Quote:
Originally Posted by Kager  You make huge sweeping statements Jose based on not much, Splitter just showed 16 pts on 5 of 7 shots working within what I described above where first option was screen and roll and then he went to the post as TD wasn't there as first post option. |
that's not even close to being a post presence. the only decent play he had going to the post was when he couldn't even post up the soft Carlos Boozer and Splitter actually bounced off of him for the shot. that's not being a post presence. he made his free throws, so that's a plus.
doing a pick and roll isn't considered being an "inside presence". TD in his prime is an inside presence because he caught the ball in the paint and created. Splitter using a pick and roll and playing off another player does not make him an inside presence. it makes him a player who needs to roll to the basket to get his shot, but that doesn't classify anything close to that. Amare Stoudemire was never known as an inside presence when he'd pick and roll with Nash and neither is Splitter.
Al Jefferson is 6'10", when is that considered as undersized? he can back down guys consistently and shoot over them while making a pass to shooters once there's a double team. there's no "detail" to that, it's vintage Spurs offense.
you need to detail how Splitter will do when team's decide to stack the paint like OKC did or keep up with shooters and kill the pick and roll. how's Splitter going to man the offense? he's playing well for $3.5 million but he won't be worth that much if he keeps playing like this consistently. also remember, the Bulls rely on Derrick Rose. Boozer is soft and can't create his own consistently, Noah can't create, and Taj Gibson is a hustle player. Splitter had role players to play against without a superstar, if he's as good as advertised on here he should have taken more shots and manned the offense better. i seriously doubt Pop's offense was "have Neal dribble the ball in transition and jack up shots". he made them, but that's because he's so one dimensional. put Al Jefferson with this team tonight and no Big 3 and it would've been an inside out game, something we'll need in the playoffs if we want to win the title.
check out Tiago's stats to know how the pick and roll is the only way he can score:
he's shooting 65% (194-298) in the restricted area, he's shooting 26% from the paint in the non-restricted area. if he was really backing down, he'd have shots in the paint as a whole in a balanced way. there's no way with Tiago's lack of strength can he backs down guys all way under the basket.
Jefferson is shooting 64% in the restricted area, 45% in the paint (non-RA) and 40% in mid range.
Splitter is too one dimensional and if you believe Gregg Popovich is wanting Splitter just to play in this system, then you're forgetting the past few times where Pop went with set up ball and picked Dice/Diaw over Blair. the reason Pop says the Spurs need to run is because we don't have an inside presence backing down. if we did, we'd mix it up. he's playing Splitter to the best of his own abilities to help the team, not because he purely wants Tiago to play in that way.