Am I the only one here who thinks we have a thin bench?

[dallasmaverickslose]

***I could care less about losing to the Thunder tonight. In fact, I kind of expected us to lose, and I'm glad we did because that takes the pressure and media spotlight off of us (I also believe :pop: is glad the streak is over). So what I'm saying is that this thread is not some gut reaction to the Thunder game.



Our bench is kinda thin. Think about it. Who are our solid bench players, and what are their positions? We are thin; most notably in the department of SF, PF, and C. We are actually doing just fine at PG and SG. Please note that I'm focusing on our players who will likely be playing non-garbage minutes come playoff time.

PG? Come we will probably have one of Tony, Patty, or Manu on the court at all times.
SG? Green, Marco, Manu, and even Mills will distribute the minutes at SG.

So yeah, our guards situation is not the problem. What is our depth issue then? Everything else.

SF? Kawhi. He's our only true SF who we have to cover this spot. Now, we have Green and Diaw to fill in as relievers to Kawhi as needed, but to be honest I've never felt fully confident with either of them taking care of the backup SF position.

I'm going to combine PF/C: We've got ourselves Timmy, Splitter, and Diaw. That is all. Two of these three (I hope you can figure out which ones) are players that seem to have to really high moments of dominating games, but then they also have their moments of being absolutely useless telephone poles on the court. Yes, Diaw and Splitter concern me as our only other bigs that will be stepping in for Timmy when the playoffs roll around.



What about Ayres, Baynes, Daye, Joseph, Bonner, and whatever 15th player we have on the roster come playoffs? I will be shocked if any of them get any meaningful or legitimate PT in the postseason. And honestly, good riddance.


Our backup SF and PF/C situations may become glaring holes in the playoffs. I have heard a lot of people talking this season about how stacked the Spurs are this season, but are they really?

[AFBlue]

You probably are the only one tbqh. Spurs bring Manu, Beli, Patty, and Diaw/Splitter off the bench to play major minutes, and that's one stacked squad. Yeah, I could do without Ayres, but it's still solid as benches go tbqh.

[dallasmaverickslose]

You probably are the only one tbqh. Spurs bring Manu, Beli, Patty, and Diaw/Splitter off the bench to play major minutes, and that's one stacked squad. Yeah, I could do without Ayres, but it's still solid as benches go tbqh.

I'm not a big fan of 2 out of the 3 of Duncan, Diaw, and Splitter being on the floor at all times. Factoring Ayres and/or Baynes into the equation doesn't help at all.

[Josh810]

Yes.

[Richie]

No, but they operate as a unit. If we are missing anyone (tonight: Manu) then the whole unit can be exposed.

[Mikeanaro]

Is not just about the bench its more about who gets PT being the best matchup against our opponents for example Bonbon was really useful against the Lakers and nothing else it all depends on Pop for example tonight since Tiago and TP were sucking he could replace them and he did it but it was a little late.
I dont know if Pop´s guys are watching videos where OKC is bending over for other teams to find some answers.

[dallasmaverickslose]

No, but they operate as a unit. If we are missing anyone (tonight: Manu) then the whole unit can be exposed.

I honestly didn't expect us to win tonight. One of those reasons was that Manu was out. The other obviously was the back-to-back and it being something like the 5th game in 7 days.

[3 Legged Dog]

The Spurs have a very consistently strong contribution from our bench. So, no. I disagree with your comment that the Spurs' bench is thin. Could we be stronger at the backup 4/5? Sure. Should we have another true small forward on the roster other than Kawhi? Yes. But that doesn't mean our bench is thin.

[Raven]

we are a very deep team, just not as deep as last year or the year before. Our starters however are significantly better so i am confident. Manu also looks dominant and the team can adapt to any matchup.

[SpurPadre]

Our bench is great but we just struggle at times with uber-athletic teams. It's our kryptonite. We can overcome it but it'll be tough and that's without the Thunder getting extra-benefit from the refs.

