Looking to Game 4: Worries and Silver Linings

[timvp]

Yes, 20 in a row was amazing. Ten in a row in the playoffs was great. 'Twas a fun ride.

But now it's back to real playoff basketball. No more meaningless streaks and no more everyone talking up the Spurs like they are an unbeatable, god-like gift to basketball. Championships aren't easy; we'll start to see if they have the necessary mettle starting in Game 4.

On one hand, it's easy to say that the Spurs were due for a bad game and will easily get back on the winning track next time out. But, unfortunately, I see reasons to worry.

1. The adjustment to switch Thabo Sefolosha onto Tony Parker was very successful. Sefolosha has long, active arms that can erase passing lanes. And considering that the Spurs have lost series following the opposition finally figuring out how to slow Parker, I think this is a legit concern. Truth be told, Russell Westbrook had no shot in defending Parker. Sefolosha? He might. The coaching staff will have to scheme in order to open up the needed room for Parker to produce at his usual clip.

2. Switching all the pick-and-rolls worked well for OKC. The Thunder's perimeter players are all swift (well, outside of Fisher) so they can switch and not lose much. Add Ibaka to the list of players who are capable of switching and the Spurs will have to find a counter. The usual thing to do would be to pound the ball in the middle. However, Splitter showed no capability to score in the low block (even against midgets) and Duncan wasn't much better.

3. Going into the series, I thought it would take Brooks a couple games to figure things out. It's why I thought the first two games were especially vital. Here we are going into Game 4 and Brooks has finally stumbled into his best lineups and strategies. In the future games, there won't be any cheap wins in this series based on poor coaching.

4. With no added rest in this series, OKC gains an advantage as this series progresses -- even if it's slight. They can survive big minutes with limited rest. Can the Spurs? We hope.

5. The Spurs have a few players who appear intimidated by the moment, namely Green and Bonner. I think the Spurs are the better team ... but that's assuming they have their full depth at their disposal. If the depth is negated by timidness, things will be a lot more difficult.

6. The Thunder won and free throws didn't have anything to do with it. Oklahoma City usually wins via help from the charity stripe. There will probably come a time this series where OKC is parading to the line so much that the Spurs can't win. We haven't seen such a game yet.

7. Getting blown out when you shoot 42.3% on threes and the other team shoots 27.3% on threes won't make the coaches sleep better at night.


All that said, I obviously still think the Spurs will win the series. One loss isn't devastating and it's a normal part of playoff basketball. Sometimes the other team is just too good in a given game.

I thought there were some silver linings.

A) Getting blown out is a lot better than losing a close game. It allowed the Big 3 to get some rest and Pop will have their attention going into Game 4.

B) DeJuan Blair showed no fear and he could play a role in this series going forward. People point to replacing Bonner but the player he might replace is Splitter. And I wouldn't have a problem with that if Splitter can't score in the low block against point guards, to be honest.

C) When Stephen Jackson stopped hesitating, his jumper looked pure. Hopefully he will remain aggressive and can keep his stroke going forward.

D) All the statistics point to the Spurs being the team that should turn it over less in this series. Tonight, turnovers were 21-7 in favor of the Thunder. That is simply way, way, way too big of a differential. The Spurs need to win that battle, much less get destroyed.

E) A lack of energy and emotion, especially compared to the Thunder, was a big part of this loss. OKC was desperate. The Spurs, even though they knew not to be, were unavoidably fat and happy. If the Spurs equalize the effort department, Game 4 should be a lot different.

This ish isn't supposed to be easy.

It's time to dig deep.

Believe.

[DontStopBelieving]

Spurs in 5.

[slick'81]

we need more bonner

[TDMVPDPOY]

home cooking is serious business,

all of ibakas blocks are fkn clear goal tendings thats not being called at home

spurs shouldve continue to pound the rock and force the refs to call fouls

[Capt Bringdown]

Duncan with the Kobe stat line, 7 for 26 in the last 2 games.

[Jumi]

The voice of reason in an insane message board!!!

[T Park]

This series took a bad turn. I really don't think they have much outside of the pick and roll.

Maybe start Blair and move Disw to the bench opposite Splitter.

Won't happen but, Sefolosha becoming Grant Hill in 10 is sad.

[MannyIsGod]

TBH Holt told Pop that if he cost him another game 5 he was not going to let him use the MLE next season.

[Spurtacus]

B) DeJuan Blair showed no fear and he could play a role in this series going forward. People point to replacing Bonner but the player he might replace is Splitter. And I wouldn't have a problem with that if Splitter can't score in the low block against point guards, to be honest.

Turd towers? Ugh.


Spurs have been down going into 2 of 3 4th quarters this series. And the quarter we were ahead we blew a double digit lead.

[ElNono]

I called Spurs in 6... I'm sticking with it

[MannyIsGod]

Pop's not changing his rotation after one loss. Not at this point in the season.

[RodNIc91]

I am seriously concerned. That Sefolosha switch I was hoping Brooks wouldn't find out, but the games I recall Spurs losing to the Thunder came at the hands of him defending TP. We knew the bonner struggles would come (whoever thinks this was bonner's year was just kidding himself) However I'm not entirely sold on Green shying away from the moment. He's shown enough toughness. I will be really concerned if he doesnt have a bounceback game.

Timvp, do you expect any specific adjustments Pop might be tempted to make? I'm calling a Manu start if we lose Game 4. Plus, do you really think he'll favor Blair over Splitter rather than bonner? I mean, everybody knows how much our defense sucks with the Turd towers on the floor plus Neal.

[Mugen]

This series took a bad turn. I really don't think they have much outside of the pick and roll.

Maybe start Blair and move Disw to the bench opposite Splitter.

Won't happen but, Sefolosha becoming Grant Hill in 10 is sad.

:lol T Park getting his Quit on. Did you turn off your TV after the 3rd or after the chalupa splattered the screen midway through the 4th?

[RodNIc91]

Oh, and I thought the officiating bowed a lot to the Thunder. I would be pleased if someone could post the call's balance of this game

[ElNono]

Thabo guarded Tony for stretches in game two too... people don't remember because Tony actually showed up in that game and it didn't matter...

We just played pathetic tonight... all of our big 3... I'll get worried when A) our big 3 lay another egg or B) at least two of them play well and we still lose.

[Russo21]

Agree with all that timvp.

Hell, you learn more from a loss then a 20 game win streak. Let's see how the players, and coach, respond.

[timvp]

Pop's not changing his rotation after one loss. Not at this point in the season.


Timvp, do you expect any specific adjustments Pop might be tempted to make? I'm calling a Manu start if we lose Game 4. Plus, do you really think he'll favor Blair over Splitter rather than bonner? I mean, everybody knows how much our defense sucks with the Turd towers on the floor plus Neal.

I don't think Pop will adjust much in Game 4 rotations-wise. He has to come up with ways to free Parker a bit and also take advantage of their switching.

As for Blair, I see him more as a Game 5 adjustment if the Spurs lose Game 4. And if Splitter can't score against Fisher, I'd probably be in favor of moving Blair to the starting lineup and replacing Splitter's minutes with Diaw. That would allow the Spurs to score more in the paint in the beginning of games while Diaw is actually capable of scoring against midgets in the low block.

That said, let's just hope Game 4 plays out a lot differently and there won't be any need for Game 5 adjustments.

[Shastafarian]

B) DeJuan Blair showed no fear and he could play a role in this series going forward. People point to replacing Bonner but the player he might replace is Splitter. And I wouldn't have a problem with that if Splitter can't score in the low block against point guards, to be honest.
You wouldn't mind Blair replacing a guy who at least moderately contributes instead of Matt Bonner? :lol I'd mind.

[TDMVPDPOY]

first quarter they got the officiating good, then it wend lopsided

[MannyIsGod]

I really would like to see Bonner cut out of the rotation in favor of a 3 big rotation with Diaw picking up the extra minutes but I seriously doubt its going to happen. Bonner is just too damn slow for this series. But if Pop stuck with Neal vs the Clips, no way he doesn't stick with Bonner. I just wish Bonner would close his eyes and shoot some of those shots when someone is closing out on him. Putting the ball on the floor is exactly what the Thunder want.

[Mugen]

-This isn't 2004 anymore. Hell, it's not 2011 anymore. It's not like TP's never seen a bigger defender in his career. He'll be fine as long as he stops jumping to make passes like hes playing in the Pee Wee leagues.

-Switching only works when your two penetrators are settling for stepback Js. TP and Manu played retarded but I don't think they play that dumb in Game 4.

-Brooks hasn't done anything that Pop or your average NBA fan didn't think he'd go to if they got desperate. Pop will adjust and the players will adjust. He hasn't stumbled onto some magic formula all of a sudden.

-Kinda guessed Pop wasn't serious about winning this game when James Anderson is seeing minutes in a relatively close game and he's letting the Thunder go on prolonged runs without a timeout.


Thunder played as expected: desperate and hungry. They got every 50/50 ball tonight.

My only concerns are the turnovers and rebounding. Two of things are correctable and have been strengths for this team all season long.

Game 4 is going to be the last game played in OKC, tbh.

[pikkiwoki]

whatever we did after the first quarter to lose the lead...don't do that thing

[gameFACE]

I called Spurs in 6... I'm sticking with it

Same here. And I called it as W-W-L-L-W-W, so I'm prepared for Saturday.

Sepholosha on TP is a band aid fix for the thunder. Tp will get him in foul trouble by going to the basket after our bigs adjust to help clear the lane. Then it's a party in the paint.

[timvp]

Tbh, while it's obvious Bonner doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to play basketball at this level of intensity, the Spurs can usually withstand his sucking because his role is pretty basic. But Splitter is a HUGE part of the second unit; he's as involved as much as anyone including Ginobili because he sets screens on every play. If Splitter is negated by Fisher, that hurts a lot more than anything Bonner can do.

And if Splitter can't adjust, at least we know that Blair can set a screen and then score if a point guard switches off onto him.

[MannyIsGod]

The Spurs HAVE to run more backdoor cuts. The way OKC is overplaying the passing lanes they are wide open on those cuts. Some Hi/Lo Action would also be pretty effective.

