McDonald: Spurs' Finley Picking Up Ginobili's Slack (And: Mahinmi Done)

[duncan228]

Spurs' Finley picking up Ginobili's slack (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_Finley_picking_up_Ginobilis_slack.html)
Jeff McDonald

OKLAHOMA CITY — When Tony Parker looks at Michael Finley these days, he sees a bit of Argentine in him.

“It's like Manu is there,” Parker said.

Parker doesn't want to compare Finley to Manu Ginobili, the league's reigning Sixth Man of the Year. With Ginobili sidelined with a sore ankle, however, Finley has begun to provide a statistical approximation of him.

In eight games this month, Finley is shooting 49.3 percent from the field, including a scorching 57.1 percent from beyond the arc.

In the past two, Finley has averaged 21 points and made 10 of 13 on 3-pointers. In Saturday's victory over the Rockets, Finley even made a shot Ginobili might have attempted in a H-O-R-S-E game, a 45-foot half-court banker to beat the third-quarter buzzer.

Since a frigid January during which he shot 40 percent from the field, Finley had made 72 of 151 field goals.

“I don't ever notice him struggling, honestly,” Tim Duncan said. “Every shot that he takes I think is going in. He's one of the best shooters I've seen, period.”

A grand for Pop: Gregg Popovich can join some elite company tonight in Oklahoma City.

It will be his 1,000th game as an NBA coach, a feat matched by only 23 others in league annals. He will be only the seventh coach to reach that milestone with one franchise.

Win or lose, Popovich will boast the third-best winning percentage over his first 1,000 games in NBA history. Heading into tonight, Popovich has earned 676 regular-season victories. Only Phil Jackson (731) and Pat Riley (716) won a greater share of their first 1,000.

Mahinmi done: Ian Mahinmi, who has missed the entire campaign to date with various ankle injuries, is not expected to play again this season — either with the Spurs or their Development League affiliate in Austin.

Mahinmi, a 22-year-old, second-year center, underwent surgery in January to remove a bone spur from his right ankle. He has been on the injured list since spraining an ankle in a pick-up game in August.

“It's unfortunate that we miss him for the entire year,” Popovich said. “Not because we thought he was going to average 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds). We have no clue. We wanted to see how he'd respond and what we had. And we still don't know.”

[loveforthegame]

Nice comments from Parker and Duncan on Finley.

It's no surprise but it's a bummer about Mahinmi not being able to get on the court again this season.

[Spursmania]

Finley really has provided the Spurs with a much needed lift in the absence of Manu. I just hope he saves some for the Play-offs.

[Bruno]

It would have been nice to see Mahinmi playing some games with Toros to end the season but it's not like 10 D-League games will change his career.

Next year training camp is the key for Ian future with Spurs. If he doesn't show good things, Spurs won't pick up the 2010-2011 team option of his contract and he will be basically done as a Spur.

[200 miles]

After the news about Bynum, I think the team is making a huge mistake in putting Ian on the shelf for the rest of the season. Because if Bynum does return, rested and ready, it will take a miracle for the Spurs to beat L.A. in the playoffs. At least with Ian, they can use his post defense and athleticism. I hope I'm wrong in the end.

:depressed

Also, the Spurs need to draft a 7-footer for insurance, no matter what the circumstances are.

[Bender]

Finley really has provided the Spurs with a much needed lift in the absence of Manu. I just hope he saves some for the Play-offs.

he has been logging some heavy minutes recently...

[EricB]

:Lol

Ian Mahinmi would'nt have seen MINUTE ONE even IF he came back right now.


Now will the posters and other forum GM's and coaches pshaw the comments by Parker and Duncan on FInley like they constantly do on their comments about Jacque Vaughn?

[Cant_Be_Mated]

right on tpark hey i like big boned guys i saiddddddddddd

[angelbelow]

sucks about ian, too bad he cant get an "early" start for next season by playing a few garbage minutes with us. oh well, hope he gets healthy enough to play over the summer at least.

[Spurs Brazil]

Bad news for Ian.

I hope he can have a good summer and training camp

[200 miles]

:Lol

Ian Mahinmi would'nt have seen MINUTE ONE even IF he came back right now.


