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Great post.
Biggest impact move will be moving Borris into SL
This.
The lineups he's throwing out there now are quite varied, as are the lengths he sticks with them.
Great post.
Biggest impact move will be moving Borris into SL
Wow, I didn't realize it was that bad offensively. Nice find, Bruno!
What is the answer? Do we need to mix it up? Trade, if so, who? What is going to fix this?
He should be getting more burn tbqh...starting and getting more burn.
There is still 52 games to play before the playoffs so Pop can still try to make it work. Belinelli starting might help them a little.
If a the end of January, it still doesn't work, it will be time for change. The obvious move would be to start Diaw instead of Splitter. After that, the question will be what to do when Diaw will be on the bench: pair Duncan with Splitter with Green or Ginobili at SF? Play Kawhi at PF? Ayres, Bonner, Baynes or Thomas being in the rotation? A trade for a PF?
I don't think there is a unique answer. Pop rotation might depend on the matchup. Now, a trade would be welcomed if the Kawhi/Duncan/Splitter combo continue to suck and if there isn't a player that magically rise from the end of the bench.
I'm not really optimistic about that point.
I don't think his performance is a problem or the team's biggest problem, I'm arguing against Pop and his plan for Leonard.I'm honestly a little shocked that there are actually multiple people here so ready to trade him at the first signs of problems (if you could even call his performance this year a "problem")...especially for someone like Evan Turner.
After performing admirably in finals, Leonard broke through with more confidence, a higher skill level? No, and it's Pop fault if the kid hasn't improved.
-The kid is getting comfortable, having the feeling that his teammates and coach trust him? No.
Confidence would make he plays more free flowing, but he only receives the ball in the corner outside the 3's line, not in a good post position or near the rim.
-Leonard has a motor, he's very athletic, Pops wants him to show his game with his athleticism? No.
Pop isn't facilitating the Leonard growth process, particularly early in the season.
IMO Leonard gives everything he has, he would make an impact on both ends of court, he would be a 20-10 guy in many teams but instead he tries to adjust to Pop strategy for him (without court time, without offense presence) and sacrifice for the system.
League changes, emerging young talents, but Pop's Old school philosophy doesn't change.
There are the reasons why I've said we need a trade for an offensive player SG or SF like Ellis, Deng, Turner, and Kawhi needs a change of team that gives him better chance to improve.
Last edited by wildchild; 12-27-2013 at 11:54 PM.
It's all about Leonard finding that outside stroke. That will help the Duncan-Splitter Spacing issue, free up lanes for Tony, and open up things for Danny outside.
Kawhi is being under utilized, like a smartphone only being used to make phone calls. He deserves better before he regresses in his limited role.
How about Parker? He is not as efficient as he was last season.
Shooting way more than he was shooting last season in situations where he could pass, shot is in the toilet and trying to shoot his way out. I suspect he will start knocking them down in January in less minutes per game.
Anyone notice the 2 or 3 mid range jumpers tiago has attempted this season (due to broken plays and faced with expiring shot clocks)? He's 3-3 on them iirc. I wonder if chip is priming tiago to become a competent threat from mid range by the end of the season. They're essentially unguarded free throws to him at this stage.
He hit those in euro league play, I suspect if anyone closed out on the shot he would defer the ball, get blocked or rush the shot.
son this definitely needs to happen. Early in the season, I was getting pissed if opponents scored over 90 points in a game. Now allowing them to drop 30+ on us in a quarter is almost a given each game. I'd rather have a poor shooting Danny(but playing good D) starting and a hot shooting Marco making plays with Manu on the 2nd unit. Right now, all we have is a useless Marco on both ends of the court and the same old Icyhot in Danny coming off the bench.
Good writeup as usual.
I've said before that Leonard needs to utilize the midrange game more. He's capable of shooting over most of his defenders and his midrange shot is good. That also puts him in position for offensive rebounds.
Tiago/Tim is an awkward pairing but I think the real issue is Tim on the offensive end. He's good around the rim at times, and when he's on he's on, but the team spends much of the 1st half trying to get him going and it costs the team. The alternative might be worse however, in that they resort to staying away from Tim at the top of the key and opponents sag off him even more, clogging the lane. Tim has to make them respect his outside shot and right now I'd let him take it if I was the opposing coach, until he makes a few and changes my mind. The long rebounds are often instant points at the other end.
