Pop Pulls Soft Card

[timvp]

"We were an embarrassment."

"This is a game that needs to be played with toughness for 48 minutes."

http://www.drudgereport.com/siren.gif

[Stabula]

He should have called out the officials can't believe he said "the officials had nothing to do with this". Total bullshit! I get that we played downright awful tonight but the officials were a HUGE part of this loss. Anyone catch that blatantly obvious offensive foul by Paul on Parker at the tail end of the game with, you guessed it, no call? That turnover could have given us a game-winning possession.

How about DeAndre Jordan mouthing off after fouling Duncan and them TAKING BACK the technical. They were in the process of calling it then decided nah it's LA they get a pass. Holy shit...

[Splits]

Where do you watch the live post game interviews?

[DesignatedT]

Haven't always agreed with him dropping the soft card after certain past performances but this one I definitely agree.

[ElNono]

And he trots Bonner out? :lmao

But it's true... when Jack walked out of the floor, 3/4 of our swagger walked away with him... outside of Duncan and Manu, this is a team of softies right now...

[Libri]

No Leonard or Jack equals less toughness, tbh.

[spectator]

somewhere else in the locker room, tiago splitter is "pretending to text to avoid someone - epic winning!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QS0q3mGPGg (@ 1:04)

[DesignatedT]

Bonner had more balls and played with more effort then the whole fucking team out there. Both Diaw and Splitter played "softer" than Bonner did tonight.

[Mugen]

Like I said, he isn't wrong.

Outside of Tim & Jack, the whole squad's been soft all season.

[Floyd Pacquiao]

splitter and diaw mainly

[NRHector]

well is too early to play the soft card I'm shocked :wakeup

[DejuanorwhatDude]

Why should anyone blame Pop for pulling the soft card? Thats exactly what they were. They didn't play defense and looked completely listless for half the game. The Clippers got them off their game plain and simple.

[McGusto55]

"We were an embarrassment."

"This is a game that needs to be played with toughness for 48 minutes."

http://www.drudgereport.com/siren.gif

I agree there weak inside besides tim..they get punked around..

[DejuanorwhatDude]

If Tiago Splitter isn't playing the p+r with Manu he is so useless. He just gets manhandled by anyone close to his size.

[spectator]

"We were an embarrassment."

"This is a game that needs to be played with toughness for 48 minutes."

http://www.drudgereport.com/siren.gif


in retrospect, tiago should have gotten 3-4 defensive rebounds when the second unit was on the floor in the 4th qtr, but got pushed around by point guards and forwards alike who put back those misses. we just cannot win with that type of defense. timmy is our only front-court defensive player. so sad ...

[TD 21]

He should have called out the officials can't believe he said "the officials had nothing to do with this". Total bullshit! I get that we played downright awful tonight but the officials were a HUGE part of this loss. Anyone catch that blatantly obvious offensive foul by Paul on Parker at the tail end of the game with, you guessed it, no call? That turnover could have given us a game-winning possession.

How about DeAndre Jordan mouthing off after fouling Duncan and them TAKING BACK the technical. They were in the process of calling it then decided nah it's LA they get a pass. Holy shit...

I'm glad he didn't do that. I don't want nothing to detract from this soft, pathetic performance. That being said, he's got no one to blame but himself and Buford. They're the ones that decided to bring back this pathetic front line, as if they thought Diaw and Splitter would suddenly grow a pair.

As frustrating as it is to see, it's actually good that this is happening now though. If they were steamrolling the league, they might not do anything. But now, I think they now they have to do something.

Why is Duncan, by far the most accomplished player on the team and one of the most accomplished of all time, the one who cares the most? He's out there competing his ass off like it's game 7 of the Finals and the rest of this sorry excuse for a front line (in particular Diaw and Splitter, who need to be broken up immediately) are getting destroyed by garbage players like Hollins and Turiaf.

[TE]

They need to bring in a veteran with grit. Outside of TD, the frontline ovulated time and time again to the likes of Ryan Fucking Hollins and Ronny fucking Turiaf. Sounds crazy and stupid (maybe), but bring in K-Mart. At least just to have him on the bench.

