Monday, March 1st, 2010...8:34 pm
New Orleans Hornets 92, San Antonio Spurs 106
The 2009-10 San Antonio Spurs are a bit of a tease. They’ll lean in close and show you a little leg, but ultimately head home without so much as a kiss on the cheek.
After a nationally-televised win over the Phoenix Suns (an above .500 team!) and no letdown in a 106-92 win over the New Orleans Hornets a night later, the Spurs look like they just might be ready to invite Spurs fans upstairs for once.
San Antonio controlled enough of the game from the start to hold off any rally the explosive combo of Darren Collison and Marcus Thorton could muster for the Hornets. George Hill led the Spurs with 23 points by attacking the basket early, benefiting from the the crisp passing of Tim Duncan and DeJuan Blair, and spotting up on the perimeter later. Hill shot 3-of-4 from three-point range.
Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker combined for 14 assists on the night, several to Hill, and it was Parker in particular who looked as efficient as he’s been in some time. Parker appeared in complete control coming off screens and using his body to create separation and get off shots inside, a feat that can’t be understated with the diminished explosiveness he continues to display this season.
After all the inconsistencies Gregg Popovich has shown this season with the Spurs’ lineups, it seems like he at long last settled on a rotation. Hill, Parker, Duncan, Blair and Keith Bogans started against the Hornets, with Ginobili and Richard Jefferson playing heavy minutes off the bench.
Matt Bonner played 21 minutes, although that’s most likely due to the hyperextended left knee Antonio McDyess suffered against the Suns on Sunday afternoon. McDyess will see more time in the big man rotation with Duncan and Blair, while Bonner and Roger Mason Jr. will see primarily spot minutes for the rest of the regular season, depending on the matchup or situation (back-to-back, etc.).
Deciding on a consistent rotation allows the players to settle into and become comfortable with their roles on this year’s Spurs team. If they can do that and hit their peak, Spurs fans may get lucky this season after all.
Better late than never.
46 Comments
March 1st, 2010 at 8:43 pm
Great to get these last two games. Looking like the Spurs I envisioned earlier this season.
March 1st, 2010 at 8:52 pm
I’m always glad for the Spurs to get a win, especially against .500+ teams. But I don’t think anyone is confusing the Suns or Hornets with the Lakers, Nuggets or Mavs.
It’s a nice win, but these Spurs still have a lot to prove.
March 1st, 2010 at 9:33 pm
John,
Exactly. I’m as glad as anyone that the Spurs got the win. This season, we have seen a couple of good wins strung together only to drop games to Philly and Detroit, etc. Collison and Thornton are great players (wish we had them in our system), but they are rookies, and in years past a win like this would have been considered routine (no Chris Paul as well)……….Would have liked to see Hairston get more than 2 minutes though.
March 1st, 2010 at 9:41 pm
Extremely pleased to see a 8 man rotation tonight. I like Jefferson off the bench. I wish Mason would replace Bogans in the rotation but thats a minor quibble.
March 1st, 2010 at 10:02 pm
Exactly, Colin. If the Spurs were really right, we would already be finding wins like this routine by this point. There might still be time for the Spurs to get to that point, but we’ve got a ways to go.
Honestly, I think the time for toying around with Hairston or Mahinmi is past. Maybe Pop should have spent some of November or December seeing if they can bring anything to the table, but as we saw the big thing at this point is ironing out a consistent rotation. I’d like it if Mason would take Bogans’ minutes, but if it’s not going to happen then let’s at least stick to our guns.
March 1st, 2010 at 10:11 pm
I have been a fan of Spurs since 1998 and I noticed that good players with Spurs generally become better over the years (eg Parker and Ginobili) unless they are aging (Kerr, Berry, Horry, Bowen and Finley).
Even if we do not get lucky this year, Spurs will be a strong title contender next year if Hill and Blair continue to grow and the big three stay healthy.
I feel that I am seeing some light on the other side of tunnel with Hill and Blair as they are gaining experience in playoff while Spurs might be able to draft or acquire one to two more quality young players over next two years while Duncan, Parker and Ginobili still a great player and mentoring them.
The worst nightmare I had over last two years was that Duncan, Parker and Ginobili no longer a good players or left the team while Spurs have not find any good quality young players and Spurs started to drop out from playoff.
It will be painful to watch to rebuild a team from scratch before becoming a playoff team and later on, a title contender (might never happen like NOH or CHI, PHO etc).
