Encouraging individual statistics as the Spurs enter 2013

-Kawhi Leonard’s return from injury has been a roaring success. While the gaudy individual stats may be lacking, his impact is definitely being felt. Since returning six games ago, the Spurs are outscoring opponents by 32.8 points per 48 minutes that Leonard is on the court. Broken down further, the Spurs are averaging 117.9 points per 48 minutes with Leonard on the court while allowing opponents to score only 85.1 points.

-Though he struggled at small forward, Danny Green has been very good at shooting guard this season. In the 17 games he has started at shooting guard, he’s averaging 10.8 points in 26.9 minutes per game while shooting 48% from the field and 45.6% on three-pointers. Looking at it another way, he has a PER of around 10 when playing SF. When playing SG, it’s approximately 18.

-In the first 16 games of his season, Manu Ginobili had a PER of 16.9. In the subsequent 13 games, Ginobili’s PER has skyrocketed to 24.8. To put those numbers in perspective, 16.9 would be his lowest PER since his rookie season. On the other hand, a 24.8 PER would represent a new career-high. Over those 13 games, he’s averaging 12.9 points in only 23.7 minutes while shooting 49.5% from the floor, 44.2% on three-pointers and 85.4% at the line. Add in 5.1 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game and the Argentine wonder has regained his status as a per-minute superstar as of late.

-Tim Duncan. What more can be said? We all know he’s playing as well as he’s played in a long time. However, when do we start talking about how he’s having one of the best regular seasons of his entire career? He’s averaging career-high rates in defensive rebounding, steals and blocks, while he’s right at career-low rates in turnovers and fouls. Outside of his five-year peak from 2002 thru 2007, Duncan’s 2013 campaign thus far has a very good argument for being his best regular season ever. He’s gone from a player who didn’t make an All-Star team last year to a player who has a strong case of being the best bigman in the entire league to date. Amazing.

-Tiago Splitter is going to be a very rich man in a few months. Last season, some pundits viewed his stats as fluke-ish. This year, despite playing a variety of different roles, he has basically duplicated his numbers from last season. His insertion into the starting lineup has been huge success; teams are averaging only 90 points per 48 minutes with Splitter on the court since he has become a full-time starter. In the entire NBA, how many players average at least 16.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and one block per 36 minutes played while shooting at least 50% from the field? Only two. Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter.

-With Tony Parker, his season has been spectacular from many angles. I’m not sure which is the best way to view it. His shooting percentages jump off the page (51.7% from the field, 40.5% on three-pointers, 82.6% at the line). His PER over his last 21 games is a sterling 25.7. But perhaps my favorite number of all: nobody in NBA history has scored at Parker’s per-minute rate of points and handed out his per-minute rate of assists while turning the ball over as infrequently has he has. Nobody. Ever.

Nice.

Simply amazing. I wonder if there will be an awards coming the Spurs' way this year. Hopefully, there's at least a finals MVP going to someone.

Bonner also is averaging the lowest amount of minutes per game in his entire career.

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Originally Posted by timvp

In the entire NBA, how many players average at least 16.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and one block per 36 minutes played while shooting at least 50% from the field? Only two. Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter.

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Damn, that's crazy.

After the struggles last season, I was almost ready to discount the Splitter-Duncan starting frontline. This improving chemistry should bode well for the playoffs.

Damn you Pop for not giving Tiago/Tim more time earlier!

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Originally Posted by timvp

In the subsequent 13 games, Ginobili’s PER has skyrocketed to 24.8.

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Well, that's way more meaningful that's some +/- stats. :stirpot:

Some of us never doubted Manu would be back to greatness, tbh

In all seriousness, many of us had been calling for the Tiago/Tim pairing (if not at least for more Tiago minutes in general) and the ceiling is so much higher now that it has arrived. It's still very early, but the returns look great and the spacing concern (which was/is valid) does not appear to be a hinderance to this point at all.

Tim's ability to step out and hit that jump shot along with TnT's ability to pass, screen and move have negated a lot of that. Tiago's ability to draw fouls still remains elite too which is great to see.

Elite passing ability from both guys negates the "spreading the floor" issue. Splitter can kill you with a drive or a pass, so defenders can't just leave him alone.

Awesome stuff. :tu

Impressive stuff from Duncan and Splitter. And it's amazing what a difference Leonard makes on the court even if the boxscore doesn't show it.

