Kawhi Leonard from SDSU starting. Tiago Splitter off the bench. Tim Duncan. What moves would Pop make? How would Dirk look in his first game back? Could LO string two good games together?
First - Kawhi Leonard. He's got the ability to be a star in this league. He'll be slotted to be a role player, but if he really wants it, he's in the perfect situation. I'm a little surprised he's only averaging 5.2 rebounds, but the Spurs have him playing away from the basket mostly. I think as he grows, he'll be able to average double digit rebounds in addition to scoring.
Tiago Splitter is everything I'd been hearing. He's turned a corner this year. I haven't watched much Spurs basketball, but I will be going forward.
I tweeted during the game that if the Spurs are healthy going into the playoffs, they'll be tough. Most of that is Manu. He's ridiculously important to them. Tim Duncan looks good, and Pop is doing a great job of spreading the minutes in this crazy season. Tonight, he sat Duncan, Parker, Blair, and Jefferson for the second half of the fourth and overtime. I'm sure I'll be making a Carlisle post soon, because I think he's ridiculously good and doesn't get enough credit. But, Pop is also a great coach, obviously.
Dirk looked ok tonight. Blair was being very physical, but Dirk still had a little more hop than I've seen him have in a bit. His shot was off all night, and it made him hesitant a few times. That'll come. I think another week off in late March would be good, but I doubt they give it to him.
Speaking of injury, it looks like Kidd'll be out a couple weeks with a calf strain. Good. He needs rest, too. And, jeez, Roddy B seems to be getting it. When I saw him a couple years ago in the Summer League, I was underwhelmed. His quickness was apparent, but he just wasn't a basketball player. Last year, his offense was good, but there was no reason to play him because JJ was providing everything you would want from Roddy. With JET and Carlisle in his ear, he seems to be focusing on D, becoming a blocking fool, and still progressing offensively as well. His PNR play on both ends is exponentially better. This is good.
Speaking of good, my gosh. Both Haywood and Mahinmi are exceeding expectations this year. See what I mean about Carlisle? Even VC is someone I can cheer for the way he's playing. I'd guess it's partly maturation, but I gotta give that credit to Carlisle, too. I was worried losing Dwane Casey and Tim Grgurich, but seems to be ok.
LO, unfortunately, did not look as good as he did on Friday. That's to be expected. He didn't look bad today, just not good. I still believe he'll get it.
On Christmas, I thought I'd just enjoy last year's championship and look forward to seeing what we'd do with flexibility next summer. Now, we're right there with SA, OKC, MEM, DEN, dLAL, and LAC as teams who could take the West (and lose to MIA) if everything falls right. Of course, plenty can happen in the next few months.
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