Do you think we see the "Beautiful Game" more this season?

[dabom]

I still want him on the roster. But switching him for Kyle might just be worse.

[cutewizard]

I take the beautiful game as being the pinnacle of that particular version of the team, but as you and ElNono point out, other series even that same season were won differently and OT of Game 6 TD took over posting up.

I remember seeing an interview from Manu stating that they could put sequences like that together in the RS and if you look at highlights many teams can pass that well on occasion. He said, and I agree, that what made those games against the Heat special was that they were able to maintain that level of play execution for the entire games and that was truly unique. Manu himself said he didn't even know if they were ever going to be able to play at that level again. Famous words: The exact same version of the team the following season didn't reach that level ever, even when guys were healthy.

As ElNono noted in a way, a lot of it was also the result of very aggressive trapping to the ballhandlers by the Heat which left the roller open and forced rotations. When instead of trapping there are switches like I mentioned in my post, an exact replica of those videos won't come to fruition. That's why I mentioned the beautiful game as it was "termed" at that time did include exploitation of mismatches by Boris in the post and other actions. With so much switching, forwards have to post up nowadays, and the guards have to cut if they are overplayed or just drive or do something.

But it is true that it wasn't just defenses. The SL offense changed to feature the forwards, but part of the reason was just flat out decline from Tony and Tim. In reality the fit on offense always felt weird. I don't think they ever climaxed. They survived and won games on super strong defense but the offense was weird. Pop did what he could with that particular version of the starters IMO. The bench had other issues and they started with the loss of Tiago and Boris' reluctance or flat out denial to take a 3 pt shot. Kyle played so little when it mattered, and so many guys filled up minutes at the 3, while Pop scoured the roster and FA looking for someone to fit and it was always a weird fit with the SF in the bench, bc the problem didn't spring from the 3. Butler, Simmons, Kyle, Danny, Kawhi, Kevin Martin. These are all guys that played the 3 in the bench and they had the same problems as always. The problems started with the bigs, Manu's decline as a slasher/driver, and Patty becoming featured as a PG in the bench while taking so many jumpshots, thus being streaky.

Anyways, I think this version of the team next season should be better provided Tony and Manu stay healthy because the fit and roles that guys are playing are probably going to fit better, but as always chemistry is super important so guys also get a rhythm. It will still take time to develop the younger players into their roles and the veterans will need to fit in. The team will discover it's iden y as the season goes on.

Finally, I wanted to reply to raybies: I had avoided mentioning Kyle at all lest ppl think my entire comment was about him when it wasn't but I couldn't let it slide to agree with raybies that I agree with his view that the Lee signing is just insurance. For Pop to have to play two paint clogging bigs together, it would be the worst possible outcome for the team IMO. The team will be much, much better if Anderson comes through for us for the season manning the 4 forward spot with Simmons or someone else at the 3. His adding a 3 pt shot provides spacing for the PnR the team wants to run with Dedmon, and he can do so many other things well, including passing and scoring on his own when needed. It's also probably not ideal if Dedmon doesn't pan out and we have to play Lee as a small ball 5. So in general, I can't see a scenario where having Lee as a regular rotation player is a good thing. I think he will have his moments in the season, but the best version of the team would rather feature other guys. I will truly be disappointed if Pop is putting Kyle on hold on Lee's account. In general, I also think the Spurs had trouble securing someone for the 4 spot precisely bc they intend to give Kyle a shot and that wasn't easy to accept for many veterans but Lee bought in. That is my view on the situation.

Also, although I am not a big fan, I think Simmons will get his chance. It's a make or break season for him and he has to show whether he is going to cut it or not. Based on your summer league reports from that guy in realgm, it sounds like Spurs are excited with him. Lee is here just in case Simmons or Bertans can't pull it together and Pop has to move Kyle back to the backup SF spot.

In general though, I am excited because I think this team has more versatility than last season's team and a lot of young player still developing, and to see younger guys develop is always entertaining to me.

----------------------------------------------------------

Excellent post! as always

im curious, would you see a role for Bertans and Garino this year, that would be significant?

[z0sa]

I still want him on the roster. But switching him for Kyle might just be worse.

It isnt his fault, but KA lost the little bit of confidence i had in him this last postseason. He was off the bench replacing Kawhi, again nkt his choice, but the massive dropoff enraged me.

It is not that he isnt a smart player or doesnt play to his strengths, I just feel trying to push him into a Diaw role implies he has the athleticism required for hitting the glass and producing consistent results, which he simply doesnt. Ppl might try to say maybe he could be like Horry with better handles instead, yet again, Horry was another natural athlete who could defend and rebound, besides nailing threes at a high clip.

I said last summer that if KA does not become a knock down three point shooter, he wont ever positively contribute to a contender. Relative with Simmons, he needs to work much, much harder on his shooting. I wouldnt use him to replace anyone in the "playoff" rotation, unless some odd matchup was clearly in his favor.