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Originally Posted by ElNono

Some of us never doubted Manu would be back to greatness, tbh

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Checking in the club tbh

So maybe the FO was right keeping this group together eh

And this season is your best season so far LJ

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Originally Posted by DPG21920

In all seriousness, many of us had been calling for the Tiago/Tim pairing (if not at least for more Tiago minutes in general) and the ceiling is so much higher now that it has arrived. It's still very early, but the returns look great and the spacing concern (which was/is valid) does not appear to be a hinderance to this point at all.

Tim's ability to step out and hit that jump shot along with TnT's ability to pass, screen and move have negated a lot of that. Tiago's ability to draw fouls still remains elite too which is great to see.

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Except you're assuming the tiago out there is same tiago you would have years ago. I think he has come a long way since falling on his butt attempting a dunk. And its not as easy as put them in from the start & you get results early... we needed to stay competitive while bringing tiago along to where he is now.

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Originally Posted by anonoftheinternets

Except you're assuming the tiago out there is same tiago you would have years ago. I think he has come a long way since falling on his butt attempting a dunk. And its not as easy as put them in from the start & you get results early... we needed to stay competitive while bringing tiago along to where he is now.

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I'm unsure how sitting on the bench or playing without Duncan on the floor has been so beneficial for his development. You know he wasn't drafted out of high school, right?

Would a salary starting at 7m/year be enough to keep splitter?

At 7m with max increases he could get 30.1/4yrs or 37.6/5years. I think only we can offer him 5 years so that would presumably give us am advantage?

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Originally Posted by Obstructed_View

I'm unsure how sitting on the bench or playing without Duncan on the floor has been so beneficial for his development. You know he wasn't drafted out of high school, right?

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we talkin bout practice? practice man .. practice ...

I blame pop for signing off on Leonard in the draft.

And think bout how good Leonard could have been earlier this season if Pop had not let him sit so long...

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Originally Posted by anonoftheinternets

we talkin bout practice? practice man .. practice ...

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NBA teams don't really practice much during the regular season. Pop's excuse for not giving Splitter any PT prior to the Memphis series was his injury during camp. Try again.

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Originally Posted by Obstructed_View

NBA teams don't really practice much during the regular season. Pop's excuse for not giving Splitter any PT prior to the Memphis series was his injury during camp. Try again.

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Well, its not inconceivable to think that a new big out of the EU was not fitting in right off the bat and moving tim out of the post for splitter at that point, isnt a straightfwd decision, Esp if the coach hasnt gotten a good look during the training camp. I look at it as, once splitter got enough experience & surpassed blair, he got to be the starting center, especially since we dont have a reliable floor-spreader.

If the spurs were lottery bound or sucking it up then I can imagine plugging in splitter as the savior right off the bat, but unfortunately for the spurs the fools gold was pretty shiny and difficult to just abandon. Even last year, if things went slightly different with okc being another game too slow to adjust or ibaka not becoming dirk, spurs might have made it to the finals with diaw as the stretch 4 and duncan @ the post.

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Originally Posted by pgardn

I blame pop for signing off on Leonard in the draft.

And think bout how good Leonard could have been earlier this season if Pop had not let him sit so long...

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Ridiculous strawman is ridiculous.

I'm getting virus warnings from whoever is loading up doktor.net.

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Originally Posted by anonoftheinternets

Well, its not inconceivable to think that a new big out of the EU was not fitting in right off the bat and moving tim out of the post for splitter at that point, isnt a straightfwd decision, Esp if the coach hasnt gotten a good look during the training camp. I look at it as, once splitter got enough experience & surpassed blair, he got to be the starting center, especially since we dont have a reliable floor-spreader.

If the spurs were lottery bound or sucking it up then I can imagine plugging in splitter as the savior right off the bat, but unfortunately for the spurs the fools gold was pretty shiny and difficult to just abandon. Even last year, if things went slightly different with okc being another game too slow to adjust or ibaka not becoming dirk, spurs might have made it to the finals with diaw as the stretch 4 and duncan @ the post.

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Everybody but Pop knew that Memphis and the Lakers had big front lines. Splitter and Duncan got nearly no time together until the Spurs were getting destroyed by Memphis. Savior is a strawman. The two of them can play together. Too bad they never got a chance to.

I like that smell. Smells like... victory.

