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Going with something different for playoff grades. I've assembled the four most active graders throughout the regular season and the five of us will be coming together for game grades. Not all of us will have grades every game, but the combination of the 5 of us should provide some good variety of thoughts for each game.
Grades are on a 5-point scale.
SPURS 111 - BLAZERS 98
Mitch Johnson - 4.0
@LeBowen: We all knew Blazers can't shoot and they just confirmed it. The plan was obvious and fairly easy to execute, but the team executed it well. We'll see how he adjusts if Blazers get hot at some point. Having Barnes and Keldon that didn't contribute much on short leash was also a positive. We have too many options to depend on players that aren't contributing on that given night. Hopefully the fluid rotations continue depending on everyone's performance.
@heyheymymy: Very pleased with Mitch. Glad to see poise even in a more intense game atmosphere. He did well scheming rotations and keeping the players focused. Didn't get flustered with the Blazers run to start the 3rd. Still can't win a challenge though lol
scott: Solid gameplan from Mitch. I liked that he went a little longer with Wemby in the first quarter and after the initial stint he seemed to move more into a stagger with he and Fox which was good.
Victor Wembanyama - 4.8
scott: What a playoff debut. This kind of 3pt shooting won't sustain, but it was great to see Vic come out locked in with fire in his eyes.
@spurraider21: Obviously, he dazzled. Made 5-6 threes, and had some ridiculous drives. However, this grade is a reflection of his expectations. I thought he was careless with the ball, and his turnovers frequently lead to uncontested fastbreak points the other way. He should let the guards do more of the work. He also didnt do much on the boards.
@mazerrackham: Dominated his minutes outside of the one stretch he got a little too over-eager. Didn't seem to rebound much, but I didn't think it was particularly because of effort.
De'Aaron Fox - 4.0
scott: Was not a Fox offensive outburst, but a very solid game from Swipa bringing a calming influence to a yonug team in their first playoff game. 8 assists on 0 TOV and did a great job pushing the tempo and distrubuting the ball
LeBowen: Delivered when called upon, seems to be too fast for old Jrue and they can't afford to have Camara not guard Wemby. If only he cut down on those transition 3s, but I guess we'll live with those.
spurraider21: This was a very solid Fox game. I didn't love his shot selection, with a couple of early shot clock 3PA (made one)... but he was otherwise a very steady hand on a night Castle wasnt. 8 assists, no turnovers, and respectable defense. He also helped close it late.
Stephon Castle - 3.2
spurraider21: I have high expectations for Castle, but he also doesnt have to be forcing things when Wemby is rolling and we have Fox/Harper. He was pressing and wasn't particularly effective on either end.
heyheymymy: Castle wears down defenses with reletless attack but low efficiency will be game planned aganist by better teams over a series. Was higher on Castle than game thread consensus but he must tighen mistakes up.
Devin Vassell - 4.8
LeBowen: His impact was way bigger than his numbers, completely changed the momentum of the game on both ends. We waited for a long time, but we're finally seeing that 3-D player he was projected to be on the draft night.
mazerrackham: THE one who stepped up when the Spurs started slipping. Stamped his name on the game in a big way to push the Blazers out for good.
spurraider21: That stretch in the 3rd quarter was obviously worthy of a 5, but overall he was solid/ok. However, that nuclear moment in the 3rd helped us pull away after Portland made a game of it.
Julian Champagnie - 3.8
scott: Great defense and rebounding from Champ, and hit two of his 3 attemps, can't complain about that! He'll be ready when called upon for a larger role.
heyheymymy: Pulled down strong rebounds and his shot didn't vanish in the big lights. Keeps defenses honest.
mazerrackham: Didn't have to do much, but he didn't get in the way and filled his role.
Keldon Johnson - 2.6
spurraider21: He simply didn't make an impact on the floor. Didnt have much offensively, and defensively Deni was going right at him.
LeBowen: Harsh, but his decision making was really bad. Missed one easy shot and then started doubting himself, resulting in turnovers. I'm sure he'll be back, we need him to keep the momentum going when the rotations start.
heyheymymy: Knocked down a momentum surging buzzer 3 but seldom provided the wrecking ball energy otherwise.
