Why Pop ?

[South Side Spurs Fan]

You may have meant that, but you never said that.

I am curious as to your take on Pop's use of Bowen, if you still care to share?

[South Side Spurs Fan]

Obviously I didn't mean literally if I later said the Spurs had a 2% shot of winning the game going into the fourth. The beginning of the third is when the Spurs lost the game. They needed to hold the fort to keep it close going into the fourth.

When they lose ground in the beginning of the third to put themselves in a hole, that's what ended the game. Pop would have probably put TD and TP back in if the Spurs could have made any type of push at the beginning of the fourth but that simply wasn't going to happen. When no one is playing above average offense and the defense isn't good, the hope is lost.

2% was probably being generous at that point.

Much better, I agree now.

[timvp]

I am curious as to your take on Pop's use of Bowen, if you still care to share?

I'm always on board for as much Bowen as possible. Especially against Kobe.

Finley is having a pretty good season but I hope Bowen is starting come the playoffs. Pop has hinted that Bowen will see more minutes as the season progresses but we'll see. The bad news is that Pop could very well opt to find minutes for Bowen at RMJ's expense rather than Finley's expense

[South Side Spurs Fan]

I'm always on board for as much Bowen as possible. Especially against Kobe.

Finley is having a pretty good season but I hope Bowen is starting come the playoffs. Pop has hinted that Bowen will see more minutes as the season progresses but we'll see. The bad news is that Pop could very well opt to find minutes for Bowen at RMJ's expense rather than Finley's expense

Well, the world knows I am a big Mason supporter, but he's not really putting up great numbers lately. I actually think he could benefit from the same thing Finley got over Manu: the start. Start Mason, Ginobili off the bench. I think Mason could use a shot of confidence right now. But , by that logic, maybe Manu could use the start more.

One thing is for shure, bring back Bowen asap. Let everyone else's minutes get adjusted accordingly.

But did you think that Bowen's lack of PT in the second half was the Spurs undoing? And if so, any clue as to Pop's logic on the move?

[Fabbs]

Statement?

"I'm still your bitty, Phil".

[timvp]

This game was over a couple minutes into the third.

"In the second half, we spotted them two quick 3s with bad rotations and never caught up after that. The game was over at that point."

[South Side Spurs Fan]

Good call, Timvp.

I'd like to repeat this question, if you have any clues:
Did you think that Bowen's lack of PT in the second half was the Spurs undoing? And if so, any clue as to Pop's logic on the move?

[timvp]

But did you think that Bowen's lack of PT in the second half was the Spurs undoing?

Tough to say. Kobe didn't really kill the Spurs in the third, it was more just horrible rotations. That said, Bowen knows how to rotate and those situations could have been avoided.

And if so, any clue as to Pop's logic on the move?

Pop's logic is that the Spurs needed offense. This season, if the Spurs aren't scoring well, Pop's first move is to take Bowen off the court. I'm sure it was part of Pop's plan to play Bowen in the third but after the team scored two points in the first four minutes of the quarter, I'm guessing that changed and Pop stuck with a more offensive oriented lineup.


I hope that Pop eventually regains his trust in Bowen even when the offense appears to be in trouble. Instead of trying to teach defense to an offensive unit, I'd much rather Pop try to get a defensive unit to score enough.

[South Side Spurs Fan]

Tough to say. Kobe didn't really kill the Spurs in the third, it was more just horrible rotations. That said, Bowen knows how to rotate and those situations could have been avoided.

Pop's logic is that the Spurs needed offense. This season, if the Spurs aren't scoring well, Pop's first move is to take Bowen off the court. I'm sure it was part of Pop's plan to play Bowen in the third but after the team scored two points in the first four minutes of the quarter, I'm guessing that changed and Pop stuck with a more offensive oriented lineup.


I hope that Pop eventually regains his trust in Bowen even when the offense appears to be in trouble. Instead of trying to teach defense to an offensive unit, I'd much rather Pop try to get a defensive unit to score enough.

Damn good insight. Thanks for the feedback.

[Fabbs]

Originally Posted by timvp View Post

This game was over a couple minutes into the third.


Originally Posted by Pop

"In the second half, we spotted them two quick 3s with bad rotations and never caught up after that. The game was over at that point."

Spurs are up 11 with only 8 minutes to go in the game week or so ago yet it's not over, in fact LA came back to take the lead before the Mason winner.

Lakers go ahead by 12 with 22 minutes left in todays game yet it's "over".

Yeah, that's really something to cheer about.

Looking great for the playoffs. Check our nutts at the door per Poops orders.

[mrspurs]

No excuse to quit so early. Theres always a time during a game when a team figures out their not gonna win. But with a whole quarter still left? And only down by 13. Imo it wasnt Pop who said I quit. I believe it was Timmy who said, I quit. Very easy to see how frustrated Timmy was becoming during the game (not with the Lakers players), but with his teammates. And then watching the closing seconds while Fab was playing lock down defense? lol Not a good day at all...........

