McDonald: Stoudamire getting the message

[some_user86]

Spurs: Stoudamire getting the message

Web Posted: 03/05/2008 10:37 PM CST

Jeff McDonald
San Antonio Express-News

For 13 games, Damon Stoudamire tried to be a good soldier. He tried to run the Spurs' offense like a pass-first point guard, dishing the ball to other scorers and then just trying to stay out of the way.

There was just one problem.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich did not recruit Stoudamire, signed Feb. 4 to provide backup minutes behind Tony Parker, just to be a good soldier. He recruited him to be a sharpshooter.

"He's been deferring too much since he got here, just trying to fit in," Popovich said. "I'm not worried, but I want him to be more aggressive and let it fly. That's why he's here."

Stoudamire appears to have gotten the message. He took eight shots in Tuesday's victory over New Jersey, the most he'd taken since a 3-of-8 performance against New Orleans on Feb. 23.

Of course, Stoudamire only made one of those eight attempts against the Nets. But, for Popovich, it was a start.

"I think you'll see a little different Damon from now on," Popovich said.

In 14 games with the Spurs, Stoudamire is averaging 4.4 points in 17.7 minutes per contest.

Ready for the gauntlet: For the Spurs, tonight's game against the Pacers tips off a grueling stretch of four games in five days.

After tonight, the schedule sends them to Denver on Friday, Phoenix on Sunday and then home again for a rematch with the Nuggets on Monday.

"The mind is willing, much more than the body at times," Spurs forward Bruce Bowen said. "We've been here before, and we understand it's a grind."

Special uniforms: The Spurs will don special uniforms for tonight's game as part of the team's "Fiesta with the Spurs" celebration. The one-night-only jerseys will feature the words "Los Spurs" emblazoned on the front, below a special "Noche Latina" patch meant to commemorate the event.

New Spurs programming: Fox Sports Southwest will add a "Spurs Insider" program to its lineup, a magazine-style show set to air before selected Spurs broadcasts.

The first show, hosted by Spurs play-by-play man Bill Land, is scheduled to debut before tonight's game against Indiana.

[email protected]

LINK: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA030608.06C.Spursnotebook.en.36d2d3f.html

[gospursgojas]

New Spurs programming: Fox Sports Southwest will add a "Spurs Insider" program to its lineup, a magazine-style show set to air before selected Spurs broadcasts.

First I have heard of this...

[YODA]

Kori aready mentioned this in another thread about the Spurs Insider,

[Amuseddaysleeper]

I am happy to have Damon on board, but the thought of him "letting it fly" makes me cringe at the thought of him potentially having the third highest number of FG attempts on the team during some games.

I prefer to run the offense, and take the shots only when they present themselves.

Don't need another NVE this year.

[GINNNNNNNNNNNNOBILI]

Special uniforms: The Spurs will don special uniforms for tonight's game as part of the team's "Fiesta with the Spurs" celebration. The one-night-only jerseys will feature the words "Los Spurs" emblazoned on the front, below a special "Noche Latina" patch meant to commemorate the event.


Knowing the Spurs... this could turn out to be very bad

[Brutalis]

I hope Pop's right for our sake in the playoffs. Especially if Barry isn't right.

[MajicMan]

Didn't he also tell Fransisco Elson to shoot more? Yes, shoot it Damon.

[timvp]

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich did not recruit Stoudamire, signed Feb. 4 to provide backup minutes behind Tony Parker, just to be a good soldier. He recruited him to be a sharpshooter.

"He's been deferring too much since he got here, just trying to fit in," Popovich said. "I'm not worried, but I want him to be more aggressive and let it fly. That's why he's here."

Stoudamire appears to have gotten the message. He took eight shots in Tuesday's victory over New Jersey, the most he'd taken since a 3-of-8 performance against New Orleans on Feb. 23.

Of course, Stoudamire only made one of those eight attempts against the Nets. But, for Popovich, it was a start.

"I think you'll see a little different Damon from now on," Popovich said.Damn it, Pop. Stoudamire was playing really good as a distributor :madrun

I guess I owe Stoudamire an apology for calling him a ball hog. Stoudamire was just following Pop's orders.

My bad.

[Fabbs]

I am happy to have Damon on board, but the thought of him "letting it fly" makes me cringe at the thought of him potentially having the third highest number of FG attempts on the team during some games.

I prefer to run the offense, and take the shots only when they present themselves.

Don't need another NVE this year.

Damn it, Pop. Stoudamire was playing really good as a distributor
Agree, I thought he was doing fine as a distributor and picking his spots to shoot very well.

[SenorSpur]

God no. Not more special event uniforms!

