GT: Pacers vs. Spurs

[Nolan]

When: 6:30 PM, Mar 1st, 2017
Where: AT&T Center, San Antonio TX

The rodeo road trip is finally over!!! We've had a couple days to get rested and to get acclimated to life at home again.

We need to come out with energy and focus and give the home fans something to get excited about. The Pacers haven't been playing well as of late and their thin frontcourt has been a real problem for them. Another good game from Pau could be the difference in this one.

Go Spurs!!

[Cycloneon]

Parker is questionable because of his quad.

Unleash the DeJOUNTE

[ducler]

[imagump1313]

Yeah, Parker out officially now. Murray starting.

[imagump1313]

I really like the flow with Gasol coming off the bench and Dedmon starting. Murry starting plays under more control than coming off the bench IMO. Too bad we still turn the ball over like crazy. Mostly from being lazy.

[Milenkovic]

Missed the game as i was at tribunal, but Kawhi man...is he finally growing up?

Gasol coming off the bench, Dedmon starting has finally turned us into a Defensive force of sorts.

Gonna watch the replay, but Aldridge seems like he had a shocker again

[Phreak50]

Just continues to prove my point about the worthlessness of plus minus. Kawhi with a solid game, game winner and a negative yet PG with a bad game with a positive.

Without Kawhi we lose that game badly.

[UDRIH14]

i wonder whats pg excuse, his been outplayed by kawhi again...with game winner in his grill too..

lma once again is a scrub on offense and does nothing defensively, the effort/energy shown from him wasnt there tonight

danny green continues to brick open shots and cant do a layup
patty mills continues to chuck when his ice cold, gives up just as much pts on the other end when they arent calling charges
the juice everybody knows he wont shoot if his open, cause his going to put the ball down into traffic...
murry needs to look for the open man instead of trying to be on sportscenter with his handles...

anderson/bertans wouldve been useful tonight for their length, yet continue to get lesser minutes or buried on bench...

[Cycloneon]

Simmons needs to really work on that 3 in the offseason. The defense sags off of him and when he's open in the corner, he just cuts tot he basket

[inDe_eD]

double post ><

[Nolan]

Simmons needs to really work on that 3 in the offseason. The defense sags off of him and when he's open in the corner, he just cuts tot he basket

Agreed. His mechanics are fine, he just puts too much arc on his shot. He just needs to refine things a bit and like you said practice.

[inDe_eD]

Just continues to prove my point about the worthlessness of plus minus. Kawhi with a solid game, game winner and a negative yet PG with a bad game with a positive.

Without Kawhi we lose that game badly.

Yep. I agree that plus/minus is woefully representing Kawhi. In fact if you look at Ortg/Drtg for the game, which attempts to parcel out credit for how well the offense/defense did when that player was on the floor, Kawhi was the impetus behind our starting lineups' offense and defense last night:

Ortg/Drtg
Kawhi: 121/97
LMA: 74/106
Murray: 86/108
Green: 60/99
Dedmon: 133/110 (only 8.6% usage on offense)

Like someone else already said, without Kawhi, that would have been a 30 point blowout for the Pacers. Kawhi didn't hurt us by 11 like plus minus would have you believe. He just played big minutes with Aldridge.

Lately I've been watching lineups a lot and checking the score when different guys come in and out. Paul George did hit some pretty crazy shots with Kawhi draped on him last night, but most of the defensive damage was on Aldridge. He was a sieve last night. I'm at the point that I'd be ok with just flat out banishing him to the bench and giving all of his minutes to Bertans. I think him playing 32 minutes of very low effort a game really really hurts us.

[Nolan]

Not the prettiest win and a game we should have definitely won by more but they all count.

Things I liked:
- Kawhi - Started slow, wasn't a fan of his shot selection at times but he carried us down the stretch and but in some serious work on the defensive end.

- Gasol - Really like him coming off the bench. He schooled the Pacers 2nd unit and made a couple great defensive plays in the 3rd that really sparked us. He really should of played all of LMA minutes in the 4th.

- Lee - Him and Murray were killing the Pacers in the pick and roll. Like Pau he really gave us a spark off the bench and his play kept us in it.

- Murray - Definitely not his best game, he did have some bad turnovers and he made some rookie mistakes. But his passing game was on point, he was under control for the most part and I absolutely loved the way he responded to being benched to start the 2nd half. He didn't sulk, he took it the right way and came out with some fire once he got back into the game. Love this kid's attitude and competiveness.

- Manu - Another great game from him. Once again he didn`t fill the stat sheet but he made big plays when we needed them and really kept the ship afloat.

Things I didn`t like:
- Pop's rotation - LMA shouldn't have seen the floor in the 4th, Dedmon didn't deserve to be benched, and I didn't like the quick hook he gave Murray in the 4th.

- The ref's - I'm not usually one to complain about them but they sucked tonight. A lot of questionable calls in this one.

- LMA - This is a game he should of dominated, he didn't. In fact he did the opposite of dominate. Almost cost us the game with that crap attempt at a handoff.

- Green - Couldn't knock down a shot and made a ton of mistakes on the defensive end.

[inDe_eD]

Things I didn`t like:

- LMA - This is a game he should of dominated, he didn't. In fact he did the opposite of dominate. Almost cost us the game with that crap attempt at a handoff.

Yep. And it's all freaking effort with him. His first two games against the Thunder last year were incredible. He's hasn't declined that much, he just doesn't have the effort gene for whatever reason. I'd really be totally fine with trading him for a 2nd round pick at this point.

[Nolan]

Things I didn`t like:

- LMA - This is a game he should of dominated, he didn't. In fact he did the opposite of dominate. Almost cost us the game with that crap attempt at a handoff.

Yep. And it's all freaking effort with him. His first two games against the Thunder last year were incredible. He's hasn't declined that much, he just doesn't have the effort gene for whatever reason. I'd really be totally fine with trading him for a 2nd round pick at this point.

I'd want more than a 2nd for him but yeah effort is an issue.

I think it's time for Pop's to show him some tough love to attempt to light a fire under him. Pop's lost it on him after that botched play late in the game. Hopefully LMA's leash gets a little shorter and hey maybe bench him... Dedmon, Gasol and Lee have been unreal as of late.

[inDe_eD]

Things I didn`t like:

- LMA - This is a game he should of dominated, he didn't. In fact he did the opposite of dominate. Almost cost us the game with that crap attempt at a handoff.

Yep. And it's all freaking effort with him. His first two games against the Thunder last year were incredible. He's hasn't declined that much, he just doesn't have the effort gene for whatever reason. I'd really be totally fine with trading him for a 2nd round pick at this point.

I'd want more than a 2nd for him but yeah effort is an issue.

I think it's time for Pop's to show him some tough love to attempt to light a fire under him. Pop's lost it on him after that botched play late in the game. Hopefully LMA's leash gets a little shorter and hey maybe bench him... Dedmon, Gasol and Lee have been unreal as of late.

Haha yea, I think we could definitely get more. I'm just saying I think his value to our team is probably close to 0 right now, and actually worse than that really, as we have plenty of younger guys that could come in and give a damn.