We are in good position as we are transiting from big 3 in Duncan, Parker and Ginobili to new generation of Parker, Hill, Blair (might be) and other good players and the younger players will growth with playoff experience.
Go Spurs, Go Go Go
I
March 1st, 2010 at 10:55 pm
I didn’t like Parker and Hill both starting, being that they technically are both point guards and there isn’t a 3rd string. However the results cannot be argued with. Jefferson has now started to show up coming off the bench. I think Mahinmi could handle some time in the game if Duncan is standing next to him. Hairston needs minutes to develop, but the time for development is past. Now is the time for winning!
March 1st, 2010 at 11:06 pm
I too am in the apparently crowded camp that believes Mason Jr. could play more of Bogans’ minutes and it’d be a net positive. That said you can’t really argue with Pop’s use of him in the lineups tonight.
He plays 3 regular rotations and a few scraps in pivot rotations, 22 minutes total. Manu plays for 29, George Hill for 44 (!), and RJ for 27. The first two rotations are for the first minutes of each half, just like in the Suns game. He also plays for the first 6 minutes of the 4th before sitting for Manu and RJ to close the game out.
His teammates are pretty much exclusively Tony, Tim, Blair and Hill. This quartet of players (just like Tony/Tim/Hill/Dice or Tony/Tim/Hill/Bonner) can pretty much run an efficient offense no matter who’s in that 5th spot. It certainly seems to work in this game: the 3rd quarter run that defined the night was with Bogans on the court, and the Hornets guards and wing players had difficulty getting into the flow of things until the wild fourth.
Meanwhile the second unit guys seemed to play better for having RJ on the court and Manu was doing a good job getting the most out of him
March 1st, 2010 at 11:12 pm
Nice to see Hill tearing it up now that he’s in the starting lineup and getting a lot of minutes. He was 9-13 from the field and 2-2 from the line, that’s a pretty efficient 23 points
March 1st, 2010 at 11:29 pm
This was a great win. I prepared myself for the SPurs to lay an egg.
RJ is starting to look confident.
@John and Colin. I know The suns and Hornets aren’t The lakers or mavs but you can’t take away that they beat two quality teams. Suns are ahead of them and they snapped their winning streak. HOrnets have been tough lately and beat Orlando on Friday. You make it seem like they beat the Clippers or something.
The thing I liked the best was that the whole team just looked confident out there.
If you wanna win, put The Red Rocket in.
Great game Bonner.
March 1st, 2010 at 11:35 pm
Hope springs eternal and the Spring season is three weeks away. If this team can be healthy with a settled rotation by that time, the hope may blossom into a season that extends much farther than most have been thinking of late.
Question: with all the back to back games upcoming, how did the NBA manage to find three off days for our Spurs? Fix the schedule.
March 1st, 2010 at 11:41 pm
Nice win. Get 3 days off and get to beat them again on Friday.
Still not a fan of Bogans getting playing time that I think should go to Hairston.
On a side note, this Marcus Thornton is the 2nd coming of the “microwave” Vinny Johnson. His 30 tonight and the 23 he had in one qtr against the Cavs has shown he’s legit.
March 1st, 2010 at 11:54 pm
@junierizzle: It’s definitely better than the Clippers; don’t get me wrong, these wins and how Manu and Jefferson have played have me beginning to get just a LITTLE bit hopeful that we could still turn things around. And after all, we can only beat the guys on our schedule, and maybe these wins are signs of better things to come.
But the reality is that we beat the No. 5 seed at home by 3, and beat the team that’s tied for 9th that’s also missing their best player. Against the Suns we still weren’t playing anything approaching “Spurs D,” which would bite us in the butt against the Lakers, plus we needed help from Richardson missing that dunk. And quite frankly if we can’t beat the Hornets without Chris Paul then our season is REALLY over.
So am I glad that we got the wins? OF COURSE! Go Spurs Go, and go Manu and all of that. But while I hate to throw cold water on everyone’s hopes, the reality is that if you’re watching the games, we still don’t look like a championship contender, and we don’t have much time left; I certainly hope that the Spurs realize this and aren’t getting pleased with a couple of wins that they SHOULD have gotten.
March 1st, 2010 at 11:55 pm
When Mason is not hitting (more often than not these days), especially this season, he’s more useless than Bogans.
For all the flack Bogans gets, he still plays better D more often than Mason. I’m not saying Bogans is great, but he is a better defensive option than Mason.
