Reply With Quote
I'm done picking on the guy. If he showed any credibility by admitting error, I wouldn't really care.
I think my nig gambit can give you a couple more.
I'm done picking on the guy. If he showed any credibility by admitting error, I wouldn't really care.
You are on fire still lol
It made sense, but Pau's ego would not allow it to happen. I suppose in the playoffs if dudes are struggling Pop will do whatever it takes to win and so would the guys. That includes starting or benching dudes as he sess fit. He has also split dudes up to win games and the players know it. It's almost a different ballgame.
For the Regular Season, he will be stubborn and stick with his lineups, specially starting lineups. It makes sense in the way that these guys have to get chemistry playing together and sometimes it requires a lot of repe ion and time. In the bench I think he will push guys and allow them some leeway to develop chemistry as well, maybe making more adjustments between a perimeter lineup that plays 4 out and 1 center, and a more traditional lineup with two traditional bigs. Whatever works best. I get a sense he doesn't know yet and may have two styles cooking up for different situations. I am hoping the burden is not on Manu too.
I firmly expect the go-to guy for the bench to be Kyle unless he falls on his face. Then the Spurs will be in trouble, and it will be Maanu to the rescue. However, as last season progressed we already saw Manu transitioning to more of a spot-up 3-point shooter. I expect him to fill that role more and more, which is obviously much less wear and tear on his old body. Kyle will be the primary playmaker.
Kyle would have to make a massive improvement from last season to become the go to guy. I think he'll be serviceable, but not a focal point of offense.
Lee and Dedmon together is problematic since both can't spread the floor.
Unless the plan is for small ball 2nd unit: Mills, Manu, Bertans, Anderson, Dedmon . A little better offense, but no where near elite.
BTW.... this guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRZdDdvw_yA is crazy enough a player to stick with the Spurs.
I think Simmons will be pressed by several of the Spurs' summer signees. Laprovittola has a good shot to stick - possibly at Simmons' expense.
Still think what's bolded makes sense. But it probably largely depends on what Lee/Dedmon show to Pop during training camp.
The reason we missed out on Pau the first time was we refused to guarantee a starting spot, Chicago did, got him, and were stuck committed to that promise when other line ups would have served them better. I can only presume we've made no such promises this time and he'll play wherever Pop says he will. Pau in that Boris roll with Manu and Patty could be fun to watch.
He is starting Pop spelled it out loud and clear.
Bench is going to rely on J.Simms and Anderson now (aside from Mills and Manu and others like Lee), but Pop has spelled it out: J.Simms and Anderson.
yeah but wouldn't that really compromise our playmaking even further for the SL? Parker is not an elite playmaker at the PG position, so I would think taking out Gasol, who is an elite passer and playmaker for a big, our of the SL would take an already very average playmaking SL to even worse with Dedmon.
Although I won't disagree with the fact that our bench might lack some offensive punch with Dedmon instead of Gasol in the 2nd unit (if Mills is off).
I don't think it makes a ton of sense for the offense to depend on Gasol facilitating everyone. Sure, there'd be moments where it looked cool, but the ball should be in Kawhi's and LMA's hands. For Parker, however, he'd be a much better play-maker with a roll-man who can finish well enough to allow him to drive. Much easier to force the movement needed to get others good looks with an athletic big diving.
I didn't say depend on Gasol, I meant him as a secondary playmaker to Parker (who isn't an elite playmaker/passer). If the ball in in Kawhi and LMA's hands, were gonna see more of what we saw last year in that both are not great playmakers. Maybe Kawhi can develop that aspect of his game, but I think it's safe to say that LMA will not (even though for this team we need him to be an offensive force, not a playmaker necessarily).
I do agree with you in that having Gasol on the bench gives our questionable bench a little more juice. But I'd still lean towards wanting a proven, very good player in the SL instead of an athletic, yet raw and relatively inexperienced player in the SL.
i would love this
BTB, Keith is still at this:
http://www.todaysfastbreak.com/nba-w...rn-conference/
Thinking outside the box – Western Conference
Every year NBA teams do something surprising. It can be lineups, roster decisions, playing time, etc. Often it is something that no one saw coming. This article presents some outside the box ideas that each Western Conference team (you can see the Eastern Conference here) should consider. Some of them are big swings, and others are tiny tweaks, but each represents a new way of thinking that could improve a team and give them an advantage they lack now.
