Remember that both Ayres (we still think of him as Pendergraph) and Mills were both Blazers. We know them well. And yes, we will all learn about Splitter and Green. SAS plays great team defense. We're not going to be able to move freely, and we'll have to adjust to those little grabs and holds.
LOL They both already are. Matthews due to past games (like that 2011 game where Batum had the alley-oop to win at the buzzer) and Lopez due to RobinLopez.gif.
Back in the day one if my favorite posters was a lakers fan (DaRizzle). Your takes may or May not be popular but that doesn't matter if they're strong.
Errors won't see a minute of meaningful playing time and if he does it means you guys will win the series. Mills will be fun to watch in this series. Still can't believe Portland gave him up; he was one of my favorite non-Spur players for a while.
Oh and BTW... Your posts and comments are most welcome. Don't hold back as long as you don't troll. In fact, I like the trash talking... Why wouldn't we?
I actually agree, to an extent, with you. That pesky HOU PG (already forgot his name!) really didn't do much defensively - so Green should easily do a better job. Whether it's good enough to get Dame off-game is the question. The Splitter issue is a little different. He's a different type of defender than Howard/Asik. While it would be silly to say he's a "better" defender, his style of defense might work better - he appears to have much longer arms than Howard. But actually, HOU (mainly Asik) did a good job of defending LMA (except for Game 1). So if Splitter does a better job than Asik then we're in trouble.
Exactly my point. Howard is a great defender (not what he used to be, mind you), but him and Splitter are different kinds of defenders. Howard will bang down low while jumping up to block layups and floaters, unlike Splitter who keeps his feet on the ground and leaves the paint often to defend bigs who stretch the floor and even opposing guards. Splitter is a lot more mobile and is actually a big plus in switching situations.
There's still a lot of Patty love here. He was very popular in Portland. That being said, he needed the kind of coaching that only Pops and his staff could provide. You all wanted Batum as well. However, I'll give you a third name to watch: Victor Claver. Every time I see him, I think about how much better he would be playing for the Spurs. He is your kind of player. If he gets minutes, watch him.
LOL! Awesome! Repped! I had never seen that one, but that's totally his sideline personality! There's a great gif of RoLo bicycling on his back from this year.
I'll be interested to see Splitter in this series. Last year when we badly needed a C people were throwing his name around as a possible target. When I watched him last year I was not impressed, and was glad that we didn't try to extend a big offer to him.
Without Splitter last year the Spurs lose to Golden State or Memphis tbh. Same with this year, if he hadn't played as he did against Dallas, the Spurs would've been embarrassingly beaten in 5 games max.
I didn't watch any of the Spurs/Mavs series - I just recall that the few games I watched in last year's POs I didn't feel like it would be a good idea for us to offer him a $10M+ per year deal. Like I say, I'm interested in seeing him for 6ish games in a row! I wanna see how Splitter/Lopez shakes out. I don't think they will go head-to-head often, but it'll be interesting to see how each of them help their team. After Lopez made it through the HOU series I think/hope he's going to have a much easier time. Howard was just too quick and too strong for Lopez. Neither Duncan nor Splitter will both out-quick and out-strong him. His biggest issue will be dealing with Parker while also trying to eliminate the passing lane to his man and boxing out for the rebound. Hopefully Stotts has some better help-defense rotations this series - I still don't understand why he didn't have LMA helping off Asik when Howard would get deep position late in games.
I disagree with the opinion about Lopez and Splitter going "head to head" often. I think the assignment to guard Aldridge will be on Duncan and only Duncan. I think Pops trusts Duncan enough to at least "contain" Aldridge and match him statistically. Splitter may defend Aldridge in spurts or vice versa dependent of foul trouble, but I think Lopez vs. Splitter will be the true battle this series. I also think Matthews vs. Manu is another big battle.
Duncan will be a much harder cover for Lopez. While he isn't as physically dominant as Howard, he's much smarter and has much better post moves. He'll also draw Lopez out of the paint with his jumper.
