The Patience Game (Splitter interview)

[biskvito]

Here's hoping I'll do better than Google Translator:

BALA NA CESTA: Today is your 1st game aired live to Brazil, are you excited to face Nene and Denver?
TIAGO SPLITTER: I think it'll be a nice game, last week I couldn't play against Nene because of my injury. If I have the opportunity it will be cool, I hope people watch it there in Brazil.

-- Speaking of opportunity, it's been a difficult beginning for you, right?
-- Yes, the keyword for me now is patience, even because there's no other way. the 1st word is patience, the 2nd too, the 3rd ditto, the 4th same thing. You can't get in here, in NBA, and "go crazy". I'm not used to stay out of the game so long, but its part of learning, I'm sure I'm on the right path.

-- Do you expected it to be so complicated?
-- Man, I'll be honest. When I came here, many people said: "Tiago, this first year will be though for you. Oberto came here and spent one season in the bench before playing an important role on Spurs title the next year". It's not that I didn't believe it, but it's because you want only good things happens to you, right. But this happened with Manu, Oberto, and now with me. You have to be patient, calm and persistent. I've felt already the difference of the game, mainly the referring. The 1 on 1 here doesn't allow as much contact as in Europe, and this makes things more difficult. The key here is positioning. And everyone knows how to play, everyone makes a difference, everyone finishes the play. It's impressive.

-- 1st year Manu said he did individual trainings more than anyone. Is the same with you?
-- Individual training is my daily routine. Here in San Antonio there's two coaches that work directly with me, teaching me rotations in defense and attack, and improving my technique. Besides, my shooting mechanic is changing a bit. I can't explain well, but my shoot will end up changing. I'm training as I never did, lots of attention from coaches, and Pop is seeing all this.

-- Speaking in Pop, many in Brazil are criticizing him for not giving you playing time.
-- No, that is not right. He has four NBA titles, we have the best campaign in the league and I'm adapting here. He did this with Manu, with Oberto and others, and I think it's part of his way of working. You have to respect, understand and try to follow what they have prepared for me here. Pop is always worried with me, asking me everything, wants to know if I'm ok. I can't complain about anything.

-- Do you agree with the theory(me included) that even with little playing time you haven't played well?
-- I think it couldn't be too much different. At Baskonia all the plays went through me, and most of them I had to finish. Here I'm a on a secondary role, the roles aren't the same, nothing is the same. It's being complicated this transition, but I know in two, tree years I may have a big role in the team, with plays made for me, for example. Now that the team is winning I just think of getting in and keeping the same good results for the team.

-- Can you say Manu has been like an older brother for you? And has your previous tutor at Spain, Iñaki Iriarte, talked to you?
-- About Manu, I have no words to describe what he's been doing for me. He gives me good energy, advices, he shows me many things. It's a great friend and I respect him a lot. About Iñaki, we talked a lot, yes. He's experient, understands the game, knows what I'm going through and he reccomends me to have patience.
http://balanacesta.blogspot.com/2010/12/o-jogo-da-paciencia.html

[Bender]

great read, thanks!

[benefactor]

Great interview. It sounds like Splitter's head is in the right place and the coaches are working hard to help him with his NBA transition. Good to hear that they are reworking his shot too...as his FT attempts are not what one would call a thing of beauty.

The downside of this is that he is most definitely going to go the Oberto road and that means he will not be ready for the playoffs this year. This is worrisome as it means Bonner will once again play major front line minutes in the post season.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

Well he certainly says all the right things. I have no doubts that he'll learn the rotations to perfection, as he's a smart player with high BBIQ, but he seems to not be prepared for the physicality and his confidence is low.

I'm sure he'll learn and become a good player for the Spurs, be it this season or from the next one on.

[cheguevara]

agree about his confidence being low. It's evident and not a good sign.

[GrandeDavid]

Splitter is ultracompetitive and a winner. He'll turn out to be a great contributor to this team by season's end and especially into next season. Its natural for people to complain, especially with the feeling that the Spurs' window is closing. But it'll all come together in time. I would definitely not recommend giving up on this guy.

