Not that it was ever really solved, but once more, it's rearing it's ugly head, especially with them going to (for now, at least), a '12 style rotation, whereby they have something of a duplicate for each starter coming off the bench, with the exception of backup small forward.
Simmons' shot has abandoned him and his confidence in it has, too. What's worse, opposing teams appear to be catching on that he should be completely disregarded when spotting up on the weak side. The Lakers had their weak side wings with two feet in the paint today.
Unfortunately, if his struggles persist, that means the inevitable return of Anderson to the rotation; who's obviously not the answer either. Also, having such a gaping hole puts more pressure on Ginobili to be consistent too, something he's incapable of being at this point.
As up and down as Ginobili is and despite their financial limitations, they can't go into next season with Simmons, Anderson and a rookie or minimum signing as the third and fourth wings. With so much of the focus on Dedmon and Mills, wing depth has flown under the radar, but it's a major issue. On top of soaking up backup minutes, they have no insurance if Leonard or Green miss an extended period and lack the flexibility to go small.
It's Not under the radar I think.
It will be even more noticeable when Manu retires, part of the reason I don't think they reup Simmons... though I will note that he's very streaky and hopefully hits a good streak in the playoffs that helps the Spurs.
In the playoffs Kawhi can go as much as 38-40 minutes if necessary in a close game so whatever is left goes to the 4th wing. It's a small load. They will be fine.
Why not sign one of kawhi's workout Partner in Barnes. He works out with him every year. Surely, if he was that bad of a person Kawhi wouldnt be improving every year working out with Barnes.
3-4 years ago I would be all over that. Without having seen him play much recently, I suspect he has declined a lot. Is that not why the Kings waived him? On the other hand, it is the Kings...
It's too bad we're not under next year's cap regime when you have two way contracts with D-League affiliates. Not sure Forbes would sign one but frustrating that keeping him, who will play zero minutes in the postseason, could come at the expense of wing depth. Anthony is insurance in case a big gets hurt / a practice body. Will be interesting to see if either gets dumped.
I wouldn't be surprised to see two PG lineups for short stints in the playoffs. If you get 52 combined minutes out of Parker and Mills, and Kawhi gives you 38, that leaves just 54 for Green/Manu/Simmons/Anderson/Bertans (excluding any they see at PF). Don't think Murray gets playoff burn outside of garbage time. If Green can get you 26 and Manu 20, that's 8 minutes of the "others"
Clippers are the only opponent that would allow the Spurs to play 2 PG lineups, though, since Patty can effectively guard Re ..maybe OKC, too, if they decide to make McDermott a key player..I can't see how you could ever play them together vs. any other West playoff team..
Could definitely see it against the Warriors. There's no reason to worry about Iggy having the size advantage.
Maybe, but I think Pop's objective vs. GS is going to be centered around utilizing as much length/size as possible..Warriors destroyed both Parker and Mills, last season IIRC..tough to gauge, since we've only seen them in 1 meaningless matchup(in their first game together), so far..
Their conventional starting 5 has actually been better than their Death Lineup, this season, IIRC..
Last edited by HarlemHeat37; 02-27-2017 at 08:22 AM.
I am not as concerned for that reason, then again 8 minutes (or 2 four minutes stretches) can swing games sometimes but the Spurs bench is an strength overall.
Eexactly. Spurs bench has been has been a strength and if they have Pau have more quality shooting and offense than any other.
I also sdon't think playing Anderson is a hindrance if need be either. He's playing welll lately and as for Simmons... I hope he has a good streak. That's all one can hope for. His role is small and either should be fine. There's Davis too.
Memphis and Tony Allen. Rockets may be tough given the Williams acquisition. And if the Spurs lucked into the Pels (Warriors fall apart) they could trot Vinny Del Negro and Avery Johnson and probably be better than their backcourt.
