Do you trust Pop to play the right bigs more minutes

[freetiago]

i could understand why pop plays duncan and splitter seperately
it gives the bench a huge boost with splitter offensively and gives them rim protection
but i dont understand why he never put a closing lineup of splitter and duncan out there

im not as worried about memphis/L.A as everyone else seems to be
you dont need 3 talented bigs
lakers get by with bynum/gasol
memphis has randolph/gasol

P. Gasol is still pretty soft and you could easily throw a S.Jack or Diaw and contain him
Randolph also plays 0 d and is relatively undersized for a PF
both of them are mid range players so a decent physical defender with some length can play them well (Jackson, Diaw, Leonard)

L.A and memphis are also the 2 worst 3 point shooting teams in the league, they attempt and make the least
so a zone could also give them problems
Gay and Kobe are also both hugely overrated chuckers
Last season we held kobe under 30% in 2 games w. George Hill and like 30% in the other game
Gay has been ass this year vs the spurs
Leonard held him to 1 point one game and like 18 points on 26 shots the next
26 shots of which gasol/randolph wouldnt be taking

This spurs team frontline is fine now and they have superior wing play and the best 3 point shooters in the league to go along with it

[Proxy]

We'll play all of our games against the Lakers in a comparatively short time span near the end of the season... Pop will have plenty of opportunity to experiment there, as will they with us.

Not sure what to expect with an added big man in the rotation in Boris. I'm not getting my hopes up. Pop had a tall, defensive lineup out there against the loss in dallas to the Mavs... Manu, Jack, Tiago, Timmy, and Kawhi which got me pretty excited.... it lasted but an entire 2 minutes before Neal and Matt were subs uted in. No one should be getting their hopes up.

[Spurs da champs]

Uh? They got worse. They lost LO who was a legitimate 6th man while playing there, lost a 11 time champion coach, filled up the bench with a bunch of soft/ ty guys. Their bench right now is Blake-McBob-Barnes-Murphy.

Phil Jackson and Fisher aren't there anymore. When Kobe decides to go hero mode, who's going to call him out on it?

Bynum is clearly the best player on that team, but unless that gets established (and it likely won't until Kobe is gone), they're a beatable team.

The emergence of Bynum defiantly makes them a better team then they were last year. But I agree if Kobe's goes insane chucker then they're defiantly beatable. And things change in the PO's as you know, the half court game defiantly makes them more dangerous. They're also vastly improved at the PG with Ramon Sessions.

Well, the topic here is bigs and they've the same bigs this season. I do agree they might be worse on the perimeter and you have to think if Rudy Gay makes them better or worse.

Well they're missing Arthur,a big that just crushed us last year in the PO's. And tbh I'd not be worried about Rudy at all, he's overrated & Kawhi should be able to lock him down just like he did a month ago.

[Josepatches_]

I have a lot of confidence in Kobe.

Bynum/Gasol will not be a problem.

[maverick1948]

WOW Pop is ruining the Spurs season. He is not playing Duncan and Splitter together. We will never make the playoffs. We are going to lose the next 20 games because Pop is stupid.

WAIT JUST DAMN MINUTE!!!!!! We are 32-14 with 20 games to go and DUNCAN/SPLITTER have not had to play together to get us there. I, for one, trust Pop to do what is necessary to have a rested, healthy team come playoff time. I dont worry about how he is going to play the Lakers or Grizz. They have to beat us to get to the finals. We have to beat them to get to the finals. Which coach do you trust? POP??? or Brown????? Hollins??????

Give me Pop every time. He will take us to the championship.

[100%duncan]

This year yes. When the matchups have dictated it he's played Duncan and splitter. IE the game against Orlando Splitter was the first big. Diaw though might reduce ole TFW to his rightful 10-15 mins

[silverblk mystix]

WOW Pop is ruining the Spurs season. He is not playing Duncan and Splitter together. We will never make the playoffs. We are going to lose the next 20 games because Pop is stupid.

WAIT JUST DAMN MINUTE!!!!!! We are 32-14 with 20 games to go and DUNCAN/SPLITTER have not had to play together to get us there. I, for one, trust Pop to do what is necessary to have a rested, healthy team come playoff time. I dont worry about how he is going to play the Lakers or Grizz. They have to beat us to get to the finals. We have to beat them to get to the finals. Which coach do you trust? POP??? or Brown????? Hollins??????

