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Welcome to reality.
1. Small Ball destroyed the Mavs. Nellie proved you can go small and have success, even if you get outrebounded by the Mavs.
2. Nazr a no show. Spurs fans wanted Nazr to play last season. He's now in Detroit and didn't play a second in their first round series sweep. I guess Nazr isn't Baby Hakeem.
3. Rasho benched. Sam Mitc played Rasho early on in the series against the Nets, but then benched him and ultimately gave Rasho a DNP-CD in Game 6. It's hard to blame Mitc , since Rasho had by far the worst per minute +/- of anybody on the Raptors when he did play.
Perhaps Pop was right that small ball could work and that Nazr and Rasho just weren't right for the playoffs, as their new teams found out.
Hmmmmmmm. . .
Welcome to reality.
It's a different type of small ball though.
The Warriors put out a bunch of athletic, quick, high-jumping, dunking, streaky shooting guards with Richardson, Baron Davis, Ellis, Pietrius, Jackson. The Spurs' small ball consisted of Finley, Tony, Manu, Beno, Brent...not all of those guys can run quite like Golden State. The Spurs' guards don't have the versatiliy that Golden State does...Ellis, Baron, Richardson,Jackson..those guys do a bit of everything and are good at it. Beno, Brent, Finley, Manu, Tony...good players, but more one-dimensional. It's just a different mold of players that Golden State has, I don't know if you can see what I mean, but when playing small ball I'd take the Warriors' small ball scheme over the Spurs'.
No question about it.
For starters, Warriors' small ball worked.
Doesn't mean small ball wasn't the way to go. Just means Spurs were one small horse away from pulling it off comfortably. Even with the horses they had they were one Argentinian screw up from a likley le. Add even Barnes to last years team and there is no game 7 even. Damn I wanted the Spurs to pick up Barnes this year.
4. Evans a no show. Spurs fans wanted to sign Reggie Evans this summer. He's now in Denver and didn't play a second in their first round series loss. I guess Evans isn't Baby Rodman.
I agreed with Pop last year that Nazr and Rasho wouldn't work versus the Mavs. I didn't even totally disagree with small ball last year, considering the alternatives.
But yeah, the point is the Spurs lost more due to personnel rather than coaching error. Perhaps if Nazr and Rasho went elsewhere and did something in the playoffs, then Pop could be questioned. But that duo went elsewhere and ended up where they left the Spurs -- getting DNP-CD's on the bench when it mattered.
Obviously because the Nuggets advanced and Najera wasn't their worst +/- player.4. Evans a no show. Spurs fans wanted to sign Reggie Evans this summer. He's now in Denver and didn't play a second in their first round series loss. I guess Evans isn't Baby Rodman.
And that is their normal way of playing....we were doing it on the fly. Sort of OJT.
Nazr has little heart and toughness on the court. I never cared for him as a Spur. I think Pop did well following the general evolution of the game, incorporation of small ball and so on. But he gets paid the big bucks to do that. I'm sure his staff and players fill his ear as well. So I don't think he deserves massive props, but if you are talking about those who served up scathing critism toward those moves, then yes, he's vindicated. I, for one, have never been in that group.
I read up here today one thing they are on Avery about was adjusting his lineup to try to match the GS lineup. I hope Pop stays big most of the time. I think his plan of getting back after a shot and not worrying too much about offensive rebounds is a great technique and could work in the future.
Small ball actually worked pretty well against PHO in that last game. I wish Pop hadn't showed that much of his hand that early. Fin is physical enough to match on Matrix, unlike Barry, and if you can keep Thomas off the floor, and drag Marion out to the perimeter to guard his man, Amare has to guard Tim, and those two contend for most of the rebounds. I like that matchup.
whut dus vinikated mean?
Well, I wouldn't call the Spurs a completely small ball team. The best player is still 6-11 at PF, and Horry and Elson get consistent minutes. They are 6-10 and 7-0 respectively. I think the Elson move was very good for how the game is changing to a more fast paced version. Elson is very athletic, so we'll see how his minutes are effected against PHO.
I think it just Pop knows when to drop a crap investment...Nazr and Rasho (for what the Spurs needed) were crap investments.
What it comes down to, is that Pop is not as set in his ways as we might be led to believe. He can make adjustments on the fly. I still firmly believe that it was his move to small ball that extended the series last year to 7. Quietly, he was able to bring in some players this year that will allow him to better match-up and play 'small ball'.
That being said, the idea line-up for the Spurs still remains: Parker, Manu, Bowen, Horry and Duncan. That is, if Horry plays like he did against the Nuggets. I just wonder if Horry has enough left in him to play some spot minutes on Amare.
It's not a small-ball line-up per se, just a flexible one. Now, if we see Finley in for Horry, well, I actually think you can get away with that against the Suns, it would just be kinda funny to watch.
Are you high, drunk or just halucinating? By far?
Try to prove that with some numbers.
I don't think Pop is vindicated on small ball for two main reasons:
1) He went away from the system they had run all year, and the guys were confused at times. Not to mention getting killed on the glass and in the paint by Dallas
2) The bigger issue is Pop tried to play small ball when he didn't have the personnel for it. While small ball might have been the right strategy, it's the wrong one you don't have the personnel for it.
And you're going to put the blame of the small ball failure on one Ginobili play? I'd check some other players and coaching decisions that occurred throughout that series before blaming Gino. Manu was the player that hit that clutch 3-pointer immediately before that stupid foul, so if anything, it cancels out.
Without small ball, Mavs probably take that series in five. We weren't very good at it, but it put us within seconds of moving on to the WCFs.
popovich wasn't right about anything
1. the warriors' zone destroyed the mavs. something popovich refused to do.
2. the warriors have the type of athletes that can play effective small ball, the spurs don't
3. the heat proved you can beat the mavs playing a traditional lineup
conclusion: the only thing popovich proved was that he chose the worst possible defense to play against the mavs: man-to-man using a small ball lineup w/ players that aren't athletic enough to do it effectively
popovich was a ing idiot in that series.
Word.
+ who was benched during Mavs series and can play zone defense?
Don Nelson's small ball destroyed the Mavs. Nellie proved you can go small as a team philosophy and win a first round series against a team that you completely own. He has small players who are extremely athletic; they are at the top of the league in rebounds, steals and blocked shots. Add to that it's what he's done all year.
Pop proved that if you try to change your team philosophy two games into the playoffs, that you get beat by lower seeded teams, including dropping a game seven at home. Pop's version of small ball last year would be like Nelson suddenly dropping Biedrins into the post and running 4 down as soon as the playoffs start.
Um, small ball didn't work. The Spurs were upset in the playoffs. Nazr and Rasho were good enough to be the centers on a team that won 63 games in the regular season and then went 8-5 to finish without them.
Lots of things go into making 'small ball' a potent force in the league, not least among them some of the new rules that prevent defensive hand checking.
Cycles come and go, sometimes depending on the type of players that come into the league. When you had Shaq, Robinson, Tim, etc in their prime, the dominance of the big centers was the way to go--and it was fueled, consciously or unconsciously, by the league rules--and the way the refs called the fouls.
Shaq still lowers his shoulder when bulling in to the hoop or uses his massive left arm to sweep defensive players away but he gets called far more frequently now and so can't simply push defensive players out of his way.
It was the zone defense. Dallas did not go to the rim enough, as the zone forced them to become dependent upon jumpshots and it screwed them over. Also, the Warriors have YOUNG, ATHLETIC small ball lineups. Spurs do not.
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