Tough call at this point. A week ago I would have said absoulutely no way should Manu start. Only reason would have been Green struggling. Or if it was becoming clear that Parker's nuts were going to shrivel up once the playoffs started. Well looking at things now, Green is still holding up his end. Parker otoh looks like he's falling apart.
Tbh this team is going nowhere if Parker can't continue to at least be the best player on the team (if not continue his MVP levels). This also entails being the leader of the team. It's a big responsibility. But we can't rely on Duncan and Manu anymore at their ages. It has to be Tony.
I say leave things as they are. Parker either steps up when it matters or he won't. The spurs will go only as far as he takes them.
It doesn't matter who starts. Our bench is capable of sustaining momentum and even pushing the lead. We have the best bench in the league. That's more important than whether or not Manu starts. Also, Manu's ability to run the point (pretty damn good) would be wasted as he stands at the arc watching Tony dribble away the shot clock. You need Tony with the ball, and you need Manu with the ball. Manu is so good in the pick and roll that he can get bench guys involved.
Manu Has to Come off the bench...He's like the James Harden of San Antonio, he can create his own shots and penetrate the defense to look for open players...at some point during the game he plays with TP and Duncan anyways, usually towards the end....I think the line up is good, dont mess with it, players are going to have to step up, because come playoff time, everything comes into effect, i know one player that will show up not named Tim, Tony or Manu...and thats Gary Neal. Bonner has to not nut up so quickly; I think Tiago should be fine as well as jackson and Diaw, but Green, Leonard, blair and mills might concern me a bit...
I honestly believe that Manu should NOT start, not because he is not our best passer or perhaps even our best player, but for two reasons. 1, Our second team is extremely great with him on it directing it and passing. He makes it so much better than Neal and/or Mills.
2. If you notice, when Manu comes into the line-up with Tim and Tony, even after the start of the game (i.e., off the bench), that is when Tony starts to get passive. Watch it during the game. So often Manu gets the ball to bring it up the court as a point guard would do, and when that happens, Tony goes to the position in the offense that would be normally occupied by the shooting guard, i.e. on the wing. Then when he gets the ball he is in the position where that player should be shooting a three pointer, but he isn't good at that, so he either passes or misses a shot, and he ends up being passive. In other words, it pulls Tony out of his position and he is not good at playing out of position. In order to get the maximum out of our best players, I think we need to bring Manu in off the bench.
The Parker/Green/Leoanrd/Blair/Duncan unit has been a statistical disaster. They are -27 in 115 minutes played. They really struggles on both end of the court. They score 101.4 points per 100 possession while Spurs are at 109.5. They allow 109.7 points per 100 possession while Spurs are at 103.2.
Pop must fix this starting lineup but starting Ginobili isn't the only answer.
Blair is obviously a weak link of this unit. Replacing him will be improvement and it looks like Pop is taking that road with Blair going more and more in the doghouse.
The Green/Leonard wing combo can be changed by adding Jackson and/or Ginobili. Green/Jackson, Ginobili/Leonard or Ginobili/Jackson makes all sense and should improve the offensive input of this unit which depend too much on Parker.
Tony Manu Jax Duncan Tiago is a great starting line up
Green/Jackson is the obvious answer. Ginobili is required to do backup point guard duties and he functions very well with Splitter. He is best utilised in the sixth man position and IMO, he also avoids injury by playing there. Minutes are also well distributed when Ginobili is in the second unit.
Leonard is pretty good, but his role in the offense seems to be very diminished and he is mostly asked to "scavenge" for his offense. While Jackson's FG% is low and that is hurting him, I think as a volume shooter, he is better than Leonard. Jackson is quite capable in defense and while Leonard has the higher ceiling, that is not the criteria to judge for a championship chasing team. Again, minutes can be so rationed so as to utilise Leonard from the bench for appropriate match-ups.
Green starts by default because Ginobili is the sixth man.
Blair needs to be dumped on the bench..and hopefully he gets us something via trade next season. Energy guy, hustles well and offers some variety in the paint, but he is the misfit in the Spurs squad by far. Hopefully there is a way to get a decent first round pick by selling him to a team which is interested in taking him.
Or maybe he can be exchanged for a Euro stashed player like Fran Vazquez, whose rights are owned by the Magic? Or some such. The European posters here will know better.
If the spurs find them selves in deep trouble in the post season I can see a desperate lineup: Parker, Ginobili, Jackson, Splitter and Duncan.