[cutewizard]

hey timvp, what do you think of my idea?

blair in the starting line-up together with jackson to help duncan. blair is an enforcer, and seems to know how to score inside against okc, ten points by blair in the next game would be an incredible addition

diaw in the second five to help manu facilitate, surround them with three point shooters, coz splitter seems to work best with manu

is this idea meritorious?

love you man!!!

[MannyIsGod]

Tbh, while it's obvious Bonner doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to play basketball at this level of intensity, the Spurs can usually withstand his sucking because his role is pretty basic. But Splitter is a HUGE part of the second unit; he's as involved as much as anyone including Ginobili because he sets screens on every play. If Splitter is negated by Fisher, that hurts a lot more than anything Bonner can do.

And if Splitter can't adjust, at least we know that Blair can set a screen and then score if a point guard switches off onto him.

Its not fair to say Tiago got negated by Fisher. For the first time Ever, I saw Tiago try to post up when he had a midget on him and he got called for a bullshit offensive foul. Then he was the victim of two bullshit "makeup" calls in a row and had to sit for most of the 1h.

[RodNIc91]

first quarter they got the officiating good, then it wend lopsided

I know. I thought that too. I know Tiago sucked tonight and he's a little foul prone but 2 of those quick 3 fouls were horrible officiating. And the officiating contributed to they getting those 50-50 balls

[pikkiwoki]

Its not fair to say Tiago got negated by Fisher. For the first time Ever, I saw Tiago try to post up when he had a midget on him and he got called for a bullshit offensive foul. Then he was the victim of two bullshit "makeup" calls in a row and had to sit for most of the 1h.

i didn't even see what he did on that offensive foul on fisher. it didn't even look like fisher flopped. tnt was too ashamed to even show a replay.

[Budkin]

It's nice to see the bridge jumping is alive and well.

[ShoogarBear]

Turnovers are the #1 absolute killers. That's the first thing that has to be stopped or the Spurs are going to be putting themselves in an impossible hole.

Establishing at least a semblance of low-post scoring would help. Duncan has been at best mediocre against the Thunder all year on offense, Splitter was invisible, and some Manu-to-Blair action might go a ways towards rectifying the situation.

And yeah if Green and Bonner are gonna give you three points, then it needs to be in 15 minutes combined, not 45.

[timvp]

Its not fair to say Tiago got negated by Fisher. For the first time Ever, I saw Tiago try to post up when he had a midget on him and he got called for a bullshit offensive foul. Then he was the victim of two bullshit "makeup" calls in a row and had to sit for most of the 1h.

The foul was BS but it shouldn't even take a post move for Splitter to score on Fisher. He should just overpower him to the rim and lay it up like any other bigman would do outside of Bonner. Pulling out a dream shake to score on Fisher and getting called for a foul isn't a positive, IMO.

[pikkiwoki]

The foul was BS but it shouldn't even take a post move for Splitter to score on Fisher. He should just overpower him to the rim and lay it up like any other bigman would do outside of Bonner. Pulling out a dream shake to score on Fisher and getting called for a foul isn't a positive, IMO.

but to me it looked like that's exactly what splitter started to do, back down the midget. but the refs blew the whistle on first contact, wtf. need to see a replay

[MannyIsGod]

Well, I was just happy that he actually went to the post with a PG on him. Several times this season he hasn't done that. Tiago just doesn't have that big man gene or whatever that tells you when you have 100lbs and a foot on the person guarding you all you need to do is go low and turn and go up.

[Shastafarian]

And yeah if Green and Bonner are gonna give you three points, then it needs to be in 15 minutes combined, not 45.

Green has just come back down to earth a bit. He was hitting threes on a pretty good pace before this series. Bonner has just come back down to Bonner.

[DesignatedT]

I agree with the bits about Tiago. He really needs to play better and score the ball when he gets his hands on it and when they switch the guard onto him. No excuses there. All of our bigmen need to play better especially Splitter, Bonner and Diaw.

[MannyIsGod]

Yeah I too thought he was going to back him down and then I heard a whistle. At first I thought Fisher had grabbed him or something. I honestly have no idea what the call was. The only thing I can think of is he caught Fisher with an slight elbow or something but I don't even think that was the case.

[TDMVPDPOY]

that missed dunk from harden with a bailout call was fkn stupid, and the stupid stare down from a missed dunk, splitter shouldve just elbowed him to the head

fake tough asses with mohawks

[timvp]

but to me it looked like that's exactly what splitter started to do, back down the midget. but the refs blew the whistle on first contact, wtf. need to see a replay

Splitter just needs to bury Fisher under the rim before catching the ball and then go straight up for a layup/dunk. Splitter just made it too difficult. Fisher is going to flop on any type of post move and get the call a lot of the time (although it looks like Fisher got a gift call tonight without needing to flop).

I'm sure Pop will point out what needs to be done ... let's hope Splitter will adjust and we won't even have to discus this heading into Game 5.

[ElNono]

It's just too easy to call BS fouls on either the unathletic white guy or the blonde dude from Brazil... refs don't have to justify it, and half the time you're left wondering if they didn't do something stupid, even when then don't. Count me in for giving Blair a shot. I would hand Matt's minutes to him (he's way over his head), and try Splitter for a bit. If he lays another egg, go small with Blair out there, or go Blair/Diaw...

[SpurPadre]

that missed dunk from harden with a bailout call was fkn stupid, and the stupid stare down from a missed dunk, splitter shouldve just elbowed him to the head

fake tough asses with mohawks

Yeah, I don't get the fake tough guy act from the Thunder so far in this series. Perkins has had it in for TP and keeps talking shit to him during the game, too.

[Russo21]

Tiago's foul on Fisher was absolute bullshit!! And yes, the Harden missed dunk with the bailout call was fucked to. But we played shit and deserved to lose.

[Mugen]

Too much credit to Brooks, IMO.

He got his guys ready to play for a must win game, props.

But he made changes that everybody expected (Sef on TP, Switching PnR) that mostly worked because the Spurs came out after the 2nd qtr thinking it was still the Clippers/Jazz & Pop coached liked he expected a loss and didn't want to show his adjustments for Game 4 too early.

[SpurPadre]

It's just too easy to call BS fouls on either the unathletic white guy or the blonde dude from Brazil... refs don't have to justify it, and half the time you're left wondering if they didn't do something stupid, even when then don't. Count me in for giving Blair a shot. I would hand Matt's minutes to him (he's way over his head), and try Splitter for a bit. If he lays another egg, go small with Blair out there, or go Blair/Diaw...

With this in mind, was Pop sending an indirect message to Blair when he put in Anderson before him? What was THAT about?

[timvp]

Turnovers are the #1 absolute killers.

Yeah, if you had told me the turnover differential would be 21-7 in favor of the Thunder going into Game 3, I'd say the Spurs would have absolutely no chance of winning. That's just insurmountable on the road against a fast, athletic team.

[SpurPadre]

Yeah, if you had told me the turnover differential would be 21-7 in favor of the Thunder going into Game 3, I'd say the Spurs would have absolutely no chance of winning. That's just insurmountable on the road against a fast, athletic team.

Sefolosha's length caused alot of batted balls that didn't ultimately factor in turnovers but alot of rushed shots, too.

[ElNono]

Yeah, if you had told me the turnover differential would be 21-7 in favor of the Thunder going into Game 3, I'd say the Spurs would have absolutely no chance of winning. That's just insurmountable on the road against a fast, athletic team.

We got pushed around, which was somewhat expected... what I want to see now from this team is a bit of toughness... there's no more RJ out there playing 40 mins, that's why I think they'll respond well...

[timvp]

Sefolosha's length caused alot of batted balls that didn't ultimately factor in turnovers but alot of rushed shots, too.

Good point. The Spurs keep track of deflections. I'm sure the Thunder had an astronomical amount. Probably season-high for an opponent.

[TDMVPDPOY]

playin shit is one thing, gettin bailed out calls when spurs tried to make a run or anything going is just home cooking....this game is liek the knicks vs heat game, couldnt get shit done when havin possession, was either a stupid turnover or phantom calls...

[Sean Cagney]

Green has just come back down to earth a bit. He was hitting threes on a pretty good pace before this series. Bonner has just come back down to Bonner.

WHEN was he ever up or above BONNER in April till now? I didn't see it? He is what he is, he never was way up above BONNER, infact he started his annual fade again before the playoffs began.

[RodNIc91]

Too much credit to Brooks, IMO.

He got his guys ready to play for a must win game, props.

But he made changes that everybody expected (Sef on TP, Switching PnR) that mostly worked because the Spurs came out after the 2nd qtr thinking it was still the Clippers/Jazz & Pop coached liked he expected a loss and didn't want to show his adjustments for Game 4 too early.

I think also this took out of sync our guys a bit. I mean, the rotation tonight was mind boggling at best. You can't help but to wonder how are you bailing out of a 15 point deficit in which you need stops with Neal and bonner when the other side had Harden Westbrook Durant and Sefolosha. Pop could've tried going to blair earlier IMO.

[Russo21]

OKC 14 steals to the Spurs 2 steals

OKC 7 turnovers to the Spurs 21 turnovers

Damn, what a fucked game.

[SpurPadre]

Good point. The Spurs keep track of deflections. I'm sure the Thunder had an astronomical amount. Probably season-high for an opponent.

And in turn, I think the deflections rattled the team's psyche. It got in their heads and it resulted in unforced turnovers and bad decisions.

[tesseractive]

I think also this took out of sync our guys a bit. I mean, the rotation tonight was mind boggling at best. You can't help but to wonder how are you bailing out of a 15 point deficit in which you need stops with Neal and bonner when the other side had Harden Westbrook Durant and Sefolosha. Pop could've tried going to blair earlier IMO.

If people aren't doing their jobs, Pop pulls them and gives somebody else a shot. I have zero problem with this, personally.

[Keepin' it real]

I love how people are clamoring for Blair, after dogging him all season. What a bunch of hypocrites.

[spurraider21]

our first game was close/sloppy and we had too many turnovers. game 2 seemed more comfortable and we had few turnovers. we get blown out in game 3 and have over 20 turnovers. seems to be a constant theme if you ask me. if the Thunder are going to play small and switch screens, we need to have a better post presence. Tim needs to step up

[SpurPadre]

I love how people are clamoring for Blair, after dogging him all season. What a bunch of hypocrites.

