Spurs losing their identity

[coachmac87]

Deep down I still believe in this team. Come playoff time I think a few players will have a sense of urgency Duncan, Tony, Jax, Diaw etc... But Pop has to make up his mind how he's going to approach this run..who's our back up pg? Neal, NDC, Manu? What bout our big rotations?? Make up ur mind is Bonner gonna be in our out? It seems like everybody on the bench is on a short leash and play extremely timid and unsure of themselves and their lack of playing time doesn't help. We've dealt with injuries this season but are u really surprised? It's expected nowadays..Resting players and changing rotations hasn't accomplished anything...just made a mess. My thoughts. If Diaw doesn't feel like playing go small and bring Jax off the bench and make Neal back up pg. We are desperate for his scoring and you can't trust anybody else..

Thoughts?

[Pop]

Basically we went from the stretch 4 formula to the twin tower formula, they did lose last year's identity. But the transition imo is a failure so far because we're stuck in the middle, we're getting the worst of both world since we play a twin tower but still manage to suck rebounding wise for instance, we are worse that the pathetic Celtic team at offensive rebounding and dead last, I mean at some point you have to stop and think that something may be wrong if you're Pop... And our stellar offense turned into ugly ball stopping crap with the ball always going to TD and TP.

I think to have a shot we have to get out of this shitty compromise and go bigger (3 real bigs lineups) or go back to last year's formula.

[Bruno]

I quite disagree.

Pop playing the mad scientist with the rotation hasn't helped the bench but the main reason of its struggles is that, since mid January, Ginobili has been either injured or bad.

[Thread]

Thoughts?

Matzel, matzel. Good things.

Sometimes you mallet-heads up here have a way about ya's. You ain't Sun Fan, that's for certain, but, you're the next best thing.

- Pappy

[DesignatedT]

Manu.

[Pop]

Also maybe starting De Colo to help with the playmaking/ball movement could be a decent solution?

Green is a great specialist but feels like we need some more ball movement, Diaw's playmaking was huge last year.

We lost only one quarter vs the heat and that was the third, I looking at it right now and the starting lineup is shitting the bed, they also got owned at the start, I don't think it's only the bench that needs to be fixed.

[coachmac87]

What?

[coachmac87]

Starting line up is only thing going for us...other than Manu I can't think of a bench player having a great game in months lol

[Dex]

I quite disagree.

Pop playing the mad scientist with the rotation hasn't helped the bench but the main reason of its struggles is that, since mid January, Ginobili has been either injured or bad.

Neal being injured and struggling with his shot hasn't helped, either. Jackson hasn't exactly been lighting it up either, but he's also been struggling with that broken pinkie.

Without those three, everybody else on the bench is too green (De Colo, CoJo, Baynes), too passive (Diaw, Mills), or too useless (Blair, Bonner) to pick of the slack offensively.

[ElNono]

There's been a few factors. Manu is certainly one, but missing Neal's scoring punch shouldn't be overlooked. Also, Jack hasn't really been playing great and it gets compounded by the inability to play guys like Blair for over 10 mins in a game.

I don't know about 'losing their identity', but the bench has flat out sucked.

[coachmac87]

Spurs identity was that we had a bench..arguably one of the better ones in the league..now it's becoming a weakness

[phxspurfan]

:***(

[Pop]

Starting line up is only thing going for us...other than Manu I can't think of a bench player having a great game in months lol

Last night it was the other way around, the bench guys had mostly positive plus minus and the starters mostly has negative plus minus. It's too easy to figure out/shut down tbh.

[coachmac87]

Matzel, matzel. Good things.

Sometimes you mallet-heads up here have a way about ya's. You ain't Sun Fan, that's for certain, but, you're the next best thing.

- Pappy

You wanna fight? Lol

[Bruno]

Neal being injured and struggling with his shot hasn't helped, either. Jackson hasn't exactly been lighting it up either, but he's also been struggling with that broken pinkie.

Without those three, everybody else on the bench is too green (De Colo, CoJo, Baynes), too passive (Diaw, Mills), or too useless (Blair, Bonner) to pick of the slack offensively.

Yeah, it hasn't helped but it all start with Ginobili who is the playmaker for the bench unit. A former all star paid $14.1M is also more accountable than players paid about $1M.

[jjktkk]

There's been a few factors. Manu is certainly one, but missing Neal's scoring punch shouldn't be overlooked. Also, Jack hasn't really been playing great and it gets compounded by the inability to play guys like Blair for over 10 mins in a game.

I don't know about 'losing their identity', but the bench has flat out sucked.

And, without looking up stats, those 3 are our bench scoring. So with all 3 struggling, its not suprising our bench has been shit this season.

[TheGoldStandard]

Parker was a gimp last night, taking 3 point shots? Didn't even try to break the double team, didn't try to go strong and when he did he stopped. Jax found a rhythm and was playing mad but had only 14 minutes?? We ran Bonner out there who didn't do anything on offense outside of "stretching the floor" which was the same situation when Kawhi was playing the 4 spot. Neal injured or not is not consistent so it's just a pick your poison kind of thing. If it's not one thing it's another. Kawhi needs the ball in his hands more, he was able to get looks but didn't have enough opportunities last night to exploit them.