Give me Pop every time. He will take us to the championship.

It is no surprise your name is Maverick...

[TheSkeptic]

Pop needs to start planning long-term. The Spurs are not getting out of the West playing Bonner significant minutes and keeping Blair as a starter. You have to play your best players and that includes Tiago. Something that shouldn't be overlooked is the fact that playing them together should give Tim the energy he needs to produce offensively and defensively.

I don't want Pop fired or anything, but I hope he doesn't let the wins get to his head. There's way too many fans (and coaches it seems) who are happy just going with the flow as long as they're winning *right this minute*.

WOW Pop is ruining the Spurs season. He is not playing Duncan and Splitter together. We will never make the playoffs. We are going to lose the next 20 games because Pop is stupid.

WAIT JUST DAMN MINUTE!!!!!! We are 32-14 with 20 games to go and DUNCAN/SPLITTER have not had to play together to get us there. I, for one, trust Pop to do what is necessary to have a rested, healthy team come playoff time. I dont worry about how he is going to play the Lakers or Grizz. They have to beat us to get to the finals. We have to beat them to get to the finals. Which coach do you trust? POP??? or Brown????? Hollins??????

Give me Pop every time. He will take us to the championship.

Ladies and Gentlemen: Exhibit A.

[jermaine]

No. Bonner an Green will get more mins than Jackson, Diaw, an Splitter in the playoffs. I bet that.

Watch for this lineup Every game.

[DMC]

I don't trust him so I will intervene.

[ElNono]

The emergence of Bynum defiantly makes them a better team then they were last year. But I agree if Kobe's goes insane chucker then they're defiantly beatable. And things change in the PO's as you know, the half court game defiantly makes them more dangerous. They're also vastly improved at the PG with Ramon Sessions.

Bynum was the best player on that team last season too, he just didn't get enough touches... this season he gets more touches but at the expense of Gasol, not Kobe. And Kobe will go hero mode when the playoffs come around, you can bank on that.

And Sessions is an average PG. That's what his numbers show. It's obviously a major improvement over the rotting corpse of Derek Fisher, and he'll get over-hyped since it looks like LA just came to the realization that PGs can have fast feet. But none of those guys are going to play 48 mins. When you have to trot out McBob, Murphy, Blake for 10-15 mins, they're ripe to get abused.

And don't get me started with the coach. Took him 4 games to try to solve Tony Parker, of all people, and never did.

Not concerned with these Lakers. Oklahoma is the team to beat and Dallas, if they get going, are the champs and you have to respect them.

[TheSkeptic]

@ElNono

That's what I don't get about the Lakers.

Bynum should be taking more shots from Kobe instead of Gasol. It's not like Gasol was ever taking 20+ shots a game and for the most part he's been efficient with his touches. Kobe on the other hand has two skilled bigs that he should be taking advantage of. He'd be getting better looks, doing less work, getting more assists, and winning more if he did it that way.

It's not like they're making the Finals with that coach but...man.

[ElNono]

@ElNono

That's what I don't get about the Lakers.

Bynum should be taking more shots from Kobe instead of Gasol. It's not like Gasol was ever taking 20+ shots a game and for the most part he's been efficient with his touches. Kobe on the other hand has two skilled bigs that he should be taking advantage of. He'd be getting better looks, doing less work, getting more assists, and winning more if he did it that way.

It's not like they're making the Finals with that coach but...man.

Kobe is chasing records, and Mike Brown is playing buddy-buddy.
When the playoffs come around, he'll be chasing playoff records.

What's going to happen is Bynum asking to be traded after another playoff exit. Lakers can't trade Kobe and using the amnesty on him won't happen.

[Man In Black]

Bynum was the best player on that team last season too, he just didn't get enough touches... this season he gets more touches but at the expense of Gasol, not Kobe. And Kobe will go hero mode when the playoffs come around, you can bank on that.

And Sessions is an average PG. That's what his numbers show. It's obviously a major improvement over the rotting corpse of Derek Fisher, and he'll get over-hyped since it looks like LA just came to the realization that PGs can have fast feet. But none of those guys are going to play 48 mins. When you have to trot out McBob, Murphy, Blake for 10-15 mins, they're ripe to get abused.

And don't get me started with the coach. Took him 4 games to try to solve Tony Parker, of all people, and never did.

