Zach Lowe: "Parker could be unplayable vs Dubs?" "Pop played fake lineups ..."

[SAGirl]

Tony is going to play his regular season minutes (b/c Patty is even worse) but won't see his minutes go up in the postseason as is customary when the rotation shortens. Besides, Klay is going to be the one checking Tony & Curry is going to be ball hawking while hiding on Danny.



The atmosphere was too jacked up for Simmons who plays his best when he is calm & not overzealous. Simmons got too hyped while LMA on the other hand was shook.

Simmons plays like this in big matches. Its not the first time, although this one was over the top. I believe it did get to him, but instead of making him wilt, it amplified his nervousness and energy. I would rather have that and so would Pop. Kyle got rattled making a few bad decisions offensively. This is the first game of this magnitude for them. Honestly I prefer they make mistakes of aggressiveness than passiveness. Remember Simmons is in the rotation and playing, Kyle is in and out and has not played in big games for a while. All things considered they did well. I posted that in a review I did of the game. To me the positives, other than what we learned about the team, what they learned about themselves, is that the rookies and young players got experience as well as Butler in a big game. Who knows?

Everyone assumes Pop will not go deep in the rotation, but we have to look at this team and recognize that this deep rotation has come forth and saved us in games, including Boban and Kyle in a Timberpups game that LMA and Tony were terrible. WE just don't know. Our depth is a strength and Pop has to figure these guys out.

[Kawhitstorm]

Simmons has the energy to do it, and he's strong enough to abuse Curry's scrawny ass on offense. Caldwell-Pope showed the blue print.
Mills can pressure full court, but he hardly does it and when he does he blatantly flops and let's his guy open half of the time

Simmons is going to get called for bogus fouls b/c he's a scrub & Patty would get leveled by a pick. Besides Kawhi, Danny is the only one that has earned the respect of the refs & has the ability to hound Curry. In any case, Draymond is probably going to bring up the ball if Curry is being pressured constantly so Kawhi/Danny have to just meet them at halfcourt & dare Draymond to dribble w/ Kawhi in a defensive stance.

All of it would be futile if LMA is milk-carton status.

[Kawhitstorm]

Simmons plays like this in big matches. Its not the first time, although this one was over the top. I believe it did get to him, but instead of making him wilt, it amplified his nervousness and energy. I would rather have that and so would Pop. Kyle got rattled making a few bad decisions offensively. This is the first game of this magnitude for them. Honestly I prefer they make mistakes of aggressiveness than passiveness. Remember Simmons is in the rotation and playing, Kyle is in and out and has not played in big games for a while. All things considered they did well. I posted that in a review I did of the game. To me the positives, other than what we learned about the team, what they learned about themselves, is that the rookies and young players got experience as well as Butler in a big game. Who knows?

Everyone assumes Pop will not go deep in the rotation, but we have to look at this team and recognize that this deep rotation has come forth and saved us in games, including Boban and Kyle in a Timberpups game that LMA and Tony were terrible. WE just don't know. Our depth is a strength and Pop has to figure these guys out.

We're talking about the same Pop who refused to play a championship proven player (CoJo) when the guy in front of him was the worst player in last year's postseason (Porker).

[Kawhitstorm]

Duncan/West
Aldridge/Diaw
Leonard/Butler
Simmons/Green
Parker/Ginobili

.. Patty before the shoulder surgery used to kill Golden State. Now he's become a liability and is just too small to guard Livingston or Barbosa. This is where Joseph's defense is missed, as bad as his chemistry with Manu was

Patty used to kill the Worriers when they had Jarrett Jack/ Jefferson but they have been replaced by Livingston/Iggy, not to mention David Lee being addition by subtraction on defense.

[MI21]

I expect Parker to be better offensively with Duncan in the lineup. Spurs fans are quite blind to what Timmy brings offensively outside of raw numbers, particularly his work at the horns passing the ball, setting screens, being in the right spot as a decoy around the paint, offensive rebounds etc.

