Finley = just what the doctor ordered.

[nkdlunch]

Best signing since Robert Horry.

[JoeChalupa]

Keep it to continue.

[exstatic]

Fuckin' huge ones. He doesn't have the hops anymore, but his shot is as good as ever.

[JoeChalupa]

Love the quick release.

[exstatic]

Keep it to continue.

Refuel. Quack, quack. :lol :lol :lol

[Dre_7]

http://www.cbs58.com/news_images/Badgers.jpg

[TDMVPDPOY]

should we start finley and let gino come of the bench? or we just goin to let it stay like this?

[Cant_Be_Faded]

He looks mighty slick in his new uniform.

[Marcus Bryant]

27 min
16 pts (11pts in 4th)
7-10 FGs
1-1 3PT
5 rebs

That's 6th Man of the Year quality. If he can be that efficient off the bench, this season is over.

[Sense]

27 min
16 pts (11pts in 4th)
7-10 FGs
1-1 3PT
5 rebs

That's 6th Man of the Year quality. If he can be that efficient off the bench, this season is over.


Too bad our starters sucked cept for Timmy and TP...

He won't be getting those numbers unless Ginobili averages 13 and the Spurs average 105ppg. :rolleyes

[Mr_MVP21]

Fuckin' huge ones. He doesn't have the hops anymore, but his shot is as good as ever.

Man, this guy is good. 11 points in the 4th quarter! No matter what people say about his age, this guy can finish with the best of them. Although Bowen didn't play in the 4th quarter, Finley provided that 4th option the team needed. While Denver double teamed Duncan, trapped and crowded the lanes for Parker or Manu, it provided space for Finley to work his magic. Even though this is the 1st game in the season, I say he is going be a factor in our bench. I'm just saying something you guys probably already know. :king

[nkdlunch]

should we start finley and let gino come of the bench? or we just goin to let it stay like this?

nah let's give him the 6th man of the year award. why not?

[Reggie Miller]

The Spurs needed another consistent scorer with a jumper. If Finley can do this all year, Charles Barkley was right. They should have handed out the 2006 rings tonight as well to save some time.

[exstatic]

Charles was funny. He said they might as well give them this year's rings tonight, too. That was before the tipoff. Kevin and Reggie were razzing him after the game and he just said "Oh, I was so wrong last year, wasn't I?".

[Mr_MVP21]

Charles knows it all! :lol

[sprrs]

Finley looked pretty awesome tonight. There were a few things I noticed though. he played Carmelo too close and he was just spinning by Finley too much late in the game. I mean I know we can't expect him to be a great defensive player overnight, or possibly at all, but that seems like a big problem that can easily be fixed with a litle tutoring by Pop :rolleyes :spin

[nkdlunch]

Carmello was owning Bowen too. So I think Finley's defense was decent.

[sprrs]

hmm well I didn't take special note of when Bowen was guarding Carmelo so I can't say for sure, but if what you're saying is true well then there's nothing that could have been done

[Marcus Bryant]

Carmello was owning Bowen too. So I think Finley's defense was decent.

One of the few concerns for this team is the size at the 3. Bowen and Finley are a bit on the slight side. Yes, they do give up a little to Melo in that department, but they certainly held their own tonight. In a perfect world you'd have it all. I think the reality of the situation is that there aren't too many 3s in the league that are as big as Anthony. Between Bowen and Finley the Spurs are going to win most matchups at the 3 in this league.

[PM5K]

Bowen was guarding him early and he did quite well against Bowen...

[prrao]

Yeah, Melo was killing Bowen.

Steve Kerr mentioned that the only time he's seen Bowen struggle is against Melo. So I am guessing this isn't the first time.

[DisplacedSpursFan]

Dear Mr. Finley,

Thank you for winning a game for us tonight that we should have lost. Welcome to San Antonio. At this rate you'll get plenty of minutes AND hopefully motivate Bowen & Ginobili to join the rest of the team and show up.

Sincerely,

[Marcus Bryant]

The way to look at it is that this league is more suited to having Finley as the backup 3 over Glenn Robinson, while Glenn Robinson would give you a slightly better matchup off the bench versus Anthony.

[mattyc]

Word.

More please.

[ro_50]

Melo did have his way w/ Bowen, especially in the post, but Melo has a great game down low when's he posting up players.

Fin played decent D on him.

[nkdlunch]

truth is Melo, Boykins and Najera had our way with our defense. made us look dumb on some plays. Glad Martin looked like a dog that barks and don't bite though

[Marcus Bryant]

Melo is good enough to get his. The key is keeping him from getting a 30+ point night. Boykins is good enough to get space against the Spurs' D and hit that inbetween jumper. Najera? Well he's a garbage man. There's room for improvement, but overall I didn't see too much to be worried about, considering that it's the first game of the season.

[TwoHandJam]

Finley was great tonight and does seem to be what the doctor ordered. This guy has a silky smooth jumpshot and actually likes to be a spot up shooter.

What's the deal with people complaining about Manu though? He's obviously still affected by his injury but didn't want to miss opening night. This was obvious when he couldn't get enough lift for that alley-oop in the the first half. A hobbled Manu was still enough to give us crunch time points in the fourth and put Lenard to shame when it counted.

We should be thankful we have so many quality options now but this talk about Manu coming off the bench already is ridiculous.

[smeagol]

Finley was great tonight and does seem to be what the doctor ordered. This guy has a silky smooth jumpshot and actually likes to be a spot up shooter.

What's the deal with people complaining about Manu though? He's obviously still affected by his injury but didn't want to miss opening night. This was obvious when he couldn't get enough lift for that alley-oop in the the first half. A hobbled Manu was still enough to give us crunch time points in the fourth and put Lenard to shame when it counted.

