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I've learned my lesson from last season, if Softridge isn't going to get moved then I'm going to wait till the 2nd half of the season before I make a final judgement on his play although it pretty obvious he's going to choke in the 2nd rd.
LMA hasn't been good on defense either. He's in the perimeter too much to start... I am not sure what he should be doing, but he's been foul prone too, and Pop is letting him guard star PF with no help. I remember in the Pelicans game Pop said that the plan was to see what LMA could do against Davis one on one and they didn't decide to send help until the second half. I saw some of the same here. KA wasn't doubling on Griffin until the second half. Pop is experimenting early, and I agree LMA has struggled. Maybe the guys who say he's out of shape have a point.
I've learned my lesson from last season, if Softridge isn't going to get moved then I'm going to wait till the 2nd half of the season before I make a final judgement on his play although it pretty obvious he's going to choke in the 2nd rd.
You have a good point on letting him get in shape and in a rhythm and for Pop to get on him too about what he is supposed to be doing. Too early to call it.
Good, then he wouldn't accept the player optionPau off the bench would actually be really nice but, as we all know, he'd never accept it.
Starts with taking good shots or manufacturing quality efficient looks.
Spurs couldnt find them in 1st qtr and it ignited the Clippers fast break or transition opportunities. Hard to play great transition D when Leonard was constantly the guy trailing behind everyone after his terrible attempts tonight. Not having Green and having Gasol/ Aldridge plod down behind Blake doesnt help either.
Needed to make an adjustment to set the screens out further to create more space for Kawhi to manufacturer better looks for him and his teammates going downhill.
Not just this game. The Spurs had slow defensive starts in the last 4 games.
Too many below average, low ceiling players on the roster, tbh. The defense is horrid because those are the types of players the Spurs signed in the offseason. This is by far the worst defense the Spurs have had since before Duncan. Whoever thought this cluster of a roster would be a contender in today's NBA.
Coach Bud's response to the Spurs defense:
Pau Gasol defense:
2016-17 Regular Season Defense Dashboard
Defense Category GP G DFGM DFGA DFG% FREQ FG% Diff% Overall 7 7 5.7 9.7 58.8 100% 46.2 12.6 3 Pointers 7 5 1.0 1.1 87.5 11.8% 28.5 59.0 2 Pointers 7 7 4.7 8.6 55.0 88.2% 50.2 4.8 Less Than 6 Ft 7 7 3.3 4.6 71.9 47.1% 59.3 12.5 Less Than 10 Ft 7 7 3.9 6.3 61.4 64.7% 55.3 6.1 Greater Than 15 Ft 7 7 1.6 2.7 57.9 27.9% 31.4 26.5
Opponents shooting a whole lot better than their average when defended by Gasol.
Gasol IMO is the problem. In NBA.com/stats everyone else who has played in the SL has been good defending some shots, maybe not so good defending on others, but even Tony has been contesting shots well enough, LMA, Kawhi, Kyle have defended ok on some distances, not ok on others, but none of them are as bad accross the board as Gasol.
Danny will help a lot, but truthfully the problem is Gasol and maybe Pop can't switch him on to perimeter players that much.. but really Gasol looks like he's exerting no effort or moving at times... Food for thought.
Yeah, Kawhi Leonard needs to be traded.
He needs to start Dedmon asap. Preferably when Danny comes back.
This I suspect. Dude apparently took the Spurs crash course with Boris. He used to look slim on the Blazers uniform.
Now he looks kind of chubby. He probably needs to stop taking Shaq's approach to the NBA season.
I haven't looked into the numbers yet, but I don't even care how they look, to my eyes, Gasol has been terrible defensively and is probably only being propped up because some foolishly thought they'd be about the same and aren't ready (more likely, willing) to admit defeat.
Green will obviously help, but even if they eventually settle in as let's say the 5th best defense, that's actually much more significant than it may seem because the offense still isn't explosive.
Thanks (I guessPau Gasol defense:
2016-17 Regular Season Defense Dashboard
Defense Category GP G DFGM DFGA DFG% FREQ FG% Diff% Overall 7 7 5.7 9.7 58.8 100% 46.2 12.6 3 Pointers 7 5 1.0 1.1 87.5 11.8% 28.5 59.0 2 Pointers 7 7 4.7 8.6 55.0 88.2% 50.2 4.8 Less Than 6 Ft 7 7 3.3 4.6 71.9 47.1% 59.3 12.5 Less Than 10 Ft 7 7 3.9 6.3 61.4 64.7% 55.3 6.1 Greater Than 15 Ft 7 7 1.6 2.7 57.9 27.9% 31.4 26.5
Opponents shooting a whole lot better than their average when defended by Gasol.