His height is the reason why people dog him, and I know he can't help that but that's just the way it is. Still, this clamoring is more a reflection of the waste of space that is Bonner than anything. Look, Blair is a solid player but Diaw is righfully starting over him. He should just get Bonner's minutes, that's all and he'll contribute.

[Yorae]

I really think blair should be given a chance....heck even anderson got his chance. Those missed calls on goal tends really bothers me... And I really think this is a series for mills especially when fisher is on the floor. Mills is fast....

[polandprzem]

Flashes of the Suns series when they swept us.

There were so many things not going well for the spurs it's insane. Hopefully the spurs willnot drop 2 in a row as it sometimes happens.


You worries LJ worries me. Well maybe not your worries bbut the points you put in here.

Stop Parker and p and roll game and the spurs are done.
Tha's why Inside game is much more effective in the playoffs.


Anyway those switches more looked like traps that killed Spurs O.
With Thabo being long and best defender, the spurs needs to do a better job on picks. Esp Manu.

Ofense was horrific but D was equally bad!

I was thinking the same about Splitt being outminuted / :D / by Blair in game 4

We will see

game 4 is crucial. If OKC gonna win this, the pivotal game might be another big spurs collapse in their playoffs history.
Dream ended by a Thunder took the spurs down ... way down under

[baseline bum]

Sefalosha murdered the Spurs offense in the first half of game 1 also. That motherfucker; he's a championship role player and the Spurs really need to figure out how to take care of the ball when he's on the floor.

[Em-City]

If the OKC's defensive switching on screens caused so many problems for us, better now than next round against a even more athletic Heat team who's ability to switch on just about anybody (moreso) would also make things tough.

[ElNono]

IIRC, the first Sefolosha deflection of the game was in the 2nd half... on a pass from Tony to Tim, which Tony recovered...

[polandprzem]

Turnovers are the #1 absolute killers. That's the first thing that has to be stopped or the Spurs are going to be putting themselves in an impossible hole.

Establishing at least a semblance of low-post scoring would help. Duncan has been at best mediocre against the Thunder all year on offense, Splitter was invisible, and some Manu-to-Blair action might go a ways towards rectifying the situation.

And yeah if Green and Bonner are gonna give you three points, then it needs to be in 15 minutes combined, not 45.

Exactly right. As I was pointing it b4 that game. Everything went wrong.

Why?????????????????????? Damn why??????????????:depressed

[SpurPadre]

If the OKC's defensive switching on screens caused so many problems for us, better now than next round against a even more athletic Heat team who's ability to switch on just about anybody (moreso) would also make things tough.

The Heat are not more athletic than the Thunder. Their only athletes are their Big 3. The Thunder have athletes from top to bottom except for Fisher.

[polandprzem]

And I predicted Thabo to get big minutes :depressed

[ElNono]

Whatever happened with Diaw? Did he play?

[Capt Bringdown]

Tim and Manu were a combined 6 for 20, and TP was hampered by What's-his-name.
Sounds like blowout.

[SpurPadre]

IIRC, the first Sefolosha deflection of the game was in the 2nd half... on a pass from Tony to Tim, which Tony recovered...

He recovered but it led to a forced shot, which he missed. That pressure threw him off completely.

[sananspursfan21]

I really wanna see blair play some meaningful minutes now. I think this boy's hungry >:)

[SpurPadre]

Whatever happened with Diaw? Did he play?

He made a couple nice passes that led to some corner threes but other than that, he didn't make his presence known, really.

[phxspurfan]

More Diaw running Point Forward

More hands in the face of midrange jumpers

More effort

More nasty

[ElNono]

He recovered but it led to a forced shot, which he missed. That pressure threw him off completely.

were we down 14 or 20 by then? We just had a piss poor effort way before that...

[InRareForm]

When it's on for both teams.... Spurs defense to Thunder O is less impactful compared to Thunder's defense to the Spurs O. Thunder's offense is a train to be honest.. Spurs ability to just create enough good offense will win games. as simple as it sounds.. When thunder disrupt that in any kind.. that spells trouble.

[SpurPadre]

were we down 14 or 20 by then? We just had a piss poor effort way before that...

14 but I saw a couple deflections in the first half from other Thunder players in the first half and Sefolosha swiped the ball almost every time on TP in the first half that TP held onto but it annoyed the hell out of him.

[Paranoid Pop]

3. Going into the series, I thought it would take Brooks a couple games to figure things out. It's why I thought the first two games were especially vital. Here we are going into Game 4 and Brooks has finally stumbled into his best lineups and strategies. In the future games, there won't be any cheap wins in this series based on poor coaching.

:lol Just when you said he was basically at VDN's level, he clearly outcoaches Pop.


5. The Spurs have a few players who appear intimidated by the moment, namely Green and Bonner. I think the Spurs are the better team ... but that's assuming they have their full depth at their disposal. If the depth is negated by timidness, things will be a lot more difficult.


What the hell? No word about Tim getting bullied on the offensive end?

So basically you didn't address the two biggest issues in Pop and Tim.

[ElNono]

14 but I saw a couple deflections in the first half from other Thunder players in the first half and Sefolosha swiped the ball almost every time on TP in the first half that TP held onto but it annoyed the hell out of him.

apparently Thabo didn't annoy him in game two... also didn't make him toss that 4down to tim in the post and run away...

[Russ]

Tbh, while it's obvious Bonner doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to play basketball at this level of intensity, the Spurs can usually withstand his sucking because his role is pretty basic. But Splitter is a HUGE part of the second unit; he's as involved as much as anyone including Ginobili because he sets screens on every play. If Splitter is negated by Fisher, that hurts a lot more than anything Bonner can do.

Splitter should be fine. His pedigree (and Bonner's) will tell the tale of those two players in this series and beyond.

[Mugen]

My Silver Lining is that the loss is more 2007 UTA Game 3 than 2005 SEA Game 3.

Spurs responded well in Game 4 in 2007, not so much in 05.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

We were never going to win game 3. The team used a huge amount of energy to come back in game 1, then to hold on against the penalty in game 2, and they were always going to be tired and vulnerable in game 3 in OKC.

Now that they've gotten that out of the way, I think they have a very good shot at game 4 if TP can work out a way to deal with Sefolosha (that matchup really worked for OKC), which I think he and the team will. Not sure what kind of wrinkles they'll come up with, but I don't see Tony shrivelling up and giving in at this point. Manu also had a letdown game and will be primed to explode again in game 4.

Even if we don't win game 4 (I see a close victory for whoever wins it - under 5pts), the series is still 2-2 going home, take care of business in game 5 then we have 2 shots to win it. The key to that is making game 4 a shitfight and tiring out the Thunder if we don't win it.

[Russ]

Spurs responded well in Game 4 in 2007, not so much in 05.

But in each of those years . . .

[100%duncan]

I'm stickin with Spurs in 5.

[SenorSpur]

Yes, there are reasons to worry. Yet, there are areas of improvement too. Here are some, what I believe to be, obvious keys to Game 4.

The mindless, careless passes and dumb unforced turnovers. The Spurs have simply got to value possessions and take better care of the ball - particularly Parker and Manu. Stop throwing blind passes at teammates feet or dropoff passes off into areas. This Thunder team is too quick and their defense is too swarming for all that.

The Spurs are nowhere near as quick or athletic as OKC - that's a given. They cannot get to and recover the 50-50 balls in order to gain or maintain possessions. They have to use their smarts and guile versus a very quick team with good reactions, like OKC is.

The Thunder team does not have an inside scoring presence. The Spurs must do a better job of closing out on shooters. There's no need to leave these guys open.

Keep the Thunder off the offensive glass. They can ill-afford to continue giving this team second-chance opportunities.

The Spurs are going to have to take open shots when presented and shoot them with confidence. I never thought I'd say this, but they do tend to pass up open looks for the sake of harder shots.

Go back to the good ol' pick-n-roll offense. I don't mind dumping to Duncan on the old bread-n-butter 4-down play on occasion, but Duncan is really struggling offensively. There's no need to force shots. He's also not helping himself taking those awkward baseline fadeaways, that have little chance of going in. He's got to take better shots when in the post or make the appropriate pass to cutters or teammates on the perimeter.

For a more aggressive post style and a change of pace, Pop needs to dust off and insert Blair. Having him inside would change the tone and complexion of the Spurs offense and he would help on the rebounding end. Blair potential contribution in this series could provide to be as pivotal to the Spurs as was the hack-a-Splitter tactic was for OKC.

Keep Bonner off the court at all costs. The bulk of the so-called timidness, hot-potato passing and overall mental midgetry comes from him. This series is not for him and he doesn't deserve the minutes that Pop keeps forcing onto him. I don't know why Pop keeps giving him chance after chance every year in the playoffs, when he's done nothing but prove to be a perennial playoff choker. He's just not cut out to compete against superior competition in playoff situations. The Spurs have enough floor-spreading players that they would not miss him at all.

Finally, the Spurs do not need to go on any high-speed emotional swings and I don't expect them to. They need only play up to their masterful capabilities and execute with their usual precision.

[SpurPadre]

apparently Thabo didn't annoy him in game two... also didn't make him toss that 4down to tim in the post and run away...

No, he didn't annoy him then but they made adjustments. Now, it's time for ours.

[Halberto]

LJ, it seemed like they were crowding the perimeter when the Spurs were setting high screens to eliminate any penetration. Why didn't we start making cuts to the basket? Am I just generalizing things here? Seemed like the easy answer watching their new defense.

[ElNono]

No, he didn't annoy him then but they made adjustments. Now, it's time for ours.

Playing better would be a good start... it isn't even new...

[SpurPadre]

Playing better would be a good start... it isn't even new...

One thing's for sure, TD can't play any worse, offensively. He can only get better from here on out.

[slayermin]

Keep it the same and let's see what happens in game four.

I say give TP another crack at Sefalosha. Somehow, TP and Manu are going to have to draw some fouls early in the game.

Everyone needs to play more physical and take the game to the Thunder. I guess all this talk about nasty and big boy basketball doesn't travel.

