Where Pop shines is in drafting his type of players (think Hill, Manu, Duncan, Kawhi), developing them well, and turning them into champions. This alone is gold. Pop is the antidote to Hinke.
LaMarcus the Divider seems to have allied with Tony the Betrayer at the expense of Kawhi the Silent. For various reasons this doesn't seem right to me. Division, betrayal and silence when combined aren't styles that easily lend themselves to sharing the ball, trust, and championships. (For the 80s Celtics, McHale certainly divided but silence and betrayal were not issues for their championship teams.) And while Pop can conceal the issue today with more wins than losses, why is this happening? Why is there smoke? Why hasn't Pop snuffed out this fire?
As for the integration of our front court on offense, I believe LMA, Gasol and Kawhi can develop a system that works. The Lakers of the 90s had a lineup of Divac, Worthy and Magic that was effective. Their hallmark was well-timed interior passing for easy scores. During the Magic game, I saw a nice hi-low pass from Gasol to either Kawhi or LMA that led to an easy layup. We could sure use more of this. Honestly, this (a more interior-oriented offense) is what I was expecting after we signed Gasol. In my opinion our interior offense has seemed unimaginative thus far, as we've relied more upon Tony and ISO.
If Kawhi, LMA and Gasol could create a similar identity together, then our dependence on Parker diminishes while improving chemistry and sharing. It might also be kryptonite for the Warriors' exterior-oriented approach. Regardless seeing LMA and Kawhi enthusiastically high-five after a nice play would be a sight for these sore eyes. Such an identity could be a useful tool in the Swiss army knife that is the SA Spurs.
inDe_eD wrote:Nolan wrote:inDe_eD wrote:
Yup, Bertans has some serious potential. We really need guys who are hungry getting minutes, and he is everything you want in a modern day 4.
It makes so much sense with TP/Gasol, right? They would feast on other teams benches with their 2 man game.
Dedmon/LMA/Kawhi/Green/Mills feels right to me. Good mixture of shooting/hustle/athleticism, with Bertans getting 20+ minutes a game somewhere in there. I love Lee too, he even had some defensive highlights last night!
It's not even about punishing those two for poor play it's just about balancing the roster and getting the most out of our talent.
Kawhi and LMA are not only our best players but are both iso heavyish guys. They need touches and they need to be surrounded by guys that compliment them rather than guys that clash with what they do best. Patty, Danny and Dedmon are a perfect trio to surround and play off of Kawhi and LMA.
Even if we don't move those two to the bench we need to start staggering our lineups already. At least experiment with it, although it does seem that we are kinda starting to try this with Pau.
Yea I don't know if I came off as being accusatory towards those two, it's just that they're the odd men our right now. Pau wants post ups or the ball in the high post, both of which are just redundant with Kawhi and LMA. Parker just isn't a great off-ball player, and playing to his strengths means that we take away from Kawhi/LMA. Like you said, it's about balance. I have full faith in Pop, I suppose he just has to navigate those guys' feelings and egos as well, to keep them engaged and useful.