For the Spurs to win the 16-17 Championship...

[cutewizard]

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8...rs.html?pg=all

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that might be a critical addition for the Spurs!

[TD 21]

Of course I'm serious. We won a le 3 years ago with Parker as our best player throughout the regular season and playoffs. Since 2013, we're 6-0 in playoff series where Parker is our leading scorer. We're 2-3 when he's not. Not sure why we went away from that, but it's time to get back to it. Maybe we can get past the second round of the playoffs. He's only 34. Just stop with the "experiment" already...go with what works until it doesn't.

Again, I'll ask rhetorically: Are you serious? Parker wasn't anywhere near "our" best player in '14. Duncan, Leonard and Ginobili, were all better.

Parker has been past his prime since '14 and significantly so from '15 on. He might "only" be 34, but mileage wise, he's more like late 30's. The days of thinking the offense can run through him and be successful are long gone. "We" didn't go away from that intentionally, it happened organically once it became apparent that he could no longer shoulder the load.

[cutewizard]

For a 14 man line-up, WE HAVE ARGUABLY THE BEST TEAM IN THE NBA!!!

So, the Spurs just need to be themselves, play to their potential and DESIRE TO WIN, that's all!!!!!

[ViceCity86]

This with the team bus on it.

[ViceCity86]

Did Parker cross the bridge?

[kaji157]

I do agree that we need to get back to him starting the offence, either with a penetration or a pick n roll. Not necessarily for him to finish the play but to start the the sequence.
The question is, can he get advantage against defenders consistently at this age?
We just have to try.
Another good option would be, as we did with him, to start Manu and DeJounte, and let Tony and Danny come of the bench with Pau.
That would make very balanced units in DeJounte-Manu-Leonard-Aldridge-Denmon and Tony-Danny-Kyle-Pau-Livio.
I do expect for us to package two of either Mills and Anderson or Mills and Simmons for another big or at least reliable SF-PF guy. I think it will be mills as we´ll ave 4 PG as of now and he doesn´t seem to fit anymore with Manu unable to create open shots for him and Diaw gone.
I would love for the Spurs to sign Patricio Garino, not gonna happen, but he is a viable SG-SF player to fill holes.

Yes! i am that happy that i bumped all my posts about him!

Hope he does well!

[cutewizard]

[Kikoluna]

People here seem to think Kyle as the main back up to Leonard is not a big deal lol. IT'S our demise. We need to address that issue, not pretend it's OK

[sasaint]

Pau, LMA and Kawhi are likely the best front court in the league. If they can learn to playoff one another, then it'll be devastating for a midget team like GSW.

Spurs don't have any real challengers except for GSW. Can they win? Well, Cavs got lucky and won. Spurs can get lucky and win.

I didn't realize you were such an optimist. I would say that the Cavs are definite challengers. Your call that Pau, LMA and Kawhi are likely the best front court in the league seems to me to depend on two factors: 1) whether the Spurs are playing with the lead and 2) whether they can stay on the floor against small ball line-ups. To me it has a good analogy to football match ups. Rushing teams have great success playing with the lead or with the score even. But when passing teams break out on top, the rushing team is at a big disadvantage and must change its lineup and play a different, less comfortable game.

[Pocho La Pantera]

Of course I'm serious. We won a le 3 years ago with Parker as our best player throughout the regular season and playoffs. Since 2013, we're 6-0 in playoff series where Parker is our leading scorer. We're 2-3 when he's not. Not sure why we went away from that, but it's time to get back to it. Maybe we can get past the second round of the playoffs. He's only 34. Just stop with the "experiment" already...go with what works until it doesn't.

[SAGirl]

I didn't realize you were such an optimist. I would say that the Cavs are definite challengers. Your call that Pau, LMA and Kawhi are likely the best front court in the league seems to me to depend on two factors: 1) whether the Spurs are playing with the lead and 2) whether they can stay on the floor against small ball line-ups. To me it has a good analogy to football match ups. Rushing teams have great success playing with the lead or with the score even. But when passing teams break out on top, the rushing team is at a big disadvantage and must change its lineup and play a different, less comfortable game.

