They won't tell you about just how good Tiago Splitter is. They don't want you to know.
And I mean the EN, the SA tv media (eg Don Harris telling people last playoffs that Splitter couldn't evey play), and sites like 48 Minutes of (who have posted 2 pro Bonner articles the past week, routinely ride Bonner's jock, and routinely mock or belittle the notion of more time for Splitter going back through last year). , they'll go to the ends of the earth digging up regular season Bonner stats to defend him while ignoring the postseason, it's just what they do.
So what aren't they telling you?
By every measure, Tiago Splitter has been just as good as Marc Gasol.
Here's how:
Going back to last year's playoffs for comparison:
Splitter had identical per 36 rebound numbers as Marc Gasol
A near identical TRB% as Gasol
A slightly better PER than Gasol (21.1 to 18.9)
He shot better than Gasol (62.5 to 51.1)
Per 36, he scored 14.4 compared to Gasol's 13.5
the only strong advantage where Gasol decimated Splitter was in blocks (per 36 = Gasol 1.9 to Splitter's 0.7)
Splitter and Gasol also had identical Offensive and Defensive Ratings for the playoffs.
Other differences: Gasol much better at steals, Splitter at assists
Splitter the better defensive rebounder, Gasol offensive
-------------
So what's going on this season? (stats from basketball-reference.com, their numbers can be a little different on advanced stats, but I'll use if as the sole source for both players)
per 36 minutes
Splitter
pts 16.9
rbs 9.7
blks 1.5
fg% .617
Gasol
pts 14.4
rbs 9.1
blks 1.8
fg% .479
ADVANCED STATS
Splitter
PER 20.1
TRB% 15.3%
BLK% 3.1%
Gasol
PER 18.1
TRB% 14.7%
BLK% 4.0%
-----
So what does this all mean? For one, would Pop give the same limited minutes to Gasol if he was on this team instead of Splitter? YES, sadly.
And if he played Gasol as Splitter, would the Spurs-related media try to convince fans that the people who wanted Gasol to play more were hyper-ventilating, panic-attack suffering fools? YES, sadly.
Would the media stay silent, or even act as accomplices as Pop made bizarre, refutable claims about Gasol being struck down by injury the year before? YES, sadly.
----
Splitter is good, DAMN good. The type of good that should be generating a plenty of media coverage over his lack of time.
Even if the media won't tell you.
The only thing you've missed is that all NBA coaches are also in the grand conspiracy as they voted Gasol over Tiago for the All Star game.
This is some crazy , I just don't get it. The only explanation would be if he's planning to use him as some kind of secret weapon if he doesn't he truly is nuts.
Lol there is no secret weapon, Pop's decisions with Splitter's minutes are mind boggling this season.
F Pop!
i thinks thyre both 27 too.
good article. im curious about timvps opinion on this one.
Yeah it's one giant conspiracy
CIA Pop?
More like MIA Pop.
So it's Media! that is keeping Splitter from getting more minutes?
Then we need a younger and less crazy Media!. Fire Media!!
I mean, I guess you could say the two are comparable. If I can remember, it seems to me Marc Gasol has the more reliable midrange shot. Which could explain the shooting percentage difference somewhat, IF he takes more midrange shots. At the same time, Splitter was an extremely efficient scorer early on this season, so it's hard to call those #'s fluky.
Wait til Pop's retired though. He's won us 4 championships and has kept us a playoff contender (even if we aren't always an elite one) every year he's been coaching. I'm sure the next young coach isn't going to come along and do such a fine job. It's the regular season, he's winning games with Blair starting. So maybe Pop feels it's good for Blair's confidence to start. Last year he was benched for McDyess when the playoffs started. Maybe we're benching him for Diaw/Splitter come playoff time. If not I don't really know what Pop's thinking, but I trust that it's better than what any of us could come up with. Otherwise we'd be NBA coaches.
IMO Pop has made up his mind on this - he wants to win using the system that failed him last year, to prove that last year was a fluke.
I hope it works, but I won't be surprised to see Tiago suddenly playing alongside TD and getting more minutes if we fall behind 1-2 in our first or second round series. That would be a continuation of Pop's policy over the last few years: be obstinate and stick to your plan through the regular season, only to abandon it when defeat stares him in the face in the playoffs.
