Well, I'll gladly eat some crow after Dante Cunningham illustrated it's possible for him to fit on this team. What the coaching staff stumbled upon is that Cunningham is useful as a starting power forward against a small team. With DeRozan, Aldridge and two other shooters on the court, the Spurs can get away with Cunningham spotting up for threes in the weakside corner and the spacing doesn't suffer too much. Defensively, he was pretty good. He defended LeBron in a number of possessions and did reasonably well, though it became an exercise in futility once LeBron had his effort level dialed up later in the contest. Cunningham's rebounding was huge and he also defended the rim well, particularly in transition. He's going to have to learn move to open spaces instinctively (and, for that matter, the fundamentals of the motion offense) but this was definitely a step in the right direction.
Grade: A-
Summary: Cunningham in the starting lineup as a small ball power forward appears to be an option going forward.
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Patty Mills
See, this is how Patty Mills can be useful. After a terrible first half against the Blazers on Saturday, Mills has recovered and had a pretty good performance against the Lakers. Sure, the clutch jumper to win the game was nice but it was more than that. Offensively, his aggression was really good and he continually exerted pressure when he had the ball in transition. Defensively, Mills still got cooked a number of times but the effort and attentiveness were better. He, along with the team, have a lot (lot, lot, lot) of room for defensive improvement but it's possible for him to get there as long as he continues to play with this level of tenacity.
Grade: B
Summary: Mills did more than just hit the game-winning jumper.
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Marco Belinelli
Marco Belinelli was again a hurricane of action. On this night, things mostly went in his favor. He took a few questionable leaners and passed up too many layups . . . but had enough no-no-no-yeses to retain his value. His cutting away from the ball was, as usual, extremely good. Defensively, it wasn't nearly as pretty. He had trouble staying with any of their perimeter players and was caught with his back turned too many times.
Grade: B
Summary: Belinelli gave the Spurs an injection of adrenaline on the offensive end but his D was forgettable.
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Pau Gasol
The production was there for Pau Gasol offensively. His passing, most notably in high-low action to Aldridge on the low post, was very good. He scored at a quality clip and helped on the glass. The problem for Gasol on this night was on defense. He just didn't have the footspeed to deal with the Lakers quick lineups, as his rotations were slow in the halfcourt and he was missing in action in transition D.
Grade: B
Summary: The 38-year-old Spaniard gave the Spurs good bang for the minutes but L.A. was able to exploit some of his natural weaknesses.
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2018-10-23 20:33:09
Davis Bertans
Davis Bertans only played eight minutes and his night was highlighted by a three-pointer near the end of the third quarter. However, outside of that one shot, the rest of his outing was a struggle. His perimeter defense was poor and he compounded the issue by being extremely soft on the defensive glass. The Lakers were bullying him in all facets on D to the point that the coaching staff made the correct decision to sit him. Bertans needs to play with more physicality if he's going to become an everyday NBA player.
Grade: C-
Summary: Bertans couldn't stay in front of his man on the perimeter and got pushed around in the paint.
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Pop
Starting Cunningham turned out to be a very wise move. The offense is clicking extremely well. Pop is obviously giving DeRozan the freedom to be an offensive superstar. I had two critiques with the rotation: First, I think the team should always have one of Aldridge, DeRozan or Gay on the court right now. Pop went with a complete bench unit at times and the tides turned swiftly. My second critique, which isn't entirely fair because it's based on hindsight, is that DeRozan wasn't given enough rest. Asking him to play the entire fourth quarter is probably too much, especially when he is taking on extra point guard duties on top of everything else.
Grade: B
Summary: Pop's belief in Cunningham paid off but is he (gasp) playing his star perimeter player too much?
Well, I'll gladly eat some crow after Dante Cunningham illustrated it's possible for him to fit on this team. What the coaching staff stumbled upon is that Cunningham is useful as a starting power forward against a small team. With DeRozan, Aldridge and two other shooters on the court, the Spurs can get away with Cunningham spotting up for threes in the weakside corner and the spacing doesn't suffer too much. Defensively, he was pretty good. He defended LeBron in a number of possessions and did reasonably well, though it became an exercise in futility once LeBron had his effort level dialed up later in the contest. Cunningham's rebounding was huge and he also defended the rim well, particularly in transition. He's going to have to learn move to open spaces instinctively (and, for that matter, the fundamentals of the motion offense) but this was definitely a step in the right direction.
Grade: A-
Summary: Cunningham in the starting lineup as a small ball power forward appears to be an option going forward.
-------------
Patty Mills
See, this is how Patty Mills can be useful. After a terrible first half against the Blazers on Saturday, Mills has recovered and had a pretty good performance against the Lakers. Sure, the clutch jumper to win the game was nice but it was more than that. Offensively, his aggression was really good and he continually exerted pressure when he had the ball in transition. Defensively, Mills still got cooked a number of times but the effort and attentiveness were better. He, along with the team, have a lot (lot, lot, lot) of room for defensive improvement but it's possible for him to get there as long as he continues to play with this level of tenacity.
Grade: B
Summary: Mills did more than just hit the game-winning jumper.
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Marco Belinelli
Marco Belinelli was again a hurricane of action. On this night, things mostly went in his favor. He took a few questionable leaners and passed up too many layups . . . but had enough no-no-no-yeses to retain his value. His cutting away from the ball was, as usual, extremely good. Defensively, it wasn't nearly as pretty. He had trouble staying with any of their perimeter players and was caught with his back turned too many times.
Grade: B
Summary: Belinelli gave the Spurs an injection of adrenaline on the offensive end but his D was forgettable.
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Pau Gasol
The production was there for Pau Gasol offensively. His passing, most notably in high-low action to Aldridge on the low post, was very good. He scored at a quality clip and helped on the glass. The problem for Gasol on this night was on defense. He just didn't have the footspeed to deal with the Lakers quick lineups, as his rotations were slow in the halfcourt and he was missing in action in transition D.
Grade: B
Summary: The 38-year-old Spaniard gave the Spurs good bang for the minutes but L.A. was able to exploit some of his natural weaknesses.