Which reminds me. Do you think Pop dropped Blair to let him recover from his injury or does this mean he's out of the rotation and Bonner's officially the 4th big since Blair can only really play with TD?Quote:
Originally Posted by timvp
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Which reminds me. Do you think Pop dropped Blair to let him recover from his injury or does this mean he's out of the rotation and Bonner's officially the 4th big since Blair can only really play with TD?Quote:
Originally Posted by timvp
he subbed splitter out at about the 6 min mark like he should
like how manu was used in 2011
need to waive blair and sign kenyon martin
or find a way to trade for any of the bucks big men
they have so many they dont use
it seems like every team in the nba is either stacked with big men or desperately need one
have teams like utah/bucks/lakers/grizz/toronto/atlanta/chicago/denver they have quality guys rotting on the bench
then teams like boston/SA would trade half the roster to get one of them
Blair looked injured to me but judging by the quotes this could be a long-term move that doesn't take into consideration Blair's health.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheSkeptic
Definitely agree with this. In the past I've been an opponent of the Duncan-Splitter pairing, because it would crush our Parker attack with an overly-clogged lane. But at this point, Splitter's simply too good to not be starting and getting more minutes out of him.... he has to play by the rim to be effective, but that's not the case with Duncan, and I'm sure they can find ways to keep the lane open.Quote:
Originally Posted by racm
I guess another way of saying it is, yeah, two bigs isn't ideal, but when it's two *great-playing* bigs, that's a very different animal.
Excellent. Keep starting Tiago please.Quote:
Originally Posted by ace3g
Does that mean we'll go small with the bench unit?
C Diaw
PF Jax
SF Manu
SG Neal
PG Nando
I'd much rather Neal at that shooting guard slot and Jax at PF rather than Bonner or Blair. Of course you can mix and match Splitter, Tim and Diaw with that bench unit.
Not really sure about the PF and Center rotation off the bench, but keeping Neal at SG and running Nando at PG would be much better than Neal running the point. Another good thing is Manu and Gary can run point if De Colo needs to pass the ball off to someone.
This is true and it's why my ultimate dream scenario is that Duncan and Diaw start while Splitter comes off the bench and soaks up all the bench bigman minutes. In that scenario, each one plays about 30 minutes and small ball eats up the rest. By starting Duncan and Diaw, foul trouble is much less of a worry.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruno
But then again, Pop has had 2.5 seasons to figure out how to give Splitter a lot of minutes regularly coming off the bench and it never happened. Perhaps by starting him it will force Pop to up his minutes to at least the 25-28 minute range.
The more that I think about it, while it's not the best alignment in a lot of scenarios, Duncan/Splitter should at the very least help maximize the minutes played by the better players on the team.
This is the crux many of the media miss when Miami or OKC play small. Playing LeBron/Durant at the 4 means they can play their three best guards without sacrificing either of those two. The same goes with New York because they can play shooters alongside Melo.Quote:
Originally Posted by timvp
If this Splitter/Duncan combo is in for the long run, I have a few questions:Quote:
Originally Posted by timvp
1) How long do you think Pop will give them before he gives in? (Although I guess we'll find out against OKC if the pairing is here to stay)
2) What type of player do you see the spurs bringing over, if any? What player would you bring?
3) Is there any signs of them starting to figure how to play with each other? Is there any reason to think that won't/can't happen?
...just in.
Stern demanding Manu play 48 minutes vs OKC.
I'd prefer Diaw to NOT play center. Here's what I think will be used:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ice009
C Blair
PF Diaw (Jackson isn't a power forward at all)
SF Stephen Jackson
SG Manu (He'll actually be playing the role of the play maker, thus allowing Neal to act as more of a scorer)
PG Neal
Third string: Patty (will be used when speed is needed), De Colo (Will be used when offense is a mess and Manu and Neal are cold)
Splitter starting doesn't mean the bench has to go small. He'll replace Duncan in the 1st and stay in until Duncan re-enters the game in the 2nd quarter. It just means SJax/Leonard will get minutes at the 4 with the second unit (IMO). Honestly, that's better than Blair/Bonner. I'll take it.
I don't like that lineup at all. I would much rather have Kawhi and Jax playing small ball PF over that lineup. Neal at PG is something that really rubs me the wrong way in that lineup too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Boomersgold
Much rather this. If the second unit wants to go big, they can always reinsert Splitter with Diaw. The rest of the minutes should be Kawhi and Jack at the PF spot with the second unit like you mentioned.Quote:
Originally Posted by td4mvp21
I'd really much prefer Neal to be the SG in the bench unit too, not PG.