This is why I hope Manu decides to retire at the end of the season when he's still got something left in his game rather than end his career playing really poorly.

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Originally Posted by Obstructed_View

Everybody but Pop knew that Memphis and the Lakers had big front lines. Splitter and Duncan got nearly no time together until the Spurs were getting destroyed by Memphis. Savior is a strawman. The two of them can play together. Too bad they never got a chance to.

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"The two of them can play together" is basically what we disagree on. According to me, "The two of them can play together ... now" but in order for this to happen earlier we needed them to play significant minutes together during the season which may or may not have affected the number of wins we had. Obv since we dint win the championship the past few years, in retrospect its a no brainer to even miss the POs so these two can play together, but fools gold or not, its difficult to walk away from so many wins and basically turn them into practice time for splitter.

It's pretty obvious that the Leonard/Duncan/Splitter frontline has been our best since the championship years, tbh.

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Originally Posted by timvp

-Tim Duncan. He’s gone from a player who didn’t make an All-Star team last year to a player who has a strong case of being the best bigman in the entire league to date. Amazing.

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I actually think that's understating it . . . I'd go so far as to say, I don't see an argument for anyone else. Not even the minutes argument flies. Sure, they strategically manage his minutes, but he's not Garnett; he can and does effectively play 32-36 minutes in close games.

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-Tiago Splitter is going to be a very rich man in a few months.

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I'm still confident they'll convince him to re-sign for below market value. They'll sell him (I doubt it'll be hard, as he's proven he's a selfless, team first type and this is the perfect situation for him) on the big three having done so and on not wanting him to make more than any of them. Since it's likely Ginobili comes in at $7-8M, that means he'll probably get $6-7M.

7 million for Splitter is a vast underpayment for him.

When you see the contract of some bigs in the league 6 7 a year would be a bargain

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Originally Posted by anonoftheinternets

"The two of them can play together" is basically what we disagree on. According to me, "The two of them can play together ... now" but in order for this to happen earlier we needed them to play significant minutes together during the season which may or may not have affected the number of wins we had. Obv since we dint win the championship the past few years, in retrospect its a no brainer to even miss the POs so these two can play together, but fools gold or not, its difficult to walk away from so many wins and basically turn them into practice time for splitter.

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You're basing your logic on the false premise that Splitter is somehow a far better player than he was when the Spurs brought him in, when Duncan's improved more than Splitter has since that time. You're compounding the failure of the argument by suggesting that playing Splitter and Duncan together would have cost them regular season games, as though that mattered a fraction as much as having a big lineup to put against Randolph and Gasol when it mattered. Splitter's ability to get the Grizzlies into the penalty and get himself to the line despite being dropped in cold by Pop should reinforce the depth of that mistake as much as how well he and Duncan are playing together now.

Too bad that's still not enough to beat the Thunder.

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Originally Posted by TD 21

Since it's likely Ginobili comes in at $7-8M, that means he'll probably get $6-7M.

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too much for Manu IMO. No doubt he deserves more, but if we want to sign a decent free agent we need to get him for around $5m.

Manu $5m
Splitter $7m
New FA Big (Millsap/West?) $10m
Jax $2.5m (Bi annual)

If Jax wont take $2.5m, let him go and give Leonard more minutes. Getting a new big man while keeping Splitter/Manu is the priority, we can live without Jack

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Originally Posted by racm

7 million for Splitter is a vast underpayment for him.

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A deal similar to Asik's but for 4 years seems appropiate. Splitter is the better scorer, but Asik's a monster reboundingwise and a slightly better defender (without fouling).

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Originally Posted by Richie

too much for Manu IMO. No doubt he deserves more, but if we want to sign a decent free agent we need to get him for around $5m.

Manu $5m
Splitter $7m
New FA Big (Millsap/West?) $10m
Jax $2.5m (Bi annual)

If Jax wont take $2.5m, let him go and give Leonard more minutes. Getting a new big man while keeping Splitter/Manu is the priority, we can live without Jack

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Spurs won't have the bi-annual this coming summer, they spent it last summer on De Colo.

If Diaw and Mills pick up their options, the Spurs keep their 1st, and they buyout Bonner's partial guarantee, I believe they'd only have about $19 million to spend on free agents or retaining Manu, Splitter, Neal or Jackson.