I kinda of expected this but hoped for a different result. Game four should be a classic.

[KD4MVP]

Pop will make adjustments on Thabo/TP, if he gets in foul trouble, we're screwed since RW can't stay with him.

Oh, and SA hit 11 3's, we hit 6, and still won big. KD missed a few wide open 3's that could of broke it open early.

[tesseractive]

Go back to the good ol' pick-n-roll offense. I don't mind dumping to Duncan on the old bread-n-butter 4-down play on occasion, but Duncan is really struggling offensively. There's no need to force shots. He's also not helping himself taking those awkward baseline fadeaways, that have little chance of going in. He's got to take better shots when in the post or make the appropriate pass to cutters or teammates on the perimeter.

For a more aggressive post style and a change of pace, Pop needs to dust off and insert Blair. Having him inside would change the tone and complexion of the Spurs offense and he would help on the rebounding end. Blair potential contribution in this series could provide to be as pivotal to the Spurs as was the hack-a-Splitter tactic was for OKC.

Keep Bonner off the court at all costs. The bulk of the so-called timidness, hot-potato passing and overall mental midgetry comes from him. This series is not for him and he doesn't deserve the minutes that Pop keeps forcing onto him. I don't know why Pop keeps giving him chance after chance every year in the playoffs, when he's done nothing but prove to be a perennial playoff choker. He's just not cut out to compete against superior competition in playoff situations. The Spurs have enough floor-spreading players that they would not miss him at all.

I can see how you might want to go back to the pick and roll. And I can see how you might want to replace Bonner with Blair. What I can't see is it making any sense to do both. Against the Thunder, Blair is going to be pick-and-roll kryptonite, allowing Ibaka to park himself in the lane and challenge any penetration, which not only makes it hard to get points in the paint, but it makes it easier for other Thunder defenders to stay home on our outside shooters and keep us from getting the open looks from downtown.

When you're playing 4-on-5 offense, it's a lot harder to get the 2-on-1 mismatches that this offense is designed to thrive on.

[ElNono]

Pop will make adjustments on Thabo/TP, if he gets in foul trouble, we're screwed since RW can't stay with him.

Oh, and SA hit 11 3's, we hit 6, and still won big. KD missed a few wide open 3's that could of broke it open early.

You guys just played flat out better.... Thabo also got a career high in points in the playoffs... I'm glad he got that one out of the way tonight...

[ElNono]

I can see how you might want to go back to the pick and roll. And I can see how you might want to replace Bonner with Blair. What I can't see is it making any sense to do both. Against the Thunder, Blair is going to be pick-and-roll kryptonite, allowing Ibaka to park himself in the lane and challenge any penetration, which not only makes it hard to get points in the paint, but it makes it easier for other Thunder defenders to stay home on our outside shooters and keep us from getting the open looks from downtown.

When you're playing 4-on-5 offense, it's a lot harder to get the 2-on-1 mismatches that this offense is designed to thrive on.

Actually, Blair has worked very well against OKC in the last few games because they're a terrible rebounding team, and that's where Blair thrives. His fat ass has also overpowered Ibaka quite a few times.

[Arcadian]

I think tonight's loss was mostly mental. Our guys definitely didn't play as hard as they did in games 1 and 2. OKC was in survival mode. Now the Spurs will be in survival mode for game 4 because they don't want the momentum to shift. When you are tied 2-2 having lost the last 2 games, that is an unfavorable situation because the other team has "momentum" (even if game 5 is at home). So they can't let that happen.

[tesseractive]

Actually, Blair has worked very well against OKC in the last few games because they're a terrible rebounding team, and that's where Blair thrives. His fat ass has also overpowered Ibaka quite a few times.

But wouldn't you want to use him more in Splitter's spot than Bonner's? I know nobody likes the Turd Towers lineup, but neither Splitter nor Blair is going to provide you with any floor spacing.

[KD4MVP]

You guys just played flat out better.... Thabo also got a career high in points in the playoffs... I'm glad he got that one out of the way tonight...

Yeah, he was pretty good offensively.

On that same note, Westbrook and Durant weren't that good offensively either, both missed plenty of wide open shots, especially Durant.

Game 4 should be a battle.

[justinandimcool]

Can't panic and ditch the pnr. Screen better, penetrate stronger, cut harder, pass with a purpose. No careless turnovers, no being slow to the spot, no iso ball. If they switch the pnr, as long as the motion is stellar and the spacing isn't a clusterfuck it only takes a small adjustment to win.

[crc21209]

Pop will make adjustments on Thabo/TP, if he gets in foul trouble, we're screwed since RW can't stay with him.

Oh, and SA hit 11 3's, we hit 6, and still won big. KD missed a few wide open 3's that could of broke it open early.

Um...the Spurs average about 8-11 3's a game, win or lose. So that point is irrelevant....

[SpursFaninMS]

apparently Thabo didn't annoy him in game two... also didn't make him toss that 4down to tim in the post and run away...

Whole different mindset/preparation for Thabo in picking up Parker on occasion/late in Game 2 and knowing that his role in Game 3 was to check him. You can't compare.

I don't know if Thabo is capable of maintaining that level of defensive intensity for the duration of the series; but if he is, major adjustments will be necessary.

[KD4MVP]

And i'd probably use Blair more, for whatever reason, he gives us fits.

I think he had 26 points in one game earlier in the year, hopefully Pop uses Bonner instead....

[ElNono]

But wouldn't you want to use him more in Splitter's spot than Bonner's? I know nobody likes the Turd Towers lineup, but neither Splitter nor Blair is going to provide you with any floor spacing.

What floor spacing? Until he starts making a shot, he's as good as a statue out there. He's 1-7 in this series... if you want spacing, just throw Neal in there. It's no defense either way. Oh, and when the shots are not going in, we have nobody to grab an offensive board. Kahwi has been our most consistent guy doing that, but he's with the starters.

I'm not a fan of Blair's defense, but he would be playing against Collison/Nazr, not exactly offensive stalwarts...

[SpursFaninMS]

But wouldn't you want to use him more in Splitter's spot than Bonner's? I know nobody likes the Turd Towers lineup, but neither Splitter nor Blair is going to provide you with any floor spacing.

This...we need all the spacing we can get against these guys. Blair for Bonner will make things worse. If I'm replacing Bonner, I'm replacing him with another 2 or 3--not Blair.

Splitter is a better option than Blair 80-90 percent of the time, but this series and MIA (if we get there) may be the exceptions.

[crc21209]

Honestly, it looked the the Spurs just relaxed with a 2-0 lead. Right out of the gate they had FOUR straight turnovers, their decision making was horrendous, and the passes were lazy, lazy, lazy. Bam, down 8-0 right out of the gate. Sure the Spurs weathered the first run, but that was all. The ball stopped moving, people stopped moving, and the Spurs went 4-down or Iso for alot of the game, and that isnt their game AT ALL. The Spurs had a season high 21 turnovers and shot a season worst 39%. I'm pretty confident that that won't happen again. The Spurs need to come out completely locked in right from the tip and take it to these guys....

[timvp]

Sefalosha murdered the Spurs offense in the first half of game 1 also. That motherfucker; he's a championship role player and the Spurs really need to figure out how to take care of the ball when he's on the floor.

Well said.

Sefolosha isn't Bruce Bowen when it comes to individual defender but he's a got damn great team defender. In Game 1 and tonight, the only person I can think to compare his team defense to is Scottie Pippen.

His main weakness as a player is he can go cold offensively and then will start passing up shots. When he's shooting well like he is tonight, he's pretty much a beast. Wouldn't be a stretch to say he was their best player tonight.

FWIW, I disagreed with the strategy of the Spurs giving him open looks. During the regular season, IIRC, Sefolosha shot in the low 30's percentage wise from three-point land on the road. But at home, he was somewhere around 56%.

That is probably a flukishly high number but still, I wouldn't have dared him as much as the Spurs did tonight.

[ElNono]

Whole different mindset/preparation for Thabo in picking up Parker on occasion/late in Game 2 and knowing that his role in Game 3 was to check him. You can't compare.

:lol so it was the 'mindset' that stopped Parker?

tbh, OKC played much better team defense on the pick and roll, I just haven't seen anything Thabo did that was much different than any of the other two games.


I don't know if Thabo is capable of maintaining that level of defensive intensity for the duration of the series; but if he is, major adjustments will be necessary.

again, what did Thabo do exactly that caused Parker to have such an awful game?

[ElNono]

I agree he burned us on offense... that said, this was his career playoff high... I would hope he comes back down to earth the next few games...

[Uriel]

The Spurs keep track of deflections.

How do you know all this stuff? :wow

[timvp]

Whatever happened with Diaw? Did he play?The more I think about it, the best way to limit Bonner is probably just to play Diaw more minutes and then spend the rest of the time using small ball.

Diaw can and should play 30+ minutes.


So basically you didn't address the two biggest issues in Pop and Tim.Read harder.


apparently Thabo didn't annoy him in game two... also didn't make him toss that 4down to tim in the post and run away...Thabo barely defended TP in Game 2. And I know CoM wants to blame TP even though he was easily the best of the Big 3 tonight but blaming TP for Duncan being impotent on the low block is a stretch even for CoM tbh.

[Ice009]

Tbh, while it's obvious Bonner doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to play basketball at this level of intensity, the Spurs can usually withstand his sucking because his role is pretty basic. But Splitter is a HUGE part of the second unit; he's as involved as much as anyone including Ginobili because he sets screens on every play. If Splitter is negated by Fisher, that hurts a lot more than anything Bonner can do.

And if Splitter can't adjust, at least we know that Blair can set a screen and then score if a point guard switches off onto him.

Splitter hasn't completely choked like Bonner has and does, and I'll always choose him over Bonner for that reason. I'd like Bonner out of the rotation completely. The game went south when Bonner came out there for an extended stint in the first half. Not completely Bonner's fault, but this guy is so bad in the playoffs that it's a waste of time playing him.

I'd start Blair and bring Diaw and Splitter off the bench to completely cut Bonner out of it.

Edit : I just finished watching the game so I might have a different opinion after I cool off.

