DNPcoaching decision Splitter, game over, series/season almost certainly over

[Old School 44]

Don't forget declining productivity. We all saw last year, in the playoff series versus the Suns, just how far TD has fallen defensively. That All-NBA power forward isn't coming back. WHile he can conjure up moments, he can no longer move his feet well. Therefore, he very susceptible defensively. Yet he's STILL the Spurs best interior defender. What's wrong with that picture?

Duncan can no longer save the day by himself. He needs more support. Splitter is the best answer.

Sure he's lost a step, but it doesn't help that he's literally playing interior D by himself.

[SenorSpur]

Didn't Pop decide to switch on the pick and roll and had Duncan trying to guard Grant Hill, Steve Nash and Goran Dragic for four games with no adjustments? Was there ever a time that Duncan was useful checking guards 20 feet from the basket with no legitimate bigs behind him?

Never.

When you look at what Duncan has around him and watching him being forced into same, unfavorable defensive switches for which he is woefully mismatched, you realize that nothing has changed in 12 months. Duncan is an old man out on an island, 20 feet from the basket.

[Rummpd]

Two coaches to replace Pop (send him to the President's chair and let him chill out with wine):

M. Brown - plausible
Larry Brown - very unlikely but would game plan like

Both available, both would have Pop's respect and M. Brown while Cleveland did not win a le lived and died on defense.

[SenorSpur]

Sure he's lost a step, but it doesn't help that he's literally playing interior D by himself.

True and it's Pop's greatest sin as President of basketball Operations. Was he not watching that playoff series against the Suns? The fact that he simply elected to enter another season with TD as the only solid interior post presence, is just irresponsible.

[SenorSpur]

Two coaches to replace Pop:

M. Brown
Larry Brown

Both available, both would have Pop's respect and M. Brown while Cleveland did not win a le lived and died on defense.

I doni't think Pop needs to be replaced. He just needs to get his head out of his ass, and stop denying what is seemingly apparent to everyone - except him - his frontline is undersized, undermanned and more importantly, he has a backup center on the bench that is woefully underutlized.

[Mugen]

I love how some fans think that just because a coach has a good track record with great players, he's infallible...Pop has done many things well, but his failure to develop another big (be it trading Scola, ignoring Splitter, etc) since the Admiral's retirement has hurt the Spurs. He's probably the best PF of all-time and you gotta make the most of his remaining productive years.

Phil's won 11 rings but it's pretty evident that he doesn't give a anymore, and his indifference is contagious to the rest of the team (outside of Kobe).

Sometimes good coaches are either too proud or too lazy to make the proper adjustments.

What up DD.

Phil's arrogance has cost em in the past. But at least he doesn't coach scared like Pop does. He put Trey freaking Johnson in the game yesterday and Tiago didn't see a second

[Old School 44]

Two coaches to replace Pop:

M. Brown
Larry Brown

Both available, both would have Pop's respect and M. Brown while Cleveland did not win a le lived and died on defense.

Definitely NO on Larry Brown. We already travelled that road. Besides, where do you think Pop inherited his stubborness gene?

[Rummpd]

You got a point on Larry Brown i would not want that it is just he would adjust more IMO.

[Mugen]

True and it's Pop's greatest sin as President of basketball Operations. Was he not watching that playoff series against the Suns? The fact that he simply elected to enter another season with TD as the only solid interior post presence, is just irresponsible.

8 years since D-Rob and the best running partner the FO could muster for TD was a past their prime Horry and Oberto.

[Old School 44]

True and it's Pop's greatest sin as President of basketball Operations. Was he not watching that playoff series against the Suns? The fact that he simply elected to enter another season with TD as the only solid interior post presence, is just irresponsible.

Yep, people laugh, but I was a Mahinmi supporter until the end.
Still never figured out what he did to not warrant a better on-court look.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Two coaches to replace Pop (send him to the President's chair and let him chill out with wine):

M. Brown - plausible
Larry Brown - very unlikely but would game plan like

Both available, both would have Pop's respect and M. Brown while Cleveland did not win a le lived and died on defense.

Larry Brown? Where do you think Pop got the idea from that anyone who didn't go through training camp is worthless to the team their first year?

[romad_20]

You got a point on Larry Brown i would not want that it is just he would adjust more IMO.

Larry brown would never, ever play a rookie big mins. Also I'm not sure where youre getting that he would adjust more. There's a reason he's coached and been forced out or quit on so many teams

[John Basedow]

What up DD.

Phil's arrogance has cost em in the past. But at least he doesn't coach scared like Pop does. He put Trey freaking Johnson in the game yesterday and Tiago didn't see a second

tbh I had no idea who he was a week ago.

I made this analogy to Phil a few days ago, but in retrospect it's more befitting of Pop: Pop has turned into Walter Kurtz from Apocalypse Now (or Heart of Darkness for you readers out there). He was once brilliant but now he's clearly gone insane. There are still many Pop minions and mini-Dennis Hoppers running around praising his name, but his "methods are unsound."

Phil has basically become "the guy on the couch" from Half-Baked...indifferent to what's going on around him and giving cues every so often.

They both need a break, if not permanent retirement.

