Lonnie is so quick it is startling. I am tempted to want to see Lonnie and DJ together just for the speed. But I think White would be a better runningmate for Lonnie.
Lonnie played great defense on Middleton. Offensively he was iffy, getting blocked at the rim, etc. but that will change with more playing time. His main task will be to defend and he did that well. It will take some time until he finds his offensive role with the starters, but he will get there
Lonnie is so quick it is startling. I am tempted to want to see Lonnie and DJ together just for the speed. But I think White would be a better runningmate for Lonnie.
With Walker starting the only other lineup change I'd consider is to use KJ or Carroll as the backup SF. With Mills/Forbes/Gay on the bench you don't really need a great shooter at the 3.
A good team can have one of the Forbes/Mills/Beli trio in the rotation. Having two caps the ceiling at a low playoff seed, and all three is just a recipe for disaster.
We need more Keldon Johnson in the rotation .... Beli / Forbes / and Mills together is gonna kill any momentum or chances of winning any games
Walker looks like a bus coming at you in full speed, the kid is so strong and nimble at the same time. Seriously he’s like a smaller Lebron. I’m so hyped with his speed and brawn, I didn’t realize he had. Just need to finish those with a dunk, never mind the finger roll.
“He adds something to the group that we don’t really have”. You got that right... DEFENSE
Yup I think Walker is staying...
Really tough choices when Murray returns ... but we have to find a way to avoid playing Forbes/Mills/Belli (even only two of those) together ... but as Carroll will not enter the rotation and Pop refuses to play all three young guys 30 minutes it just does not seem possible
He's like 66 185lbs... ????
Shut up and step aside, old man.
fg 3/12 and 0/3 3pt... pop are u high??
You can certainly play solid basketball, and miss your shots. He had a couple of bad decisions, and was blocked at the rim a couple times, but otherwise looked fundamentally sound, especially on the defensive end. And since Pop in the past has been critical of Lonnie for his effort and defensive play, things which are unrelated to his scoring prowess which is plainly visible, it makes sense that he'd also praise him over things other than scoring.
At the end of the day, if Lonnie goes on to start the majority/every game for the season onwards, I could see the strategy that Pop's been using to mentally develop him. He clearly isn't impressed by Lonnie's scoring and is looking for more facets to his game - nobody had him pegged as a good or great defender on draft day, for example, and yet I've been impressed lately with his effort on D and aggressiveness in general. It was always a re ed strategy to begin with, but hey, if it works out for Lonnie...
“He was prepared well,” guard Patty Mills said. “It wasn’t he was necessarily thrown into the fire. (Saturday) was a learning process for him as much as him not playing, or him playing in the G League.
“People don’t understand, all of this is to mold and prepare him as a Spur, and for him to grow into it.”
In his first four games with at least 20 minutes of playing time before Saturday, Walker averaged 17.5 points and made 25 of 43 shots.
That included a breathtaking breakout performance in the Spurs’ 135-133 overtime victory of Houston on Dec. 16, in which Walker made play after play on the way to a career-best 28 points.
Walker did not quite reach those heights in Milwaukee, but turned in a night full of what Popovich called “good, solid basketball.”
Walker said he feels like a better player than he was even a month ago.
“My defense is really improving,” he said. “I’m staying in front of a lot of players, doing what I need to do and following the game plan. Offensively, it’s just being aggressive and making smart plays. I’m doing things the way Coach expects me to do it.”
Popovich’s explanation for how Walker came to find his first career NBA start was simple enough.
He earned it.
“He’s played smarter and smarter every game,” Popovich said.
It is too soon to say that Walker has arrived as an NBA starter, but he is arriving.
And maybe that is a moment worthy of fireworks after all.
“Everything is starting to go the way it’s supposed to go,” Walker said. “I’m only going to get better from here.”
I like this kid’s at ude about earning his right to play, learning defense is the key. Chip has work ahead to get his outside shot. He nails that, it opens his game more. Kawhi 2.0 anyone?
His outside shot is good already. He's a better shooter than White and has great shooting form
Quick, someone hide this from Mugen
Great to see Lonnie's being positive about his lack of playing time and development. Now that it looks like he's earned Pop's trust as a starter, he needs to show up to to secure those minutes. Of course, Forbes and Marco never had to show up for , but alas...
Maybe we were too hard on the old man. Maybe he hasn't lost it and maybe he was on some CIA Pop with Lonnie. He did play him in the 4th with starters in the last preseason game which suggests he had plans for Lonnie to contribute this year, tbf.
It did directly lead to the current record and it was torture watching inelli get his minutes, but like timvp said in the grand scheme of things using half a season to mold him is a pretty small amount of time. Maybe this was Pop's way of preparing him, tbh.
Now he just has to kick his son Forms to the curb, tbh.
We have sh!t left over to come off the bench, but, yeah, I loved it too.
Having Murray back will help, and perhaps Pop will discover that he signed Demarre Carroll in the off-season and work him into the bench unit. Less Forbes and Belli, and more White/Murray and Carroll would help the bench unit I think.
I hope Pop sticks with it because Walker should absolutely be starting.
Not a chance. Pop has coached the team to a 14 - 20 record (with the roster he had a primary role in creating.) He's earned every insult.
Why did Pop leave Lonnie on the bench so long this season, and start Forbes? Because Pop is stupid.
Man don't fall for the sniffer take. This ain't the 60-win season Spurs where you could afford to do this because they would blow out most teams anyway, this team literally couldn't win games cause Pop didn't play the kid
Well, let's see if this is the beginning of LW4's opportunity to be in the starting lineup from here on out in the NBA/Spurs, or if Pop had just put him in for the Bucks game due to matchup issues, plus DJ being out. We will see what happens tonight when they play part dux of this away/home back-to-back, & Murray being back in the SL. Haven't heard yet if he'll be in the starting lineup for tonight's game or not, but if he is, hopefully he will have a better game, being a home game & all, which will hopefully make him feel at ease & more comfortable. GSG!!!
To be fair, I see it as the exact opposite situation: Pop wouldn't take the luxury of sitting a valuable contribution piece if he had a championship contending roster, but with our current squad (where contention is laughably far away) he can take the long road on development and sit Lonnie however games he sees fit, in order to develop him as a player, since the stakes are much lower.
Of course, this all hinges on Pop having actually planned out the development cycle of Lonnie. It all seems to be going according to some sort of plan... Let's see who starts tonight and whether it was intentional. I think it's undeniable that Lonnie has another drive and intensity to his game that wasn't there the first times he played with the Spurs, especially on defense. Hoping a big performance from him tonight or next game cements his status.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)