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So if he was 8-of-18 instead of 6-of-18, you wouldn't be ing. Got it. I didn't realize those two shots were the difference in our three road losses at Memphis.
No one is blaming this solely on Bonner. That doesn't mean that Bonner hasn't been awful in the playoffs and that Pop should not use him very much.
So if he was 8-of-18 instead of 6-of-18, you wouldn't be ing. Got it. I didn't realize those two shots were the difference in our three road losses at Memphis.
The same exact thing was said last year as an excuse for Pop not playing Tiago and Tim together.
Then Pop had to scramble and put in Tiago in Game 4 when he finally realized Tim was getting abused out there by a bigger and more physical frontline and Bon Bon began to shrink away.
It was the exact scenario that many people had been warning against when the Spurs were racking up Ws in the regular season while not giving more time to a Tim/Tiago pairing when Pop had EVERY opportunity to do so last year. The same is happening this year. Pop's been great at managing minutes and the rotation but his failure once again to integrate a Tiago/Tim lineup is absolutely inexcusable.
I honestly can't understand how Popfans can still make the same old excuses for Pop not playing Tiago after witnessing the Memphis series last year.
No, I pointed out he was bad defensively. Unfortunately, so were all the other options. There was not a savior to be found.
You're saying Tiago could not have helped out defensively against MEM if he had been given time throughout the regular season?
I've got tons of numbers at my disposal proving he wasn't awful, offensively. You've got "because I said so."
Forgive me if your argument doesn't blow me away.
They have Gay back but are lacking in quality depth like they were last year. Gay is overrated anyway. His numbers are down across the board and he was pretty bad against the Spurs in the games he's played against them.
You're wrong, the arguments have already been made.
Damn...roy is going all z0sa on us.
That's a whole different argument. I'm analyzing the things that did happen, you're talking hypotheticals. Most people here, including me, wanted Tiago to play more last year and this year. Pop's not gonna listen to us.
As I've said, ad nauseam, Bonner isn't the guy to blame for Tiago's pine time. The guy to bench should be Blair (and Dice last year).
Tiago Splitter says hi from the bench. Ian Mahinmi says hi from the NBA finals.
I don't understand why Bonner is your sole scapegoat for this? Why not Blair? Why not Dice last year? They also shared plenty of court time with Tim and they were also the reasons people thought the team was weak in the frontcourt.
Why did Pop pull the it's not fair to team nonsense last season. It seems like he has something personal against Splitter. Like you said guys have been able to come in and start over the existing players.
First of all, the conversation seems to be about Bonner. Second, you aren't posting advanced stats about how great Dice and Blair were. Third, Dice is gone. Fourth, Bonner is the one that Pop started for a season and still plays too much, particularly as a big off the bench in favor of a better player.
BTW, can someone refresh my memory on this whole "not fair to the team" thing that Pop supposedly said? This quote becomes more legendary the more it's recited.
The difference between Tiago and Bonner in the playoffs last year was 1.5 points per 100 possessions. As I recall, the Spurs lost the three games at Memphis by a lot more than 1.5 points each.
Also, the difference between Bonner and Tiago offensively was more than 1.5 points per 100 possessions (try 5.2) and NOT in the direction that favors your argument, pal.
As hard as it is for you to accept, Tiago was not the second coming of Bill Russell during his 50 playoff minutes last year.
How come we never had this discussion about Horry but we have this debate over his replacement, Bonner? I think part of it is because Horry was able to affect the game in more ways than one. He wasn't just a 3pt specialist. Also stats couldn't always fully reflect his impact on a game.
I like Green, but I have no idea why he continues to start either. This was the perfect game to re-insert Ginobili into the starting lineup in perpetuity. They had two days off, they had a practice, yet Green, arguably the worst perimeter rotation player, continues to start. It makes no sense.
As far as Diaw's rebounding, that was my biggest concern with signing him initially. But so far, he's pulling down roughly 19% of defensive rebounds. He was at roughly 17% with the Bobcats, but even if he regresses to that, he'd still be better than Blair and Bonner. Blair is still an elite offensive rebounder, but that's not enough of a reason to continue to play him over Diaw. This is an ultra efficient and explosive offense as is. The extra possessions are a luxury, not a necessity.
Seriously?
Wasn't this about proving a point to RC and justifying the Bonner contract at the same time?
Bonner is not a starter, not that it matters either way. My point is when critics pointed to the Spurs weakness in the frontcourt last year, they weren't specifically talking about Bonner. They were talking about all the C-PFs on the team as a whole. And they were right, because in the playoffs they were all poor.
The difference is Bonner (and to a degree, Splitter) are the only ones who played at their regular season level offensively. The other three suffered at both ends.
Blair got benched last year by Pop. Pop doesn't have the man crush on Blair that he has for Bonner. Blair has low BBIQ and will ultimately be benched by Pop, i have no worries about that.
Dice was 37 years old going up against a prime Z-Bo and Marc Gasol and is also a proven playoff performer/defender.
Matt Bonner was getting his pushed in by Darrell Arthur on one end, while passing up open shots when guards closed out on him at the other end. He was getting time over a Euroleague MVP and solid defensive presence in Tiago. Tiago has already proven this season that with extended time, he is unquestionably the 2nd best big on the team.
Matt Bonner wasn't the sole reason why they lost but it's laughable that he's still getting significant mins. over Splitter. I've never fully blamed Bonner because he is what he is, a one trick pony in the NBA who can't even do that when it counts. Pop has always deserved the most blame for the Bonner situation and it's not even close.
Ginobili needs to start. He's capable of going on 10-0 runs by himself. No need to get down or even and then allow him to do his magic.
You know, 'pal', it's not my fault you picked a ing re ed argument to try to defend, and that you continue to defy what everyone saw with their own eyes by quoting bad stats and worse hypberbole (lol Bill Russell). It's far further from hyperbole to say that Tiago was the best player for the Spurs against Memphis despite not having any run with the team. Mahinmi and Splitter would both have been a thousand times better against the Grizzlies' front line. There's simply not any way you don't know this. Splitter's value at getting the opposing team into foul trouble was a huge factor in even keeping the series close.
...I don't even...
Agreed. I always admired Horry's versatility and his ability to make big plays. Put simply, he was a player that knew how to win.
For myself, I had assumed that Pop was going to accept Horry's uniqueness and find another strategy. I never dreamed of the Finley/Bonner/Bowen fiasco yet here we are.
Horry was practically the Spurs secret weapon in 2003, as a Laker. He also wasn't of much use in 2006 (check out how little Pop played him against Dallas) or 2008.
Even in 2007, he helped against Denver and Phoenix, but didn't offer much against Utah or Cleveland.
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