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Making sense of Tiago Splitter’s lack of playing time
by Andrew A. McNeill
48 Minutes of Hell
There’s been some confusion in our comments and on Twitter as to why Tiago Splitter hasn’t seen as many minutes as the San Antonio Spurs, and their fans, would like. Allow me to do my best to explain.
There are two primary reasons why Splitter is only averaging 11.2 minutes per game so far this season, and both of those reasons are connected.
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Personally I would like to see more "trial by fire", as he is young and should handle it. Plus, this looks like it could be the best chance for another title run.
...but.....in Pop I trust...
Splitter is getting treated like he is a fifty year old vet. The guy is in his mid twenties, OF course he can always get injured as can any player but if the FO is scared he will shatter by playing anything over 10 minutes then why is he on this team?
He's right to say that it is a combination of things. One, Pop knows he can use the rest. Second, he doens't run the system as well as others.
Pop's biggest downer is that his coaching style and system requires lots of experience. Pop will not sacrifice anything to give a rookie a chance unless he absolutely knows he can handle it. This gives Tiago Splitter a disadvantage coming in. Now with missing preseason, we know splitter will unlikely get lots of playing time this season. The only chance we'll see him is if Bonner and Blair are struggling to get anything done in the playoffs. I want to see Splitter on the floor but not at the cost of the Spurs losing a championship.
I personally hope Splitter's learning ability is as good as advertised, and he will force Pop to play him.
If Bonner is hitting 3s I don't mind seeing Tiago coddled a bit. However, if Bonner isn't even shooting, I don't see how he's better at anything than Splitter. The defense already is Splitter >>>>>>>>>>>>> Bonner. Splitter has taken more charges in a quarter than Bonner has in his career.
This.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cry Havoc
Did you read the entire article?Quote:
Originally Posted by Chomag
It's a push. Splitter brings nothing to the table other than a charge. There's more to an nba game than just flopping.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cry Havoc
Yes...^thisQuote:
Originally Posted by Cry Havoc
Bet he's preparing for carneval that's why he sucks ... seriously I'd be distracted the whole year just thinking of all the boobs down in Rio.
So Pop obviously thinks the Spurs can go into a playoff series against the Lakers with DeJuan Blair and Matt Bonner as the 2nd and 3rd bigs against Andrew Bynum Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom and win the series ..should be fun to watch.
One question I have is .. What's more 'unfair' to the playing group.. giving Tiago 30 minutes in the regular season to get him acclimated to the system .. Or letting Bonner clank open 3's in the playoffs and give up offensive rebound after offensive rebound and provide an open lane to the bakset for opposition lay ups abd dunks?
I think Splitter proved to be a little disrespectfull with San Antonio and Pop and the Spurs are making him pay for what he did.
He didn´t took good care of his body, played injuried for brasil just days after he signed his NBA contract, and was not in shape to start the camp.
Then he thought he was going to get a lot PT to regain shape and that´s not the way it is, he showed himself slow and soft, and he didn´t seem to have hit the weight room as much as he could.
We will see what he does during the All-Star break, he can either use it as a mini-camp or go on vacation, Pop will look at what he chooses.
I've asked this before, but is it possible we as Spurs fans over-hyped Splitter? Did we expect him to come in right away and put up solid numbers?
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.c...iago-splitter/Quote:
What happened to Tiago Splitter?
Kurt Helin
Remember how certain people were really hyping Tiago Splitter before the season as the big man the Spurs really needed to balance out the front line with Tim Duncan? Remember how people were saying he was going to be a difference maker for the Spurs this season?
Okay, that was me. I admit it. And we’ve seen flashes of that Splitter but mostly we’ve seen him sitting. He’s averaging just 11 minutes a game.
What happened? A fantastic post at Spurs blog 48 Minutes of Hell explains the litany of problems.
Remember that Splitter played deep into the European season last year then just straight into playing for Brazil for the World Championships. There he picked up a couple nagging injuries which he brought with him Spurs camp just a couple weeks after that. It was a lot of basketball.
Then came a strained right calf muscle a couple days into camp, which caused him to miss most of it.
“He had some things break down while he was in Europe and then he came here and had the problem with his calf,” Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich said earlier in the season. “I think all in all, his body is probably just telling him to take a break. So we don’t want to bring him back and stick him out there for an inordinate amount of time.”
Missing camp really hurt because Splitter has never been really comfortable in the Spurs offense this season. He has to set a lot of picks but it’s about timing and placement, and Splitter is off in those departments compared to other bigs on the Spurs roster. Popovich has options
So he hasn’t gotten a lot of run, then combine that with how well the Spurs are playing and you have a coach not about to give him big minutes to learn on the job.
