Popovich, Spurs content to stand pat

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Originally Posted by Dr. John R. Brinkley

On one of the Summer games Pop was interviewed and commented on their plan to develop Diaw. Basically, he said they want to try and coach Diaw to be more aggressive and to shoot more/pass less. From what Timvp commented recently, Coach Don Newman had been given the job of informal "testosterone coach". And with his departure, is there going to be someone else on the coaching staff to step into this role, and hopefully, to actually succeed for once?

Getting Diaw to all of a sudden change seems like a longshot. I would imagine Parker pestering him would have the best chance of an effect, but even then, it seems unlikely.

Anyone else have thoughts on this?

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No reason to believe he won't shoot more. The problem is will he shoot at a good %, that translates into better play. The guy has confidence issues.

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Originally Posted by Ice009

Yeah, but LA looks like it will get better and OKC should improve too, so if that happens and the Spurs improve then we might be in the same situation as before. Unless they think the Spurs can improve so much that it will offset LA's new additions and also offset OKC's improvement.

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The Spurs will be lucky to play the same, never mind improve. They had the number one seed last year. How much more can they improve bringing back the same team? And they were injury free going into the playoffs, the number 1 seed won't happen next year.

One can argue that staying pat is the right approach. We brought in 2 players late in the season, had a 20 game win streak and made it to the conference finals.

On the other end, we lost a 2-0 lead. We had defensive issues that were apparent.

I think internal growth can work with Diaw being in the system more, Diaw being more aggressive and Pop playing Splitter more.

I still think getting a defensive 4/5 would help tremendously.

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Originally Posted by rascal

No reason to believe he won't shoot more. The problem is will he shoot at a good %, that translates into better play. The guy has confidence issues.

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One reason to believe he won't shoot more is that each team he plays for complains that he doesn't shoot enough. So you know, there's a historical trend going on.

It's a problem that he shoots at a good percentage?

He might have confidence issues, but nothing in the same universe as say Matt Bonner. I think he has confidence playing basketball, but he just doesn't want to be in the spotlight. I would call it more settling or complacent.

Diaw learning not to foul so much (and thereby compromising the whole Spurs' defensive system) would help tremendously. Will training camp + preseason + regular season be enough for this to happen? I'm not sure, but we'll see.

I think part of getting Diaw to be more aggressive is putting the ball in his hands and letting him run the offense. He did that pretty well with the Suns even though they had Nash. It will also allow Parker to play of the ball more where he can use his speed.

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Originally Posted by therealtruth

I think part of getting Diaw to be more aggressive is putting the ball in his hands and letting him run the offense. He did that pretty well with the Suns even though they had Nash. It will also allow Parker to play of the ball more where he can use his speed.

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I've wanted to see some point-forward from Diaw. If the team can't get reliable backup PG play...and they compromise the defense in trying to do so, then I'd rather explore atypical options like this. Force the offense through him and see what happens. It's worth an experiment.

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Originally Posted by SenorSpur

The Spurs may have no other choice than to stand pat, but in doing so they've not solved any of the issues that plagued them a few months ago. I certainly understand the financial constraints the Spurs are under. That's just the way it is. Still, if the Spurs start next season with exactly the same team, as presently constructed, then will continue to be defensively inferior and a notch below the big dogs on the block - OKC Thunder - for yet another season and THAT is a concern.

This was all made very clear in the recent playoff series. Looking at both sides of the coin, scoring points is one thing and the Spurs can do that pretty well. Yet the Thunder clamped down on the Spurs and were able to generate key stops at critical moments. They did so by taking away the Spurs strengths, negating their pick-n-roll offense and thus killed their ability to score. On the other side, the Thunder were able to raise their level of offensive play when they most needed it. They literally scored with ease - off turnovers, runouts, offensive rebounds and putbacks, etc. The veteran Spurs were left powerless to do anything about it.

Stand pat all you want so long as everyone knows that improvement for this team IS NOT coming from within - contrary to what Pop and RC have told us so far. Improvement must come from one or two positional upgrades, which the Spurs. at this moment, are in no position to make. This isn't a good receipe - especially for team who has 2 major stars on the wrong side of 30 years old. Osmosis is not going to close the talent and skill-level gap between the Spurs and the Thunder.

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One of the best posts ever!

:toast

Just sign Kenyon for the vet min and call it a day.

Content= The Spurs system and franchise is one of the best in the NBA-if not the best. Standing pat makes sense.


Content= No titles in past 5 seasons-standing pat = no titles anytime soon the way the NBA has become a superfriends league.

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Originally Posted by silverblk mystix

Content= The Spurs system and franchise is one of the best in the NBA-if not the best. Standing pat makes sense.


