Hey Pop

[baseline bum]

What sucks is that none of the ing media will ask him straight up what in the his deal is with Hill. It was painfully obvious he needed to get serious time this series if for no other reason than the experience can't hurt.

LMAO @ Reggie Miller's reaction when he couldn't believe Pop wasn't playing George.

[VaSpursFan]

all it took was a rick carlisle outcoaching him and a tiny pg from northwestern to make him realize that his stubborness was stupid. pop, with his army background is rigid in his belief of the system will work. however, the spurs have NO IDEN Y now. they're no longer the defensive stoppers, they're not an offensive juggernaut that will outscore you...they're lost somewhere in between and it ain't pretty. hopefully pop will lose his man crush with veterans and actually try to develop some youth next year. this league is all about athleticism now and, sadly, we just don't have much of it.

[U.S.A.F.]

I know for a fact when Bonner hit that 3 you all wanted to toss his salad,
don't lie!!

[SA210]

The only question left is who gets scapegoated as the team cancer that killed their chances in this series.

I'm guessing some combination of Gooden, Finley, and Bowen Even though Pop was the chief up on the sidelines locker and in the room.

[Borosai]

- Finley should retire with his ring (or be the last SG off the bench). Unfortunately, he has a player option.
- Bonner should not start, but can be useful at times.
- Gooden just doesn't fit, but the Spurs need another scoring big, so...
- Mason should only play SG: catch and shoot.
- Hill, Hairston and Gist need a fair shot. I'm almost certain Gist can play SF. A birdie told me. That's youth and D at 1, 2, and 3. Mahinmi needs to stay healthy, but that's ing depth that isn't being used.

[SA210]

I didn't forget him. He deserves to be. I'm talking about who Pop/the Excuse-For-news will come out in the media in the days after the season and destroy. You know, the typical 'unnamed sources in the locker room say ____ was a team cancer'.

Sadly, Pop will keep the that is Matt Bonner around because he's tall and he shoots threes as some sort of never ending epic fail of an attempt to find a reincarnation of Robert Horry. So it will be one of the others.

I actually suspect that Pop will have his other man crush, Finley, back as well. So that probably gets us around to Gooden (he was a rental any way) and Bowen (he was in the dog house already). Or they might try to save Holt an extra quarter mil and dump Hill as well, so I guess it could be him.

All I know is Pop is a ing joke and when the season starts in the fall none of Bonner, Finley, or Oberto should be on this roster, but somehow I suspect all three will be. And that pisses me off.

I don't frickin' get how in the world we are so frickin' far apart in the Political forum But agree so damn much in the Spurs forum, wtf?

[timvp]

Bonner shooting 21% in the playoffs doesn't surprise me at all. When he shoots, especially on the road, I just start hoping the Spurs get an offensive rebound.

Pop invested a ton in Bonner and Bonner has responded by play that would make Hedo blush. But anyone who was paying attention this season saw Bonner was a big game choker. His clutch stats highlighted his lack of clutchness.

I'm not even mad at Bonner. This is Bonner being Bonner.

[dollarmenu]

Hill will be gone next year, trade or something. Pop doesnt like him because of the "Stuff" he pulled. Gone for sure! They will spin it though.

[Borosai]

Bonner shooting 21% in the playoffs doesn't surprise me at all. When he shoots, especially on the road, I just start hoping the Spurs get an offensive rebound.

Pop invested a ton in Bonner and Bonner has responded by play that would make Hedo blush. But anyone who was paying attention this season saw Bonner was a big game choker. His clutch stats highlighted his lack of clutchness.

I'm not even mad at Bonner. This is Bonner being Bonner.

I like Bonner, but it's true. He lacks toughness. Even Sean Marks is performing in the playoffs.

[sook]

bonner sucks ass. Waive him so we can sign him.

[SA210]

It's crazy, cuz I hate when Pop gets in his stubborn modes. I hated his small ball in 06, and I think we should have a 5th trophey cuz of that bull . I hate what he has done recently. He has sold out big time.

I just don't know who I'd rather have as coach, cuz honestly when Pop IS on his game, noone is better, but am I dreaming when I hope the old Pop will return??????

WTF? I'm so pissed at this up season he created!

