ploto
04-24-2006, 07:17 AM
Now what were people claiming about only an 8 player rotation??
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich rose from his sideline chair halfway through Saturday's first quarter, looked down at the mix of former All-Stars, sharpshooters and Slovenians sitting on the bench and called for Michael Finley.
Less than a minute later, Popovich sent Robert Horry to the scorer's table. Nick Van Exel joined Finley and Horry on the floor for the start of the second quarter. Brent Barry followed. Then came Rasho Nesterovic.
The second quarter was barely four minutes old, and Popovich already had used 10 players.
At a time when many teams shorten their rotations, the Spurs used their playoff-opening victory over Sacramento to show off their depth. The bench accounted for 52 of the team's 122 points while no starter played more than 25 minutes.
"They've got guys who have been proven scorers in this league," Kings guard Bonzi Wells said. "Nick Van Exel has a history in this league of making big baskets. Michael Finley is a career playoff guy who has made big baskets. Brent Barry, too.
"Those guys can all play, and they do a great job of putting them in spots where they can be effective. And I didn't even mention Horry. How crazy is that?"
The Spurs' reserves have left more than a few opponents scratching their heads in frustration. In the three-game winning streak to end the regular season, the bench averaged 60.7 points.
Popovich's decision to play reserves heavily down the stretch, Horry thinks, allowed them to be better prepared Saturday. Van Exel scored 11 points in his first seven minutes. In the first half, Van Exel, Finley, Horry and Barry combined to make 6 of 8 3-pointers.
"It's a lot easier to get in a rhythm if you're playing minutes," Horry said.
A few of the Spurs' reserves also needed the extra time to loosen their creaky joints. The average age of the seven players who made up the team's bench Saturday was 31.3 years.
While younger, athletic teams have given the Spurs problems, owning a pension-eligible bench does provide some advantages — namely, 420 games of playoff experience the reserves brought with them Saturday.
"You can just tell, even the guys who have been starters their whole career, none of those guys care who scores," Sacramento coach Rick Adelman said. "It's just a matter of them winning. It's a great thing to have, and it's even better when their skills haven't diminished to the point where they can't do anything, and obviously they haven't.
"It's tough because they have tremendous experience off the bench, and we have very little."
Adelman primarily has used three reserves the past few weeks: swingman Kevin Martin, power forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim and point guard Jason Hart. Of the three, only Hart had any previous playoff experience before Saturday, and his was limited to seven games with the Spurs two years ago.
By the end of last season's NBA Finals, Popovich had pared the Spurs' rotation to seven players, using only Horry and Barry off the bench. As a result, the team made it a priority to find a veteran backup for Tony Parker (Van Exel) and a more dependable scorer (Finley).
While the Spurs' bench has only one pair of young legs (Beno Udrih's) this season, the group is versatile. And Popovich's longtime "Pop-a-sub" method to handling reserves means the rotation sometimes will change game by game according to matchups.
"That's the one thing about (Popovich)," Hart said. "He will use the players on his bench, at any time in the game."
Finley, Horry and Van Exel have fairly defined roles. Barry also has carved out some minutes the second half of the season. Popovich even included Nesterovic in his big-man rotation Saturday.
"If we need instant scoring, Nick can get in the game," Barry said. "If you want to space the floor and there's a physical guard out there, Michael can play. If they're playing a little bit small, Beno and I can get minutes. If they go big, Rasho is over there, a guy who started a lot of games for this ball club and can mix it up.
"It's a great problem to have. There are a lot of coaches in this league who would love to try and deal with that if they could."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA042406.01D.SPURS_main.140a269.html
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich rose from his sideline chair halfway through Saturday's first quarter, looked down at the mix of former All-Stars, sharpshooters and Slovenians sitting on the bench and called for Michael Finley.
Less than a minute later, Popovich sent Robert Horry to the scorer's table. Nick Van Exel joined Finley and Horry on the floor for the start of the second quarter. Brent Barry followed. Then came Rasho Nesterovic.
The second quarter was barely four minutes old, and Popovich already had used 10 players.
At a time when many teams shorten their rotations, the Spurs used their playoff-opening victory over Sacramento to show off their depth. The bench accounted for 52 of the team's 122 points while no starter played more than 25 minutes.
"They've got guys who have been proven scorers in this league," Kings guard Bonzi Wells said. "Nick Van Exel has a history in this league of making big baskets. Michael Finley is a career playoff guy who has made big baskets. Brent Barry, too.
"Those guys can all play, and they do a great job of putting them in spots where they can be effective. And I didn't even mention Horry. How crazy is that?"
The Spurs' reserves have left more than a few opponents scratching their heads in frustration. In the three-game winning streak to end the regular season, the bench averaged 60.7 points.
Popovich's decision to play reserves heavily down the stretch, Horry thinks, allowed them to be better prepared Saturday. Van Exel scored 11 points in his first seven minutes. In the first half, Van Exel, Finley, Horry and Barry combined to make 6 of 8 3-pointers.
"It's a lot easier to get in a rhythm if you're playing minutes," Horry said.
A few of the Spurs' reserves also needed the extra time to loosen their creaky joints. The average age of the seven players who made up the team's bench Saturday was 31.3 years.
While younger, athletic teams have given the Spurs problems, owning a pension-eligible bench does provide some advantages — namely, 420 games of playoff experience the reserves brought with them Saturday.
"You can just tell, even the guys who have been starters their whole career, none of those guys care who scores," Sacramento coach Rick Adelman said. "It's just a matter of them winning. It's a great thing to have, and it's even better when their skills haven't diminished to the point where they can't do anything, and obviously they haven't.
"It's tough because they have tremendous experience off the bench, and we have very little."
Adelman primarily has used three reserves the past few weeks: swingman Kevin Martin, power forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim and point guard Jason Hart. Of the three, only Hart had any previous playoff experience before Saturday, and his was limited to seven games with the Spurs two years ago.
By the end of last season's NBA Finals, Popovich had pared the Spurs' rotation to seven players, using only Horry and Barry off the bench. As a result, the team made it a priority to find a veteran backup for Tony Parker (Van Exel) and a more dependable scorer (Finley).
While the Spurs' bench has only one pair of young legs (Beno Udrih's) this season, the group is versatile. And Popovich's longtime "Pop-a-sub" method to handling reserves means the rotation sometimes will change game by game according to matchups.
"That's the one thing about (Popovich)," Hart said. "He will use the players on his bench, at any time in the game."
Finley, Horry and Van Exel have fairly defined roles. Barry also has carved out some minutes the second half of the season. Popovich even included Nesterovic in his big-man rotation Saturday.
"If we need instant scoring, Nick can get in the game," Barry said. "If you want to space the floor and there's a physical guard out there, Michael can play. If they're playing a little bit small, Beno and I can get minutes. If they go big, Rasho is over there, a guy who started a lot of games for this ball club and can mix it up.
"It's a great problem to have. There are a lot of coaches in this league who would love to try and deal with that if they could."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA042406.01D.SPURS_main.140a269.html