There is a significant difference between the regular season and the playoffs - the pace, the physicality, the intensity of the play and the crowd, the pressure of having every single possession count (because it could be the end of your season). Because of this, rookies often find it difficult to adjust to the playoffs, at least for the first few games.
And so it was this year with both George and Grizzly, who disappeared in Dallas. They looked spooked and out of their depth, although George did have his offensive moments late in game 2, and played solid defence throughout. In game 3 Grizz still looked like a baby bear in a den of growlers, while George had an inefficient 17pts but seemed to have settled into the playoff rhythm. Tonight was their arrival party.
Given Grizzly's incredible season, and his calm and measured demeanor, I figured it was inevitable that he would catch up to the pace and intensity of playoff basketball sooner rather than later, and tonight in that late-3rd quarter spurt when the team really needed a spark to get it over the hump after coming back from 15 down, but unable to take the lead after 4 straight misses, Grizzly came in for an oddly out-of-sorts Timmy and dbestpro, renowned for his perverse proclamations and jinxes, said "Blair is out of his depth" at the same time as I posted something like "Time for Grizzly to shine".
To end the quarter he had a broken play layup - to put us up 59-57 - followed by a steal, then an offensive board and FT, and another offensive board. George had 8 points during the comeback run and 29pts on the game from 16 shots, not to mention his always stellar D. And they both did this in the biggest game of the Spurs' season so far, in the face of adversity.
Nothing more need be said except... the kids have arrived!
I will add that, along with Malik's development this year, and given that we should be able to add Pondexter/George over the offseason, and hopefully Splitter, it looks like we'll be able to keep the Big 3 together whilst having already re-tooled the roster with 5 athletic youngsters, 6 if Ian sticks around.
Whatever happens from here, the future prospects of the franchise are bright indeed.
It's funny, I'm watching G Hill his press conference. He is an amazing young man. I'm laughing though because he said being around the Big 3 has raised his game up a " TY BIT"!
For a long time it felt like the Spurs had nobody young to develop. Now it's refreshing to see that there is some young blood waiting to make their mark. I'm look forward to the draft, it's going to be exciting.
Agreed, good on ya, mate. And what an dramatic arrival.
After Pop went with Bogans and Bonner in the 2nd (with predictably deadly results) I felt like jumping off a bridge.
And then the big turnaround -that 3rd quarter was something special - I wanna watch it again!
Hill leading us back with supreme confidence and poise, and Blair all over the court with energy and hustle plays.
All the while, Duncan's cheering them on from the bench.
For me, one of the most exciting quarters of Spursball I've seen in years.
In a way, tonight might be the first signs of a changing of the guard for the Spurs. The Big 3 will still lead the team on most nights for a few years to come, but tonight showed Pop and everyone else that the youngsters are ready to step up when needed.
That doesn't mean there won't be growing pains and mistakes in the future, but it does mean that we now have some legitimately NBA-compe ive youth that will form the future of the franchise. When was the last time we could say that? 2003, I'd say.
Great stuff from every angle!
Nice post. Blair gave us what Marion stopped giving Dallas in the 2nd half a little before he got benched in a player you shouldn't be accounting for offensively but someone you've got to pay attention to when the balls goes up....usually by the time you track them it's too late. Difference is, Blair actually does more outside of that in terms of hustling. When he fought for that loose ball at halfcourt againt TWO Mavs and punched it out it was incredible.
The puzzling thing is why we couldn't have made a greater effort to work these guys into the fold during the regular season...
To bad Ian is not going to be part of it.
It's definitely refreshing to have some young, lively bodies in the lineup as opposed to the old scrubs we've been accustomed to the past few years..
Next season should be even younger for the Spurs..with the potential acquisition of Splitter + potential guys like Hairston/Temple/Gee/Jerrells/De Colo and possibly a 1st round pick..it should give the big 3 another run next year, barring injuries..
I think it took Pop until very late in the season to decide who his best 8 players are, and thus to settle on his rotation. Although injuries screwed things up, he also tinkered with lineups virtually all season before settling on this playof rotation.
