GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 17: SPURS VS. GRIZZ, 21-11-2018, 7:30PM (CT)

imagump1313 · Post #21 » by **imagump1313** » Thu Nov 22, 2018 2:54 pm

I've always said it a million times since back in the George Gervin days. If you take care of your business during the rest of the game those last couple plays don't matter. If you are concerned with the officials, play your game right so the officials don't make an impact. We definitely didn't do that so this is what happens.

Post #22 » by **G R E Y** » Fri Nov 23, 2018 5:07 pm

Read on Twitter

Post #23 » by **G R E Y** » Fri Nov 23, 2018 5:09 pm

Spurs need to 'move on' from missed calls, Pop says

Coach Gregg Popovich on Friday praised the NBA for having the "courage" to admit its referees made mistakes in the final seconds of the Spurs' dramatic 104-103 loss to Memphis on Wednesday night.

Popovich addressed the report after the Spurs' shootaround Friday morning in preparation for the team's 7 p.m. game against the Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

"The two-minute report is great because it gives transparency to everything," Popovich said. "There were a couple of calls missed. The NBA had the courage to call it out, and that's that. You move on."

https://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/article/Spurs-need-to-move-on-from-missed-calls-Pop-13416297.php

Post #24 » by **G R E Y** » Fri Nov 23, 2018 5:16 pm

I think both are true.

We ultimately control our own destiny. Had Rudy not fouled, the final non-calls would not have been a factor. Had we not turned it over late, we could have passed it to an open LMA. Had we won more of the rebounds late they would not have scored on second chances, etc. So it turns out all plays are important, and are magnified in a close game.

Also, the NBA can and should do a better job in ensuring the best possible call in real time is made. Other sports like hockey allow coaches to challenge calls, and these go to the central hub where final decision are made. It is a far more fair system, and one that works well, than the current one NBA has in place.

Post #25 » by **G R E Y** » Wed Nov 28, 2018 2:43 am

What a gut punch of a game. It’s sometimes a bitter pill that every play counts and that there are elements beyond one’s control. I suppose all the more reason to tend to what you can.

Overall, we had a much better defensive effort compared to the previous game. We did well to switch smoothly and read plays of when not to, get around screens, deflect their passes, force them into end-of-clock shots, and grab rebounds.

There were some things to clean up early. DeMar at times got caught by drivers and was behind when they made layups or floaters. They got into our key too easily and built an early 20-12 lead. While they missed plenty of threes, we were also sometimes a step behind at protecting our arc and contesting some of their open makes. Their pace was a bit faster than I expected, though that may have also been a function of what we gave them as at the onset as we were not consistently intense enough on D.

We did well to get good shot chances, but were missing them; a little too finesse from too far. If we could get into a habit of taking the ball strong to the basket, with two hands if possible, it will serve us well. When we did make a concerted effort to drive at them, we were almost always rewarded at the foul line (26-30FTs). Once we got used to the rhythm of the game and what they were running, we adjusted and went on a 18-6 run with great movement and smart purposeful passing like Davis’s great bounce pass to a back cutting Rudy who got fouled to close it to 22-16.

Sometimes we did not reward ourselves with points after defensive stops because of mistakes on the O end. In the first Q, Davis stole a pass and pushed it up the court and put up a 3 which he missed. The commentator said he’s ok with that shot, but I still think it’s better to run a fast break for the higher percentage shot; he’s a sharpshooter, but it still has to be within the good-to-great system. No need to rush and risk it at that point; build on smaller steps that reward good D. In another play, Derrick stole the ball, but Beli turned it over travelling. They hit a 3 the other way for a 5 point swing. We actually only gave up 7 points off 8 turnovers (4 better than our league-leading 11.9 average) along with 4 steals so it was a clean game overall. Twenty-one assists kept us third in the league in the assist-to turnover ratio; short-term it’s little consolation if we don’t win, but good to see trends of our development.

I liked our resilience in coming back from behind to end the quarter on a positive. Patty was instrumental with his energetic play, running around screens, staying with his man, driving into his defender forcing a foul, and hitting his free throws to pull us ahead 32-30. Jakob blocked their final shot attempt, so we had team-wide contributions on both ends, with improved defense to close it out. In the room to grow category, we gave up two quarters with at least 30 points to a low scoring team whose O rating is 24th and PPG and pace are last.

