Backup PG

[Holt's Cat]

Jacque is steady, this is true. But Brother Darius can be much more.

Jacque will get his shot to retain his spot. But don't be surprised if he loses it. After all, Beno thought he'd be at the Bonham tomorrow night.

[whottt]

I don't think Jacque is worried about going third string...and I don't think there's any doubt everyone wants to see DW succeed...I think it's just a matter of him getting to know the team.

It's asking a hell of a lot of a rookie to just step in and take up the back up PG slot on a championship team.

There will be growing pains...hopefully DW will grow into a major contributor by season's end.

[The Truth #6]

Pop should have at least tried DW earlier in the game. Or, just given Vaughn more minutes. Parker sucked balls. I can't remember him playing that crappy in the last few years. That, to me, was the difference. If Parker just played average we would have been in this game. Nothing to freak about. He'll bounce.

[whottt]

Yeah but you can't just give up on Parker because he sucks early...


This was not our night...

Several Spurs sucked offensively.
The Mavs shot lights out.
The refs sucked IMO, they allowed the Mavs to hack and didn't allow the Spurs the same luxury.

[Darkwaters]

Whenever Darius is on the floor I wish Pop would give him more of a green light to shoot. In his limited minutes Darius is still given quite a few open shots that he passes up fairly consistently (no doubt on Pop's orders). But the kid obviously has a nice shot and I'd like to see him shoot it a bit more. Lord knows that he could probably be a better scoring threat than some of the other guys we're trotting out there in the reserve unit.

[AFBlue]

Yeah but you can't just give up on Parker because he sucks early...


This was not our night...

Several Spurs sucked offensively.
The Mavs shot lights out.
The refs sucked IMO, they allowed the Mavs to hack and didn't allow the Spurs the same luxury.

Agreed, you don't give up on an all-star because he starts slow.

The Spurs never give up on Duncan...sometimes he ends up 2-15 and sometimes he ends up 11-15.

About DW, I really think he'd be best served by taking a few weeks to run an offense and be a focal point on the Toros before coming back up and competing for the backup spot.

[T Park]

Agreed, you don't give up on an NBA Finals MVP because he starts slow.




Fixed

[Dingle Barry]

Jacque Vaughn is friends with Rashad Bobino

[remingtonbo2001]

Yeah but you can't just give up on Parker because he sucks early...


This was not our night...

Several Spurs sucked offensively.
The Mavs shot lights out.
The refs sucked IMO, they allowed the Mavs to hack and didn't allow the Spurs the same luxury.

The officiating was terrible. I guess the officials don't show up for November games either. Hey, at least Dallas comes to play in November.

Was Tony sick tonight? I thought I overheard something of the sort.

[Thompson]

How well is Washington shooting the 3 ball on the year? I can only remember him missing once.

I do kind of wonder if he should play over Vaughn; although there will be kinks to work out, I'd rather they be fixed as much as possible before the postseason so he can be a legitimate backup.

I like Finley, but we need to start Barry or something until he warms up. I kind of wonder if Finley would respond better to shooting practice the day of the game; they shouldn't go with a "one size fits all" approach, they should try to adapt to the individual player's needs.

[Darkwaters]

How well is Washington shooting the 3 ball on the year? I can only remember him missing once.

I do kind of wonder if he should play over Vaughn; although there will be kinks to work out, I'd rather they be fixed as much as possible before the postseason so he can be a legitimate backup.

I like Finley, but we need to start Barry or something until he warms up. I kind of wonder if Finley would respond better to shooting practice the day of the game; they shouldn't go with a "one size fits all" approach, they should try to adapt to the individual player's needs.


Darius Washington hasn't taken too many shots this season at all. Hes 12-22 on FGs (55%) and 3-6 from downtown (50%). Hardly a large sample size. But he shows good form on his jumper and good confidence when he does pull the trigger.

Finley has been a big disappointment so far. In fact, while I have loved bringing Manu off the bench I haven't liked starting Mike. I can see what he brings to the table...but they're diminishing returns at best. Remember, when Barry was starting last year he was excellent. But then he missed a few games, lost his groove and never found it again. I'd rather keep him firing on all cylinders this time instead.

[Bruno]

Just look at what Pop said four days ago about Washington:


He is a very confident player, a fearless player and he's aggressive. He really comes to compete every night.

His progress will be important in regard to learning how to run a team, game and clock situation and what's happening on the floor. Obviously, defensive awareness, both individually and as a team player are important.

It's quite obvious that Pop didn't trust enough Washington to give him the backup PG spot for the moment. Don't forget also that Pop has benched Washington after 3 games.

IMO, Spurs will send him in Austin when Horry will be back with the instruction given to Snyder : "led him run the team and do all the playmaking tasks". If he plays well in Austin and if Vaughn isn't that good, it's possible that Spurs try Washington as the main backup PG in a couple of month but it's far from sure. The most likely case is Washington playing in D-League for the whole year. if Washington is still with the team next year, he should get a legit chance to get the backup PG spot.

The good news for Washington is that Mahinmi was put on the IL to make place for Vaughn while the logical choice was Washington. Spurs decided to have only 4 PF/C active to keep Washington active. You can see that as a testimony that Spurs like Washington or as a testimony that Pop consider Mahinmi as totally useless for the moment.