Grades: Spurs vs. Pacers - Mar. 31

[jag]

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.

I fully understand the reasons. Doesn't mean I'm going to get over it.

I'm definitely happy with these wins and Pop is doing an incredible job this season. But I worry more about postseason matchups. If the Spurs run into the Lakers or Grizzlies, then Tim and Tiago are going to need minutes together. I hope you understand that.

[ElNono]

I called Tiago was going to lose minutes after the trade... we'll see going forward, but this is getting classic Pop... I think we're starting to see what playoff rotations will look like, and barring injury, Diaw will be a bench warmer...

[Mugen]

lol i can't even think of how PopFan would Blair/Bonner getting more mins. than Tiago/Diaw in the playoffs.

[timvp]

Add in Danny Green's grade.

Before I start getting even more nervous about the playoffs, do you think Pop is planning to go with the rotations we've been seeing as of late when all the bigs were in the line-up?

This was the first game Pop has had all five bigs at his disposal (last game Splitter was back but Bonner was resting). One game in, I wasn't too please with what I saw. Blair is the last of the five bigs I want to see close games. And seeing no sign of Duncan and Splitter playing together against a long, physical team is depressing, tbh.

One thing to consider is that the coaching staff may have been resting Diaw. It's unlikely due to the two days off before this game but perhaps they wanted to give him a break considering he went from nothing to playing five games in six nights.

We'll have to wait and see how Pop rotates his bigs going forward.

timvp,

Any comments on George Hill's play?

He looked pretty solid. He came out of the gates a little jittery but settled in and played well. That's actually the best I've seen Hill run their team (his six assists tied his season-high). He defended Parker at a decent level. I was impressed on that three-pointer he hit off the dribble ... we didn't see him hit many three-pointers off the dribble in his time with the Spurs.

It'll be interesting to see what kind of contract he lands in free agency. Personally, I don't think he's capable of being a starting point guard in the NBA (his court vision is just too limited) but he just needs one team to believe in him to get paid . . .

[therealtruth]

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.

I definitely feel he would relax more and play more if he got guaranteed minutes. Alot of NBA players do. Especially in this case where he's losing minutes to Bonner/Blair. He would likely play more under control and draw more attention on offense.

[TheSkeptic]

I called Tiago was going to lose minutes after the trade... we'll see going forward, but this is getting classic Pop... I think we're starting to see what playoff rotations will look like, and barring injury, Diaw will be a bench warmer...

See now if that happens I'd have to start suggesting that the team consider bringing in some fresh blood. Bonner and Blair are not going to cut it.

I don't care how much Bonner tries and I hate the idea of leaning on a guy who checked out mentally last time because he was sent to the bench. Duncan, Manu, and the fans all deserve better.

I read on another board that Thibs wasn't happy with his contract situation. He's a FA over the summer as well. Defense-first, giving minutes to productive players, impressive resume, etc.

I'd break the bank to give someone like that a shot. The coach doesn't have to win games but undermining your own team like that is inexcusable.

[DieHardSpursFan1537]

Thanks for the list! Didn't have a chance to catch the game last night.

[timvp]

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

Yeah, in the big pictures, the Spurs have to be thrilled with what they're getting from Duncan. It's possible to nitpick from game to game but overall he's been better than expected ... and a huge improvement since the start of the season.

I called Tiago was going to lose minutes after the trade... we'll see going forward, but this is getting classic Pop... I think we're starting to see what playoff rotations will look like, and barring injury, Diaw will be a bench warmer...

Splitter hasn't lost any minutes. All season, he's only played minutes behind Duncan except for very rare occurrences. He still got those minutes last night.

Now if Pop starts playing someone else behind Duncan and keeps Splitter on the bench, the ST meltdown won't be pretty . . .

[ElNono]

Bonner and Blair are not going to cut it.

It's not just those two... Having Jack gives Pop more options for small ball... which I suspect he still largely prefers to pairing Tim/Tiago.

[ElNono]

Splitter hasn't lost any minutes. All season, he's only played minutes behind Duncan except for very rare occurrences. He still got those minutes last night.

Now if Pop starts playing someone else behind Duncan and keeps Splitter on the bench, the ST meltdown won't be pretty . . .

You're missing my point, which I made during the Diaw thread... Tim's minutes are only going up, which means Tiago minutes are going down.

Now, before we had Diaw and Jack, Pop basically had 3 options: certain smallball lineups, Bonner or Blair. It sucked, but the flipside was that due to the limited options, there was a chance for Tiago to take some of those minutes if either one of those two were sucking, or smallball wasn't cutting it. After the trade, that possibility seems pretty much gone.

As far as my su ion of Diaw ending up warming the bench, it has everything to do Pop being a strict believer in pecking order. Bonner and Blair will have priority for minutes because they've been here longer. "Wouldn't be fair to the team" otherwise.

