That's Gonna Leave A Mark
That was a wasted opportunity. It was doubly wasted because Oklahoma City lost tonight, and if we had won, we would have drawn into a tie with the Thunder. If Portland wins tonight (against Phoenix), it will be triply wasted, because then Portland would effectively leapfrog us (as they own the tiebreaker over us), putting us in the dreaded 8th spot.
Despite the wasted opportunities, it was a great game. It had a playoff atmosphere. Both teams played their asses off, there were lots of hard fouls and clutch shots, and the game came down to just a handful of possessions. In the end, we just couldn't get it done. If there are 2 things to point to, it would be offensive rebounding and 3-pointers. We gave up 21 offensive rebounds, most of which were converted layups off of missed shots. And we just didn't hit enough 3-pointers, going 8-24 (with Ginobili and Bonner hitting 7 of those 8). In particular, Hill missed a ton of open corner 3s (0 for 4 on the night). He has proven that that is a spot that he can consistently hit jumpers from, so let's just chalk it up to an off night.
When a game goes to overtime, it's easy to look at one or two small plays earlier in the game and say "what if?". That's usually a fool's errand. But tonight, it's easy to look at the steal and converted basket off an errant inbounds pass at the end of the first half and wonder, "what if?" It sure would have been nice to get those 2 points back at the end of regulation.
A couple of observations, from the last few games:
--I know we like to give Bonner crap for just about everything other than his 3-point shooting. But his driving, though it looks unsightly and clumsy, is rather effective. And this little half-teardrop/half-hook shot that he's developed is pretty good. It shows that he puts a lot of work into his game. Obviously the scouting report on him would be to run him off the 3-point line; for him to get better, his counter would be to develop a driving game. It's not pretty or elegant, but it's effective.
--Has anyone else noticed that George Hill's passing has improved greatly? He's becoming a sort of hybrid of Parker and Ginobili. Not quite as good as either, but he has some of the attacking panache of Parker, and he's starting to develop some of the court wizardry of Ginobili. The bounce pass he threw to Jefferson after the steal was just sick; and the two handed wrap around pass he made to Duncan off of a pick and roll was Ginobiliesque.
Looking Forward:
No time to dwell on could-have-beens. Tonight's game against Oklahoma City is critical. We still sit a half game behind them. With a win, we can leapfrog them; with a loss, we fall even further back. We need to win one of the games in this back-to-back set.
Despite the wasted opportunities, it was a great game. It had a playoff atmosphere. Both teams played their asses off, there were lots of hard fouls and clutch shots, and the game came down to just a handful of possessions. In the end, we just couldn't get it done. If there are 2 things to point to, it would be offensive rebounding and 3-pointers. We gave up 21 offensive rebounds, most of which were converted layups off of missed shots. And we just didn't hit enough 3-pointers, going 8-24 (with Ginobili and Bonner hitting 7 of those 8). In particular, Hill missed a ton of open corner 3s (0 for 4 on the night). He has proven that that is a spot that he can consistently hit jumpers from, so let's just chalk it up to an off night.
When a game goes to overtime, it's easy to look at one or two small plays earlier in the game and say "what if?". That's usually a fool's errand. But tonight, it's easy to look at the steal and converted basket off an errant inbounds pass at the end of the first half and wonder, "what if?" It sure would have been nice to get those 2 points back at the end of regulation.
A couple of observations, from the last few games:
--I know we like to give Bonner crap for just about everything other than his 3-point shooting. But his driving, though it looks unsightly and clumsy, is rather effective. And this little half-teardrop/half-hook shot that he's developed is pretty good. It shows that he puts a lot of work into his game. Obviously the scouting report on him would be to run him off the 3-point line; for him to get better, his counter would be to develop a driving game. It's not pretty or elegant, but it's effective.
--Has anyone else noticed that George Hill's passing has improved greatly? He's becoming a sort of hybrid of Parker and Ginobili. Not quite as good as either, but he has some of the attacking panache of Parker, and he's starting to develop some of the court wizardry of Ginobili. The bounce pass he threw to Jefferson after the steal was just sick; and the two handed wrap around pass he made to Duncan off of a pick and roll was Ginobiliesque.
Looking Forward:
No time to dwell on could-have-beens. Tonight's game against Oklahoma City is critical. We still sit a half game behind them. With a win, we can leapfrog them; with a loss, we fall even further back. We need to win one of the games in this back-to-back set.
posted by secretchord53 at 8:18 PM
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