Front and Center: Who do you start?

[timvp]

Who do you start at center? Rasho played well for the most part in the first round. Horry, when he was finally allowed extended minutes, produced in Game 6. Nazr was a non-factor for much of the series, but he's actually the guy who I think should start in Game 1 versus the Mavs. Dallas is a lot tougher inside since Nellie left and Nazr is a good match for that.

Plus, I want Horry early and often off the bench to guard Dirk. The only reason I wouldn't start him is to make sure most of his minutes come in the fourth.

[sa_butta]

I think start Rasho and let Nazr come off the bench and earn his start back. Rasho is a nice tree to have in the lane for guards to deal with. If Nazr can improve on rebounding and defense, then maybe by game 2 or 3 give him the nod. But game one Im goning with Rasho.

[ShoogarBear]

It's not obvious between Rasho and Nazr which strengths we'll need against Dallas.
I say start Rasho Game 1 just because he's been gettng more PT lately, but give Nazr generous amounts of PT early to see what he's going to bring.

I think you're going to have to be flexible from game to game, unfortunately.

[MannyIsGod]

I'm gonna give Nazr the benefit of the doubt. He had some godo games against Dallas so hopefully his head will be in the game and he'll want it. However, if he sucks, I hope Pop puts him on the end of the bench. At least I never doubt Rasho's effort.

[JAY-Z]

Diop sucks and wont be in the game very much. Dampier is a solid center that either Rasho or Duncan should guard. Save Horry for the second half.

[boutons_]

Robert guarding Dirk?

Didn't Pop put Bruce on Dirk with excellent results in the season?

Even if Dirk has learned better how to shoot over smaller players, I still think Bruce can bother Dirk enough to keep him from getting huge points.

I'd start Rasho, since I think he's earned the minutes vs Nazr. Nazr might be super motivated when coming off the bench, even early, and actually do something.

[timvp]

Robert guarding Dirk?

Didn't Pop put Bruce on Dirk with excellent results in the season?


Someone forgot to watch the last regular season game between the two teams.

[Borosai]

Rashooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[Beer is Good]

Someone forgot to watch the last regular season game between the two teams.
That last game proved as much as the last game with the kings did - it was one day later. I was at the game and it was painfully obvious at the time that the Spurs were cruising to the P.O. and that the Mavs really wanted it. And it was still close. Give Rasho the start, he deserves it. Either way, we'll need all of the bigs in this series to produce D and rebounding.

[bendmz]

Narz by far is the more flexible of the two..... more aggresive and tougher.... give Rasho bout 10 minutes......

[Pistons < Spurs]

I voted for Rasho......but In thinking more about this, I change it to Nazr.

The reason is that I've seen many instances where Rasho picks up 2 very ealry fouls, and thus the team loses his presence for quite awhile. I guess I'd like to start Nazr. Play him for 5 or 6 minutes, then bring in Rasho once the ealry ticky tacky whistles are over with.

In order of minutes played, I'd want Rasho to play the most, followed by Horry and then Nazr.

[bendmz]

you have some good points about the quick fouls as both Rasho and Narz are prone to. I'd play Rasho during the lull in the games when it really does not matter who's in. Horry, I'd use him more on the offensive side instead of him excerting energy chasing and opposing player.....

[nkdlunch]

Nazr matches up better than Rasho vs. Dallas. Save Horry for when he's really needed.

[exstatic]

I'd play Rasho during the lull in the games when it really does not matter who's in.
What minutes are those during the playoffs?

I'd start Rasho. The Spurs defense didn't start unravelling this year until Mohammed got the starts. We need Rasho's defense. Nazr always played better off the bench, anyway.

[ploto]

Horry- if you start Nazr or Rasho, then Tim has to guard either Dirk or Howard. With Horry, you put Tim on Diop and let Horry/Bruce cover Dirk/Howard. Bring in Rasho to match up with Dampier off the bench.

No way will Nazr start this game after two "basic" DNP's. Pop is all about what have you done for me lately. Plus, with the quick turn-around, you need players who can learn fast what the team wants to do in Game 1.

[FreshPrince22]

Melivn Sanders

[Budkin]

Nazr played well against Dallas during the regular season. Who can forget that posterizing of Dampier? I say Nazr.

[Vashner]

C. David Robinson - 10 day contract - New 13th man rule. Nazr to IR.

[ploto]

What others are saying:

Popovich started three centers against Sacramento: Nazr Mohammed, Rasho Nesterovic and Robert Horry. He is likely to stay with Horry, who was in an uncharacteristic silent mood after the win at Sacramento.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/050706dnspospursdate.79a66f0.html

Tim Duncan has been a mainstay at the starting power forward position for years, but Robert Horry started several games against Sacramento. Dirk Nowitzki is the Mavs' failsafe scorer at the No. 4 spot. In Gregg Popovich's fondest dreams, Nowitzki defends T.D. and is defended by Horry — but it makes the most sense for Mister Big Shot (Horry) to continue in the starting lineup, if only to avoid having Duncan try to shadow Nowitzki beyond the 3-point arc.

The center matchup between Duncan and DeSagna Diop is the most lop-sided one in the playoffs. Actually, Diop starts only to shorten the playing time of the foul-prone Erick Dampier. Diop will block an occasional shot and throw down an ever rarer dunk, and Dampier will bull his way to a few points in put-backs and clumsy, but powerful, interior moves — yet Duncan's scoring, passing, screen-setting, and long-armed defense will give them both nightmares for months to come.

Rasho Nesterovic is a solid second-stringer, whose jump hooks, short jumpers, chest-to-chest defense, and body-blasting screens are vastly underrated. He and Dampier will provide a convincing imitation of gigantic head-butting rams. Since Nesterovic doesn't look to score, Diop might also earn some bonus PT against him.

