50 minutes, 2 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block, 0 free throw attempts

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

That's the collective line of our 3 headed "monster" in the post of Bonner, Thomas and Oberto from the Minnesota game.


All efforts need to go into solving the problem in the post if this team is going to make any real noise this year. Duncan, Parker, Mason are all playing well. I believe Bowen and Udoka will be able to provide some necessary perimeter defense, but with no one besides Duncan to anchor the middle this team will suffer.

I'm hoping Mahinmi and Tolliver can provide some good minutes for the Spurs. I'd venture a bet, without having seen either play very much, that they can provide more than the team's current post rotation is providing.

And if they don't, perhaps Pop can bundle up some package that a struggling team would welcome. Bonner, Thomas, Oberto, Finley, Vaughn, Udoka, and as much as I don't want to say this, perhaps even Bowen are proving themselves expendable at this point. Although it deosn't seem likely to us, some team may want to cherry pick some of those folks in exchange for a disgruntled post player at some point this year.

All I know is that if TD is forced to play 40 minutes a night he's not going to have anything left in the tank once May gets here, and I know Pop knows this. I'd bet the farm that he'll make something happen, personnel-wise, if the team continues to get Timmy no help from its current frontcourt rotation. That's the key to the season for this team.

[hater]

Bonner sucks. plain and simple.

Oberto was coming back from his heart issue. he will get better

Thomas is a freaking ghost. I dont know what the hell is up with him

[Whisky Dog]

Are any of the "expendable" contracts expiring? That's the only way I can see anyone wanting any of them.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Bonner sucks. plain and simple.

Oberto was coming back from his heart issue. he will get better

Thomas is a freaking ghost. I dont know what the hell is up with him

I believe Oberto will get better. Thomas has shocked me so far as to how bad he's played. Bonner has shocked me that he's played.

Robert Horry has probably been watching Bonner and laughing his ass off.

[to21]

It's because they suck!!!

[timvp]

I joked all summer that Mahinmi will be the savior. The way those three bigs are playing right now, it literally might be Mahinmi or Bust.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Are any of the "expendable" contracts expiring? That's the only way I can see anyone wanting any of them.

None of these contracts are very large, and some team might have a need for a Udoka or even Finley or Vaughn. Thomas is fairly highly regarded around the league if folks don't look at this year's performance.

[MoSpur]

I can't wait until Ian starts playing. Honestly. I am excited to see what he can do. Hopefully pull more than three rebounds.

[Dex]

Bonner is just missing the baskets he's supposed to miss.

I've already mentioned this before, but for some reason Oberto seems to be about half as effective without Manu in the game. I know the two countrymen are bound to have chemistry together, but that puts us in a spot through November while we are sans Ginobili.

Thomas is the biggest surprise of the three. I expected the guy to show up rejuvenated by a new contract and ready for a full Spurs season, but he has looked absolutely ancient. I really hope he's still just hampered by the hamstring and playing to put a big body on the floor, because I really don't think this is what the Spurs were expecting when they gave this guy 8 million dollars.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Just getting some warm bodies to eat up minutes should help a good deal. KT missed most of training camp and I'm not convinced he's healed up or in game shape, but he's out there. At his age anything resembling heavy minutes is out of the question for him. When he's able to come in with a "six fouls to give" mentality and be physical on D that's where he can help, but with so little depth behind him he looks very tentative out there.

I'll give Oberto a bit of a pass as it's early in the season and he always plays better with Manu out there with him.

Bonner. Well, Bonner isn't very good. The silver lining there is that there's an obvious target in the rotation when the rest of our bigs are back with the team.

Or if you want you can just do some creative accounting with the stat sheet.
50 points, 27 rebounds, and 10 blocks. I feel better already.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

I joked all summer that Mahinmi will be the savior. The way those three bigs are playing right now, it literally might be Mahinmi or Bust.

That may become the mantra around here, it's true. Right now we can't rebound or defend in the post.

This used to be a team that would defend the perimeter tightly and force players to drive in and meet a waiting Admiral and Tim Duncan. That defensive philosophy is long gone.

Mahinmi will probably have to be the savior, because if this team can't rebound and can't defend the paint it's not going to win. We're going to need Tony to score 50 a night just to keep it close.

As I stated in another thread, if the Spurs had their top three scorers hitting at better than 55% from the floor through 4 games in any other season we'd be sitting at 4-0 or at worst 3-1 right now. Defense is what wins for this team and to this point there is none.

