How Long Before Finley Supplants Bruce?

[Ghost Writer]

I give Bowen until September to hang on to his starting job.

Then again, it's kind of nice to have Finley's scoring punch off the bench.

Pop put Ginobili in that 6th man role last season.

With Finely as the new 6th man, he won't have to.

I guess keep starting Bruce.

[Duff McCartney]

Finley won't be playing long with his sorry ass defense no matter how much he scores. He was letting people blow right by him.

[Spurminator]

2 months from never.

[CosmicCowboy]

IMHO Finley will only see those minutes when Pop cencedes that Bruce can't guard the other "star" 1 on 1...Melo is a tough matchup for Bruce and Spurs were having to rotate defense anyway so it looks like Pop went for scoring in the second half...

[SPURS21]

Finley's defense didn't look half bad, cept that he was a step slow and Melo is a tought assignment. I still don't see Finley replacing Bowen anytime soon, Finley of the bench is key, he may replace him in the 4th down the stretch on some games tho

Van Excel's D on the other hand...

[T Park]

He was letting people blow right by him

Other than Carmello Anthony, who was "blowing by him"

[easjer]

You bring in Finley when you need an offensive punch. You bring him in when Barry is not being effective. You bring in him to rest Ginobli. You bring him in with Van Exel because they play well off of each other.

You never start him, because his joints won't last and his defense isn't. You can rest Bowen on easy nights, or go with a 3 guard lineup or 2 SF's.

[sa_butta]

wont happen Finley is a defensive liability

[MiNuS]

This game reminded me of the Spurs/Suns WCF.It was a scoring run & gun show after the 3rd quarter. The best team was in in the last quarter with Tim(C),Horry(PF),Parker-pg,Manu and Finley.

It seemed to me that in the first two quarters Pop just wanted to get everyone in and warmed up.There was no continuity.At one point only the bench was playing for a good 6-8 minutes.

[T Park]

Finley wasn't half the defensive liability that Oberto was.

[boutons]

If you need to stop somebody, like Chauncey in the 4th qtr of the Game7, you play Bruce.

If you need some points, you play Michael and hope he doesn't give up as many as he scores. He was hot last night, giving himself his own best welcoming party.

There is no discussion, Michael had a superb debut as a Spur.

[DDS4]

I like Bruce in the beginning to prevent the opposing SG/SF from getting into a rhythm. Then when we need crucial buckets in the 4th, we can use Finley.

Works out quite nicely, IMO.

[MiNuS]

Finley reminded me of Rip Hamilton last night on the offensive side,I can't say the same on the defensive side.The Spurs got what they needed.

[MiNuS]

Look thats Pops strength, he maximizes what his players do while shielding that individuals weaknesses. I also think thats a area that P.J. helps out alot in since he is the X's and O's kinda coach.
very zen-like,mmmmmmmmmmh

[bigzak25]

I give Bowen until September to hang on to his starting job.

Then again, it's kind of nice to have Finley's scoring punch off the bench.

Pop put Ginobili in that 6th man role last season.

With Finely as the new 6th man, he won't have to.

I guess keep starting Bruce.

EVERY TIME YOU TRY TO MAKE A PROCLAIMATION ABOUT BRUCE BOWEN...

YOU ARE WRONG...

won't you ever learn casper?

Bruce is what you call a L-E-A-D-E-R on defense.

Finley will be awesome off the bench.

Pop won't fix what ain't broke.

Only injury changes the starting lineup unless your name sounds like ashRo.

[Marcus Bryant]

Casper hasn't missed a step.

Anyways, you keep Bowen in the starting lineup because you want him starting off the game defending the other team's top perimeter gun and because he's the cornerstone of your defense.

You bring in Finley to give you bench scoring and maintain a constant scoring threat on the perimeter.

Otherwise, I don't see what the big deal is about who starts. Bowen's going to get 30 minutes a night in SA and if Finley continues to play like he did last night, he's going to get close to 30 min off the bench every night.

[pache100]

I give Bowen until September to hang on to his starting job.

September of what year? This is November. The next September that rolls around will be the next off-season. A lot of stuff can happen between now and then...but, I don't see any of that causing a healthy Bruce Bowen to give up his starting position to Michael Finley.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

I'd like Bowen to keep the opponenets fresh legged scorer in check, and finley to take advantage of fatigue to score some buckets

[Marcus Bryant]

I'd like Bowen to keep the opponenets fresh legged scorer in check, and finley to take advantage of fatigue to score some buckets


That's the basic idea. I'd say Finley/Ginobili or Finley/Barry are some nice combos to run with Bruce out of the game.

[strangeweather]

I love Finley off the bench, because we haven't always had a lot of pop off the bench -- witness the fact that Pop had to move Manu to the bench last year against Denver to get some bench scoring. Finley pretty much buries that problem.

Meanwhile, we have plenty of points on the floor already in the starting lineup.

