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Thanks for the post, LJ.
I think Splitter has already "earned" more minutes. From mid-late January he showed what he was capable of when given a larger role in the offense. At this point I don't really think it's about "earning" anything. Pop knows what he's capable of.
It seems as though untimely injuries have reinforced Pop's belief that Tiago isn't durable enough to handle a larger role. That's more or less the best reason I've seen anyone come up with as to why Splitter isn't seeing more minutes. If Pop is saving Tiago for the playoffs then so be it. If Pop's postseason plan is to use Tiago as nothing more than 15mpg filler for Duncan's bench minutes, then I think he's lost his mind. Either way, Tiago's performance from now until the end of the season will more than likely make no difference in Pop's postseason plans. He probably already knows what Tiago's role will be.
The Spurs are winning games right now so his limited role isn't much of an issue. I can only hope Pop is saving him for the postseason and trying to prevent any unnecessary injures. And if that's the case, I can't help but feel Tiago's development has been stunted. He needs reps to work on his post-up game. He needs minutes to work on his rebound positioning, defensive rotations and offensive chemistry with certain lineups. He's simply not getting those things in his current role.
You'd rather have a healthy Tiago than no Tiago at all, but limiting his minutes to below 20 per game doesn't ensure anything. You end up taking a guy into the playoffs who isn't as comfortable or productive on either end of the floor as he has the potential to be. And that's unfortunate for a team that has spent the past decade looking for a quality center.
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Last edited by Blake; 04-04-2012 at 12:38 PM. Reason: Wrong thread
I could see Mills being what Claxton was for us in '03.
Yeah, TD was difficult. If I was grading just Feb. and March, he would have gotten an A or A+. But I had to factor in Dec/Jan.
TP just has to keep playing the same way no matter who is on the court. Manu doesn't really have any blame in the matter, tbh.
Yeah, plus/minus stats don't always have much meaning ... but a starter having a negative number 50 games into the season tells you something is wrong with said player.Thanks a lot for the grades.
Regarding Blair, the killing stat is +/- :
Spurs with Blair (1104 minutes) : -27
Spurs without Blair (1364 minutes) : +309
The only players in the league that can match Splitter's production in points, rebounds, assists and blocks are Josh Smith, Al Jefferson and Tim Duncan. I don't think anyone was expecting Splitter to join that type of elite company heading into the season.
I agree that he's earned more minutes, especially since his compe ion are limited players in Bonner and Blair.
It'd be great if he played so damn great that even Pop couldn't ignore him anymore. But then again, given Splitter's minutes, how much better could he really play? His per-minute production is already elite ... so not sure what else he could do.
And would it even matter?
Amen.
As well as Pop has coached this season, not building up any chemistry between Splitter and Duncan is such a glaring mistake that it overshadows a lot of the good he's done.
It's an exaggerated comparison but the only thing I could compare it to is if Pop suddenly thought it'd be smart to only play TP and Manu separately in order to maximize their per-minute production. While, yeah, it would maximize their production, it's also unbelievably stupid since those two would need to play together in the postseason.
Hopefully we can get a team in the first round that has a strong frontcourt to the see if Pop has lost it.Thanks for the post, LJ.
I think Splitter has already "earned" more minutes. From mid-late January he showed what he was capable of when given a larger role in the offense. At this point I don't really think it's about "earning" anything. Pop knows what he's capable of.
It seems as though untimely injuries have reinforced Pop's belief that Tiago isn't durable enough to handle a larger role. That's more or less the best reason I've seen anyone come up with as to why Splitter isn't seeing more minutes. If Pop is saving Tiago for the playoffs then so be it. If Pop's postseason plan is to use Tiago as nothing more than 15mpg filler for Duncan's bench minutes, then I think he's lost his mind. Either way, Tiago's performance from now until the end of the season will more than likely make no difference in Pop's postseason plans. He probably already knows what Tiago's role will be.
The Spurs are winning games right now so his limited role isn't much of an issue. I can only hope Pop is saving him for the postseason and trying to prevent any unnecessary injures. And if that's the case, I can't help but feel Tiago's development has been stunted. He needs reps to work on his post-up game. He needs minutes to work on his rebound positioning, defensive rotations and offensive chemistry with certain lineups. He's simply not getting those things in his current role.
