Grades: Spurs @ Thunder - Mar. 16

[TJastal]

Only mentally deficient people like you would.

This whole Stephen Jackson drama reminds me of the movie Pet Sematary. Stephen Jackson was buried in there almost 10 years ago, and now he's coming back. Except I fear he's not .. quite.. the same now.

[Gagnrath]

This whole Stephen Jackson drama reminds me of the movie Pet Sematary. Stephen Jackson was buried in there almost 10 years ago, and now he's coming back. Except I fear he's not .. quite.. the same now.

First of all it was a Stephen King book the movie was questionable though the emergency room patient returning with bigger and blue eyes each time was cool. We know he's not quite the same, in 2003 he was a giant 2 guard with some playing time at the 3. Now he's a tweener 3/4 due to age and general wear and tear slowing him down. He was a slightly unfocused guy new to the NBA who was a good teammate and made occasional rash decisions. He's now a seasoned vet who has a reputation for always having a teammates back. When he is with a team that gives a Da*n he has a rep as a hard worker when with a team that isn't trying he is known to say dumb things. Hum last time I checked the Spurs seem to be trying to win.


Crap I started trying to talk sense into TJastel didn't I? I know better than that....

[jjktkk]

Thanks for the writeup Tim.

[Solid D]

Well-written summary, as usual, timvp. I agree that the play-calling, or at least the offense, bogged down in the 2nd half. Part of that was due to a very active defense by the Thunder creating turnovers and part of that was Parker going head-to-head with Westbrook...seemingly trying to match Russell bucket for bucket. Parker held his own, scoring-wise. The reason the Spurs have had so many assists lately is due to their ball reversals, moving the defense, skip and extra passes. They stopped doing that for a while.

[ElNono]

Thanks for the writeup!

[Rapper]

The spurs are getting better and better . I'm pretty sure that the spurs can come out the west

[dylankerouac]

Ivey was a surprisingly good defender against Parker.

[Gagnrath]

Ivey was a surprisingly good defender against Parker.

That game was surprisingly physical as well especially for a Thunder game. Ivery was allowed to muscle Parker, and it can bother Parker when he is being bumped around the time line. Then again the game being fairly physical helped Leonard and Green on Durant as much or more. I really like the Thunder as a team, and their games are really good when they aren't being given free throw after free throw. When its called pretty fairly both ways and things are physical good games should happen between the spurs and the thunder.

[therealtruth]

This is why Pop has screwed the pooch in not developing the Tiago/Tim tandem up to this point.. it will be absolutely necessary for playoff basketball and he has avoided it like the plague for two years.

Bonner plays scared when it counts. You're not going to be effective if you play scared. If he had any confidence he could be possibly decent. I remember Scalabrine being big for the Nets in the playoffs years ago.

[pgardn]

u guys know why splitter was nowhere to be seen when KL has a monster jam?? he was taking a

So we have a trainer keeping up with bowel movements.

Who the needs grades when we have real inside information.

yorkle, yorkle...

[therealtruth]

The coaching staff needs to rethink trying to improve Bonner's game. It's obvious that someone has been trying to teach him that learning to drive to the hoop will improve his game. It might work with another player but he has no handle at all.

Trying to teach him to dribble and move with the ball is like trying to teach an elephant to dance. In the end, you don't really have a dancing elephant, just an animal trying to mimic a human art form.

It's painful to watch him give up a decent look at a 3pt shot and take off on a dribble. You can almost see him mentally gear up and then go galllumphing down the lane with an awkward high dribble and absolutely no chance to succeed most of the time. He tried it three times last night and looked foolish.

Go back to what you do best, Red Rocket and we'll all breathe easier.

He needs to have a goto move and be decisive. I think it might make sense for him just to go for a midrange jumper in most cases. Teams run you off the line because they want to force you into a 2pt jumper instead.

[SenorSpur]

Great analysis, as always.

Also a great win - one of the best of the season!

Some lingering thoughts and questions following this one:

1. It shocks me as to how and why Parker gives Westbrook fits. As athletic as he is, this kid just can't seem to stay in front of Parker at all - for whatever reason. Is he a worse defender than say Royal Ivey, who got his turn at Parker in the 4th.

2. Why does Blair seemingly have monster games against OKC?

3. I don't understand Pop's reasons for resting Manu. I know it's the front end of a back-to-back, but Manu has missed the majority of this season. I would doubt that he would be badly need rest for these two opponents. And if Pop was going to rest him, why not do it for the Saturday night game in Dallas. Especially seeing as how Jack will be making his return.

4. Perhaps I've not been paying attention to the threads, but when did Dawson show back up? I like any young kid who gets a crack at a proving himself, but I have to admit that it was obvious to me, in his first stint, that this kid probably isn't big league material. Does anyone else share that opinion?

[maverick1948]

Bonner must be doing something right on D or else his +/- would reflect it. If the rest of the team can play 4 on 5 with him on the court why cant they play better 5 on 5 with him on the Bench?