I've been saying this since he got here tbh. What happened with Splitter's minutes was infuriating to say the least...Especially after the Memphis series.
Now that Pop is going to him when the starters aren't doing well, is playing him with TD regardless of the matchups, and is also giving him a longer leash imo, I'm actually a pretty happy fan this year. The big rotation's been pretty decent with TD/Diaw/Splitter taking most of the minutes. Especially now that Bonner hasn't really been playing (although I still don't like Blair starting). But anyway, I'm still thinking Pop should bump him up to around 30 minutes/game. Give Splitter minutes every game regardless of how he does and he'll eventually perform.
He's going to be rather expensive in the offseason if he keeps this up though.
When Jax and Leonard get back, I actually think Blair and Patty should be the first ones losing minutes. And Bonner. Guys like De Colo, Splitter, and even Anderson have played well and I'm just not convinced that Patty deserves regular minutes over some of these other players when Neal's available to play that "instant offense" role. Plus we already have TP as well...
At the moment De Colo is providing a nice change of pace with the faster tempo he pushes and the pass-first style of play even if his shooting is the cause of that. I think this causes problems for opponents because it's like they have to game plan for two different Spurs teams. Compared to the other guards Patty doesn't really bring anything extra to the table. For that reason I think he needs to (continue to) be the odd man out when our SF rotation comes back.