“I can’t just go and experiment and give him 30 minutes to get him going,” Coach Pop said. “It’s not fair to him or to the whole group. It’s just got to happen slowly and we’ll see what’s required as far as the team is concerned because that’s what I have to look at.”
Come the playoffs when the Spurs could face longer front lines — Lakers, we’re looking at you — Splitter could play a key role. But for now, his minutes will be limited as he figures it all out.
11 minutes per game? WTF? I understand the concept of bringing him along slowly and learning the system, all that bullshit. 15-20 minutes would help his learning curve. Watching Bonner try to rebound out of position with his little alligator arms pains me. Not once has Pop paired Tiago and Tim. Lakers are going to maul our little team.
after some time I just gave up complaining about Splitter minutes... but I remember Pop post-game interview saying Tiago was always in the right place, quick learner, etc
against the suns today, spurs up 13-19 pts, yet couldnt even get some pt
so pop puts in a bonner/blair lineup, suns shortened lead down to 9pts
fck that shit
Tiago missing training camp was huge. He has the talent to be a solid player with the Spurs and chances were that he would contribute but not as much as many here would have hoped this year. Hopefully, come playoff time, he would have progressed enough where he can actually help the team by spotting Tim against the bigger line ups they'll face.
Really, nothing new here. It's the Oberto/Bonner/Mahinmi treatment. One season to look around and learn and he will be given a more solid chance in season two to see if he can earn a role.
He's obviously way too raw on the offensive end, and his rebounding is not at an NBA level yet. I don't expect much from him this season.
When we got Splitter, I thought defensively he'd bring more as a 7footer than drawing charges. How about some blocks! I hate that Timmy is our only shot block threat...
If the shoe fits right. As long as the spurs are winning there is no reason to run him out there for minutes. It takes time for some rookies. Splitter has shown promise. Spurs are doing the right thing and being patient with him.
I read the article and it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. It's very common for teams to bring in players mid season before the trade deadline, and those players get into the rotation rather quickly. The Suns and Magic just did that, and they aren't going to sit those guys out until next season.
So, it's a lame excuse to sit a guy because he wasn't in training camp. He didn't come from the D-league. Either he will be help or he will not. If he's not going to help why not wait until next year to bring him in?
I think Pop is creatively saying "we're winning, why fuck with it?"
[Watching Splitter out on the floor, mainly on the offensive end, you can see why his playing time is limited. While he shows flashes of the basketball IQ that draws comparisons to Fabricio Oberto, he sometimes appears lost on the offensive end. In these moments, he resembles a five-year-old playing soccer, just following the ball from player-to-player.]
This. Except on both ends.
You can see that he has good instincts, and a great basketball IQ. He puts himself in the right place at times, and looks very good. But you can see that he's doing it on general instincts at times. And other times he gets stuck in no man's land.
I really like the guy, and he's going to be really good for us. And if we had an injury, I have no doubt that he could step in and give us some solid minutes now. But I can understand Pop saying that it wouldn't be fair to him or to the other guys right now.
This Spurs squad is developing some real chemistry, and (as always) has some great guys on it. I'm hopeful some of them will stay and work with him over the ASB. Brent Barry did that with some of the second team guys, and it made a difference.
It's a real luxury to be able to leave a guy with that much talent on the bench. But I'd feel a lot better come playoff time if he had more minutes under his belt.
The reason to bring him this year is that the clause allowing him to come over was affordable to the Spurs and the player really wanted to come over, not to mention he agreed to a fairly cheap contract. If he would have stayed in Europe, being that he was a hot commodity there, the Spurs had the risk that he would sign an extension to his older contract or some other Euro team signing him up long term.Quote:
Originally Posted by DMC
BTW, looking at this from the offseason angle, it's part of the reason I didn't want Bonner re-signed. With Tiago seemingly unable to help this season and Blair's level of play being somewhat of an unknown, Bonner was just the obvious guy to have an extended role, even more so with Dice coasting through the regular season. IMO, that's one weak link going forward besides of the hole at backup SF...
pop was resting him knowing he was going to play him more wed and thursday back to back gamesQuote:
Originally Posted by TDMVPDPOY
splitter played all summer and splitter has never played 82 games plus playoffs
The same could be said for our starting center.Quote:
Originally Posted by ElNono
Dejuan can board. Some nights better than others. He also has a season under his belt. Plus I fully expect Matt and Dice to command the most minutes when it matters, much like last offseason, unless Blair is tearing it up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt Bringdown
Tiago is too green right now. I'm very disappointed specially with his poor rebounding. But it's understandable in that he never played against so athletically gifted players like in the NBA. Offensively, with guys like Manu, TP, TD and RJ getting the most of the offense, he would need to make do with whatever he can scrape, and Blair has been obviously more adept in that role.
