Short Game Grades/Extended Game Thoughts - Spurs @ Pistons - February 8th, 2011

[Mugen]

shhhh Havoc, don't bring up Tiago.

now that Bon Bon is back, the pop fanboys can finally put Tiago's good game behind them.

funny how they cream their pants because Bon put up 10 against the pistons, but tiago puts up a near double double and they get all butthurt.

[awktalk]

Nice write up CH.

I don't really understand all the surprise about minute distribution. Pop's job in the regular season, at least as he sees it, is to solidify and oil the rotation in preparation for the postseason. It is not to develop players, especially after you're 50+ games in and contending. Splitter, as a rookie, got left behind due to injury and is now the 5th big. That is unlikely to change this season. Pop even said before this game that the rotation is pretty much set. Yet after every game, especially a road win against a team that's played pretty well the past month, all this board can do is complain about Splitter's minutes/confidence/stats/next game. It's sad really, for a team that is 43-8, to have a fan base that is so single-issue oriented. Savor the wins!

[Cry Havoc]

Nice write up CH.

I don't really understand all the surprise about minute distribution. Pop's job in the regular season, at least as he sees it, is to solidify and oil the rotation in preparation for the postseason. It is not to develop players, especially after you're 50+ games in and contending. Splitter, as a rookie, got left behind due to injury and is now the 5th big. That is unlikely to change this season. Pop even said before this game that the rotation is pretty much set. Yet after every game, especially a road win against a team that's played pretty well the past month, all this board can do is complain about Splitter's minutes/confidence/stats/next game. It's sad really, for a team that is 43-8, to have a fan base that is so single-issue oriented. Savor the wins!

My contention is that if Splitter gives us the best chance to win a game, it's potentially another game we could rest our starters down the stretch. Say we reel off another 17 in a row to get to 60-8 (not going to happen, but bear with me). Wouldn't that be great to be able to rest our starters for 10 games and then have them play the few final games of the season to get them back in playoff form?

If we want the 1 seed, we should take every opportunity to get it, because losing a game here and there might mean we have to play our starters for 80 games out of the season to lock it up, furthering fatigue and chances of injury. That doesn't make sense to me. If Splitter gives us energy that no one else is giving, why not play him? Isn't that why he's on the team? Those guys didn't even look like they wanted to be on the court last night for about 36 minutes of play. Leaving them out there does nothing for our rotations, IMO, because they aren't playing well enough to be developing.

[awktalk]

My contention is that if Splitter gives us the best chance to win a game, it's potentially another game we could rest our starters down the stretch. Say we reel off another 17 in a row to get to 60-8 (not going to happen, but bear with me). Wouldn't that be great to be able to rest our starters for 10 games and then have them play the few final games of the season to get them back in playoff form?

If we want the 1 seed, we should take every opportunity to get it, because losing a game here and there might mean we have to play our starters for 80 games out of the season to lock it up, furthering fatigue and chances of injury. That doesn't make sense to me. If Splitter gives us energy that no one else is giving, why not play him? Isn't that why he's on the team? Those guys didn't even look like they wanted to be on the court last night for about 36 minutes of play. Leaving them out there does nothing for our rotations, IMO, because they aren't playing well enough to be developing.

I see your point, but it is also predicated on Splitter giving us a better chance to win. And I know he came off his best game of the season (albeit against a poor Kings team missing their starting center) so people wanted to see if it was his "break out" game. But I trust the coaching staff to know what combination of minutes and matchups give us the best chance to win, and obviously they view Splitter as situational at best right now. If TD was having to play 35+ a game that'd be one thing. But no big played more than 30 minutes last night: TD 27, Blair 29, McD 21, and Bonner only 13.

I also wouldn't say the first 36 minutes were that atrocious or lacked energy. We were on the road after a 4 day layoff, some rust is to be expected. The first half was fairly lackluster, but we took a lead into the half. The defensive intensity and execution was there for the first 10 minutes of the 3rd quarter (8 points). There was some sloppy play by Hill/Neal the last two minutes where Bynum scored 7 straight to tie it. Those two then made up for their lapses by closing the quarter with a Neal 3 and Hill slash to the hoop.

[ChumpDumper]

Spurs would have won if Splitter had played.

[Mugen]

Spurs would have won by 12 if Splitter had played.

FIFY

i'm glad Bonner is back, really am. And he played very well for his first game back. It's obvious that Bonner will be relied on heavily for the rest of the season and that Tiago won't see much playing time.

my gripe is with the people who disparage "Splinter" because of their love for all things Popovich. "Splitter isn't getting any burn so he must suck! Trust Pop! 43-8!"

there have been numerous instances where playing Splitter 5-10 mins in a game would have benefited the team or been an ideal situation for Tiago but Pop refused to do so based on lack of trust or some other reason that only Pop can fathom.

