Spurs still searching for answers to struggles

[ace3g]

Spurs still searching for answers to struggles

PHILADELPHIA -- If you haven't figured out this year's San Antonio Spurs, you're not alone. It's not clear that they've figured themselves out.

A mediocre November (9-6) led to a terrific December (10-5), which was followed by a lousy January (8-8). February has been spent entirely on the road and isn't off to a very good start. With one game left before they return home, the Spurs are 4-3 on their rodeo road trip.

A lineup change, moving Richard Jefferson to the bench in favor of George Hill and Keith Bogans at the wings, is the latest example of Gregg Popovich searching for answers.

"I want to have a defensive presence and set a tone defensively, similar to what we did with Bruce Bowen," Popovich said of putting Bogans back in the starting lineup for the two games since the All-Star break. "He fits that role pretty well for us.

"We've got a solid group to start and, in some ways, a more explosive group offensively coming off the bench."

Neither the offense nor the defense has been a consistent problem this season. The problem has been inconsistency.

Overall, the Spurs' numbers are pretty strong. They're one of only four teams in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. They rank eighth in the league offensively, scoring 106.5 points per 100 possessions, and 10th defensively, allowing 102.0.

But poor execution in close games has the Spurs with five fewer wins than they should have according to their point differential. They're just 4-8 in games decided by six points or less. Friday's loss in Philadelphia wasn't atypical, as the Spurs turned the ball over six times in the fourth quarter, allowing the Sixers to pull off a comeback win.

Turnovers aren't the only issue of late. The Spurs are shooting just 43 percent as they've gone 7-9 over their last 16 games.

The good news is that, like last season, only one team in the Western Conference has distinguished itself from the rest of the pack.

"[The Lakers] are the class of the West, and everybody else is kind of wallowing around," Popovich said. "We're all trying to get consistent. We're all bitching and moaning at our teams, questioning what we've been doing. We're all stuck together right there."

The Spurs also have a history of post-All-Star-break excellence. In Tim Duncan's 13 seasons, they've got a .679 winning percentage before the break and a .720 winning percentage after it.

"No one thinks we've played our best ball so far," Hill said Friday. "It's going to be scary when everyone's on the same page and playing our best ball. Everyone's looking forward to that."

But it's unclear whether or not the Spurs can flip the switch this year.

The eight-game rodeo road trip comes to an end in Detroit on Sunday, but when the Spurs finally lay their heads down in their own beds late that night, they'll still have more road games (16) left to play than home games (12).

To make matters worse, Tony Parker is banged up and 21 of those 28 games are against teams who are currently .500 or better. The Spurs are just 12-15 against such teams so far. They've still got to play both the Cavs and Magic twice, and they've got eight more games against other playoff teams in the West.

To date, the Spurs are just 4-14 against other playoff teams in the West.

They've also got a pair of games against the ninth-place Rockets, who only trail San Antonio by two games in the loss column, and who upgraded their roster at the trade deadline.

Dallas, the team ahead of the Spurs in the Southwest Division, also got better with the additions of Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood. But the only deal San Antonio made at the deadline was sending Theo Ratliff to Charlotte for a future second-round pick, a move that shaved less than $1 million off the payroll. The Spurs are still about $8.5 million over the luxury tax line, and don't have the improvement in the standings to show for the extra money they've spent this season.

"Hopefully we realize that we're not much better than anybody," Manu Ginobili said, "that we've got to grind it out every single game."

The notion of the Spurs missing the playoffs for the first time in Duncan's career seems ridiculous. And with 29 games to go, it's really too early to give it any serious consideration. But while we've seen what they can do (see last week's win in Denver) when they play their best, there are also plenty of reasons to see the glass as half empty.

And the switch will not turn on by itself.

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/john_schuhmann/02/20/spurs.struggles/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt1

[Dex]

"I want to have a defensive presence and set a tone defensively, similar to what we did with Bruce Bowen," Popovich said of putting Bogans back in the starting lineup for the two games since the All-Star break. "He fits that role pretty well for us.

"We've got a solid group to start and, in some ways, a more explosive group offensively coming off the bench."

Apparently denial is not just a river in Egypt.

Bogans != Bowen

And the Spurs aren't going anywhere as long as Pop continues to pretend that he does.