Splitter might be a goner, or just so expensive that he and Manu might mean that there will be very little left over for anything other than a sub-MLE type deal. Too bad Pop wasted everybody's time and Duncan's later years because 'it wouldn't be fair to the team'.

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Originally Posted by Richie

too much for Manu IMO. No doubt he deserves more, but if we want to sign a decent free agent we need to get him for around $5m.

Manu $5m
Splitter $7m
New FA Big (Millsap/West?) $10m
Jax $2.5m (Bi annual)

If Jax wont take $2.5m, let him go and give Leonard more minutes. Getting a new big man while keeping Splitter/Manu is the priority, we can live without Jack

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CBA fail. Salary that you reduce that is already above the cap goes away. You can't take money from Manu, Jack, etc and allocate it to a FA. You have to drop below the cap by the amount you want to pay a FA. Spurs haven't been anywhere NEAR the cap in years, bumping up against or actually paying the tax.

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Originally Posted by objective

Spurs won't have the bi-annual this coming summer, they spent it last summer on De Colo.

If Diaw and Mills pick up their options, the Spurs keep their 1st, and they buyout Bonner's partial guarantee, I believe they'd only have about $19 million to spend on free agents or retaining Manu, Splitter, Neal or Jackson.

Splitter might be a goner, or just so expensive that he and Manu might mean that there will be very little left over for anything other than a sub-MLE type deal. Too bad Pop wasted everybody's time and Duncan's later years because 'it wouldn't be fair to the team'.

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Was going on Brunos figures of $22m cap space waiving Bonner and draft+stash our 1st. Disappointed we don't have our Bi Annual, didn't realise we had spent it.

In that case, for the good of the team we may have to say goodbye to Jack. If we can sign Manu for $5m then we would have $17m for a new big and splitter, I said $7m-$10m split but could also be $8m-$9m. Stating at $8m, we could give Splitter $43m/5 years which I'd hope is enough to keep him.

We can't expect Tim to play this well for much longer, more big man help is an absolute must, even at the expense of Jackson.

We could even waive Diaw and with the stretch provision that could free up a few extra million to resgin Jax, but that would only be worth it if we could get a big man of at least the quality of West.

Most likely is that we end up resigning our current team and don't add a significant free agent, but with the age of players like Tim, Manu and Jax that would be a mistake and a step backwards IMO.

Richie, no way they'd disrespect Ginobili by offering him $5M (relatively speaking, of course).

By making numerous reasonable projections (Ginobili re-signs for $7-8M, Splitter for $6-7M, Neal and Jackson for $3M, the 1st signs for $1M, Bonner, who's non guaranteed, is waived, Mills, who's got a player option, opts out, while Diaw, who also has one, doesn't), I've got them at about $52M committed for next season. The cap is projected to be around $60M and the tax $70M.

The best free agent options are: Smith, Blatche, Brand, maybe Landry (player option), West, Hickson and Millsap. Even if Ginobili took $5M, they wouldn't have nearly enough to sign Smith or Millsap, while Blatche and Hickson aren't "Spurs". That leaves Brand, maybe Landry and West.

:wow My face throughout reading the OP.

Tiago better not start choking fts in the playoffs like last year.

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Originally Posted by exstatic

CBA fail. Salary that you reduce that is already above the cap goes away. You can't take money from Manu, Jack, etc and allocate it to a FA. You have to drop below the cap by the amount you want to pay a FA. Spurs haven't been anywhere NEAR the cap in years, bumping up against or actually paying the tax.

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Go check Brunos Spurs Salaries thread. We could be around $22m under the cap when Jacksons and Manus contracts expire this summer. They have big cap holds, but we could waive them and resign them with cap space later if we need to.

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Originally Posted by TD 21

Richie, no way they'd disrespect Ginobili by offering him $5M (relatively speaking, of course).

By making numerous reasonable projections (Ginobili re-signs for $7-8M, Splitter for $6-7M, Neal and Jackson for $3M, the 1st signs for $1M, Bonner, who's non guaranteed, is waived, Mills, who's got a player option, opts out, while Diaw, who also has one, doesn't), I've got them at about $52M committed for next season. The cap is projected to be around $60M and the tax $70M.

The best free agent options are: Smith, Blatche, Brand, maybe Landry (player option), West, Hickson and Millsap. Even if Ginobili took $5M, they wouldn't have nearly enough to sign Smith or Millsap, while Blatche and Hickson aren't "Spurs". That leaves Brand, maybe Landry and West.

