Grades: Spurs vs. Pacers - Mar. 31

[Splits]

How about this stat: the Spurs have not trailed in a game for over 96 minutes (won the last 2 wire-to-wire plus the minutes of their win over PHO)

[TDMVPDPOY]

oi timvp

ppl are complaining about certain players not getting minutes, maybe its due to depth of the roster and mismatches will only see certain players selected....but i think a reason why pop isnt giving diaw and mills alot of minutes is it due to keeping them injury free for the olympics...

[Fireball]

How about this stat: the Spurs have not trailed in a game for over 96 minutes (won the last 2 wire-to-wire plus the minutes of their win over PHO)

thats mainly because of their superb offense and the reason the defense became something of a letdown again the last two games ...

[will_spurs]

If you're looking for Diaw to give you better interior presence and rebounding than Bonner, you're gonna be sorely disappointed. Those are not his strengths. Look at his rebound rate and it's worse than Bonner's.

The thing is, there's rebounding rate and rebounding rate. Bonner gets a lot of his rebounds just for being 7ft tall and in the paint (on D). I think of him the same way as Parker: do you remember Parker boxing out for rebound? No, because he is already at the elbow extended or further away from the basket, waiting for a pass to go on a fast break. Yet he still manages to get 3 rebounds or so a game just because the ball comes his way, from time to time.

On the other hand I have already seen Diaw box out and go for a rebound in his few games as a Spurs. That's quite a bit different from standing listless and waiting for the ball to find your hands.

[angelbelow]

If you're looking for Diaw to give you better interior presence and rebounding than Bonner, you're gonna be sorely disappointed. Those are not his strengths. Look at his rebound rate and it's worse than Bonner's.

False. Diaw's rebounding is statistically better than Bonner's this seasons.

2011 - 2012:

Per 36:
Diaw - 7.3 RPG w/Spurs and 6.9 RPG w/Bobcats
Bonner - 5.8 RPG

Advanced:
Diaw - TRB% = 11.6 w/Spurs and 10.9 w/ Bobcats
Bonner - TRB% = 9.3

Season average:
Diaw - 3.6 RPG w/ Spurs (17.8MPG) and 5.3 w/ Bobcats (27.5MPG)
Bonner - 3.4 RPG (21 MPG)

The difference isn't tremendous but Diaw is the better rebounder. Additionally, Bonner's rebounding has seen a downward trend over the course of his career, this season is no different.

For me, I have low expectations for Bonner's rebounding so anytime he grabs a rebound I find myself cheering. Therefore, the thought of Diaw's rebounding abilities leaving me "sorely disappointed" was hard to believe. While neither player is impressive when it comes to rebounding, I have a lot more faith in Boris when it comes to being an interior presence.

[100%duncan]

Thanks for the notes,LJ. Couldn't really judge it because I only watched the 4th quarter.

[benefactor]

roy
accusing people of basketball takes
pot meeting kettle

Who really gives a damn about comparing Bonner vs. Diaw on post defense/rebounding? That's about as relevant as making threads saying that say a good Manu = Championship.

Some things are obvious. There is really no reason to look at Bonner and make any sort of argument that he is a better option than Diaw. Diaw is actually a real basketball player and Bonner is just a specialist that tries hard and flames out when the lights turn on.

[Kuestmaster]

Tim Duncan B-
Early on, I thought Tim Duncan played really well on both ends. He was being physical and making smart decision. However, after the Spurs built their lead, it appeared as if Duncan lost some of his intensity. In the second half, he was mostly just going through the motions ... that is until he dialed it back up near the end of the game. To finish off the Pacers in the fourth, Duncan again come up with momentous plays on offense and defense. All in all, it was a raggedy outing from Duncan; really good sometimes, nearly invisible other stretches. Offensively, when he made decisive moves or shot without hesitation, he was successful most of the time. On defense, he did great work keeping Roy Hibbert from gaining good position (and also kept him off the offensive boards) but Duncan's help defense was substandard.