Dylan Harper - 3.4
mazerrackham: Had some of what I felt was rookie hesitation (at least one or two threes I wish he would have let fly with confidence) but was still able to exert some big moments on the game despite only 6 points.
scott: Felt the playoff debut jitters hit Dylan the hardest to start the game, but he started looking more like himself in the second half.
LeBowen: Early playoff jitters, missed a couple of layups he almost always makes, but as soon as he made himself comfortable, the entire team benefitted. Two transitions he pushed started our momentum in the second quarter and there's a reason he had the highest plus/minus despite having pedestrian box score numbers.
Luke Kornet - 4.8
spurraider21: This is exactly what we want from Kornet. Energy, physicality, defensive playmaking, and dunking.
LeBowen: Favorable matchup, but who cares. He took advantage of it and keep the ship steady when Wemby sat. His rim protection was also way better than it was at the end of regular season. Hopefully he can keep it up.
heyheymymy: Feasting on the oops. Did great covering the non-Wemby mins. This is what SA needs from backup C! Was nice to see Korn scoring and his mobility looked good after the week off.
Harrison Barnes - 2.4
LeBowen: I guess 3 is the baseline, I don't think he did anything to have a negative grade, but he also didn't do anything to get a positive one. Mitch not keeping him in the game for too long when he's not contributing is the most important thing.
heyheymymy: Scarce for positives in his 11 mins but he brings vet savvy and ring experience.
mazerrackham: Fairly invisible outting from the Black Falcon
Carter Bryant - 2.0
LeBowen: He won't be getting many minutes and racking up fouls doesn't really matter, as long as those fouls aren't naive. And his were. Hopefully he can be smarter as the series progresses because there's definitely room for him to make an impact.
spurraider21: Minutes are going to be hard to come by, and he picked up fouls every few seconds.
heyheymymy: Learning exerience to just stay on the court at this point. Glad Mitch gave him a leash, but also glad Mitch kept it short.
Kelly Olynyk - N/A
Kelly didn't get a grade, but I did want to acknowledge that heyhey did give him a Happy Birthday shoutout and acknowledged his clutch gesture to get matching suits for the whole team!
Game 2 tomorrow at 7p CT.
Grades are on a 5-point scale.
SPURS 111 - BLAZERS 98
Mitch Johnson - 4.0
@LeBowen: We all knew Blazers can't shoot and they just confirmed it. The plan was obvious and fairly easy to execute, but the team executed it well. We'll see how he adjusts if Blazers get hot at some point. Having Barnes and Keldon that didn't contribute much on short leash was also a positive. We have too many options to depend on players that aren't contributing on that given night. Hopefully the fluid rotations continue depending on everyone's performance.
@heyheymymy: Very pleased with Mitch. Glad to see poise even in a more intense game atmosphere. He did well scheming rotations and keeping the players focused. Didn't get flustered with the Blazers run to start the 3rd. Still can't win a challenge though lol
scott: Solid gameplan from Mitch. I liked that he went a little longer with Wemby in the first quarter and after the initial stint he seemed to move more into a stagger with he and Fox which was good.
Victor Wembanyama - 4.8
scott: What a playoff debut. This kind of 3pt shooting won't sustain, but it was great to see Vic come out locked in with fire in his eyes.
@spurraider21: Obviously, he dazzled. Made 5-6 threes, and had some ridiculous drives. However, this grade is a reflection of his expectations. I thought he was careless with the ball, and his turnovers frequently lead to uncontested fastbreak points the other way. He should let the guards do more of the work. He also didnt do much on the boards.
@mazerrackham: Dominated his minutes outside of the one stretch he got a little too over-eager. Didn't seem to rebound much, but I didn't think it was particularly because of effort.
De'Aaron Fox - 4.0
scott: Was not a Fox offensive outburst, but a very solid game from Swipa bringing a calming influence to a yonug team in their first playoff game. 8 assists on 0 TOV and did a great job pushing the tempo and distrubuting the ball
LeBowen: Delivered when called upon, seems to be too fast for old Jrue and they can't afford to have Camara not guard Wemby. If only he cut down on those transition 3s, but I guess we'll live with those.
spurraider21: This was a very solid Fox game. I didn't love his shot selection, with a couple of early shot clock 3PA (made one)... but he was otherwise a very steady hand on a night Castle wasnt. 8 assists, no turnovers, and respectable defense. He also helped close it late.