[BacktoBasics]

Whats a realistic time from for Mahinmi? Since he's young I'm hoping it won't take but a week or two to get him into game shape so they can see what they got.

I've resisted but I may have to jump on the Mahinmi bandwagon.

[K-State Spur]

Maybe it's more an indictment on how bad Bonner/Thomas have been thus far, but I actually thought Oberto did a few nice things yesterday - not all of which show up in the stat sheet.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Maybe it's more an indictment on how bad Bonner/Thomas have been thus far, but I actually thought Oberto did a few nice things yesterday - not all of which show up in the stat sheet.

I agree. Oberto is likely going to get his minutes, and he does do a lot of the unappreciated dirty work. But he's not going to intimidate anyone defensively. That's what this team is lacking, and hopefully Mahinmi will be capable of providing a little of that.

Perhaps he can do what George Johnson did for the Spurs in the old days...block shots, defend, grab a fair number of boards, and primarily set picks, or get out on the break, on the offensive end of the floor. He won't have to be a scorer with guys like Duncan, Ginobili, Parker and, it appears, Mason on the floor, so if that part of his game is unpolished it probably won't hurt us too much.

[to21]

I agree. Oberto is likely going to get his minutes, and he does do a lot of the unappreciated dirty work. But he's not going to intimidate anyone defensively. That's what this team is lacking, and hopefully Mahinmi will be capable of providing a little of that.Exactly!!! Plus he always brings weak shit to the basket. Stop with the layups and finger rolls, throw it down Fab!

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

If Mahinmi can go for 6 pts, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks a night he'll be the most statistically proficient center this team has seen since Robinson retired.

I've set lofty goals for him...I'm aware of that.

[Obstructed_View]

What's 20 feet tall and can't dunk?

[to21]

What's 20 feet tall and can't dunk?Our current front line minus TD.

[timvp]

If Mahinmi can go for 6 pts, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks a night he'll be the most statistically proficient center this team has seen since Robinson retired.

I've set lofty goals for him...I'm aware of that.My goal for Mahinmi is for him to be 80% as good as Nazr was during the 2005 playoff run. Not exactly looking for greatness and luckily the Spurs don't need great. A live body with good athleticism who is willing to learn might be enough.

[HarlemHeat37]

it's funny that I made a "we need Mahinmi" thread last week and I got laughed at by a number of posters..it's true, we need him..if we aren't going to make a trade, we need Ian to block shots and dunk..it's the only hope for our frontcourt..

let's work on the defense though, first and foremost..

[Obstructed_View]

Our current front line minus TD.

Hey, yeah! That too!

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

What's 20 feet tall and can't dunk?

I love riddles!
http://www.seeing-stars.com/Images/Slides/RandysDonuts.JPG

[romad_20]

What happened to those "Show Bonner some love" threads.

Our front line is pretty bad, we're undersized and un-athletic. Ian better be the second coming or we're in for a long year.

[Obstructed_View]

it's funny that I made a "we need Mahinmi" thread last week and I got laughed at by a number of posters.

No, you made a "Mahinmi is key to our season" thread and got laughed at. If you'd just said we need him, people would have agreed with you.

[ehz33satx]

Thomas is fairly highly regarded around the league if folks don't look at this year's performance.

If you don't look at this year's performance being 4 games into the season? Sheesh! Give the Spurs players a break. It's a long road in an NBA season.

[Steve-O-Matic]

Our frontline minus Tim Duncan is absolutely horrendous. In fact, I'd be willing to wager that if you took the top player out of each NBA team's frontline and then ranked the remaining units that the Spurs very well might come in dead last in the league. That is a terrifying thought.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

If you don't look at this year's performance being 4 games into the season? Sheesh! Give the Spurs players a break. It's a long road in an NBA season.

I expect Thomas to improve...I think he may be one of those guys that plays hurt because his team needs him. But what I'm saying is that his reputation has a lot more worth than his play so far this year.

[mrspurs]

I can't wait until Ian starts playing. Honestly. I am excited to see what he can do. Hopefully pull more than three rebounds.

Agreed

[DROB4EVER]

Ian is gonna have to be big for us, still think we need to make trade for a big, be it Williams from NJ or Williams from Sac town or Wright from Miami.

Some D leauge guys look like they could come in and give us more than we are getting. Bonner and Thomas need to sit, lets see what Tollivers got, he cant be woarse than Bonner.

