I have nothing against the Tim/Tiago frontcourt. I agree with you that it's the best one.
I'm fine with Tim and Tiago both starting as long as:
- At least one of them is always on the court. They are Spurs' only centers.
- They are both playing at the end of the game. Spurs crunch time lineup should be Parker/Ginobili/Leonard/Splitter/Duncan.
It's a lot like the Tony/Manu situation. Pop has solved it by benching Manu. However, it also could be solved by tinkering the rotation like Pop is trying to do with Tim/Tiago.
In that regard what Pop is doing with Tiago to allow what you said is two thing. If he needs to, he's increased his overall minutes some. Then, while Tim/Tiago start, Tiago is usually subbed out fairly early in the first quarter. That allows Tim/Boris to play (or Tim/Jackson if he goes that route). Then Tiago checks in for Tim with about 3 minutes left in the quarter.
Are you giving up on Splitts-Duncan?
Agree with all you wrote except:
Spurs crunch time lineup should be Parker/Ginobili/Leonard/Splitter/Duncan.
After SJax ballsy playoff performance esp vs OKC, shouldn't crunch time lineup be more situational depending on whom they are playing and whom opponent has on the court and very possibly include SJax?
I know that would require the Hall of Fame coach to be up on and adjust to situations, and surely he can and will do that.
S-Jax should definitely spend some time at Power Forward as the Spurs' 4th big. But I think it would be a mistake to have him do it full-time. For the playoffs, Pop could theoretically roll out a 3-big rotation with the rest of the minutes dedicated to small ball -- which is where Jackson and or / Leonard can come into the picture.
That said, I don't think Jackson at PF is a gimmicky move at all. He's actually proven himself the most capable defender of Hybrid PF's in our team, a glaring weakness we used to deal with not too long ago. So when we got up against the Dirk Nowitzki's and LaMarcus Aldridge's of the world, he actually could function as a mobile 4, which would slide our rotation over in the manner timvp described.
As long as Bonner and Blair never see daylight during the playoffs, I'll be happy. Pop should use any of TD, TP, Manu, Leonard, Splitter, SJax, Diaw, Green and Neal in the playoffs. I'm not sold on De Colo in the playoffs yet (opponents pressuring the ball). And Mills only as a game changer if any of the shooters are cold. Timvp, what do you think of Pop using Diaw on Lebron and Melo most of the time - IOW, the big lineup of Tim, Tiago and Diaw. Miami seems to have abandoned the small ball philosophy as their defense has suffered the beginning of this season.
My biggest concern is Durant at power forward - Diaw is okay against Lebron/Melo. Against, LAL.MEM/LAC, use TD/Tiago more.
Great points.
You don't start Manu, ever. His minutes are limited, so any of them spent with Parker, not at crunch time, are a waste. He's your bench playmaker. Parker is your starting 5 playmaker. Your proposed bench would have a hard time scoring 20-25 points. No one can really create aggressively like Manu or Parker.
Has anyone else noticed a subtle effort by Paranoid Pop to make Danny Green the object of derision? I can't exactly put my finger on it, but I don't think he likes him much.
I hate this idea personally. Pop's love of small ball is well do ented, and we all know how that turned out. This team has a chance to be really good defensively this year. Last I checked, they were 7th in Defensive Efficiency, and that was without two of our best defenders in Kawhi and SJax for a majority of the season. Jackson's strength defensively is getting into people's heads and then using his veteran savvy to know how to use positioning and angles to best guard his guy efficiently. At this point, Jax is an average perimeter defender but when you pair 4 average defenders with an elite center like Tim Duncan, you all of a sudden become a top 3 defense - that's why he's so important to this team as a perimeter defender. What works for timvp's analysis is that the Spurs have used so many 5 man units this season that it's very hard to get concrete evidence to support either side because the sample size is so low. In fact, Stephen Jackson's top 3 worst 5 man defensive lineups all have him at the four, and the defensive numbers are horrendously bad (again, small sample size). To be honest, I think Jax should be starting on this team at the TWO, over Danny Green who's skills I think bring that bench unit something that it really lacks right now in a above-average perimeter defender who can knock down open 3's. I hate Jax coming off the bench for this team because he brings alot of great things, but he's asked to do too much with the second unit and doesn't have great handles to be a good playmaker at this point in his career - something easily masked in the starting lineup. Jax is a great tone-setter and I think that is totally negated by the fact he comes off the bench.
Haralabos Voulgaris, who is generally regarded as one of the most knowledgeable guys on this planet about the NBA and who is a NBA analytical genius and makes his living as an NBA sports bettor, said the biggest mistake NBA coaches/teams make is changing their lineups to match that of the other team. That's what playing Jackson at the four is all about. Not only that, we have a SF already on our team with a wingspan larger than Andrew Bynum's who many believed was going to play at the four on this team before he even started his career. He's our best smallball four by a mile.
I'm slightly of the mind that Jack could start at SF and Leonard could come in to effect a big advantage at backup PF or SF depending on the situation.
I'll see if I agree with myself when I sober up. Probably too dynamic to be practicable.
Why don't we just sign another PF and keep Jackson where hes at?
I heard Michael Finley was trying for a comeback.
I like that line of thinking actually. There's no perfect rotation with our current bigs, and especially with Splitter starting. It makes for a lot of headaches, Splitter doesn't rebound quite well enough to be a good pairing with Boris and Sjax. KY is a better rebounder than both, downside is that Imo he isn't strong enough and could be worked in the post by a lot of PF.
Has anyone else noticed a subtle effort by Paranoid Pop to make Danny Green the object of derision? I can't exactly put my finger on it, but I don't think he likes him much.
Have noted it though wouldn't call it subtle and have attempted to counter it a bit but illogical hatred for unknown reasons is unconquerable.
What I don't like about Danny is that he starts, other than that I think he's a pretty likable guy.
The "subtle" part was a joke. Hes downright outspoken and boisterous about his opinion on the matter.
Makes sense against the majority of lineups in the league. It's definitely a playoff lineup when the rotation shortens up.
So who should be the starter then smart guy?
-It's become readily apparent Neal would be overwhelmed by size in the playoffs against big lineups.
-Manu starting means less touches for Parker, and a loss of productivity from him. Do you really want to mess with Parker's head when he's posting even better across the board numbers than he did last season? Not to mention our bench takes a big hit then..
-Stephen Jackson is washed up and cannot hang/play small forward anymore against backup small forwards. So you'd have him going head to head against starters? Lmao..
-Patty Mills / Nando De Colo ... please...
Late edit: Oh wait.. of course why didn't I think of it. James Anderson should start.
The only problem I have about DG starting is we need to be committed to it even when he is drawing blanks in the playoffs. It will be too late to make a change then and will cause more damage to try to make a change then.
Danny in the starting lineup is fine. He needs to play with Tony. Manu needs to be on the 2nd unit. You can't put the bench in the hands of rookie De Colo.
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