I realise it was an awful game, but the Warriors are a pretty great team and these things happen. As Spurs fans, I would suspect that a lot would understand that results like this do not define a matchup - the Spurs have absolutely smashed teams in a game and then the next game, been belted themselves. It's almost like some of you have forgotten the 13 Finals (fair enough, lol), 05 Finals, 12WCF, 14WCF etc etc

It happens and I would hazard a guess it will happen again. (That said, as Spurs fans we have seen that shook look, scaredy cat face from a few players... and LMA was looking that way )

[From Downtown]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Manu at PG against then at some point

[LongtimeSpursFan]

We're talking about the same Pop who refused to play a championship proven player (CoJo) when the guy in front of him was the worst player in last year's postseason (Porker).

Let me see if I understand you. You are telling the basketball world that your high basketball intelligence based off numerous postings on a sports forum would advocate starting a 3rd string PG in place of starting PG?

[Mikeanaro]

And the next possession the real defensive player of the year Green shuts down our MVP candidate on an easy post and then a minute later Parker is able to get to the rim and drops it to Kawhi that Kawhi misses and sails out of bounds.

Kawhi is the real deal, Green is just lucky to play with Curry and hack other players without a whistle.

[Sean Cagney]

We're talking about the same Pop who refused to play a championship proven player (CoJo) when the guy in front of him was the worst player in last year's postseason (Porker).

How is Cojo a championship proven player exactly? I agree Parker should have sat more last playoffs but Cojo honestly was only good in spurts in the playoffs and never got extended mins in both the finals runs. Parkers numbers in 014 Finals were actually good.

[objective]

Sometimes Pop does weird lineup stuff for no apparent good reason, including Parker.

Like in 2010 when Parker came back from injury to play the last 6 games of the regular season, and played a bunch of minutes and performed fine but Pop still kept him coming off the bench for some bizarre reason. He came off the bench for 8 games in the playoffs! Playing about 32 minutes a game in the playoffs a month after coming back, but still not starting until the Suns were hallway through destroying the team. I still don't know what was going on back then.

So, maybe Pop could decide to just roll big with Simmons, Butler. and Anderson filling minutes over Parker and Mills.

[DenialTwist]

Lowe got one thing right. Warriors said they knew all the spurs sets and how to defend them after the game. The footage from that blowout has to count for something. Curry was showing exactly how they will play the spurs, they didn't leave much to the imagination. Pop has plenty of footage. Basically Parker, Mills and LMA were easy targets for the warriors to score. I agree though that Parker is kind of unplayable vs the warriors, but what the are the spurs going to do. Pop is not benching Parker for Mills or Simmons in the playoffs.

[jermaine]

Who in the Curry doesn't torches!?! Some people are so stupid!! Just take your hats off to Curry an keep moving!

[HarlemHeat37]

Lowe got one thing right. Warriors said they knew all the spurs sets and how to defend them after the game. The footage from that blowout has to count for something. Curry was showing exactly how they will play the spurs, they didn't leave much to the imagination. Pop has plenty of footage. Basically Parker, Mills and LMA were easy targets for the warriors to score. I agree though that Parker is kind of unplayable vs the warriors, but what the are the spurs going to do. Pop is not benching Parker for Mills or Simmons in the playoffs.

The Warriors don't really lose anything by "showing their hand", tbh..they have serious advantages in virtually every facet of this matchup, including 3/4 of the best individual players IMO..I agree with your point to an extent, although the playoffs are always different, every great team has a counter move..

[HarlemHeat37]

Forcing Curry to "play defense" isn't going to change anything, either..maybe if he had to guard an opposing player in the post or ran through screens all game, but still, these are highly conditioned pro athletes..

Curry's worst stretch, last year, was 2 games or so where he was guarding Dellevadova and his non-existent offense, for example..

There hasn't been a successful strategy against Curry, so far, he's unstoppable in virtually every scenario..you can make it tougher on him, of course, but every NBA fan thinks they have the solution.."make him play defense", "play physical against him", etc..these s have been running a train on the NBA for a year and a half with minimal trouble..

