Grades: Spurs @ Jazz - Apr. 9

[TheSkeptic]

No I haven't. But I don't get the impression that hes shy from his recent interviews. And those are done in English, which is a 2nd or 3rd language of his too, therefore I would imagine that he would seem shy or nervous. But I didn't get that at from him. Somethings to watch for in interviews: eye contract with the interviewer, using your body language to acknowledge the question, pausing before answering the question, keeping answers short/concise and to the point, smiling and joking are great ways to evaluate an interviewee's confidence. Tiago does the majority of those things well. So, I've never gotten the impression that he wasn't confident - just that hes content to be passive on court.

Oh. That explains everything then.

[angelbelow]

For the record, my expectations for him are definitely high. Same for Duncan, Parker and especially Manu because hes my favorite player. Same, with the front office. Part of the reason why the Spurs are my favorite is because of the effectiveness of their management (incase you haven't noticed.. I'm high on leadership haha). If my expectations were low then I probably wouldn't care enough to watch and post.

They're not tough like Oakley but you've got both of those situations wrong. Calderon's been playing pretty well lately he just tore his hammy after getting the contract.

Garbajosa didn't give up he broke his leg and then refused to not play for his national team. That in turn pissed off Colangelo and that's why he wasn't allowed back.

The level of leadership you see from those guys is about what I'd be expecting from Tiago. Which granted, isn't what you'd be used to watching the Spurs, but it's not quite worth giving up over.

I'm not going to look up Calderon and Garbajosa so I will take you word for it and stand corrected.

I'm not giving up on Splitter's leadership potential BUT, I'm not optimistic about him blossoming into an influential figure either.

Great examples (can't believe I forgot Marc Gasol).
Thing is, they also went through similar things in that they had to get comfortable with the league, comfortable with their teammates, and feel like they were a part of the team before they started getting vocal. At that I still wouldn't consider a guy like Gallo to be a leader in the sense you're describing.

True, I'm not sure where Gallo stands from a leadership perspective. But I can see that his team misses him when hes not there, that he makes no effort to hide what he brings to the table and doesn't shy away crunch time basketball.

Part of it is just that I'm really quick at picking up patterns. I'm also mentally old for my age so I tend to just catch things that people aren't always able to see. The rest of it is through experience.

Quick summary:

I've lived in 3 different countries (2 continents), was born in sub-Saharan Africa, and have grown up interacting with Egyptians, Koreans, Chinese, Thais, people from the Philippines, East Indians, North Americans, South Americans, Brits, Germans, Australians, First Nations people, Africans from other countries, and people from like Trinidad and Jamaica on a regular basis. That's without taking the whole first generation - second generation issue into account and I have a lot of experience with that too.

Put simply, I've learned how to pick up on different cultures and blend in as much as possible. I've been doing it since grade school and it's easy for me to recognize when someone's still working to get comfortable.

Interesting. I don't have anywhere close to the experience that you have. Born in California and I don't really travel lol. Been to Taiwan a few times w. family and been to a few countries for vacation but that's it. Was in a multicultural fraternity in college but they were all "Americanized." But I get why being comfortable with your new surroundings are important. However, I don't think it makes much of a difference when it comes to spotting skill or personality on the basketball court. That's why I don't think Tiago is going to change much.

That said, I'm not talking leadership in the Tim Duncan sense of the term. In that respect, definitely not.

But what you're talking about with just directing people, demanding the ball, showing teammates where to be, etc. That's all within range once Tiago gets more comfortable. At this point he's just not there yet and I don't know that he'll ever be while on this team unless he's explicitly given more responsibility.

Duncan is a great leader because he leads by example. he's not the most talkative but he has hall of fame work ethic, is a fantastic teammate, and leaves everything out on the court. I don't expect Splitter to reach that level either.. very few can.

To my point, if he was a motivated leader, he wouldn't wait for more responsibility.. he would be actively pushing the envelop whenever hes on the basketball court.

[TJastal]

Yeah, early on we saw units centered around Splitter, Bonner, and Green that were extremely effective. Not so much since Danny moved to the SL. It's something to look forward to when Pop inevitably moves Manu back to the SL.

inevitably lol

[TheSkeptic]

For the record, my expectations for him are definitely high. Same for Duncan, Parker and especially Manu because hes my favorite player. Same, with the front office. Part of the reason why the Spurs are my favorite is because of the effectiveness of their management (incase you haven't noticed.. I'm high on leadership haha). If my expectations were low then I probably wouldn't care enough to watch and post.


I'm not going to look up Calderon and Garbajosa so I will take you word for it and stand corrected.

I'm not giving up on Splitter's leadership potential BUT, I'm not optimistic about him blossoming into an influential figure either.


True, I'm not sure where Gallo stands from a leadership perspective. But I can see that his team misses him when hes not there, that he makes no effort to hide what he brings to the table and doesn't shy away crunch time basketball.


Interesting. I don't have anywhere close to the experience that you have. Born in California and I don't really travel lol. Been to Taiwan a few times w. family and been to a few countries for vacation but that's it. Was in a multicultural fraternity in college but they were all "Americanized." But I get why being comfortable with your new surroundings are important. However, I don't think it makes much of a difference when it comes to spotting skill or personality on the basketball court. That's why I don't think Tiago is going to change much.


Duncan is a great leader because he leads by example. he's not the most talkative but he has hall of fame work ethic, is a fantastic teammate, and leaves everything out on the court. I don't expect Splitter to reach that level either.. very few can.

To my point, if he was a motivated leader, he wouldn't wait for more responsibility.. he would be actively pushing the envelop whenever hes on the basketball court.

