Reply With Quote
Yep! Where the is our regular season championship parade dammit!
Yep! Where the is our regular season championship parade dammit!
"Pop in his prime"
There wasn't one! Dammit! what a mediocre season!
Indeed.
It is actually funny...
you already forgot what Pop was like when he was still relevant...
You miss a defensive assignment...you are on the bench after drawing Pop's wrath...
Pop---after 2007---began to make excuses for players like Finley...who would up defensively...and Pop would talk about how professional Finley was...
IN PRACTICE!
And continue to justify Finley's ty play during games....
THAT Pop is the one that coaches the spurs now.
not really.
the Spurs run through the first 2/3rds of the season was the opposite of mediocre.
it really is.
I think Pop's wrath was evident in the continued benching of Blair at the end of the season.you already forgot what Pop was like when he was still relevant...
You miss a defensive assignment...you are on the bench after drawing Pop's wrath...
Pop called a veteran player "professional"?Pop---after 2007---began to make excuses for players like Finley...who would up defensively...and Pop would talk about how professional Finley was...
IN PRACTICE!
He must be past his prime!
So you are saying that the same Pop that won a championship in 2007 obviously hit a coaching wall in 2008 because he praised Michael Finley.And continue to justify Finley's ty play during games....
THAT Pop is the one that coaches the spurs now.
That's pretty stupid, tbh.
The hate is strong in you.
You know what's really funny? It's not the deference given to Pop. It's not how any thing remotely positive about the Spurs FO or coach evokes an onslaught of criticism in this forum. It's how a writer for a daily newspaper (who gets paid for his words) gets ridiculed by a bunch of wannabe sports journalists, GMs, coaches and has-been, never-been athletes in this forum... as though what's written here matters.
Dallas had never won a championship yet still won this year. Their team is older than the Spurs. Spurs have added some talented youth in the past three years with Splitter, Anderson, Neal, Blair and now Leonard.
Can you please point out a team in the West that you consider championship contender?
Of course he cannot. He can actually get to Nowitzki's shot. Splitters problem with guarding perimeter 4s is one of experience but the European game has more bigs that can shoot so the learning curve will not be as steep.
He definitely has the quickness for it. For a 7 fter his lateral mobility is very good. Its not as if Nowitzki is a gazelle either.
He was not matched up with the best players in the league most of the time.
How do you know what Pop has told Splitter about not blocking shots. Splitter plays grounded, not a shot blocker because that is the way he plays.
In my opinion, you saw him playing that way because if he picked up two fouls within the first 6 minutes of his playing time, Pop would sit him for the entire game (another thing I don't understand about Pop). If Splitter would pick up two fouls during his first stint in the game, Pop developed a habit of not putting him back in the game--not even in the second half (why I don't know, it never made sense to me why Pop worries about a bench players fouls when they won't see anymore than 20 minutes anyway).
The guy was scared to foul because of the limited opportunities he got. He had to try to stay on the floor to make the most of the few minutes he actually received. You could obviously see this paranoia about him throughout most of his games by his actions of standing straight up and trying not to foul. And there were several games where it seemed like the refs were just picking on Splitter (not saying they were, but he got called on a lot of bull fouls throughout the year--rookie treatment? Probably).
All in all, I think next year you will see a different Splitter in the way he defends if Pop gives the guy the longer leash like he should.
the defense splitter showed is like what rasho and oberto showed while here, they barely jump, and just stood their position and hands up
Splitter is a better face up defender than Gasol and Duncan is a significantly better jump shooter than Bynum. Yet the Lakers not only play Bynum next to Gasol, but manage to do so effectively. This is not a comparison of the two duos. I'm just saying, if the strengths outweigh the weaknesses, then the twin towers front line can still work.
Obviously, it would help the spacing if Splitter develops a semi-reliable 10-15 foot jumper. But it's not like Oberto was ever a knockdown mid range shooter and all they did is win a championship with him starting next to Duncan.
What I mean when I say "a younger McDyess" is, a young guy who's game resembles McDyess' game at this point in his career. In other words, someone who's not a liability when it comes to mid range shooting, rebounding or defending.
A lot of trade ideas are being thrown around for getting another big man. What about just playing Tiago and seeing how that goes before devising alternate scenarios?