[TheSkeptic]

Add in Danny Green's grade.

This was the first game Pop has had all five bigs at his disposal (last game Splitter was back but Bonner was resting). One game in, I wasn't too please with what I saw. Blair is the last of the five bigs I want to see close games. And seeing no sign of Duncan and Splitter playing together against a long, physical team is depressing, tbh.

One thing to consider is that the coaching staff may have been resting Diaw. It's unlikely due to the two days off before this game but perhaps they wanted to give him a break considering he went from nothing to playing five games in six nights.

We'll have to wait and see how Pop rotates his bigs going forward.

Thanks for your input

I guess we'll just have to hope for the best but I admit, I'm not feeling very confident.

I definitely feel he would relax more and play more if he got guaranteed minutes. Alot of NBA players do. Especially in this case where he's losing minutes to Bonner/Blair. He would likely play more under control and draw more attention on offense.

Exactly.

I guess I just latched on to the Bargnani comparison because that's who he reminds me of in terms of playing style, body type, mental make up, etc. They're also about the same age and even got similar injuries with the whole calf strain thing.

[ElNono]

Oh, and thanks for the writeup LJ

[Keepin' it real]

I guess I'm the only one happy to see Blair play down the stretch? If the Spurs go against OKC in the playoffs, you will all be singing his praises. He will be the X Factor in that series.

[therealtruth]

You're missing my point, which I made during the Diaw thread... Tim's minutes are only going up, which means Tiago minutes are going down.

Now, before we had Diaw and Jack, Pop basically had 3 options: certain smallball lineups, Bonner or Blair. It sucked, but the flipside was that due to the limited options, there was a chance for Tiago to take some of those minutes if either one of those two were sucking, or smallball wasn't cutting it. After the trade, that possibility seems pretty much gone.

As far as my su ion of Diaw ending up warming the bench, it has everything to do Pop being a strict believer in pecking order. Bonner and Blair will have priority for minutes because they've been here longer. "Wouldn't be fair to the team" otherwise.

It seems like Tim's minutes have gone up which has limited Splitter's ability to impact games. At 60% shooting Splitter should be getting at least 12+ attempts a game. Those are easy points that put pressure on the other team's defense and open it up for our shooters. The way Pop has treated Tiago goes beyond belief because he could have a much greater impact as we saw before he got injured. All the excuses (he's injury prone, he and Duncan are centers, they can't play together, too much Bonner/Blair, etc) are quite frankly weak.

[spurs10]

Like many here, my greatest concern is the rotation of the bigs. I, too wasn't happy to see Diaw riding the bench while Blair closed. ElNono's "pecking order" statement has validity, but leaves us back where we started. We have two bigs, Tim and Tiago, that don't play together, a 'specialist' who doesn't defend the basket or rebound much, and an undersized 4 that's not so great on defense. I think B&B have value and are showing improvement, but Tim can't do it all. I also don't think that Pop is saving Tiago for the playoffs. Perhaps we'll see him play a bit more, but I have my doubts about them starting together.
Also Jackson starting for Green makes me wonder who will come in for Kawhi. So far, Jack and Kawhi sharing the 3, and some small ball with them playing 4 & 3, seems more likely.
Thanks all for your takes, in the end I don't envision Blair as our closer.

[Obstructed_View]

I guess I'm the only one happy to see Blair play down the stretch? If the Spurs go against OKC in the playoffs, you will all be singing his praises. He will be the X Factor in that series.

Then you'd better start hoping they meet up in the first round.

[Borosai]

Fortunately this place was named SpursTalk and not SpursCliff.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Then you'd better start hoping they meet up in the first round.

and if Blair is closing out games, then they probably will, because the Spurs would plummet down the standings.

[DPG21920]

Spur fans that keep acting like winning means there are no concerns are crazy to me and haven't learned a thing despite the epic failures in the playoffs for the Spurs in recent years. If you want to say complaining about it is lame, ok, I get that; but to act like there aren't valid concerns, especially about the defense and Pop's rotations (namely the bigs) is just foolish and comes off as smug and arrogant.

Spurs are a very good team. They also have a lot of concerning holes.

[benefactor]

As far as my su ion of Diaw ending up warming the bench, it has everything to do Pop being a strict believer in pecking order. Bonner and Blair will have priority for minutes because they've been here longer. "Wouldn't be fair to the team" otherwise.

Your forgot about the part where the Spurs go down 3-1 and in the second half of the elimination game Pop decides to pull Bonner and put in Diaw as a last gasp attempt to pull the game out before being eliminated.

