How does Pop handle the bigs, going forward?

[HarlemHeat37]

Obviously Aldridge has been unstoppable, but what does he do with the others?

Duncan has been painful to watch an offense, a complete liability, tbh..West has been routinely dominated by OKC's bigs, all year..Diaw doesn't really have any exploitable mismatches against them, too..

Try Boban again? More small-ball/Kawhi at the 4? Or do you expect the minute allocation and roles to remain the same, just hoping for better performance from guys like Tim and West?

[Nathan89]

It will mostly stay the same considering how this game went. They will just hope for better performance.

[Mugen]

I'd give Tim another shot at it. Nice adjustment by Scotty Donovan to let Timmy try and beat you but I think he can finish better.

You're basically saying, would you give up the Spurs being solid on the defensive boards for better offense on the other end....and my answer is no. Thunder didn't anything defensively that the Spurs can't counter and have success with IMO.

[dabom]

There is a reason I love Boban to play vs the Thunder. Kanter couldn't even help on Steven Adams on that one play because Boban was giving him the business. Little things that don't show up on the boxscore. All season too. Not just a one off.

[spurraider21]

keep west and boban off the floor

[TheGreatYacht]

Enough Tim, seriously. Hate when they run their offense thru him to start the game. Adams put up a Prime Dwight stat line today

[LaMarcus Bryant]

Tim is the only viable option

There's no excuse for him missing so many bunnies

[ElNono]

I'll keep Tim on Adams, tbh... he's the only guy that can really wrestle with him for rebounds...

[HarlemHeat37]

Enough Tim, seriously. Hate when they run their offense thru him to start the game. Adams put up a Prime Dwight stat line today

What's the alternative, though? Tim missing layups is probably still a better option than West:lol

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

I think just playing Duncan/Aldridge more is fine. Even though Duncan was really bad offensively, I don't think he's gonna miss easy layups often. So just hoping Tim plays better and Kawhi makes more shots; the defense has been solid and the OKC bigs aren't killing the Spurs that badly.

[TheGreatYacht]

What's the alternative, though? Tim missing layups is probably still a better option than West:lol
Durant threw the ball out of bounds when he saw Boban in the paint :lol

There's enough proof in the regular season of him torching Anus Kancer

[baseline bum]

Pop just has to hope Duncan's fresher with the days off before Game 3. I couldn't believe all the layups he missed tonight, but I'll go down with the ship with Duncan rather than hope Marjanovic can play big minutes over him. Or worse get murdered on the glass with smallball.

[jimbo]

Tiago

[littlecoyotecoin]

Tim's rebounding tonight is being undervalued. He was battling in there. And, as many said, he makes some of those bunnies on another night.

[itzsoweezee]

Gotta have lamarcus or Kawhi on the floor at all times

[PopTheGOAT]

Gotta have lamarcus or Kawhi on the floor at all times
Yep, big part of why Spurs aren't up 2-0 right now.

Gotta play Boban when Kanter is in. I haven't seen one minute this season where Boban has not destroyed him.

[Floyd Pacquiao]

I'm sure he'll play it the same way. He said they lost it 3 times and he was happy that they still fought back

[Splits]

Was Aldridge worth it?

[T Park]

Play it the same. wasn't the reason they lost.

[TheGreatYacht]

Aldridge carried the fucking team, if Tim wants #6 he has to quit the soft shit and DUNK it

[Robz4000]

Change nothing yet. If Tim is this done then the Spurs are in deep shit regardless of what changes Pop makes.

[Floyd Pacquiao]

The past 3 years I've never seen a big miss more bunnies than Timmy . I almost expect him brick layups now

[J_Paco]

Yep, big part of why Spurs aren't up 2-0 right now.

Gotta play Boban when Kanter is in. I haven't seen one minute this season where Boban has not destroyed him.

Yes, why the fuck didn't Pop play Kawhi extended minutes (38 - 40) with 3 days off of rest? Kawhi is a young study and needs to play big minutes just like James and Durant. Fuck the babying his minutes it's fucking playoff time, damn it!

Diaw needs to ride the pine during this series and Pop needs to go with LaMarcus (38 - 40), Tim (24 - 26), West (18 - 20) and Boban (whatever is leftover) as his big man rotation. Can't afford to have Diaw not boxing out or being lazy on the glass against one of the best rebounding teams.