You just have to make it tough enough that he doesn't drop an efficient 30+ and make sure to guard his teammates relatively well(unlike the Spurs, who got killed by Livingston and their bench)..Draymond and Klay Thompson are largely useless on offense without Curry drawing attention and being in rhythm, too..

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

Only players that played worse than Parker were Manu, Anderson, and Green. Right off the start Kerr put Klay on Parker and Curry got to rest on Green.... If Green isn't going to do , he needs to sit. Spurs can't afford to have a dead body on offense and allow Steph to get a breather. Start Manu or Simmons, I prefer Simmons.

If this is how Curry will work to get his points, I like my chances.

Exactly, and what the vine fails to show is the push off Curry did before he started his drive. He actually pushed off on Simmons twice coming up the court. Say what you want about Simmons, but I will take 6 fouls from Simmons if he guards Curry like that for 20 minutes and makes him work. This definitely will wear him out over a 7 game series.

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

The starting 5 for the Spurs should be LMA, Duncan, Kawhi, Green/Butler and Manu.

Bring Parker off the bench. That will lite a fire in him being benched and I think he won't be so worn out coming off the bench and guarding Barbosa or Livingston. Bench should be West, Diaw, Simmons, Parker and Green/Butler.

That is the way I would play GS.

Spurs size would give GS fit. Spurs should always have Kawhi or Simmons guarding Curry. Make him work for every shot. Don't double. Let Curry just work for EVERY SHOT. This is what worked when the Spurs beat Phx 4-1 in '05 and Amare scored like 38-39 ppg. Let Curry get his, while making him work for every shot, and shut everyone else down.

That is how the Spurs will beat the Warriors.

[Kawhitstorm]

How is Cojo a championship proven player exactly? I agree Parker should have sat more last playoffs but Cojo honestly was only good in spurts in the playoffs and never got extended mins in both the finals runs. Parkers numbers in 014 Finals were actually good.

CoJo never got playoff burns b/c Pop is more concerned about 3 point shooting rather than defense which explains Bonner's tenure w/ the Spurs.

CoJo played well when called upon in 2013 against the Worriers (guarding Barnes very well) & 2014 vs. OKC (in the biggest game for the franchise in the past 10 seasons). Gary Neal:

[Kawhitstorm]

Forcing Curry to "play defense" isn't going to change anything, either..maybe if he had to guard an opposing player in the post or ran through screens all game, but still, these are highly conditioned pro athletes..

Curry's worst stretch, last year, was 2 games or so where he was guarding Dellevadova and his non-existent offense, for example..

There hasn't been a successful strategy against Curry, so far, he's unstoppable in virtually every scenario..you can make it tougher on him, of course, but every NBA fan thinks they have the solution.."make him play defense", "play physical against him", etc..these s have been running a train on the NBA for a year and a half with minimal trouble..

You just have to make it tough enough that he doesn't drop an efficient 30+ and make sure to guard his teammates relatively well(unlike the Spurs, who got killed by Livingston and their bench)..Draymond and Klay Thompson are largely useless on offense without Curry drawing attention and being in rhythm, too..

Chris Paul is the only guard that has gone at Curry TWICE & succeed before flaming out in the 4th quarter trying the guard Curry & run the offense. Replace Porker w/ CP3 & LMA would be getting mid-range jumper all day long ala prime D-West along w/ Danny raining 3s. He also doesn't turn the ball over, can guard bigger players & tries to draw a foul when Curry is on him b/c the best defense is to send him to the bench.

As much shyt as Chris Paul gets he would have been 2005 Manu in the Spurs system.

[SAGirl]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Manu at PG against then at some point

There was a lineup Pop used when he realized Patty could not deal with Curry and then proceeded to chuck away shot with some cold shooting which is when the game started to go in blowout mode. He got Simmons in with Manu Kawhi Butler. It was fine for some time and could work. Simmons did a surprisingly good job sticking with Curry. But they didn't play well either, turning the ball over. I realize at this point they were playing super fast trying to make a run to get back in the game, but that led to bad passes and poor shot selection. They actually amplified the GSW lead, the irony, but defensively there were some good things. POP did try a no PG lineup.

