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And will continue to stand since Aaron Gray went down in the 4th quarter.
No one is saying Monty is a better coach. Besides past accomplishments don't mean in the present tense.
Where have you been? Open your eyes. The Spurs and Pop didn't win 4 les with a small frontline and an average defense.
And will continue to stand since Aaron Gray went down in the 4th quarter.
True. And the shorter front line players had more skill and will
But there also isn't much proof that Monty really did anything. Find a way to neutralize Pau when he's not going white swan and I'll be impressed.
Monty's not a great coach because he didn't keep Aaron "no corporate knowledge" Gray on the bench where he belongs.
However, you bring up a good point. I don't know how much Aaron Gray played for the Hornets during the regular season, but clearly coach Williams wasn't married to one set rotation of bigs. He knew that his best chance to combat the size disparity was to run a platoon of bigs at the Fakers. Fortunately for the Hornets, Gray was phenomenal.
Maybe Pop feels that if he gives into playing Splitter that it would be deemed as a panic move. Maybe he just doesn't think Tiago is ready. Whatever his reasoning, he's compromising his team's chances to win by his stubbornness.
If Dice continues to struggle against the Memphis bigs, Pop will be left with no other real option than to play Splitter.
I don't think I agree that Pop is married to a set rotation of bigs, or he wouldn't have ed up the rotation and made Dice the starter a month ago. Pop develops grudges against certain players and crushes on others, and allows that to determine how he plays the game. He also has a terrible feel for the game, subbing guys out when they're on a hot streak or making adjustments to things that are actually working, or simply putting guys in really impossible situations and allowing them to fail.
He didn't seem to see benching the centers on a 63 win team just in time for the playoffs as a panic move, but he apparently saw letting them play ever again as one. He's not too stubborn to suddenly take point guard duties from Tony Parker and give them to George Hill yesterday.
Since we're on that subject, since Manu was out, and seeing how Hill moved up into the starter's role, it puzzles me that Pop didin't go to his bench and dig out another wing player. Since Hill was clearly struggling, it only made sense to throw Danny Green or James Anderson into the mix, just to see what they could do against the aggressive Grizzlies. Green performed will in late season action, is a good perimeter defender (something they badly need) and has demonstrated a good 3-pt stroke. Anderson, while struggling with conditioning, has proved to a an above-average 3-pt shooter, can create his own shot and a capable defender. Combined perhaps they could've given this team a spark.
Pop seems unable or unwilling to adjust on the fly and try something different.
Pop and the rest of the Spurs coaching staff have regressed back to the old "simulator crew" that Phil Jackson labeled them. Pop's a numbers guy, he sees Bonner led the league in 3 pt fg% and says, "the odds are with us, Bonner will win us a game". He's right, Bonner will win us 1 game, but he'll lose us 4 others.
Pop couldn't pull Hill out of the game. Who would have run the point?
Pop's perfectly content trying something different if it means not playing a center or going away from something that's working. Somehow he thinks that vanilla concepts like starting your best five players or playing all your players at their correct positions will make people think he's not a genius.
I'll preface this by saying I'm all for playing Splitter (at Blair's expense) and playing him in tandem with Duncan some. But the difference between Gray and Splitter is girth. Gray was able to do an adequate job on Bynum because, in addition to his height, he has the mass to lean on Bynum without Bynum overwhelming him.
That's the problem with this team. They don't have a single true center (and their only wide body is not even a full 6-7), which is why they've made Bynum, Bogut, Milicic and now Gasol look like prime Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar, Olajuwon and O'Neal, this season. Against teams with big, physical front lines, Duncan should be playing some power forward.
And here we are, struggling with Memphis. Two rounds too far ahead.
Monty Williams played pro ball. Thus, he knows that talented players win basketball games, not some ridiculous, complicated system.
Something I've been saying all year. There's no reason for Tim to be the only true center on this team and having to STILL bear the burden of alll the heavy lifting in the frontcourt - at his age.
Except that Splitter has played against Bynum, and has yet to be overwhelmed by him. In fact, Splitter hasn't been overwhelmed by anyone that I can remember.
Splitter's a true center in every way that I can think of. Dice is a more than adequate backup center for a championship team IMO. The reason those guys go off is because the person getting the most minutes next to Duncan lacks the length to slow them down, lacks the athletic ability to jump or block shots, and lacks the foot speed to keep anyone in front of him.