The Spurs as a whole played total crap ball tonight, no emotion, aggression, no anything. They may have bought into the hype and seemed to think they can win with execution alone. Didn't match the Thunder's energy or intensity at all.

[cutewizard]

DONT QUIT



When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.
- Author unknown

[crc21209]

In Game 2, the Thunder "Big 3" had 88 points,and lost... tonight...they didnt score much, but they won. If I were the Spurs, I would focus more on shutting down the "other guys"....

[ElNono]

The more I think about it, the best way to limit Bonner is probably just to play Diaw more minutes and then spend the rest of the time using small ball.

Diaw can and should play 30+ minutes.


Give Blair a chance against Nazr/Collison... I have no problem with Diaw being plan C.



Thabo barely defended TP in Game 2. And I know CoM wants to blame TP even though he was easily the best of the Big 3 tonight but blaming TP for Duncan being impotent on the low block is a stretch even for CoM tbh.

To be frank, I successfully baited Brazil into a Frenchie trolljob in the NBA Forum's thread, but over all, I think I've been quite clear that all of the big 3 sucked tonight, and I didn't even think OKC had much to do with it.

That's why I'm not buying the "thabo adjustment" storyline. btw, these are the same people that were talking about Perkins being "THE" adjustment going into this game, and yet Perkins is a huge reason Tim looks like 77 years old in the post.

[KD4MVP]

Sefalosha murdered the Spurs offense in the first half of game 1 also. That motherfucker; he's a championship role player and the Spurs really need to figure out how to take care of the ball when he's on the floor.

About time some people give him credit for his defense, Thunder fans know how much he means to this team.

He did a phenominal job on Kobe last series, sans Game 5 where Kobe was making everything. At least shooting wise where Kobe had a lot of 7-24, 9-25, 7-21, etc type games.

I'm not sure if he'll hold TP like this, but if his job is to commit on defense to Parker, i have full confidence he can make it tough on him. Phenominal defender, and a capable scorer as well.

Westbrook is a good defender, but he can't guard Parker, too quick for him.

EASILY the team MVP tonight, incredible effort from Thabo.

[ElNono]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing Thabo. I'm just saying stopping TP is a lot different than stopping a ball hog like Kobe. TP is unselfish. He will do damage not just by taking his jumper or driving and laying it in, but also dishing out... OKC did a great job tonight on TEAM defense... crowded the pick and roll, etc. The Spurs were also very sloppy on their offensive execution. They had 4 turnovers (OKC steals) in the first 5 possession.
That isn't just on one guy.

[KD4MVP]

I agree he burned us on offense... that said, this was his career playoff high... I would hope he comes back down to earth the next few games...

Probably won't play that good offensively, but that will even out with better games from Durant/Westbrook.

Thabo can score, i wish we'd let him get more shots.

[ElNono]

Probably won't play that good offensively, but that will even out with better games from Durant/Westbrook.

Thabo can score, i wish we'd let him get more shots.

He had a lot of wide open looks too... that's on us. But he knocked them down, so you have to tip your hat.

[SpursFaninMS]

:lol so it was the 'mindset' that stopped Parker?

tbh, OKC played much better team defense on the pick and roll, I just haven't seen anything Thabo did that was much different than any of the other two games.



again, what did Thabo do exactly that caused Parker to have such an awful game?

You need to improve your reading comprehension a little bit. Thabo approaches guarding Tony differently and prepares more when he goes into the game knowing that is his role. He talked about watching film from the first two games when he found out he was going to be checking him. A defender is going to preform much better when they know what their role is and have time to prepare.

As for the last part: What did Thabo do? Well, nothing aside from being five inches taller than Tony with a 7-foot wingspan and quick enough feet to stay in front of him (at least tonight). He was aggressive and never let Tony penetrate, did a good job of getting through screens, forced several turnovers and deflections, and generally made his life a living hell. When you are going against that much length and the defender is staying with you, your court vision isn't as good and you can't make many productive passes. The number of passes Tony threw that actually set our offense in motion (not just assists) were few and far between. I guess you're right, that's not very significant. Seriously...did you watch a different game than everyone else? There's a reason everyone has decided to talk about Thabo Sefalosha.

[ducks]

pop has their attention was not total happy the way they played in game one and 2
he wants the win on saturday
pop will get them to play at a high level
pop let the younger guys see what wcf are like on the road
I think the whole team came out flat buying into hype but they will win on saturday

[crc21209]

Probably won't play that good offensively, but that will even out with better games from Durant/Westbrook.

Thabo can score, i wish we'd let him get more shots.

Better games from Durant and Westbrook dont guarantee a win. Durant, Harden, and Westbrook had 88 points combined in Game 2 and still lost. IMO, the Spurs should focus on shutting down the role players like Sefolosha, Fisher, Cook, Collison, Ibaka, and Perkins. Let those 3 have all they can eat in sort of the same way they let Amare get all he wanted back in 05'....

[KD4MVP]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing Thabo. I'm just saying stopping TP is a lot different than stopping a ball hog like Kobe. TP is unselfish. He will do damage not just by taking his jumper or driving and laying it in, but also dishing out... OKC did a great job tonight on TEAM defense... crowded the pick and roll, etc. The Spurs were also very sloppy on their offensive execution. They had 4 turnovers (OKC steals) in the first 5 possession.
That isn't just on one guy.

I agree, i thought our team defense was excellent for the most part. Very active, disrubtive, but Thabo was a huge reason the defense was good, Thunder fans appreciate and know good he is.

I also do agree Parker is different then Kobe who is pretty much a jump shooter at this stage of his career. He won't shut him down like this, but not letting him go off for 36, like Game 2 is what they need to do, and hold him in the low 20's scoring wise.

Thabo just needs to make it tough on Parker, Westbrook can't stay with him, and i think Westbrook is a pretty good defender, Parker is just a nightmare matchup for him.

[ElNono]

As for the last part: What did Thabo do? Well, nothing aside from being five inches taller than Tony with a 7-foot wingspan and quick enough feet to stay in front of him (at least tonight). He was aggressive and never let Tony penetrate, did a good job of getting through screens, forced several turnovers and deflections, and generally made his life a living hell. I guess you're right, that's not very significant. Seriously...did you watch a different game than everyone else? There's a reason TNT and ESPN were/are talking about Thabo Sefalosha after a game.

Did Thabo was 5 inches taller and grow a 7-foot wingspan just to guard Parker?

I think we all watched the same game... so how many "turnovers and deflections" did Thabo force on Tony? Is he transparent and just goes through screens? His teammates had nothing to do with it? :lol

[tesseractive]

The Thunder taught that lesson anew by pinning the first loss of these playoffs on the Spurs, 10282, on Thursday night. However, none of the last six NBA teams with a win like that -- by 20-or-more points in Game 3 when trailing in the series, two games to none -- went on to win the series.

:hat


The last team that won a playoff series after being in a two-games-to-none hole and winning Game 3 by a 20-point margin? The Lakers, in a 2004 Western Conference Semifinals series, when they used a 10581 victory in Game 3 as a springboard to win four in a row -- over Gregg Popovich's Spurs.

:depressed

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime

[ElNono]

Thabo just needs to make it tough on Parker, Westbrook can't stay with him, and i think Westbrook is a pretty good defender, Parker is just a nightmare matchup for him.

Westbrook also makes it personal. Brooks won't admit it, but you can tell. It ends up affecting his offense too, IMO.

[timvp]

Westbrook has the tools to be a good defender but he's a bit too much of an airhead at this stage of his career to be considered even average. He can be good for a short stretch but that's about it.

Then again, the list of point guards who have been forced off of Parker at some point in a series is quite extensive, tbh, so there's not a huge amount of shame in it.

[KD4MVP]

Better games from Durant and Westbrook dont guarantee a win. Durant, Harden, and Westbrook had 88 points combined in Game 2 and still lost. IMO, the Spurs should focus on shutting down the role players like Sefolosha, Fisher, Cook, Collison, Ibaka, and Perkins. Let those 3 have all they can eat in sort of the same way they let Amare get all he wanted back in 05'....

That is fair.

Ibaka had his jumper doing good tonight, and Thabo was very, very active on both ends. Perk doesn't really do much offensively, but he's arguably the best low post defender in the game.

And yes, the key is certainly our role players, if they play well along with our Big 3, we're a tough team to beat.

Pop will make adjustments, and have them ready to go for Game 4.

[MR-Clutch]

Does anyone think we should give bonners minutes to Kawhi? He can do everything bonner does and more, he can drive past his man, rebound, hustle, probably shoot better ,close out and rotate quicker.

[KD4MVP]

Westbrook also makes it personal. Brooks won't admit it, but you can tell. It ends up affecting his offense too, IMO.

Yes, it's very frustrating, he gets too erratic and forces shots when Parker scores on him. At least in SA in the first 2 games.

Love the guy, but he needs to settle down, i thought he did a better job controlling the offense tonight. Still takes stupid shots at times, but not like we have any better options outside of KD in our starting lineup :toast

[Ice009]

I love how people are clamoring for Blair, after dogging him all season. What a bunch of hypocrites.

Blair has played well against the Thunder. No one wants Blair to play against teams like the Lakers, but against the Thunder he's played well. That is where that is coming from.

[timvp]

Other random adjustments:

-TP, you can't go horizontal off of a pick, go into the middle of nowhere and then pick up the ball.

-Manu, when Perkins is crouching down, don't be fooled -- he's still tall. You can't just shoot a lazy three-pointer over him. He'll stand up and block it.

-Duncan, this isn't 2002. The only time you should post up is if Ibaka is defending you. Trying to post up on Perkins when Perkins' post defense is arguably the best aspect of their defense is lunacy. Going against Collison isn't much better.

[cutewizard]

More Diaw running Point Forward

More hands in the face of midrange jumpers

More effort

More nasty



exactly my thoughts

[polandprzem]

LJ, it seemed like they were crowding the perimeter when the Spurs were setting high screens to eliminate any penetration. Why didn't we start making cuts to the basket? Am I just generalizing things here? Seemed like the easy answer watching their new defense.

Spurs were trying to cut on some occasions but OKC did a good job of disturbing the passing lane

[polandprzem]

Other random adjustments:

-TP, you can't go horizontal off of a pick, go into the middle of nowhere and then pick up the ball.

