Random thoughts following 30-point victory and franchise record for 3PM...

[angelbelow]

Sounds like a fun season, wish I had more time.

[spurraider21]

For a casual fan who doesn't study basketball as thoroughly as timvp, I agree most with his last point. Since Stern initialized this "Restgate", I've been wondering whether this served as extra motivation for the whole Spurs team to compete for this season's championship. Imagine how embarrassed he would be to hand the LOB trophy over to Holt/Pop.

I've probably said it on this forum enough times to annoy people, but I truly see this year's Miami restgate as an exact parallel to last season's OT loss to Dallas, where Pop benched the starters we were getting blown out and the bench brought us all the way back, and Green hit a game winner just AFTER the buzzer, and they eventually lost in overtime. I still remember Pop didn't reinsert the starters even in overtime, and let the bench grow confident. We were 12-9 or 12-10 at that point and when on some huge runs to close the season.

Even though our record was good this season going into the Miami game, we didn't seem as sharp as we did last season. Since the Miami game, where our reserves narrowly lost a huge game, we've been absolutely on fire, even beating Memphis in the process

[elemento]

Yeah, I am really happy with this team right now.

I would add Cojo's development as well. People were trashing him so much in ST (especially Cobra who disappeared), saying that he wouldn't even have his option taken, that he was a scrub. He was taken with a late 1st round pick as very young freshman out of college. He was a project and now he shows good signs of development. I am pleased with his development. He is a very good defender and he looks really calm controlling the ball, setting up plays and his ball-handling skills look good. At this point I think he already proved people wrong.

[Em-City]

I'm also very happy with how we've been performing. I don't want to nit-pick and i think we're playing better than any team in the league right now but I'll just highlight our one glaring weakness (aside from the defensive rebounding):

Shot-blocking in the paint when timmy is not on the floor. Teams have no deterrent to attacking the paint if our HOF big-man is not on the court. Not sure how big an impact this will be down the line, but something to keep an eye on.

[YoMamaIsCallin]

Excellent thread! Only mistake so far... Anderson is not on 10 day contracts, those don't start until later in the year (January I think).

The overall point is that the Spurs now essentially have a great starting 5, and a second 5 who can compete with almost any other teams' starting 5. And this is without Leonard and Jackson. Not to mention the last 2, Joseph and Anderson, are proving they belong somewhere in the NBA. You have to give Pop credit for keeping this group together and intact and pushing them all and giving them all every chance to improve.

If you go down the line:

Timmy: just wow. Savvy vet schooling the young guns. Makes it look easy. Note: did anyone else see the little Parker-esque runner/floater he tossed in last night? I was like, holy crap, is this guy bored and just amusing himself? Where did THAT come from? Reminded me of the game where Larry Bird decided to play left-handed http://youtu.be/R76nMD8buR8

Tony: has become a cold blooded assassin and leader of the team.

Manu: finding his form. Leading the slick passing crafty Euro contingent and loving it.

DeColo: it's a joy watching him find his confidence before our eyes. At first he was a bit overwhelmed by the speed and aggressiveness of the NBA. But since the restgate game, he looks like he belongs. I'm beginning to see he is not Manu. He is not throwing crazy high risk passes and doesn't have Manu's athleticism. But he sees the court and the angles, dare I say it, better than Manu. Some of his assists are quietly brilliant.

Bonner: I think he's internalized Pop's message that if he wants to play he's got to rebound and play defense. He's smarter than the average bear.

Splitter: clearly wants to stick in the NBA. Has made huge strides in FT shooting, finishing in the lane, and defense.

Diaw: like Bonner, got the message by bring demoted. Playing with more energy.

Trades? That's for the future. The Spurs have something special going right now. Trading for a 7 footer may not be so important in today's NBA.

[MVPCues]

For a casual fan who doesn't study basketball as thoroughly as timvp, I agree most with his last point. Since Stern initialized this "Restgate", I've been wondering whether this served as extra motivation for the whole Spurs team to compete for this season's championship. Imagine how embarrassed he would be to hand the LOB trophy over to Holt/Pop.

And if that happens, you KNOW Pop would state...with a smile...being able to rest his guys at key moments during the season to keep them fresh and injury free for the playoffs was an important part of them winning the trophy. How sweet that would be.

[Bruno]

-I'm really starting to think Nando De Colo's game was built for the NBA. I watched him in Europe and in international play and was reasonably impressed but I wasn't blown away.

