Pop's Decision to Play the Starters

[timvp]

I can't fault the strategy. The strategy made sense heading into the Lakers game … and it makes sense to me now. Obviously, the Manu injury was about the worst possible outcome but it was, even with hindsight, a risk worth taking.

First, even though Pop would never admit it, there was a smidgen of value in having the best record in the league. Yes, the chances aren't great for a Spurs vs. Bulls meeting in the NBA Finals, however having a shot at home-court advantage in such a scenario shouldn't be totally discounted.

But most importantly, the Spurs starters needed the extra work. The last quality win this team put together was almost a month ago against Dallas. If the Spurs had been rolling to the finish line with rhythm and confidence, punting the final two games of the season would have been the right move. Unfortunately, that was simply not the case. In theory, letting the starters break a sweat and try to regain their edge held a lot of value.

Pop is going to be second-guessed, and he has to be kicking himself every time he looks over and sees Manu's arm in a sling, but the logic was sound. Now the most important thing is for the team to overcome the awkward end to an otherwise fantastic regular season. Although it's not the way you want to do it, it's very possible to find a groove and get healthy within a playoff run -- just look at the Lakers and Celtics last season.

Hope Manu's MRI comes back clean. Get in a few good practices. Put on the hardhats for what promises to be a very physical series against the Grizzlies. And let's get this ish started.

[Obstructed_View]

If the goal was winning the game, then I don't understand the decision to pull Duncan and Parker down three with seven minutes to go. If the goal was to get the starters some rhythm, I don't understand the decision to sit them against the Lakers instead of just limiting minutes for both games.

Pop is second guessed because he doesn't do anything that normal basketball coaches do for the playoffs. The rotation is in shambles largely because of his decisions, not because of injuries. I'm certainly not going to blame him for the Ginobili injury, but he's cost the team quite a bit in the last few nights and has little to show for it. The good news: Duncan's going to be pretty fresh, and the team is mostly healthy, really deep and has a bunch of guys that can contribute.

Bottom line: None of this means anything if the RJ of November/December doesn't show up soon.

[spursbird]

Official timvp is back thread

[DesignatedT]

Very much agree.

[Obstructed_View]

And welcome back, LJ. Nice to see you.

[polandprzem]

Official timvp is back thread

nope


He showed up for the Boston game and then disappear



Pop must to be really confident when he pulled starters with 7 minutes to go.

[mytespurs]

In the various "chicken little-sky is falling threads" that have permeated the spurs forum, the breath of fresh air that arrives is timvp, the voicce of calm and reason.

I understand what Pop did but losing these last 2 games though meaningless, manu's elbow in a sling and a date with the grizzlies doesn't exactly give me a lot of confidence.

[TE]

No, it wasn't a good idea to bring the starters back. Does allowing the starters to build some rhythm for the PO's outweigh the idea of them being injured going into the said PO?

No, it doesn't.


In order to tackle this question, you got to think what was best for the Spurs.


I think health is better than overall HCA in this case.

[Mugen]

I though it was a dumb risk by Pop that he did not have to take.

If HC in the Finals meant so much to Pop then he would have played them in the Laker game and he wouldn't have pulled Timmy in the end while keeping TP/Dice out of the 4th.

The "rust" argument makes sense if we aren't talking about 3 guys who've played in countless big games in their career and are accustomed to what the playoff basketball is all about. They aren't suddenly going to turn to a bunch of novices even if they've sat for a week. Even if they are rusty going into Game 1, do you really think that they can't pull out a ugly victory against a 8th seed?

Pop is scared of the Lakers so he tanked that game to avoid them as much as possible.

He got too smart for his own good and it blew up in his face.

Welcome back again, timVP. Hopefully you're around much more for the playoffs.

[ElNono]

We should have played the Lakeshow with the starters... And also this game. Pop not only sent Phil the memo of how much he's scared of him, but also threw away this game when it was still winnable. To top it off, all his season-long micromanagement blew up in his face when Manu went down in the last game of the season. It's water under the bridge now though.

I really hope Manu is ok, and he can come back and contribute, because guys like TD, Dice, TP and Neal busted their asses all season long to get shortchanged now.

I like our chances against MEM. We should have enough even if we miss Manu 3 or 4 games.

[Yorae]

I hope we sweep memphis because it seems nobody sees the spurs as a threat anymore....the record withstanding...

[timvp]

If the goal was winning the game, then I don't understand the decision to pull Duncan and Parker down three with seven minutes to go.

I don't think the goal was to necessarily win the game. As I saw it, a side effect of playing the starters minutes against the Suns would be to increase the odds of winning.

If the goal was to get the starters some rhythm, I don't understand the decision to sit them against the Lakers instead of just limiting minutes for both games.

Allowing the starters, namely Tim Duncan, to play in back-to-back games this late in the season without much to play for would have been too risky. We've seen Pop try to limit TD's minutes in back-to-backs -- even that wacky game where he brought Duncan off the bench against the Raptors last season in the second night -- and it doesn't seem to help matters.

Picking one night to play makes sense to me. Picking the easier team also makes sense because the Spurs needed to win one of the final two games to force that coin flip.

Pop is second guessed because he doesn't do anything that normal basketball coaches do for the playoffs. The rotation is in shambles largely because of his decisions, not because of injuries.

This is shifting to a new subject but the rotation appears straight forward to me heading into the playoffs.

And welcome back, LJ. Nice to see you.

nope


He showed up for the Boston game and then disappear

Don't forget to get new batteries for the GPS device before the playoffs start

Does allowing the starters to build some rhythm for the PO's outweigh the idea of them being injured going into the said PO?