-Manu, when Perkins is crouching down, don't be fooled -- he's still tall. You can't just shoot a lazy three-pointer over him. He'll stand up and block it.

-Duncan, this isn't 2002. The only time you should post up is if Ibaka is defending you. Trying to post up on Perkins when Perkins' post defense is arguably the best aspect of their defense is lunacy. Going against Collison isn't much better.

I agree - they need to split the defenders more often.


Also Spurs were due to a gr8 startegy on D vs Durant - forcing him go one side and then bring 2nd defender from the other. Durant tends to spin and losing the eye contact with D for a second.

[therealtruth]

Tbh, while it's obvious Bonner doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to play basketball at this level of intensity, the Spurs can usually withstand his sucking because his role is pretty basic. But Splitter is a HUGE part of the second unit; he's as involved as much as anyone including Ginobili because he sets screens on every play. If Splitter is negated by Fisher, that hurts a lot more than anything Bonner can do.

And if Splitter can't adjust, at least we know that Blair can set a screen and then score if a point guard switches off onto him.

I think you're being way too hard on Splitter. Did we even see a single successful Splitter-Manu pick and roll? I feel the Spurs really didn't even try to run their offense. I get that OKC was playing super hard but that doesn't mean you don't try. Manu and Parker need to do a better job of getting them into their offensive sets instead of throwing the ball away.

[pikkiwoki]

Its not fair to say Tiago got negated by Fisher. For the first time Ever, I saw Tiago try to post up when he had a midget on him and he got called for a bullshit offensive foul. Then he was the victim of two bullshit "makeup" calls in a row and had to sit for most of the 1h.


i didn't even see what he did on that offensive foul on fisher. it didn't even look like fisher flopped. tnt was too ashamed to even show a replay.


The foul was BS but it shouldn't even take a post move for Splitter to score on Fisher. He should just overpower him to the rim and lay it up like any other bigman would do outside of Bonner. Pulling out a dream shake to score on Fisher and getting called for a foul isn't a positive, IMO.


but to me it looked like that's exactly what splitter started to do, back down the midget. but the refs blew the whistle on first contact, wtf. need to see a replay


Yeah I too thought he was going to back him down and then I heard a whistle. At first I thought Fisher had grabbed him or something. I honestly have no idea what the call was. The only thing I can think of is he caught Fisher with an slight elbow or something but I don't even think that was the case.


Splitter just needs to bury Fisher under the rim before catching the ball and then go straight up for a layup/dunk. Splitter just made it too difficult. Fisher is going to flop on any type of post move and get the call a lot of the time (although it looks like Fisher got a gift call tonight without needing to flop).

I'm sure Pop will point out what needs to be done ... let's hope Splitter will adjust and we won't even have to discus this heading into Game 5.


It's just too easy to call BS fouls on either the unathletic white guy or the blonde dude from Brazil... refs don't have to justify it, and half the time you're left wondering if they didn't do something stupid, even when then don't. Count me in for giving Blair a shot. I would hand Matt's minutes to him (he's way over his head), and try Splitter for a bit. If he lays another egg, go small with Blair out there, or go Blair/Diaw...



http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xh95VTvmd7g/T8hoGWhr8PI/AAAAAAAAAJU/3r5bzn4RIwk/s1600/splitter+fisher+bs.gif

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pm4Far2NIXE/T8hn5Sbx7dI/AAAAAAAAAJM/1hvgbTyXPI8/s1600/splitter+fisher+bs+zoom.gif



joo gotta be keeding me meng. where's the foul? :lol

make-up call for that fisher non-out-of-bounds call in game 2, tbh

[slayermin]

Not sure if this was mentioned.

Major Silver Lining: Spurs are healthy going into game four.

[ElNono]

tbh, I was rewatching some of the game, and we laid the big fat turd with our second unit, a couple minutes into the 2nd quarter... scared to shoot, extremely poor transition defense, no ball movement. It just put us in a bad position going into the third, where we our starters made some mistakes we couldn't afford being down.

[therealtruth]

Diaw can and should play 30+ minutes.


I agree Diaw may not shoot the ball but at least he can create something of the dribble unlike Bonner. I think Pop has wasted enough minutes seeing if Bonner can contribute. At best it's a wash but it's hard to argue he's contributing much. I think Pop needs to go with KL and SJax more for defending Westbrook and Durant. We need to force the other players to beat us.

[will_spurs]

When I saw Splitter being blocked by Derek Fisher, I knew we were in for a long night. Neal getting 11 minutes in the first half didn't help. And Anderson getting 1 minute in the 1st half was a really clear signal that Pop had decided to tank that game. He made no adjustments that might have helped the Spurs close the gap. Too bad, because we wasted a good game by SJax and we have no idea when the next one will be.

[therealtruth]

Last game Pop ran Westbrook ragged by putting him through so many screens and picks. Pop now has to adjust to the Thunder putting Thabo on TP. The Thunder won that move. I would go with SJax. He actually has a post game and can post up Westbrook.

[racm]

The biggest problem wasn't the shooting. It was the effort. Getting 20 wins in a row will go to anyone's head, even if they're Tim Duncan.

[will_spurs]

Oh, and for the record I don't think OKC "won that move" by putting Thabo on Parker. It lead to a bad start of the game but the Spurs soon climbed out of the 8-0 hole and after that I don't think this really played a role in this game. Especially since Thabo is such a liability on O. Last night he just hit a lot of shots he wouldn't normally make. Tomorrow he might 1-for-9 and OKC will be in deep shit because Thabo is not efficient enough on D to overcome such a poor offensive outing.

Another day, another game.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

I predicted we'd lose game 3, and it doesn't surprise me that we were blown out. OKC is a damn fine team. But I also think we were mentally exhausted from the first two games (coming back in game 1, fighting the 9min penalty to end game 2) and went to OKC concentrating on game 4 as the game to try and win.

I think you'll see a very different - sharper, faster, more dedicated, meaner - Spurs in game 4, and I think it might go down as one of the great games in history. Either game 4 or game 5 will.

This series is yet to have a close-all-the-way game, and I think we might have two of them coming up. Will we win them? Not sure, but I know we have a good chance.

Spurs by 2.

PS All this hinges on TP finding a way to make passes around Sef, and Manu not bringing Turnobili. That is undoubtedly the key.

[racm]

Yeah, the Spurs lost because they were half-assing it. Bonner did his usual disappearing act - the guy's a bigger choker than LeBron.

[mingus]

Splitter had good games 1 & 2, especially protecting the rim. Tonight he sucked, but he still needs to be the first or second big off the bench.

Tonight, I'm not sure Blair would have done much to help. His defense is worse than Bonner's and it is likely the Spurs would have turned the ball over an additional 3-4 times had he played in Bonner's place. He's a turn over machine. It boils down to the fact that we have three good bigs and the rest suck. It is probably this team's only weakness, and usually enough players play well to disguise it. However tonight pretty much everyone outside of Capt' Jack was off and it became obvious how thin we are at that position.

Duncan is going to have to step up some. Part of the reason we've been so succesful is that he's played well. However his offense of late seems to have reverted back to just a little better than last year in a matter of a week. He's going to have to find a way to score on the low block and relieve some of the load off of Parker and Manu. The Parker and Manu attack is becoming too predictable. That was a big factor in why we lost to Memphis last year.

I think our championship aspirations depend just as much on Duncan being able to contribute offensively as anything.

[Durant 35]

Spurs certainly need to improve with the P & R

[therealtruth]

Splitter had good games 1 & 2, especially protecting the rim. Tonight he sucked, but he still needs to be the first or second big off the bench.

Tonight, I'm not sure Blair would have done much to help. His defense is worse than Bonner's and it is likely the Spurs would have turned the ball over an additional 3-4 times had he played in Bonner's place. He's a turn over machine. It boils down to the fact that we have three good bigs and the rest suck. It is probably this team's only weakness, and usually enough players play well to disguise it. However tonight pretty much everyone outside of Capt' Jack was off and it became obvious how thin we are at that position.

Duncan is going to have to step up some. Part of the reason we've been so succesful is that he's played well. However his offense of late seems to have reverted back to just a little better than last year in a matter of a week. He's going to have to find a way to score on the low block and relieve some of the load off of Parker and Manu. The Parker and Manu attack is becoming too predictable. That was a big factor in why we lost to Memphis last year.

I think our championship aspirations depend just as much on Duncan being able to contribute offensively as anything.

Diaw as a secondary playmaker needs to be used. It's worked in the past when they tried to shutdown Parker's pick and roll.

[Ice009]

Does anyone think we should give bonners minutes to Kawhi? He can do everything bonner does and more, he can drive past his man, rebound, hustle, probably shoot better ,close out and rotate quicker.

Absolutely. If Pop doesn't want to play Blair and cut Bonner out I would much rather small ball with Kawhi in Bonners place and more minutes for Diaw. Bonner is total trash.

[mando6599]

home cooking is serious business,

all of ibakas blocks are fkn clear goal tendings thats not being called at home

spurs shouldve continue to pound the rock and force the refs to call fouls

Agreed.

[Spurs1234]

I thought it was pretty bad when watching it, but big picture, look at the box score. The spurs were in it every quarter, even the third and fourth (for some reason i thought those were blowouts) it was respectable and they won the first which was amazing considering they were down 8-0 and the energy in that building was amazing. It's that second quarter, they got dominated. That was the difference in why it was a blow out. Without that second quarter swing, i still think the thunder when the game with a spirt in the fourth, but that was why it was a blowout. The second good news I saw in the boxscore, was parker was 6 of 12 and had 16 points and 4 assists. He was not "totally" shut down like everyone said. If he played the entire fourth like usual, he would have had 24 points 8 assists and a decent game.
Anyone remember games 3 and 4 in detroit in 2005, game 4 vs. seattle in 2005, game 4 vs. the suns in 2005, game 3 vs. UT in 2007? After those losses, you would have thought the spurs could never drive in the lane and not turn it over ever again. And we won those series. OKC is a good team, they were bound to win game 3.

