[UNCbasketballbumParticipant]

I had really been complimetary of Green during the Clippers series.  He was knocking down threes and playing good D.  During the Thunder series, he has disappeared.  It seems like every shot he takes is a three and he has been bricking all of them.  He was replaced in the starting lineup by Ginobili last night who had a monster game.  I don’t see Green getting any playing time in game six.  I kinda figured he’d come back to earth and after his hot shooting against the Clips.  What really boggles my mind is how atrocious of a ball-handler he is.  Coming out of UNC, he never had to handle the ball, but you think that he would’ve worked on that apsect of his game for the NBA.  He’s still youg and should improve as a player, but for now, the Spurs need Ginobli and not Green.

[frogmanParticipant]

Well you don’t have to be a genius to figure out Ginobili is better than Green.  His role is to stand in the corner and knock down a three if left open while he gets a tiny rest to defend hard for the next 24 seconds.  The Spurs are never really going to rely on him to put it on the floor unless he can pump fake on a three point shot and take it to the basket, which he can do decently.  But if he isn’t knocking down his shots then he is not much use to the team because he is a good defender but nothing like Sefolosha on the Thunder, Kawhi Leonard and Stephen Jackson can also play that role and at the moment are playing it better than Green.  Add this to the fact that Pop will get every minute possible out of Ginobili that he can for the rest of the playoffs and this equals much less minutes for the role players.

[mgreener_34Participant]

 I think this is mainly because of OKC’s defense on Tony Parker. Thabo and Westbrook have really slowed him down, and he hasn’t been able to get the role players like Green and Diaw involved as much. Parker has two, 5 turnover games, and is averaging only 4 assists a game over the last three. That isn’t helping any role player, even more so guys who are just hustle spot up shooters. 

[PulseGlazerParticipant]

The entire series turned on Thabo being put on Parker.  That Westbrook can so easily handle Green makes it even better. 

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

As I have said before the Spurs are "deep" with some versatile players but they only have 3 true scorers.  After game 4 I said that Kawhi Leonard had his second very good game of the series but they lost the game, and they cannot really count on having two more very good games.  Well, he did have 10 boards last night but only 4 points.  It looks like the Spurs need two very good games now from Kawhi Leonard.

The Thunders Big Four are showing up.  Will Kawhi Leonard be the fourth guy for the Spurs?

I actually thought that the Spurs should start Manu in game 5 to give them more offensive punch coming out of the gate.  He played well but they still lost.  That should be disconcerting to the Spurs. 

I didn’t watch game 5 because I don’t have cable but I will definitely watch game 6.  The crowd should be unbelievable.  Role players play better at home so OKC could get some more points from Collison, Cook, and Fisher.  If the Spurs’ players outside the Big 3 began to freeze up then OKC is going to win.

If I were the Spurs I would put Kawhi Leonard on Durant and then Stephen Jackson.  They HAVE to take him out of the game and let Westbrook beat them.  I would also use both of those two at the same time some, since Danny Green has been ineffective and isn’t that tough.  I would also use Splitter more.  He is long and a good defender.  You can’t have the Thunder bigs dominitating you inside.  Let the Thunder foul him every time down the court.  That will put OKC in foul trouble.  And even if he only splits the free throw attempts every time down the court (maybe that’s why his name is Splitter) they still get 1 point every 5 or 10 seconds they have the ball on offense, you rest your real offensive weapons (getting immediately fouled, then walking to the free throw lane is basically like a mini-time out), and they still have Splitter’s length and defense on the other end.

Use Boris Diaw more with the second unit since you can run some offense through him.  Go to Matt Bonner early to see if he is hot.  If not, use Blair more.  He is a physical, tough player who isn’t that tall but he can rebound and has a knack for scoring inside.  The Spurs need to get tougher and defend better.  They can’t rely on their jump shooting role players. 

If Danny Green’s 3’s aren’t falling then he needs to take 18 foot jumpers.  I don’t understand why guys keep chucking 3’s when they have room.  Move in some and take a closer shot.

Not sure if the Spurs should start Manu again.  I think they would need a big second half down the stretch from him, and Manu would probably be their go-to guy down the stretch so they might want to bring him off the bench again.  I would give Danny Green one more shot and tell him that if your guy gets past you then take a foul.  Use Danny Green as the designated fouler, mid-range jump shooter, and perimeter passer.  I would want to see more S Jax for the Spurs in a Duncan, Splitter, Leonard, Jackson, and Parker lineup.  A bigger, tougher lineup that still has two scorers and another shooter in Jackson.  Use those 5 a lot when resting Manu.  Use Manu as the 6th major piece with Diaw and Blair being your two other main guys.  Give Green a shot early.  If he plays well then play him about 10 or 12 minutes the rest of the night.  If not, sit him the rest of the game.  Find out early if Bonner and Neal have their shots.  If not, don’t use them again and stick to that 8 man core.  The Big Three are the scorers, Jackson is the veteran defender and shooter, Diaw is a versatile big who you can run some offense through, and Leonard, Splitter, and Blair are tough, hard-nosed players.  Those are basically the Spurs 8 guys.

If I am the Thunder I continue to put Thabo on Tony Parker.  If they can take TP out of the game then the Spurs will have a really hard time winning.  Then have Ibaka and Durant attack the basket.  Start Perkins on Duncan so Ibaka won’t get in foul trouble.  If Perkins has trouble in this game then go small again with Serge at the 5 and KD at the 4.  Or go with a front line of Ibaka, Collison, and Durant.  Then run some plays for Westbrook off the ball so he can attack, and go into D Wade mode.  They should basically play a 7 man rotation of Westbrook, Thabo, Durant, Ibaka, and Perkins with Harden and Collison off the bench.  Use Fisher and Cook for spot minutes along with Nazr but only for a couple of minutes at a time.  I would rather have Cook shooting 3’s than Fisher.  Just have Fisher get them into the offense. Or have him spot up off the ball.  He needs to spend more of his energy on defense.

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