Whats going on with the spurs?

Somethings not right.. whats going on? is it just me or no one seem to want it bad enough? i look at tony and manu and i just cant help but to feel really bad for them. Like they are competing, atleast they are. Atleast theyre trying, man when they were rookies, when they were young, they were always hustling and playing hard. Thats the key, playing hard. But i dont see any of the guys playing hard anymore. Like they expect the starters to play good and get a free ride all the way. West and Aldrige should go. We shouldve never signed them. I miss splitter. Atleast he worked hard. Same for marco.
Aldrige is just chillen and smiling like he dont even care his team is losing, taking everything for granted.

I just dont understand, we're a good team, just gotta step up ALOT.. its a new age now in the nba. You cant win like that anymore. Gotta keep up and adapt.
And i dont wanna give excuses like for example, alot of the cavs players heated up and was having a good night.. nah thats a thrash excuse. Its the fact that none of our players got going cause they just didnt want it bad enough. So they just didnt show up. If they wanted to, then they wouldve tried to atleast work to get open, or atleast set themselves up for a good oppurtunity, but nah, theyre all just so damn passive. Theyre scared. Theyre playing so weak.
How can the spurs ever play in fear? its always the other teams that fear us. This is crazy. We're not gonna win, cause we're not competing! how can we win if we dont compete!

Man, without duncan, we got no work discipline. I think the players are afraid of him more than Pop. Idk, but i dont ever remember us losing this bad, or playing this bad with duncan.
Anyways, i got faith in this team, and i know we're still turning the wheels, tweaking here and there. For now, i guess we just wait patiently and not lose hope.
What you guys think?

One regular season game. Marathon, not race. Chess, not checkers.

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Originally Posted by TE

One regular season game. Marathon, not race. Chess, not checkers.

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two blowouts in one week, against #1 WC and #1 EC.

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Originally Posted by TE

One regular season game. Marathon, not race. Chess, not checkers.

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And the Spurs are loaded with pawns

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Originally Posted by boutons_deux

two blowouts in one week, against #1 WC and #1 EC.

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Marathon.

Not showing all your cards, actively not coaching to win, players giving relatively underwhelming effort. etc etc

I don't like this team. It's not a championship team. Our guards are dogshit. All of them.

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Originally Posted by TE

Marathon.

Not showing all your cards, actively not coaching to win, players giving relatively underwhelming effort. etc etc

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this "hiding cards" is total bullshit. everybody knows what everybody else does

We don't have the dude who was responsible for 5 and we don't have Coach Bud anymore.

It might just be that our older guys are getting tired, and the newer guys are not ready yet to take over the fight, especially against good teams. Maybe it's time they get to learn in the middle of the fight now.

But, perspective, we lost 8 games this season so far. There's still half a season to go.

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Originally Posted by boutons_deux

this "hiding cards" is total bullshit. everybody knows what everybody else does

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Nah. The Spurs haven't reached a peak yet showing all their cards. It can be argued that defensively they have but I don't believe that one bit. Having a weak schedule and the NBA severely lacking parity has inflated the Spurs record. Still the Spurs have the tools to defend and score in a playoff like scenario where the game slows down and the possessions become meaningful.

Spurs are getting exposed.

People keep penciling them in for an automatic series with Golden State but I wouldn't be surprised to see them get bounced in the 2nd round.

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Originally Posted by TheGreatYacht

We don't have the dude who was responsible for 5 and we don't have Coach Bud anymore.

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Basically this, too. A lot of factors in play, but if you don't have TD back there to man the paint, and you aren't use to it yet, you're going to look a little shitty on defense overall.

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Originally Posted by Amuseddaysleeper

Spurs are getting exposed.

People keep penciling them in for an automatic series with Golden State but I wouldn't be surprised to see them get bounced in the 2nd round.

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Same here. We couldn't beat OKC in a 7 game series right now.

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Originally Posted by Amuseddaysleeper

Spurs are getting exposed.

People keep penciling them in for an automatic series with Golden State but I wouldn't be surprised to see them get bounced in the 2nd round.

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Best the Spurs can do is win the regular season games they're suppose to win and gradually build up offensive and defensive schemes against teams that will be roadblocks between them and another Larry O'Brien. Games that are lost during the regular season should be to contenders with Pop actively experimenting to see what works and what doesn't. This has been a staple ever since the decline of Timmy D. I don't see it changing so might as well embrace it as fans. Still some fans will overreact but this is just the way its going to be.

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Originally Posted by TE

Best the Spurs can do is win the regular season games they're suppose to win and gradually build up offensive and defensive schemes against teams that will be roadblocks between them and another Larry O'Brien. Games that are lost during the regular season should be to contenders with Pop actively experimenting to see what works and what doesn't. This has been a staple ever since the decline of Timmy D. I don't see it changing so might as well embrace it as fans. Still some fans will overreact but this is just the way its going to be.