We kept with them on both ends and though we had stretches like in the second Q when we got called for three quick consecutive fouls, we balanced it out with a Bryn drive and a Beli block (it didn’t register on the stats, maybe it wasn’t clean enough, but he got enough of his hand on the ball for us to get it back). At times we hurt ourselves with missed bunnies because of finesse finishes at the rim, but came back with dunks. We had a lot of variety to our plays getting chances for several guys, a lot of good movement and passing, but at times we rushed shots out of team rhythm as they picked up the pace and we tried to match quick shot for quick shot. What they do is stifle opponents for much of the game, and then pick spots to play a faster tempo that an opponent isn’t used to, but we nevertheless were quick to adjust. They were shooting over 50% for the first three Qs (and over 60% in the first) whereas we hovered around mid to low 40s in percentage. Given both teams put up an almost identical number of shots, making stops, taking care of the ball, and staying poised were all the more important.

We did well to force their C into a fifth foul at 86-86 in the fourth, so that was something to take advantage of since we worked to get to that point. We played really great D late, DeMar did so well to shadow his man and force a miss at 88-88, LMA had a great block after they went up 90-89 on his tech which he got because he complained their player went down like a leaf in a windstorm. This resulted in their inbound, and they missed, but got a O rebound and then hit a 3. Though we outrebounded them 43-40, and 10-4 on O, that one was costly. We need to not miss chances like DeMar turning it over at 101-100 when LMA was wide open (he’s been doing this late in games a bit more; just protecting the ball with more intensity and focus is what we need from him on that end in those moments); it’s about mitigating mistakes and forcing them in key moments. We counterpunched the rest of the way with buckets and fouls for traditional 3-point plays (Rudy to put us up 95-92), drives by DeMar and LMA, and solid contesting and rebounding.

It was one of those odd games in which all of the starters were in the minus, and all of the bench players (except for Q in 2 minutes of play) were in the plus. Patty led the bench with 15 points on 4-7, 3-4 from 3, 4-4FTs and added 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block. Davis was next with 8 points on 2-3, 1-2 from 3, 3-3FTs. Our bench was outscored 32-26 in part because Beli (1 point) and Derrick (0 points) couldn’t score (I know he’s still finding his way back, but you hope for the sake of confidence it comes soon), and Jakob (2 on 1-1) and Davis didn’t get enough shots. Jakob only played 6 minutes, though, so the bulk of the work was done by LMA.

It continues to be a telling stat that when LMA scores at least 20 we are just about guaranteeing ourselves a win, so in a one point difference, his 19 on 6-20, 7-9FTs to go along with 11 rebounds (team-high 6 on O), 4 assists and 1 block only underscored how much we need him on both ends. DeMar led us with 24 on 10-21 (including what would have been the clutch game winner), 4-5FTs, 5 rebounds and team-high 5 assists, but also team-high 5 turnovers including two in the fourth Q on which they scored both times. Dante had a good shooting night (7 points 2-4, 2-4 from 3, 1-3FTs) but on a low number of attempts. How to make him play on O like he does against his old team every game? I don’t know how many more shots would be optimal, but when it’s falling, we could feed him a bit more. He is a steadying presence for us, with 5 rebounds and 2 assists not painting the full picture of what he provides beyond the stat sheet.

Bryn had an uncharacteristically off shooting night (6 points on 3-11, 0-6 from 3, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) and when he and Beli are off, it takes away from the team threat we can be. Beli (9.7, just .2 below his career average) is second to Patty (10.2) in bench scoring, but really isn’t having the best shooting season, hitting 35.9FG% and 31.5% from 3, below his career averages of 42.5% and 37.5% respectively. His FT and rebounding are just at his career average, and assists are up a bit (2.1 to 1.7 career), he just has to figure out how to be a bit more efficient. I’d say get him more open looks, but he seems to make the contested off-balance or running floater 3s more, so go figure. Much has been made in print about LMA’s struggles because he’s a focal point, but we do need Beli to be the guy we brought him in to be. Shooters shoot, so hopefully he finds his groove. He’s important for us with his constant cutting, relentless movement, and crafty drives which, as part of the second unit, creates such a different look and style of play that defences have to adjust to.

Rudy had a wonderful game to be another threat teams have to expend D energy on. His 21 points on 7-10 (though he only had 5 shots by the end of the third Q), 1-2 from 3, 6-6FTs complemented 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block for a complete contribution, which, but for that late, too aggressive close-out, would have sealed a win. Alas, that and the fact that the same kind of foul against us wasn’t called on the next play inverted the outcome.

The toughest thing to accept is that balance of taking responsibility for our errors - ending games cleanly and with intensity is paramount - while moving on from an egregiously missed call that also contributed to the result. Can’t put too much ballast on the latter, though. Best to just acknowledge that both what we could and could not control weighed in, and it’s up to us to tip the scales in our favour.