Spurs main issue

[spurspokesman]

As these playoffs wind down I have really become aware of something. After seeing guys like pietrus(who I wanted on the spurs since his gs days) come up big in big games and courtney lee(although he got worked a few times in g4)make huge contributions it makes our achilles heel show. Popovich (although he admitted it finally) refuses to give guys a chance(hill pops drew at times) and continues with his m.o (which blew up in his face)of veteran play .he is a good coach and I appreciate him but maybe after seeing average players play like stars when given a chance he'll take note and after getting in new players he'll actually give them a real chance(aloow them a few mistakes) before putting them in his infamous doghouse and let players(mason) play to their strength and I can see us making a strong run at 5

[LionZion]

I wil say this, no matter the role players, these playoffs just reminded me how grueling the postseason is this late in May. I think all the teams playing right now have literally being playing every other day for about two weeks now. I dun know if a healthy Timmy and Manu will hold up under that kind of wear and tear anymore. Tony will be fine I think.

I dun remember it being this closely spaced even last year or am I mistaken. One of the fittest guys in the league, Kobe was winded in game 3. Heck, is it too optimistic to think Timmy and Manu can sustain at this kinda pace for a whole postseason? I dun know.

[Libri]

As these playoffs wind down I have really become aware of something. After seeing guys like pietrus(who I wanted on the spurs since his gs days) come up big in big games and courtney lee(although he got worked a few times in g4)make huge contributions it makes our achilles heel show. Popovich (although he admitted it finally) refuses to give guys a chance(hill pops drew at times) and continues with his m.o (which blew up in his face)of veteran play .he is a good coach and I appreciate him but maybe after seeing average players play like stars when given a chance he'll take note and after getting in new players he'll actually give them a real chance(aloow them a few mistakes) before putting them in his infamous doghouse and let players(mason) play to their strength and I can see us making a strong run at 5

When did Pop admit he was wrong? I think I missed it. I want to read about it.

[duncan228]

When did Pop admit he was wrong? I think I missed it. I want to read about it.

I'm not sure if this is what's being referred to or not.

Ex-IUPUI star's rookie season leaves everybody smiling
Spurs coach promises to play Hill more next year.

After their first-round playoff loss to Dallas, coach Gregg Popovich said he wished he would have played Hill more. He promised to do so next season.

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126994

[SsKSpurs21]

I wonder if Pop is turning into his mentor larry brown. larry brown is known to not play or give chances to rookies and inexperienced players

[spurspokesman]

I'm not sure if this is what's being referred to or not.

Ex-IUPUI star's rookie season leaves everybody smiling
Spurs coach promises to play Hill more next year.



http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126994

Thanks D228 That's exactly it.

[spurspokesman]

I wonder if Pop is turning into his mentor larry brown. larry brown is known to not play or give chances to rookies and inexperienced players

Kind of makes you wonder.

[Solid D]

As these playoffs wind down I have really become aware of something. After seeing guys like pietrus(who I wanted on the spurs since his gs days) come up big in big games and courtney lee(although he got worked a few times in g4)make huge contributions it makes our achilles heel show. Popovich (although he admitted it finally) refuses to give guys a chance(hill pops drew at times) and continues with his m.o (which blew up in his face)of veteran play .he is a good coach and I appreciate him but maybe after seeing average players play like stars when given a chance he'll take note and after getting in new players he'll actually give them a real chance(aloow them a few mistakes) before putting them in his infamous doghouse and let players(mason) play to their strength and I can see us making a strong run at 5

Playoffs winding down? I thought they are just cranking-up!

Anyways, Courtney Lee got playing time this season...all year...because he played stellar defense and the team had + rather than - when he was on the floor. If he was a Spurs rookie SG or otherwise, he would probably see playing time in Pop's system because he defends very well.

George Hill got mixed results, showing well in one game (ex. Chicago in SA) but being invisible in the next game. Very erratic and as a PG, he was a duck out of water. George didn't shoot well, either, so once Pop had more solid options healthy, George got less time.

Pop should have played George more...he went way too long with the Mason pick and roll experiment. Then again, George couldn't knock down PnR jumpers so Pop was kind of stuck when Gino was out.