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It's not just about overreacted, the team constantly comes out flat in opening quarters and on the road against decent team that is suicide. Spurs playing like they have no pride and getting absolutely WAXED. Yes, it's January and no Duncan but as much as people hide behind the Pop not showing his cards crap, losing this badly to contenders is a worrying sign. I understand losing road games to good teams, but lose like this where the Spurs were barely in the game both against GS and Cleveland is a glaring issue.

I just don't trust this team to have enough players consistently show up in the playoffs to go really far. It's like the Clipper series last year. Everyone is all over the place and inconsistent.

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Originally Posted by Amuseddaysleeper

It's not just about overreacted, the team constantly comes out flat in opening quarters and on the road against decent team that is suicide. Spurs playing like they have no pride and getting absolutely WAXED. Yes, it's January and no Duncan but as much as people hide behind the Pop not showing his cards crap, losing this badly to contenders is a worrying sign. I understand losing road games to good teams, but lose like this where the Spurs were barely in the game both against GS and Cleveland is a glaring issue.

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There are a lot of factors that go into losing. I won't go deep into specifics but I honestly believe regular season games against contenders will be more of the "feeling out" variety with Pop coaching to see what works and not go deep into his bag of tricks. Imo this year his toolbox is very expanded and the variability that comes with what wing to play will be interesting to see how it plays out.

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I just don't trust this team to have enough players consistently show up in the playoffs to go really far. It's like the Clipper series last year. Everyone is all over the place and inconsistent.

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This team won a championship not too long ago. Still feeling out big toys they got over the offseason. Haven't even peaked yet. I guess you can call it being glass half full but I trust this team to put themselves in a great chance to contend for the chip when it matters even if that means giving up regular season games for the greater good of the larger picture perspective.

Beating contenders in the regular season is no indication of whether they go on to win or not. Didn't they lose to every contender in the rs in 2014? And beat every contender in 2015? Still, it's concerning and they really missed Timmy. So many post ups - Pops gone back to traditional basketball instead of ball movement.

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Originally Posted by TE

Best the Spurs can do is win the regular season games they're suppose to win and gradually build up offensive and defensive schemes against teams that will be roadblocks between them and another Larry O'Brien. Games that are lost during the regular season should be to contenders with Pop actively experimenting to see what works and what doesn't. This has been a staple ever since the decline of Timmy D. I don't see it changing so might as well embrace it as fans. Still some fans will overreact but this is just the way its going to be.

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This. We saw a lot of Anderson/Simmons/Butler in these two games. Part of it is definitely the Spurs not playing well and not being ready for prime time, but it's a great chance for Pop to see which players work against the top teams. It's nothing new. Pop knows what he'll get out of his proven players.

Since the start of season, defense has been the thing that we hung our hat on..With Timmy out, more frequently so since that Wizards game mid December, it has gone down the shitter relative to the historic Def rating mark we were setting before that..

It is clear that we don't have the 3-point firepower of past years to overturn 10-15 points defecit against good teams (it took an MVParker half to avoid the L in first game against the Cavs)..Let's hope our anchor comes back soon because the schedule about to take a rough turn..

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Originally Posted by timtonymanu

This. We saw a lot of Anderson/Simmons/Butler in these two games. Part of it is definitely the Spurs not playing well and not being ready for prime time, but it's a great chance for Pop to see which players work against the top teams. It's nothing new. Pop knows what he'll get out of his proven players.

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"proven players like Tony/Manu" reached last post season banged up or exhausted or however we may call it.
PPl dismiss Simmons/Anderson but they may have to rescue us like they tried to in this game. Again some may say if we get to that we aren't winning jack shit, and maybe we aren't but these two and Boban are part of our overinflated blowouts and point differential.
They can play.

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Originally Posted by ElNono

It might just be that our older guys are getting tired, and the newer guys are not ready yet to take over the fight, especially against good teams. Maybe it's time they get to learn in the middle of the fight now.

But, perspective, we lost 8 games this season so far. There's still half a season to go.

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Cupcake glory, tbh. They're 1-5 vs the top 3 teams from the Eastern and Western conference. And in the one win, it took a turn back the clock Tony Parker to keep the Spurs from getting buried in the 1st half. And the so-called new guys aren't good enough to get it done against elite competition.

I couldn't tell who was playing on a b2b and who was coming off 2 days rest.

It's all about the seeding right now. Spurs need to keep the number 2 seed and I don't care how they do that even if they only beat crap teams to keep that spot. Spurs need to keep the 2 seed and hope Duncan is healthy come playoff time to have a chance.

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Originally Posted by boutons_deux

this "hiding cards" is total bullshit. everybody knows what everybody else does

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it's not bullshit. Popovich is purposely doing a shitty job coaching and with lineups. He's not that incompetent. At what point does a hall of fame coach tell his players in the huddle, "hey guys, they aren't missing wide open 3's, let's stop leaving them open.."