[dabom]

It isnt his fault, but KA lost the little bit of confidence i had in him this last postseason. He was off the bench replacing Kawhi, again nkt his choice, but the massive dropoff enraged me.

It is not that he isnt a smart player or doesnt play to his strengths, I just feel trying to push him into a Diaw role implies he has the athleticism required for hitting the glass and producing consistent results, which he simply doesnt. Ppl might try to say maybe he could be like Horry with better handles instead, yet again, Horry was another natural athlete who could defend and rebound, besides nailing threes at a high clip.

I said last summer that if KA does not become a knock down three point shooter, he wont ever positively contribute to a contender. Relative with Simmons, he needs to work much, much harder on his shooting. I wouldnt use him to replace anyone in the "playoff" rotation, unless some odd matchup was clearly in his favor.

We both agree Kyle sucks at the 3. I think we should look at these new guys to see what they can bring at the back up 3 before pidgin holding Simmons there.

[ElNono]

I said it earlier in the summer, both KA and Simms have a lot to prove this season. We can all talk about the greatness of PATFO identifying talent, but there's also countless cases where the Spurs figured player X or Y (ie: Neal or Hill) hit their ceilings and that's what you're going to get. And, be it because of an opportunity that opened up or simply because they felt they weren't worth what other team wanted to pay, it was time to move on. There's nothing wrong with that, after all, a lot of these guys are really projects to a large extent, even when they fill regular season minutes in a rotation.

Obviously, the Spurs would love to hit the jackpot every time (and so do we as fans), and I personally hope these two guys do make a tangible jump in quality, but it hasn't happened yet (IMO, we'll see what the new season brings), and the clock, like it or not, is ticking.

[z0sa]

We both agree Kyle sucks at the 3. I think we should look at these new guys to see what they can bring at the back up 3 before pidgin holding Simmons there.

Or KA. Neither player deserves anything at this point.

[dabom]

Or KA. Neither player deserves anything at this point.

I think the Spurs need to sell on Fathead too.

[z0sa]

I think the Spurs need to sell on Fathead too.

Pop is grooming him for a coaching position. If i were you or the other TP haters, Id accept the possibility of seeing Parker on the bench years after he retires.

[dabom]

going to sleep...

[SAGirl]

----------------------------------------------------------

Excellent post! as always

im curious, would you see a role for Bertans and Garino this year, that would be significant?

I would like to see Bertans play this season. With him it's probably going to come down to familiarity with the system and defense. It's always a shock for rookies the superlative level of physicality, aggressiveness and skill they face so he may take time to adapt, but he's an experienced and mature rookie so I could see him have an effect his first season even if it's in a small role. (And Manu and others will be rested, he will have opportunities)

I haven't watched Garino except highlights but I'd like to see someone compete with Simms as a defender. I do like Forbes very much who is a true shooter and an aggressive scorer and I'd like to see him make the team but if Garino is looking like a better defender than JSimms that's going to be something Pop won't just gloss over. It's ultimately going to come down to Forbes and Garino and I have watched Forbes but not Garino so I won't Nostradamus this one but it will come down to how Jsimms himself is looking on defense and if Garino is better in training camp, I don't think Pop can just overlook it.

[SAGirl]

How ppl blame Kyle and are audacious enough to put the burden on him for an entire bench collapse is beyond me. It's ludicrous to place that burden on him when others were supposed to orchestrate the offense and Kyle had played the entire season in a very small role off what these veterans could allegedly do, not the reverse. It's not like he was getting shots and others playing off him. It was the entire opposite scenario, so if we are going to talk about him not cutting it or being marginal based on 5 minutes of play here or there in a series in which the entire bench was trash and he was guarding Durant a former league MVP and a guy he had guarded only a once through the season, then we might as well call it like it was and say they all were trash starting with Mills and D west who were supposed to have the scoring burden and couldn't hit an open jumpshot to save their lives or do anything defensively, box out or grab a board and then rehash how Manu looked ancient and beyond done as a player getting ate up by Dion Waiters and how Diaw was completely checked out. Then you might want to blame Pop's awful coaching, call him trash too and then get back to me. Bc if we are going to be unfair judging there is plenty of judgment to go around and it should be commensurate with a guy's role and responsibility.

[ElNono]

How ppl blame Kyle and are audacious enough to put the burden on him for an entire bench collapse is beyond me. It's ludicrous to place that burden on him when others were supposed to orchestrate the offense and Kyle had played the entire season in a very small role off what these veterans could allegedly do, not the reverse. It's not like he was getting shots and others playing off him. It was the entire opposite scenario, so if we are going to talk about him not cutting it or being marginal based on 5 minutes of play here or there in a series in which the entire bench was trash and he was guarding Durant a former league MVP and a guy he had guarded only a once through the season, then we might as well call it like it was and say they all were trash starting with Mills and D west who were supposed to have the scoring burden and couldn't hit an open jumpshot to save their lives or do anything defensively, box out or grab a board and then rehash how Manu looked ancient and beyond done as a player getting ate up by Dion Waiters and how Diaw was completely checked out. Then you might want to blame Pop's awful coaching, call him trash too and then get back to me. Bc if we are going to be unfair judging there is plenty of judgment to go around and it should be commensurate with a guy's role and responsibility.

