what do we blame pop for now??

[SCdac]

I don't put 100% blame on Pop or any one person of the Spurs for that matter, but damn, it feels like Poppovich doesn't even have a real grasp of the kind of mindset teams need, and flexibility in depth, heading into the playoffs nowadays. We can't just set in stone 6-8 player rotation, play them a crap load of minutes and that's it, that kind of mentality might have worked back in 2005 when the big 3 were in their collective prime, but nowadays it's lead to being swept by the Suns and possibly beaten by the Grizzlies - neither team of which is winning a championship IMO. Including Splitter into the playoff picture (much more than he was given) should have been on the agenda since day 1, but Pop seems too stubborn to usher in a new era. Taking Blair out of the starting lineup might have been called for in the RS, but reducing his minutes to next to nothing, well, gives us next to nothing from such a great hustle player. Bonner has been used much better this season (along w our depth), but that was because he wasn't quite at the forefront as seasons past, he was a complement - we won probably a dozen games without him playing at all. FFS, Vasquez and Haddadi are basically rookies, yet they're getting minutes for Memphis because they're hungry, they're whole team is playing hungry. While our team seems about as unsure of itself as Pop thinks of it (he seems so perplexed by how the team plays at times, almost like he's watching from afar). Obviously not the way players play, but our team's iden y is largely in Pops hands IMO, and it's so murky right now. Do we feed Duncan more or less? Do we call a timeout at the end of that game? Should or shouldn't Splitter play? Are we going to continue to go under screens and test Memphis' jump shooting?...... just seems like our confidence has weaned, even from the coach

[eric365]

For playing Splitter at the start of the 3rd quarter. Especially playng him with Duncan for the first time of the season. Especially against the Memphis starter for the 1rst time. And in a tough playoff game.

He should be played at the end of a quarter for now
A rookie big could foul a lot and you have to send the other team to the line every single foul of the remaining of the quarter.

He had 2 quick fouls and the spurs were over the limit very quickly in this critical 3rd quarter.

Not starting Dice in the 2nd half killed the game. Splitter should have came in at the end of the 3rd just like the first half IMO

[Nathan89]

And admitting his -up and playing Splitter resulted in what?

I hated this loss as much as anybody, but how does Splitter make our shooting % better?

Should been playing the entire season and then this series. Then we wouldn't have to worry about stopping the most confident team in the World from hitting every shot they take. We would have crushed all hope by now. Are team wouldn't feel like Rocky when he was fighting the Russian.



This team feels like a machine for the Spurs. Confidence has created a monster. It's time to cut them.

[admiralsnackbar]

Splitter has more in common with Drago than Rocky.

[ElNono]

btw admiral, nothing personal. I've been saying Tim needed help for two seasons now. Seeing this stuff blow on our faces just reinforces something that has been a need for now. I see teams like Memphis with guys like Battier and Allen, and I'm thinking "did we really re-up RJ and Bonner?". Lakers got Artest during that time. OKC got Sefolosha. As far as bigs, we got Dice (good signing, IMO, even if long in the tooth), we got Splitter... yet we kept running out with small ball and gimmicky stretch-4...

[Fpoonsie]

'snack, taking the gloves off.

[admiralsnackbar]

btw admiral, nothing personal. I've been saying Tim needed help for two seasons now. Seeing this stuff blow on our faces just reinforces something that has been a need for now. I see teams like Memphis with guys like Battier and Allen, and I'm thinking "did we really re-up RJ and Bonner?". Lakers got Artest during that time. OKC got Sefolosha. As far as bigs, we got Dice (good signing, IMO, even if long in the tooth), we got Splitter... yet we kept running out with small ball and gimmicky stretch-4...

None taken, brother -- just a hard thing to admit we are owned by a lower-seeded team and that our best horses weren't helped by the FO when it mattered. They did double down at the end, but in two seasons when stretch4s and 3s were rare and overpriced. Too little, much, much too late. Only reason I keep posting is because I know Pop had less to do with our fade than age and cheapness from ownership ever will.

[Nathan89]

Splitter has more in common with Drago than Rocky.

That was not the point.

If we played Splitter we could have won the first two--That would be a cut

Lets say we lost game one, then we could have won games 2 and 3-- cut

Nope we just won game 2(little jab). We never cut this team and now they feel unstoppable. We now have to win the next two games to "cut" this team.

[admiralsnackbar]

That was not the point.

If we played Splitter we could have won the first two--That would be a cut

Lets say we lost game one, then we could have won games 2 and 3-- cut

Nope we just won game 2(little jab). We never cut this team and now they feel unstoppable. We now have to win the next two games to "cut" this team.

