Grades: Spurs vs. Sixers - Mar. 25

[Obstructed_View]

So what your saying is Pop is a good coach, but? Whats the point? Are you looking for a mistake-free coach?

RIF:

I'm more than glad the Spurs are taking advantage of their depth and talent, but let's not act like this erases everything that's ever happened.

Pop has his issues, but I would think its pretty obvious that his positives outweigh his negatives by a considerable margin.

I would think it's pretty obvious that losing to inferior teams in the playoffs outweighs regular season success by a considerable margin. Guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

[will_spurs]

Early on the Sixers plan on D was simply to have all available players swarm Parker as soon as he was entering the paint. This lead to a rather bad start for Parker with missed layups and turnovers, but the depth of this team showed and with everybody being some kind of offensive weapon it just became too much. Also Parker didn't go automatically to the paint any more, and identified well when he was going to be matched by only 1 or 2 defenders (pretty much an automatic layup) rather than 3-4.

Diaw is proving to be very good on D, much more than I thought. Even though he isn't able to keep it up for whole games, denying a player convincingly / forcefully is making a statement and getting into the player's head. He's also using his hands very well, be it steals, rebounds or deflections.

Jackson and Diaw still have problems playing together, at some point it was hard to understand why Jackson passed on a wide open three to try and feed Diwa in the paint, which resulted in a TO as Diaw was clearly not expecting the pass (and it wasn't the best pass ever either).

Bonner... I know that I shouldn't get sucked in as I know he's going to disappoint in the playoffs, but why oh why can't we have this version of Bonner show up in the playoffs. If anything, he is contributing a nice effort.

[Mugen]

Statistically, these Sixers are the best defensive team the NBA has seen since the 2004 Spurs. On this night, it was the Spurs who flexed their defensive muscle. Philadelphia was held to 27 points in the second half and shot only 41.2% for the game. The Spurs went nearly six weeks without holding a team under 90 points but have now accomplished that feat in three straight games.

That's pretty surprising considering they really don't have a dominant interior defender. It's a testament to their perimeter length and Collins' coaching.

That said, i take that stat in the same vein as Bon Bon's +/- which means i really don't put that much stock into it . I consider Mem/Chi/Mia/LA all to be superior defensively, especially in terms of how they match up with the Spurs.

Basically, i just don't see the last two Sixer games as much of an indicator on how the Spurs well play against the 4 teams i mentioned above. It was a good win considering we didn't have Tim or Tiago but i just don't consider PHI to be elite defensively, regardless of what the stats say...

[silverblk mystix]

Coach of the year, possibly, but still coach who refused to play Splitter last season. It's still not too late to play Manu in a meaningless game at the end of the regular season and get him injured either.

I'm more than glad the Spurs are taking advantage of their depth and talent, but let's not act like this erases everything that's ever happened.

This.

Unfortunately, regular season wins seem to get everyone excited. Pop is doing a good job this season, but he also has one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the NBA.

If you watched the Lakers/Memphis game last night...it would be prudent to wait til the Spurs play those teams again to see where the Spurs stand this year...those teams were playing playoff basketball and both looked a lot stronger and tougher than the teams the Spurs have been playing lately...

[Mugen]

If you watched the Lakers/Memphis game last night...it would be prudent to wait til the Spurs play those teams again to see where the Spurs stand this year...those teams were playing playoff basketball and both looked a lot stronger and tougher than the teams the Spurs have been playing lately...

Very much agree, especially on Memphis' part. Spurfan should know that the Grizz are a legit contender to come out of the west and they showed every bit of that last night. I think the Spurs match up better this time around if they were to meet in the playoffs but i think it would be in their best interest to avoid this Memphis team with a healthy Rudy Gay/Z-Bo.

While i think their coaching/lack of outside shooting & depth will ultimately be the Lakers' downfall, their size & interior play pose the same problems that Mem does

[silverblk mystix]

Very much agree, especially on Memphis' part. Spurfan should know that the Grizz are a legit contender to come out of the west and they showed every bit of that last night. I think the Spurs match up better this time around if they were to meet in the playoffs but i think it would be in their best interest to avoid this Memphis team with a healthy Rudy Gay/Z-Bo.

