Is the Spur's depth a benefit in the playoffs or fool's gold?

[$pursDynasty]

In the regular season it pays big dividends. Allowing the Spurs to rest their starters. Giving the opposition a change of pace and the fact that more often than not the Spur's bench is superior to just about every team in the league. However I was watching the Dubs game against the Rox and saw how the Dubs never have a moment when at least one of their big four isn't on the floor and when KD gets back they try not to have less than 2 on the bench at a time. How will our bench fair in the playoffs when teams only have a 7-8 person rotation? It will extend a lead against other benches but it probably won't face other team's full benches in the playoffs. Now Pop will shorten the rotation but will still have moments when all of the starters are on the bench at the same time. My point being the way things work in the regular season, doesn't always work in the post season.

[Chews]

It won't be as beneficial as in the regular season but it's still needed and a benefit overall. Not only will there be less of a drop-off relative to other teams starters to bench, but gives Pop more options to go to if anybody in the SL is struggling/injured/has a bad game.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Same issue as the past few years. Need another star.

[mookie2001]

Yeah I'd say David Lee and Pau Gasol give us a significant advantage.

[Prose]

um id lean towards fools gold...however if the starters are able to hang with the other team (keeping the score wishing 5 points or even or hell even a couple points lead) then the bench comes in and it is a big advantage! however if we go down big each game like 10-15 point pop really can't throw in the second unit at that point

[Prose]

this will be big vs GS. there first 5 kills our first 5

[SAGirl]

They do say depth... defined by the quality minutes you may get from guys deeper in the rotation like the Simmons/Anderson/Bertans/Murray of the world is for the regular season. The post season is for your stars, and your team's best players to take the team home.

I suspect precisely facing better quality players and units is the reason Pop starts the deeper bench guys out through the season on occasion. Pop is also mixing in Kawhi and Lamarcus with the bench at times... but I do think, knowing Pop that he will have a moment ... a few minutes in the second half of games where he will rest both at the same time to allow them to come in together to close out the game.

[Seventyniner]

It's some of both. Having strong 6th-8th men is important in the playoffs, good 11th-15th is nigh meaningless.

[Dex]

As you mentioned, the lineup rotation will shorten considerably in the playoffs. From the looks of things now, these 9 will gobble up the majority of the minutes:

Parker
Green
Leonard
Aldridge
Dedmon
Gasol
Mills
Ginobili
Lee

That's a damn solid 9-man rotation. Anderson, Simmons, and Bertans will soak up the rest of the minutes at the wing and power forward spots, but that will be matchup-dependent and I wouldn't expect to see them consistently.

Although the end of the bench will see their minutes go down, they still make the Spurs incredibly versatile. They can go big or small. They can play fast or slow. If they need another slasher (Simmons), or another shooter (Bertans), or another playmaker (Anderson), they've got it on the bench. Hell, even Anthony can be counted on for six fouls.

They allow for the Spurs to match up with the Cleveland's and Golden States' of the league, as well as the Utah's and Memphis'. That is something that was sorely lacking against the Thunder last season when Diaw and West managed to make us miss the original Turd Towers.

[sananspursfan21]

It's some of both. One side says that you're not playing your bench but maybe light spot minutes and your starters are getting almost all the minutes if possible. But it's a luxury because if one of your starters is cold, or there's a bad matchup, throw in one of your instant offense guys or one of your bench players that will step up and voila, you're gold again. If the Heat had better depth, wouldn't you think they'd of come away from the Lebron era with a better than 2-2 finals record?

[Arcadian]

Yes. With Mills/Manu/Lee/Gasol as the bench unit, that makes us deeper than other teams, but not spread too thin.

[Keepin' it real]

The correct answer is only found in hindsight. In 2013 and 2014, sure the depth was a benefit. The past two seasons, not so much.

[cd98]

Depends. If it keeps the starters fresh bc they play less minutes in the regular season, then it's huge. But if it's only how they do against other second units in the playoffs, then it's less impactful bc starters play more minutes and benches are cut to three or so players.

[rastaspur]

Benefit

[look_at_g_shred]

Well its always nice to have a guy (anderson, simmons, bertans) come in and score 4-6 points and win you a quarter. Whether or not those guys can be counted on for that is another story.

[wildbill2u]

It's the only "benefit" (advantage) we have against GSW. Their starters are better than ours. And that's assuming we get to the WCP round without blowing out a tire somewhere along the way.

[cd98]

It probably also helps that a guy with some experience can step in and play if there's an injury. Spurs could survive an injury of any player other than Kawhi against most teams bc of their depth.

[MultiTroll]

Ball Movement Offense we've got a great bench. Sky is the limit. (Finals win)

Stand n Veg Force Feed Aldridge we will get beaten yet again in 1st or 2nd round.

[TimDunkem]

A strong bench can never be fool's gold unless that's what the team mostly relies on to win games.

My problem is with the starting lineup...Green and Parker in particular.

[LaMarcus Bryant]

Derek Fisher fuck came off the bench every Lakers ship
Horry for theirs and ours

[skulls138]

Benefit. Players probably get more tired in the playoffs because of the intensity and theyve been playing all year.

[Robz4000]

Looking like fools gold tonight. The Dubs' mediocre bench just destroyed them.

[timtonymanu]

Looking like fools gold tonight. The Dubs' mediocre bench just destroyed them.