I would say it's more related to the coach and the role he gives to De Colo.
During his 3 years stint with Valencia, De Colo has had 5 different coaches. There were some coaches like Spahija and Perasovic that trusted him and put the ball in his hands and De Colo was very good with them. There were coaches like Paco Olmos who considered him too wild to put the ball in his hands and wanted a more structured and disciplined game. De Colo failed to play well for these coaches.

I would give a lot of credits to Pop for De Colo early success. He is an instinctive player that needs some freedom. Pop is giving him a lot of trust and freedom with the second unit and results have been mostly positives so far.

On a side note, Spurs best +/- pair without a member of the big three in it is De Colo/Splitter with +65 in 136 minutes played together. I don't think it's a coincidence. They are playing great together and this association is a reason of the very good stint both have had lately.

-I've said this all season but I believe it even more now: The Spurs can't trade Tiago Splitter. He's too damn good when all the cylinders are clicking. If you do trade him, you just aren't going to get equal upside in return. It's impossible. Yes, Splitter may crash and burn again in the playoffs, but that's a risk the Spurs have to make. The guy is a perfect fit for the bench, is starting to learn how to coexist with Duncan and remains the most deadly pick-and-roll weapon in the league.

His ability to play with Duncan and Pop's willingness, that started during the training camp, to pair them is a big reason why Spurs shouldn't trade him.

Duncan and Splitter have played 86 minutes together this year with a +26 +/- stat. That's damn good.

[bigfan]

Thing about Bonner that has always pissed me off is he is a big ole bas and should getting the out of the boards. No idea what motivated him but maybe Pop finally told Bonner he would be a goner if he didnt start hustling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67ragXpWsAI

[DMC]

Bonner cracks me up when he comes down court on offense. He sprints to a certain spot atop the key, then he looks around to see what's going on, and goes there. It's like his court vision isn't enabled before he gets to his spot.

[DMC]

If De Colo can keep this up, does he become that extra decent piece required to upgrade the big rotation? Or does he become the piece that allows them to peddle Neal to upgrade the big rotation?

Bonner's not dumb. Between his outstanding regular season shooting and decent defense, if he adds decent rebounding, Pop will inevitably find it irresistible to keep him out of the rotation. The added bonus of that is that Duncan-Diaw get to play together more, which is obviously their preferred starting duo.

I was beating the "they need to trade Splitter" drum for a while (not because I wasn't a fan though), but I agree. He's not going to get them a Varejao or Smith and anything short of that is not even worth considering.

Pop clearly loves Diaw, but if the Jazz are amendable to this, does he love him enough to not do a Diaw, Blair, one of De Colo/Joseph/Mills, Anderson and 1 or 2 1sts for Millsap trade?

Ginobili has got to be the best passing SG in NBA history.

Hard to answer where Parker at his best ranks, but you could make the argument that only two or three players are clearly better. You could also probably say the same for damn near any top 20 player though. At their absolute best, they can pretty much all look like top 3-5 players at times.

We don't need pseudo-stars, certainly don't need another "but he can dunk" player like RJ. If you look around the league, the only real changes teams make is when they stack. The Spurs aren't going to stack using outside help because A) no other high end talent is going to come to SA and B) we couldn't afford them if they would. So, unless someone can suggest something that will make a difference in the playoffs, I see no reason to entertain any trade ideas.

[ElNono]

We don't need pseudo-stars, certainly don't need another "but he can dunk" player like RJ. If you look around the league, the only real changes teams make is when they stack. The Spurs aren't going to stack using outside help because A) no other high end talent is going to come to SA and B) we couldn't afford them if they would. So, unless someone can suggest something that will make a difference in the playoffs, I see no reason to entertain any trade ideas.

Never say never, though... Both Diaw and Jack fell on our laps last season. Spurs have enough expirings in Bonner/Blair... possibly Jackson to take a look at some bottom-feeder teams and see if they can pry some guys off in exchange for cap relief. For example (and this might be a longshot), a guy like Greg Monroe in Detroit or Gortat in Phoenix.

[Manufan909]

I'm also very happy with how we've been performing. I don't want to nit-pick and i think we're playing better than any team in the league right now but I'll just highlight our one glaring weakness (aside from the defensive rebounding):

Shot-blocking in the paint when timmy is not on the floor. Teams have no deterrent to attacking the paint if our HOF big-man is not on the court. Not sure how big an impact this will be down the line, but something to keep an eye on.

You have to give Splitter some props for being a decent 2nd unit defensive anchor. Idk if .8 blocks per 20 min is solid or not, but Splitter does contest when possible. He doesn't alter/block as many shots as I'd like, but it's not my fault the Spurs chose Blair over Ian.