SPAM

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Originally Posted by Hoops Czar

Cupcake glory, tbh. They're 1-5 vs the top 3 teams from the Eastern and Western conference. And in the one win, it took a turn back the clock Tony Parker to keep the Spurs from getting buried in the 1st half. And the so-called new guys aren't good enough to get it done against elite competition.

I couldn't tell who was playing on a b2b and who was coming off 2 days rest.

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All 5 loses on the road and 2 without TD. At this point in the season, I'll take it. As Kawhi said in the post game presser yesterday, new guys have to pick up the slack. They have half a season to learn how to do just that.

If they don't, we probably won't have a chance.

Remember 2014? Chill.

Classic midseason Pop tbh. After the 2Q he had no intention of winning that game.

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Originally Posted by daslicer

It's all about the seeding right now. Spurs need to keep the number 2 seed and I don't care how they do that even if they only beat crap teams to keep that spot. Spurs need to keep the 2 seed and hope Duncan is healthy come playoff time to have a chance.

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This. Problem is there are other teams not far behind with half the season remaining.

Even if the Spurs got past the Warriors, Cavs are only 4 games behind. OKC is abot 4-5 too.
Cavs looked like jerks firing Blatt. But if Lue can get Love going like yesterday they'll get even better, even more for teams that can't make him pay on defense. So Lebron can get his precious superteam to make him look good again.

Also, Lebron felt like a free bird, driving freely.. probably because of no Timmy, which makes one question if Kawhi is actually that capable of a defender against Lebron.

I'm almost completely convinced at this point this team doesn't have what it takes to win a title. The big 3 is too old, not enough 3pt shooting, Aldridge cannot get into monster mode vs good teams, Leonard is not a play maker, etc. But if they have a chance it's gonna be getting at least 2nd seed all NBA, by blowing out lesser teams to get wins and rest for the old guys on which they still depend on.

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Originally Posted by look_at_g_shred

Remember 2014? Chill.

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This.

2 losses in the whole month. (And to good competition on the road with one of our most key players out). Nothing to panic about. I could see this Cavs loss coming frankly as motivated at they were to prove they had made the right coaching decision. It was a measuring stick game for them, and meant nothing to us (and we played like it).

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Originally Posted by rmt

Beating contenders in the regular season is no indication of whether they go on to win or not. Didn't they lose to every contender in the rs in 2014? And beat every contender in 2015? Still, it's concerning and they really missed Timmy. So many post ups - Pops gone back to traditional basketball instead of ball movement.

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This is the key problem.

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Originally Posted by NameLess Scrub

I'm almost completely convinced at this point this team doesn't have what it takes to win a title. The big 3 is too old, not enough 3pt shooting, Aldridge cannot get into monster mode vs good teams, Leonard is not a play maker, etc. But if they have a chance it's gonna be getting at least 2nd seed all NBA, by blowing out lesser teams to get wins and rest for the old guys on which they still depend on.

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I've been saying this since the beginning of the season. The 3pt shooting is absent. LMA can't play like an all-star against stiff competition, Leonard can't make plays.

The record is fools gold indeed! Spurs have been using their bench to create separation, but with good competition, you don't see that happening and you see the starters consistently getting blown away.

It is no mirage that Spurs have so many slow starts. It is both the defense and offense that's just not working.

Duncan is out, with his numbers down people have been downplaying his impact. LA is playing terribly and needs to get his ass in gear..

What's worse is the Spurs haven't groomed a pg to take Parker's spot, do they really expect him to play as a starter til he is 39? Duncan is irreplaceable but what exactly is their plan when he leaves because Aldridge is clearly not a rim protector. Spurs backcourt cannot compete with the elite. I think Pop should bench Parker and experiment with the starting lineup, maybe start Simmons and McCallum. They are younger, more athletic and can defend better than Parker. Green can find his shot with the second unit, he's not getting the best opportunities with Parker, LMA and Kawhi.

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Originally Posted by DenialTwist

What's worse is the Spurs haven't groomed a pg to take Parker's spot, do they really expect him to play as a starter til he is 39? Duncan is irreplaceable but what exactly is their plan when he leaves because Aldridge is clearly not a rim protector. Spurs backcourt cannot compete with the elite. I think Pop should bench Parker and experiment with the starting lineup, maybe start Simmons and McCallum. They are younger, more athletic and can defend better than Parker. Green can find his shot with the second unit, he's not getting the best opportunities with Parker, LMA and Kawhi.

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Green is not shooting because he's never ever sees the opportunity. In the old days, Splitter and Duncan would help him out with good screens, but you just don't see that anymore.

