Defensive Precedence: Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw

[Solid D]

As good as the D looked vs the Sixers, I'm tempering my enthusiasm to see how the Spurs do in their upcoming 3-game mini-series with the Lakers.

[moisaenz]

And we have Kahwi.

Someone should twit that to J McDonald, that would make for a great question to ask Pop.

The best thing about it is that it doesn't look like a fluke, these two are really doing work on D. On the other hand the O did regress, you can't look at it only one way, but it could get better with more PT (Jackson TOs, Boris finding his place other than the great high screens).

Only jackson has had three days straight to practice with the team. Also keep in mind that Splitter and Diaw have not played together,which is important since our front court lineups are going to be either Duncan/Blair, Splitter/bonner, Splitter/Diaw or Duncand/Diaw... i think the Blair/Bonner lineup should not happen anymore...

[Obstructed_View]

i think the Blair/Bonner lineup should not happen anymore...

Last night shows that those two aren't incapable of success. If nothing else the roster flexibility prevents having to use them when there's a disadvantage to doing it.

[bklynspursfan]

Interesting # I found (Dont know if it's been mentioned already) But the Spurs are 5th overall in Defensive Efficiency @ home 98.6 but 22nd on the road @ 108.2 If we can get more games like the Philly game that would be great. Can't get much worse tbh.

[angelbelow]

There were many on this board calling Duncan done and saying it's now Splitters paint.

Stupid stupid but won't admit it.

Ironic that you're calling others stupid. Those saying that Duncan was done are trolls and those calling for more Splitter have good reason to, and still do.

[jjktkk]

We got a scant 19 games left for Pop to bring the team together, so all I'm saying is he better get a plan together of what's going on, and quickly. He doesn't have the luxury of another half a season to dink around like a kid with his new erector set.

No sherlock. Maybe you can email em and give out some of your legendary pointers on coaching.

[jjktkk]

What a refreshing change.

At least some teaching may take place now.

If only someone could teach you.

[Obstructed_View]

Interesting # I found (Dont know if it's been mentioned already) But the Spurs are 5th overall in Defensive Efficiency @ home 98.6 but 22nd on the road @ 108.2 If we can get more games like the Philly game that would be great. Can't get much worse tbh.

I'd be willing to bet that a large portion of that is because of the first two weeks of the season when the Spurs played terribly and were blown out in virtually every road game they played.

[T Park]

That an they had Richard Jefferson and no good defensive big men outside of duncan and splitter.

[Obstructed_View]

That an they had Richard Jefferson and no good defensive big men outside of duncan and splitter.

Possibly, but they simply didn't compete in many of those early road games. Can't really pin that on two or three guys.

[Cry Havoc]

Parker is a ty point guard.

Yep. We know what you think.

[Agloco]

We'll see over the next few weeks if the spurs can continue to hold teams under 90 points, then I'll be willing to concede the point.

Doubtful. On both counts.

[SpursNextRomanEmpire]

Wow, I really had no clue that that Bobcats team was that great defensively.

[DesignatedT]

Those saying that Duncan was done are trolls

No they weren't.

and those calling for more Splitter have good reason to, and still do.

Where did I say Splitter shouldn't play more?

[angelbelow]

No they weren't.



Where did I say Splitter shouldn't play more?

I didn't notice any notable posters claiming that Duncan was "done." I did notice a few takes that painted Duncan in a negative light compared to his prime but I don't think that they were unreasonable. No one could have predicted that Duncan would look so much better than last year - even then, hes only shooting 46% compared to 50% from last year. From 2009-11 there where times were Duncan looked aged. The same posters that made these observations wanted to see more time for Splitter. Specifically, they wanted to see Splitter playing in the low post and Duncan out in the high post.

Statistically, Tiago is the better post up player this year BUT like you, I don't think its a cut and dry situation either. Duncan should get priority and we should ride him when his game is on. However, there are stretches where Duncan has struggled in the post and on the pick and roll. In those moments, the leash should be shorter and a switch up should be initiated.

[DesignatedT]

I'm all for Tiago playing. He would play 30+ minutes a game if I had my way.

I was just stating that many posters (including known posters) were calling Duncan done after his slow start and claiming that Tiago was the better player, the more reliable player and that 4 down "belonged to him now". I'm not going to reel off names but they know who they are.

[ducks]

They are both very "handsy". They dig and pull balls loose. You add that to the reaches of Leonard, Green, Manu and Blair, they created a lot of havoc against Philly. It even rubbed off on Matt Bonner.

booner plays d this team is stacked

[TheSkeptic]

I'm all for Tiago playing. He would play 30+ minutes a game if I had my way.

I was just stating that many posters (including known posters) were calling Duncan done after his slow start and claiming that Tiago was the better player, the more reliable player and that 4 down "belonged to him now". I'm not going to reel off names but they know who they are.

That's fair.

I think it's more for the sake of when you're playing them together. Duncan can shoot, Tiago can't, ergo give Tiago the post and let Duncan go to work from midrange when you play the twin towers.

I would also say that who gets 4 down depends on the game more than anything else.

When Duncan has a throwback game you have to keep giving it to him and maybe you play Tiago more with the bench there. But as a general rule I'd have Tiago playing closer to the basket. In any case, I can see both sides on that particular issue.