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:lol

Possible Boozer amnesty for the Spurs to pick up on the cheap. Maybe others throughout the league. Spurs should come away with something decent.

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Originally Posted by objective

Spurs won't have the bi-annual this coming summer, they spent it last summer on De Colo.

If Diaw and Mills pick up their options, the Spurs keep their 1st, and they buyout Bonner's partial guarantee, I believe they'd only have about $19 million to spend on free agents or retaining Manu, Splitter, Neal or Jackson.

Splitter might be a goner, or just so expensive that he and Manu might mean that there will be very little left over for anything other than a sub-MLE type deal. Too bad Pop wasted everybody's time and Duncan's later years because 'it wouldn't be fair to the team'.

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The irony is going through the Bonner/Blair experiment is what has not been fair to the team. Those guys are not rotation bigs on any team with championship aspirations. Everybody but Pop knew it. Maybe he was just going for the regular season championship.

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Originally Posted by TD 21

Richie, no way they'd disrespect Ginobili by offering him $5M (relatively speaking, of course).

By making numerous reasonable projections (Ginobili re-signs for $7-8M, Splitter for $6-7M, Neal and Jackson for $3M, the 1st signs for $1M, Bonner, who's non guaranteed, is waived, Mills, who's got a player option, opts out, while Diaw, who also has one, doesn't), I've got them at about $52M committed for next season. The cap is projected to be around $60M and the tax $70M.

The best free agent options are: Smith, Blatche, Brand, maybe Landry (player option), West, Hickson and Millsap. Even if Ginobili took $5M, they wouldn't have nearly enough to sign Smith or Millsap, while Blatche and Hickson aren't "Spurs". That leaves Brand, maybe Landry and West.

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I don't really disagree, and if Manu says he wants $8m then give it to him. No doubt he has earned it. But hopefully the front office can make the case to him that sacrificing some money for a chance at a 4th ring and maybe he takes it.

The reality is that we can waive Manu and Jackson (and thus their monster cap holds) and see who we can attract.

As I said, we will likely stand pat and just resign our current team, but that would be a step backwards and would mean Timmy/Manu still shouldering a big burden next season at 37 and 36 respectively. As a worst case scenario that's not too bad, but I'm hoping we can do something.

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Originally Posted by Richie

Go check Brunos Spurs Salaries thread. We could be around $22m under the cap when Jacksons and Manus contracts expire this summer. They have big cap holds, but we could waive them and resign them with cap space later if we need to.

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The 22 number depends on the cap going up to 62. Maybe it does, or up to 65. I however am a conservative with regards to the cap that has been flat for two years at 58.044. I was pegging it at 59, thus the 3 mil difference.

Besides, even if the Spurs hadn't used the Bi-Annual on De Colo, if they wanted as much cap room as possible in 2013 they would have to renounce their exceptions. Teams under the cap have exceptions counted towards their salaries, so teams that want the most room renounce the MLE and B-A.

But, looking things over now, the Spurs might have the 'room exception'. So I guess that could be used on Jackson. I'm a little behind on this.

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Originally Posted by timvp

-With Tony Parker, his season has been spectacular from many angles. I’m not sure which is the best way to view it. His shooting percentages jump off the page (51.7% from the field, 40.5% on three-pointers, 82.6% at the line). His PER over his last 21 games is a sterling 25.7. But perhaps my favorite number of all: nobody in NBA history has scored at Parker’s per-minute rate of points and handed out his per-minute rate of assists while turning the ball over as infrequently has he has. Nobody. Ever.

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http://bkref.com/tiny/CXOEs

:wow

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Originally Posted by objective

The 22 number depends on the cap going up to 62. Maybe it does, or up to 65. I however am a conservative with regards to the cap that has been flat for two years at 58.044. I was pegging it at 59, thus the 3 mil difference.

Besides, even if the Spurs hadn't used the Bi-Annual on De Colo, if they wanted as much cap room as possible in 2013 they would have to renounce their exceptions. Teams under the cap have exceptions counted towards their salaries, so teams that want the most room renounce the MLE and B-A.

But, looking things over now, the Spurs might have the 'room exception'. So I guess that could be used on Jackson. I'm a little behind on this.

