Friday, January 14th, 2011...8:37 pm
San Antonio Spurs 101, Dallas Mavericks 89: “We fully realize that was not the Dallas Mavericks.”
AT&T CENTER — No matter the outcome of San Antonio’s game on Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks, without Dirk Nowitzki it would prove nothing about where these two teams stood. Again.
And after the Spurs beat Dallas 101-89 in a game San Antonio controlled from start to finish, we learned two things we already knew: Dallas is punch-less without Dirk and Tony Parker is very, very good.
Sans Dirk on the floor for the Mavericks, Jason Kidd is the only player seemingly capable of creating offense for those around him. Unlike Dirk, though, Kidd can rarely create offense for himself.
When Kidd sat down for a breather late in the first quarter, the Spurs took a nine-point lead and stretched it to 18, outscoring Dallas 27-18 in the process. With Kidd on the bench, the Dallas offense devolved into possession after possession of trying to find a matchup that worked in their favor.
“We’re a couple bullets short of a clip,” Mavericks forward Shawn Marion said. “When you’re a couple short, others got to pick up the slack in all areas and not just in one area.”
Offensively, Tony Parker ran the show for the Spurs and completely controlled the night’s proceedings. Parker scored or assisted the first seven baskets of the game and finished the first quarter with 10 points and four assists. On the night, he logged 18 points and six assists in 25 minutes, but his finger was on the pulse of the game the whole way.
“[Tony] did a really good job of making decisions, for himself or for a teammate,” Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich said after the game. “He kept us real aggressive to start.”
With Kidd guarding him, Parker was much too quick and shifty for the Dallas point guard to keep up with. When Parker ran the pick-and-roll against Kidd and Tyson Chandler, Dallas frequently switched, leaving Chandler guarding Parker. Recognizing this, Parker pulled the ball out and the Spurs would clear the lane. This gave Parker the freedom to blow by Chandler and generate points, or pull-up for an 18-foot jump shot.
Nothing surprising happened in the latest installment between these division rivals. Tim Duncan got another double-double. Jason Terry took another cheap shot. And, when it comes to Dirk Nowitzki not playing, the Spurs got another win.
81 Comments
January 14th, 2011 at 9:54 pm
And not to mention Timmy posterizing Deshawn Stevenson. My goodness.
January 14th, 2011 at 9:54 pm
Loving the consistency.
January 14th, 2011 at 10:01 pm
Been going back thru SA’s last 4 or 5 drafts…….Was wanting to know if anybody had any updates on Colo and Richards. Saw some high lights on Youtube of both and they both have something that I think would make decent role players today. Also can someone comment on the development strategy of sending players to Europe as suppose to the D-League where SA could really be certain of their progress and training.
January 14th, 2011 at 10:09 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Dallas Towing, Andrew A. McNeill. Andrew A. McNeill said: 48MoH / San Antonio Spurs 101, Dallas Mavericks 89: “We fully realize that was not the Dallas Mavericks.” http://dlvr.it/DMHTl [...]
January 14th, 2011 at 10:56 pm
I’m a french fan of the Spurs so I can gave you some updates on De Colo. He is playing with Valencia (spain) for his second season. He is averaging 11 pts a game in 20 minutes as a shooting guard. He is a really good shooter and valencia’s coach wants him to develop some point guard skills (passing, less turnovers, …) so he is playing often as a PG. Last year, he won the Eurocup with his team. It’s not as good as the Euroligue but winning it proves you’re a good team. This year they’re playing in the Euroligue. He played for France at the World Championship in Turkey where he was one of the first option offensively and he played mostly as PG (because TP wasn’t here). Check this link for his stats http://www.acb.com/jugador.php?id=BHZ
(The FG% 3FG% and FT% aren’t really clear but he’s shooting over 90% at the line)
January 14th, 2011 at 11:21 pm
I missed the cheap shot. Fill me in.
January 14th, 2011 at 11:37 pm
@BayAreaSpursFan
In the second quarter the Spurs called a timeout and as the timeout was being called, Terry gave Manu a bit of a body check. Terry got a technical foul for his efforts.
It’s about the 1-minute mark of this video:
http://www.nba.com/games/20110114/DALSAS/gameinfo.html
January 14th, 2011 at 11:58 pm
I won’t say it’s something we learned, but it’s definitely something that was reaffirmed:
DeJuan Blair is one of the best passing bigs in the league.
He also hit a couple nice, longer jumpers. I can deal with that.
January 15th, 2011 at 12:22 am
I don’t think professional basketball today lends itself to the concept of an extended development or training program to put together a successful team. Franchises scout and obtain players who already have a skill or skills that makes them valuable to the team right away. The player may have a liability in someway on the court, but it would not be one so bad that it isn’t correctable, mostly through the player’s desire to improve once he joins the team. I know TD, you’re looking specifically at the center/power forward positions. I want players whose basketball skill/ability is 80% there already-join my NBA team now and improve on the job while you learn the system & strageties-and help us win.
January 15th, 2011 at 12:30 am
Despite the final 12-point victory, I think a 24-point lead after 3 quarters should have satisfied Myblood’s desire for a blowout victory. I was glad to see us destroy a team that is clearly not a formidable opponent sans Dirk and Caron. The Big all played 20-something minutes so they should be good and rested When the Nuggets come to town Sunday. And is there a bigger thug in the league right now than Jason Terry or a bigger little pain in the rear than JJ Barea? Watching Barea act like he could single-handedly bring his team back from down 15 in the last 2 minutes just made me want to climb through my TV and smack him! Oh well, I guess in the end a loss is smack enough. 34-6…Go! Spurs! Go!!!
January 15th, 2011 at 12:31 am
Nando is still a bit away from being a contributor on an NBA level. He almost certainly will not translate as a 2 in the NBA, which means he must a) develop more PG skills and b) hope that something happens that would prevent him from being behind Parker/Hill.