[lurker23]

Good article that sums up the season thus far pretty well. A touch of optimism, but with far more pessimism than I've seen in most national articles about the Spurs in the last several years. Before this year, they had a sense of inevitability to them, asking "WHEN will they flip the switch?" not "WILL the switch be flipped?" Appropriate, IMO, and I approve. :tu

[Chomag]

Bogans is not Bruce, he is not even close. As a matter of fact I can't figure out why bogans and Bowen are in the same sentence together. IF Bogans is Bruce then about any player in the NBA is bruce, and we all know the truth there. When will Pop wake up and realize this?

[Mr.Robinson]

Pops just seems like an idiot now.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

We've progressed from smallball to squintball. If Pop squints hard enough, Bonner looks like Horry and Bogans looks like Bowen.

Awesome.

[ohmwrecker]

This pretty much explains everything. Pop cannot adjust his dogma now that his personnel has changed. He is still trying to plug players into the system who aren't here anymore. Pop got too comfortable with the status quo because it was working for so long and now that it's not working, he can't adjust. He is basically admitting that he doesn't know what he is doing anymore. He can't let go of what should work to try what could work. It's unfortunate that he is tarnishing the careers of players who put got him to this level and hindering the careers of young, talented players that he can't figure out how to adjust to.

[Chomag]

Pop is coaching a completely different team then what he has. He needs to wake up and coach the Current roster not the roster he had a couple of seasons ago.

It's like the Man is completely stuck in those years One just can't help to think Pops has gone senile. He is only doing it to himself though.

Next open letter to Pop someone should ask him what year it is. :lol

[all_heart]

I can see if we had Battier in trying to compare him to Bowen.. but we don't. You guys are right, Bogans is not even close to Bruce. Pop is living in the past with the exception of no legit big to pair up with Duncan..

[SenorSpur]

I'm really starting to think that Pop has "lost his marbles." He is really starting to sound like the idiot that his mentor, Don Nelson, is. Talking out of both sides of his mouth. What does he want? Does he even know? Is he fantasizing or simply having "good old days" syndrome. Has he even looked at this roster?

Amazing to me the Pop keeps publically preaching "setting a defensive tone", yet he trots out Bonner and Bogans into the starting lineup. That isn't the answer. Furthermore, he continues to wax poetic about the "Bowen" era. Yet during Bowen's last season, he opted to move Finley ahead of him, for no apparent reason. It was obvious that Finley was a liability on the defensive end, and Bowen certainly didn't warrant getting displaced by him.

If he wants to field a better defensive team, how about investing in some players with more length, skill and all-around ability? If he wants to set a defensive tone, how about shelving "small ball" and keeping more of traditional lineup on the floor and forcing other teams to adjust.

[SenorSpur]

That trust level is diminishing. How the hell is Pop and RC going to justify the poor performance of this year's roster and going into the next 2-3 years?

[BlackSwordsMan]

1st round exit bound
CIA POP

[gospursgojas]

We've progressed from smallball to squintball. If Pop squints hard enough, Bonner looks like Horry and Bogans looks like Bowen.

Awesome.

:lol

:tu

[ohmwrecker]

Good find. How ironic is it to get such keen perspective from a T'wolves fan?
This just reminds me how lucky we all were to be a part of something really special.

[Mr. Body]

This pretty much explains everything. Pop cannot adjust his dogma now that his personnel has changed.

He reminds me of my high school coach. Teach a set offense every single year, extremely slow, Princeton-like offense. Decent when he had the pieces, but there were plenty of good players who never even tried out fo the team because he had no use for them. The guy was also a prick.

[Libri]

The Spurs are currently averaging 101 ppg. Yet, in the last two games, with the lineup change, they are averaging 91 pts. I hope this doesn't mean that the new lineup has permanently screwed up the offense.

[ShoogarBear]

Just as when the three brought in Terry Porter and Jerome Kersey and Danny Ferry to surround Duncan and Robinson during the Spurs' first title run.

Holy crap, that is an unbelievably inaccurate statement by Aldrige.


The Spurs are currently averaging 101 ppg. Yet, in the last two games, with the lineup change, they are averaging 91 pts. I hope this doesn't mean that the new lineup has permanently screwed up the offense.

Let's go through the logic here:

-Great game against the Nuggets ===> change the lineup ===> crappy games against Indiana and Philly ===> Spurs on track :tu

[wildbill2u]

"I want to have a defensive presence and set a tone defensively, similar to what we did with Bruce Bowen," Popovich said of putting Bogans back in the starting lineup for the two games since the All-Star break. "He fits that role pretty well for us."

