I had this crazy dream that Matt Bonner ripped a rebound out of Dwight Howard's hands. Hahahaha. Crazy, huh?
That was one of a game! The turnovers at the end of the 3rd quarter had me a bit concerned, but the Spurs came out with conviction and focus in the 4th. TP and Manu were absolutely money. RJ was more aggresive than some are giving him credit for and Bonner was automatic. Tim was much greater than his stats alone would suggest, his crunch time play was lock down. Dice looked solid as ever. Sweet.
Great, more names to add to my ignore list.
I don't see why the rest of you haven't done this earlier. It's not like he brings any interesting takes/insights to the discussion. I'm not worried about missing any flashes of brilliance.
You guys really think ducks has a troll?
I thought ducks was a troll. Trolls getting other trolls now? Damn
Ducks does not need any troll. He is above all the trolls.
When you talking ducks you know what is all about. It's like a higher grade of troll.
It should be all around the globe - there will be trolls on internet forums and there will be ducks.
Do not underestimate!
I was quite curious and eager to see whether Tiago was or was not a good match up for Lewis defensively. In my head I thought, given Tiagos mobility and quickness, he should be able to cover Lewis well while helping Tim out with Howard. I was hoping to see whether Tiago had the potential to give an Odom on Lewis type of defensive performance or it was just a bad match up. But our team defense was more than enough tonight
Btw, how about that Rashard Lewis. I had no idea hes been having such an off year 11.6 pts, 5.0 rebs, 41%fg. Even last year, 14 pts 4.4rebs, was atrocious considering his ginormous contract.
Sorry that I missed this little gem earlier.
Wow, he must have gotten torched in his nine seconds in the game.
I'm starting to wonder if Splitter will be held back until next season.
There's precedent enough.
Oberto came in behind Nazr, Rasho and Horry, and no matter how much praise he had from Pop and folks for his IQ and his passing and intangibles he was buried. He was given about 6 minutes in the 1st half of game 2 against the Mavs before he was sacrificed like everyone else on the altar of smallball.
Oberto played in 59 games that year with double digit minutes in about a third of them, he just couldn't get in when the established players ahead of him were entrenched. So he played, he just wasn't a part of the rotation with 4 bigs ahead of him and match-up issues. Splitter has 4 bigs plus smallball opportunities to contend with.
Oberto's 1st 9 game totals with the Spurs weren't terribly much different than Splitter. 10.5 vs 12.5 approx mpg Oberto to Splitter. Splitter scored much more but a slight rebounding advantage to Oberto.
Would anyone be completely shocked if the Spurs wait until McDyess is moved/released/retired for Splitter to be relied upon as a key contributor? After all, everyone always talks up how important it is to have a full year in the system before getting it, Bonner was talking about it tonight on NBAtv with regards to RJ, McDyess and Blair.
What was more alarming that year was that Pop completely benched the center rotation that helped the Spurs win 63 games once the Mavs series rolled around, and he did it so completely that Oberto was moved ahead of both of them when Duncan and Horry were in foul trouble (but only for end of quarter situations). Any time I start to think "surely Pop's not that crazy" when it comes to any sort of personnel decision, I think back to '06, when Pop decided on smallball because Nazr Mohammed hit a three pointer in garbage time of a blowout.
Certainly wouldn't be surprising but..
Its hard to compare to that specific year. With Horry+Nazr, not to mention a younger/in prime Duncan, we weren't really desperate in the areas of frontcourt defense, rebounding, combination of post/outside scoring. And... I think we still had Rasho? We just had such a deep front-court that you simply wouldn't expect Oberto to play anymore than he did. The biggest problem that year was Dirk and in that situation, Oberto wasn't going to help much..
I don't think it's too much of a stretch with that particular year.
You have your outside scoring big with Bonner (Horry), your rebounder with Blair (Nazr), your defender with McDyess (Rasho), your smallball with Jefferson (Finley/Bowen) . . .
Sure, Splitter when he plays seems like he makes the team better both on offense and defense. But it's his first year. Blair is the hot rebounder who's starting. McDyess the savvy vet who has played so well that Pop says he can't pull him, and Bonner is the leader in 3s and the Prince of Plus/Minus.
Not having Splitter in the playoff rotation means the Spurs aren't really serious about putting a fifth trophy in the case before Duncan retires...as I feel like this is the last year that feat is even discussable.
