What a depressing read. All true of course.
It's depressing from a "contender" aspect. But it will still be enjoyable to watch the big 3. Plus, this is going to be an odd season. I suspect teams like the Lakers with their new coach or even Dallas, integrating new key players, will struggle a bit here and there. The Spurs have their own concerns because of aging.
So if something weird could happen, this is probably the season for it to happen.
The elephant in the Spurstalk room is that Splitter is soft and won't make much of a difference.
The pygmy elephant is that Kawhi is a rookie and probably won't be much of a difference even if he gets around Pop's rookie-phobia.
We need to lose for the lottery (blow it up) or make moves.
Sitting still is an affront to us fans and to Tim.
We don't need to make the first if we're not likely to make the finals.
C'mon Pop, RC, Holt...
If nothing else, get RJ out of here, replacement or not.
Wasn't it Marcus Bryant who posted that we shoulda tanked a few years ago? Or was it Ghost Writer?
We might as well blow it up (except duncan) and just get some draft picks
Corporate knowledge? Unfortunately thats been downsized, much like the Spurs defense has in the past few years. The Spurs Big 3 don't have the legs to play like an elite defensive team and have been adopting a more Phoenix Suns style of play than what we're accustomed to.
The big problems with the Spurs, other than age/injuries, are in the bigs, just like it has been since D-Rob retired. Hopefully Holt and Co. actually can turn things around and give Duncan some legit help. But if Duncan and Ginobili get injured before the playoffs even start like this past season, then its game over man, game over
If the Spurs' goal (true goal of the owners and front office) is to win a championship, blowing it up right now would be the best way.
If it's to remain profitable and milk every penny they can from Tim's remaining time with the team, they have to go through the motions of a team who thinks they can win a championship. A lot of ticket buying fans don't know the difference.
“There’s got to be enough size there,” Popovich said. “We need a (big man) that can guard. If you get one that can guard, the more that guys spread the floor, the better off you are.”
I read this quote today, not sure if it's current or not, but it looks like Pop has the right idea and they are definitely looking for a big man that can defend.
if that quote is true...that sounds very promising.
Looks like that quote was from back in May.
I thought it might be old. CRAP.
The Spurs could've done better the last few years but ing Pop keeps playing Matt Bonner when he is backed into a corner.
It's time to look at someone else besides the players and make a ing move.
Pop and RC need to move the on.
Those players will never be able to step up as long as they are being sat down.
I am more high on the possibilities of Leonard and Splitter than timvp is, but the fact remains:
Pop is Pop.
If he refused to play Splitter last year, the ACB MVP and a legit big man, after having the other non-Duncan bigs on the roster exposed the year before . . . I don't see how he'd get over himself for this season.
I don't know why so many people are so high on Splitter. Pop didn't play him for a reason, he just wasn't that good.
He is not going to be any type of difference maker. He is offensively challenged away from the basket(no perimeter shot), gets muscled and positioned out away from the basket easily by stronger players and is not a strong defender, has no post presence shot blocking ability to alter shots and is not an exceptionaly good rebounder.
And at this point, what else do the Spurs have? The Red-headed 3-pt chucker, the undersized PC/C and the Dice Man, who is clearly running on fumes now.
Spurs were winning and Splitter was still learning...so why mess with it? I think Splitter will play this year because Pop lacks other realistic options and probably trusts Splitter to execute with a year under his belt. Same goes for Anderson (especially if RJ is cut). As for Leonard, it's all about opportunity. I think the fact that he's a capable small-ball 4, which Pop loves, will help him...but he'll need to execute when given the opportunity. Outside of that and the defensive stopper role, I don't see him getting much court time in his rookie campaign (caveats for injury or struggle of Anderson).
Pop doesn't think any Spurs non-Hall of Fame big man is any good (and that leaves just two).
Pop has given up on all of 'em (even those that got rings).
Splitter almost got the Spurs back into the Memphis series after all else failed.
I think Splitter is good enough to force his way past Pop's big man graveyard/purgatory. We shall see.
He is a strong defender, especially help-side. He doesn't block a ton of shots, but he does get his hands up and has the length to alter them. His offensive game is ugly, but it's effective. He suffered from not having tone in the system, but he should be much more comfortable and competent in his sop re campaign. I'm not expecting "big things" from Splitter, but he's better than you're making him out to be.
Because that record was fool's gold?
And because when he realized he needed Splitter, Splitter wasn't ready?
Easy to question when you know the end result was a failure.
the problem now is you cant just alot any pieces to the puzzle, this puzzle is now at the eend of its lifespan with what you can do to it, the big 3 and whatever currently is on the team besides kawhi are worth . we cant continue to put pieces around them, we need to go out find the next big 3 to build around....
Seems Pop and company have a problem with Escalation of Commitment.
In spite of new negative information, commitment actually increases.
Translation: I didn't watch the playoffs last year.
The thing is many people on here recognized this issue throughout the season. Pop didn't recognize it until Grizz had the Spurs head in the pillow.
This is the first time I've heard Pop admit the lack of size:
“There’s got to be enough size there,” Popovich said. “We need a (big man) that can guard. If you get one that can guard, the more that guys spread the floor, the better off you are.”
So question , what is he and FO doing about it !
Would love to meet these "many people".
Spurs had a stated goal of securing home court for the playoffs and they were accomplishing the goal. If they had gambled and given Splitter more opportunity during the season, would it have cost them in victories? And how much more time would Splitter have needed to be ready for this matchup nightmare that "many people" saw?
My point is that you can Monday morning quarterback the out of Pop's decision to hold PT from Splitter, but I doubt "many people" were saying it would be to the long-term detriment of the team WHILE we were winning all those games.
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