GT: Hornets vs. Spurs

[Nolan]

When: 8:30 PM ET, October 30, 2010
Where: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX



VS.



Starting Lineups:

Spurs:
PG - Tony Parker
SG - Manu Ginobli
SF Richard Jefferson
PF Tim Duncan
C Dejuan Blair

Hornets:
PG - Chris Paul
SG - Marco Belinelli
SF - Trevor Ariza
PF - David West
C - Emeka Okafor

Game 2. The Boring old Spurs of yesterday are gone, now the era of the run and gun showtime Spurs is upon us. Last night was a high scoring high tempo game and i'm expecting the same thing against the Hornets.

The Key to this game is going to be containing Chris Paul. We need to keep him in check and force some of the Hornets other players to create for themselves.

It also sounds like Splitter isn't going to play and we still don't know the extent of Bonner's ankle injury. So we might be very thin up front so that means Blair is going to have to bring it on Saturday if we want to win.

Go Spurs!

[Donald Kaufman]

122 points is encouraging. Allowing 109 against a mediocre team is not. Bowen would turn in his grave if he saw the D we played in the opener.

Should be a win.

[co_laper]

Honestly, I'm giving up on us trying to shutdown a perimeter player. With the handchecking rule and our perimeter defense, that's just not likely to happen. If there is any shutting down, it has to be a big. In this case, I think the key to this game is not letting David West have a big night. If he gets his usual points like 20 points and 8 boards... fine.. But if he had a monster night, I say watch out. Blair needs to have a good game. Game 1 looked like he's better off as an energy guy off the bench. If game 2 is the same, then that's trouble.

I think we should win this game. New Orleans plays on the 29th so this game will be the 2nd game of their back-to-back. Plus, we're at home.

[chunnyboy]

is tiago gonna make an appearance in this one? or is he gonna be held out til next week?

also, once tiago is 100% does he assume the starter role or is that blair's for the foreseeable future?

[co_laper]

We've been going with Blair as the starter and i doubt that change. It was a must for Blair to develop a jumper to play next to Duncan. Until Splitter does that or show something incredible to a point where there's no way he doesn't get 38 minutes a night, then we're likely to bring him off slowly especially this early in the season. Plus, he just got healthy, you atleast want to see how he fares againts backups before going againts starters.

[Nolan]

is tiago gonna make an appearance in this one? or is he gonna be held out til next week?

also, once tiago is 100% does he assume the starter role or is that blair's for the foreseeable future?

He's not going to play tonight. But he'll play on Monday against the Clippers.

[Blame Rasho]

I really wonder how good the Hornets are... are they still a playoff team.

I want to see Splitter. I remember when we got Bowen several years ago and it wasn't until he was really in the rotation and starting that we started to see how the defensive unit was. I am not saying Splitter will have the same inpact as Bowen but I think he will leave his mark.

[co_laper]

Not exactly thou... I recall Bowen made the all-nba defensive squad with Miami before we sign him. So his reputation was already there. It was us winning titles IMO that made his name even bigger. I really hope it takes Splitter quick to learn the NBA because we're going to need his defense. I don't care about his offense, but we need his size and help on the interior defense. Dice, Blair, and Bonner can't help out on that area. Here's hoping Splitter could.

I haven't gotten to see the Hornets yet so I'm looking forward to it. Jefferson gonna need to outplay Ariza.

My keys to the game:
1. Jefferson vs Ariza
2. Holding David West from having a huge monster night
3. Keep the game under 100

[SApuro_]

Hornets played last night so hopefully they are tired. I predict a fairly easy win. Expect a big game from Tony with the whole contract extension and all.

I really want to see better Defense. I personally don't like 122-109 games. I would rather see 100-90 any day.

[co_laper]

76-60 for the Hornets now... That 3rd quarter for us is awful.. We can't make shots, even open ones, and then we can't stop Hornets from getting inside. Marcus Thornton, Willie Green, Chris Paul all got inside.

[co_laper]

Game is probably over and I can't really say anything bad. We were down 16 to start the 4th and the lineup of Hill, Neal, Manu, RJ, and Blair got the deficit down to 3 with one minute left. Hornets up 7 now with 20 seconds left.

As far as the game goes, the bad news first.

I'm not sure it's the interior defense or the perimeter defense that should get the blame. Guys like Thornton, Green, and Paul repeatedly get to the paint. I guess it's the perimeter defense, but at the same time when they got to the paint, it was an open layup. We severely need shotblocking and length on this team. I hope Splitter can provide that. He's our only hope right now.

3rd quarter was a killer.

Defensively, what I just said happened and even when the Hornets was taking 23 foot jumpers, they still make it. There was a sequence where Green made a 3, Jason Smith hit 2 shots just inside the 3 point line, and then Chris Paul made a contested 3 point shot with the shotclock winding down. Hornets was just in the zone shooting the ball.

Offensively, we were just short on every shot even on open ones. 33-18 for Hornets in 3rd quarter.

Jefferson is once again looking good. He attacked the rim at every chance. Gary Neal played for the first time this season and contribute with his shooting. I'm sure he's gonna get in the rotation in the next game after his performance tonight.

As for the bad stuff. The big 3 was basically off. Duncan had an off night. Parker wasn't spectacular. He got thoroughly outplayed by Paul and couldn't keep him off the paint. Manu was hot in the 4th quarter but I'll say that was a little too late. He ended that 3rd quarter shooting 4 for 12. Blair did his work on the boards, but I'm not seeing his offense so far. His jumper is off for 2 games now and I think he's the leader for getting blocked the most. 2 for 10 shooting tonight.

Disappointed we drop this game. It should've been ours. Home game, well rested, Hornets on b2b. Inexcusable. The defense has got to improve.

[Donald Kaufman]

GG by NOH.

We suck defensively. Offense wasn't much better tonight.

No excuses tonight, the Hornets outplayed us.

[Nolan]

That terrible 3rd quarter was the end of the game. The defense still looks pretty shakey and we couldn't get anything going on offense.

[Donald Kaufman]

David West: is he that good, or does he just kick our ass exclusively? The dude just doesn't miss. Every jumper he takes he hits. That's how it seemed anyway. He'd have to be one of the most underrated players in the NBA.

And CP3 is just a joy to watch. He's the best PG in the league, hands down.

[co_laper]

Honestly, I didn't think David West hurt us much in that game. I mean, his allstar years, he was averaging 21 points and 8.5 rebounds. Last year was a down year and he averaged 19 points and 7.4 rebounds. He only got 18 points and 3 rebounds againts us and didn't get to the foul line at all. he took 17 shots to score 18 points...

What killed us was them getting points from unexpected sources. I mean Marcus Thornton scored 17, Willie Green scored 12. Fact is, they got contributions from their players. Aside from Jefferson and Neal, I think it's safe to say that no one on our team showed up that game.