They can adjust if the Grizzlies play hack-a-Splitter and he struggles mightily at the line. But they can't do without him in this series. It's abundantly clear that this team can't defend big, burly centers with decent or better skill. Bynum, Bogut, Milicic and Gasol have all taken turns destroying this team inside, because they don't have a single player with the size and strength to contain them. Splitter's not strong, but he is long and he's a savvy defender, so outside of Duncan, he's their best shot at adequately defending these players.
Whether they pull this series out or not, they're going to need a specific big in the off season, if they're serious about winning another championship in the Duncan era. It's got to be a starting caliber big who's big and strong enough to defend power fives, yet mobile and nimble enough to cover finesse fours. Splitter can be a nice compliment to Duncan, but that's not enough. Neither is a true center and even if they were, the absence of a third such big with size is glaring.
Splitter should fare ok against Gasol though. Slow-footed big, physical... plus Tiago is a great help defender under the rim... You can tandem him with Dice. Dice gets Zbo and Tiago gets Arthur/Gasol. Make ZBo take jumpshots and have a legit 7' against anybody wanting to drive. He should be also able to grab more than 3 boards in 20+ mins...
I think they are also missing a 6th, 7th, and 8th big to play along the other 3 bigs. Out of 12 dressed positions, we should have at least 11 bigs. Perhaps Splitter could run some 2-guard while Novak runs point and everything will be solved. Perhaps that awesome BIG line of Gasol/Bynum/Odom is UN INGBEATABLE because being BIG is all that matters. Go to sleep, your ramblings make no sense.
You make sense?
I understood him perfectly...
All three of those statements are wrong, tbh.
But moot point. Splitter won't get time in this series or the playoffs til Spurs are desperate.
I don't even think 'desperate'... I only imagine him out there if there's some major foul trouble and Novak has the flu or something...
Blair/Dice both had 5 fouls today and still a DNP. You and I both know that if Bonner picked up 5 that Pop would have put RJ on Z-Bo before settling on Tiago.
It's just frustrating because this series is a perfect matchup for Tiago. You can put him on Gasol and let Timmy play Z-Bo and that size advantage MEM has is basically neutralized.
Pop has coached like a ing idiot since the All Star Break, tbh.
I don't know why you don't understand that's not fair to the team... Obviously missing training camp really sealed the deal... Just not enough time to get him ready for the playoffs...
Tiago is still a big question mark in the playoffs, of course, but from what I've seen from him this season, he seems like a quick learner. Plus, I'd take his 50% FT shooting if that means he's disrupting shots on the other end and drawing fouls on their bigs. I don't know if he'll get more respect than what TD's getting but I sure would love to see him try.
Then again, Pop has shown all season long that defense is not his priority. I wouldn't expect him to change anything drastically after one game.
Are you ing re ed? That wasn't the typical "play Splitter/bench Bonner" post. And even if it was, who cares? I don't give a damn how many times it's been said, it bears repeating. Why else do you think this team made Bynum, Bogut, Milicic and now Gasol look like prime Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar, Olajuwon and O'Neal? It wasn't a coincidence.
Take this series for example. Because of how their front court is built (and because this coach is a re ), they can't afford to have their best option to defend the opposition's best player defending him. Duncan should actually be the primary Randolph defender, because he's the only big with the length and enough strength to potentially do an adequate job. But they can't have him defend Randolph, because that would leave Gasol with a significant mismatch. So what's happening is, they're at a disadvantage in both match-ups (obviously Duncan is better than Gasol, but Gasol's got him by two inches and a lot more pounds than their listings suggest, so from a physical standpoint, he's at a disadvantage). Their best chance would be to play Duncan and Splitter together for long stretches. But that makes too much sense.
They need a big who has the mass to defend Gasol, to free Duncan up to be the primary Randolph defender. In other match-ups, such as the Mavs, they need someone mobile enough to defend Nowitzki, so that Duncan can defend Chandler. In other words, Duncan is without a true position defensively at this point in his career. As such, he needs a specific big next to him, who can do an adequate job of both, so that they can choose the best match-up for Duncan depending on the opponent. Duncan shouldn't have to be the primary defender against power fives.
You just ramble on and on and on... I can't even figure out what you're saying. Is it that Tim needs a shoulder to cry on as he gets old and that Splitter could be that guy but really couldn't so the Spurs need to find a 3rd big out of the anus of a unicorn?
TD21, I'm not sure Tim on ZBo to start the game makes sense, because there's a real possibility of foul trouble. Dice didn't have a great game today, but ZBo was actually checked ok in the 1st quarter or so by Antonio. The thing is,Tim will need those 12 minutes of rest or so and Dice probably even more. That's when you end up with the mismatches. Blair on ZBo,Matt on Gasol, etc.
To close the game I agree Tim should take ZBo and a banger-type of guy on Gasol. Could be Dice, but after that, it's Tiago or bust.
Re-read it; it makes perfect sense. I'm not suggesting it'll be easy or that they'll be able to acquire the ideal big, but they have enough assets now (McDyess' partially guaranteed contract, Blair, Anderson, 1st round pick) to potentially get a quality one, even if it means taking a gamble on a talented player who's fallen out of favor.
ElNono, they need to take their chances and hope that Duncan's reputation helps him out some. But they can't worry about that. Top players have to defend other top players all the time. Rotation wise, they could work it out, so as to avoid/limit the match-ups you're talking about.
I'd like to see Splitter have some minutes but lets not forget that he can get pushed around relatively easily by bigger and stronger players which the Grizzlies have in their frontcourt. Gasol would just play bully ball against Splitter (Marc's strength/weight overpowers even Duncan/Dice) but maybe that'd open up opportunities for the Spurs guards to strip the ball.
