Not so sure Tim-Tiago starting is the way to go, tbh...

[ElNono]

DeAndre used to be a guy that you could con into making poor defensive decisions, but after this game, it's pretty obvious they're just going to park his ass under the rim to change shots and rebound the ball.
You could hack him to heaven and hell, but only after they're in the bonus, and if he's shooting FTs at 60% of better, I think Doc will live with it.

On the other hand, Boris is a guy that can out-butt almost everyone in the league, but in this series, Big Baby probably has the advantage.
We also really have no shot blocking bigs outside of Tim, so I have little doubt Blake could posterize Tiago as he did Baynes this game if he's isolated.


Under this scenario, I think Pop will eventually "go OKC" on the Clippers. Start Bonner or Boris, look to create space in the middle, live with a weaker P&R defense in hope the offense becomes more fluid.
Might not happen until after Game 2, but if Jordan continues to be such a big factor on defense, I think this is where we're headed.

[dabom]

Parker shitting the bed all game.

[Malik Hairston]

True, it will also make it a lot easier to space things out for Kawhi once the doubles on the post arrive, too..

[TheGreatYacht]

Yeah that paint was fucking clogged and it was always Griffin that went and doubled Kawhi in the post. If Griffin is going to get his, might as well have the floor spread

[z0sa]

You're right. Tiago looks like he won't be ready until after this series, anyway (if ever these playoffs). The main adjustment needs to come from Boris. Start him, tell him to shoot. Besides helping the spacing, starting him probably helps facilitate the ball movement at the start of the game, as well. Starters need to set the theme.

[FlAVaK]

Makes sense. Not only would DJ be under the rim less, all of their defenders would probably have to rotate more (exhaustion), if the ball moves enough...

[spurraider21]

Boris would get smoked by Griffin. its just hard to clear up space inside when they're not respecting the outside shot

[RD2191]

Meh, idk. This game was lost when crawford started going off. Also danny can't throw it in the ocean right now. This team is just on another level when his shot is falling.

[spurraider21]

Meh, idk. This game was lost when crawford started going off. Also danny can't throw it in the ocean right now. This team is just on another level when his shot is falling.
surprised you listed reasons for the loss without parker tbh :lol

[ElNono]

Boris would get smoked by Griffin. its just hard to clear up space inside when they're not respecting the outside shot

That's why you play better shooters and hope they knock them down. I think if Boris, Matt makes them pay, it does change the complexion of how they defend.

[Ditty]

Good observation!

Just worried about those easy Griffin back downs, but I think Bonner's strength has been underrated, if he is in the game though he needs to stop passing up open 3's. Same with Boris to keep the paint unpacked.

I rather shut down everyone else offensively, and take your chances with Griffin also to revert to being just an outside shooter tbh.

[RD2191]

surprised you listed reasons for the loss without parker tbh :lol
Well Parker was getting decent looks and so was most of the team. There isn't much you can do when shots aren't falling. Just gotta hope they start going in.

[ElNono]

I just remember Boris trying to back down Big Baby a couple of times in this game, and it was a no go. Also Baynes was getting pushed around and being beat to the boards by Davis. You put Tiago in the second unit, he's a better rebounder, hopefully grab some boards...

[hyhy]

Start Bonner tbh..

[cd98]

DeAndre used to be a guy that you could con into making poor defensive decisions, but after this game, it's pretty obvious they're just going to park his ass under the rim to change shots and rebound the ball.
You could hack him to heaven and hell, but only after they're in the bonus, and if he's shooting FTs at 60% of better, I think Doc will live with it.

On the other hand, Boris is a guy that can out-butt almost everyone in the league, but in this series, Big Baby probably has the advantage.
We also really have no shot blocking bigs outside of Tim, so I have little doubt Blake could posterize Tiago as he did Baynes this game if he's isolated.


Under this scenario, I think Pop will eventually "go OKC" on the Clippers. Start Bonner or Boris, look to create space in the middle, live with a weaker P&R defense in hope the offense becomes more fluid.
Might not happen until after Game 2, but if Jordan continues to be such a big factor on defense, I think this is where we're headed.