[Thread]

You wanna fight? Lol

No. I'm too old, but, I'll certainly let you buy me lunch.

[Budkin]

No. I'm too old, but, I'll certainly let you buy me lunch.

You're always saying you're old Cub. How old we talkin?

[spurraider21]

Manu's play has such a tremendous impact on how the entire bench looks. they all look super passive and are just going through the motions when out there. with manu playing at his best, our bench is among the higher scoring units in the league.

[hater]

our MVP is not 100% clearly.

not too worried as long as there's improvement in TP's form. Hopefully he can get close to 100% and help us win a couple of series, that would be our ceiling.

he doesn't get close to 100% and this team is a 1st round exit

[Robz4000]

our MVP is not 100% clearly.

not too worried as long as there's improvement in TP's form. Hopefully he can get close to 100% and help us win a couple of series, that would be our ceiling.

he doesn't get close to 100% and this team is a 1st round exit

Spurs aren't losing in the first round. However, even with a 100% TP, they're losing in the second round.

[hater]

Spurs aren't losing in the first round. However, even with a 100% TP, they're losing in the second round.

agree this is more likely scenario. Even by a miracle or injury to opponent we might somehow sneak into WCF. but that's it.

unless kawhi or green somehow become playoff beasts, that is our destiny

[Thread]

You're always saying you're old Cub. How old we talkin?

3 score come this fall.

[Robz4000]

agree this is more likely scenario. Even by a miracle or injury to opponent we might somehow sneak into WCF. but that's it.

unless kawhi or green somehow become playoff beasts, that is our destiny

IMO Leonard will be the only good thing that can be taken away this postseason. The more I watch him, the more I'm convinced he will be a star in this league. Superstar? I don't know (prolly not), but he can be a top 3 SF in the league and a 2nd option on a contender. I'm banking on him having an impressive showing to at least alleviate some of the depression that comes when the Spurs inevitably get knocked out early.

[SpurSpurSpurs]

Manu + Splitter as part of the 2nd unit is better. When Splitter was inserted to the starting line up, Manu can't work the PnR the way he did when Splitter was there. Not saying Diaw suck (just too passive), it's just that Diaw plays better when starting since he gets to play with Tony and have more athletic player to bail him out.

[TD 21]

Let's face it, they did it again. In what's quickly becoming an annual tradition, they're in the midst of their third straight embarrassing collapse and look poised to be eliminated in the 1st or 2nd round. This one's got everything the first two had all rolled into one, from the obligatory Ginobili injury at the worst possible time, to other key players being banged up that won't be 100% until the off season, to the bench falling apart, to them coming unglued late in games and of course, the general look/sound of resignation that's slowly but surely creeping onto their faces/into their voices. The 1 seed will be gone for good by Thursday, after they suffer their 2nd blowout in 4 days.

[Robz4000]

Let's face it, they did it again. In what's quickly becoming an annual tradition, they're in the midst of their third straight embarrassing collapse and look poised to be eliminated in the 1st or 2nd round. This one's got everything the first two had all rolled into one, from the obligatory Ginobili injury at the worst possible time, to other key players being banged up that won't be 100% until the off season, to the bench falling apart, to them coming unglued late in games and of course, the general look/sound of resignation that's slowly but surely creeping onto their faces/into their voices. The 1 seed will be gone for good by Thursday, after they suffer their 2nd blowout in 4 days.

Thunder aren't exactly playing their best ball either. They also have 3 games left that I think are going to be losses (@IND Friday, @GS, @UTA) and play @POR on a b2b and face the Knicks who are playing pretty good these days. As long as the Spurs only lose to Denver, they'll have the tiebreaker regardless of the result of Thursday night's outcome.

[Arcadian]

Basically we went from the stretch 4 formula to the twin tower formula, they did lose last year's identity. But the transition imo is a failure so far because we're stuck in the middle, we're getting the worst of both world since we play a twin tower but still manage to suck rebounding wise for instance, we are worse that the pathetic Celtic team at offensive rebounding and dead last, I mean at some point you have to stop and think that something may be wrong if you're Pop... And our stellar offense turned into ugly ball stopping crap with the ball always going to TD and TP.

I think to have a shot we have to get out of this shitty compromise and go bigger (3 real bigs lineups) or go back to last year's formula.

It's interesting how different the 2013 Spurs are from the 2012 Spurs. Last year's team was backcourt-heavy with tons of great shooters and depth off the bench. This year's team is frontcourt-heavy with more inside presence, better defense, but less depth. I think we should go all in with the "twin towers" formula, rather than reverting back to last year's formula.

What did you mean by "3 real bigs lineup"? With Duncan, Splitter, and Leonard, I'd say we have an ideal frontcourt in the starting lineup.