Rasho looked great tonight.

[2centsworth]

Pop should have went back to him. Defensively Rasho is darn good.

[SLOVENIAN 8]

He must get more minutes...

[angel_luv]

A thousands dittos to both posts! () = )

[SouthernFried]

Rasho shoulda got more minutes. He had some good positioning, and he looked way ready to play.

Both him and Barry shoulda got more minutes, imho. They both looked like they were feeling it.

[boutons]

Rasho was ready when he was called. He didn't play soft at all.

[desflood]

Now, all Rasho haters jump on the bandwagon! Quick!

[angel_luv]

Now, now Des, at least the props sound sincere. Better late than never, I say. () = )

[desflood]

That was just an anticipatory statement :)

[angel_luv]

No worries, I love Rah enough to make up for two worlds full of haters. My Baby is the man!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :makeout

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Give him the start, Pop! I'm serious. Let's see how he goes for the first two minutes and then if it's not what you want let Nazr take a shot at it. I was kind of surprised that Nazr managed to avoid foul trouble in the first two games. I love the guy's hustle but he really needs to learn that sometimes a player gets past you and you have to accept getting beat rather than making a stupid foul to give them an "and 1" situation.

[angel_luv]

Give him the start, Pop! I'm serious. Let's see how he goes for the first two minutes and then if it's not what you want let Nazr take a shot at it.

I've had the same thought. Glad you brought it up. People would be likely to judge my objectivity. () = )

[angel_luv]

question... not judge. No accusers here. LOL.

[boutons]

Pop won't touch the starting line-up in the Finals.

[ladiesman]

Maybe we can showcase him for some team to bite on a trade for next season. He makes too much $$$$ to be the 12th man in the rotation....

[Experiment2100]

He was pissed the announcer fucked up his name.

[SLOVENIAN 8]

I bet that if he gets the same minutes than Nazr he would be better for the team

[WayDowntownBang]

Careful not to try to change the world in a day.

The Spurs starting five completely dominated 2 games, and they are up 2-1 in the series. As well as Rasho played, you can't touch your lineup. It's worked all year, why would you change it because of one (hopefully three) losses?

[easjer]

We only acquired Nazr at the trade deadline, and he only began starting when Rasho went out with an ankle injury. He's stayed in because of his hustle, but spurs_fan_in_exile is right - Nazr has a very bad habit of picking up stupid ass fouls, and Rasho is the better defender. Nazr hasn't quite figured out how to block out a good defender for offensive rebounds, but his hustle is great and he's stopped hesitating and faking under the basket as much as he used to. Nazr's faster than Rasho, which was necessary in the past series. If we'd played Miami, we'd have seen much, much more of Rasho, potentially Rasho starting.

That's why we'll be keeping both of them, it's quite a luxury.

[SWC Bonfire]

I like Rasho and think he's a great player.

That said, how quickly you turn on Nazr... remember posts that said "if I squint really hard, I can see DRob" or "how much/soon can we trade Rasho for" ?

Guess what, ol' Rasho may come in handy this series.

[easjer]

Not turning on Nazr at all. He's great, and the trade for him was sheer brilliance. He's done an amazing job. But he's not perfect and one big way he could improve would be to let some of the effing things go, when you are clearly not going to get a block or a stop.

[SLOVENIAN 8]

Nazr was really good in series with Seattle and Phoenix, but in this 3 games with detroit he is not so good

[boutons]

"one big way he could improve"

4 yrs @KY, and 7 yrs in NBA, if he hasn't figured out this basic shit and big-man moves and tactics by now, he ain't never gonna figure it out.

Very probably, what you see, as his personal skills, is all there is.
But he should fit better in the Spurs' system, esp defense, next season.

[cherylsteele]

He was pissed the announcer fucked up his name.

I thought I was the only one who noticed it......the announcer also destroyed Beno's name too.

Maybe the announcer should do a liitle homework before.....so he can seem at least somewhat intelligent.

[easjer]

"one big way he could improve"

4 yrs @KY, and 7 yrs in NBA, if he hasn't figured out this basic shit and big-man moves and tactics by now, he ain't never gonna figure it out.

Very probably, what you see, as his personal skills, is all there is.
But he should fit better in the Spurs' system, esp defense, next season.

On the whole, I agree that we're not going to make him into the next DRob. But not taking fouls on fast breaks is fixable. Let it go, Nazr, just let it go, dude.