Duncan putting a poster up and Blair going Shaq on the rim were definitely great highlights tonight.
Unsung moment - RJ playing excellent D against Kidd on PnR switches. If TP wasn’t such weak post defender, I would consider having RJ defend Kidd full-time in that matchup.
January 15th, 2011 at 12:38 am
Awesome game. But I came away with four things.
1) Richard Jefferson didn’t shoot the ball at all or barely had the ball for what seemed like 7 minutes into the first quarter and yet when he did get the ball on top of the perimeter, he passed it right back to the wing to Ginobli pointing down at the post where Tim Duncan had a mismatch. I was a pretty big opponent to the Jefferson resigning, but now I am almost sort of proud of him and how he has bought into the team and his role, especially as limited as his role is.
2) DeJuan Blair needs to man up and play defense and stop reaching. Every time he tried it resulted in a foul or and-1.
3) Alexis Ajinca is horrendous on defense. My word, he was utterly lost on the defensive and just completely losing sight of his man at the baseline multiple times.
4) Dominique Jones is a ballhog, but a good one at that. Very strong body and knows how to use it. He is like the physical version of Jason Terry. His 6’5″ listed height is very suspect. Saw him standing next to JJ Barea who is nowhere near 6’0″ and he looked maybe only 2-3 inches taller than him.
January 15th, 2011 at 12:41 am
I saw an article on nba fanhouse about Joe Alexander (remember him?) putting up impressive numbers in the D-League as a power forward.
Spurs should sign him and give him a chance. Should have way more potential than Larry Owens and although a tad undersized at 6’8″”, he could give us a great option against athletic/stretch fours a la Odom, Bosh, Bass, Nowitzki, Glen Davis, etc.
January 15th, 2011 at 3:05 am
Wll another no win situation for the SPURS but well we made the most and won, won well had some good contributions from the bench, I like the D for the most part with some crisp rotations. Is there a better point in the NBA than TP right now?? Scoring/Passing/dribble drive, he tok what they gave and feasted mightily. The thing that really impressed was Bonner!! You know about thelong range but the rebounding, solid D (no I didn’t think I’d say it either!!) good passing, making the extra pass, he really impressed me. I guess thats why Matt is playing and Tiago isn’t?
Go SPURS GO!!!
January 15th, 2011 at 5:59 am
Don’t hate me, but I thought Ian looked decent. For the million and change Dallas signed him for, it seems like 1.5 would have been a smart move by San Antonio. Last night, Mahinmi outplayed Tiago Splitter, right?
January 15th, 2011 at 6:15 am
First thing in order is to congratulate the Spurs for having an outstanding performance and further distancing themselves in their division.
Without Dirk the Mavs look totally discombobulated. Which says a lot about that team. They don’t know how to play as a team. At least not like the Spurs who, if any one of their players are, in essense, not playing well and might as well not be playing because of poor performance, the team steps up.
A question did enter my thoughts while watching this game. A thought that hasn’t been there until last nights game. After finally getting some play time in a game that should have provided an opportunity to show that after nearly half a season of coaching and learning a system, an improvement over what has previously been shown didn’t happen. Should Tiago be considered a bust? He still looks lost, cumbersome and in general not ready to play in this league. At least not for this team.
Does he not get it? Is he really not as gifted as once projected? For somebody that was touted to be good enough to make an easy transition into the nba because of his performances in Europe…Tiago is looking no better than a late second round draft pick from a mediocre program. It’s more suprising to me than disappointing, and in a way I feel sorry for him. However, it seems, at this point, it would have been fiscally better for the Spurs had they not signed him.
January 15th, 2011 at 6:15 am
Warning: Lengthy Rant
1) Not sure why we should apologize for the win, injuries - no injuries. Not a single article without mentioning how Spurs caught a break. Pop takes it to the extreme, sometimes his comments about the ability of the opponents is so sugary that I feel like throwing up. Pop we don’t need to stroke somebody else’s ego, lull them to sleep and beat them. We can beat them fair and square. In post games please stop with “We had a good night” instead of saying “They had a bad night” constantly. Certainly even for a man of few words you can put a positive spin on our team and be modest without gushing all the time about our opponents. We all know this is the NBA and that teams are good.
2) Getting back to the game. Great first half and half of 3rd quarter before the let down. Maybe the thought of embarrassing the Mavs was too much for us.
3) George and Gary let their poor offense carry to their defense. Gary was constantly shaking his head in disgust like Peyton Manning. I hope it is just one of the nights.
4) When the regulars were in the bench and pretty much it was garbage time, I was surprised the extent to which it affected Neal’s offense. I remember the article on Mason’s reliance on big three to create, attributing his poor performance last year. Hope Neal is better than that.
January 15th, 2011 at 6:24 am
I watched the last seven minutes and it seemed that no one would pass to Tiago off the pick and roll. (Am i wrong here)
Also, he got good positioning that lead to two offense rebounds, but other than that, he kind of seemed lost.
January 15th, 2011 at 6:42 am
Popovich: “I hate playing them without Nowitzki. It’s a worthless situation. If we win, we don’t take a whole lot of satisfaction out of it. If you lose, you feel like a dog. For me it’s a worthless waste of time. I’d rather be at dinner.”
Completely agree with Pop’s sentiment. Now with that said… MAN DO I LOVE DESTROYING ME SOME DALLAS. Eat a dirk, Nutpuncher Terry.
January 15th, 2011 at 6:48 am
About Tiago:
Guys, have you forgotten how Jefferson looked in his first season? Lost, cumbersome, not ready for this team… It took him two summers and one season to fall in. Tiago hasn’t had even one full summer with this team. How about we wait until half way into next season at the earliest before pronouncing him a bust?
