1. Clearly, this loss is on Pop. Again, he put the cart before the horse, thinking we could just breeze though the Grizzlies. I understand his plan was to limit Duncan's minutes so he'd be good to go for tomorrow, but with about 5 mins to go in the second quarter he should've realized that Memphis came to play, our interior defense w/out Duncan was going to be awful, and that no perimeter guys were going to stop their penetration. He reacted too late, plain and simple, and in a way I think giving Mahinmi 8 2nd quarter minutes inspired Memphis. Those guys thought to themselves, "The Spurs don't respect us."
2. Of course a major reason Pop's plan backfired was because both RJ and Dice gave us NOTHING in terms of effort or intensity. Both those guys thought they could just throw their jocks out there and we'd win easy. I'm not blaming Tony at all, and it's certainly unfair to him that it's happened this way, but it seems obvious to me that his return has caused too many guys on this team to relax, especially on D. I don't think we can exaggerate or over-emphasize how terrible both of them were tonight.
3. What's with Pop's sudden infatuation with Temple? He's a nice rook and all but how does he get playing time late in this game? I think it's a sad statement about Bogans, Jefferson, and Mason's defense that when the team needed stops late that Pop turned to Temple.
4. That being said, it seems to me that Pop will play ANYONE except Hairston. I don't quite understand why. His wing defense and smallball rebounding would've come in handy.
5. Seriously, what is going on with The Centerpiece? 9 minutes after a DNP-CD last game? Yeah Bogans stinks, but he doesn't stink worse than Mason. If I have to pick one of those two in the rotation, I'm going with Bogans 100 times out of a 100. He might, occasionally, get a stop out there, and he takes less stupid shots.
6. 34 minutes is too many for Bonner. I know he was hitting some shots early, and McDyess was terrible, and Duncan sat the first half, but still. He should never be on the floor that long. People think his defense is a liability, but that's not it at all, it's his rebounding. When he's in there we just give up way too many second chances. He got 4 freakin' rebounds in 34 mins!
7. Pretty good game from Manu but his 3-pt shot looked flat and he didn't seem to have much spring. His legs are pretty tired I think. Might be a good idea to sit him tomorrow.
8. Tony showed some good vision and picked his spots to be aggressive. For the most part I liked his shot selection and decision making. His defense was poor, but so was everybody's. My favorite Parker development of the day was I read that he'd have no problem going to the bench if that's what Pop wanted, saying, "He's the boss." Even if he doesn't mean it, the ball is now in Pop's court to do the right thing.
9. No second half minutes for Blair. Yeah, his D sucked. But everyone's D sucked. Maybe he could've gotten some boards.
10. Your guess is as good as mine what we do tomorrow. LA is resting Kobe. Cleveland is resting LeBron. Meanwhile, we're killing Manu and still losing to ing Memphis. If I were him I'd be choking the out of RJ and Mace right now. If either of those guys show up we win this one easy.
11. It would be a mistake to let Tim off the hook in this game. He didn't try to do anything in the 3rd quarter. He basically started playing with 8 mins to go. That's not enough. But again, Pop did take him out of his rhythm.
12. Pop needs to realize, quickly, that Mason is the worst player on his team. Worse than Hairston, worse than Temple, worse than even Mahinmi. He simply brings less to the table than anyone. Supposedly he's a good shooter. Great. For the sake of argument let's say he is. He can't guard the kitchen sink. He can't dribble. He can't pass. He can't rebound. We've got guys who can contribute more than he can. 1-7 FGs, -11 in 16 minutes good god it's ENOUGH. Chain him to the bench already. We've got enough guys who take threes as it is.
Mason spreads the floor...
Well said.
This one falls on Pop.
Keep this in mind, for those who think the 8th seed isn't all but a guarantee: The surging Trail Blazers own the tier breaker, which means they essentially have a two game lead. Thunder have a one game lead and fresher legs.
Whoever defended Z-Bo is to be blamed for this loss.
We are 8th seeded, right now it would take a miracle to be better than that.
That´s why i would say, play everyone tomorrow. If we win, we have a slim chance. If we doesn´t we rest everyone that needs rest.
George getting injured, Tony coming back, and some rook starting all of a sudden has really ed this team up. Tim playing halfass minutes doesn't help either (play him or sit him, don't try to do both). Hopefully they can get back to how they were playing a week ago by the time the playoffs start. It's nice to see Tony make progress each game, but it's clear that he needs to stay the 6th man (at least through this post-season) and George needs to get back ASAP to the starting unit. I also agree that Mason needs to stay glued to the bench. This guy will contribute nothing in the playoffs.
