Post Game thoughts

[BallSoHard]

My impressions of the game:

Lopez- As Expected
He was ok. Hands were iffy at best. Shot a little too much for my liking. Thought he was solid.

Davis- Impressed
Blistering start. Good midrange jumper, wasn't as effective defensively and on the boards as I expected, but then again the Daiw matchup kept him pretty far away from the basket.

Aminu- VERY Impressed
Aminu was an amazing finisher in this game. Hard to talk bad about his game, but he still looks lost when he's on on the fast break. His dribble shoot moves look bad still, but if he plays like this i'm very excited. A corner 3 is pretty much all he needs and i'd be happy.

Rivers- Impressed (Second Half)
Wow, he looked lost in the first half, but after he took that hard foul from Leonard, he woke up and played very well. His shot was off but it was his passing off the pick and roll that impressed me.

Vasquez- Impressed
Ok i'm going to start with the bad. He can't guard NBA level point guards. Tony Parker ate him for breakfast lunc and dinner. He had great controll of the offense, got us needed baskets, didn't turn it over too much, and was a great set-up guy.

The Bench- What I expected
Miller seemed like it was his first game. Anderson couldn't hit a 3, some seemed forced, but he has a better midrange game than i epxectedd and was a hustle guy. Jason Smith, I was very impresed with. I expect a game like Smith had this from Anderson, Miller, or Smith every game. Smith looked like he should have been the starter over Lopez.

Just my thoughts viewing it live. Hope everyone enjoyed.

[TPDG22]

There are a lot of positives and negatives to be taken from this game. The only thing I want to point out is game management. Monty needs to become better at that quickly. Otherwise, good game.

[BallSoHard]

I think the beginning of the third where Kawi Leonard went off was kind of what i feared from this team. Some really bad spurs without scoring.

Davis was standing on the bench when our 2nd squad was coming back and eventually taking the lead on the Spurs. Also impressed at Davis' FT shooting ability.

[Purple Haze]

Biggest stat of the night:

Davis: 9/9 FT

[Smirk]

Little bit of a stretch to say "impressed" with Austin.

He was 1/10 and more TOs than assists. He did start to play better in spurts, made a nice pass or two and got to the line, which is great.

Needs to learn control, develop a midrange game and a runner, Etc. he'll get it though.

[BallSoHard]

Yeah, i said in the second half but i get what you're saying... He played much better and passed very well. The second half gave me a glimmer of hope he could play point which i didn't think before this game. He got to the line despite bad shooting.

[new city champ]

I wasn't a fan of drafting Rivers and it's true that his stats look awful...but I was kind of impressed with him. More than his passing or his outside shooting (still awful), I just found myself relaxing when he had the ball in his hand. I think as he develops he'll be very disruptive and effective in breaking down defenses with the ball in his hand. Yes, he looks raw but he can already get into the lane more or less at will.

[Snarly]

Until Rivers learn to finish after contact, he's going to have ugly statlines.

[Bongzilla]

I think Monty lost this game for us. Left Davis on the bench way to long from the middle of the 3rd till the middle of the 4th. Sat him for an entire quarter with no foul trouble. Overall, didn't like some of the rotations. I felt we did not respond to some of Pop's substitutions and left our guys in bad situations.

Also, he was slow to make adjustments and kept fronting Duncan at the end of the game. Finally brought in Lopez to guard with his back to the basket but it was too late.

Rivers - I was pleased. I could care less about his stat line. The guy is a 20 year old rookie. He should be a sophomore in college for petes sake. He managed the offense well in the 2nd half, showed that although he does not have elite quickness, he is herky-jerky enough to rock guys off balance and get by them, showed good toughness and made his free throws. Pretty dang good first NBA game, oh yeah all of the above while playing his first game in a new position.

Davis - Very impressed. They could not stop the pick and roll. 9 for 9 is nice. But those were CLUTCH free throws. WOW!

Aminu - holy smokes, who was that guy, Great defense, amazing energy, best athlete on the floor. He showed a couple of his clumsy old ways, but if he plays like that all season we are going to be in the playoffs for sure.

Vasquez - i have been pretty rough on him, but he did a great job of running the offense. He is a major liability on defense however, we need Gordon badly, we need to be able to cross defend the guards.

Lopez - loved his energy and tenacity - would have liked to see him with more minutes.

Mason - why did he play almost 30 minutes? Take away the 2 3's he made and he had zero impact. I don't want to see him on the floor at all.

Overall, I'm pretty darned pleased. We showed we are a young team, but we also showed that nobody is going to be looking forward to playing us. If we keep getting better, the sky is the limit.