Pop is a perfectionist so we sort of have to take the bad along with the good aspects of that. Lots of teams wish they had a Coutney Lee to work with, however, and not just the Spurs.

[spurspokesman]

Playoffs winding down? I thought they are just cranking-up!

Anyways, Courtney Lee got playing time this season...all year...because he played stellar defense and the team had + rather than - when he was on the floor. If he was a Spurs rookie SG or otherwise, he would probably see playing time in Pop's system because he defends very well.

George Hill got mixed results, showing well in one game (ex. Chicago in SA) but being invisible in the next game. Very erratic and as a PG, he was a duck out of water. George didn't shoot well, either, so once Pop had more solid options healthy, George got less time.

Pop should have played George more...he went way too long with the Mason pick and roll experiment. Then again, George couldn't knock down PnR jumpers so Pop was kind of stuck when Gino was out.

Pop is a perfectionist so we sort of have to take the bad along with the good aspects of that. Lots of teams wish they had a Coutney Lee to work with, however, and not just the Spurs.

Solid points and statements but I mentioned players need time to make mistakes and get the feel of the game. That is what makes players. I'm pretty sure you know this. And we seen it with george. Pop was forced to play him and he broke out. Pops played 3 minutes as A spur in garbage time and dunked his way out of SA lol. Drew gave us some minutes but was benched in A new york minute. I can't go another year looking at finley,bonner, udoka,.

[Trimble87]

I understand that a lot of people on these boards are upset, rightfully so, about George Hill not receiving any playing time. But lets face it Hill getting 15-20 minutes a game in the playoffs would not have changed the outcome at all. The best it would have accomplished is 1 more win for us, yay? Hill will play more next year and hopefully become a better backup point

With Manu out and Duncan limited I dont think you can blame our first round exit on Pop. And if you want to blame him than pick him keeping Bonner in the starting lineup or playing Finley 85 minutes a game... not playing Hill was understandable, from his point of view, imho.

[raspsa]

Its human nature to resist change and Iin Pop's case, who can really blame him. He's developed a system that has netted 4 championships and resulted in the greatest winning percentage in all of professional sports.
Its also true though that if you dont innovate and evolve, you eventually stagnate and go extinct.
Pop is going to ride the Duncan/Manu/Tony carousel as long as the Big 3 can hold up. Come 2010 though the Spurs can be expected to shake up things hopefully in a big way. Until then we can only hope that the Big 3 are reasonably healthy and the FO addresses some glaring weaknesses on the roster.

[txallstar]

watching the playoffs the spurs would get crushed by any of these teams and doesnt look like its going to change next yr

[BackHome]

I wil say this, no matter the role players, these playoffs just reminded me how grueling the postseason is this late in May. I think all the teams playing right now have literally being playing every other day for about two weeks now. I dun know if a healthy Timmy and Manu will hold up under that kind of wear and tear anymore. Tony will be fine I think.

I dun remember it being this closely spaced even last year or am I mistaken. One of the fittest guys in the league, Kobe was winded in game 3. Heck, is it too optimistic to think Timmy and Manu can sustain at this kinda pace for a whole postseason? I dun know.

I agree that people like Duncan are not going to be playing the amount of minutes your star player is going to need in order to advance. The good thing is that we got three starts Timmy, Tony, and Manu!

But the big issue is Duncans knees and I think that Pop is going to have to play him alot less then he realy wants to. So we are going to realy need some good bigs which right now is our achilles hill. I think in order for us to be competative we need a starting center who can play and actually be good on offense and defense. We will also need a decent PF to either backup Timmy or whoever our center is going to be. Once we get that then we move on to our next problem.

That would be our SF postion which we havent realy filled since Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Lu ck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_ retired. We got Bowen who is going to be 40 years old and then we got Finley who can't guard anyone but can give you some good offense every once in awhile. I think at this point that we need youth and I would be happy camper if we could get two young SF who can actualy do both..play defense and play offense. After that then we go to our next problem.

