As easy as its been getting the #1 seed with all these injuries this year, I think that instead of being shortsighted we should just rest the starters. , we could drop to the 2nd seed and it wouldn't matter.
i had thought about making a similar thread but I'll just add to this.....
how important is health vs seeding this year? Since the whistle was apparently invented in OKC, is HCA almost a must?
how much rest is optimal before it starts to disrupt rhythm and become disadvantageous?
naw !! lets go on a 20 something game win streak & snatch the le with some noise! that outta teach people not to doubt the spurs
Pop has been noticeably less concerned with resting starters lately, and therefore far more concerned with fine tuning the playoff machine and securing that top seed. It's unlike his staff to care about it, but I think they know that there's a good chance the Spurs will meet the Rockets and Thunder in the West, and IF they can get through them, they're likely to find Miami in the Finals. With all four rounds being a 2-2-1-1-1 format this time, having four out of seven potential games at home and a guaranteed Game 7 at home is probably worth a decent effort, considering how rapidly the le window is closing.
No, this team needs to be fine tuned and on the same page for the playoffs.
Yeah, it could very well be a tough first round series (not like last year) and we won't have like one or two rounds just to heat up.
That said: Pop might sit Timmy, Manu and maybe others from time to time (or play them only a few minutes if it becomes a blowout early), but there is no reason to not go for the 1spot.
No. The Spurs need to stay in a good rhythm for the playoffs. Pop will (hopefully) only rest starters when appropriate.
Last edited by Legacy; 03-27-2014 at 06:15 AM.
And also... as I mentioned downstairs:
Rest Manu.... there's is no value in him playing against bad teams. You can tell he's completely out of sync. Nuggets were able to rally because Manu kept making bad plays on top of bad plays.
Or we could go undefeated the rest of the season/playoffs
Health > seeding. Everyone agrees with this. However, resting does not mean health. More often than not, injury just happens rather than being caused by fatigue. Resting older players like Timmy on B2B games makes sense, but there is no evidence that going "easy" the rest of the way would help preventing injuries.
Last edited by letmk; 03-27-2014 at 10:02 AM.
Trust Pop on this one. He handles this question as good as any coach ever has. My personal opinion is that HCA is extremely overrated, especially as far as the Spurs are concerned. HCA only matters in a game 7. Prior to a game 7, which the majority of series never make it to any way, the road team has an advantage. I prefer opening a series on the road with a chance to steal one, to having HCA and feeling the pressure of needing to win games 1 and 2.
Gotta have HCA if we want to beat the Heat or Pacers in the Finals.
Having HCA over the Heat/Pacers is a virtual certainty at this point. But I would quibble with you on the necessity of having HCA in the Finals. Game 6 would be played in SA this time around.
......Everytime we won the finals we had HC so that can go both ways. Last year they almost stole that one in 6, when it got to 7 we had a little shot IMO but not much. With the 2-3-2 being gone now though it gets more interesting IMO.
Last edited by Sean Cagney; 03-27-2014 at 01:18 PM.
Duncan should probably not make the trip to Denver. He played a lot of minutes, then he can play against Anthony Davis & the Pelicans Saturday. I'd imagine Manu will sit 1 of the 2 games.
Yes send them on vacation to Cozumel.
Umm wouldn't it have been nice to have game 6 and 7 in San Antonio last finals? Keep they number 1 seed at all costs. We have a pretty good buffer, 3 games ahead of OKC, 4 ahead of Indiana and 6 ahead of Miami so we should be ok either way. But you don't wanna up the just about guaranteed number 1 seed and guaranteed home court with 11 games left by resting the big guys the rest of the way. 3 or 4 straight losses and boom indy and okc have homecourt against us. Keep them playing to keep everyone in-sync, just don't give them too many minutes.
Gotta make sure that they are healthy, conditioned, and in rhythm heading into the playoffs. You can't do that by resting them. They need to keep playing reduced minutes, not sitting altogether.
Thanks for the responses, it seems that they are pretty unanimous in one direction, I just never thought rhythm would be that important for this team considering that they have always executed despite the pitfalls they were dealt throughout the season.
I think Health >>> Seeding tbh but if we are managing minutes at an optimum level then having everybody in rhythm can only help things. Regarding OKC, call me crazy, but I think that even the thundereffs won't be able to change what they having coming. Remember that it was Harden (a prominent Spur killer) who helped push them over the edge when we met them in the playoffs. Also , with the chimp out of control they won't be executing seamlessly like a team has to in the playoffs.
No, we need HCA in the Finals and against OKC
We have tough games in front of us, its does not take much to lose HCA over these teams if we rest all starters. Pop would never rest all starters, but replying to the OP I do not think we have the #1 seed locked up and cannot rest them all the way.
After seeding fight is over some of them require rest yes.
I wouldn't be surprised if Timmy and Manu don't play tonight and then Tony and Tiago are out for the Pelicans.
I also wouldn't be surprised if Timmy, Tony and Manu all sit against OKC since it's the second of a back-to-back and the games on TNT.
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