Random thoughts after mile high loss

[polandprzem]

spurs are tired

[Boomersgold]

Stupid take, I am not trying to sound unbiased I am speaking truth. Maybe you don't watch the games but for example his effort vs the Trailblazers was so . We all have bad games etc etc but he hasn't done fine, he's done average. I am hoping that changes after todays great performance. You are already the laughing stock of upstairs and downstairs for ing over Mills. Hes a great bloke and I want him to do well but meh team first

By fine, I meant "average". I'm a huge fan of Mills just like everyone else is about their favourite player.

"We all have bad games etc etc but he hasn't done fine, he's done average."
Exactly. I never said he's played great. I said he's done fine RELATIVE to everyone else, which is a fair comment as no one's had an outstanding performance these last few games (except Duncan maybe). The "he played part" was unnecessary because everyone's "played ".

You can't single him out and say that he's played , when every other player's done just as bad or worse. Patty, as a SG on offense and PG on defense, scored 7 points against the Blazers with all of his shots coming from spot-up shots . That's exactly what Pop wants out of him. Again, if you want to say someone's played , then give reasons as to why you think they did played poorly, like timvp with his game thoughts. You can't just say "He's , , let's trade him, etc". That would put you on the tier of " tiest" posters of Spurstalk (not that I'm saying you are, nowhere close).

I try to put a bit of thought into my posts and commend all players that play well.

[Fireball]

spurs are tired

And they should be ... this schedule was horrible, but this time we will be rewarded later in the season. Still its encouraging that Timmy can produce such a statline at the end of the tough road schedule. Splitter ist still doing very good, but Diaw showed aggression in the 4th quarter (which is good) which led to Tiago not seeing the floor again at the end of the game. SJax and Green sucked big time. Hopefully Kawhi returns healthy and with a vengeance to improve the overall defense again. We need him against guys like Galinari ...

[polandprzem]

Well seriously there something wrong with the spurs. No way they should have lost all those games and have such unsuccessful stretch.
There might be a time to worry as some spurs players are fading. But we will see what's gonna change after full workout session.

Meanwhile Lakers won 3 in a row now

[Obstructed_View]

Tonight De Colo got benched for poor transition defense.

That'll teach him.

[crc21209]

Tim's gonna need a weeks rest after playin 40:02 minutes!

He was going off in the 4th quarter, and didn't seem to miss a beat. I love his at ude after the game in his post-game interview. A reporter asked him if he was aware that he was going to play 40 minutes tonight. Tim replied by saying that the coaching staff decides the minutes, and he just goes and plays. You could tell he had a sour taste in his mouth after tonight. The guy is a winner, and hates to lose...

[polandprzem]

And they should be ... this schedule was horrible, but this time we will be rewarded later in the season. Still its encouraging that Timmy can produce such a statline at the end of the tough road schedule. Splitter ist still doing very good, but Diaw showed aggression in the 4th quarter (which is good) which led to Tiago not seeing the floor again at the end of the game. SJax and Green sucked big time. Hopefully Kawhi returns healthy and with a vengeance to improve the overall defense again. We need him against guys like Galinari ...

Damn why we need to have hope for everything.
I want to be sure that Kawhi gonna be back and produce. Same with Jack. Same I want to be sure how Neal gonna produce etc etc




tired tired tired

[crc21209]

The Spurs do fight hard, but it seems like most teams make runs, even when down big. The key is to not let average players (like Gallo) go off on you and rip your heart out and go through massive let downs in execution, defense and scoring.

Let's hope the Spurs do in fact take advantage of their really easy schedule coming up because if not, the excuses will be tougher to come by and they massively need homecourt advantage to have even a homer-shot realistic shot at beating OKC (and perhaps a few other teams) in the playoffs.

FWIW, Gallinari didn't shoot the ball well. He only shot 9-21. And I have to say that that 3 pointer over Diaw was a complete fluke. He shot a step back 3 pointer with hardly any legs on that shot, and it went in...