January 15th, 2011 at 6:50 am
rob-
You can’t evaluate whether or not Splitter is a bust or not, based on this season… since he will not have a meaningful role this season, barring injury to one of the four guys ahead of him. Next season, McD is playing golf. It may be his third season before he lives up to expectations, but he won’t even get the chance to until next year. If he had more PT so far, maybe he would look more comfortable out there… but unless he gets an increase in minutes very soon, he won’t be a valuable playoff piece for exactly the reason you observed.
January 15th, 2011 at 7:43 am
Tim Varner
January 15th, 2011 at 5:59 am
while i agree that ian played a better offensive game than splitter, i saw encouraging signs from tiago. imo, he was surprisingly nimble on p&r defense, picked up charges, and showed reasonable awareness on d. offensively, he’s not there yet, but it’s also not his fault chris quinn dribbles the air out of the ball or no one will pass it to him on p&r. that said, wouldn’t have hurt to pick up ian’s cheap option though.
glad we stayed focused, hoping we can stay healthy and sharpen our defense through the rodeo roadtrip for the playoffs. never have i wanted the regular season to end early than this season.
January 15th, 2011 at 7:59 am
People…valid points regarding “getting used to a system”. However my observances aren’t based on that. It’s the “basics” of basketball skill (lack there of) that I’m talking about. Tiago is lacking in many areas regarding the basic skill sets in order to improve, not only this system, but I would venture to say with any team in this league.
I don’t know. I could be wrong but, I would think a post player in this league would have to at least have some sort of advanced level of basic skills in rebounding, shot blocking, scoring in ways other than easy put backs off pick and rolls to be able to effectively learn and be good in any system in the nba.
And yes….Tiago appears to be open many times in pick and roll situations when he’s on the court. But everything else other than the taking an occasional charge on defense shows me his talent level is at best “extremely” raw. However, I contend that maybe he won’t be a bust hence I asked “perhaps”. I just see it hard to develop a player into a system when said player doesn’t even possess enough skill sets to be competitive at this level.
Time will tell I guess. Perhaps Tiago should resend some of his salary to the Spurs if they have to teach him the basic skills of playing his position.
January 15th, 2011 at 8:21 am
Taiga will be fine with time. You don’t become the Spanish league MVP without basic skills..just mho.
January 15th, 2011 at 8:22 am
Tiago..damn autocorrect!
January 15th, 2011 at 8:35 am
Can someone post a link to the Duncan posterization pleeeeeeaaaaase. And it always amazes me how the concerns alter from game to game. Of course we can’t say Tiago is a bust. Are you frickin kidding me? He barely plays. Normally when he does play he is pretty decent. Did you guys expect Duncan 2.0 with this kid?
January 15th, 2011 at 8:37 am
“Did you guys expect Duncan 2.0 with this kid?”
No. I did expect better than a Ian Mahinmi.
January 15th, 2011 at 8:45 am
Thank you Dingo. I almost forgot that. Don’t totally discredit what the young man has done in his career. His resumé speaks for itself. And give back his salary? Do you give back your salary if you don’t perform your job as good as your supervisor thinks you should? I highly doubt it. Lol.
January 15th, 2011 at 9:07 am
Thanks Andrew.
January 15th, 2011 at 9:28 am
Friends,
I’m not down on Splitter. I should have been clear. He’ll get there. Just sayin’ that Ian Mahinmi looks like he is worth a contract. He’s making $885,000 and 950,000 this year and next. It just seems crazy that the Spurs did not value him at at least that amount.
In other news, Blair looked great on offense last night. It’s nice to see him hitting the jumper.
January 15th, 2011 at 9:55 am
OMG, you are saying Tiago don’t have basic skills??He don’t touch the ball yesterday!!Just one attemp, but he plays very good in defense, all time he was in better position but nobody pass the ball. He plays with Neal and Hill( they shot all balls). How you avaliable a player with this??
January 15th, 2011 at 9:58 am
Blair looked great on offense last night. It’s nice to see him hitting the jumper.
Does it count as a jumper if you don’t jump?
January 15th, 2011 at 10:12 am
“And give back his salary? Do you give back your salary if you don’t perform your job as good as your supervisor thinks you should? I highly doubt it. Lol.”
Meh. It was a statement made in jest not sincerity.
Point being Mahinmi being worth his contract. At this point and time not so much regarding Tiago.
January 15th, 2011 at 10:15 am
I agree with the other posters suggesting Tiago needs development in the system, he doesn’t look like he has the skill to match up with solid NBA bigs right now- but I also believe Tiago would be better suited in a half court offense.
We drafted Splitter several years back when we were primarily a grind it out time who loved to run half court sets and play strong defense. When we drafted Tiago did we imagine a played that would benefit that type of system? Or do we give the front office so much credit that we think they are projecting into the future.
Only time will tell- Regardless the team is playing great.
January 15th, 2011 at 10:25 am
@ Tim
“Don’t hate me, but I thought Ian looked decent. For the million and change Dallas signed him for, it seems like 1.5 would have been a smart move by San Antonio. Last night, Mahinmi outplayed Tiago Splitter, right?”
I was gonna post the same thing - Just didn’t want to be accused of being this Jim H guy that people have called me sometimes……. lol
I do think we have to temper our expectations on what Tiago can do now and going forward. He will never be a Go to guy and its hard to see him really leaving his mark on this team w/o being extremely good at something.
Blair - Great rebounder of the ball - So POP can afford to give him alot of minutes because he knows that he can at least do that one thing well and that its something that the team needs.
Bonner - 3 point specialist - POP gives him plenty minutes(2 many for me) because he knows that he will at least space the floor and make the D pay for doubling down
Ian Mahinmi - hustles - Yes he loks lost but he looks lost while Hustling - runs the floor HARD(Both Ends) and goes to the board hard.
Tiago - skillful - has more talent than all the guys above, BUT doesn’t hustle enough and play strong enough. Mahinmi is 10 lbs lighter than Tiago, but Tiago is always the one falling to the ground. He needs to get/play stronger. And this is why POP can’t play him. He is too weak and doesn’t hustle enough to make up for his mistakes right now.
