So what's wrong with the Spurs?

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

Hopefully we can have a serious discussion about the areas in which the Spurs are lacking and in need of some improvement. References to the recently concluded season are preferred.

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With three starting positions locked for several years, the only two positions that could be upgraded are SF and center--and those positions are in bad shape.

You could easily argue that the Spurs have the 2nd best combo at Center in the league (excepting Shaq/Mourning) with Rasho and Nasr, no matter which one starts. Either one of our guys would be eagerly sought after by some team if they went on the market. There just aren't that many centers out there who are better--and those (like Yao, B. Wallace, Shaq) aren't on the market, period.

That leaves SF. Bowen is probably good in our system for another year or so but the backup situation is not particularly good. Devin is too short to be the future at this position so we have to find someone in our farm system or by trade.

Stan Kelly and that stupid Drop in the Bucket

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Originally Posted by strangeweather

An athletic backup swingman who can bring energy off the bench. This really hurt us at points in the playoffs. Hopefully Devin Brown can make a full recovery and will be resigned to fill this slot. If not, we need someone.

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Agree except they need an athletic starting sf and start to reduce Bowen's minutes some.

Also trade Rasho and Barry for the best they can get.

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Stan Kelly and that stupid Drop in the Bucket

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thats only cause you havent won it... ;)

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Agree except they need an athletic starting sf and start to reduce Bowen's minutes some.

Also trade Rasho and Barry for the best they can get.

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Find a solution to both of those, and you win a prize.

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

Screen roll defense. The Spurs' defensive philosophy usually is to go under screens to prevent dribble penetration, yet there are plenty of guys in this league who can nail shots over the top of the screen. Perhaps this is a matter of 'if they hit those shots then there' nothing we can do (see the Spurs' rather abyssmal 3 point % ranking), but is there a better way to defend screen rolls?

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I'll weigh in here -- I agree that this is a cause for some concern.

For years, with AJ, the Spurs had the luxury of having a guard who could play "over the top" of the screen. AJ's strength allowed him to fight over the screen and stay with the ball even through the play. That limited pull-up jump shots and slowed dribble penetration. The Spurs also had the luxury of involving David Robinson in the screen-roll defense by having him trap the ball. David did that as well as anyone who has ever played in the NBA, mostly because David's sublime quickness allowed him to stay in position to defend the screener.

Fast forward and the Spurs have a smaller point guard and big men who aren't as agile. As the Sonics showed in Games 3 & 4 of the Second Round, these Spurs are susceptible to breakdowns in screen-roll defense, and there is little doubt that this must be a concern. The Pistons had similar success (though with a side screen-roll, rather than a high screen-roll) in Games 3 & 4 of the Finals.

I thought the most effective thing the Spurs did to combat the screen-roll game was to trap hard on shooters who had the ball and to rotate behind the play to avoid mismatches. For example, in Game 5 against Seattle, the Sonics first or second set play was a screen-roll involving Allen (ball) and James or Evans (screen). When Allen came over the screen, Tim met him with a trap and forced Ray to push the ball back towards half-court. Meanwhile, rather than leaving Bowen to defend the screener alone, the Spurs rotated Mohammed up to offer support. It was effective.

I don't know that you could do that every night, though.

My preference would be for

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Originally Posted by Solid D

Pivot Problems: Rasho's lack of dunking and Nazr's inability to catch the ball.
Solution: Rasho dunks the ball 500 times/day while Nazr stands under the basket and catches Rasho's dunks before they hit the floor.

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:lmao

Only thing I'd say: FREE THROWS!!!!!! --Summer Clinic for Duncan, Parker, and Bowen taught by Manu Ginobili.

Nothing!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

For example, the Spurs, despite leading the NBA in average points allowed per game and assists allowed per game while also being 3rd in the NBA in field goal % allowed were 25th in the NBA in 3 point % allowed.

So perhaps more work on closing out on shooters?

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This is what I thought, but then I looked into the number further. The Spurs far and away gave up the fewest three-point attempts per game. They gave up like 10 3PA's per game, with the second closest being like 15 or something like that.

But yeah, they need to lower that percentage. I think the problem was the perimeter players were relatively short so even if they close out on the shooters, they didn't have the size to alter the shots. Players like Hedo and Jack were good at closing out on the three point shooters.

Which leads me to...

Long Small Foward. It seems like the Spurs have been searching since they let Hedo walk. Having a 6'8+ guy on the perimeter would be great for the Spurs, even if it were just an 11th or 12th man.