Stephon Castle - 3.2
spurraider21: I have high expectations for Castle, but he also doesnt have to be forcing things when Wemby is rolling and we have Fox/Harper. He was pressing and wasn't particularly effective on either end.
heyheymymy: Castle wears down defenses with reletless attack but low efficiency will be game planned aganist by better teams over a series. Was higher on Castle than game thread consensus but he must tighen mistakes up.
Devin Vassell - 4.8
LeBowen: His impact was way bigger than his numbers, completely changed the momentum of the game on both ends. We waited for a long time, but we're finally seeing that 3-D player he was projected to be on the draft night.
mazerrackham: THE one who stepped up when the Spurs started slipping. Stamped his name on the game in a big way to push the Blazers out for good.
spurraider21: That stretch in the 3rd quarter was obviously worthy of a 5, but overall he was solid/ok. However, that nuclear moment in the 3rd helped us pull away after Portland made a game of it.
Julian Champagnie - 3.8
scott: Great defense and rebounding from Champ, and hit two of his 3 attemps, can't complain about that! He'll be ready when called upon for a larger role.
heyheymymy: Pulled down strong rebounds and his shot didn't vanish in the big lights. Keeps defenses honest.
mazerrackham: Didn't have to do much, but he didn't get in the way and filled his role.
Keldon Johnson - 2.6
spurraider21: He simply didn't make an impact on the floor. Didnt have much offensively, and defensively Deni was going right at him.
LeBowen: Harsh, but his decision making was really bad. Missed one easy shot and then started doubting himself, resulting in turnovers. I'm sure he'll be back, we need him to keep the momentum going when the rotations start.
heyheymymy: Knocked down a momentum surging buzzer 3 but seldom provided the wrecking ball energy otherwise.
Dylan Harper - 3.4
mazerrackham: Had some of what I felt was rookie hesitation (at least one or two threes I wish he would have let fly with confidence) but was still able to exert some big moments on the game despite only 6 points.
scott: Felt the playoff debut jitters hit Dylan the hardest to start the game, but he started looking more like himself in the second half.
LeBowen: Early playoff jitters, missed a couple of layups he almost always makes, but as soon as he made himself comfortable, the entire team benefitted. Two transitions he pushed started our momentum in the second quarter and there's a reason he had the highest plus/minus despite having pedestrian box score numbers.
Luke Kornet - 4.8
spurraider21: This is exactly what we want from Kornet. Energy, physicality, defensive playmaking, and dunking.
LeBowen: Favorable matchup, but who cares. He took advantage of it and keep the ship steady when Wemby sat. His rim protection was also way better than it was at the end of regular season. Hopefully he can keep it up.
heyheymymy: Feasting on the oops. Did great covering the non-Wemby mins. This is what SA needs from backup C! Was nice to see Korn scoring and his mobility looked good after the week off.
Harrison Barnes - 2.4
LeBowen: I guess 3 is the baseline, I don't think he did anything to have a negative grade, but he also didn't do anything to get a positive one. Mitch not keeping him in the game for too long when he's not contributing is the most important thing.
heyheymymy: Scarce for positives in his 11 mins but he brings vet savvy and ring experience.
mazerrackham: Fairly invisible outting from the Black Falcon
Carter Bryant - 2.0
LeBowen: He won't be getting many minutes and racking up fouls doesn't really matter, as long as those fouls aren't naive. And his were. Hopefully he can be smarter as the series progresses because there's definitely room for him to make an impact.
spurraider21: Minutes are going to be hard to come by, and he picked up fouls every few seconds.
heyheymymy: Learning exerience to just stay on the court at this point. Glad Mitch gave him a leash, but also glad Mitch kept it short.
Kelly Olynyk - N/A
Kelly didn't get a grade, but I did want to acknowledge that heyhey did give him a Happy Birthday shoutout and acknowledged his clutch gesture to get matching suits for the whole team!
Game 2 tomorrow at 7p CT.
