Boris' playoff minutes..

[DPG21920]

Well as happy as I am with Kyle (he still has a long way to go) he's no where near Boris's level when Boris plays well. The real question is if Boris is done or just tired. We have the same question of TP. Questions that need to be answered with 15 games left.

[spurs10]

Well as happy as I am with Kyle (he still has a long way to go) he's no where near Boris's level when Boris plays well. The real question is if Boris is done or just tired. We have the same question of TP. Questions that need to be answered with 15 games left.

I wonder that about Tony, but feel Boris is neither 'done or just tired.' He seems to be a person that can bring it when needed. I won't be surprised a bit if his level of play escalates as the playoffs near. Tony on the other hand seems to have Kawhi covering for him on defense and Patty covering for him on offense. I hope he has another gear for the playoffs.

[sasaint]

I think that of the two (Butler & Anderson) Anderson had developed through the season as the better player and Butler's 3 wasn't reliable enough to sit Anderson for it. If you are going to sit Anderson bc you need a real 3 pt shooter for that 4th wing spot like TD 21 has been chirping about, or even bc our own regular shooters are slumping then you needed a better candidate than Rasual who was at 30 % for the season.

All goes back to what strategy we will employ against the Dubs. KMart might be more valuable if we plan to out-offense the Dubs, which I think is a faulty approach. I thought that Butler could have provided a significant defensive presence against the Dubs. For our best chance to beat the Dubs, Butler's D was potentially more valuable than KMart's O. Bad trade-off.

[sasaint]

I agree here, KMart's defense isn't as good as Butler. I suspect Spurs felt that Butler's offense wasn't good enough.

Basically the potential value of Butler's D is greater than the potential value of KMart's O.

[SAGirl]

All goes back to what strategy we will employ against the Dubs. KMart might be more valuable if we plan to out-offense the Dubs, which I think is a faulty approach. I thought that Butler could have provided a significant defensive presence against the Dubs. For our best chance to beat the Dubs, Butler's D was potentially more valuable than KMart's O. Bad trade-off.

I am actually in the short membership group that thinks Anderson is going to play a role in our postseason. He's been too good defensively to pass up on, even better than Boris, which is why I think if Boris doesn't make his presence felt he will give up minutes too.

I think Butler's role was going to be a small one anyways, the same that would have been Jimmer's, that is now Miller's: designated shooter.

It turned out Rasual was a versatile player and better defensively than we thought, but he probably ended up playing a lot of minutes lately that would have been Simmons if Simms hadn't reverted to preseason levels. As others have noticed in "the Committee" threads, it's an issue that the production from our bench is unpredictable or that sometimes no one outside of Kawhi can shoot a 3. I can't see Martin playing much precisely for defensive reasons. We might even be seeing him a lot more right now bc he's being integrated to get some chemistry and rhythm with guys. It's not like others have stopped playing on his account. I see him as situational like Elnono pointed out in that Kmart thread.

[sasaint]

I am actually in the short membership group that thinks Anderson is going to play a role in our postseason. He's been too good defensively to pass up on, even better than Boris, which is why I think if Boris doesn't make his presence felt he will give up minutes too.

I think Butler's role was going to be a small one anyways, the same that would have been Jimmer's, that is now Miller's: designated shooter.

It turned out Rasual was a versatile player and better defensively than we thought, but he probably ended up playing a lot of minutes lately that would have been Simmons if Simms hadn't reverted to preseason levels. As others have noticed in "the Committee" threads, it's an issue that the production from our bench is unpredictable or that sometimes no one outside of Kawhi can shoot a 3. I can't see Martin playing much precisely for defensive reasons. We might even be seeing him a lot more right now bc he's being integrated to get some chemistry and rhythm with guys. It's not like others have stopped playing on his account. I see him as situational like Elnono pointed out in that Kmart thread.

Yes, in the Pop-coached reality of the Spurs, Butler was never going to get significant minutes (despite some speculation to the contrary among some posters here on ST a few short weeks ago) or else he would not have been jettisoned. But like most threads here on ST, the discussion about Butler vs. Martin is really about conjecture/subjective speculation. My belief is that Butler could have been useful as a defender against Draymond, where we will be sorely challenged. Boris seems incapable or disinterested in providing much energy on defense at this juncture. And it is my belief that Kyle Is not yet up to that challenge.

It is painting with too broad a brush, though, to talk about projected minutes generally in the playoffs for guys like Boris and Kyle. In the case of the former, too much depends on his playing up to (past?) potential. In the case of the latter, too much depends on his continued improvement. I expect Kyle will get some minutes in the early first round, and Pop will play it by ear after that. Certainly much will also depend on match-ups, but I could see Kyle starting with +/- 12 minutes and ending up with none by the finals - or conversely, even more. This will essentially be his first real playoff experience/opportunity: how will he respond?

[cd021]

The same could be said of the Tony a few years ago.

I think Pop believes rest is counterproductive for Diaw. He looses motivation if he's not playing and he will entirely loose his conditioning and his stamina. You will have yourself Bobcat Diaw. He needs to play.

If anything, what is happening to Diaw is the emergence of Anderson quite simple, although ppl refuse to recognize it. He's a young kid still getting better and might be a bigger piece in the team's future it looks like. He's earned his role. He's become so good in certain matchups that he's flat out a better option than Diaw but it's good to have Diaw bc he's a young untested kid and you can always go back to Diaw if you need to.

i don't disagree with some of your points, however sitting Diaw three games probably isn't gonna cause him to gain but so much weight in the span of a few days. Rest for Diaw could help him. Splitter played 80 straight games on season but toward the end of that stretch, his play began to drop off. Pop gave him a game or two off.

Anderson has played well but i'd doubt that Pop would replace Diaw, a 10+ year vet with a history of coming up big in the playoffs for a second year player that has played fewer than 1300 minutes in two seasons. I think Diaw likely to draw favorable matchups as opposed to KA. He can post up smaller or similar sized big, guard some SFs, most PFs and some centers, along with spacing the floor and adding excellent passing

[jARS mEsH sEt]

thats my point. unlike previous years where we were literally unbeatable when at the top of our game, the dubs at the top of their game probably still beat us right now

"Probably" still beat us? It's not even close. We don't have the firepower to compete with them, and our historically great "defense" didn't seem to play out, at least in the last game.

[SAGirl]

Frankly glad Bobo showed up and will need to show up against GSW and from here on out. Coasted long enough. Playoff Boris needs to get in shape.