[Fireball]

Damn why we need to have hope for everything.
I want to be sure that Kawhi gonna be back and produce. Same with Jack. Same I want to be sure how Neal gonna produce etc etc.

Only stars produce every night ... we should get rid of the idea that players such as Neal, Green and SJax (in his age) will produce consistently. Kawhi has star potential and thats why we need him back. We need a guy we can rely on any given night ...

[Bruno]

The team was tired which was logical given their schedule but props to them for keep fighting.

Aside of that:
-Duncan is awesome.
-Again, Pop REALLY needs to find his rotation. Spurs have played a third of the season, it's time to settle. he has to stop changing his rotation every quarter and try lineups that are destined to fail.
- Green is getting more and more monodimensional. This year he is just a streaky 3 point shooter that is a decent defender. Last year, he was way more than that and he had especially a knack for doing all the little things that require hustle and poise. Maybe he got too comfy with his new contract, maybe he is playing too much minutes and is tired but he should get back at how he played last year. The stat that show maybe the most that change is that he goes 4 times less at the line than last year.
- What's the point of having both Mills and Neal? They are both awfully similar in what tehyc oudl bring to Spurs (instant offense and 3 point shooting from the SG spot).

[freetiago]

Mills seems to be a better spot up shooter
probably the best on the team
neal is more of a rhythm type player
he either has really hot nights or really cold nights

[racm]

Green is playing out of position and it shows. He's better at SG than SF, he's got problems with the bigger/taller 3s like Durant and Gallo.

Neal isn't doing well after showing great performances every now and then. When the Spurs need buckets he can deliver but the added minutes don't help him.

[will_spurs]

Diaw sounds like a more talented, slightly more expensive version of Bonner. when he has a decent game people hope it will continue and we'll see it in the playoffs. we'll see.

You must have missed the playoffs last year.

[George Gervin's Afro]

The team looked fatigued...

[Fireball]

The team looked fatigued...

except 36 year old Timmy D

[Jordanobili2320]

TIMVP is one of your random thoughts that we FOR SURE need anothe rim protector? Its getting insane what other teams can do to us on the glass and has to be addressed ASAP.

[weebo]

When you're 36 year old PF is dropping 30 that bull excuse of being "fatigued" goes out the window. I call it lazy. Lazy passing, lazy rebounding, lazy transition defense, etc....

[Jordanobili2320]

When you're 36 year old PF is dropping 30 that bull excuse of being "fatigued" goes out the window. I call it lazy. Lazy passing, lazy rebounding, lazy transition defense, etc....

this. the lazy rebounding NEEDS to be addressed we are getting murdered on the boards.

[Paranoid Pop]

SJax looks really slow, makes me wonder is he should not be a full time back up PF and not be put on 3s anymore...

Boris on the other did good at the three a while ago and looked good vs Gallo evn tho he allowed two big 3s, he blocked him at the rim, got at least an offensive rebound...

I think we need two playmakers at all time but that may still be Boris' in the starting unit.

TP KY Boris Tiago Tim

with SJax being the 3rd big, more a stretch big than Boris since he shoots it when he's open and not fool's gold like Bonner

Giant lineup.

Pop would most likely not do it at least vs the Thunder but I believe Boris could switch on Thabo on D.

[CubanMustGo]

You know what? Travel is hard on anyone, changing timezones constantly sucks, having to load up, get to the airport, get on the plane, wait to take off, fly, land, taxi, get off the plane and on another bus, check into the hotel, all that . There's a reason road teams lose so many games in the NBA and what Stern has done to the Spurs makes it that much worse. In the last 30 days:

- San Antonio has played 16 games
- 12 of those games have been on the road, and one of the four home games was sandwiched in a stretch of six away games (and between two sets of back to backs).

