if Duncan can play successfully with Blair all season, then he should be able to play with Splitter - its Duncan who has the 20 feet jump shot
Dice is lacking energy. Not doubt he gives it his all but legs are failing him. By the time 4th rolls around Dice is cooked. Spurs would be better off with him playing limited mins.
Blair's impact has been missed. Did give us that x-factor from inside. Was never in favour of the change but since pop is open to them. He needs to try another one. Atleast with the mins and rotations.
Last edited by Slippy; 04-01-2011 at 07:05 AM.
I agree, blair in the starting lineup was much better. This bonner/blair combo is horrible. Dice will produce regardless, while blair needs that extra energy he gets from starting.
Last edited by Cessation; 04-01-2011 at 06:51 AM.
I never thought this season would turn into feeling like an experiment late in the season. We play 50 games of great basketball, then Pop changes and we start collapsing and getting injured. It's awful.
Its still a descent season, making it to the wcf is a legit possibility, beating the lakers? Not so much.
Maybe this is a better idea. Send Blair and Bonner to Austin and when the season is over try to get our money back on both of these boys. For next year put Richards and Butler on the roster. Let's quit trying to help Duncan get another ring and start using him to help the team advance for the future, and maybe they will get another ring while he's still playing! I don't care if Richards only gets 3 to 5 minutes a game next year, Playing and talking to Timmy is his best experience. Don't send this boy to Austin!!
Blair can only play with 2 guys: Dice and TD. Blair still makes a lot of mistakes on D and the more he does the more he forces on O and then he become a disaster. This is happening a lot now he’s paired with Bonner.
Start Splitter. The answer is so obvious, bring Blair into spell either Duncan or Splitter and save Dice for the end of the game.
Last night seeing Bonner fail at Garnett as he played horse was the last straw and Blair was little better bricking layups again or dunks. Splitter did too last night but 5-6 games he has been more productive than any big has this year on the Spurs not named Duncan taking away Bonner's erratic threes. Pop will probably start Bonner soon and then a brick goes into the screen and I am done watching that "brilliant" guy ruin this team.
it is completely clear tonight that taking away Dyess from the the 2nd team is killing this team on both ends in the 2nd qtr yet adding very little to the 1st. keep Blair in the starting rotation!
I think that violates the rules (sending Bonner and Blair to D league).
I am not against starting Splitter, but he's a huge liability late in games because he cannot shoot FTs worth a damn, so they would intentionally send him to the line.
TBH, Pop is the only coach that I have even seen employ this strategy since old the hack-a-shaq days.
I honestly havn't watcherd every game of every team though so I'm not 100% sure
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...-reserve-role/Blair continues to toggle with Tiago in a reserve role
Jeff McDonald
One game after not playing at all in the first half, DeJuan Blair was back as the Spurs’ second-unit center in Tuesday’s 97-90 victory over Atlanta.
Rookie Tiago Splitter was back to taking a DNP-CD.
Blair responded with a performance that was solid, but not spectacular, logging seven points and five rebounds in 13:06.
“My role is just to be ready at all times,” Blair said. “Because you never know.”
Keep reading...
I'd prefer Splitter/Duncan to start, with any other combination of bigs that eliminates Bonner/Blair to sub.
But i think you can also get away with starting Duncan/Blair as long as Blair's minutes are kept short, and sub in quickly with Splitter and Dyess. Splitter has to give about 20-25 productive minutes for the Spurs to have a shot.
I think the inability to shoot FT at the end is a little overblown. It's a liability, but the bottom line is that it still counts as a foul for the other team. And depending on who's doing the fouling (Say a big), it might even benefit the Spurs for the defender to pile up fouls.
Also, because of the Shaq rules, it's difficult to foul intentionally away from the ball towards the end. Splitter will be in there for defensive purposes, and isn't likely to get too many touches on the offensive end.
Again, Splitter's inability to hit FT is a liability, but it might not be all that big a liability.
Mike D did it with Bruce Bowen (and lost). I'm not saying it would happen, but in Pop's world that could be a big factor. How's Tiago's physical conditioning? Can he handle the up tempo game for extended minutes?
I think any team in the league would trade a foul for a possession, so poor FT shooting is a liability can has been exploited with bigs for quite some time.
He doesn't have to have the ball if it's not in the final 2 minutes of the game. Am I wrong?Also, because of the Shaq rules, it's difficult to foul intentionally away from the ball towards the end. Splitter will be in there for defensive purposes, and isn't likely to get too many touches on the offensive end.
It is a liability, but if he were a Ben Wallace (2004 version), that wouldn't be a big deal. He's not. He has no outside shot, just that weird hook. He is a decent defender, but he keeps his hands down and is rushed to get them up before the shot. That allow the shooter to get open looks.Again, Splitter's inability to hit FT is a liability, but it might not be all that big a liability.
I hope he proves me wrong, I really do.
I'm not sure I understand the discussion of Tiago's liabilities in end of game situations. Even the most enthusiastic Tiago supporters must realize that Duncan and Dice will be in the closing line-up.
Replacing Blair with Splitter as Tim's backup seems to be such an obvious move. What advantages does Blair have over Splitter in that role? Offensive rebounding, ok. What else?
Those are all good and valid points--and I agree that his poor FT shooting is a liability. I'm just saying that in doing cost-benefit analysis of leaving Tiago in there towards the end, the cost side might not be as extreme (or clear cut) as some here seem to fear. (And I believe you're right about the intentional foul rule--but that's why I said it'd be hard to intentionally foul him towards the end of the game; I was talking about the last 2-minutes.)
But all this is really moot, since Tiago isn't even seeing the floor, let alone closing out games. The worry about FT might be a bigger factor if Tiago isn't closing out games, but it probably doesn't figure into that heavily when he can't even get in at the front or middle part of the game.
Pop's not playing him for a whole variety of reasons--reasons we can only speculate about.
Im more for Blair not being in the rotation.
Since Blair went to the bench he's forcing things and committing a lot of mistakes on defense. Even Blair said he still needs to adjust. There’s no time to adjust now, the playoffs are there.
Replace Tiago with Blair is the logical move. Blair is a hard working kid but at the moment the best for the team is he on the bench getting no minutes
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