GT: Thunder vs. Spurs

[Nolan]

When: 6:30 PM MT Jan 31st 2017
Where: AT&T Center, San Antonio TX

The last two games have not been pretty and we need a bounce back win. This is going to be a tough one though. Stopping Westbrook is most definitely the key to this one.

Go Spurs!!

[Chuck Everett]

No Kanter, Spurs need to bring the ruckus when the second unit comes into the game. Kawhi and Aldridge both need to have big games period.

[Cycloneon]

Roberson gonna have his hands full again defending Kawhi, so Kawhi might be struggling a little bit. Understandably so. However, Lamarcus Aldridge is going to have no excuse tonight. A 20/10 game is expected from me. Enough with the lackadaisical effort


I expect our bench to come out gung-ho as well and just wreck OKC's bench.

I also fully expect David Lee to have a great game as well, he's one of my favs

Give Russ his triple double, I expect Danny Green to guard him most of the game.

[ducler]

[-Sammy-]

Roberson gonna have his hands full again defending Kawhi, so Kawhi might be struggling a little bit. Understandably so. However, Lamarcus Aldridge is going to have no excuse tonight. A 20/10 game is expected from me. Enough with the lackadaisical effort

Hear, hear! I want him to want to be here, but even if he doesn't, he needs to play for his next job. I don't care which it is at this point, as long as he plays well.

[Nolan]

Agreed with what everyone's said about LMA so far. He needs to step on both ends, no more half assing it he needs to use his full ass tonight for 48 minutes.

[zordrak]

It's a big test day for us. Even with key player missing from other side we need our own issues to keep low if possible to stop. D must be very flexible tonight. As for our frontcourt guys they must use every chance to score... Sometimes we are forcing with KL to much... Hope to see some positive stats.
In POP we trust!!!

[alexb618]

someone not called kawhi needs to do something in this game. there are some guys on this team who are going to be on the block for sure if they don't at least try.

as for LMA, ok he has been lazy. i don't know if he can be relied on for 20/10 but at least look like you want it. this guy just stands around in the post hoping to get out for that 18 footer EVERY SINGLE TIME, barely boxes out... i mean the list goes on.

sometimes he does actually try and things go really well for him, maybe he is just quietly hating not being the #1 guy? i dunno. something is not right.

kyle anderson - please just attempt those open 3s. we won't be too upset if you miss a few.

sorry this is so negative. the spurs are on track to win what, 65 games? just imagine if they could get their **** together. this could be an amazing season but it is just slipping away.

[Cactus Jack]

Go Spurs Go!

[-Sammy-]

Kawhi was terrific, as usual, and what I enjoyed about his performance was that he was getting his looks in the flow of the game and he looked to be having fun. Very little was forced from him, and forcing has been an intermittent problem with him this year.

LMA looked engaged for most of the night, which was nice to see; there seemed to be a good bit of grind in his play and in particular, I thought he had some nice defensive plays. Defense is the side of the floor where one can really gauge a guy's focus and energy level, so that was encouraging.

[Nolan]

Solid win. We lost our way a bit late in the 3rd but we managed to pull it off.

I am slightly concerned about our effort level though. Our intensity just isn't where it needs to be and the problem seems to start with Tony and LMA, both of them have a tendency to just sit around and watch Kawhi work on the offense end and that lackadaisical level of intensity seems to become contagious at times.

[-Sammy-]

Solid win. We lost our way a bit late in the 3rd but we managed to pull it off.

I am slightly concerned about our effort level though. Our intensity just isn't where it needs to be and the problem seems to start with Tony and LMA, both of them have a tendency to just sit around and watch Kawhi work on the offense end and that lackadaisical level of intensity seems to become contagious at times.

Yeah; to be candid, it reminds me of the Robinson years. There were times, particularly during John Lucas' tenure, when the whole of the offense seemed to be 'dump it into Robinson and wait', and with Kawhi, sometimes it seems to be 'give it to him and watch.' I think Parker is still struggling with the transition from that score-first mentality he thrived on for so many years to that playmaker approach. It can be hard for a player to know what to do with himself without the ball when he's been a first option for so long.

That could explain a lot of LMA's lulls, too.

[Nolan]

Solid win. We lost our way a bit late in the 3rd but we managed to pull it off.

I am slightly concerned about our effort level though. Our intensity just isn't where it needs to be and the problem seems to start with Tony and LMA, both of them have a tendency to just sit around and watch Kawhi work on the offense end and that lackadaisical level of intensity seems to become contagious at times.

Yeah; to be candid, it reminds me of the Robinson years. There were times, particularly during John Lucas' tenure, when the whole of the offense seemed to be 'dump it into Robinson and wait', and with Kawhi, sometimes it seems to be 'give it to him and watch.' I think Parker is still struggling with the transition from that score-first mentality he thrived on for so many years to that playmaker approach. It can be hard for a player to know what to do with himself without the ball when he's been a first option for so long.

That could explain a lot of LMA's lulls, too.

Agreed.

It's kinda a tough problem to solve as well considering that both LMA and Parker are ball dominate as well. It's a tough balance to find.

