Pounding The Rock

Green and Neal should never had let him hold the ball for longer than 2 seconds. We already knew Bonner could make a decision with the ball to save his life, much less the game. So why were guys not coming to bail him out from himself? Tough loss, but it’s a long race. These guys need this type of loss to realize, the only reason they lost was themselves.

TrooperJoe73 - January 29, 2012 reply

Exactly, I dont blame Bonner. The play was for Neal, the same play they ran for Manu against Denver last season, but the inbounder passed to Bonner and then Nobody came to the ball.

it’s been a pleasure. Who cares about winning?! Am I right or am I right?

Good Night! its 4:30 am

ironm8 - January 29, 2012 reply

Its only 6:30 here. :)

Still time to drink.

Oui.

Way ahead of you.

It was a ride. But jumping from your couch after .05 isn’t fun.

LatinD - January 29, 2012 reply

Wow 4:30 am? That’s commitment. I salute you sir.

Well, i am a student and my first class is at 10:30, the game started early, who knew we would have all that crazyness

ironm8 - January 29, 2012 reply

10:30am here….a whole day to think about this game. yay.

-1

BOOOO

An extraordinary game.

I know it’s a bitter ending for you guys, but this was a game worthy of ESPN Classic. You have nothing to be ashamed of.

For sure

this is true….but yeah.

I mean, Dallas was up 67-51. They should be embarrassed as shit this game played out the way it did. Against your bench!!

again, this is true…but yeah.

meh

but you are right

Props to our bench

Good effort by the bench. Anderson showed something. The starters will be rested for tomorrow’s game. Yay optimism!

Anti-Climactic to say the least

Kevin21 - January 29, 2012 reply

Far from it

The game was great but the last play was terrible

Kevin21 - January 29, 2012 reply

That’s what happens when you run the offense through the ginger.

it’s hard to reconcile the ending with how well they played otherwise…all i want to do is curse and be angry, but i shouldn’t.

Boo!

TDzilla! - January 29, 2012 reply

Almost beat the Mavs twice!!!

Well, they were due for revenge after you made them look silly in your house

Im sad

Mon Dieu!

At least I won in the comments

because i backed off

hurts2bgood - January 29, 2012 reply

I knew there was a silver lining.

TrooperJoe73 - January 29, 2012 reply

There’s always that.

More time for Anderson?

Pop should Forget about Joseph and play Neal, Anderson, Green
We win the battle of assist … Joseph is a turnover prone anyway, He still young

...

In the 666 - January 29, 2012 reply

Oh my

--

DrumsInTheDeep - January 29, 2012 reply

lolz

ironm8 - January 29, 2012 reply

--

DrumsInTheDeep - January 29, 2012 reply

Who’s she?

Alison Brie. Annie, from Community.

She’s a cutie.

She’s also Trudy Campbell on Mad Men.

Mad Men is coming back. I forgot about that show.

This should cheer you up after the loss. And it’s funny, too.

Whoa. You’re right, that made me feel better.

It never fails…Boopy Doopy Doo Bop SEX!!! Hilarious.

what’s a dimini nih nuh nuh nuuuuh?…

In the 666 - January 29, 2012 reply

...

In the 666 - January 29, 2012 reply

She always gets a rec’d

Anything that even alludes to Community gets an insta-rec from me.

---

Oddly, I just started watching community today. All of these have now been rec’d.

Tim C. - January 29, 2012 reply

Enjoy watching!

Danny Greens for real it seems.

I tried to stat curse Mavs by leaving the thread but never switched off the game feed so i take full responsibility for the loss :((

Also Matt Bonner…Love him..Hate him…Hate him some more…Ambivelent…Like him…Hate him again…

Bushka - January 29, 2012 reply

Trade Matt to Cleveland for Antwan Jamison.

Done.

I blame Josh for listening to us and not starting a new thread. Shame on you, Guyer!

play_splitter - January 29, 2012 reply

TJ tweet

tj_ford TJ Ford
Great game to watch & big ⬆⬆ to our bench for playing super hard. Can’t wait to be with guys #gospurs

He is missed. Will be good to have him back.

Final Frame - January 29, 2012 reply

Tough luck. We’ll get ’em next time, boys. Hopefully this game just made our young guys stronger and tougher.

..I guess you can learn from a game like this, in theory. But all that really comes to mind is that slew of games the Spurs pissed away late last season, when things began to unravel. At least its early in the season.

Put Anderson back in the rotation!!!! Take Joseph out

YES Pop should Forget about Joseph and play Neal, Anderson, Green
We win the battle of assist … Joseph is a turnover prone anyway, He still young

The problem is the lack of T.J. Ford. But if Neal can run point as he did capably tonight, then I agree that Joseph should go to Austin for more polish.

