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How long is the gary neal contract? Please be a few years.
I think Bonner is the odd man out of the rotation. He doesn't rebound as well - ok, well, Blair needs to catch up, but his potential is higher/better - and his defense in sub-par. In for a new look? In for a few minutes for energy or to spread the floor? Sure. But I think Bonner is likelier to be a spot-player in the rotation.
The biggest problem for Blair is being dropped in as a starter. He'll figure it out or he'll resume his second unit energy role. I think the evidence of Blair's continued improvement is likely to mean that he keeps his chance. Barring a lack of effort at improving and at ude problems, I think he has to be the choice for the second unit over Bonner in most situations.
(nothing against Bonner - I don't hate him as so many do. I just think he'll be best utilized in a support/spot role)
How long is the gary neal contract? Please be a few years.
I think as long as Neal and anderson are hitting their 3pt shots I think this well hurt bonner since his outside shooting is not needed as much.
I think Hill is psychologically weak. He kind of reminds me of Beno. I feel like Pop knows that he constantly needs to be propped up, so he always stroked his ego and talked about how he was his favorite Spur. Pop wants to get the best out of his guys and he's always playing psychological games...he's pretty much doing with Hill what he should have done with Beno.
He signed a 3 year guaranteed contract before the season started.
It's as if he forgot how to play.
Generally, the Spurs shouldn't risk losing a game against a weak opponent at the expense of trying to get a player going, but he's too key a player to let this go on for too long and trickle down affect is that Parker and especially Ginobili, are playing too many minutes.
One of these upcoming games, Pop has to hand stop babying Hill, hand him the keys to the offense and put the onus on him to create. No playing with one of Parker or Ginobili. Just play the entire second unit at once for more than a brief stretch and let Hill be what he has to be if he's going to continue to be the sixth man: the offensive linchpin. Even if he's struggling, leave him in for an extended stretch and let him play through it.
He's already lacking confidence, pulling him relatively quickly is only going to exacerbate the situation and make it so that he's thinking too much and trying too hard to not make a mistake while playing.
The other thing about the second unit is, even though not one is all that good at creating, there should be enough offense amongst Hill, Neal and Anderson, to play a stretch each half (against lesser teams) simultaneously. And if there isn't, then that needs to be found out for certain now. But right now, it isn't being given a chance.
Hill looked stiff tonight and was slow to get the sets running, he just doesn't seem to be enjoying the game right now.
But the game will come for Hill and Blair at some point, the talent and hunger is there for both of them, they just aren't playing with any sort of comfort level at this point. Struggling through this will make them better later in the season.
The win was ugly, but this could have been an easy loss if they lacked energy. Good to get the win.
good to see that the Spurs won. wasnt able to watcht the game. good to see Neal play so well and know that he's not a one hit wonder. hopefully he's not a two hit wonder either. the jury is still out on him, but i look for good things to come from this guy in the future.
it's ty that Hill is playing so bad. wish he at least showed defensive ability because that's what they need from him. that might be the only way he can gain an upperhand on Neal and Anderson because i think those two guys are better than him offensively.
But...Pop did do that with Hill for a stretch of this game, and the results were disastrous.
I agree it needs to be done more, but let's not suggest that Pop isn't doing this already, because he is. He forced Hill into the position of being the chief offensive catalyst for a small stretch while the big 4 were on the bench. The offense was sloppy and stagnant; hence Pop injected Jefferson and Ginobili in not too long afterwards.
The fact remains, though, that Pop is already doing what you are suggesting.
Even if this team doesn't end up having what it takes to make it to the Finals, watching the rookies is good enough reason to watch. We've seen for years the Spurs stack up on vets trying to make it to the top, and now with all the rookies playing well and seeing the development of Hill and Blair, it's good to see a different type of Spurs basketball and seeing the beginning of possibly the post-Duncan era team. Just a weird but good feeling.