Won't work. Griffin can guard the perimeter big. DeAndre will cover the other big. Maybe if you have Duncan and Diaw/Bonner in the game and Duncan shoots outside. Plus Diaw's jumper was way off. He'd have to shoot much better.

[spursparker9]

True, it will also make it a lot easier to space things out for Kawhi once the doubles on the post arrive, too..

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/image.php?u=18403&dateline=1429319433

Since when did Westbrook got such defined arm?

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

Won't work. Griffin can guard the perimeter big. DeAndre will cover the other big. Maybe if you have Duncan and Diaw/Bonner in the game and Duncan shoots outside. Plus Diaw's jumper was way off. He'd have to shoot much better.

Dude, you just have to PnR with the guy Jordan is guarding. Both Diaw and Bonner can hit a 20+ jumper and 3's It will force Jordan to come out.

All Pop has to do if they put Jordan on Duncan, is have Duncan camp out 15ft from the basket. on the far side of the court. Parker/Mills penetrates. Parker/Mills will more than likely get by Griffin. If Jordan collapses the rim, toss the ball over to Duncan for a wide open 15ft bank shot.

I saw a lot of strategies Pop could use to exploit the Clips D but he didn't. He just play the basic Spurs system last night. No particular strategy geared toward the Clippers. Which is fine, now he has the advantage of countering. If Pop was Brooks, I would be worried. But I have seen Pop do this many times so that he doesn't show his hand to early in a series.

[Seventyniner]

Bonner would be a defensive disaster as a starter in this series. He can't possibly stay in front of Griffin, and Jordan would beat him to nearly every offensive rebound.

Sure, it would pull one of their bigs to the perimeter where both of them are weak on defense. Still isn't worth what you'd give up on the other end.

[Horse]

Good observation!

Just worried about those easy Griffin back downs, but I think Bonner's strength has been underrated, if he is in the game though he needs to stop passing up open 3's. Same with Boris to keep the paint unpacked.

I rather shut down everyone else offensively, and take your chances with Griffin also to revert to being just an outside shooter tbh.
Need to pull the chair on that ginger faggot

[houston spurs fan]

DeAndre used to be a guy that you could con into making poor defensive decisions, but after this game, it's pretty obvious they're just going to park his ass under the rim to change shots and rebound the ball.
You could hack him to heaven and hell, but only after they're in the bonus, and if he's shooting FTs at 60% of better, I think Doc will live with it.

On the other hand, Boris is a guy that can out-butt almost everyone in the league, but in this series, Big Baby probably has the advantage.
We also really have no shot blocking bigs outside of Tim, so I have little doubt Blake could posterize Tiago as he did Baynes this game if he's isolated.


Under this scenario, I think Pop will eventually "go OKC" on the Clippers. Start Bonner or Boris, look to create space in the middle, live with a weaker P&R defense in hope the offense becomes more fluid.
Might not happen until after Game 2, but if Jordan continues to be such a big factor on defense, I think this is where we're headed.
Completely agree on the "go OKC". Need to start Bonner (I cringe while writing this because it's Bonner) and space the floor. Their front court is obviously better than an Ibaka/Perkins but the strategy is similar....

[MultiTroll]

Start Bonner

smh :lol
Could someone put up a clip of Bonner last night having Big Baby "speed" past him leading to his lame defense of intentional foul. Which threw BonBon to the floor.

:lmao giving another player an intentional foul and end up being thrown to the floor.

[ElNono]

Dude, you just have to PnR with the guy Jordan is guarding. Both Diaw and Bonner can hit a 20+ jumper and 3's It will force Jordan to come out.

All Pop has to do if they put Jordan on Duncan, is have Duncan camp out 15ft from the basket. on the far side of the court. Parker/Mills penetrates. Parker/Mills will more than likely get by Griffin. If Jordan collapses the rim, toss the ball over to Duncan for a wide open 15ft bank shot.

I saw a lot of strategies Pop could use to exploit the Clips D but he didn't. He just play the basic Spurs system last night. No particular strategy geared toward the Clippers. Which is fine, now he has the advantage of countering. If Pop was Brooks, I would be worried. But I have seen Pop do this many times so that he doesn't show his hand to early in a series.