Is Manu a better defender than Bogans? With his offense would't he upgrade the position?

[ChumpDumper]

Manu is only good for 20 minutes these days, so you have to decide when he should play those minutes.

[boutons_deux]

"averaging 91 pts"

and shooting 35% and 42% vs 47% for the season.

Spurs offense is dependent on the 3G almost decisively.

[Blackjack]

"No one thinks we've played our best ball so far," Hill said Friday. "It's going to be scary when everyone's on the same page and playing our best ball. Everyone's looking forward to that."

So ... they've come to terms with selling their soul ("scary" consequences be damned)?

Nice. :tu

[Obstructed_View]

I just think it's funny that anyone on the team acts like they have time to "look forward". That lazy attitude is what's turned the Spurs into the turds they are today. Have they put together a string of complete game efforts since the '07 conference finals against Utah?

[benefactor]

Furthermore, he continues to wax poetic about the "Bowen" era. Yet during Bowen's last season, he opted to move Finley ahead of him, for no apparent reason. It was obvious that Finley was a liability on the defensive end, and Bowen certainly didn't warrant getting displaced by him.

Very good point here. It's strange how Pop is suddenly going back to things that Bowen did, but when Bowen was still on the team he thought more offense was the better idea. What do you really want Pop?

[ElNono]

"I want to have a defensive presence and set a tone defensively, similar to what we did with Bruce Bowen," Popovich said of putting Bogans back in the starting lineup for the two games since the All-Star break. "He fits that role pretty well for us.

"We've got a solid group to start and, in some ways, a more explosive group offensively coming off the bench."

Wow... just wow...


"[The Lakers] are the class of the West, and everybody else is kind of wallowing around," Popovich said. "We're all trying to get consistent. We're all bitching and moaning at our teams, questioning what we've been doing. We're all stuck together right there."

Do we need to spell it out for you, Pop? The first two sentences have a lot to do with it...

You just gotta be kidding me if that's what really is going through his head...

[NFGIII]

Pop seemingly hasn't adjusted to the talent/abilities of the current roster. The Spurs don't have the bigs they have had in the past - no Drob, Rasho, Nazr,,,etc. He needs to adjust his scheme to use what he has and small ball isn't working.

We'll either not make the POs or get bounced early on this year. IF Splitter comes over then Pop goes back to his old scheme and hopes for the best. If Splitter does come then Pop also needs a defensive wing. Bogans should be gone next year and if not then we will struggle against teams that have an athletic wing, which means most in the league.

[DAF86]

I would rather see the defensive presence beign a bigman (let's say McDyess, or my pipe-dream: Ian), and the floor-spacer a wing (Mason or Manu).

[DAF86]

Reasons to struggle:

1-Small ball.
2-Not playing our best players.
3-Injuries.
4-Constant change in the rotations.

3 of 4 are responsability of one man.

[GhosTown]

We've progressed from smallball to squintball. If Pop squints hard enough, Bonner looks like Horry and Bogans looks like Bowen.

Awesome.

Classic!

[GhosTown]

I blame Pop and half the Spurs Fans.

The half that think that it is not Pop's fault.

Maybe if they quit giving him a pass we can get Avery Johnson in here to correct this thing before its too late.

And don't give me that AJ can't coach crap, because he beat Pop head to head. So if he can't coach what does that say about Pop.

[alchemist]

:lol looks like Pop has mentally left the building, the guy is ready to enjoy retirement. That Gasol deal really fucked with Pop's head, he's never been the same since.

:depressed

[DAF86]

Answers to (or rotation to fix the) struggles:

Within Pop's parameters (that means no Ian and with some small-ball)-

line-up:

Tony-Hill-RJ-McDyess-Duncan

-Hill the "defensive stopper" (even though he isn't one, he's still a lot better than Bogans), besides he plays better when he starts.

-RJ, our only true SF and even though he wasn't what we expected, he's still better than Finley, Bogans and Mason.

-McDyess, perfect combination of size, defense and perimeter shooting to play alongside Tim.

-Tim and Tony don't need explination.

Rotation players:

Manu-Mason-Blair-Bonner

-Manu and Blair come in at the six minute mark instead of Hill and McDyess.

-Mason at the 8 minute mark instead of RJ.

-Hill and McDyess come back at the 10 min mark instead of Tony and Tim.

-In the second quarter RJ comes in instead of Hill with 2 minutes gone by.

