GT: Spurs (34-20) vs Jazz (23-28)

[Nolan]

When: 7:00 PM MT Feb 3rd, 2018
Where: AT&T Center, San Antonio TX

Last home before the rodeo road trip begins so lets get a win!! Won't be an easy one though, despite their record the Jazz are a tough team that plays hard on both ends.

Keys to winning this one are going to be containing Mitchell, winning the battle in the paint and not letting their bench guys go off.

Go Spurs!!

[ducler]

[G R E Y]

The last few games, our second halves have been much better than our first in terms of scoring more in the last two quarters. We need to move move move on O; I trust our D. Positive momentum from the outset and for 48 minutes. We need this win.

GO SPURS!

[Lava Rock Kid]

Jazz get in at 5 am due to plane trouble.

[Nolan]

We made a few solid runs and played hard but this game was over after the first quarter. We were extremely one dimensional on offense and our super small wing rotation just got torched on the defensive end.

I know we don't have many options on the perimeter right now but the Parker, Patty, Forbes lineups need to go away. They've been decent offensively at times but not decent enough to overcome how terrible they've been on the other end. We need more Brandon Paul right now.

[imagump1313]

They were coming in for a back to back when we were off. No Mitchell and the plane thing. Yet they played with a ton more energy than we did and we deserve to lose when we cant guard Ricky Freaking Rubio....... Our defense was ridiculously bad.
These games are starting to sting. We need a decent rodeo trip or we could be sitting in the 4th seed real quick and OKC pushing us for the 5.

[Nolan]

They were coming in for a back to back when we were off. No Mitchell and the plane thing. Yet they played with a ton more energy than we did and we deserve to lose when we cant guard Ricky Freaking Rubio....... Our defense was ridiculously bad.
These games are starting to sting. We need a decent rodeo trip or we could be sitting in the 4th seed real quick and OKC pushing us for the 5.

Truth man. We really need Rudy or Kawhi back and fast. Our only offense right now is feed LMA, we can't create anything off the dribble and our spacing is weak.

[imagump1313]

Well, on the bright side we aren't Cleveland

[G R E Y]

This game is still fresh, sting and all. It’s our approach to games this year that is getting us the see-saw results in 2018. We look as if we’re playing with fear rather than trust. I think guys feel a stronger sense of urgency and pressure as the last act of the season plays out, and look weary from the grind of the challenges they’ve faced. We seem too tight, playing to not make mistakes, and we get down in both team play and the score.

Many of the game stats were deceptively close. Both teams had 44 rebounds; we had a 25 to 12 assist to turnover ratio, giving up 22 points whereas theirs was 26 to 18, giving up 21. But Utah put up 69 shots, 22 fewer than we did, and still scored 120 points, 30 of them from the foul line. They had twice as many opportunities, and made more shots than we had attempts, 30-36 to our 13-18. A huge, costly disparity. They also carved us up inside early and often either by getting into our key and hitting open Js or driving for fouls. We had a hard time handling the first screen and were chasing Rubio most of the night. If we could have contained him to a still-above-his average 50% shooting instead of his ridiculous 78.5% (and accompanying 9-10FTs) and made some hustle plays for loose balls and rebounds to limit their second chance points, we’d have positioned ourselves better for an opportunity to win.

In their last few victories, Jazz have started games with torrid scoring, generating no fewer than 30 points in the first quarter of every game they won except versus Detroit where they scored 24. Our slow starts are catching up with us, and while all plays matter to the eventual outcome, considering the rest of the quarters combined for an even score, that 33-24 deficit in the first stands out all the more. Pop has been trying various starting line-ups by necessity of injuries and finding who could step up together. Starting Bertans (he struggled – 2-7, both 3s, 2-3 FTs for 8 points, a rebound and an assist) was a shake-up to see if we would wake up and connect. We didn’t. The defense I thought would be reliable, wasn’t.

We weren’t fast enough to get over screens so Rubio drove and scored or drove (often getting the attention of two or three Spurs) and passed it out to open team mates. We got our signals crossed on fake screens, opening the path down our key for Rubio to penetrate, and rotating late as he dished it to waiting and set-to-shoot 3s O’Neale or Ingles. We got caught under screens which gave Rubio more room for open shots that he hit 100% of in the first half (6-6 in the first, including 2-2 from 3; 3-3 in the second. Seriously, **** that guy lol).

We fought hard to get back into the game on LMA’s 31 (12-19, 1-1 from 3, 6-8 FTs, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks), Manu’s 13 (5-9, 1-3 from 3, 2-3FTs, a rebound, steal, and 3 assists), Tony’s 11 (5-9, 9 assists, 3 rebounds, steal), Murray’s 10 (5-12, 5 rebounds, 2 assists), Danny’s 9 (3-8, all 3s, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks – this after no shots in the first half), Pau’s 8 (3-8, 11 rebounds, 2 assists). An 8-0 run near the middle of the fourth got us to 94-93, but once again we got too dejected when a mistake was made in a key moment.

Much has been made in media of Patty’s untimely turnover in the final quarter when we were down only 112-109 with 1:09 left, and it was, but it’s never a single play that determines the outcome, and he did make some clutch 3s to get us back in it as well. He came on strong in the second half for 11 points (4-6, 3-5 from the 3, a rebound and 2 assists) after putting up only one shot in the first half in eight minutes. When Patty threw away the ball, we seemed deflated and let the Jazz go on an 8-0 run and take the game from us. No team mate should be left hung out to dry like that; in getting unraveled after that play, it felt like that’s exactly what we did, when we really win or lose as a team. We need to be resilient in such moments and rally behind a team mate by fighting back, playing for and with each other.

Manu said in a post-game interview that we’re playing as if we’re in game ten, trying to find our identity, and that it’s the first he’s seen something like this in his 16 years with the Spurs. Well, he and other vets - Tony, Danny - are the leaders and catalysts who can gather players together. It’s not as if we can’t fix things; the solutions are within our control. We have to re-establish the mindset of leading with our defensive intensity, attention to detail, and offensive flow: run back on D, hustle for loose balls, get after rebounds, be more physical on both ends, make every screen, cut, and drive hard, move the ball and ourselves quickly, shoot with purpose and fundamentals, execute what we want to achieve in each play and in section of a quarter. For 48 minutes.

We need the joy back in playing the game and as a team. What an amazing position to be in – playing professional ball and for the Spurs. We have issues to overcome, but it’s not like getting black lung from working in a coal mine or being one of Shackleton’s crew waiting for rescue. It’s just basketball. Rest up and just play hard and smart and together.

I love this team. GO SPURS!