Hope we don't have to get to that situation.
Shouldn't have to get into deep trouble; that should be the starting lineup. You can make a case to put Leonard on the floor instead of Jack, since Jack can assume a sixth man role and be the go-to scorer when he comes into the game.
Somehow the Spurs have managed to sell that line of bull to their fans despite all the other teams in every other sport, going back to the beginning of team sports, that start their best players.
Exactly. Unless you have an extremely unbalanced roster you start your best players.
I don't know about this. Jax seems a little too streaky for my tastes tbh whereas I'd prefer a little more steady offense from my sixth man. That said, with Neal coming off the bench as well it might not be that big of a deal.
Well, playoffs are about to start so Parker and Manu will play more minutes. Having both Manu as the starting SG and the backup PG is relatively easy to do in the playoffs.
Spurs have a lot of depth and talent so there isn't only one right starting lineup. For example, Parker/Green/Jackson/Diaw/Duncan and Parker/Ginobili/Leonard/Diaw/Duncan both makes a lot of sense. Like you, I would rather go with the Green/Jackson combo but not by a lot. What is sure is that Spurs current starting lineup is just wrong and must be changed.
Yeah, Blair needs to be benched and barely play. It would be the second consecutive season he goes from starting to the doghouse. Trading this summer for whatever Spurs can get would be then a must do.
Unrelated to this thread, but do you think the Magic will do a Pacers and give up rights to Vazquez for Blair? More importantly, would Vazquez will be interested to join the NBA the coming season?
Well, If Magic keep Dwight Howard, they will need more Vazquez to back up Howard than Blair because they still have Anderson and Davis at PF. There have been some rumors about Vazquez finally joining the NBA next summer but I don't know how serious it is. And you have to wonder how Vazquez will play for Spurs with Pop so reticent to play Splitter with Duncan.
I think Manu should replace Green in the starting role and since Pop refuses to start Tiago, I would settle for Diaw over Blair.
Nice 8 man rotation
Parker / Neal
Ginobili / Green
Duncan / Splitter
Diaw / Bonner
Leonard / Jackson
That's 10, but I agree that's what we'll see. Blair played the first 1:43 of the second half v. the Lakers and didn't see the floor at all in the second half of the Memphis game. Given his greatly reduced roles in the last two POs, I think we'll see Diaw get all of Blair's minutes in the very near future.
I would not be surprise if Kawhi is taken out of starting lineup sometime during the playoffs.
This is what's probably going to happen in the playoffs:
Duncan - roughly 34 mpg
Diaw - roughly 26 mpg
Bonner - roughly 22 mpg
Splitter - roughly 14 mpg
My thoughts on why Ginobili should start and how they can accomplish him doing so, while still running the second unit . . .
The Spurs real MVP.
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/pos...o-best-in-west
Easily one of the worst article I've ever read.
Why the would anyone put Spanish players and South American players in the same category, doesn't make any sense, not the same continent, it's like putting together the French and the French Canadians.He became just the third Hispanic/Latino player in NBA history to reach the 10,000-point plateau. Only Rolando Blackman (Panama) and Pau Gasol (Spain) have recorded more points than Ginobili among Hispanic/Latino-born players.
Lol at counting the games that TP and Tim didn't play to try to make Manu seem more important. If you don't count the Portland and Jazz game then it's 20-8 without him but with more road games and if you want the comparison to have any meaning you'd have to factor the strenght of schedule too. Plus Manu didn't play any back2back for a while, which also decreased his chances of losing.In the 27 games Ginobili has played this season, the Spurs have posted a .778 winning percentage (21-6) and averaged 105.9 points.
In the 30 games he's missed, the Spurs have a .667 winning percentage (20-10) and are scoring almost eight fewer points per game (98.0) than when he plays.
Since his return, the Spurs have outscored their opponents by a total of 103 points with Ginobili on the floor, the second-highest plus/minus on the team (Matt Bonner, plus-166)Still managed to give props to the real mvp of the team.
Conclusion : empty stats and garbage journalism.
And the Spurs have the winningest record in all sports. Go figure.
Not since they stopped starting their best players.
I suppose that one guy who even Pop isn't stupid enough to bring off the bench* might have something to do with that great record.
*well, other than that one time.
i have much more trust in dejaun than i do with diaw. but in matchups vs lakers or memphis id be forced to take diaw
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