[Paranoid Pop]

We don't need pseudo-stars, certainly don't need another "but he can dunk" player like RJ. If you look around the league, the only real changes teams make is when they stack. The Spurs aren't going to stack using outside help because A) no other high end talent is going to come to SA and B) we couldn't afford them if they would. So, unless someone can suggest something that will make a difference in the playoffs, I see no reason to entertain any trade ideas.

We have too many guards and a somewhat suspect frontline, if we don't trade for size and at least try to get someone better than Blair than I'd think the FO is not even trying. Not saying it's easy but doesn't seem like it's mission impossible either, doesn't have to be a star at all to make us better.

[Mark in Austin]

I don't care what lights go on for Bonner. He has a long, consistent history of disappearing in the playoffs. Making him a part of the rotation again, no matter how well he plays, is a mistake. Being dependent on Bonner to win is suicide for this team.

Fools Gold.

[AFBlue]

On a side note, Spurs best +/- pair without a member of the big three in it is De Colo/Splitter with +65 in 136 minutes played together. I don't think it's a coincidence. They are playing great together and this association is a reason of the very good stint both have had lately.

(Splitter's) ability to play with Duncan and Pop's willingness, that started during the training camp, to pair them is a big reason why Spurs shouldn't trade him.

Duncan and Splitter have played 86 minutes together this year with a +26 +/- stat. That's damn good.

Great stuff Bruno on the on-court productivity of both combos. Completely agree that Splitter's value to the team increases exponentially with his ability to play (successfully) alongside Duncan.

[Kidd K]

I think you may be right about Diaw. He seems to coast against bad teams then try against good ones.

If he'd at least stop dribbling into the clogged paint when he has a wide open three pointer with no one within 15 feet, I wouldn't have as many issues with the guy. If he'd just work on his threes, he's be a huge asset. Dude's wide open all the time. Though maybe teams leave him open because they know he's gunshy from 3.

And I hate to admit it, but I'm actually interested whenever Bonner enters a game now. I want to see if he still plays at the same level. :\ When he dunked all over the Rockets the other day, that was gold.

[DMC]

We have too many guards and a somewhat suspect frontline, if we don't trade for size and at least try to get someone better than Blair than I'd think the FO is not even trying. Not saying it's easy but doesn't seem like it's mission impossible either, doesn't have to be a star at all to make us better.

Contrary to all the ageless, timeless talk, Duncan cannot dominate the league's star bigs like he did in the past. Other teams have also changed, there are some really stacked teams now. We would need a serious upgrade to the center position to have a real chance at competing against the Thunder, and who is going to stop Kevin Durant? We don't have anyone outside the paint who can even slow him down. If we could get Russell Westbrook, he's the only one I've seen who can keep KD from scoring.

You're talking about getting rid of your old washer and buying a laundromat. It's not feasible. No one is going to trade a force in the paint for a liability and we should not destroy our regular season championship team for one that more closely resembles, on paper, a contender. There are a number of teams in the league who have the classical contender setup and who don't do with it because of egos, lack of basketball IQ and objectives that appear to be something other than winning a ring, on both the players and the front office's parts. Just look at the Lakers, for example. It's probably a consensus among most here that the Spurs would be a serious le contender if we got Howard and lost Blair. The Lakers didn't lose anyone, and they got Howard. They are struggling. They might right the ship but they might not. It's not just talent that gets you there, it's the right combination of personalities from bottom to top. You cannot just bring names in and win rings (Lebron notwithstanding).

It continues to be true that any trade we can feasibly make isn't going to improve our chances. That doesn't mean we don't want better talent, but the only thing we can do is screw things up by trading. We made the WCF last year, could have won it given a change here and there. That's as good as some of the best Spurs teams have done. That next step takes a lot more than just a different guy on the team. It takes some different guys on the other teams. We won't always be in the mix. We're lucky to be where we are and it's really really easy to screw that up.

[letmk]

Since we are dreaming, the only trade makes sense to us and is also sort of "possible" is to explore a Jack-for-Batum trade.

Batum signed with Wolves before being matched by Blazers, and they seem to go into tank mode (involuntarily). Now both Batum and Aldridge are unhappy and not playing that hard. A package of both of them would work as well, although I prefer Batum only based on Spurs' needs.

Varejao would be great, but based on his performance his trade value is too high right now. Plus, when all the other 29 teams at looking at a player, no way Spurs can get him. Spurs can only get those under-the-radar yet solid players.