Fwiw, I never thought Duncan was done a la Derrick Fisher.

I just think that while he's still a fantastic player he needs more help up front than he did in the past.

Blair is not it and Diaw is better but I'm not sold on him against the bigger frontlines. So I tend to be unsure about Pop and I complain about the Splitter thing because I want to see Duncan and Manu get another before it's all over.

Give the Spurs Dwight Howard and a Pop who cares about size/defense and I don't say very much about Splitter tbh.

[therealtruth]

I didn't notice any notable posters claiming that Duncan was "done." I did notice a few takes that painted Duncan in a negative light compared to his prime but I don't think that they were unreasonable. No one could have predicted that Duncan would look so much better than last year - even then, hes only shooting 46% compared to 50% from last year. From 2009-11 there where times were Duncan looked aged. The same posters that made these observations wanted to see more time for Splitter. Specifically, they wanted to see Splitter playing in the low post and Duncan out in the high post.

Statistically, Tiago is the better post up player this year BUT like you, I don't think its a cut and dry situation either. Duncan should get priority and we should ride him when his game is on. However, there are stretches where Duncan has struggled in the post and on the pick and roll. In those moments, the leash should be shorter and a switch up should be initiated.

That's the advantage of playing both together. You're more likely to have a favorable post matchup and since they're both good passers it helps the shooters. We already know about the defensive benefit but there is a lot of offensive potential in Splitter/TD lineups that Pop can make use of.

[GSH]

Ironic that you're calling others stupid. Those saying that Duncan was done are trolls and those calling for more Splitter have good reason to, and still do.

I remember some people saying that they thought Duncan was done, and sounding heartbroken about it. I think I may have been one of them. If I didn't say it, I sure thought it. But the comments were based on the way he was playing. Was it wrong? Sure. Were they trolls? I think all we have to go by is what we see. It's not unreasonable, at Tim's age, to start worrying, when his play is that bad. Right now, it looks like he could play five more years. But he could decline to his early season levels in a couple of years, too. I guess the comments were premature, but not that stupid.

I'd be willing to bet that a large portion of that is because of the first two weeks of the season when the Spurs played terribly and were blown out in virtually every road game they played.

The Spurs lost their first 6 road games, by an average margin of 13.5 points per game. The Spurs won their fist 6 home games, by an average margin of 13.2 points per game. That represents 25% of the home games they have played, and slightly more than 25% of the road games. That's going to skew the numbers.

[angelbelow]

I remember some people saying that they thought Duncan was done, and sounding heartbroken about it. I think I may have been one of them. If I didn't say it, I sure thought it. But the comments were based on the way he was playing. Was it wrong? Sure. Were they trolls? I think all we have to go by is what we see. It's not unreasonable, at Tim's age, to start worrying, when his play is that bad. Right now, it looks like he could play five more years. But he could decline to his early season levels in a couple of years, too. I guess the comments were premature, but not that stupid.

If you said Duncan was done in that tone, then I was certainly one of them who thought that he was done as well. My point was what you elaborated on, there is nothing wrong with making a reasonable observation. For DT to call them stupid over that is careless IMO.

However, there were a lot of simpleton comments from poor quality posters regarding Duncan being done as well, and those are the trolls I'm referring to.

[GSH]

If you said Duncan was done in that tone, then I was certainly one of them who thought that he was done as well. My point was what you elaborated on, there is nothing wrong with making a reasonable observation. For DT to call them stupid over that is careless IMO.

However, there were a lot of simpleton comments from poor quality posters regarding Duncan being done as well, and those are the trolls I'm referring to.

Oh... those trolls. If you say "day", they say "Manu sucks!" If you say it's good to have Stephen Jackson back, they say "Bench Parker". Those trolls? They're sort of like dust mites. They're always with us, and you just have to pretend like they aren't, or you won't sleep at night.


Edit: Dust mites... not bed lice. That would be gross.

[angelbelow]

Oh... those trolls. If you say "day", they say "Manu sucks!" If you say it's good to have Stephen Jackson back, they say "Bench Parker". Those trolls? They're sort of like dust mites. They're always with us, and you just have to pretend like they aren't, or you won't sleep at night.

Agreed, for the most part I ignore them but I do glance at their comments and either smirk or shake my head in frustration.

I assumed DT was initially talking about troll comments regarding Duncan but it turns out he was partially talking about notable posters lol.

[Obstructed_View]

The Spurs lost their first 6 road games, by an average margin of 13.5 points per game. The Spurs won their fist 6 home games, by an average margin of 13.2 points per game. That represents 25% of the home games they have played, and slightly more than 25% of the road games. That's going to skew the numbers.

I'll be very interested to see how the defensive numbers look going forward. We're not seeing the the great defenders like previous Spurs teams did, but top to bottom this could be the best group they've had in a while.

[L.I.T]

Agreed, for the most part I ignore them but I do glance at their comments and either smirk or shake my head in frustration.

I assumed DT was initially talking about troll comments regarding Duncan but it turns out he was partially talking about notable posters lol.

I remember some of those comments as well. He's probably thinking of TDMVPDPOY who went on an anti-TD jag a while ago.