-Tony, Tim and Bonner for Manu, Blair and McDyess with 8 minutes remaining.

-Hill for Mason with 6 min remaining.

-Manu and McDyess or Blair (whoever is playing better) for Bonner and Hill or RJ (whoever is playing worst) with 4 minutes to go.

This way we...:

-Avoid small-ball but I know that's impossible so my suggestion when Pop inevitably goes to it is: always with Tim as the center (maybe McDyess, but nobody else), RJ always at the 4 (all our other wings are too small), and with either Hill, Tony, Manu or Mason (no Bogans or Finley) in the other three positions, Small-ball doesn't work when one of your guards can't shoot or is a dead corpse.

-Avoid the Bonner-Blair front-court which is just as bad as small-ball.

-Avoid playing Bogans and/or Finley.



I know this rotation gives Tim and Tony an average of 36 min per game and that's a bit high, but I thought of this for the remainder of the season but especially for the playoffs (if we get there) and there they will have to play that amount of minutes.

[SpursDynasty]

The Spurs are not "struggling". They are just going out there and running into a much more competitive league than we saw for most of the 2000's. For the 2000s it was the Spurs, Lakers, Mavs, Suns, and Pistons at the top of the league with 25 mediocre teams. Now, we are shifting into a league where 19 out of 30 teams as of today are .500 or better.

You can't win them all.

[DAF86]

The Spurs are not "struggling". They are just going out there and running into a much more competitive league than we saw for most of the 2000's. For the 2000s it was the Spurs, Lakers, Mavs, Suns, and Pistons at the top of the league with 25 mediocre teams. Now, we are shifting into a league where 19 out of 30 teams as of today are .500 or better.

You can't win them all.

What if the shots start going in at the right time?

[Chomag]

The Spurs are not "struggling". They are just going out there and running into a much more competitive league than we saw for most of the 2000's. For the 2000s it was the Spurs, Lakers, Mavs, Suns, and Pistons at the top of the league with 25 mediocre teams. Now, we are shifting into a league where 19 out of 30 teams as of today are .500 or better.

You can't win them all.

Spurs not struggling!?! Are you even watching the games this year? Honestly it has nothing to to with the amount of losses but more how they play in them. Spurs have been beaten in just about every way this year.

[ElNono]

LOL...

Once we start making the shots we're supposed to make we're going to win the games we're supposed to win... no surprises there...

[pjjrfan]

One of the trademark of a winning team or a championship quality team is that good teams finds ways to win. Bad teams find ways to lose. This season the Spurs are finding more and more ways to lose games than I have seen in Pop's and Duncan's era. And it's not getting any better, several guys most notably RJ, McDyess , Bogan and bonner look like they have no clue. It's amazing that earlier in the year Bonner almost singlehandedly won a game for the Spurs a game where not even the big 3 showed up. But that Bonner left with the broken hand, he is not the same guy and lacks confidence as does just about everybody and Tim and Manu are quickly losing theirs.

[Agloco]

Spurs still searching for answers to struggles

PHILADELPHIA -- If you haven't figured out this year's San Antonio Spurs, you're not alone. It's not clear that they've figured themselves out.

A mediocre November (9-6) led to a terrific December (10-5), which was followed by a lousy January (8-8). February has been spent entirely on the road and isn't off to a very good start. With one game left before they return home, the Spurs are 4-3 on their rodeo road trip.


:wtf

How does one extra win take you from mediocre to terrific?

[Capt Bringdown]

If we were gifted Gasol, we'd be sitting atop the NBA now & Pop would be enshrined as a basketball genius.

There's no answer to the Gasol trade, no one can compete with that.

[Obstructed_View]

LOL...

Once we start making the shots we're supposed to make we're going to win the games we're supposed to win... no surprises there...

No surprise at all. You have to be shooting well when you can't play defense.

[timtonymanu]

Pop has lost all ability to use common sense.

Parker-Hill-RJ-Duncan-Dyess

What was wrong with that?
This new lineup is so bad. Other teams probably laugh at it.

[Obstructed_View]

I'm sure the Spurs do a lot of things other teams laugh at. Equally funny is the fact that there are still Spurs fans that support the stupid things the Spurs do.

[BillMc]

We've progressed from smallball to squintball. If Pop squints hard enough, Bonner looks like Horry and Bogans looks like Bowen.

Awesome.

"Squintball." Hilarious. :toast