San Antonio Spurs 84, Portland Trailblazers 96

A lot of people are ragging on Bonner, but I thought Duncan was the weak link in that game. He couldn’t handle Oden defensively. I remember one possession where Oden either caught a pass or an offensive rebound maybe three feet from the net and Timmy stood there while Oden hesitated, then laid it in. And whereas Oden was filling up the lane making it hard for our wings to penetrate, Duncan didn’t make an impact on help D. And 2 boards in the first half, was it? 8 for the game? It didn’t only look like a lack of ups; it also looked like a lack of aggressiveness and drive.

Tony also looked pretty bad for the brief time that he was in the game.

Manu was meh.

I was very impressed with Jefferson. I thought he was by far our best player that game. Not only because he was the only one making shots; he also showed some will and heart, going hard for rebounds when we were getting KILLED on the glass. Hill and McDyess looked good too.

I’m not panicking yet. For one thing, Timmy was averaging almost 14 boards/game coming into this game. Also, the summer is a long time to be away from basket-ball. Hopefully he’s rusty and once he gets back into the swing of things, he’ll be effective. But with our lack of height, I don’t know if effective will cut it. We need him to be dominant to win because the rest of our frontcourt is so weak. Unless Timmy can take over games, I don’t see any way our frontcourt can hang with LA (when healthy), Orlando, Boston, or even Portland (who overwhelmingly won the frontcourt battle the other night). Teams need a strong frontcourt to be effective in the NBA and while I think we’ve improved at other positions this last offseason, we haven’t solved this basic problem. I think we’re still more similar to last season than I’d hoped. ... See all content Hide content

4 months, 1 week ago by pastrypride on Wordpress

i love what pop said about the Utah:

“we played poorly, but we’re only down by 10″.

we’ll figure it out.

4 months, 1 week ago by duhoh on Wordpress

ogans is still a defensive experiment to find in place of bruce bowen. I tthink udoka was actually quite more productive than bogans will ever be. (lets hope I’ve am proved wrong). And udoka shot the three much better than bogans has this season. But its too early to make player judgements. And by the way, pop needs bonner or mahinmis contract to expire next season in order to bring in tiago splitter/nando. The game against toronto will be very interesting as they are a team that is also struggling to win games early in the season. Hmmmm…. ... See all content Hide content

4 months, 1 week ago by zainn on Wordpress

I really want to see a line-up of Ginobili, Bogans, Hairston, Blair, & Duncan out there tomorrow. I hope Parker being out for a while will allow this to happen.

Go Spurs Go!

4 months, 1 week ago by GMT on Wordpress

i have to hand it to the spurs. despite looking totally outclassed by the blazers athleticism at every position, we still had a chance to win the game.

i hear ratliff won’t see any significant minutes because we are saving his 36 yr old legs for the playoffs. is this is the case then PLAY MAHINMI OR HAISLIP! these guys are hungry and have something to prove. i think pop is going to be forced to give them minutes. he can no longer stand by the logic of the lack of athleticism is “not an excuse” for losing. this stubborn viewpoint must change and in response to an earlier comment to acquire nesterovic, he was replaced by muhammed in 05 and would and to this problem.

like it or not, pop has to play these youngns’ and find some answers to this ever-present problem ... See all content Hide content

4 months, 1 week ago by rj on Wordpress

http://www.nba.com/grizzlies/roster/

marcus williams is now on the memphis grizzlies for iverson’s crap absence. good luck to him

4 months, 1 week ago by zainn on Wordpress

onner just played aldridge good last night,but he won’t be consistent so put haislip on and hairston,and let hill be our pg since tony’s out.let manu play the pg role and malik if if hill’s resting.plus bonner doesn’t contribute at all.what kind of coach pop is?!he should play dice as pf or c(starting)and let td be the c.we cant do anything,its the only way we get better,dice played well last night,subtle ways of saying: “hey pop if you played me 30 mins and didn’t let matt start and get rid of his 12 mins to theo and let blair play for like 24mins?we should be winning by then!”come on pop.don’t wait for january with a 2-22 record to say.”hey i need to start the better defensive and offensive guys,say dice?and get rid of matt!”

come on im not loosing faith on this team.its just i wish i was pop and im your spurs head coach,to end this dumbness.and win!use your guys!you got talent,don’t waste it! ... See all content Hide content

4 months, 1 week ago by tp_09 on Wordpress

I panicked last season when the spurs struggled early in the season… but they won the division title nonetheless, even without Manu for the good chunk of the season and with TD’s ailing knees.

Now when they are starting the season 2-3 (and possibly a worse record to come), it hardly surprises me. Only seven players spent at least a year with the team (I’ve excluded Hairston and Mahinmi who were barely with the team last season) that is (in)famous for having one of the most complex systems in the league. Spurs fans should just kick back and relax, enjoy the team developing into a legitimate contender throughout the season. It’ll take time, but I’m sure they’ll get there eventually. ... See all content Hide content

4 months, 1 week ago by Ian on Wordpress

“To me, commenting with any certainty on the Spurs seems like a wasted exercise, and not worth your time. It’s almost like discussing the exhibition season. These aren’t the Spurs, and they may not really be the Spurs until winter really takes hold.” –Kelly Dwyer, Ball Don’t Lie

I would just like to say that I completely understand everyone’s frustration . We’re losing, on the road especially, and we don’t look like the Spurs. We’re confused about who is playing, who should be playing, and who will probably play well. We’re upset about rotations. We’re angry about offense. We’re furious about defense.