The problem though is the guard defense and the rim protection. Simmons and Green I think are good, but Parker and Mills are real liabilities. Though the rim protection without Duncan is a major problem.

LMA despite having the height just doesn't have the speed and lift. He's 30 years old but he moves like a 40 year old.

Lack of ball movement and as a result, weak 3 point shooting is the biggest problem.

Defense, if Duncan comes back healthy, will take care of itself. Of course if Duncan can not play, they are not going anywhere so it is moot point. Leonard's defense also went down a bit when he has to conserve energy for the other end. There is a reason why it is extremely rare for MVP/scoring champions to also win DPOY. Two way play requires an enormous amount of energy. You usually have to compromise at least a little bit somewhere.

Offense, huge regression from Green/Mills, mostly because of lack of ball movement and open shots. Spurs has the weakest 1-2 punch of the top five teams. Kevin Love is doing a lot better under Lue, I hope Pop figures out something with LMA before it is too late.

Green needs to play 30 minutes a game and get 8-10 shots a game, at Manu's expense, for this team to stand a chance. He is a top 3D player, the Leonard/LMA post-ups really took away his open shots. He needs plays called for him, Mills too.

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Originally Posted by hitmantb

Offense, huge regression from Green/Mills, mostly because of lack of ball movement and open shots. Spurs has the weakest 1-2 punch of the top five teams. Kevin Love is doing a lot better under Lue, I hope Pop figures out something with LMA before it is too late.

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Green can't get an open look unless he gets the ball when he's open. That requires a screener and a good pass.

Mills can't get separation if nobody is screening for him.

How is it that even GSW uses screens to get Curry free, meanwhile the Spurs rarely ever set screens?

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Originally Posted by hitmantb

Lack of ball movement and 3 point shooting is the biggest problem.

Defense, if Duncan comes back healthy, will take care of itself. Of course if Duncan can not play, they are not going anywhere so it is moot point.

Offense, huge regression from Green/Mills, mostly because of lack of ball movement and open shots. Spurs has the weakest 1-2 punch of the top five teams.

Leonard's defense also went down a bit when he has to conserve energy for the other end. There is a reason why it is extremely rare for MVP/scoring champions to also win DPOY. Two way play requires an enormous amount of energy. You usually have to compromise at least a little bit somewhere.

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All of these things.

Like mentioned weeks ago, this team has an identity crisis. It went from playing both motion and iso ball, to just trash one on one. It's clear that members of the team are not happy with the new direction and are not playing hard because of this fact. The motivation has carried over into the defensive end where guys aren't helping each other, players aren't hustling and holding ground in the transition.

We started the season concentrating on our defense, and it is what created better transition game and ball movement due to improved teamwork and communication. The team looks lost out there the last 3 weeks, it was before Duncan was out.

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Originally Posted by ceperez

Green is not shooting because he's never ever sees the opportunity. In the old days, Splitter and Duncan would help him out with good screens, but you just don't see that anymore.

The problem though is the guard defense and the rim protection. Simmons and Green I think are good, but Parker and Mills are real liabilities. Though the rim protection without Duncan is a major problem.

LMA despite having the height just doesn't have the speed and lift. He's 30 years old but he moves like a 40 year old.

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Exactly. And that is why the Spurs will struggle competing with GS, OKC and clippers in a 7-game series. Pop experimented a lot with the lineup in 2014. Why can't he use McCallum? He is being wasted in the d-league, give him some reps now. I just think Parker should play with the second unit. LMA and Kawhi need to dominate to start games, get in a rhythm and have their presence felt. At one point in the game RJ was guarding Kawhi, I don't understand why they didn't post him up more in that matchup. Also Parker is frustrating to watch because even on fast breaks, he doesn't do it right.

I've seen many times where the Spurs put a player in D-league to get him in shape right before inserting them into the lineup so they don't fall flat on their face when inserted into a game after a long time....which seems to imply to me that McCallum is about to get some playing time.

39-8.

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Originally Posted by DenialTwist

Exactly. And that is why the Spurs will struggle competing with GS, OKC and clippers in a 7-game series. Pop experimented a lot with the lineup in 2014. Why can't he use McCallum? He is being wasted in the d-league, give him some reps now. I just think Parker should play with the second unit. LMA and Kawhi need to dominate to start games, get in a rhythm and have their presence felt. At one point in the game RJ was guarding Kawhi, I don't understand why they didn't post him up more in that matchup. Also Parker is frustrating to watch because even on fast breaks, he doesn't do it right.

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McCallum doesn't have the length and doesn't orchestrate an offense well. I think he should be waived or traded.

Nothing is going on with the Spurs. We lost road games to teams that are trying to defend home court, were in the spotlight, and had more pressure to win these games. The Spurs arent going to jump ahead of the Warriors and wont fall behind the Thunder. Im not worried, we will be fine.

