Initial Reaction: Spurs @ Cavs - Apr. 5

[HarlemHeat37]

somebody should sticky the post I made about Bowen's defensive performances since January..

[SA210]

somebody should sticky the post I made about Bowen's defensive performances since January..

That same producer says Bruce hasn't done anything for us at all all year long. Send him your post, please.

[SA210]

You gotta be ing kidding me.

No, that's no joke. I couldn't believe it. He said said Bruce is not the best defender on the team at all, and not even a top defender in the league, at all.

[HarlemHeat37]

does this guy's last name happen to be Popovich?..

[SA210]

does this guy's last name happen to be Popovich?..

No but he claimed to have watched Bruce play this season very carefully and that Bruce has done nothing for the Spurs and isn't capable of doing anything for us either, at all.

[MannyIsGod]

Mother - I had a post typed up and put it in the wrong thread now I'm too lazy to redo it.

Basically I want Gooden to dominate the 2nd unit if Pop is insistant on Starting Manu and his worst decision by far is playing Vaughn. Bowen needs to play more etc etc. Eh it.

[Kamnik]

Oh and Finley is not the combination of Michael Cooper, Dennis Johnson and Scottie Pippen. Starting him out isolated against James was like playing Russian roulette with a flamethrower.

You made my morning!

[John_C]

Pop killed Mason's game. Pop refused to play Hill and Bowen the way they should be played. Pop trots out Udoka and Vaughn to kick start offensive droughts. There is no hope, this team is a mess. I just wish there was an explanation.

This is just what I do not understand. Mason and Hill have proven that they are reliable players, either for defense or for the roles they are tasked to fill, yet Pop's mess of a rotation doesn't speak volumes of how confident he is towards the new guys.

13 days to go and the Spurs are still looking for a reliable rotation for the playoffs. Very, very disconcerting indeed.

[sonic21]

thanks timvp

[Trainwreck2100]

Mother - I had a post typed up and put it in the wrong thread now I'm too lazy to redo it.

Basically I want Gooden to dominate the 2nd unit if Pop is insistant on Starting Manu and his worst decision by far is playing Vaughn. Bowen needs to play more etc etc. Eh it.

why don't you just copy and paste it then?

[SenorSpur]

While hopelessly trying to guard Lebron, Finley developed a case of the football version of "happy feet".

[Bukefal]

I really like how Gooden has improved. He just had to found his way in the team, and now he did. Such a great player, he can do everything!!! Go gooden!!

[polandprzem]

Good to know that Finley is our defensive stopper

Good to know that vaughn is our spark from the bench

Good to know that mason is cold bloded assassin

Good to know that Gino is healhy an in game rhythm

Good to know that Tims kneees do not bother him

Good to know that Hill getting plenty of time playing adopting that battle field which is NBA

Good to know that we secured the second seed

[Obstructed_View]

I'm not sure how Gooden's being a "ball hog" is a bad thing, considering a) the unassisted-jump-shot offense the Spurs went to in the second quarter, and b) the team's complete ing inability to get the ball to Tim Duncan after the first ten minutes of the game. The Spurs finally get someone that can actually create offense that isn't from 24 feet away and we decry how he s up "the flow of the offense". News flash: You can't up something that doesn't exist.

PS Great initial reaction, LJ.

[fyatuk]

-Roger Mason, Jr. was headed to another very quiet outing until he got hot for a stretch in the second half. For the first time this season, I saw signs of his confidence being severely rattled. With his role changing from quarter to quarter, it doesn't take a basketball genius to figure out why Mason is second-guessing himself. Hopefully he can get into some sort of rhythm heading into the postseason. If he doesn't, it'd be difficult to envision a championship without Mason being a trustworthy fourth option.

Mason annoyed the out of me yesterday. Williams and West each got multiple 3 pointers off him because he was down in the paint when he shouldn't be on defense. If he's going to play defense like that when he's off the ball, he better be hitting 3's almost every time down the court to make it worth the time he's on the court. He seems to have gotten significantly worse defensively over the past few months.

-Jacque Vaughn was once again the backup point guard. On the roster, Vaughn serves a purpose - but it shouldn't be the backup point guard role. The Cavs weren't even guarding him when he had the ball. When he didn't have the ball, the Spurs were literally playing four on five. Unlike Bowen, opposing teams don't even have to respect his jumper once he gets the ball. I could somewhat understand if the Spurs had Vaughn run pick-and-rolls or penetrate and kick but his job is to basically bring the ball up the court and hand it off to the shooting guard. As it is, San Antonio's backup point guard is playing shooting guard even though he can't shoot, score at the rim or play much defense. Mind boggling. Truly mind boggling.

Yep. The Cavs broke the game open with Vaugh on the court, and it wasn't through dumb luck.

[YoMamaIsCallin]

Yep. The Cavs broke the game open with Vaughn on the court, and it wasn't through dumb luck.

Exactly. Vaughn came in and Mo Williams went off. Cavs defense sagged off Vaughn, no Spurs scoring in the 2nd quarter. Double digit lead, end of story. Before that, Spurs were playing Cavs even.

[ploto]

Pop also needs to figure out what he's going to do with the bigmen urrounding Duncan. Playing three is just too much. He needs to cut out one of Bonner, Gooden or Thomas out of the rotation and allow the chemistry to grow. Trying to rotate four bigs in the playoffs won't work, especially when this team is lacking cohesion without this extra obstacle.