I called out Pop, tbh... I don't blame Kyle, he wasn't ready, especially to play against KD... but lots of bad decisions from Pop then, I thought.

[SAGirl]

I called out Pop, tbh... I don't blame Kyle, he wasn't ready, especially to play against KD... but lots of bad decisions from Pop then, I thought.

And you had it right. It's more Zosa and others who are not being that honest.

[dabom]

Fathead and Dworst joined the bench and then the bench sucked ass.

[z0sa]

I just realized fathead isnt tp. I guess that means KA.

[cutewizard]

If Kyle will become an NBA-caliber point forward, THIS IS THE SEASON TO SHOW IT......

He better bring the goods, no player could be more scrutinized than him this season.....

For all the Spurs fans, for our dreams to come true, he must become that.....

[dabom]

I just realized fathead isnt tp. I guess that means KA.

I was like wtf are you tripping at the end...

[z0sa]

I was like wtf are you tripping at the end...

Sorry, the pet names/insults never really tickled my funny bone or hurt my feelings. For as much money as the average starter makes compared to what services he provides, it is all fair game as far as I am concerned.

[SAGirl]

If Kyle will become an NBA-caliber point forward, THIS IS THE SEASON TO SHOW IT......

He better bring the goods, no player could be more scrutinized than him this season.....

For all the Spurs fans, for our dreams to come true, he must become that.....

That is the truth, the team needs him to step up and that is more honest to admit. They might have even needed him to do more last season than he did, but Pop didn't expect to have to rely on him to that degree when he was for team's purposes a young newbie. And Pop has a lot of blame to take if Kyle wasn't ready to do more, bc Pop spent a lot of minutes on Kevin Martin to end the season, instead of pushing Kyle more, maybe even playing him in the stretch 4 role more (and it might have been the case if the team progressed past OKC and got to meet the Dubs that they needed him). But Pop had Diaw too, and didn't expect to need Kyle to that degree.

As a way of giving perspective here, the team won the last game of the season where Kyle had an efficient double double and was matched up with Dirk Nowitzki all game. Think about that. This was Kyle's line for that game:

SAN ANTONIO SPURS (67-15)
FIELD GOALSREBOUNDS
	POS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	+/-	OFF	DEF	TOT	AST	PF	ST	TO	BS	BA	PTS
K. Anderson	F	30:27	6-10	1-1	2-3	+17	1	9	10	4	2	5	0	0	0	15

He made clutch baskets in that game and the team won.

This was Kyle's line in game 6 of the OKC series: 2/4 shooting 2/2 FT, 1 board, 1 TO, 6 pts -7. played 14:38 minutes. That was probably the most he had played in a playoff game that wasn't in garbage time. Bear in mind that was a close out game on the road where the team was getting s acked and trying to make a come back. To me there was a lot of symbolism in him staying on the court until the very end with Tim.

Should Pop have gone away from Diaw/West earlier in the series and used Kyle as a 4 more? Who knows? He did that in game 6 when the game was out of hand and made a short come back ironically. But if we are honest, Pop had not gotten Kyle ready for that. He hadn't really expected to have to need Kyle to that degree. I think that is why he didn't do that earlier in the series, and only went to that in a "oh what the heck? Let's throw the kitchen sink in" way. If he had expected everyone else to fail to the degree that they did, he would have prioritized Kyle's development over getting a late addition like K.Martin in, and playing Diaw and West together and he didn't do that. If Kyle wasn't ready to step in sooner it was due to him starting off the season without a role, having to earn it the hard way, while playing only a small role, filling up spots as others got rested or injured.

We have to see what Pop has in mind for him bc Pop really needs to get the most out of his youngest players at this point. He doesn't have the luxury of not developing guys.

[Brazil]

^ back from holidays and SA girl still doin slurp slurp

tbh...

[Sean Cagney]

Beautiful game took a few years to perfect, maybe in spurts but you won't see 2014 again any time soon tbh.

[Chinook]

^ back from holidays and SA girl still doin slurp slurp

tbh...

Do you think the Spurs are going to bring back Martin to fill that 15th spot, tbh?

[Brazil]

Do you think the Spurs are going to bring back Martin to fill that 15th spot, tbh?

nope we have the brilliant KA... slurp slurp

[dabom]

Spurs didn't even want Dworst at the minimum and people actually thought he could start for us. Think tank MOD.

[dabom]

Only a fraction of what this got says too.