Content= No titles in past 5 seasons-standing pat = no titles anytime soon the way the NBA has become a superfriends league.

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I'll try a serious question.

Given the assets available to the Spurs, can you outline a course of action that would have had a reasonable probability of producing a better team than the course of action that has been taken?

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Originally Posted by Mel_13

I'll try a serious question.

Given the assets available to the Spurs, can you outline a course of action that would have had a reasonable probability of producing a better team than the course of action that has been taken?

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This should be interesting to see the crap people come up with trying to answer this question. Spurs have done about as well as they could have done this offseason and thats simply putting back last seasons team.

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Originally Posted by Mel_13

I'll try a serious question.

Given the assets available to the Spurs, can you outline a course of action that would have had a reasonable probability of producing a better team than the course of action that has been taken?

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Serious answer;

Only one.

The only way, with what is/was available that would produce a better team would be by subtraction- not by addition.

I won't mention who should be subtracted for obvious reasons, but subtracting dead weight and trying to improve in that way is probably the best way to improve.

Probably not enough to win a title (depending on who they get in return) but a step in a positive direction.

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Originally Posted by silverblk mystix

Serious answer;

Only one.

The only way, with what is/was available that would produce a better team would be by subtraction- not by addition.

I won't mention who should be subtracted for obvious reasons, but subtracting dead weight and trying to improve in that way is probably the best way to improve.

Probably not enough to win a title (depending on who they get in return) but a step in a positive direction.

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So, amnesty Bonner and sign a player to a minimum contract?

Then salary dump Blair and sign another player to a minimum contract?

IMO, that just leads to new whipping boys for ST, but doesn't improve the team's prospects.

I do appreciate the serious reply.

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Originally Posted by Mel_13

So, amnesty Bonner and sign a player to a minimum contract?

Then salary dump Blair and sign another player to a minimum contract?

IMO, that just leads to new whipping boys for ST, but doesn't improve the team's prospects.

I do appreciate the serious reply.

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If you read the first reply correctly--it never implied which was better or worse.

It said that

Content = good

Content = not so good

Double-edged sword. The thing that makes the Spurs franchise so good sometimes is the thing that makes the Spurs franchise- not so good.

Realistic. Not implying one is better or worse than the other.

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Originally Posted by silverblk mystix

If you read the first reply correctly--it never implied which was better or worse.

It said that

Content = good

Content = not so good

Double-edged sword. The thing that makes the Spurs franchise so good sometimes is the thing that makes the Spurs franchise- not so good.

Realistic. Not implying one is better or worse than the other.

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I understood. I was just asking if you saw a reasonable road for the Spurs to overcome the realities of a superfriends league. I don't think one exists. Going forward, if someone wants to be a fan of a perennial contender, they need to look to the franchises in NY, LA, and Miami.

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Originally Posted by Mel_13

I'll try a serious question.

Given the assets available to the Spurs, can you outline a course of action that would have had a reasonable probability of producing a better team than the course of action that has been taken?

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One could argue: gambling on Lorbek instead of Diaw.

At the end of the day, the NBA is a superstar-driven business, and the Spurs, having no superstar currently, know that they can be really good with Diaw and really really good with Lorbek and yet won't come up with another title.

Cool stuff. I love Pop's comments about negotiating with Tim. :lol

I agree with SenorSpur's post but he said it himself, "The Spurs may have no other choice than to stand pat."

Also Pop said De Colo is a "poor man's Danny Ainige." That's interesting.

So basically the Spurs are too short handed to beat the elite teams again and the Spurs and Popovich are content with that?

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Originally Posted by Mel_13

So, amnesty Bonner and sign a player to a minimum contract?

Then salary dump Blair and sign another player to a minimum contract?

IMO, that just leads to new whipping boys for ST, but doesn't improve the team's prospects.

I do appreciate the serious reply.

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Are we able to use the vet mimimum without crossing the luxury tax threshold? I'm not clear on the options we have. Is amnesting Bonner the only way we can sign anyone else to a minimum contract without paying the tax? Thanks for any insight...:toast

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Originally Posted by spurs10

Are we able to use the vet mimimum without crossing the luxury tax threshold? I'm not clear on the options we have. Is amnesting Bonner the only way we can sign anyone else to a minimum contract without paying the tax? Thanks for any insight...:toast

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It's too late to amnesty Bonner, but the Spurs appear to have room to use the vet minimum without going over the tax. Also, Blair's contract does not become guaranteed until November 1st and Neal's will not be fully guaranteed until January 10th.

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Originally Posted by G-Dawgg

So basically the Spurs are too short handed to beat the elite teams again and the Spurs and Popovich are content with that?

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I'm sure they'd be all ears on how to improve the team seeing as no one is left.