He has all the moves etc. But he will need time to get used to our system and his role. Seems like the type of player who needs the ball to really show who he can be. Unfortunately on this team he won’t be a top 5 option for quite sometime.
January 15th, 2011 at 10:31 am
http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/news/story?id=6023466&campaign=rss&source=NBAHeadlines
all u anthony randolph fans
January 15th, 2011 at 10:37 am
@ doggy
+10
@ Tim
Mahinmi played well in less than 12 mins against Blair and Splitter, not Dice or Timmy. I’m not sure that’s saying a whole lot. Besides, why pay $1.5 mil for a 6th big who hadn’t figured anything out in 3 years? I’m not sure that’s a smart contract. Besides, he’s only played in 22 games. The Mavs don’t think much of him either.
@ rob
You seem to think that Mahinmi and Splitter are equal, so think about this: it took Mahinmi an extra 3 years to be equal to Splitter. If Splitter makes half the improvement next year that RJ made this year, he’ll be twice the player Mahinmi is. Mahinmi has no basketball instincts/IQ. Splitter is constantly doing things on the floor that prove that he’s a good player like setting great screens and drawing charges. He seems to be a mediocre rebounder, but he’ll always be paired with Timmy or Blair, so he doesn’t need to be a monster rebounder. He just needs to defend the post and run the PnR.
If he’s registering DNP-CDs at this time next season, then we worry. Not now, it’s much too early.
January 15th, 2011 at 10:38 am
Man u enjoy talk about Scola, he and Splitter play 4 year together in Europe and they won 3 Spanish Supercup with Splitter MVP of the two and Scola of one. Scola was Euroleague first team 2 years, Splitter 1 year. How this guy is so good in Europe and bad player in Nba?? He and Scola play basic the same type but Tiago is more young
January 15th, 2011 at 10:51 am
Sure, Ian looked good, but he looked good against our end of the bench guys. Also, Tiago does not look good because he has not had consistent playing time, and when he was playing, he didn’t play much with Ginobili. Ginobili is the kind of player that makes things easier for everyone and that is what Tiago needs at this point. Manu is the kind of cerebral player Tiago needs to play two man basketball which is what Tiago is great at. I might be making this up, but I think RJ was like that as well when he first came to the Spurs. He didn’t fully grasp what the Spurs were doing, but when he played with Manu it was alright because Manu is Manu.
January 15th, 2011 at 10:57 am
It seemed one of the main problems regarding Tiago last night was that nearly everytime the Spurs tried to pass to him inside they would throw it away. Another time when he did get, he passed to a more open teammate for an assist.
Tiago has 15 assists so far in 311 minutes this season. Ian on the other hand in a 286 minute long carreer has 6 assists. Whenever I’ve watched Ian plays, it seems as though if he got his hands on the ball he’d be working for his own shot. He does seem pretty good at it, but I don’t think you’d often seem him pass out to a teammate with an open 3.
I like Ian, but I don’t think he’d be seeing any playing time on the Spurs if they had kept him. It’s a shame that he isn’t getting any with the Mavs either, as they traded for Chandler and Ajinca shortly after they signed Ian.
January 15th, 2011 at 11:06 am
I’m looking at skill sets at the nba level.
When Parker came into the league, even though he had limited time on the court, he exhibited the skills to play at this level. Same with Manu and Hill. All of which, in limited action, shown raw skills that made some wonder why they didn’t get more playing time even in their first year. Gary Neal…a player that never played a second in the nba is showing the skills comensurate to the position he plays to warrant him playing major minutes.
Anybody would be lying to themselves if they think Tiago is exhibiting that same level of skill set for his position that others have shown to possess in theirs during their first year as a Spur.
Sorry if some of you don’t agree with that assesment. I could be wrong. But Tiago hasn’t shown me anything in limited time to make me think the Spurs have found a future starter much less a gem.
Futher more, I also contend, and have even mentioned, that Splitter shouldn’t be worried about if he registers DNP’s. Blair is the one we should worry about. But it is a concern that it’s not only the “learning the system” that’s against Tiago at this time…it appears it also could be a lack of certain skills to compete at this level.
I hope it’s all a learning curve and Tiago does well in the future for this team. But as I’ve seen too many times in the past…some players coming into this league…though having and given accolades of how good they were prior to joining the league…fall short of expectation and ability. Tiago is looking like one of those.
January 15th, 2011 at 11:17 am
@rob All players u talk about are GUARDS!!!To guards is more easy!!Guards don’t need many minutes to show talent and help the team!!! Power Fowards and Centers is more hard to adapt to the system and they need play more!! So much you never saw a six-man of the year PF or C because they don’t produce like guards with few minutes!!
January 15th, 2011 at 11:27 am
Impressed with the Blair jump shots and FT shooting last night. But, he does need to stop reaching for steals on smaller players and play position D. Against big men, fine, but against Barea and Marion don’t bother.
Splitter vs Mahinmi, I still haven’t seen enough of Splitter to form a strong opinion, but I’m puzzled how he won 2 Euroleague MVP’s. And surely, he’s not better than Nene. Ian would fit great in the new uptempo Spurs type game, as a 6th big.
Can’t wait to see Sunday vs the Nuggets.
January 15th, 2011 at 11:32 am
@ Rob
“But as I’ve seen too many times in the past…some players coming into this league…though having and given accolades of how good they were prior to joining the league…fall short of expectation and ability. Tiago is looking like one of those.”
That’s pretty dismissive for a guy who’s been in the league for only 40 games.
January 15th, 2011 at 11:42 am
@lvmainman Brazilian Team have
Anderson Varejao: Better defense, not so good in
make points
Nene: Better ofense, normal defense.
Splitter: Good ofense, good defense
In three Splitter is only garanteed starter… In brazilian team he and Barbosa are the owners. But i don’t why he don’t play good in NBA.
