Obviously, the big news coming out of last night's game was Stephen Curry re-re-re-injuring his movie glass ankle (you know, the fake glass in movies that breaks even easier than the real thing?). That is an unsettling issue, to say the least. Still, THIS IS A NO EXCUSES BASKETBALL TEAM. So, we must soldier on, and look deeeeep into the numbers.
Expected Synergy
|
GSW |
SAS |
||
PLAY |
% |
PPP |
% |
PPP |
ALL |
100 |
0.94 |
100 |
0.97 |
BALL |
14.1% |
0.83 |
12.2% |
0.84 |
CUT |
6.9% |
1.23 |
8.0% |
1.21 |
HAND |
2.4% |
0.96 |
2.3% |
0.98 |
ISO |
12.7% |
0.86 |
9.8% |
0.89 |
OTHER |
6.7% |
0.38 |
7.3% |
0.43 |
POST |
8.6% |
0.84 |
8.2% |
0.89 |
REB |
5.9% |
1.05 |
5.5% |
1.09 |
ROLL |
5.7% |
0.99 |
5.1% |
1.03 |
SCREEN |
4.8% |
0.86 |
5.2% |
0.97 |
SPOT |
18.4% |
1.05 |
21.6% |
1.04 |
TRANS |
11.9% |
1.15 |
12.9% |
1.17 |
One interesting thing to note here is that San Antonio uses ISO plays less than most teams. And Manu Ginobili was one of the most efficient ISO players last season (1.0 PPP ranked #18 in the league). Manu averaged about 3 ISO plays per game last season, so you might expect without him, the Spurs would be hurting. You might think that some other less efficient player might have to run a few more ISOs. Then you'd remember this team is coached by Pop and has Tim Duncan, and is probably smart enough to figure out how to score against the Warriors.
Actual Synergy
GSW@SAS |
GSW |
SAS |
||||
|
% |
# |
PPP |
% |
# |
PPP |
ALL |
100.0% |
98 |
0.96 |
100.0% |
102 |
0.99 |
BALL |
16.3% |
16 |
0.81 |
13.7% |
14 |
1.07 |
CUT |
8.2% |
8 |
0.75 |
5.9% |
6 |
1.00 |
HAND |
1.0% |
1 |
0.00 |
4.9% |
5 |
0.40 |
ISO |
16.3% |
16 |
0.94 |
4.9% |
5 |
0.80 |
OTHER |
2.0% |
2 |
0.00 |
3.9% |
4 |
1.00 |
POST |
8.2% |
8 |
1.00 |
10.8% |
11 |
0.64 |
REB |
4.1% |
4 |
1.15 |
4.9% |
5 |
0.80 |
ROLL |
9.2% |
9 |
1.11 |
5.9% |
6 |
1.67 |
SCREEN |
8.2% |
8 |
1.25 |
5.9% |
6 |
0.50 |
SPOT |
13.3% |
13 |
1.00 |
24.5% |
25 |
1.28 |
TRANS |
13.3% |
13 |
1.15 |
14.7% |
15 |
0.93 |
So, overall, both teams performed slightly better (0.02 PPP) than expected. The Warriors were sort of rolling offensively when Curry was in there, and I would imagine our Synergy dipped once he was hurt (wouldn't it be great to have "adjusted Synergy"?) The "good"' news if you can call it that is that at least we were more efficient offensively than in the previous games against the Suns and 76ers before that. However, given that the Spurs were without Manu Ginobili and still managed to score at a very efficient rate, our defense still has a ways to go to be elite (to say the least). Mark Jackson has his work cut out for him.
Oh, and about those ISO plays. Well, look at that. The Spurs just didn't run so many of them. That's the mark of a great team in my opinion. They were able to get much more efficient SPOT opportunities (24.5% at 1.28 PPP). That's what having Pop on the bench and Duncan on the floor do for you. Heck, I imagine Monta on the Spurs might be much more efficient. Hmm...