[VaSpursFan]

Bonner shooting 21% in the playoffs doesn't surprise me at all. When he shoots, especially on the road, I just start hoping the Spurs get an offensive rebound.

Pop invested a ton in Bonner and Bonner has responded by play that would make Hedo blush. But anyone who was paying attention this season saw Bonner was a big game choker. His clutch stats highlighted his lack of clutchness.

I'm not even mad at Bonner. This is Bonner being Bonner.

this is what bothers me about Pop, he just refuses to change when the experiment isn't working. Bonner is not a starter in this league and for Pop to think he had a poor man's horry to spread the floor was ridiculous. he's got to get scoring and rebounding out of that position next year and forget the 3.

[slayermin]

Disappointing. I hate to say it because I like the guy. But Bonner let us down. He couldn't do anything right. Udoka sucked. Hill finally gets a chance but only when we're at the brink of elimination.

I knew the Mavericks were going to be a tough matchup but I thought we had a chance. Like I always say during this time of the year, if the Spurs are the anic, I'm going down with the ship.

On to Tuesday...

[Spurminator]

Bonner shooting 21% in the playoffs doesn't surprise me at all. When he shoots, especially on the road, I just start hoping the Spurs get an offensive rebound.

Pop invested a ton in Bonner and Bonner has responded by play that would make Hedo blush. But anyone who was paying attention this season saw Bonner was a big game choker. His clutch stats highlighted his lack of clutchness.

I'm not even mad at Bonner. This is Bonner being Bonner.

I saw Pop ream Bonner's ass for passing on a 3 late in the fourth, so the next two times he got the ball, he rushed up two of the ugliest shots I've ever seen...

Dude was ing terrible today.

[Manu on Fire]

The Spurs could have used Rodman and Steve Kerr today!

[boutons_deux]

After Pop said "These playoffs aren't for George Hill", throwing Hill in the deep playoff water really shows how desperate Pop was.

[Warlord23]

And it's not like this thing came out of the blue. Late in the regular season, Pop's mind-boggling experiment with Mason as the back up PG was ing us over repeatedly. He had the time to admit he was wrong and get Hill back in. Also, while Bonner shot a great % against the teams, his deficiencies on defense, rebounding and shooting were being exposed against the better teams.

Why shorten the rotation unnecessarily and put players in uncomfortable roles?

Why bench the one sub who could guard fleet-footed guards, and get to the rim off the dribble, even as you watch Barea carve you up?

Why continue to run the second unit's offense through a 2-guard with shaky handles, who is clearly struggling and and losing his shooting touch while he's at it?

Why cut Bowen's minutes and relegate him to the bench, when he was the one defender who could still guard 3-4 positions?

Why continue to give minutes to the soft redhead when he isn't doing the one thing (shooting) he could do, and was sucking worse at the other things (D, rebounding) which he anyway wasn't good at?

Mason/Hill in their correct roles were the one reason why we were the #2 seed without Manu. Pop ed up their roles, sat Bowen and narrowly escaped falling to the # 5 seed, and now one the verge of a first round exit.

[peskypesky]

all it took was a rick carlisle outcoaching him and a tiny pg from northwestern to make him realize that his stubborness was stupid. pop, with his army background is rigid in his belief of the system will work. however, the spurs have NO IDEN Y now. they're no longer the defensive stoppers, they're not an offensive juggernaut that will outscore you...they're lost somewhere in between and it ain't pretty. hopefully pop will lose his man crush with veterans and actually try to develop some youth next year. this league is all about athleticism now and, sadly, we just don't have much of it.

you put it all in a nuts . pop's military rigidity is now working against him and the Spurs. and i also think he's lost some passion for the game. could the alcohol be affecting him? i think it's time for a coaching shake-up.

[timvp]

And it's not like this thing came out of the blue. Late in the regular season, Pop's mind-boggling experiment with Mason as the back up PG was ing us over repeatedly. He had the time to admit he was wrong and get Hill back in. Also, while Bonner shot a great % against the teams, his deficiencies on defense, rebounding and shooting were being exposed against the better teams.

Why shorten the rotation unnecessarily and put players in uncomfortable roles?

