Not a single player on the Spurs roster averaged > 30 minutes this season.

cleverly disguised, Lin should play more minutes than Harden, thread

 

i think every team would like to be able to play none of its players more than 30 mpg and be a #1 seed

 

agree. fewer minutes; better bench.

 

It's just not something that makes sense for most teams. Hubie Brown did it for awhile with Memphis, it wound up biting him in the ass when players didn't know how to step up in big moments.

 

Pops is a genius. He can control minutes of his stars.

Can you say that bout McHale?

 

This only works if you have a syngergy of perfect player material, roster management and coaching. They have been adding pieces to the puzzle for a decade and built a damn good roster that is not dependent on one star. All guys perfectly know the system, are well integrated and unselfish.

This won't work with 90% of the other league though, it's a long, long process and everything has to mesh.

 

100 players in the NBA this year played over 30 MPG. Fatigue is not the reason Houston lost in first round. It would be different if the Rockets were as old as the Spurs, but they are not. And Houston's bench is not deep enough to warrant playing their stars this little.

 

Our bench is bad lol that's part of the reason - though in the reg season, it wouldn't hurt to give others more minutes to let parsons and harden rest more

 

Chicken and the egg.

Is our bench as bad as it is because we don't play them? Or is it that we don't play them because they are bad?

Synergy takes reps. The bench doesn't get many reps, so they don't have as much time to build synergy as a unit. That doesn't mean they'll be as good as the starting unit (like the Spurs), however they would be better if they were developed properly.

One of the most telling things about Pops' approach was during one time out they put on mic, Pops said this...

http://bluemanhoop.com/2014/04/04/w...te-warriors-learn-from-the-san-antonio-spurs/

In other words, Pops thinks long term. He cares more about the process than the score. He knows that some nights you play perfectly and still lose. While others you play badly and still win. The difference is Pops also knows that if you play as close to perfectly as you can on both ends every night, you'll give yourself the best chance to win.

He's building a strong team from 1-15, and he's willing to sacrifice wins here and there to get there. Yes, he's been doing it for 15+ years so has the advantage of a well developed system with multiple veteran players, however he still had to build and develop it to reach the point that it's at today.

Pops doesn't hold his rotations to the slavish mentality of a stop watch. If a unit is playing well, he'll leave them on the floor no matter what the clock says. If players are playing poorly on EITHER end, he'll pull them no matter what the name on the back of the jersey says.

The differences between Pops and McHale are numerous.

Pops holds every player accountable and he'll always reward players when they play well. Pops trusts every man on his bench, and they return that trust with effort. You won't see Pops pulling a player who's playing lights out until they get tired. And you won't see Pops slavishly leaving a unit in when they're playing like absolute crap.

Aron Beynes played a total of 6 minutes in the entire first round. Last night Pops left him in for 15 minutes. Pops lives up to his promise to his players... give effort, play well, and you stay on the floor.

You won't see Pops stand idly by when players are not putting in the effort on the defensive end. He'll call a time out as soon as he sees his players start to lapse on the defense regardless of the size of the lead.

Last night the Spurs were up 24 points and the Blazers made an uncontested lay up. Pops called an immediate time out and reamed out his team. You didn't see another uncontested lay up for the rest of the half.

Pops is always making in game adjustments. Portland went on a 4 point run and cut the lead to 20. Pops called an immediate time out to talk to his guys.

Pops also doesn't care who's finishing the game. If Duncan or TP are not focused, Pops leaves them on the bench. If you're the 13th man and playing hard, you get to stay on the floor.

Yes, Pops has had years to develop the chemistry and efficiency of the Spurs, however that only works when you take the initial step to make Process more of a priority than any individual bucket or play. Even if you make shots, if Pops thinks it was a bad shot he'll chew you out. Fans go crazy over Harden's step back jumpers over a defender, but Pops would never tolerate that if Harden refused to pass to a wide open man.

Popovich also understands that he can't coach everything. He can prepare them as well as is humanly possible, he can teach them what they're supposed to be doing, and he can correct them when they're making errors, but just like sending your kids out into the world sometimes you just have to step back and let them fall on their face.

http://msn.foxsports.com/ohio/story/in-trusting-players-spurs-popovich-gets-results-030514

Great shots > good shots. Team ball > iso ball. Process > results.

For Pops, accountability applies to everyone.

 

You might as well say all our players should aim to play like Jordan and Lebron...

You do realize, and I don't think it's mentioned in your article, that this is the first time this has EVER happened in league history right?

The Spurs had the perfect combination of a ridiculously deep and talented bench, a coach that knows how to limit his players' playing time, and a team so talented they could blow out teams and rest their starters in the 4th.

 

^totally agree with you. When they caught the injury bug, it was an absolute crapshoot trying to figure out which bench guy was going to step up.

What a franchise

 

pop was trained to infiltrate the enemy in hostile territory, trained to pay attention to detail. Could you imagine Mchale as a CIA agent? Pop is a leader of men and everyone from timmy to manu fear him. Other than Casspi who fears Kevin?

however all of that couldn't stop ray allen from nailing that three.

 

Finding any difference in a coach that is having success and McHale and a first round exit does not equate to why we lost, or that we would have won if we employed whatever flavored complaint you might dig up to corroborate the mantra.

How did that limit work when the Rockets played the spurs this season?


Look, they are old, the need to be coached differently. This equates to squat in relation to us and why we did or didn't have success.

I get that a lot of people think McHale is the problem, and that may or may not have some truth to it, but the lengths some go to back up their opinion on the matter is really ridiculous.

 

harden is 24
dwight is 28
parsons is 25

star players play big minutes in their 20's.

lebron consistently played 40+ minutes in his 20's. durant played 39 minutes this year.

pop had tim duncan playing 39 minutes per game in 2003.

 

They should have played Diaw 48 minutes a game and get his fat a$$ into shape. That's pathetic for a professional athlete.

 

Spurs being Spurs , Pop Duncan Tony Manu be beastin ' like The Sun rising ....

 

Thank you! You sum up all the reason why I love Spurs and continues to support them after all these years, regardless if they won or lost during playoffs time. They're just an incredible, hard to recreate team, and Pops really guided them from the start. If a figurehead like Pop doesn't know what to do like Mchale does most of the time, then I don't think Rockets fans will see the extent of the potential its players has.

 

Rockets better start looking for that long term Coach who will stay with this team, he doesn't have to be a HOF or a flashy guy with a fancy resume, but just someone who has a sound principle in how a team should play basketball, and someone who can get his players to play to the best of their ability.

Otherwise we'll always experience this first round exits.