Ginobili and Diaw should just start

[freetiago]

Diaw for obvious reasons
the Blair experiment cant and wont ever work
spurs have been shopping his ass for 2 years now and they cant even get a deep second round pick
just live with the fact that he isnt an nba rotation player and let him get his garbage time when appropriate
Diaw doesnt have the mental focus to come off the bench and he played his best starting

Ginobili just cant lead the bench consistently anymore
painful to watch him get trapped and then lose his dribble and throw it into the stands
or do a jump pass and throw a horrible pass at the last second
hes a good offball player and he hasnt been able to play like that in a few years
also makes him less predictable since he runs the same play everytime down the court

Pop can start green/leonard at the 2/3 and let ginobili lead the bench starting the second half

[superjames1992]

I actually think I agree. Manu is a very good off-the-ball player these days, but he does seem to try to do a little to much with the bench.

If Parker's ego wasn't so stroked, I think he would be a good guy to lead the bench, but I don't think he'd put up with that.

[DesignatedT]

If Parker's ego wasn't so stroked, I think he would be a good guy to lead the bench,


not sure if serious.

[Brunodf]

Kawhi and Splitter should start

[superjames1992]

not sure if serious.
I'm not sure, either. Do you think Parker would put up with being benched? I really don't know. A lot of NBA players wouldn't like that.

Of course, Pop could sidestep this by simply subbing Parker out a few minutes into the game and then subbing him back in late in the first quarter.

[DesignatedT]

Kawhi and Splitter should start

and Diaw/Blair in the 2nd unit? No thanks.

[freetiago]

splitter doesnt have to start but he was used appopriately tonight
closing out games and playing more minutes with duncan

ginobili needs to be used like the 2011 season
he still led the bench but he started

also another benefit of pairing diaw with duncan is that duncans dominate rebounding masks diaws lack of rebounding
diaw will still boxout which helps duncan more on the glass

[Brunodf]

and Diaw/Blair in the 2nd unit? No thanks.

Don't need to, Splitter can play 30-35 minutes

[DAF86]

I think that Splitter and Ginobili should start (and make Manu officially a role player)

With Diaw coming off the bench and Jackson and/or Leonard playing the 4th in short stretches.

[DesignatedT]

Don't need to, Splitter can play 30-35 minutes

So were going to play 3 big men from here on out. Got it. Great plan.

[TDMVPDPOY]

diaw has no business being on this team, dude is too fkn passive on offense who continue to past up open shots for penetration....

blair should be dump at the end of the bench, players continue to shoot over him with no effort needed

[timtonymanu]

Diaw probably needs to start, but the annoying, overly passive Diaw is starting to show. He needs to pick it up.

[Brunodf]

So were going to play 3 big men from here on out. Got it. Great plan.

Never said that, but could be a good idea, i was thinking about something like this:
Splitter comes out after 6/ -
Splitter replaces Timmy after 10/
Duncan replaces Splitter after 6 of the 2nd/
Splitter plays the last 2 of the half with Duncan.
Results: 16 minutes Splitter/ 16 Duncan/ Bonner+Diaw+Jack share the other 16 minutes at PF. The same thing in the second half.

[justinandimcool]

yeah they should start so we can win the first-7-minutes-of-the-game championship :lobt:

[raybies]

I agree. Manu is much older now. He not getting to the rim as often as he use to. Where's his rhythm? I think he could benefit from green looks. Fast break.open threes. Penetration. Greens production for manu. 14 million reasons. Ball movement. I'm not sure how it would affect his turnover rate or the teams but the consistency of lineup might help how many lineups has he played with on the bench.

[200 miles]

Never said that, but could be a good idea, i was thinking about something like this:
Splitter comes out after 6/ -
Splitter replaces Timmy after 10/
Duncan replaces Splitter after 6 of the 2nd/
Splitter plays the last 2 of the half with Duncan.
Results: 16 minutes Splitter/ 16 Duncan/ Bonner+Diaw+Jack share the other 16 minutes at PF. The same thing in the second half.


I like that idea...sort of.

[freetiago]

ginobili started in 2011 and the spurs did fine
sadly im more comfortable with neals heroball leading the second unit then turnobili throwing balls into the stands
they can run de colo/neal at point and also look to splitter/jack post ups to generate offense

[Fireball]

I'm not sure, either. Do you think Parker would put up with being benched? I really don't know. A lot of NBA players wouldn't like that.

Of course, Pop could sidestep this by simply subbing Parker out a few minutes into the game and then subbing him back in late in the first quarter.

Its ok to mix around with lineups, but you do not bench your best player just to somehow optimize the second unit. I know it was done with Manu, but TP can play 35-40 minutes when it counts. so no reason to think about not starting him.

[DapDaGenius]

Okay, I have a plan, we harass Blair on twitter.

We cause him to get depressed and start eating again. Then when he is sluggish on the court and performs even worse, he'll have another twitter rage, and he'll get fined with money and a diet. He'll complain about the fine(mostly because of the diet), then ends up getting traded.

Who's in?

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Diaw seems a little more dialed in as a starter. I don't have a problem with that. Manu looks like he's playing hurt. Not sure he should even be out there at all right now.

[lefty]

If Parker's ego wasn't so stroked, I think he would be a good guy to lead the bench, but I don't think he'd put up with that.
I agree

[therealtruth]

Its ok to mix around with lineups, but you do not bench your best player just to somehow optimize the second unit. I know it was done with Manu, but TP can play 35-40 minutes when it counts. so no reason to think about not starting him.

[letmk]

I actually think I agree. Manu is a very good off-the-ball player these days, but he does seem to try to do a little to much with the bench.

If Parker's ego wasn't so stroked, I think he would be a good guy to lead the bench, but I don't think he'd put up with that.

If LeBron's ego wasn't so stroked, I think he would be a good guy to lead the bench, but I don't think he'd put up with that.

Are you out of your mind? Tony and Tim are our two best players. You bench your No.1/2 player and only star PG?

OP's suggestion of starting Manu may make some sense, but what you suggest is just, okay, I don't need to comment further.

[Brunodf]

If LeBron's ego wasn't so stroked, I think he would be a good guy to lead the bench, but I don't think he'd put up with that.

Are you out of your mind? Tony and Tim are our two best players. You bench your No.1/2 player and only star PG?

OP's suggestion of starting Manu may make some sense, but what you suggest is just, okay, I don't need to comment further.

Manu was the Spurs best player for many seasons and still played off the bench

[letmk]

Manu was the Spurs best player for many seasons and still played off the bench

Which year? Tim was in All-NBA team until 2010. The only one that's possible is 2010-2011. And by then, Manu has been a reserve player for many many years. While Tony started since his rookie season.

And let's put Tony or Manu aside, just from a general basketball perspective, not starting your best SG is much less detrimental than not starting your best PG.

[Brunodf]

Which year? Tim was in All-NBA team until 2010. The only one that's possible is 2010-2011. And by then, Manu has been a reserve player for many many years. While Tony started since his rookie season.

And let's put Tony or Manu aside, just from a general basketball perspective, not starting your best SG is much less detrimental than not starting your best PG.

Off the bench in the regular season : 2008 and 2011