Now will the posters and other forum GM's and coaches pshaw the comments by Parker and Duncan on FInley like they constantly do on their comments about Jacque Vaughn?

How do you figure that?

[urunobili]

damn i thought Ian would get some minutes and maybe a hard foul enforcer in the Playoffs... :depressed

[Spursfan092120]

Mawho?

[EricB]

How do you figure that?


How do I figure Mahinmi wouldn't have seen time?

Uh, Pop's past history with players and he hasn't played organized ball since last July....

[BacktoBasics]

No matter how you look at it Gooden offers the team more than Ian. The Spurs have 5 bigs in Thomas, Bonner, Duncan, Gooden and Oberto. If they can't handle Bynum with 20+ available fouls they have bigger issues than losing the 11th or 12th man on the roster.

[024]

finley really wants that championship this year. i don't think he wants to play another year, he just wants to win one this year and retire.

[200 miles]

How do I figure Mahinmi wouldn't have seen time?

Uh, Pop's past history with players and he hasn't played organized ball since last July....

All that needed to happen was for Ian to play before the month is out (more than ample time against sub-.500 teams and garbage time against above-.500) and if Ian does not produce well, then that will be it for him.
But if he exceeds expctations, then Pop has to seriously think about putting him in the playoff rotation, considering the killer matchups that await the Spurs.

[usckk]

Thank goodness for Gooden! Otherwise, the Ian injury will hurt much more.

[SenorSpur]

Thank goodness for Gooden! Otherwise, the Ian injury will hurt much more.

Low post scoring threat. Rebounding machine. Playoff experience.

The Spurs couldn't have been more fortunate than to have this guy fall to them from the Sad Sac Kings. Especially since they've been short-handed on the frontline all year and were so close to parting with Hill in exchange for Marcus Camby and his high salary. Now they get Gooden for a stretch-run trial period and possible more, and they get him for virtually low cost contract, to boot.

[I. Hustle]

Ian can frog balls

[completely deck]

A grand for Pop:
Win or lose, Popovich will boast the third-best winning percentage over his first 1,000 games in NBA history. Heading into tonight, Popovich has earned 676 regular-season victories. Only Phil Jackson (731) and Pat Riley (716) won a greater share of their first 1,000.


:toast Thats my Pop! Congrats!



Mahinmi done:

In other news, the sky is blue.

[Sigz]

a 20 and 10 guy? LOL

[TDMVPDPOY]

ian mahinmi should do the right thing here and pay back this years fkn salary....

BUSTS

[sook]

yea ...a fucking halfcourt three!!!!! I'm still pissed about that game

[Spurlady]

All that needed to happen was for Ian to play before the month is out (more than ample time against sub-.500 teams and garbage time against above-.500) and if Ian does not produce well, then that will be it for him.
But if he exceeds expctations, then Pop has to seriously think about putting him in the playoff rotation, considering the killer matchups that await the Spurs.
Even if Ian had exceeded expectations it is highly doubtful he would see a playoff game from the bench, rather than behind it. There is no way Pop would play a rookie that has had a few minutes of garbage time in the last month of the season over veterans like Thomas, Gooden and Bonner--even if that rookie had shown some promise. I am frankly quite surprised that Hill is still getting minutes. Even Hairston, who has played beyond expectations is back in street clothes, while Udoka who played horribly the first part of the year and saw multiple DNP-CDs is back in the rotation. (Thankfully he isn't totally stinking it up but Hairston was playing well and still got demoted to the bench because playoffs are coming up and he's a rookie.)
Ian better hope he can do something in training camp next year or he is gone.

[poop]

Mahinmi had better perform pretty damn well next year. what i dont understand is why they have been so keen on keeping him around for TWO YEARS, despite everything, even with pop saying he has no idae what to expect from him, yet they were so quick to drop POPS who was healthy and ready to contribute

[poop]

oh and Finley is the best pure shooter on the team no doubt (though mason is giving that title a push).

we won last night by that half court 3 he dropped for us

[EricB]

Mahinmi had better perform pretty damn well next year. what i dont understand is why they have been so keen on keeping him around for TWO YEARS, despite everything, even with pop saying he has no idae what to expect from him, yet they were so quick to drop POPS who was healthy and ready to contribute


Lets see cause one is draft property and the other is a stiff journeyman?????

Nah.