[TDfan2007]

Gotta keep going with Timmy and hope he gives them something, but I'd go with Diaw over West as the backup. At least Diaw can handle the basketball and make things happen offensively. West just looks lost out there.

[J_Paco]

The past 3 years I've never seen a big miss more bunnies than Timmy . I almost expect him brick layups now

In that time period Duncan was 37, 38, 39 and just turned 40 years old with one (possibly two) bad knees. He has no lift so a lot of his shots have no arc or he can't get up enough vertically to make a good attempt. That happens at this late stage of a career and especially against three athletic big men like Kanter, Ibaka and Adams.


Aldridge carried the fucking team, if Tim wants #6 he has to quit the soft shit and DUNK it


Timmy had THREE dunks all season, so expecting him to finish strong even like last season is out the window. He has very little lift left in his legs even if he somehow is still a good defender. It really shows on shot attempts inside with a lot congestion around him.

[BillMc]

Gotta keep going with Timmy and hope he gives them something, but I'd go with Diaw over West as the backup. At least Diaw can handle the basketball and make things happen offensively. West just looks lost out there.

I agree. Keep going with Timmy as we need his presence on d to keep Westbrook out of the lane, and reps for Diaw are good anyway, because if we do get by OKC, Boris is probably THE cog against the Warriors.

[BillMc]

Only a year ago, Timmy was our best player against the Clips. Some of it is rust (LMA now takes most of his shots) but a lot of it is age and as others said he's got two bad knees now and no lift. Only his brain, length and timing keep him still an elite defender. But offensively he's a weak link now.

Man, I hate writing that. :depressed

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Pop just has to hope Duncan's fresher with the days off before Game 3. I couldn't believe all the layups he missed tonight, but I'll go down with the ship with Duncan rather than hope Marjanovic can play big minutes over him. Or worse get murdered on the glass with smallball.

That, and refs were letting Adams getting away with murder on him on the box outs. Lost track of the number of times Adams straight up mugged him. Somewhere in the late second quarter Tim got tired of looking at the refs for a call and just took it the rest of the way.

Pop shoulda taken a T on one of those shoddy takedowns to defend Tim. :td

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Yes, why the fuck didn't Pop play Kawhi extended minutes (38 - 40) with 3 days off of rest? Kawhi is a young study and needs to play big minutes just like James and Durant. Fuck the babying his minutes it's fucking playoff time, damn it!

Diaw needs to ride the pine during this series and Pop needs to go with LaMarcus (38 - 40), Tim (24 - 26), West (18 - 20) and Boban (whatever is leftover) as his big man rotation. Can't afford to have Diaw not boxing out or being lazy on the glass against one of the best rebounding teams.

Diaw is fine. Diaw and West out there together, not fine.

[dabom]

That, and refs were letting Adams getting away with murder on him on the box outs. Lost track of the number of times Adams straight up mugged him. Somewhere in the late second quarter Tim got tired of looking at the refs for a call and just took it the rest of the way.

Pop shoulda taken a T on one of those shoddy takedowns to defend Tim. :td

Adams always fucking "falling" on players too. Dude fouls and falls on players to not get a call. :lol

[baseline bum]

That, and refs were letting Adams getting away with murder on him on the box outs. Lost track of the number of times Adams straight up mugged him. Somewhere in the late second quarter Tim got tired of looking at the refs for a call and just took it the rest of the way.

Pop shoulda taken a T on one of those shoddy takedowns to defend Tim. :td

I thought Adams played a great game.

[Keepin' it real]

Only a year ago, Timmy was our best player against the Clips. Some of it is rust (LMA now takes most of his shots) but a lot of it is age and as others said he's got two bad knees now and no lift. Only his brain, length and timing keep him still an elite defender. But offensively he's a weak link now.

Man, I hate writing that. :depressed

All good things ...

But I still wear my Spurs 21 jersey proudly.

With several days rest, he must have as big a game as possible in game 3.

[SAGirl]

Only a year ago, Timmy was our best player against the Clips. Some of it is rust (LMA now takes most of his shots) but a lot of it is age and as others said he's got two bad knees now and no lift. Only his brain, length and timing keep him still an elite defender. But offensively he's a weak link now.

