Reply With Quote...YET it earned Tiago no playing time...
...YET it earned Tiago no playing time...
Well, you need a quick perimeter big to hang with Lewis outside and Tiago and Blair would've struggled mightily as would Duncan and McDyess.
It's either that or you make them pay with actual size, kind of how Boston and the Lakers like to beat down Orlando. The problem is that neither Dice or Tiago (at least right now) have a polished post game to make them pay.
So I figured we were going to try to keep up with Rashard. I still think RJ is the better player we have to check him though. The problem is we don't have any quality body to play SF if we do that.
I thought Duncan took a beatdown in this game though. He started fresh and energetic, but it quickly dwindled down. And that's the byproduct of leaving him controlling the paint all alone. I'm glad we only play Orlando twice a season. But other teams with rough bigs (Denver/Lakers/Boston) will take a toll on him as the season goes on if we can't match him up with somebody else helping him inside.
Yup, if Tiago had as good an offensive game in the post as an Andrew Bynum, then you might get away with it.
On the defensive end though again, Splitter would be lucky to stay with Lewis.
Another night where if you had James Anderson, Pop would've maybe gone that way.
But again, he wasn't, Bonner got the minutes, Bonner played VERY well, Spurs won.
Fin.
I thought Bonner played better on the second half. His first half was very iffy, IMO. Then again, when he's knocking threes he justifies the time.
Did Splitter get any minutes at all tonight? He had no points, rebounds, etc.
Im a middle of the road guy on Bonner.
Would rather see Tiago, but see the benefits he's brought and am not gonna argue with the minutes tonight (although 36 is pretty damn high, maybe should've brought it down to 28, shame Anderson again is hurt)
9 seconds
That's the story right there. Matt for 36 mins is too much, unless he's going 7-7... but, who do you play instead?Im a middle of the road guy on Bonner.
Would rather see Tiago, but see the benefits he's brought and am not gonna argue with the minutes tonight (although 36 is pretty damn high, maybe should've brought it down to 28, shame Anderson again is hurt
It brings down his averages.
15 and 7.
Again, don't care win or loss thats a line I'll take out of the 4th or 5th big every night you give it to me.
He's the 3rd big, really. Tonight he was the 2nd.
Heck, he played more minutes than Tim tonight. I really would like people to stop saying he's the 4th/5th big. He isn't.
Matt is by far the best option against Orlando. Simple as that.
And TBH, with Duncan fighting Howard for rebounds, 7 boards in 36 mins against a bunch of guards is pretty pedestrian. No knock on Matt, just the reality.
Matt definitely does what's asked of him, and does it to the best of his ability. There's certainly no faulting him for doing that.
I don't know where you guys came up with this idea that Splitter has no post game. He's not going to make anybody forget about prime Duncan down there any time soon, but he's polished enough to where, if he has an advantageous match-up like Lewis, I'm confident he could make the opposition pay.
But Pop doesn't think that way. He see's a tough match-up with a guy like Lewis and his immediate thought is "let's play smaller", as opposed to let's play bigger and punish this team in the paint and on the glass. Force them to adjust.
It's not that he has no post game, but when the anchor on the other team is Dwight Howard, you need to have a pretty polished game. Anything resembling a flat hook or weak layup ends in the stands. Hopefully there will be time during the season against scrub teams to get that post game to NBA standards.
If he doesn't drill his threes tonight I would have still preferred Splitter. As it is, when you've got a hot horse, you run him for all he's worth, and Matt Bonner is the hottest shooter in the entire league right now.
How did Splitter score his points in Europe and FIBA? Doesn't he play low post and half court sets?
None of that changes the fact Bonner is a big.
He didn't score any points. He's injured, out of shape and can't spread the floor, post up, or defend without piling up fouls.
so much for picking him up for my fantasy team
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