Do you guys think Pop will actually make McDyess a starter in the playoffs?

[Amuseddaysleeper]

It seems like Pop wouldn't want to tinker with the starting lineup too much, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Blair continue to start well into the playoffs. I'm hoping Antonio would at least start against the Lakers, but who knows.

[Sean Cagney]

NOPE, Bonner will get alot of mins though missing or not as usual though. Pop is stubborn, like it or not he will not change what he has done now for a while. He is a winner though and has us atop the NBA so not is all lost and he must do some right.

[Obstructed_View]

Pop reorganized a 63 win team for the playoffs to match up with Sacramento and never went back. The only thing he could do that would surprise me is actually put Splitter into the game with Duncan.

[realtimmyfan]

I reckon Blair will start for 3-5 mins in the first quarter and then be substituted by Dyess/Bonner.

It also depends on if Pop will turn spurs into a defensive team comes playoff time.

[crc21209]

I reckon Blair will start for 3-5 mins in the first quarter and then be substituted by Dyess/Bonner.

It also depends on if Pop will turn spurs into a defensive team comes playoff time.

This. I think Pop may keep his starting line-up the same, but if things turn quickly within the first 4-5 minutes of a game and Pop doesnt like what he sees, I could see him giving Blair the quick hook and putting Dice in....

[Flux451]

versus Lakers, I wouldn't mind seeing this matchup

SPlitter GASOl
DUNCAN BYNUM
BLAIR ARTEST
Manu KOBE
Parker FISHER

[silverblk mystix]

versus Lakers, I wouldn't mind seeing this matchup

SPlitter GASOl
DUNCAN BYNUM
BLAIR ARTEST
Manu KOBE
Parker FISHER


I said this awhile back...I agree...it would certainly surprise the lakers and we could punch them in the fuckin' mouth for a change...

Splitter would not stand 3 feet away watching Gasoft launch open jumpers all night...

Blair would throw some weight back at Artest like he likes to throw weight at Manu

Do it Pop!

TD would figure Bynum out in a series and get bynum's ass fouled out...

then when Odumb comes in...that's when you put RJ on him...

[m33p0]

no. i think he'll see what blair does first. but he will have a steady dose of playing time.

[Splits]

Anyone who thinks Splitter will be part of the rotation in the playoffs this year is either stupid, delusional, or not paying attention.

[DJ Mbenga]

blair will play aobut 3 minutes before he gets taken out. its gonna be like a keith boagans situation in chicago

[L.I.T]

I suspect Blair will get a game or two in the first round to see how he reacts to playoff pressure and physicality. But, I don't anticipate Dyess replacing him in the starting line up.

The one I wouldn't be surprised to see is Manu moving to the bench; since Manu always gets moved around in the POs. That being said, Manu's value starting was aptly demonstrated in the Heat game.

So, uh. Roundabout way of saying I wouldn't be surprised to see changes but don't anticipate it.

[mingus]

blair will play aobut 3 minutes before he gets taken out. its gonna be like a keith boagans situation in chicago

Exactly. That's been what I've been preaching for the most part since the start of the season. Blair and Bonner are situational players because Gasol and Bynum are just too big and too physical for them. Splitter and Dice have to play the majority of the rotation mintues against LA.

It was so frustrating watching Blair and Bonner be exploited on Sunday. Not because I didn't expect it would happen if LA decided to hammer it inside, but because Pop has stupidly hung his hat all year on those two guys being able to hold their own on a consistent enough basis against LA's bigs and i finally saw that stupidity manifest itself. And there's Splitter on the bench all year :(

[EricB]

yeah ignore how Bonner and Blair did the first two games.

its all about the last game...

[benefactor]

Blair will keep starting...but as others have said he should be gauged from game to game. Dice should be the first big off the bench and get most of the bench minutes. I'm worried that the Spurs will be down 0-2 in the series before Pop figures this out though.

[8FOR!3]

idk what you guys are talking about. Blair's been our only big able to outwork the Lakers all season. He put up like 12 rebounds the other night.

[Obstructed_View]

idk what you guys are talking about. Blair's been our only big able to outwork the Lakers all season. He put up like 12 rebounds the other night.

We can spend the summer looking at his impressive rebounding numbers in the box score. ;)

[Giuseppe]

Pop's vanity will prevent him from forsaking Blair.