Nazr Mohammed seems to be the forgotten man in the middle. He's active on the boards, can block careless shots, and he can even drop an occasional short-range jumper. It's his clang-hands and poor decision-making that have Mohammad banished to the bench. Still, he's capable of providing an unexpected shot of energy in random moments.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5580622

[yeahone]

i think he would start with Nazr,,since dallas have a more conveintiolnal ineup

[Dre_7]

Start Rasho or Nazr. NOT Horry.

[A-Train]

You start Mohammed in this series. Dampier can't play 20 feet from the rim, so you need someone to body up on him and get boards.

[ploto]

Spurs are on a nice roll- won their last 2 games by a combined 33 points. Why does anyone want to mess with the line-up, especially when you look at who Dallas starts? You really want Duncan on Dirk- or Duncan on Howard??

How is Dallas a conventional line-up? They have a seven foot PF who shoots 3 pointers and fade-away jumpers.


You start Mohammed in this series. Dampier can't play 20 feet from the rim, so you need someone to body up on him and get boards.
You realize that Dampier doesn't start. You also realize that Rasho actually has better rebounding numbers versus Dallas than Nazr this season? Nazr only averaged 3 rebounds per game against Dallas in 20 minutes per game this season.

[A-Train]

Doesn't matter. Mavs can't copy the Kings.

[angel_luv]

To me it is almost inconsequential whom starts because if he is sucking Pop will pull him out.
The decision should, and will I'm sure, all come down to match ups and performance.

We really need all our Centers to bring it. And I believe they will. :)

[Pistons < Spurs]

We really need all our Centers to bring it. And I believe they will. :)


They better.

[ducks]

horry started one game and ended up playing 19 minutes
if horry starts it will space the floor up more for duncan,manu and tp

however tp and manu early in the series can get to the rim easier then the other team makes adjustemnt

start rasho because he sets the best picks then put in nazr next
play horry all of 4

[ducks]

the other thing is horry can guard howard
stopping howard will be a key
let dirk get his 20-30 points
stop howard

[ploto]

I still think after a night's sleep that Horry will probably start, but there is an option that has not been mentioned. People wiil call me crazy for mentioning this, but I have seen the Spurs do this before. If you decide to start Rasho, especially for the picks he sets on offense, then you can consider putting Rasho on Dirk. I have seen Rasho cover Dirk off and on during his time with the Spurs and he does have experience against him with their respective national teams. Rasho has used his length on Dirk, in a similar fashion to the way I have seen Rasho do a good defensive job on Rasheed Wallace before. I still like Rasho off the bench, setting those same screens for Finely, but it is an option. At some time in this series, I believe there is a chance we will see Rasho covering Dirk.

[polandprzem]

I think we need some fresh blood in there, and that is Nazr ofcourse. he is pissed he is motivated and he is much more fresher. He need to compete he need to rebound. Let's see how it works spurs easily can switch and put rasho insted of Nazr in the second half.

We don't need Horry in S5 as Bowen will be the first one to guard Dirk.

[MI21]

I've seen Rasho cover Dirk on switches, mismatches, broken plays etc and he actually does a rather decent job.

Rasho's length can bother Dirk's jumpshot a bit, and Rasho actually has kinda decent lateral movement and footwork. Dirk would still be able to get by him, but running into the help of Tim Duncan, it would be hard to finish. Dirk tends to rely on getting fouled when he goes at the hoop rather than actually finishing the play, so no reaching and hands up position help D could do the trick for stretches.

I'm not sure why we are discussing big man options to cover Dirk, I'm 90% sure Bruce will get the job and do a nice job. Horry can play him at times, and down the stretch I would probably like to see Timmy get a run at him once there is no risk of foul trouble. Perhaps even Finley could play a few mins on him if need be, they were team mates for a long time I'm sure Finley knows Dirk better than any other Spur.

[ALVAREZ6]

Start Nazr.

[ploto]

And the winner is Robert Horry- by a landslide!

I really do not see how so many people thought Nazr would be back into the starting line-up. He played a minute and a half. With all the minutes played byTim and Rob and the minutes of small ball, there has only been about 10 or 12 minutes left for a third big- let alone a fourth. Just like the past couple of games, those minutes were basically for Rasho. When we scrapped the small ball in the third quarter, the rotation was the "normal" one- Tim out after 6 minutes and Rasho in. A couple of minutes later Rob out and Tim back in- keeping 2 of the 3 on the court the whole quarter. I think that given the role this player needs to fill that Rasho is the logical choice. He has played well as of late- better than Nazr- and will provide solid, dependable minutes of playing defense, setting screens, and not disrupting the flow of the game. I also think he works better with Horry than Nazr does.

Bruce was great on Dirk, but we did some time with Horry on him, as well.

Line-up will not change.

[velik_m]

And the winner is Robert Horry- by a landslide!

I really do not see how so many people thought Nazr would be back into the starting line-up.

the question was "who do you start?" not "who will start?"

would be good if the spurs got more production from the centers.

[timvp]

Rasho was horrid today. Ever sense Pop broke his rhythm by putting him into the starting lineup, he can't get a damn rebound. He only gets the easiest rebounds now.

The Spurs need to either let Nazr play some to see if he has anything or we're going to have to force Slomo back to San Antonio.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Hey, timvp, I can man the post, dammit! It says "rugged forward" over on the left there, but that's a misnomer, I am a back to the basket low-post centre all the way. I want a tryout against Slomo. :lol

[Obstructed_View]

Is starting Horry anything other than an expression of anger at the centers? It seems like the matchups dictate either Rasho or Nazr starting. The Spurs certainly aren't winning a title with neither of them producing.