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I agree. Everyone is overreacting to this Thunder series. If Tim and Manu want to stay on board, that's fine with me. They were not the problem in this series. Rebuild the bench. There are few I think should stay, but I'll leave it open for debate.
http://www.nba.com/spurs/?tmd=1
Nice interview by Pop on media availability. Talks about the team, LMA, Andre Miller, etc.
What struck me: He said he wishes Andre Miller was 30... he's a natural leader on the floor, natural feel for the game, does a lot of things you can't coach.
Kawhi: Terrific player, still getting better.
LMA: Pleased with him. He's adapted faster to the team in his first season than anyone else they have ever brought on board.
On the loss: the OKC big men Adams and Kanter were very hard to deal with, they should have won games 2 and 5 which were very close, and a call here or there going their way, or a shot could have turned them in our favor.
On the team cons ution moving forward: Performance during the regular season vs. the playoffs? The playoffs weigh very heavily on Pop's decision on who to keep moving forward and what they need to add to the team. He stated the team has historically relied a lot in their bench. When they have won championships they always had more guys in the team and in their bench playing well than the opponent. He mentioned the team this season didn't have the depth to stay in games and that was the reason they lost games 2 and 5 for example.
Tim and Manu: He might have been joking, or exaggerating, but he said whatever they decide is what the team will do. Basically, it's up to them if they want to retire or not and not something that Pop advises them on at this stage.
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For us as fans to speculate and consider:
All the guys who underperformed in the playoffs, specially the veterans. Diaw and Patty, D.West? I think one tends to be tougher in evaluating NBA champions and veterans than youngsters and rookies, bc youngsters and rookies do not bring you a championship their first time with the team, but they do need to rebuild the bench, IMO.
What do you guys think?
I agree. Everyone is overreacting to this Thunder series. If Tim and Manu want to stay on board, that's fine with me. They were not the problem in this series. Rebuild the bench. There are few I think should stay, but I'll leave it open for debate.
not gonna watch, or at least not now, but if that's what pop really said and that's how he really feels about andre miller... then he should've given him some ing playing time. i feel the same way about him and was on board for him starting over parker.
at 40 he outplayed parker in an elimination game.
The closest thing to Andre Miller is Mike Conley, so I guess that means:
What?The closest thing to Andre Miller is Mike Conley, so I guess that means:
Mike Conley plays nothing like Andre Miller did. Miller was a much better passer, rebounder and was more of a post up PG.
As far as the bench goes I would only keep the guys who barely played bc they were either rookies or have upside due to youth and a developing game. As I said, rookies and players still developing don't win championships. You give them another season to see if they improve + we don't have much in terms of youth or potential and these guys are better prospects than the Daye or Ayers we carried seasons past and they are cheap. You keep your developing projects.
The veterans: Manu its up to him basically. We can speculate. Personally I think he retires. Others will disagree and emotional attachment is a factor. He didn't have a good series. He was OK against the depleted Grizz but didn't gain rhythm going into the second round. Two postseasons in a row his impact is not what it used to be and he's older, so he's not going to turn it around next season. If he returns, it has to be as a complementary, supportive leader, but the burden has to be on someone younger and not on him. I am not sure if he wants to return to defer to youngsters.
Diaw, West... time to move on. At any rate only one should be retained, not both. They can't play both together. Pop seemed to favor D.West more and more as the season wore on, starting him instead of Diaw when Timmy was injured. Diaw was getting benched for Anderson in the RS, ppl forget that, bc Diaw was lazy. Final game of the season saw Anderson briefly as a 4 in a small ball lineup. It could have been Diaw, but it wasn't. Diaw had a bunch of 0 contribution games in the RS and it was the same in the playoffs. I loved an engaged compe ive Diaw, I am thankful to him for 2014, one of my favorite Spurs TBH, but the fire on him is going out. He could be a trade chip. If he's retained it will be for Anderson mentoring IMO but one could argue that was this season, so we shall see.
D.West might be ready to call it a career. He expressed a certain readiness to retire IMO even during the season, part of the reason he left money in Indiana was him wanting to end his career in a better note than what awaited him in Indiana.