I feel you, but thinking Splitter was gonna "cut" this Grizz team just doesn't ring true to me. Opinions are opinions, but they've owned us at every position but the 2, and Manu is playing at less than optimal strength. Memphis confidence isn't killing us. Spurs are killing themselves.

[admiralsnackbar]

'snack, taking the gloves off.

Whatever, racist

[rmt]

Respect, but that's dreams talking. They have owned us inside and out, and they've been young enough to want it worse than we have. Tip your hat.

They would not have owned us inside if Splitter had been integrated. Are you saying that Splitter playing straight up would have been worse than Bonner and Blair fronting Gasol or Randolph and throwing off the whole team defense trying to help them out? Or are Bonner (6pt/3reb avg in 21 min) and Blair (4pt/3reb avg in 12 min) better than Splitter (10pt/9reb in 22 min)? The first 2 losses were by 3 points. IMO, Splitter's defense would have been enough to turn those losses into wins.

Gasol/Randolph combined for a total of only 20 pts/18rebs today but MEM's defense was fantastic.

[Fpoonsie]

Whatever, racist

[mytespurs]

interesting to read the speculation where the Spurs would've been if Splitter had been put in the line up earlier, etc., etc., etc....when truth is none of us can say for certainty how things would've worked out......just sayin....

I know there are one that several "Pop must go" threads........I hope they are all archived somewhere in this forum so in years to come......once pop is gone, the big 3 are no more, the bottom falls out, the spurs become a perennial lottery team and the coach in place is basically , when some start complaining that we have the talent to win and why can't we find another popovich.......just direct them to the "Pop Must Go" archive forums.

Sorry guys......in a chippy mood....just trying to ease the pain and prepare myself for the inevitable.......

[admiralsnackbar]

They would not have owned us inside if Splitter had been integrated. Are you saying that Splitter playing straight up would have been worse than Bonner and Blair fronting Gasol or Randolph and throwing off the whole team defense trying to help them out? Or are Bonner (6pt/3reb avg in 21 min) and Blair (4pt/3reb avg in 12 min) better than Splitter (10pt/9reb in 22 min)? The first 2 losses were by 3 points. IMO, Splitter's defense would have been enough to turn those losses into wins.

Gasol/Randolph combined for a total of only 20 pts/18rebs today but MEM's defense was fantastic.

Dunno about worse, but are you saying that our guards didn't lose us this game, even with Splitter in? Only clear sign I got that Tiago wan't integrated was when Manu shot him a weird pass under the basket (not the hail-mary, which was just a stupid pass).

[SenorSpur]

Last year he was a dumbass because he was playing Bogans (a starter on the team with the best record in the NBA) over Hairston (whos riding the bench somewhere in Yugoslavia). Or because he wasnt giving minutes to Ian Mahinmi whos a bench warmer in Dallas.

This year in the playoffs it was because he wasnt playing Splitter...he gets minutes, plays well, but our beloved Spurs get their asses handed to them. So what is it now? What should we blame this zit covered, wine drinking, old, senile coach for now?

Pop should be held accountable for not making the necessary personnel decisions to counter the bigger, phyiscal frontlines of both the Grizz and Fakers. Instead of publically criticizing the Gasol trade in 2008, he should've figured out how to get taller, longer and more physical. Instead, he elected to get smaller. He lusted after Matt Bonner and quickly resigned him, as though he was LeBron James. Making him a priority in his plan to evolve the team into one that closely resembled the Phoenix Suns, was a HUGE mistake.

Speaking of a taller frontline, I'm still going to blame him for casting away Ian Mahinmi.. Tha'ts not to say that he would've made a difference in this series or this season, but I'd rather have had him as a future building block than Bonner.

Pop is also to blame for trying to convert RJ into a catch-and-shoot player - something he's never been before and something he's really not now. I admit it seemed like a good choice at the time, but after 2 underwhelming seasons, it's clear that he simply isn't a good fit for this team and this offense. Giving him that contract extension was a mistake.

[admiralsnackbar]

RJ turned himself into a catch-and-shoot player in the great white North well before we traded for him.

And Mahinmi? For real?

it... I give up. Pop lost us this series, age and cheap FO bull had nothing to do with it, and market forces forcing the Bonner and RJ extensions had nothing to do with it, either.

Seismologists don't know until after earthquakes hit, but Spurs fans are ahead of that curve.

[ElNono]

Seismologists don't know until after earthquakes hit, but Spurs fans are ahead of that curve.

Just stay home tomorrow, tbh

[admiralsnackbar]

Just stay home tomorrow, tbh

I'm taking that advice