Dunno if it's totally the same for you, but it's a bit of a relief. There's been a lingering question mark over things for awhile, what will happen next? The fact that options are being put in place, transitional pieces and training are happening is good. Naturally, some drop-off is inevitable, but no one wants to see a precipitous drop-off and such a thing could be a death-knell for the SA Spurs. It's good to actually see steps being taken, rather than mere lip service being paid.
What did I say? For more than a brief stretch!
Ultimately, Pop did what he had to do to win the game. Which is fine. But over the long haul, Ginobili can't keep running himself ragged for 33 or 34 minutes a game.
Pop needs to find out whether Ginobili starting and Hill coming off the bench can work and the only way to find that out is to let Hill sink or swim in one of these upcoming games (preferably the Clippers game). Ultimately, if Hill can't handle being the primary creator and scorer for the second unit, then Ginobili will have to go back to the bench. That or Pop is going to have to get more creative with his rotation than he has been thus far.
Winning is great, but this team has to win in the same way the Celtics win and I don't necessarily mean stylistically. I mean it more so in the sense that they have to win without overextending the big three plus McDyess. As Splitter get's into game shape and Bonner returns, that should take care of Duncan and McDyess. Parker is the least worrisome of the four, because he's the youngest. But what about Ginobili?
spurs want manu to play more minutes this year
I think it is foolish we shall see
suns announcers said so when spurs played suns
another 11 three point attempts for manu the gunner
Then what are you even arguing? I don't understand.
There's every indication that Pop has not given up on Hill given that he gave Hill "the keys" for a brief stretch while the game was on the line no less.
Giving a floundering player the keys for long stretches if it's reasonably clear that it will lead to a team loss isn't intelligent, as you admit, so what do you want Pop to do that he isn't already doing (or trying to do) right now?
Pop's already doing what you suggested, and there's every indication that he's going to try to give Hill longer stretches when available. Again, what on earth are you trying to argue?
If the spurs haven't had many (any) opportunities to give "scrub" players minutes, it's senseless to harp on Pop for not giving said scrub players minutes. The opportunities haven't been there plain and simple.
If we had been blowing teams out and Pop was keeping Ginobili and Parker in in lieu of Hill, then I would understand your concerns, but that hasn't happened because we haven't even had such an opportunity.
If anything, Pop was rather ballsy to even allow Hill to run the offense for a limited stretch when the Spurs had a measly 3 or 4 point lead.
ty timvp, love your grades.
Exactly what I've already said.
Sooner rather than later, if Hill is going to continue to be the sixth man, he's going to have to carry the offense for stretches against mediocre and worse teams. That's how this team is going to be able to get Ginobili and to a lesser extent, Parker, through the regular season without completely wearing them out. They're not going to be able to do it the way they're doing it now.
Maybe that's a trade off by design...more minutes for him, but cutting back on drives and increasing his outside shots in order to conserve his body...much like Duncan playing more out of the post
Hill can't run an offence and don't think he ever will be able to
I disagree strongly about Manu going back to the bench. IMO the bench minutes where Manu is the primary offensive option take more of a toll than starters minutes. When Manu is playing off the the bench he has to go all out for every second on the court, but when he is starting I think he can rest a little more even if he does play more minutes. I completely disagree with anyone saying that he needs to go back to the bench just so you can regulate minutes.
Larry Brown's trick almost worked at the end there - takes his starters out with just under two minutes left and a 9 point Spurs lead. The Spurs relax and then all of a sudden find themselves having to pull their pants back up.
Richard Jefferson deserves better than a B-, maybe not by much, but a B at least. The biggest problem many people had with Richard last season was that he had zero impact on games in which he wasn't scoring. His effort was always better when he was getting touches/points.
Tonight he put up season highs for rebounding and assists despite having his worst shooting night of the season. That's effort.
Hopefully Tiago will be in shape and starting by midseason. Pairing Blair and George Hill together might give them each a boost in energy and confidence given their talk about being best friends during training camp.
Clearly they both need to break out of their respective slumps before midseason, but their chemistry could be enough to give them both an extra edge.
The best defense the Spurs have played all year. Especially in the fourth quarter. It wasn't the defense of previous championship years, but much better than their previous games
That too.
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