Lets not overreact! If the refs hadnt sucked so bad against LMA this wouldve been a different story. He was making some swift, powerful moves to the bucket and was starting to give Thompson a taste of his own medicine before he had to sit. Add to this the surprising play of Love, something probably helped by the new coach and we lose. And because of this new coach they had the advantage of surprise. They had the momentum before the game even started. Great Yacht was right, this was a trap game.

In a playoff series they would not have the advantage of surprise and we could figure it out.

As for our D. Again, advantage of surprise. To be good at D we need familiarity so we can game plan against it. But also the worry of not having the Kawhi, Lamarcus thing ironed out on offense can make the defense suffer. Thats the challenge, to not let the D suffer because of the O

No Duncan is kind of a big deal. Take out the second best player on the Warriors (Green) or Cavs (Love yesterday) and those outcomes are very different too. On the defensive way, help is coming and leaving guys wide open at rim. Can't fault Boban too much as a rookie, but that's proof he isn't playable except in spurts come April.

Also, both games on road where the Spurs should lose, though hung in there despite outlier shooting (Livingston and Rush? going 11 for 12, Love not missing).

Pop also playing "fake" lineups as Zach Lowe calls them (Parker, Simmons, Anderson, Kawhi, Boban!) but getting guys valuable playing time. Having Simmons develop as someone they can use in the postseason when Green is bricking is essential.

Yes, the losses aren't a great omen but it's not like the Spurs just got eliminated.

Duncan missing hurts. GSW/Cavs are 2 of 3 best teams in the league. Duncan out hurts us..while he may not be the difference in winning those games...him not playing hurts your chances. Period.

Duncan really hurt last night..

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Originally Posted by BillMc

This.

2 losses in the whole month. (And to good competition on the road with one of our most key players out). Nothing to panic about. I could see this Cavs loss coming frankly as motivated at they were to prove they had made the right coaching decision. It was a measuring stick game for them, and meant nothing to us (and we played like it).

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Plus the fact that we had already beaten them two weeks ago.

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Originally Posted by spursistan

With Timmy out, more frequently so since that Wizards game mid December, it has gone down the shitter relative to the historic Def rating mark we were setting before that..

It is clear that we don't have the 3-point firepower of past years to overturn 10-15 points defecit against good teams

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Originally Posted by NameLess Scrub

I'm almost completely convinced at this point this team doesn't have what it takes to win a title. The big 3 is too old, not enough 3pt shooting, Aldridge cannot get into monster mode vs good teams, Leonard is not a play maker, etc.

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Originally Posted by ceperez

I've been saying this since the beginning of the season. The 3pt shooting is absent. LMA can't play like an all-star against stiff competition, Leonard can't make plays.

The record is fools gold indeed! Spurs have been using their bench to create separation, but with good competition, you don't see that happening and you see the starters consistently getting blown away.

It is no mirage that Spurs have so many slow starts. It is both the defense and offense that's just not working.

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Originally Posted by hitmantb

Lack of ball movement and as a result, weak 3 point shooting is the biggest problem.

Defense, if Duncan comes back healthy, will take care of itself. Of course if Duncan can not play, they are not going anywhere so it is moot point. Leonard's defense also went down a bit when he has to conserve energy for the other end. There is a reason why it is extremely rare for MVP/scoring champions to also win DPOY. Two way play requires an enormous amount of energy. You usually have to compromise at least a little bit somewhere.

Offense, huge regression from Green/Mills, mostly because of lack of ball movement and open shots. Spurs has the weakest 1-2 punch of the top five teams. Kevin Love is doing a lot better under Lue, I hope Pop figures out something with LMA before it is too late.

Green needs to play 30 minutes a game and get 8-10 shots a game, at Manu's expense, for this team to stand a chance. He is a top 3D player, the Leonard/LMA post-ups really took away his open shots. He needs plays called for him, Mills too.

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Originally Posted by ceperez

McCallum doesn't have the length and doesn't orchestrate an offense well. I think he should be waived or traded.

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I don't think Ray Mc is the answer. If he was, he would have overplayed Anderson and Simmons and he hasn't. In fact, I would not take the ball out from Anderson/Simms hands to give it to Ray. He can play IMO, he's just not better than these two. The real problem with him is like ceperez said, he doesn't orchestrate the offense well. Our best PG of the young guys is Anderson. Simms is great as a SG. You give him the ball and let him go to work. Anderson makes smart plays. He got guys open 3s. A few of the open 3s we got last night (that guys missed) were created by Anderson.

Our SL has been terrible all season, even with Timmy, too much iso ball. But at least with Timmy they were a defensive monster. Without Timmy, they suck. It has always been the bench coming to the rescue, most of the season. Here they could not do it, and I fear against elite competition they won't be able to do it bc of Manu. He tends to heroball in a bad way when things get out of hand. He's a catalist but in the games against GSW and Cavs, he was a catalist for the other team. At this point, Anderson is more heady making plays than Manu and Simms is better driving and finishing.