January 15th, 2011 at 11:42 am
@ThatBigGuy
You’re correct. That was a pretty dismissive statement.
I should have said…”To me he is exhibiting those kind of traits” as matter of opinion instead of fact.
January 15th, 2011 at 11:43 am
@lvmainman Brazilian Team have
Anderson Varejao: Better defense, not so good in
make points
Nene: Better ofense, normal defense.
Splitter: Good ofense, good defense
In three Splitter is only garanteed starter… In brazilian team he and Barbosa are the owners. But i don’t why he don’t play good in NBA.
January 15th, 2011 at 12:10 pm
@Rob
I acknowledged your statement being made I jest when I followed my reply by an “lol”. But let’s get to the meat of what you are saying. Exactly what skills do you feel he doesn’t possess? Don’t just say skill set because that’s extremely broad. If you wouldn’t mind can you name areas in which you feel he isn’t NBA ready.
@TD=B.E.
+5!….That’s the 1 thing that I couldn’t properly articulate and you said it perfectly. While many bloggers have praised his ability to “draw the charge” and I do appreciate that fearlessness, but Tiago is indeed WEAK!…he falls around way too much. Even on offensive moves he finds himself on the floor @ times. But that’s just my opinion.
January 15th, 2011 at 12:15 pm
OK here it is in a nut shell
We may have wasted away what potential Tiagi could have given this team by leaving him overseas TOO LONG. We should have brought him sometime in the last 2 years. And this is why……….
Fact: Tiago is 26 - so he is has already done almost all of his developing. He may get stronger but that’s about it. At this age you don’t really learn many new moves or skills. He is a finished product at this point
Fact: Tiago is used to being a top Option(just like RJ) so it will take him time(which at 26 he really doesn’t have) to get used to his new role.
Tiago best traits
Defensive - playing good PnR D and taking charges. Although these are quality traits, there’s nothing sexy here….. ie rebounding/shot blocking(the 2 things that if you can do either well as a BIG you will ALWAYS find a team that NEEDS you) Also its the reason why Theo Ratliff/Kurt Thomas are always able to find teams even though they are 37+
Offensive - Passes extremely well and plays well off of others. - Problem here is that we don’t play through the post anymore and will not be doing so for the foreseeable future. Also he plays with the 2nd unit:
IndyG - Can’t pass and doesn’t even try(probably a good thing)
Neal - Scorer - is not suppose to pass and really doesn’t look to either
Anderson(when he gets back - Gunner - not a play maker for himself or others
Bonner/Dice - both who get their offense from the perimeter or from crashing the boards
So with that being said - the only place that he could really develop is in our starting lineup. That way the other 4 guys can cover up his weaknesses while he learns on the job. Because he is really out of his element on our 2nd team. They will NEVER look for him on the roll - they don’t even look for TD when he rolls.
So in order to get the MOST out of him - we need to start him, hope he develops a 15-20 ft jumper, or look to ship him to another team that can give us something that we can use.
January 15th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
I’d have to agree with Rafael. I was just looking at ESPN stats for minutes played by international players, and of 83 the bottom 20 are all bigs. The international bigs getting minutes have all been around for a few years. The ones that have a better shot at getting some playing time as a rookie have tended to have played American College ball, and then play for a bad pro team. As a general rule, it seems to take an extended period of time for an international big to adjust to NBA game regardless of how good they may be. I think it’s been extra difficult for Tiago due to missing the pre-season, but others like Erden, Asik, Pekovic and Mozgov aren’t off to much better starts.
January 15th, 2011 at 12:37 pm
T.D=Best Ever
The only people on the Spurs roster that could hit Tiago or any of our other bigs rolling off the P&R would be Parker and Ginobili. Gary Neal tried a few times and turned the ball over.
The problem is..both Ginobili and Parker are in the starting lineup, so you are right in saying his maximum development could only come playing in the starting lineup.
January 15th, 2011 at 12:44 pm
I have one thing to say:
That was the highest I’ve ever seen Timmy jump.
Amazing. I loved it.
January 15th, 2011 at 1:30 pm
I agree with everything in the T.D.=Best Ever post.
January 15th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
rob
January 15th, 2011 at 11:06 am
That’s a pretty harsh assessment of Splitter. However, we lobby like hell for him to get minutes, then when he does play for 15 minutes, he gets 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 fouls. Not exactly what you’d expect from a guy we’ve put so much stock in. Not to pile on, but most of Splitter’s big games have come from Manu or Tony creating the play and then dishing off a pass for a layup. In other words, he has no discernable back to the basket skills and he his midrange jumper is virtually no existent.
I certainly hope we aren’t being too critical of Tiago, but apparently Pop’s real reason for not playing Splitter is that he, at this point, is not ready for the NBA game.
TD = Best EVER
January 15th, 2011 at 12:15 pm
You make an interesting point about Tiago’s age and how much he can or can’t develop from here. At 26, Splitter only has so much potential left untapped.
Let’s face it. We’re at the half way point in the season and there’s absolutely no reason to believe he will be a major factor in this year’s playoff run. If Splitter continues to develop at this pace, we may be better off trading him for a more mobile, athletic big. Of course we could always just trade a pick or two for an athletic big like Randolph…
January 15th, 2011 at 2:52 pm
@Bankshot21
“Exactly what skills do you feel he doesn’t possess?”
The inability to position himself for rebounds.
The inability to defend without fouling.
The inability to use his height effectively.
The inability to be enough of a factor that teams have to account for him in the game.
Granted he performs PnR offense to almost perfection…his inability to be anything other than that is counter productive.
And as you stated…”but Tiago is indeed WEAK!…” I’ll also contend…he is slow. Very slow unless he is defending against the PnR. Which I don’t get. He can come out and defend quickly against the PnR but looks as though he is dragging a ball and chain in other aspects of his defense.
