NBA will send a memo tomorrow saying Waiters fouled Gino...

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Originally Posted by midnightpulp

I definitely remember him playing Duncan major minutes. The Spurs just weren't deep in those days at any position. But once Manu and Parker developed and Pop moved into his "deep bench" era, he's kid gloved players a bit too much.

How is Manu only getting 32 minutes in this game:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...605130DAL.html

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Originally Posted by TD 21

That, plus it was a sign of the times and Duncan seemed indefatigable.

He always did baby Ginobili too much though. He claimed it was because of his reckless, all out nature, but Parker was playing faster and getting to the rim more than probably anyone in the league, yet he played closer to typical star minutes in that era.

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Probably the biggest negative on Pop. An even bigger with the minutes thing with Leonard is that, he hasnt responded well to getting benched since he became the main guy.

Charoltte-Toronto and a couple of other games this year, Leonard couldnt find a rhytem when Pop took him out and benched him because he thought he wasnt playing well enough.

There's a huge contrast on how Leonard responds to getting benched outside of his regular minutes since he become an allstar level player last year and during his first two years. He used to play really well.

I thought getting benched in the first half ruined his game and if you look closely to the games he was terrible at this year, it was the same story. Gets benched...never finds a rhytem. No confidence. Spurs lose.

It reminds me of how treated Ginobili in his prime years but to a lesser extent.

It doesnt help that Leonard was probably irritated for playing 21 minutes when he was playing out of his mind. Pops got to realize hes human.

Pop plays a lot of mind games so it would not surprise if this has somethibg to do with free agency nedt year

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Originally Posted by GSH

The reason it will keep happening again is because the league has allowed the game do devolve into chaos, to get ratings. They let so much shit go, on literally every play, that when they do decide to make a call people scream. As they probably should. Every guard carries on every dribble - but once in a while they call it. There's a lane violation on just about every FTA, but once in a while they single out one to call. The wrestling around the basket, the "hard hedges" that bash a PG three steps out of his path, the moving screens that they called and then quit calling. The shooters that lunge into a defender, and get whistles - but every now and then the same thing is called a charge. Nobody knows what the fuck the rules are - or at least not how they are going to be used on any given play. Sometimes it seems like the refs aren't even sure.

The problem isn't in how the refs call things - the real problem is that they don't call them the same, two times in a row. Everybody talks about "letting them play" in the playoffs. But they don't swallow their whistles. They just use them erratically.

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I just tuned into the 4th quarter of the Portland/GSW game. First play, the refs call a lane violation on GS, and JVG goes nuts because "it happens on every single free throw". And, he says, they just call it "selectively". I hate to agree with JVG, but that's exactly what I was saying. You just never know when they'll decide to make a call like that. If you don't compete for the rebounds, you're at a disadvantage. But if you do, and they make a call against you at the worst possible time? It could cost you a playoff series.

I watched for about 5 minutes, and saw at least 5 impossibly-bad calls and no-calls. And it's not like I think they are favoring one team over the other - both teams have a lot to bitch about. I'm really not looking forward to another game in OKC, if the officiating is going to be like this. I think the Spurs are the better team, and I think they're going to win the next one. But it's just not fun to watch.

As I type this, Harrison Barnes got the corner to get to the rim. One of the Portland players (Aminu?) intentionally fouled by grabbing Barnes' off arm. The arm-pull made Barnes take an extra step on the way to the basket. At that point, you either have to call the arm-pull or the travel. Nope. The ref didn't call anything. Barnes got to the rim and scored, and I still expected a late whistle for an and-1. Nope. The refs aren't letting them play... they're letting them play another sport.

And there's the problem. The chaos is there all the time. Calls that can't possibly be missed - calls that get made selectively. So when one of those inexcusable calls happens at a critical time at the end of a game, people naturally think they got screwed.