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Good read timvp
I didn't have complains about Tiago minutes until yesterday. Dice and Bonner were horrible, Tiago played well in the 2nd quarter and saw no action in the 2nd half
After a while without watching Spurs playing I went back, not the proper time I'd say, but ... what I look is we need extra help for Manu, TD, TP, when two of them aren't in a good nigth the other can't carry the team.
Nice effort by Manu, Hill, but I'm still wondering what could happen in Jefferson's mind after these games, not saying he was the reason we lost, but some of our guys have a low level floor in his bad nights, I mean TD in a bad night has a average level for a guy not named TD, but the rest aren't close.
Great to see Tiago making some good moves (my wife told me she loved his face and and how good is he going out of the court)
Hey POP, give some rest to Manu he is getting old.
Good read timvp
I didn't have complains about Tiago minutes until yesterday. Dice and Bonner were horrible, Tiago played well in the 2nd quarter and saw no action in the 2nd half
So Splitter getting 3 DNP's in the 4 games before that was acceptable?
The first big issue is playing Bonner and Jefferson in big games.
These two folks are nice kids, but clearly not big time basketball material and should only be played with mediocre teams, of which the NBA is literally filled.
Please no Lakers, Dallas nor Boston.
The second issue, partially connected to the first, is Splitter. Why is he getting so little/no playing time at this stage of the season? Lack of training camp is no excuse now. I think he was perfect to play Nowitski, but no. Let it be clear: the only -very slim- chance the Spurs have to make it to the Finals relies on Splitter being fully incorporated and contributing substantially. He could be a much bigger factor than Blair or Dice. It's hard to get into this role by playing 2/3' here and there plus garbage time.
The third issue is playing Ginobili so many minutes. This is going to back fire in the long run. Manu should be down to playing 28' max. If this means losing a few games, so be it. The season is off to a good start and that should be manageable.
For me it was, Dice and Bonner were doing fine.
Yesterday Tiago was better than both in the 2nd quarter and never played again
So you're saying as long as Dice & Bonner are doing ok during the regular season, Splitter should get DNP's?
Pop will make adjustments for the playoffs, at this point it's unnecessary to show too many counter plays, defensive schemes and offensive weapons. If the final goal is to win another championship, the Spurs need to be better in the standings than the Lakers to improve the possibilities to reach the finals.
One logical adjustment is to play Duncan and Splitter together, another is to bring Manu from the bench. The Spurs usually went more inside for scoring. Parker doesn't play P&R with Duncan, after setting the screen Splitter cuts to the basket, but never receives the ball, etc.
Blair was very effective against Dirk, but Pop introduced Bonner who struggled to make shots under defensive pressure.
Bonner should be handled like any other Spurs player, not named the Big Three. Whenever he's struggling, his miniutes should be limited. This is especially true of Bonner because he's a one-dimensional player. When he's not shooting well, and Pop overplays him, it can often result in negative consequences.
my thoughts:
1) the front court is deep but the overall level is just average. no matter who is in, there is a glaring weakness, be it shooting, post play, post D, mobile D, passing, length, bulk, etc etc.
2) tony had a bad night, if not for that we likely win tonight; still, chandler is obviously a big improvement for the mavs.
3) pop needs to either settle on a rotation (especially since we were coming from a long win streak with a somewhat defined rotation) or go ahead and see what he has with splitter and neal. those guys will have a very hard time finding their roles on the team if pop is going to yank them around so much
4) manu can handle the minutes provided he is getting help during those minutes. but if he has to carry the offense for 33+, then yes it is detrimental in the long run. it hurt to see duncan fumble/miss some of the opportunities manu tried to create for him inside, we sorely missed those kind of easy assisted baskets
5) if i were pop/RC, I would explore trading any combination of blair/bonner/splitter/mcdyess/hill/RJ/neal for more proven all around players. you can only play 5 guys at a time; tim and manu can't carry 4 mediocre guys at a time anymore, and pop hasnt shown he can get the best of that kind of depth IMO. it feels like we have too many specialists around the big 3
Bonner should be on IR really, insurance against injury, and if activated he should only be used to rest veterans on B2B's. Instead, Pop has Splitter pretty much playing this role, which is absolutely re ed.