Anderson earned himself some plating time tonight.

quincyscott - January 29, 2012 via mobile reply

…playing…

quincyscott - January 29, 2012 via mobile reply

This please

I liked what I saw. Luck just was not on our side.

Good night, guys. See you all tomorrow.

LatinD - January 29, 2012 reply

’Night D

Proud of the bench. That last play showed inexperience, but thats ok, we will get there.

Bonner is handling the last possession?

I wonder if Terry can still brag about narrowly beating our bench. But I won’t be surprised if he still does.

Did Tony really go 2-11?

I thought Danny was going to make that 3

i have to admit…i didn’t. the second the play became broken, i thought it was over.

I thought that shot at the end of regulation kinda counted

And it would have if Derrick Fisher was shooting it.

Exactly

Me too. Bonner’s sandwich residue made the ball slippery.

FakeCoachPop Gregory Popovich
I just made emotionless love to Rick Carlisle’s head, and I’m not going to call him in the morning.

POPSPLOTS

Hahhaha

Rec’d

GOL

well all right then

personally, I’m more turned on by sleep research facility than Rick Carlisle’s head.

o_O

not the reaction i was hoping for, but i’ll take it

hehe

Nice, now please followup that up with a pic of dancing Pop !

You talkin to me?

AHAH !!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT !!!!!!!!!!

Never noticed how long Pops arms are , he would have been great on defense.

For some reason, this lost doesn’t hurt.

Then you are probably drunk. It will hurt in the morning.

True dat. Except for the last play, I thought our boys out played Terry and his paper planes…It was good to know that Dallas still is the second best team in Texas

Josh Guyer (completely deck) - January 29, 2012 reply

For some reason, this loss really hurts for me. I can’t figure it out. The play was dead once Bonner caught the ball. Green was smart to continue the play but he should have passed the ball.

I don’t fault Green for shooting there. The play broke and he ran into the ref. I was surprised he got off the shot he did.

he had a bit of time though, could’ve passed or driven himself.

c’est la vie….

I agree, but our guys lacked the experience, so its ok. Now, they are better off for it.

In my case, it hurts because I think the team could have built on it. A win in Dallas while resting the starters for the entire second half? That would hae been fantastic for morale.

*have

It hurts now, but this game can do wonders for a guy like Anderson.

Josh Guyer (completely deck) - January 29, 2012 reply

This

M3D1T8R - January 29, 2012 via mobile reply

Van der Boo Boo face

Amazing superbowl, what a game.

I wonder if PATFO felt a little bit of regret after seeing JA’s performance tonight…

Reylan - January 29, 2012 reply

I wish JA could have played like this earlier…

Reylan - January 29, 2012 reply

I don’t think he got enough of a chance before.

M3D1T8R - January 29, 2012 via mobile reply

bombsaway - January 29, 2012 reply

In hindsight Pop should’ve put Parker in for the final minute and half of regulation when we had a 4 point lead. We had some bad turnovers there

Yep. I was calling for it with three mins left up 7 (I think).

Oh well. I think Pop was trying toreward the bench, deservedly, with the possible win.

M3D1T8R - January 29, 2012 via mobile reply

The entire starting lineup on the bench for the whole 4th quarter? I dont care how shitty they were playing before, but parker should have been in for at least a single play…

--

pats didn’t win

they escaped

Observation from this game: Pop needs to play Anderson and take Joseph out of the rotation.

mission20 - January 29, 2012 reply

THIS

We’ve known Joseph has a ticket to Austin the moment TJ is ready, but who’s Manu going to replace?

DrumsInTheDeep - January 29, 2012 reply

Way!

Quick ramblings…

Aaaah. I wanted this one. Epic game, epic comeback by our bench. I am very proud of them. Green’s shot was good. I hope our bench comes back with a chip on their shoulders, Green in particular. Maybe our starters have a fire lit under them, letting them know that Pop is not afraid to play his bench. A win is a win Mavs, but your starters nearly gave it away to our subs – thanx to a little home cookin’ by the refs on that last play. I don’t care, I thought the shot was good. OR maybe I just celebrated too much. I listened to ESPN radio on the way home from watching the game @ my folks – no mention of the Spurs comeback, or that it was with the bench – all Mavs. No mention of the Green shot, but they replayed the audio of Terry’s tie. Don’t feel good about this one Dallas.

And, I think this is the first game I feel like JA played really well. That is a big plus for us.

Royal Rumble match is starting now

I’ll give it a shot. I haven’t watched since Edge’s retirement.

Rumble is always good

Who’s the favorite this year? Orton? Cena?

Probably Orton, the Rumble is in his hometown. I want Jericho to win it.

Woah. Jericho’s back?