[urunobili]

Splitter rocks! :tu

[Spurs Brazil]

great job biskvito

Good to know Tiago is working hard everyday with the coaches. Sooner or later he'll have a chance and must be ready. Nice to know Manu is helping him

[silverblackfan]

great job biskvito

Good to know Tiago is working hard everyday with the coaches. Sooner or later he'll have a chance and must be ready. Nice to know Manu is helping him

This.
The guy really sounds like he gets it and is ready and willing to do whatever it takes to play. Hopefully with the extra coaching, he will start increasing his minutes in the second half of the season. We will need that extra 7 footer.

[EricD]

Whats sad is Splitter has much more upside than Oberto and is a much better defensive player than Oberto ever was. At the same time he's better defensively than Blair and Bonner. Yet Splitter gets treated like he's Mengke fucking Bateer.

In order for the Spurs to win the damn championship the defense must reach it's full potential. And in order for the defense to reach it's full potential, Splitter must play!! Especially over Bonner!!

Yeah kudos to me for that take. Watch out black and bold.:toast

[lefty]

Good good :tu

[ego]

-- Speaking in Pop, many in Brazil are criticizing him for not giving you playing time.
-- No, that is not right. He has four NBA titles, we have the best campaign in the league and I'm adapting here. He did this with Manu, with Oberto and others,

TP was an exception !

[gospursgojas]

TP was an exception !

BC Antonio Daniels was his only other option.

If Dice, Blair were not here Tiago would be playing.

[trollt]

Splitter has more upside but as of this moment Oberto was a much better rebounder than Splitter is. I'd like to see him beast on the boards, Fab always came up with clutch boards in the 07 run & I think it had a lot to do with his getting PT.

[spursfan1000]

Good read! good thing he is accepting he isnt going to play much in his first season. :)

[SenorSpur]

Great read. My only worry with Splitter's development is that by the time he's actually ready to contribute and be a major impact player for this team, Duncan may or not be in the NBA. If he still is, it's likely he'll have a much more diminished role than he has now.

[jjktkk]

this.
The guy really sounds like he gets it and is ready and willing to do whatever it takes to play. Hopefully with the extra coaching, he will start increasing his minutes in the second half of the season. We will need that extra 7 footer.

+1

[jjktkk]

Whats sad is Splitter has much more upside than Oberto and is a much better defensive player than Oberto ever was. At the same time he's better defensively than Blair and Bonner. Yet Splitter gets treated like he's Mengke fucking Bateer.

In order for the Spurs to win the damn championship the defense must reach it's full potential. And in order for the defense to reach it's full potential, Splitter must play!! Especially over Bonner!!

Yeah kudos to me for that take. Watch out black and bold.:toast

LOL, you are the Erkel of Spurstalk.

http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/3813/erkel.jpg

[The Truth #6]

Every year Pop underplays some rookie. You think he'd catch on by now. A few weeks ago it wasn't obvious but now it is. With the best record in the league playing against inferior competition, you would think this would be the PERFECT time to play Splitter more. But on the other hand, Pop did play Parker his first year so evidently is everything is perfect. Whew.

It's interesting that Pop can make good in-game decisions but can't always make good in-season decisions.

[SA210]

Whats sad is Splitter has much more upside than Oberto and is a much better defensive player than Oberto ever was. At the same time he's better defensively than Blair and Bonner. Yet Splitter gets treated like he's Mengke fucking Bateer.

In order for the Spurs to win the damn championship the defense must reach it's full potential. And in order for the defense to reach it's full potential, Splitter must play!! Especially over Bonner!!

Yeah kudos to me for that take. Watch out black and bold.:toast

[mingus]

He'll be in the rotation when Pop realizes they need him, which is when the Spurs are getting their asses beat by LA on the 28th.

[temujin]

he'll be in the rotation when pop realizes they need him, which is when the spurs are getting their asses beat by la on the 28th.

this.

[slayermin]

Makes me feel better that Splitter understands what Pop is trying to accomplish.

His reaction time seems to be getting better. In the beginning of the season, he looked like he was in slow motion out there. I wish he wouldn't try to draw charges. He needs to use his length and challenge shots like TD. And on offense, could someone teach him how to dunk? He's missed some and one's because he wasn't aggressive enough finishing plays.

[Capt Bringdown]

With the best record in the league playing against inferior competition, you would think this would be the PERFECT time to play Splitter more. But on the other hand, Pop did play Parker his first year so evidently is everything is perfect. Whew.


Time for the Spurs to play jazz. We don't have the luxury of doing things as we've always done them.
Other teams can integrate new players more quickly, why can't we?
Seems to me the ironclad "it takes a year to earn Pop's trust" rule is a self-limiting rationale that isn't in our best interests now.
Pop's system isn't the goal after all.

