How far will the Spurs go if Tiago continues to outplay Tim tbh..

[spurraider21]

That says a lot about Tims greatness when he carried the worst player of the series on either team... Was there a player with a worse plus minus than Tiago in the Finals?

Also playing small is not a choice when you are as one dimensional as Tiago, that's on him not on Pop.

How did you like his defense against Dirk in round 1?

[therealtruth]

*Looks at Tim Duncan's playoff stats this year*

16/8.5/1.5, 2 BPG, only 0.5 TO and 2.3 FPG,. Shooting 56% from the field.


Since Duncan is playing great, highly efficient basketball, if Tiago outplays that I'd say we win a le. Now if only Tiago knew how to block a shot on help defense we might have something here. 0.2 BPG for a 7 footer is embarrassing.

Blocks aren't everything as long as he can contest enough to force the miss at the rim.

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

Splitter has been the Spurs best low post defender for the past 3 years. When Splitter is out, the Spurs drop to like 15-20 in Def eff. When he comes back they were top 3 yet again.

Duncan is more the general that sits back and orchestrates the defense, controls the glass and can provide that Offensive spark when NEEDED. Splitter is the Spurs' best low post defender and best at setting the PNR on offense. Both our invaluable for the Spurs to succeed.

Duncan did an excellent job yesterday keeping Lopez off the glass yesterday. Most of Lopez's 7 Off rebounds were him tipping the ball towards the basket or getting blocked by Duncan. His 3-10 shooting pretty much said it all. Tiago has been outrebounding Duncan b/c Duncan has been mostly just boxing out Lopez while Tiago swoops in for the rebound. Truth is, they play extremely well together.

[tmtcsc]

What? Just...what?

[Tuddy]

If he's crashing the glass against smaller lineups we're gonna be tough to stop

[look_at_g_shred]

When we need Tim to take over, he will. Right now, with how our team is playing, we don't need him to be dominant.

[Chinook]

*Looks at Tim Duncan's playoff stats this year*

16/8.5/1.5, 2 BPG, only 0.5 TO and 2.3 FPG,. Shooting 56% from the field.


Since Duncan is playing great, highly efficient basketball, if Tiago outplays that I'd say we win a le. Now if only Tiago knew how to block a shot on help defense we might have something here. 0.2 BPG for a 7 footer is embarrassing.

Splitter is an outstanding rim-protector. He doesn't need to block shots when he can force misses while not getting out of position.

[silverblk mystix]

nowhere tbh

cause Splitter will be rendered useless if we make it to the Finals and face the Heat

the only 2 factors that would make it compe ive vs. the Heat is MVParker and Kawhi at allstar level

those are the only 2 factors that would make spurs compe ive

nothing else matters

but I am still behind Tiago for the lower rounds of the playoffs. Go spurs imo

Actually, this just proves how Pop is the biggest obstacle to a le.


If Splitter continues this play (in Portland he will foul out tbh)...

and the spurs were to actually go as far as the finals again...


the Genius coach will still his pants and bench Splitter.

Instead of saying - this is who we are and these are the players that brung us this far -

he will "overthink" and say

"oh - we better go small!"

[PingPong]

I think Splitter is getting more rebounds because Pop unleashed him in the offensive board.

[Kidd K]

Blocks aren't everything as long as he can contest enough to force the miss at the rim.

True, but rejections cause a mentally depressing effect on the opponent sometimes too. Like sneaking a rattlesnake in their locker room I swear to God if it comes out after the season that someone did that on purpose

[hater]

Parker didn't play at an All-Star level vs. the Heat last year and the Spurs were still compe ive..

the stupidity is strong in this one

Parker won game 1 and made a step back fade away, proceeded to steal the ball and mame a contested 3 to put spurs up witb 50 seconds to go in game 6. Then Manu and Pop crashed the bus

[hater]

Yes, parker and Kawhi. Nothing to do with Green dropping 3's at a record-setting pace.

Why do you think Green was getting wide open looks professor?

[hater]

You forgot another factor: Boris Diaw. If he keeps up this level of play throughout the playoffs, he can be huge against the Heat... can cover Bosh on the 3 point line and in the paint. And make some big shots.

Obviously Diaw and the rest of the gang have to contribute and of course Manu has to avoid joining the Heat organization mi-series.

