Quote Originally Posted by ElNono
Well, I spoke about depth on that position, not how those two match up with anybody else. Like I said, foul trouble on either or both can really hurt us, because the drop down, especially when it comes to rim protection, it's major. It goes hand in hand with the minutes thing, because neither Tim or Tiago seem to be able to play that many minutes.

Which takes me to another point: I understand in the case of Tim that his minutes are limited, but I really don't like that Tiago isn't getting more burn. He's at 23 mpg right now and, IMO, he needs to build up that stamina of extra minutes and get used to the extra load. He's young, there's no reason not to. The alternative is playing Blair/Bonner which are useless come playoff time, or small ball, which might work against some teams, but I don't think it's ideal. Maybe Pop is waiting until March to amp his role up...
Fair enough.

Actually, Duncan can still handle quite a few minutes. It's just not wise to push him during the regular season for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that they don't have to. And if lumbering behemoths like Bynum and M. Gasol could play over 5 mpg more during a condensed season, I don't see any reason why Splitter couldn't handle 30 (which, as Mel pointed out, he's now close to doing). Against the elite teams: 36 mpg for Duncan, 30 mpg for Splitter, means 30 big minutes left over. Most can go to Diaw and a few to Jackson in select match-ups.

One of the positives about a Thunder or Heat match-up is, health/foul trouble notwithstanding, the Spurs lack of a reliable fourth big won't matter much. The Thunder have mostly stayed big this season, but they're playing more small ball lately and in a series against the Spurs, I can't imagine Brooks being dumb enough to waste a meaningful minute on Thabeet (at least not for more than a game or two). Also, Jackson on Ibaka is something they could at least try. It's not like they'd need to rely on it for more than spot minutes anyway.