[Obstructed_View]

Its not fair to say Tiago got negated by Fisher. For the first time Ever, I saw Tiago try to post up when he had a midget on him and he got called for a bullshit offensive foul. Then he was the victim of two bullshit "makeup" calls in a row and had to sit for most of the 1h.

This. I'm not sure what fucking game you were watching, LJ. Nice that you use it as an excuse to beat on Splitter for the fucking loss. :lol

[Leetonidas]

I think it's time for Pop to bust out his go-to move and start Ginobili. Putting Parker/Ginobili in the starting lineup forces Westbrook to guard Manu if they're going to put Sefolosha on Parker and Ginobili has the court vision to work effectively with Manu out there, especially if Diaw is at the PF spot.

[Leetonidas]

Also the second unit was awful. Why the fuck was Gary Neal playing so much? It's time to put Manu as full-time ball handler with the 2nd unit because Neal can't dribble the ball up for shit, it's like watching Beno out there. Soooo many lazy passes last night.

[Sportcamper]

Spurs going for 21 in a row & ESPN & Sports Center are covering the National Spelling Bee…Whats up with that? :lol

[TDMVPDPOY]

Also the second unit was awful. Why the fuck was Gary Neal playing so much? It's time to put Manu as full-time ball handler with the 2nd unit because Neal can't dribble the ball up for shit, it's like watching Beno out there. Soooo many lazy passes last night.

dont compared him to beno, beno at leasts has 2 rings being the victory cigar and played some form of defense....

[urunobili]

Start JAx at the 2 TBH

[Obstructed_View]

I think it's time for Pop to bust out his go-to move and start Ginobili. Putting Parker/Ginobili in the starting lineup forces Westbrook to guard Manu if they're going to put Sefolosha on Parker and Ginobili has the court vision to work effectively with Manu out there, especially if Diaw is at the PF spot.

I think it's time for Pop to realize that this team isn't where they are because of his great adjustments and go back to what was working.

[TDMVPDPOY]

wtf is pop limiting diaws and KL minutes....KL at least can play defense and reb even if his gettin burnede on the other end....

so far i dont think pop has gone with his strongest unit that can play some sort of respectful defense with a punch of scoring

[DBMethos]

Silver lining: People can go right back to ignoring the Spurs. Under the radar, baby!

[benefactor]

Classic Pop tank game.

No substantial changes needed. They play better and they win.

[chreph]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pm4Far2NIXE/T8hn5Sbx7dI/AAAAAAAAAJM/1hvgbTyXPI8/s1600/splitter+fisher+bs+zoom.gif



joo gotta be keeding me meng. where's the foul? :lol



lol That had me going all night with the broadcast. TNT loves them some block highlights but they NEVER showed the replay for anything that may have been a foul/goaltending. They always replay blocks and 50-50 calls but decided not to do that tonight for some reason. ESPN was openly criticizing some of the calls in the BOS/MIA game the night before yet TNT can't even show a replay or at least acknowledge that the call was 50-50 with the lone exception being the one charge called on Harden? Not the reason we lost but still much tougher to swallow bullshit when they keep telling you it's steak.

And I don't think some of you saying that Bonner HAS to keep his minutes watched the game. When Bonner was in, his guy was standing at the paint line, therefore NO SPACING. Nada. Zilch. I saw Harden and even Fisher "playing D" on Bonner while parked near the lane because they know they can close out on him while he's pissing himself each time the ball comes his way (even though they can't block his shot even if they DID close out on him). We're playing 4-on-5 when he's out there and ANYTHING would be better. You think Blair's going to screw up the spacing (even though Bonner is screwing up the spacing, too)? PnR with Blair to bring his guy out to the top of the key. Not good enough? Then play KL or Jack at the 4 and make Ibaka beat you offensively. Anything > Nothing.

I'm not a Bonner hater... I understand his purpose but, much like this isn't the series for Perkins, this isn't the series for Matty B. OKC accepted that, why can't we?

[Leetonidas]

True, I don't see what the point of the change up last night, we got killed. The only decent quarter we had was the first when most of the rotation was still normal. Hopefully it's some sort of CIA tactic because Pop has proven over the last few months he's not as batshit as some of us pegged him as

[Mugen]

Classic Pop tank game.

No substantial changes needed. They play better and they win.

Det nigga bene with the goods. :toast

No adjustments needed other than matching their intensity.

[Brazil]

To be frank, I successfully baited Brazil into a Frenchie trolljob in the NBA Forum's thread,

:rolleyes


but over all, I think I've been quite clear that all of the big 3 sucked tonight, and I didn't even think OKC had much to do with it.

That's why I'm not buying the "thabo adjustment" storyline. btw, these are the same people that were talking about Perkins being "THE" adjustment going into this game, and yet Perkins is a huge reason Tim looks like 77 years old in the post.

Tim, Manu and TP have been awful this game no doubt

The goods for TP are at least he didn't force too many dumb shots and was quite effective scoring the ball. He also tried to get his team mates involved.

The bads, tonite his passing has been from bad to very bad with a big amount of laziness, wtf was jumping like a goat to try to lob Sefo :lmao
obviously 5 T/Os is bad

If there are 3 players I'm not concerned about on game 4, it is tim, manu and tp. They are going to be hungry and have a great outing game 4.

[Mugen]

The Tiago foul on Fisher was the worst call of the game, maybe the series.

But a close second was the sequence where Duncan is just getting manhandled by Collison on the post and no call. And on the VERY NEXT play, Kawhi gets called for a touch foul as Durant tries to post up.

We didn't lose bc of the officiating but that was pretty laughable :lol

[KaiRMD1]

I'd put Bonner in and see if he can make a three. If he misses, take him out for the game and put in Blair. All Bonner is good for is one good three point shot. His defense has always been Steve Blake-ish

[bklynspursfan]

Any chance Pop decides to start Jackson or Manu you think? Jackson plays with that fire our 1st unit doesn't really have.

[MR-Clutch]

WTF happened to Duncans face up game?? Hes taking no jumpers anymore, which he has been successful at all year besides the beginning of the year. Are the Thunder not giving it to him, or has he just forgotten about it?

[racm]

I'd put Bonner in and see if he can make a three. If he misses, take him out for the game and put in Blair. All Bonner is good for is one good three point shot. His defense has always been Steve Blake-ish

Should have traded for Novak tbh

They're practically the same except Novak hits his threes better

[BlackSilver]

I thought it was pretty bad when watching it, but big picture, look at the box score. The spurs were in it every quarter, even the third and fourth (for some reason i thought those were blowouts) it was respectable and they won the first which was amazing considering they were down 8-0 and the energy in that building was amazing. It's that second quarter, they got dominated. That was the difference in why it was a blow out. Without that second quarter swing, i still think the thunder when the game with a spirt in the fourth, but that was why it was a blowout. The second good news I saw in the boxscore, was parker was 6 of 12 and had 16 points and 4 assists. He was not "totally" shut down like everyone said. If he played the entire fourth like usual, he would have had 24 points 8 assists and a decent game.
Anyone remember games 3 and 4 in detroit in 2005, game 4 vs. seattle in 2005, game 4 vs. the suns in 2005, game 3 vs. UT in 2007? After those losses, you would have thought the spurs could never drive in the lane and not turn it over ever again. And we won those series. OKC is a good team, they were bound to win game 3.

This Sir, is exactly what I was thinking last night. We've had much worse games before where you could see no hope at all, and then somehow we figure it out. I agree with a lot of what's been said. We forced the 4-downs and PnRs way too much. Get TD to do his re-post to the other side when they front him. Bring the PnR way out away from the 3 pt circle. Move Tony through a ton of baseline screens and wear Sef out.

[BlackSilver]

And agree with all those Blair doubters. Yeah he played with a lot of energy in garbage time. He also managed to foul a lot.

[BlairForceDejuan]

Splitter not being able to post up Fish.

Splitter GTFO.

Hi Blair.

[TampaDude]

Splitter not being able to post up Fish.

Splitter GTFO.

Hi Blair.

Splitter was getting whistled for nothing. Refs sucked last night...not the reason for the loss, but they did suck.

[Mugen]

You might as well roll out a red carpet to the hoop for Russ/Harden/Durant if you're going to be subbing in Blair for Splitter.

1 loss and SpurFan clamoring for wholesale changes :lol

[Legacy]

Not sure if this was mentioned.

Major Silver Lining: Spurs are healthy going into game four.


Thank you!

[DesignatedT]

When the offense is really struggling, getting Diaw the ball is not a bad option. He can make things happen more often than not.

[Maddog]

I thought it was pretty bad when watching it, but big picture, look at the box score. The spurs were in it every quarter, even the third and fourth (for some reason i thought those were blowouts) it was respectable and they won the first which was amazing considering they were down 8-0 and the energy in that building was amazing. It's that second quarter, they got dominated. That was the difference in why it was a blow out. Without that second quarter swing, i still think the thunder when the game with a spirt in the fourth, but that was why it was a blowout. The second good news I saw in the boxscore, was parker was 6 of 12 and had 16 points and 4 assists. He was not "totally" shut down like everyone said. If he played the entire fourth like usual, he would have had 24 points 8 assists and a decent game.
Anyone remember games 3 and 4 in detroit in 2005, game 4 vs. seattle in 2005, game 4 vs. the suns in 2005, game 3 vs. UT in 2007? After those losses, you would have thought the spurs could never drive in the lane and not turn it over ever again. And we won those series. OKC is a good team, they were bound to win game 3.
Probably the most rational post today. I agree they didn't shut down Tony like every one says. 21 turnovers and poor D.
How many of those turnovers where in the second quarter?

In addition to the above examples- how about Miami? Lose game 3, get slammed in game 3, yet win 4-2? Yes, OKC is dramatically better than the pacers it just demonstrates that you can easily go overboard.

I still remember the Tpups winning game 2 in 99 and how Sanders post game he talked about the playoffs where all about adjustments and they had made adjustments and won. Promptly lost the next two.