However, even with all of this, the biggest concern is Boban. He needs to provide some minutes without Timmy. It just has to happen. So hopefully they look at film and continue to get him reps when possible.

they ain't winning shit without Tim and even with him they have a pretty small chance to win it all... so nothing is going on, they are just not the best team in the NBA.

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Originally Posted by boutons_deux

this "hiding cards" is total bullshit. everybody knows what everybody else does

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Still undefeated at home
Still 39-8
Not worried.

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Originally Posted by SAGirl

However, even with all of this, the biggest concern is Boban. He needs to provide some minutes without Timmy. It just has to happen. So hopefully they look at film and continue to get him reps when possible.

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Well, I did not expect to have to rely on Boban. Unfortunately, the Cavs really exposed him. The first time he's played against elite competition and he was destroyed. Also for some reason he couldn't get to his spots in offense and Spurs couldn't exploit his mismatch.

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Originally Posted by SAGirl

Our SL has been terrible all season, even with Timmy, too much iso ball. But at least with Timmy they were a defensive monster. Without Timmy, they suck. It has always been the bench coming to the rescue, most of the season. Here they could not do it, and I fear against elite competition they won't be able to do it bc of Manu. He tends to heroball in a bad way when things get out of hand. He's a catalist but in the games against GSW and Cavs, he was a catalist for the other team. At this point, Anderson is more heady making plays than Manu and Simms is better driving and finishing.

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But LMA needs iso's, its who he is. I think the other players games are more adjustable. Feed the ball to LMA and him pass it out when double teamed until the open man is found. It may be unfair to Kawhi but his game is more adaptable than LMA's and he can still get good numbers. I also get the feeling Kawhi wouldnt mind at all if it was that way, especially if it worked.

Having said that, LMA needs to earn getting fed the ball by doing the hard stuff like D, rebounds offensive and defensive and being a good screener for others. Thatll go a long way towards establishing a good rapport amongst teammates who feed him the ball. And also drive that ball, dont settle. Loved some of the moves he made before having to sit down.

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Originally Posted by skulls138

But LMA needs iso's, its who he is. I think the other players games are more adjustable. Feed the ball to LMA and him pass it out when double teamed until the open man is found. It may be unfair to Kawhi but his game is more adaptable than LMA's and he can still get good numbers. I also get the feeling Kawhi wouldnt mind at all if it was that way, especially if it worked.

Having said that, LMA needs to earn getting fed the ball by doing the hard stuff like D, rebounds offensive and defensive and being a good screener for others. Thatll go a long way towards establishing a good rapport amongst teammates who feed him the ball. And also drive that ball, dont settle. Loved some of the moves he made before having to sit down.

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Kawhi is a fierce competitor and having him spot up for a 3 with LmA being in the post might be the best 2 man play between them not PnR. You either live with LMA making shots or Kawhi making a 3. LMA needs to play a more prominent role than Pop has given him with all the deferral. I do think Kawhi will do what is needed to win. That is all he cares about and spotting up allows him to rest on defense.

someone was commenting the amount of energy you expend on offense and how Kawhi's defense can be suffering from that.

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Originally Posted by SAGirl

Kawhi is a fierce competitor and having him spot up for a 3 with LmA being in the post might be the best 2 man play between them not PnR. You either live with LMA making shots or Kawhi making a 3. LMA needs to play a more prominent role than Pop has given him with all the deferral. I do think Kawhi will do what is needed to win. That is all he cares about and spotting up allows him to rest on defense.

someone was commenting the amount of energy you expend on offense and how Kawhi's defense can be suffering from that.

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Yes, and also Kawhi can fake the three and be creative which is literally where he's improved so much.

The only question I have though is how does TD fit into this equation?

:lol

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Originally Posted by Amuseddaysleeper

It's not just about overreacted, the team constantly comes out flat in opening quarters and on the road against decent team that is suicide. Spurs playing like they have no pride and getting absolutely WAXED. Yes, it's January and no Duncan but as much as people hide behind the Pop not showing his cards crap, losing this badly to contenders is a worrying sign. I understand losing road games to good teams, but lose like this where the Spurs were barely in the game both against GS and Cleveland is a glaring issue.

I just don't trust this team to have enough players consistently show up in the playoffs to go really far. It's like the Clipper series last year. Everyone is all over the place and inconsistent.

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I remember the year when we lost to every title contender multiple times... Oh yeah, we won the title that year too

When the Spurs are running the current system well they are monsters. When they aren't they are slightly above average. They don't have the ability to run and gun and win if they don't have defense first mentality.

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Originally Posted by SpursBig3s

:lol


I remember the year when we lost to every title contender multiple times... Oh yeah, we won the title that year too

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I remember the year we lost to title contenders multiple times. We lost. Your anecdote is cute but doesn't mean anything.