[slayermin]

I don't think he made the right decision, I think he should've started Timmy & Tony in the 4th, if by the 7:00 minute mark the game isn't close then you clear the bench.

But whatever, he made his choice and we all have to live with it onto the next game.

If the game was close by the 7:00 minute mark, I don't think TD or TP could sit. I haven't been keeping track but I believe Pop was using his normal subs ution pattern. You let the bench guys try to keep it close or shave a few points off the lead, then you bring in TD and TP to finish the game.

The bench guys got worked so there was no reason to bring TD or TP back.

[Cane]

Pop probably didn't want his starters to have to work in overload mode which would increase the risk of injury.

Also whatever Pop was telling them during the time out and especially half time probably didn't go well with their performance.

[ElNono]

Pop wanted a reason to give them an earful and he got it. He was disgusted with the defensive breakdowns in the 3rd quarter, and if you compound that we couldn't hit a shot, he just called it quits. For guys like Ginobili, Duncan and Parker, who are ultra compe ive, having to sit and watch from the bench when your team still is at striking distance hurts. A lot. I bet all 3 wanted to go out there early in the 4th and give it one more shot. But Pop knows what works with his guys. I trust he got his message across, and if a regular season game it's what it takes, so be it.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

It's going to be fun watching this team get run out of the post-season while Pop plays Finley's broken old ass 35 minutes a night, Bowen gets maybe 15-20 minutes of run, and Bonner is running around out there for 30 minutes.

What a joke...

[kace]

Good call, Timvp.

so what ??

it was not difficult to know Pop gave it up because he thought it was over. that's for sure.

The question is why does he have to always surrender so soon ? when it's obviously not over.

it's like he said: OK, LA is better than us, we know that and tonight the best will win. no surprise here.

it's bull . total bull .

[Amuseddaysleeper]

so what ??

it was not difficult to know Pop gave it up because he thought it was over. that's for sure.

The question is why does he have to always surrender so soon ? when it's obviously not over.

it's like he said: OK, LA is better than us, we know that and tonight the best will win. no surprise here.

it's bull . total bull .

He was doing this a lot towards the end of the season last year and it was quite frustrating.

However, the team is really old. They sometimes struggles with 2 games in 4 nights, let alone back to backs. Just how it is.

[Josepatches_]

I cant understand why we can lose without playing with TD in the low post.That's the biggest error from Pop yesterday.
In the second quarter Bynum with 2 fouls and we only made JS after JS by Bonner,TP or Mason.One time even we didn't shoot in 24 seconds.We were up but the Lakers take a good lead and we didn't use TD or call a timeup when we sucked.

Maybe you don't get any call but please try it.Lakers were playing inside with Bynum and Gasol and we only use our best player out of the paint.Really great.

Agree TD would have been on the court at the beginning of the fourth.He was in the bench last minutes of the third because he has 4 fouls so he had enough rest to begin the fourth on the court.
If we are not able to fight for the win when we are down by 13 with 12 minutes to play then it's better to rest all the season and go to the draft.

And we are missing George Hill.He needs more time on the court when we play against bad teams.He was great in the beginning of the season but now he is out and we need him.
TP could rest more minutes so he will be at 100% in the playoffs when we really need him more than never because TD will be more tired than never too thanks to the big help he has in the frontcourt.
I can't understand why TP has to play completely the first and third quarter every game.He's 26 but he begin to seem out of gas last 4 games when he was shooting only 39% (23/49 FG).

[dbestpro]

Pop was really upset at half time because of the amount of time LA got to shoot the bonus. When Pop saw that the game was going to continueto be called so that no defense could be played he decided he would send a message. He has done this before, but the message he sends is not to the players. It is a message that says if we are not allowed to play defense then you can watch our scrubs. Its subtle but effective in big TV games as TV sets across the country turn to the SciFi channel of Nickelodeon.

[arodz]

You guys are going strictly by numbers. The reality is the Spurs didn't show up. PERIOD. Even Phil Jackson said he didn't give credit to his own teams defense. It was the Spurs who fell flat. 12 pt deficit, 14 pt deficit. Does it really matter?? They weren't gonna win that game. And that's what Pop was trying to say. It was his way of saying, "My Players Quit".

[TheMACHINE]

The Spurs are the 2nd best team in the West and there is NO excuse to give up that early.

[Tully365]

From the San Antonio Express-News:

What burned Ginobili was his belief the Spurs stopped competing after the Lakers built a double-digit lead early in the third quarter.

“At halftime we were six down,” Ginobili said, “and then they had a great start of the third with two threes and went up 12, and then everything was uphill. That's when they made their break.”

The Spurs have come back from larger deficits this season, and Ginobili was not happy with his team's response.

“It's going to happen,” he said. “The thing is, we can't allow ourselves to think that just because they scored two threes, just get out of the game and call it a day.”

[Capt Bringdown]

Throwing in the towel against PJ's Lakers is just standard operating procedure for Pop. I've never seen a coach so utterly intimidated and owned as Pop vs PJ.
Disgraceful.