We should be thankful we have so many quality options now but this talk about Manu coming off the bench already is ridiculous.
Couldn't agree with you more. Also, it's stupid to complain about Bruce because he had an off night. Soon these idiots will want Bruce come of the bench or be traded. :rolleyes

[thekingrobert]

pls remember bowen just had a death in his family so his mind might have not been there. im sure he is ashamed of his play and will improve and give me a hurt manu that will give me 10 points and ill take it.

[SA210]

^^^ agree with both of you. Manu and Bowen will be fine.

[Notorious H.O.P.]

Considering that Melo has about 30 pounds on our guys, you kind of expect him to be a bull in the post. As was mentioned before, neither of our guys was able to keep him out of the low post and most 3s don't have Melo's size.

Finley had a great night but we'll see how he holds up over the next few games before we begin serious conversations regarding moving one of our current starters to the bench or thinking of redistributing the crunch time minutes.

Either way, it's nice to have the luxury of knowing one or two of your swings can have an off night and we still have additional firepower to bring in.

[Marcus Bryant]

The Spurs can handle the Nuggets as is, but given the new IR rules, it would be interesting if, say, the Spurs could pull a GRobinson off the bench when they face teams with big 3s...

[Kori Ellis]

In the locker room, you could tell that Finley is pumped, hungry and extremely happy to be here. He was really emotional about the Spurs getting their rings and now wanting one. He said something like .. it's like when you are a kid and someone on your block gets something that you don't have.

He was amazing in the 4th, he looks in terrific shape, and he is grasping the defensive concept pretty quickly too.

I was more excited about NVE signing here than Finley. But Finley looked great (though it's only one game).

[T Park]

I said Finley is a class guy, and a total team player, when they signed him.

Tonight only proved that.


Michael Finley took a bad shot here and there, but with a great shooter like him, you gotta live with it.


Finley if he can stay healthy, wich is a big if, will win the 6th man award easily.

[Vashner]

I was one of the doubters...

[SenorSpur]

Needless to say, Finley was HUGE. I'll be honest, I was totally against this signing and said so repeatedly in this forum. OK. I'm sold. I can see now that the injection of his instant offense, off the bench, is going to propel the Spurs to even higher heights this season. From a defensive standpoint, he's even a bit better that I realized.

I loved the late game lineup of Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, Horry and Finley. It's going to be hard for other teams to match up against all those weapons in the 4th quarter.

[Kori Ellis]

Melo did have his way w/ Bowen, especially in the post, but Melo has a great game down low when's he posting up players.

Fin played decent D on him.

Other than a few quick baskets early, Melo scored most of his points with Bowen on the bench.

He made two baskets early and Pop got pissed, and then Manu made another turnover and he got a breakaway basket. All that was with Bowen in the game, but the stretch where he went off in the second half, Bowen was on the bench.

Bowen got off to a bad start, but I wouldn't say that two baskets means he was having his way with him.

I love the luxury of the depth of this team though.

[jochhejaam]

He came through big when they needed him to and that's why I was thrilled when he didn't sign with the Heat.

Could have made the difference between a Confernce Finals and Finals appearance for the Pistons.

[Mark in Austin]

Finley won't be this good every night. But the beauty of it is between Ginobili, Barry, and Finley there should be plenty of points coming from this scoring wing group every game.

As long as Denver's power frontcourt consists of Kenyon Martin and Marcus Camby, I'm not too worried about Denver.

One other thing I noticed about the game - if Oberto can figure out the Spurs system, he's going to be a damn good big man for them. I'm really excited to see how the team evolves over the season. On paper, they have the talent to be considered one of the all-time great teams in NBA history:

Dominant big man that makes teammates better. (Duncan)
Two all-NBA defensive team members (Duncan, Bowen)
Two of the clutchest motherfuckers ever to put on basketball jerseys (Horry, Van Exel)
Rediculously deep, veteran bench (Barry, Finley, Horry, Van Exel)
Clear positional advantages against almost every team in the league:
-PF - Duncan's overall game; PG - Parker's speed; Wing - Bowen's perimeter defense
Ability as a team to play the game on a championship level at any speed.

Of course, that's all just on paper, the Spurs still have to go out and have the discipline to make it happen. But goddamn, I've never been as excited about a Spurs team as I am this year. To quote Ghost Writer, Good Times.

[spurster]

Great game for Finley though I thought it was supposed to be van Exel to hit big 4th quarter shots.

[batman2883]

Finley was awesome last night on offense however, he was playing melo way too close, melo was just going by him with no hesitation, and nobody stepped up to stop melo from getting the easy baskets. I really hate kmart im so glad finley hit him in the damn nuts

[pache100]

Considering that Melo has about 30 pounds on our guys,

If Melo is not careful, he's going to have that "Charles Barkley syndrome" (fat)early in his career. He's going to have to battle his weight to keep in shape. He's young right now, and has plenty of spring in his step so you don't notice the weight in his butt and hips; but, it will be a problem as he ages and will slow him down. Remember how quick Malik was after he lost the 30 lbs during the summer of 2003?

[wildbill2u]

Being the Denver star and one of the studs of the league, Isn't Carmelo SUPPOSED to play well and get a lot of points?

As long as we win, I don't care if each team's star gets his points. Amare and Nash got theirs--ho hum, Spurs win.

[pache100]

As long as we win, I don't care if each team's star gets his points.

Precisely. That's what I used to say when everyone got all bothered about Shaq and Kobe scoring 35 points apiece. Hell, let them. If you keep everyone else on that team from scoring, 70 points is not gonna beat you!