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That could be what I'm thinking of, I'm fairly sure when I looked it up originally there was an exception we could use after we have used cap space. I'm hardly an expert, just did some googling.

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Originally Posted by Richie

I don't really disagree, and if Manu says he wants $8m then give it to him. No doubt he has earned it. But hopefully the front office can make the case to him that sacrificing some money for a chance at a 4th ring and maybe he takes it.

The reality is that we can waive Manu and Jackson (and thus their monster cap holds) and see who we can attract.

As I said, we will likely stand pat and just resign our current team, but that would be a step backwards and would mean Timmy/Manu still shouldering a big burden next season at 37 and 36 respectively. As a worst case scenario that's not too bad, but I'm hoping we can do something.

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By taking $7-8M, he'd be sacrificing . . . and there's no way they're waiving him, either.

I'm sure they'd go after West if he makes it to July 1st. But more likely, they'll end up with Brand. That may come off as disappointing, but now that Splitter and Diaw are in their proper roles, they really only need a fourth big. Obviously, if they can do better, great. Brand is still useful though and despite being undersized, he can work next to Diaw, because he's a solid rebounder/shot blocker. He can also work next to Duncan and even Splitter, which would give them maximum flexibility.

Didn't mean to hijack your thread, timvp . . .:rollin

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Originally Posted by TD 21

By taking $7-8M, he'd be sacrificing . . . and there's no way they're waiving him, either.

I'm sure they'd go after West if he makes it to July 1st. But more likely, they'll end up with Brand. That may come off as disappointing, but now that Splitter and Diaw are in their proper roles, they really only need a fourth big. Obviously, if they can do better, great. Brand is still useful though and despite being undersized, he can work next to Diaw, because he's a solid rebounder/shot blocker. He can also work next to Duncan and even Splitter, which would give them maximum flexibility.

Didn't mean to hijack your thread, timvp . . .:rollin

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Waiving Manu would simply be a logistical thing to get rid of his cap hold, since we'll be resigning him with cap space anyway his bird rights aren't worth anything at his age. Same for Jackson.

Personally I hope Manu puts the possibility of winning over a few extra million. If you're right and the best we can get is Brand then we can sign him and comfortably have space to give Manu a big send off contract. If we can get someone better, we can have Manu involved in the front office decision and he can voice his opinion over whether signing that free agent gives us enough of a chance of winning to make it worth him taking less money.

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Originally Posted by timvp

In the entire NBA, how many players average at least 16.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and one block per 36 minutes played while shooting at least 50% from the field? Only two. Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter.

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Story of the year, IMO.

timvp...too early to start the "How much will we lowball Tiago" talk?

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Originally Posted by Nathan89

Possible Boozer amnesty for the Spurs to pick up on the cheap. Maybe others throughout the league. Spurs should come away with something decent.

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Good point. Amnesty might be the only way to add decent players while keeping Splitter and Manu. But they would be limited and need to get lucky.

Teams that can still use the Amnesty but can't/probably won't:

Memphis = no contracts to dump that aren't a big part of their team
New Orleans = but no contracts that would be amnestied
Utah = no eligible contracts

Teams that can still use the Amnesty:

Milwaukee = Drew Gooden :lol
Lakers = Metta World Peace's final year. No thanks.
Detroit = Tayshaun Prince
Chicago = Boozer
Charlotte = Tyrus Thomas
Oklahoma City = Kendrick Perkins
Sacramento = John Salmons
Toronto = Bargnani, Amir Johnson, Linas Kleiza's final year player option. Probably Kleiza.

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So, other than Boozer, maybe Perkins could be had. I guess Tayshaun could be useful as a back-up if Jackson doesn't come back.

Teams that could compete for the same players as the Spurs and fancy themselves playoff teams:

Houston, Atlanta, Indiana (if they lose West), Dallas. Maybe even New Orleans if they pick up with Gordon in the lineup.

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Originally Posted by objective

Teams that could compete for the same players as the Spurs and fancy themselves playoff teams:

Houston, Atlanta, Indiana (if they lose West), Dallas. Maybe even New Orleans if they pick up with Gordon in the lineup.

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Assuming Atlanta don't resign Josh Smith I guess?

There are a lot of good bigs on the market and not any great win-now options. Houston is probably the best destination long term, but that gives us a good chance of attracting at least a decent talent.