Not concerned with these Lakers. Oklahoma is the team to beat and Dallas, if they get going, are the champs and you have to respect them.

Where's the LIKE button here? Everyone talks about the LAL frontcourt but everyone knows the Spurs have the advantage overall with their TEAM play. Own PG, SG goes LAL but not by as big a margin especially with the addition of Jackson. Playoff Duncan, plus Better Splitter, Blair early, Bonner Middle, and Diaw late....We good.

[ElNono]

Where's the LIKE button here? Everyone talks about the LAL frontcourt but everyone knows the Spurs have the advantage overall with their TEAM play. Own PG, SG goes LAL but not by as big a margin especially with the addition of Jackson. Playoff Duncan, plus Better Splitter, Blair early, Bonner Middle, and Diaw late....We good.

Don't get me wrong, I don't know about the Spurs having a "major" advantage, but it's a team that I feel we can beat if we're healthy. Especially if Bynum keeps not being the focus on offense.

OKC or even Dallas, if they get their game in shape, it's a much tougher call.

[Spurs da champs]

@ElNono Well Conley was an average PG & Parker made him look like Gary Payton tho regardless of what Kobe does we still need Splitter to help Tim out against Bynum & Gasol, if not then the Spurs are screwed.

And OKC is not intimidating at all, Tim & Tiago should play well against them because they're a very short team. Also you talk about Kobe going hero, same applies to Russell Westbrick.

[ElNono]

@ElNono Well Conley was an average PG & Parker made him look like Gary Payton tho regardless of what Kobe does we still need Splitter to help Tim out against Bynum & Gasol, if not then the Spurs are screwed.

Our biggest issue was ZBo going AllStar and the fact that they had terrific perimeter defense. Battier and Tony Allen are nothing to sneeze at. They'll make any of your guards work for everything. Luckily Battier is gone.

But the Lakers don't have any of that. Kobe is way over the hill defensively. Artest can only guard one of Manu, Tony or Jack. Sessions is quick, but I don't think he's a good defender. They've also been a fairly mediocre road team and at home, they had to fight to win almost every game.

And OKC is not intimidating at all, Tim & Tiago should play well against them because they're a very short team. Also you talk about Kobe going hero, same applies to Russell Westbrick.

Well, they run a perimeter oriented offense and our perimeter defense has been relatively weak, especially on ISO plays or running through screens. Durant and Sefolosha are good defenders, and their bigs can block shots.
One other thing OKC has done well is play extremely well on their home court and make it count. They're a good road team too. They also have a relatively strong bench, although if they lose Cook for the rest of the season it will be an important loss for them. Their record is no fluke.

[ElNono]

BTW, I do agree with Westbrook being a chucker and possibly mentally re ed. But now they have a vet PG to go to at the end of games if Westbrick makes an appearance.

[therealtruth]

@ElNono

That's what I don't get about the Lakers.

Bynum should be taking more shots from Kobe instead of Gasol. It's not like Gasol was ever taking 20+ shots a game and for the most part he's been efficient with his touches. Kobe on the other hand has two skilled bigs that he should be taking advantage of. He'd be getting better looks, doing less work, getting more assists, and winning more if he did it that way.

It's not like they're making the Finals with that coach but...man.

The best defense against Kobe has always been to egg him on to shoot and take tough contested shots. You don't want him involving his teammates otherwise it makes it a much tougher game. That's the adjustment MJ made in trusting his teammates. Kobe still doesn't get it.

[therealtruth]

Our biggest issue was ZBo going AllStar and the fact that they had terrific perimeter defense. Battier and Tony Allen are nothing to sneeze at. They'll make any of your guards work for everything. Luckily Battier is gone.

But the Lakers don't have any of that. Kobe is way over the hill defensively. Artest can only guard one of Manu, Tony or Jack. Sessions is quick, but I don't think he's a good defender. They've also been a fairly mediocre road team and at home, they had to fight to win almost every game.



Well, they run a perimeter oriented offense and our perimeter defense has been relatively weak, especially on ISO plays or running through screens. Durant and Sefolosha are good defenders, and their bigs can block shots.
One other thing OKC has done well is play extremely well on their home court and make it count. They're a good road team too. They also have a relatively strong bench, although if they lose Cook for the rest of the season it will be an important loss for them. Their record is no fluke.

