Reply With Quote
your team won 67 games and lost to a team that won 47 games.GSW got in because your team chose to rest their starters on the final day of the season.
Had a 2-0 in the NBA Finals but lost 4 straight games.
Tim is probably still trying to recover his rhythm after getting elbowed in the chest. That's a painful and uncomfortable place to catch a hard elbow.
your team won 67 games and lost to a team that won 47 games.GSW got in because your team chose to rest their starters on the final day of the season.
Had a 2-0 in the NBA Finals but lost 4 straight games.
Good take Bruno. Thanks for the hard work.
I've been wanting the Spurs to go after a starting power forward even when the Duncan/Splitter combo was putting up great numbers. It's probably not worth it to give up a rotation player to acquire one. I think they'll get better, but if not, Diaw is playing well enough that starting him may be a good option. If Ayres can get his shot back, he should be able to split time with Bonner as the fourth big next to Splitter for the second unit.
Still not a fan of Belinelli. I think he fits in fine enough, but I still don't trust him. In general, I question the increase in numbers as the Spurs in general have been dominating teams. We'll see if the numbers hold up. But it's encouraging that he at least seems like he can hold down a rotation spot.
I'm expecting...
Parker-20ppg
Duncan-15ppg
Leonard-13ppg
Ginobili-11.5 ppg
Diaw-10.5 ppg
Belineli-9 ppg
Splitter-8.5 ppg
Green-8.5 ppg
Duncan will take a back seat while the Spurs further diversify their offensive attack. Any one of those players are capable of leading the team in scoring on any given night. His minutes will also drop back down to about 27 a night instead of the 30 he player per game last season.
I don't pay for league pass just to watch the Spurs, stupid...I pay for it to watch the NBA. I watch games almost every damn night. Andciting international matches...that doesn't mean in NBA.
Teams gave up on him...holy ...let me count out the fail in this one...
GS...horrible, Don Nelson coached team
Raptors...nothing else needs to be said
Hornets...they re-signed him to the QO, then he left for Chicago in free agency because they are good NO is a dumpster fire
Bulls...signed him as a free agent and he proceeded to become one of their most clutch players(several game winners and a huge game 7 performance against the Nets)
He left the Bulls in free agency and by his own admission took less money to play with the Spurs.
So once again, there is no end to your reaching. It's getting embarrassing now.
When the Spurs offense struggles, that's when they should initiate "Post attack" aka Cream Shake/Kawhi So Serious; give the ball to Diaw and/or Kawhi in the post and let them go to work.
yeah "nothing else needs to be said" indeed proves your theories
I don't pay for league pass just to watch the Spurs, stupid...I pay for it to watch the NBA. I watch games almost every damn night. And
Teams gave up on him...holy ...let me count out the fail in this one...
GS...horrible, Don Nelson coached team
Raptors...nothing else needs to be said
Hornets...they re-signed him to the QO, then he left for Chicago in free agency because NO is a dumpster fire
Bulls...signed him as a free agent and he proceeded to become one of their most clutch players(several game winners and a huge game 7 performance against the Nets)
He left the Bulls in free agency and by his own admission took less money to play with the Spurs.
So once again, there is no end to your reaching. It's getting embarrassing now.
if anything, it proves that he's a ty player even further since he couldn't even stand out in a ty team.. and
Good read OP.
I agree about Diaw. I have noticed several games ago that Diaw was taking shots much quicker and it's been paying off. Looks like all he needed was some confidence. Speaking of contract year though, I thought they already just gave him a deal. Is it already expiring?
As for Duncan, in the offseason I was saying I suspected Duncan would tail off this year after being demoralized with the loss last season. He worked his ass off all year, carrying the team and expecting to be rewarded with a le, yet due to cir stances mostly out of his control, we lost. We're probably seeing the residual effects of depression or PTSD for Timmy over the Finals last year. And no I'm not kidding.
It should wear off as the season goes on, but I wouldn't be surprised if he tails off a bit mid-season too even if he improves sooner than later.
He seems mostly fine physically though outside of that dip elbowing him at the beginning of the season, and some slightly noticable energy problems. He seems to get tired a lot quicker than he did last year.
