Some random observations regarding the Spurs issues, tbh..

[spurs10]

Why do people say the starting line up can't space the floor? The same starting lineup (TP, Green, KL, Tim/Tiago) spaced the floor fine last year. KL and DG didn't magically turn into terrible shooters.

It reminds me of Laker fan saying the Lakers have no 3 point shooting last year when they had Kobe/Blake/Meeks/Artest and others. The Kobe play led to bad shots, but all those guys had proven to be capable 3 point shooters before LA. Then to start the year in this system they magically started hitting 3's again.

I think that Tim's really poor start threw everything out of rhythm and didn't allow for Green/Kawhi to get their normal looks. Couple that with a less crisp TP and you have a pretty clear case of what's going on IMO.

I agree that Tim's poor mid-range shot has plenty to do with the rhythm being off. The bench with the "foreign legion" group of Beli, Manu, Boris, and Patty had a certain something for sure. The Green off the bench exiperiment won't last.

[mercos]

I agree on almost all counts. Diaw and Green should be starting. The current starting lineup just looks disjointed and sloppy. Spacing is terrible. People forget how locked in Duncan was last season. He was on fire with his midrange jumper almost all year. This season he has come back down to Earth. Danny just needs a little nudge at the start of each game to get going. If they can find him an easy layup early on, he usually has a good game. Boris has been playing fantastic lately, so starting him is almost a no brainer.

I think Splitter's play would improve with the bench unit as well. The second unit moves the ball much better than the starters. With both Manu and Marco distributing the ball, and no Parker and Duncan taking all the shots, Splitter would get a lot more finishes.

The Spurs are in need of some shake ups. Though their record is very good, they just haven't looked right all season. We have only seen flashes of the elite level they were at last year. Fortunately, the team has all the pieces they need to succeed. Its just a matter of putting them together correctly, which I think they will do long before playoff time.

[Chinook]

That's what I said essentially. I said TD's struggles to start the season really hurt. Coupled with TP playing less than stellar you have your answers. KL and DG aren't going to shoot poorly forever. TD won't either. TP will certainly play better once he stops coasting as much.

I guess the real disagreement is whether or not you think TD/TP will regain their form. I say yes so no need to make changes.

Leonard and Green are not in the same boat. Danny is not scoring because he's being tightly covered. Therefore, he is spacing the floor even while his PPG is low. Opponents are sagging off Leonard because he never really was a great shooter, and he can't make them pay. It's not really a slump with him, as he's never been even a below-average three-point shooter away from the corners. It's like opponents have figured out that he's the weak link in the Parker-centered offense.

Duncan is less effective from midrange because he's playing more inside than he did last season (subjectively at least). That's killing spacing. He has to move back out to fix it, but that could hurt his numbers. Also, he has to shoot well enough and often enough to force tight coverage. So it's not a matter of a bad start, really. Tim made a choice to move back into the paint. That's fine on its own, but if he and Splitter stay there, the offense can't improve much.

[EVAY]

One of the things I noticed last night when the Spurs started their comeback in the fourth quarter is that our defense really started putting the pressure on their tandem of Cousins and Thomas. Those two had been killing us on the pick and roll all during the third quarter. Then when Tim and Tony came back in, they really really focused on the pick and roll defense and stopped the momentum on the scoring that Cousins and Thomas had been getting done. The difference was amazing.

But what happened next was that Rudy Gay started making all of his shots, and it was a close run thing for us to pull back and then go ahead. When we turned off their pick and roll it was because Tim stayed on Thomas coming off the screen until Parker could get back into position around Cousins and then Tim very quickly got back to Cousins, denying Thomas the ability to send it back to him.

The fact that they had and effective third scorer in their offense was what made it far more difficult for us to come back all the way. Sac's inability to execute down the stretch was partly a function of our defense and partly a function of their youth and inexperience.

Again though, we can defend when we choose to do it. but having a third offensive scorer is a huge thing.

This year, we have really had inconsistent defense from everybody, and inconsistent third man scoring from both Green and Kawhi. If we can nail down the third man scoring business, I think we can go all the way. The defense will pick up as needed, imo.