[Brazil]

Never say never, though... Both Diaw and Jack fell on our laps last season. Spurs have enough expirings in Bonner/Blair... possibly Jackson to take a look at some bottom-feeder teams and see if they can pry some guys off in exchange for cap relief. For example (and this might be a longshot), a guy like Greg Monroe in Detroit or Gortat in Phoenix.

Monroe is too damn important for the Pistons to entertain a trade idea tbh. He is now the cornerstone of what Pistons are doin' right now. On a side note I saw a lot of Pistons games and still can't figure out what is his ceiling, for sure he is good but super star good ? difficult to say but I like him a lot, he has some Tim Duncan in him: low profile, he is playing clean unselfish basketball.

[Paranoid Pop]

Since we are dreaming, the only trade makes sense to us and is also sort of "possible" is to explore a Jack-for-Batum trade.

Batum signed with Wolves before being matched by Blazers, and they seem to go into tank mode (involuntarily). Now both Batum and Aldridge are unhappy and not playing that hard. A package of both of them would work as well, although I prefer Batum only based on Spurs' needs.

We're not the Lakers .

[ElNono]

Monroe is too damn important for the Pistons to entertain a trade idea tbh. He is now the cornerstone of what Pistons are doin' right now. On a side note I saw a lot of Pistons games and still can't figure out what is his ceiling, for sure he is good but super star good ? difficult to say but I like him a lot, he has some Tim Duncan in him: low profile, he is playing clean unselfish basketball.

Well, I did say longshot. But the Pistons right now I'm not sure they know what they want to do. They're $10m under the cap, and Magette and Hamilton comes off the book at the end of the season for another $15m in cap space. But Maxiell and Will Bynum are probably going to look to get paid. Monroe is fairly cheap, but he's one of the few long term deals they have and like you said, it's hard to figure out he's a guy you can make the centerpiece of your team. They're still losing games left and right, and probably end up at the bottom again. The question is if you can make them bite playing on their desperation if they decide to fully tank again.

[Mel_13]

-I've said this all season but I believe it even more now: The Spurs can't trade Tiago Splitter. He's too damn good when all the cylinders are clicking. If you do trade him, you just aren't going to get equal upside in return. It's impossible. Yes, Splitter may crash and burn again in the playoffs, but that's a risk the Spurs have to make. The guy is a perfect fit for the bench, is starting to learn how to coexist with Duncan and remains the most deadly pick-and-roll weapon in the league.

This has been obvious since he was installed as Duncan's backup last season. It goes well beyond his importance as the anchor of the second unit on both sides of the court. The quality of his play allows Pop to manage Duncan's minutes with little or no adverse impact on the team's prospects.

[Mel_13]

Well, I did say longshot. But the Pistons right now I'm not sure they know what they want to do. They're $10m under the cap, and Magette and Hamilton comes off the book at the end of the season for another $15m in cap space. But Maxiell and Will Bynum are probably going to look to get paid. Monroe is fairly cheap, but he's one of the few long term deals they have and like you said, it's hard to figure out he's a guy you can make the centerpiece of your team. They're still losing games left and right, and probably end up at the bottom again. The question is if you can make them bite playing on their desperation if they decide to fully tank again.

There's no cir stance where they salary dump Monroe at 4M next season. They have to meet minimum payroll and minimum roster spots. Monroe for less than the MLE is a bargain in NBA terms. If they do choose to move him, they'll get real assets in return.

[Mel_13]

Brett Brown was the Australian head coach and has a great relationship with Patty. I doubt he'll let Patty rot on the bench when Kawhi and Leonard get back.

Once Leonard and Jackson return, Mills will be well outside the 10 man rotation. , he's outside the regular rotation with both of them out. Coach Brown's high regard for Mills won't change that simple fact.

[Mel_13]

I would give a lot of credits to Pop for De Colo early success. He is an instinctive player that needs some freedom. Pop is giving him a lot of trust and freedom with the second unit and results have been mostly positives so far.

While the comparisons between Nando and Manu are overblown, I believe that they apply with respect to Pop. His experience with Manu has made Nando's path a little easier. An earlier version of Pop would not have shown this much patience so early in Nando's NBA career.

Also, credit to Nando for being ready to take advantage of the opportunity presented with the injuries to Leonard and Jackson, much like Gary Neal was ready when Anderson went down two years ago. Now, the two of them will be competing for one spot in the rotation once Jackson and Leonard return.