Yup. Playing with a stretch 4 is not new for the Spurs. But they gotta make shots.

[ElNono]

smh :lol
Could someone put up a clip of Bonner last night having Big Baby "speed" past him leading to his lame defense of intentional foul. Which threw BonBon to the floor.

:lmao giving another player an intentional foul and end up being thrown to the floor.

:lol it's a gimmick, Fabbs. But it has served us well in the past.

[MultiTroll]

Perhaps you didn't catch the stats on Playoff Bonner starting. :rolleyes

[Chomag]

Then don't expect to get a rebound with that line up. Blake and Jordan would feast on them. They would only need to have 1 of them block-out Timmy while the other secures the rebound.

[TheGreatYacht]

Griffin had 3 blocks yesterday. Y'all know how pathetic that is?

[ElNono]

Perhaps you didn't catch the stats on Playoff Bonner starting. :rolleyes

Yeah, but he only needs to make 1 shot to change how they guard us. I prefer Diaw in that role, BTW, but I can also understand Boris can't play all game.

[ElNono]

Then don't expect to get a rebound with that line up. Blake and Jordan would feast on them. They would only need to have 1 of them block-out Timmy while the other secures the rebound.

Spurs don't even really prioritize offensive boards near the rim anyways. And with Pop stressing transition D for the next few games, there's gonna be even less of that.

[Old School 44]

Agree with the OP. Start Diaw/Bonner instead of Splitter, just like OkC. An additional thing to try is maybe go straight at DJ and get him in foul trouble. Just like Ibaka, Jordan is a better off the ball help defender/shot blocker.

[Nathan89]

Blake isn't Ibaka though. Unless Kawhi can guard Blake starting Bonner will probably not end well.

[Mugen]

OP has lost his mind IMO.

[timtonymanu]

Since Tiago doesn't look anywhere near 100%, this may be worth a shot.

[ElNono]

OP has lost his mind IMO.

:lol

[timmy2003]

Boris would get smoked by Griffin. its just hard to clear up space inside when they're not respecting the outside shot
This

[cd98]

We need Tiago to have an Ibaka-like recovery. Splitter is the only guy on the roster than can guard Griffin with a reduced amount of help. He can't completely stop him, but he can slow him down. Like I said before, I don't know that the jump shooting 4 works incredibly well. We need Jordan out of the lane, not Griffin, and Griffin can guard Diaw on the three point line. Sure, it will always help with spacing, but our problem right now is that the 4s can't guard Griffin, and even if they can draw him out of the lane, Jordan is the one patrolling the paint that is on the back of everyone's mind. Hopefully Splitter's leg will be better in another two days and he can give more minutes.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Blake isn't Ibaka though. Unless Kawhi can guard Blake starting Bonner will probably not end well.

Kawhi might actually do ok on Blake. I can see Pop going ultra small at some point in this series. Probably won't work, but I can see it being tried if we keep getting our asses handed to us like we did last night.

[Nathan89]

Kawhi might actually do ok on Blake. I can see Pop going ultra small at some point in this series. Probably won't work, but I can see it being tried if we keep getting our asses handed to us like we did last night.

If Kawhi can guard Blake then you can put Bonner on Barnes. Should help out the spacing on offense. If Green is on Paul then being forced to switch becomes a better proposition.

[cd98]

I'd be careful doing strange line ups that are essentially untested in the regular season. I think the Spurs just focus on playing their game, and that should be good enough to beat anyone in the league.

[glen907]

Starting boris would definitely help facilitate themore ball movement, he's not going to stop blake but nobody including tiago so might as well concede that and make him guard defensively on the perimeter instead of having both him and jordan down in the paint being a mini twin towers

[TD 21]

This made sense against the Thunder, but wouldn't against the Clippers, for two reasons:

1) Ibaka is a PF, so playing Bonner meant he couldn't camp out in the paint. Jordan is a C, who defends the player everyone treats as the Spurs C, Duncan. That wouldn't change.

2) Ibaka is a jump shooter, who can't create his own shot. Meaning, there was no threat of him destroying Bonner on the other end.

