Anyone think it would be a good idea to rest Ginobili for the next couple of months, limit Duncan and Parker to less than 30 mins a game, let Jefferson, McDyess, Blair, etc gel with each other and shoot for the 7th or 8th seed instead of going for 2nd or 3rd and limping to the finish?

That said, you shouldn’t really be concerned about health right now. We will see what happens at the end of the year. You may have everyone healthy at that time.

Regarding your team, I think you guys need to completely throw away the notion that Mcdyess/Ratliff will give you anything. Mcdyess is a disaster and so is Ratliff. Blair is playing fantastic ball on the other hand. Why not give the young Blair more time? If the Spurs are going to win a championship, it is not going to be because Mcdyess/Ratliff did anything. It is going to be because some young guns finally came through, young guys like Blair and even the much over-exaggerated George Hill.

Regarding RJ, we’ve gone over this before. He is NOT Duncan. He is NOT a 1st option! He is a 1st option on a horrible team. RJ is a volume shooter who is incredibly inefficient. An average basketball player with a big name. If you are expecting much from him, you will be sorely disappointed.

The KEY is getting great play from your young guns like Bliar/Hill, getting great play from role players like Bonner. Bonner is so much better than you guys give him credit for. Remember, it is not what HE does, but what he allows other Spurs to do. When Bonner plays the 4, the floor is spread out to its fullest. This allows for Parker/Ginobli to do their thing, which is drive the lanes. It is a very simple concept, but Bonner should get MORE time on the floor.

Oh yeah, and Parker/Duncan/Manu will need to be healthy and playing their hearts out if the Spurs have any chance to win a ring.

I also liked how well Hairston played. Hopefully he showed Pop enough that he can get a little more playing time. With Manu and Tony both likely on the inactive list tonight, he should get some opportunities.

I’d also, as someone else mentioned earlier, like to see Mahinmi get a little burn as well. It doesn’t have to be much, but let’s see if he can be in position defensively, and see if his offensive numbers from the Toros will translate over as well.

As for the comments on Mason, I think we’re being a little unfair to him. As last year showed, when Pop tries to bludgeon a square peg into a round hole and make him play point guard, bad things happen. He’s a catch-and-shoot guy, plain and simple. If you let him do that, he’ll earn his money. If he has to create off the dribble, we’ll get performances like we’ve seen so far.

Also, echoing Greg’s point earlier, there seems to be a lot of standing around, waiting for something to happen. The problem is that a lot of our offense is predicated on drawing a double-team, either through penetration, or through Tim in the low post. That’s fine and all if it can happen, but it’s not. Instead, everybody is single-covered and the opportunities aren’t there. On the times when we have gotten people moving, we’ve been able to make things happen.

One thought on this. Could the reduced playbook be more of a hinderance than a help? Instead of just having the new guys scrambling, trying to learn and remember all the plays, you’ve got the older guys who know the full system feeling handicapped because sets they’re used to running are no longer available. So, the old-timers end up thinking (”Ooh! This would be effective, but we took it out. What about option 2? Nope. Not there either. Okay, we do have option 3. Guess it’ll have to do.”) instead of just running things that they know instinctively.

Hey…!Sorry, if i sound crazy on this one guys…!
We need help on defense now…! we also need a excellent defender that can guard a”Go guy”of any team.

“I remember how excellent was Bruce Bowen, on Kobe, Lebron, Carmelo, even Dirk.”

I have to say, Pop’s defensive philosophy is great! but if we add to the mix’s a player like Bruce Bowen, i think we can make stops any time again.
I know, Bruce is a little old,but i see him better fit in my opinion right now for what we need, good shooter and a great defender.

“Guys the name for the answer for Dirk is easy: Bruce Bowen.”

Will Bruce Bowen the old guy dress again the spurs jersey?

Glad to see that Hairston did get some minutes in the 4th last night. Thought he looked solid. Or as solid as anybody else. And I found it a little disconcerting that Blair saw so few of minutes. He’s supposed to be our energy guy and our “secret weapon” off the bench and he did little to nothing early on, then didn’t see the floor until the game was over. I’m as high as anyone on him, but if he can’t match up with Kris Humphries, that doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season.

One more thought, I know we’ve all commented and lamented at the depth of our roster, but last night’s game goes to show that unless we have someone who can distribute the ball (Tony or Manu), the offense is stagnant and runs through Timmy. Only RJ can create his own shot, while everyone else stands around waiting for their shot. And I’ve noticed in most games this year, our opponents are not doubling Tim, therefore our shooters aren’t getting open looks like last year, which is leading to a lower 3 pt %. And again, without Tony or Manu to create, the shooters don’t have the easy looks they had before.

http://www.supersonicsoul.com/uploaded_images/nba-champs-701863.jpg

Not sure if it’s a sign of things to come (outlying circumstances and all that). I just wash I could watch my Spurs be healthy. Unfortunately, it’s part of the game.

Can we retire the “RJ’s troubles are all Tony Parker’s fault” theme? If you can’t beat Jason Kidd 1 on 1 you’ve got issues. 5 turnovers, including another killer late-game giveaway when masquerading as point guard. Just really out of sync. At least his defense and rebounding continues to improve.

Both team’s starters were negative on the +/-. Nice trick.

More good play from George but he has to be smarter about fouls when Tony’s hurt.

I complained about Timmy going 35 minutes in the previous back-to-back. So last night he plays 41? Ugh.

Bonner kept them in the game in the first half. 9 points in only 4 attempts, 7 boards and good defense on Dirk. Not so much in the 2nd.

Pop should have given Humphries a dose of Dejuan Blair.

The Spurs have played tough competition with no consistency in the starting 5, multiple new players and injuries to each of their 3 main players. With Parker and Ginobili out, we basically only have one guard who can play the point and I thought Roger Mason Jr. was by far the worst Spur on the floor last night. He better put the ball in the hole or he will be traded by the All-Star break.

The key to the Spurs’ success is still and will continue to be this year, the health of Duncan, Parker and Ginobili.

Despite Nowitzki, despite the 18 turnovers… we still should have won the game. A missed layup at 2:34 of OT that would have given us a 4 pt lead… that instead started the downward spiral of pressing mistakes to end the game.