At least we will have more shooting than last season. I'd like to see Forbes or Garino make the team. At this point I don't care for T.Robinson. He should have taken the spot that Lee took and didn't. I'd rather have Forbes unless Garino really shows some grit defensively.

I place this upcoming season on Pop personally.

[sasaint]

As you are aware, I place LAST season on Pop! His job should be at stake this upcoming season. As for Robinson, the guy seems like he is a head case destined to squander considerable talent. The only way we could take him on is to cut some guys and go over the cap or trade somebody. Frankly, I like the potential of about 16-17 guys we have coming into camp. I don't want Robinson in here to muddy the picture and potentially pollute the locker room. If two of Dedmon, Dijon and Kyle make good then we will be in good shape this season - if Pop decides to actually coach with some common sense again.

[Solid D]

Even though I am very sad about Timmy's departure, there are plenty of reasons to be psyched about the upcoming season. Here is a reminder of the variety and array of intelligent moves offensively by this guy last season:

[SAGirl]

As you are aware, I place LAST season on Pop! His job should be at stake this upcoming season. As for Robinson, the guy seems like he is a head case destined to squander considerable talent. The only way we could take him on is to cut some guys and go over the cap or trade somebody. Frankly, I like the potential of about 16-17 guys we have coming into camp. I don't want Robinson in here to muddy the picture and potentially pollute the locker room. If two of Dedmon, Dijon and Kyle make good then we will be in good shape this season - if Pop decides to actually coach with some common sense again.

Although I had cut Pop slack last season because Tim's good knee gave way, I have come around to be convinced he blew a lot of things last season. He simply won a lot of games because he had a lot of talented young players but they underacheived at least partially on him. Tim had been my Xfactor last season and it went against us with his knee never recovering. I also had Manu as an XFactor. Pop and the team had still over-relied on Manu through the season and I felt like he wasn't going to produce the same in the playoffs. The reason? He was overmatched in all games against the elite teams and made matters worse against both Cavs and GSW. Surprisingly, Kyle played very well against both teams, because his composed calm style helped keep guys settled down.

I know you had a lot of issues with separating Tim and LMA and frankly I can't support Pop with his decisions not splitting them up more. It may have even spared Tim's knee to do that for the rest of the season. But I will be honest. I just didn't like DWest at all. He showed leadership sometimes but he was very bad many others, even during the RS. Anyways, I know fans will disagree on DWest, as he is very well liked by some fans but I didn't think he was such a great pickup in hindsight and I also felt like he didn't do the Spurs any favors. He came to Spurs ring chasing and Pop felt compelled to play him to do right by him. At times I felt Boban deserved playing time over him. We will never know. I know you were not a big Boban fan, but I think Boban was impactful where Dwest was not: in the paint and that is what the bench needed. Maybe we would have been better off never having gotten Dwest at all. He also pushed Diaw into coasting mode bc a lot of what Diaw did was redundant with Dwest and yet Diaw was the more versatile player than Dwest was.

Anyways, I have to concede your point. Tim was diminished but Pop never adapted and he had months to adapt and he had both Kyle and Boban who had developed and played a lot of games the latter part of the season when Tim, then Manu got injured, and improved, yet they both went underused. And yes, Kyle aws in the playoffs, but mostly went underused and his skillset not taken advantage of.

Other guys blame Pop for different reasons, ElNono, famous Manu fan, is blaming Pop for expecting unrealistic things out of Manu at 38 years old. Kiwi fans thought he should have played 46 minutes if that was needed.

Point is, there were many blunders with many guys.

I hope Pop realizes his mistake and places a bigger burden on others this season. I do hope he gives a chance to Dijon, who like you and raybies I am really high on. I know Dedmon is your Xfactor, but for me is ultimately Kyle. Spurs won't be better if they have to play Lee as a bench 4 for example, and his improved 3 pt shot combined with everything he already adds to the team can give different looks to the bench. Like many others have said, Spurs need him to step up and be aggressive and one of Dijon/Bertans or Simms needs to step up too, maybe two. IMO Lee doesn't change the Spurs fortune at this point except giving depth for injuries and other situations. Although I liked Forbes a lot and wanted to see him make the team, I really am not sold on JSimms TBH. He's just a very low BBIQ player doesn't have good defensive instincts and only is able to make plays due to his athleticism, but he doesn't have good instincts. I have not seen Garino at all, but I am ready to have a different option in case Danny or Kawhi are injured than JSimms.