I realize Bonner wouldn't play more than 15 minutes, but still. He's on the precipice of being done to begin with, plus battling a calf injury of his own. Somehow I don't think it's a good idea to have him defending one of the two most mobile, best shot creating PF's in the game.

[cd98]

This made sense against the Thunder, but wouldn't against the Clippers, for two reasons:

1) Ibaka is a PF, so playing Bonner meant he couldn't camp out in the paint. Jordan is a C, who defends the player everyone treats as the Spurs C, Duncan. That wouldn't change.

2) Ibaka is a jump shooter, who can't create his own shot. Meaning, there was no threat of him destroying Bonner on the other end.

I realize Bonner wouldn't play more than 15 minutes, but still. He's on the precipice of being done to begin with, plus battling a calf injury of his own. Somehow I don't think it's a good idea to have him defending one of the two most mobile, best shot creating PF's in the game.

I agree, especially after the chubbiest player in the NBA, Big Baby Davis, blew by him so fast he looked like Lebron James.

[ElNono]

This made sense against the Thunder, but wouldn't against the Clippers, for two reasons:

1) Ibaka is a PF, so playing Bonner meant he couldn't camp out in the paint. Jordan is a C, who defends the player everyone treats as the Spurs C, Duncan. That wouldn't change.

2) Ibaka is a jump shooter, who can't create his own shot. Meaning, there was no threat of him destroying Bonner on the other end.

I realize Bonner wouldn't play more than 15 minutes, but still. He's on the precipice of being done to begin with, plus battling a calf injury of his own. Somehow I don't think it's a good idea to have him defending one of the two most mobile, best shot creating PF's in the game.

Could be. I just think that Boris won't be anywhere as effective off the post against Big Baby. I also don't think Tiago will make any difference (at least in his current state) guarding Blake.

I don't have a problem with Tim taking on Jordan one on one. My problem is with Timmy or whoever is driving having to take on Jordan with Blake as the help defender, or the other way around.

I also think Boris would be much more effective in the post against Blake, as long as Tim is spacing out Jordan. There's more variations too: If you can screen out Blake in the perimeter, now Jordan has to cover the penetrator and Tim, that's the kind of choices you want him to make.

[TD 21]

Could be. I just think that Boris won't be anywhere as effective off the post against Big Baby. I also don't think Tiago will make any difference (at least in his current state) guarding Blake.

I don't have a problem with Tim taking on Jordan one on one. My problem is with Timmy or whoever is driving having to take on Jordan with Blake as the help defender, or the other way around.

I also think Boris would be much more effective in the post against Blake, as long as Tim is spacing out Jordan. There's more variations too: If you can screen out Blake in the perimeter, now Jordan has to cover the penetrator and Tim, that's the kind of choices you want him to make.

I thought the big rotation/match-ups were fine, unlike the perimeter rotation/match-ups. Leonard should be on Paul, Green on Redick and Parker on Barnes. Mills needs to be the clear backup PG. Belinelli shouldn't play more than spot minutes, unless he catches fire in said spot minutes.

[ElNono]

I thought the big rotation/match-ups were fine, unlike the perimeter rotation/match-ups. Leonard should be on Paul, Green on Redick and Parker on Barnes. Mills needs to be the clear backup PG. Belinelli shouldn't play more than spot minutes, unless he catches fire in said spot minutes.

Things I didn't like about our bigs last night (besides the obvious dunks, which I really don't think we're equipped to deal with, but I also don't think it's a major concern):

- Baynes getting beat to the boards by Big Baby. Can't happen. He has the height advantage, even if Big Baby covers a lot of area.
- Boris unable to back Big Baby. This is huge. Boris off the post works when he's a treat to score or pass. If you take one of the two, then it's predictable.
- Tiago and Baynes both hesitating to finish with Jordan around
- Generally, too little room inside. They collapsed and gave us the outside shots, and we missed. Some of that will be relieved shooting better, or maybe they decided that they would rather die with us hitting 3s.

[spurraider21]

Boris would get smoked by Griffin. its just hard to clear up space inside when they're not respecting the outside shot

[ElNono]

tbh, he's scoring against Tiago too... but the offense seems ok with just one big out there... at least early