Man, I hate writing that. :depressed
I feel really sorry as he's not the same player he was even last season and that is not on LMA, same as Danny's yips on his shot were not on LMA either.

I have blamed the second knee as finally claiming him. I go back and forth between thinking he's doing a final season after this one and this being the retirement tour.

I am just hoping he can turn back the clock a little bit bc as others above said if he's this done offensively, we are probably not winning a championship after all.

[J_Paco]

Diaw is fine. Diaw and West out there together, not fine.

Diaw is allergic to rebounding and that just isn't going to work against a frontline with quality rebounders like Kanter, Adams and to a lesser extent Ibaka.

I really miss CoJo and Baynes for this series, man. I still think the Spurs will win, but they will be exhausted afterwards.

[timtonymanu]

Gotta keep going with Timmy and hope he gives them something, but I'd go with Diaw over West as the backup. At least Diaw can handle the basketball and make things happen offensively. West just looks lost out there.

It seems like West has been the 3rd big in the rotation. Even was the case against Memphis. Pop is just probably giving Boris some extra time because they're gonna need him playing 30+ minutes against Golden State if the Spurs get there. I feel like we'll see more of him the rest of this series though.

[BillMc]

I feel really sorry as he's not the same player he was even last season and that is not on LMA, same as Danny's yips on his shot were not on LMA either.

I have blamed the second knee as finally claiming him. I go back and forth between thinking he's doing a final season after this one and this being the retirement tour.

I am just hoping he can turn back the clock a little bit bc as others above said if he's this done offensively, we are probably not winning a championship after all.

Well, if we get past OKC, Timmy was never going to be a big factor against the Dubs anyway. That rests on Boris. Timmy's D, with no appreciable O, would probably be enough to beat the Cavs.

I always thought he'd continue. But I think he'll retire now, especially if we get a ring. Strangely, it is Manu who I now think could play another year. That's the reverse of what I thought before the season. Going in, I thought Manu was almost done and Timmy could go another 2 or more.

[spurraider21]

i'm a bit worried about Aldridge.

I'm fairly confident that he's going to keep killing them with his postgame, but part of his dominance so far has been that his jumper is falling just about every time, even the tough turnaround shots. We could run into games where the jumper isn't falling, and right now the offense is pretty reliant on him

[TDfan2007]

i'm a bit worried about Aldridge.

I'm fairly confident that he's going to keep killing them with his postgame, but part of his dominance so far has been that his jumper is falling just about every time, even the tough turnaround shots. We could run into games where the jumper isn't falling, and right now the offense is pretty reliant on him

That could be offset by the rest of the team not laying a giant turd on the court...tbh.

[TheGreatYacht]

i'm a bit worried about Aldridge.

I'm fairly confident that he's going to keep killing them with his postgame, but part of his dominance so far has been that his jumper is falling just about every time, even the tough turnaround shots. We could run into games where the jumper isn't falling, and right now the offense is pretty reliant on him
The offense wasn't runned thru him enough, tbh imo.

Shouldve had 30+ FGA, instead of just 21

[Mouth is Bleeding]

I think the LMA, Kawhi at the 5 and 4 lineups are pretty awesome so a bit more of that please. Timmy can fill in for for LMA when needed.

It also opens up for Kawhi, Green and Manu on the floor at the same time which is really good.

[Kawhitstorm]

Tim has to make point blank layups, it's that simple.

[midnightpulp]

i'm a bit worried about Aldridge.

I'm fairly confident that he's going to keep killing them with his postgame, but part of his dominance so far has been that his jumper is falling just about every time, even the tough turnaround shots. We could run into games where the jumper isn't falling, and right now the offense is pretty reliant on him

Yep. Huge worry here. He has to regress to the mean at some point, and when he does, Kawhi needs to pop off for a 30-35 point game. A milquetoast "solid" 22 points on 9-17 shooting or something isn't going to do it. We could say, "Well, hopefully other players step up." I just can't count on that right now. Aside from D-League's breakout in game 1, the "Committee" haven't broken out their 2 month long rut.