[Pelicans78]

I'm not impressed with Rivers ball-handling. He looks down alot when he dribbles which limits his vision on the floor. Add to that he doesn't do much else well, its gonna be a long rookie year for him.

[HalfBreed]

Rivers need to get on them weights and play with more confidence

[RhythmNathan]

Sorry for double post. Shoulda gone here:

-Great energy at the Hive tonight

-we appeared to collapse the lane pretty quickly until Duncan had his way at the end there

-Aminu: finally

-we played above the rim like I haven't seen since Chandler left

-didn't appear to actually run a play in half court in the 4th quarter until the last 5 minutes

-Rivers first real action at PG in second half (other than summer league). Gonna be tough for him to start at the 2 AND backup the point soooooo yeah. Maybe because Roberts doesn't match up size wise with those guards? IMHO Roberts runs point at the end and we win. It's the only time we actually needed to run a play and it was hopeless with Vasquez in the clutch.

-Davis was held out for a really long time cuz Duncan was out I guess. And I suppose this could be a strategy going forward since the Spurs were knocking him around. Probably pulling a Calipari and holding him out from time to time when the game is close.

Novice opinion please no whammies

[FlyGirl]

I thought Davis should've played at least 32-33 minutes. If Duncan can play 35 minutes surely Ant can. I know the season is young and they say it's not a sprint it's a marathon but I think he stayed out too long.

[FlyGirl]

I don't think anyone had more assists tonight than our very own Greivis Vasquez. Go Gravy! Would've been great to get the win.

ETA: Hold the phone, the Clippers are still playing.

[jawznola]

Rivers actually looks like a kid out there, he has very little muscle mass and with his size, he'll need it to finish... Even people like Lillard and Westbrook are strong enough to play physical and finish at the rim

[MeSoHornets504]

Rivers actually looks like a kid out there, he has very little muscle mass and with his size, he'll need it to finish... Even people like Lillard and Westbrook are strong enough to play physical and finish at the rim

They are both 2 years older than him, you understand this right?

[FlyGirl]

Both are older than Rivers as well. Not really comparing the two but I remember how small Paul was when he came into the league. He realized very quickly that he had to get not only a bit bigger but also stronger to be able to finish with contact.

[PLAY TO WIN]

good game looking forward to more energy & good competitve basketball.....teams will have to scout us and prepared for us instead just show up and beat us like last season

[dcoop]

Davis isn't playing hard on defense.

[ramsters60]

Davis isn't playing hard on defense.

I have to agree....he can give a better effort defensively then he did last night....

[Imnos 2]

I looked at this game from one standpoint and one standpoint only. Potential. I was impressed at what I was seeing from the team as a whole. I mean these guys were playing like a team. I like that! They were unselfish, working to find the best shot on offense. They got better defensively as the game went on. This game proved to me that if Gordon was out there, this would have been a win. I am a little concerned about the liability of Vasquez on defense. However, having Gordon could help him. I was impressed with Lopez. I thought he had some nice post moves. I mean he isnt going to be 20 and 10 guy. I dont know if you need him to do that. But a 10 and 10 guy, yes. He had 8pts and 9 boards. I liked how Smith played. Great energy. Fearlessness. And I am not too worried about Anderson. I think he will be fine. Shooters have off nights. But he got good looks. As far as Rivers. I think he will come around. He definitely isnt a starter at this point. I think he just needs to calm down. Its seems when he has the ball in his hands he is trying to do too much. Playing at much slower pace and excellerating and playing faster when the defense allows will make him a better player. I do think that once he realizes that he needs to put two hands on the ball when driving to the lane for a layup or floater he will convert more often than not. Overall, I think the future is bright.

[Make It Rain]

What time is the Eric Gordon press conference?

[Purple Haze]

We'll see if he's feeling well enough to make it out there to the podium today, don't want to push him.

[WhoDatPelican]

I was questioning a couple of Monty's rotations. A.D. sat too long, what happened to J Smith towards the end when we needed a spark, where was Miller towards the end.
Overall I thought we looked great (better then expected honestly).
Couple different decisions here and there and that was a W. We'll get it together.

Reeeeaallllyyy could have used a closer last night. You know like a guy you'd give a max contract to.

[50_Hornet]

I was questioning a couple of Monty's rotations. A.D. sat too long, what happened to J Smith towards the end when we needed a spark, where was Miller towards the end.
Overall I thought we looked great (better then expected honestly).
Couple different decisions here and there and that was a W. We'll get it together.

Reeeeaallllyyy could have used a closer last night. You know like a guy you'd give a max contract to.

A guy like Chris Paul maybe?????