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His minutes are the problem. Take tonight for example. You can't expect Tiago to get the touches he needs in 17 minutes of playing time.
His minutes are the problem. Take tonight for example. You can't expect Tiago to get the touches he needs in 17 minutes of playing time.
What does a coach have to do to get the message through?
Agree 100% with this post by the way. A better established inside-out game will go a lot further in playoff situations than continually relying on swing pass basketball when Duncan's not in the game. And Splinter's not going to get efficient at it if he's continually ignored.
Side note: I'm sure Pop can see what Elliott sees. Perhaps he's waiting until further along in the season to work Splitter more in that situation. That along with Ginobili returning should offer more of the looks Elliott is talking about. Still...as a coach you would think he could be a little more adamant to his players to at least not look off Splinter when open.
We all know Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Lu ck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_ is right, we must go inside out atleast till Manu gets back. This team can't run like it did last year without Manu, they get too out of control. After the last rockets game Splitter should've got the ball more and played more.
Fixed.
Another reason Tiago's conversion rate is so good is because he goes at the rim. He doesn't settle for fadeaway hookshots or low-percentage, off-balance jumpers. He either gets a good shot off or gets fouled - which, by the way, his FT% is also much-improved.
Tim is still the leader and a legitimate low-post threat, although he no longer plays on the low-block as consistently as he once did, when he was younger. Still, he does take a lot of bad, low-percentage shots when under duress.
Between the two of them, they could really punish a team on the inside - if they were used more together and on a consistent basis - which would open up perimeter shots for the other guys.
, I'd also like to see Tiago and Tim play that high-low game that Tim and Dave made so routine.
When Splitter has Parker he gets the ball. When it's Neal or Green they just bypass him. I think they passed the ball to Splitter three times against the Rockets and all three plays resulted in assists by Splitter for three pointers.
It's been One of the frustrating things to watch this season, especially because Sean then rub it in by showing 3 plays where tiago is open but dumb rj shoots a 3 or someone else jacks something h up. When manu and ford get back I'm hoping to see him get the ball more. Do you guys think he could keep his same efficiency If he was getting maybe 10-14 shots a game?
It's not so much about comparing both players as it is about letting Tiago initiate the offense in the same manner that Timmy does when he's on the court.
I understood Sean's comment to mean that Splitter should be given the respect as Timmy in that manner. Splitter is savvy and capable enough to do what Timmy does in the post.
This.
None of these posts are meant to denegrate Tim in any way. This has absolutely nothing to with Duncan's legacy or the state of his game, as it is today.
The facts are the facts. Tiago is doing BIG work in the low post and needs more touches. Anybody who watches the game, Spurfan or not, should know this. When something is working you keep milking it until the defense proves they can stop it.
I had a similar line of thinking last year when Pop took his sweet time adding Tiago into the rotation. Unfortunately, we all know how that turned out.
I also agree that you would think that Pop would at least be more adamant about players not looking off Splitter when he's open. It's crazy that Pop jumped on TP's ass for not passing to Dejuan early in last night's Houston game. It was clear Pop was upset with TP's decision to instead pass the ball to Kawhi which resulted in a turnover. If anything, Pop should become more upset when this fails to occur with Tiago, not Dejuan.
I do agree with what Sean said, depending on the matchup. Last night, Tiago should have had a much bigger role in the offense.
Dude is shooting 61%, including 75% within 3 feet of the basket. Get him the ing ball.
But that would make Pop look like a buffoon for not playing Splitter last season. So now we all have to sit and keep watching this ridiculous cat and mouse game with Splitter's touches and minutes. All so Pop doesn't look like a .
If it happens to be that Timmy and Tiago are sharing the court, then I would argue that Tiago should be the primary post if the matchup dictates it.
For example, if we are playing Houston and Timmy and Tiago are on the court. Dalembert will be guarding Timmy and Scola, Tiago. I think the smart choice would be to take advantage of the mismatch Tiago has and deliver him the ball inside.
Some good observations in this thread. Tim's knees are the culprit. Actually, I think it's a combination of his knees, and the fact that he is playing lighter to take some of the load off of them. It's been 4-5 seasons since Tim was able to re-post nearer to the basket. I've talked about it here enough times. Watch for it and you'll see what I'm talking about. One of the techniques teams started using on Tim was that whenever he passes it out, they immediately give him a big two-handed shove in the back - and Tim just can't gain back the ground anymore. Tiago can.
If you look back at those recent games when Tiago was such a beast in the low post, you'll notice that in two of them the Spurs were hitting 3's. (48% in one, and 44% in the other.) In the third (Houston), Tim didn't play, and Tiago was on the court with Tony and Neal who were hitting jumpers. It's a lot easier to feed the post when the guys spreading the floor are actually hitting their shots and/or when there are other serious scoring threats on the floor. When Tiago is down low, a lot of the time there is an extra guy sagging on the passing lane because they aren't worried about anything else.
The one other thing I would offer is that there has to be an angle to make a successful pass. The guys Tiago is usually on the floor with aren't as good as Tony about creating those angles. Also, Tiago isn't as good as Tim (yet) about altering his position in the post, to facilitate those angles. I know it's tough, once you have leverage, to give it up - but Tim does it all the time.
Put it all together and you have guys looking at a bunch of lower-percentage passes that they just don't have the confidence (or skills) to make. So they don't. It's not always that they don't want to get the ball to Tiago. Some of the time, at least, they can't. If they did try to force the ball in to him, you'd see a lot of turnovers that you would like even less. I know that sometimes guys are just jacking up shots. But I think you'll see the ball getting to Tiago a lot more when T.J. Ford gets back.
My personal take is that Splitter is a better player around the basket but not nearly the low-post player that Timmy is. Splitter seems to have some difficulty receiving the ball with his back to the basket and then trying to dribble and score. Now he may be having some difficulty because the players do not quite spread the floor as when Timmy has the ball so there tends to be more clutter in the lane.
If Splitter can receive the ball before his defender has time to set then he has a higher rate of effectiveness. Splitter is very good at receiving the ball and making a quick move to the basket and scoring or passing it to cutter or 3 point line.
Who was comparing Splitter to Duncan? You've got to be an idiot to attempt to compare them, ones a second year player, the other is the best PF in the history of the game, apples to oranges. Sean, myself and many others just think he should get more respect and he's being under utilized, which is true, but nobody compared Tiago to Tim though.
Tiago should definitley get the ball more, he is often better than most teams 2nd best bi and can exploit his matchup. He could be the teams most effective low post scorer due to his matchups. Not best, mind you, although sometimes it may seem like it, but most effective.
Also, Tim needs to stop giving the defense time to set up with the bait dribling everytime. A few moves straight to the basket would throw the defense off just enough to give him a little breathing room once in a while. I think Sean mentioned that as well.
One of the things that frustrates me the most about this is that Tiago is such a good passer out of the post and NEVER gets caught in jail. Either he uses his great footwork to get off a quality shot or he makes a great pass to a wide open 3pt shooter or cutter. When he gets the touch down there we seem to score more often than not, in a variety of ways.
Tiago plays mostly with the 2nd unit. The 2 guys who can make a pass in the 2nd unit are Manu and TJ. Both of them are hurt. QED.
You answered your own question.
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