[Bruno]

Splitter needs to make the transition to the NBA and he surely won't make it if he doesn't play. Pop is having a gigantic brainfart on this one.

[z0sa]

Pop not playing Splitter consistently is definitely confusing and by most accounts, a mistake.

[angelbelow]

Great read, solid interview that eases our mind.

Regarding Oberto.. I still don't think you can compare the situations that directly. Oberto was playing behind a prime Duncan, an effect Horry, Nazr AND Rasho. We were fresh off of a championship season - there really was no need for Oberto to come in and contribute immediately.

Splitters situation is quite different. Hes part of the youth movement at a time where we had to infuse our core with talent and youth. Our front court wasn't good enough last year to get any further in the playoffs, and they probably wouldn't have been good enough for the Lakers, this is where Splitter's theoretical appears like such an asset.

Still... its logical to bring him along slowly. I think missing part of the training camp and the entire preseason hurt him, and us, quite a bit. I'm still praying that he hes get solid minutes towards the end of the season and into the playoffs because while our championship hopes dont completely hinge on Splitters development, hes sure as hell going to make it a lot less difficult.

[Hoops Czar]

Pop not playing Splitter consistently is definitely confusing and by most accounts, a mistake.

For whom? Splitter is completely overmatched. I guess if Pop was in the mood to throw games away, he could give Splitter some burn. On the otherhand, 24-3 speaks for itself.

[ElNono]

-- Speaking in Pop, many in Brazil are criticizing him for not giving you playing time.

Deja Vu :lol

[BackHome]

For whom? Splitter is completely overmatched. I guess if Pop was in the mood to throw games away, he could give Splitter some burn. On the otherhand, 24-3 speaks for itself.

Ok saying Blair being overmatched at center may be fair but to to say Splitter is always overmatched is false. The only two people I cant see him guarding would be Shaq, and Dwight Howard. Other then those two players I think he could could help us out at center in certain situations.

The reason Blair gets the minutes right now is we want to save Dice and people are comfortable playing with him they know what he can and will do. That is why EVERY first year player has a hard time getting minutes for us.

I will say this that when we start playing games in the playoffs you won't see Blair and our championship is going to come down to how well and how long can Dice help us.

[Hoops Czar]

Ok saying Blair being overmatched at center may be fair but to to say Splitter is always overmatched is false. The only two people I cant see him guarding would be Shaq, and Dwight Howard. Other then those two players I think he could could help us out at center in certain situations.

The reason Blair gets the minutes right now is we want to save Dice and people are comfortable playing with him they know what he can and will do. That is why EVERY first year player has a hard time getting minutes for us.

I will say this that when we start playing games in the playoffs you won't see Blair and our championship is going to come down to how well and how long can Dice help us.

I'll meet you half way. You do realize Splitter is playing against backups. He struggles mightily on offense, doesn't have a jumpshot, struggles to create his own shot, can't rebound or block a shot on defense, and sometimes looks like a deer caught in headlights. If he doesn't know the system, there is no point in putting him out there. That's what practice is for. You may not believe in Pop's system, but he produced 4 championships and was .4 tenths of a second and a bad foul by Ginobili away from a possible 5-peat.

Duncan didn't struggle to get minutes, neither did Elliott or Robinson. Yeah, I know, they're exceptions to the rule. However, he struggles to get minutes because he doesn't know what the hell he's doing, and when he does get an opportunity to play, he doesn't impress. If he's not impressing in games, it's quite possible Splitter's not impressing in practice. Why would you stick a guy out there who constantly struggles during a time when the Spurs desperately need wins to combat a brutal second half schedule. The old saying "we need Splitter to beat the Lakers" is false. He doesn't matchup well with Odom, Bynum or Gasol. He would be destroyed by the Lakers front court.

On a scale of Mahimni to Scola, he is much closer to that of Mahimni.

[jjktkk]

I'll meet you half way. You do realize Splitter is playing against backups. He struggles mightily on offense, doesn't have a jumpshot, struggles to create his own shot, can't rebound or block a shot on defense, and sometimes looks like a deer caught in headlights. If he doesn't know the system, there is no point in putting him out there. That's what practice is for. You may not believe in Pop's system, but he produced 4 championships and was .4 tenths of a second and a bad foul by Ginobili away from a possible 5-peat.

