Diaw or Splitter

[ViceCity84]

If Spurs play Grizzlies or Lakers in a playoff series.Who plays the crunch time minutes along with Duncan?Does Pop go small with Jackson or does he have the stones to keep playing Bonner.

If we play the Thunder.Pop will go small and Scotty Brooks will cave in.He always does.

My guess:He goes Diaw.Tiago is soft.

[Small Fundamental]

Splitter and it's not even close imo.

Pop will go with either Diaw or just Timmy at Center and Stephen Jackson playing PF.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

It has to be Splitter against LA. Splitter/Duncan is the best duo against Bynum/Gasol. Pretty much anytime any other big is out there, one of them is going to destroy us.

Against OKC, I think all of them are interchangeable. Ibaka isn't really much of a scoring threat, so Diaw will be okay on him. Blair went off on them last time too. And Bonner is... well, yeah nevermind.

[dbestpro]

Whoever is not in foul trouble and not named Blair or Bonner.

[TheSkeptic]

Splitter and it's not even close imo.

Pop will go with either Diaw or just Timmy at Center and Stephen Jackson playing PF.

The goods tbh.

Diaw might be fine against Randolph/Gasol for a few minutes (ditto for Jackson) but in a situation where the team absolutely needs a stop you go for the true big.

Unfortunately, the bolded is exactly what I see coming and for that reason I *highly* doubt that the Spurs are winning number 5 this year because it looks like an already difficult task is going to be made even harder with these rotations.

Of course, I'd love to be so wrong on this one that people can quote me and continually bring it up in the future. I want to see them win more than anything but I'm not convinced that it'll happen this way unless the match-ups work out.

[8FOR!3]

I honestly think Blair is a bad matchup for OKC. I like what Diaw brings to the table though with his passing ability. Bonner would get a lot of open threes against them too. I think Diaw might be decent on Zach Randolph. That would allow Duncan and Splitter to guard Gasol. If we play LA I think you've got to give Duncan and Splitter the big minutes.

[TheSkeptic]

No...Pop isn't that stupid, if we were up 2 without the basketball with say, 14 seconds to go in game 7 against the LAL and they were going with Gasol+Bynum I trust Pop to counter with Tim+Tiago.

That's the other thing that bugs me though. If he knows he'll need those two in extreme situations I'm not sure what's wrong with overwhelming the other team's frontcourts from the word go.

Talented, experienced, intelligent, two-way 7 foot basketball players don't grow on trees. When you have more than one on your roster, I'm not one to take a sportsmanlike approach towards that kind of an advantage.

It's baffling tbh but I guess I'd still take Diaw over Blair/Bonner in crunch time. So there's that. :lol

[therealtruth]

That's the other thing that bugs me though. If he knows he'll need those two in extreme situations I'm not sure what's wrong with overwhelming the other team's frontcourts from the word go.

Talented, experienced, intelligent, two-way 7 foot basketball players don't grow on trees. When you have more than one on your roster, I'm not one to take a sportsmanlike approach towards that kind of an advantage.

It's baffling tbh but I guess I'd still take Diaw over Blair/Bonner in crunch time. So there's that. :lol

The excuse before they acquired Diaw was that it would lead to Bonner-Blair frontcourts which are really bad defensively. It took Pop several games to realize that last season. Yet in his stubbornness, he didn't address it to game 4 of the first round.

Someone was saying that the numbers for Diaw-Bonner were similar to and even better than Splitter-Bonner numbers so I think Diaw could take Splitter's place on the second unit. Even if Splitter starts it doesn't mean he can't play with the second unit. Starting basically allows him to get more minutes. It will probably involve squeezing Blair out.

So Pop has to decide if he wants his starting PF to be a defensive sieve that might hit his circus shots or the second best defensive big that will hit 60+ of his shots and draw fouls.

[TheSkeptic]

The excuse before they acquired Diaw was that it would lead to Bonner-Blair frontcourts which are really bad defensively. It took Pop several games to realize that last season. Yet in his stubbornness, he didn't address it to game 4 of the first round.

Someone was saying that the numbers for Diaw-Bonner were similar to and even better than Splitter-Bonner numbers so I think Diaw could take Splitter's place on the second unit. Even if Splitter starts it doesn't mean he can't play with the second unit. Starting basically allows him to get more minutes. It will probably involve squeezing Blair out.



See that reluctance to make obvious adjustments is the other problem I see with getting ring number 5.

Legit? That's very interesting and I don't think I've seen that. Not that I don't believe you but do you have a link?

If that's the case though I would agree with that. I like Blair but if playing him means leaving Tim out to dry again I don't care about his feelings and I want him out of the starting line-up. Diaw makes it possible in theory.



So Pop has to decide if he wants his starting PF to be a defensive sieve that might hit his circus shots or the second best defensive big that will hit 60+ of his shots and draw fouls

It's *so* obvious. :bang We don't have 10 more seasons for him to figure it out.

Speaking of which, when's Tiago's contract up? When you look at other team's boards and the adjustments coaches have had to make at times, I get the sense that Tiago would have options if he decided to leave. That would kind of suck.

I may be panicking prematurely but I'm seeing flashes of last year. If the Spurs get knocked out early again for no good reason, well...

I hear Thibs isn't happy with his contract situation. Defensive guru, plays people according to how well they produce, adjusts during games, etc. I could get used to that.

[siraulo23]

diaw/splitter

diaw/duncan

splitter/duncan

[cd98]

Tiago could start for half of the teams in the NBA. Not so for Diaw. Tiago was a steal if he could just stay healthy.

[BackHome]

I honestly think Blair is a bad matchup for OKC. I like what Diaw brings to the table though with his passing ability. Bonner would get a lot of open threes against them too. I think Diaw might be decent on Zach Randolph. That would allow Duncan and Splitter to guard Gasol. If we play LA I think you've got to give Duncan and Splitter the big minutes.

Blair would be good for the first ten minutes but OKC runs the ball and Blair would get killed on defense after the firs ten.

[therealtruth]

basically starting the fattycake ensures a 18-17 score in the first six minutes of the first quarter. can't have that shit in the playoffs.

Exactly.