So is Parker now..
I tend to believe, rightly or wrongly, that we'll see Parker before the regular-season ends. So they could very well bring him off the bench for the 1, 2, or more games he's able to play in. Once they've been able to see where he's at and where the team is overall, then you make your decision and live with it; it's absolutely a wait-and-see, fluid process.
I believe, when it's all said and done, going back to the starting-5 Pop settled on (Parker - Hill - Bogans - 'Dyess - Duncan) and restoring the bench provides their best hope for continuity and the ability to weather Tony's injury in face of the fire that is the playoffs. But it is my belief in how I think things will turn out and not a stance I've taken that I can't be moved from.
Cir stance(s) dictate . . .
So is Parker now..
There's really no reason Parker can't come off the bench if its for the benefit of the team. Manu has been doing it for YEARS.
It is plain as day that the team is clearly playing extremely well with the Hill/Jefferson/Manu starting trio, I will go out on a limb and predict this will be successful even against the stiffer compe ion the spurs have coming up.
If the team is still on a roll when Parker comes back the last thing Pop should do is uproot the entire structure of the starting lineup / bench just to appease Tony Parker's ego.
Pop will need to decide if his job is placating egos or giving his team the best chance at winning, will be interesting to see what happens.
I don't think Parker would be a good fit for the triangle. Lakers need a defensive PG that can shoot threes.
Parker: 14 missed games so far this year and still counting.
Bynum: 2 missed games so far
This would absolutely happen. He would go off on 2nd unit PGs.
Hill has been one of my favorite players this year and has really developed his game. I expect him to continue to be a force from here on out.
Agreed but I also want Blair to be in that 1st unit, too. Blair and Manu seem to have developed quite a chemistry so far this season. I would hate to see that stunted with Blair on the 2nd unit and TP having the rock.
As the Spurs drive towards the POs I think TP will be coming off the bench initially so as to get him back into some kind of groove. If he doesn't respond well, that is chemistry wise not physically, to this then the Spurs really have no choice but to insert him back into the starting lineup and hope for the best. Reagrdless of if he starts or not I believe that RJ, Blair and Manu need to play together.
One concern that might make me change on that would be how to factor in Dice's contributions playing with and without Manu versus TP. Since we pretty much know that Blair plays well with Manu and not so with TP would Dice contribute more or less with Manu than Blair does? Which combo is best for the Spurs? And Dice being the vet he will most likely get the nod from Pop when the POs start so that might be a moot point. I hope this particular situation doesn't turn into the one last year with HIll. The last thing this board needs is for Pop to comment after losing in the POs that he should have played Blair more than Dice or something to that effect.
Also with Bonner being a spot up shooter and regaining his shooting touch what effect would TP have on him? Regardless of the hate that he gets he is now drilling those 3's at a good clip. This is what he does and so long as he continues he needs PT and touches. Would TP look for him rather than try to abuse those 2nd unit PGs? Most likely he's going to the rim.
Once again Pop is faced with integrating players and coming up with the right combos, something he hasn't done that well this season. Will this team get a break and finally get into some kind of a groove? Or are all of us here just going to have to endure more of the same?
I still think that the Spurs are just "around the corner" from finally understanding how to play with one another. But I'm afraid that is just wishful thinking rather than anything based on empirical evidence.
Most of Tony injuries are due to lack of rest... nothing any professional athlete from any sports has never known!
And his hand injury doesn't need surgery, so it won’t have any consequences in the future. A good summer of rest/train and he'll be bck at his best!!
Bynum damaged both knees and one of them will for sure bother him the rest of his career...
He's a great player, i would love to have him in SA, but I wouldn't trade a "fresh" Tony for him !!!
It weird how spurs fans tend to forget what TP is capable of...
It's his first "bad" year, he carried the team almost by himself just last year and it's like "ok, he might be done! let's change!!"
Why can't you be "indulgent" and analyse the big picture instead of "rebuilding the world" every couple games?!
Many people already mensioned that the last 3 or 4 games before he got injured, the team seemed to start gelling and Tony looked good!!
10 days ago, it was a no brainer FOR EVERYBODY tha GH3 wasn't a PG (he acknowledged it himself!)...
And now, it's G Hill should be our starting PG and TP the backup!!!!?????
ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND??????