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Originally Posted by Richie

Assuming Atlanta don't resign Josh Smith I guess?

There are a lot of good bigs on the market and not any great win-now options. Houston is probably the best destination long term, but that gives us a good chance of attracting at least a decent talent.

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Even with Smith. They're going to have a ton of room. Teague is restricted, but even if they went all in, giving him 10 million and Smith 15 million, they'd still be able to clear enough to have like 12+ million in cap room.

If there's any statistic that encourages me, it is by far the Spurs' league leading point differential of +9.06, despite a Strength of Schedule of .523 (5th). No other team in the NBA is in the top 5 in both categories.

And though it's easy to argue that the same was true last season, like timvp, I believe this year will be different because of defense. Last year, the Spurs' were 10th in defensive efficiency. This year, their 98.3 points per 100 possessions ranks 5th. For the first time since 2007, the Spurs have both an elite offense and defense. And we all know what happened that year.

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Originally Posted by DPG21920

Damn you Pop for not giving Tiago/Tim more time earlier!

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Originally Posted by objective

Even with Smith. They're going to have a ton of room. Teague is restricted, but even if they went all in, giving him 10 million and Smith 15 million, they'd still be able to clear enough to have like 12+ million in cap room.

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One would imagine with Horford and Smith they will be going for back court help rather than the likes of West who we would be targeting. No guarantees of course.

Great stats timvp, thanks for the read.

I'm personally very happy with the development of Green, Leonard, and Splitter this season. Even better, Parker is still playing well like he did last year, Tim Duncan is playing as good as he has in half a decade, and Ginobili hasn't fallen apart yet somehow.

Dare I say. . .everything seems to be falling into place this year? Everything we could've wanted for our team in the "what if" scenerio has pretty much happened except that Diaw and Jackson have fallen off a bit. If only they would round into form, I think the Spurs would be stone cold killers in the playoffs this time around.

With just OKC and LAC being the two biggest threats besides the Spurs, we may be looking at a title. The Miami Heat aren't exactly the 90's Bulls or 00's Lakers/Spurs.

Given all this who believes they can actually get it done?

If there is a thing that really gives me the optimism that this team can actually go all the way, it's that our 5 best players (5 of the 6 players mentioned by timvp -tony, manu, kwahi, Tiago and Timmy) play well as a unit together without anyone playing out of position, they all play the position their most effective at. (there have been past season where we had to go small (e.g playing Tony, Hill and Manu, Bowen) simply to to put our best players on the court. That is not the case with this unit, our best offensive players our also our best defensive players. and we don't have to sacrifice size to be efficient offensively.

That should be our crunch time lineup.

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Originally Posted by racm

7 million for Splitter is a vast underpayment for him.

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I'm sure he'll get plenty of advice, just hopefully he will turn loyal to the Spurs. Maybe he would accept a back end loaded contract. One starting at around 6 mil. and finishing around 8?

If the choice is between Splitter or Manu for $7m a year, I don't think the FO will hesitate for even one minute... Even Splitter $10m vs Manu $7m.

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Originally Posted by timvp

-With Tony Parker, his season has been spectacular from many angles. I’m not sure which is the best way to view it. His shooting percentages jump off the page (51.7% from the field, 40.5% on three-pointers, 82.6% at the line). His PER over his last 21 games is a sterling 25.7. But perhaps my favorite number of all: nobody in NBA history has scored at Parker’s per-minute rate of points and handed out his per-minute rate of assists while turning the ball over as infrequently has he has. Nobody. Ever.

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Actually even forgetting about "per minutes", only 3 players in the history of the NBA managed to score more than 21.4 ppg, get more than 7.4 apg and turnover the ball fewer than 2.2 times per game:
- Fat Lever in 88-89 (19.8 / 7.9 / 2.2 in 38.7 minutes)
- Chris Paul in 11-12 (19.8 / 9.1 / 2.1 in 36.4 minutes)
- Tony Parker in 12-13 (19.4 / 7.4 / 2.2 in 32.5 minutes)

Due to low minutes Parker obviously crushes them when brought back to 36mpg.