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Originally Posted by DMC

I remember the year we lost to title contenders multiple times. We lost. Your anecdote is cute but doesn't mean anything.

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exactly, apart from the fact golden state is a proven monster this season, and their best player is having the best offensive season in league history

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Originally Posted by TE

Marathon.

Not showing all your cards, actively not coaching to win, players giving relatively underwhelming effort. etc etc

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Not having Duncan out there. He's the leader, even on the bench(Houston game). I think it's a good thing getting the team experience without Duncan in the lineup, just shitty luck he gets injured when the team plays the 2 top teams in the league. They have to learn to play without him sooner or later though. Although I would like to see Duncan with the team after he retires.

Spurs needs a point guard that can push the ball and not walk it down at every possession. I don't think they can play like that without Timmy, LA still need to learn from Timmy on how to read defense when posting up.

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Originally Posted by jbspurs

Spurs needs a point guard that can push the ball and not walk it down at every possession. I don't think they can play like that without Timmy, LA still need to learn from Timmy on how to read defense when posting up.

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walk down??? Spurs don't walk down the ball.

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Originally Posted by jbspurs

Spurs needs a point guard that can push the ball and not walk it down at every possession. I don't think they can play like that without Timmy, LA still need to learn from Timmy on how to read defense when posting up.

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Yes with regard to learning from Tim. Now everyone knows LMA is a multi- time All Star for a reason. However he has a great opportunity to learn from one the greatest to have ever walked on the court!

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Originally Posted by ceperez

walk down??? Spurs don't walk down the ball.

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Used to not walk down.. The only time I see it now is when Mills in on the court. Biggest problem is their defense, Our PG's are now a liability on defense. Before, only the big guards gives them problem. Now, they can't guard even the short ones.

Has anyone stopped to think why the spurs ran zone almost the whole second half?? The cavs game was no more than a live scrimmage of sorts. The national media doesn't care about the spurs and nor does pop care about giving them a true game! The refs were beyond atrocious also......

I am not sure if any of you all noticed this, but the screens the Spurs have been setting have been weak. There is little to no contact on the screens they set. This takes away a lot of the passing lanes to half the court because the defender hasn't been shed by the screen. With the options being limited, it makes it that much easier to predict what the Spurs will do. I think the angle of the screener needs to be changed so that way if the pnr is iced, the defense is forced to make a 50/50 choice rather than the 100 decision because the ball handlers defender is still in the play. The screening has been weak off the ball as well. You can't get open looks and make the defense scramble if there is always defenders close by you. The amount of plays resulting in post ups is IMO, a direct result of poor screening.

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Originally Posted by xellos88330

... the screens the Spurs have been setting have been weak. There is little to no contact on the screens they set. This takes away a lot of the passing lanes to half the court because the defender hasn't been shed by the screen. With the options being limited, it makes it that much easier to predict what the Spurs will do. I think the angle of the screener needs to be changed so that way if the pnr is iced, the defense is forced to make a 50/50 choice rather than the 100 decision because the ball handlers defender is still in the play. The screening has been weak off the ball as well. You can't get open looks and make the defense scramble if there is always defenders close by you. The amount of plays resulting in post ups is IMO, a direct result of poor screening.

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Yes, I've also noticed bad screening. All I'll add is that it takes two to screen. I hardly ever see any of the Spurs ballhandlers make best use of the screens they get. No idea why not, except . . . bad coaching??

It almost feels like the team knows Duncan is done and playing uninspired ball. I know it's not likely but there's something with the psyche of this team.

Maybe be they are tired of the pressure and want to "go back under the radar"

dunno but this has been a difficult last few games (Warriors, Cavs) and two beat downs to put it bluntly.

Duncan appears to be a psychological anchor to this team at the mid point of the season.

perhaps he hangs it up soon?

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Originally Posted by spursfanincolorado

It almost feels like the team knows Duncan is done

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you shut your fuckin mouth

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Originally Posted by skulls138

Feed the ball to LMA and him pass it out when double teamed until the open man is found.

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Originally Posted by SAGirl

Kawhi is a fierce competitor and having him spot up for a 3 with LmA being in the post might be the best 2 man play between them not PnR. You either live with LMA making shots or Kawhi making a 3. LMA needs to play a more prominent role than Pop has given him with all the deferral. I do think Kawhi will do what is needed to win. That is all he cares about and spotting up allows him to rest on defense.

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Pop's giving LMA all the shots on offense...It seems like some people forget that LMA has led the Spurs in FGA in the last two months.

Kawhi has scored more than him just because he's more effective, instead of LMA who needed 20 FGA to score 20 PPG with the Blazers.

I know that you aren't advocating for him having 20 shots every night, and Pop is playing him as our first option.

