Watched the San Antonio Spurs last night vs the T-Wolves. It's going to take awhile to get used to Spurs games were the score is 90-88 after three quarters. 116-113 win without DeMar DeRozan. Sounds like just an ankle sprain in what amounts to DeRozan's 1st game missed for the Spurs. It's crazy how the Spurs are doing this by going against the analytics and shooting less 3-pointers. May have to dig more into that someday. While the Spurs are averaging just 102.7 points per game, they are a very efficient 113.5 points per 100 possessions.
Only one game sample for me, but 2nd year PG Derrick White looked great. 23 points (10-17), 8 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 turnovers. He may not be Tony Parker (yet) but he is running the offense efficiently.
I've made peace with the Chargers loss and started reading stuff online. Quite a few articles out there criticizing the Chargers and Guz Bradley for not going to a man-to-man defense. My opinion is that it wouldn't have solved the problem of stopping the Patriots running attack, which is what was fueling the open receivers, not the zone defense. My take is that it's just a reaction to Tony Romo's call during the game saying they should go to man-to-man. If anything, man-to-man makes it harder to stop the run because the defenders all have their back to the ball chasing their man. In zone, the defenders are all looking in and reading the play. As soon as they see run, they leave their assignments and can pursue. This includes the linebackers (or in the Chargers case the safeties playing linebacker). Charges were just physically dominated in this game, end of story.
Which leads to what the Chargers have to do during the off season. A deeper LB roster would be helpful. Part of the reason the Chargers went to the 5, 6 or even 7 DB lineup was because of injuries at linebacker. Chargers LBs were the weak link in the defense to begin with and when Kyzir White and Denzel Perryman went down, Bradley started playing more 3 Safety lineups. When Jatavis Brown was lost to injury, S Adrian Phillips started at LB and they started 4 safeties and then against the Ravens they went 7 DBs. Most say that Perryman was the critical loss because he led the team in tackles, but White was a key to Bradley's defense. Like rookie Derwin James, White was a "tweener." As James was a "big" safety the Chargers used to help stop the run, White was a "small" LB the Chargers used to cover LBs and RBs. The two allowed the versatility of the 3-4 safety lineup without going "small."
In the cars I can't afford, but wish I could category. Just listen to the new Mustang GT500. Six plus minutes with no voice overs! There's 2 minutes plus of the car just idling! You can criticize Ford for a lot of things, but one thing they got right is the sound of the GT500 and GT350. As much as I love the blower whine and growl of the GT500, the GT350's flat-plane V8 is still the best sounding car (with no modifications) I've ever heard. GT350 on Jay Leno's Garage. Leno say's it's the greatest engine currently being produced in America today. If you don't want to hear them talk about the GT350 and just want to listen to that beautiful sound the engine makes, go to 18:40. Comments made during the drive. "It's a symphony!" and "you never get tired of that exhaust note."
I've seen the Spurs a couple of times to include their win over Kawhi and the Raptors and, definitely the lack of shooting threes takes some getting used to. That's all every other team does whether they are hitting or not. Not San Antonio. Just another testament to their play and coaching. Fun to watch them buck the trends.
ReplyDeleteThe Chargers so disappointed me in that game. I get that the Pat's offense can be tough for anyone to stop, especially when their running game is going so well. I just couldn't get over how the Chargers' offense was so anemic. We all know how good New England is even in a "year when they are off" but they really did seem ripe for upset. Hopefully they can ace the offseason with some good moves to shore up the holes. Feel for ya buddy. I know you had to be thinking San Diego had a good shot at getting to the AFC Championship..even if you wouldn't say it outloud or maybe even to yourself.
Los Angeles...but yea, for me this was the roughest season. Too much talent to be non-competitive in any game let alone a playoff game.
ReplyDelete