Anyway, I didn’t mean to be so hard on Splitter. I’m just noticing all that he needs to improve upon if he is going to be a legit big man in this league.
There’s a lot of work for him to do. More so than what I would have expected from a player that was so highly touted.
January 15th, 2011 at 2:58 pm
@ TD = BE
“We may have wasted away what potential Tiagi could have given this team by leaving him overseas TOO LONG.”
We didn’t leave “Tiagi” in Europe, he chose to stay for 3 reasons:
1. He could make 8 times the NBA rookie salary.
2. His sister was battling leukemia up until she passed away in 2009 and was getting her treatments in Spain.
3. His buyout was large. NBA teams can only contribute $500K to a buyout, so Tiago would have had to pay most of his buyout himself.
Besides, we let Manu “waste away” in Europe for 3 years before bringing him over and he turned out ok.
“Fact: Tiago is used to being a top Option(just like RJ) so it will take him time(which at 26 he really doesn’t have) to get used to his new role.”
Fact: RJ went from 1st option in Milwaukee to 4th option in SA, struggled, and is now embracing his role, all at the age of 30. I think Splitter can get it done at 26.
Give the guy a chance. He’s barely 40 games into a notoriously hard system, after suffering an injury in training camp, all while using English as his 3rd language. He’ll be a 14/8/2 guy next year, so have some patience.
January 15th, 2011 at 3:22 pm
It’ll take Splitter time, please lets not turn him into another Scola (giving him away for nothing). We gave Yawn 3yrs and we’re cooking Tiago after 40 games??? Yes his body will have to gain strength but has decent defensive instincts maybe not great but some rebounding skills agag\in things like post up game and passing out of the post will be vastly different in the NBA from any league (as will post D) so please people patience……. oh and how about Timmy getting OFF the GROUND WOOOOO HOOO
GO SPURS GO!!!
January 15th, 2011 at 3:26 pm
ThatBigGuy
January 15th, 2011 at 2:58 pm
“Fact: RJ went from 1st option in Milwaukee to 4th option in SA, struggled, and is now embracing his role, all at the age of 30. I think Splitter can get it done at 26.”
Sure, but RJ is a proven NBA player and even a former All-star. Tiago hasn’t even proven he can play at this level.
“We didn’t leave “Tiagi” in Europe, he chose to stay for 3 reasons:”
Your 3 reasons are very valid, but I think the point TD was trying to make is the fact that Splitter is 26 years old and would have made himself a better basketball player had he been under NBA tutelage for the past 2-3 years. At this point, how much potential does a 26 year old player have?
It’s still somewhat early in the season, but Splitter has not earned minutes and when he has played, most times he’s been underwhelming. I expect him to be much better next year, but we don’t need him next year. We need him for this year’s championship run. If the Spurs feel it necessary to have a better front line THIS year, a small trade may be in order since Blair and Splitter don’t appear to provide any sort of consistent answer.
January 15th, 2011 at 3:33 pm
Big Whit agrees with ThatBigGuy. Tiago will develop. There were many times in the game where he moved to an open position under the basket, but no pass to him. He also often looks to pass to the open man, and does that effectively. During the last several minutes of the game, the Spurs point would bring the ball up court, dribble until 10 seconds left, attempt a play, and then turn the ball over. With little ball movement, no focus to get the ball to Splitter in scoring position, and his unselfish play, no wonder he is not an instant offensive Juggernaut.
January 15th, 2011 at 3:38 pm
Big Whit
“no wonder he is not an instant offensive Juggernaut.”
This team doesn’t need instant offensive juggernauts. Quite frankly…if there is something Tiago has proven to be decent at is offense. What he looks to be surely lacking in is his ability to rebound and defend. Both of which is a San Antonio Spur staple for it’s big men to be able to do in order for it’s system to work.
January 15th, 2011 at 4:29 pm
@ rob
You are right, we don’t need him to be an O-J and D/Rebounds are the better measures of a Spurs’ center.
A lot of past comments have been made of Tiago being lost on the floor, etc., but I don’t think he has been that bad considering the situations where he plays and the personnel he plays with. I see him making mistakes, but I also see some good, such as reasonably good positioning on D, moving quickly across the key on help defense, the occasional steal, and taking a charge (I don’t see that as a negative as some others seem to). Yes, I agree he is not a defensive or rebounding Juggernaut, but he has proven talent and needs time to make it happen in the NBA.
January 15th, 2011 at 4:37 pm
TD=BE
“Fact: Tiago is 26 – so he is has already done almost all of his developing. He may get stronger but that’s about it. At this age you don’t really learn many new moves or skills. He is a finished product at this point”
I don’t think that’s accurate. We have seen aging players change or make mods to their games specifically because they have grown older. Think Kobe and back to the basket skill moves.
I def agree that he spent too much time overseas. The spurs gained nothing while he was over there, and now it looks like he won’t be able to use any of those skills in the association. HOWEVER, I think that he can grow to become a better than average role player, to a middle of the road starter. Which to be honest, when coupled with Blair and our outstanding guards, that might be enough.
I just thought of something tho, maybe pop and the FO just has an eye for guards. Manu, Tony, hill, Neal. They are all steals for where we got them and how they are playing. On the flip side, mahinmi and splitter have been less than stellar and Blair was can’t miss from the second round. Maybe they have a better eye for unearthing guards, and can’t seem to get that big they need.
Just my opinion, what do the rest of the spurs disciples think?
January 15th, 2011 at 5:28 pm
To Rob, about Splitter fouling on defense. Remember in Europe, play is more physical over there. What is a foul here may not be a foul over there. Expecting a guy to immediately change how he’s played defense for the past decade is a bit much.
I seem to remember Tony having some trouble in the 03 playoffs and Speedy Claxton taking over at the point. Going from playing in Europe to in the NBA isn’t as easy a transition as some people seem to think it is.