[From Downtown]

There was a lineup Pop used when he realized Patty could not deal with Curry and then proceeded to chuck away shot with some cold shooting which is when the game started to go in blowout mode. He got Simmons in with Manu Kawhi Butler. It was fine for some time and could work. Simmons did a surprisingly good job sticking with Curry. But they didn't play well either, turning the ball over. I realize at this point they were playing super fast trying to make a run to get back in the game, but that led to bad passes and poor shot selection. They actually amplified the GSW lead, the irony, but defensively there were some good things. POP did try a no PG lineup.

At the end of the first half Manu,Simmons and Butler were the only ones with a positive +/- and I think that must say something...
Of course Manu at PG for extended time might hurt us more than not because of him being turnover prone and also because he hasn't got the legs to do it on a 7 games series anymore,but I can see Pop going for it in spurts and I can see it actually working
Pop used the Manu/Simmons backcourt when Parker was out against the Bucks and their length and it worked fine
Now I don't think Parkers going to sit and maybe the best thing to do is to hide him on Barnes and if he scores 40 then be it,but Simmons (who's proving he can be in the rotation comes playoffs time) and Butler could definitely eat some of Patty's minutes

[SAGirl]

At the end of the first half Manu,Simmons and Butler were the only ones with a positive +/- and I think that must say something...
Of course Manu at PG for extended time might hurt us more than not because of him being turnover prone and also because he hasn't got the legs to do it on a 7 games series anymore,but I can see Pop going for it in spurts and I can see it actually working
Pop used the Manu/Simmons backcourt when Parker was out against the Bucks and their length and it worked fine
Now I don't think Parkers going to sit and maybe the best thing to do is to hide him on Barnes and if he scores 40 then be it,but Simmons (who's proving he can be in the rotation comes playoffs time) and Butler could definitely eat some of Patty's minutes

The reason Parker could nit be hidden is that whoever he guarded, backed him into the paint. Apparently Pop had a tactic to double but that required sharp rotations. Every time that happened someone made a cut and GS found the cutter immediately. The worst offender in not rotating was West, as good as he was offensively he was worse on defense. The lineup we talked about eliminated the need to double so the backcuts were eliminated. That together with Butler hitting some shots in that period is what gave that line-up the positive. The impact wasn't so much Butler (other than the shots he made) but Manu ND Simmons eliminating the need to double.

POP tried the same group again in the 3rd first with Patty and he was horrible. Then with Rasual, but that was the stretch that saw the worst play from Simmons as well and that is when the game became a blowout. Simmons at this point is probably better used for a jolt. Played a lot if time, exposes his limitations IMO.

[ceperez]

The reason Parker could nit be hidden is that whoever he guarded, backed him into the paint. Apparently Pop had a tactic to double but that required sharp rotations. Every time that happened someone made a cut and GS found the cutter immediately. The worst offender in not rotating was West, as good as he was offensively he was worse on defense. The lineup we talked about eliminated the need to double so the backcuts were eliminated. That together with Butler hitting some shots in that period is what gave that line-up the positive. The impact wasn't so much Butler (other than the shots he made) but Manu ND Simmons eliminating the need to double.

POP tried the same group again in the 3rd first with Patty and he was horrible. Then with Rasual, but that was the stretch that saw the worst play from Simmons as well and that is when the game became a blowout. Simmons at this point is probably better used for a jolt. Played a lot if time, exposes his limitations IMO.

Sitting Parker is going to be a major problem because the Spurs don't have enough backup legs to man the point. Ginobili is only effective for at most 15 minutes, beyond that he is turnover prone.

Simmons and Anderson can bring up the ball, but don't have enough experience to orchestrate the offense at a playoff level.

