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dude they played saturday and now monday
tp tonight did not have to go off since booner was
booner goes for 20 spurs win 99% of time
Timmy has 79 minutes in the last two games, and Tony has 82. I'd like to see Pop limit them to no more than 20 minutes tomorrow night, regardless of the score. To with the streak - don't wear out the horses you're going to have to ride in the playoffs. Let Anderson and Dawson get some minutes, and hope Neal, CoJo, and Green can figure out how to keep the offense moving.
An undefeated Rodeo Road Trip isn't going to make anyone feel any better if we get knocked out of the playoffs early. And it won't make the Championship any better if we win it. Rest 'em. Then kick Denver's ass going into the All-Star break.
dude they played saturday and now monday
tp tonight did not have to go off since booner was
booner goes for 20 spurs win 99% of time
While you may have a point, conserving Tim and Tony's minutes hasn't done for this team in the past 3 seasons come playoff time. In fact, the extreme minute conservation that Pop employed with Timmy last year actually negatively affected his conditioning when he was forced to play 35 mpg in the playoffs.
I just don't see the Spurs having the energy to win tomorrow night in Portland. Duncan has played way over his average minutes the last couple games and being on the road this long is tiring. But who know, I didn't see us winning 11 in a row either.
If Splitter wasn't hurt you could guarantee that Duncan would likely sit tomorrow, without him though I just don't see how that's an option. Maybe Pop will sit both Tony and Tim and tank the game. I really wouldn't mind this if it were to happen.
La is kicking the blazers ass
blazers may just tank and rest their starters
I agree with this to some extent. Plus, this Rodeo trip are not that busy thus far. But knowing Pop, it will not surprise me if he gives Tim a day off tomorrow.
Nonsense. I wouldn't go in with the mindset of keeping their minutes down tomorrow. I'd go in with the mindset of letting the game play itself out and if it's apparent throughout that they're going to have a 50/50 shot to win it, then I'd play them major minutes. However, if it's obvious early that they're going to be hard pressed to win, I'd pull the plug and not go all out for the win.
But this notion that "if they play 20 minutes tomorrow instead of 30, it'll pay off down the road" is nonsense. We witnessed that in last year's playoffs. It didn't matter how much rest they got Duncan and Parker in the regular season, they didn't suddenly go up a level in the playoffs. It didn't help that Duncan's ankle wasn't 100%, but still.
I'm not saying play them 40 mpg. What I'm saying is, get wins when you can, especially with this skeleton crew. Worry more about rationing minutes when Ford, Splitter and Ginobili return. Because at the end of the regular season, whether Duncan's average reads 27 or 29 and Parker's reads 32 or 34 isn't going to make a difference. When you're talking relatively low minute totals like that, that's irrelevant. It's more about how arduous their minutes are than anything. Once (if?) they get healthy, neither of their minutes will be nearly as arduous, in particular Parker's.
Well to be honest it's not really fair to call it nonsense either. There is no way of actually knowing if it matters or not and that is just your opinion. All I know is Tim Duncan hasn't missed more then 7 games in a season since he hit his 30s and that is pretty remarkable. Call it "nonsense" all you want but I'm going to trust Popovich when it comes to limiting minutes because whatever he's done has worked in that regard.But this notion that "if they play 20 minutes tomorrow instead of 30, it'll pay off down the road" is nonsense. We witnessed that in last year's playoffs.
Portland is having a very bad night... they are going to be hungry tomorrow
I don't see a win happening tomorrow night healthy or not and with the minutes Tim has been playing I wouldn't mind giving him and tony the night off and chalking the game up as a L. This team can't afford for Duncan to go down. Manu is one thing, Duncan is completely different. JMO
Spurs offense is non-existent without Parker right now. If we plan on winning were going to have to continue to play him as much as possible. We closed out the 3rd the way we did because of Parker. It was clear that the Jazz' defensive game plan coming out of halftime was to stay put on shooters but all that changed when Parker scored on consecutive possessions. I just don't see how this team stays afloat with resting Parker for an extended period of time with Splitter out.
Duncan could probably benefit from sitting, his post game was hard to watch today. Throwing the ball into him the first 6 minutes of the 3rd quarter was why we couldn't score.
If we sit both were just going to have to pray motion offense works with Green/Neal/Anderson/Bonner/Blair and gives us an opportunity to compete. But TBH I've kind of made peace with losing the next 3 games. But I thought today's game was a must win because Utah is that bad. Like DPG mentioned earlier, we played well enough on the RRT to swallow some losses.
