Call him Tiago Splinter

[slayermin]

Outside of Duncan, Splitter might be the best defensive player on the team. The main reason for the inconsistent defense is Blair. I hate to on him all the time.. but he has no business starting on any NBA team really.. let alone one with championship aspirations. He would obviously be a stud in an energy role off the bench like he was last season. He just needs to go back there to maximise his potential as an NBA player.

At the end of the day, actions speak louder than words. Pop has gone out of his way a couple of times in the last month to mention the importance of defense and how the Spurs havent changed from the Spurs of old... then continues to turn a blind eye to missed rotation after missed rotation from Blair.. continuous scoring and rebounding outbursts from opposition power forwards... and trot out Blair-Bonner frontcourts... while an athletic 7 footer who defends rides the pine.

Blair plays his ass off and he knows the system better than Splitter. It's not always positive but the effort is there. And I don't think Splitter will help with that consistency until he knows the system. Splitter is gonna get his shot but not at the expense of stunting the development of Blair. We will need both players but I think Blair will play a bigger role in how far this team goes in the playoffs. Splitter just needs to log a few productive minutes against the Lakers and maybe Dallas in the playoffs. There is plenty of time for Pop to get him ready for that. The Spurs still play the Lakers three more times so I think Pop will have plenty of opportunities to see what Splitter can do.

[colargol]

A classic...must read

[Leftyventricle]

[dbestpro]

Blair plays his ass off .

I have to stop you right there. Blair played his ass off last year, but this year is a different story. He quite often takes plays off, is late down the floor, and settles for poor position when rebounding. The only time he shows a modest improvement is against bench players.

A player of his ability must play with max effort on every play. You have to look no further than his effort to see why Blair has struggled this year. In addition, that lack of effort has widely exposed a questionable basketball IQ.

[Mel_13]

Actually, Andreas Glyniadakis led his team a D-League championship because when he is in the game the opposing team cannot score in the paint, nor in the low post. So if the Spurs signed Splitter "to guard heavy NBA centers" like so many fans here claim - then Glyniadakis would have been a much better choice for the Spurs to sign than Splitter.

Splitter is 6-11 240, with a 7-2 wingspan.

Glyniadakis is 7-1, about 300 pounds, and has a 7-8 wingspan.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...glynian01.html

[Mel_13]

You really are a colossal level troll.

First, there are 50 players, AT LEAST 50 (maybe even more like 100), in Europe that are better than Gary Neal is.

Second, Gary Neal and his agent asked to come to the Spurs' training camp. The Spurs did NOT scout him in Europe and everyone that says they did is a liar, including anyone from the Spurs front office that makes any such claims.

Typical unsubstantiated KBP lies.

Even if true would only prove that those 50-100 players are too stupid to hire an agent competent enough to advance their careers.

[Mel_13]

Bruno is one of the lying, fake, Euro homer trolls. Just ignore everything he writes here.

This same Bruno troll claimed for years that Rudy Fernandez was the best player in Europe (a ridiculous lie) and that he would be some great NBA player (totally ridiculous to anyone that had actually ever seen him play in the Euroleague)........

This same guy Bruno is a notorious liar and troll. He is only here to distort what Spurs fans think about Euroleague players.

He claimed that Fernandez was a better player in Europe than Marc Gasol, which is totally absurd. He claimed that Fernandez was comparable in Europe to the level Manu was at in Europe..........

which is almost an unfathomable level of trolling and lying.......Bruno has to be one of the worst trolls there is in any basketball forum.

Say what you like about Rudy, he has accomplished more in the world's premier club league than all Greek players combined.

[Mel_13]

He is better than McDyess. McDyess is about as washed up as they come.

No, but your lame routine most certainly is. At least have the guts to post as KBP again. Manu forever. Please....

[Brazil]

Hmmm,..

You no likey?,..surely you're terrified by what you're being informed.

[ChumpDumper]

Actually, Andreas Glyniadakis led his team a D-League championship because when he is in the game the opposing team cannot score in the paint, nor in the low post. So if the Spurs signed Splitter "to guard heavy NBA centers" like so many fans here claim - then Glyniadakis would have been a much better choice for the Spurs to sign than Splitter.

Splitter is 6-11 240, with a 7-2 wingspan.

Glyniadakis is 7-1, about 300 pounds, and has a 7-8 wingspan.

You're an idiot if you think Glyniadakis led anything in Albuquerque besides the line to buffet.

6-1 Tierre Brown outrebounded him in the playoffs in about the same amount of playing time. He also recorded more blocks than Glyniadakis. That Greek dude was merely one of four competent big men playing in support of Brown.

Seriously, anyone trying to argue anyone but Brown led that team when he averaged 22.0 pts, 9.0 reb, 11.5 ast and 3.5 blk in the playoffs that season knows absolutely nothing about basketball and needs to find another sport Greeks are horrible at to follow.

[mathbzh]

You're an idiot if you think Glyniadakis led anything in Albuquerque besides the line to buffet.

6-1 Tierre Brown outrebounded him in the playoffs in about the same amount of playing time. He also recorded more blocks than Glyniadakis. That Greek dude was merely one of four competent big men playing in support of Brown.

Seriously, anyone trying to argue anyone but Brown led that team when he averaged 22.0 pts, 9.0 reb, 11.5 ast and 3.5 blk in the playoffs that season knows absolutely nothing about basketball and needs to find another sport Greeks are horrible at to follow.

Typical American homer LIE! Opposing team was just petrified by the fear of the (All)mighty Glyniadakis...
Actually, he was so good he just had to stand here and let his team-mates including the PATHETIC little Brown the insignificant tasks (like putting the ball in the hoop). ANYONE saying otherwise should be banned from this forum.

[temujin]

You're an idiot if you think Glyniadakis led anything in Albuquerque besides the line to buffet.

6-1 Tierre Brown outrebounded him in the playoffs in about the same amount of playing time. He also recorded more blocks than Glyniadakis. That Greek dude was merely one of four competent big men playing in support of Brown.

Seriously, anyone trying to argue anyone but Brown led that team when he averaged 22.0 pts, 9.0 reb, 11.5 ast and 3.5 blk in the playoffs that season knows absolutely nothing about basketball and needs to find another sport Greeks are horrible at to follow.

You better name a sport Grecians are NOT terrible at.

I can name one: cheating at reporting budget deficits.

[temujin]

where is that "ignore" list????

Who is it that ignores?

An ignorant.