...
SAN ANTONIO SPURS
The Idea: Start Dewayne Dedmon and bring Pau Gasol off the bench
The Reasoning: The Spurs will start the season without one of the league’s best defensive players of all time for the first time in two decades after Tim Duncan retired. Dewayne Dedmon can’t replace Duncan, but he can do a decent job of filling the hole. The Spurs already have a lot of players in the starting five who need offensive touches to be successful. Adding Pau Gasol to that mix makes it even tougher to keep everyone involved. Dedmon can handle the dirty work with screens and garbage points on offense, and he’s a good rebounder and shot blocker on the other end. Gregg Popovich can manage minutes for Gasol off the bench, and he’d be a tough cover for most backup big men. The Spurs will probably spot guys all over the place and manage minutes anyway, but this would give them a consistent rotation that could pay off in a big way by the postseason.
He apparently hasn't been watching any preseason games.
I know it's just preseason, but he's been very disappointing to watch. It looks like he did absolutely nothing this off-season. His feet are slow, his core strength seems very weak as he's out of position inside constantly and has to resort to grabbing, pulling, pushing or fouling on attempts in the interior. In his limited minutes thus far, you can find him grabbing his knees on most dead balls.
His play so far has reminds me of a young Mahimni ( rookie Mahimni), when he didn't have the core strength needed for the position and looked like a newborn deer -- where his legs were imbalanced and a step behind.
I did see a quote where Pop said that Anderson will probably play some 1, I took that to mean that he'll have the ball in his hands more often with Mills and Manu along side him. I would be curious to see Manu's spot up vs. pull up 3pt % like most players the spot up shot is usually much higher in percentage but Manu hasn't always had the luxury of being able to spot up.
I think Parker has shown flashes of being a well above average passing PG, when he wants to be. He is no Steve Nash but during MVParker years 11-12, 12-13, he was able to use his speed, aggressiveness, and craftiness to get easy baskets for the likes of Duncan, Leonard and Green.
Hmmm I am starting to think Keith's notes from Summer League were more his own personal wish list. His two biggest predictions were off.
Gasol off the bench--- hah!! Not happening. Psyche! Not only that Dedmon is not a starting caliber center. He would need to improve his awareness, correct his fouling, increase his screening without moving (avoid those OFouls due to moving screens). Etc. I am hoping he's better through the season in general, but right now, no, no way.
The second: Simmons is an X factor: Psyche! Part Deux.
Unfortunately, I am not one to pull up charts and such. I usually rely on other posters here who are much better at mining data. But, yeah, I would like to see that, as well as a historical chart of some kind showing the percentage of Manu's pull-up 3s vs. his spot-up 3s. My own impression is that he was more of a spot-up 3-point shooter last year than he ever has been - especially late in the season. I think he is transitioning in that direction...
I agree with this. My eye test told me as well that Manu was off the ball more frequently. Last season they used the playmaking from both bigs in the bench. I think we were all surprised West turned out such a good passer, and Boris made plays from the post a lot. Mills handled the ball more than I had ever seen him, and even had some end of quarter possessions. This season, they seem to be trending to others too. His 3 pt shot improved to be better than expected. He also played off post players a lot, sometimes off Kawhi, sometimes LMA.
West is known for his passing tbh, I read an article after he joined the team about how the Pacers depended on his play making ability to survive.
I continue to expect Manu to trend towards playing off ball with players such as Mills, Anderson, and possibly even Simmons getting cracks at the play making responsibility. I am not sure how well that will work with the spacing issues with the backup front court (Anderson, Lee, Dedmon). I would prefer a Mills-Manu-Bertans-Anderson-Dedmon unit
Me too, though to be fair to myself about West, I didn't watch Indy at all.. I personally didn't know he was such a good passer.
I like the second unit you suggest, I have been watching Bertans a lot, but they just need Lee bc Dedmon is so inadequate on the PnR and doing all the other little things, finishing easy shots in the paint, even rebounding. He doesn't have a good feel for the game, could be he started playing too late in life, I don't know.
Some of Pop's experiments are probably going to last past the preseason (specially with Bertans and Murray, they could be improving players through the season.)
Disappointmon, tbh.
dedmon now one of ST's favorites...
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
