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Pop is not that kind of coach at all - he's the exact opposite. If anything his fault is that sometimes he urges some role players to be way too aggressive.
Please no more cross court passes and baseline fumbling from Manu. Tim was magnificent, he should endorse Red Bull or something.
Last edited by superbigtime; 03-21-2013 at 09:13 AM. Reason: misspelled word
Pop is not that kind of coach at all - he's the exact opposite. If anything his fault is that sometimes he urges some role players to be way too aggressive.
Best outcome of the night, tbh.
Manu only had one more turnover than Tim did, and as you point out, Tim was magnificent.
Any player wholly responsible for playmaking and handling the ball is likely to have more turnovers than others. Tim used to have a bunch of them when he was the fulcrum of the offense.
Manu's turnovers are troublesome, but no more so than Tim's or anyone else's. If Manu's shot was as on as Tim's, his stats would have been magnificent, too.
It is an unfortunate habit on this forum, imo, that one player or another always seems to be in the doghouse with posters. We don't seem to carry an abundance of objectivity when it comes to assessing team member performances.
The only player on the team who seemed a bit out of sorts from the perspective of his normal play last night was Leonard, but we got the win so the team mates stepped up.
joseph and de colo battling for a spot in the playoff rotation. manu's confidence continues to drop
And we've seen when players like Danny Green become too aggressive. He had some questionable drives to the basket, particularly on a fast break trying to penetrate through 3 defenders. 9/10 times nothing positive will come out of it. Danny has to become a significantly better ball handler to fully utilize is potential and athleticism. Sadly, that could be a long ways off and it certainly won't happen this season. There is a reason why he isn't getting paid the big bucks. As of right now if he sticks to what he does best everything will be fine.
Blair not getting any minutes is a good sign.I also agree with not playing Neal. The only time Neal should get minutes is when the team is struggling offensively and needs a scoring punch off the bench...
DeColo needs good players around him, not Neal/Blair/Bonner, that's why he plays well when paired with Diaw/Splitter/Kawhi/Manu
I thought this was a much improved game for Manu, despite the shooting slump. He did start the 2nd half with some bad decisions, but I thought he pushed all the right buttons at the end to close the game after the Warriors went on a 7-0 run while Manu was on the bench. Posted Tim up, who had it going, knock down the 3 ball and penetrate and kick to Kawhi for the dagger.
No, Tim did the hard part. When Curry made one of two free throws to cut the lead to 4. Tim made three consecutive baskets before assisting Manu with a 3 (For this 3, Manu is just a shooter, which might be Green or Neal or others).
Before Tim's domination, the offense was initiated by Manu and was not nearly successful.
Positive step in the right direction rotation-wise heading into the playoffs for Pop, IMO. Hopefully this is a permanent trend not just a fluke. No Blair, no Neal @ point guard and the much too green Joseph out for now.
Still think Mills was the better solution @ backup pg but won't be too dissappointed to see DeColo. Other minor quibbles: Still think there's time to get Baynes into the rotation. Why not give him Bonner's minutes? We all know this is the time of year Bonner's % starts to shrink anyway.
Still, many positives here. Pop deserves an A grade.
Trying different PGs (Mills for a couple games, De Colo for another couple games) in different games is okay. Just don't put everybody in one game with very limited minutes.Positive step in the right direction rotation-wise heading into the playoffs for Pop, IMO. Hopefully this is a permanent trend not just a fluke. No Blair, no Neal @ point guard and the much too green Joseph out for now.
Still think Mills was the better solution @ backup pg but won't be too dissappointed to see DeColo. Other minor quibbles: Still think there's time to get Baynes into the rotation. Why not give him Bonner's minutes? We all know this is the time of year Bonner's % starts to shrink anyway.
Still, many positives here. Pop deserves an A grade.
The same with Bonner and Blair. Besides the three big man rotation, Pop now plays one of Bonner/Blair in one game, which makes much more sense.
Uh? Manu initiated the offense all the way to the end.
Manu comes in after GS goes on a 7-0 run. From there until the Curry freebies:
05:46 De Colo Subs ution replaced by Ginobili
05:26 Splitter Free Throw 1 of 2 Missed
05:26 Splitter Free Throw 2 of 2 (17 PTS)
04:49 Duncan Jump Shot: Missed
04:08 Splitter Running Hook Shot: Missed
04:07 Ginobili Rebound (Off:2 Def:1)
04:07 Ginobili Putback Layup Shot: Missed
03:42 Ginobili 3pt Shot: Missed
Unless you're saying Manu makes Duncan and Splitter miss shots and hooks...
After that he pretty much posted Duncan on every possession except for the Kawhi 3 pointer. Which if we're talking about "iffy decisions", it doesn't get any more sound than that, considering Tim has been on a tear recently.
I'm not saying Tim didn't do the heavy load. What I'm saying is Manu did push the right buttons having the responsibility to initiate the offense.
