It's not that, it's that he's embraced the Larry Brown school of player use. So, a "vet" like Bogans gets the run while a young guy like Hairston gets sent to Austin.
It's dumb, stupid, and altogether re ed. Welcome to Gregg Popovich, circa 2007-2009. Dude's been drinking too much wine with Nellie and Larry Brown in the off-season.
This. Larry Brown is still continuing to waste his young talent. I like how his team has played this season but D.J Augustin has gone down to irrelevancy, lottery pick Gerald Henderson is nowhere to be found. He threw Darko Milicic into the house in 2004. Pop is following his route, which is why Pop and Brown should never be coaching a rebuilding team.
It takes time and effort to develope young players, and vets don't need that kind of special attention. Pop seems to love to cruze.
Just wish the guy would do his job and coach. Maybe he has lost his love for the job, I don't know.
Beyond any frustration Pop may have with coaching youth, some blame can be laid at the feet of players who haven't learned how to defend without fouling over the course of a few years of coaching and on-and-off scrimmage; and referees, who will reflexively whistle anything a rook or a nobody does to established players. Wing players don't have to deal with this as much as bigs, who find themselves mixed up in more physical play.
When you're looking at a player and realizing he's very possibly going to cost you 8-12 points a game at the stripe because he'll never get a fair call, you have to ask yourself whether you believe that player is going to give the team enough back with his play to overcome that deficit. In the case of Blair, I believe his boarding and scoring obviously alleviate the problems caused by his youth and lack of "referee respect."
Ian, on the other hand, was over-playing defense and fouling out even during the summer league, with it's generous foul allowances. That means he needs to give you at least a 12 pt night every time to cover his ass in addition to quan atively making the team better through stops and boards, which is a tall order for most bigs. If the kid is already foul-prone and will almost certainly get no calls going his way, it's hard to justify giving him floor time.
Even if Pop played way less small ball, Spurs PF/C rotation wouldn't be "okay" defensive wise.
I agree with you that Pop has played too much small ball lately and that it has worsen the situation but it's only a part of the problem. The central point is that Spurs seriously lack of defensive quality at PF/C. In fact, the overuse of small ball could even be a consequence of this lack of quality with Pop finding that going small is Spurs' current best option to hide that weakness.
If any of the player you mentioned had gone on to shine in the league, you might have a point, but given they haven't... I'm inclined to say you don't.
A coach is always going to put the team he thinks can win on the floor, and if the players you mentioned don't figure into that, it might be worthwhile to ask why they find themselves in that predicament. Remember when people were furiously calling for Pop to Free Beno? Remember, then, how Detroit completely exposed Beno's poor decision-making in 2005? There was a reason he rode the pine so long.
I think Bruno's observations about our team's lack of balance in personnel are dead-on and need to be addressed, but making adjustments based on opinions about how good X young player is simply because we know very little about his abilities isn't a solution.
Think about it: we paid good money for Nazr and Elson, both of whom were unexceptional centers. If we're now looking to potentially move Ian (and almost certainly willing to part with him given we didn't pick up his option), there must be a reason. Pops Mensa-Whatsisnuts had a good game for us once, too. Now he plays in Russia, I think.
I never considered RJ much of a defender and was very suprised to hear Pop talking about his "defense" as the reason for bringing him here.
In the past we've had role players who were either good defenders or had high basketball IQs, Jefferson, even as a role player, has shown neither.
I also think we jumped the gun on trading our expiring contracts, since the trade, the value of expiring contracts has seemed to rise throughout the league. If we really wanted to acquire an expensive/high talent contract in exchange for our expirings, guys like Iguodala, Kevin Martin, David West, all seem available for the right price.
The problem is Pop won't hardly give these guys a chance (Mahinmi / Ratliff). Mahinmi has been injured the past few years and has very little experience so I could see an excuse there. But Ratliff? Why isn't Pop using him regularily?
interesting that we set a league record in the year that we DIDN'T win a le.
I am talking about a destroyed career in Darko here, he killed his confidence and trust in the NBA. His at ude might suck but both coaches don't even give their young players a chance. I am sure Henderson has something to give, instead Brown plays Derrick Brown, it is not as if the shooting guard spot is filled with starter calibre players for Henderson who is still a rookie. D.J Augustin has been a solid point guard last season and should have more playing time. On Beno, he went on to prosper with the Kings, now a very good back-up, did Pop destroy him or not, we may never find out. Pop threw Beno into the fire in 2005 and it was disastrous, no doubt, but was it because of the lack of experience? Did Pop screw Beno up in 2005, he sure is part of it. Nazr was traded here to fill a void so the Spurs did not sign them. I am sure that Ian's option got declined for the Spurs to cut the luxury tax next season or either they are certain Splitter is coming over and there was no need for the Spurs to keep him.
If all they wanted to do was cut tax, they have several players who come off the books next year earning far more than Ian would. And with Hairston likely returning as a cheap Fin replacement, none of that cap space would even have to be spent on a back-up wing.
You still have to re-sign Manu and possibly Mason to a larger contract. The Spurs may also want to keep Bogans, seriously, none of us are going to know what happens in the future so it is best to assume nothing is in the works and the Spurs just wanted to cut tax and possibly get a roster spot free for their 1st round pick.
there is when comes to think that maybe going for Gortat was not a bad idea
Defense again? IBIWISI
So your logic is, nobody knows what the front office is doing, so let's just assume Chieflion is right?
You seem to think you are always correct, I was just giving a possibility. And you just want to be a bag.So your logic is, nobody knows what the front office is doing, so let's just assume Chieflion is right?
So you're saying I unfairly interpreted your last post? You really need to not take it so personally when somebody disagrees with you, kiddo.
I'm giving the FO the benefit of the doubt and explaining my reasons for having what opinions I possess -- opinions I'm willing to retire if you make a good point. You're the one who's been advocating for players who haven't demonstrated their utility (did you watch Ian in SL? Are you really willing to attribute all his short-comings to rust?) and resting on pla udes about Pop and Brown's reluctance towards playing rooks despite evidence to the contrary in Hill last season and Blair in this one.
I know it's frustrating to be a fan right now, but thinking that any mystery player in our wings only needs a little PT to demonstrate his Scola-like prowess is pie in the sky and you know it. And likewise, thinking that someone like Darko is the victim of cruel coaching doesn't excuse Darko's lackluster play. You can blame the coaches for calling bad plays or not reacting to their opponents' strategy, but in the end, the players have to execute their roles, and Darko has proven he's not really up to it.
Shane Battier is impressed with Spurs Defense
I watched some of him. He looked different when he played against NBA compe ion as opposed to summer league, showing his work ethic. I believe Ian worked on his game. You may want to give the front office the benefit of the doubt. Go ahead. History tells me Hill's minutes got slashed towards the end of the season and Pop was willing to give more playing time to Mason at back-up PG and refused to play him in the first four games of the playoffs. If Blair's situation was as good as you think it is, why do you think the percentage of small ball increased? Blair should be getting a few extra minutes.
@ Pop = LB
On an LB coached team, there would be no George Hill or DeJuan Blair in the rotation.
The lack of defense against an above average Houston team was a joke. These guys better get some things fixed if they want to stay out of the lottery..
On an LB coached team, there would be no George Hill or DeJuan Blair in the rotation.
Playing a guy who was drafted in 2005 = running five rookies out at the same time
And you wonder why I call you "stupid".
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