I was thinking of CJ taking some of Parker or Manu's minutes. He's a better ball handler than Patty.
Cojo and Manu is an awful backcourt pairing IMO... Cojo just not aggressive enough. Maybe playing at home it would be different, but it's hard to tell. I feel he hasn't even earned respect from the refs at this point.
I was thinking of CJ taking some of Parker or Manu's minutes. He's a better ball handler than Patty.
Pop is going to win or lose with Tony and Manu's 20mpg. We knew that going in, that's what we gonna have to live with.
Manu is great when the Spurs are behind but he has no notion of protecting the ball or making a safe play and should not be in when the Spurs are in the lead.
I don't have confidence inManu in late game situations anymore. The more dire the situation is, the more he tries to force things.
Not really true. See Game 3 for reference. He still had his 2 TOs or whatever it was, but he ran the offense masterfully and we turned a solid lead into a blowout.
I think what Pop did today is probably what he'll have to do. One TO, okay... back to back TOs, get the hook...
He was still out there to rebound Danny's FT miss, so you know, Pop is still going to play him in those tight situations.
It's not lucky if that player is prone to those kind of mistakes. Back in the mid 2000s Spurs v. Suns series, STAT would post 34 & 14 on the Spurs before turning the ball over, or having an offensive interference call against him, or leave the bench during an altercation. That guy's idiocy was a reliable advantage for the Spurs. Same here. Spurs want smart players for a reason.
Seems to come up big in big games, like the Game 4 @ Mavs game winning 3 and the monster 25 pt game OKC in game 6.
Acorner 3, the turnaround jumper over Griffin and the ridiculous turnaround jumper to beat the buzzer.
8 points, 3 rebounds, and a late steal in 10 forth quarter minutes.
I expect Manu to have a vintage game, coming off an 18 min night and a close out game in front of the home crowd
Manu's sloppy, careless turnovers - in crunch time/critical situations, no less. Why?
Surely as a pro he must recognize this as a weakness in his own game, and take corrective steps.
But he can't or won't, and that's why at this stage in his career, he cannot be trusted in critical situations. Kudo to Pops for recognizing that.
In this game at least.
Two of those turnovers were clearly fouls that caused Manu to cough the ball up (or otherwise fail to complete his intended pass).
Pop sitting Mills is killing me!!! What is Pop Thinking??? Mills drains 3's consistently!!!
You didn't trust him last season?
It's lucky 'cause if Jordan would have just stayed still we probably lose that game and the series. I would rather not have to depend on such incredible mistakes to win games and last night if we would have played the guys that were playing better we shouldn't have needed of DeMonkey.
why are you lumping manu with tony and tiago? the older manu has significantly better raw and advanced stats (including a solid 18.3 PER, above league average), makes less than either and has a smaller role than either. sure, he's old and several notches below his peak performance, but nowhere near the liability tony and tiago have been this series.
When a conference is as tough as the WCF is, you are going to have to have luck to win sometimes. The team that makes the least mental mistakes wins. Blake coughing up the ball in game 2. Mental Mistake. Jordan's tip in over the cylinder, Mental Mistake. Spurs missing FTs down the stretch and Pop pulling Duncan on the last two plays that resulted in two Off rebounds and two 3's off those rebounds, Mental Mistakes. Tim missing an easy layup and missing an easy put back, Mental Mistake. You can tell he knew it when he pounded the ground. Something Duncan hardly ever does. Plays like these separate champions from contenders.
Spurs deserved to win both games. They made the fewest mental mistakes and won.
You can say that again.
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