I’m sure everyone would rather see Hairston instead of both though.
As for Ian, Blair is growing up but still makes the occasional stupid fouls. Those can definitely be frustrating, but he’s more good than bad. He’s a big reason why Ian doesn’t see time. If Blair wasn’t as good, Ian would see more time, like in today’s game.
March 1st, 2010 at 11:57 pm
Or, put another way… these two wins are the kind of wins that even a No. 7 seed should have gotten. If the Spurs are to be a title contender, they still have a lot to prove-that’s all I’m saying.
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:21 am
So they lose, they suck, they win, “these wins should have happened.” There are not anymore outcomes that exist, so you just have to take it from there. Could be a turning point, could not be. It is what it is. Unless of course you have a TIVO and can fast forward to post season.
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:50 am
@ John
You’re exactly right. I look at these two wins (wow, 2 wins!) as providing some hope that we at least look like we have a pretty good chance at “making the playoffs”. And that’s nice, but to then make the leap to being bonafide contenders? No way, we’re a long ways from that.
We have a few problems that probably aren’t correctable this season. (1) we lack sufficient depth in the front court, & a defensive/shot-blocking presence in the paint; (2) we have a perimeter “D” problem - Bogans is a weak link, & RJ has significantly under-performed; and (3) we still haven’t had the “big three” all completely healthy & playing their best at the same time.
Numbers 1 & 2 are probably not solvable; our best hope would be for McDyess to step it up to his full potential more consistently, for Hairston to get a real shot at taking Bogans role over by the horns (you never know - nobody was expecting Blair to be “this good” either), and Jefferson to play much more consistently how he played against the Suns. Number 3 is solvable, but keep your fingers crossed that it can happen in time.
March 2nd, 2010 at 1:04 am
@John
Actually these are the kinds of wins that a 7th seed shouldn’t win.
They already beat the Hornets twice with CP3.
And so what if they beat the Suns by only 3. And so what if JRICH missed that dunk. A win is a win.
You can also say the Spurs would’ve lost if Mcdeezy missed those shots. Or Manu or Hill Missed a freethrow. All that matters is the W.
Despite all the inconsistencies the SPURS are only a couple games behind The Thunder and Suns.
It could be worse.
I know the SPurs are far from being a consistent team. They have to start beating quality teams. My point was the SUNS and Hornets games were quality wins. You make it seem like its no big deal.
GREGO is right. If they’d lost those games, you’d probably be saying “they can’t even beat The Suns with no D” or “they can’t even beat The Hornets who are the 10th seed”
March 2nd, 2010 at 1:17 am
Considering that the Spurs suck at
Back to backs = check
Road games = check
Giving up leads in the 4th = check
Sucking against athletic guards = check
They did a good job in a lot of areas where they previously failed.
But hey, they get to play at Memphis on Saturday, so one of the super athletic teams is coming up and they are playing well in 2010.
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:34 am
Hornets were terrible. Pop continues to play Bogans and Bonner.
Got away with it against this team. We will not win against good teams with that scrub line up.
This coach amazes me. Dice out, Finley gone, and the best he could do is last night.
Scary.
Wonder how Hariston feels about riding the pine behind lesser players.
Gotta be tough.
Also, at those who continue to think Bogans plays defense, “what game are you watching”?
Bogans is horrible…
March 2nd, 2010 at 5:44 am
junierizzle, OF COURSE i’d be saying that if we lost. These wins ARE no big deal, and yes, a 7th seed certainly could win by 3 at home against the 5th seed and beat the 9th team when they’re missing their best player.
Again, getting the win is encouraging, but a title contender runs off 7, 8 , 10 quality wins in a row. 2 games alone isn’t enough to make me forget Detroit or Philly. I guess if our goal is to pass the thunder or suns that’s nice, but I’m pretty sure that’s not the spurs’ goal.
March 2nd, 2010 at 6:03 am
I can see why Pop loves Hill so much. Talking about a hustle play Duncan made after the game he said,
“When one of your Hall of Fame players is doing that, you have no choice but to follow his lead. He’s been doing it all year long, showing great passion and leadership. Everyone needs to do the same thing. He deserves that from all of us.”
I know he had a gaffe with the picture of himself, but what a great kid. I hope everyone steps it up to another level for the rest of the season.
