Should Manu be re-inserted in Starting Lineup?

[duhoh]

to you it's a single question, but for most of us, it's one that's been asked a million times.

[ViceCity86]

What the is a GNSF or THB?
Pardon me for not living my life on a message board.OP had a legit question.
2005 WCSF vs old Thunder-Manu reinserted over Barry into the starting lineup and had one of his best playoff games ever.

[pikkiwoki]

German National Science Foundation

TetraHydrocannaBinol

[Keepin' it real]

If it bothers you that much the door is over there ------------->

It bothers me, and you can shove said door up your ass.

[smaka]

If you talk about his qualities, he definitely shoud be a starter. But imo right now it's better that he comes off the bench, because it makes our bench so much better and he provides additional power from bench. I'd say not to re-insert him in starting lineup, unless we are in a really bad situation.

[TD 21]

It's a possibility if the Spurs get desperate. 2-1 isn't desperate, tbh.

Agreed. But if the Spurs look shaky in the first half of game four (and I suspect they will), then it's desperation time. That will be 7 straight quarters they've struggled and really only 4 quarters in the entire series where they outplayed the Thunder. At that point, Pop shouldn't worry about the appearance of desperation.

The reality is, quite possibly the biggest adjustment they can make to Sefolosha on Parker (which was so obvious that he should have been defending him from the start), is to start Ginobili, increase his minutes and make them have to pick their poison.

[TJastal]

YES! some possibilities

this is just my humble opinion,, I think Diaw should slide to the second unit to help facilitate? why, because that second unit desperately needs a creator/facilitator

why not a starting line-up of Duncan, Blair, Parker, Leonard and Manu (or Stephen Jackson)

then Splitter, Diaw, Green (or Neal), Anderson (can defend and score) then Manu

in the second unit, maximize the pick and roll with Splitter and Manu!!

let Diaw help by being something like a point center..Splitter inside, then Diaw outside surrounded with three point shooters seems a good idea

and no loss of effectivity from the first five, Duncan needs an enforcer like Blair to help him there


does this plan have merits guys?

At least for this series, any plan that doesn't include Bonner in the rotation is probably an upgrade.

I also think Green has finally hit his ceiling. Time to bring in Jackson to play a bigger role.

I'm not so sure Blair is an "enforcer" but he does have a history of playing well against the thunder and did nothing to sully that notion last night. I'd roll with him even in the starting lineup, as long as Diaw still plays in the 2nd unit.

[eric365]

I'm usually against this idea but in this series Manu is the only guy that would force Westbrook to keep defending on Parker

Westbrook can hide on Neal, Green and even S Jax. Not on Manu

Maybe something to try if the spurs are 2-3 (unlikely IMO)

[therealtruth]

I'm usually against this idea but in this series Manu is the only guy that would force Westbrook to keep defending on Parker

Westbrook can hide on Neal, Green and even S Jax. Not on Manu

Maybe something to try if the spurs are 2-3 (unlikely IMO)

I'm not sure about that but I do agree whoever has Westbrook on them has to attack. They should run that guy off screens to tire Westbrook out. It worked in game 2. Westbrook is now coasting on defense.

[GrandeDavid]

1. Yes

2. No

3. No, keep Danny Green in starting lineup

4. No, but start SJax over Green in starting lineup

If Spurs lose tomorrow and Green plays shook again, then start Buckets. If SA wins this series they might need to do same thing against Miami so might as well throw this option out there and see how it works out.

[Spursfan092120]

[therealtruth]

If Spurs lose tomorrow and Green plays shook again, then start Buckets. If SA wins this series they might need to do same thing against Miami so might as well throw this option out there and see how it works out.

I agree. It's not that DG is missing shots. It's that he's playing without confidence.

[Proxy]

Put Blair in and see how he does. Might as well if Tiago and Matt are going to play like pussies. Anderson played so it shouldn't be a stretch.

If they're going to switch and risk the mismatch... then Blair should thrive. He may do stupid things at times, but he isn't scared of posting Fisher up in the low block. Make them pay for switching Ibaka on Manu.

[SpurPadre]

Do people still think it's an alien concept to start a HOF player over Danny Green now?

[eric365]

Hollinger's today dime :

Well, you can't say the Spurs haven't faced this situation before. They left home up 2-0 and came back tied at 2-2, just like they did five times between 2003 and 2006. Throw in the four other situations in the Tim Duncan era in which the Spurs were tied in a series after four games -- the last time against New Orleans in 2008 -- and they're mighty familiar with this drill.

It's one that calls for adjustments, and historically Gregg Popovich has kept what might be called a "universal adjustment" in his pocket. If things are going badly, he changes Manu Ginobili from starter to bench, or from bench to starter.

The particulars of the series haven't mattered; it has been a move he's always made to shake up his rotation and give the opponent a different look, to the point that both Popovich and Ginobili joke about it.

And it's time again.

Coming into this series, it appeared the Thunder, not the Spurs, were the ones who could benefit from starting their sixth man, because it would let defensive ace Thabo Sefolosha match up against Ginobili.

But they've found success with Sefolosha on Tony Parker and Russell Westbrook on Danny Green, a matchup that won't work out nearly as well if Ginobili is in the starting lineup. Westbrook will be forced back on to Parker, with Sefolosha checking Ginobili, and the Thunder's rotating defenders will respect Ginobili's threat off the ball a lot more than Green's.

The rest on http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2012...gg-popovich-do