He could still be.
Big test for Grizzly in Dallas - if he can put up a good game there, he will have truly arrived as performing on the road in the playoffs is yet another hill to climb.
Anyone have any news on the Splitter situation?
Ruff,In a way, tonight might be the first signs of a changing of the guard for the Spurs. The Big 3 will still lead the team on most nights for a few years to come, but tonight showed Pop and everyone else that the youngsters are ready to step up when needed.
That doesn't mean there won't be growing pains and mistakes in the future, but it does mean that we now have some legitimately NBA-compe ive youth that will form the future of the franchise. When was the last time we could say that? 2003, I'd say.
Great stuff from every angle!
I agree with you on all point except how much they could be used now. Obviously Hill showed what he can and did do fulltime tonight.
I also think Blair is ready -now. Saw no reason to limit him to 12 minutes tonight given Duncans mental funk. What an awesome 12 minutes it was. One of his best plays was shoveling along a loose ball. He was not in position to pick it up but by swooping his hand down and tapping it along, he made Mav guy not be able to pick it up and the ball skirted over to Parker (i think Parker).
Result. He gave possession to Spurs and kept possession from going to Mavs. I also think we scored on that possession!
I read something the other day that suggested we're closer to signing him than we were. I guess it was from a thread on here. I'm pretty confident he'll make his way over - it's now or never, really. if he wants to play in the NBA, this is the time.
I think you might have misunderstood me. I'm not suggesting they be limited at all. I think you play them as much as their performance deserves, and yeah, Blair could definitely have played more tonight, especially in the early 4th when he was yanked for Duncan who was having a down night. I think Pop pulled Grizz because of the flagrant - he didn't want to risk the youngster getting too over-excited!
Hopefully something comes of this and we can see what we finally might have.
I could see:
TP/Temple/?
Manu/Hill/Hairston
RJ/Pondexter/?
Dice/Blair/? (stretch 4)
Duncan/Splitter/Mahinmi
and it looks pretty enticing to me!
good take. my only comment is on George's "insignificant" 17 points in game 3... we needed those. we only won by 4.
with all due respect.. let's finish this season out first.I could see:
TP/Temple/?
Manu/Hill/Hairston
RJ/Pondexter/?
Dice/Blair/? (stretch 4)
Duncan/Splitter/Mahinmi
and it looks pretty enticing to me!
THIS season looked AMAZING on paper, too. haha.
Totally true.with all due respect.. let's finish this season out first.
THIS season looked AMAZING on paper, too. haha.
I was just answering a post and pointing out how young we've become all of a sudden.
One last bzump for the antipodeans...
It will be interesting to see how they now play in Dallas. I'm still expecting some inconsistency, and on those nights it'd be nice to be able to get something from Jefferson or Bonner.
I'm just concerned that our supporting casts doesn't have the 'balls' to step up on the road. They certainly are not at the Horry/Barry/ (Good) Finley level when it comes to playoff clutchness.
I'm certainly hoping though, that they prove me wrong, Hill has already taken huge steps towards that today... now do it again in Dallas.
True, but I think for clutchness it's about reps in big games and composure more than 'balls' (although all three are important and often arise together). Sure, some players have it from day one and revel in big game pressure, but they are few and far between. That's why I was so happy to see both Grizz and George step up today - it's the first step towards being reliably clutch. Give them a few more good performances in big playoff games and suddenly they believe in themselves to do it.
Also, it has been great to see RJ perform with poise and confidence for a large part of this series. He is showing us the playoff reps he has from his career in this series, and he finally looks pretty comfortable out there in our schemes. I've been a big critic of his all season, but he's finally come to play, so props to him.
I'm certainly happy that the kids are arrived, or rather that Hill looks like yet another draft day steal.
However talking about kids... Hill is exactly the age Parker was in the 06 playoffs. You read that right. That's a good example of Parker being one of the most underrated players in Spurs history.
Hill will be a great shooting guard for the Spurs in the coming years--looks like Manu's and Tony's mentoring works.
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