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Hmm... what are you talking about?
Yesterday night Marc Gasol played 35 minutes, Randolph 27, Conley 33, Allen 28.
They have Rudy Gay now (38 minutes yesterday night) and Battier is gone.
Who are they missing?
It's not just losing. It's losing in a way people could see from the start of the season. If he integrates Splitter into the rotation he doesn't have to try changing the rotation in game 4.
Hmm... what are you talking about?
Yesterday night Marc Gasol played 35 minutes, Randolph 27, Conley 33, Allen 28.
They have Rudy Gay now (38 minutes yesterday night) and Battier is gone.
Who are they missing?
Not to mention the defensive improvement. We've allowed 91 ppg since ditching RJ.
Primarily offensive teams develop set rotations and express their team iden y/strategy by them (DÁntoni's Suns are the Platonic ideal of this), but defensive teams by definition adapt to what opposing offenses throw at them on a more tactical, player-by-player match-up level -- especially in the POs -- so pursuing determinate rotations is less important than having every player learn/trust the system and be ready to think on their feet when their number is called.
Because of this, it seems smarter --IMO-- to use these last games to suss out the best combinations of players for certain match-up situations than to try to polish this team into an offense-oriented "iden y" team. You're right to criticize Tiago's integration last season, but Diaw and Jax are known en ies at the NBA Playoffs level, something Splitter wasn't this time last year.
That said, I doubt:
- Pop will push Diaw to be a consistent scoring threat (never been Diaw's game) as much as a smart defender and offensive enabler -- ie, what he already is.
- Jax will find the basics of the system or what will be expected of him have changed since '03. He will turn the ball over because that what people who make love to pressure do, but I doubt it will happen due to team miscommunication/lack of familiarity.
- Paddy will even see floor-time barring a major injury to one of the major guards.
Shane Battier, Sam Young, Darrell Arthur. Grieves Vasquez.
With the additions of Green, Leonard, Diaw and Jackson however, I feel the matchups favor back to the Spurs again.
Kobe was frustrated because he wasn't shooting well, wasn't getting calls, and his team wasn't getting back on defense after watching him go one on five. Sorry, but it didn't look like playoff basketball, nor did it look like anything the Spurs should be worrying about emulating at the moment. Mike Brown's doing the same thing he did in Cleveland, but his superstar is going to turn on him a lot sooner this time.
Your simplified argument is just as clear as the previous one, and they're both wrong.
The Spurs may not have the luxury of 25 lineups in the next 19 games, but in no way does that suggest that his role should have been defined by now. There are guys in the rotation that he hasn't even been on the floor with. He hasn't even been in a practice with the team since he arrived. Give him, I don't know, a week? A single game with a full roster of teammates?
you want weight for the sake of weight and don't care about defense? Throw sumos out there.
Agreed. Losing to an inferior team in the playoffs is bad. Losing to an inferior team in the playoffs with the players capable of helping on the bench is really bad. Losing to an inferior team in the playoffs while trying to integrate said players at the last minute is hard to forgive.
Or throw end of last season's DeJuan Blair out there.
I thought you were talking about players still on their roster. All these guys are gone, so it's not like they're going to help MEM win a playoff series against us this year.
And re: the Lakers-Memphis game, it wasn't playoff basketball at all. Well, unless benching Kobe in the 4th Q of a game is Mike Brown's playoff strategy...
Pop's best coaching job of the season imho
[devilsadvocate] An opponent whose best player has a broken elbow. [/devilsadvocate]
Further proof of this: Opponents have gone on runs a few times in the last week, Pop's called a timeout, and the team has really responded strongly, usually putting the game away. Getting a team of guys to listen to you is important. Pop deserves just as much credit for roster moves as anything else though. The additions really show the guys on the team that they've got this year in mind. Timmy had a quote a few days ago about "trying to win this thing."
My point, the biggest reasons for them losing outside of the spurs best player being hurt are not there.
Guys like Arthur Battier and Vasquez KILLeD them. They are no longer there replaced by ImO inferior players.
The guys that killed them also did so because Parker, Hill, and any big not named Duncan were horrid. Manu with two working arms would have actually been enough to carry them despite that.
Yeah Vasquez Arthur and Battier had a lot to do with it. Randolph and Gasol are still there true, but again, Diaw, Splitter are there to help. IMO, they're more prepared to handle what may come. Health IMo is all that stands between them.
I'd still say the biggest issue was the Gasol-Randolph "twin towers" and the utter lack of interior presence on the Spurs. And btw I know he didn't look good, but Parker wasn't horrid. He just wasn't the superstar some people expected him to be each and every game, for whatever reason.
Yeah add that to another reason I'd like their chances. Parker would be in full kick their ass mode. Plus the Spurs are just when healthy, so much better defensively than they were lay year. Jackson Diaw have upgraded the d tremendously.
I'm a bottom line kinda of guy. And bottom line, is I'm grateful Pop is the coach of the Spurs.
That strikes me as a reasonable stance, even though I'm more on Obstructed_View's side on this issue.
Lol, take his place. Pop is already there dip . I do have to give you credit though, at how your suddenly straddling the fence regarding the Spurs season and Pop this year. So instead of Pop needing to retire, he now has a chance to be a "great coach". What a tool you are.
OV has some good takes, we just tend to disagree on Pop somewhat.
Let's just say that if Pop loses to a team they are expected to beat more eyebrows will be raised. He's been playing with house money because of the 4 championships.Lol, take his place. Pop is already there dip . I do have to give you credit though, at how your suddenly straddling the fence regarding the Spurs season and Pop this year. So instead of Pop needing to retire, he now has a chance to be a "great coach". What a tool you are.
Bottom line, I'm in aggrement with you. He's done an outstanding job and continues to do so for the most part. Doesn't mean he hasn't done stupid in the past that has cost the team. Since many of his mistakes seem to be of the "too stubborn to listen to reason" variety, you'll forgive me for worrying that he might decide to do something insane again in the future.
The issue I had was that someone said "He's coach of the year, you're stupid for ever disagreeing with anything he's ever done."
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