Kudos to Michael Finley

[MaNu4Tres]

Lets give some kudos to Finley. The man busted his tail this offseason and its showing. He's playing the best ball since hes put on the silver and black. This is a testament that shows how hard work really pays off.

Keep it up Mike

[byrdman31]

:clap:clap

[SpursPreacher]

Careful in this forum,they kill people for praising finley. But I give mad kudos to him.

[homer]

Careful in this forum,they kill people for praising finley. But I give mad kudos to him.

Love his offense, hate his defense.:hat

[DPG21920]

His defense has been the biggest surprise this year. He is not all defensive team or anything, but is really helping out and doing a good job. I agree he looks better than he ever has as a Spur so far.

I hope he keeps it up, because despite the good play of Mason, I still trust Finley.

[tomtom]

Seems to be hit or miss lately but if he give effort everytime I suppose its not all bad...

[exstatic]

I've learned not to trust Finley's occasional "spring thaws". He's 35, and an old 35 at that, having played too many years of 40+ minutes in Nellie's short rotations.

[Fabbs]

Lets give some kudos to Finley. The man busted his tail this offseason and its showing. He's playing the best ball since hes put on the silver and black. This is a testament that shows how hard work really pays off.

Keep it up Mike
Props for getting in shape this year.

Shame for not getting in just as good as shape in previous seasons, ever since he bacame a Spur.

[DPG21920]

I've learned not to trust Finley's occasional "spring thaws". He's 35, and an old 35 at that, having played too many years of 40+ minutes in Nellie's short rotations.

He is not the best player ever, but I really believe that without him our depth at sg/sf would really hurt. As long as he remains active and tries hard on defense he will play a solid role this year. I do not think he will average 15 pts a game, but he can still spread the floor and I trust him at the line.

[mavsfan1000]

Finley is not that great. It has been Bonner that has made the difference. Congrats to Bonner.

[Solid D]

Year Team G GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG

05-06 SAS 77 18 26.5 0.412 0.394 0.852 0.4 2.8 3.2 1.5 0.5 0.1 0.81 1.30 10.1
06-07 SAS 82 16 22.2 0.412 0.364 0.918 0.4 2.3 2.7 1.3 0.4 0.2 0.56 0.90 9.0
07-08 SAS 82 61 26.9 0.414 0.370 0.800 0.3 2.8 3.1 1.4 0.3 0.1 0.68 1.10 10.1
08-09 SAS 22 18 28.4 0.444 0.373 0.762 0.4 3.0 3.4 1.7 0.4 0.3 1.14 1.30 10.5

Career - 998 809 35.6 0.444 0.371 0.812 1.1 3.4 4.5 3.1 1.0 0.3 1.58 1.70 16.6

[DPG21920]

Finley is not that great. It has been Bonner that has made the difference. Congrats to Bonner.

No one is saying that he is unbelievable. We are saying you can see the work he put in and his contributions (even though up and down) are noticeable.

[T Park]

:lol some people just can't stand finley doing well or giving him props. Sad....

[Spurs Brazil]

Finley is doing a good job this season

He also started well last year but he was terrible at the end. This season we have more option so Pop can limit his playing time and Fin can be fresh for the playoffs

[superbigtime]

Finley has been doing a pretty nice job. His getting about 5-8 more minutes than I would like, but he gives the effort every night. He played well in the 1st and 4th quarters against the Hawks when Spurs were needing scores. He's putting the ball on the floor more. I just wish he would cut back on the turnovers a bit.

[Biernutz]

Mike is getting after it this year. He is doing all the right things. From playing good "D" to hitting that jumper. He missed a possible game winner but he is now steady. A steady influence who is what we need to calm things down when it gets crazy out there.

[timtonymanu]

props to Fin, but i still rather see Mason on the floor.

[Flux451]

Mason and finely play different positions. Finely is strickly a small forward now. But I do want to see more Mason or at least plays for him. He looks out of sync still.

Finely's still the man. He has shown some sparks of youth. Plus he has one of the prettiest strokes.

Plus, rather have finely then barry now. barry hurt for past nine games.

[exstatic]

:lol some people just can't stand finley doing well or giving him props. Sad....

He's got Pop sucking his right nut, and you on his left. There's no room for the rest of us.

[timvp]

I've learned not to trust Finley's occasional "spring thaws". He's 35, and an old 35 at that, having played too many years of 40+ minutes in Nellie's short rotations.

:tu

I don't have anything against Finley personally -- extremely professional, very good teammate, all he cares about is winning and never complains. After leaving Dallas with rumors of him being a malcontent, he's been anything but while with the Spurs.

That said, it'd be foolish to not remember history. He simply wasn't good in the playoffs last year. Against the Lakers, with Manu gimpy and the Spurs desperately needing perimeter scoring, Finley was absolutely horrible. He shot ~30% from the field and got destroyed defensively. Most telling of all, the Spurs were outscored by 47 points when Finley was in the game against the Lakers. When he was on the bench, the Spurs actually outscored the Lakers by 22 points for the series. That 69 point swing in a five game series just goes to show how horrible Finley was when the Spurs needed him the most.

This season, he's definitely helped the team. Like usual, he can produce well for stretches. Last year in December, Finley was damn good. But he's an old player who in basketball years is about 40 after considering all those years Nellie ran him into the ground. Come playoff time, Finley likely won't have anything left in the tank. The most the Spurs should expect from him in the upcoming postseason is a few jumpers off of curl plays and that's about it. If they are depending on him for more than a few filler buckets in the middle of games, they won't be winning a championship this year.