[spurraider21]

Yep. Huge worry here. He has to regress to the mean at some point, and when he does, Kawhi needs to pop off for a 30-35 point game. A milquetoast "solid" 22 points on 9-17 shooting or something isn't going to do it. We could say, "Well, hopefully other players step up." I just can't count on that right now. Aside from D-League's breakout in game 1, the "Committee" haven't broken out their 2 month long rut.
disagree there. parker/green could both score double figures. duncan can stop being a turd offensively. i know he's not a go-to guy, but he can at least finish around the rim better than he has. there are a lot of moving parts, not just aldridge/leonard

[YGWHI]

Kawhi needs to pop off for a 30-35 point game.
Or just keep him in the game...

727406237998940160

[BillMc]

Or just keep him in the game...

727406237998940160

Ouch! Where's my PlayKawhi alt?

[YGWHI]

Ouch! Where's my PlayKawhi alt?
Must find it!!! :D

[midnightpulp]

Or just keep him in the game...

727406237998940160

Yes. I agree. I figuratively yelled at Pop in the game thread. 45 fuckin' minutes.

This is why I believe something was up. Pop has these numbers. He knows Kawhi is a game changer defensively (remember how bad the defense looked when he was out?) and is the only wing scorer we have. It makes no sense to play him only 36 minutes.

So Pop is either biased against Kawhi. Is senile and stupid. Or Kawhi isn't 100%. I highly doubt the first 2 reasons.

[BillMc]

Must find it!!! :D
:lol

[YGWHI]

So Pop is either biased against Kawhi. Is senile and stupid. Or Kawhi isn't 100%. I highly doubt the first 2 reasons.

If this was the first playoffs game that Pop rested Kawhi I could agree with you about the 3rd reason. But it wasn't.

[midnightpulp]

disagree there. parker/green could both score double figures. duncan can stop being a turd offensively. i know he's not a go-to guy, but he can at least finish around the rim better than he has. there are a lot of moving parts, not just aldridge/leonard

That's the problem. Me and DMC have been criticizing the whack-a-mole philosophy for these months the role players have been shit. As I've been saying, we need that 3rd guy. Not a once-in-awhile 3rd guy, but a single 3rd scorer who consistently contributes anywhere from 10 to 20 points per game. I know the committee idea seems ideal in a vacuum. "The opponent never knows who to gameplan for!" But it just doesn't work like that.

[midnightpulp]

If this was the first playoffs game that Pop rested Kawhi I could agree with you about the 3rd reason. But it wasn't.

We'll see what happens next game. And it better be 40-45 minutes for Kawhi. If he needs "rest," just run a few Bowen in the corner sets so he can rest in game. There's no other choice. I don't think Anderson can hang in this series right now.

[MultiTroll]

smh how you Anti Bobans can say he should not have gotten more minutes last night.

[Dro210]

I wanna see more Boban than either West or Diaw combined tbh. He works against this team when they're playing big. It's so stupid to not take advantage of imo... especially when the other guys are gonna get worked everytime.

[Floyd Pacquiao]

Wasn't Kawhi in foul trouble last night?

[Mouth is Bleeding]

2 fouls

[spurraider21]

That's the problem. Me and DMC have been criticizing the whack-a-mole philosophy for these months the role players have been shit. As I've been saying, we need that 3rd guy. Not a once-in-awhile 3rd guy, but a single 3rd scorer who consistently contributes anywhere from 10 to 20 points per game. I know the committee idea seems ideal in a vacuum. "The opponent never knows who to gameplan for!" But it just doesn't work like that.
we've held OKC to 98 and 92 points in the 2 games so far.

over the course of the regular season, the spurs averaged 103 ppg, with kawhi/aldridge combining for 40. we dont need them to combine for 70 to outscore OKC. the numbers over the course of the season verify that

[scramby eggs]

I'll keep Tim on Adams, tbh... he's the only guy that can really wrestle with him for rebounds...

I agree. Adams is a beast and Tim is the only guy we got who can body him.

