48MoH: Making sense of Tiago Splitter’s lack of playing time

[ducks]

against the suns today, spurs up 13-19 pts, yet couldnt even get some pt

so pop puts in a bonner/blair lineup, suns shortened lead down to 9pts

fck that

pop was resting him knowing he was going to play him more wed and thursday back to back games


splitter played all summer and splitter has never played 82 games plus playoffs

[Capt Bringdown]

He's obviously way too raw on the offensive end, and his rebounding is not at an NBA level yet. I don't expect much from him this season.

The same could be said for our starting center.

[ElNono]

The same could be said for our starting center.

Dejuan can board. Some nights better than others. He also has a season under his belt. Plus I fully expect Matt and Dice to command the most minutes when it matters, much like last offseason, unless Blair is tearing it up.
Tiago is too green right now. I'm very disappointed specially with his poor rebounding. But it's understandable in that he never played against so athletically gifted players like in the NBA. Offensively, with guys like Manu, TP, TD and RJ getting the most of the offense, he would need to make do with whatever he can scrape, and Blair has been obviously more adept in that role.

[ElNono]

And BTW, I agree that Dejuan has gotten into somewhat of a blackhole at times. The truth is, however, that we don't run that much offense through him anyways.

[weebo]

He just needs time to acclimate to what the Spurs run and the level of play in the NBA. We still shouldn't much from him this year.

[ElNono]

5 possessions of Blair in the low block or trying to drive the ball from the free throw line like Amare is too many. And the forced passing to him in the open court needs to stop, he's not Lebron James or anything. He's not talented like Malik Rose who was actually quick in his prime, had a faceup game and could step out and hit 15 footers with consistency. His job on offense needs to be solely a finisher when his man leaves him to stop a penetrator (as well as offensive rebounder).

His role on offense should be collect scraps, finish off any easy layups and that's about it. But sometimes good teams will force you to run some offense through your weakest link, and I thought the Suns did some of that tonight. Blair found himself a few times all alone 7 foot off the rim with nobody around. Props to Gentry for that. In those situations, we'll have to adjust. Either bring in Dice/Bonner or run plays where Dejuan doesn't need to go that far away from the basket.
Then again, even on a night where he Was somewhat sloppy, he managed to put 10 and 8, which is fine for his role (especially his 8 boards).

[ElNono]

I don't think he can guard those guys...
I'm not really sure Splitter can either at this stage in his NBA career...
So we'll probably see TD, Bonner and Dice going at them...

[ElNono]

As far as the rest of your post, I think it boils down to the fact that you really don't need to run offense for Blair, and that makes him a good fit for the starting unit. Ultimately, I think Dejuan should be capable of giving you 10 and 10 on most nights, and that's probably more than what Tiago can give you now.

[jestersmash]

Dejuan needs to develop some semblance of a mid range jump shot.

With the way Phoenix was guarding him at times, I'm surprised Dejuan didn't take his sweet ass time and just pretend he was shooting a free throw. I can recall 2 occasions where they just left him wide open in "no man's land" because they knew he had no jump shot.

[ElNono]

No.

You say no, I say no, but he's out there guarding Dirk, ZBo, etc. So he's definitely going to have that role.

[TE]

Splitter needs to be thrown out there into the fire....that's the only way

[G-Dawgg]

I'm so not impressed by Tiago Splitter. Offensively he's very limited. He has no range on his jumper, he's soft and can't bang on the post. He's a poor rebounder for a 7footer, and I haven't noticed how well he passes the ball yet. He is a good man to man position defender, but although he moves his feet well on defense, I don't see him being physical enough or a good enough shotblocker to deter much interior scoring..

In his defense, he plays the pick & roll well on both offense and defense.. BUT this is not enough to overshadow the big holes he still has in his game.

My Verdict...keep his ass on the bench. As stupid as this may sound, -Bonner has shown me WAY more this season.

[G-Dawgg]

So he just needs to hit the weight room?

IMO he's got lots of work to do besides that man....

[temujin]

I'm so not impressed by Tiago Splitter. Offensively he's very limited. He has no range on his jumper, he's soft and can't bang on the post. He's a poor rebounder for a 7footer, and I haven't noticed how well he passes the ball yet. He is a good man to man position defender, but although he moves his feet well on defense, I don't see him being physical enough or a good enough shotblocker to deter much interior scoring..

