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So how does a player who Pop might consider his best blue collar worker in the team not play a role in the playoffs ? where winning and losing is dependent on controlling the paint ?
http://www.nba.com/spurs/video/coach-pop-postgame-0
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...own-and-dirty/Spurs rookie Splitter gets down and dirty
Mike Monroe
...“I got an opportunity to play today,” Splitter said, “and like I always do I try to go in there and defend and try hard. (Al) Jefferson was scoring every time, so I was kind of mad, but I tried to go to the other end and bang the rim and go after all the offensive rebounds and try to be smart.”
So how does a player who Pop might consider his best blue collar worker in the team not play a role in the playoffs ? where winning and losing is dependent on controlling the paint ?
http://www.nba.com/spurs/video/coach-pop-postgame-0
We can all hope that Splitter will be playing a role in the playoffs, but he won't. Remember he got only 3:48 playing SAC on a back-to-back while Bonner continues to get 25+mins. every night even when he's 1-6.
But, but, he's the worst pick since Darko! We should have given him to Houston!
http://www.nba.com/games/20110409/UT...#nbaGIboxscore
*He was screwed out of at least one block being counted as well and 5/7 shooting and even somehow made 2/4 FTs.
Bottom line - Pop frees Splitter and again he produces in about 18 minutes. Take that haters!
the haters. When will these people learn that you have to be patient rookies?
Coach Pop's mailbag in November (I think) had this:
Travis Schrader
Location: San Antonio
Question: Hey Coach Pop, I know there was a lot of unfair expectations put on Tiago Splitter coming into this season. How do you feel he has handled the transition to the NBA? GP: He has done a very good job. He is a very frustrated player right now because he is not getting minutes. He comes in before and after every practice and works very hard. Missing training camp really hurt him, for a lot of reasons that are pretty obvious. He has been behind the power curve the entire year but he continues to work and we're trying hard to find him minutes and hopefully he'll be more of a significant factor by the time playoffs come. Pop
Hopefully Pop is still considering Tiago in the playoffs. Tony's response in tonight's post game video actually hinted at that.
If Splitter does well in the playoffs, he's in like Flynn.
Pop praising Splitter? Then it's probably another DNP-CD next game.
LOL ... that was exactly my thought last night ... like a wide receiver running a special route. It looks as if he has to think about every move he is doing on the court.
His charge rate continues to be very impressive..the only Spurs big that has had a comparable charge rate(relative to time on the court) during his time as a Spur(in the Duncan era) was Fab, and we all know the contributions that he made for this team..
I don't buy the "secret weapon" argument..a "secret weapon" for the playoffs is used by coaches, when it's in regards to "playbook material"..using different strategies against teams in the playoffs, despite not using that strategy during the regular season..
I've never heard of an NBA team hiding a player and using him for the playoffs..it makes a lot more sense to give said player NBA experience and recognition with officials..
Splitter is the 2nd best big man on the team IMO..he was soft in the 1st half of the year, especially on the boards, but he has clearly corrected both problems..what else does he have to do? I have absolutely no idea, tbh..he has clearly been the 2nd most productive big man on the team since Duncan's injury, arguably the #1 most productive big man on the team in that span(if you consider that Duncan missed time, due to his injury, obviously), yet he still can't earn PT..
While Bonner has been playing pathetic basketball for a month now, yet his PT has not changed whatsoever..
yeah if you notice hes always panicking b/c he knows if his man gets the ball its automatic 2pts.
oh and btw he runs like hes on fire, its funny but damn i hate seeing him out there period
Jag pretty.much owns this thread tbh
The one example I can think of is the Pistons with Tayshaun Prince. When he was a rookie I think they had a high seed like a 2 or something and Chuck Daly was still the coach. Orlando had a real young dynamic Tracy McGrady, who was just murdering them and the series was 3-1 Orlando and he acted like it's over, telling the media he was relieved to finally moving past the first round after Game 4. In complete desperation Daly gave Prince a shot and he really made life difficult on McGrady (although it didn't help that guys like Drew Gooden and Gordan Gerecek went cold) and the Pistons came back to win the series in seven games.
Of course they weren't really hiding Prince as much as using him as a last resort. I think it will be the same way with Pop. Or maybe I'm just hoping it will be. If we're down in a series and the problem is CLEARLY the Blair-Bonner combo and the interior defense is dog , he might give Splitter a shot.
I think Pop's fear with Splitter is two-fold. One, I think he thinks the refs will give him even less respect with playoff fouls than they do for Bonner and Blair and two, I think he's afraid of Hack-a-Tiago on offense. So we'll see.
Sad but true
We all know Pop, he's not changing his stripes. He won't play Splitter until until we've lost a game and he throws him in for garbage minutes.
Yeah, he runs like a typical white guy!
Pop's been applauding players more and more in recent years. I wouldn't read anything into it.
Bonner has that "bouncy" run style. Look at his facial expression, he looks like he's putting alot of effort just to run down the court!
Bonner vs. Splitter is a false choice. They don't perform the same role at all--and Pop has made the decision that spreading the court with a 3 point shooter is most important for this offense to work. Bonner is more of a PF in the mode of Rasheed Wallace (without the athleticism).