We’re forty games into the season and people are unhappy with Tiago and think we should trade him? Even though he missed training camp and as any NBA coach will tell you, there isn’t much time for practices during the season. Yet, we should trade Tiago for Anthony Randolph, or a pick for Randolph and forget about Tiago? Anthony Randolph, a guy who in his third year in the league is still sitting his ass on the bench. He’s more athletic than Tiago for sure, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to be a better player.
Considering that we are 34-6, I think we can afford to give Tiago some time to learn and develop over next summer and going into next season.
January 15th, 2011 at 5:44 pm
maybe if you combine anjinca and mahinmi, you have an nba rotation big. mahinmi did looked servicable on the defensive end. haven’t been seeing the silly fouls, but if carlisle favors ajinca over him, that is a concern. maybe ian doesn’t resign with dallas and returns to s.a. with dyess gone next year, mahinmi, blair , and splitter and bonner and duncan looks like a strong frontline. splitter has lost confidence. he wasn’t running himself ragged setting screens, but he looked good defensively and made some crafty passes.
January 15th, 2011 at 5:47 pm
@Bruno, damn good point, first he doesnt see any consistent time on the floor putting him on the court after 40 games every 6-7 games aint gonna cut it. Second I saw it too when he was on the floor with Quinn, Hill, and Neal those (ball hogs) guys refused to give Splitter any acknowledgement when he was free on the pick and rolls. Comon man your up 15 points with 4 min left give the guy his reward for setting up screens and playing some defense. I’m glad you saw that too cause I really thought no one would give a crap. Seems like Splitter just not getting a fair shake. If no one wants to play with him and everybody thinks he’s worthless in the NBA why don’t they trade to Houston for a 1st or 2nd round pick. He’ll 99.9% of you out there would go for it in a heart beat. I would too. I would like to see him play 30 min every night with Scola and the rest of the rockets.
He just needs to be on another good team to show his skills. And really if the system is so hard for players to get adjusted here then send him off to Houston.
January 15th, 2011 at 5:55 pm
Tiago is better on another team. Free Splitter Pop. Preferably to Houston. Why should they care if they send him to a Division foe? He sucks remember? I’d like to see him make Blair eat that basketball.
January 15th, 2011 at 6:03 pm
@ Matt in OC
Kobe is a top 10 of all time player….. They are the exception to the rule, not the rule itself……..
And as far as him staying for 3 years for good reasons. Thats cool - but it didn’t help us at all….. We need to stop leaving players overseas so long. Someone mentioned Manu but he played instantly after coming to SA…..
Simple facts
Dice isn’t getting younger
Blair is SUPER inconsistent
Bonner - tries hard but is not very talented
And our insurance policy isn’t looking all that sure of himself right now……..
Go back and look at the drafts since 2005 - Our FO has missed out of some decent Bigs (Carl Landry, Marcin Gortat, and Marc Gasol-what Memphis gave Pau up for) add this to a list of players like Williams. Gist etc that we drafted and it really looks like our FO has a better eye for guards than front court players.
But on a lighter note - i have been looking at Richards on youtube lately….. We need to bring him in next year while he is still Raw to teach him the NBA - not Euro league ball…
January 15th, 2011 at 6:07 pm
@ Titletown99030507
We all see those guys not passing him the ball. Those are the same guys who don’t pass to TD either. That means in the SPURS System - bigmen have to find another way to get buckets, like rebounding and running the floor hard. And if we could get a pick some where in the 8-12 range I would be all for it….. We would also get some lux tax relief as well - Make room for a Big that fits in our system …….
January 15th, 2011 at 6:14 pm
Ok, I think the thing that hurts Splitter most is our record.
We have the best record in the league, and there isn’t alot of incentive to tamper. Not only do we have the best record, but everyone is seeing less time. Duncan is averaging career low min, Dice is super productive off the bench, Bonner has stepped his game up by leaps and bounds. He is drilling 3s left and right, and developed an effective, if not slightly comical dribble game, and his defense is much improved. And Blair is playing like a bat outta hell, forever the human sparkplug 2.0 (Manu being the original version.)
What about that paragraph says we need to change, or rush Splitter into big (and potentially hurtful) mins?
This 4-headed-monster that we have is everything you could look for in a group of bigs. Tiago will get there, but there isn’t anything to be gained right now. If you think about it, we aren’t even getting beaten by the opposing 4/5s.
I look at it as an Amare w/ Suns situation. Go for 40 every time you play us, we will still win because you can’t beat us by yourself.
To me, the times we have lost have been because a guard either went off, or a guard got everyone involved.
January 15th, 2011 at 6:23 pm
I wasn’t trying to compare Splitter to Kobe, that’s just unfair, but to say that only elite players can develop new aspects to their games late in their careers is ignorant.
Ya, it’s not going to be easy, but it’s certainly not impossible. He’s gonna have to give up a summer of international/euro ball, but for a man as smart as he is, I’m sure our coaching staff can work some voodoo, and teach him the fundamentals of American basketball. It’s all about the tools a player possesses, and right now Tiago doesn’t have many. But our coaching staff might as well be Home Depot, so the possibilities are there.
January 15th, 2011 at 6:36 pm
I really like of Tiago in defense this game, we need patience, he never play, we can’t require a spectacle from him, i just think if he have a chance, for example: 30 minutes starting five games followed with Ginobili and Parker would be worse than Blair or Bonner? I do not think so…He have talent, more than Scola i can say, in Europe they play together and sometimes Scola was “the man” sometimes Splitter was “the man”. How NBA would they so different?
January 15th, 2011 at 6:38 pm
I really like of Tiago in defense this game, we need patience, he never play, we can’t require a spectacle from him, i just think if he have a chance, for example: 30 minutes starting five games followed with Ginobili and Parker would be worse than Blair or Bonner? I do not think so…He have talent, more than Scola i can say, in Europe they play together and sometimes Scola was “the man” sometimes Splitter was “the man”. How NBA would they so different?