Pop's continued admiration of Finley has to rank as one of the most likely downfalls of the 2008-09 Spurs season.

[T Park]

That said, it'd be foolish to not remember history

Amazing how the 06 07 history never fits into it.

[wisnub]

He's playing good. I hope he played like this in the playoffs. I used to hate him, but i honestly say he is playing a terrific basketball. NICE !!!!

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Props to Finley for filling the 4/5th swing role admirably. When he started with that horrible 1-21 stretch, he looked as done as he did for much of last season, but since then we've seen the effects of losing 20lbs - flashes of athleticism he hasn't shown for years. On top of that his shot has been on and when it is it's a sweet thing to watch. I particularly enjoyed his 3 straight buckets to open the 4th Q the other day when the team needed a jolt.

That being said, I'd still have preferred to bring in a younger player (like Matt Barnes) to fill his role. And I think Money Mason should play 30 mins a game, and that the extra minutes he needs should come out of Finley's allotment.

[exstatic]

Amazing how the 06 07 history never fits into it.

Someone already posted his stats with the Spurs, year by year. The 06-07 season was about the same as the rest. He had a nice series against Denver, but that's a team that plays shit defense, not a title contender like LA.

[wildbill2u]

Lets give some kudos to Finley. The man busted his tail this offseason and its showing. He's playing the best ball since hes put on the silver and black. This is a testament that shows how hard work really pays off.

Keep it up Mike

The eternal question as Fin has his ups and downs: Does he still have enough left in the tank to (a) start or (b) bring it off the bench.

This debate will go on until he retires. Sic Semper Finley

[Tully365]

Considering his experience, his familiarity with the system, and how well liked he is by his teammates, Finley is at the very least a great bargain for 2.5 mil this year. Compare with the salaries of some other guys around the league:

Wally Szcezerbiak, 13 mil
Nesterovic, 8.4 mil
Jerome James, 6.2 mil
Mike James, 6.05 mil
Matt Carroll, 5 mil
Damon Jones, 4.46 mil
Greg Buckner, 3.76 mil

[DPG21920]

Why do people act like last year was Fin's fault? Then they act like Pop will play Fin no matter what. Last year in the WCF Pop HAD to play Fin. Just because Fin could not be Manu and beat the Lakers by himself does not mean he alone cost us the year. Believe me when I say that Mason in the same situation last year would alone not be enough to beat the Lakers with a hobbled Manu.

Would you then speak about Mason as you do about Fin, get real.

[Austin_Toros]

is he going to retire at seasons end??

[SenorSpur]

I'll give Finley props to playing very well so far. I will not give hm props for being in shape - that's what he's supposed to do. It's his job.

I was a bit surprised at Timvp's earlier comment about rumors of Finley being a malcontent. Frankly, I've never heard that and would be surprised if that were true. The problem in Dallas is that his salary, versus his production, became an albatross around the Mavs.

Finley became the scapegoat because of his enormous salary and his apparent unwillingness to take a lesser role, by coming of the bench. By no means, am I a Finley apologist. Quite the contrary. However, I don't know if that makes him a malcontent.

All that said, I'm a skeptic. I don't want to load up the appreciation wagon for Finley until he goes an entire season (including playoffs), performing at the level that he is now.

[exstatic]

I'll give Finley props to playing very well so far. I will not give hm props for being in shape - that's what he's supposed to do. It's his job.

I was a bit surprised at Timvp's earlier comment about rumors of Finley being a malcontent. Frankly, I've never heard that and would be surprised if that were true. The problem in Dallas is that his salary, versus his production, became an albatross around the Mavs.

Finley became the scapegoat because of his enormous salary and his apparent unwillingness to take a lesser role, by coming of the bench. By no means, am I a Finley apologist. Quite the contrary. However, I don't know if that makes him a malcontent.

All that said, I'm a skeptic. I don't want to load up the appreciation wagon for Finley until he goes an entire season (including playoffs), performing at the level that he is now.

Connect the dots.

[MarHill]

I've been a Finley supporter since he's came to Spurs. And yes he has been inconsistent.....for most of his time in SA.

However, I believe the role he's in now will be helpful to the team at the end of the season and in the playoffs. Also, the development of Mason and Hill will need to continue as the season goes along and I believe their development will help Fin get better shots.

It's good to see him play well so far and he's a professional and good teammate!

[loveforthegame]

Finley's always had a strict workout regimen so I'm surprised by the out of shape comments. He sounded disappointed in himself for his performance last season. Whatever the reason you can see the hard work over this past summer has paid off. I don't know many 35 year olds who would rededicate themselves like he has but it's been good so far.

The defense has improved but I'm more impressed with his dedication to rebounding, passing, moving without the ball, and hell he's even attacking the basket some more. He's trying to do the other things even if he's not shooting well or not involved in the offense. You can't say that about him last season.

[SpurSupremacist]

The biggest thing is that he's attacking the rim. He is mixing it up. It's easy to play defense on a player who never drives the ball.

[SenorSpur]

Connect the dots.

No need. I simply believe that was an excuse because they wanted to unload his exhorbiant salary for luxury tax relief. Cuban LOVES all his players. It hurt him deeply to part with Findog - especially seeing him go the his arch-enemies - the Spurs.