Then we're pretty much on the same page except you have much much higher expectations (Hey, I'd be thrilled if Splitter could pull it off).

While I would agree with your vision of leadership, I'm not convinced that's the only way it comes through. Some guys do come in and push the envelop right away. Others need time to adjust before showing their personalities.

Splitter seems less confrontational in general and looks like he's still proving himself and working toward earning his minutes. I wouldn't expect him to be taking charge under those cir stances.

He looked way more confident to me in Europe and if that can translate some I think he'd be okay leadership-wise. You just don't pick up his credentials without being a leader to some extent.

Even in San Antonio we've seen glimpses of how he relates to people on the court when he's comfortable with them. He doesn't back down from opponents and he's being more expressive I think than last year so it's not like he's not making progress.

If he would start demanding the ball and being more assertive I'd be happier but I don't expect that to happen consistently until next year. Overall I'd say he's about where he should be. A little ahead even.

He's just been mismanaged these last couple of seasons and I think it's too late to get that next level out of him this year. Hopefully the frontcourt can hold on in the playoffs and Tiago can build some more confidence playing for Brazil.

I guess what I'm thinking is that he has leadership potential but that he's not going to reach it here and that's okay with me.



For the sake of my sanity though, I'm beginning to think they should trade him. :/

[angelbelow]

While I would agree with your vision of leadership, I'm not convinced that's the only way it comes through. Some guys do come in and push the envelop right away. Others need time to adjust before showing their personalities.

Splitter seems less confrontational in general and looks like he's still proving himself and working toward earning his minutes. I wouldn't expect him to be taking charge under those cir stances.

He doesn't necessarily need to be confrontational. Plenty way to go about getting to the refs or the opponent. Duncan has his "omfg you didn't just call that foul on me" or his "I never touched him I swear!" death stare everytime he gets whistled. Manu gets under his opponents skin by irritating the crap out of them. Tony has his go to "chat with the officials in a calm manner and explain to them that they ed up."

I guess what I'm thinking is that he has leadership potential but that he's not going to reach it here and that's okay with me.

For the sake of my sanity though, I'm beginning to think they should trade him. :/

Trading him would be stupid, I hope it doesn't come to that. But if I were Tiago and/or his agent, I might explore that option if only plays 20 minutes a night again.

[TheSkeptic]

He doesn't necessarily need to be confrontational. Plenty way to go about getting to the refs or the opponent. Duncan has his "omfg you didn't just call that foul on me" or his "I never touched him I swear!" death stare everytime he gets whistled. Manu gets under his opponents skin by irritating the crap out of them. Tony has his go to "chat with the officials in a calm manner and explain to them that they ed up."

I see what you're saying here. And I agree. I think the officiating issue is a combination of the rookie treatment and ignorance though.

When it comes to the refs, Pop or Manu or someone is going to have to tell him that he needs to go up and let them know he's being fouled. They suck and they won't catch it otherwise.

But also, how is his English? In the interviews I've seen he didn't sound too bad but that could be another reason why he's not going up to them.

Trading him would be stupid, I hope it doesn't come to that. But if I were Tiago and/or his agent, I might explore that option if only plays 20 minutes a night again.

I know basketball-wise it's a bad idea but the fact that he's this good while just scratching the surface yet is playing 20/night behind Bonner and Blair is excruciating. At least before he was here I could console myself with the fact that there weren't any other bigs and that we'd played our best options...

Yeah actually. He could probably be getting more minutes and money elsewhere. Unless he goes to Houston and becomes an all-star or something I won't even be upset if he decides to do the right thing for his career.

[therealtruth]

I know basketball-wise it's a bad idea but the fact that he's this good while just scratching the surface yet is playing 20/night behind Bonner and Blair is excruciating. At least before he was here I could console myself with the fact that there weren't any other bigs and that we'd played our best options...

Yeah actually. He could probably be getting more minutes and money elsewhere. Unless he goes to Houston and becomes an all-star or something I won't even be upset if he decides to do the right thing for his career.

I agree. It's frustrating seeing how slowly Pop is bring Splitter along. From day 1 last year the starting spot would have been his to lose on most teams just because he was more talented than what was available. But Pop will try everyone else on the roster at PF before he tries Splitter. It almost seems like Pop has something against him personally.

[TJastal]

I agree. It's frustrating seeing how slowly Pop is bring Splitter along. From day 1 last year the starting spot would have been his to lose on most teams just because he was more talented than what was available. But Pop will try everyone else on the roster at PF before he tries Splitter. It almost seems like Pop has something against him personally.

Judging by own level of frustration I can only imagine Tiago's frustration level must be hitting the roof since signing with the spurs. It's his 2nd year in the league, he's in his prime and yet labors and toils for table scraps behind the turd towers for the most part. Rarely does he get to play with the starters or any meaningful minutes. New acquisitions to the team are quickly ushered into the starting lineup and given significant roles (Diaw). Nobody even bats an eye anymore. It's SOP (standard operating procedure).

Yet despite all this we still have to put up with screeching vaginas on spurstalk whining and ing that he isn't stepping into a leadership role on the team. It's enough to drive one close to the loony bin. I bet if someone sat down and explained to Tiago what his so called fans are saying about him he'd give that same face in the avatar picture of chatospursfan.

[Slippy]

Neal's grade is shocking to say the least. I agree on most of timvp's grades, even the fail Manu got last week but this ones needs more explaining.

The only thing Neal was ochestrating was shots for himself. On one sequence, i remember Neal taking 3 shots in a row from offensives and then finally, Pop chews into him. Even a make-shift PG should have enough sense to pull it back after missing the first two and run a play for your teammates.