My impression when I watched the game was Manu handled the ball a lot before Tim's three consecutive baskets. I didn't rewatch the game and don't have the video on hand, so I can't rebut you evidence directly. But there is a big difference between who initiates the offense and who takes the shot.Uh? Manu initiated the offense all the way to the end.
Manu comes in after GS goes on a 7-0 run. From there until the Curry freebies:
05:46 De Colo Subs ution replaced by Ginobili
05:26 Splitter Free Throw 1 of 2 Missed
05:26 Splitter Free Throw 2 of 2 (17 PTS)
04:49 Duncan Jump Shot: Missed
04:08 Splitter Running Hook Shot: Missed
04:07 Ginobili Rebound (Off:2 Def:1)
04:07 Ginobili Putback Layup Shot: Missed
03:42 Ginobili 3pt Shot: Missed
Unless you're saying Manu makes Duncan and Splitter miss shots and hooks...
After that he pretty much posted Duncan on every possession except for the Kawhi 3 pointer. Which if we're talking about "iffy decisions", it doesn't get any more sound than that, considering Tim has been on a tear recently.
I'm not saying Tim didn't do the heavy load. What I'm saying is Manu did push the right buttons having the responsibility to initiate the offense.
When a PG like Kidd is in his peak, he may initiate 80%+ of the offense when he is on the court, but he does not takes many shots at all. Like Kawhi's 3-pointer after Manu's 3-pointer was created by Manu actually.
I'm not sure what you're arguing. Nobody is saying Tim didn't take and make the shots, and carried the load. IIRC, Manu had the ball in his hands on *every* possession since he walked in with 5:46 to go. He could've just as easily ignored TD, Kawhi or anybody the rest of the way. DeColo had a great game, but if you look specifically at the GSW 7-0 run right before Manu comes back in for him, Timmy didn't take a single shot during that stretch.
Nono is right about Manu being the one who drove the offensive sets in the last 5+minutes, and his court vision was critical, imo, in those last minutes. There is not one at all, (including Tony) who I would rather have the ball in crunch time in a close game than Manu, even now, even with his shooting slump. If he and Tony were both in the game and Tony was hot, Manu would give him the ball. Manu takes those last shots because he is so cold-blooded with them. If he misses it, he doesn't panic. Since Tim was hot in this game, (and likely Pop was calling the plays for Tim), Manu got him the ball, but when Tim couldn't shoot and Manu was open, he did the right thing. He buried it.
yes Manu handled the ball, but it was Pop's decision to go to Duncan, not Manu's. and a great decision that was.
manu still looked hesitant out there at times and he was consistently getting the ball tied up or knocked out of his hands whenever he drove to the basket. he did make some nice passes towards the end of the game as opposed to turnovers so there was improvement there. and it was nice to see him knock down the 3 late in the game, considering how iffy he has been with his outside shooting as of late.
Manu's had some struggles throughout his time back since his hamstring injury. I think it's fair to point that out. Is he done? I don't think so! Does he have room to improve? Yes he does. Will they need it in the post season? Yes. He had a lot of positives, but so far, at least recently, you aren't sure what you will get from Manu game-to-game.
Stars will always get picked out, especially Manu and Parker, since they both have big followings who don't always play nice.
Last edited by Pasta Batman; 03-21-2013 at 03:15 PM.
^ That's why I said "improved", but not out of it... his shooting/finishing around the basket has been pretty bad lately, and it's something he needs to fix in these last few games.
Now I think we more on the same page. For the last several games, down the stretch, the ball almost always goes through Manu first. No argument for this.
Against Cavs, he tried too much to create for himself or others. While last night, he gives Tim the ball to operate. Thus more effective. There are nights that Tim may not be good with creating offense, then Manu may need to give Kawhi or Tiago some chances to try.
Anyways, when Tony is injured or not on the court and the ball is in Manu's hands, he cannot just think about attacking by himself. Other than that, his movement and intangibles are still there, which are all good signs.
That's why I said *this* game was an improvement in that area... obviously over the previous games. I think we're talking about the same thing at this point, tbh
As far as Manu attacking by himself, I think it has a lot to do with who's around him. When Pop rolls Bonner/Blair with him, there's no pick & roll/ pick & pop possible. It's basically Manu doing his thing.
Last night in the first half, Tiago/Bonner worked well because Tiago was actually rolling to the basket. In the second half Pop went with Diaw/Bonner and Manu was back at unsuccessfully driving to the basket...
What I can't make an observation that Manu has been turning it over by trying to pull too many rabbits out of his hat? He has had 23 turnovers in the last 7 games. Many of these TOs stem from risky passes and getting himself pinned on the baseline, not from just being a primary ball handler and being a 'fulcrum' of the offense. He is a bit of a black hole lately; it's been widely observed and it's bothersome. So I'm griping about it a little, so what I still love the guy. If he were shooting better, it would matter less, but that's not the case. Hopefully Tony's return will smooth all this out.
Manu's great when he gets hit or disrespected. Someone needs to fill that role. Also, he should do more driving because his 3 is off.
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