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Very smart call by Pop! He's a genius after all!
those poor TD lost puppy eyes
Very smart call by Pop! He's a genius after all!
I went from trading Pop on the spot to wanting to cook breakfast for him
Agreed. By that time, Duncan has missed 2-3 shots in a row, throwing inexplicable passes to no one in particular and just didn't seem as though he had his head in the game. I fully support Pop's decision to bench him. After all, Splitter was playing better at that moment.
Same decision as the other game they away, they just made some of the threes they jacked up this time.
Tim didn't have his legs...and like some here already know, Pop already working up Duncan's motivation for Memphis.
Timmy was gassed, lots of energy holding court in the 1st half. Needs to rest up for Sunday too, at least we get 2 days to rest sorta.
I went from trading Pop on the spot to wanting to cook breakfast for him
Good one!
San Antonio Popovichs
I disagree. The decision of the year has the appointing CoJo as the back-up PG.
Perhaps it will help Splitter's confidence, too. Splitter really needs to have a good series against Memphis. He's to that series as Green was to this one.
Agreed. This could be huge for Tiago's confidence heading into the WCF
A few things:
1) In hindsight -how huge was it to get Splitter back. He slowly but surely made a bigger and bigger impact in this series and I am not sure the Spurs win without him. This hopefully builds his confidence. Spurs need him healthy at all times. His play today allowed Pop to make that huge coaching decision.
2) Is GS's pick and roll defense really that good? How was the Spurs offense struggling so badly this series vs a team that really is not a great defensive team? That is a very scary thing and it has me alarmed for next round when you play a Memphis team that is stacked with defenders. How did the Spurs win a game with Manu/TP playing so bad from a scoring perspective?
3) Tim's level of play is horrifying at the moment. He has been pretty awful defensively which is even more concerning than him looking zapped after every first quarter and unable to make 8 foot shots. What is going on? Did he just get beat up too much? Can he recover? Spurs have 0 shot with Tim playing this way and I really hope he can pick it up.
1) Agreed. His defense and screening is so huge for this team. He makes everything easier for his teammates.
2) The Spurs feasted when they bothered to run it, but they spend way too much time running screens for three point shooters. The upside is they aren't making those terrible cross court passes that always turn into steals.
3) Bad matchup all around for Timmy. He's going to dominate in the WCF. He's going to have to step up his pick and roll defense in the finals though. That lazy isn't going to get it done against Miami.
Splitter's critical, but he also needs to toughen the up the next round. Allowing yourself to get thrown around to get calls a) isn't working, and b)will not end well against Memphis' size.
1) Splitter played well for playing a team that doesn't really play post their front court players.
2) GS's pick-n-roll d wasn't all that great, but to answer the questions it is due to their speed. Luckily Memphis doesn't have speed like that.
3) Like Splitter, Duncan didn't affect the game like he usually does, because GS' offense is all backcourt and jumpers. Having said that, I am worried about Duncan and Parker getting tired WAY too early in the past two games.
True, but Tim also wasn't the one on the floor draining big 4th quarter shots. While TP had a really bad offensive night outside of the 4th, TP also was the Spurs best player (scoring wise) this series. TP also had to defend guys much bigger than him, while Tim was never asked to defend anyone twice his size. TP, good night or bad, didn't fade - he had great energy and toughness the entire game for all the games. Tim was unable to sustain and that has me worried.
Pop had a great coaching series. The defensive adjustments he made changed the series. Smart move with Duncan as well. He played long in the 3rd, probably hoping to put Golden State away and cruise in the fourth when the pressure would be high on the young team. When they failed to finish them off, the strategy backfired and Duncan was gassed in the 4th. Luckily, Splitter was having his best game of the series and Pop used him at crunch time.
I know that I am not the only one to think that sounds wrong, but it was the right call. It really is the big 4, including Pop. His calls on a time out alone are worthy, but it is so much more. Duncan's post game interview says it all. The team trusts Pop, for better or worse.
Personally, I think it is for the better. I cannot picture another coach getting this much out of this team's talent.
<Side note: Screw Mark Jackson. He gives good sound bites, but Pop brings the system to life and make the players believe.
Well, however you look at it, Spurs for the most part let a slightly above average defensive team pretty much dictate exactly what they wanted the Spurs to do on offense. I felt the Spurs settled a lot for jumpers (especially long twos) and as a result, their offense was really, really rough for the most part.
Yeah. He needs to step up like Green did. Splitter can put a big imprint on the game by stopping Randolph on defense and setting strong screens and rolling well on offense. If Splitter is playing as well as he did during parts of the regular season, Memphis will be hard pressed to stop him.
I was thrilled with Tiago on Randolph this year for the most part. We will see if it's sustainable.
Rebounding has me terrified. If GS could put the Spurs in the hurt locker from a rebounding perspective, MEM has the potential to end the Spurs.
I agree. Game 5 was the only good offensive performance of the series. I don't think that was Warriors defense, I think it was the Spurs forgetting to pass the ball. We'll find out pretty quickly on Sunday if I'm right or not.
Maybe so. What Golden State does is so weird with little guys scrambling around for long rebounds I don't know if it's an issue. Memphis will not be putting up that many long jumpers unless the Spurs get very lucky.
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