time will tell. But one thing is for sure: everyone’s eyes are directed toward Oakland.

And that’s just how the Spurs like it.