All of this is okay. We should feel this way. You wouldn’t be a fan if you didn’t. But let’s get a few things straight.

We’re five games into the season. Last year, we started 0-3, were almost without one of our big three each night, and still managed to finish atop our division. Sure, other teams have loaded up. Sure, we look rusty. So what?

Remember how great we all thought it sounded when Pop said he wanted Timmy (and to a certain extent, Manu) to come into camp and the season out of shape? Well, guess what, people? This is the fruit of that idea. A rusty beginning is to be expected.

RJ warned us. He said we’d lose a couple at the beginning. But we’re scared. We see Boston and Denver kicking butt and taking names. We see LA winning without a big man or two and a point guard who turns in a giant bagel in a nail-biter. Heck, we see a Phoenix Suns team that is starting to look, well, good.

I promise you, though. These things will change. Phoenix will look good, but does anybody think they can maintain this or even utilize it for a playoff run? Of course not. LA has essentially the same team as last year. There’s really no adjustment there that’s on par with ours. Same goes for Denver. And Boston. Dallas got destroyed their opening night and looks uneven, too. It’s okay, Spurs fans. We’ll get there. It’s only been five games!

Looking at last night’s game, is there anybody that thinks those will be normal rotations come January? Bogans starting? Really? Blair only five minutes? Ratliff no time at all? Pop is adjusting the team even as it adjusts itself. These are growing pains, and they’re too be expected. Let’s give RJ and Dice and Blair — and, hell, Pop too — the benefit of the doubt.

Let’s leave the panicking for early next year. I know it’s hard to be patient with so much basketball going on, but take a deep breath. I promise you’ll feel better by the end of the year. ... See all content Hide content

4 months, 1 week ago by Caleb on Wordpress

Tony Parker is a ball hog. The offense began click when he left the game. Overall the team is coming together. So many new faces makes it almost impossible for an early impact. RJ’s dunk over Oden is EXACTLY what the Spurs lacked. Once Manu finds his rhythm, Duncan improves his conditioning (remember, he did not enter the season in the same shape has in past years) and the new faces become more comftorable in the Spurs system… I imagine the team will look MUCH better. ... See all content Hide content

4 months, 1 week ago by SaintManu on Wordpress

The “incompetent Oden”? Really?

5 games into his second year he is averaging 10 pnts 10 rbnds and 3 blks and he just turned old enough to buy his first beer in January. It isn’t the kids fault that some fans/media expected him to to outshine Duncan without any NBA experience. NBA coaches don’t see those kind of stats as “incompetent”. That kids gonna be just fine. ... See all content Hide content

4 months, 1 week ago by Balzypipes on Wordpress

1st time in 16 years the Spurs have lost their 1st 3 road games. 0 for 3 against teams that made the playoffs last year.

Duncan couldn’t guard the incompetent Oden on the post? Mason can’t guard Miller, but is on him instead of Blake, then a switch is made with Hill(who was on Blake)? Hill continually getting beat off the dribble?

We needed to sign Nesterovic as a big for the Oden, Shaq, Howard, and Bynum’s of the NBA. Especially if Ratliff is never going to play.

It’s early but I’ve yet to see any signs of progress. Effort and competitive spirit should be an every game occurrence, so just because it occurred in the 2nd half, I don’t see that as a sign of progress. ... See all content Hide content

4 months, 1 week ago by lvmainman on Wordpress

I was actually pleased with this game (not ecstatic, but still pleased). We played a tough Portland team on their homefloor (where they were one of the best teams in the league last year), withstood a strong start to bring the game within three in the closing minutes (showing a grittiness I was concerned we were lacking), and showed some flashes of the offensive strengths that we’ll need to be successful. And, except for the 1st quarter, we played D. Portland ended up running out the shot clock several times, got close to it several times more, and was clearly frustrated by our D at several junctures. If a few shots of ours had fallen, if a couple of theirs hadn’t, and if a couple close calls had gone our way at the end, we would have walked away with a W (admittedly, that’s a lot of “ifs”). And we would have done it without one of the best point guards in the league, who missed the last three quarters. I loved that Pop yanked RJ after just three minutes, and I loved that RJ responded by picking it up on offense and defense. RJ’s aggressiveness, Manu’s intensity, and Dice’s jumper (not to mention George’s consistent play) were all bright spots. And I actually thought Bogans played very well against Roy, particularly with his ball-denial D. In fact, I tend to think if Pop had left Bogans on Roy instead of siccing Manu on him, we would have slowed Roy down more at the end and would have allowed Manu to have more gas in the tank on the opposite end.

Obviously, this was a loss, and a disappointing one at that (Timmy got ruled after his early hot start, we gave up a ton of offensive rebounds, and Tony didn’t look good before he left the game). But ours is a team that’s still coming together. And watching that RJ monster slam at the end of the game (however much Pop didn’t appreciate it) was thrilling. ... See all content Hide content

4 months, 1 week ago by Daniel B. on Wordpress

i think its time to get rid of bonner he is a defensive liability and start playing some of the younger guys like haislip and hairiston and see what they can do i wish pop wasnt so stubbon with his rotation and give some of these other guys a chance to see what they can do

4 months, 1 week ago by soto1ncrtol on Wordpress