RealGM

When: 10:00 PM ET, November 2, 2013
Where: Rose Garden, Portland, OR

The 2nd night of a back to back is always tough, especially on the road. So hopefully we can pull out another win.

Go Spurs!!

I want to be in this thread so it's not empty

Still no word on Timmy. Portland's home opener and a back to back so it will be tough, but I think the Spurs thrive on that type of challenge and will play a bit better because of it. Doesn't mean we win though but I'm interested to see. Also interested to see how Pop divides minutes tonight.

Timmy is playing!

Timmy D has been short on his jumper all night.

The Blazers just seem to have our number.

That sucked. We couldn't get any stops late in the game.
Diaw has been turning back the clock soo far this year though.

I thought the offense looked nice and clean. Need get to the line more but they were great at setting up and hitting open jumpers.

Back to back, home opener, stuff like this happens. Portland just had a nice game.

The bench was awesome last night, especially Marco but our defense just wasn't up to par.

I like the TD/Diaw/Beli/Gino/TP lineup we had in the 3rd but we didn't stick with it. I'm already loving the Belinelli addition! I think once he learns our offense he'll be really dangerous. I love how Pop is playing through him already.

I hate Splitter. Why did we pay this guy $9M a year again? We could've had Millsap for that price. Tiago no score and 4 boards in 18 minutes. Just not good enough.

I don't really like our depth - or lack thereof - this season either. If Patty Mills and Aron Baynes are playing significant minutes, that's probably a sign that your team is not very good. What happened to Cory Joseph? He wasn't brilliant by any stretch last season but at least he ran an offense. Mills just hoists up shot after shot. And no Bonner? Red Rocket can space the floor and give the other bigs room to operate - Baynes, while built well for the low post - has zero offensive game.

Not all that surprised we lost though - 2nd night of a back to back and Portland's first home game of the season. Credit to them though - they're a great young team. I kept thinking they're only a piece or two away from legit contention but who knows - they could make the leap this season. They've got the talent. LMA just slays us every time. And I love Batum's game. He's like a younger, better Diaw.

Duncan was decent but his shot looked flat.

imagump1313 wrote:That sucked. We couldn't get any stops late in the game.
Diaw has been turning back the clock soo far this year though.

Yeah. Diaw looks good so far.

Duncan shoots too many long jumpers for my liking. 23 FG attempts and zero FTs.

Kawhi was rather disappointing on this game. He didn't attack the basket as much as he should. Instead, he's settling for jumpers after jumpers.

And I'll echo that Splitter sentiment. Splitter is a solid Center, but not 9 million a year kind of solid. Splitter is too average in the important big man stuffs (post up scoring, rebounding, shotblocking) that he basically needs a partner that can do those things at an elite level once Duncan retires. A big man who is elite in two of those three things are basically a superstar.

Danny Green also disappoints me so far this season. Didn't he ramble about how he added something to his game this summer? I sure don't see it. The only shot he's taking that I'm happy with is a wide open 3 pointer. Anything else, no.

But the game wasn't lost because of them. Portland is like the Milwaukee Bucks of old with Glenn Robinson, Cassell, and Ray Allen. They're deadly in the midrange area. Especially Aldridge and Lillard. Our defense has always been built this way. We defend the 3 point line rather well and we protect the paint quite well. We give up the least efficient shot in the game, which is the midrange. And Portland is very good at that.

We basically stayed with them the whole game but really never could get stops. Just stayed within distance.

^^^ I think the expectations are too high for Kawhi this year. Okay, he's into his third year and he's coming off a breakout Finals but he is what he is. Pundits were saying that any decline to Manu/TD would be nulled by Kawhi's development and that's just not realistic. I'm sure he'll be a fine NBA player but I'm not sold on him being a number 1 option on a contender, not yet at least.

I agree about Green. He hasn't looked good at all thus far. Nothing's been added to his game, and if it has, I haven't seen it.

TD was a bit of a chucker this game, which surprised me a bit. He's not really supposed to be the focal point of the offense but you wouldn't know it watching this game.

I have never been a Splitter fan. He's one of those players that gets that cliche of "he does things that don't show up on a stat sheet" type but the bottom line is that he is soft and he just isn't worth his contract. He is what he is. His ceiling has been reached.

Donald Kaufman wrote:I have never been a Splitter fan. He's one of those players that gets that cliche of "he does things that don't show up on a stat sheet" type but the bottom line is that he is soft and he just isn't worth his contract. He is what he is. His ceiling has been reached.

I hear you about Splitter. I've been patient about judging him but I've had about enough. He has had more than enough time to figure out his game by now. The guy is just not aggressive at all. He has the body and athleticism to be a better player than similar guys like Pekovic, Vucevic or Asik but I would take any of those guys over Splitter right now. 18 minutes, 0 points, 4 rebounds last night isn't what I'm looking for from him for that kind of money. He is big enough and strong enough to make defenders react to him. Instead he gets pushed around and manhandled and has 1 of every 3 inside shots he takes blocked.

Baynes still looks to be in over his head IMO. Ayres looks good but seems to be one of those guys that can only be effective in very limited minutes. Diaw has been awesome. If he plays like this all year we will still be a force.

devindixen wrote:Duncan shoots too many long jumpers for my liking. 23 FG attempts and zero FTs.

Danny Green also disappoints me so far this season. Didn't he ramble about how he added something to his game this summer? I sure don't see it. The only shot he's taking that I'm happy with is a wide open 3 pointer. Anything else, no.

Didn't really have a problem with all of TD's jumpers. They were doubling Tony in the lane and leaving TD openish, he can hit that shot with ease, he just didn't have much lift on his shot which might be because of the chest injury.

Agree with you on Green. He's gotten better off the dribble but regressed in every other facet of the game.

Do you guys think this regression of Danny Green may be permanent? He did absolutely nothing for me in fantasy this week. I wanna drop him so bad but I also don't want to end up regretting it if he goes back to what he was doing last year.

Choker wrote:Do you guys think this regression of Danny Green may be permanent? He did absolutely nothing for me in fantasy this week. I wanna drop him so bad but I also don't want to end up regretting it if he goes back to what he was doing last year.

I hope it isn't but its really hard to say.

Choker wrote:Do you guys think this regression of Danny Green may be permanent? He did absolutely nothing for me in fantasy this week. I wanna drop him so bad but I also don't want to end up regretting it if he goes back to what he was doing last year.

Nah, he can be streaky but he's never been this bad, not since he started for this team. I toyed with the notion of drafting him late but took Calderon instead. I think/hope that this is a lull for Green and he'll pick it up soon, but who really knows.

Choker wrote:Do you guys think this regression of Danny Green may be permanent? He did absolutely nothing for me in fantasy this week. I wanna drop him so bad but I also don't want to end up regretting it if he goes back to what he was doing last year.

shooters go through these strecthes from time to time. I've seen ray allen go on these cold strecthes too. Green also is a type of player that can lose/gain confidence quickly, and it affects his game both ways. Look at the 2012 WCF and how bad he played vs the finals last year..