[mingus]

From what I've seen, I don't think that there's much that Tiago Splitter could have done on Sunday to have curbed the abuse that the Spurs bigs took in the paint. I'm intrigued by Tiago's size and I think he can play. But I also think that he plays best when things are loosy-goosy schematically. He scores best in scramble situations and he's most effective defensively (to me) when he doesn't have to worry about rotations and such; when the game slows down and requires that players stay true to a scheme, he's much more of a thinker than a player and, in those situations, I think he's relatively passive and foul-prone.

With that said, I don't think it would be advisable to run Splitter out there on Randolph at any point in time, because I think he lacks both the mobility and credibility (with officials) to be effective in that situation. So, if you pair Splitter with Duncan, you're asking Tim to play extended minutes defensively against Randolph. While I have no doubt that Tim could handle that task and could probably stay out of foul trouble, I think you'd lose a lot from him on the offensive end and I think you still run the risk that Randolph will take away your one real hope in the paint with a couple of strong moves and a favorable whistle (particularly if, for instance, you get an official like Steve Javie in Game 2, who doesn't mind pissing off a home crowd). At that point, you're trying to deal with both Gasol and Randolph with the offensively-challenged and not exactly "credibile" quartet of McDyess, Blair, Splitter, and Bonner.

Still, if the same continues in Game 2 -- if the Spurs can't hit shots from anywhere and the Grizzlies are effectively pounding the ball into the paint, I'd hope that Pop would use Splitter in situations where he could check Gasol for periods of time -- mostly when Duncan sits, and particularly if Gasol is in the game and Randolph is not (there was a 3 minute stretch of the 1st quarter and a 3 minute stretch of the 3rd quarter when this was true; there was also a :50 stretch of the 2nd when Gasol was paired with Haddadi).

not enough mobility? Tiago has more mobility than anyone on the Spurs frontline. that's ridiculous. he has great mobility for his position. he's great at checking guards on the pick 'n roll and he also gets into position to draw a lot of charges. both of those require quick feet, esp. the former. confusing critique. the officiating thing i agree with. but you're going to let that decide whether you put him on Randolph? seriously?

THE SPURS LET GASOL AND RANDOLPH SCORE 49 AND REBOUND 23 in GAME 1. THEY ARE NOT IN POSITION TO BE BASING THEIR STRATEGY ON HOW TO GUARD THE FRONTLINE ON "RESPECT" FROM THE OFFICIALS.

[SA210]

not enough mobility? Tiago has more mobility than anyone on the Spurs frontline. that's ridiculous. he has great mobility for his position. he's great at checking guards on the pick 'n roll and he also gets into position to draw a lot of charges. both of those require quick feet, esp. the former. confusing critique. the officiating thing i agree with. but you're going to let that decide whether you put him on Randolph? seriously?

THE SPURS LET GASOL AND RANDOLPH SCORE 49 AND REBOUND 23 in GAME 1. THEY ARE NOT IN POSITION TO BE BASING THEIR STRATEGY ON HOW TO GUARD THE FRONTLINE ON "RESPECT" FROM THE OFFICIALS.

[honestfool84]

^^^

[Obstructed_View]

tbh I had no idea who he was a week ago.

I made this analogy to Phil a few days ago, but in retrospect it's more befitting of Pop: Pop has turned into Walter Kurtz from Apocalypse Now (or Heart of Darkness for you readers out there). He was once brilliant but now he's clearly gone insane. There are still many Pop minions and mini-Dennis Hoppers running around praising his name, but his "methods are unsound."

Phil has basically become "the guy on the couch" from Half-Baked...indifferent to what's going on around him and giving cues every so often.

They both need a break, if not permanent retirement.

One major difference between Pop and Phil, though. There's a secret in NBA basketball, which is that talent always beats coaching. Phil still remembers that, and Pop forgot it years ago.

[mingus]

well there you go. all you do is complain about Pop, yet if given the chance, you wouldn't even know of a plausible solution.


available, there is no better coach out there.

like this is absolutely unreadable. it's a goddamn forum, yo. a MOTHER ING FORUM. complaining about people who complain on a forum is like complaining about the smell of in a bathroom.

[Obstructed_View]

By the way, how is "Start a center at the center position" not a plausible solution?

[Capt Bringdown]

What is Pop's fear? That playing Splitter would wreck the team? What's the downside of giving Splitter a look when players who are ahead of him are not getting the job done?
What's the downside of us having more length and defense in the rotation?

[SenorSpur]

I'll say this. This is probably this team's last go-around. With an impending lockout looming that could either shorten or cancel next season, the continued decline of Duncan and the likehood that both Manu and TP will again be participating with their National teams, this could very well be their last shot at another ring.

With that in mind, that further begs the question, what is Pop holding Splitter out for?

[ChumpDumper]

So no one emailed him?

[Capt Bringdown]

With that in mind, that further begs the question, what is Pop holding Splitter out for?

He thinks his existing rotation is as good it as it gets, and/or that Splitter is not good enough or not ready.

We're talking about incompetence here. A massive blunder that will haunt Spurs fans for years to come, similar to the Scola debacle.

[John_C]

Pop will eventually play Tiago late in the series. And then because of inexperience in the playoffs, Tiago will incur a lot of costly rookie mistakes. And then Pop will have a smirk on his face, and will be thinking, "That's why I don't like to play rookies".

ing hilarious!

[Capt Bringdown]

And then because of inexperience in the playoffs...

And lack of consistent playing time during the regular season. Remember, when Tim was out, Splitter filled in with almost a double/double average. Pop then demoted him to the very last man off the bench.