[rmt]

Spurs are in trouble if Pop can't figure out a way to free up TP vs Thabo. I'm hoping that he saw that they weren't going to win game 3 early and didn't want to show his hand until game 4. What else could explain the inexplicable number of minutes that Bonner got? Bonner is not spacing the floor - his usual playoff shrivel deserves 0 minutes for the rest of the series. Why can't Pop go with just TD, Diaw and Splitter plus whatever minutes of small ball? Even Blair deserves a try (just to change things up) over that choker Bonner. 1-7 = disgusting - not to mention the open shots he passes up.

Don't hear all the commentators offering "free advice" to Pop as they did with Brooks. No practical advice other than play harder. I've been hopeful and optimistic as Spurs have made this great offensive run - always with the thought that "but defense wins championships" in the back of my mind. I mean 40 points less than the last game - that's akin to OKC's defense completely shutting down Spurs' offense. Hopefully, Pop's got a counter up his sleeve.

[timvp]

This. I'm not sure what fucking game you were watching, LJ. Nice that you use it as an excuse to beat on Splitter for the fucking loss. :lol

Pointing out that Splitter didn't take advantage of the Thunder switching pick-and-rolls is "beating"?

Then again, you claim the Spurs didn't run a pick-and-roll last night so you probably have no idea what I'm complaining about.

[timvp]

Also the second unit was awful. Why the fuck was Gary Neal playing so much? It's time to put Manu as full-time ball handler with the 2nd unit because Neal can't dribble the ball up for shit, it's like watching Beno out there. Soooo many lazy passes last night.The problem with that is if Westbrook is defending Manu, Manu isn't a good enough ballhandler to bring it up against his ball-pressure.

Neal and Ginobili are going to have to share the ballhandling duties against this team. It won't be pretty but they'll be able to get the job done.

[024]

i would move jackson into the starting lineup and demote green to the bench. that way, if the thunder want to sic sefolosha on parker, westbrook will either have to guard leonard or jackson, both who can easily shoot over him.

green coming off the bench might wake him up and that gives the spurs another decent ball handler for a weird combo of neal/ginobili/green at point. plus, green would be able to defend harden when he checks into the game.

i would still give tiago another chance before substituting him for blair. splitter played well the first two games and sitting him after one poor performance doesn't make sense yet.

[SenorSpur]

The problem with that is if Westbrook is defending Manu, Manu isn't a good enough ballhandler to bring it up against his ball-pressure.

Neal and Ginobili are going to have to share the ballhandling duties against this team. It won't be pretty but they'll be able to get the job done.

I love Neal as a shooter, I don't like him as a backup PG. It seems that is when the Spurs are slow to get into their offense and slow to get back on defense.

If the Thunder reserves continue pressuring Neal and Manu, then perhaps Pop may want to consider inserting Mills for a few spot minutes?

[Budkin]

We don't have a chance in Game 4 according to Tim Legler so we might as well start talking about how we're gonna win Game 5.

@Najo_A I actually don't. OKC will win game 4 also. OKC is great at home. Whoever wins the west is winning it all.

https://twitter.com/LegsESPN/status/208408027915747328

[timvp]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pm4Far2NIXE/T8hn5Sbx7dI/AAAAAAAAAJM/1hvgbTyXPI8/s1600/splitter+fisher+bs+zoom.gif

Unpopular opinion forthcoming: The closer I look at that play, I think it may have actually been a foul on Splitter. TNT should have shown more than this one angle but it's an offensive foul if you dislodge a player's armbar. It's difficult to tell from this angle but it looks like Splitter's swipe with his off-arm dislodged it.

It's not a call you see much when it's big vs. big but it's technically the right call. And really it's even more reason why Splitter went about posting up Fisher all wrong. If he catches the ball that far out, the right play is to pass it back out, fight for lower position and then go straight into a shot. If you post up a point guard 12 feet away from the basket, you're going to be called for an offensive foul 75% of the time.

[ShoogarBear]

Duncan's offensive has been mediocre at best and mostly terrible this series (and the entire year against OKC as well), but I don't think the Spurs can just abandon any pretense of frontline scoring in the paint.

Everyone's eyes saw the same thing. It might be time to give Blair some run when OKC has two non-scorers in there, when his defensive liabilities would be minimized.

[benstanfield]

At this point, I would rather have Splitter roaming for 3's and "spacing the floor" than Firecrotch.

[Obstructed_View]

Pointing out that Splitter didn't take advantage of the Thunder switching pick-and-rolls is "beating"?

Then again, you claim the Spurs didn't run a pick-and-roll last night so you probably have no idea what I'm complaining about.

Splitter was posting up on a mismatch. There was no pick, no roll, and no foul, yet you prominently feature him as a reason they lost. lol as usual.

I have no idea what you're complaining about because you're complaining about Splitter again. Perhaps you could make some cute little comment about how injury prone he is too, but he got three whistles blown on him for nothing and was taken completely out of the game.

[Obstructed_View]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pm4Far2NIXE/T8hn5Sbx7dI/AAAAAAAAAJM/1hvgbTyXPI8/s1600/splitter+fisher+bs+zoom.gif

Unpopular opinion forthcoming: The closer I look at that play, I think it may have actually been a foul on Splitter. TNT should have shown more than this one angle but it's an offensive foul if you dislodge a player's armbar. It's difficult to tell from this angle but it looks like Splitter's swipe with his off-arm dislodged it.

It's not a call you see much when it's big vs. big but it's technically the right call. And really it's even more reason why Splitter went about posting up Fisher all wrong. If he catches the ball that far out, the right play is to pass it back out, fight for lower position and then go straight into a shot. If you post up a point guard 12 feet away from the basket, you're going to be called for an offensive foul 75% of the time.

That's a FIBA rule, not an NBA rule. Fish is allowed to put a hand on Splitter to maintain defensive position, but you can clearly see that he's using his leg to impede Splitter's progress. If you're going to call ticky tack in that situation, the whistle goes against Fisher.

[TJastal]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pm4Far2NIXE/T8hn5Sbx7dI/AAAAAAAAAJM/1hvgbTyXPI8/s1600/splitter+fisher+bs+zoom.gif

Unpopular opinion forthcoming: The closer I look at that play, I think it may have actually been a foul on Splitter. TNT should have shown more than this one angle but it's an offensive foul if you dislodge a player's armbar. It's difficult to tell from this angle but it looks like Splitter's swipe with his off-arm dislodged it.

It's not a call you see much when it's big vs. big but it's technically the right call. And really it's even more reason why Splitter went about posting up Fisher all wrong. If he catches the ball that far out, the right play is to pass it back out, fight for lower position and then go straight into a shot. If you post up a point guard 12 feet away from the basket, you're going to be called for an offensive foul 75% of the time.

Before Splitter "dislodges" Fisher's armbar it's clear Fisher puts his off hand on him, not once but twice. This is against the rules (more than 1 point of contact) but the referee chose to ignore this rule apparently.

[Obstructed_View]

All that said, Splitter didn't deserve to take advantage of that matchup because he waited so long. He acted like he was waiting for a double team. When he got the ball last night and had Fish on him I was yelling "GO GO GO" and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

[siraulo23]

How do the spurs attack when they switch the pnr on manu?

I think manu should take ibaka, even with his length, there's no way he should be able to stay in front of manu

They should run manu iso and make them pay

[TD 21]

B) DeJuan Blair showed no fear and he could play a role in this series going forward. People point to replacing Bonner but the player he might replace is Splitter. And I wouldn't have a problem with that if Splitter can't score in the low block against point guards, to be honest.

Have you lost your mind? As underwhelming as he's been in the playoffs, outside of finishing off of pick-and-rolls, he's still their fourth best player and only other legit big man besides Duncan.

Even if your plan would be to have Blair come in for Diaw early and have Diaw play backup center, in either scenario the Spurs would essentially be rolling out the welcome mat for a team that lives at the line to begin with. Their big three's eyes will light up with no legitimate size to contend with at the rim. Even Brooks will figure out what needs to be done in short order . . . I think.

[timvp]

Splitter was posting up on a mismatch. There was no pick, no rollYes there was. There was a pick-and-roll that the Thunder switched that left Fisher on Splitter.

You've repeatedly said the Spurs weren't running pick-and-rolls last night even though they ran about 50 by my count. That's less than the 80 they ran in Game 1 but still a healthy amount.


yet you prominently feature him as a reason they lost. lol as usual.lol prominently feature

Splitter is just one of many Spurs who I said deserved some blame.

I pointed out that Splitter wasn't scoring against midgets when the Thunder switched pick-and-rolls. That's a fact. If Splitter scores once or twice, the Thunder probably switch out of that gimmick defense. If you don't think Pop is pointing out to Splitter that he needs to score when he's defended by point guards, I don't know what to tell you.

And even though a center not being able to score on a point guard is a big deal, I've said in this thread that I don't want Pop to change anything in Game 4. How mean.


I have no idea what you're complaining about because you're complaining about Splitter again. The hell? Now I'm a Splitter hater? :lol

I was as high as anyone on Splitter during the regular season and other than Game 1 against the Clippers, I've been pretty damn happy with his playoff performances. The last three games I've said I thought he was awesome.


Perhaps you could make some cute little comment about how injury prone he is tooAh, you're mad because I pointed out Splitter has a history of being injury prone. Now I see where this is all coming from.

[timvp]

That's a FIBA rule, not an NBA rule.I don't know if it's a FIBA rule but I know it's an NBA rule.
Fish is allowed to put a hand on Splitter to maintain defensive position, but you can clearly seeThe problem is we can't clearly see anything at this angle. It looks like Splitter may have committed an offensive foul based on his arm disappearing but I can't say for sure. Maybe another angle shows Fisher using his leg but, again, can't see on this angle.

[Fabbs]

Fishnutts clearly picks up his left foot and jams his left knee forward into Splitter. Initiating contact and impeding Splitters movement.

Easy foul call on Fisher.

[spursince#99]

our first game was close/sloppy and we had too many turnovers. Game 2 seemed more comfortable and we had few turnovers. We get blown out in game 3 and have over 20 turnovers. Seems to be a constant theme if you ask me. If the thunder are going to play small and switch screens, we need to have a better post presence. Tim needs to step up

+1

[tim_duncan_fan]

If Duncan's gonna be as lazy as he was on offense last night come game 4, the team may as well forfeit, tbh. Not to mention the lazy passes and seeming unawareness of what was happening around him on the court.