McDonald: Spurs report: It's tough to find fault with start

[some_user86]

Spurs report: It's tough to find fault with start

Web Posted: 11/18/2007 12:02 AM CST

Jeff McDonald
Express-News Staff Writer

At 8-2, the Spurs have matched the 2005-06 team for the franchise's best 10-game start the year after winning a le. They haven't necessarily been a picture of perfection, but it's hard to quibble with .800 ball.
Express-News staff writer Jeff McDonald checks in with a position-byposition glance at how the Spurs are faring:

Point guards

His 1-for-11 nightmare against Dallas aside, Tony Parker has largely picked up where he left off in last year's playoffs. He is averaging 18.1 points per game, waging a nightly battle with Manu Ginobili for the team lead. The Spurs' offense is near impossible to stop when Parker is getting into the lane, finishing drives and creating kick-out opportunities.

Shooting guards

Gregg Popovich makes it a point never to fiddle with Michael Finley during a shooting slump, and here's why: You never know when Finley is going to shoot his way out of a funk. He can go 0 for 5 one night in Dallas, then make his first six shots on his way to 17 points the next night against Houston. On nights when he is off, the Spurs can always replace Finley with Ginobili — not a bad Plan B.

Small forwards

At one point last week, Bruce Bowen was averaging fewer points than any other player on the active roster — and he still might have been the team's unofficial MVP. His perimeter defense has been outstanding and, as the Lakers learned last week, he can still knock down that corner 3-pointer.

Power forwards

Despite the NBA All-Star ballot committee's insistence to the contrary, Tim Duncan remains the Spurs starting power forward. He's been a tad inconsistent on the offensive end, but is showing signs of breaking out. Duncan followed up a 5-point outing against the Lakers by scoring a combined 49 in the past two games.

Centers

The Spurs are getting 9.5 points and 10.2 rebounds out of the Fabricio Oberto-Francisco Elson tandem, which is good, but not great. Oberto's biggest nemesis has been foul trouble — he's averaging 9.6 fouls per 48 minutes.

Bench

Ginobili continues to state his early case as Sixth Man of the Year candidate as the ringleader of the highest-scoring bench in the NBA. He leads the team in scoring (20 ppg), steals (23) and how-did-he-do-that circus shots (unofficially, 35).

LINK: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...n.2943602.html

[Bruno]

My observations about Spurs after 10 games :

Are we in 2006-2007 or in 2007-2008 ?
The team is exactly the same than last year. You don't have a player who plays a different role than last year.
We could have expected that a player will benefit form the "2nd year with Spurs" factor and have a bigger role but it's not the case. We could have expected that one of the oldest player will slow down but it's not the case (it's even the opposite for Bruce). Spurs' rookies aren't a factor for the moment (except Washington but it was because of an injury).
The team will even look more than last year team with Vaughn back and Horry on his way back. Let's hope the same team will give the same result than last year.

2005's Manu is back and he has a better jumper this time :
Manu on the decline? He will never be back at his 2005 level ? I start to think that the answer to both of this questions is no.
His energy/athleticism is back at the 2005 level and he has now a better jumpshoot. Manu is on his way to have a career year. Duncan is healthy and can dominate a game when he gives a and Parker is also playing at a very high level : the big 3 has never been that big.

A couple of promising young players :
Both Washington and Mahinmi look good. The road is still very long for them but it's always better to have a good start than a bad one.
Mahinmi has shown his upside despite being very raw. The road for Mahinmi is D-League, garbage time at the end of the regular season, summer league, French NT and training camp. If he show enough qualities, he could become an end of the bench player next year. If he is so-so, he will spend one more year in D-League. If he is bad, we can even expect Spurs not picking his option for 09-10.
Washington has show good things too. He has done the usual rookie mistake but you had to realize that it's not easy to be a rookie, even more a rookie PG. Washington is for the moment the third best rookie PG behind Law and Conley. He is better (for the moment) than every other PG who was available at the 28th pick in the draft and he isn't older than them. His future will depend on Vaughn and Spurs success. For the moment Pop trust Vaughn and didn't really trust Washington but if Spurs struggle in January with Vaughn playing bad, Pop could try to put Washington in the rotation. Otherwise, Washington won't see regular playtime before next year.

Where is the long SF ?
Every summer Spurs fans are looking for the long SF who can be a small ball PF. This year again Spurs FO hasn't signed a long SF. It's unlikely that Udoka become that guy because of his lack of height. Spurs have had a problem this year with Wells/Battier playing PF and with the lack of a player able to defend on Dirk. A SF/PF can help to solve this problem.
I really hope Spurs will try to do something to solve these problems. A trade or signing someone in January. I personally think that a player like Linton Johnson could really help this team.
Spurs have the level to repeat but other teams are really close. Every detail that could help Spurs is welcome.

