I hope people understand why Pop takes Duncan out at the end of games now.

[Chinook]

I don't want this to be a bashing thread but some posters consistently criticize Pop for removing Duncan when the opposing team goes small. His lack of mobility is a major weakness. Tim is still a great defender when put in the right position, but that's usually not going to work against the best teams. His rebounding doesn't offset the fact that it's a tremendous effort for him to stay with any guards.

The Spurs need Splitter for games like tonight. When everyone's back, things will be different.

[TDfan2007]

I don't want this to be a bashing thread but some posters consistently criticize Pop for removing Duncan when the opposing team goes small. His lack of mobility is a major weakness. Tim is still a great defender when put in the right position, but that's usually not going to work against the best teams. His rebounding doesn't offset the fact that it's a tremendous effort for him to stay with any guards.

The Spurs need Splitter for games like tonight. When everyone's back, things will be different.

Agreed. It doesn't help that our guards (with the exception of Manu) are atrocious at fighting through screens.

[Kabals]

This situation happened a couple of times this season and from my memories they missed the three every time. And we failed to get the rebound every time.

[Chinook]

This situation happened a couple of times this season and from my memories they missed the three every time. And we failed to get the rebound every time.

No, it really hasn't. The Spurs have missed some critical boards without Duncan, but that's on the guards for not boxing out. Collison got a huge tip-in tonight due to Duncan not boxing out.

Anyway, it's clear Duncan is a major weak link on the PnR. Getting by him is as reliable as his bank shot.

[Sean Cagney]

I don't want this to be a bashing thread but some posters consistently criticize Pop for removing Duncan when the opposing team goes small. His lack of mobility is a major weakness. Tim is still a great defender when put in the right position, but that's usually not going to work against the best teams. His rebounding doesn't offset the fact that it's a tremendous effort for him to stay with any guards.

The Spurs need Splitter for games like tonight. When everyone's back, things will be different.
Yes but BOSH was in the game for the Heat late in that game and Tim could have been on him and not some guards out there :( Sorry but they had a big man in the game and we did not. I understand why he does it at times and agree but if they have a big in the game you can put Tim on him out there.

[Chinook]

Yes but BOSH was in the game for the Heat late in that game and Tim could have been on him and not some guards out there :( Sorry but they had a big man in the game and we did not. I understand why he does it at times and agree but if they have a big in the game you can put Tim on him out there.

Pretty sure they had Diaw in. Anyway, even if Duncan were in to guard Bosh (a horrible matchup in that situation, but whatever), one PnR leading to a switch, and Duncan is on a guard. The point of using Diaw instead was to allow for switching. Perhaps using Splitter would have been the best strategy.

[Raven]

i think it's more about our guards not recovering from screens than anything, but duncan has not been a pf for years now, so it's time for people to start expecting him to do things he simply can't.

[TheGoldStandard]

We're too tiny on the perimeter in today's NBA

[Chinook]

We're too tiny on the perimeter in today's NBA

Not really. Leonard is average and Manu are average for their positions, and Green is above-average. Sure, replacing Beli with a 6-9 SF would make the wing rotation a lot bigger. But they have as much as most do.

[Sean Cagney]

Pretty sure they had Diaw in. Anyway, even if Duncan were in to guard Bosh (a horrible matchup in that situation, but whatever), one PnR leading to a switch, and Duncan is on a guard. The point of using Diaw instead was to allow for switching. Perhaps using Splitter would have been the best strategy.

Diaw is not a rebounder usually. I know they had him in but Tim would have nabbed that rebound since he wanted that title bad enough IMO. I see what you are saying with other examples but the game 6 One I never will get from Pop. He knows he messed up there. I agree with the rest of what you said.

Splitter is an intesting choice too! Agreed there.

[freetiago]

Id still rather have my superstar at the end of a game who will make plays vs a nobody for the sake of matching up who has no chance of making a play

[Mikeanaro]

Yes but BOSH was in the game for the Heat late in that game and Tim could have been on him and not some guards out there :( Sorry but they had a big man in the game and we did not. I understand why he does it at times and agree but if they have a big in the game you can put Tim on him out there.
Agree, Bosh was the reason why RoyRay hit that three, he was traveling but nevermind...