Yup, he came back a couple of weeks ago

It looks like you’re going to get your wish. It’s the Jericho-Sheamus show right now.

It was a boring Rumble though.

meh, I hate the WWE right now

At this moment We are out of the playoffs … we need to win tomorrow

I just posted it. :(

By the way, if the playoff’s start today, we are out of it.

Beaubois 3 blokcs!! how is that possible??

Not much surprises me much anymore.

He had 4 against Utah.

I think Kawhi should be pulled from being the starting SG and take your pick between Green, Neal or Anderson to replace him. Then have Kawhi back to backing up RJ at SF.

Alamo - January 29, 2012 reply

Yes. I agree with this but didn’t want to be the one to say it.

silverandblack_davis - January 30, 2012 reply

I want Anderson to add more pop in the offense while maintaining the 2nd unit’s D.

I pick Green…
For defense and Rebounds

There was a point in the 4 quarter that the spurs were running as hell on the fastbreak and I think “WTF are we the Thunder?” …. But NO … it was our bench!

Josh Guyer (completely deck) - January 29, 2012 reply

--

Your sliding down a pole between your legs..?

ESPNSteinLine: TD on short yr: “This does NOT feel like 99. In 99, I was a deer. I would run all day. This is couple years after that.”

tj_ford TJ Ford
Great game to watch & big ⬆⬆ to our bench for playing super hard. Can’t wait to be with guys #gospurs
28 minutes ago

The Magic dropped another one against an Eastern conference rival. They should start getting serious about trading Dwight.

Let’s work it our right now, and mail our suggestions to the FO, whaddya think? :)

Juuuust kidding!

OK, so i’ve mentioned this once before on here but let me see what you guys think.

Rule Change: as long as a player is in the act of shooting the ball can be shot as the clock expires.

almost like a last play in football. but they would rule it like a continuation play. was he in the act of shooting or not?

this rule esp applies for today

seanthemonster - January 29, 2012 reply

the problem i see is determining when the player is in the act. at least with the current rule – needing to have left the hand – there is no ambiguity (as frustrating as it was, green’s shot was just after the buzzer). determining when the motion of shooting started is a bit messy, with players having different actions and all.

having said that, i wish a rule like that was in effect today….sigh.

Under your rule we lose the Orlando game.

doggydogworld - January 30, 2012 reply

We had at least three opportunities to secure a victory, with a field goal or a free throw. This one isn’t on Bonner. Great comeback, just fell a little short.

quincyscott - January 29, 2012 via mobile reply

This. One free throw by Splitter, or a make by Neal. Or free throws by the starters. Ugh we should’ve won this game. Another game we couldn’t close out.

mission20 - January 29, 2012 reply

The next few games for the Spurs are very important for us to stay in playoff teams, we could quickly fall to 11 to 12th spot if we dont win a few games.

Did Green get robbed on that last second shot? And why was every single starter on the bench for the 4th quarter ?? PLEASE XPLAIN !!! I didnt see most of the game…

The bench started the comeback so Pop went with them. Bonner, Green, Anderson and Neal all hit 3 pointers and closed the gap. The fact that the Spurs play the Grizzlies tomorrow probably had something to do with it, too.
With 0.5 seconds to go the Spurs inbounded the ball to Green, who caught it and shot. It was close but it wasn’t on time.

Yea, but nary a single starter in for the crucial moments? Wow.

I agree. But Pop will be Pop.

Neals defense on Jason Terry was completely non existent on the second to last play to end regulation. Granted, it is a shot Terry routinely hits, but that was a very weak challenge by Neal.

Neal wasn’t particularly good down the stretch. He forced the issue and his defense was questionable to say the least. He did hit some big shots during the comeback, though.

Yea, he hit some big shots. But he probably should have been taken out of the game for that second to last play. Maybe the Spurs didnt have any timeouts remaining.

don’t necessarily think tony would’ve done any better though.

Neal tried to do too much down the stretch, he was trying to drive to the basket and a lot of that resulted on bad shots and turnovers. Thats where I think Parker would have help a lot, to play closer role.

i was talking about the defence on terry. i do agree, he would’ve run the offence better, and pop probably should’ve played him towards the end.

The value of this game goes beyond the box score; it goes beyond the fact that Popovich kept the starters on the sidelines.

This was a huge game for the bench. They played a starting Dallas Maverick team, which while not the best team in the NBA are nonetheless the defending champions. The experience these players have gained will serve them down the road especially during the playoffs. Maybe I’m just an ignorant 20 year old schmuck, but this game felt like a play off game (at least in the fourth quarter and over time).

Furthermore, the Spurs play the Grizzlies tomorrow. The starters did not overly exert themselves in a game which was a toss-up until the last ten seconds. We have a fresh start against Memphis. Look for Tim to have a big game.

