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The Spurs defense is the Spurs #1 ingredient to winning championships. I think the center spot is the Spurs weakest. There is no one there to block shots.
We discussed Playoff Matchups last week and I'm convinced that the Spurs are giving up several positional battles against the Lakers, Suns and possibly the Mavs even.
That said, the Spurs calling card remains its team defense.
And I still think that it can be enough to overcome all those "names" on the Western rivals.
It will be important to have the Big 3 playing at optimal levels, hence the bold brilliance of Pop shutting Parker down for a while.
(I would monitor Manu's minutes a little down the stretch now, too).
I don't know what to make of Bowen's inconsistent minutes as of late. I don't like him overall as a player, but I do admit his one-on-one defense is critical in the playoffs. I hope Pop is not playing him as much to save him and not because his faith in him is shaken.
I'm still very concerned about the C spot for the Spurs, because now they'll have to guard Gasol and/or Stoudamire in more man-to-man scenarios. Oberto and Elson do not intimidate around the hoop, either. I wish we had another shotblocker to help Tim and allow our guards to take more chances on D.
Anyway, what do you think about the Spurs defense being the saving grace come playoff time?
The Spurs defense is the Spurs #1 ingredient to winning championships. I think the center spot is the Spurs weakest. There is no one there to block shots.
Elson better get his together by the time we face Lakers.
Don't worry about partying like a rockstar, play some ing defense.
Yes Ghostie, the Spurs win championships by playing defense. That's why the player you hate so much is in the starting lineup.
Welcome to 5 years ago.
ben wallace?
You still think they got enough gas in the tank?
You addressed none of my concerns about Oberto or Bowen on defense.
Diop Diop
I know, but doubt that will happen.
Diop would be a very Popportunistic move.
Plus, it's in the Pop playbook of bringing in a big man onto the Spurs that has given Duncan some difficulty in the past, i.e. Horry.
When the Spurs are playing small, a normal situation down the stretch against several teams, Tim is at the 5. That isn't a weakness unless Tim is in foul trouble.
Don't count on Elson nor Bonner in the playoffs. Although the Spurs had 10 players averaging 10+ minutes in the playoffs last year, that was highly unusual and was a reflection of who they were playing.
The other Big besides Tim is probably going to be Oberto or Horry...because of their team defense acuity.
Tough, physical defense will be even more important this season. The Spurs will have to have their top 9 healthy PLUS hit their shots to make it all the way. If Barry doesn't heal, Udoka is an upgrade defensively but a downgrade offensively. Pop will probably end up having to roll with the guys he has again...unless (someone in) the league decides to cooperate with them on a trade.
Oh, and this rate... don't count on Damon Stoudamire being one of the 9 getting 10+ minutes/game.
Just goes to show how much we miss Drob even on his last legs.. never in my wildest dreams did i think replacing 8 points and 7 rebounds (correct me if im wrong) would get this hard. Yah i realise they only stats but you think finding a big that can defend with a bit of intelligence , rebound and score on easy points would be a mere formality.
What's that saying? "you don't realise what you've got until it's gone".
Maybe we should trade for Oberto, oh wait... He's on our team.
He's effective and will be be an asset in the play-offs. Im glad he's on our team... just too short to guard the likes of Shaq Stoudamire, Brynum and Gasol which is what i quoted from Ghost's topic. For easy points, depends on Manu often so I don't think he' ideal for what we talking about.
surely, no-one thinks Oberto replaces 03 DROB?
No, but we're not playing playing against 03 Shaq either.
No just the 08 Stoudamire in tandem with 08 Shaq. Oberto is not the answer. He's a stop-gap against those bigs. A massive match-up problem. Same with Gasol and Bynum.
Oberto will be good for 6 fouls just as much as Elson to avoid foul trouble on Tim.
We've got nothing to fear from Stupidamire or some fat old man.
As for the Lakers, they'll have enough trouble making the playoff without Kobe. Gasol and Bynum are no better than Boozer and Okur and we took care of that last year 4-1. Before you start talking about Kobe, think back to Deron Williams coming into that series and he was a monster.
I'm getting tired of hear "Spurs fans" talking about how great all these teams are and making out like those other teams have nothing to worry about.
What are they going to do about Duncan? They've not managed to do anything about him for the past 10 years, I don't see that changing anytime soon.
What about Parker? Finals MVP. Ginobili? It's taken miracles to beat us in the past otherwise we'd have 5 straight les!
It's one thing to talk about match-ups and another to discuss Spurs championship aspirations. Same would be said when comparing DRob to Oberto. Apples and oranges if you get my drift.
It's your right to vent those fustrations of yours going by your last 2 posts (most of it i agree with) but this is the wrong thread. Most who know of me from way back, would know I've believed in this team for a very long time, through thick and thin . I just don't get cauhgt up in the "sign up here if you're on the badwagon rah rah "'roll call anymore. I signed up long time ago and never got off.
Bobcats shot 28% today. It's about time.
Oberto and Horry are savvy defenders. They usually win more battles than they lose. And Udoda plays well in the front court. The problem I see here is that none of these players can guard Shaq.
Every position is manned two to three deep except for the five position. Spurs need another big and it's getting close to the deadline. Hopefully they don't give up guys with rings.
I think the fact that Bowen is still starting is proof that Pop has never had doubts with him. We all know how Pop is with his players, if he doesn't like him, he's benched.
I think Bowen inconsistencies is just normal. He's just human, even LeBron has his bad days ever once in a while. Anyway, during those times, we still have Udoka (and possibly Barry) to rely to. So That wouldn't really be a big concern.
The real problem is about matching up one on one with the bigs of Phoenix and lakers. If lets loose during the game, an early double team in the post could possibly be the solution . We have good perimeter defender with the likes of Bowen, Ginobili and Udoka - so we can gamble on this one. Besides that (and a lot of hail marys), i can't hardly think of anything to solve the problem.
A zone defense against Phoenix would surely make a target practice out of us and a simple man-to-man defense can easily be broken by a dominant center such shaq and Gasol.
I think the fact that Bowen is still starting is proof that Pop has never had doubts with him. We all know how Pop is with his players, if he doesn't like him, he's benched.
I think Bowen inconsistencies is just normal. He's just human, even LeBron has his bad days ever once in a while. Anyway, during those times, we still have Udoka (and possibly Barry) to rely to. So That wouldn't really be a big concern.
The real problem is about matching up one on one with the bigs of Phoenix and lakers. If lets loose during the game, an early double team in the post could possibly be the solution . We have good perimeter defender with the likes of Bowen, Ginobili and Udoka - so we can gamble on this one. Besides that (and a lot of hail marys), i can't hardly think of anything to solve the problem.
A zone defense against Phoenix would surely make a target practice out of us and a simple man-to-man defense can easily be broken by a dominantcenter such shaq and Gasol.
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