You're right, it's more than fair. I'm not advocating playing them 36 or 38 mpg, but do you really think guys in the condition they're in can't play 1-2 more minutes over the average Pop would probably ideally like to have them at (considering how low their averages are to begin with, relatively speaking) and that that would somehow make a difference in the playoffs? And don't you think Duncan and luck deserve a lot of the credit for his being so durable?
I don't have a problem limiting minutes in certain situations as a previous poster described. If it's a blowout in one direction or another, then sure, rest the stars. But if its a close game you need to play them heavy minutes to try and get the win. If you are unwilling to do that then you might as well leave em out of the game altogether.
The bottom line is that yes, the spurs should be careful about minutes when they can and not needlessly expose the star players to heavy minutes in blowouts, and yes, it might be prudent to rest Duncan or Manu on an occasional back to back if they are feeling tired. But ultimately, I think its actually beneficial to play around 32-35 minutes a game for these guys because it allows them a rhythm and the conditioning they need to be in top form when the playoffs roll around. Injuries have happened for many seasons now and rationing minutes hasn't stopped that. I think at this point we just have to hope for the best in that regard.
I'm definitely with you on some of your thinking. There were times where I think Duncan should have came in a few minutes earlier, etc. It's just impossible to gauge if these extra minutes here and there actually effect his health in the long run and I don't really feel like finding out. He's been very durable his whole career and even since he's gotten up in age and I don't see why anyone would want to mess with what's been working. (knock on wood)
Only to Manu does this really apply. Like mentioned above Duncan has continued to be very durable even after hitting his 30s, even with all those playoff minutes under his belt.
Duncan went down last year at the end of the season with an ankle sprain and missed 4 games. Who's to say if he was playing more minutes or if Popovich wasn't limiting his minutes all season that he wouldn't have missed 4 weeks on that same sprain? It's really impossible to say but I don't really see the benefits in changing whats been working for Duncan regarding his minutes, even if it costs us some games.
i expect pop not to play tim and tony; then if the spurs are down by only 7-8 at halftime, play them heavily the rest of the game. however, chances are POR won't embarrass itself at home and blow up the game.
But that's just it, it hasn't been working with regards to the playoffs. Blame injuries, match-ups, etc., all you like. The reality is, Duncan hasn't gone up a level in the past two playoffs, despite playing career low minutes during the regular season. That's why I'm saying, when you're talking about high twenties or right at thirty minutes, it doesn't really matter what his average ends up being, so long as it's in that range. He's not suddenly going to be spry in the playoffs if he averages 27 in the regular season and worn out if he averages 29.
At his age, what he needs is proper help on both ends (which they've failed to provide him with for the most part) and he probably could use the odd game off. He does needs his minutes managed too, but micro managing is unnecessary. I also think it's foolish to play him roughly 28 mpg in the regular season, then expect him to be able to handle 36 mpg in the playoffs. They've got to gradually build him up.
Spurs just have to relentlessly attack in the first half and try to put them away early. If Parker is in full attack mode, and at least two other players "come along for the ride," Parker and Duncan should be able to relax in the second half.
I think it's more important to have a good rhythm and win the right way going into the playoffs. That means winning with defense, rebounding, and executing on offense.
It could still be a lot worse.
I agree that he doesn't have the proper help down low. That's on the FO.
Lamarcus Aldridge is fine and playing. He missed like 1 game with that injury.
I agree completely. He needs help not less minutes. If he has help they don't have to rely on him so much.
I don't agree with giving up on games so easily. Sometimes you might do it but it really shouldn't be a habit because otherwise you're creating a soft-minded team that won't be able to play their way out of adversity. You're going to face adversity in the playoffs and need to be able to play out of it. In some ways it's better to have a season where you have a lot of close games versus one where you win easily or lose easily.
Portland didn't have tonight off either; most of their starters played around 30+ minutes. Play everyone tomorrow and see what happens: if the game is close at the half, keep them going, but if its a blowout, then throw in the towe. The team did it's job this roadtrip, so losing the last two is more than acceptable.
I agree with this. Tim has been doing better with more minutes (cue the duh factor) and I don't mean in stats alone. He's more active. Being treated like a geriatric case way too early didn't to him a lot of good tbh.
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