Another huge exploitable disadvantage against Splitter in this match-up is that he seems like he's below-average when it comes to basic NBA rebounding and boxing out. Thats just asking for trouble with Randolph on the court but at least Splitter is one of a mobile big body on the floor which the Spurs haven't had in a while.
Last edited by Cane; 04-18-2011 at 02:14 AM.
im glad your breaking it down point by point fact after fact, i always try to summarize it and no one listens maybe i suck at it lol but i would think they know all these pro's and con's when comparing the 2 & watching closely. i think even the dumbest spurs fans are realizing this is just ridiculous.
You ask, but you don't listen. Maybe you just don't want to know.
Let's try this again:
Depth chart (rotation):
Center: Splitter / Dice
Power Forward: Duncan / Blair
Role Player: Matt Bonner
A three point specialist doesn't need to play more than a few minutes unless he's on a crazy hot shooting streak. You put him in at the end of quarters and in offensive situations and you draw up plays for him. He can get minutes at any frontline position, including small forward to take advantage of matchups.
If your three point specialist needs 25 minutes in a playoff game to get off four three point shots, you're doing it wrong.
my friend erika sent me a text in the 4th saying "youre right matt bonner sucks" hahah i was like wow even she noticed!!!... what in the is going on with pop ...seriously alzheimer's ? dementia? alcoholism? over-analyzing ? biased?
has he really turned into a complete dumb ass?? i just dont see how it could make sense in the slightest way! a never ending nightmare for us die hard spurs fans... the demise of coach pop.take your piece of assistant with you, he looks like hes on meth!
i think people are looking at whole games rather than individual play and thats understandable, however when your a psycho fan you zero in on all pos ions from time to time, and notice whos getting ass raped. thats all. i hope all the bonner suck/free tiago talk at least wake more ppl up. who knows maybe theyll zero in on bonner and have an epiphany. we need TIAGO chants at the AT&T!!
Wow, your blind/cokehead friend "erika" must have missed the game by being on the receiving end of a glory hole in the 400 level bathroom if she didn't catch Bonner dropping two clutch threes to give us the lead in the last two minutes. She must have gotten the teabag hammer layed down on her face to have missed that. What a .
fortunately ticket prices are high enough that you can't afford one.
Do you guys even watch the games?
Everyone acts like Bonner was the only player abused by the Memphis bigs. Everyone played horrible D. And I've wanted Bonner out of the rotation this whole year.
If you ask me, Blair should be the fifth "big." You guys can claim that at least he rebounds unlike Bonner, but that is practically negated when he grabs an offensive board and just throws up a brick/block. His defense is as bad as Bonner's. Help defense might actually be worse. He is a very dumb player and is not ready for the playoffs. A player of his size needs to develop a jump shot to be consistent. , a ten footer would be nice.
This thread makes no sense.
Sure it would make a perfect sense to play Splitter.
Foul prone? Yes in the RS when the refs call wispers, and he was used to the much much more physical games of Euroleague. In the PO, refs tend to let it go a bit more, and I am sure Splitter would get away with a lot of "fouls" down low.
Can't hit FTs? Duncan said hi, yesterday.
Bonner pathetic on defense? Spot the difference against terrible bigs of lottery teams all season long.
Blair looked like a kid playing boys, in the middle? He won't become 6'9'' in 2 days.
Dice looking 37? Amazing.
We all know very well Splitter will NOT play, not until the series is out of hands for good.
Pop is a military.
An old military.
They stick to their plans. Even if the plans are dead wrong.
i hope dice retires. cause splitter will never get on the floor.
Splitman4evah:
Blair, Bonner and Tiago should all be used as the situation calls for it. Blair is a high energy guy who can bang with, and at time dominate, guys in the low post who aren't incredibly long or overly powerful. He would be a nice player to match up with guys like Carl Landry and possibly Kenyon Martin.
Bonner can pretty much be used against anyone because of what he brings to the table. But idealy, i'd like to see him used against guys who dominate the low post defensively but not offensively. He can spread the floor and take a defensive minded, opposing big man out of the paint to free up penetration, and also doesn't have to worry about being destroyed while on defense. Guys like Kendrick Perkins, Serge Ibaka and Marcus Camby come to mind.
Splitter should be used to match size for size. A good example would be these frontcourt matchups:
Duncan - Gasol
Splitter - Randolph
Jefferson - S. Young
When Duncan needs a breather, you bring in Dice. When Splitter needs a breather and D. Arthur comes in, you bring in Bonner.
As a 6'7" center, Blair should only be used when the matchups are favorable. He's not your everyday kind of starter/player. I don't know about you, but it doesn't appear that Blair matches up well with either Gasol, or Randolph.
I would'nt want him to shoot anything but layups, however in this series especially we need his size, rebounding and D. We don't need him to score a point memphis is not an offensive powerhouse.
His adjusted points per 48 is higher than any big on our team not named Tim. He also has the highest FG% on the team, and is the third best offensive rebounder on the team after Tim and Dice.
Quit pulling stats out of your ass.
LOL @ Bonner playing the 3!!!!
You advocate a 5-big rotation, because the last time I checked there was no "role player" minutes available between the 4 and the 5. According to this great plan, we might see a dynamic front line of Dice/Blair/Bonner!!! I can think of a thousand things better than that, and Blair/Bonner is on that list.
Bonner isn't a 3, for even 1 minute. You can't run a 5-big rotation unless you are going to try something nobody has successfully implemented before. So the question remains, who is the emergency 5th big behind Splitter? Bonner/Blair/Dice are your choices.
You're a dumbass. he said Bonner was a situational three point shooter, not in the rotation at small forward.
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