Why bench the one sub who could guard fleet-footed guards, and get to the rim off the dribble, even as you watch Barea carve you up?

Why continue to run the second unit's offense through a 2-guard with shaky handles, who is clearly struggling and and losing his shooting touch while he's at it?

Why cut Bowen's minutes and relegate him to the bench, when he was the one defender who could still guard 3-4 positions?

Why continue to give minutes to the soft redhead when he isn't doing the one thing (shooting) he could do, and was sucking worse at the other things (D, rebounding) which he anyway wasn't good at?

Mason/Hill in their correct roles were the one reason why we were the #2 seed without Manu. Pop ed up their roles, sat Bowen and narrowly escaped falling to the # 5 seed, and now one the verge of a first round exit.

Yeah, that's a pretty good summary. Pop's a risk-taker as a coach. Sometimes it works, sometimes this happens.

[BWS-1994]

Didn't watch the game, so I'm curious as to how Bonner and Hill did seeing their names often in this thread.

Scratch that, I think I already know what to expect from Bonner...

[Warlord23]

Yeah, that's a pretty good summary. Pop's a risk-taker as a coach. Sometimes it works, sometimes this happens.

I don't know if you can call what Pop did "risks". A risk is something that has some chance of succeeding, however small. Pop hoping for Mason to turn into a Pippen-like amalgam of shooting , ball handling and defense was never going to happen.

[Fabbs]

Bonner shooting 21% in the playoffs doesn't surprise me at all. When he shoots, especially on the road, I just start hoping the Spurs get an offensive rebound.

Pop invested a ton in Bonner and Bonner has responded by play that would make Hedo blush. But anyone who was paying attention this season saw Bonner was a big game choker. His clutch stats highlighted his lack of clutchness.

I'm not even mad at Bonner. This is Bonner being Bonner.

Huh?

timvp

-Matt Bonner took a lot of flack after his Game 1 performance -- much of it being well deserved. In Game 2, Bonner was very good. Defensively, he played the type of defense he showed in the first half of the season. A deceptively quick player, Bonner's rotations out on the perimeter were outstanding for a bigman. Against a team like the Mavs who utilize a lot of screens, Bonner's quick and on-time rotations were a huge asset for the Spurs. His seven rebounds were also much more than we've come to expect out of the New Hampshire native. Offensively, he drilled a trio of three-pointers and both of his free throws. His missed a number of chippies around the bucket but other than that, Bonner exceeded all expectations and won plenty of playing time going forward.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Didn't watch the game, so I'm curious as to how Bonner and Hill did seeing their names often in this thread.

Scratch that, I think I already know what to expect from Bonner...

Hill was great in his limited run.

The last four minutes Bonehead was on the court, here's what I remember off the top of my head:

* Pop ran a set play out of a timeout for him to shoot a three with Duncan screening. Tim set a great screen, but Bonner passed on the three and started to drive. Plowed over someone and got an offensive foul.

* Next possession, tried to set a screen and got dinged for an offensive foul.

* Next possession got an offensive rebound, then threw away the pass trying to get it to Tony (turnover)

* Missed a wide open three

* Got used as a turnstyle by Dirk on a drive and layup that sealed it for Dallas with less than a minute to go.

Need more?

[timvp]

Huh?

timvp

He did exceed expectations for that game. He obviously won the playing time, thus his time out on the court.

But is it surprising that he went 0-for-Dallas? no.

[kace]

Hill deserves to be our backup PG, he's the best thing we have to fill this role.
but i'm laughing at people thinking he would be a difference maker.

i've said many times that i would like more PT for him, but honestly, that wouldn't change so many things for us.

The fact is that we need our offense to stay decent with tony on the bench. and i don't think Hill would allow that in the PO. Manu would. A dominating Timmy being double-teamed would. Hill ? i don't think so.

His most interesting aspect is that he could defend Barea or Terry allowing Bruce to defend on Howard. but with Bruce and Hill together on the court, tony and Tim better be hot on offense.

but since Timvp has a man crush on Hill, everyone on this forum act like if he is the MJ heir. did you forget his 2-10 last game against mavs scrubs.

i like the guy, but we have biggest problems. he could help a little bit though.