You'd rather have a healthy Tiago than no Tiago at all, but limiting his minutes to below 20 per game doesn't ensure anything. You end up taking a guy into the playoffs who isn't as comfortable or productive on either end of the floor as he has the potential to be. And that's unfortunate for a team that has spent the past decade looking for a quality center.
Exactly.
Not sure if this was supposed to be sarcasm. But the Memphis series last year already showed Pop (and PoPfan) that he ed up major by not getting Tiago time. If he still hasn't learned from that series then he's already lost it when it comes to Tiago.
So you're expecting an injury then?
I agree that Manu has no blame, but I disagree that the difference when they are both on the floor is a problem.
I think that telling TP to play the same no matter who is on the court is to ignore his job. It seems to me that it is precisely his job to get the best offense out of whoever is on the court at one time. When that includes Manu, Manu's job has ALWAYS been to create plays for himself or others. In that respect, he and TP both play similar point guard functions, so TP's point guard stats are going to go down. But the team is better off, so he is doing the right thing.
If Tony had the same stats when Manu was on the floor as when he is not, more than a few folks around here would be decrying his 'selfishness' by not giving the ball to Manu more.
N'est-ce pas?
^My issue is Parker shooting 41% when Manu is on the court. I'd be fine with his scoring going down as long as his efficiency also doesn't go down.
Doesn't Parker take more corner 3s with Manu on the floor? My eyeball test would say so, but probably only accounts partially for the difference.
Pop did screw up in not having Tiago ready, but all of the ffrontline of the Spurs got pwned, as well as the guards. So your not a Pop fan? Who would you have as coach of the Spurs?
Speaking for myself, I'm not a Pop hater. In fact, if he'd realize that he's mismanaging our bigs and make adjustments accordingly I wouldn't have any problems with him. That's saying a lot in terms of all the good things he's doing this season.
Like you said, he screwed up not having Tiago ready last time. Now that we've discovered that he's better than advertised, he's screwing up again by stunting his development.
The wings are fine. The guard situation is fine. It's the bigs that will be a problem in the playoffs.
Coaches I'd trade Pop for:
Thibs
-He's young(er)
-He maximizes the talent on his team
-His defensive system is beautiful
-He prepares his team
Other coaches I like:
Van Gundy
Paul Silas
Rick Adelman
Jerry Sloan
Dwayne Casey's also been very very good this year
I wouldn't necessarily trade Pop for the guys in the second list but I wouldn't be freaking out if they replaced him after he retired or something.
Like I said, sort out the bigs and the Spurs could be celebrating their fifth championship in June. Other than that, Pop is doing a lot of things right.
No one. Pop is the best coach in the league by far but that's saying more about how sad the state of coaching is in the league right now.
Like timvp said, I agree that Pop has done a wonderful coaching job this season with all the injuries and the juggling of rotations. But the fact that he has underused Tiago and the Tiago/Tim combo for the last two years is absolutely inexcusable and just downright stupid.
I'm a Pop fan but not to the point where im slurpin his every move like others on this board (hi TPark).
Carslile and Thibs are rising up the ranks. Thibs was the fastest to 100 victories. Carslile did an excellent coaching job in the Finals. In '10 he was too stubborn to give Beaubois time even though he could have made a difference. In '11 he was able to adjust on the fly by moving Peja out of the rotation and putting Barea in the starting lineup. Without those moves I don't think the Mavs win.
Yeah. Carlisle.
I knew I was forgetting someone. The thing I like about Carlisle is that he learns from his mistakes. I think losing in '10 has helped him grow as a coach.
Whenever I see a Dallas game it seems like he's always quick to make adjustments and to me it looks like he really coaches his players during games.
That flexibility is a large part of the reason why I don't think Dallas will be an easy oust. Of course a repeat is out of the question.
small progress Slurpy, but progress nonetheless.
But isn't some of that decrease in fg% a function of Tony going to the three point line to open up the middle for Ginobili to create for himself? And Tony is not that good from three.
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