While i think their coaching/lack of outside shooting & depth will ultimately be the Lakers' downfall, their size & interior play pose the same problems that Mem does

I think the Spurs could play with them...but this is where the lack of Splitter/TD playing time will rear its ugly face...

Also, when Tony Allen and company begin the hacking...I feel a lot better with SJax and Kawhi not shrinking than I did with RJ/Bonner...(if Pop can help himself and play Bonner less minutes)

This is where Pop will either take his place as a great coach or continue his trend of getting punked in the playoffs by no-name coaches...

[slayermin]

timvp A+

Appreciate the Grades!

[Obstructed_View]

If you watched the Lakers/Memphis game last night...it would be prudent to wait til the Spurs play those teams again to see where the Spurs stand this year...those teams were playing playoff basketball and both looked a lot stronger and tougher than the teams the Spurs have been playing lately...

Um...lol?

I can't tell if you're serious or not. The Spurs have had major, major upheavals in their roster and are still managing to play very well, including better defense than they've played in quite some time.

I watched the Lakers/Memphis game and didn't see a lot of defense there. Not sure where you saw it. The Grizzlies went cold and turned the ball over a lot in the third quarter and scored at will the rest of the game. If not for that stretch they'd have scored 120 points.

[moisaenz]

i still think Diaw does not know his role on offense.. That is why he is passin so much.. Pop should define that eventually, especially when Blair and Bonner dissappear....

[TJastal]

i still think Diaw does not know his role on offense.. That is why he is passin so much.. Pop should define that eventually, especially when Blair and Bonner dissappear....

That's not really Pop's style. He prefers to let the players figure things out on their own. I think he's into one of his phases where he relishes just throwing odd combinations of players and lineups with no prior preparation or practice out on the court just to see what happens. His comments after the sixers' game certainly ascribe to that theory.

[T Park]

He's done that for years. Always done that.

[ChumpDumper]

I don't know why a coach wouldn't experiment with lineups given the injuries, nights off and three new rotation players.

[TJastal]

I don't know why a coach wouldn't experiment with lineups given the injuries, nights off and three new rotation players.

Perhaps because 19 games isn't a lot of time to not only figure out a rotation but also get said rotation all familar with playing together, Pop may not have the luxury of trying every small ball combination under the sun for his own whimsical amusement.

[Obstructed_View]

Perhaps because 19 games isn't a lot of time to not only figure out a rotation but also get said rotation all familar with playing together, Pop may not have the luxury of trying every small ball combination under the sun for his own whimsical amusement.

So your continuing suggestion is that Pop should have gotten a solid, playoff-ready 8 man rotation in the last five games regardless of who was or was not available on a given night. Also, you seem to think that going 4-1 despite all the changes isn't acceptable.

[T Park]

I'm hopeful, with the moves the Spurs made, we're made in the sense that said players are good defensively, and that added will improve the team defense. Letting Kawhi go out there and run for 30 mins every night and not dropping any "needs to learn" on him is hopeful

[ChumpDumper]

Perhaps because 19 games isn't a lot of time to not only figure out a rotation but also get said rotation all familar with playing together, Pop may not have the luxury of trying every small ball combination under the sun for his own whimsical amusement.

Whimsical amusement?

I think there are laws against hate speech.

[silverblk mystix]

Um...lol?

I can't tell if you're serious or not. The Spurs have had major, major upheavals in their roster and are still managing to play very well, including better defense than they've played in quite some time.

I watched the Lakers/Memphis game and didn't see a lot of defense there. Not sure where you saw it. The Grizzlies went cold and turned the ball over a lot in the third quarter and scored at will the rest of the game. If not for that stretch they'd have scored 120 points.

If you re-read my post it says "stronger and tougher"....

