I don't understand...

[SouthernFried]

So, I'm watching the game last night. I'm seeing some good stuff happening out there...especially from our 2 centers.

Seems Rasho was blocking shots like a madman...and dunking!?! Then Nazr comes in...and he's like a monster out there. Tip-ins, blocks...and as active as I've ever seen him.

It's like, our 2 centers were both having their best games of the season...on the same night! I'm like pumped, right? We're scoring, blocking, getting a huge lead...the world is spinning in greased grooves.

I'm thinkin', it's gonna be one of those nights. And my girlfriend is getting all excited... cuz I'm usually pretty frisky after a great Spurs performance. Things are looking good, and I'm struttin' around the house yelling "that's what I'm talking about!"... cuz I always sound cool when I say that.

Then the 4th quarter comes around.

All a sudden I see Minnesota driving, getting layups, rebounds, getting inside...and I think "man, and they were doing such a good job blocking shots and intimidating Minnesota's inside game, what the happened!?"

Then I notice...we don't have any of our Centers in the game.

Now, these guys were having great nights. Mebbe on their way to the best games of the season...for both. Then *Poof*, they were gone.

For like the whole fourth quarter, I'm waiting for Pop to put in some of our big men to clog up the inside, get some rebounds, intimidate, and just generally do what they had been doing all night. But, no... Timmy was left to do it all.

All a sudden, one of the best performances of the season...becomes a dogfight. Guys like Barry were forced to try and close up the inside game and get rebounds and blocks.

Barry?

Don't we have Center's? And weren't these Centers having a dream Center's night? Why were they benched?

I just don't understand!

And my girlfriends pretty pissed too.!

[leemajors]

minnesota went small, pop followed suit. i don't know if our c's were having foul trouble - i did notice rasho had 0 boards, or pop just wanted to get the small lineup more minutes - because, quite frankly, when we run small we aren't as good. minus barry plus manu we're better small, but i don't think in a playoff situation pop would just follow suit like that. letting the other team dictate the pace and style of the game isn't good. unless you beat phoenix at their own game in the playoffs =]

[Bruno]

When a team play small ball, Spurs have to follow it.
Concerning the Wolves game, Wolves outscored us only by 3 in the 4th quarter.
We lost the biggest part of the 15 pt lead at the end of the 3rd quarter when they go small and we don't follow them.

[ducks]

pop is a pussy he has to let the other coach set the stuff

[SouthernFried]

Our big's were doing great. So they went small, and it was effective, so we had to go small?

That may be the case, I didn't notice. It can be an effective strategy, and a good coaching move...on both coaches part. Mebbe Minnesota's small lineup is just that much better than their big one.

I'd hate to know tho, that all a team has to do to take our dominant big men (if they are being dominant) outta the game, is just to bring in a smaller lineup. I would prefer to think, that our big lineup could dominate a smaller one...even a good one.


That may not be the case tho...I'll trust Pop's judgement. And I do trust our smaller lineups to hold their own against any small lineup in the league.