And you all keep critisizing Pop mad/dumb... coaching every games
Pop's clearely seems "decent" compare to some of you...
Hill does seem to get a lot of assists when Tony is out injured.
He gets the team involved and we have a lot of fire power he can use.
Tony is a score first PG this doesn't work for the team look at how he and RJ play together. If Tony is on song though he can near single handedly carry the team in offense.
If Tony is not playing so well I think we stand a better chance with Hill at PG. The team play so much better together.
TP & Duncan plus 3x3point guns and they are set
This isn't your typical "bash TP" thread. The OP makes a good point, if the Spurs get in a hot stretch and are playing well by the time TP comes back I think Pop needs to seriously consider leaving things like they are right now and bring Parker off the bench.
Not starting doesn't mean that you suddenly became a bad player or that you won't play a lot of minutes. Spurs fans of all people should realize that with all these years of watching Manu come off the bench.
If the Spurs go on a run here in the final stretch, I agree that the starting five should not be changed. Changing things up when they get into a rhythm (and going into the playoffs) is not a good idea. That was one of the mistakes Van Gundy made last year in the finals. He started Nelson even though he had been out the rest of the playoffs, and benched the PG that got them there. Now a healthy Nelson is > than Alston, but that's just too late to make that big of a change.
All of Manu´s career he played from the bench, and i never saw what´s the business.
EX: Manu always play 30 Minutes from the bench, Manu always enter the game after 6 minutes in the quarter. If he play 15 minutes each half, he only rest 3 minutes each half.
If he come fron the bench he play: Bench 6 Minutes, play 8, Bench 3, Play 7
If he start, he can play 5 minutes, Bench 5, play 5, Bench 4, play 5
In both he play 15 minutes
In which of the 2 situations will be more tired?
Obviously in the first
EX: If Usain Bolt run the 100 meters in 9,7 and the 200 in 19,3 and the 400 in 45,3, If you want him in best 400 m numbers, you can make him Run 2 times the 200, or 4 times the 100m, because for the 400 is going to get tired
In Tony´s case is the same, if he play 30 minutes from the bench, he can not rest during the game
We saw this situacion in Admiral´s last season playoffs, he start and play only 20-25 minutes
If you want to get back your player slowly, you must to distribute the minutes in all the game, and gradually increase progressively.
The first times he start playing 4 minutes, and rest 5 each, and after some games, he can play 5, after 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10
It's a better idea if TP comes from the bench. He'll a field day scoring over all second-unit point guards in the league.
duncan would have a field day also against second unit
lets bring duncan off the BENCH
Re .
TD and TP situation can't be compared.
The OP has a point, TP coming off the bench it's a possibility, at least until he's ready to go 100% (he hurt his shooting hand). His lack of defensive effort makes me wonder tho if he can hurt more than help the team. We need him to be aggressive on both ends of the floor, not just score.
why duncan has been sucking latelty
last month and half taken way more bad shots then tp
duncans rebounds have dropped
he used to also get alteast 10 rebounds a game
RJ is rebounding better, so there are lots of RB going to another teammate, wich is good.
He's sloppy on offense at times, true, taking bad shots, or missing some easy baskets. But the team is playing better, overall, when we are playing awfully bad, TD is our savior, when the other players step up, TD sits back and enjoys.
TD, is the big fundamental, he's allways there, you can't but trust in TD.
Yes please keep Parker on the bench.![]()
I don't think it matters who (TP or Manu) comes off the bench, just so long as one does, so that one of them is always on the court. IMO they are of greater value separately than they are together.
I'd like to see Pop try it with TP, it'd probably be the better way to bring him back from injury; and TP is a one-man show anyways, he doesn't need TD or RJ or anyone to do his thing, those kind of guys are usually very effective off the bench.
I'd rather Parker start, but given the situation the Spurs might be (likely to be?) in, as benefactor outlined, I suspect Parker will come off the bench to start and assuming he only get's 1-2 games in before the playoffs, that's almost assuredly not enough time to get back into a semblance of playing shape or rhythm, even though I agree with timvp in that Parker is less reliant on rhythm than Duncan and Ginobili. Barring something unforeseen, I think the Spurs will start the playoffs with Parker coming off the bench, then if they lose the first two I expect them to insert Parker into the starting lineup and bring Ginobili off the bench.
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