The real question is whether Splitter gets Dice's or Blair's minutes in relief of Tim.
Each of those guys has some pro and cons.
Dice is a steady vet, good medium distance shooter and can play both ends of the court within the system. He's lost a step and probably can't play effective long minutes.
Blair brings energy and tough rebounding skills. Surprisingly good hands for a beast.
But he's a PF body forced to play center and his lack of height will never be overcome. He's just not going to be effective against the few top centers with a big height advantage over him. Positioning and a wide body can carry you against lightweights, but guys like Boozer, Gasol, and Howard salivate when they play against him.
Splitter, no matter what some think, can play the center position amd would be the best center (notwithstanding TD's refusal to acknowledge his true position) on the Spurs since Robinson. In Europe, in his earlier days he actually played out on the perimeter which is where he learned how to pick and roll and put the ball on the floor. But he's not much of a 3 point shooter so he can't fill a floor spreading role with 3s.
In his own way, he is more of a PF than a center, and I'd like to see him playing LA's front line WITH TIMMY. A front line of Timmy, Splitter and Jefferson would be formidable and is what we should have been working on all year to integrate him into the system. A pick and roll with Splitter and Timmy would be fun to watch since both pass well and are very smart players, seeing their options.
I think Splitter's limitations are mostly caused by lack of floor time this year. Pop says he isn't about winning every game, but developing the team for the playoffs--well, that's bull . Dice and Blair are known elements. You can't tell me that Splitter could have played some minutes in every game and substantial minutes in some without hurting the team. In fact, he might have showed his value early on.
Failure to Integrate Splitter into the system is solely on Pop. We'll see how far we can go using the Old Man and the Mighty Midget at center.
Not sure I agree with this. I don't really see pop worrying about either one of these things.
1. If Splitter gets into foul trouble or has difficulty defending without fouling, you simply take him out of the game. It's not a reason to not play him at all.
2. Tiago is not a historically poor free throw shooter. The problems we're seeing now with Tiago at the line are due to the adjustments made to his mechanics. The coaching staff is obviously tinkering with his form. He can mess with that in practice all he wants, but the only way for him to truly work that out is to see free throws go in during game situations. He hasn't had many opportunities at the line because he hasn't seen much PT. The more time he sees at the line the more comfortable he will become with his new form. I don't think pop is worried about him seeing time at the line.
Where to start? There is so much fail in that paragraph, it isn't even funny. He had ONE decent season shooting FTs in Europe, preceded by seasons ranging from the 30s to the 60s. He is MOST CERTAINLY a historically bad FT shooter. There is nothing in his in-game FT stroke that the Spurs have introduced. That stop/hitch is all his own, and according to Sean E, the Spurs ARE working with him on it, but he hasn't chosen to take that into the games yet. Shooting in the 50s, I don't see what he thinks he has to lose.
Splitter Stats from DX
You folks are great Spurs fans. This Splitter v. Bonner debate seems unfortunate to me because they represent different positions. Splitter is a solid center who should be sharing the position with Blair. Bonner is a 3 / 4 combination player who should be behind Duncan, McDyess, and Jefferson. The smearing of these position lines in the Spurs rotation is probably because of Duncan's ability to play two positions against any team on both ends of the floor, except of course like last season when the high pick and roll ate Timmy's lunch in the playoffs. If Popovich could have seen fit to go with Splitter instead of McDyess when he replaced Blair in the lineup..............only if. This would have forced Bonner to a 3 position situational sub.
Pop's praise sounds forced, like a consolation for not playing him later.
Since 2007 he's shot 65%, and even shot 79% from the line in his last season in Spain. I never said he was a historically good ft shooter. I understand that he's not a great ft shooter. But he's not this bad.
If his FT shooting form isn't even the same as it was earlier in the season, then how can you say the staff is working with him on his shot but he hasn't taken it into a game yet? That doesnt make sense, even for you. He stands there during every pregame shootaround shooting jump shots and free throws with one hand. His form during previous seasons and even during the beginning of this season looks nothing like it does now. I don't expect you to know that or even care because you don't like the guy.
In the past 3 seasons (1 Euroleague, 2 ACB) he's shot a combined 70.3% from the line. Last year alone (Euroleague and ACB combined) he shot 71.35%.
I don't think Pop is worried about Splitter getting time at the line when he's managed to shoot 70.3% from the line in the previous 2 years. There's also no reason to think he'll be stuck at the 54.2% from the line for the rest of his career. I don't expect you to agree seeing as how you've spent the entire season championing the idea that he is a soft player and a wasted pick.
Splitter is a 65% more free throw shooter
I will say for the 1,000 time
They are trying to correct Splitter's FT style, the biggest reason of his low percentage.
Bonner's still better....
No, but you said he wasn't historically bad, which is wrong. If you took his whole career before that TINY little window that you used to show that he wasn't bad, it would be about spot on 54-55%. This year is not an aberration, it's his norm.
I do think he's soft. I don't think he's a wasted pick. He is in danger of slipping into Varajao status, though. He needs to quit trying to draw charges from guards and attack them to block shots. That's what NBA bigs do.
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