FT shooting.

"second closest being like 15"

I thought 15 was the league average for 3G atttempts/game.

I'm not sure the Spurs need to worry about the apparently anomalous high opp. 3G %age, as long as they keep the attempts down. 36% of 10 3G/game is only yielding 9 or 12 pts on 3Gs.

Another key stat, badly remembereed, was that Spurs opponents hit something like NO 3Gs in the last 2 minutes of games.

The fucking Spurs never fail to impress me! :lol

free throws.

The thing about improving on three point defense and rebounding. You gotta wonder if those by-products of the type of defensive schemes they employ. Maybe if they close out on shooters it wears them down more or leaves them vulnerable in other areas...who knows!

But I'll give this some research and thought.

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

Hopefully we can have a serious discussion about the areas in which the Spurs are lacking and in need of some improvement. References to the recently concluded season are preferred.

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* free throws

* mental toughness (confidence; more killer attitude) (especially away from home)

If we take care of that, and if winning is the definition of good, we'd be damn near a perfect team.

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Originally Posted by ChumpDumper

Get Ready for This. Released by 2 Unlimited during Tony Massenburg's rookie season.

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LMBO, oh man you are so right about that Chump.

Some guy on NBA.com in his Finals blog was ripping into the Spurs for their outdated music selection & pre-game & 1/2 time performers, very outdated, I mean come on Spurs! Get with the times.

We need to work on better FT shooting, & several players need to really work on aprts of their game.
TP= develop a jumper & taking better care of the ball, way too many TOs on his part.

Nazr= his hands, DEF & low post moves & DUNKING instead of pump faking!

Rasho= pray for him to grow as a player, he really sucks.

These are the things that I can think of... from an amateurs POV :fro

Brent Barry - Keep bringing everything that he has to the table, teach all below him to shoot the FT, get the confidence to be willing to shoot when hes feeling it more often
Bruce Bowen - work on FT, work on his ball control so that he can maybe add another offensive move?
Devin Brown - regain all that leg strength, re-sign with SA and maybe practice his decision making with the ball against aggressive defence?
Tim Duncan - FT, and add something like the Dream Shake maybe?
Manu Ginobili - rest, and maybe cut down the turnovers, 1on1 defence?
Robert Horry - resign with sa, find out where he put his other 5 rings!
Ian Mahinmi - work on everything, if he is as raw as they say
Tony Massenburg - stay in one place for longer than half a season!
Nazr Mohammed - maybe have surgery on his hands to make them spiderman like (ie, can grip anything)
Rasho Nesterovic - dunk it, ft shooting, aggressiveness
Tony Parker - work on his jumper, FT and maybe his strength to handle the bigger PGs that burn him so often (if its even possible)
Glenn Robinson - resign with sa, and show he didnt deserve that bad boy rep!
Beno Udrih - work his ballhandling, work on beating aggressive defence (ie half court trap)

The problem with the spurs is they are sometimes soft.

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Originally Posted by Jelly

1. Tim Duncan needs to recapture his game.
I love Tim, but he really faltered throughout the finals. He just wasn't himself.
2. We need to develop Beno and Rasho. They have raw talent, but they don't seem motivated...and this is just an impression, I could be way off. Beno just seems like a depressed person who lacks confidence to me.He seems to be intimidated by others. Lack of confidence will kill anyone's game.
3. Keep pushing Manu. He is going to be the biggest superstar in the NBA and will carry us to more titles.
4. ALL the guys need to bulk up!!! Tony looks like a freakin' scarecrow. Maybe it's a French thing, but he seriously needs to hit the gym. He's got to make up for his lack of height. I'm glad to hear Manu is going to bulk up.
Duncan should build up his arms...he could be deadly with his size. There's no excuse guys....GET TO THOSE WEIGHTS!!

and that's my amateur opinion.

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They are definately lifting weights.
But in those 2 months - bulk up?

man they need some steroids
:drunk

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Originally Posted by td4mvp21

I was surprised at that stat also during the regular season. We stepped it up in the playoffs, however. I think during Game 7, it said that throughout the playoffs, our opponents were 0-23 from three pointers in the final two minutes of the game. So, at least we stepped it up. During the next season, we should pay more attention to that.

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I remember them discussing that stat during the game. Not 30 seconds later, though, Rasheed hit that 3-pointer from the corner. So much for that! :lol

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

For example, the Spurs, despite leading the NBA in average points allowed per game and assists allowed per game while also being 3rd in the NBA in field goal % allowed were 25th in the NBA in 3 point % allowed.

