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Yes, they MUST play big minutes together if they hope to beat Memphis and/or the Lakers.
Sooner or later in the playoffs we're gonna run into a team with a two bigs combo.
Can the Spurs win a Championship with Splitter and Duncan continuing to play very minimal minutes togetherin the playoffs?
early season post:
timvp (paraphrased cause i can't find the link that i know exists)
Spurs have since had the positive personell changes of SJax, Diaw and Pattymelt along with Soft being taken off the menu. So....Unless Splitter and Duncan play at the same time we have no chance in the playoffs
few days ago....
Akin to ^^. If/when you seeTbh, I'm now resigned to the fact that Pop won't play Duncan and Splitter together in the playoffs. I thought that Pop should have played the two together during the regular season in case he needed that alignment in the postseason ... but it hasn't happened and likely won't happened.
Then again, I'm interested to see what Pop does against the Lakers. Playing them three times before the end of the regular season is actually a good thing because it should allow Pop to figure out if the Spurs can survive without using Duncan and Splitter against Bynum and Gasol. If Pop realizes he needs those two together, it'd be frustrating because he wasted so much time ignoring that combo but there'd probably be enough time for a crash course.
Yes, they MUST play big minutes together if they hope to beat Memphis and/or the Lakers.
CIA info TBD if/when the Spurs play the Grizz. or Lakers in the playoffs.
I don't believe they have to play together to win. However, I think it would extremely hard to win with Blair in the starting lineup. His offense has actually been decent lately, but against big front lines he would get abused. I think putting Diaw into the starting lineup and having Splitter and Bonner as the backups could work. Obviously it would be preferable to have Splitter and Duncan play together, but that is not likely to happen at this point.
Yep. For LA and MEM... other teams, not so much.
I can't find where I said that either but I don't deny saying it. Sounds like something I would have said at one point.
Do I still think Duncan and Splitter has to play together in order for the Spurs to win a championship? Well, first of all, I think it'd make it a lot easier. Come playoff time, you want your best players on the court. You can win regular season games by utilizing depth and a strong bench unit, but that doesn't work nearly as well come the postseason. Splitter and Duncan are the two best bigmen on the Spurs so it's definitely a problem that Pop has failed to build chemistry between the two. If Duncan/Splitter was a legit option right now, I'd feel better about San Antonio's chances.
But it's not so the road to a championship is going to be more difficult and will require more smoke and mirrors. That said, the equation has changed enough to make it possible for the Spurs to win it all without Duncan and Splitter spending time next to each other.
1. Adding Boris Diaw is key. He gives the Spurs a legit option to put next to Duncan that is somewhere between the extremes that are Blair and Bonner. Blair is probably too small and too interior-oriented to thrive in the playoffs. Bonner is probably too soft and too perimeter-oriented to thrive in the playoffs. Diaw is in the middle and more fits an Horry-type role.
2. Adding Stephen Jackson gives the Spurs a better smallball group. Pop can go with Jackson and Kawhi Leonard at the forward spots and have a combination that includes enough length, athleticism and toughness to put up a good fight.
3. As it stands, there are only two teams that the Spurs really need Duncan and Splitter against: the Lakers and the Grizzlies (the Bulls might also belong in this category ... tough to say). If the Spurs can avoid those teams, which is probably unlikely but not impossible, Pop failing to play Duncan and Splitter together in the regular season probably won't be the team's downfall.
Variables have changed
I take it you mean the added depth in Diaw, and Jackson, specifically?
Boris getting DNPCD
I was saying that's Timvp speak for when pop doesn't do certain things.
Pretty much yes. The answer hasn't changed much since last season. The Spurs played russian roulette and lost.
The thing about the Spurs in the playoffs is they are seemingly a team that has to hide their weaknesses vs playing to their strengths. That always makes it a dicey proposition.
I'd be really interested in seeming some work done on a small ball line up that included Diaw at the 4, with Timmy or Tiago at the 5. Tony, Kawhi, SJax, Diaw and Duncan/Splitter. Even with the weight Diaw has put on, from what I've seen of him I think he's still quick enough to stay with the other team's SF on the perimeter. My gut tells me we could use this lineup to really exploit the other team when they go small, punish them on with a size advantage when we're on offense, and still be quick enough to defend well on defense.
Have they not? Do you simply ignore Diaw and trading in a Charmin SF for a P.A.T. SF?
Pop has been a counterpuncher since the 1999 championship, tbh.
I see Diaw getting DNPCD and getting someone that doesn't really change the rotations, especially when depth in the playoffs is overrated, doesn't change things all that much IMHO.
Also the new variables didn't change the fact Tiago is still a top 5 player and doesn't get minutes to reflect that.
I agree with this which is why I'd rather just play our best players.
And also, as much as it is about giving the best players more time, it's also about keeping minutes away from people like Blair while also limiting Bonner's.
While it's possible for the Spurs to win it all starting Blair and playing Bonner, I don't think they do it unless a team like Boston or Orlando can pull an upset in the East and they also manage to avoid the big frontlines.
Damn bro, he's been with the team for a couple weeks. Give him a chance to earn a spot in the rotation, tbh.
I guess I'm the one who has it backwards
On this team you earn minutes and contracts by choking in the playoffs and you get chances to show your stuff by getting Dnp'd
Also, what about that 2nd part scro? Did the variables drop Tiago on the talent chart?
I still think the Spurs win it all though.
I guess I just don't understand using the variable card when you yourself said the players the Spurs picked up might not change things too much and that expectations should be low.
Probably required, but Pop is not allowing them to play together in the late season, so he probably won't do it in the playoffs until the Spurs are behind in series and Pop realizes, kicked in the head by the reality of desperation of blowing a Championship run, how he made another mistake not playing his best hand.
Either the variables have changed and DPG needs bipolar medication or DPG's Splitter obsession is an odd attempt at trolling.
I've been convinced that he's trolling for quite some time.
He spends far too much time with the mouth breathers downstairs, tbh. It carries over, and not in a good way.
What? I do think the Spurs can win it all despite the Tiago issue. My point was that if you truly thought Tiago was needed (by that meaning the Spurs had a le chance) before the "variables changed" that these moves shouldn't have changed your mind. I didn't think before the trades playing Tiago and Tim would give the Spurs a legit le shot (although I obviously thought it made them better, whatever that ceiling may be). After the trade, I think they are legit contenders and while getting Tiago more minutes adds to that, it doesn't mean the variables were so impactful it should change completely what you said (Unless Splitter and Duncan play at the same time we have no chance in the playoffs)
That's dumb, no offense. What have I said that is even close to trolling on the issue?
No offense taken, but if it's not trolling then it's dumb. No offense.
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