And BTW, I agree that Dejuan has gotten into somewhat of a blackhole at times. The truth is, however, that we don't run that much offense through him anyways.
He just needs time to acclimate to what the Spurs run and the level of play in the NBA. We still shouldn't much from him this year.
His role on offense should be collect scraps, finish off any easy layups and that's about it. But sometimes good teams will force you to run some offense through your weakest link, and I thought the Suns did some of that tonight. Blair found himself a few times all alone 7 foot off the rim with nobody around. Props to Gentry for that. In those situations, we'll have to adjust. Either bring in Dice/Bonner or run plays where Dejuan doesn't need to go that far away from the basket.Quote:
Originally Posted by guitardude27
Then again, even on a night where he Was somewhat sloppy, he managed to put 10 and 8, which is fine for his role (especially his 8 boards).
I don't think he can guard those guys...
I'm not really sure Splitter can either at this stage in his NBA career...
So we'll probably see TD, Bonner and Dice going at them...
As far as the rest of your post, I think it boils down to the fact that you really don't need to run offense for Blair, and that makes him a good fit for the starting unit. Ultimately, I think Dejuan should be capable of giving you 10 and 10 on most nights, and that's probably more than what Tiago can give you now.
Dejuan needs to develop some semblance of a mid range jump shot.
With the way Phoenix was guarding him at times, I'm surprised Dejuan didn't take his sweet ass time and just pretend he was shooting a free throw. I can recall 2 occasions where they just left him wide open in "no man's land" because they knew he had no jump shot.
You say no, I say no, but he's out there guarding Dirk, ZBo, etc. So he's definitely going to have that role.Quote:
Originally Posted by guitardude27
Splitter needs to be thrown out there into the fire....that's the only way
I'm so not impressed by Tiago Splitter. Offensively he's very limited. He has no range on his jumper, he's soft and can't bang on the post. He's a poor rebounder for a 7footer, and I haven't noticed how well he passes the ball yet. He is a good man to man position defender, but although he moves his feet well on defense, I don't see him being physical enough or a good enough shotblocker to deter much interior scoring..
In his defense, he plays the pick & roll well on both offense and defense.. BUT this is not enough to overshadow the big holes he still has in his game.
My Verdict...keep his ass on the bench. As stupid as this may sound, -Bonner has shown me WAY more this season.
IMO he's got lots of work to do besides that man....Quote:
Originally Posted by guitardude27
Good luck with Bonner in the PO.Quote:
Originally Posted by G-Dawgg
Splitter was one of the 3 best bigs in Euroleague last year, with Pekovic and Bouroussis.
Period.
Why he is not playing decent minutes (and lately why he is not playing at all) is a mystery to me.
One thing is very clear: Spurs have zero chances to get past the Lakers and/or Dallas, with Blair or Bonner playing significant minutes in the playoffs.
So Manu_Forever, why do you think the Spurs office waited that long and brought him to the team? Based on hype too, or they just can't scout? Because they had plenty of games to watch Tiago playing, they are professionals and can evaluate a player. Or do you think the office was naive?
Spurs are gonna get raped by LA's frontcourt if we're still using Blair/Bonner as our 2nd/3rd best bigs going into the playoffs. Going to be painful watching Bonner brick every one of his threes and Blair get blocked every time he goes for a post move against any of LA's 7 footers.
Ok, im from istanbul so i can get to chance euroleague in person...i have been watching all kinds of centers playing here for a long time and i would easily say that tiago is way better than most of them and he is or was definetly one of them best centers of euroleague...
Manu_Forever is just a troll created to bash Splitter and the Spurs, don't take him seriously.
Manu_Forever is no ordinary troll, it's the latest incarnation of KBP. We haven't seen KBP since Greece's spectacular failure at the WC and VSpan's departure from PAO to join Oly. He couldn't start threads or post in the Spurs Forum as KBP, so he has been reincarnated with this username in a vain attempt to gain acceptance and respectability. An attempt that is doomed to failure.Quote:
Originally Posted by DrSteffo
Let me guess, Borosoussisuss is 10 times better than Splitter but he won't play in the NBA because no team would give him a $200 million contract, which he is making in Greece right now, right?Quote:
Originally Posted by Manu_Forever
Edit : tax free to boot and free gyros daily.
Posters who disagree with KBP are liars who know nothing about European basketball!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Manu_Forever
:lol Tell em Mel 13Quote:
Originally Posted by Mel_13
Manu_Forever getting his KBP on!!!! You go, Billy!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Manu_Forever
You know me quite well, Billy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Manu_Forever
The real question is why you no longer post as KBP?