In his defense, he plays the pick & roll well on both offense and defense.. BUT this is not enough to overshadow the big holes he still has in his game.

My Verdict...keep his ass on the bench. As stupid as this may sound, -Bonner has shown me WAY more this season.

Good luck with Bonner in the PO.

[temujin]

Splitter was one of the 3 best bigs in Euroleague last year, with Pekovic and Bouroussis.

Period.

Why he is not playing decent minutes (and lately why he is not playing at all) is a mystery to me.

One thing is very clear: Spurs have zero chances to get past the Lakers and/or Dallas, with Blair or Bonner playing significant minutes in the playoffs.

[biskvito]

So Manu_Forever, why do you think the Spurs office waited that long and brought him to the team? Based on hype too, or they just can't scout? Because they had plenty of games to watch Tiago playing, they are professionals and can evaluate a player. Or do you think the office was naive?

[Johnny RIngo]

Spurs are gonna get raped by LA's frontcourt if we're still using Blair/Bonner as our 2nd/3rd best bigs going into the playoffs. Going to be painful watching Bonner brick every one of his threes and Blair get blocked every time he goes for a post move against any of LA's 7 footers.

[ersinert]

Ok, im from istanbul so i can get to chance euroleague in person...i have been watching all kinds of centers playing here for a long time and i would easily say that tiago is way better than most of them and he is or was definetly one of them best centers of euroleague...

[DrSteffo]

Manu_Forever is just a troll created to bash Splitter and the Spurs, don't take him seriously.

[Mel_13]

Manu_Forever is just a troll created to bash Splitter and the Spurs, don't take him seriously.

Manu_Forever is no ordinary troll, it's the latest incarnation of KBP. We haven't seen KBP since Greece's spectacular failure at the WC and VSpan's departure from PAO to join Oly. He couldn't start threads or post in the Spurs Forum as KBP, so he has been reincarnated with this username in a vain attempt to gain acceptance and respectability. An attempt that is doomed to failure.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

And I can say that I have watched most of Splitter's Euroleague games and what you claim is totally false. Splitter has never had an offensive game. This just shows that people claiming how good he was do not know anything about basketball.

Let me guess, Borosoussisuss is 10 times better than Splitter but he won't play in the NBA because no team would give him a $200 million contract, which he is making in Greece right now, right?

Edit : tax free to boot and free gyros daily.

[Mel_13]

And I can say that I have watched most of Splitter's Euroleague games and what you claim is totally false. Splitter has never had an offensive game. This just shows that people claiming how good he was do not know anything about basketball.

Posters who disagree with KBP are liars who know nothing about European basketball!!!

[EricD]

Posters who disagree with KBP are liars who know nothing about European basketball!!!

Tell em Mel 13

[biskvito]

[Mel_13]

I have no idea why Bourousis does not play in the NBA. But I assume that he like most European players prefers to stay in Europe. Most of the best European players stay their whole careers in Europe. It has always been that way. Most of the best European players stay in Europe because they have no reason to leave.

I don't think it has anything to do with gyros.

Why are you singling out Bourousis?

Yes, he is far better than Splitter but he is not the only center in Euroleague that was or is. There are several centers that were or are in Euroleague that are also much better players than Splitter is.

The mere fact that you can only mention Bourousis because the Spurs had interest in him shows that you have a total lack of knowledge about European basketball. Clearly, you don't know any of the players and know nothing at all about the Euroleague.

People like you that have never in your whole life seen a Euroleague game and yet feel en led to have an expert opinion on how good players are and to evaluate them in Europe - without having ever even seen a game...

It's pathetic and stupid and ridiculous. It's the ones like you that distort everything. I'm talking facts and you are talking nonsense when you don't even know a single thing about a single player in Europe. Yes, Bourousis is way better than Splitter but there are several other centers that were or are in Europe that also are.

I will repeat it again. Splitter has never had an offensive game. In his entire career in Europe his offense consisted solely of dunks and layups off of spoon fed passes from Prigioni and Huertas, mainly off of the pick and roll. And his team created offensive sets to get those looks.

His replacement in Vitoria, Stanko Barac, is already performing much better than Splitter ever did in the same role. I guess according to your logic then that means that Stanko Barac is now "the best center in Europe".

Give me a break. It is obvious that you don't know anything about basketball, even the most basic elements and concepts of the game from your comments here.

Manu_Forever getting his KBP on!!!! You go, Billy!!