- Exhibit A, keep running Mason at point and nailing Hill to the bench till we fell way behind in the Mavs series. Plays Hill as a last resort when it was too late.
- Exhibit B, Making Splitter a spectator throughout the year, till we get overpowered by the Grizzlies bigs, then finally playing Splitter as a desperation tactic in game 4
I'm not much for conspiracies but I do think Splitter's lack of minutes is to protect Duncan's status as the primary big. If Splitter received 30 mins a night, you would see his stats rank quite favorably with Gasol and other top bigs in the league. I don't really need stats to see that the team looks better when he is out on the court and in my opinion, the offense should run through Splitter and let Duncan focus on rebounding and protecting the rim.
LOL Splitter can't score unassisted to save his life, he's not in Duncan's league, even a 36 year old Duncan.
Player.........Efficiency...Eff/48M
Paul Gasol........23.1.........29.65
Tiago Splitter....12.1........ 30.05
Matt Bonner.....8.3...........19.22
This thread is so much fail. It's like one of the right-wing knuckledragger email chains where Obama is a secret Muslim terrorist lover and Hillary Clinton killed Vince Foster. Absolutely ridiculous that there is some kind of media conspiracy. Get a life.
First, stats can be very misleading. (Reference: the moderator's posting of stats that indicate how "good" Bonner is.)
Second, do you really want the media to address this issue, are do you just want to complain to fellow spurstalkers? If you really want to get the media's attention, make it difficult for them to ignore you. Why not start an email/facebook/twitter campaign where all spurstalkers with the same opinion on this topic can bombard relevant media outlets and/or individual reporters?
I think the most influential person you can contact -- not to actually do anything about Tiago's playing time, but to at least make your concerns more publicly known -- is Skip Bayless.
Although he is a Spurs fan, he pulls no punches and as recently as last week called out Pop for maybe being too smart for his own good (regarding resting players at the risk of killing momentum, the team's shot at HCA, etc.) Plus, he seems to really like Tiago and seems to get a rise out of being bashed every time he brings up Tiago's name on the show.
Why don't you all write compelling arguments to Skip and ask him to be a spurstalk ambassador? Even though it seems that spurstalk members hate Skip, I believe he's your best shot of getting your concerns aired by anyone in the media, and the best thing is that it would happen on ESPN.
Good luck.
It's pretty obvious that the media and the NBA are mad at him for masterminding that 9/11 thing.
Conspiracy? No.
Are the local media individually afraid of rocking the boat in order to keep their access and their jobs? Yes. Isn't that universally agreed?
True ... Marc Gasol actually plays 36 minutes on a regular basis ... Tiago does not and looks tired oftentimes ... still I think he should play 30 minutes a night, I think he would get used to it again
Again?
The numbers have been crunched elsewhere, but playing that much that often would be unprecedented for Splitter. He could play more than he currently does, I just don't know how much....
And lol conspiracy.
I'll sign a pe ion or whatever if some one creates it (I'm too old and technology-challengedFirst, stats can be very misleading. (Reference: the moderator's posting of stats that indicate how "good" Bonner is.)
Second, do you really want the media to address this issue, are do you just want to complain to fellow spurstalkers? If you really want to get the media's attention, make it difficult for them to ignore you. Why not start an email/facebook/twitter campaign where all spurstalkers with the same opinion on this topic can bombard relevant media outlets and/or individual reporters?
I think the most influential person you can contact -- not to actually do anything about Tiago's playing time, but to at least make your concerns more publicly known -- is Skip Bayless.
Although he is a Spurs fan, he pulls no punches and as recently as last week called out Pop for maybe being too smart for his own good (regarding resting players at the risk of killing momentum, the team's shot at HCA, etc.) Plus, he seems to really like Tiago and seems to get a rise out of being bashed every time he brings up Tiago's name on the show.
Why don't you all write compelling arguments to Skip and ask him to be a spurstalk ambassador? Even though it seems that spurstalk members hate Skip, I believe he's your best shot of getting your concerns aired by anyone in the media, and the best thing is that it would happen on ESPN.
Good luck.).
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