March 2nd, 2010 at 6:09 am
Is RJ waking up? He’s been noticeably more aggressive during the last several games. He had some clutch buckets at the end of the OKC game. I didn’t see the Rockets game so I don’t know how he played although his stat line looked decent. He had a great game versus the Suns, and although he only put up 10 against the Hornets he took relatively few shots. He seems like he’s being more aggressive in attacking the basket which is leading to playing with more aggression in the rest of his game. The better he plays the more confidence he will build. Maybe going to the bench helped take some pressure off of him?
March 2nd, 2010 at 6:12 am
Does anyone think Mike James could be a useful pickup ? His stats don’t jump out, but maybe a veteran point guard wouldn’t hurt us for the stretch run. We have attacking players, and are not going to find enough quality at any other positions to warrant a signing, but maybe a third point guard could release George to play more SG during the playoffs…a role he is currently revelling in.
March 2nd, 2010 at 7:51 am
Why does everyone love Hairston so much? The guy is terrible. Sure, he is athletic and works hard, but his skills are a far cry from NBA-ready. He can’t shoot, commits nervous turnovers, and offsets a great defensive play with bone-headed fouls. All you Hairston fans are suckers for undersized players who can jump.
March 2nd, 2010 at 7:54 am
I like the analogy of the Spurs being a prude, Andrew. I’m about ready to go upstairs with the Spurs. Hopefully it turns out better than the end of the road trip.
A couple of good points have been made here. Sure, we didn’t beat any upper echelon teams, but we did beat teams in the playoff hunt, and that definitely coutns for something.
Grego, I like the points you made about the win last night checking off several weak points of this team. I expected Collison to go for another 35 last night, but he was pretty well contained. Last night was a good win, and I’ll definitely take it.
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:44 am
If you look at the upcoming schedule, it seems to me that IF we make the playoffs, we will have had a very solid end of the season.
I count 5 highly likely wins (of 24) and 12 highly likely losses. Finishing 46-36 will probably not get us into the playoffs.
I would not be surprised to see the team miss the playoffs entirely but if we are 6th or 7th and healthy, we could do some damage.
March 2nd, 2010 at 10:32 am
“Why does everyone love Hairston so much? The guy is terrible. Sure, he is athletic and works hard, but his skills are a far cry from NBA-ready. He can’t shoot, commits nervous turnovers, and offsets a great defensive play with bone-headed fouls. All you Hairston fans are suckers for undersized players who can jump.”
This is all basically true. However Spurs fans hate the devil (or devils) they know and would instantly trade them for any given D-League player.
It has very little to do with Haislip or Hairston, an under-seasoned deep bench guy who hasn’t had time to learn the system. It’s about Bonner, the scapegoat for last season, and Bogans, who will likely get blamed if this season ends poorly. And of course it’s really about Gregg Poppovich and how apparently anybody with an internet connection could coach better.
March 2nd, 2010 at 10:39 am
Greyberger
Good observations, you said in 1 post what I’ve been saying with my multiple posts. I do think Hairston could (emphasis on could) be an upgrade to Bogans if he were given the minutes. Won’t know until that happens.
March 2nd, 2010 at 11:00 am
Fire Pop, trade Manu. The time is now.
March 2nd, 2010 at 11:53 am
Grayberger, I agree with just about everything you said; it’s silly how people are calling for unproven D leaguers like Ian and Hairston as if we’ve been sitting on some secret all-star talent all year but Pop’s too dumb to realize it. I still wish we would give Bogans’ minutes to Mason as I don’t buy the idea that Bogans is a lockdown defender and at least Mason doesn’t force us to play 4 on 5 on offense, but I do agree that Bonner is horribly underrated by Spurs fans-far better than the likes of Ian Mahinmi and Marcus Haislip, anyways.
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:52 pm
To all you guys complaining about the people who are pro Malik / Ian: We know those guys aren’t all stars, we know they probably aren’t even starters, we just think they could be quality role players for limited (10ish) minutes a night.
Yes, Bonner has done well this season off the bench, which makes me happy. Finley has sucked the past couple years, I wish him luck, but I’m glad he’s gone now. Bogans is well…I don’t know what, but it seems to me that a lot of players who have extremely limited offensive talent, just get labelled “defensive specialists”, regardless if they have a knack for D or not.
Also, as Colin has pointed out, I don’t know what goes on in practice, but neither do you anti Malik/Ian guys. None of us do.
What I want, and what I think other pro Malik/Ian guys want, is for them to get a chance at actual court time. Give one of them 12 minutes a game, then next game give the other 12 minutes. Do that for like 5 games each, and see where it goes.