Call it ugly basketball maybe, but that is how the grizzlies played in the playoffs last year...if you watched the grizz/laker game you had to have seen Tony Allen inside Kobe's jock...and it frustrated the crap out of kobe...if you looked under the basket...there were thousands of pounds being slammed around on every play (fat gasoft/soft gasoft/crynum/speights/randolph/pee wee world peace/etc)

This is what I am referring to, and not taking anything away from the Spurs of late, but I still would like to see how the Spurs respond to this level of physicality...

[T Park]

Yet they're missing the players the Spur didn't matchup with well and killed them in the playoffs.

[silverblk mystix]

Yet they're missing the players the Spur didn't matchup with well and killed them in the playoffs.

If you're referring to Memphis...I agree...however;

They have Gay now (and don't assume Leonard can repeat this early season's performance again---though I really hope so)...Speights is tougher inside than the guy that demolished Bonner...

and if you ask anyone if they would take Gay over Battier it is a no-brainer...(for most people)

[timvp]

So, the Spurs are dealing with a new handful of injuries everyday while adding three new players. Not to mention the fact that there hasn't been time to practice since two of those three players were signed. Yet Spurs fans find a way to criticize Pop for winning while using lineups that haven't practiced together?

Pop definitely deserves some criticism for decisions this season but that's just silly.

[T Park]

Speights tougher than Darrell Arthur? Ok.

The problem with Gay he's not efficient as Battier and Battier as well didn't have a penchant to take shots from Z-Bo as well.

[TJastal]

So your continuing suggestion is that Pop should have gotten a solid, playoff-ready 8 man rotation in the last five games regardless of who was or was not available on a given night. Also, you seem to think that going 4-1 despite all the changes isn't acceptable.

Allow me to just simplify my argument for you.

I would like to see Diaw's role defined by Pop (as a previous poster opined). The spurs don't have the luxury of trying Diaw in 25 different lineups in the next 19 games. Pop needs to figure this out using what he already knows about Diaw and also what he knows about his own players.

So Pop has seen Diaw in action now for 3 games now, he should have a good idea what he can do for the team by now. So now it's time to give him a role and stick with it. Basic questions that need answered: Is Diaw gonna start? Come off the bench? Is one of the other bigs out or are we rolling with all 5 bigs in the rotation (which is pretty stupid tbh).

[therealtruth]

Very much agree, especially on Memphis' part. Spurfan should know that the Grizz are a legit contender to come out of the west and they showed every bit of that last night. I think the Spurs match up better this time around if they were to meet in the playoffs but i think it would be in their best interest to avoid this Memphis team with a healthy Rudy Gay/Z-Bo.

While i think their coaching/lack of outside shooting & depth will ultimately be the Lakers' downfall, their size & interior play pose the same problems that Mem does

I think Splitter becomes crucial against a team like the Grizzlies or Lakers. You just can't hope to outshoot them while they're getting easy baskets in the paint.

[ChumpDumper]

Allow me to just simplify my argument for you.

I would like to see Diaw's role defined by Pop (as a previous poster opined). The spurs don't have the luxury of trying Diaw in 25 different lineups in the next 19 games. Pop needs to figure this out using what he already knows about Diaw and also what he knows about his own players.

So Pop has seen Diaw in action now for 3 games now, he should have a good idea what he can do for the team by now. So now it's time to give him a role and stick with it. Basic questions that need answered: Is Diaw gonna start? Come off the bench? Is one of the other bigs out or are we rolling with all 5 bigs in the rotation (which is pretty stupid tbh).

Yeah, that didn't help.

[Mugen]

Speights tougher than Darrell Arthur? Ok.

The problem with Gay he's not efficient as Battier and Battier as well didn't have a penchant to take shots from Z-Bo as well.

Spurs would stand a better chance against the grizz this year because of a healthy manu, the loss of RJ, addition of Jax, and more Tiago.

Not because they swapped out Battier/Young for an All Star in Gay and replaced Arthur with Speights who can just as easily dominate Bonner. Vasquez had a fluke series but Pargo or Arenas could very well have a fluke series too.