Duncan didn't struggle to get minutes, neither did Elliott or Robinson. Yeah, I know, they're exceptions to the rule. However, he struggles to get minutes because he doesn't know what the hell he's doing, and when he does get an opportunity to play, he doesn't impress. If he's not impressing in games, it's quite possible Splitter's not impressing in practice. Why would you stick a guy out there who constantly struggles during a time when the Spurs desperately need wins to combat a brutal second half schedule. The old saying "we need Splitter to beat the Lakers" is false. He doesn't matchup well with Odom, Bynum or Gasol. He would be destroyed by the Lakers front court.

On a scale of Mahimni to Scola, he is much closer to that of Mahimni.

Have to agree for now, but I believe Splitter is going to be an considerable upgrade over Mahimni. Prior to the season starting this year, I had hoped Splitter would evolve into a solid big man option off the bench, maybe even starting some games, depending on certain matchups, but for various reasons, Splitter hasn't been able too get playing time. From here on out, it appears Splitter will only get spot mintues. Maybe that will change, but it appears doubtful.

[GSH]

If the Rockets had done this with Yao, he would have gotten a couple of rings before his body wore out. Splitter is young, and I expect him to be here for a long time. The Spurs have obviously been able to keep the ship upright without him so far. I'd spend less time worrying about his ego, and more paying attention to the future of the Spurs program.

You're watching a team that has been able to remain a contender without the influx of high draft picks, and managed to keep their payroll small enough to be supported by a small market. But I'm sure they know nothing about long-term planning.

And BTW - for those of you who never watched him before this season - comparing him to Mahinmi is just ridiculous. Stop it. Just stop it.

[SpursDynasty85]

this.
The guy really sounds like he gets it and is ready and willing to do whatever it takes to play. Hopefully with the extra coaching, he will start increasing his minutes in the second half of the season. We will need that extra 7 footer.



+1


Pop not playing Splitter consistently is definitely confusing and by most accounts, a mistake.


Sigh*, I think so too. But what can you do? Pop is #1 contender for COY. Hopefully Pop has a plan for Splitter in the playoffs that don't involve him riding the bench.

[Cessation]

Maybe next year.

[LatinLover69]

yah all you dumb dummys screamin waaaaah waaaah spleeeter spleeeeter.. come to meee. now he's playing haaaaa.

[wildbill2u]

You can't justify putting Tiago on the bench 'because he's new to the Spurs and the NBA" when you are putting Neal, Anderson, and Quin into the rotation with more minutes.

He is a much higher rated player

[Spurs Brazil]

Here is another article with Tiago; and he, again, said the most important word for him right now is patience. I translated the most important parts with Tiago's quotes:

Patience is the best remedy for Tiago

He lives in the same condo of Manu and some other players and said he already adapted with his new life in San Antonio. Said people still don't recognize him on the streets

Now he's in a different situation because in Spain he had a lot of playing time and he needs to have patience. The reporter asked if he was disappointed and Tiago said disappointed wasn't the right word to describe. 'The team is winning and the players already understand the system better than me and I also got injured in the beginning and that put me behind them.

And then again he talked about being patience. "I have patience. I'm working hard and I know my chance will appear'

The reporter asked if he knew he could get only 11MPG he would prefer play for another team. Tiago was quick to say 'off course not. For me it's a honor be part of a team like the Spurs where the players think about winning and not about individual achievements.'

Tiago said Pop look more than the way players play the game. Said he looks at the character of each one and Tiago thinks how he respond to the little play time is a part of Pop and the coaches evaluation, that's why he keeps working hard to improve and show he wants minutes

Said Pop doesn't talk to him about the minutes, only about things he can do better on the court but the assistants said Manu and Oberto also had a tough start

Tiago said he's understanding the game better now, 3 secs rules, the athletic NBA players. 'I want to do the best of my minutes to earn more'.

He said TD helps him on practices about where he needs to be on O or D but Manu is the guy who is helping him the most outside the court. Say they talk a lot

http://esporte.ig.com.br/basquete/2010/12/22/paciencia+e+o+remedio+que+tiago+splitter+receitou+ para+ele+mesmo+10333646.html

[BackHome]

Yeah everyone was right Splitter sucks as you can tell he has such a crappy game yesterday against Denver. Why don't we get back Ian and just do a two way trade...lol..........:rollin