[TheDoctor]

we've held OKC to 98 and 92 points in the 2 games so far.

over the course of the regular season, the spurs averaged 103 ppg, with kawhi/aldridge combining for 40. we dont need them to combine for 70 to outscore OKC. the numbers over the course of the season verify that

[SAGirl]

Dias and West are undersized against Kanter and Adams. If Pop wants to manage TD minutes and spare him some to pair with Aldridge, he needs to promote Boban and maybe bench West unless he plays with LMA. The reason, D west isn't much of an inside presence. He got blocked or missed contested layups at the rim bc Adams just has too much size on him and Dias drove to dish to D west. I think both guys can play better but against Adams and Kanter we have no inside presence in the paint unless LMA or Boban are playing. I don't even mention TD bc he's not much of an inside presence either, but if you split TD go with TD Diaw and LMA West.

When you want to spare TD to close the game, instead of Diaw/West, see who of those two works better with Boban.

[sasaint]

Well, if we get past OKC, Timmy was never going to be a big factor against the Dubs anyway. That rests on Boris. Timmy's D, with no appreciable O, would probably be enough to beat the Cavs.

I always thought he'd continue. But I think he'll retire now, especially if we get a ring. Strangely, it is Manu who I now think could play another year. That's the reverse of what I thought before the season. Going in, I thought Manu was almost done and Timmy could go another 2 or more.

If Tim goes, I bet Manu does, too. He was set to retire last year until the guys said they wanted him back.

[TD 21]

Tim is the only viable option

There's no excuse for him missing so many bunnies

It doesn't matter how tall you are or how supposedly easy the shot is (I love how people act like all layups are created equal, as if the degree of difficulty isn't clear dependent on several factors), if it takes a beat too long to elevate and you barely can, you're going to have serious trouble finishing in this league.

He's catching it either on the short roll or they're just backing off of him on would be high lows and because Aldridge is in the paint, he's essentially running into a set Adams and Ibaka. I'd rather he attempt 1-2 dribble floaters, as opposed to attempting to finish around them.


As far as the question, West-Diaw shouldn't play another meaningful second together and Diaw should play more minutes.

[SPURt]

Play it the same. wasn't the reason they lost.
This. If Tim hits just one of his 4 or 5 missed layups the game has a different outcome. It isn't like Tim wasn't finding his moments, he missed shots Greg Oden could make. People are freaking out about this game when the Spurs started 2-16, as if that will happen again these playoffs.

[HarlemHeat37]

Another horrible game for the bigs outside of Aldridge, tbh..

David West had some decent stretches in the 4th, but was horrible on defense and on the boards for the most part..

Huge concern, going forward..if the Spurs advance, Boris will have a much better matchup vs. GS(on paper, at least), but not sure what Pop can do for the rest of this series..

[spurraider21]

is there anything david west does better than diaw? i don't understand why he's getting preference. his rebounding and paint presence is non-existent in this series

[Floyd Pacquiao]

He should give boban spot minutes. I don't know why he doesn't. Maybe he's to slow on D out there idk

[Kawhitstorm]

is there anything david west does better than diaw? i don't understand why he's getting preference. his rebounding and paint presence is non-existent in this series

Diaw lets Kanter push him around, meanwhile West at least puts up a fight. Unless Diaw is being a factor on offense, he's useless.

[spurraider21]

Diaw lets Kanter push him around, meanwhile West at least puts up a fight. Unless Diaw is being a factor on offense, he's useless.
west had 2 rebounds in 25 minutes. he doesn't put up a fight

[pgardn]

Another horrible game for the bigs outside of Aldridge, tbh..

David West had some decent stretches in the 4th, but was horrible on defense and on the boards for the most part..

Huge concern, going forward..if the Spurs advance, Boris will have a much better matchup vs. GS(on paper, at least), but not sure what Pop can do for the rest of this series..

A little more Duncan.
Please.

This is not GS.

[tholdren]

Another horrible game for the bigs outside of Aldridge, tbh..

David West had some decent stretches in the 4th, but was horrible on defense and on the boards for the most part..

Huge concern, going forward..if the Spurs advance, Boris will have a much better matchup vs. GS(on paper, at least), but not sure what Pop can do for the rest of this series..

David West is exactly like McDyess when pop brought him here. At first I was on board, and thought enforcer. Instead he's being a girl in the paint, getting out-rebounded and looking like a pylon. He plays scared and travels on moves to the basket. I don't want all the bigs to be jump shooters. I would almost rather have baynes.

[Mouth is Bleeding]

Is there really not room for Timmy in this series?

