San Antonio Spurs-New Orleans Hornets Recap: Grading Each Spur in Their Loss
The San Antonio Spurs played their second game this season last night, a 99-90 home loss to the New Orleans Hornets. After getting stuck in a deep hole, down by 18 in the fourth quarter, the Spurs almost made a full comeback by getting back within three, but it wasn't enough.
I graded each player by their overall effort and contribution to the game, as well as a final overall analysis for the starters, bench, coaching and the entire team.
Tony Parker (PG)
1 of 13
Key Stats: 13 points, four assists
Tony seemed rejuvenated by his new contract and was on fire in first half, but he was pretty quiet after that. He made a few poor choices and passed up some good shot opportunities, but overall his finishing at the rim improved from the previous game. He still needs to work on cutting down the turnovers.
Grade: B
Manu Ginobili (SG)
2 of 13
Key Stats: 23 points, 2-for-11 on three-pointers.
Manu started strong and helped spark the fourth quarter comeback, but his shooting was poor from the outside. Unlike the last game, he finished well inside the three (6-for-8 FG). It would help if he drove to the basket more instead of shooting so many threes.
Grade: B+
Richard Jefferson (SF)
3 of 13
Key Stats: 18 points, 4 rebounds.
RJ really got it going in the second half when the Spurs were down. He had huge plays down the stretch to get the team back in it, but missed a key three-pointer that would have tied the game at 93 with less than two minutes to go. The Spurs never scored again. Otherwise, it was a very encouraging performance.
Grade: A-
Tim Duncan (PF)
4 of 13
Key Stats: 7 points, 7 rebounds
Definately not Timmy's finest hour. He was never really in it from the outset. He shot poorly from the field (2-for-10 FG), was not effective on the defensive end and played practically no role in the comeback considering Pop decided to go small. There's really no bright spot in this one.
Grade: C+
DeJuan Blair (C)
5 of 13
Key Stats: 4 points, 11 rebounds
An excellent effort once again, but he still couldn't translate it into points. Blair seems too anxious to score, especially in the paint where he keeps losing control of the ball from trying to do too much at once. If he can just settle down and take his time, the shots will start falling. He also had trouble defending David West's outside shots, but then again who didn't?
Grade: B-
Overall Grade for Starters
6 of 13
Overall they started the game strong, but the first quarter was about the only bright spot for them. Manu and RJ played key roles in the fourth quarter comeback, but nobody had a positive plus/minus statistic. Defense was pretty good in the paint, but the main issue was defending outside shots, which is what got the Hornets back into the game.
Grade: B-
George Hill
7 of 13
Key Stats: 6 points, 7 assists
Despite his continuing struggles to score (2-for-7 on FG), Hill was actually the best impact player in the game with a plus-three when he was on the court. It was a good defensive effort with two steals and a block, but he needs to find a way to become more of a spark off the bench.
Grade: C+
Antonio McDyess
8 of 13
Key Stats: 6 points, 8 rebounds
McDyess hit a few shots (3-for-8 on FG), but he seemed hesitant to shoot while passing off a few opportunities. He ended with the worse plus/minus ratio (-18), mainly from his struggles to keep up with the quicker outside shooters of the Hornets. With Matt Bonner out for a couple of weeks, McDyess needs to be ready to play a bigger role.
Grade: C+
Gary Neal
9 of 13
Key Stats: 8 points, 2-for-4 on three-pointers
Neal showed why he was signed with a great effort in his first real significant action off the bench. He helped spark the comeback with some timely threes and contributed elsewhere with two assists and two rebounds. He was the only player besides George Hill to have a positive impact on the game (plus-one).
Grade: A-
James Anderson
10 of 13
Key Stats: 5 points, 1 block
Great defensive effort. Ansderson showed his quick speed and ability to get back in a play with a highlight worthy block. The shooting stroke looks good, but it still needs some work. He onlyed played 10 minutes (all in the first half I believe), but as he proves himself and gains the coaches' trust, he will see more time in tighter games.
Grade: B
Overall Grade For Bench
11 of 13
It wasn't the best outing for a Spurs bench. While they helped start the fourth quarter comeback, it's never good to be outscored by the opposing bench, 35-25, espcially when the starters are struggling. It was difficult with the lack of big men, but Tiago Splitter should be back next week. If someone can provide the spark that is needed in these situations, the game will get a lot easier.
Grade: C+
Coaching
12 of 13
Pop was wise to go small in the second half with the bigs struggling to keep up with the Hornets. He had the right group on the court to make the comeback, and they almost succeeded. Some work on defense still needs to be done.
It might be a good idea to consider bringing Manu back off the bench and letting George Hill start. Hill seems to have a chip on his shoulders with all the pressure of being the sixth man, so maybe starting until he regains confidence would help while Manu provides the spark off the bench that is missing.
Grade: B
Final Overall Grade
13 of 13
The Spurs got off to a fast start, but they were never really in it from the second quarter until about halfway through the fourth. It was an inspiring effort to come back from 18 points down in the fourth and get within three, but they couldn't get any closer.
The defense was better than the first game, but still needs some work, especially on the perimeter. Granted, there is only so much you can do when the opposing team is hitting everything from outside, but that has been the case in both games so far.
Hopefully the Spurs can go on the road and beat a much-improved Clippers team. Having Tiago Splitter ready to go would be a tremendous boost, so cross your fingers!
Grade: C
