Manu's injury
Popovich gone senile
The Celtics have picked up the slack? they're struggling against an average Bulls team in this series..
Manu would clearly make a huge difference..our system is entirely based on our big 3..Manu would be the primary ballhandler for the 2nd unit, and he showed a lot of promise playing a 2-man game with Gooden..
Manu is also our only guy on D that can play the passing lanes at a high level, leading to fast break poins..
Our record with Manu in the lineup speaks for itself..
this forum is becoming crazy about Pop. what's hurting us the most: Pop coaching or manu's injury ? really.
Having one of our big 3 out is a HUGE disadvantage. I think it's "better" to miss manu rather than Tim or Tony though. but it's still a big hole that left Manu. and no one seem able to just fill it up a little bit.
The bigger mistake of Pop as a coach and a GM isn't his rotations anyway. It's the supporting cast he put aroung the big 3 that is failing at the biggest stage.
Manu's injury - this is a no brainer from my viewpoint. With Manu healthy then Pop's coaching decisions whould change, too. Those Mavs runs we've been privy too most likely get cut short and we probably win game 1. Manu has a tendency to change the game and put pressure on the opposing team IIRC. Though Pop would have still put Hill in the doghouse and played Finley and Bonner way too much anyway.
But overall I think with a healthy Manu things wouldn't be so gloom and doom around here right now.
No way. Manu has not been that good this year even when he was playing.
Weren't you the one that wanted to trade Manu for expiring contracts? I guess you know by now how important Manu's to this team.
How can you say Manu hasn't been very good this year even when he has been playing? He's actually been really, really good when he's played. San Antonio is 32-12 with Manu and 22-16 without him. He averaged 15.5 points 4.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game in only 26.8 minutes. Per 40, that's 23.1, 6.7, and 5.3. If you like PER, his was 22.93. Compare that to Parker's 23.47, and Parker had a career year.
If Manu hadn't played the games he did, the Spurs may not even have made the playoffs, so I don't see how Pop's coaching has had anywhere near the impact as Manu's injury.
Its manu, not even close.
What a joke
It's Pops coaching and Manu being hurt.
Last edited by Duncan2177; 04-26-2009 at 04:39 PM.
manu of course, although i think even with manu, it would not be very different than it is now, so we should not blame everything on his injury. Pop is just pop, doing his thing he knows and does best. POP is the best we have!!!
Manu's injury hurt us the most because he is the 4th quarter man. He is our best clutch player, and he is the guy who can force the other team to foul him and then actually MAKE the free throws that he gets from them. He is the guy who has the hustlein the final minutes of any game.
Having said all that...Pop has killed us in the absence of Manu. BTW, his military background is Air force, not Army. But regardless, his stubborn usage of his personnel in the face of empirical evidence that his plan is not working is pure arrogance. I don't think that's necessarily a function of military training. I think it is personality. Remember, he was unimpressed with Parker at first, and the assistant coaches had to convince him to take another look at Parker. Remember that Pop loved the two Serbs...Nesterovich and Beno...remember that Pop didn't want to make some of the offensive changes that Carlesimo and others talked him into for all of our benefit.
Pop is a terrrific coach...but he is not infallble, and he has hurt us this season and post season.
You can't replace what a healthy Manu gives you or Timmy for that matter. But after yesterdays game I believe Pop is throwing in the towel.
Pop being so damn hardheaded. Too many coaches and players have figured him and his style out and Pop won't change. I'm hoping the game isn't passing him by but, even Rick Carlisle is out coaching him. It's bad enough when Phil Jackson out coaches him but, Rick Carlisle???
Trading for LeBron, Kobe, Wade, Howard and Durant to go with Tim & Tony will solve all our woes.
I don't know why Manu Fan has to continuously point out "See, look how important Manu is!" as if the vast majority of Spurs fans don't realize how important a healthy Manu is to the Spurs. Obviously the Spurs would be much better off with Manu. You take away any individual out of the Big Three and the Spurs would either be in this hole or would have been swept.
With the Big Three intact, the Spurs would probably beat Dallas. But not for sure. If Pop had Vaughn as the backup point guard, Bowen and Hill at the end of the bench and Mason buried behind Finley, the Spurs would likely still lose to the Mavs. Even with Manu, the Mavs are a horrible matchup and Pop would likely be riding the wrong horses into the playoffs.