These low minutes and West who isn't all that good anymore getting them, kind of depresses me.

We also know that Tim won't play against the Warriors if we come through this...

Personally I think he has been pretty good in the 1q game 1 and 3 with the starting unit. At times that was awful offensively during the regular season, but even in the nightmare start in game 2 we got good looks and defensively they've started pretty good also, as you'd expect. It's just a few times where he was exposed, but didn't West get exposed also a number of times?

It's not that West is some great mover either or can do much if the defensive system lets him down and he is faced with KD or Russ.

Once again I really wish Pop would go to Kawhi at the 4 lineups when opportune, he'll have to against GS, which would also make room for a few more Manu minutes.

[BackHome]

Tim is doing good on Defense but Man he can't hit a bucket for the life of him. I don't know what has happened but his offense is at a zero at least try some bank shots you used to be good at. Man we where so lucky to get LMA without him we would not have made it out of the first round.

[HarlemHeat37]

:( can't really ignore this anymore, it's the biggest issue right now..

[Floyd Pacquiao]

The more I think about the more I think bonan would get the better of Adams.buut Popazit is an old army asshole who doesn't "play" rookies

[midnightpulp]

:( can't really ignore this anymore, it's the biggest issue right now..

Yep. The other knee is shot. A reasonably healthy Tim would probably counter Adams.

I'm worried now. Tim being this ineffective is a big, big blow. OKC has two 7 footer centers that can do damage. Without Tim, we have none.

[DMC]

Obviously Aldridge has been unstoppable, but what does he do with the others?

Duncan has been painful to watch an offense, a complete liability, tbh..West has been routinely dominated by OKC's bigs, all year..Diaw doesn't really have any exploitable mismatches against them, too..

Try Boban again? More small-ball/Kawhi at the 4? Or do you expect the minute allocation and roles to remain the same, just hoping for better performance from guys like Tim and West?

We don't have enough 3pt shooters to spread the defense. Matt Bonner might enter the game for a few minutes to see how they respond to him hanging around the 3pt line.

[DMC]

The more I think about the more I think bonan would get the better of Adams.buut Popazit is an old army asshole who doesn't "play" rookies
Pop was in the USAF, not the Army. He was a Captain with MOS 8054 intel.

[TD 21]

We don't have enough 3pt shooters to spread the defense. Matt Bonner might enter the game for a few minutes to see how they respond to him hanging around the 3pt line.

Agreed. They played an excellent three quarters, in an almost impossible game to win in the NBA (against an elite team, having won the first game on the road), yet it always felt like they'd lose in the end, because it took until the end of the 3rd to make their first three.

It's probably impossible to win it all in today's NBA with so little three-point shooting. It doesn't matter how high IQ or great defensively you are, it's tough to beat elite teams on a steady diet of post ups and mid range jumpers.

[YGWHI]

729532481993515009

Pop...:depressed

[Mouth is Bleeding]

Pg-Manu-Green-Kawhi-LMA lineups come on Pop!

There is no way OKC can keep their physical bigs on the floor up against that kind of offence and we take our biggest weaknesses out of the game getting murdered under the rim by the OKC bigs.

Kerr and Warriors would not even think twice about doing this.

It's not even like Kawhi isn't a better rebounder than West and Diaw.

[HarlemHeat37]

Not sure what to do, at this point..small-ball with more Kyle and Kawhi at the 4 for more offense? They are both better at rebounding than West and Diaw, so it's not like the Spurs would be losing much..

It's also a better option than guarding Durant with West, obviously..bigs switching is killing the Spurs, they could use more mobility at the 4..

[HarlemHeat37]

I don't really care what Pop tries to do..whether it's Boban getting some run, going small and try to beat them with offense, have Duncan come off the bench to match Kanter, even Matt fucking Bonner:lol

It doesn't matter, I just want to see something different..so far, the handling of bigs as helped put the Spurs in a 2-3 hole..you can't keep doing the same shit, it's clearly not working..

The adjustment might not work, the odds are probably against it considering the flawed personnel, but you have to do SOMETHING different..

[apalisoc_9]

You're asking a 67 year old man to make changes bro..yeah. not happening

[spurtech09]

Pop put Boban in......