Views From The Couch: Vol. 12

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This past week the San Antonio Spurs went 1-1 to finish off the Rodeo Road Trip at 6-3. The Spurs still hold the number one seed in the NBA with a five game lead over the Boston Celtics in the East, and a six game lead over the Dallas Mavericks in the West.

The Spurs last game was a loss in Chicago and put the team at 46-10 for the season. With only 26 games left before the playoffs, the remaining focus for the team will be to improve their defense, lockup the number one seed and marginalize players’ minutes as much as possible.

In the words of Rafiki “It is time” to begin Views From The Couch volume 12. 

Is Skip Bayless onto something?skip

After the Spurs loss to the Bulls, the following morning ESPN’s Skip Bayless tweeted: 

Biggest concern about Spurs: Manu NBA MVP 1st 2 months. Last 6 weeks: awful by his standards. Injury? Age? Slump?

This was a very good question, so I wanted to dig in and figure out if Skip was onto something. I dug up all the stats on Manu from the last 6 weeks. This covers a 20 game span beginning January 9 against the Minnesota Timberwolves and ends on the last game February 17 in Chicago.

Here’s some interesting numbers to look at:

Manu’s points per game for the entire season: 17.9 ppg.

During the last six weeks: 16 ppg (The Spurs went 16-4).

Last six weeks on the road: 14.9 ppg.

Rodeo Road Trip: 13 ppg.

Games scored above Manu’s season average: 9 games

Games scored below Manu’s season average: 10 games

From the numbers, Manu has only dropped 1 point off his average in the last 6 weeks. But as you dig Manudeeper, it shows that he is having trouble on the road. This can be understood when you account several factors: having to fly from city to city, his bodies “clock” is being constantly readjusted and he carried the team for the first three months of the season. 

In the four losses, Manu scored either his average or below in all four games (4 points at New Orleans, 17 points at Portland, 8 points at Philadelphia, and 16 points at Chicago)

Do you see the trend? All of the losses were on the road.

Now to answer Skips question – is it injury? Age or slump?

  • Injury: I don’t recall any major injuries bothering Manu. He still plays as reckless as ever and all of the scouting reports each game haven’t shown any type of physical injury.
  • Age: This is the answer. I’m not saying that because of Manu’s age we have seen his best performances for the season, but he needs to learn to preserve his body these next few months.

Manu carried the team on his back for the first three months and as statistical evidence has shown, he’s just tired. He needs rest. He can’t be the go to guy for a full 82 game season. He plays too hard every time he’s out on the floor and coach Pop will have to adjust and monitor Manu’s minutes as much as possible down the stretch. It is critical that he is fresh come the playoffs.

Fatigue is what is bothering Manu the most in my opinion. This is evident by his production a few weeks ago:

He played in a back-to-back series and only scored 8 points at Philadelphia and 6 points at Washington. Pop was able to rest him in the Washington game luckily because the team got a huge lead and never let up. The following game, on two days rest Manu scored 22 points at New Jersey. This shows you that Manu still has big games stored in his body; he just can’t be unleashing them every single night.

Manu will need to learn to choose when to carry the team and when to let Parker be the catalyst. If Manu, his teammates and the coaching staff can figure out a way to keep his body fresh for the playoffs, MVP Manu will make a consistent reappearance.

The Past Should Be Revisited Through Laughter

(Please enjoy hilarious commentary from fans, writers and other media outlets via Twitter)

@ Chicago Bulls L 99-109

In the second quarter @madcowheff tweeted “DeJuan Blair might be able to wrestle a real bull and win

In the fourth quarter, as the Spurs could not grab a rebound, I tweeted “The #Spurs are allergic to rebounds tonight…………..

In the fourth quarter, when Derrick Rose was on his way to scoring 42 points, @russbengtson tweeted “And Derrick Rose should be illegal. #bulls

At the end of the game, the majority of Spurs fans felt down about the loss. @mojavi74 provided some words of encouragement “Look at the brightside #Spurs fan, at least it’s not the Grammy roadtrip. #GoSpursGo” In reference to the Lakers calling their road trip “The Grammy Roadtrip”

Player Of The WeekTP

Tony Parker: Parker tried his hardest to carry the Spurs to victory in Chicago, but his effort wasn’t enough. Parker scored 26 points (11-21 FG) and added 2 steals along with 1 block (anytime a point guard gets a block, that’s pretty remarkable). 

Honorable Sniper

Gary Neal: Neal came off the bench in Chicago and in only 22 minutes of action scored 16 points (6-9 FG, 4-5 three pointers). ESPN’s program ‘Outside The Lines’ captured a fine documentary on Neal’s journey, this is a must watch for all Spurs fans.

By The Numbers

(Gunslinging: +100 points. Teams That Matter: All 8 west playoff seeds and top 6 East playoff seeds. Quality Wins: Wins by +10 points. Blow Outs: Wins by +20 points. Closing Time-: Games decided by 5 points or less.)

The Week Ahead

Record 46-10
AT&T Center 25-2
Opponents House 21-8
Vs. The Mighty West 29-5
Vs. The East 17-5
Vs. Southwest Division (7-3)
Gunslinging Wins 37/55 Games
Vs. Teams That Matter 17-8
Quality Wins 18/50 Games
Blow Outs 6/50 Games
Closing Time (10-2)
Last 10 games (7-3)
Scoring Average 103.5ppg
Holding Opponents to 96.3ppg
Victory Margin (+) 7.1ppg

This week the Spurs return home and play two Top 15 teams in the NBA, along with one lower tier team.

Game 57. Oklahoma City Thunder (Team That Matters): the Thunder are ranked #6 in the NBA at 35-19 and have gone 7-3 in their last 10 games. The Spurs are 2-0 thus far against the Thunder. Expect James Harden’s beard to get some valuable playing time.

Game 58. New Jersey Nets: The Nets are ranked #25 in the NBA at 17-40 and have gone 3-7 in their last 10 games. The Spurs won the first battle in Jersey. There were a lot of Sasha Vujacic jokes in the last game from Spurs fans, I expect more of the same because Sasha is just one of those people who it’s almost impossible to not crack a joke on him.

Game 59. Memphis Grizzlies: The Grizzlies are ranked #14 in the NBA at 31-26 and have gone 8-2 in their last 10 games. The Spurs won the first game against the Grizzlies earlier in the season. I’m interested in seeing if Marc Gasol yells loudly like his brother Pau when he attempts a layup?

I Want Your Thoughts: The Chicago Loss

This past Thursday the Spurs lost to the Chicago Bulls 99-109. There were three ways to look at the loss, pick a reason and give your answer why you believe this:

a.) The Bulls shot 54% for the game; there was nothing the Spurs could do.

b.) Derrick Rose just had an extraordinary game (42 points, 8 assists) but that won’t happen in a playoff series against the Spurs.

c.) The Spurs need serious help in the frontcourt because the Bulls out-rebounded them 41-29 without their best rebounder (Joakim Noah).

| Follow Paul on Twitter: @24writer | Email Paul at:  paul@projectspurs.com

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Paul is an editor, writer and content manager for ProjectSpurs.com (@ProjectSpurs) and AnalyzingTheLeague.com (@ATLeague_NBA). Paul is also the host of the Spurscast (@TheSpurscast). Paul has been a credentialed media member covering the San Antonio Spurs and NBA since 2011. Paul has been featured on numerous radio, tv, online and podcast shows.