For him to change now would make him look like a horse's ass.

[weebo]

The Spurs won't win starting a 6' 6" center. Having said that, Pop will most likely keep things as they are. I wish he would, however, play Splitter a lot more even if he believes Splits isn't "ready."

[Obstructed_View]

Pop's vanity will prevent him from forsaking Blair.

For him to change now would make him look like a horse's ass.

See 2006. All it took was Ron Artest getting into the paint a few times and Nazr Mohammed hitting a three pointer in garbage time to make Pop completely scrap the lineup that won 63 games opened the playoffs with a 34 point win. They went .500 the rest of the playoffs and may not have had an actual center at any time since.

[Ice009]

See 2006. All it took was Ron Artest getting into the paint a few times and Nazr Mohammed hitting a three pointer in garbage time to make Pop completely scrap the lineup that won 63 games opened the playoffs with a 34 point win. They went .500 the rest of the playoffs and may not have had an actual center at any time since.

I keep reading people mention that Nazr got benched for that three. Are people half joking when they say that or do people actually believe that is why Nazr was benched the whole playoffs because he hit one three in garbage time?

Either way 2006 is the example to use to show that Pop completely changed his lineup in the playoffs from the regular season team that won 63 games, so it is possible that he does that.

[Giuseppe]

See 2006. All it took was Ron Artest getting into the paint a few times and Nazr Mohammed hitting a three pointer in garbage time to make Pop completely scrap the lineup that won 63 games opened the playoffs with a 34 point win. They went .500 the rest of the playoffs and may not have had an actual center at any time since.

I know. I was just trollin'.:lol

[Russ]

Pop needs to take Splitter's skills (at this point) and figure out how to use them against the Lakers. Could be Pop's greatest challenge and latest chance for coaching glory.

[mingus]

yeah ignore how Bonner and Blair did the first two games.

its all about the last game...

is this supposed to be some kind of analysis?

[Old School 44]

versus Lakers, I wouldn't mind seeing this matchup

SPlitter GASOl
DUNCAN BYNUM
BLAIR ARTEST
Manu KOBE
Parker FISHER

Nice idea, but there are no 3-point shooters, outside of Manu, so I doubt if Pop would do it.

[Old School 44]

The Spurs won't win starting a 6' 6" center. Having said that, Pop will most likely keep things as they are. I wish he would, however, play Splitter a lot more even if he believes Splits isn't "ready."

These last 19 games will determine whether Splitter sees much time in the playoffs. If he gets the kind of playing time he has seen most of the year, don't count on seeing him much in the playoffs.

[DaBears]

Does it really matter who starts the game.. I mean if your put in 3 minutes after the tip, and you play more minutes than the starter your replacing, does it really matter???... And if your in the game during crunch time, that is what matters..

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Does it really matter who starts the game.. I mean if your put in 3 minutes after the tip, and you play more minutes than the starter your replacing, does it really matter???... And if your in the game during crunch time, that is what matters..

I think it does matter who starts the game, because that's what sets the tone. Remember when Keith Bogans would start for us last year and the Spurs almost always began games in a 10 point hole because the guy was completely useless?

Obviously Blair is a 100 times better than Bogans, but it would suck to get demolished in the post immediately after tip off, unless, like others have said that Pop is willing to bring in McDyess 3 minutes into the game as oppose to waiting till there is just 4 minutes left in the first quarter or something.

Bonner needs to play no more than 10 MPG. If he isn't hitting his first couple shots, Pop has got to yank him.

Of course, that probably won't happen. :bang

[Sean Cagney]

I think it does matter who starts the game, because that's what sets the tone. Remember when Keith Bogans would start for us last year and the Spurs almost always began games in a 10 point hole because the guy was completely useless?

Obviously Blair is a 100 times better than Bogans, but it would suck to get demolished in the post immediately after tip off, unless, like others have said that Pop is willing to bring in McDyess 3 minutes into the game as oppose to waiting till there is just 4 minutes left in the first quarter or something.

Bonner needs to play no more than 10 MPG. If he isn't hitting his first couple shots, Pop has got to yank him.