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someone was commenting the amount of energy you expend on offense and how Kawhi's defense can be suffering from that.

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Not sure why people say his defense has regressed/suffered. According his numbers on defense, ppp/FG% opponents, Kawhi's still the best perimeter defender in the league this season even when he has to carry the load on offense in some games.

We can't say he didn't defend LeBron well when most LBJ poinst came from plays on Mills/Manu and to due Pop's zone. LeBron didn't have a lot of success against Kawhi one-on-one defense in the last two seasons and Pop should have stopped to play zone when it turned ineffective and put Kawhi on LBJ the rest of the game.

I can agree that Kawhi's defense wasn't that good against Curry. But Pop put Kawhi on him after Curry went supernova against Parker/Mills and all our guards. Start the game with Green on Curry and then change the assignments could be a lot better option.

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Originally Posted by YGWHI

Not sure why people say his defense has regressed/suffered. According his numbers on defense, ppp/FG% opponents, Kawhi's still the best perimeter defender in the league this season even when he has to carry the load on offense in some games.

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It wasn't his best night the past few games. Even against Houston he wasn't special.
But I will give you this.... Pop is clearly experimenting with Simmons and Anderson. Anderson guarding Love? Simmons on Lebron and Kyrie? on Curry? Pop is developing, so what no one will point out is that Kawhi has been moved to less threatening targets in a few games bc Pop is giving opportunities to others, and we may need those others bc Patty/Tony/Manu are not going to pull their weight defensively and defense is a team effort.

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Originally Posted by SAGirl

It wasn't his best night the past few games. Even against Houston he wasn't special.

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Kawhi held Ariza to just 8 points in the whole game after Ariza scored 31 points vs Pels and 29 pts against Dallas in the last two previous games, and defended really good Harden when Green was on the bench.

Shot over 60 FG%...7-12 and 3-4 from 3...18 points.

I'd say he had a really nice game on both ends.

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But I will give you this.... Pop is clearly experimenting with Simmons and Anderson. Anderson guarding Love? Simmons on Lebron and Kyrie? on Curry? Pop is developing, so what no one will point out is that Kawhi has been moved to less threatening targets in a few games bc Pop is giving opportunities to others, and we may need those others bc Patty/Tony/Manu are not going to pull their weight defensively and defense is a team effort.

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And for the same reason we can't say he has regressed/suffered on defense.

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Originally Posted by YGWHI

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Kawhi held Ariza to just 8 points in the whole game after Ariza scored 31 points vs Pels and 29 pts against Dallas in the last two previous games, and defended really good Harden when Green was on the bench.

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You know what I mean, I am not shitting on Kawhi per se. his steals, and defensive plays haven't been there, and Kyle was on Ariza at times and Brewer. Ariza is mostly a spot up shooter. The real threat that game was Harden, who Danny was on for a whole lot. He wasn't good against either GSW and CLE. You know very well these are not Kawhi's best defensive games, and for his standards are quite meh!
But as i also stated, Pop was trying other guys, so its not so much on him. Him stepping up communicating on defense is probably the bigger issue, but should be corrected after the CLE game

The "problem" with the Spurs is that everyone is still comparing them to Golden State. To do so at this point of the season would be a fallacy.

Still a lot of time left to develop the team, and I still like our chances once the playoffs roll around.

Also, people need to remember that nothing is a given and no one is guaranteed to win the championship. Not the Spurs. Not the Warriors. Nobody.

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Originally Posted by Dex

The "problem" with the Spurs is that everyone is still comparing them to Golden State. To do so at this point of the season would be a fallacy.

Still a lot of time left to develop the team, and I still like our chances once the playoffs roll around.

Also, people need to remember that nothing is a given and no one is guaranteed to win the championship. Not the Spurs. Not the Warriors. Nobody.

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I agree. Worrying about the Warriors, talking about the Warriors does no good. We need to be the best we can be before thinking about anybody else. These losses could be a blessing when all is said and done.

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Originally Posted by YGWHI

Pop's giving LMA all the shots on offense...It seems like some people forget that LMA has led the Spurs in FGA in the last two months.

Kawhi has scored more than him just because he's more effective, instead of LMA who needed 20 FGA to score 20 PPG with the Blazers.

I know that you aren't advocating for him having 20 shots every night, and Pop is playing him as our first option.

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Thats good, now it has to work better. He needs to back his man down and be a post presence, let the jumpshot be something when the shot clock winds down, not be his primary shot. Scoring inside is going to open everything else up. TD should get some post ups too when he gets back. Kawhi too for that matter.

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Originally Posted by wut

I've seen many times where the Spurs put a player in D-league to get him in shape right before inserting them into the lineup so they don't fall flat on their face when inserted into a game after a long time....which seems to imply to me that McCallum is about to get some playing time.

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You might be right...