[spurraider21]

we have the highest scoring bench in the NBA. with mills, marco, manu, and diaw the bench is plenty stacked

[sexinthatsx]

tbh the reason the Spurs lost tonight wasn't because Manu wasn't on the floor, but rather because Pop didn't want to show off his secret weapon - Aaron Baynes. Other posters have said that Jeff Ayers would be the first one to commit a hard or flagrant foul on someone, but I have my money on Baynes. That guy plays with way more intensity than Ayers and I bet if Kendrick Perkins pulled what he did to Duncan to Baynes, he would get knocked out.

[Sean Cagney]

Yes.

.......

[Prime Time]

The bench isn't weak or anything. Boris, Marco, Manu, and Patty all bring a Playmaking/Shooting/Defense/Post presence not just any team has on the bench. I think they just played poorly last night.

But if Boris can hit the three more efficiently, holy crap the Spurs would be so much better.

Marco played alright tonight. I feel it's just a case of him missing shots, but it's not like he couldn't find an open look. If the role players can hit the three, OKC's defense would ideally become more scattered.

The biggest key to beating the Thunder is that the role players NEED to hit their threes. I'm talking Danny, Boris, Marco, Patty, hell even Kawhi. When they shrink, the Spurs rely too much on the Big 3. When that happens, you realize just how old these guys are lol.

[Hoops Czar]

The bench isn't thin. It's just highly dependent on one player to make them effective.

[Johnny RIngo]

Bench is actually quite solid but it was still a retarded decision on the front office's part to spend a combined 6 million on Ayres/Bonner

[boutons_deux]

OKC's defense was the Spurs' biggest problem. They played the Spurs very close, esp on the perimeter. So many times on the perimeter a Spur would pick up his dribble then, bent over backwards, ball of his head, have a hell of a time trying to find somebody open. "beautiful to watch" didn't apply to Spurs offense.

[will_spurs]

You probably are the only one tbqh. Spurs bring Manu, Beli, Patty, and Diaw/Splitter off the bench to play major minutes, and that's one stacked squad. Yeah, I could do without Ayres, but it's still solid as benches go tbqh.

This. Our bench is as deep as it gets. If the Spurs have a thin bench, what does Indiana have?

[therealtruth]

OKC's defense was the Spurs' biggest problem. They played the Spurs very close, esp on the perimeter. So many times on the perimeter a Spur would pick up his dribble then, bent over backwards, ball of his head, have a hell of a time trying to find somebody open. "beautiful to watch" didn't apply to Spurs offense.

That's the key to good defense. Disrupting the other team's offensive flow. That's really the key to beating the Spurs.

[Biernutz]

Our Bench is one of the deepest ever. I can't think of a time when
we had such good backups. Our bench could be in the playoffs in the
eastern conference .

[SpurSpurSpurs]

I disagree. However, our lack of defense from the 2nd unit is worrying me. Regular season is nothing, Playoff wins are the important ones.

[Raven]

Our Bench is one of the deepest ever. I can't think of a time when
we had such good backups. Our bench could be in the playoffs in the
eastern conference .

lol, patty, manu, marco, diaw, baynes ain't coming anywhere close to the play offs

[dg7md]

We need T-Mac.

[EVAY]

yes.

[Cry Havoc]

lol, patty, manu, marco, diaw, baynes ain't coming anywhere close to the play offs

You haven't seen some of the teams out east apparently.

[dallasmaverickslose]

Intriguing.

[Salty]

Fuck we should've kept nando

[Sean Cagney]

Fuck we should've kept nando

Oh yes.... Game changer!

[BatManu20]

#BringBackNando

[dallasmaverickslose]

Oh yes.... Game changer!

Days like this id love to hear playnando's opinions...

[RD2191]

OP dropping truff bombs.

[BillMc]

Our bench has the talent, but it's not performing.

To sum it up, our best bench player is leading the team in both scoring and turn overs so far in the playoffs. Everyone else has done basically nothing...

[Hoops Czar]

No, the Spurs have one of the best benches in NBA history. It was said so during the RS numerous times.

[dallasmaverickslose]

I love how butthurt everyone got when I first posted this thread. How dare I!

[ElNono]

We have probably the deepest bench in the league, which is playing extremely poorly right now, with perhaps one exception.