Oh yeah, one more thing:
While he's still hobbling down the stretch, either:
1. Sit Manu out altogether until Duncan gets back.
or
2. Sit him on one of the games in the back to backs (play him against the better team).
Sorry I was on the road all week for business (with no internet access), so I have to contribute belatedly to the post-loss meltdown
Yeah, I know we have a better team, but I was struck by the realization the other night that a guy who hasn't played for our team in over two years knows all our plays still, forwards and back (and their weaknesses).
I don't know what's more frustrating, the fact that after being gone all this time Avery still knows our entire playbook, or that our coach was incapable of coming up with something different on his markerboard (or at halftime) while Avery's drawing up cute little end of quarter plays to get his team easy buckets.
So with all that, I have to say I hope we don't play _allas in the playoffs, because we just might, with Pop's offensive inep ude, help them put the D back in there.
DISCLAIMER FOR THE SMALL MINDS: This is not a fire Pop rant, merely the fact that once again, his lack of offensive creativy when it matters is the biggest threat (outside of no Duncan) to our le hopes.
Flame away.
Oh yeah, one more thing:
While he's still hobbling down the stretch, either:
1. Sit Manu out altogether until Duncan gets back.
or
2. Sit him on one of the games in the back to backs (play him against the better team).
Dallas has been increasingly playing better D against all the teams they have played under Avery. It's not just a matter of Avery knowing Pop's offense. Look at how they rank in defensive categories like opponents field goal percentage, defensive rebounding and steals. They will be a touch matchup for any team in the playoffs and are a team that I've been saying for the last month or so has a legitimate shot at knocking off Phoenix.
So though you may be right that they'd be a tough matchup for the Spurs, your reasoning as to why is completely off-base.
You do know that the Spurs didn't run any plays last night, right? This is a common Pop ploy late in the season to make sure the other team doesn't get an advantage in the playoffs.
So the Spurs without Duncan and without calling anything other than basic plays lost. Wow.
How did Mouse get Aggie Hoopsfan's password?
Spurs don't even run the same offense as when Avery was last in black and silver.
I don't deny _allas isn't playing better D, but they made everyone on our team look bad.
Don't tell me we weren't running plays either, I saw Pop standing up calling them out.
This just worries me, because while timvp may be right that we went vanilla, we got treated to the same thing last year when Pop puckered up after losing one to LA, and I'm afraid it's gonna happen again
Or , maybe I just need some sleep. To be continued tomorrow.
Since AHF has moved to Dallas, it was only a matter of time.
Good night.Or , maybe I just need some sleep.
The Spurs were on the second game of a back-to-back, without Duncan and without anything more than pick-and-roll or screen down plays to work with. There was no way they were going to win that.
And that was probably the plan. Don't let them see any of the plays so if they do meet up in the playoffs, you can hit them with some new flavor. The Mavs, on the other hand, let it all hang out.
They're toast if they advance far enough in the playoffs to meet the Spurs.
Sidenote: What happened to all your VBOOKIE money Timvp? LOL. Don't tell me you of all people lost it all! If so, maybe you should take some tips from Ducks![]()
Ok, then how about Mike Bud,Don't tell me we weren't running plays either
he said after the game last night they ran the basic offensive plays and basic defensive plays.
But of course, once again, you know everything thats going on.
Avery is going to teach that team defense if it kills him. Look at what he has already done.
Pop doesnt give a right now. We lose we lose. We win we win. Who cares?
It means little.
Rest up some and be ready to unleash it on them in a couple of weeks.
Sounds like fun.
Screw the limited offense possibilties, timvp. The Spurs couldn't get many open shots due to Dallas defense, and what open shots, layups, FTs, the Spurs got they couldn't hit them, just like last May. Total NBDL bball.
As always happens with these Spurs, when the other team plays defense, hustles, ie, make it a little tough, the Spurs fold up and play like , whether Tim is or isn't playing.
These Spurs aren't going anywhere in the playoffs, with Tim, unless they they get tough, esp on the road.
Having run off 17 straight games last year, the Spurs folded when LA shut down the paint. These Spurs really aren't looking any better equipped for the playoffs.
And don't anybody give me any about hocus-pocus homer "belief" BS. Don't pay attention to me, don't pay attention to the fool's gold of the overall record, watch how the Spurs are playing right now, how they win, how they lose, what tests they pass and fail.
I fully "believe", probably a lot more than others, that the Tim-less Spurs are capable of playing great basketball, but they simply aren't doing it.
couldn't disagree w/ AHF more. The Spurs have stuck it to Dallas 2 times before in the playoffs and that 02-03 Dallas team was the best that the Mavs ever had, including this year. With Tim in the lineup we should beat them with little difficulty.
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LJ gets his vTips from the wrong person.
Yeah well Malik Rose was once a solid contributor to this team too.The Spurs have stuck it to Dallas 2 times before in the playoffs
Look, things in _allas have changed, Avery is teaching them defense.
The crux of my statement is that whenever we play teams we play better defense than, we're in good shape. Run into a team with a comparable defense, and our offense becomes our achilles heel.
I just got a bad feeling the other night watching that game that we're in for the same again this playoff season. When the pucker factor gets high, Pop goes back to his damn security blanket of posting up Duncan all the time, when we should be unleashing our guards on people and running motion.
I'm just saying don't be shocked if it happens again.
Aggie, you're living in Dallas now??? Which part of town?? How do you like it here so far?
Anyhow, this might sound a little crazy, but I think Dallas losing Steve Nash might have been the best thing to happen to them. Having Jason Terry at the point makes them a better defensive team, and now that AJ is at the helm, their defensive focus and intensity has dramatically improved. Dallas just seems to respond better to AJ, something that I never expected. Without a doubt, Dallas is a threat in the playoffs, and they'll be a tough out for any team.
Right now, the Spurs must focus on winning their division, so they at least get the number 2 seed, but Dallas is not that far behind them. 4 games in the loss column, right?
The _allas improvement has nothing to do with Nash and everything to do with getting rid of a coach who thought defense was a bad word.
I'm in Plano, working for a software company. It's good so far, but that's hard to base things on - I've been on the road for work more than I've been "home" in Big D so far
(not that I'm complaining, I get lots more pay when I'm on the road and I don't have to hear the nauseating sports news about the Mavs).
Agreed. The Suns this year are the Mavs of three years ago. Nash will break down and they'll lose in the playoffs. Nellie was great at getting down on or getting rid of anyone who didn't score, like Mantis and Danny Fortson, respectively. AJ understands the value of role players, even though there are precious few role players to be found on the Mavs roster. It's also possible that the Mavs are responding to the coaching change more than the fact that AJ is a brilliant coach. We'll see how he does once the "new" wears off.
Our offense was terrible on Thursday because Manu, Parker and Bowen did not seem to realize that Erick Dampier is capable of blocking shots, particularly weak layup attempts. When we play Dallas in the Playoffs, Duncan is going to have to work the low post and get Damp in foul trouble. Otherwise, we will have to rely more on the outside shot.
I remember telling him the EXACT same thing!!![]()
They were weak, weren't they? Most decent big men would have swatted some of those attempts the Spurs brought in. It's possible the Spurs knew they were probably going to lose and shut it down once it started to look grim.
After relying on the outside shot last year against the Lakers, let's hope they do their job on the inside. If Parker catches another case of the tentatives, they could be in trouble, too.
Well I've been on the road so far for the company more than I've been in _allasSince AHF has moved to Dallas, it was only a matter of time.
I still love the Spurs and hate the Mavs, scenes like Thursday night just bring back the nightmares of last year's playoffs.
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