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Originally Posted by will_spurs

Actually even forgetting about "per minutes", only 3 players in the history of the NBA managed to score more than 21.4 ppg, get more than 7.4 apg and turnover the ball fewer than 2.2 times per game:
- Fat Lever in 88-89 (19.8 / 7.9 / 2.2 in 38.7 minutes)
- Chris Paul in 11-12 (19.8 / 9.1 / 2.1 in 36.4 minutes)
- Tony Parker in 12-13 (19.4 / 7.4 / 2.2 in 32.5 minutes)

Due to low minutes Parker obviously crushes them when brought back to 36mpg.

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Isn't TP also having a career high in TS%, 3P% and FT%?

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Originally Posted by racm

Isn't TP also having a career high in TS%, 3P% and FT%?

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In 3P% and FT% easily (although 06-07 was close for 3P%, and last year for FT%), but not in TS% (.577 this year vs .584 in 05-06, and also had .572 in 06-07).

This being said his 3P% is more legit than it used to be, as he already has as many 3PA this season than for the whole of 06-07, and if you exclude his first couple of years in the league when he was quite shoot-happy from 3, he's averaging the most 3PA of his career.

All in all he had some very nice shooting years, but the stars are definitely aligning for him this season...

I don't think it's been stated here yet as we're talking about individual stats. Duncan is shooting 81% FT. Career high. Thats mighty impressive.

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Originally Posted by will_spurs

In 3P% and FT% easily (although 06-07 was close for 3P%, and last year for FT%), but not in TS% (.577 this year vs .584 in 05-06, and also had .572 in 06-07).

This being said his 3P% is more legit than it used to be, as he already has as many 3PA this season than for the whole of 06-07, and if you exclude his first couple of years in the league when he was quite shoot-happy from 3, he's averaging the most 3PA of his career.

All in all he had some very nice shooting years, but the stars are definitely aligning for him this season...

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Mostly because Parker is getting more looks from the corner 3, and I wrote an article about him taking more of those. And so far it is working, wow. Being adept at the corner 3 also means he can play more off ball allowing him and Manu to take turns creating. Would be useful against OKC.

It's long been said that all that Parker needed to get to the next level was a respectable 3-point shot. He's not yet a threat on contested shots from downtown, and I fear many of his corner 3s are wiiiiiiide open and with a ton of time, therefore things might get a bit more complicated once teams learn to pay him some respect in this situation. But it's still a damn nice addition to his offensive repertoire.

Crazy how we went from one of the softest and weakest front lines in the NBA (Duncan, Blair, Jefferson, Bonner) to one of the best (Duncan, Splitter, Leonard, Jackson) in two season

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Originally Posted by Leetonidas

Crazy how we went from one of the softest and weakest front lines in the NBA (Duncan, Blair, Jefferson, Bonner) to one of the best (Duncan, Splitter, Leonard, Jackson) in two season

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Pretty much ONE season. That soft lineup started the lockout return season for us.

True, but RJ and Bonner/Blair were still getting minutes this time last year

All this is nice and reflects what we all watch, one of the most efficient offensive machines assembled in years.
However, there are still two big black spots, thinking POs.
1) Backup PG. Mills is not, and we all know De Colo won't see much playing time as a rookie.
2) With the -expected- reduced role of Bonner and the eclipse of Blair, the bigs are down to a 3-men rotation, plus small ball. It's a long season for those 3-men.

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Originally Posted by anonoftheinternets

Except you're assuming the tiago out there is same tiago you would have years ago. I think he has come a long way since falling on his butt attempting a dunk. And its not as easy as put them in from the start & you get results early... we needed to stay competitive while bringing tiago along to where he is now.

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Tiago would be much further along in his development if not for Pop wasting his time on Bonner and Blair. What are more regular season wins worth compared to Tiago improving and the resulting better defense in the playoffs when it counts? I hope Tiago doesn't leave just because he's pissed off at Pop for leaving him on the bench watching the Turd Towers play for so long.

Glad to see the mentioned players doing so well. Now, if only, Diaw and SJax would join the party, my hopes for a championship would take a step up.

Anybody know how good Spurs management's relationship is with Arn Tellum? Hopefully better than it was with Dan Fegan a while back.

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Originally Posted by racm

That should be our crunch time lineup.

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It SHOULD be ... but right now Pop seems more confident to close the game with Diaw rather than Splitter

Ginobilis game today is why I think we should only be offering him $5m~. As I've said he's earned a blank cheque from the Spurs, but there will be nights when he will be too tired and simply a detriment to the team and we need to money to get someone who can help carry us with Tony when Manu and Tim are tired.