I almost think it's time to shut Manu and Tim down. These guys are going to get killed just trying to keep 7th seed. Let Tony keep playing and get into shape. Maybe give one last effort to beat Denver. If they lose, shut it down till the playoffs and get ready for LA.
Team played lackadaisically.. too many open shots for memphis. Typical Spurs playing down to the opposition just like the Nets game only their opponents wanted the win more.
Mason spreads the floor...
I like that... Roger "Peanut Butter" Mason.
Fire Pop.
Nobody defended Randolph. That is the problem.
Pop...what are you doing?
I'm a big advocate of Mahinmi getting playing time, but you basically nail him to the bench for the season, now you're in a game at the end of the season you absolutely NEED and then you play him? huh? He didn't do terribly, but WHY would you play him now? Also, how does Temple go from being on no one's roster to a starter, playing 25+ minutes??? What's up with Hairston or your "centerpiece"?
Trust me Pop's more concerned with getting his bench players ready for the playoffs and keeping his vets rested. They aren't playing that hard out there. Pop doesn't care what seed we end up, if he did he would have played the vets heavy minutes. We are gonna cruise through the end of the season and play who we gonna play. Quit being drama queens after every loss. The Spurs aren't worried so you shouldn't be either.
That's what I was hinting at.
I dont' think it's a sad statement. Temple was one of the premier defenders in college hoops. We already know RJ and Mason aren't exactly Bruce Bowen on defense. Doesn't say much for Bogans though, I agree.I think it's a sad statement about Bogans, Jefferson, and Mason's defense that when the team needed stops late that Pop turned to Temple.
Just a few thoughts on the 1st half (haven't watched th rest yet, its DVR'd)
Roger Mason looks completely disinterested out there. He's not even trying. I don't know what's up with that really. Maybe he's upset that Temple has been elevated above him in the pecking order. Pop needs to recognize this as a problem heading into the playoffs and sit him down and straighten his ass out.
Pop also needs to recognize there are certain players in this league who officials fawn all over and worship, and Zack Randolph is one of them. Every time him and Bonner locked horns Bonner getting rung up for touch fouls. Even Blair wasn't allowed to be physical with this fat ing lump of .... Meanwhile "Z-bo" basically shoves guys out of his way for half of his
O-boards and putbacks. I thought putting Mahinmi in the game was a smart call. He's playing pretty good defense so far and he's not as easy for the fatass to move around.
Parker looks really good in the 2nd unit so far. This unit is playing much better with Parker taking most of the ball handling responsibility away from Bonner and Mason. When Hill returns I would like to see Tony stay in this role. I think the role fits him perfectly. He has spot up shooters around him (which fits his style) and he doesn't have to worry about getting Jefferson involved in the offense and basically play his game, which is to be a scoring point guard 75% of the time. This role doesn't have to be limited to 2nd unit though, he can still help close out games and log his 30+ minutes.
What do you guys think of this role for Tony Parker?
Another thought
When I say Pop needs to recognize how the officials are calling the game.. I mean when they effectively neuter Bonner's limited defensive presence by calling him for tick-tack (or even the completely clean block he had on Mayo's fast break layup they bent him over on) he is basically playing with no interior defense out there after that because Bonner becomes a docile little mouse out there, afraid to challenge any shot. And Blair is about the same caliber defender as Bonner out there, and the pair of them together out there just makes the interior defense porous.
I don't know what it is about Bonner (red hair, pasty white skin probably) but there are some games where the officials just cannot get enough of punishing this guy with ridiculous ing calls.
Anyway, the long and short of this is the spurs really need a defensive minded shotblocker in that 2nd unit to pair up with Blair for the future. Bonner cannot be a mainstay rotation player in this league.
I don't know if Mahinmi will be that player (never got the minutes to find out) but Ratliff would have defenitely helped out in this game so far. He would have taken away at least 3 of those layups in the 2nd quarter with his shotblocking/altering.
Tyrus Thomas might be available this summer .. just floating that out there, looks like Larry Brown doesn't have the minutes for him with Nazr Mohammed back. They might be too financially strapped to keep him. And if Splitter chickens out....
A Thomas/Blair bench tandem would kick so much ass IMO.
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