So perhaps more work on closing out on shooters?

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I think the 3-point % thing was kind of an anomoly. I remember thinking during the season that teams seemed to be hitting an unusual amount of tough, well guarded 3-pointers against us. Plus, when someone DID happen to get open they never seemed to miss.

I won't be surprised if that stat isn't much better next year without the Spurs really doing anything different at all.

It's a tough choice to go for Nick Van Excel. Why not keep them all. The spurs usually have 3 pg during the year. Why not let Mike Wilkes go and keep them all because you never know Nick might get hurt being that he is 34. So, why not keep them all.

Does anyone know anything about Linton Johnson some say he's good but, how long does it take to recover (leg) from a injury like he had?

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Originally Posted by wildbill2u

With three starting positions locked for several years, the only two positions that could be upgraded are SF and center--and those positions are in bad shape.

You could easily argue that the Spurs have the 2nd best combo at Center in the league (excepting Shaq/Mourning) with Rasho and Nasr, no matter which one starts. Either one of our guys would be eagerly sought after by some team if they went on the market. There just aren't that many centers out there who are better--and those (like Yao, B. Wallace, Shaq) aren't on the market, period.

That leaves SF. Bowen is probably good in our system for another year or so but the backup situation is not particularly good. Devin is too short to be the future at this position so we have to find someone in our farm system or by trade.

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Does anyone know anything about Linton Johnson some say he's good but, how long does it take to recover (leg) from a injury like he had?

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Originally Posted by rascal

Agree except they need an athletic starting sf and start to reduce Bowen's minutes some.

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As well as he played this year, I think it's a little early to move Bruce out of the starting lineup. He can still start even if we cut his minutes some in the middle of games to keep him fresh.

I'll play, but don't have much time to read the entire thread, so if this has been covered, I apologize for the repetition...

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

For example, the Spurs, despite leading the NBA in average points allowed per game and assists allowed per game while also being 3rd in the NBA in field goal % allowed were 25th in the NBA in 3 point % allowed.

So perhaps more work on closing out on shooters?

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The Spurs do a fine job. They allowed few 3s per game, in comparison to other teams. It seems that other teams simply take better percentage treys (wide open, although fewers!), thus the increase in accuracy.

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Originally Posted by MI21

Veteran Backup PG - I think the Spurs would be better off with a more experienced, battle tested backup.

<snip>

Anyone else think this is something that is wrong with the Spurs?

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I think there are more glaring needs at SF (a long 3) and center for that matter. I trust Beno will further improve as well.

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

Rebounding. The Spurs were 6th in the NBA in average rebounds allowed per game last season but were 12th in rebounds made.

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This is almost a direct consequence of game pace. The Spurs average 89 possesions per game, fewer than most teams, so when the Spurs play there are fewers rebounds (defensive and offensive) opportunities for both teams. The fact that they are 12th in the entire league at a very slow pace is actually a compliment. I'll try to get you the number of rebounds per possesion.. the Spurs should be one of the leaders.

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

Midrange shooting. The Spurs have one of the best collections of perimeter shooters in the NBA and a point guard who thrives at attacking the basket along with perhaps the best low post offensive player in the NBA. But that gray area from 15 to 23 feet is rather noticeable.

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While this aspect is important, it is less important that people may think. Mid-range shooting is statistically less accurate than close range shooting (within 8ft). The rule of thumb is that you try to get as close to the basket as you can. This is not always possible, so teams need to fire away from more than 15 ft. Consider this though... a 33% 3-pt bomber (mediocre) is still equivalent to a 50% midrange player (most people would consider this player pretty good). The Spurs should still prioritize treys. Midrange shooting is a nice niche for penetrators (i.e. Manu and TP). They could suddently stop on their tracks and take a pull up jumper. This could help keep defenses honest and reduce the difficulty of slashing and penetration.

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

In-game adjustments. Sometimes Pop was golden at making the right move at half to address how a team was kicking their asses...while at other times he didn't. I'm still at a loss to understand why Pop didn't switch Bruce onto Billups in Game 6 of the Finals. He did it in Game 5 and went back to it in Game 7, which ended up being the series winning move, in my opinion.

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Very nice. I agree 100%.

"the series winning move"

imo, it was playing Game7 @SBC (aka HCA).

What do you think the Spurs chances were of winning that Game7 @DET? Historically, very low, and after Game3 and 4 blowouts, even lower.