You're a little bit too hard on Timmy. His defense can't be as good as it was every night a few years ago. But he is averaging 19 points and 11 rebounds over the last 10 games. That sounds amazing to me if we count that the big man will be 36 in a few days. If he can keep this level in the playoffs we'll be damn scary

[Spurs Brazil]

Duncan was 9 for 9 from the foul line and has hit 21 of his last 22 from the line, improving to 70.2 percent for the season. Before his recent surge, Duncan was hitting 67.2 percent from the line.

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...se-ugly-socks/

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Nice write up. I thought Leonard would thrive against indys long wing men, but you're right I guess we are getting spoiled with his recent play

[jag]

Whose does Tiago have to suck to get some more minutes in this ?

[I Heart Ginobili]

The reason Tiago doesn't get more playing time is because Pop won't play him and Tim together. If you look at the minutes, Duncan played 32 and Splitter 16 which adds up to 48. Tiago comes in whenever Tim isn't on the floor.

Personally, I kind of like the strategy being implemented with the two main lineups. The two lineups being the starting lineup and the Neal, Ginobili, Jax, Bonner and Splitter lineup. The second unit is pretty strong with three guys that would start on a lot of teams. They bring a lot offensive firepower that's needed when the first unit isn't producing as well.

[EVAY]

I dont think parker is feeling anything from his hamstring tbh
he just plays passive when hes with ginobili
maybe its the result of not having to create and not being the go to guy like we saw in the kings game where manu was running the pick to close games
i noticed most of parkers points came when ginobili was on the bench
idk if play at the mvp level he was playing at earlier in the season again

I agree that he has been less aggressive in the last couple of games, but I think that is totally a function of the team having good leads wire-to-wire, and having some of our big shooters back in the game (Manu, and the addition of Jackson).
He no longer HAS to take over games, and so he isn't. He is letting others get their playing time in and their rhythm back.

I think that just says he's doing what the team needs....when they need him to score, he will. But when he and Manu are on the floor together, it is Manu's job to be the 'playmaker', and he does that job better than anyone on the team.

It seems to me that one of the reasons almost no spur except Duncan could ever be a league mvp is that Popovich insists that minutes be limited, and the team-first mentality ensures that no single player gets his stats too far ahead of anybody else's.

In order for Tony to play at the level he was when Manu was out and we didn't have Jackson, he would have to dominate in minutes and control of the game. That would not set us up well for the playoffs. Teams will come at Tony for sure in the playoffs to try to get the ball out of his hands and disrupt the offensive flow. Other team members have to be ready, and that is what they are preparing for right now, imo.

[EVAY]

The reason Tiago doesn't get more playing time is because Pop won't play him and Tim together. If you look at the minutes, Duncan played 32 and Splitter 16 which adds up to 48. Tiago comes in whenever Tim isn't on the floor.

Personally, I kind of like the strategy being implemented with the two main lineups. The two lineups being the starting lineup and the Neal, Ginobili, Jax, Bonner and Splitter lineup. The second unit is pretty strong with three guys that would start on a lot of teams. They bring a lot offensive firepower that's needed when the first unit isn't producing as well.

Agreed. That second unit as you have outlined it was great last night and I would assume that will be the unit for the playoffs.

[I Heart Ginobili]

damn einstein

How about that for advanced statistics?

I just don't get why people keep complaining about Tiago not playing more when the reason is obvious. He's not going to play next to Duncan and people need to get over it.

[thispego]

What does Splitter need to do to get more playing time?

Be less injury prone

[ginobilized]

Great write up as always.
It's a strange luxury to have this many lineup possibilities.

I wonder if A)CIA Pop is not revealing the playoff lineups in games to stop other teams from preparing B)Pop is just trying to keep players fresh and healthy or C) He has no clue of what rotation he'll favor. Maybe D)All of the above.
I guess we'll see in a month.

