I have no trust in Pop right now. I believe in my team, and hopefully they can win in spite of him.
I think we are screwed if Duncan and to a lesser (but still substantial) extent Parker play heavy minutes in the first half tomorrow.
Should Pop go back to his big starting lineup? Pull the trigger on Duncan early in the first half and use lots of splitter? That could dig us into an early hole.
How does Parker get a rest?
And is there any way Pop can avoid benching Duncan and Leonard at the same time? When that happens, the Spurs still play solid D, but fail to get rebounds again and again.
What the does Pop do?
I have no trust in Pop right now. I believe in my team, and hopefully they can win in spite of him.
I dunno, both teams are going to be tired. If I were Pop, I'd look at running the reserves a bit more in stretches. Not saying to run the reserves as a unit but instead to freely subs ute for more energy. Make them prove their reserves are better than the Spurs. Now when Bosh, Wade and James are on the floor, you obviously have to put in your two out of three of the Big Three. Would it work? Who knows but I do know that sometimes fresh legs can make a world of difference.
You don't change a thing. This lineup, even with this horrific version of Manu is 1-1 and should be 2-0. You play the guys as many minutes as you can and hope they have the juice to win.
I have an idea Gary ing Neal is gonna see some significant time.
He might have to lead the way.
Someone outside of the best lineup (TP, Green, Leonard, Diaw, Duncan) will need to step up. Hopefully that person is Manu.
Pretty much this, tbh. Just study the game tape, fix what is fixable, and go back out there and finish this time.
Seeing Parker hardly able to jump, and Duncan serving the ball up to Anderson on a platter make me think that playing them a lot of minutes is going to result in the same fatigue, if not worse.
There is nothing you can do then. You can rely on your bench only so much. You don't change anything. Manu is the most mentally weak I have ever seen him and if you take him out of the starting lineup, he's done IMO. You show trust in the guys who got you there, win or lose.
I want Diaw on LeBron, Kawhi on Wade. is that possible?
I will drill Duncan and Leonard as hard as i could tomorrow if i were pop. Limit Ginobili if there's any indication he will be having a bad night and Play Neal / Green More. Play Boris Diaw more than Tiago. All that = Spurs Victory . I would only use about 8 Players for that last game, we can win like that.
It seems counterintuitive but I think Pop has to manage minutes. If he tries to ride everyone huge minutes, it's almost unavoidable that they'll run out of gas.
If I'm Pop, I might even reinsert CJ into the rotation to eat some minutes. Basically, I'd go into survival mode for three quarters in an attempt to leave gas in the tank for the fourth quarter. You have to keep it close, obviously, but the players also need to be capable of making a final push.
I might change my mind by game time but that's my thinking right now ...........
please play blair........................................
Pop has been fortunate enough to spell guys this series because the Spurs in wins have had unexpected leads. If that happens, then fine. But Pop's gambles (like last night) have hurt when he goes away from the stars in favor of rest too long.
When I say don't change a thing, I mean, you don't get cute and you have a much, much shorter leash than you did before with regards to playing the non-big 4 (Kawhi/TP/Tim/Danny).
The only way we win tmrw is if green and neal go ape from the 3. We should shoot a 3 on every possession. Lol
Kawhi and Green need to be out there a lot. They're young, their defense needed... there's no excuse not to ride their youth in this game. On the other hand, I don't think we have any option but to play Tiago some if Diaw and Tim are going to get some rest... so I'm prayingdog.jog he has his first good game of the finals...
Can't Pop give the players more frequent, short blows using time outs, tv breaks, etc. instead of playing them long stretches? If all else fails, I'm for Tiago and Neal bringing the ball down the court together (Tiago helping against any traps), Tiago setting screens and Neal letting the 3s fly. That'll buy Tony and TD some rest and seriously, that's a better option than watching Manu turn the ball over or Tiago getting stripped in the paint.
Both Green and Leonard need to play Lebron minutes.
With his atrocious perimeter D, NO!
I'd rather see Blair get some minutes over Splitter at this point.
Why not start Diaw to play the 4? Diaw and Leonard can go back and forth making life rough for Lebron to start the half? Then, you switch to Manu if he's feeling it for the 2nd half? Or maybe vice-versa? Start with Manu, then start Diaw 2nd half.
if spurs get a 10-12 lead leave tp and duncan in a couple minutes and see if they can get it to 20-25
ballhog-Ducan-Leonard's minutes should be aroundm 40-44..
No more resting. It's game 7.
Diaw's minutes should increase over Manu
I knew it was possible for us to agree on somethin, tbh.
I think a rested and motivated Blair could be scrappy and come up with some hustle plays....I like it.
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