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46 games played
8 games under 15 minutes (including two where Tiago left early due to illness or injury)
Before the season started and during the first half of this shortened season. We Spurs fans didn't believe that we would be in this position,that the Spurs can actually have last one shot at glory, because of the team's weaknesses that were 100% exposed in the last playoffs and in the early parts of this season. But now looking back, have the Spurs really addressed their issues and weaknesses before? Or is it another fool's gold journey for us?
Small Forward Slot
Before all we had and relied on the SF spot was RJ and the world knows that he just wasn't the guy for the job. Aside from our front court issues versus the Grizz, RJ who was a main part of our Regular Season success just got splatted through the ground. Now, we have new guys that can actually be trusted in the games' critical moments in Kawhi and Sjax. We now have the toughness that we never had last season and we don't have to worry anymore for our SF position.
Front Court Issues
Last playoffs, the most critical disadvantage that cost our loss was our Front Court were getting abused by the great ones of the Grizz. We had a tired Duncan that I think was overplayed during the regular season, a very old Mcdyess who still had one last run in the tank but was just no match to the Grizz bigs. Bonner and Blair were... Bonner and Blair and Pop played Tiago when it was too little too late. The question is did the team already address this problem? IMO, No. Although I love the addition of Diaw because it had shown good results , Diaw is not the kind of big guy who can bang with other bigs and that was the big guy who we lacked against Memphis last season and Pop still relies on Blair and Bonner too much and he still plays Tiago,who for me is the 2nd best big in the team, under 20 mins most of the time and we lost Dice. If this will be the case, then we sure don't want to face LA and Memphis in the early parts of the playoffs.
Depth
This is connected to the first issue. Last year all we had on the SF spot was RJ this year we now have Kawhi and Jax. Last year the back-up PG, was Hill and we all know he wasn't for that, now we have Neal and Mills who can do the work, although their decision makings are still questionable its nice to have 2 reliable back-ups when you don't have TP on the floor. And with the addition of Diaw and the emergence of Kawhi and Green we can go to a 10 man rotation in the PO. For me, this issue have been solved.
Defense
Offense wins games, Defense wins championships. And it proved itself to be true again last playoffs. We relied to much on our 3 point shooting and we had a guy on RJ that can not be relied on when you need the shots the most. G Hill also contributed to our fool's gold season when he also popped like a balloon in the playoffs. As for this moment, I can't fully decide if this problem will not be solved and will be the same last season, why? Because with the addition of Diaw, Jax and Kawhi we have actually seen glimpses of great D. And although Tim is old enough and the team is not capable of playing D the way they did it before, I still give them the benefit of the doubt that somehow, in the PO they can address this problem and maybe it will lead to good times.
Health
Manu's injury hurt us so badly that it cost any chances of winning a series last season. This season, his health and the team overall has been pretty much up and down, and we can only hope that for at least one last time, destiny will let the team play it all out and if they lose, they lose healthy.
Overall, the front office and coaching staff should be applauded for the changes that they have made. Without those, we would be gone for vacation again, earlier this year. I hope that they will somehow, attain great and enough D and for health to be on our side for one last time.
EDITED the fact that was pointed out by Mel
Last edited by 100%duncan; 04-08-2012 at 10:37 AM. Reason: Wrong fact
46 games played
8 games under 15 minutes (including two where Tiago left early due to illness or injury)
ooops, sorry that one I got wrong
Yes. You conspired with Jackson & Diaw to mutiny, looted their respective booty and got your straightened out.
Crafty bas s.
Yes. The front office addressed nearly every weakness the team had. Whether or not Pop uses the personnel come playoff time is another story. We have depth. We have quality defenders in Kawhi, Danny Green, Tim Duncan, and Tiago Splitter. We now have size. The small forward position went from being a weakness to a strength. On paper the team looks great, like the best team in the league. If Pop extends Duncan's minutes to 35+ in the playoffs and limits Splitter and Diaw's playing time, we could be in trouble.
The backup PG position could be a problem. Neal is terrible defending PG's, and Mills is new.
The bigs rotation is another issue. Diaw will help, but Duncan can't log +35 mpg anymore, neither can Splitter, which limits the time they both can play together.
Z-Bo made difficult shots, there is nothing the Spurs bigs could do about. Dice played solid defense, but Z made some fadeaway long 2s. Duncan was playing solid defense on Marc Gasol. The problem was that the Grizzlies played great defense and the Spurs couldn't score, while Z could no matter what. He's not 7' anyways. The Lakers with Bynum and Gasol may be problematic if the Spurs don't play them with Duncan - Splitter. While the Lakers backups bigs aren't something to worry, Bynum and Gasol could log 40 mpg, which will expose the lack of size of Bonner, Diaw and Blair.
I don't think the bigs situation has been addressed (given what the rotations are seemingly lining up to be there)...