Regardless, I don't think going away from Duncan is going to lead to anything positive. We did that in 2011 and got knocked out in the first round. We have to get something out of the frontcourt because that will be our most reliable source of scoring in the postseason when the more jittery players keep clanking their jumpers.
Thanks Bruno.
another great thing is parker has not played the 4 quarter 4 games if I rember what Sean said last night against the jazz
it might have been three games
yeah "nothing else needs to be said" indeed proves your theories
if anything, it proves that he's a ty player even further since he couldn't even stand out in a ty team.. and
So now we go from "all those teams giving up on him" to "Chicago gave up on him." Your goalpost moves just never end. It's like arguing with my six year old niece.
Chicago let him walk because they were in cap and they didn't want to pay him...the same reason they let Nate Robinson walk. They knew other teams were going to come calling so they moved quickly on Dunleavy. Beli said himself that it was a no-brainer when Pop called him and he gladly took less to play for him and compete for a le. But keep trying to push your unsubstantiated, "they gave up on him" bull .
Awesome read.
The Duncan Splitter thing is especially worrying when they just gave Splitter that big contract for being a great fit more than for his real talent level...
If Tim doesn't come back to his miraculous 2012-13 level then what? That'd mean that the frontcourt is ed... There's no depth as proven with Ayres being the 4th big atm...
Last edited by Baam; 11-16-2013 at 11:29 PM.
I was thinking about this earlier (part of the reason I included the game # in the thread le), we should do this every 10 games to re-examine the team.
Perhaps in the next edition of random thoughts you can share some insight about Leonard. There was talk that this could be Kawhi's breakout season and that he would become a major protagonist, especially on the offensive side. His ppg and FG attempts are up only slightly from last season. It's early in the season so maybe this topic can be revisited when more games have been played.
Tim struggled with his mid range game early in the season last year. He even looked like he was done for a couple of games there. He just needs time to get into his rhythm.
so they booted nate robinson and belinelli while keeping hinrich and signing dumbleavy for more, because they were cap strapped
So now we go from "all those teams giving up on him" to "Chicago gave up on him." Your goalpost moves just never end. It's like arguing with my six year old niece.
Chicago let him walk because they were in cap and they didn't want to pay him...the same reason they let Nate Robinson walk. They knew other teams were going to come calling so they moved quickly on Dunleavy. Beli said himself that it was a no-brainer when Pop called him and he gladly took less to play for him and compete for a le. But keep trying to push your unsubstantiated, "they gave up on him" bull .
What does keeping Hinrich have to do with anything? He's still under contract...and he's an expiring too. you suck at talking basketball.
Let me say it again since you are so ing slow and/or seem to have a super selective memory. Chicago let him walk because they could not afford to keep him...period. They signed Dunleavy because they knew this. There were reports that Beli had a lucrative offer from Cleveland but when Pop called he jumped at the chance to be with the Spurs and Manu and took less money because of that. They didn't pay Dunleavy more when they could have kept Beli at the price the Spurs paid.
These are facts, not deflecting. If you want I can get you a link to article with the Cleveland information in it. How about you get me one that details Chicago "giving up" on Beli for any other reason than money?
Ultimately, the answer for the Duncan question is complicated, but the question to ask is pretty simple, tbh..
Duncan is only taking approximately 25% of his shots at the rim, which is by far the lowest off his career and 10% less than he did last year, which is a significant disparity for a high-usage player, tbh..his shooting % at the rim is concerning compared to last season, though, obviously..
However, the larger issue is obviously the jump shot..46% of Duncan's shot attempts are jump shots, usually playing with Parker, which is roughly the same number we have come to expect of Duncan 2.0, which is the face-up Tim we've seen since the 2010-2011 season..
He's taking the same attempts, but he's shooting an atrocious 23% from the 15-18 feet area, where 46% of his shot attempts are taken..this number is by far the worst of Duncan's career and almost 20% worse than his % from 2010 to 2013, tbh..