Gasol IMO is the problem. In NBA.com/stats everyone else who has played in the SL has been good defending some shots, maybe not so good defending on others, but even Tony has been contesting shots well enough, LMA, Kawhi, Kyle have defended ok on some distances, not ok on others, but none of them are as bad accross the board as Gasol.
Danny will help a lot, but truthfully the problem is Gasol and maybe Pop can't switch him on to perimeter players that much.. but really Gasol looks like he's exerting no effort or moving at times... Food for thought.) for posting the data. It was kind of hard to know what to expect coming into this season when Gasol would be asked to replace a one-legged man. Some suggested his defense was terrible; some that it wasn't as bad as advertised. Regardless, I do not see Gasol going to the second unit. I personally believe that the Spurs have made some poor FA choices the last two off-seasons for which the team will pay for a few years (mostly opportunity costs), making Kawhi The Bridge.
Definitely the availability of FA targets is a limit... It's not NBA 2K.... and possibly trades have been explored but maybe none has been favorable.Thanks (I guess
There's no dream scenario, but the Tony contract and decline has hamstrung the team and I do tend to think Gasol rught now is doing more harm than good. His numbers are in the negative overall. Team is better with him off the court than on, by a landslide. The only worse player has been Tony in the regular rotation, in terms of negative impact. His value is mostly offensive and when you already have LMA, he just takes possessions and shots from LMA... and if you don't have him there for offensive purposes, then why have him there at all. You'd be wasting him bc he's a defensive liability. He might become unplayable in some situations, but we know Pop won't bench him... I kind of agree that they have gone in a direction that seems aimed at compensating for the decline in their former star backcourt duo... who they were unwilling to move on from.
I could be wrong bc it's early and last season LMA and the team got a hang of things later in the season, and in fact I do hope to be wrong bc the team already made their choices and there's only one way to go from here: onwards. I don't think they would be better trading off LMA and staying with Pau. He's more skilled but to have a center who can't defend adequately, I don't think that's a legit championship contender. It wouldn't surprise me if the Spurs best line-up doesn't include him by seasons end. Again I hope to be wrong. It's early and Pop may figure something out....
As of right now, per bball reference, Spurs are 11th in the league on defense
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SAS/2017.html
Record: 5-2, 3rd in NBA Western Conference
Last Game: L 92-116 vs. LAC
Next Game: Wednesday, Nov. 9 vs. HOU
Coach: Gregg Popovich (5-2)
PTS/G: 102.6 (16th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 97.1 (7th of 30)
SRS: 6.03 (7th of 30) Pace: 93.6 (27th of 30)
Off Rtg: 109.6 (7th of 30) Def Rtg: 103.8 (11th of 30)
Expected W-L: 5-2 (7th of 30)
Arena: AT&T Center Attendance: 55,254 (15th of 30)
LMA ain't getting traded. Pau ain't going to the bench. Tony ain't going anywhere. I don't see the Spurs truly contending for a few years. I hope my X-factor, Deadman continues to develop. And I hope Kawhi turns out to be as loyal as DRob was.
The team is now paying and will continue to pay dearly for its loyalty to Manu and Tony - actually, Bonner, too. That is compounded by the situation with the "bigs", and by the lack of development of another good young prospect or two before now. It might be a trying season as things stand, but truth is, the Spurs are an injury away from missing the playoffs and/or making the lottery.
Last edited by sasaint; 11-06-2016 at 09:09 PM.
Well, just one game changes every thing starting the season...IIRC the Spurs were #7 in Def Rtg before the Clippers game and #5 before Jazz game.
After 3 games the Spurs went from #5 to #11...
2 of those games they lost, the Clippers game was historically the worst defensive half of the Pop era...
the Jazz lit the Spurs up and they got wide open looks, only a few shots were tough, mostly by Hood who is a talented scorer, but all sorts of roleplayers got going... then use your eye test.
We shall see... Danny's biggest impact is defense, and I expect Pop to make adjustments. I hope to be wrong in my early ring of the alarm bell.
For the record, no one says you're wrong. At least, not me.
I was very pessimist about our defense in the offseason and about the bench performance, too.
But Patty, Manu, Lee, Dedmon had some good games and it seemed like they could build chemistry together so my biggest concern is still Spurs' D.
Maybe, this is the new normal. Spurs look great most games and really pitiful on some occasions.
And people wanted Danny Green traded this summer...
Most underrated player on the team.
Ranked 1st in the NBA in DRPM for SGs last year. He will not only make a significant impact on the defensive end, but his spacing in itself will be important for the offense.
I'll reserve judgement on the teams' defense til he gets back in the swing of things.
Damn real.
Parker is going to be the thorn in this team's side, but let's at least get Danny back in the fold... Then some more functional declarative statements can be made and addressed on a more concrete level.
Like, yeah and s...
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