[spectator]

They need to bring in a veteran with grit. Outside of TD, the frontline ovulated time and time again to the likes of Ryan Fucking Hollins and Ronny fucking Turiaf. Sounds crazy and stupid (maybe), but bring in K-Mart. At least just to have him on the bench.

bring k-mart and try to trade for varejao - good ideas

extremely soft game from splitter and diaw, but i have not lost complete faith in the pairing; they played well last year and i doubt that they would regress significantly with a full training camp under their belt.

[racm]

Why doesn't anyone from the media call out Pop for building a soft roster, really?

[crc21209]

I actually thought they played some pretty good gritty D in the 2nd half, an example being that ugly ass 3rd quarter. But the Spurs were only allowed to be so physical because the damn refs stepped in and were calling anything and EVERYTHING against the Spurs. But hey he's the coach, if he thinks it will light a fire under their ass, I'm all for it...

[Sean Cagney]

Bonner had more balls and played with more effort then the whole fucking team out there. Both Diaw and Splitter played "softer" than Bonner did tonight.

This right here is a damn reason for concern, if Bonner plays with more balls then your other bigs not named TD then your team is fucked. They need a change, period.

[Russo21]

Diaw has been terrible this season, very soft, hesitant, hasn't used half his skillset. Averaging something like 5pts 3reb or something? For someone of his skills thats absolute piss-poor. He's shooting 62% on the year and taken just 6 shots the last 3 games combined. Boris needs to pull his finger out of his ass and play some ball.

[rmt]

Diaw looks like he's got a case of Horryitis.

Pop didn't help matters with his rotation. WTH? All of the big 3 on the bench at the same time when the team was lacking play-making. LAC is not the game to throw De Colo out there - save that for the bottom dwellers. Blame to go all around - from the crappy, unbalanced roster to the coaching to the soft play. And how's Cory Joseph to help with SF injuries?

[urunobili]

Bledsoe getting offensive boards and putbacks against all our bigs says it all. Glad TP tripped him soccer style tbh

[Chomag]

Outside of Tim, Jax, and manu, the rest are toilet paper when it comes to toughness.

[siraulo23]

so he didnt really say 'soft' specifically...

[Cane]

That game felt like the PHX/Mem series where nonstars like Jared goddamm Dudley was a terror on the boards

[NickiRasgo]

McDyess!

[polandprzem]

Spurs again has no goons

[skulls138]

The Spurs were just pissing me off. They lost in toughness both mentally and physically. Clippers are good, that has to said but the Spurs just lost their minds and lost the momentum.

[Russ]

"We were an embarrassment."

"This is a game that needs to be played with toughness for 48 minutes."

http://www.drudgereport.com/siren.gif

I guess Pop wasn't "happy" with that performance.

[timvp]

so he didnt really say 'soft' specifically...

"Of all our games, this game was in the soft category. We never had five guys that competed hard enough to win the basketball games. The Clippers took it with their aggressiveness and their toughness, both mentally and physically."

[SA210]

Pop has become very soft

[Obstructed_View]

If he uses it this early in the season, he must mean it.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

And he trots Bonner out? :lmao

But it's true... when Jack walked out of the floor, 3/4 of our swagger walked away with him... outside of Duncan and Manu, this is a team of softies right now...

Totally agree - Jax is our tough guy and he adds backbone to the whole team whenever he's on the court.

We need another hardman while he's out, but there isn't one on the roster - they're all far too nice! :lmao :oops

[silverblk mystix]

If you don't sign players that have toughness and only sign players that suck up to you or buy in to your "corporate knowledge" and most of those players are softies/kiss asses/non-bad boys...

then your team might have a bit of a pussy factor.

[therealtruth]

Pop has become very soft

This. It worked for Rick Carslile the last time he called his team soft. They ended up winning the championship that year.

[siraulo23]

"Of all our games, this game was in the soft category. We never had five guys that competed hard enough to win the basketball games. The Clippers took it with their aggressiveness and their toughness, both mentally and physically."

ok, wow, im not sure pulling the soft card is warranted when the team is missing both their SFs

[KL2]

Did this game guarantee Bonner a spot in the starting lineup?

[DMC]

The officials had nothing to do with the fact that the Spurs sucked ass. There were some blown calls, but the Spurs just sucked ass. That street ball in the 1st quarter, where they could have used smart play and put some points up, that pretty much kept them in the mud. It was like they wanted to lose.

No, don't blame officiating for all that shitty play.

[phxspurfan]

Not good. If he has to use the soft card this early, what other card will he have when we lose to the Bucks?