Memphis had a weak perimeter game but the Spurs played off their shooters the entire series because they were worried about the hole in the middle of their defense with Bonner/Blair. Give any team enough open shots and they'll knock them down. It also helped they had a clutch 3pt shooter in Battier.

[TheSkeptic]

The best defense against Kobe has always been to egg him on to shoot and take tough contested shots. You don't want him involving his teammates otherwise it makes it a much tougher game. That's the adjustment MJ made in trusting his teammates. Kobe still doesn't get it.

And I'm not complaining.

But as a fan of basketball I do find that rather aggravating.

[therealtruth]

Pop needs to start planning long-term. The Spurs are not getting out of the West playing Bonner significant minutes and keeping Blair as a starter. You have to play your best players and that includes Tiago. Something that shouldn't be overlooked is the fact that playing them together should give Tim the energy he needs to produce offensively and defensively.

I don't want Pop fired or anything, but I hope he doesn't let the wins get to his head. There's way too many fans (and coaches it seems) who are happy just going with the flow as long as they're winning *right this minute*.





Ladies and Gentlemen: Exhibit A.

Good point. I couldn't stand losing game 6 against the Grizzlies with Bonner playing as many minutes as he did. Dice suffered a stinger and Pop replaced him with Bonner. By the time Dice went back in Randolph was on fire and closed it out.

To have the best chance to win we'll need the Big 3 + Tiago,KL,SJax soaking up the majority of the minutes.

[ElNono]

OKC had a weak perimeter game but the Spurs played off their shooters the entire series because they were worried about the hole in the middle of their defense with Bonner/Blair. Give any team enough open shots and they'll knock them down. It also helped they had a clutch 3pt shooter in Battier.

You mean Memphis...

Blair didn't play much in that series, tbh. It was mostly Dice, Tim, Bonner and eventually some of Tiago. And sure, ZBo was a beast and Gasol played well, but you also can't discount that Allen and Battier played really well. We also were trotting RJ out there who was basically sleepwalking through the games. If not for Neal, it might not even have been a 6 game series.

[Spurs da champs]

Do you really think the biggest issue was Z-Bo going all star or Bonner/Blair/McDyess being the ones guarding him?
ElNono the only big who can block shots is Ibaka & nearly all the blocks he had against the Spurs resulted in 2nd chance points for us. Their bench is not really strong tbh, I mean they have Harden off the bench & that's it. Like I said they're a very small team the biggest guy they have is Ibaka at 6'10, Tim shouldn't have any trouble using pump fakes & getting him into foul trouble (same with Tiago) & then just shoot over Perkins/Collison/Nazr.


And trust me man I hate the Lakers as much as anyone but you're really underestimating them, we'll just wait & see tho.

Also don't forget Barnes is a solid defender as well.

[ElNono]

Do you really think the biggest issue was Z-Bo going all star or Bonner/Blair/McDyess being the ones guarding him?
ElNono the only big who can block shots is Ibaka & nearly all the blocks he had against the Spurs resulted in 2nd chance points for us. Their bench is not really strong tbh, I mean they have Harden off the bench & that's it. Like I said they're a very small team the biggest guy they have is Ibaka at 6'10, Tim shouldn't have any trouble using pump fakes & getting him into foul trouble (same with Tiago) & then just shoot over Perkins/Collison/Nazr.

They rickrolled us by 30 early in the season, and that was the 3rd game of a back2back2back for them. That game was over by half time. Nick Collison looked like Wilt when guarded by Bonner. They're a good team. They're well coached, and reaching the WCF last season was no fluke.

Sure, the Spurs have a different look now, and that changes things, but they're a much more talented team than, say, LA. Westbrook can be a mental midget sometimes, but he's and AllStar and a force (unlike Sessions), KD is a legit star at the top of his game, and Harden is easily the 6th man of the season. They have bigs that defend well.

And trust me man I hate the Lakers as much as anyone but you're really underestimating them, we'll just wait & see tho.

Well, we'll see. To me, it's plainly laid out. Kobe has more authority than the coach. And the coach isn't that great to begin with.

Also don't forget Barnes is a solid defender as well.

Barnes is a punk and another guy that can't create his own shot. He's the epitome of run and gun. I honestly can't wait until he tries to pull some on his former buddy Capt Jack. Heck, I dare him to try.