And as for why Pop plays some ty players - it's not because they're ty but because they've gotten "over themselves" and usually have suffered somewhere along the way and/or shown to be a good foot soldier/robot for Pop. Bonner is a perfect example of a player who does everything Pop wants yet still sucks yet Pop still plays him. Bonner knows all the plays and is in the right position most often, but he doesn't get results. I don't think Pop sees the results. He sees the effort and allegiance and rewards it with more playing time. Not a perfect way to win games, but to me, that seems to be what is happening.
...LMFAO, is he nuts? Which part of last season is any hint that he will start this year?Monroe: Splitter figures to start
He better hope he's healthy for training camp. Otherwise, back in the dog house, even if he participates in 75% of it.
Wannabe sports journalists, has-been and never been athletes?
I can only speak for myself but I played D1 ball (small school that wasn't very good and I was like 3rd string on the team) but certainly never was a never-been.
I have no delusions about being a sports journalist - I just like reading/sharing differing opinions about the teams that I like. I don't go on the Boston Celtics or Toronto Raptors sites and blog...
Has-been. That's a definite as I'm well past my prime as far as being an athlete. Although, I am an AAU basketball coach.
Having mentioned all that, let me share a thing or two about coaching. First and foremost, every coach is only as good as his players. The Spurs players are decent but unathletic (i.e. they don't match up well w/ athletic teams). Memphis knew this and took advantage. No matter what kind of coaching job Pop could muster, he didn't have the defensive answer for the athletic front court. Second, most of your GREAT coaching occurs in the off-season. Working on players shots, honing their individual skills wrt defense, lateral quickness, jumping ability, etc. isn't something teams spend a whole lot of time on during the season. Games are so frequent much of what is discussed is overall game-planning/strategy and film study. Third, the Spurs BEST player had a broken arm. Their 2nd best player didn't show up. Their 3rd best player is a s of himself and is no longer as mobile or athletic.
You could put Mike Brown, Tom Thibodeaux, Pat Riley, Larry Brown or even Phil Jackson in charge of the Spurs and the result probably would've been the same. In fact, are people thinking Phil is a bad coach since the Lakers didn't make it to the Conf finals?
BTW - anyone thinking that Pop is partial to Bonner to a fault, read the article below:
http://www.projectspurs.com/2011-art...tt-bonner.html
Bonner was instrumental in the 1/2st half of the season. Shooting 46% from 3 is no small feat. Why should Pop think that Bonner will shoot a full 13% less in the playoffs?
So I'm guessing you and Blake are the 3rd string of the popsucker crew? Since the 1st and 2nd stringers have been getting torched lately?
Btw, nice try blowing smoke up everybody's ass. Maybe Chumpdumper will give you a promotion to 2nd string.
Just quit it already. Do you honestly think ANY of those coaches have given Bonbon 20+ minutes every game against the worst possible team matchup-wise for him when they had a legitimate 7 foot defensive juggernaut (in comparision terms to Bonner at least) on the bench? (No need to answer this rhetorical question whose answer is obvious).
Most everyone on here knew Bonner would not continue shooting at that earlier pace. Pop should have also known this. Defenses guard closer and don't give the easy open looks that Bonner sees during the regular season.
I don't claim to be some "master basketball theorist", I was just mentioning my experience in the past (and now) to quantify my position. I noticed you conveniently left off your credentials...although I have noticed there are a few people on here claiming to be Spurs FO personnel and the like and there really is no way to verify what I'm stating or what you would claim.So I'm guessing you and Blake are the 3rd string of the popsucker crew? Since the 1st and 2nd stringers have been getting torched lately?
Btw, nice try blowing smoke up everybody's ass. Maybe Chumpdumper will give you a promotion to 2nd string.
Just quit it already. Do you honestly think ANY of those coaches have given Bonbon 20+ minutes every game against the worst possible team matchup-wise for him when they had a legitimate 7 foot defensive juggernaut (in comparision terms to Bonner at least) on the bench? (No need to answer this rhetorical question whose answer is obvious).
Regardless of that, I don't think there's any need for name calling on here. I don't know you nor do I need to make fun of your position (or lack thereof) to get my point across.
Which is - I think Pop is one of the better coaches in the league. We're always comparing and rank ordering players - I would put Pop in the top 5 coaches in the league.