Was it the crushing defeat Greece suffered at the hands of Spain or was it VSpan's traitorous abandonment of PAO to go across town to play with Oly?
lol not too much effort to make the real KBP show up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Manu_Forever
Welcome back. It's better when you use proper english.
lol posting from Houston
still. i really believe that the length of teams such as the celtics and lakers would necessitate the use of splitter as we would have to match the depth these teams have in their frontcourts.
Right now, guys like KG or Gasol would toy around with Tiago IMO. He isn't ready for a task like that. His weak ass layups and hooks on offense would be an easy target for blocked shots also.Quote:
Originally Posted by rjv
OK, we got it: you really hate Splitter. Never has a more useless player ever put on a Spurs uniform. No upside and no future to him, why don't we cut him? Or have him killed?Quote:
Originally Posted by ElNono
Can't wait to see a flurry of Samaki-esque pump fakes from Blair in the PO, along with another patented 0 for 7 triumph from Bonner.
No. Splitter has potential, upside and I think he can become a good player for us in the long run. I'm talking RIGHT NOW, he's not ready.Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt Bringdown
Don't hate on me if you bought into the whole 'He' ready to play' and he isn't...
I don't like it any more than you do. The FO obviously think Dice and Bonner can get it done next to Tim. Don't get mad at me, I'm just pointing out what I see.Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt Bringdown
I've been pretty vocal about getting help for Tim the last two seasons. NBA quality help.
And people that mention that Galis was well american before he was given a passport issued by the Greek State -assuming it was less false than a couple of decades of balance sheets of the Greek State- are traitors.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mel_13
Double traitors.
Traitors of America.
And traitors of Greece.
:rollin:rollin:rollinQuote:
Originally Posted by Manu_Forever
1) As a Euro citizen, I sure am a Euro homer.
Except that Splitter is not an Euro.
2) You are probably right. Splitter was one of the TWO best centers in Euroleague. I was overestimating Bouroussis, a guy that could NOT even make the starting five of a Greek team.
3) You made my day with "my agenda" stuff. I never read anything more absurd!!!!
:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:l ol
Ok, fair enough. But don't you agree that Gasol and Garnett would have an easier time against Blair/Bonner?Quote:
Originally Posted by ElNono
You're asking me to pick between a Giant Douche and a Shit Sandwich...Quote:
Originally Posted by SplitterHook
I don't think any of them are viable options against those teams at full strength.
If Bonner hits 7 shots from 3, then he's a viable option. If Blair puts up a 20/20 like last season against Boston, then he's viable. The thing is, pretending they'll do that consistently on a 7 game series is unrealistic, IMO.
well guys like KG or Gasol would also toy with Bonner and Blair, so there really is no point to single out Tiago on this.Quote:
Originally Posted by ElNono
IMO length will always prevail in the end, and Tiago is a better choice than Bonner and Blair for the playoffs. But he needs to get playing time otherwise he will only see Ian Mahinmi type playoff minutes. :bang
For yet a third time, this.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cry Havoc
Greece is horrible.
Lies.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChumpDumper
and greecian women are even more horribler...Quote:
Originally Posted by ChumpDumper
http://chicagofree.info/wp-content/u...free-gyros.jpg
GREECE IS AWESOME!!!!
lmaoQuote:
Originally Posted by ChumpDumper
Yum?Quote:
Originally Posted by kjhip1
And yet a 34 year old Rasho is playing more minutes than Bouroussis this season.Quote:
Originally Posted by temujin
I just do not buy the whole he is so tired from the summer excuse. For years and years, guys have played for their national teams, have come in for training camp, and still played the entire NBA season.
I agree.Quote:
Originally Posted by ploto
The statement on Splitter by Pop tells me there is something seriously wrong, already.
Maybe Splitter is not too happy to play for 12'', or never come back in a game because he didn't foul a guy at the end of the half.
Maybe Pop thought he had another Oberto.
But Splitter is no Argie, that's for sure.
Splitter is 25 years old. Many guys at that age played well into the NBA play-offs, went home for their national team practices that are sometimes really tough, played for their team in warm up games and international tournaments, and sometimes immediately came back for training camp without barely a day or two off in between. It's December. It's been 3 1/2 months since national team play.Quote:
Originally Posted by temujin
Also as to the comments about not much time for practice-- Any guy who wants to stay late can play all the basketball he wants against other teammates who do not get much playing time.
I just think it is a bad idea to make excuses for a guy as soon as he hits the NBA. It often does not work out well when things start this way.
lol Rasho