Pop has been doing a great overall coaching job this year as evidenced by our record. But i feel like he gave up on Tiago too early this year. There's still a good amount of regular season games left and it'd be nice to have a 6'11" post defender to throw out in the playoffs in case one of our bigs (gulp) doesn't perform quite as well as he did in the regular season.

whatever though, 43-8.

[awktalk]

there have been numerous instances where playing Splitter 5-10 mins in a game would have benefited the team or been an ideal situation for Tiago but Pop refused to do so based on lack of trust or some other reason that only Pop can fathom.

But Pop does do this: see both Lakers games and the last GSW, DAL, and DEN games for example. It's matchup and unit driven, not "oh I think I'll randomly insert Splitter in the game for 5 minutes and see what happens". How many other teams regularly play a 5-big rotation? I just don't see where those 10 minutes are supposed to come from when our starters are playing under 30, Dice out there for 22, and Bonner only logging 13. Put Blair at the 3? Limit TD to 17 instead of 27?

[Cry Havoc]

FIFY

i'm glad Bonner is back, really am. And he played very well for his first game back. It's obvious that Bonner will be relied on heavily for the rest of the season and that Tiago won't see much playing time.

my gripe is with the people who disparage "Splinter" because of their love for all things Popovich. "Splitter isn't getting any burn so he must suck! Trust Pop! 43-8!"

there have been numerous instances where playing Splitter 5-10 mins in a game would have benefited the team or been an ideal situation for Tiago but Pop refused to do so based on lack of trust or some other reason that only Pop can fathom.

Pop has been doing a great overall coaching job this year as evidenced by our record. But i feel like he gave up on Tiago too early this year. There's still a good amount of regular season games left and it'd be nice to have a 6'11" post defender to throw out in the playoffs in case one of our bigs (gulp) doesn't perform quite as well as he did in the regular season.

whatever though, 43-8.

But Pop does do this: see both Lakers games and the last GSW, DAL, and DEN games for example. It's matchup and unit driven, not "oh I think I'll randomly insert Splitter in the game for 5 minutes and see what happens". How many other teams regularly play a 5-big rotation? I just don't see where those 10 minutes are supposed to come from when our starters are playing under 30, Dice out there for 22, and Bonner only logging 13. Put Blair at the 3? Limit TD to 17 instead of 27?

And what happens if we're playing Game 4 against the Lakers in the WCF and one (or two) of our bigs get in foul trouble? Come on, think about the officiating in LA. Wouldn't it be nice to have a guy who's at least got a few minutes against good teams on him? Or are we resigned to going to small ball as soon as Blair gets his third bull foul against the Lakers special brand of officiating? Tiago comes in, holds his own, we only give up maybe a few points to the Lakers, instead of being crunched into small ball and the Lakers slowing the game down and taking 2 offensive rebounds per possession.

[Mugen]

But Pop does do this: see both Lakers games and the last GSW, DAL, and DEN games for example. It's matchup and unit driven, not "oh I think I'll randomly insert Splitter in the game for 5 minutes and see what happens". How many other teams regularly play a 5-big rotation? I just don't see where those 10 minutes are supposed to come from when our starters are playing under 30, Dice out there for 22, and Bonner only logging 13. Put Blair at the 3? Limit TD to 17 instead of 27?

a 5 big rotation won't work and i understand Splitter is the odd man out.

but for a lot of the games Bonner was out, Pop went with a 3 big rotation risking fatigue/injury on TD/Blair/Dice, guys who all have had knee issues in the past. Pops only went to Splitter when he was forced to.

Bonner is the definition of a "matchup and unit driven/situational role player" yet Pop sticks with him even when his shot is off and his opponent is scoring at will on him. More times this season it's paid off, but it always hasnt in the past.

i hope Splitter will be afforded the same type of trust in the future, if he earns it. til then, people will still complain that Tiago should be getting more minutes.

im happy that the season has gone so well so far that my biggest complaint has been Pop not giving enough minutes to our 10th man. it's a nice problem to have.

[temujin]

Manu a C-?

Manu Ginobili either scored or passed on every basket or FTs (TD) the Spurs had from 7' to go, until it was over.

Never bother sweating the small (first half) stuff.

[temujin]

And yes, if Splitter can't get any minutes against Detroit after a couple of solid games, there is definitely a problem.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

if people think the Spurs looked tired last night.....i am not looking forward to see what the energy level is like tonight.

If Tiago does not get some good burn, god help us all

[kuato]

Manu is in preservation mode, he will fire up in playoffs

[TDMVPDPOY]

Gregg Popovich: C. So, on a night when no one is bringing intensity, you decide not to play Tiago, who's coming off his career-best game? Unbelievably poor decision by Pop. I understand saving him for the next game, but he could have made a big difference in the first half. I wonder if Pop knows how badly his coaching affects confidence. Would also liked to see more Neal, considering he was 2-2 from 3.

couldve use splitters size in this game, pistons have no one who can defend him and his size down low on defense wouldve help....just look at his next game at the raptors, he was clearly settling in given the minutes and outplayin whoever was on the court....