That said, there's obviously a huge improvement on the wing, so getting production from there might already offset some of that. Looking at last season's loss to Memphis, it wasn't just the bigs (even though that was pretty glaring), but also quite a few underachievers on other positions. RJ watching the last game from the bench was a good indicator. A Jackson/Kawhi tandem on the wing already gives you a good combo of toughness and rebounding that we were sorely lacking.
I also been greatly impressed with Mills, but I don't think this playoffs are for him, barring some injury.
All in all, I think the weakest link in this team is largely the softness of Bonner and Blair being undersized. How many minutes they get and how they produce on the offensive end will largely indicate the amount of damage they do.
Most everyone keeps pointing out the BIGs problems in the Memphis series. Have you forgotten Timmy sat out 6 games with an ankle sprain and we lost 6 in a row right before the playoffs. How long does it take to heal an ankle sprain and get back to 100%? Manu breaks his elbow in the last game. RJ, Hill and several others just did not show up. When Zbo hit the long 3, I knew we were in trouble.
We have the same number of bigs as last year. Duncan, McD, Bonner, Blair and Splitter vs Duncan, Blair, Bonner, Splitter and Diaw. Biggest difference this season is in the SF, RJ gone. Kawhi and SJax have it covered. SG healthy Manu and Green manning this position. PG TP playing at MVP level with Neal and Mills to play along side of Manu. Anderson is there for PG, SG and SF. I can't see a weakness and I dont see us having to fear any team if we stay HEALTHY !!!!!!
Well, we haven't forgotten about Tim's injury. I think most of us just feel like he wasn't enough by himself against the Memphis frontcourt.
Also, there's a difference between having the right number of bigs and giving more minutes to the best ones. Bonner fwiw, I don't consider a big. Blair is still undersized and undisciplined. Diaw/Duncan/Splitter are all fine.
What that means is that Pop will have to work out a rotation that keeps these factors in mind, skews the minutes towards the better players, and still ensures that everyone has a chance to rest. I know he's capable of doing it but will he?
I agree with this completely.
Main weakness not addressed - need a capable defensive C/PF who Pop is willing to play with Duncan that can rebound quite well and block shots, like a poor man's Serge Ibaka.
Diaw is not that man no matter how much people think otherwise.
The only weakness the Spurs have is Pop's mental approach to matchups and managing minutes. This means Splitter/Diaw getting more minutes than Bonner/Blair.
I get where you're coming from but Diaw is probably the closest thing we have.
The defense was better with him instead of Blair imo so that in itself could count for a lot leading into the playoffs...
Agreed but unfortunately I don't think that's going to happen.
Read the last issue you idiot.
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As for the game tonight, I really am disappointed with the outcome of our D. And Defense,barring serious injuries, has yet to be our main weakness,imho. Let's just hope Pop can somehow figure the puzzle out before the time expires.
As for some of you guys saying Pop's decision making and his time management of our bigs is one of our biggest problems, I agree with you completely. As I have said he's only playing Tiago under 20 mins per game and being the 2nd best big on a team, that has a 3rd big who "stretches the floor" , Splits should average at least 26 mins per game in order for us to have a greater chance of winning and to limit TD's mins if Pop won't really play them together.
I think it gives the team a better chance but to prevent Splitter from getting hurt I'd want to see him getting those 26+ more spread out. I don't think having him play essentially two 8-10 minute shifts/game is good from the perspective of keeping him healthy.
Come to think of it I'm not sure if any of the other guys play a similar schedule with the exception of Blair...
I agree. It really annoys me that or key players are so injury prone. But, oh well, just hope fate is on our side now.
I know right? RJ was healthy, Bonner's been remarkably durable, Blair, etc. It's always the good players we have to worry about on this team.
Seriously though, I'd take health over excellent D anytime. I'd rather have decent defense and a healthy Spurs team, than having excellent D but key players health going up and down.
Weaknesses were defense, bigs defense, toughness.
Jakson and Diaw addressed that IMO.
Was the bigs' size addressed in your opinion? What if we play LA and Memphis again?
I honestly don't like Mills, he's the backup pg & he's a chucker might as well just stick with Neal as the backup.
Tho I'm interested to see how Diaw would perform against Randolph. I'd still think we'd need to avoid the Lakers at all costs.
I'm not sure why but the way you phrased this is killing me.
I'm too attached to the idea of having another ball handler to give up on Mills just yet. Plus he's played well before. Hopefully he just needs time to settle down.
Front Court Issues
But that's rarely something you can significantly change during the season. Duncan will have to not only match his regular season output (against better compe ion) but possibly even turn back the Time Machine.
Compared to the rest of the le contenders (OKC, Chicago, Miami, Lakers, Memphis) the Spurs have the weakest front court & oldest team.
the backup pg role is not important, when we have plenty of ball handlers on the team that can create plays or contain the ball...gino, green, jax, diaw....
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