And let's look at the last eight games, of which the Spurs have lost three:

Dec 7 Houston - CENTRAL time zone.
Dec 8 @ Charlotte - EASTERN time zone, and the second of a Home/Away B2B
Dec 10 @ Houston - CENTRAL time zone.
Dec 12 @ Utah - MOUNTAIN time zone.
Dec 13 @ Portland - PACIFIC time zone (second of a B2B). Four games across the continent in six days!
Dec 15 Boston - CENTRAL time zone, whoo, home for a whole game
Dec 17 @ OKC - hey, same time zone, thanks Stern
Dec 18 @ Denver - MOUNTAIN time zone (second of a B2B)

That kind of travel gets old. And three B2Bs in 8 games? that .

[Strategic]

That's what Diaw is: a fifth option facilitator. Recently, he was just a guy who jogged aimlessly around the court.

Well, lately he has sucked, so that has been a concern. When he's going right, he's a low mistake player. But when he's in his lazy mode mixed with his hide-from-the-ball mode, he turns into a high mistake player since he's always in a rush to get rid of the ball because he doesn't want any of the responsibility on his shoulders.

Hopefully Diaw can bottle how he played late against the Nuggets and take that forward.

Sorry, but I don't see Boris Diaw getting mentally ramped up until the playoffs. I just don't. Because of this I think Pop should never be concerned with resting him.

[Horse]

What gets me is the unforced turnovers I've seen more already than I ever remember from a Pop-coached team. That could have alot to do with all the different rotations but once their healthy it should straighten out.

[RodNIc91]

- What's the point of having both Mills and Neal? They are both awfully similar in what tehyc oudl bring to Spurs (instant offense and 3 point shooting from the SG spot).

I think they are shopping mills. I agree with you that they both bring the same to the table, except for a few things here and there. Although, it makes me wonder if they're shopping several players with a target in mind, for a bit of salary cap relief, or if they're interested in bringing aron bynes (fingers crossed )

[Paranoid Pop]

Also it's funny how the rebounding between Tiago and Diaw inversed now that Tiago is playing next to Tim...

KY can't come back soon enough... Will allow Pop to stop throwing against the wall as far as the rotations are concerned... Hopefully.

[Maddog]

4 losses in 5 games may suck, but the worst of the schedule is over.

27 games in ~40 days with more road meetings? Even younger teams would be winded.

You know what? Travel is hard on anyone, changing timezones constantly sucks, having to load up, get to the airport, get on the plane, wait to take off, fly, land, taxi, get off the plane and on another bus, check into the hotel, all that . There's a reason road teams lose so many games in the NBA and what Stern has done to the Spurs makes it that much worse. In the last 30 days:

- San Antonio has played 16 games
- 12 of those games have been on the road, and one of the four home games was sandwiched in a stretch of six away games (and between two sets of back to backs).

And let's look at the last eight games, of which the Spurs have lost three:

Dec 7 Houston - CENTRAL time zone.
Dec 8 @ Charlotte - EASTERN time zone, and the second of a Home/Away B2B
Dec 10 @ Houston - CENTRAL time zone.
Dec 12 @ Utah - MOUNTAIN time zone.
Dec 13 @ Portland - PACIFIC time zone (second of a B2B). Four games across the continent in six days!
Dec 15 Boston - CENTRAL time zone, whoo, home for a whole game
Dec 17 @ OKC - hey, same time zone, thanks Stern
Dec 18 @ Denver - MOUNTAIN time zone (second of a B2B)

That kind of travel gets old. And three B2Bs in 8 games? that .

8 games 12 days with a flight in between each game. Even the Houston road game (normally a short hop from SA) was after an east coast game and did they get a short flight to SA to have a game? nope on to Utah.



Jeez- when you really look at it closely it's even worse than you think. Add in you have no natural small forwards and one of your big 3 is out/out of sync...
I am only mildly disappointed. If they could have pulled out one of those losses I would probably be contented.