Small Ball has worn Duncan out

[ceperez]

and that's the ugly truth.

This pathetic lineup is also going to wear out Manu too. He just can't be the only guy on the court that plays with that kind of urgency and aggressiveness.

George Hill was extremely aggressive in the first half, but I think he just ran out of gas.

Nobody else really contributes.

Finally, that fan favorite of everyone, Blair, should have been traded. Yes, he's got a great instinct for the game, but at his height, he just can't score reliably against 7 footers.

[superjames1992]

We hardly played any small ball yesterday.

[Chieflion]

It is not just small ball. Even the Spurs bigs who play are ridiculously inept at defense. Blair is too short and doesn't rotate properly. Dice usually plays very lazily and botches his defensive assignments and rotations. Bonner knows the rotations, plays solid defense, but everyone just seems to score over him.

[Jason R]

Dejuan Blair hit the rookie wall, ya' hoser.

Let's keep giving away good pieces though I mean it's what we've been doing the last couple of years anyway.

[ElNono]

Bonner knows the rotations, plays solid defense, but everyone just seems to score over him.

Those two are mutually exclusive. Saying 'he gives good effort, but everyone just seems to score over him' would be more accurate. A solid interior defender can also block shots and rebound the ball well. Matt doesn't do any of those two things consistently well.

[Truckules]

Keep Dejuan Blair if for nothing else than a good big off of the bench.

[clubalien]

truth be told I think the lakers are just a better team then us. They have role players like ron artest that we need.

[DesignatedT]

duncan played great defense last night... the problem on offense was he had no lift.. no elevation and that results in him playing his 6th games in 9 nights...... just think about it. fucking a....

when he has rest like 2 days before each game he looks perfectly fine out there... hes playing too many games... we had 17 games in the month of march...

[dbestpro]

Maybe we should make a trade at the dealine to bring some more life into the team............. oh wait a minute.

[SpursRulez4eVeR]

George Hill was extremely aggressive in the first half, but I think he just ran out of gas.


IMO the lakers actually started to defend Hill a lot more in the second half, a lot like what Magic did in that game.

[Boss]

Maybe 3 highly intense games in 4 days where Duncan played 35min or more in each wore him out? Come on he scored 29 points and got 13 reb vs the hawks on Sunday

[Baseline]

Duncan is fine. He just has no help.

Against a team as long as the Lakers, being the only guy protecting the rim has to feel like babysitting 60 toddlers all by yourself.

Problem is, Pop would play the toddlers at the 4 spot anyway.

[TIMMYD!]

Maybe 3 highly intense games in 4 days where Duncan played 35min or more in each wore him out? Come on he scored 29 points and got 13 reb vs the hawks on Sunday

Small ball is a factor but this also seems to be the problem.

[bdictjames]

Keep Blair.

Roger Mason was just horrible. Even I could hit those open threes he got. And he still has NO HANDLES FOR AN NBA PLAYER. Its pathetic. Duncan has more handles than Mason.

[objective]

Those two are mutually exclusive. Saying 'he gives good effort, but everyone just seems to score over him' would be more accurate. A solid interior defender can also block shots and rebound the ball well. Matt doesn't do any of those two things consistently well.

Exactly. What's the old Wooden line, "Never mistake activity for achievement"? I've been posting that about Bonner for years.

Take a look at the first half play where Kobe scored over Centerpiece and Bonner. He got by Centerpiece with the elbows and then was able to get the basket over the Bonner contest.

Bonner was there, he was helping, he was contesting in Kobe's face the best he could. But he's Matt Bonner. He can put his hands up all day long but he's not going to be bothering many shots. If that was a big man who was a legit shotblocker I doubt that basket happens.

[Obstructed_View]

Those two are mutually exclusive. Saying 'he gives good effort, but everyone just seems to score over him' would be more accurate. A solid interior defender can also block shots and rebound the ball well. Matt doesn't do any of those two things consistently well.

That's not true at all. Bonner plays very solid defense, and he moves guys to the right spots. The people that score over him are typically the better scorers in the NBA, and score on everyone. The problem is that Bonner is being played as an NBA center, and shouldn't be defending those guys at all, let alone in crunch time.

Bonner would be better in a big lineup as a three than in a small lineup as a five. The failure is in the team philosophy.