The first time he guarded Bynum, Bynum went at him and overpowered him. He doesn't have the mass to adequately defend power fives for long stretches. I agree that they can't be picky and focus on his lack of bulk or NBA inexperience as a reason to not play him. I'm just saying the reason guys like Collins or Gray can have success against a Howard or a Bynum is because of their mass, in addition to their height.
Splitter was actually drafted as a PF. It just goes to show you how much the game has changed that he's now considered a C (as are many converted PF's). He's not a true C, though and neither is Duncan. A true C is Howard, Bynum, S. O'Neal, Perkins, Bogut, M. Gasol, Yao, Oden, etc. McDyess is not a C at all. He's a PF. I'm aware of why those guys "go off". What get's overlooked though, is the fact that Duncan has had trouble guarding power fives. It's because he's not a true C. He's just forced to play C because of his decline in mobility and because of how this roster is constructed.
Gray is 7'0" 280. Try bodying up 280.
Splitter more than held his own versus Marc Gasol in an earlier game this year. It's so frustrating to know that this guy is the only adequate backup for Duncan, yet the coach stubbornly refuses to play him.
Are we really sitting here debating whether Splitter is a center or not? Even if he is a PF, he is taller, longer and faster than the alternative - Blair, Bonner and Dice. With the roster the Spurs have, he is a center.
So while every other team trots out 2 "centers" (Bynum/Gasol, Randolph/Gasol, Darko/Love, Ibaka/Perkins, Pop wants to field a (in 6 days) 35 year old Duncan with the midget Blair, POS Bonner or even more ancient Dice while the young, mobile 7 footer rots on the bench.
Pop is just wearing out the team trying to defend these giants instead of playing the one player who can help. He'll put in Green, Anderson, Novak and Quinn before Splitter. In years past, he didn't have a choice so what he's doing is inexcusable. He must have something against Splitter because even the "corporate knowledge" excuse doesn't fly with Green, Anderson and Novak. If Splitter plays, everything falls into place - TD can concentrate on guarding Gasol without "keeping an eye on Zach" and the other players can guard their man without having to double team Zach because Bonner/Blair/Dice need help.
All of us hoping that he'll put in Splitter are destined to disappointment. Remember he's the one who told Griffin, Westbrook and Love not to expect much playing time in the AS game - just because they're AS rookies - as if the fans wouldn't prefer to see Griffin dunk than TD hobbling down the court.
Here's another rant: just how many PFs and SGs can this team have? By my count, there are 4 PFs (Duncan, Bonner, Blair, Dice) and 5 SGs (Manu, Hill, Neal, Anderson, Green), 1 C (Splitter), 2 SF (RJ and Novak, who is not an adequate backup) and 2 PGs (TP and Quinn, who is not an adequate) backup). Because of players playing out of position, they're either too small or the offense stalls (Hill).
Last edited by rmt; 04-19-2011 at 12:39 AM.
Numbers might say he is 280, but I highly doubt that.
Gray is one huge guy. I'd say he is closer at the 300+ pound mark.
The first time he guarded Bynum, ever, Bynum scored on him. That's obviously the point where you completely stopped watching Splitter play, because everything that happened subsequent to that flies in the face of your conclusion.
Splitter went right down on the next possession and drew a foul on Bynum. Gasol came in for Odom and those two collectively scored one point while Splitter was on the floor after that.
The Dice tip-in game had Splitter defending Bynum in the post, and Bynum tried to throw his weight around. He was completely unsuccessful doing it. Splitter drew an offensive foul on him and he was very frustrated at Splitter's ability to keep him from his spots.
Collectively for Splitter against Bynum in those two games, Bynum scored three points, had two fouls, and the Lakers scored two points in the paint (Bynum's first basket). Not too shabby for a rookie that can't earn playing time ahead of Matt Bonner.
We have a 7 footer called Tiago Splitter but Pop will not play him because he cannot shoot 3.
Bryant took 26 shots, and nobody else on the team took more than 9.
Hornets win. Simple as that.
You mean have a seven foot center that hustles his butt off playing defense and scrapping for points and rebounds? That ship sailed a long time ago at the trade deadline.
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