Still 72 games to go :
A 8-2 start translates into a 65 or 66 win season. Spurs' schedule wasn't that hard but ti's always good to have a good start because if it continues Spurs won't have to run behind other teams in March/April. The main goal of the regular season is still to be ready, healthy and not too tired for the playoffs. So far, it looks good.

[WalterBenitez]

NOt doing bad, 2 losses each 10 games, we project sth close to 16 losses, I can live with that ... #1 or #2 in the West; assuming Boston will be NBA #1, it would be great to get a ring in Massachussetts!

[howbouthemspurs]

the spurs are doing awesome this year!... its one of their best starts ever.

[SenorSpur]

My observations about Spurs after 10 games :


Where is the long SF ?
Every summer Spurs fans are looking for the long SF who can be a small ball PF. This year again Spurs FO hasn't signed a long SF. It's unlikely that Udoka become that guy because of his lack of height. Spurs have had a problem this year with Wells/Battier playing PF and with the lack of a player able to defend on Dirk. A SF/PF can help to solve this problem.
I really hope Spurs will try to do something to solve these problems. A trade or signing someone in January. I personally think that a player like Linton Johnson could really help this team.
Spurs have the level to repeat but other teams are really close. Every detail that could help Spurs is welcome.

Many of us have clamored for just such a player for the last couple of years. I'm sure the FO is acutely aware of this deficiency. However for now, they seem clueless as to how they are going to address it. It seems every other team in the league has at least one player of similar skill set - except the Spurs.

Personally, I remain puzzled as to why the Spurs have not yet solved this dilemma. While the need for a long SF often goes unnoticed against most of the NBA compe ion, it does tend to show up occasionally (see the loss versus the Mavs).

Other than Manu, the Spurs do not have a wing player that can get out on the wings in transition and pressure a defense. Every other SF/SG on the team runs to a spot on the floor, sits and looks for a pass/shot during transition. And other than Bowen, let's not even talk about their ability to defend. The Spurs need another player that can not only get out and run in transition, but one that can break his man down off the dribble, finish at the rim, and of course, rebound, and defend.

If an opposing team has two or more above average perimeter scorers, that is usually where the Spurs defense gets shredded. As I've said before. Bowen simply cannot guard everyone - and shouldn't be expected to. A player of the ilk of a Linton Johnson (mentioned above) would be a welcomed, inexpensive addition to help fill that role. However until they acquire one, expect the Spurs to continue to struggle against the likes of a Bonzi Wells, Stephen Jackson, or Andre Iguodala.

Obviously, the Spurs won the le without this skill set, perhaps they can again. The Mavs loss, once again, served notice that age and experience does not always counter youth, athleticism and desire. It was a glaring need two seasons ago and still is today.

I find it interesting that the Spurs FO decided to get more mobile and athletic at the 5 spot, following the 2006 WCSF loss to the Mavs. However, they neglected to do the same at the 2/3 spot.

[exstatic]

I find it interesting that the Spurs FO decided to get more mobile and athletic at the 5 spot, following the 2006 WCSF loss to the Mavs. However, they neglected to do the same at the 2/3 spot.

Actually, they went out and got James White, but it turns out that, unlike in the pivot, you have to be more than just mobile and athletic to play the NBA wing.

[anakha]

I find it interesting that the Spurs FO decided to get more mobile and athletic at the 5 spot, following the 2006 WCSF loss to the Mavs. However, they neglected to do the same at the 2/3 spot.

I remember some people making the point before that the Spurs' domestic scouting is nowhere near as extensive as it's international scouting. And the international players who do come over seem to be composed a lot of bigs and combo/point guards, rather than true wings.

How much of the issue you mention could be attributed to this, I wonder?

[Bruno]

I find it interesting that the Spurs FO decided to get more mobile and athletic at the 5 spot, following the 2006 WCSF loss to the Mavs. However, they neglected to do the same at the 2/3 spot.

If I want a player like Linton Johnson, it is to use him mainly at the PF spot. In my ming the long SF will mainly be a small ball PF.

Mavs best lineup is Harris/Terry/Howard/Dirk/Diop and Spurs don't have a real answer against that. It's the same thing, to a lesser extent, with a Alston/Mcgrady/Battier/Wells/Yao lineup.
Against Mavs, a Parker/Ginobili/Bowen/Johnson/Duncan lineup could be the best solution.

[Darkwaters]

I'm glad that somebody else has jumped back aboard the Linton Johnson express with me. I've been advocating for him since this last summer and drew a lot of crap from other foolish posters that thought I was nuts to suggest him. But he looked great with the Hornets and has experience playing both forward spots on the NBA level already (with success I might add). Hes a strong rebounder, can shoot the 3, defends well, is an athletic freak and pushes himself just about as hard as he can. The guy could be a serious asset.