[ElNono]

I'll be surprised if the Spurs make any drastic moves. Agree with DPG that the biggest improvement should come from TD/TP not coasting...

[Hoops Czar]

I think some are finally getting a sense why Beli wasn't resigned by the Bulls eventhough they had the means to do so. The Spurs were seventh in offensive efficiency last year. There is no way his offense offsets his terrible defense. Don't even get me started on Patty Mills. As for Danny Green, he massively overracheived last year and now, defenders aren't giving him any room to operate. When his offense suffers, it drags down his defense. As a whole, I'm not sure the way this team is presently constructed, they can improve much on the defesive end which is going to be a real problem in the playoffs.

[Hoops Czar]

I'll be surprised if the Spurs make any drastic moves. Agree with DPG that the biggest improvement should come from TD/TP not coasting...

You're really going out on the limb there. The Spurs rarely ever make a drastic move mid season even if they had the means to do so. They also won't make any drastic moves because they don't have any assets unless you consider De Colo and Bonner's expirings as assets. Most teams would dissagree

[exstatic]

The Belinelli experiment must end. Intuitively, you'd think that his skillset would help the starting group on offense because he can create and space the floor, but he's just been gawdawful as a starter. His FG% is 38 and his 3G% is 31, when off the bench his numbers are 53 and 51. He's started almost a third of the games, 7 of 24, so they've given it a chance.

[exstatic]

I think some are finally getting a sense why Beli wasn't resigned by the Bulls eventhough they had the means to do so. The Spurs were seventh in offensive efficiency last year. There is no way his offense offsets his terrible defense. Don't even get me started on Patty Mills. As for Danny Green, he massively overracheived last year and now, defenders aren't giving him any room to operate. When his offense suffers, it drags down his defense. As a whole, I'm not sure the way this team is presently constructed, they can improve much on the defesive end which is going to be a real problem in the playoffs.

They let him walk because they are in tax . They let a few players walk who may have commanded more than the minimum salary.

[jesterbobman]

The starting lineup being unable to score is an issue. They dominated last year, and most of the issue is that the spurs can't shoot 3's with that unit on the court. nbawowy.com has Danny Green at 1/14 in the starting lineup. Not great.

Fix to me is to Move Diaw to the starting lineup for Tiago, play Splitter in place of Ayres and play Bonner more, potentially trading for a PF with the contracts of Bonner/CoJo/Nando and the 1st. I'm sure some of the Amir/Thaddeus/Bass/... group of stretch(ish) Power forwards will be available for that sort of package, though it may be the low end of that group.

[ElNono]

You're really going out on the limb there. The Spurs rarely ever make a drastic move mid season even if they had the means to do so. They also won't make any drastic moves because they don't have any assets unless you consider De Colo and Bonner's expirings as assets. Most teams would dissagree

Well, they did trade for Nazr and dumped RJ at mid season. De Colo could be somebody they would shop, but I doubt Matty will be available, unless it's some crazy lopsided deal. IMO anyways.

[Chinook]

nbawowy.com has Danny Green at 1/14 in the starting lineup. Not great.

You mean Beli, right? Green actually shot a fine overall percentage from three.

[jesterbobman]

You mean Beli, right? Green actually shot a fine overall percentage from three.

I did mean Danny Green. Marco's 1/12 with the same 4. As always, there's a chance that there is a glitch of some kind.
It's really weird that Danny Green is shooting so well overall(42%), but so badly from 3 with the starting lineup. Only taking 14 3's in the 135 minutes seems low, so could be a glitch. I'm not going to run through game logs to check though.

[HarlemHeat37]

It's difficult to watch the Spurs at the moment while Pop is deploying these ty rotations, tbh..

Having Beli as a starter, as well as having Beli-Manu against opposing starters, reminds me too much of 2011, tbh, the Spurs can't stop anybody with this rotation, as expected..

The Spurs' changed as a team once Green and Leonard became the wing stopping duo, it's a shame that Pop is giving up on the combination and reverting to an offensive strategy..

[TD 21]

I don't see how he's reverting to an offensive strategy, when he refuses to go away from the two center starting lineup, as well as insert Bonner into the rotation.