Of course, that probably won't happen. :bang

Yep, you know Pop well it seems :rollin:rollin

[eric365]

I made the exact same thread 2 weeks ago and it was an unanimous NO :
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172871

It's funny how one bad game against the lakers (and that was wayyyy too predictable that Blair could not defend Gasol and Bynum) and it's not so sure that Blair should start :lol

[MinuteByMinuteSports]

Exactly. That's been what I've been preaching for the most part since the start of the season. Blair and Bonner are situational players because Gasol and Bynum are just too big and too physical for them. Splitter and Dice have to play the majority of the rotation mintues against LA.

It was so frustrating watching Blair and Bonner be exploited on Sunday. Not because I didn't expect it would happen if LA decided to hammer it inside, but because Pop has stupidly hung his hat all year on those two guys being able to hold their own on a consistent enough basis against LA's bigs and i finally saw that stupidity manifest itself. And there's Splitter on the bench all year :(

Agreed

[Obstructed_View]

I keep reading people mention that Nazr got benched for that three. Are people half joking when they say that or do people actually believe that is why Nazr was benched the whole playoffs because he hit one three in garbage time?


Series recap:

Game 1: Nazr starts, leads team in minutes. Spurs win by 34. Nazr hits a wide open three with 10 seconds left on the shot clock with less than a minute left. Kings don't cover him, don't make any attempt to cover him, and Nazr hits the first three of his career and is clearly surprised when it goes in. Pop chews out Nazr, makes a big public display of it, Bowen makes a comment about how inappropriate the shot is after the game. TPark, Chumpdumper and Ploto all defend Popovich for making an example of him for how classless he is. (Barry had two three point attempts and Van Exel 1 in the final minutes of the game while up more than 30 points and get a pass from Spurs nation).

Game 2: Nazr starts, plays fewest minutes of starters, plays the fourth fewest minutes of all Spurs. Spurs win in overtime despite Ron Artest being suspended.

Game 3: Nazr plays nine minutes. Spurs lose by 1; can't stop Bonzi, Artest or Martin inside.

Game 4: Rasho starts. Spurs lose by 18.

Game 5: Horry starts. Spurs shoot 57 percent and win by 9. Fool's gold in full effect. Nazr DNP-CD

Game 6: Artest sprains his ankle, Spurs win going away. Nazr plays 2 minutes.

[ManuBalboa]

Against the Lakers, I don't think DB should start.

[senorglory]

We may have our answer today. Blair came off the bench for 16 minutes; McD started in place of Blair and logged 22 minutes. No Splitter.

[Cessation]

Who is this Splitter?

[JustinJDW]

Does it matter who starts, it matters who finishes. And obviously, who's playing more minutes.

[spurs10]

Who is this Splitter?
this...is that like playing the Red Rocket for half a quarter and the Blair for the other half? Hence...the splitter??

[tdunk21]

http://twitter.com/#!/jmcdonald_saen


Pop says Antonio McDyess' first start wasn't ceremonial. Could be permanent as the playoffs approach. #spurs



Pop: “We’re just trying to look forward to what matchups are going to be and what we need to do, rotation-wise, so we took a look at it."

[bigdog]

I think it depends on the matchup, but if it's against a long team like the Lakers, I wouldn't mind seeing Dice in the starting lineup. Otherwise, I'd keep Blair in there.

[tdunk21]

http://twitter.com/#!/JMcDonald_SAEN


Re: Lineup change. Pop looking at potential playoff matchups. Thinkgs McDyess better counter to Dirk, D-West, etc. than Blair.



Manu had interesting take on Spurs' rebounding woes. Says it's up to guards to pick up slack on boards when team goes smaller up front.



RJ, on Dyess/Blair lineup change: "If you want to question a guy who has won four championships, go right ahead. I'm not." #spurs

[DAF86]

I don't care who starts in the playoffs, what I would like to see is a line-up of Tony, Manu, Neal, Bonner/Dice and Duncan to finish off games.

At the end of games Pop usually uses Tony, Manu, RJ, Duncan and a 4 or Hill. And this is the part of the game where Manu generally has the ball in his hands to attack the basket or kick it to a teamate. And I know RJ has improved a lot this season but he's still not a reliable shooter, same with Tony, Tim and Hill. I would feel a lot comfortable having Neal in there, everytime he rises up for a shot I feel like it's going in, I don't think we're getting the best of him, he should play more and be a closer for our team.

[Cessation]

this...is that like playing the Red Rocket for half a quarter and the Blair for the other half? Hence...the splitter??

cool story bro