RealGM

Pops has been starting these two together for the past 3 games and although the results on the court haven't been our best of the season, I think this is a lineup we need to stick with if we really want to contend in the west.

Zach Lowe wrote an outstanding article for Grantland about a week ago about the odd couple front courts in the NBA and the Duncan/Splitter pairing was one of the pairings that he focused on. He dissects and analyzes the pros and cons of the pairing better than I ever could so I'd recommend you open up the link below and give it a read.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8757066/tim-duncan-tiago-splitter-greg-monroe-andre-drummond-more-nba-frontcourt-odd-couples

I'd really like us to end up with a shorter frontcourt rotation. Ofcourse, right now isn't the time to do it, but after AS Break, lineup should be shorten.

Splitter-Duncan-Diaw should be the big man rotation. Blair and Bonner can ride the bench.

Our best defensive lineup involve Duncan-Splitter, while our best offensive lineup is Duncan-Diaw. More importantly, our best lineup with the big three is with Diaw and Kawhi.

So I think it should be Duncan-Splitter to start. So far, the rotation has been to sub out Splitter first around half way to the first quarter for Diaw. And then Splitter will come back in at about 2-3 minutes left in the first quarter for Duncan. And then Duncan comes back at about the 8 minute mark of the 2nd quarter and finish out the first half.

That's a good way to shorten the big man rotation. And there are also some minutes where we'll see small ball lineup featuring only Duncan or Splitter.

What gets tricky is the perimeter rotation.

Cory Joseph is not going to get playing time. The battle is between Neal, Mills, and Nando. Mills the best defender. Neal the best scorer. Nando the best playmaker.

To me, it's important to find who plays the best with Manu on that second group.

I think Nando is at his best when he's handling the ball and playing Manu's role. But he's not gonna play Manu's role with Manu on the floor. So most of the time when I see Manu and Nando together, I see Nando playing off ball and IMO he's not a better off the ball player than Mills or Neal.

The advantage Patty Mills has over Nando is his defense and scoring/shooting ability. Nando does struggle defending quick small PGs and those are the games I see Patty has more impact on the game. Plus, I think Mills fit in better next to Manu compared to Nando.

But I can't overlook the strong offensive game Gary Neal has. With Manu becoming more of a playmaker than a scorer at this stage of his career, Neal seems to be the best partner for Manu on that second unit.

This is what I'm hoping:

Starting lineup: Splitter, Duncan, Kawhi, Green, Parker (Arguably our best defensive lineup)

Second unit: Splitter or Duncan, Diaw, Jackson, Manu, Neal (Big men rotation shorten to 3 guys)

Lineup that finishes games: Duncan, Diaw, Kawhi, Manu, Parker (Our best offensive lineup)

It's good that at the early part of the season to build up some confidence for the younger guys (Patty, Nando, Blair) so that they know what they're doing in the system. But being 12 deep late in the season and in the playoffs is worthless when we're gonna be forcing our big three to play 35 minutes a game instead of these 30 Duncan minutes or 24 Manu minutes. A 9 man rotation should be what the team is aiming for as we get into the playoffs.

Honestly that's perfect

Blair and Bonner should only get garbage minutes in the playoffs.

If SA needs another "BIG", simply use Jack as a stretch 4, just like Miami does with Shane, NY does with Melo and OKC does with KD.

Parker/Neal
Green/Manu
Leonard/Jack
Duncan/Diaw
Splitter

That's pretty much the lineup that should log most of the minutes in the playoffs.

franktony wrote:Honestly that's perfect

Blair and Bonner should only get garbage minutes in the playoffs.

If SA needs another "BIG", simply use Jack as a stretch 4, just like Miami does with Shane, NY does with Melo and OKC does with KD.

Parker/Neal
Green/Manu
Leonard/Jack
Duncan/Diaw
Splitter

That's pretty much the lineup that should log most of the minutes in the playoffs.

Totally agree and that's a very potent 9 man rotation.

Seems like that's what we're starting to see regarding the frontcourt rotation. Splitter, Duncan, Diaw. Bonner and Blair has only seen garbage minutes.

The big thing I see is that Splitter isn't getting as many scoring opportunities now as opposed to coming off the bench. He's still getting roughly the same minutes, but his shot attempts are lower because he's not involved in the pick and roll as much as he was with the second unit. And I get the feeling that now he's in the starting lineup, he's probably being featured more in the opponent's scouting report. He's just not getting the same looks as he was earlier even when he first became a starter.

So I think statistically Splitter isn't making a big splash, but his impact on the game is certainly undeniable to me. We're bigger and better defensively. He also looks comfortable now playing with the starting unit.

I feel bad for Dejuan. I can really see how he sees this as being unfair. There's really not much more you can realistically ask Blair to do other than grow taller. That's the biggest reason he's out of the lineup. He's better as a backup PF, but he's forced to play starting PF or a 6'6 backup Center. At this point, I just hope Spurs do trade him somewhere hopefully for a veteran backup big man like a Jermaine O'neal type. Basically just someone who is content with his role and could actually help us a little in case of injuries.

and then we can just watch Blair do his thing elsewhere and hopefully get some good minutes and have a good career.