As far as the end of games goes, Pop has always been pretty situational in the 4th -- I'm sure Fin will be in there sometimes, and Bruce others.

It all looks pretty darned good to me.

[texasqb2]

I cant remember in all my year's of a spurs fan that we actually have this many outside shooters with Finley, Barry, Manu, and Van Exel, heck maybe Chip can put TP in that category too. Its a breath of fresh air to know we can finally knock down shots.

[nkdlunch]

I give Bowen until September to hang on to his starting job.



are you serious ?? :rolleyes even if that's true, guess who'll be starting com playoffs and defense is needed.

[Marcus Bryant]

In general, I think too much is made of who starts for the Spurs. Radoslav or Nazr starts but it's Horry who's closing out games. To me, if you want to assign significance to a player on this team, you put him on the court in the 4th.

The one general knock on Finley is that he might disappear in tough games. If that's a fiction, Sir Charles was right when he said the Spurs should've received the rings for 2006 as well last night.

[Extra Stout]

I give Bowen until September to hang on to his starting job.

Then again, it's kind of nice to have Finley's scoring punch off the bench.

Pop put Ginobili in that 6th man role last season.

With Finely as the new 6th man, he won't have to.

I guess keep starting Bruce.
Outstanding work. People will read past what you actually wrote and get all bent out of shape.

I like how Pop can look down his bench at any point of the game and say to himself, "Hmm... who shall I put in? One of my former All-Stars, the near-MVP of the Finals, or the All-Defense first teamer? Decisions, decisions..."

[IcemanCometh]

how long before ghost jumps ship

[HB22inSA]

It's funny how people overreact to Finley having 1 good game.

I can't wait for the "trade Finley" threads when he has a couple of bad shooting games.

Ridiculous.

[MiNuS]

It's funny how people overreact to Finley having 1 good game.

I can't wait for the "trade Finley" threads when he has a couple of bad shooting games.

Ridiculous.
he's an insurance policy.

[Spurologist]

No.

In last nights game, Melo was scoring at will. Pop then substitued Finley for Bowen to get more offense and not lose too much on defense. Bowen should always be the starter to establish some defensive intensity. We talking about one of the best perimeter defensive players ever IMO.

[HB22inSA]

Pop then substitued Finley for Bowen to get more offense and not lose too much on defense.

Ha!! Yeah, right.

Finley's from Dallas!!!

[GoSpurs21]

how bout this Bowen starts Fin finishes
the real question is how long before Fin replaces Barry at the end of games

[coopdogg3]

I think that's already happened.

coopdogg3

[Ghost Writer]

If you guys read my rather meandering post, you see I draw the conclusion that Bruce needs to continue starting. His defense is still stellar and Finely assumes the offensive-boost role that Manu served off the bench last season.

I was watching the 2004-05 Chanpionship DVD the other night and it made it more apparent than ever that it could be argued that Bowen is the vocal leader of the Spurs.

[Mavs<Spurs]

Casper hasn't missed a step.

Anyways, you keep Bowen in the starting lineup because you want him starting off the game defending the other team's top perimeter gun and because he's the cornerstone of your defense.

You bring in Finley to give you bench scoring and maintain a constant scoring threat on the perimeter.

Otherwise, I don't see what the big deal is about who starts. Bowen's going to get 30 minutes a night in SA and if Finley continues to play like he did last night, he's going to get close to 30 min off the bench every night.

I agree.

[cheguevara]

If you guys read my rather meandering post, you see I draw the conclusion that Bruce needs to continue starting. His defense is still stellar and Finely assumes the offensive-boost role that Manu served off the bench last season.

I was watching the 2004-05 Chanpionship DVD the other night and it made it more apparent than ever that it could be argued that Bowen is the vocal leader of the Spurs.

read your thread title

[implacable44]

I think as the season goes on Bowens minutes will drop and he will sit somewhere around 20-25

[waly.mg]

90 Second from the start of each game

And Finley is going to finish all the games, and not BB

[cheguevara]

And Finley is going to finish all the games, and not BB

Depends on the situation. If we need lock-down, Bowen will definitely be in.

[waly.mg]

Depends on the situation. If we need lock-down, Bowen will definitely be in.

No Way, MF have more than 80% from the Line

[itzsoweezee]

at this point in his career, finley needs to come off the bench. what he did against denver is exactly what we need from him. 15-20 pts/gm, playing around 25 minutes a game.

all i'm asking is popovich not fuck up anything.

please trade nesterovic!! all we need is a mid first round draft pick. draft a high school player who can sit on the bench for a couple of years and then be the man on the downside of duncan's career. nesterovic isn't doing anything for the spurs. they've already proven they don't need him to win a championship. why not start looking to the future?

[spur219]

Bowen will stay in the starting line-up. Pop will keep Finleys mins to a minimum to keep him fresh for the playoffs and use him for firepower off the bench.