Who knows how it’d turn out. Maybe good, maybe bad. The point is, Bonner and Bogans are nothing special either. So why not give Malik and Ian a chance, just to see.
PS: Part of the reason Ian hasn’t seen much playing time since we got him is that he had a couple injuries the past two years, remember?
March 2nd, 2010 at 1:45 pm
John,
Granted, I would rather see Mason than Bogans. However, the fact is Mason is not a strong defender, slightly worse than Bogans, who himself is only a little above average. Plus Mason was given a bit more opportunity earlier in the year & he responded poorly. Even his offensive game has been totally inconsistent, and rarely effective.
It’s clear from all my previous comments over the past few weeks that I’m not one of the Pop-bashers. That said, in my view there’s no known reason not to give Hairston more of an opportunity at this point. It’s obvious that even Pop has some confidence in him defensively or he wouldn’t have put him for defensive purposes in the the closing minute of a tight Suns game. The Spurs desperately need someone in at least a regular part-time role that is an intense defender on the perimeter. Every indication is that Hairston fits that description. And the fact is, Bogans’ all around game has been dismal. It should now be pronounced as a failed experiment.
Here are Bogans average production numbers over the past 6 games:
Minutes - 21
FG’s - 7 for 26 - 27%
3 pt. - 3 for 16 - 19%
Rebounds - 1.0 per game
Assists - 1.2 per game
TO’s - 1.0 per game
PF’s - 2.5 per game
Points - 3.0 per game
Those are some pretty dismal production numbers, combined with only slightly above average “D”, and are nowhere near adequate for someone getting 21 minutes per game on a playoff contender.
I say give Hairston a shot at Bogans role. Here are Hairston’s numbers in the only game he got significant minutes in “non-garbage” time (getting 18 minutes starting middle of 3 Q is NOT garbage time).
Minutes - 18
FG’s - 4 of 6 - 67%
3 pt. - did not shoot one (although shooting 41% in D- league)
Rebounds - FIVE, three on the offensive glass
Assists - One
TO’s - ZERO
PF’s - One
Points - EIGHT
** A team high +18 when he was on the court!
Maybe Pop has his reasons, but at this point I don’t see them, because I can tell you one thing, we ain’t going nowhere with Bogans starting. Everyone knows we have a weakness with Bogans. Why not just try Hairston, let’s say for 6 games as long as he’s not hurting us more than Bogans already is, and then reevaluate. We can always go back to Bogans, if we must. But there’s always a chance that Hairston could surprise us (after all, nobody on the coaching staff thought Blair would have the immediate impact that he has had).
March 2nd, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Some of you guys would boo santa clause.
March 2nd, 2010 at 2:09 pm
The only problem I have with trying Ian or Hairston even over the next 5-6 games is that at this point, that represents >20% of our remaining games.
The fact is we are only 24 games from the beginning of the playoffs. Arguably, the Spurs’ problem has been that they have had plenty of talent but that the talent hasn’t gelled because of constantly changing lineups. If we give a complete unknown like Ian or Hairston playing time now and they wind up being exactly what Pop thought they were, those are another 5-6 games less to actually develop some sort of consistent rotation. So while I’m not happy with Bogans right now and wish they’d give his minutes to Mason, or maybe wish they had time to see what Hairston could give us… we just don’t have time. We need to settle on who our top 8-9 guys are for the playoffs and go to war with them and get them settled so we can be in something of a groove by the playoffs.
March 2nd, 2010 at 3:20 pm
don’t want to jinx it, but i’m calling it
spurs go on 7 game win streak
i like how rj and hill are playing. not to mention manu’s play and tony’s production in limited time. i would still like to see hariston and mahinmi get some time, but at least they will be on the bench for the rest of the season and not it street clothes.
hopefully…
March 2nd, 2010 at 3:22 pm
John, you can’t get much worse than Keith Bogans. If we give Bogans minutes to Malik and Malik sucks, then what has changed? Those minutes are still going to waste.
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Nice wins. Seeing the Spurs win is great, regardless of what it means for the bigger playoff picture (which, to my mind, doesn’t change because of two games, unless we’re talking about two wins against LA and Cleveland).
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:29 pm
It’s just a matter of comfort level, duaneofly. Even if Bogans himself is useless, if the other guys playing with him are getting comfortable and used to him, might as well just keep playing him so that we don’t rock the boat on the other guys that are doing fairly well at the moment.