You know you are preaching to the choir on this one with me. I have said for years that the way Pop does this keeps all three of them from being fully ready (eg, Rob, Nazr, and Rasho). The problem for me, though, like always, is that the one I want to sit is the one he is starting. I think that Thomas has been sorely underutilized and that playing Bonner because he can hit three's has been a big part of wearing Tim down. When Drew came, I knew it would limit Kurt's minutes, and I think that is a bad thing. If one goes out of the rotation, it will be Kurt. And, I am glad you called Gooden a ball hog first. I have wanted to post that but feared I would get lambasted for saying it. I know his offense off the bench is nice to have, especially with Manu starting, but you have to know that if he gets the ball, it is not coming back out.

[Obstructed_View]

Mason annoyed the out of me yesterday. Williams and West each got multiple 3 pointers off him because he was down in the paint when he shouldn't be on defense. If he's going to play defense like that when he's off the ball, he better be hitting 3's almost every time down the court to make it worth the time he's on the court. He seems to have gotten significantly worse defensively over the past few months.

Blame Pop for that. The Spurs played Lebron straight up when Fin was defending him in the first quarter, and then in the 4th they started trapping the ball handler regardless of who it was. Mason had to rotate down to cover the person left alone in the paint. That they didn't stop doing it after the first wide open three just baffles me, but again, it's on the coach, not the players.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Good point. And you are going to send double-teams at LeBron when Bowen is guarding him but play LeBron one-on-one when Finley is guarding him. Really, Pop?

I mean, really?

Seriously?

This was one of the most purely mind boggling things of all!! It makes no sense! IT's as if Pop has been hypnotized into seeing Finley as Bowen and Bowen as Finley. This move alone makes me still think Pop is going to go with the bread and butter after all when playoffs start, because its just wayyyy too too weird for him to be doing stuff like this and be serious about it.

[Dex]

Good point. And you are going to send double-teams at LeBron when Bowen is guarding him but play LeBron one-on-one when Finley is guarding him. Really, Pop?

I mean, really?

Seriously?

This was driving me crazy as well. Or the fact that half the time Bowen was even on the flo0r, he was either switching every pick or guarding Mo Williams, while Pop let Ime OkeyDokey try his luck with Lebron.

[Borosai]

I don't mind Gooden being Gooden: it's better to have him attack the rim than to see three-point shot after three-point shot (for the most part, bricks). In fact, yesterday he made a cross-court pass to Udoka who proceeded to miss a wide-open three, so he doesn't hog it all the time.

What I would like to see is some chemistry between Manu and Gooden. Use Manu's penetration to open up some lanes for Drew, and either one can finish at the rim (at least). Manu can attack, finish, or pass pretty well, and Gooden can catch and finish, or maybe (hopefully) grab the rebound. But yeah, his D isn't good: he failed to trap one of the Cavs' guards yesterday (which led to an easy score) and he went braindead on fastbreak defense by leaving the lane wide open for a trailer.

[Marcus Bryant]

Thank the wunderbar front office. This team was just so good that they could give away talent for $, as if the championship window will last for eternity.

[MoSpur]

Pop better start giving the starting position to Bruce quickly. Guys like James, Durant, Brandon Roy, and the like are gonna go off like LeBron did yesterday in the first quarter if Finley is guarding them.

I will stand by what I say if Finley continues to start in the playoffs, which is Finley must have some real dirt on Pop for Pop to continues to let Finley start and play more than 20 minutes a game.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Pop killed Mason's game. Pop refused to play Hill and Bowen the way they should be played. Pop trots out Udoka and Vaughn to kick start offensive droughts. There is no hope, this team is a mess. I just wish there was an explanation.

There is. Pop. Between his subs ution patterns, his strategy... what more do you need?

He looks dazed and confused, and the players are responding accordingly.

He needs to streamline things:

* give backup PG duties back to Hill
* only play Mason at the SG (and a starter at that)
* bring Manu off the bench
* give Bowen Finley's minutes, give Finley Bowen's
* start Thomas next to TD. Save Bonner for situational three point shooting. It's time to quit standing around hoping for Bonner to turn into Robert Horry, as fun as it watching him pull down as many rebounds a night as I do.

I don't think we have enough to win it this year anyway, but the above is our best chance to do so and also gear up for the future. Forget smallball, right now Pop is playing stupidball.

[quentin_compson]

As far as the health issues go, I don't think that there is anything that Timmy, Manu and Pop (or even we here at Spurstalk ) can do but hope. Maybe they can get back a few more percentage points till the playoffs start - if not, we aren't going very far anyway.

This loss against the Cavs is certainly no reason for a meltdown. Even with TD and Manu closer to full strength, this would have been a very tough win to get. Cleveland is the league's best team right now, they have the best player in the league, they play very solid on the defensive end, they had lost just once at home all season - and they were desperate for a win after uncharacteristically losing two in a row.

That being said, it still hurts that the Spurs were in the game for just one quarter before getting thrashed. If Pop wouldn't have gone bizarro again, we might have had more of a chance.

I think Gooden needs to start every second half from now on. He could help avoiding those ugly offensive stretches the Spurs seem to go through virtually every game in the third quarter.

Pop's strategy seemed to be hoping for LeBron laughing so hard at Finley trying to guard him that he hurts himself - unfortunately, it didn't work.