[SWC Bonfire]

Nazr was really good in series with Seattle and Phoenix, but in this 3 games with detroit he is not so good

I disagree, he punked Ben Wallace in SA.

But if Big Ben thought that Nazr was tough, he should try Rasho on the boards/shot block.

[beirmeistr]

Rasho's playoff experience is a big plus for him against the Pistons. If manu can recover enough to play productively in game 4, I would not be surprised to see more Rasho. Rasho is more accustomed to manu's quick passes.

[mcornelio]

i dont think rasho haters exist... as i sayd before rasho is the epitemy of a spurs... hes just so cool!!

[nkdlunch]

I was screaming at Pop to put Rasho in at the beginning of the 4th. He looked good in the 1st quarter.

[Experiment2100]

I wanted Rasho to be put in when Nazr got if foul trouble, I could just see it. Rasho puts up a big game walks to their annoying announcer at the end and tells him "It's Rasho bitch"

[SPARKY]

It is imperative that the frontcourt be aggressive and not get fazed by foul calls. If Rasho can bring it in a physical series more power to him. He does at least take up space on the defensive end. Nazr had a subpar night. I think the early foul trouble got to him. As much as Horry has been nails and clutch this postseason sometimes you want a little more physical play up front along with TD...

[Rick Von Braun]

It is imperative that the frontcourt be aggressive and not get fazed by foul calls. If Rasho can bring it in a physical series more power to him. He does at least take up space on the defensive end. Nazr had a subpar night. I think the early foul trouble got to him. As much as Horry has been nails and clutch this postseason sometimes you want a little more size up front along with TD... I agree. Nazr needs to learn 3 things this summer:


how to dunk the ball without grabbing the ball with 2 hands, bending for 1 second, and then going up for the dunk. He always does that, and it gives time to the defense to recover. He must learn the dunk mechanics to dunk fast, since he is tall enough to jump straight as soon as he catches the ball... which leads to...
how to catch the ball. Last night, he received two clear passes under the basket, and he fumbled the ball away.
how to position himself in defense. He doesn't protect the basket when he is defending one-on-one, and his help D is suspect at times. He didn't have the time to train with the team, so he will probably improve this working an entire summer with Pop and the team.
Rasho seems to be a better defender, but he is not as aggressive on the offensive end as Nazr. While Nazr dunk mechanics are not perfect, at least he is physical and dunks the ball often.

The Spurs will be fine with these two guys up front. I am not concerned.

[2centsworth]

Nazr is doing ok this series, just Rasho is light years better on defense. Rasho steps out on jump shooters very well, and makes life miserable for penetrators. How many billups and hamilton layups can we take. Not saying to change the starting lineup, but the matchup is right to give Rasho more minutes.

[TNT21]

I too believe Rasho should have played more tonight. I understand why he brings in Horry, it's to stretch the defense, but Horry can't do a good a job as Rasho on the defensive side of the ball. At least with Rasho in the lane, it's another 7footer clogging the lane.

[PM5K]

Rasho is a better defender than Nazr and has a better outside game, I'm fine with either starting or getting a lot of minutes and having the option of taking one of them out for the other if they don't play that well, it's a slippery slope though because guys need minutes to put up numbers.

I just think it sucks for Rasho that in effect he lost his starting position to an injury, which isn't supposed to happen.

[kginsa]

Geez, I'm drowning in this little Rasho lovefest......I had to take off my rose-colored glasses and read this thread again....I've never seen so much positive energy for my favorite Slovenian on the SpursTalk board. Either way, thank you all.....You like him, you really like him !!!%%##!! Let's all hope he gets more minutes...

[Dario]

I'm amazed by you "fans". 1 bad game and the hell starts freezing. Well guess what, by watching nazr all 5 phoenix and first detroit game i'm thinking about - wow hope rasho is watching this. And i mean in both sides, not only offence. Rasho deserves more minutes, he worked his ass off for the team to be where its now, but be objective, nazr is just pwning these last few games and 1 bad game can't change that.

[2centsworth]

I'm amazed by you "fans". 1 bad game and the hell starts freezing. Well guess what, by watching nazr all 5 phoenix and first detroit game i'm thinking about - wow hope rasho is watching this. And i mean in both sides, not only offence. Rasho deserves more minutes, he worked his ass off for the team to be where its now, but be objective, nazr is just pwning these last few games and 1 bad game can't change that.
nobody is talking about benching Nazr or anything negative about Nazr. It's all positive about Rasho. He is one hell of a defender when he doesn't have to go up against snaq.