I think you are trying too hard.

Oh, I don't know, I think we have such a needy group, that it might play for them to get on over to the Spur's section and commensurate with Pop.

I especially liked his perceptive comments and forceful personality when he had his group together over on the side line.

Think Flip out-coached Pop?...nah. And Hunter, quit chewing on Parker's shorts...act your age!

trying too hard to . . . ?

Popovich doesn't play man-to-man defense as a default. He loves to trap players, especially along the baseline, and especially the ones who can't read doubles and pass out of them effectively (that's why Tayshaun normally sucks against the Spurs, and why Flip decided to play him at guard).

Speaking of Tayshaun,

At least he challenged this one.

A good win to break the losing streak. The team finally showed what they could do if they put their mind into it. Why Sheed and Tay can't play like that at least 75% of the time? Tay was aggressive early scoring in a variety of ways. Sheed was in the post quite a bit asking for a ball.
When they are on like that Pistons are hard to beat. But I have to nitpick a bit. Starters played too many minutes. It was obvious in the 3rd when they started settling for long jumpers that weren't falling. The team only scored 13 points in the 3rd. They did, however, play good on D and Spurs' shots weren't falling, so Pistons kept a decent size lead which was diminished in the quarter.

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I think the Washington Wizards have got to be the dumbest team in the history of civilization. - C.Barkley

I agree D4E, some people are never happy. This was a great win. Our defense looked really good, we were quick, guys were helping cover... Parker hardly got in the lane until it was pretty much over. Ginobili didn't get to do many of his stupid ridiculous flip shots in traffic. The fact we were clogging the paint burnt us a couple of times with Udoka being left open for 3's, but if they can beat us nailing 3's they can have it.

Rip torched Bowen constantly. I thought this was a good psychological game for Rip because Bowen couldn't stop him.

Sheed was taking 3's from 5 feet outside the line for some reason but his work inside was a thing of beauty. McDyess played some good D on Duncan before those 2 quick fouls.

We were on the road in one of the hardest arenas to win in, I'll take a win any which way. Flip decided from the get go that he was going to ride the starters to try and pull out a win. I didn't mind this decision. Flip desperately wanted a win against a good ball club. They sucked it up in Dallas so the guys deserved the chance to redeem themselves. Yeah, there's always the other side of the coin - the bench should get the chance to play against the strong competition for experience but Flip made his decision, stuck with it, and we got the win. Give him some credit every now and then.

Lindsey was the difference maker in the 4th. Solid showing from him and a smart decision from Flip to go with him. Jarvis made some smart plays late in the 4th. I was expecting him to probably jack 3's on a couple of those possessions and was pleasantly surprised when he showed the composure to make a couple of nice assists to Sheed.

I love seeing Duncan lose.

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Just beat the World Champs on their home court where they were 17-2!

Every so often we are going to see games where the starters play. They were playing so well last night that I don't have a problem with them playing extended mins. Every night is not going to be development night. 90% of the time it will be but we are going to get some games where they are just trying to win. This game in particular I think the starters wanted to redeem themselfs from the past 2 loses and were willing to take on that responsibility.

If they would have lost everyone would be saying how they can't beat a good team.

Any win against SA is a good one - as others have pointed out, they are the world champs and playing at home. I'm o.k. with the minutes played - the starters had some making up to do after the last two, and didn't play all that much the night before (might argue didn't play at all).

- Sheed was pretty amazing on both ends. Team defense overall was pretty good - forced lots of turnovers by being in the right place on drives.

- Hunter put in a couple of good minutes and kept the defensive pace up when things were lagging.

- I liked Tay playing the two spot though maybe a couple of Fabio minutes then would have been an upgrade over Hayes during that time. Hayes needs to be a higher option on offense when he's over the floor or he doesn't get much done. He doesn't blend in well with the starters.

- Pretty forgettable night from Max - more turnovers than boards, 25% shooting. He's looking frustrated and bad. He had a decent game against Boston, but has yet to show up in Texas.

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"But first, are you experienced? Or have you you ever been experienced? Well, I have."
Jimi

Good game overall, but why not bring in one or two bench guys during the 3rd quarter? The starters seemed to have lost interest in the game - at least that's what the offense looked like to me, what with all the jumpers. There were at least 3 desperation Js tossed up to beat the shot clock.

With a double-digit lead, why not bring in AA in a game like this? You don't lose anything defensively and you get a player who doesn't need the ball on offense. It would be nice to get him some experience guarding slashers like Parker and Ginobili.

Anybody else notice how ticked Dice looked when he saw Max was coming in for him after he picked up that 5th foul with about 4 mins to go in the game? Fast forward a couple minutes later and he's back in to pick up his 6th foul! This was very near the same point where Pop raised the white flag and brought in the bench. I was thinking this may be an indication of what Flip has to deal with in limiting the starters' minutes.

Dyess definitely didn't want to come out. I've never really understood that substitution. There are four minutes to go, you've got a guy, who given the way he's been fouling all game, is fairly likely to pick up the sixth, and the game is tight and you want him on the floor.

Why not leave him in? The worse than can happen is that he picks up the foul on the rebound of the free throws and is out anyway. Best case maybe he plays it out. By substituting you just throw off any rhythm he might have and bring a guy in who knows he's only going to get about a minute to play.

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"But first, are you experienced? Or have you you ever been experienced? Well, I have."
Jimi