I still think we'll make the playoffs... But to answer your question, what makes you think we won't be trading our top pick before the draft anyways? :lol
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Wow.. the Pop and Don Nelson comparison... actually makes sense..
spurs would play better d with ratliff or Ian ....no more small ball pop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah, no more small ball... Lets play Ian and Theo Pop, just so we can shut people up. Once they see what a bust that is, they'll have to come up with another excuse.... We can go from small ball to slow ball.
Ian is not ready, yet everyone wants to throw him into the fire. So what if he had a good game against NJ.
Theo brings very little to the table other than blocking an occasional shot. I've never seen so many people go ape shit over a blocked shot. He doesn't alter that many shots when he's in their. He can't play more than 10 - 15 minutes a game and he brings nothing to the table offensively.
The Spurs need a big they can rely on and they don't have one. Maybe they should of been looking for one instead of dicking around with Dice.
Both Ratliff and Mahinmi are players that bring length, athleticism, energy, shotblocking and rebounding to a position that could use more of all those things. Because Ian has more upside and more of his career in front of him, he could probably gain the most from any playing time thrown his way.
I hardly think Ian could be any worse than Dice, at this point. Besides, if the team is losing, it's better to lose with young than lose with old. If Pop truly wants to preserve Duncan's minutes more, he'd utilize his bigmen rotation to its fullest.
We've been playing stupid ass small ball since 2007-2008. I'm sure that has absolutely zero correlation with our lack of a title since then.
Pop is turning into some dumb ass hybrid of Don Nelson and Larry Brown. Duncan deserves better than this for the end of his career.
Yeah, no more small ball... Lets play Ian and Theo Pop, just so we can shut people up. Once they see what a bust that is, they'll have to come up with another excuse....
I suppose you will make this assumption after one game of no more small ball, while we have had a half season of ineffective small ball to establish our opinions.
pop has lost it PERIOD. all of '08-'09 thru present day he has failed to utilize the players we have, insisting on his stubborn lineups of small/soft ball while keeping certain talent on the bench, for no good reason other than personal crap.
Pop that won titles is GONE. current Pop has shown time and time again he would rather play with small ball/weak offensive ball than try to get stops. ITS ALL HIS FAULT. we wouldnt have won last year, but we would have at least maintained some dignity if he would have played Hill and gooden against dallas instead of gluing them to the bench.
same as this year. it doesnt matter how much we get raped in the paint by undersized guys, he WILL NOT play Ratilff or mahinmi EVER to defend the rim. he will contiue to play shooting guards/matt bonner at our Big positions whilst our 6-11 shot blockers stay glued to the bench.
RIP POP.
I don't know, is the Pop that won titles really gone?
I mean, Pop locked Stephen Jackson in a sportcoat straitjacket for all of 01-02. And he would have done it again in 03 if not for an early season injury to Smith and and a banged up Manu. Pop blew up on reporters for daring to ask him where Steve Kerr had been all playoffs long after game 6 against the Mavs in the WCF. We can all remember people getting doghoused, or not playing, and on and on.
Is Pop really different?
The thing I see about Pop is that he's better when paired with someone else (a la Carlesimo) that he has to face with...about plying time for players, decisions during the game etc etc.
Sorry to say this but the actual personnel don't look ike one to have the personality to have a simple chance to make Pop change hius mind...and with a staff of yessman you go nowhere!
I don't know Pop but one thing i see is that he's defitely too stubborn in his way to handle things and sometimes he loose the moment with players...
It's happend in the past (for exemple with Udrih) and is continuing to happen.
For exemple, one thing really don't understand, is how in the hell you play for two years some young player in nbdl just for make them learning the system and, after you see them fluorish in that league, you don't give them a fair chance to prove themselves...in favor of players that don't know a thing about the system.
Doing so you can only destroy any amount of confidence they can have in themselves and in the system...and lose all the time to make them learn something you proclame to be so important for this team.
So where are the Popalogists today? Usually you'd see at least Chumpdumper coming in here and blaming the players for all the problems. Jefferson and Dice, etc.
Well at least 1 showed up, Murp88. Props.
