I mean his minutes literally were staggered. He started , played a few mins, then came out. Then he closed with the bench for a few mins at the end of the 1st , it's the same thing.
If LMA can't get going cause Kawhi is in there, then that's a much bigger issue. He had some attempts early and couldn't capitalize. He took the first 2 shots of the game, and he was 1-3 when Kawhi was subbed out 4-5 mins in. Kawhi was 2-2. LMA needs to take it upon himself to be assertive
No, it’s about chemistry. The wins will come. Still well above 50 win pace. They’ll have to play Rockets or Warriors in round 2 no matter what as long as they don’t fall to the 7 seed. And if they do? They’ll draw the Rockets or Warriors a round earlier, whom they have to beat anyway, and will get a better pick to boot.
tl;dr - they’re not passing either GS or HOU in the standings, and likely will have to win two series on the road. So build that chemistry.
The ppl who are saying Kawhi is the reason we are losing and needs to come off the bench shouldn't breed
They have to lock in that third seed first. The Guests, T'Pups, and Nuggs are on the Spurs' heels and have the type of offenses built for this era and either have improved defenses to pad their records (Guests, Nuggets) or immense talent to win games as the season wears on (T'Pups).
So you think they were supposed to win tonight?
They do need chemistry, they aren't going to drop too much I think you're a little too paranoid honestly. These next few games are very winnable.
They have always worried about their quality of play vs worrying about what other teams may be doing or the standings. If they gel and play at a high level, everything will take care of itself
But that always seems to be the issue with LMA. Excepting the start of this season, game to game the question is: will he or won't he? All minutes are not the same, though (to answer your other point). If the team were to start better, they might actually gain momentum instead of digging themselves into a hole.
Welp, the fact you disagree helps my take tbh.
Idk man. I think LMA needs to figure it out. We all appreciate how he's played, but if he's just going to turn back into passive mode with Kawhi back? Idk.
And bringing Kawhi off the bench might help him start better, but who's to say when he plays with Kawhi again he doesn't go back to being passive? He's gotta figure it out. Kawhi even when not scoring can affect the game in so many ways. His attention alone should help LMA operate with more space
So you're saying we are a better team without Kawhi? This answer should be interesting...
I am guessing Spurs will completely play just guards and forwards at some point. We are already seeing some of it.
The only thing that is misleading about the whole thing is that Pop has already seen that the 2 big combo doesn't work. He even had better and more plentiful bigs last year to make that work and he didn't.
So he decided to go a different direction with roster construction, but his team hasn't been whole or fully healthy. Kawhi is just getting back right now and they miss Kyle tbh. I know he's not like this savior (not even Kawhi is, this is a team thing), but in terms of what lineups Pop can play or wants to play, yea not having everyone affects the team. Until January when hopefully everyone in minutes restriction is off it and they dont have anyone in the injured list hopefully (Kyle included), we just really won't know what this looks like.
Good opportunity for the young players to earn playing time is what I am seeing.
Now, what happens to Pop's vets that can't play in certain matchups?
Not tonight, but depending so much on Kawhi knowing he could only play 15 mins early on didn't help. They lost tonight due to their poor first quarter. If not for that they would've had a chance.
They've played this kind of game against the Rockets a couple times before and have come back to win (or just barely lose). The difference was Kawhi was able to play heavy minutes. Since he couldn't tonight the Spurs should've gone to LMA much more. Instead they let Kawhi do his thing and when he couldn't in the second half Houston ballooned the lead again.
Spurs are pretty much a lock for the 3 seed. We might not be contenders but we've always been consistent at least. The Spurs have been losing to top teams and beating up on scrub teams for as long as I can remember. The playoffs will be where we see what the team is made of. At this point we just need to get there with a fully healthy roster and let the chips fall where they may.
Learn to read posts better imo.
oh sorry I missed that. I only read the last couple of posts and have missed quite a lot of the earlier ones. apologies for the confusion.
That's my mentality. I said last week the Rox and Warriors are on pace to win 60 plus games and that it would be nearly impossible to catch them. Spurs have to develop better chemistry and find a way that both LMA and Kawhi can play at a high level together.
And lost his last 2.
"Needs to"... "Should"... But "will" he? I really have serious doubts.
Me too. But maybe he'll prove us wrong. We shouldn't bench the guy who we know will bring it for a guy who may or may not bring it.
They're Trump supporters, tbh.
Bottom line is you gotta do what you gotta do to win games. I not only have doubts about LMA individually but with the creaky offense that is the result of Pop's employing an offense centered on two high usage players who need the ball to operate.
It will be interesting to see how many wins it will take the Rox or Warriors to get the number 1 seed. It seems like both teams want the 1 seed badly. I get the feeling whoever gets the 1 seed won't be determined until the last week of the season. It wouldn't surprise me if both teams get around 67 wins.
I think the Spurs are going to be a lock for the 3rd seed. Going through both the Rox and then Golden State b2b for a shot at CLE would be an incredibly difficult task. The odds are def stacked against us. But that's why you play the game. If we're healthy, 'em, bring 'em on.
That's pretty much how I feel. Spurs have nothing to lose.
The rockets shot 25 Ft to the Spurs 13.. that surely makes a difference.
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