[spectator]

thanks for the grades - i only saw the second half last night. couple of thoughts:

1. tiago should not get more PT - everyone on this forum (including me) was ing and moaning about pop not giving him more PT; then, pop made all of us look ridiculous when tiago had 2 different injuries while playing limited minutes. idk if the guy is injury prone or just unlucky, but my perception is that 16 minutes of all-out effort, combined with 32 from timmy, makes us very good at the C position.

2. it's a mystery to every spurs fan - why blair's rebounding took a sharp fall this year. i feel very uncomfortable with him finishing the game at PF. i like bonner's defense much better. also, i like diaw's defense better than bonner's. moreover, if the lineups allow it, i would like to see the spurs close games with tony-manu-kawhi-sj-td.

3. down the stretch, i would like the spurs to keep the 2nd seed in the west and not try to have a better record than chi, mia, okc. ideally (for me), the spurs win the next 4 games, then play their starters every 3rd day - including the home games vs the fakes. i know that the team is deep, but the run down the stretch is ridiculous: 13 games in 19 nights IIRC. i value health more than the location of the 7th game in a series.

[mingus]

Why is it that our two best bigs besides Duncan play behind our two worst bigs? Pop is nuts if this remains the case for much longer. Ugh.

[therealtruth]

thanks for the grades - i only saw the second half last night. couple of thoughts:

1. tiago should not get more PT - everyone on this forum (including me) was ing and moaning about pop not giving him more PT; then, pop made all of us look ridiculous when tiago had 2 different injuries while playing limited minutes. idk if the guy is injury prone or just unlucky, but my perception is that 16 minutes of all-out effort, combined with 32 from timmy, makes us very good at the C position.

That's ridiculous because he got a few injuries he shouldn't play more? Not too many big men play all 82 games.

[T Park]

If Splitter and Diaw aren't getting more minutes in the playoffs than Blair and Bonner, then it will be what brings down the first legit contending Spurs team in years.

Pop has it in him to make a huge blunder to submarine the Spurs every postseason, I just hope he doesn't do it this year with Diaw and Splitter like he did with Splitter last year and Hill in his rookie year.

Hill was not going to win that dallas series, please.....

[T Park]

Be less injury prone

Please, injury prone? It's not like he tweaked his back and missed 4 or so games.....

[T Park]

The thing is, there's rebounding rate and rebounding rate. Bonner gets a lot of his rebounds just for being 7ft tall and in the paint (on D). I think of him the same way as Parker: do you remember Parker boxing out for rebound? No, because he is already at the elbow extended or further away from the basket, waiting for a pass to go on a fast break. Yet he still manages to get 3 rebounds or so a game just because the ball comes his way, from time to time.

On the other hand I have already seen Diaw box out and go for a rebound in his few games as a Spurs. That's quite a bit different from standing listless and waiting for the ball to find your hands.

When did bonner become 7 feet?

[DPG21920]

Please, injury prone? It's not like he tweaked his back and missed 4 or so games.....

How many games has Manu missed and how many minute did he play?

Please stop talking.

[TheSkeptic]

Hill was not going to win that dallas series, please.....

For goodness sake. Nobody was saying that Hill was going to single-handedly win the series.

In fact, it's not about guaranteed championships so much as it is giving the team a better shot at not losing. Once Hill started seeing minutes against Dallas it was obvious that Pop had made a mistake with the "these playoffs are not for George Hill" announcement. It happens and that's fine. What's concerning is that it looks like he's making the same ones every year even though the specific names might differ.

If you can't appreciate the value of giving good players a chance to fail before taking them out of the playoffs entirely, then...I guess you're consistent in any case.

Please, injury prone? It's not like he tweaked his back and missed 4 or so games.....

Speaking of which, while I'll concede that Tiago's not as durable as say Tim, Bonner, or Blair, he doesn't deserve to have his minutes cut over it. That's just being petty imo since there aren't many bigs that play his style and still manage to play every game. It's not like he's reached Bogut levels of injury.

I'll also bet that if you give him a guaranteed 25+, he'll settle down and not tax himself. There are a lot of times this year when I've watched games and felt like he was pressing because he wanted to stay on the floor. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Tiago's like Bargnani.