There's no reason that you could say we had no chance in this series with Manu out. You could argue the series would be a breeze if Manu would be playing, but you can't say this was not a winnable series, even without Manu. It's been a bunch of boneheaded decisions that got us in the hole we are, and if we keep the course our season will be done real soon now. That one is on Pop.
I wasn't pointing that out to Spurs fans, I was pointing that out to rascal, 'cause he wanted to trade him for expiring contracts.
I disagree on this point. We have had a good handle on Terry and Dirk. You could argue Manu can play JHo a lot better than Fin, and also provide the scoring. There's also no secret that Manu not only scores, but gets other people involved. I think if Manu is playing, this series isn't close. Maybe he couldn't have done anything on Game 3, but that's about it.
Then again, as you mentioned, there has been poor choices as far as who's playing and where they're playing. These are not new decisions, and we've been ing about it well before the playoffs started.
Teams that blow a 2-0 lead and get backdoor swept in the Finals suck.
Teams that get bounced by the 8th seed in the first round suck.
The Spurs, on the other hand, are just going through a rough patch right now.
Just so you know the difference...
Pop is to blame , what he should do and why.
1- start Parker at point guard , defending Jason Kidd
2- Start Finley guard , defending Josh Howard
3 - Start Bowen at forward, defending Barea
4 - Start Duncan at forward, defending Dampier
5 - start Oberto at Center, defending Nowitzki
-----
Subs
1 - george hill to run point and chase after terry.
2 - roger mason to score from the perimeter
3 - kurt thomas to get rebounds
4 - gooden to score downlow.
The reason the spurs are getting beat on the boards is because matt bonner is trying to deny Dirk the ball and stick to him like glue. While he is doing that barea is getting to middle for layups and dampier is getting O Rbds because all bonner cares about is Dirk. With Oberto guarding Dirk the spurs will have a smarter defender on dirk, who will allow him to catch but stay in front of him and back up tim on the defensive boards. Also instead of waiting for double teams and shooting 3's, the spurs should look at the Toronto raptors offense and take notes. The Raptors have an all-star PF in Bosh ( still no comparison to duncan ) and a decent, underrated point guard in Calderon ( Yes, yes I know parker is better ). The Raptors seek to utilize the other 3 members on the court. They throw the ball down low to Barnagni here and there, and they run Jason Kapono and Anthony Parker off screens for mid-range jumpshots. Instead of waiting for Duncan or Parker to get a double Team; running plays for Finley and Mason jr. to come off screens will get them involved in the offense and make the mavs move around instead of double. This also allows parker and duncan more room to operate if the other team isn't always cheating defensively. This would help parker get more assist without working so hard or turning the ball over ( Jose calderon 8.9 ast/2.1 trns - Raptors ).
Starting Center 2008-2009 Matt bonner = 24 Min / 8.2 pts / 4.8 Rbds / Fg 49%
2007 - 2008 Fabricio Oberto = 20 Min / 4.8 pts / 5.2 Rbds / Fg 60%
the spurs are getting killed on the boards, Oberto gets more rbds in less min than bonner. Oberto Is getting layups ( Fg 60% ) and Bonner is off and on ( Fg 49% ). Bonner had only three 10+ rebound games this season, Oberto had eight 10+ rebound games in less minutes last season.
That answer applies only to the Mavs when they are facing a healthy contender
Pops coaching was my vote.
1. Other teams are playing great with out a main player (McGrady & Garnett)
2. No patience for developing the rooks.
3. Going with a broken Okur type center in Bonner.
4. Making the team a "Live and Die by the 3" type team.
5. No backup point guard.
Are some of you watching the same playoffs as me? Boston is tied with an average Bulls team right now, how are they playing "great"?..
Houston hasn't done anything yet, so let's hold that off too..
This year's West is very weak..so even with this team's weaknesses, Manu would allow us to EASILY beat Dallas, and allow us to compete with Denver..Lakers? obviously not, but nobody else in the weak West can beat them..
Rascal is a Lakers fan, don't argue with him..
Both Boston and Houston are playing without their #1 players. It's like us being 2-2 without Duncan...I would call that playing great...
But we both know that we could never pull that off with an injured Duncan.
I can't bealive there's some people thinking that McGrady can still be the #1 player of something.
Fire Pop! ing dumbass ing .
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