The Spur cannot win against the Dubs if the game becomes a shooting contest. The only way to prevent that is to have enough mobile wing defenders, that means both Simmons, Anderson and Butler need to start logging longer minutes.

Spurs need to start playing effective small ball. LMA just isn't explosive enough in offense to make a dent. Heck, I'm now in favor of trading him for a SF like Batum.

The Warriors aren't going away in the next couple of years, therefore the Spurs need the talent to continue to compete against them.

[From Downtown]

The reason Parker could nit be hidden is that whoever he guarded, backed him into the paint. Apparently Pop had a tactic to double but that required sharp rotations. Every time that happened someone made a cut and GS found the cutter immediately. The worst offender in not rotating was West, as good as he was offensively he was worse on defense. The lineup we talked about eliminated the need to double so the backcuts were eliminated. That together with Butler hitting some shots in that period is what gave that line-up the positive. The impact wasn't so much Butler (other than the shots he made) but Manu ND Simmons eliminating the need to double.

POP tried the same group again in the 3rd first with Patty and he was horrible. Then with Rasual, but that was the stretch that saw the worst play from Simmons as well and that is when the game became a blowout. Simmons at this point is probably better used for a jolt. Played a lot if time, exposes his limitations IMO.

Well Parker is still our best playmaker and Pop is not going to sit him,so we either learn how to rotate perfectly (good that there are still 3 games to play against them) trying to eliminate the backdoor cuts,which is the best case scenario but also the less probable,live with Barnes posting up Parker hoping that Kerr stays true to his words and doesn't alter their game plan exploiting the mismatch to death,or let Curry go for 40 by leaving Tony on him (and maybe putting Kawhi or Danny on him in the 4th) and try to limitate the other 5 (which is basically what the Warriors themselves did in the finals last year from game 4 onwards,but we have to take into account that Curry supporting cast is much better than LeBron's)

Of course we can't count on Simmons like he's prime Manu or something,he's a rookie with little experience outside of college/D - league, but I expect him to improve in the next 30 games or so
As I said we can't count on that lineup with Manu,Butler,Simmons,Green/Leonard and Diaw for extended time but I wouldn't mind Simms and Rasual eating some of Patty's minutes and it could be effective,we could also play both Green and Kawhi instead of one of them as their minutes will grow anyway in the playoffs

[ElNono]

Just against the Dubs?

[SAGirl]

Sitting Parker is going to be a major problem because the Spurs don't have enough backup legs to man the point. Ginobili is only effective for at most 15 minutes, beyond that he is turnover prone.

Simmons and Anderson can bring up the ball, but don't have enough experience to orchestrate the offense at a playoff level.

The Spur cannot win against the Dubs if the game becomes a shooting contest. The only way to prevent that is to have enough mobile wing defenders, that means both Simmons, Anderson and Butler need to start logging longer minutes.

Spurs need to start playing effective small ball. LMA just isn't explosive enough in offense to make a dent. Heck, I'm now in favor of trading him for a SF like Batum.

The Warriors aren't going away in the next couple of years, therefore the Spurs need the talent to continue to compete against them.

Agree with you on all fronts. Anderson has a calming influence. The group that played in the 3rd with Manu and Simmons is good for a short stretch, both Manu and Simmons are too similar in forcing issues in transition and you can't play too many minutes that way w/o going into TO and reckless shot taking territory and it showed in the 3rd. I remember reading most fans thought playing that pace was advantage GSW. With Manu at his age that is only workable for short minutes.

Anderson is very heady and calls plays or gets the ball to the big man. He runs offense. He has some spots where if you give him space, his jump shot is money and apparently now has the green light to take those shots if he has them. POP has allowed him to handle the ball under pressure, but yes he is not experienced and I doubt Pop benches Tony.

More than anything the doubles will need to get better executed as well as the rotations. Kyle in general did a good job defensively on help defense. it's probably something to work on the whole season. GsW exposed Tony and our historic defense to be a sham if attacked with skill.