Patty. I think he's retained bc he's cheap, but the lack of Cojo this season exposed him. Seasons prior Pop had the option of going with one or the other guy. I think Pop likes to have 3 PG options anyway, only RayMac didn't pan out as they expected. Pop's praise for Andre Miller told a lot in terms of what they want and value from a PG so I think Pop is going to want to look for options. Patty's shooting though streaky is needed. We don't have much in terms of shooters if Manu retires. IMO he returns but we add others, his role could be smaller next season.
Tony, that is the real question. Probably deserves a thread of its own.
Clean out the bench. Manu can come back if he wants but everyone else can go ( I think Manu retires tbh)
Get an actual NBA Small Forward on the bench, figure everything else out after
The Spurs really didnt give Raymac a whole lot of time and they gave away this seasons 2nd round pick.
I'm talking about his demeanor/intangible which is what Pop was raving about when he brought up Andre.
I find it odd you don't mention how absolutely ty kyle anderson played. I think that should be telling. Statistically Anderson played worse than everyone but Kevin Martin. I would like to see Kawhi/LMA/Green/Boban/Patty return and everyone else can go away.
I would like to keep Simmons
Your in depth analysis b left out one HUGE element. ..Kyle Anderson does not need mentoring from diaw, he needs to be cut asap.I REPEAT ASAP.
Pop has to give Simmons and Boban consistent playing time from the jump IMO. Those are 2 players who give EXACTLY what the Spurs need which is athleticism and size..
You just have to believe in them tbh and I dunno how Pop feels about them tbh..Simmons is a lock to come back with his contract and if he can practice shooting off the dribble and work on catch and shoot 3's he can really help us. He can even play point guard IMO.
I dunno how the Boban contract will go down but if he's back he should be our back up center or possibly start. He's very skilled player with size and needs to be apart of the rotation next year and force teams to game plan him.
Batum and Gobert, get it done MVParker
Parker is the glaring deficiency. We have a role player at the helm.
If that were the case, Porker would have been dumped years ago. He is the second-biggest playoff choker in history, behind only Karl Malone, after all.
I think people are overreacting. Each series/team is different. Everyone was focused on trying to match up with GSW thinking they were the great obstacle and forgetting that first you have to reach the WCF to play them. Pop changed the focus of the team - playing iso ball by slowing down the pace and posting up LMA and Leonard - knowing that was the only chance with GSW. Unfortunately, that didn't cut it against another iso team with 2 better stars (especially since Leonard still had defensive duties and Durant could afford to rest with Robertson on Leonard). The beautiful game that can beat the rest of the league was abandoned. I wish they could have played the spacing/ball movement of game 1 with the rest of the league and save the iso ball/slow pace for GSW but know it's hard to switch when you've been playing that way all regular season. All those calling for Diaw's exit would have rued that decision if they had made it to GSW where Diaw is CRUCIAL.
Yes, Kanter and Ibaka gave them loads of trouble but that's the chance Pop took when he had no real center to back up TD except a rookie Boban. And IMO it was a bad idea of Pop to be trotting out a rookie in an elimination game, sitting LMA for so long and playing Anderson over Diaw. West was fine - he did great in game 3? and I feel bad that he left $11million on the table to come to this result. The truth is that OKC WANTED it more - Durant, Westbrooke and Ibaka are in their primes and have had a string of bad luck in recent years with injury. All those plays where they hustled and the Spurs looked around at each other while OKC grabbed the loose ball were the difference.
Conley/PattyBatum and Gobert, get it done MVParker
Green/Simmons
Leonard/Batum
Aldridge/West
Gasol/Boban
?
Years of Duncan and Ginobili bailing him out in the playoffs got him his championships.
Good call - I forgot about him because Kyle Anderson took all of his minutes. I also think SA needs simmons.
You got that old piece of Manure out of the picture... Seems fine to me
You should take out West. Unless this is not david west. I would almost take delonte west over david west.
Kyle Anderson needs to get moved if he can't become a reliable shooter. And tbh his shot is soooooo bad I dunno if it can be saved.
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