[jmard5]

Hes a strong rebounder, can shoot the 3, defends well, is an athletic freak and pushes himself just about as hard as he can. The guy could be a serious asset.

Udoka?

[Darkwaters]

Udoka?

Physically the guy is far more gifted than Udoka. 6'8 with really long arms, far more athletic (Udoka is reasonably athletic, Johnson is "world class" athletic) and the guy is capable of playing the 4 spot routinely (unlike Udoka). I think Johnson could be brought in as more of a 7th big than a 6th wing. And next year when Elson's contract expires and Horry retires, we can simply keep Johnson as a big and bring Splitter in as well. The fact that he can play the 3 is simply gravy.

[SenorSpur]

I'm glad that somebody else has jumped back aboard the Linton Johnson express with me. I've been advocating for him since this last summer and drew a lot of crap from other foolish posters that thought I was nuts to suggest him. But he looked great with the Hornets and has experience playing both forward spots on the NBA level already (with success I might add). Hes a strong rebounder, can shoot the 3, defends well, is an athletic freak and pushes himself just about as hard as he can. The guy could be a serious asset.

True that. I remember well before the start of the 2005 season that many on this board felt that from watching this guy in summer league and preseason camp, that the Spurs had finally found their long three. Before I had even heard about him, many here and inside the Spurs were raving about his physical size and athletic skills. Of course, he never saw the "light of day" that season.

A year later he was released. I happened to catch a Hornets/Spurs game in NO a year ago. When Scott inserted Linton into the game, it didn't take long for him to instantly make his mark. I'd always heard that he could rebound and defend. However, I was shocked to see that the guy had some semblance of any offensive game. Nothing expansive, but he had something of an outside shot. Didn't have a bad handle either. I recall that he even started a game or two for the Hornets that season. The point is that he had enough talent to make a contribution off their bench.

That led me to wonder. Either LJ III was a mere scrub, who Pop simply exiled, deactivated and moved down to the end of the bench or he rapidly improved his game through hard work. Or maybe he had some game while with the Spurs and Pop simply couldn't find use for him - which would be inexcusable. I don't know which was the case.

[Bruno]

^Linton Johnson missed the training camp and the first half of the season because of an injury when he was in SA three years ago.
He isn't a great player and he could fail this year if Spurs sign him but I think he is the player who could help more Spurs among the available ones.

[Darkwaters]

Johnson is a solid player, but his star potential is about .1%. He'll never be a starter unless you have some serious injuries (like the Oklahoma City Hornets had last year) but he'll give you some high energy minutes off the bench and play either forward spot in the process. He can score (albeit, hes not prolific in that regard) but he is a sturdy defender and stellar rebounder. Plus, hes cheap. A minimum contract will probably be sufficient to sign him and 10-15 mins a game is all the time he'd need on the court. He'd help us down the line, but also this season.

[ChumpDumper]

Why isn't Linton getting any burn in Europe again?

Stephane Lasme just got waived by Golden State, He's got few perimeter skills but he's a good defender and a shot blocking machine. Maybe a good candidate for spot minutes or development in Austin.

[Bruno]

Why isn't Linton getting any burn in Europe again?

He is injured (calf strain).

Linton Johnson length of the contract with Tau is 2 or 3 months (I've seen both numbers). He will be again a FA in mid December or mid January.
Spurs can start to sign a FA for the rest of the season only after December 28th because if they sign someone sooner, it will put them above the luxury tax.

[Southwest Texas Fan]

I'm glad that somebody else has jumped back aboard the Linton Johnson express with me. I've been advocating for him since this last summer and drew a lot of crap from other foolish posters that thought I was nuts to suggest him. But he looked great with the Hornets and has experience playing both forward spots on the NBA level already (with success I might add). Hes a strong rebounder, can shoot the 3, defends well, is an athletic freak and pushes himself just about as hard as he can. The guy could be a serious asset.

Whatever happened to this guy? I know he was on the roster a few seasons ago and was hurt but I wonder why they gave up on him? He seems to be doing better. Maybe he wasn’t spurs material.

[SenorSpur]

Johnson is a solid player, but his star potential is about .1%. He'll never be a starter unless you have some serious injuries (like the Oklahoma City Hornets had last year) but he'll give you some high energy minutes off the bench and play either forward spot in the process. He can score (albeit, hes not prolific in that regard) but he is a sturdy defender and stellar rebounder. Plus, hes cheap. A minimum contract will probably be sufficient to sign him and 10-15 mins a game is all the time he'd need on the court. He'd help us down the line, but also this season.

That's all the Spurs need at this point. Solid, spot contribution at that spot -both offensively and defensively.

[BeerIsGood!]

I wonder if they plan to look for a specialist that could come in cheap and get some time against lineups that give the Spurs trouble? After December 28th they may pull the trigger on someone for defensive and rebounding purposes. They still have an open roster spot, correct?