March 2nd, 2010 at 7:15 pm
John,
Appreciate your comments. You might be conveying how Pop feels. It’s smart, but it’s conservative. I don’t think we have the luxury of being conservative this year. We don’t just want comfort; we want someone to shake us up a bit, give us a boost of fresh energy, give us something we didn’t plan on (hopefully for the better - why not?!), and Hairston is our best bet on this. He could be a wild card.
Even if we decided we need to go back to Bogans in a couple of weeks, the adjustment would be quite modest because Both he & Hairston would be executing the same role, and everyone knows what Bogans does out there - it wouldn’t be hard going back to him. And it shouldn’t effect the team’s confidence or rhythm much. We’re a veteran team.
Also, we know that Bogans isn’t good enough to allow us to compete through the first round. We should just admit that and do the best we can if we have to go back to him. BUT, what if we don’t have to go back to him - what if Hairston surprises to the upside. WE could have a fighting chance to get to the conference finals (if big three, Dice & RJ begin to play more up to expectations). No way we’re getting there with Bogans.
Review his production numbers again - we can’t get by with just his defense, however middling that is. Fact is, he can’t produce in other ways, like take the rock to the rack & rebound. I think Hairston can, if given a chance. The Rocket game was just a little flash of what he could do.
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:40 am
Jim,
You make an excellent case for trying Hairston, secure in the knowledge that if there is not upside with him, then going back to Bogans should be seamless.
But, I think this is a perfect example of outside-in thinking. We sit on the outside and look in at the Spurs organization. From our perspective, swapping Keith and Malik would create no shockwaves while putting us in a position to see what a little new blood can do to freshen things up, and we don’t understand why they don’t just pull the trigger when the down side seems so minimal.
“What’s the worst that could happen?” we think. “Could Hairston really be more of a detriment than Noguns?”
I’d like to hypothesize about a possible reason we don’t see Pop taking a chance while (at the same time) showing the difficulties that arise from outside-in thinking.
Let’s say that Pop, as he organizes practices and prepares gameplans, sees Malik and Ian consistently making mistakes in certain areas. He knows that he just won’t be comfortable giving serious minutes to them until they get these things right. As a result, he continues working with them, but keeps them nailed to the bench. He’s not going to say anything negative to the press about them. He’s just not going to play them.
And this is the dilemma we’re in as fans: we have no information straight from Pop and so we’re forced to speculate. And this is fine, it’s what fans do.
But what I think is ridiculous, is when fans start talking about how stupid the coach is (or how messed up our front office is) because he can’t see that he should be testing Hairson, or trying Ian, or whatever the current cause is. The point is that we don’t know what we think we know, because we’re not on the inside.
Again, this doesn’t mean speculating is bad. But it does mean that it’s silly to assume that those in charge are idiots if they don’t do just what we think they should.
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:24 am
@JRW
That all sounds good, but like a lot of this jibber jabber, it’s erroneous speculation. The best solution would simply be firing Pop and trading Manu.
@BALLHOG
Why can’t people get it? It’s really so simple, trade Manu and fire Pop… our solution to evasive success.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:06 pm
CaptinBonnersCorps
….is that all you’re really working with?
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:56 pm
@Colin
That’s all WE’RE working with. We have a once great coach who is past his prime and unable to see the need for change. We have a gimpy and unreliable 6th man who can still at least bring pennies on the dollar. We have no quality SF with which to work. We have an impending lockout/labor dispute that will slam the window shut on the career of the game’s best PF.
It’s a bad place to be, but we need to retool and revamp. BALLHOG is right on the money- it’s time to gut the system and start over; the pieces we have in place aren’t going to get us to our 5th ring in 12 yrs, and the time has come to abandon all hope and start making drastic measures.
Regardless of Pop’s proven status as one of the game’s all-time top 5 coaches, regardless of Manu’s status as a 1st ballot HOFer… the right answer is clearly to tear it up.
BALLHOG’s dead on.
March 3rd, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Abandon all hope huh. The problem with that thought process is that it looks like bandwagon jumping. You were probably the first to jump on when they started winning in ’99. I get it, you want to Fire Pop and trade Manu, OK. We all got it. I’m just waiting to here something different from you guys.
March 3rd, 2010 at 3:06 pm
jollyrogerwilco
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:40 am
I appreciate your response to my comments. Insightful, and right on target.
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