Throw Ian in there. Fuggit. What's the worst that can happen? Spurs lose some games? Miss the playoffs? Even though they'll make the playoffs doing what their doing now, they're being set up for another embarrassing first-round exit. We've passed the half-way point. Without a trade or a line-up change, this team is going nowhere.
Ian is tall, long, athletic, and knows the system. He must really suck if he can't even get minutes while Bonner was down.
If Ian is the stud so many think he is, why doesn't he get minutes? Blair and Hill clearly contradict the opinion that Pop won't play rooks (at least in the regular season), so what gives?
Didn't everyone rip Avery Johnson for going to "smallball" against GS in their title run? Its getting to the point to where I don't like to watch the Spurs play anymore. I we get a lead we're going to lose it anyway. Pop its killing my convo at work an people are laughing at my ass but I'm running outta excuses! My last one was he's save our 7fts for the second half of the season.
We are the only fan base making excuses about our loses cuz we don't have another big in the paint. How the fuck does Houston feels then. They don't even have a superstar noone is over 6'10. What we are is losing our swagg! We don't use what we got an we pick on sorry teams. Hell we really don't do that anymore! Lmao!
Let me get this straight. Pop wanted to play Ian big minutes last year, but couldn't cause he was injured. Now that he's healthy, Pop doesn't want to play him at all. What? Is he holding a grudge against the kid because he was hurt last year? WTF difference does it make? Was it Ian's fault he was injured? Was it Ian's fault the Spurs medical staff didn't move quickly to find out the extent of his ankle injury?
All these are BS excuses. Whether it was last year or this year, the point is the guy is healthy now. Get him into the game so the he can begin helping your team.
Ratliff is a playoffs player there for matchups against LA's frontcourt.
Mahinmi must not show up during practice since he's sitting about as low as the Spurs totem pole goes. He's also due to ship out after this season - the Spurs are overloaded with big men this year especially with the success of Blair. I wonder if Ian will eventually find himself overseas like Marcus.
The minutes Ian would be getting I'd rather throw Bonner in there so he can get his 3 point shot back.
Players who are 35+ aren't going to be able to get into any kind of rhythym playing sporadically. Either Pop needs to make him part of the regular rotation or not at all.
If it takes 34 year old McDyess half a year to get loosen the joints and get into game shape it will probably take the same for Ratliff. And this is only the physical aspect, how do you expect him to get used to playing with the 1st unit and all of Pop's intricate schemes this way?
This whole idea of saving Ratliff to play against one team in the playoffs and expecting him to step in and contribute is folly if you ask me.
Nah not really. Players who are 35+ with an injury history like Ratliff's at best will have sporadic minutes especially at this point in the season. Not too different than how Robert Horry was utilized in his twilight years.
Through practice and getting more minutes as the season closes.Quote:
And this is only the physical aspect, how do you expect him to get used to playing with the 1st unit and all of Pop's intricate schemes this way?
I like it - no use in overplaying an ancient and injury-prone Ratliff at this point in the season. He's a playoffs player specifically for LA's frontcourt. As long as he plays defense and grabs boards he'll fill his role.Quote:
This whole idea of saving Ratliff to play against one team in the playoffs and expecting him to step in and contribute is folly if you ask me.
It's been well documented that Ian doesn't practice well. The problem is, he's clearly played better in actual game time. Some guys are just wired that way, and Pop shouldn't hold that against him.
As to Blair and Hill...
You forget that down the stretch and in the post-season last year, Hill was riding the pine. It took desperation time against the Mavs before he got any run, and then he impressed.
This season, I'd argue the PT he is getting is only because Pop knows TP is dinged up/tired from national team play (and the documented plantar fasciitis) and he's trying to get Tony to the post-season with minimum damage done.
Blair? He didn't get any run until both Finley and Bonner went down, and even then it took a couple of large stat lines in limited playing time before Pop grudgingly gave him more play.
What will be interesting with Blair is what happens when those two return to the rotation.
We either need to give Ratliff and Ian more run, or if Pop really believes those guys aren't going to cut it then we need to trade for a decent big before the deadline.
We aren't going to get out of the West against teams like LA that have an Odem/Gasol/Bynum front line by rotating Tim, Dice, Bonner, Finley, and Jefferson at the C and PF spots.