PtR article: How are the Spurs playing elite defense without Tiago Splitter?

[Brazil]

some interesting stuff about our defense sans Tiago:

http://www.poundingtherock.com/2014/11/20/7254547/san-antonio-spurs-elite-defense-tiago-splitter


To sum up the article:

- Rim protection has been affected by Tiago's absence
- This lack of Defense near the rim has been "compensated" by a great 3 pts Defense and in particular the corner 3s however writter judges success is not sustainable, defensive rebound % is ridiculous at 81% again not sustainable and a solid effort to avoid fouls trouble as usual for the Spurs
- Better Tiago back quickly to improve rim protection as effort on other areas seem not to be sustainable

They are providing some good numbers to back up their POV.

[Fireball]

already read that ... PTR is always very solid

[DesignatedT]

The defense has been incredible, especially considering we are missing one of our top defenders.

[testies]

Tiago's screens are being missed on offense tho

[Chinook]

Seems like his point is that Lock-n-Lock and Joseph are getting a lot of minutes, which is why the perimeter defense is elite. The D seems sustainable if Pop doesn't overplay poor defenders. Simple, really.

[Warlord23]

Duncan is still beating Father Time, and Leonard, Green and Joseph are formidable in disorienting an opponent's offense

[Mugen]

The gang rebounding has been excellent as well. Timmy has been a monster in that regard but Whi/Green and even Manu are all above average rebounders at their position.

[BillMc]

Great article. Thanks for posting.

One interesting point is we've switched backup point guards and our D has gotten better and O worse. That's not really a surprise considering Joseph's and Patty's strengths. The absence of Marco until recently has also hurt the O and helped the D.

That we are still elite on D without Tiago is the surprise. And the article shows nicely that we are compensating in other areas.

[Baam]

Nothing fluky about it, just addition by substraction with Beli being out as well...

[PingPong]

Checked the thread just to see Baam bashing Splitter....

:D

[Spursfanfromafar]

One thing that is not being noted. Parker is playing stellar defense after coasting last year till the playoffs.

[Brazil]

One thing that is not being noted. Parker is playing stellar defense after coasting last year till the playoffs.

he is getting better last 4/5 games, first 7 he was coasting tbh

last 4/5 games his def ratings are very solid

[Darius McCrary]

Spurs defense gontake a big dump on the West

[SpursFan86]

I know it'd likely be garbage offensively, but it'd be awesome to see what a Joseph/Green/Kawhi/Splitter/Duncan lineup would be like on defense.

[Captivus]

Ok..so...Ayres needs more minutes?

[apalisoc_9]

http://ballislife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/LeonardMVP.jpg

[MI21]

Timmy been blocking shots again as well, pretty sure he is Top 10 in the league. Obviously, his PnR defense is pretty horrific, but he is making an impact elsewhere.

Those blocks are generally retained by the Spurs as well, so they are more effective than the typical monkeyball block.