I like Diaw in the starting lineup, as long as there aren't too many offensive weapons on the floor and Diaw reverts to being a passer. It's not the bigs that are killing us on offense. It's the outside shooting. So having Kawhi coming off the bench wouldn't help when the opponents starters are the real 3pt threats. With two bigs in the paint, we need to run guys off the 3.
What's killing the offense is that only one member of the starting unit can spread the floor. That will always lead to a less effective Spurs system. One of Leonard, Splitter or Duncan needs to be benched. And that's only if another can be a midrange threat.
I wonder how long Pop keeps Beli in the starting unit. He's getting less out of both him and Green now. This was always the risk in signing another two-guard instead of a legit three.
Last edited by Chinook; 12-29-2013 at 11:55 PM.
Popovich has to move Marco and Tiago to the bench and start Danny and Boris. A lineup with those five currently has a +38.4 net rating (Off: 110.2; Def: 71.9). It seems almost a no-brainer at this point.
Pop will give it a while, IMO. You don't want to make a change like that and get a small sample size. You also have to wonder how difficult it is to gauge stuff like this when some of your top guys are coasting quite a bit.
^^
Marco being a terrible defender is nothing new, though..
I want more data, so I'm fine with giving it more time. What's interesting is that Bruno posted the ORTGs of the starting unit with Green, Beli and Manu each in it and found that there wasn't a noticeable difference among them. That seems indicative that there's a bigger issue going on. We've been touching on that in this thread, but its possible Pop needs to see more in order to determine if he has to tweak his system or even bring in a new four who could start next to Duncan.
Why do people say the starting line up can't space the floor? The same starting lineup (TP, Green, KL, Tim/Tiago) spaced the floor fine last year. KL and DG didn't magically turn into terrible shooters.
It reminds me of Laker fan saying the Lakers have no 3 point shooting last year when they had Kobe/Blake/Meeks/Artest and others. The Kobe play led to bad shots, but all those guys had proven to be capable 3 point shooters before LA. Then to start the year in this system they magically started hitting 3's again.
I think that Tim's really poor start threw everything out of rhythm and didn't allow for Green/Kawhi to get their normal looks. Couple that with a less crisp TP and you have a pretty clear case of what's going on IMO.
The Tiago/Tim pairing bad defense probably has to do with bad offense also tbh...
Spurs are probably taking more shots at the 3 and mid range which lead to long misses and transition baskets
a lot of these problems could also be fixed if Popovich wasnt a little trying to micromanage every little detail tbh..
Splitter is young and in his prime
he can play 30 minutes a night
he gets time with the bench and starters
Diaw could also easily get in the 28-30 range
Leonard should be 36 a night no matter what unless hes having a bad game and Manu/Marco are both on then he would be taken off
The Miami Heat happened. They were the best team in the NBA last season, and were the favorites to win it all. Spurs win = HUGE upset.
We say that because of two reasons: Leonard and Duncan HAVE seemingly lost their ability to space the floor. Kawhi's been worse than last year from three and Duncan's been worse from midrange. The second reason is that Parker is not playing well enough to take full advantage of the less-than-optimal spacing that existed last season. It's harder for him to beat his man and the help to the basket as consistently. He needs even better spacing to help him out. If teams keep letting Tim and Kawhi (and Tiago) shoot in favor of clogging the lane, the offense will continue to struggle
That's what I said essentially. I said TD's struggles to start the season really hurt. Coupled with TP playing less than stellar you have your answers. KL and DG aren't going to shoot poorly forever. TD won't either. TP will certainly play better once he stops coasting as much.
I guess the real disagreement is whether or not you think TD/TP will regain their form. I say yes so no need to make changes.
I'm much more worried about where this team is at defensively than offensively right now:
* The Spurs’ victory was marred by another poor defensive performance, low-lighted by a 38-point Sacramento onslaught in the third quarter that threatened to bury them. It followed 40-point quarters for Oklahoma City and Houston in the previous four games.
The Spurs did tighten up in the fourth quarter, limiting the Kings to just 17 points on 33.3-percent shooting. Parker credited the improvement to a switch in the Spurs’ pick-and-roll defense, while Duncan was strong late against Cousins after Sacramento’s budding young star had rampaged for 29 points.
Overall, however, the Spurs are giving up 105.2 points per 100 possessions over the past 15 games to tie for 19th in that span. They’re still tied for fifth over the course of the full season at 98.8.
It could be that the team is coasting on the defensive end, as they still can look good when locked it. I'm sure they'll figure it out.
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