My quantification - 1st of all would be his players. At just about every position, he has guys who have limitations unlike many other teams. If anyone were completely honest and were willing to admit, there isn't a player on the Spurs who played last year that is top 5 at their position. PGs - Paul, D Will, Nash, Rose, Rondo are all better than TP last year and there are several "rating" sites that feel the same. You may argue that TP is better than Nash or Rondo - I disagree.
SG - Wade, Kobe, Joe Johnson, Ray Allen and Monta Ellis are all thought to be better than Manu by many "experts" and I don't disagree. Again, you can argue back and forth about the 4th or 5th best guy but one thing is certain, an INJURED Manu isn't anywhere on this list.
SF, PF and C - no need to even go there for the rest of the Spurs. TD is nowhere near where he used to be.
With that group of guys, Pop got the team to the best record in the West.
And, in the playoffs, Pop had an injured Manu, a top 7 or 8 PG in the league who played like a top 20 PG and who else? TD?
Think about that. Is is REALLY realistic to think that Erik Spoelstra or Rick Carlisle would've gotten more out of the team than Pop (in the regular season OR playoffs)? Who on the team has the capability to make shots like Dirk or finish like Miami's Big 3? As much as I don't like the Mavs, Dirk had a game where he missed 3 shots all game (went 31 for 34 or something ridiculous like that) in which they barely won. Who on the Spurs last year was capable of that performance.
Plain and simple, the Spurs don't have the players.
nobody is really sucking on Pop.So I'm guessing you and Blake are the 3rd string of the popsucker crew? Since the 1st and 2nd stringers have been getting torched lately?
Btw, nice try blowing smoke up everybody's ass. Maybe Chumpdumper will give you a promotion to 2nd string.
Just quit it already. Do you honestly think ANY of those coaches have given Bonbon 20+ minutes every game against the worst possible team matchup-wise for him when they had a legitimate 7 foot defensive juggernaut (in comparision terms to Bonner at least) on the bench? (No need to answer this rhetorical question whose answer is obvious).
Your hatred of Pop though is ing hilarious.
lmao "7 foot defensive juggernaut"
How EXACTLY did you or anyone else know that a guy who shot greater than 45% from the 3 for most of the season was going to shoot around 31 or 32 in the Playoffs. Pop is supposed to be clairvoyant?
Ok, if Pop is such a bad coach, then why was the team playing so well in the early part of the regular season? Is Bonner so old that he can't maintain pace an entire season? The better perimeter defense displayed on Bonner is supposed to open up greater lanes for the penetrators (TP and Manu and to some degree RJ - if he had been in the game) but those that are supposed to either didn't capitalize or were too hurt to. Bonner is a ROLE player. Does it make sense to blame his lack of defense during the 15-20 minutes he's in the game as the cause for the Spurs demise. McDyess played EXCELLENT defense on Randolph IMO, Zach just played BETTER offense. Nothing against McDyess - he just didn't get it done. We can all speculate that if we had Channing Frye or Thompson or Josh Smith that the outcome would've been different but the Spurs DIDN'T HAVE those guys. Pop played the guys he had. On top of that, when the starting SF (that's really the only one you have) isn't good enough to be on the floor in the Playoffs, what should've been Pop's move then? Danny Green? Move your injured and undersized for the position SG to SF and put in another undersized player at SG?
We all want to criticize Pop for not seeing what seems to be obvious after the fact but I just don't agree...
Last edited by Tyrone Jenkins; 07-08-2011 at 09:18 AM.
What the heck do qualifications and player personnel have to do with the simple fact that any half-witted numbskull should have been able to see that Bonner was a major liability against the grizz frontline and should have been sitting his ass on the bench in favor of a real 7 footer?
And what does that say about Pop that it took him to the 4th friggin game to finally see what every numbskull with at least a b&w 13 inch tv screen could figure out after watching for 5 minutes? Huh, 3rd string?
And btw 3rd string, I'd take a gimpy Manu over any of those players you mentioned (except Wade), the guy almost singlehandedly carried the team past the grizz. Wasn't his fault Duncan was exhausted from having to defend the paint alone (again, thanks POP) and Parker couldn't handle the basketball without making sloppy turnovers.
Last edited by TJastal; 07-08-2011 at 09:51 AM.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
