DPG21920
03-24-2009, 11:53 PM
I did go to the game tonight (thanks Ryvin) and I have a few observations:
As mentioned before, Pops rotations are all out of whack. I have some thoughts on this though:
- You can not really blame Pop for some of this. He had to plan for the distinct possibility that he would not have Manu for the playoffs. He had to tinker with multitude of different line-up combination's and see what he had and who can handle what.
- He has gone too far with some of the experiments though. Mason is clearly not the answer at point guard, no matter the match-up, no matter who you put him out there with. Teams have adjusted to him and Pop needs to adjust. At this point, if you are going to fail, fail with Hill. Hill struggled tonight, but Mason has failed as well. If that is the case, go with youth and defense and that is what Hill brings.
The team seemed to coast again tonight. It was strange to see Tim's minutes monitored. It almost seemed as if Pop started Tim, thought he could win the game without him, and then had to re-insert Tim in order to exploit match-ups. It makes me wonder what the plan is for Tim tomorrow??
- Tim looked slow to start (movement wise, not effectiveness against small line-up wise) then it was kind of like he knew he would be playing limited minutes. Tim completely dominated the game in the 2nd half though. Turiaf had no answer for him, and with Rappin' Biedrins out, the Warriors did not have the size to match-up. Spurs did not play big though, so it negated any advantage.
Thank God for Tony Parker. What a quiet, solid game (especially assists wise). You could see him scoring easily every time he was in the game, but you hardly noticed him setting up the offense so smoothly.
- The Spurs were pretty much getting to where ever they wanted on the floor. It was a pretty simple plan; screen off the first defender, then you can decide what you want: pull up jumper, drive to the rim or pass to open man.
- Credit to the Warriors they played with good energy, did not get rattled and kept making timely shots/plays.
All-in-all, it was a win. Not the most impressive, but a necessary win. We will see how they respond tomorrow against a tougher team on the road. I really wonder what the rotations will be and it will be interesting to see if Tim plays considering how he was used this evening. The energy was fairly good for a Tuesday night game and the team seemed in good spirits except for the moments where they made some silly turnovers (especially Tim when Azubuike stole it for the lead with 30 seconds left).
I had fun and enjoyed my time with my fellow Spurs fans, wish you guys were there with me.
As mentioned before, Pops rotations are all out of whack. I have some thoughts on this though:
- You can not really blame Pop for some of this. He had to plan for the distinct possibility that he would not have Manu for the playoffs. He had to tinker with multitude of different line-up combination's and see what he had and who can handle what.
- He has gone too far with some of the experiments though. Mason is clearly not the answer at point guard, no matter the match-up, no matter who you put him out there with. Teams have adjusted to him and Pop needs to adjust. At this point, if you are going to fail, fail with Hill. Hill struggled tonight, but Mason has failed as well. If that is the case, go with youth and defense and that is what Hill brings.
The team seemed to coast again tonight. It was strange to see Tim's minutes monitored. It almost seemed as if Pop started Tim, thought he could win the game without him, and then had to re-insert Tim in order to exploit match-ups. It makes me wonder what the plan is for Tim tomorrow??
- Tim looked slow to start (movement wise, not effectiveness against small line-up wise) then it was kind of like he knew he would be playing limited minutes. Tim completely dominated the game in the 2nd half though. Turiaf had no answer for him, and with Rappin' Biedrins out, the Warriors did not have the size to match-up. Spurs did not play big though, so it negated any advantage.
Thank God for Tony Parker. What a quiet, solid game (especially assists wise). You could see him scoring easily every time he was in the game, but you hardly noticed him setting up the offense so smoothly.
- The Spurs were pretty much getting to where ever they wanted on the floor. It was a pretty simple plan; screen off the first defender, then you can decide what you want: pull up jumper, drive to the rim or pass to open man.
- Credit to the Warriors they played with good energy, did not get rattled and kept making timely shots/plays.
All-in-all, it was a win. Not the most impressive, but a necessary win. We will see how they respond tomorrow against a tougher team on the road. I really wonder what the rotations will be and it will be interesting to see if Tim plays considering how he was used this evening. The energy was fairly good for a Tuesday night game and the team seemed in good spirits except for the moments where they made some silly turnovers (especially Tim when Azubuike stole it for the lead with 30 seconds left).
I had fun and enjoyed my time with my fellow Spurs fans, wish you guys were there with me.