January 15th, 2011 at 11:02 pm
@Hobson13: RJ never was an All-star in his career, unless you consider his rookie all-star game appearances as an all-star status (in which case Blair can be considered an all-star too lol).
January 15th, 2011 at 11:21 pm
the fact that people posting here see both see flashes from only his offensive and defensive game tells me that we haven’t seen enough to say he’s going or not going to develop into what we need.
i dispute that he doesn’t have any discernible skills. from what i saw yesterday (watching just him for about 5 minutes), he shows good positioning on the blocks, good defensive awareness of not just the ball, but the cutter as well, and excellent offensive awareness, being able to pass to the open man. yes, he’s not the strongest big man, or the quickest, but he sure was fast enough (and aware enough) to close out on a shooter. i saw one play where the mavs were swinging the ball around the outside, and blair should’ve closed out, but gave up. no one is perfect, and i think splitter just needs time to get pop to trust him in our schemes.
@varner
i’m not saying you’re even hard on tiago (most posters have been far more unkind). i agreed that spending 2 mil on ian over the next 2 yrs seems like a piddling investment for someone who knows your system and still has discernible skills. after thinking about it some more though, seeing splitter struggle in his limited stints, wouldn’t that time be better spent on splitter than ian now? as someone mentioned above, would you rather spend the minutes (an underappreciated NBA commodity) on an up and coming splitter than a known quantity with limited awareness like ian?
it’s a question worth asking, and this fan thinks the front office made a calculated decision to break with the past and move towards the future (in one more way).
January 16th, 2011 at 1:58 am
Lololololol….Why don’t we play Splitter…oh, we played Splitter 15 minutes and he sucks; trade him…we can be pretty silly on this here blog from time to time and I get a kick out of it.
Again, I don’t claim to be an NBA talent scout, and I’m not sure how many of you posters are armed with those credentials, but I’d say Pop and RC have probably earned the right to serve in that capacity.
Given that, I think I am within my skill set to say that Tiago has shown me enough to think that with some steady playing time, playing with starters who look to dish the ball and play Pop’s brand of motion offense, Splitter will do just fine. The fact that our record is so good right now (could that possibly be because the players we are currently giving minutes to are doing the job) means Pop has the luxury of bringing Tiago along at whatever pace HE SEES FIT. You guys think Pop doesn’t want to win a title THIS YEAR? Of course he does, and he’s going to do whatever it is he thinks is required to do so. Splitter was not brought in specifically for this year, but his 3-year contract shows he is expected to be a significant part of this team for years to come. Besides, all it will take is an injury to any one of our bigs for Tiago to start getting regular minutes with the current rotation players. OK, I’ve ranted on the subject long enough, but suffice it to say I don’t want to see Splitter traded, I don’t think he’s a bust and I’m cool with how Pop is handling the situation. Oh, and I LOVE being 34-6 and hope we increase it to 35-6 with a win over Denver (who will be playing the second of a B2b) Sunday. Go! Spurs! Go!!!
January 16th, 2011 at 3:41 am
@ Everyone
I would like to thank everybody for holding a civil discussion regarding your thoughts and opinions about Tiago.
I think this has been one of the best comprised debates I’ve seen. Great points both pro and con yet civil and educational.
It’s why I like this site so much. Thoughtful, insightful banter without any of us being too critical of each other’s views.
I think I can say without a doubt…we’re all passionate Spur fans and it would be an honor to sit next to any of you at a Spurs game.
Go Spurs Go!!!
January 16th, 2011 at 4:05 am
This is interesting.
http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-110114-16/howard-qa
“The Detriot Pistons, sources say, are already fielding calls from teams interested in floor-stretching big man Troy Murphy.
The lefty isn’t even a Piston yet, but the rumbles have already started about Murphy attracting the interest of numerous contenders (Orlando, Dallas, San Antonio and more) if he does end up in Detroit as part of a Carmelo Anthony deal.
The Pistons, though, are telling teams that they can’t buy Murphy out of his contract to make him a free agent because of financial restrictions stemming from the pending sale of the franchise, which has also limited Detroit’s ability to consider anything other than money-shedding trades in recent months.
So …Will a follow-up trade materialize to land the lefty with a contender and satisfy the Pistons’ budget constraints? That’s what Murphy — still waiting to taste the playoffs after a record 639 regular-season games without a trip to the postseason — is hoping.”
January 16th, 2011 at 6:50 am
Soooo any news on james anderson??
January 16th, 2011 at 7:59 am
Did anybody see Ian’s stat line last night - Dirk got kicked out of the game in the 2nd Qt for arguing a foul call…….. LOL and Ian steped in and played Very well…… 21 min / 17 points / 6 boards
Also is appears that Tiago should see some minutes tonight - because Bonner is out with a bone bruise. So he should be aware of the situation and after getting 15 minutes last game of of no where - this game minutes shouldn’t be as much of a surprise.
January 16th, 2011 at 10:37 am
Ian
January 15th, 2011 at 11:02 pm
“@Hobson13: RJ never was an All-star in his career”
You’re right, good point. I had thought RJ had an All-star appearance several years ago in NJ. However, my point still stands. You can’t compare the adjustments RJ has made to the adjustments Tiago is going through because RJ is a proven NBA player and had multiple seasons of averaging 18-20ppg. Tiago doesn’t have this NBA track record and, at this point, we don’t even know what he can bring to the table.
January 16th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
Rob,
Agree 100% about the debate/conversation on this blog. Especially now that one Jim Henderson is no longer allowed to play. I’m one of those that generally enjoys hearing differing points of view explained in a cool, clear manner. Maybe it’s just Spurs fans in general that are more intellectual and educated than the fans of all other teams? OK, now I’m probably just getting carried away. Let’s get those Nuggets tonight!
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