The weak Western conference..

[HarlemHeat37]

The worst part of the terrible Spurs offseason is the fact that they seemingly squandered an ideal opportunity to move up, in the weakest conference in recent WC history..

The Mavs lost their defensive anchor and arguably their 2nd most important player from last season.. the Lakers look absolutely terrible, their roster is severely lacking in talent, compounded by a terrible coach..

The other contenders are young, flawed teams like the Thunder, Grizzlies and Clippers..up and coming teams, but far from dominant(granted, the Spurs are going to match up terribly against the Clippers)..

Is it encouraging that the conference is weak enough for the Spurs to probably compete, with internal improvements, or does it feel like a missed opportunity to take advantage of the weak competition?..

[ElNono]

It's in flux, but I expect some teams to hit their strides. OKC I expect to grow and stabilize. Teams like the Clips have way too much talent and it will cost Del Negro a lot to fuck it all up.
Mavs will come around.
Too early to get the whole picture, IMO

[Obstructed_View]

I agree that this is a pretty good oppotunity. I don't think there are any dominant eat teams either. Not too happy with the offseason, but the Spurs have until the trade deadline.

[Juggity]

I agree that this is a pretty good oppotunity. I don't think there are any dominant eat teams either. Not too happy with the offseason, but the Spurs have until the trade deadline.

That's what we thought last season, and then the trade deadline came and virtually nothing changed.

[jjktkk]

That's what we thought last season, and then the trade deadline came and virtually nothing changed.

True, but the glaring hole in the middle is even bigger this year with Dice retiring. I expect Splitter to be part of the answer, but the Spurs really got to get a big this trade deadline.

[Obstructed_View]

That's what we thought last season, and then the trade deadline came and virtually nothing changed.

True, but the Spurs were on a 75 win pace at the time, so they should be given a pass for not breaking what didn't need fixing. I fully expect the frontline problems to be more glaring this year, particularly since the Spurs have already acknowledged it.

[DPG21920]

It did need fixing though, OV. Many of us said so.

[Obstructed_View]

It did need fixing though, OV. Many of us said so.

Very true. The Spurs' problems last year were more because they didn't bother to get Splitter or Anderson ready. That didn't need a trade. This season, there's not even that option. They need help even if Ja and Splitter start to play well.

[slick'81]

no doubt la and dallas havent improved but like others have said this is the weakest the spurs frontline has been since duncan came aboard

[024]

no doubt la and dallas havent improved but like others have said this is the weakest the spurs frontline has been since duncan came aboard
every year the frontline gets weaker than the last. it's quite the accomplishment the spurs have pulled.

[TD 21]

every year the frontline gets weaker than the last. it's quite the accomplishment the spurs have pulled.

But don't blame the front office, says the apologists.

To answer the question: It is encouraging that the conference is weak, but it's also a missed opportunity to put themselves in pole position, which they could have done with a realistic move or two.

As far as the Spurs matching up terribly with the Clippers, they only match up particularly poorly with Griffin. They'd have to throw the kitchen sink at him, from Blair to Bonner to Splitter to Leonard, with various coverages mixed in. But on the flip side, the Clippers would have trouble matching up with the Spurs. They have no one to defend Ginobili and only the foul prone Jordan to defend Duncan. And Splitter may not exactly be prime Duncan in the post, but if he's got Cook or Evans on him, he could very well do some damage.

[Sean Cagney]

True, but the Spurs were on a 75 win pace at the time, so they should be given a pass for not breaking what didn't need fixing. I fully expect the frontline problems to be more glaring this year, particularly since the Spurs have already acknowledged it.

We all knew in reality come playoff time that would slow down in a grind it out game and the Spurs would get exposed with the lack of C and lack of overall D out there, winning or not it was glaring! Spurs won some very lucky games too, ones they had no business coming back to win early on. The deficiencies were always there IMO.

[Obstructed_View]

We all knew in reality come playoff time that would slow down in a grind it out game and the Spurs would get exposed with the lack of C and lack of overall D out there, winning or not it was glaring! Spurs won some very lucky games too, ones they had no business coming back to win early on. The deficiencies were always there IMO.

I agree. I was on the "start Splitter and Duncan together" train as early as anyone. I'm still shocked that everyone in the world but Pop saw how glaring that weakness along the front line was and is. It might not really have mattered because so many people failed to show up by that point. TP and Hill and RJ were all abysmal. Would have been seriously nice to have that insurance, but if you give time to Splitter and Duncan last year, Dice is far less gassed by playoff time and that rotation could probably have been pretty good.

[therealtruth]

Very true. The Spurs' problems last year were more because they didn't bother to get Splitter or Anderson ready. That didn't need a trade. This season, there's not even that option. They need help even if Ja and Splitter start to play well.