That would be our bench or should I say our lack of bench. We need some athletic players and some new athletic young vets to see what they can give us....

Either way to complete these three things is going to probably take two to three years.......So ..........

[Libri]

I'm not sure if this is what's being referred to or not.

Ex-IUPUI star's rookie season leaves everybody smiling
Spurs coach promises to play Hill more next year.



http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126994

Thanks.

[toki9]

Kobe plays about 45 of the 48 minutes, King Nothing almost all 48...Timmy and Manu wouldn't need to do that. I do agree, though, that the postseason is a brand new season and it is tough. GO MAGIC!

Also keep in mind that Kobe's played practically non-stop for close to 2 years now...the Lakers went deep into the playoffs in 2008, then he spent the summer with the Olympics team, and now the Lakers are going deep into the playoffs again...he's basically pulling a Manu...

[Destro]

As these playoffs wind down I have really become aware of something. After seeing guys like pietrus(who I wanted on the spurs since his gs days) come up big in big games and courtney lee(although he got worked a few times in g4)make huge contributions it makes our achilles heel show. Popovich (although he admitted it finally) refuses to give guys a chance(hill pops drew at times) and continues with his m.o (which blew up in his face)of veteran play .he is a good coach and I appreciate him but maybe after seeing average players play like stars when given a chance he'll take note and after getting in new players he'll actually give them a real chance(aloow them a few mistakes) before putting them in his infamous doghouse and let players(mason) play to their strength and I can see us making a strong run at 5

you (should try using commas to create complete thoughts) instead of filling your sentences (like this one) full of asides (you know, like extra commentary) and exceptions (to qualify your statements)...

but i do agree with you, its just really hard to read

[Extra Stout]

I don't understand this talk about how grueling it is to play every other day. The NBA regular season consists of playing 82 games in a little under 24 weeks, which works out to average a game every other day. If players get a break of a couple of days, it means they have to play back-to-back nights some other time. As for the playoffs, when teams close out series early, they typically get several days' rest, sometimes too much rest.

If we don't think Tim and Manu can hold up over the course of the playoffs, then what we're really saying is that we think they're done.

[Extra Stout]

We need heart first. Spurs dont play with any heart. Teams far less talented than us have beat up on the lakers and even us. We need to get more athletic at the 2 and 3 spots. And we need to find a cheep young energy guy at the 5 spot.

I would say ariza with the MLE and Anderson for the LLE. But I think they will resign with their teams. If we could grab a Carney and Gortat and get someone who can give us good mins at any spot for that 37th pick we would be in good shape next year.

I think the Spurs have more and different needs than you do. I actually like Mason and Ginobili athletically at the 2. I think every single frontcourt spot, 3, 4, and 5, outside of Tim Duncan, is garbage right now as configured. At most, I could handle either Thomas or Bonner as the last big man off the bench. In any event, the Spurs are short four or five rotation-quality players from being a serious threat next year, and that's assuming the Big 3 stay healthy.

[spurspokesman]

you (should try using commas to create complete thoughts) instead of filling your sentences (like this one) full of asides (you know, like extra commentary) and exceptions (to qualify your statements)...

but i do agree with you, its just really hard to read

Funny post. I never really worry about all that stuff when I'm blogging. I was an above average student in english etc. I guess I just got tired of being correct. Good thing we don't get graded for such things here

[sam1617]

I think the Spurs have more and different needs than you do. I actually like Mason and Ginobili athletically at the 2. I think every single frontcourt spot, 3, 4, and 5, outside of Tim Duncan, is garbage right now as configured. At most, I could handle either Thomas or Bonner as the last big man off the bench. In any event, the Spurs are short four or five rotation-quality players from being a serious threat next year, and that's assuming the Big 3 stay healthy.

I don't know that I completely agree with you. I think the Spurs are closer than you believe, assuming they stay healthy, and Hill progresses at a reasonable rate. A good, athletic wing, along the lines of Ariza, who I don't believe we have a shot at, and a athletic 4 or bruising 5, and I think we are good to go. I would love to get Gortat, and have a big man rotation of Gortat, Mahinimi and TD, with Bonner playing situationally.