What the is Popovich doing?

[TJastal]

-2

+3

[DrSteffo]

Im European and I have followed euro ball the last 25 years or so (I'm 42). I have watched Splitter a lot, in Europe and in international games. I can agree that he is more solid than spectacular and of course as a traditional big man he needs to have someone feed him the ball. As for the MVPs he got them because he was the best player, simple as that.

[yavozerb]

No he is not.

May not be the best, but is certainly top 3...To say otherwise is foolish.

[DieHardSpursFan1537]

I'm not sure if Splitter is one of those injury prone flops that gets hurt every month or two like Yao Ming or Gregg Odom, but I know Tiago needs to be getting more minutes. Pop is an outstanding coach, by far one of the best in the league, but like a lot of people on here, he can make me go mad.

[portnoy1]

Pop has somewhat of new philosophy. I know many folks have noticed, but are probably a miss to the reason for it. Pop still believes in playing defense, but he also realizes the need for all 5 players on the court to be a decent offensive threat. Gone are the days when he could play 3 on 5. Guys like Bowen/Oberto couldnt really burn you by themselves or move the defense around. His system is still inside out, but that 3pt shooting percentage is almost everything to him. Look at the Examples

#1 Jefferson - he is playing the way we expected him to last season. getting to rim, either finishing strong or taking plenty of free throws a game. In the Spurs system the only way its possible for him to do that is by hitting 3pointers at a solid percentage. Now when one of the big 3 are double teamed he can spot up and hit the 3 and if his defender comes running at him he can do what he does best. Namely, drive and throw it down or shoot free throws. Dont be fooled, the spurs really werent looking at him being a postup guy or a guy to score with tp in transition like they claimed. They were impressed by his 3pt accuracy the year before with the bucks(40% I believe) AND THEN that other stuff I mentioned was where he could be a better offensive fit than Bowen.

#2 Red Rocket - Yeah, I dont like him playing alot either. However for as bad as his defense is, he works wonders on offense. If he has it going from behind the arc, he spaces the floor for everyone to get easier buckets. He moves the defense around. On one play the opposing defense will double and he'll burn em from 3. The next play TP/Manu gets a layup cause no one wants to leave Bonner open. The third play RJ might get an open 3 cause the help has to come of him to prevent a bonner 3 or a tp/manu layup.

Bottom line, Splitter like Oberto is sound in many facets on O and D. But he cant move the defense around like Bonner can, and right now Pops philosophy wont allow an offense thats easy to defend. Lets face it, its easier to score alot and then take a good 3-5 straight possesions off lockdown defense and run up the score.

[SpursDynasty85]

Bottom line, Splitter like Oberto is sound in many facets on O and D. But he cant move the defense around like Bonner can, and right now Pops philosophy wont allow an offense thats easy to defend. Lets face it, its easier to score alot and then take a good 3-5 straight possesions off lockdown defense and run up the score.

Splitter is obviously the best fit for the spurs. I'm not saying Pop is a complete idiot and thinks Bonner is better than Splitter, but not playing Splitter early and more often is taking a risk of being a true contender to the Lakers/Celtics. Not playing Splitter more and earlier in the Clippers game was a re ed move. ANd its the re ed moves that causes me to question whether Popovich is truly the best coach to bring a championship post 2007.

[gospursgojas]

Yeah 15-3 starts suck.

[itzsoweezee]

Im European and I have followed euro ball the last 25 years or so (I'm 42). I have watched Splitter a lot, in Europe and in international games. I can agree that he is more solid than spectacular and of course as a traditional big man he needs to have someone feed him the ball. As for the MVPs he got them because he was the best player, simple as that.

How would Matt Bonner do in Europe?

[itzsoweezee]

Pop has somewhat of new philosophy. I know many folks have noticed, but are probably a miss to the reason for it. Pop still believes in playing defense, but he also realizes the need for all 5 players on the court to be a decent offensive threat. Gone are the days when he could play 3 on 5. Guys like Bowen/Oberto couldnt really burn you by themselves or move the defense around. His system is still inside out, but that 3pt shooting percentage is almost everything to him. Look at the Examples

#1 Jefferson - he is playing the way we expected him to last season. getting to rim, either finishing strong or taking plenty of free throws a game. In the Spurs system the only way its possible for him to do that is by hitting 3pointers at a solid percentage. Now when one of the big 3 are double teamed he can spot up and hit the 3 and if his defender comes running at him he can do what he does best. Namely, drive and throw it down or shoot free throws. Dont be fooled, the spurs really werent looking at him being a postup guy or a guy to score with tp in transition like they claimed. They were impressed by his 3pt accuracy the year before with the bucks(40% I believe) AND THEN that other stuff I mentioned was where he could be a better offensive fit than Bowen.

#2 Red Rocket - Yeah, I dont like him playing alot either. However for as bad as his defense is, he works wonders on offense. If he has it going from behind the arc, he spaces the floor for everyone to get easier buckets. He moves the defense around. On one play the opposing defense will double and he'll burn em from 3. The next play TP/Manu gets a layup cause no one wants to leave Bonner open. The third play RJ might get an open 3 cause the help has to come of him to prevent a bonner 3 or a tp/manu layup.

Bottom line, Splitter like Oberto is sound in many facets on O and D. But he cant move the defense around like Bonner can, and right now Pops philosophy wont allow an offense thats easy to defend. Lets face it, its easier to score alot and then take a good 3-5 straight possesions off lockdown defense and run up the score.

Spurs were scoring great when Boner was out with an injury. The offense was beautiful, a lot of movement, fast breaks. The Spurs can score just fine without him. The whole spacing-the-floor concept is BS.

Bottom line, the Spurs don't need Bonner and are better off playing big men that can defend and rebound, neither of which Bonner can do.

[UnWantedTheory]

I am so glad we have a fresh topic to discuss.

[jimo2305]

when you put a player like bonner on the floor.. you have an edge because what you're doing is putting a lineup that will stretch the defense.. now this is granted of course if bonner is actually consistent and making his wide open shots or even slightly contested shots.. that's the problem.. if bonner actually produced.. you'd have games like that one where he went 7 for 7 against oklahoma city.. if you have bonner playing the C position.. Ibaka's going to have to pick him up on D.. instead of sticking to his comfort zone on D which is in the paint.. bonner is a longer range threat than most centers.. so instead of biting in and exposing your D.. what you tend to do rather is get your players to play zone D.. now 9 times out of 10.. u have a player guarding bonner who is actually shorter than he is.. so much for contesting his shot now.. espeically during zone D.. you've got players switching from one to another that a late switch might just leave someone open for the shot.. bonner or not.. pop's not being stupid by playing bonner instead of tiago.. it's more of 'personnel package' situation

see: Emeka Okafor

[concken]

Splitter has never in his career been a lead player, nor anything close to it. He is a good defender and he is efficient on offense. He was no big star in Europe, trust me.

I trust the C.O.B naming him the "Best Basketball Player of the Year".