It was a humbling yet also an inspiring game. We can moan if we so desire: “Ohhhhhhhhhhh….it had to be Bonner!”, “Why did Pop not play Tim and Tony in say the last five minutes?”, or the best of all: “Why didn’t Green’s shot count?” We can moan and moan till the cows come home but we must also recall that we were down 18 in the third quarter against a fiery Mavericks team. The bench by their sheer will and exertion changed that and took the lead several times (something our starters could not do). Sure I would have preferred a win—I am moaning aloud as I type this—but one cannot underestimate the experienced gained by our bench as well as a loud wake-up call to our starters!

WE SACRIFICE TODAY SO WE CAN STEAM-ROLL TOMORROW. GO SPURS GO!!!!!!!

Grammar note: “…one cannot underestimate the experience gained by our bench; the game also presented a loud wake-up call to our starters!”

I genuinely love the enthusiasm, but I am not a big believer that close losses like this help make you stronger, unless you are on the winning end.

We certainly can moan (with good reason) that not a single starter was in for any of the crucial plays of the 4th quarter. (I did not see the overtime) There should have been the calming influence of at least one starter in there for at least one play.

Tony and Duncan will not be THAT fresh for tomorrows game, its not like they took the night off, Timmy still played 23 minutes and Parker played 28.

“I am not a big believer that close losses like this help make you stronger, unless you are on the winning end.”

Do you not also believe in learning from one’s mistakes? With twenty or so seconds left in overtime, Neal drove into the paint as well as the teeth of the Mav’s defense. He was moving in but Marion poked the ball away from him. Can one not learn from that? I can. If I was Neal, I would remember to be more mindful about ball control and about knowing the location of not only my fellow teammates but the opposing players as well.

With the closing seconds of the game, the ball was in-bounded to Bonner. The team received a collective lesson from that action tonight.

Maybe the players are not consciously thinking, “Well it was a difficult loss but a good game. I can learn from this.” However, I think they are and will continue to analyze their mistakes so they cannot repeat them again. I hope that will be the case.

As for the minute tally, better to play 23 and 28 than 40 and 45!

Actually 35 for Tim and 40 for Tony sounds more reasonable.

I just think the game could have been won if Parker played at most two possesions down the stretch. You got a all star caliber veteran on your bench, and dont even play him at all in the 4th. Ridiculous.

The Mojo was in our bench …
Many people thought that pop threw the towel … and then the bench start playing awesome
They deserve it ….
Maybe it was very difficult to pop to replace Neal, Green or Anderson … just one of them for parker …
Duncan instead of Bonner, that would be ok

Josh Guyer (completely deck) - January 29, 2012 reply

If you were to look back through the game threads, you’d see comments late in the third quarter like “Anderson in, run up the white flag”. By the time I started to look at the thread, the backups had already nearly caught Dallas and soon passed them. The game had been written off (in the opinion of many), the starters given the rest of the game off, and it was “garbage time”. The starters put the team in a hole that the bench pulled them out of. With the bench playing so well, if you pull them to put back in the starters and the game was lost anyways there’d be even greater questions as to how bad a decision it had been to pull the hot hands, how the starters suck, etc. etc. If Danny Green’s shot had counted at either the end of regulation or gone in at the end of O/T, you’d have the win and people ecstatic at the way it was won. Considering that the expectation late in the 3rd was that the Spurs were going to be blown away, leaving in the guys that brought the team back was the right decision.

Alamo - January 30, 2012 reply

Yea, I thought about it and we actually had no bussiness winning this game anyway, being down 18 at the defending champs house.

alamobro - January 30, 2012 reply

Hah.

silverandblack_davis - January 30, 2012 reply

Clips beat Nuggets.

We had the moral victory. This is the first game that the Spurs have lost that I have nonetheless enjoyed in my entire life.

Woa. Where the hell have you been?

Hahaha….lurking!

I noticed Tiago didnt look so good on a few crucial possessions when we needed a shot. He was well covered, but missed two reverse layups.

You could have call a foul on Dirk on all of those plays

Josh Guyer (completely deck) - January 29, 2012 reply

not to mention his double dribble/travel

that was awful

I guess Dirk is now part of the breakfast club with Kobe, Lebron and Wade. They can get away with everything.

we need a 5king challenge system in the NBA. The refs shouldn’t decide the outcomes of close games.

Kondor - January 29, 2012 reply

So I see…..

silverandblack_davis - January 30, 2012 reply

Damn right. He was hacked. Timmy would’ve gotten those calls.

LatinD - January 29, 2012 reply

Dirk obviously fouled him but they give that non-call to superstars all the time.

Kawhi need to practice with Bruce ….
I think that he always afraid … of committing the foul