I'm still very in favor of yanking Parker early and playing him with the bench. He's just too much of a ball stopper and he clogs things up for Kawhi and LMA. We seen the difference when Parker was out and Murray was starting. Both Kawhi and LMA got better looks because Murray either made something happen quickly or immediately fed one of them the ball.

[Nolan]

I would also like to add that Dedmon was great in this one. He got the start and performed well on both ends. His one on one defense against Adams was amazing and he used quick hands effectively to get a few impressive steals. Fouls were kinda an issue but overall awesome performance.

[-Sammy-]

Solid win. We lost our way a bit late in the 3rd but we managed to pull it off.

I am slightly concerned about our effort level though. Our intensity just isn't where it needs to be and the problem seems to start with Tony and LMA, both of them have a tendency to just sit around and watch Kawhi work on the offense end and that lackadaisical level of intensity seems to become contagious at times.

Yeah; to be candid, it reminds me of the Robinson years. There were times, particularly during John Lucas' tenure, when the whole of the offense seemed to be 'dump it into Robinson and wait', and with Kawhi, sometimes it seems to be 'give it to him and watch.' I think Parker is still struggling with the transition from that score-first mentality he thrived on for so many years to that playmaker approach. It can be hard for a player to know what to do with himself without the ball when he's been a first option for so long.

That could explain a lot of LMA's lulls, too.

Agreed.

It's kinda a tough problem to solve as well considering that both LMA and Parker are ball dominate as well. It's a tough balance to find.

I'm still very in favor of yanking Parker early and playing him with the bench. He's just too much of a ball stopper and he clogs things up for Kawhi and LMA. We seen the difference when Parker was out and Murray was starting. Both Kawhi and LMA got better looks because Murray either made something happen quickly or immediately fed one of them the ball.

Good analysis. I've been thinking, though, that the problem might not just be that LMA is a high-usage guy who's upset about sharing touches; he had the same issue in Portland, and Lillard was/is more of a ball-stopper than arguably anyone on the Spurs (other than Parker in hero/throwback mode).

I wonder if what we're seeing is compounded frustration that Kawhi, and not LMA, is the star here. Keep in mind that when LMA came to the Spurs, Kawhi had never been an all-star and was seen largely as a defensive specialist who showed flashes of stardom. I wondered then (and wonder still) if LMA's expectation was that the Spurs would become his team; he was a top-10 player that previous season and was courted as the showpiece free-agent across the league. Since signing, Kawhi has surpassed him in terms of popularity and reputation and is now an MVP candidate, while LMA didn't even make the all-star team this season.

[Nolan]

Good analysis. I've been thinking, though, that the problem might not just be that LMA is a high-usage guy who's upset about sharing touches; he had the same issue in Portland, and Lillard was/is more of a ball-stopper than arguably anyone on the Spurs (other than Parker in hero/throwback mode).

I wonder if what we're seeing is compounded frustration that Kawhi, and not LMA, is the star here. Keep in mind that when LMA came to the Spurs, Kawhi had never been an all-star and was seen largely as a defensive specialist who showed flashes of stardom. I wondered then (and wonder still) if LMA's expectation was that the Spurs would become his team; he was a top-10 player that previous season and was courted as the showpiece free-agent across the league. Since signing, Kawhi has surpassed him in terms of popularity and reputation and is now an MVP candidate, while LMA didn't even make the all-star team this season.

That could definitely be a huge part of this as well. Which sucks because if ego wasn't an issue the two of them could be a very impressive duo.

I really hope this doesn't turn into the same situation that he was in his final year in Portland.

[-Sammy-]

Good analysis. I've been thinking, though, that the problem might not just be that LMA is a high-usage guy who's upset about sharing touches; he had the same issue in Portland, and Lillard was/is more of a ball-stopper than arguably anyone on the Spurs (other than Parker in hero/throwback mode).

I wonder if what we're seeing is compounded frustration that Kawhi, and not LMA, is the star here. Keep in mind that when LMA came to the Spurs, Kawhi had never been an all-star and was seen largely as a defensive specialist who showed flashes of stardom. I wondered then (and wonder still) if LMA's expectation was that the Spurs would become his team; he was a top-10 player that previous season and was courted as the showpiece free-agent across the league. Since signing, Kawhi has surpassed him in terms of popularity and reputation and is now an MVP candidate, while LMA didn't even make the all-star team this season.

That could definitely be a huge part of this as well. Which sucks because if ego wasn't an issue the two of them could be a very impressive duo.

I really hope this doesn't turn into the same situation that he was in his final year in Portland.

I fear it has that potential, but I trust the F.O. to make a move before it gets that far. However, that also means any move made to get near-equal contract value will have to be to a specific situation, as teams who aren't willing to make him the centerpiece will be less likely to trade for him, knowing that he soured on two 50-win franchises. Near-equal value would likely only come from a team that was actually willing to build around him, and he's on the wrong side of 30 and his prime for (m)any teams to have that kind of an interest.

The biggest problem with LMA is just that he's a #2 who wants to be a #1; if that issue could be solved, he'd be bloody perfect in this town.