Free Tiago

oh how ive been waiting for this thread !!!!!!!!! FREEE MEEEEEEE!~!!!!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by rascal

In the regular season with loose defense players like Bonner, Neal can knock down the open 3s but in the playoffs when the defense tightens the open 3s are no longer there. Bonner becomes worthless with defensive pressure because he doesn't have the ability to create his own shot. Neal is better at shooting off the dribble but his numbers will also go down with added defense. manu and jefferson have not been shooting the ball well overall. I don't see where all the 3 point shots will come in the playoffs.

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great post :toast i've always thought of bonner as just choking in the playoffs however it is a little of both one thing is for sure bonners shooting form allows him to shoot over anybody in the nba but he doesnt have the balls to take the shot with confidence.

seeing his great percentage this year, bonner is an intelligent individual who will take this into account (his season 3pt avrg. 51%)as hes bricking up balls in the playoffs digging his grave. all teams have to do is get the ball to bonners man and its over 99% of the time. this is not opinion its a fact

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Originally Posted by Brazil

It's true it really depends on how we value things. In my case, I do think that having HCA will be important for this squad especially knowing how bad Hill is playing on the road.

Now what I appreciate and recognize is not this particular priority but the fact that Pop defined a strategy / a line before the beginning of the season and he is following it.

This strategy (fighting for a good spot and ensure HCA at least for the first rounds + limiting minutes of the old guys) is consistent and makes sense.
Then his obvious priority was to establish a game plan with sharp outside shooting especially from 3 so he renewed Bonner contract, worked with RJ to improve that, selected JA and went to an unknown (for NBA standard) Euro player to go that direction. Once again this is consistent.

Nevertheless I do think he underestimated our front court weaknesses in particular rebounds. His plan was surely to play Blair in the starting 5 to preserve Dice and then give the starting job to Dice for the POs. Unfortunately Blair rebounding effort is too up and down for the second unit and our guards effort on long rebound is pitiful so far.

He is also incapable to fix our perimeter Defense, it is a mess and Hill has a lot of responsabilities here, Pop overestimated the Hill D qualities.

Finally the SF back-up spot is a huge mess, here IMO he failed badly for counting too much (?) on JA who was recovering from tough injury.


All in all we are in better shape than the last seasons I'm not sure it will be enough but at least he is giving a shot to the big 3 if healthy and if Tim can be closer to a prime Duncan rather than a retired Duncan.

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The perimeter defense is not the real issue though. It is the interior defense. The rebounding and points in the paint are alarming. Now, while having a good perimeter defense can help that, having a good interior defense can overcome bad perimeter defense (see LA).

Interior is the real problem and Tiago could have been the real solution, we just don't know. Point is, we should.

http://estaticos02.marca.com/blogs/f...plitter570.jpg

Free Tiago

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Originally Posted by DPG21920

With Tiago or not, at this point, the Spurs are in trouble. They are a very solid team, but for a team with serious title hopes, they have a lot of holes. Many may disagree, and they might be able to overcome the problems, but it is going to take an epic playoff run and they have no margin for error.

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Yep, Deep, I for one wouldn't bet one red cent on their chances.

tee, hee.

Splitter like to dress up.

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Originally Posted by Bruno

http://estaticos02.marca.com/blogs/f...plitter570.jpg

Free Tiago

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:lmao

Someone should make a sign for the next home game

FREE TIAGO!!!!!

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Originally Posted by 2Cleva

LOL. Great stuff.

Splitter looked good this past summer. He was the main reason I was concerned about SA as a Laker fan. Another true big next to Duncan is the missing link.

I don't know if he truly sucks or Pop doesn't like him but this season obviously will be a bust for him. Works out great for the Lakers.

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What doesn't? I continue to wait for their luck, unprecedented in the history of North American professional sports, to run out. Yet it never does.

It's the typical "first year, wait your turn" nonsense. People will say "what about Hill, Blair, etc.?" , but the difference was the Spurs didn't have rotation caliber players ahead of them.

I think the biggest thing Pop has struggled with has been, who to subtract from the big rotation? This nine man rotation has gotten the team to this point. Blair and Bonner have both played a part, they've both been part of this team beyond this season and I think Pop feels a sense of loyalty to them. But deep down, he's got to know they can't win a championship if those two are paired together. The problem is, if he drops Bonner, then they're playing two non shooting bigs together and if he drops Blair, then they're playing two sub par rebounding bigs together.

What Pop needed was an opening to justify dropping either from the rotation. The Lakers game provided that because it gave way to their first extended stretch of bad play this season. Now, he's got a reason to make a change that goes beyond the vast majority's preconceived notion of what this team needs to be successful in the long run.

Unfortunately, I have zero confidence that he'll make the necessary change.

Pop is terrible when it comes to dealing with bigs he just doesn't know how to coach them other then Timmy and David. I mean how many centers have we ran out of town Rasho, Nazz, etc...

I love Pop but get a fucking clue and play the guy!

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Originally Posted by Cessation

Splitter like to dress up.

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Yes. Currently he is pretending to be an NBA player.