I am starting to think KA is better but their shooting issues are problematic. Simmons is still explosive enough to get to the rim, which is something that Anderson struggles to do at times but Anderson provides rebounding, additional size ( our backup unit would have four players that are 6'6 are taller; Manu-6'6, Anderson-6'9, Lee-6'10, Gasol- 7'0) and very good team defense.
Gasol hitting 3's like he has in the past two games may make it less of an issue of playing KA as the backup SF with Mills-Manu-Lee and Gasol. Spurs would still have 3 above average 3pt shooters (granted teams don't normally guard Gasol and he is still low volume). Lee, Anderson, and Gasol can all crash the glass, which could be very valuable against GSW.
Not looking good for NOP making the playoffs. Their 3.5 back of Denver right now (with 22 games to go) and haven't won since they got Boogie.
I'm not worried about Simmons shooting bc I never thought he'd be a reliable shooter in the playoffs when shots are tougher to make anyways. I think he can help by attacking the rim and playing tough defense and making athletic plays and good passes and the occasional midrange jumper. I also think Kyle has improved lately. The lack of shooting from those two can be combated with Gasol on the bench. He might be able to make up for it.
We're in a tough way not just at the back up 3, but at the 2 also if next season Manu retires, Simmons leaves, and Spurs have little dollars to find a replacement. We're left with Kyle and Bertans who each are/should be 4s. It's a lot of pressure to place on Murray.
Why not give Hanga a shot for a season?
Probably the reason this came up is this:
Simmons from 1/21/17 when Gasol went down. It obviously includes the horrible Memphis game he started for Kawhi (a loss) and all of the games in the RR:
PLAYERS GP MIN PTS FGM FGA FG% 3PM 3PA 3P% FTM FTA FT% OREB DREB REB AST TOV STL BLK PF +/-
Jonathon Simmons 12 16.5 6.6 2.3 5.8 40.0 0.2 1.1 15.4 1.8 2.2 80.8 0.2 2.4 2.6 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.3 1.8 0.8
In terms of impact in +/- in the team he's the worst of the rotation players. And his shot has indeed gone fishing: 40% FG overall and just 15% on the 3. It's a concern that he's slumping this badly. His minutes have trended down in that stretch... observe his 16.5 min. average, when he was closer to 20 earlier in the season and that average includes the garbage time in the Lakers and Magic games. It's a concern. Hopefully the dude bounces back.
Here's Lamarcus in that same stretch:
LaMarcus Aldridge 15 32.2 17.0 6.4 15.5 41.2 0.1 0.6 22.2 4.1 5.1 79.2 2.7 5.9 8.7 1.8 1.6 0.5 1.3 2.6 1.1
that obviously includes his horrible Memphis game when he went 4/20 or something like that and some really bad shooting performances along the way but he's also shooting just 41% overall and 22% on the 3 (takes too few to matter). I also hope Lamarcus shot trends back up.
Last edited by SAGirl; 02-28-2017 at 02:24 PM.
According to Stein, Casspi is way ahead of schedule, due back in about a week and drawing interest from playoff teams. He didn't specify which, but I'd imagine the Spurs would be on the list. If he doesn't re-sign with the Pelicans, he'll probably sign with the Rockets though.
Now that Kawhi is gonna be out a while (at least the next four games imo) the Spurs need to scour the market for another wing, but knowing PATFO they won't.
Spurs have been linked with Casspi before. And with recent play of Simmons (not good) and Kawhi injury, I could see Spurs interested in him again.
There was also an article before when Casspi was quoted as saying that RC once went up to him and told him he would be in a Spurs uniform someday.
The mention of Tony's name there was the most surprising thing on that woj tweet
Yeah, it seems the Spurs were willing to trade him earlier, so why wouldn't the do it now? Did 2014 really give him a Spur for life pass?
Against some match up, i will actually welcome Kyle comeback into the rotation, he actually has been less hesitant in taking outside shot -esp. those corner threes, and the defense inside has been decent too. But as a wing, he WILL struggle against the faster, penetrating swing men out there.
This team is done.
When is the deadline for a player to join and still be on the playoff squad, end of March?
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