So the question is simple IMO..is it a slump or did Tim's jump shot die in a matter of months?..did the long run to the Finals take a toll on his legs, thus breaking his jump shot?..the answer is complicated, as the sample size is small, but the question is simple..
As a matter of fact, all the questions surrounding Duncan are simple IMO..
Is he only taking 25% of his shots at the rim because he's having trouble with confidence in his ability to score against defenders, so he's settling for worse shots? Or is he conserving his body for the long-run, rather than taking abuse inside, after the Spurs just had an excruciating drive to mid-June?..
Is he shooting 23% from his favorite spot because he's in a slump or is it because his legs/jump shot are done?..
Personally, I won't be concerned unless I don't see improvement in his jump before January, tbh..
These are some really interesting points. I for one think its a combination of a slump (for the jumpshots) and preserving his body (which explains the low % at the rim.)
It is really an odd coincidence that KG who is almost the exact same age as Duncan is having his worst shooting percentage this season too. His jumper has also dropped off a cliff. I haven't watched a lot of Nets games but the few I've seen where Garnett played his looked far worse than Timmy.
Timmy's rebounding drop could be age, exhaustion (from last year's deep run) or the fact that he's spending more time farther from the basket. We'll see as the season progresses.
Extremely solid take, Harlem. His shot looks even flatter than it did last season. That implies a mechanical flaw rather than just a slump. Elliott said it was a matter of will, so that gives us hope that it's more Duncan coasting than anything else. However, if he can no longer elevate enough to make his outside shot consistently, he's in trouble. His ability to shoot from midrange is vital both to his game and to the flow of the offense. If he can no longer spread the floor, he and Splitter cannot play together. So there goes the defense, too.
The reason for the offensive struggles isn't complicated, either IMO..
Duncan's usage rate is 25%, he still plays the 2nd most important role in the offense..if a player within your offense has a 25% usage rate in a big-minute role but is shooting 23% from the spot on the floor where he usually does most of his damage, it's going to kill your offense..
The Spurs offense has been anemic with Tim on the floor, entirely due to his broken jump shot, tbh..
Manu has also been pretty terrible on offense so far this season, tbh, particularly due to his broken 3-point shot..
Spurs are fortunate that they have the best defense in the West, that Mills has been scorching hot, and that an aggressive Boris Diaw is a great complimentary big that creates mismatches, tbh..
If Duncan can make his jump shot at even a few % points lower than his average from the past 3 years, the Spurs offense should rise to at least around 6th-7th, like last year..
Yep, and Garnett is one of my favorite players, I've noticed his struggles as well..he has had a similar drop-off to Tim's this season, but even worse since the spot-up jump shot is his only form of scoring..
The KG situation is also complicated..he has complained about the Nets coaches ing with his minutes too much, which has certainly been the case so far, and that it hasn't allowed him to get in any type of rhythm this season..that could be the case, or he could just be done, like we're asking re: Duncan..m
He's probably still wondering no matter what he does , in the end Pop is the one who will stop him from winning number #5
I don't know if I'm the only one that's pleased with the chance to have two reserve bigs like Ayers and Baynes. I like them both, also if they're obvioulsy struggling at the moment. defensively, ayers imho is really good. Baynes is abvioulsy liomited against some players (pic and roll ones), but imho is a strong weapon against the big ones (a la Howard), 'cause nobody in the league is going to take a "body advantage" on him in the paint.
Also, both are very good rebounders (when Baynes is on the court looks like other players have no chance to rebound).
On offense, I think they 're just lacking confidence (expecially on their jump shots), but seems ovious to me that they both have the skills to play better and one thing that they have in common is that both of them can run the court the same or better than their opposite big man.
In time, imho, they both should be playing better, also way better...and probably the main reason they're developing so slowly is becouse Boris is playing so well that would be stupid to play someone else.
KG looks done imo. 82games says he's hurting the Nets on both ends of the court. In the past, you could at least depend on Garnett to be a game changer on defense.
Duncan's problems are his jumpshot and rebounding. He's not playing at anywhere near the same level he did last season but at least he doesn't look finished like Garnett
There are currently 2 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 2 guests)
Posting Permissions
