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Defense. Manu. Bonner and Blair.
What are your top 3 keys for the Spurs to win the le, this year?..
Ignore health, that's obvious and important to every team..
1. Bonner and Blair..
Unfortunately, this team's playoff life will be dictated by Blair and Bonner, whether it's their production, or their amount of playing time..
2. 3-point shooting..
This team is less reliant on 3s than the last few years of Spurs basketball, but 3-point shooting is an essential tool for Spurs victories..typically, the best players on the team create shooting opportunities for their role players..on this team, spacing creates playmaking opportunities for the big 3..
3. Tim Duncan..
We already know what we're going to get from Parker, and Ginobili is starting to get in a rhythm(excluding tonight's game)..we know what the shooters do for the Spurs, we know what the other role players will provide..what will Duncan give us, in the form of post scoring, during the playoffs?..
Defense. Manu. Bonner and Blair.
1. Splitter and Diaw's minutes > Blair and Bonner's minutes
2. Ball movement. Ball movement that leads to 3 point shooting specifically.
3. Can TP continue to carry the Spurs in the Playoffs?
Defense. Defense. Rotations.
Still not sure how Pop is going to go with the rotations for the playoffs. A regular 8 man rotation would include: Tony, Manu, Tim, Bonner, Blair, Jack, Green, Neal
Will Pop use 10 guys? Is there any room for Leonard, Tiago, Diaw?
I think this is the next thing to figure out
I agree, rotations are a huge concern..
It's a good problem to have during the regular season, but it should cause some confusion in the post-season..
Leonard and Splitter are the 4th and 5th best players on the team, they both need to play 20+ minutes per game, in the playoffs IMO..
Not only that but I think the team needs a few wrinkles to get Splitter more involved by giving him touches on the block. The guy is so damn efficient down there and on top of that, he's a great passer that can see the court really well.
How Pop has not tapped into this other dimension in 2 years is mind boggling and maddening.
TP still hasn't shown me he can adjust when the other teams decide to clog the paint to prevent his penetration. Phil Jackson used it in '04 and the Grizzlies did the same thing last year. Hopefully we don't run into a team that uses that strategy.
I would run several Tiago pick and rolls over the course of a game. It's really tough for the other team to stop. And if they focus on stopping it that will open it up for the shooters.
Don't let Amuseddaysleeper start gameday threads...
Going 8 deep in the playoffs was great when you could play Tim and Manu in their prime for 38 minutes but those days are long and gone. Yeah I know there's something to be said about the rest days in between in the playoffs but there's a fine line in riding your horses for so long yet avoiding the talent that you have when those work horses aren't firing. They're too late in their careers to ride 'em like he did in 2007.
Despite a relatively efficient scoring night (4-6 for 8 points and 6 rebounds in 14 min.), Splitter made a potentially costly error late in tonight's game when he went for a (failed) steal on K.G., resulting in an easy layup.
Expect Pop to detract from Splitter's already anemic playing time going forward
What a shame. I thought Splitter's defense around the rim was otherwise fundamentally sound, even when his man scored on him.
I'd like to see statistics on Manu's jump shot (3 point shot, especially) when he attempts them late in game after having played at least 30-35 minutes prior.
Is it even worth playing Manu 35+ minutes per game in the playoffs if he doesn't have the legs underneath him to properly explode to the rim or bury a 3 point shot? Granted, I haven't seen the statistics on his FG% efficiency late in game after playing "heavy" (for him) minutes, but my "eyeball" test tells me he throws up an awful lot of shot attempts (mostly 3s) that are just short of the rim if he plays really heavy minutes.
Defense and 3 point shooting. Same as how the first four were won.
And 4th would be avoid the Heat, right?
if there is anyone in this team i'm not worried about producing when needed, specially in playoffs and when it cont, its Timothy Theodore Duncan
The Spurs better find other means of scoring other than the three-ball. Credit Boston's defense tonight, but the Spurs were settling in the second half and it almost cost them the game. I'm beginning to think S-jax would be better served driving the lane rather than shooting bricks from downtown.
1. Defensive improvement. Vital. Yes, the old standards are impossible to reach with the current roster, but the D must improve (a lot) if the Spurs want a long playoff run. All the aspects of defending should reach higher levels: one-on-one, switchs, help, defensive rebounding, defensive transitions, energy, mental toughness, etc.. Otherwise, it will be a very short post-season.
2. The thin balance between rotation and players actually capable of producing in those minutes. Yes, the Spurs are deep, but I highly doubt that come playoffs time they will use all 12 players unless it's a blowout. So in these last games Pop surely will be taking notes on how players react from 20 minutes, to DNP-Coach decision- , to limited minutes. Can Diaw produce from the bench playing 10 minutes one given night and 26 the next? Could those in the bench be ready to contribute with less minutes in a matchup than the series before?
3. The realization that the wheels are really starting to fall off. TD, Manu, even Jack, how many more playoff runs do they have left in them? Two, maybe three? If they want another ring, they need to give whatever's left in the tank, raising their game, playing with that fire inside. They must lead the younger players and forcing them (by example) to improve and play as a team too.
Dont know if you are stating that Splitter is a good low post player but that would be incorrect. Splitter is great around the basket. Ideally when defense is moving/shuffling and assignments are not that clear. This type of situation he is gold because of his footwork, passing skills and overall headiness. However, Splitter with his back to the basket and big on him is disastrous. I don't which player is worse Blair or Splitter when in this situation. At least Blair has the ability to shoot from about 10 feet. If Splitter is anywhere beyond 8 feet he resorts to his hook shot and that is just not a good shot for him.
Manu4Tres is right.
I think it was JAG who had the numbers but Splitter was shooting something like 42% from the post this season.
Marc Gasol was only better by about 3%.
Granted, that's not as good as the scintillating percentage he gets off the pick and roll but you're wrong to say that it's a toss up between him and Blair.
Statistically he's probably been the best post-up player on our team this season. Once he gets his reps in I'm pretty confident that he'll start doing even better.
3 Keys to the le
1. To crush their enemies
2. See their enemies driven before them
3. Hear the lamentation of their women
Ok take it easy there Conan....
1. 3pt shooting. particularly clutch 3pt shooting.
Was always important for championship spurs teams. When they didn't fall, they lost (eg. 2002, 2004). Do they Spurs have enough big time 3Pt shooters? I think so, Neal, Manu, SJax. If teams clog the lane to try neutralise TP and Manu (which is a guarantee), the Spurs need to counter by hitting the 3 - but not falling in love with it like tonight...
2. Defense
3. Rebounding
The Spurs controlled the boards against the Celtics, and that was one reason they were not blown out. Gotta give props to Bonner, he has been rebounding well as of late. Hopefully he can keep that up so even if he is not hitting 3's he is not a total waste of court space. I love how the team now has so many rebounders at different positions, SJax, Leonard, Tiago, it's no longer just up to TD (who is boarding really well lately).
1. Defense
2. Slightly tweaking the current rotation (making Bonner a situational player rather than the second coming of Robert Horry, pulling the plug on Blair when he just downright is the weak link on a given night, playing Tiago Splitter more with any of the bigs, playing Diaw a uva lot more).
3. Solidifying the aforementioned tweaked rotation which would allow the team to play with more consistent fluidity on both ends of the floor.
healthy parker
healthy duncan
healthy manu
the key is pop rotations and limiting the wankers who dont contribute siht but still gettin minutes ahead of guys whose waiting for their turn...
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