He looked confident out there.
And nice pass from Manu
He looked confident out there.
And nice pass from Manu
Tiago Splitter has blue collar first night in the NBA, expect more of that
Kurt Helin
After seemingly years of hype, Tiago Splitter got a very cold reception to the NBA.
He was trying to cover Blake Griffin on the right low block when Griffin put a lighting-quick spin move on him, went baseline and threw down a monster dunk that brought the crowd to its feet.
There’s talent in Europe, but not the explosive athletes you see nightly in the NBA like Griffin. It was a fine how-do-you-do.
If Splitter did not come in as a hyped European player you would have said he had a solid first game. A workman like game. He had a dunk to get his first basket (assist from Many Ginobili), finished with two points, two rebounds and a +4 in 10 minutes. Some will expect more, but Gregg Popovich warned against that.
“It’s kind of funny how this all evolves,” Popovich said. “Everybody knows he’s a pretty good player. He was an MVP in Europe and they won this and they won that and he’s experienced. Then all of a sudden it got into, ‘well, you got another big guy who can step out and shoot those threes.’ Well, this kid never shot a three in his life. Where did all this come from?
“This isn’t the next Tim Duncan, this is a blue collar guy who is a good rebounder, a good defender, high quality worker, a blue collar guy. This isn’t a throw him the ball and go score 24 tonight.”
Splitter did some nice things. He fought Griffin for a rebound and ended up with a tie ball. He ran floor well on defense with DeAndre Jordan. He got the ball in the post and a smart kickout to Ginobili in the corner, who whipped it on to Gary Neal for a three.
It was a solid, blue collar performance. And if the Spurs can get that consistently they will be much better off for it.
Who WROTE this?
ah kurt helin, duh!
I would look under the le where it says
BY Stephen Kersey
sorry... but no...I would look under the le where it says
BY Stephen Kersey
Alright its where it says Kurt Helin![]()
Pops Mensa-Bonsu dunked and he was the next Robinson. Splitter dunked last night so he is the next Abdul-Jabbar.
I haven't seen any overhyping about last night. He's been called solid, and he's been called "what he was supposed to be."
When I saw him in the Brazil-U.S game over the Summer, I was drooling over the thought of him and Manu running pick-n-roll...DEADLY.
i think he did great! and when i say great i dont mean kevin durant scoring non stop. i mean he did all the dirty work timmy used to do when he was young (of course timmy was explosive on offense/defense as well) but for what this team needs tiago plugged a leak thats been going on for some time.. interior D baby
Unless I'm mistaken, Kurt seems to be taking some artistic license. Because as I recall, Tiago's second defensive possession, the first being a good case of position D at the rim upon a Bledsoe drive (IIRC), Griffin had the ball on the right block with his back to the basket and made a of spin move for a layup.
Eric Gordon was the dude dunkin' in peoples' mugs.
copy paste much?
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