You're giving him too credit by presuming there's any rhyme or reason to what he's doing. He's clearly just throwing against the wall and hoping it sticks.

[HarlemHeat37]

Beli scoring 30+ points but giving up nearly 30 points to one of the worst starters in the NBA is symbolic of my point, tbh..

[timtonymanu]

People will look at his offensive numbers and not be mad, but he was one of the reasons we lost tonight.

End this stupid Marco experiment and start Danny Green again.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

People will look at his offensive numbers and not be mad, but he was one of the reasons we lost tonight.

End this stupid Marco experiment and start Danny Green again.

and start Boris over Tiago

[cd021]

and start Boris over Tiago

Yes. Splitter has experience playing with Manu. Move Marco back to the bench.

Mills-Belinelli-Manu-Bonner/Ayers-Splitter

[Chinook]

and start Boris over Tiago

Or trade whatever is necessary outside the rotation players for Amir Johnson.

This was horrible. Pop is really failing to help Leonard and Green to become better players. He's been jerking them around all year. They are the keys to the team improving, not Beli.

[Johnny RIngo]

Anybody else worried that our coaching staff is comprised of Ime Udoka, Sean Marks, and Jim Boylens? Last year Pop had Budenholzer/Brett Brown to keep him in check, at least. The guy most familiar with the Spurs system this year is Udoka who's only been coaching for two years. The most experienced of the three is Boylens, the guy that brought Jeff Ayres to San Antonio.

[HarlemHeat37]

I also find it interesting that there are so many morons on ST saying, "but Leonard fit into the same system in the playoffs last year"..

Leonard played 36% of his minutes in last year's playoffs at the PF position, and if you only look at the Finals, at least 60% of his playing time was at the PF position..

It's evident that since his 3-point shot stopped falling, he has become useless playing with Duncan/Splitter, tbh..

To piggyback Chinook's point, I don't understand why Popovich can't run a few post plays for Leonard and a few screen plays for Green to get them going, rather than running screens all game for Beli, a natural scorer that has an aggressive mentality..

When you don't run plays for players that need to be put in specific positions to score, they start forcing their offense, and in the case of Leonard and especially Green, they aren't built to score in triple threat positions..it hurts their game, and it hurts the team, because you're forced to play Marco/Manu, a terrible defensive pairing against starting opposition..

If Popovich stubbornly believes the Spurs are going to make another run behind Parker/Duncan taking all the possessions, he's going to look foolish, tbh..

[Mikeanaro]

Anybody else worried that our coaching staff is comprised of Ime Udoka, Sean Marks, and Jim Boylens? Last year Pop had Budenholzer/Brett Brown to keep him in check, at least. The guy most familiar with the Spurs system this year is Udoka who's only been coaching for two years. The most experienced of the three is Boylens, the guy that brought Jeff Ayres to San Antonio.

Of course, Boylens must be happy thinking THE TEAM HAS A GOOD WINNING % I DID THE RIGHT THING BRINGING JEFF HERE!

[Chinook]

Why can't Green take Parker's place in The Loop (the triple screen play the Spurs run a few times a game) to get some open looks? Why not give Kawhi a post up or two when Diaw enters the game? The New Two need to have some goto plays when Parker gets shut down. They need to be able to prevent cross matches.

Pop starting Beli suggests he wants someone who can score without having plays called for him. That doesn't really make sense if he continues to have Parker and Duncan dominate the ball.

[TheGoldStandard]

Why can't Green take Parker's place in The Loop (the triple screen play the Spurs run a few times a game) to get some open looks? Why not give Kawhi a post up or two when Diaw enters the game? The New Two need to have some goto plays when Parker gets shut down. They need to be able to prevent cross matches.

Pop starting Beli suggests he wants someone who can score without having plays called for him. That doesn't really make sense if he continues to have Parker and Duncan dominate the ball.

Doesn't know any other way.. that's the best case/ worst case when you have Duncan/Parker on your team you don't have to change your philosophy even after years of doing the same thing because they execute.. We see the deficiency now because of the failed play by Tim/TP.