Bowen is done, just leave him on IR. Buy out vaughn, deal bonner or cut him, bring in some guys who want it.

[mrspurs]

Yall know how I feel about our current roster of Bigs. The reason we've been on a downward spiral is because of it. Yes not having Manu around hurts, but the bottom line is our depth behind Timmy is easily the worst in the league. And when you dont make stops you dont continue. I dont care how many points you can score.

[BacktoBasics]

Bowen didn't play particularly bad defense last night

[benefactor]

My goal for Mahinmi is for him to be 80% as good as Nazr was during the 2005 playoff run. Not exactly looking for greatness and luckily the Spurs don't need great. A live body with good athleticism who is willing to learn might be enough.
This is about what I expect. Right now no one is afraid of our front court. If Ian can at least give us offensive players some trouble then I think it will be enough to keep us from getting completely killed in the paint.

Hopefully Tolliver will give us a little something too. He has shown a pretty good nose for the ball and in the preseason as he led the team in offensive rebounds and tied for the lead in steals. Getting 5 or 6 boards a game and a couple of extra possessions on the offensive glass from him would be gravy. TBQH, I don't even care all that much if he doesn't shoot that well from distance...as long as he plays smart and makes some hustle plays that create extra opportunities for our other scorers.

[rascal]

I believe Oberto will get better. Thomas has shocked me so far as to how bad he's played. Bonner has shocked me that he's played.

Robert Horry has probably been watching Bonner and laughing his ass off.


Too many people here expected too much from Thomas. He wasn't very good to begin with and quickly on the decline. His lack of athletism is just what the spurs did not need. They needed to get an active big who can rebound and bring a defensive presence.

[urunobili]

Too many people here expected too much from Thomas. He wasn't very good to begin with and quickly on the decline. His lack of athletism is just what the spurs did not need. They needed Watkins instead

Fixed

[stéphane]

I joked all summer that Mahinmi will be the savior. The way those three bigs are playing right now, it literally might be Mahinmi or Bust.

Is it possible to play any worse? I mean, even if he misses some rotations on D, his atlethicism will get us some presence down low and some rebounds. So far the three other bigs are just invisible.

[dbestpro]

NY will do just about anything to get rid of Curry. We do have a collection of contracts that could make that trade. I really don't know if that would make us better or worse.

[spurster]

Mahinmi ou buste

[Kibic]

Rasho? Cheap.

[easjer]

I don't see how Mahinmi can be worse than what we've got. I don't think timvp's or EHJ's expectations are really that awfully high.

[tmtcsc]

First off, that was game 4 of 82. Secondly, Mason looks like a stud. Once our rotation is settled and we get our injured guys back, we are going to be tough. I'm not ready to start tearing up the roster just yet. At the end of the year, Mason will take many of Finley's minutes and Hill take many of Vaughn's. Bonner will probably be phased out if not traded.

I'd like to see Tim get some real help in the paint. He needs someone that has his back on defense. Now I know why he loved DRob so much.

The problem is, big guys dedicated to defense are hard to find. That's why KT is on this team and he's undersized for the position. We had a lack of solid options.

[objective]

none of this is especially surprising. Without Mahinmi stepping up, things will not be getting better. In fact they will be getting worse.

Oberto isn't getting better when he recovers from heart ailments. He's old. He's the same player he always was except getting worse due to age, it happens.

Kurt Thomas isn't getting better when he recovers from camp ailments. He's really old. He's been getting worse for years now.

Matt Bonner isn't getting any better, ever. He's not very good. He's the same player he always was, not good enough to be in a rotation. He is very good at making money, how he got the contract he did being a non-factor on a title team while previous title contributors got the same contract offer like Stephen Jackson is mind-boggling.

This is what happens when teams throw away cheap talent they have the rights to like Scola and Javtokas, both of whom are still under 30.

[jack sommerset]

I laugh everytime I see trade Bonner. Noone wants him. If this dude gets traded it will be the end of his nba career. Meaning he would be a throw in for cap reasons,cut the same day and counting the Millions he made in the nba on his couch jerking off.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

I laugh everytime I see trade Bonner. Noone wants him. If this dude gets traded it will be the end of his nba career. Meaning he would be a throw in for cap reasons,cut the same day and counting the Millions he made in the nba on his couch jerking off.

I think if he had the mental and physical coordination to do those two activities at once he should be able to play basketball much better than he is right now.