Good for Bonner, but I just can't get that excited about it. He will have many games like this but the proof is in the pudding...he is a mental midget in the playoffs. It was the same song and dance last year in November...In 20mpg over 12 games, he gave the Spurs 9pts and 5 boards and shot over 45% from distance. Many of us(including myself) entertained the thought of him finally breaking through and becoming a factor in the post season. Well, we saw how that turned out.
Sorry...I won't be duped again. The Spurs won't win anything with Bonner playing 25mpg on the front line. It's good he can get the Spurs wins in the regular season but the better he plays in the regular season the more he looks like Horry to Pop and the more that happens the more minutes he will get in the playoffs. It's just not worth it. I find myself almost wishing he hits a serious slump so that Pop will be forced to bury him in the doghouse.
I had this crazy dream that Matt Bonner ripped a rebound out of Dwight Howard's hands. Hahahaha. Crazy, huh?
He only took 7 shots and scored 8 pts. He is being aggressive when he gets the ball. It is just being dominated by Parker and Manu right now. Also, Hill missed him on a wide open alley oop and Parker did the same. Plus with a rare dunk attempt blocked he could have easily had 14 pts. He is doing exactly what the Spurs need!
I disagree. That years front line feature Duncan in his prime or at least really close. Big Shot Rob, who isn't Bonner, they may the same role in principle but their game is worlds apart. Blair is a monster rebounder but hes 6'6. Nazr is a legit 6'10 and if it weren't for his Kwame Brown hands he might be a more efficient scorer. Dice>Rasho haha =p
Finally, that frontcourt was fresh off winning a championship, our current front court has proven to fall short when it comes to the playoffs, Dice and Blair in '10 and Bonner in 09.
Minus Splitter, our current front court might have what he takes to get to the 2nd round but its not realistic to believe that they can compete for a championship. IMO there are too many holes. While we get 3s from Bonner, we may lack defense and rebounding, we get rebounding from Blair, but may come short in team D and a liability to score, the 2 most well rounded players are Duncan and Dice, but have trouble with mobile guys like Odom and Dirk.
With Splitter, he helps plug our potential holes. He doesn't guarantee a championship but the potential payout he brings certainly increases our chances.
It's hard to compare Oberto '06 to Splitter '11
different teams and esp. different expectations. spurs just cannot afford to sit a guy like Tiago on the bench when we need some interior presents against some serious opponents.
The thing is - for how long Pop will gonna use Bonner [also Dyess and Blair] minutes in the rotation. for how much and how long it helps to sit Splitter?
There will be a time that Pop will have to sneak Tiago into rotation and how he is going to do this, that's the problem to solve.
Hey Timvp:
I love the grades, but where's Pop's? I'm starting to get worried that he's going to 'disappear' Splitter as he has so many promising players in the past...
Bonner rocks right now. I'm finally proud to say I have a Matt Bonner jersey haha. I can't believe the guy got a rebound right out of Dwight Howard's hands though, that's a statement.
I wish we got more rebounding like that from Bonner. I hope he continues to do so and continues to stay hot from 3pt land. Dude is on fire.
Damn, LJ, what the does TP have to do to get a staright A from you?
The guy has a terrific shooting night and a double-double (10 assists), timely three pointers, and you can't get any more than an A- out of that?!?!
I mean I know that you and Kori love TD more than anybody and all, but try a little bit of pretense at objectivity in these scores occasionally, okay?
Do you notice our offense when Tony (or Manu) is NOT in the game? Whenever George Hill is in there, the offense stagnates because Hill can't figure out what to do with the damn ball. When Tony is in, the whole thing runs much more smoothly, and by the way, if Tim was shooting a better percentage, Tony's assists would be higher than they are!
Ths is really getting irritating, man.
I can see not getting an A+ unless he has a double-double AND 35 points, but I really think you mess him up over and over again.
We all know that Ducks is an extremist, but I think "ego" has a point, Parker's efficiency and regularity through that game is impressive...
Dble dble, 60% shooting, constant D... deserves an A at least!
His only "mistake" was that last TO in "garbage time" when he tried that dumb pass to RJ...
Anyway, A- is a good grade, I guess timvp was expecting more from him!
These grades are, by their very nature, subjective.
TP has been awesome. Loving the assists. But man, that last three pointer was sweet. He didn't hesitate at all, just swooshed it. Looked deadly coming from TP.
Manu Ginobili: A-
Tony Parker: A-
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