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This may finally be the year...
https://www.spurstalk.com/what-to-wo...eseason-start/
I want to think it's just meaningless preseason play but I think there are some legit worries to have right now.
This may finally be the year...
Yep,unfortunately it's starting to look like the year.
Seems to me more of a coaching issue than anything else. The roster is already constructed poorly so Mr. “It’s only basketball” needs to stick to a gameplan. Either give your team the best shot at succeeding or be stubborn and stick to a lineup that doesn’t work so you can try proving to the league that the antiquated system still works.
I was surprised how bad they looked at times last season as well. They had a sort of Jekyll and Hyde vibe going on... which IMO was impacted by White sometimes being out of the rotation (injuries) and their defense plummeting, but also having had Cunningham in the team early in the season. Too soon to tell if Pop will insist with the LMA/Jakob duo bc I think bench play has also been affected (as you point out, White/Jakob could be a good way to return the bench to what it was last season). It's possibly the reason White has struggled so much to adapt to the new role and it's nothing to do with a mental block bc of #the demotion but chemistry is not all there/thus impacting confidence, + the lack of a rolling big man. The bench shooters are also not shooting as much. Mills and Belli were taking midrange jumpers from what I saw in highlights and there is no one to cover up the bench defensively.
Perhaps Pop simply wants to see how some players performs in some situations, but it clearly needs some adjusting on his part too. Perhaps he played the soft card too soon as well, which may result in players tuning him out when he really means it.
If things go south quickly, Walker will definitely enter into the rotation bc you have to stir the pot and see what comes out.
Thanks for the comment particularly your observation of lack of rolling big impacting White's play and the general bench play is interesting.
I wonder if Lyles or Carrol at some point will enter consideration for a starting gig too.
damn I wish the spurs worked harder to keep kawhi
I get that they want manage Gay's minutes (trade for Marvin Williams or Bjelica midseason to alleviate this) and have him be more of a featured scorer off the bench, but as I've been saying since the infamous trade, this team doesn't need a designated go-to scorer on the 2nd unit.
Not only do the pieces fit (presuming they go Belinelli over Walker to start, White and Poeltl running PnR with 2.5 shooters orbiting them), but the collective IQ of that unit will make for the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
Instead, he's determined to attempt to recreate the past (by starting Aldridge at "PF" and having Gay be the Horry/Diaw to Poeltl's Oberto/Splitter) and destroy both units.
Pop is just not as strict and ambitious as he once was. So the team full of loyalty contracts and leaders like De Rozan and Aldridge just lacks motivation and compe iveness each and every game, especially comparing with young teams. Remember that year after Ray Allen's 3 and the next year's first-round loss. Same players, different team
Point #4 is what I'm most worried about. I don't see how DeRozan and Murray can coexist together, and giving DeRozan a max extension would be unbelievably stupid. If they want DeRozan back they need to trade Murray. A starting lineup with four complete trash three point shooters is suicide in 2019.
Will DeMar even start taking threes is the question, let alone making them.
I really don't think he gets extended. Would be a premature move.
Its preseason got.
One thing you didn't mention Timvp -- the slowness, lack of athleticism.
Many of the current problems can be fixed, but I worry about this team getting run off the floor.
Murray can help a lot on this front.
Also, letting Bertans go doesn't seem so bad given this team's lack of quickness.
In short, I trust this organization a lot to remedy this, or any other, deficiency. At least for now.
Interesting take. Haven't watch enough pre season to comment on what the issues are. But spacing is obvious in that first unit. Murray is getting to the paint pretty easily atm.
I don't get signing DeRozan to a max at this point. He's on a different timeline than Murray, Walker, White and the rookies. Another problem with DeRozan is his iso ball and thinking he's Kobe out there which especially hurts the team at the end of games. It would never happen but you could make an argument that starting White over DeRozan would make us a better team on both ends.
the preseason doesn't mean FOH
Signing Derozan to any type of extension is so asinine that I just assumed its stuff they put out there because it was only a matter of time before the media started focusing on it...
Derozan is not on this teams timeline and really every rep he gets is a rep that lonnie, keldon, luka, don't...which means he is really just in the way...
I wish this front office wasn't so wrapped up and making the playoffs and saving face over the kawhi trade and just did what was right and logical in the first place and just tried to trade him for young players and picks instead of "another allstar"...
If what boston offered was true and the spurs didn't take that then man...
The biggest problem is Gay, Carroll and Lyles. None of them are going to be able to give minutes at SF when DeRozan goes out and if they do we will get blown out in those games. Gay is to slow and will only be able to play PF the Achilles injury will catch up to him this season. I'll be surprised if he plays more than 40 games. Carroll is also to slow, has never been that great of a player to begin with and at 35 years old he's on the decline. Lyles is Austin Daye 2.0 We need a consistent 3rd scorer to play with Aldridge and DeRozan.
I bet Kawhi is regretting his decision to leave now.
^
just listened to a german podcast and the expert is always backing the Spurs and the system, but he also does not expect them to make the playoffs
Jakob has more than earned his right to start. But honestly pop needs to bench him and see what the starting lineup can do with rudy starting.
Murray
Forbes
Derozan
Gay
Aldridge
White
Mills
Belinelli
Carroll
Poeltl
With lonnie on standby if you need to yank someone quick. Or swap caroll and gay if you want to keep that offensive punch when the bench unit comes in. You can spare the first 2-3 games to experiment since it's the Knicks and the wizards.
Lonnie instead of Mills/Belli ... then at least I would look forward to watch games
If they look like they will miss the playoffs they need to do what Memphis did. Trade out your vets and try to get assets back (traded Gasol and Conley when it looked like their playoff runs around them as a tandem were over). No point keeping Lamarcus and Derozan if they will miss the playoffs. Get what you can and move on. It wouldn't be the worst thing. The team needs a fresh start and it may happen regardless of their efforts to "stay compe ive". Keeping in purgatory only delays a rebuild that they need to do.
Last edited by SAGirl; 10-11-2019 at 09:23 AM.
I have thought about Jakob and I think that Pop starting him, specially early in the season is necessary to ascertain his value $ to the team. If he proves to be unplayable with the other starters even in the regular season bc of fit issues, the team then they can't offer him a starting level contract in free agency. For example, even when Tiago had to come off the bench in the playoffs bc of spacing issues, he still started a lot of games next to Timmy Duncan and spared his body in his twilight, probably allowing Tim to be fresher for the playoffs. Perhaps Pop is hoping Jakob can do that for LMA in the regular season and that has some value. Also even if they were to rebuild, Jakob's youth indicates he's worth keeping but they really have to know for sure what he's got as a regular starter.
I’m afraid that Pop’s legacy is what’s holding up the rebuild. The irony is that without Tim and Kawhi carrying him, his castle is crashing down and exposing him. These years post Kawhi are going to do some damage to his legacy
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