[Chinook]

Id still rather have my superstar at the end of a game who will make plays vs a nobody for the sake of matching up who has no chance of making a play

Who was the nobody? If you mean Game Six, everyone except Ginobili had made great plays consistently over the course of that series. If you mean tonight, Duncan was a nobody on PnR defense. There's no reason to leave him in when he was getting torched every time down the court.

[jimbo]

At least early on in the season Splitter was rebounding a whole lot better than he did last year. Now he's the obvious choice over Duncan or Diaw, but I can see why Pop didn't trust Splitter last year tbh.

Tim looked like he was taking lessons from Ayres at the end of the game tonight tbh.

[Chomag]

Hmm, how about making the other team have to adjust?

As for TD, anyone outside of him has no clue how to properly box out and rebound on this team.

[benstanfield]

Shouldn't have had him on Perk. If they're gonna screen with whoever TD guards, put him on Ibaka and let Diaw/Ayres ignore Perk and help on the drive. I'll take an Ibaka jumper over KD/Jackson driving layup any day.

[benstanfield]

Not to mention Perkins is by far the best screener in the Thunder starting 5, mostly cause they ignore his almost constant clotheslines.

[SpursRock20]

Not to take away from the thesis of this thread, but I got the feeling that Duncan didn't give a damn about the game last night. From the way he looked emotionally before the tip, I knew that he just wouldn't have it against the Thunder. Yeah, yeah, he's always pretty emotionless but there was something quite a bit odd about him yesterday.

And in a more general sense, there is something quite a bit odd about this whole team (minus Patty) this season when it comes to intensity. We just don't have it. We don't necessarily need it against the middle to bottom-tier teams but against the elites we absolutely do. Hopefully they are just coasting, but the lack of passion and intensity could become a real concern come playoff time. I've rarely see a Spurs team get out-hustled and punked on their home floor like I saw last night. The Thunder were scrappy and constantly beating their chest while the Spurs laid down and sat in the corner. Quite embarrassing to say the least. Again, hopefully they are just coasting.

EDIT: I should probably add Manu. That dude is always intense.

[Chinook]

Hmm, how about making the other team have to adjust?

As for TD, anyone outside of him has no clue how to properly box out and rebound on this team.

What does that first part have to do with anything? Teams don't have to adjust if they can just attack Duncan. Tim can't switch on a PnR, because having him on a guard is a bigger mismatch than having Parker on a big. When the other teams need a score, they know where to go. The only reason why the team is in a position to miss the rebound is that the other team didn't score. That's a product of being able to switch screeners and stay with guys.:-)

I get tired on hearing about how Duncan would get all these critical rebounds. No, he wouldn't have. If his man had attacked him, he'd be in no position to box anyone out. He demonstrated this a couple of times last night when he escorted Jackson to the lane and allowed his man to trail in an get crucial boards. In Game Six, he would have been out at the three-point line. Provided that he didn't allow the tying basket himself, he would have had to beat everyone to the post to grab the rebound. He wouldn't have had position. He would have just had to have been lucky enough to have the ball bounce his way. No different than what actually happened.

Sitting Duncan usually works out. People need to stop acting like it doesn't. The bigs that came in for Tim made game-saving plays three times in last playoffs. It didn't work out the final time, but 75-percent is a pretty good return.

[therealtruth]

Diaw is not a rebounder usually. I know they had him in but Tim would have nabbed that rebound since he wanted that title bad enough IMO. I see what you are saying with other examples but the game 6 One I never will get from Pop. He knows he messed up there. I agree with the rest of what you said.

Splitter is an intesting choice too! Agreed there.

You can at probably give Pop a break when they went with the all guard lineup. But when they went with Bosh at least Splitter should have been in there. Long enough to contest or block the shot and switch.

[Baam]

The strategy during the Finals was to leave Bosh open on the perimeter, we saw huge clanks in game 1 that pretty much decided the game (along with the buzzer beater) iirc, so while that may be true in general, it was probably wrong in game 6.

[Baam]

You can at probably give Pop a break when they went with the all guard lineup. But when they went with Bosh at least Splitter should have been in there. Long enough to contest or block the shot and switch.

Splitter doesn't really block shots... And besides he did everything to get glued to the bench in that series.