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Houston:? Isn't Utah?
-I'm not a big fan of using fatigue as an excuse but anyone who watched these last two games can tell the Spurs are tired. Looking at the schedule, it's not difficult to see why. They had a 5-games-in-7-days stretch, had a couple days off and then another 5GI7D stretch. The schedule stays tough for the next three games but then it starts to lighten up. The reward for this rocky early schedule is that the month of March is basically one giant homestand.
-The Spurs are really missing their small forwards right now. They were able to smoke and mirror it for a while but there's a reason why NBA teams have small forwards. Let's hope Kawhi or Jack can return soon.
-Diaw and Blair are both broken right now. Diaw seems to be out of sorts mentally; he's antsy when he gets the ball and is making strange decisions. Blair's problem is physical. He literally can't jump right now. He pulled down a few flat-footed rebounds against the Blazers. I'm really surprised the Spurs are letting him play.
-It'd be nice to get Mills' scoring on the court but he can't play point guard on either end of the court. Offensively, he just doesn't any passing instincts. Defensively, while he's extremely fast endline to endline, he's not very quick on his toes and as a result he gets burned more often than not when he attempts to apply extra pressure. I'd rate Neal as the better defender, and that's not exactly a high bar. That said, his scoring is potentially valuable enough that Pop should still try to give him a few more chances of making the rotation.
-Despite the losses, I see no reason to worry. The team is tired and Pop is tinkering with his rotations. That combination of factors makes it difficult to win, yet the Spurs have battled back in these last two games and could have easily been 1-1 or even 2-0. TD and TP look like they are capable of playing at high levels. Manu is showing flashes of brilliance ... and even when his play is herky-jerky, he's still producing. The role players are sputtering a bit right now but there is enough depth that Pop will be able to eventually carve out a rotation. Add back in the SFs and the Spurs are still on the same trajectory that they were before this two-game hiccup. Obviously the Spurs aren't championship favorites or anything like that but they are what they were a couple days ago.
Houston:? Isn't Utah?
Makes the wins all the more savorfull.
Timvp, it's 'following back-to-back losses in Utah and Portland ...' I guess.
As for the Portland game, Pop should have rested his players, even if he had to sub them out in the first minute to make Stern happy. These games prove nothing and it was always going to be tough to get the win no matter who played. I'd rather watch Splitter getting 40 mins a game than a the tired Duncan version from the second half.
GNSF hero timvp trying to calm down the masses tbh per par
spurs are done
trade duncan to a contender like the clippers so he can end his career with talented monkeyball players the front office refused to surround him with and prepare for the future
Not worried right now because it's December, and the guys that got hurt are not Tim or Manu. Plus both of these game were winnable, and I suspect having Khawi and Jack (if only to give the team some rest) would've been enough to win them.
I like that this team can still bang and play some D, especially when Tim is out there. I just hope that both of our wings being out doesn't wear Tim too much with the extra work.
Ultimately, my concern is the same as when the season started. Spurs need to replace the turd towers with another legit big. There's still time for trades to happen, so not sweating it right now.
Even I can't keep this ish straight with all the games they've played lately.
I'm more and more thinking Pop should give the backup PG permanently to Joseph. He is the only Spur with all the tools to be a good in that role. He might not be ready right now but he will grow by getting a consistent role and consistent playing time. In 30/40 games, Spurs have a good chance of having a nice backup PG.
I haven't researched the exact overall numbers, but the Spurs are now +38 with the Duncan/Splitter frontcourt..this number may be hollow, I haven't looked at the quality of opponents, etc, but it's encouraging that they are more cohesive than last year, and that Pop seems more willing to build chemistry between them(presumably for the long run)..
Is it because Pop wants to build chemistry between Splitter and Duncan or because Diaw has been worse than awful lately and nowhere near his last season's form?
0-2 since The Thread tbh.
Still, neither loss was particularly worrisome. Flukey stuff happens over an 82 game season. Mo Williams hitting game winners and JJ Hickson mastering the skyhook fit the flukey classification.
Spurs caught some breaks early in the year and now it's starting to even out. Rather they hit the lulls now rather than later.
Doubt it, Pop is avoiding to play them together as long as he can, Pop just uses Splitter/Duncan when there is nothing more to do. But i hope he proves me wrong and start Splitter next.
Patty Mills' defense is so bad, I'm trying to think of the last Spur not named Bonner who was this bad. Chris Quinn? Blake Ahearn? Richard Jeff...yeah, him.
I'm surprised Joseph hasn't gotten a legit chance at winning that job. Especially with the other candidates not exactly tearing it up. De Colo shows some Beno tendencies when he's pressured. Mills just isn't a PG. Neal is a liiiiittle bit more of a PG than Mills but it's painfully obvious that he's better at SG.
I'm guessing Neal will still win out when all is said and done but, man, Joseph being able to dribble, pass and play D is enticing giving the alternatives.
Unfortunately, Pop is showing his recent roots by preferring scorers at that position, even if they can't pass, run the offense or play defense. If it keeps up, Patty will play himself out of his minutes.
And whenever he is on the court Joseph should be paired with a creative SG (Nando or Manu). It could work a lot like the Hill/Ginobili backup backcourt that was great 2-3 years ago.
I don't see nando as a SG
Anyone knows why Pop did not use Anderson in portland game?
I mean really with the schedule
18-6 after a brutal schedule reminiscent of last season's and a team that's not fully healthy?
The Spurs will pick it up by the RRT.
We have no backup PG and are technically 2 strong with bigs and one of those is relatively unproven. I would not be surprised to see a trade for one or both needs. But those players have to be just right or the spurs will stand pat. Team as it is is two moves from a le in my opionion. We are better defensively. But we are not fully balanced.
Patty got burned on defence tonight by lillard, but so did TP
Patty doesnt play defense
just an illusion since he moves around a lot
his defense around picks is terrible, probably the worst on the team filled with guys who cant move around screens
he usually goes underneath the screen even if the PG is a great shooter then trips over himself trying to fight through it once the PG is set and gets a clean look off
We played two teams on a b2b which both had 2 nights off before ... Utah is a tough place with the way the refs call the game there and the Spurs always struggle in Portland ... still we were close to winning both games. Not the time to push a panic button, but I also think a decision with Blair und with backup PG position must be made ...
Yep. As I noted in another thread, the Spurs only leave the state of Texas once between February 25 and March 31, and that's to play the 2nd night of a back-to-back in Minneapolis on March 12. The only other road game in that span is at Houston. And since the league generally doesn't schedule teams (in normal years and cir stances) to play home back-to-backs, a whole bunch of home games in a row means few back-to-backs. Once the RRT ends on 2/24 in Phoenix, the Spurs have only 4 back-to-backs in their last 24 games and only 1 stretch of 4 games in 5 nights (March 31-April 4). Of course, that 4 in 5 is brutal, per par -- v. MIA, @ MEM, v. ORL, @ OKC.
Even as a Patty fan, I'm not defending his play making abilities (they're terrible), but I completely disagree with your expectation of him. Mills' role on the court these last few games hasn't been that of the play maker. Pop usually either plays Mills with De Colo or Ginobili, and they play the role of the play maker, which allows Mills to act as the scorer. I've found that the bench have outplayed the starters the last few games (in terms of +/- efficiency), so the way in which Pop has used Patty seems to be effective enough for him to keep using it.
Last edited by Boomersgold; 12-14-2012 at 04:30 AM.
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