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Originally Posted by 20beastie45

Someone should make a sign for the next home game

FREE TIAGO!!!!!

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THIS!!!

tiago activist are being called out everywhere to make signs if your going to the upcoming games, or if the crowd started chanting tiago tiago i bet pop would get pissed off cause the crowd is telling him what to do. he should know the fans and players are what make the nba the nba
:flag:

This thread is so full of fail that it's amusing.

Meanwhile, Bruno, Josh McRoberts continues to outpace Tiago in just about every category except for DNPs. :smokin

I know....it's all Pop's fault.

_Jag flat-out owned this thread.

Apparently Pop sees something in Tiago, maybe in practice or during games that leads him to believe that he is not ready this season. A missed assignment here and there on defense spells doom for Tiago. We all think we know more than Pop but oh well, thinks just aren't going to change. I'm with everyone else here, I think Pop should play Tiago these lasts few games. Pop knows what he has in Blair, now give Tiago a real chance to show what he has!

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Originally Posted by ernest787

you guys are funny.

when Tiago does play everyone complains about him being soft, not knowing what is going on, and not being able to rebound the ball.

The Spurs then lose a couple games and suddenly he is the savior.

Personally, I think Tiago will eventually help the Spurs, but I think you have seen in his limited minutes this year that he was not NBA ready. Getting hurt didn't help his case much.

The Spurs are a different team this year and I think it's for the best. It is weird to see them running up and down the court and scoring like they have while sacrificing some defense. Pop realizes they are not big enough to match up with the Lakers in the half court, even if everything fell perfectly into place and Tiago met all expectations.

Instead of trying to do that, Pop has decided to try to exploit other match-ups and if have the Spurs try to out run the Lakers to limit their size. I really believe this to be the Spurs best chance to beat that team. Everyone over-reacts and likes to call us the Suns, but the truth is we are nothing like them besides our ability to score this year. If we need to we can still play the half court game. We just aren't going to pound the ball down your throat anymore. We have slacked on Defense too, but I've seen them lock up teams in crunch time when they need to.

I think Pop and the Spurs players both know they have locked up HCA in the West and weather good or bad, they are just riding into the playoffs.

I'm ready for April

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I think it's funny that you think the Spurs play nothing like the Suns. As Spurs fans we should know that all those easy fast-break points are going to be taken away in the playoffs.

At least in the half-court the Suns had a dominant paint scorer/finisher in Amare and Nash who is probably a better mid-range shooter than anyone on the Spurs (for when teams take away the 3 and pack the paint as LA did). TP and Manu (our primary pick and roll players) don't have anywhere near the jumper that Nash does. Wasn't that the Spurs' blueprint to beat the Suns - guard the 3pt line, make Nash a shooter and let Amare have his? Ironic, isn't it?

And no, I don't think they're riding into the playoffs. Pop usually pulls the starters early in the 4th if the game is out of reach and he didn't. I was behind the visitors' bench last night and they were trying but just couldn't score when the Heat locked down on defense.

IF we keep our distance with Lakers and Mavs, we'll have a week to play before the playoffs where 5 gamesor so will be played, during this time i say our starters will play an avergae of 15-20 minutes, if Pop makes Tiago play with the starters during thos 5 games and not in a lineup of "Quinn-Neal-Anderson-Novak" i will consider that Pop gave him a chance to play and showcase himself.

Most likely, pop won't do that, he will play either Blair or McDyess to prevent Tiago from looking good so he doesn't have the extra work of finding minutes for him.

As of now, that's the best scenario i can find for Tiago. Spurs clinching the first seed early so Tiago can share some time with the starters.

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Originally Posted by ++SaiNt TiAg0++

THIS!!!

tiago activist are being called out everywhere to make signs if your going to the upcoming games, or if the crowd started chanting tiago tiago i bet pop would get pissed off cause the crowd is telling him what to do. he should know the fans and players are what make the nba the nba
:flag:

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Co-sign. Get me a marker and let's start a chant. What's the worst that can happen if he plays with Timmy?

I'll be at the game against the Suns, I'll have my sign, but i hope he'll be playing by then. What are the chances?

Not NBA ready? The best center of Europe last year? then what can you say about Neal who was a role player in Europe

Please be serious.

Splitter is ready. Varejao,Scola,Pau Gasol,Marc Gasol,Ibaka,Oberto....etc they didn't have more experience playing pro-basketball than Tiago

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Originally Posted by spurs50_

I'll be at the game against the Suns, I'll have my sign, but i hope he'll be playing by then. What are the chances?

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:toast

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Originally Posted by Josepatches_

Not NBA ready? The best center of Europe last year...

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This is now a Manu_Forever thread.

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Originally Posted by Josepatches_

Not NBA ready? The best center of Europe last year? then what can you say about Neal who was a role player in Europe

Please be serious.

Splitter is ready. Varejao,Scola,Pau Gasol,Marc Gasol,Ibaka,Oberto....etc they didn't have more experience playing pro-basketball than Tiago

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So he was the best center in Europe?

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Originally Posted by biskvito

This is now a Manu_Forever thread.

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Now for sure.