Despite the winning the team would have been much better defensively if they had integrated Anderson and Splitter.

[Obstructed_View]

Despite the winning the team would have been much better defensively if they had integrated Anderson and Splitter.

True dat. The Spurs probably couldn't have anticipated that so many guys would stink by playoff time, but there's simply no excuse for refusing to develop otherwise talented players.

[therealtruth]

I agree. I was on the "start Splitter and Duncan together" train as early as anyone. I'm still shocked that everyone in the world but Pop saw how glaring that weakness along the front line was and is. It might not really have mattered because so many people failed to show up by that point. TP and Hill and RJ were all abysmal. Would have been seriously nice to have that insurance, but if you give time to Splitter and Duncan last year, Dice is far less gassed by playoff time and that rotation could probably have been pretty good.

A big man rotation of TD/Splitter/Dice could definitely have been able to handle Gasol/Randolph/Arthur single coverage. What killed us was when we had to double and their perimeter players got wide open looks.

[mystargtr34]

Yea one of the things that shocked me last season was how Pop panicked and conceded his mistake by throwing a green Splitter out there against the Grizz when Blair and Bonner started getting their asses kicked during the post season. Its hard to believe how he didnt think that had any chance of happening in November, or December, or January during games when Splitter was getting DNP-CD's and opposition big men were torching the Spurs night after night.

I think alot of people here, including me found it reallt really difficult to foresee a team with a Blair and Bonner as its 2nd and 3rd bigs winning a championships even during all of those high scoring/flukey regular season wins... especially with teams like the Lakers, Grizz and Mavericks to get through.

Im yet to here a good explanation/reasoning for this.

[Obstructed_View]

Yea one of the things that shocked me last season was how Pop panicked and conceded his mistake by throwing a green Splitter out there against the Grizz when Blair and Bonner started getting their asses kicked during the post season. Its hard to believe how he didnt think that had any chance of happening in November, or December, or January during games when Splitter was getting DNP-CD's and opposition big men were torching the Spurs night after night.

I think alot of people here, including me found it reallt really difficult to foresee a team with a Blair and Bonner as its 2nd and 3rd bigs winning a championships even during all of those high scoring/flukey regular season wins... especially with teams like the Lakers, Grizz and Mavericks to get through.

Im yet to here a good explanation/reasoning for this.

Only thing that could be worse than the above is if Pop doesn't acknowledge that Splitter was the second or third best player on the team despite having so little integration during the season and act accordingly this year.

[mystargtr34]

Only thing that could be worse than the above is if Pop doesn't acknowledge that Splitter was the second or third best player on the team despite having so little integration during the season and act accordingly this year.

Yea it actually wouldnt surprise me if stubborn Pop continues with Splitter off the bench the first part of the season until the point it becomes obvious to everyone he should be playing...just so the Memphis ass kicking isnt fresh in peoples minds when he concedes his position.

[Obstructed_View]

Meh, there's no telling. Feels like he sometimes is daring the pussies in the local media to question him about it.

[therealtruth]

If he's serious about getting better defensively he has to start TD and Splitter. It's that simple. At the same time he also has to avoid playing Blair and Bonner together. That means he needs another big in the rotation. Playing with Blair/Bonner, TD and Splitter have to play defense for two. Playing with each other they can be formidable as we've seen with Lakers Gasol/Bynum.

[mystargtr34]

Playing Blair and Bonner isnt ideal in any situation.. but it wont be as bad if its strictly against opposition second units.. who mostly have under sized/under skilled bigs.

[Fabbs]

Which team still has the weakest coaching?
http://www.highlyeffectivecoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/The-Weakest-Link.jpg
:pop::deadhorse

[Fireball]

Playing Blair and Bonner isnt ideal in any situation.. but it wont be as bad if its strictly against opposition second units.. who mostly have under sized/under skilled bigs.

And there is the other problem with the Spurs. Tim cannot not play minutes like starters in other teams anymore. Tiago could and should, but I doubt Pop would use him 30+ minutes. So if Tim starts with Tiago, it is inevitable that Bonner and Blair play against the starters of the opponents. It might be limited minutes, but enough to decide the game ...

[therealtruth]

At the end of the day it all comes down to matchups. You have to play the matchups that make sense. In the Finals Dallas was getting killed every time Nowitzki went to the bench and Peja came in. Carlisle eventually figured out a rotation that worked. Pop has got to be able to figure out when matchups don't work.

[jjktkk]

Why do people on here think I don't know shit about basketball?
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/2204/raplphwiggumcartoon.png

[z0sa]

Try playing Splitter.