[DesignatedT]

Spurs fans who focus solely on the negatives can't believe those Spurs fans who focus on the positives while Spurs fans who focus solely on the positives can't believe those Spurs fans who focus on the negatives.

[TJastal]

Add in Danny Green's grade.

This was the first game Pop has had all five bigs at his disposal (last game Splitter was back but Bonner was resting). One game in, I wasn't too please with what I saw. Blair is the last of the five bigs I want to see close games. And seeing no sign of Duncan and Splitter playing together against a long, physical team is depressing, tbh.

One thing to consider is that the coaching staff may have been resting Diaw. It's unlikely due to the two days off before this game but perhaps they wanted to give him a break considering he went from nothing to playing five games in six nights.

We'll have to wait and see how Pop rotates his bigs going forward.

He looked pretty solid. He came out of the gates a little jittery but settled in and played well. That's actually the best I've seen Hill run their team (his six assists tied his season-high). He defended Parker at a decent level. I was impressed on that three-pointer he hit off the dribble ... we didn't see him hit many three-pointers off the dribble in his time with the Spurs.

It'll be interesting to see what kind of contract he lands in free agency. Personally, I don't think he's capable of being a starting point guard in the NBA (his court vision is just too limited) but he just needs one team to believe in him to get paid . . .

I could see him landing in laker land as Kobe's backup. If the lakers have the $$ to throw at him.

[timvp]

You're missing my point, which I made during the Diaw thread... Tim's minutes are only going up, which means Tiago minutes are going down.

Now, before we had Diaw and Jack, Pop basically had 3 options: certain smallball lineups, Bonner or Blair. It sucked, but the flipside was that due to the limited options, there was a chance for Tiago to take some of those minutes if either one of those two were sucking, or smallball wasn't cutting it. After the trade, that possibility seems pretty much gone.

Splitter's minutes were always basically going to equal 48 minutes minus Tim Duncan's minutes. Before the trades and signings, Splitter was getting very erratic time next to TD ... which averaged out to less than three minutes per game. And for weeks prior to the trades and signings, Pop had already given up on Duncan and Splitter; it only made an appearances if there was foul trouble or injury.

In the playoffs, the only chance Splitter is going to play with Duncan is if Pop does it to match a big lineup. IMO, that has been the case all season and remains the case. So really, I don't think Splitter's situation has changed enough to say his role got bigger or small.

Overall though, there's no doubt that the bigman situation is better than it's been all season. While I want Duncan and Splitter together as much as anyone, having the option to turn to Diaw or smallball with Jack is better than living or dying with Bonner and Blair.

As far as my su ion of Diaw ending up warming the bench, it has everything to do Pop being a strict believer in pecking order. Bonner and Blair will have priority for minutes because they've been here longer. "Wouldn't be fair to the team" otherwise.

Disagree that Pop is a "pecking order" coach. Nazr hopped to the front of the line back in 2005 even though he didn't even enter the rotation until April. Even Glenn Robinson got run in the postseason after signing in the final few days of the regular season. In 2006, Finley immediately became a Pop favorite -- even ahead of champions like Horry and Barry. In 2008, Kurt Thomas started playoff games even though he was acquired at the trade deadline. In 2009, Drew Gooden had a large run down the stretch of the season.

If you want to go back further, Pop benched AJ and Elliott for two newbies in Terry Porter and Danny Ferry back in 2001.

Pop sometimes makes the wrong decisions on who to play but I disagree it's because he believes in a pecking order.

[DPG21920]

Focus is one thing, flat out denial and lying is another.

Like those who quote Tiago as "injury prone because he missed 4 games" and ignore a certain player who is way more injury prone, missed many more games yet plays much more minutes....

Or those that say LA is not a concern. Or those that forget the last time this team won a 2nd round game...

[DPG21920]

Splitter's minutes were always basically going to equal 48 minutes minus Tim Duncan's minutes. Before the trades and signings, Splitter was getting very erratic time next to TD ... which averaged out to less than three minutes per game. And for weeks prior to the trades and signings, Pop had already given up on Duncan and Splitter; it only made an appearances if there was foul trouble or injury.

In the playoffs, the only chance Splitter is going to play with Duncan is if Pop does it to match a big lineup. IMO, that has been the case all season and remains the case. So really, I don't think Splitter's situation has changed enough to say his role got bigger or small.

Overall though, there's no doubt that the bigman situation is better than it's been all season. While I want Duncan and Splitter together as much as anyone, having the option to turn to Diaw or smallball with Jack is better than living or dying with Bonner and Blair.

Well this is a huge issue then because if you don't play your clear cut best players on both ends (Tiago) over known playoff chokers (Bonner) & question marks (Blair), the Spurs could be in significant trouble and if Tiago's already ridiculously low minutes go down in the playoffs because Tim's go up, the team will suffer on both ends.