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

I am happy to have Damon on board, but the thought of him "letting it fly" makes me cringe at the thought of him potentially having the third highest number of FG attempts on the team during some games.

I prefer to run the offense, and take the shots only when they present themselves.

Don't need another NVE this year.
I just hope he'll hover around neutral for the most part and not hurt our team with his chucking/spotty shooting.

Frankly, I prefer him to be a spot up shooter, and not try to create offense on his own.

I'd rather he be a glorified Jacque Vaughn as a ballhandler, than him try to take on a role as a whatever option on offense.

[Admidave50]

I was sure that it was Pop's idea that Stoudamire was shooting so much!

[Bruno]

Stoudamire main edge above Vaughn is that he is a better scorer.
If Stoudamire plays pass first, this edge disappears and there are no reasons to play Stoudamire over Vaughn.

I think Pop is right at asking Stoudamire to score more. We will see if he able to do it in a efficient way.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Stoudamire main edge above Vaughn is that he is a better scorer.
If Stoudamire plays pass first, this edge disappears and there are no reasons to play Stoudamire over Vaughn.

I think Pop is right at asking Stoudamire to score more. We will see if he able to do it in a efficient way.

I agree.

And Damon can fill it up - he is streaky, but he won't find the good streaks unless he's allowed to shoot 6-8 shots a game. As long as they are good shots, let fly. JV takes open jumpers, why shouldn't Damon?

[SouthernFried]

Stoudamire was doing good at controlling the ball and tempo...better than Vaughn, imho. I felt comfortable with Damon in. Telling him to shoot more...I dunno. At times I wanted him to be more aggressive, but just on a situational type of basis.

However, Pop generally knows what he's doing ;)

[Slippy]

Stoudamire was doing good at controlling the ball and tempo...better than Vaughn, imho. I felt comfortable with Damon in. Telling him to shoot more...I dunno. At times I wanted him to be more aggressive, but just on a situational type of basis.

However, Pop generally knows what he's doing ;)


Over Vaughn, that's what i've liked about him the most. He just looks to be more of a natural at running the PG posi. With shooting more could be Pop probably see's something we don't in training or simply wants to build his confidence in the scoring department. If he's eying him for the back-up point role, he would want him to be a serious threat once the play-offs start.

[BlackSwordsMan]

ahhaah they're gonna wear LOS Spurs jerseys. Time for all the starters to fake injuries

[VaSpursFan]

Stoudamire main edge above Vaughn is that he is a better scorer.
If Stoudamire plays pass first, this edge disappears and there are no reasons to play Stoudamire over Vaughn.

I think Pop is right at asking Stoudamire to score more. We will see if he able to do it in a efficient way.

i agree.

[MoSpur]

I like this idea, as long as it doesn't get out of hand like it did with NVE.

[Dex]

I think Pop prefer for his point guards to be scorers, so they will demand defensive attention and can open up the floor and create opportunities for others through their offense. It's part of the reason Tony fits this system so well.

Trying to get this same kind of production out of Vaughn is futile. Even when he presses offensively, teams still don't have to show him the same respect, because they will live with Jacque Vaughn beating them. Chances are, it's not gonna happen. Thus, the entire offense has to shift modes into an over-dribbling, half-court affair every time Pop puts him in.

I don't think anyone is going to say that Damon is as talented offensively as Tony Parker, but I think he wants Damon to be aggressive to maintain that continuity at the PG position. It beats having to play 4-on-5 on offense every time we have a backup point on the floor.

[G-Nob]

I thought we got damon to be a kobe-stopper?

[Cry Havoc]

Hold it, guys.

I think there is a very specific reason why Pop is doing this.

He knows that we're in the lead in the West, and against teams like Indy, if Damon doesn't have the best shooting night, we'll probably win anyway.

However, if Mighty Mouse goes for 9-13 and 4-6 from beyond the arc tonight, it represents another weapon we bring to the playoffs.

Nevermind what we will and won't do with Damon once the post-season gets here. Pop is doing this as POSTURING. If we win and Stoudamire struggles, well, so what? He's new and we can always throw that under the guise of fitting in. It makes us happy to be 11-0, it makes him happy to have a team that's patient with him, and no one loses confidence.

If, on the other hand, he has a great shooting night, it means from day 1 of the playoffs, teams have to respect Damon and step out on his shot. Even if Pop tells him to clamp down on his shooting in the PO, if he hits now, becomes a threat now, and we win games either way, it doesn't hurt us, and teams HAVE to step out to guard him. Think Pop wants people playing off Damon in the postseason when Parker sits? Hell no. He wants every player guarding him to keep in mind, "I have to cut in to help on Duncan on the weakside, but I can't leave Damon open here or he'll burn me."

