What to take away from this game

[roycrikside]

1. Blair is only useful for the first six minutes of each half, and really, more like the first six minutes period. They don't need to play him much beyond that.

2. No matter how much people want to be on Diaw bandwagon, Splitter and Bonner remain the team's second and third best big men. Diaw passes up even more open shots than Bonner does, and he commits a lot of ticky-tack fouls. I think Pop is gonna play small ball a fair amount instead of using that fourth big (post Blair's token starting mins), unless match-ups dictate he absolutely has to.

3. Either Tony or Manu has to be on the floor at all times. Neither Mills nor Neal can be a steady playmaker and they're both gunners.

4. There is no ideal solution at backup point guard. Neal is the slightly better play-maker, but he's more turnover prone too and an AWFUL defender. Mills is a better defender and a bit more careful with the ball, but that's only because he never passes it and chucks it up every time.

5. If Pop goes to a 9-man rotation in the playoffs, I'm of the firm belief that both Neal and Mills should sit before Green or Leonard do. Those players can at least rebound and guard people and run the floor on fast breaks.

[vander]

6. Pop don't care about HCA vs. the Thunder

[TheSkeptic]

7. The rotations need to be looked at again

8. Bonner shouldn't be in the game when it matters because he still can't handle pressure

[DMC]

Diaw is fine when Tony is on the floor.

Blair is like a magic 8 ball.

Mills can run the team for brief periods.

Mills will be fine once he learns the rotations and the plays. He played great defense for his size.

You have to have a backup PG. Neal should play the 2. Green is fine if he's not leaned on too heavily.

[DesignatedT]

If Parker plays 38 minutes a game, I'll let Neal get his 10 in then.(with manu) Other than that the other guys should play.

[Spurs da champs]

Diaw's defense is what gives him the edge over Bonner as well as his passing ability, tho on Sunday he was actually taking shots & knocking them down.

[vander]

7. The rotations need to be looked at again

8. Bonner shouldn't be in the game when it matters because he can't handle pressure

What to take away from this game :)

[TheSkeptic]

What to take away from this game :)

:lol My mistake. It seemed like Bonner was coming around this year though. It's as if the match-ups aren't necessarily the problem with him.

[vander]

seriously though, Spurs need to get Bonner a top psychologist, therapist, hypnotist or all of the above!

could be the difference between 5 and 4

[MannyIsGod]

What to take away from this game :)

His nuts shriveled in this game too. Not sure what your point is.

[100%duncan]

9. 50 thousand dollar fine from Pop

[jestersmash]

10. This game may light a fire under Stephen Jackson's ass. He had a taste of what it's like to be in Tony or Manu's shoes as top 3 option playmaker on a title team, and he didn't produce.

He knows he played poorly though as he made the following tweet about an hour ago -

Stephen Jackson ‏ @DaTrillStak5
Sorry fans I played like sh*t. I owe y'all one. Gotta play better.

It's also encouraging to see that spurs fans were positive when replying to his tweet.

[vander]

His nuts shriveled in this game too. Not sure what your point is.

I guess just that he didn't say "still", if you want to get all nit-picky

[100%duncan]

10. This game may light a fire under Stephen Jackson's ass. He had a taste of what it's like to be in Tony or Manu's shoes as top 3 option playmaker on a title team, and he didn't produce.

He knows he played poorly though as he made the following tweet about an hour ago -

Stephen Jackson ‏ @DaTrillStak5
Sorry fans I played like sh*t. I owe y'all one. Gotta play better.

It's also encouraging to see that spurs fans were positive when replying to his tweet.

He gon be tapping det Lakers ass

[TheSkeptic]

I guess just that he didn't say "still", if you want to get all nit-picky

I'm a woman.

And I'll go edit that in. :lol

[Horse]

What I took away was utah doesn't even belong on the same court with us, Tiago should play twice as much as he does and the refs still suck!

[Giuseppe]

You chickenshits always blame the officiating.

[hooperflash]

You chickenshits always blame the officiating.

because we're not blind, we see the missed calls and BS when it happens.

[maverick1948]

What you take away from this game is two things.

1. On a night without the big 3 playing a single min, the rest of the team almost won a game against a possible playoff team. That this group did not play their very best for 48 mins is something to be observed.

2. And most important, this Spurs team can win with only 1 of the big 3 plays. That thought alone makes me feel we are prepared to go deep in the playoffs. With b2b's in the playoffs, we could be the only team that has the depth to compete in both games with out overextending our star players.

FWIW, our bigs that played last night, held their own against the bigs of Utah.

Mins Points Rebounds Assists Blocks

San Antonio 96 42 20 2 4
(Diaw, Blair, Bonner, Splitter)
Utah 113 40 29 3 7
(Jefferson, Millsap, Favors, Kanter)

We can add Duncan GPFOAT to this group but they have no one else to bring. Do you really think we cant handle the Jazz and compete with any team out there.

[Paranoid Pop]

1. Blair is only useful for the first six minutes of each half, and really, more like the first six minutes period. They don't need to play him much beyond that.

Agreed but as someone pointed out in another thread even then he's not terribly efficient.


2. No matter how much people want to be on Diaw bandwagon, Splitter and Bonner remain the team's second and third best big men. Diaw passes up even more open shots than Bonner does, and he commits a lot of ticky-tack fouls.

He's easily the best big defender on the team with Tim and Tim had some pathetic showings on that end recently. Yes he reaches too much but he gets a lot of steals too. Yes he passes up shots and looks to pass but that's fine because he speeds up the ball and gives his teamates better looks, he only takes shots when he's wide open and the clock is running low which is fine for a 5th option. He wasn't a factor against the Jazz because there was no teamwork/ball movement. I'm pretty biased in his favor tbh but the only real con of starting him is his rebounding, other than that he's the perfect fit, gives Tony a secondary playmaker in the starting lineup when teams will pressure him hard in the PO.

The full rebounding frontline is Kawhi Tiago Tim but that makes Tim a jumpershooter and Tiago is not that good at defending PFs.

There's no perfect lineup.


I think Pop is gonna play small ball a fair amount instead of using that fourth big (post Blair's token starting mins), unless match-ups dictate he absolutely has to.

3. Either Tony or Manu has to be on the floor at all times. Neither Mills nor Neal can be a steady playmaker and they're both gunners.

4. There is no ideal solution at backup point guard. Neal is the slightly better play-maker, but he's more turnover prone too and an AWFUL defender. Mills is a better defender and a bit more careful with the ball, but that's only because he never passes it and chucks it up every time.

Technically Manu should be the primary playmaker of the second unit and SJax the secondary playmaker, the PG just brings up the ball.


5. If Pop goes to a 9-man rotation in the playoffs, I'm of the firm belief that both Neal and Mills should sit before Green or Leonard do. Those players can at least rebound and guard people and run the floor on fast breaks.

I don't get that, Green and Leonard are starters while Neal/Mills will have the back-up PG minutes.

6. Sean Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Lu ck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_ knows his UFC :hat