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shouldve resigned dice if we didnt wanna see a bonner/blair lineup anytime during the game
They played spot minutes and Pop dismissed the triple towers concept soon after.
shouldve resigned dice if we didnt wanna see a bonner/blair lineup anytime during the game
Brilliant write-up, and I completely agree with the minute distribution. Hopefully the coaching staff arrives at this lineup at least midway through the season. However, I still would like to see more of TJ Ford before completely nixing him out of the lineup.
are they jinxing us to fail....
In every lineup imaginable the weakest link is Blair. For what the Sprurs need on defense he is too slow, too short.
On offense he has to have Manu around with great passes to make a few layups, He has no ability to create a shot from anywhere outside garbage layup range.
The best way to limit the Bonner and Blair frontcourt is to start one. Aside of that, I like the idea of starting Anderson at SG and having Neal and Ginobili as backup backcourt.
So,
Starters: Parker/Anderson/Jefferson/Blair/Duncan.
Bench: Neal/Ginobili/Leonard/Bonner/Splitter.
This is exactly what Pop is going to do.
I don't see at all Pop not giving the backup PG spot to TJ Ford.
My projected minutes breakdown.
Parker- 31
Manu- 29
RJ- 30
Tim- 28
Blair- 22
Ford- 10
Neal- 23
Anderson- 15
KL- 6
Bonner- 21
Splitter- 25
Would you really rather have one of Blair or Bonner start and defend the elite PF's of the league.. than have them come off the bench together against other reserves?
Blair can still develop on defense and offense. On defense he's got to play real post defense and muscle up the other players. On offense he's got to concentrate on finishing and going up strong and getting the foul and won. He's also got to be able to think quickly when he gets the offensive rebound. Too many times he's thrown the ball away or got blocked because he didn't make a quick decision.
Again, we'll find out opening night, but Blair and/or Bonner on Randolph doesn't sound promising. I suppose we'll mix it up and try to find out what will work. I think we have the better team and will prevail, Randolph is a tough cover always...
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The best way to limit the Bonner and Blair frontcourt is to sign a center to play Bonner's minutes at that position. Short of that, the best way to limit the Bonner and Blair frontcourt is to only let them play spot minutes against backups. You do NOT ING PUT TY PLAYERS UP AGAINST THE OPPONENT'S BEST PLAYERS UNDER ANY ING CIR STANCES.
Oh, and Anderson should be starting. Would've started him from Day 1 last year - and I said so then.
I still don't get what Pop and RC are thinking. Pop said at the end of last season that the Spurs would be the defense-first team which it used to be.
But signing TJ Ford just makes the Spurs a faster team instead of a better defensive team. And the Spurs haven't signed a big which also means that TD couldn't sit on the bench at a back-to-back game.
So I guess the Spurs would just be faster than it was last season, and Pop would give Leonard little time and use
Starters: Parker/Ginobili/Jefferson/Blair/Duncan.
Bench: Ford/Anderson/Neal/Bonner/Splitter.
Brian Cardinal should have showed Bonner how to play defense when you can't match up athletically. Take a hard foul. Playing matador defense just encourages them to keep attacking. The best thing for him to do when Zbo's about to get a layup on him is take a hard foul.
The media needs to call him out on the defense. He's gotten a free pass for too long. He's had two years to get his Phoenix Suns offense. He now needs to improve the defense. I think that's all that will hold them back from winning everything.
Read both parts. Agree we need the 5th big in the fold. We didnt get one, so no use complaining about it. I do see the Spurs playing some unusual lineups during the season. I see a game or two in January where we have small ball all night. By that Duncan sits for a game or two. Small ball lineup would be something more like this Splitter, Leonard, Anderson, Ginobili and Parker with Neal as the 6th man.
Starting lineups early will depend on the opponent. Duncan will play a lot in the early part of the season, as we have fewer back to backs than in April. Minutes are going to watched closely as the season progresses. If we are winning early, minutes for the older guys will drop. That is the key to our season. WINNING early.
What amazes me about Pop is that he finds ways to limit minutes to his core veterans, "experiment" with lineups...but still avoid giving minutes to useful lineups: like trying Tim and Tiago together. Pop probably already has decided what rotations and minutes will be alotted for the whole season.
At the bigman spot next to Duncan, the three options are Matt Bonner, DeJuan Blair and Tiago Splitter
We must get a big bigman, the thought of Blair and Bonner sharing minutes scares me.
I think the Spurs need to use more analytics. It was a big part of what the Mavs did. You want to make sure you're playing your best lineups the majority of the minutes and minimizing or not playing at all your worst. Alot of times the analytics can be eye checked.
I would like Pop to use Bonner more sparingly. His 3pt shooting is fools gold. He's not going to get the same wide open looks or be able to hit the shot when it counts.
If we had a 6'10'' guy (or taller) to back Duncan and Splitter I would play both as starters, with the roster as it is, I prefer to leave Splitter on the bench so we don't have to suffer the Blair-Bonner front court.
My rotation:
Tony
Manu
RJ
Blair
Duncan
Neal
Anderson
KL
Bonner
Splitter
Crunch time team:
Tony
Manu
Anderson/Neal
Duncan
Splitter
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