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Please stop
I know it was just the first game, but we had issues rebounding with the 2nd unit in the game. I remember seeing an article recently that pointed out to that as a potential weakness, and in the first game OKC got a lot of offensive boards. The leads were gone when that happened. We'll be fine against the weaker teams but against OKC or LAC it could cause issues.
Please stop
..i see this is going the way of "Duncan statpadder in bad team like Kevin Love"
It's not a bad idea, but unless LaMarcus can become the close to the defensive anchor that Duncan is, it's probably not feasible. David West is for sure a starter-quality big, and once the team gets clicking it would be interesting to see it tried. At the least, I'm sure Pop will experiment with leaving Tim on the court for a bit and switch out to the bench a little slower. It'll be interesting to see how things play out, but as of now Tim is too valuable in the starting lineup.
Parker off the bench might not be a bad idea though. His defense just isn't there, and with the heavy ISO scores and increased ballhandling for Kawhi and LaMarcus in the starting lineup, he probably isn't as needed to create offense.
I don't think he should come off the bench, but it wouldn't hurt to let him pay with the second team a little more. I think he'd help with the rim protection and rebounding issues.
The no. But I'd like to see him or LMA with the second unit a few minutes more than last game to play defend and get rebounds.
OKC is the only team in the NBA that has an Enes Kanter coming off the bench..despite the size issues in the frontcourt, this isn't going to be a recurring theme..
Kanter is one of the most cancerous players in the NBA if he's in your starting lineup, one of the worst defensive bigs in NBA history..however, if he's coming off your bench, he's a huge luxury and will consistently dominate opposing bench bigs on offense and on the glass..
Im sure Pop will figure I out. Long season. That second unit wont work in a playoff series against OKC.
Yes, if he wants to. Honestly I think Duncan's chill enough to do it, since Manu did it. All you'd have to say is "hey Duncan who would you rather play with Manu-or Parker?"
It's worth a shot probably. Better than activating Boban in the short run.
But obv it's not a do or die move at all. It's just something that pop may or may not resort to out of boredom in the flinging phase of the season.
We'll probably get a sense of Boban's man defense over the course of the season. He's an option to defend bigs like Kanter, as his size is just overwhelming.
NO
No
Agree... not many teams have a good 2nd team front court.
However, I think the 2nd team needs a go to scorer. The first team already has both Leonard and Aldidge that you can post up in a crunch. The 2nd team really doesn't have that luxury. (Actually Diaw showed that he could easily post a big guy like Adams). However, Spurs should try for a team with better balance through all of 48 minutes. Duncan in first five really is just coasting.
Duncan is the only center the Spurs have right now.. can't play him off the bench.
In any case they could play him more time with the bench, which would hurt him at his age anyway.
We can just hope either Boban gets productive playing time, or Diaw/West can figure out how to make up for the lack of size/rim protection from the bench.
On a serious note you could be surprised by the answer. Parker, to a fault, has always been Duncan centric, feeding Duncan in the post has been his bread and butter for years... Duncan receives the most passes and assists during his career from Parker and Parker favorite target is Duncan... and it is not even close tbh... Stats in that regard are quite overwhelming... Even the arrival of Bobo did not change that, when both Duncan and Bobo are on the floor, ball goes mainly on Duncan's hands.
Parker, in that regard is the most Duncan loyalist of the roster and again it is not even close
On particular nights depending on matchup you could see Tim begin and go sit faster than usual to play meaningful minutes with the bench to help on the rebounding and defense tbh
This. I actually advocated Kanter coming off the bench in a 6th man role, and unfortunately it seems Billy Donovan has decided to go that route. He's not as much of a defensive liability when going up against bench players, and his strengths can be maximized.
Diaw/West is an underwhelming frontcourt rebounding-wise, but it won't be as big of an issue against the average NBA bench. I do think Pop should experiment with staggering Duncan's minutes with the bench, that way he can be paired with West or Diaw and it'll mitigate some of the rebounding problems.
Pop is not going to have him on the bench. He's too valuable and honestly, he's more of a glue guy/passing guy at this point than even Tony. When just Kawhi and LmA have been together in the starting lineup, they look out of sorts and not like a team. Think the SAC preseason game. Too much iso, lack of ball movement, lack of looking for others. Kawhi has actually emerged as an aggressive scorer, and has a mentality to get his TBH. The point forward role for him hasn't been quite there yet and maybe he will never reach it. A player has to do what he does, he has to play his game to help you win a game. Like Pop has said, elite passing is innate, its a talent that can't be coached.
I don't think Kawhi is selfish in any way, to me, its just that the great passers have a talent to naturally see gaps as they unfold in a split second, and the guts to make an instinctive decision to pass. Its the way a Manu has always been a better passer than a Tony, although Tony evolved to a successful PG. It's the way a Boris will give you 40% of the teams assists in just 20 mins of play in the season opener against OKC.
I am hoping some day, Slow-Mo can be that guy for us. He is the most talented passer of our younger guys. He naturally looks to pass first always, but he's actually evolved so far into more of a scoring threat and I think that is bc to evolve into a future 6th man role, besides his passing skill, he needs to be able to get his own shots to bail out possessions in the bench and to come in with instant offense when its needed. He's a baby by Spurs standards and even a guy of Kawhi's talent was brought along slowly, so its just a projection and a hope at this point. But I am sidetracked.
It's not just defense for Tim, its all the passes he makes, and how truly unselfish he is. I think there is an element there too from Pop, having LMA play with Tim will help LMA absorb the system better and learn from him how to be a successful all around star big man within the system. LMA will still be himself, but will learn from Tim the plays better.
I do think Pop can stagger them a little bit. West has really just been late on rotations and stuff. Defensively the second unit will get murdered if they don't clean up their act on PnR, and boxing out other bigs.
Once he reaches 50, then he can start coming off the bench to help out the team. Otherwise, No.
Tim is still a top 10 player for his position, whatever position he decides to play.
Play Bonner!!!!!!!
Very well said!!
Yes, Tim should come off the bench, at the start of the game.
I think I understand what OP is saying. We have two elite PF playing at the same time. Why not spread the wealth between first and second units? It's actually not a terrible idea, considering the poor rebounding tandem of Diaw/West. If it would help the team win games, the best PF to ever play would gladly volunteer, but Pop has way to much love for TD to ask him to do that.
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