No, it doesn't.

I disagree. With that logic, the Spurs should have punted their final four or five games of the season after it was apparent they weren't getting caught in the West.

And again, finding a rhythm for this team is more important than it may appear on paper because it's been so long since they've had a quality win. Add previous injuries to the mix and the reward of getting a good run in tonight's game was worth the risk of a fluke injury, at least IMO.

I though it was a dumb risk by Pop that he did not have to take.

If HC in the Finals meant so much to Pop then he would have played them in the Laker game and he wouldn't have pulled Timmy in the end while keeping TP/Dice out of the 4th.

I'm not arguing that HCA was the main carrot. If Pop played starters in the last game of the season to simply attempt to force a coin flip against an Eastern Conference team who probably has about a 40% chance at best to reach the Finals, I'd be the first person calling him out.

The "rust" argument makes sense if we aren't talking about 3 guys who've played in countless big games in their career and are accustomed to what the playoff basketball is all about. They aren't suddenly going to turn to a bunch of novices even if they've sat for a week. Even if they are rusty going into Game 1, do you really think that they can't pull out a ugly victory against a 8th seed?

I see where you are coming from but these are odd cir stances. It's more than just typical rust. A month between a quality win and the start of the playoffs is a long time. Plus Duncan needed to regain confidence on his ankle ... same with Ginobili and his quad. A solid run tonight by the starters could have been helpful going into the playoffs ... for confidence sake team-wise and individually.

He got too smart for his own good and it blew up in his face.

It definitely blew up in his face ... can't deny that.

[vander]

Pop should have played everyone against LA, and maybe rested TD against Phoenix, A win against LA would have actually accomplished something, and the spurs could have beaten Phoenix shorthanded.

it's quite hilarious to see people here twisting themselves in knots trying to defend Pop

If we even make it to the WCF, LA gonna be nice and rested after their 5 game beat down of Dallas or Portland since that series probably goes 7 tough games.

Pop could have given LA Portland in round 1 and no HCA in round 2

[Bruno]

timvp is doing his Horry. Coasting during the regular season to show up for the playoffs.

[polandprzem]

Don't forget to get new batteries for the GPS device before the playoffs start

I'm always there

[DPG21920]

The logic sucked and there is no silver lining in the Manu injury and no one owns a Bonner jersey. Nice to see you again though.

[Giuseppe]

The logic sucked and there is no silver lining in the Manu injury

Deepy, breakin' his truth cherry. Good for you, daddy-O.

[Brazil]

The logic sucked and there is no silver lining in the Manu injury and no one owns a Bonner jersey. Nice to see you again though.

I knew dpg wouldn't like this thread

[stealthjbravo]

Pop should have played everyone against LA, and maybe rested TD against Phoenix, A win against LA would have actually accomplished something, and the spurs could have beaten Phoenix shorthanded.

it's quite hilarious to see people here twisting themselves in knots trying to defend Pop

If we even make it to the WCF, LA gonna be nice and rested after their 5 game beat down of Dallas or Portland since that series probably goes 7 tough games.

Pop could have given LA Portland in round 1 and no HCA in round 2

+1

Pop

[jag]

At this point, if you can't play your stars a few minutes the last game of the season to keep them sharp for the playoffs then your team is too fragile to make a worthwhile playoff run anyway. The playoffs are going to be much more physical than the Suns game.
Pop has done a good job balancing minutes while also keeping the guys sharp. I like the idea of Pop sending our guys into the playoffs without a week-long layoff.

Injuries happen, but you can't be afraid to play your guys 4 days before the playoffs start.

[dunkman]

It was flip-flop strategy. The Spurs should have rested the last two games as they usually do, if the HCA against the Bulls meant nothing.

I guess they probably received a call from Stern . . . because it made no sense to play the starters in the last game, since the Lakers game could have been a a "quality win".

[Giuseppe]

All these intricate machinations Pop goes thru to play the games is comical.

Manu is his mirror image on the floor:::intricate machinations instead of just straight up competing.

It's a hoot watching these 2 fools.

[Stringer_Bell]

Pop is second guessed because he doesn't do anything that normal basketball coaches do for the playoffs. The rotation is in shambles largely because of his decisions, not because of injuries. I'm certainly not going to blame him for the Ginobili injury, but he's cost the team quite a bit in the last few nights and has little to show for it.

I tend to agree with this, but what's most frustrating about last night (some earlier games) is that Pop's strategy seems to have one foot in and one foot out of the pool - the players don't look like they understand, like this is an experiment that only Pop knows what he's testing. The reserves are hungry, so they play hard all the time...but it all looks a little fickle to me when our starters (after sitting out the game before) let the Suns get 40 on them in the first quarter.

I don't think these problems will hound us in the playoffs, but it would help with confidence in Pop if he'd just be a little more assertive than going halfway on stuff like he seems to have been doing.

[DPG21920]

Then play them vs LA as well. Just limit their minutes. Don't do the half ass stuff. Either sit them or play them. Why is rest such a focal point all year and not at the end?

Keep in mind, doing this stuff earlier in the season means there is greater margin for error and recovery. Going into the playoffs, there is none.

If you are going to do the half assed stuff, play them vs LA instead of Suns, not only do you get an extra days rest, but you get an extra days buffer for a Manu-like injury while accomplishing the same "rust" goal.

[urunobili]

timvp is doing his Horry. Coasting during the regular season to show up for the playoffs.

speaking of which, where is Marcus Bryant?