Ya, lets put the leading 3pt shooter in the NBA on the bench for the whole game. Man, your basketball IQ is on par with some of the worst..
Hill is starting to play better so I wouldn't include him in a trade. Against one of our biggest rivals Hill just had a pretty good game. That's a great change compared to most of those other guys you listed that usually step down for these kind of challenges.
Splitter, you can't put on the trade block at all because he hasn't had anywhere near enough a chance to show what he can do. I really want to know what Pop is doing with him. Is he just resting him because he's played a lot of ball and wants to make sure he is in great shape before giving him more minutes? If he's ready to go and Pop is playing Bonner instead then it's absolutely idiotic.
Splitter needs to play so we can see how he fits into the team and if he's as good as we thought.
Thats because most of his 3 point shots are uncontested shots. If there is any pressure on him his % tanks.
Bingo. Nobody is going to be leaving him wide open like they were before, so get ready to see Bonner doing alot of dribble penetration and running out of control sky hooks that he'll make once a blue moon in practices...
Pop C.
Pop killed the game in first minutes of 4th. Too weak lineup with ballhogging Parker. Mavs got some easy shots, and gain momentum.
I think we'll have to wait the next few games to start making conclusions about TP and RJ, maybe you're right, but making those conclusions after ONE bad game is weird...
yes, hill played better. but if you need to package him with one or two lesser guys to get a player that can consistently fill a need, you sacrifice him. same with splitter. i'm not a trade guru, I dont know the other teams situations well enough to know who needs what and how the contracts match, nor do I pretend to know the ideal target for the spurs. but if you rate players 1-10, i feel in the frontcourt we have 4 players that are 5s, where I'd rather have 2 6s and 2 4s, or better yet 2 7s and 2 3s. the overall talent level is maybe the same, but I'd rather it be concentrated in the top two rotation players than spread out in this situation where dyess/blair/bonner/splitter are always going to be situational players. considering our two best players cover the 1-2-3 spots, you sacrifice hill if it can get you a better front court player.
So you're ready to write off Splitter and trade him off in order to find some other big that Pop will most likely sit in favor of Bonner. Not only that, you'd be fine having Gary Neal backing up both Parker and Manu logging 25 minutes a game at least.
All I can say is we're blessed here at spurstalk. Truly.
the whole team looked tired......the only one with alot of energy was splitta man.....
Yeah, I noticed this a few games back. Anytime Bonner touches the ball for more than 2 seconds in any given offensive possession, there's usually trouble.
It kinda reminds me of Bruce. If he got his feet set and fired from a spot, it was usually money. Once he put it on the floor though, it was nothing but ugly.
Well, how long would you play him then? Honest question. Obviously, you rather look at the glass half full part of Matt. He's also among the worst 2pt shooters in the NBA, and a fairly subpar defender.
I think people got their discourse right in the offseason: He's a situational role player whose role should be minimal on a team with championship aspirations.
That doesn't mean to bench him for the whole game. It might mean to bench him on some specific games, and play him more in others. If he has the hot hand, you ride it, and if he doesn't he sits down. Finding that balance might be easier said than done, but after three seasons with the team, it's not that hard to identify some of those situations. A good example is what timvp mentions in the OP: Matt normally does lays an egg against Dallas. Give him 10 mins to see if he can contribute, and if he doesn't move on to something else.
I'm really even tired of the whole idea of "riding Bonner's hot hand" to cheesy regular season wins. It's counterproductive when all it means is your 25 year old 7 foot prospect rides the pine instead. Splitter needs those minutes to develop even if he makes mistakes and costs the spurs a few wins along the way.
Timvp two questions. First, was just me or did dice get hurt? I think he was limping after that putback in the fourth. Second, in SA dispatch I havent seen again Game thoughts, are they over?
I only saw the game at the end of the 3rd and the 4th quarters. Hill looked good out there, and everyone one else was struggling. Tim and Manu came back in when Dallas was gaining momentum. Wonder if we'll ever see Tiago out there with Tim, we seemed pretty vulnerable under the basket and our perimeter shots weren't falling. From what I've read TP had a bad night, which very well could have been partially responsible for RJ's setback and the loss all together. Dallas looked all happy and when you can't stand them, that's hard to take. Hope we rebound on Sunday...it'll be tough.
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