Blair and Bonner shouldn't be in the regular rotation at all. Spot minutes sure, different looks to change things up, sure, regular rotation minutes, no way.
We might don't know but it can appear that Blair have knees problems that's why he is less energetic then he was even though he lost some pounds.
That's leaves the spurs with Diaw as the only interior guy off the bench
Well, there was nothing soft about the way Tiago played against Garnett; great game from Tiago. And Tony had a couple of circus shots that he somehow managed to go in. It was a good game to watch, also because Boston played well for most of the night. While there is hardly a more dislikable bunch of players than the Celtics (in my opinion, at least), they play team beasketball and always play hard.
Somehow I thought Blair would get an A for staying at the bench... :wakeup
Risky is not to play your best players.
Tiago should start but if he comes off the bench he should play at least 25mpg.
Tiago should start period. He is the 2nd best big on the team and will make Duncan's job easier. Secondly, everyone wants him to play heavier mins so the foul issue is mute since he will be on the court a lot anyway and will be more susceptible to fouls. It's not like the other teams have dominate front court players on their bench. Lets keep it simple and start our best players.
Also, why hasn't Joseph had an opportunity to win the backup point guard job. Pop drives me crazy sometimes, he wants better defense but doesn't put in his best defensive pg on the court. It reminds me of how he has managed Splitter. Anderson is another one that I would have loved to see play more minutes. He has been inconsistent offensively but his defensive has been impressive even with the small sample size.
isnt it contract year for splitter also?.....ASIK MONEY WAITING FOR THE niga
Because he's still too RAW for the NBA. Joseph's prone to making bad decisions, his jump shot isn't near as good as Mills' and the team just doesn't have as much chemistry with him as they do with Mills or De Colo. He'll get his chance eventually, but right now, there are better guards out there to choose from (Neal, Mills and De Colo.)Quote:
Originally Posted by acoelho1
How many teams Dont start their best front line? This move is great, and if they make a trade for another solid Big then it's just an added bonus.
You notice Pop will take out either TD or Tiago a little earlier than normal, just so the time with Bonner/Diaw on the court together is limited.
I wonder if Tim struggled cause he's finally playing with another C probably since Oberto. I know he's struggled before but we always said the only way to get better is play them more. I hope Pop continues this all season
Too raw. Says who?? Mills is not a point guard, he is an undersized 2 guard with bad shot selection. Neal is not a point guard either and is better as 2 guard. De Colo is the only true point guard of the bunch but he has only been with the team a couple of months unlike CJ who bounced from the D-League and back last year. CJ is clearly the best defender, probably equal with De Colo on ball handing and has a better shot than De Colo. To not give your best defender at pg (Parker included), doesn't make much sense. Now, I'm not saying given the opportunity, he will succeed but he at least should be given a fair shot and not just relegated solely to garbage time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Boomersgold
Re: De Colo, I find it funny to see how fast expectations are changing. First he was useless because he couldn't shoot, then he had pretty much secured the backup PG spot for the future, then he was Beno 2.0 because of his difficulties when pressured and now he's back to being a good prospect.
I say give the guy some time, he's a rookie and still adjusting. I'm not too concerned about the issues he has against aggressive home teams, as the other Spurs players had issues (and turnovers or bad decisions) too.
What he has shown is that he can actually shoot, contrary to what many were thinking after the preseason and first few reg season games. I'm not saying he's worthy of a double team, of having an elite defender matched up with him or of a coach changing his tactics to counter him, but he's certainly shown he can make teams pay if they let him open, which is already more that can be said of certain Spurs players. Being legit on offense helps as much if not more than the points he actually scores.
All in all I stick to what I've been saying so far: he's good at the stuff that can't be taught (court vision, managing tempo, passing). The rest will come with time. Also don't forget many teams don't yet have scouting reports on most rookies, especially low profile ones like him. I'm quite sure some of the teams (especially Houston) had done their homework. It's going to be an important part of the rookie wall De colo is bound to hit, but I'm confident he'll find a way to prevail.
I think that specific rotation really maximizes the talent on this team. Agreed with spot minutes. There will certainly be games where either can be useful with limited playing time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ice009
Starting TD and TS looks good except there will be times when neither will be on the floor. When that happens, Jack or Leonard on the floor with Diaw and Bonner is a nice enough front court trio, just so Pop grabs Matty by the ears before he sends him in and screams "keep your ass under the basket for defensive rebounds"! I can see it working. During this current string of injuries I would have liked to seen the club offer Rick Jackson from the Toros a ten day contract.
I agree you have to play to your strengths and the other team's weaknesses.Quote:
Originally Posted by racm