I don't think we can take much for that time he played. The game was already over and everyone was playing bad, even Neal was horrible
But he must stop with those weak moves on O. That one yesterday was ugly
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I don't think we can take much for that time he played. The game was already over and everyone was playing bad, even Neal was horrible
But he must stop with those weak moves on O. That one yesterday was ugly
you people need to stop expecting so much from splitter every time he steps foot on the court. the dude is rusty as hell from sitting on the bench all year. i mean, take a loot at dice who's a solid vet. he was playing very limited minutes early in the season, and now that he's come back, he's been making bonehead mistakes left and right like that dead ball foul a couple games ago. if a vet needs a few games to shake off the rust, a rookie is definitely going to need time. unfortunately, pop isn't going to give him any this season.
I'll go on record here as saying that Splitter will end up being a solid & productive player for the Spurs...in time...
Trash him all you want now and trash anyone who has high hopes for him...but sooner or later he will force Pop to play him important minutes and he will be what he has always been...a really good player who is a winner and that won't be taken away by his rookie play in sporadic minutes.
Mark my words.
Everytime he sets a screen he slips it. That shot is not gonna fly.
Stats are for losers. Watch the game and try to think how his skills will help the team.
I see opponents SF raping Dejuan in the post and opponents PF/C thinking twice before they even try to post up on Splitter.
He did not try to do too much and did not get hurt, no worries there and while he was on the court others were firing shots all over the place.
He got a sweet pass from Parker for a foul and he threaded some very nice passes to guards slashing along the baseline while he was at the top of the arc.
He has good hands and great passing skills. He needs someone to feed him the ball when he is moving off the pick and roll. TP and he did it great earlier in the season. GHill cant seem to grasp the concept of "Hey 7 footer who can run is ACTUALLY running toward the hoop and is open" and he takes an extra two dribbles or passes it to the next guard.
Splitter needs to be set up, obviously, but he can move without the ball pretty damn well and he is VERY mobile for a guy that big.
Splitter will be ok. I don't think the Spurs were waiting for him all this time for naught.
He was playing much better at the start of the season, his shot is horrible and he showed some lack of conditining but he was active, rebounded, looked a little lost on the D which is not unusual in the Spurs system for any new player, but he would get put backs, and show up on the stat sheet, the last month or so I noticed his body language is bad, he looks like he doesn't want to be out there, his hustle is completely gone, and consequently he looks bad, I really blame Pop for jerking him around, but at this point you can't really make a case for him since the team itself is playing at a marvelous level, making room for Splitter is not really viable unless an injury changes the scenery. But if a chance comes he has to get out of that mental funk he has gone into, IMO.
He's a choke this season, hopefully he does better in his second season. That's basically all we can hope for because he is not doing anything good enough in garbage time or in practice to earn him more playing time. I was expecting so much more from him.
He looked a little too Ron mergers on offense for my tastes last night...
Had to chime in on this one. Give Splitter a break. He is a rookie coming from overseas, getting less than sporadic minutes (to say the least) and in a system that doesn't fully utilize or focus on the "5" position. Not even a good comparison because different types of players and position, but go back and look at Dirk's rookie stats. Not that impressive numbers and Dirk got about twice the minutes.
Give Tiago time and more importanly a fair opportunity. I look for a definite improvement next year in many aspects, including being stronger after an offseason w/ the Spurs S&C coach.
P.S. Still think he can/will help in the playoffs this season.
Neal didn't look to spiffy in that last stretch either. It's hard to have a good outing when the entire thing is based on chaos, as that last 15 pretty much was.
3-11 and 1-5 from the arc, 5 turnovers... that's not the Neal we're accustomed to seeing. He's not too good at the PG role, but he can at least bring it down the court. I didn't like that really really rushed 3 he took, not even set, on that break.
One thing I have noticed, for sure, that's not practice related is that he's not physical. He takes hits, sure, but he's not a banger in the paint like he should be at his size. Blair is a lot more physical than Splitter. Tiago tries to play a finesse game, but he's not good enough to do that in the NBA. Sure he can do it against a bunch of players with day jobs, but here he needs to knock a few guys off their position and lay some wood under the rim. Even if that gets him ejected, so what? We need that from him.
Splitter makes me believe more and more in the idea that "it gets worse before it gets better". But it better get better.
Just remember Jefferson from last year. He was terrible. One off season later, he is a fucking beast.
Let it go Spurs fan, you it takes a while to get this system and understand it.
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...tters-minutes/Quote:
So why has Splitter played in just 29 of 40 games this season, averaging 11:18 per? The simplest, shortest answer is this: He is not one of the Spurs’ top five big men right now.
Tim Duncan, DeJuan Blair, Antonio McDyess and Matt Bonner are all ahead of Splitter in line for minutes right now, and the allotment of available time grows shorter on nights coach Gregg Popovich elects to go small.
Typically, having too much depth on the frontline would be fall under the heading of “good problem to have.” For Spurs fans, who have waited — often impatiently — for Splitter since the Spurs made him the 28th overall pick in the 2007 draft, it is cause for consternation.
“I’m sure that he’s frustrated and would love to be on the court,” Popovich acknowledged. “At the same time he’s been a total team positive, working hard to be ready if called upon. He’s conducted himself in a totally professional manner.”
The bigger Splitter question is this: With 42 games remaining in the regular season, does he still have time to solidify himself as part of Popovich’s playoff rotation?
“We’ll see,” Popovich said, and so will Spurs fans.