Pop is simply hoping to open the court up more for Duncan (as well as Manu's and Parker's drives) when the real games arrive. Another fearless bomber on our team is the perfect way to do this. That's all I see this as. It's like in hold-em poker, Pop wants to be representing pocket Aces (two three point shooters at all times) pre-flop, so even if teams think we're bluffing and really want to go inside to Duncan, they still have to respect those damn Aces, because we have evidence that they're lethal.

[Princess Pimp]

Damon Stoudamire sucks!

[duncan228]

Damon Stoudamire sucks!

So do you.

[oboymeetsogirl]

The Spurs game is inside/out, and so if Stoudemire doesn't let it go from outside the strategy is ineffective. I often get the feeling Pop doesn't even care if he's missing. If the shots aren't falling in, there's always another guy coming off the bench who might be hotter. Pop's point is, you gotta shoot the damned thing when it comes around and you're open. I'm not saying jack it off, of course, after just one pass (only Tony, Manu and Timmy are allowed to do that, and even then it better be right). But it's Timmy's presence that gives our shooters so many open looks; and so if it's true that Stoudemire still has a shooting touch, there should be no excuse for him not burying the three's and mid-range jumpers.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

So do you.


:lol :tu

[nfg3]

Hopefully he can get his shots in the flow of the O. He does bring better O to the game but JV is a better defender IMO. Imagine if Damon gets the open looks that JV got in the last game against Phoenix on a regular basis. I don't think many will be disappointed if he gets on a roll. But that is the $64 question isn't it? Damon is a streaky shooter that can get hot. If so then so much the better for us. We'll see how this fits over time.

[timvp]

Stoudamire main edge above Vaughn is that he is a better scorer.
If Stoudamire plays pass first, this edge disappears and there are no reasons to play Stoudamire over Vaughn.I don't agree. Vaughn isn't really a pass first type of guard because he rarely creates shots for others. Stoudamire can actually create shots for others off the dribble or even in the half court set by just making the right pass. Vaughn's version of creating a shot is handing it off to Manu.

Stoudamire also has a better feel for the game. He makes quick decisions with the ball in his hand while Vaughn turns into a dribbling machine if he does anything other than hand the ball to Manu.


I think Pop is right at asking Stoudamire to score more. We will see if he able to do it in a efficient way.Stoudamire hasn't been an efficient scorer since 1996. I don't plan on that changing now.


JV takes open jumpers, why shouldn't Damon?Stoudamire has been shooting open jumpers since he's joined the team. That's not what Pop is talking about. Pop wants Stoudamire to take people off the dribble and create his own shots.


Pop is simply hoping to open the court up more for Duncan (as well as Manu's and Parker's drives) when the real games arrive. Yeah, Pop is trying to find some offense firepower in the second unit. Especially if Manu is starting, the bench lacks players who can create their own shots. If Stoudamire comes in gunning, that'd relieve some of the pressure in terms of grinding out possessions offensively with the bench unit in.

We'll see if Pop's ploy is successful. Right now, Stoudamire is shooting close to 30% as a Spur. If Stoudamire can't turn into the gunner Pop wants him to be, he'll go back to Vaughn ... which might have been his plan all along.

:stirpot:

[ShoogarBear]

http://www.nba.com/media/act_nick_van_exel.jpg

[SouthernFried]

I don't agree. Vaughn isn't really a pass first type of guard because he rarely creates shots for others. Stoudamire can actually create shots for others off the dribble or even in the half court set by just making the right pass. Vaughn's version of creating a shot is handing it off to Manu.

Stoudamire also has a better feel for the game. He makes quick decisions with the ball in his hand while Vaughn turns into a dribbling machine if he does anything other than hand the ball to Manu.

Stoudamire hasn't been an efficient scorer since 1996. I don't plan on that changing now.

Stoudamire has been shooting open jumpers since he's joined the team. That's not what Pop is talking about. Pop wants Stoudamire to take people off the dribble and create his own shots.

Yeah, Pop is trying to find some offense firepower in the second unit. Especially if Manu is starting, the bench lacks players who can create their own shots. If Stoudamire comes in gunning, that'd relieve some of the pressure in terms of grinding out possessions offensively with the bench unit in.

We'll see if Pop's ploy is successful. Right now, Stoudamire is shooting close to 30% as a Spur. If Stoudamire can't turn into the gunner Pop wants him to be, he'll go back to Vaughn ... which might have been his plan all along.

:stirpot:

Pretty much right on.

My concern is, if Damon doesn't turn into a better scorer and Pop benches him...will he turn back to Jacque? Cuz, even when not scoring, Damon is better at distributing the ball than Vaughn...for all the reasons you mentioned. He's not just a scoring option...or shouldn't be, imho.