[sasaint]

Although I had cut Pop slack last season because Tim's good knee gave way, I have come around to be convinced he blew a lot of things last season. He simply won a lot of games because he had a lot of talented young players but they underacheived at least partially on him. Tim had been my Xfactor last season and it went against us with his knee never recovering. I also had Manu as an XFactor. Pop and the team had still over-relied on Manu through the season and I felt like he wasn't going to produce the same in the playoffs. The reason? He was overmatched in all games against the elite teams and made matters worse against both Cavs and GSW. Surprisingly, Kyle played very well against both teams, because his composed calm style helped keep guys settled down.

I know you had a lot of issues with separating Tim and LMA and frankly I can't support Pop with his decisions not splitting them up more. It may have even spared Tim's knee to do that for the rest of the season. But I will be honest. I just didn't like DWest at all. He showed leadership sometimes but he was very bad many others, even during the RS. Anyways, I know fans will disagree on DWest, as he is very well liked by some fans but I didn't think he was such a great pickup in hindsight and I also felt like he didn't do the Spurs any favors. He came to Spurs ring chasing and Pop felt compelled to play him to do right by him. At times I felt Boban deserved playing time over him. We will never know. I know you were not a big Boban fan, but I think Boban was impactful where Dwest was not: in the paint and that is what the bench needed. Maybe we would have been better off never having gotten Dwest at all. He also pushed Diaw into coasting mode bc a lot of what Diaw did was redundant with Dwest and yet Diaw was the more versatile player than Dwest was.

Anyways, I have to concede your point. Tim was diminished but Pop never adapted and he had months to adapt and he had both Kyle and Boban who had developed and played a lot of games the latter part of the season when Tim, then Manu got injured, and improved, yet they both went underused. And yes, Kyle aws in the playoffs, but mostly went underused and his skillset not taken advantage of.

Other guys blame Pop for different reasons, ElNono, famous Manu fan, is blaming Pop for expecting unrealistic things out of Manu at 38 years old. Kiwi fans thought he should have played 46 minutes if that was needed.

Point is, there were many blunders with many guys.

I hope Pop realizes his mistake and places a bigger burden on others this season. I do hope he gives a chance to Dijon, who like you and raybies I am really high on. I know Dedmon is your Xfactor, but for me is ultimately Kyle. Spurs won't be better if they have to play Lee as a bench 4 for example, and his improved 3 pt shot combined with everything he already adds to the team can give different looks to the bench. Like many others have said, Spurs need him to step up and be aggressive and one of Dijon/Bertans or Simms needs to step up too, maybe two. IMO Lee doesn't change the Spurs fortune at this point except giving depth for injuries and other situations. Although I liked Forbes a lot and wanted to see him make the team, I really am not sold on JSimms TBH. He's just a very low BBIQ player doesn't have good defensive instincts and only is able to make plays due to his athleticism, but he doesn't have good instincts. I have not seen Garino at all, but I am ready to have a different option in case Danny or Kawhi are injured than JSimms.

As for West, perhaps you and I have a little common ground. I believe he was totally mis-used (abused?) by Pop, and I would not blame him for hating the Spurs. If you sign a PF who offers to give you a 90% discount, at least have the decency to play him at PF. If that isn't your intent then don't sign him. I do not blame West for Diaw's coasting. Diaw has a history of that. A few of us on ST were wanting to pair Tim with Diaw/West and LMA with the other from the get-go last season. If not for LMA, the non-center prima dona, that might well have gotten us by OKC. But NOOOOO... SMH!

As for Boban, I am still on the fence about his NBA future. However, he had murdered Adams and Kanter earlier in the regular season, and I was in utter shock and disbelief that Pop didn't try him earlier in the OKC series, paired with either West or Diaw. I am still smh over that one, too.