[Chinook]

Why do you think Green was getting wide open looks professor?

Yeah, 'cause it's not like Leonard wasn't being guarded by PGs and Mike Miller most of the time...

[hater]

Yeah, 'cause it's not like Leonard wasn't being guarded by PGs and Mike Miller most of the time...

Leonard's shot was last season. Lets hope his shot is for real this season. Or we have no chance

[Chinook]

Leonard's shot was last season. Lets hope his shot is for real this season. Or we have no chance

I agree with that to a large extent. The Heat may have fallen off a bit, but make no mistake: The Spurs would have to play even better than they did last year to win a Miami rematch. I doubt James goes cold so much again, and even though Parker being healthy would make a huge difference, the Heat aren't going to leave Green open nearly as much as they did before. The Spurs are going to have to get more "honest" buckets, and Leonard would be one of the players who would be most responsible for getting them, along with Ginobili.

[hater]

I agree with that to a large extent. The Heat may have fallen off a bit, but make no mistake: The Spurs would have to play even better than they did last year to win a Miami rematch. I doubt James goes cold so much again, and even though Parker being healthy would make a huge difference, the Heat aren't going to leave Green open nearly as much as they did before. The Spurs are going to have to get more "honest" buckets, and Leonard would be one of the players who would be most responsible for getting them, along with Ginobili.

Agree. Heat were a bit s shocked last Finals. They didnt face a coach like Pop before. This time around they will be ready. I repeat MvParker and allstar Kawhi will be essential to even be compe ive this time around.

[sexinthatsx]

I agree with that to a large extent. The Heat may have fallen off a bit, but make no mistake: The Spurs would have to play even better than they did last year to win a Miami rematch. I doubt James goes cold so much again, and even though Parker being healthy would make a huge difference, the Heat aren't going to leave Green open nearly as much as they did before. The Spurs are going to have to get more "honest" buckets, and Leonard would be one of the players who would be most responsible for getting them, along with Ginobili.

not giving Green open looks might be a good thing... less double teams and drifting defenders on the big 3. Also, because Belinelli is not exactly the best at defense, a lot of the Heat players are shooters that rotate around the 3 point line. As long as Belinelli can stick with the defender to defend the 3 point shot, he will get some playing time and he will be able to contribute by making some big 3's on the offensive end.

[DesignatedT]

Ehh it's hard to say for certain. Spurs wouldn't play it out exactly the same and neither would Miami. Acting like you know is pointless.

[Chinook]

not giving Green open looks might be a good thing... less double teams and drifting defenders on the big 3. Also, because Belinelli is not exactly the best at defense, a lot of the Heat players are shooters that rotate around the 3 point line. As long as Belinelli can stick with the defender to defend the 3 point shot, he will get some playing time and he will be able to contribute by making some big 3's on the offensive end.

Yes. That's closer to how Dallas defended the Spurs. I think it's good for the Spurs' offense for Green to draw his man, but with Danny scoring something like 90 points in the first five games in the series, it's hard to say that missing his production would really hurt. However, one good thing is that Leonard is shooting so well nowadays that the Heat would to suffer if they were to try to help off him instead of Green. So that's another reason why a healthy Parker and an in-rhythm Leonard are so important.

[ohmwrecker]

Tim is smart enough to realize that if Tiago is playing great, he doesn't need to compete with his own teammate. Tim will do the whatever he needs to do to cover the deficit. If he needs to rebound and play d, then that's what he will do. It's the team philosophy and no one carries it out better than Duncan.

[Chinook]

Ehh it's hard to say for certain. Spurs wouldn't play it out exactly the same and neither would Miami. Acting like you know is pointless.

Of course. All I'm saying is that since the teams would be more familiar with each other, I doubt the Spurs would be able to exploit the same holes in Miami's defense as they did last year. That doesn't even address the idea that Green would probably not be on fire for so long or that Miami would be so slow to adjust if he were.

[DesignatedT]

Miami breezing through the playoffs certainly doesn't help though. Gosh what a joke.

[rascal]

I think Splitter will play better against Miami this year. If the Spurs get there.

Splitter fears LeBron.

[hater]

Splitter fears LeBron.

And Lebron fears Kawhi tbh.