Si.com Roundtable what Spurs need to do to "get their groove back"

[Rummpd]

http://nba.si.com/2014/05/29/spurs-thunder-nba-playoffs-game-5-preview/?eref=sihp


Lee Jenkins: Ball movement. Some who have been around the Spurs throughout the Gregg Popovich regime believe this is the best passing team he has ever had. The Spurs saw in the past two game.

Rob Mahoney: Spread the floor. The frontcourt tandem of Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter had worked well prior to Ibaka’s return, but in the two games since it has become untenable. San Antonio is still moving the ball well and working to create shots near the rim. Their every move on the interior is simply crowded due to the fact that Oklahoma City doesn’t have to guard Splitter explicitly. I’d like to see Popovich shake up the rotation to see if it might pry open some driving and passing lanes; Boris Diaw or Matt Bonner could start in Splitter’s stead if Pop would prefer to run relatively big, though San Antonio could also turn small by substituting Manu Ginobili or Marco Belinelli.s they cannot reach the Finals by trying to beat the Thunder one-on-one and take them to the basket.....
......Chris Johnson.... Go back in time and cast a spell to counteract the supernatural healing powers that changed Serge Ibaka’s prognosis from “Probably done for the playoffs” to “He’s good to go for Game 3”. If that fails, a more realistic plan involves San Antonio making adjustments to account for Ibaka’s defensive presence. The Spurs’ offense was operating so smoothly in Games 1 and 2, making what-if statements about Ibaka’s health seemed to completely miss the point. Even if Ibaka did come back, it seemed, the Spurs would adjust and continue pummeling Oklahoma City. The last two games have illustrated how disruptive a defensive force Ibaka can be. . Ibaka is one of the best interior defenders in the game, but his return to action shouldn’t be enough to scuttle a Spurs attack that ranked among the league’s best all season and bombarded the Thunder with 234 points combined in Games 1 and 2.


Spouting the obvious now will Pop at least change out Splitter for Diaw at the start or soon after?

[tholdren]

the playoffs should have been enough reason to not sign splitter

[ducks]

splitter was great this playoffs except last 2 games

[elbamba]

Pop can keep Tiago in to start the game to see if playing on the home court brings him so energy and toughness. All we need is for him to rebound and defend Ibaka's jumper. If he begins to play weak, pull him for Diaw and Baynes.

The bigger issue will be putting Parker on either Lamb or Jackson. If OKC wants to let Lamb shoot 15 shots because a smaller Parker is on him fine by me. Its not going to happen. Westbrook will take his shots. Might as well have Green on him.

I would also consider benching Mills in this series. Cory defended Westbrook to my satisfaction. Didn't stop him but challenged him and made it tough. Maybe play Mills when Fischer is in the game.

Finally, KL has no business fighting through screens on Durant 10 feet behind the 3 point line. He needs to go under unless Durant is right on the line. It seems like they picked him at least 6-7 times close to midcourt where he tried to fight through the screen rather than going under. Durant will not shoot a 35 footer. No need to defend him so tight out there. The switch should only come when he is in range.

[baseline bum]

splitter was great this playoffs except last 2 games

And the next two.

[Nathan89]

splitter was great this playoffs except last 2 games

What's your point? You want him to start?

[Seventyniner]

If you can't play Duncan and Splitter together, their minutes can't add up to more than 48. What would that be, 30 for Duncan and 18 for Splitter?

A better bet is to put Duncan and Splitter on the floor if the Thunder play two non-Ibaka bigs.

The pink elephant in the room is whether Bonner needs some playing time (~10 min) while Perkins is on the floor.

[DMC]

Howard was put out in the 1st round. I guess he shouldn't have been signed either, not even for Splitter money. In fact, every player who's not either on the Spurs or Thunder should not be resigned in the West.

[DMC]

If you can't play Duncan and Splitter together, their minutes can't add up to more than 48. What would that be, 30 for Duncan and 18 for Splitter?

A better bet is to put Duncan and Splitter on the floor if the Thunder play two non-Ibaka bigs.

The pink elephant in the room is whether Bonner needs some playing time (~10 min) while Perkins is on the floor.

:pop: Bonner has to play else it wouldn't be fair to Matty.

[crc21209]

Yeah it all comes down to the Spurs just playing better. Moving the ball, rebounding, limiting turnovers, and defending without "fouling." Pop is also gonna have to go away from the Splitter-Duncan combo in order to pull Ibaka out of the paint some..

[cjw]

the playoffs should have been enough reason to not sign splitter

Except that we might have lost the opening series to Dallas with a scrub defender trying to guard Dirk.

[EVAY]

I think Mahoney is right, and I think it showed last night when Diaw was able to play so much better after all the starters sat.

Good spacing is critical to our success, and with Splitter and Duncan both in the paint and Ibaka and Perkins there as well, we have no spacing for our drives and/or for our kick outs. If either Duncan or Splitter was effective in rebounding it would be one thing…but we have been outrebounded in the games since Ibaka has been back.

And Pop has to decide if he wants offensive aggression in the way of driving to the rim, or if he wants us to avoid Ibaka's shot blocking. Because he has said both things, and the only way to get both things is for one of our bigs to take themselves out of the normal offensive set positioning and serve as a pulling guard in a football game for our guards to get to the rim for layups. If they can't block out Ibaka (and there has been no indication that they can) then we have to make a game of jump shooting, which may or may not work.

[SnakeBoy]

I don't think Splitter needs to be benched if he will just play a little smarter. In the last game when the ball handler would make a move towards the basket Splitter would immediately try to crash the boards and lead Ibaka into position to block the shot. He did time after time. I never thought I would be yelling at Splitter to slow down just a little bit :lol.

[wildbill2u]

This isn't about matchups. We'll lose that. It's come down to desire. The Thunder want it more. Their energy on defense the last two games was the spark that got them running and they took away our passing game.

The Spurs wore hangdog looks after Westbrook stole the ball a couple of times in the first half. Lots of whining about calls while the Thunder ran down the court. They had the look of losers who couldn't compete. Unless they get an attitude change, we're gonna lose this series.

[George Gervin's Afro]

I've seen this movie before...

[Budkin]

splitter was great this playoffs except last 2 games

This series and IF we move on will not suit him well tbh.

[philldafunk]

Finally, KL has no business fighting through screens on Durant 10 feet behind the 3 point line. He needs to go under unless Durant is right on the line. It seems like they picked him at least 6-7 times close to midcourt where he tried to fight through the screen rather than going under. Durant will not shoot a 35 footer. No need to defend him so tight out there. The switch should only come when he is in range.

+1

[therealtruth]

Why hasn't Splitter been practicing that free throw line jumpshot? It would help the spacing.