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yawn, only 2 were in the playoffs. even scrubs can have great reg season games
How bout Pau Gasol for Neal & Splitter?
yawn, only 2 were in the playoffs. even scrubs can have great reg season games
wait not even 2, just 1. lol
Those are some pretty harsh words, even bystandards.
When he's healthy he's an awesome scorer. That foot must really be bothering him, might honestly wanna shut him down for the season.
^Can ya imagine if Neal would swung on Poop there? I'd give both my left & right nut to see that happen. Duncan jumps in, somehow the back of his jersey rides up and his TRAMP STAMP is forever more on the tube (you style)
Maneshevitz.
Man, that's music to my ears if that's true. ing motherchucker and I'm sure Manu hates playing with the dude since he always takes the ball off his hands when they're on the court together.
Wont do that cuz an injured Neal in POs is more then no Neal
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Nice report, romsho.
I've looked back at the Cavs game and pictures confirmed that Neal got an earful from Pop. Neal got subbed by De Colo and sat at the end of the bench. Pop got there and start talking to him.
The play that put Neal on the bench was him going under a screen against Ellington who made a 3 pointer. I guess to warrant the benching, there were strict consigns of not going under a screen against Ellington. What also didn't help Neal was that he made a big defensive mistake earlier by letting Ellington cut to the basket. It's also possible that Pop didn't like Neal at ude or what he said after being benched.
Against GSW, Neal wasn't even on the 13 players active roster. Either it was a sanction or Pop wants to give Neal some time off to see if he can get healthier. It's possible Pop came to the conclusion that an hobbled Neal is quite useless.
It's probably a combination of everything. He's never been good at D, but his injuries make him even worse. And then his O is even more of a roller coaster, probably due to his injuries. It makes sense to see what the others can do with the limited time.
The playoff rotation has been set for some time, with the exception of the minutes behind Tony. Those minutes were Neal's to lose and his injuries and poor play, combined with positive contributions from Cory and Nando, may well have moved Neal out of the playoff rotation.
Nando deserves kudos for being ready when the opportunity presented itself. Being passed over by Joseph for the starting slot in Tony's absence had to be tough to take, but he was clearly ready when his number was called.
Pop is one brutal mother er.
Old man might be losing it as he wears the mommy dress when dealing with scrub Manu?
Gary is done for this season and might end up being fodder for the spurs to create cap space in the offseason. I foresee a trade that could warrant a draft pick or be part of a package deal that could send some of our other contracts away.
I think it was after the Cavs game, that an interviewer asked Pop if Neal was injured or hobbled. Pop said flatly "no." So, unless Pop's trying to disguise the injury severity to opponents, it sounds like Gary isn't getting playing time strictly because of his play and being in the doghouse.
Yep, agreed. That might have cost GN any playoff minutes, at least I hope it did.
CJ was called up because he wasn't happy with how all the backups were playing. Parker did say that in his radio show and also said had it locked down. So CJ and Nando seemed to have brought out the best in each other. It's good that Nando has gotten more Austin time. They seem to have helped work out some of his kinks and boosted his confidence in the Spurs system.
Nando realized that he didn't want to go back and play for the Toros so he only had one option, get with it and start performing and it showed last night.
Neal doesn't fit in the rotation or the team for that matter since the Spurs have transitioned to a defense-focused team and the growth of Splitter, Leonard, and Green's offensive production.
That being said,at anyone trashing Neal like he's HWSNBN. Yes, Neal is a chucker. Yes, he stalls the offense. Yes, he's a terrible defender. But that's just the kind of player he is. IMO, it's on Pop for playing him so much when he's obviously hurt.
Hopefully, Nando can start bringing that aggression consistently instead of 1 out of every 6 games. Maybe it will knock Gary out for good because I doubt CoJo will be the backup PG.
It's still weird with Manu in the second unit. Is he supposed to be relegated to spot up/basket cuts? Having a guy that can handle the ball but also be a lethal outside shooter (what he wanted out of Mason, Neal) is a perfect fit along Manu in that second unit. I think its a big reason why Neal had been getting minutes over nando/cojo. Lately Nando has been nailing outside shots, and thats a big factor in Neal's recently limited playing time.
Neal is not, nor shall he ever be, Roger Mason Jr. Played correctly, as a shooting guard spark off the bench, the guy puts points on the board and brings a lot of value. His defense is not great comparatively speaking, but anyone evoking terrible chokers like Richard Jefferson or Roger Mason Jr. is way off base.
Such a ty comparison that the less knowledgeable fans always use.
It was just recently around the month of December last year that Neal was the 4th best scorer on the team, filling in for an injured Manu. That PF injury has obviously ruined everything about his game. I am in no way advocating Neal getting minutes with his current production, but it's funny how people knock Neal even though Pop always preached "Shoot or sit." Neal is just doing his job unlike Jefferson who always passed up shots even when wide open.
Neal can't handle the ball. The best he can do handling the ball is to dribble off screens (poorly) and shoot a contested jump shot, which to his credit he can make when he's on.
But, he rarely gets deep, clean penetration to the rim and he rarely sets up teammates for a clean, open look. He can get is own (contested) shot off, and he can penetrate somewhat and throw up that little floater shot.
Every once in a blue moon he'll set someone up for a shot, but it's rare.
Nando has the wits about him to set people up cleanly, but he suffers from being too meager on offense himself. I'm sure Pop has told Nando to look more for his shot when he's wide open (to keep the defense honest), and he's delivered (in the last few games at least).
I still like Gary as an off the ball role player if Danny Green, for example, is struggling from the field on any given night, but Gary Neal does not deserve back up point guard duties on this team. He's an awful back up P.G. unless he gets hot and makes 45-50% of his contested jumpers dribbling off picks/screens.
Just about anyone on the team can now hit an outside shot. Nando, CJ, Green, so Manu can be next to anyone. The big gain is that those mentioned guys can play D too. And aside from Green, can all handle pretty well.
Also, Neal should not dribble against OKC or LAC. Both of them have athletic/quick defenders that get him in trouble at half court. They are long enough to make a trap very effective on him.
Oh, Christ, not that one shot again. SMH. He hasn't done jack other than that one fluker. Instead, he chucks up heroes like they're going out of style.
Besides, he sucks ass at playing point guard. He destroys the offense with his chubby chucking and his lack of dribbling/passing ability (you know, things PGs are supposed to be good at?!?!?!?!).
Gary Neal needs to get out of the mercenary mentality. He's playing like he's trying to make the team, and that he has one option and that's to shoot the ball. He needs to work on other things to keep himself NBA level, and pick his spots more carefully. Every possession isn't a last second shot, no need to force it.
He's cheap. If the Spurs release him, he's going to to go another NBA team right away.
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