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No, he won't give it up. Nor should he. The Spurs are one of the better small ball teams in the league.
Ah, small ball. Whether bred out of a wine-induced fantasy or simply out of necessity, Spurs fans have had to periodically cringe over the past couple years as in the heart of the game, Pop swapped Duncan to center and replaced the four with players who should never be respectfully considered fours...namely, Michael Finley or *gulp* Ime Udoka.
I'm not sure exactly when this experiment was first conducted, or how Pop got the notion that it was a great idea, but for some reason I remember it with mostly bad results. Such as Nowitzki completely ripping apart the smaller wing players, or any tandem of taller guys easily owning the boards.
Granted, it's been a while since the Spurs have had an athletic big man to step in at center. When his other options included bigman bomber Bonner, and Kurt Thomas and Fab Oberto fresh off the Bingo circuit, I guess Pop decided he'd rather go with talent and experience over size. Unfortunately, players like Finley were no longer fast or athletic enough to exploit the size mismatch, but they were still small enough to get owned by it.
Now, the Spurs have re-hauled their big man lineup. Instead of Kurt Thomas, Fabricio Oberto, and Drew Gooden, they've got Antonio McDyess, DeJuan Blair, and Theo Ratliff (plus Bonner and Mahinmi still waiting in the wings). All three of these guys should be able to shore up the rebounding front and give the coach viable options at the four and five. However, none of them are particularly agile or athletic, and could struggle in the same aspects the last candidates did.
Do you think Pop will go back to his small ball ways (perhaps a new and improved small ball lineup of Parker/Mason/Ginobili/Jefferson/Duncan?) or will the upgrades in the front line allow him to leave that card up his sleeve?
No, he won't give it up. Nor should he. The Spurs are one of the better small ball teams in the league.
Pop will always have something up his sleeve. Small ball is a viable option against some of the fast paced teams in the league...and has been more effective than not in the past...AE: Suns, Warriors, Hornets and in some cases Lakers.
I wouldn't doubt a combination of Parker, Ginobilli, Jefferson, Hill and Blair or Haislip wouldn't be better than the player options they've had in the past to run such a scheme.
We'll see. It's going to be fun to watch how all this develops.
Personally, I thought that was the reason for bringing in Haislip.
Parker, Manu, Haislip, RJ, and Blair could do some damage on offense. Or for defense, make it Hill, Bogans, Williams/Hairston, RJ, Duncan.
And as far as Blair not being athletic, uh.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSkGqewiSqA
This team is being assembled to run with different styles of basketball. That is why the Spurs are loading up at the 5 and 3 spots.
Yea I agree, I think we will see it a little more often worth our current roster than in the past. I also think it will be more effective than in the past.
it makes me sad that youre a spurs fan
Duncan
RJ
Manu
Mason/Hill
Parker
Tell me that wont be a lineup we see this season.. I think with RJ @ the 4 it might be a legitimate lineup too depending on matchups. Previously when we have gone small its been Duncan and a bunch of SG's at least RJ is a legitimate 3.
PG - Parker/Hill/Williams
SG - Manu/Mason/Bogans
SF - RJ/Finley/Haislip
PF - Duncan/Blair/Bonner
C - McDyess/Ratliff/Mahinmi
^^the dude ahead of you said RJs playing power forward asshole
Interesting. Let me check the depth chart again.
PG - Parker/Hill/Williams
SG - Manu/Mason/Bogans
SF - RJ/Finley/Haislip
PF - Duncan/Blair/Bonner
C - McDyess/Ratliff/Mahinmi
Nope, RJ's a small forward.
hes an original member with more posts, his made up lineups are more reliable
Good for him.
Don't make me separate you two.
I'm not the one who chose to play Finley at the four: Pop was. Obviously, Jefferson is a small forward, but I would not be surprised to see him having to make the same stretch.
we've seen it all, we saw manu hobble around and lose playoff series for, we saw horry be the bigman in small ball, 2006 vs the mavs he caved and his last resort was small ball, nothing pop does would surprise me, the man is arrogant and often puts his ego above the team, yes hes a great coach, but nobody can explain the stupid he has done
I wouldn't either. There are going to be a lot of opportunities for the Spurs to go small and create mistmatches. Fortunately this year the upgrades to the bigs mean that the Spurs won't be stuck having to stick with smallball against better rebounding teams because that's the only lineup that can score enough points to keep up. The Spurs roster this year is much improved because they have more options on what styles they can play. Smallball is still one of them.
Don't make me separate you two.
I'm not the one who chose to play Finley at the four: Pop was. Obviously, Jefferson is a small forward, but I would not be surprised to see him having to make the same stretch.
I seem to remember the "small-ball" strategy first rearing its head during the ill-fated 2006 WCSF versus the Mavs.
The Spurs are known for being able to play multiple ways, whether it be a grind-it-out slugfest with the likes of the Pistons or a run-and-gun shootfest vs. the Suns. The game is basketball and you need to have the flexibility to matchup against the different teams and I hink this team now has the talent to do so.
When the Mavs run out a lineup like this:
Kidd
Terry/Barea
Howard
Marion
Nowitski
I could definitely see us running small ball. For better or worse, Pop likes to match up with the other team's lineups. And the Mavs can field a pretty good one.
Didn't work against the mavs in 06, worked just fine against the suns in 07. It all depends on the matchup.
If Pop ever starts Matt Bonner at PF or play Michael Finley at PF again he really does deserve to get fired.
Small ball sucks for the spurs. The spurs can play small ball against a certain group of teams. None of which are contenders though. I'd figure Pop would know that. I;m sure he realizes that to beat the legit teams ( NOT THE SUNS ) he will have to have 2 or more legit bigs. Lakers - Gasol/Bynum/Odom Cavs - Oneal/Varejo/Ilgauskas Celtics - Garnett/Wallace/Perkins. All the good teams have 2 bigs. The only way small ball will work is if haislip pans out. Other than that small ball will mean the usual 1 - getting posted up 2 - the rim not being defended = no rebounds / layups for the other team.
Small ball Lineup
Pg - Parker
Sg - Manu ( could be Hill )
SF - RJ ( could be Manu/Mason there )
PF - Haislip ( he is 6-10 and mobile/Athletic )
C - Duncan ( thats his position anyway )
^^ How is this small ball??
Mini-ball !!!!! Do it pop
Well thats why the 2-3 positions are interchangable with guards. Also when you say small ball I think of it being done cause of the matchup problems the spurs have faced in the past. The Nowitzki/Odom matchup situations. Playing small ball Doesn't have to mean having four 6-5 and under guys on the court it with a 7-0 footer. It could mean having players go a position higher than what their accustomed to. Example Manu playing the 3 or Hill playing the 2 or better yet When Danny Ferry ( height 6-10 ) would start at SF and then play PF next to Tim/David it would not affect the game in a bad way but could still be consider small ball since Ferry's natural position was SF although he was 6-10. Haislip is SF/PF that is 6-10 so he has the height/athleticism/mobility to guard the Odoms in the league at PF and can also give pop an added option to play big ball with him at the SF position.
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