Dedmon is my X-factor simply because we cannot afford for him to be this year's Boban. If he fails to make a strong contribution, then we are potentially stuck in the same rut as last season - pairing Kyle and Lee (rather than West and Diaw) as undersized bigs for our second unit. If Dedmon falls flat, then I hope that Pop has gotten over himself enough to pair LMA and Kyle and Pau and Lee. Otherwise, we are headed for the same result as last season.

There is a common theme here: LMA, the non-center. Some of us were not sold on his signing in the first place. Now we have a guy who isn't willing to play center for the good of the team just as Kawhi is hitting the heart of his career. Frankly, I think we signed the wrong Portland big last season. I would have preferred RoLo, using the difference between salaries to sign a second good FA. I am not sold on LMA's skill set or at ude fitting what we need.

JSimms is a guy that, as you know, I had penciled in as Spurs TNG. Unfortunately, I just don't see it now. When some posters were calling for us to dump Tony for Dijon in his second SL game, I noted that it was Simmons who was rendered redundant by Dijon. I am afraid that is true. I probably fell victim to Simmons' "human-interest story" and PATFO's praising his court vision. Frankly, at this juncture I just hope we don't cut him and get nothing for him. I hope we can package him with another asset and move him for a pick or something.

I'd like to see us find a way to keep Forbes - and possibly Garino, based on the highlights I have seen here on ST.

[SAGirl]

Diaw is a distributor at heart and Dwest was the same, at times flat out overpassing himself. Anyways, Dwest didn't really fit what Spurs needed. It just proves that fit is more important than the quality of the player when we are talking about roleplayers. With all his faults for being a rookie, Boban fit better. Imagine what he could have done had he played the entire season and gotten seasoned.

With JSimms what worries me is that he's poor defensively and that is the niche he needed to fill to stick IMO. Some guys just don't have a good sense for defense. He doesn't know when to back off, when to put pressure, he's not aware what is going on at times. He has at least learned rotations at this point, and he is capable of a block in transition and the occasional steal, but for a guy with his athletic tools he could be so much better and isn't. Watch Dijon come up with double the loose balls than JSimms comes up with, double to triple the rebounds, and put pressure on the ball. He's raw yes, but I thought he improved in a few games, it was uncanny. He also surprised me making passes JSimms is not capable of and running the PnR passing to the big for open dunks that I haven't seen out of JSimms. Regardless, Dijon is still raw and I can see Pop sending him to the dleague bcto work on shooting and if they really want to train him as PG, he needs the ball, which Pop won't get out of Tony and Manu's hands until he is ready and has earned it.

I agree with you on Dedmon. I also expect Pop to experiement with Pau in the bench at times. It would be a good idea. Pop doesn't need to be strictly tied to a twin towers style.

I hear you on LMA, he did play Center in small ball situations and I don't know if there were issues from Pop himself not wanting to bench Tim bc his biggest value was defensively and that was best used with the starters. But there is no clear cut answer here. See how defensive oriented centers are relatively easier to find in Dedmon, whereas the offensive bigs are scarce and in high demand. It's also on Pop to make that one work out. He's supposed to have a vision of the kind of guys he wants to surround Kawhi with and waht system he wants to run.

[sasaint]

With an LMA willing to play center, West was a great fit with the Spurs. Moreover, Pop is tied to the twin towers concept as long as he has LMA ensconced at the PF position. That is precisely the issue.

[SAGirl]

And considering how Pop is the one who went out and got him as well as Pau, can't blame LMA for being who he is. Pop has won many championships with his twin towers but he most recently has had the stretch 4 (Horry?) and in 2014 he had to separate Tim and Tiago against the Heat and Diaw was essential to that championship, and he had to shoot the 3, but he was much more versatile than just a floor stretcher.

Like I said, Kyle is my Xfactor. He hopefully grows up this season and I don't put it past Bertans to play a small role too.

[sasaint]

Because Kyle has been with the Spurs for 2 seasons, I think of him as less of an X-factor, although his personal development is also very important to the team's success. No question that this is the season he needs to realize the potential that some of us have perceived in order for the Spurs to be a better team. I hope that Bertans, too, is a contributor.