[Obstructed_View]

Bowen didn't play particularly bad defense last night

For the first time in four games, and only for a couple of short stretches, after giving up the first 8 points of the game to Mike Miller.

[Spurs Brazil]

I hope we can see a 3 man rotation Oberto/TD and Ian

Thomas is done

[Obstructed_View]

Thomas is coming off an injury and is likely to be pushing himself because the Spurs need front line help so badly. He's the only one that deserves a little benefit of the doubt.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

The thing about Bonner is that he's a 3 point shooting white big man that doesn't make 3 pointers. He doesn't really do anything. He's the invisible man. Mookie2001 would get more done in the post than this guy. It is yet another failure of our FO to offer this man a contract beyond 1 year, or else his game actually devolved over the summer.

A guy at work was asking me how Bonner is even in the nba

[ShoogarBear]

http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2007/1123/nba_g_lscola_260.jpg


:depressed

:pctoss

[Biggems]

Im still pissed we kept Bonner over Watkins......I would rather eat that 3 million and cut his sorry butt.....at least Watkins could rebound, block shots, and play interior defense (something we are definitely lacking).

[Obstructed_View]

Im still pissed we kept Bonner over Watkins......I would rather eat that 3 million and cut his sorry butt.....at least Watkins could rebound, block shots, and play interior defense (something we are definitely lacking).

Well maybe if you wrote Holt a check he'd cut Bonner for you.

[Dex]

http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2007/1123/nba_g_lscola_260.jpg


:depressed

:pctoss

Dammit, Shoog. Why don't you bring up Splitter and .4 while you're at it.

:pctoss

[ata]

If Mahinmi can go for 6 pts, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks a night he'll be the most statistically proficient center this team has seen since Robinson retired.

I've set lofty goals for him...I'm aware of that.

There was a SAS center in 03-04: 8.7 pts, 7.7 rbs, 2.0 blk

I know, I know.....


Don't worry, Oberto will get better.
Just don't expect too much from aging player and trade filler.

[angelbelow]

dude thats even wrost then i thought. those numbers are atrocious. we need ian back asap

[m33p0]

Tiago Fucking Splitter thread.

[Obstructed_View]

Time for the saviour pic.

[Sissiborgo]

Just a bad game for them...

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Just a bad game for them...

Or four....



Matt Bonner, 4 games, 17.3 mpg, 3.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 0.25 blocks, .313 field goal percentage.

Kurt Thomas, 4 games, 18 mpg, 1.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 0.25 blocks, .143 field goal percentage.

Fabricio Oberto, 2 games, 22.5 mpg, 2.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.0 bpg, .667 fg%.


Fab's got to get more than 1 rebound per game, Matt and Kurt need to be reminded that the basketball is supposed to go into the basket...no points are awarded for getting close.


The only encouraging thing about their stats is that they all appear to get decent gas mileage.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Or four....



Matt Bonner, 4 games, 17.3 mpg, 3.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 0.25 blocks, .313 field goal percentage.

Kurt Thomas, 4 games, 18 mpg, 1.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 0.25 blocks, .143 field goal percentage.

Fabricio Oberto, 2 games, 22.5 mpg, 2.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.0 bpg, .667 fg%.


Fab's got to get more than 1 rebound per game, Matt and Kurt need to be reminded that the basketball is supposed to go into the basket...no points are awarded for getting close.


The only encouraging thing about their stats is that they all appear to get decent gas mileage.

:lmao

[Manufan909]

I miss Rasho...

[timvp]

Or four....



Matt Bonner, 4 games, 17.3 mpg, 3.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 0.25 blocks, .313 field goal percentage.

Kurt Thomas, 4 games, 18 mpg, 1.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 0.25 blocks, .143 field goal percentage.

Fabricio Oberto, 2 games, 22.5 mpg, 2.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.0 bpg, .667 fg%.


Fab's got to get more than 1 rebound per game, Matt and Kurt need to be reminded that the basketball is supposed to go into the basket...no points are awarded for getting close.


The only encouraging thing about their stats is that they all appear to get decent gas mileage.


:lmao :cry :wow :lol :depressed
:lmao :cry :wow :lol :depressed


Thanks a lot, Chopper. I just ate lunch.

I lost it.

Now I'll have to go eat it again.

While laughing and crying at the same time.




Hopefully we have some SPAM.









Be right back . . .