Game Blog: 3/31/12 - Spurs vs. Pacers

[Robz4000]

People here keep talking about Spurs gettign the chip this year but they are not going to be doing i with this defence....

I think the bad D has more to do with Pop playing random rotations trying to find one that works than the team just being bad defensively. Not that it's much better with the right players, but the potential is there. If it's still bad in the final games of the season, then it'll be time to panic.

[Juggity]

TD with a solid double double

[Mal]

I dont like this defence.

[$pursDynasty]

I don't how Pop can justify playing Blair with Tim and not Splitter.

Pops trying to avoid Tiago getting another injury since he isn't the most durable. He wasn't needed anyway.

[ViceCity84]

Spurs 115
Pacers 104

I was in the neighborhood.This game went exactly the way I thought it would go.

[Reck]

Good win but I'm starting to get concerned about the massive amount of points the Spurs are giving. That needs to stop.

[goPaTTY!]

y pop not play diaw and mills

[HeroSquad]

This game felt like a Pop experiment. He was basically playing around with different rotations. Even in the 4th, he kind of forced the guys on the floor to play through their bad defense rather than put in Diaw. Plus, the Pacers are a solid albeit streaky team. Clearly defense is not a strong suit for this group of guys.

[sharkenleo]

Solid win against a good Pacers team.

[Nathan89]

Duncan 32:07
Splitter 15:53
= 48minutes

Pop not preparing for the Lakers
Pop not preparing for Memphis
Pop is a defensive coach

[Obstructed_View]

League pass is annoying. Was a few minutes behind and suddenly can't watch the game while it "archives". One would think the NBA would have a second copy of the game to back up. I assume the Spurs won.

[Josepatches_]

I completely disagree about Splitter being useless, far from it..he's still a good finisher and a very solid defensive player..

His post moves are currently atrocious, though, I agree with that..it's a shame, because his post game looked much improved, before the injury..he was scoring with a variety of moves, and his ugly hooks had a nice touch to them..

The injuries seem to have killed his offensive rhythm, though..

That's all.

"His post game looked much improved" is the post game he always had in Spain. Nothing new. But he never showed it in the NBA until last 2 or 3 weeks before the injury.

The biggest problem is confidence & rhythm. Of course he has to take care of the ball.

[Leetonidas]

Where was Diaw? Did he not play at all?

[ViceCity84]

This game looks like a playoff preview
Capt Jack would play significant role in playoffs and unfortunately Bonner.
Diaw and Mills are end of bench guys.

[100%duncan]

The positive thing is... I still have to see a great shooting from Sjax but even now he's struggling to shoot he still makes positive plays

[Nathan89]

Pops trying to avoid Tiago getting another injury since he isn't the most durable. He wasn't needed anyway.

That's a stupid reason not to ever get Tim and Tiago some decent minutes together.

[therealtruth]

Pops trying to avoid Tiago getting another injury since he isn't the most durable. He wasn't needed anyway.

So when does he start playing Tiago for real so he can get ready for the playoffs?

[Spurs Brazil]

Nice to see Neal with a good game after those two on the road

[elemento]

I just wonder why Diaw did not play at all.

I just hope he isn't in the doghouse. I will be ing mad if in playoff time we go with the same freaking front-court rotation of last season.

[100%duncan]

Duncan 32:07
Splitter 15:53
= 48minutes

Pop not preparing for the Lakers
Pop not preparing for Memphis
Pop is a defensive coach

Of course, the next game will be on wednesday

[Nathan89]

Splitter played 7 less minutes than Blair and still score 3 more points. Also his defense...you know the rest.

[therealtruth]

Duncan 32:07
Splitter 15:53
= 48minutes

Pop not preparing for the Lakers
Pop not preparing for Memphis
Pop is a defensive coach

Tiago is strictly a backup center now even though he's the second best big and arguably the 4/5th best player.

[wildbill2u]

Here some data from hoopdata.com. We're #5 in the League in Off. efficiency vs. defensive efficiency differential. Miami and Chicago lead but maybe that's because they play in the East. We are behind OKC in the West. I don't think we're so shabby.

Name OffEff DefEff Diff Own Opp Diff Own Opp Diff Own Opp Diff Own Opp Diff
MIA 106.6 96.6 10.0 51.66 47.18 4.48 31.8 28.6 3.13 14.26 15.71 -1.45 26.42 26.97 -0.55
CHI 105.7 96.0 9.7 49.48 45.38 4.10 26.3 24.2 2.12 13.09 13.04 0.05 32.69 26.44 6.25
PHI 102.3 94.6 7.7 48.19 44.83 3.36 21.5 26.2 -4.71 10.53 13.58 -3.05 24.38 25.14 -0.76
OKC 107.5 100.3 7.2 52.18 46.75 5.43 34.1 26.7 7.39 15.45 13.10 2.35 27.42 27.77 -0.35
SAS 106.0 101.5 4.5 51.54 49.26 2.28 26.1 22.3 3.73 12.56 12.73 -0.17 24.46 23.80 0.66
LAL 102.2 98.9 3.3 49.08 46.23 2.85 30.1 22.7 7.38 14.57 11.21 3.36 27.94 25.57 2.37
IND 102.2 99.1 3.1 47.03 47.23 -0.20 32.5 31.0 1.54 13.45 14.41 -0.96 28.91 2

[therealtruth]

Good win but I'm starting to get concerned about the massive amount of points the Spurs are giving. That needs to stop.

Playing the better defenders more at the expense of the worse defenders is the only way to fix that.

[freetiago]

only way you can justify the rotations is if pop was experimenting since we were up by 10-20+ most of the game
blair should never see the court to close the game ever
diaw should play 10 mins minimum
lol @ splitter with 15 mins outplaying bonner/blair playing 24 mins each