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interesting......
The Spurs are 19-0 when Francisco Elson plays at least 22 minutes.
Their average margin of victory is 17.6 points in those games.
They were 6-5 when he was hurt.
So...is he the main, or one of the main reason for those wins...or is he getting those minutes because the Spurs are blowing teams out?
I'd say he's better in the middle than Oberto against most teams, and would say the Spurs look like a lot better team when he's playing well and getting extra minutes.
I find it interesting that he's playing his best ball of the year when the Spurs are finding their inner SPAM.
He's not THE reason for the team's resurgence, but I think his presence is being felt. Hopefully he'll keep it up.
interesting......
but I thought he was a stiff.........
In the beginning of the season, he was getting a lot of garbage time and overall he was an awful player. Only lately has he actually been a defensive contributor and yes, I think that's part of the Spurs recent success. He's still very inconsistent offensively and on the glass, but his defensive is much improved (though still not great).
I bet they have a pretty good record when Beno plays over 20 mins too.
yeah they were clicking with elson untill her got hurt...then they started clicking until bonner got hurt...and put together a crazy string of blowouts...
His defense has been much better as of late. Since the Rodeo Road Trip started, he has rotated better and played tougher down low.
I think that 19-0 stat has more to do with the fact that the Spurs are better when Pop doesn't go small. If the Spurs stay big (which gives Elson more time, obviously), the Spurs are tough to beat. Small ball is what has killed the Spurs over the last year.
If Elson could get more consistent, he'd really start to be something. After getting 18 rebounds against Detroit, he had 19 rebounds in the next five games. If he can rebound consistently and up his blocks a little bit, the Spurs should be good enough in the middle.
11-0 when Beno plays 18+ mins
8-0 when he plays 22 or more minutes.
Now look at games Beno's played well:
There's Houston..........
Now look at games where Beno's actually been a factor in those games:
There's _______________ and there's ______________.
Very interesting stat. Thanks for posting that Ed!
Please God don't let Pop go small in the playoffs this year...
I still say he'll be an interesting "wild-card" versus the Mavs in the playoffs.
Elson is a much better bet against Dirk than Nazr and Rasho were, that's for damn sure.
It's tough being a role player on a great team because what you need from peripheral players changes from game to game. Against Detroit, a halfcourt team with good bigs, Elson is valuable. Against Phoenix, who will go small, run up and down, and shoot a bunch of jumpers, did Elson really play badly if he plays 10 minutes and grabs three rebounds? Suppose during his 10 minutes he kept his man off the glass and Timmy grabbed five boards? Did Elson really fail to contribute, or was it something we just couldn't see?
Although +/- can be misleading, I'd like to see what Elson's is. To me, he's been an effective player for us.
Pop stayed Big tonight. Elson v. Battier is a little easier than Elson v. Dirk, however.
Don't matter. He's got more than enough quickness and foot speed that he can stay in front of Dirk. His length and athleticism should also come in handy.
No one is going to shut down Dirk, but if he can make him work for his points and frustrate him into taking bad shots - he's done his job.
I liked what Elson was able to do against him in the season opener.
I like having Elson on the floor against Dirk even if it's only because then Bowen won't have to switch off between Dirk and Howard. Josh Howard is very, very good and Bowen is going to keep his full concentration on preparing for and playing against Howard. Last season, they kept switching Bowen off onto Dirk/Howard and then the other one would get hot. Elson gives them an option by at least being able to be tall with Dirk
Good point. In fact, it was rather comical to me that Pop kept switching Bowen around that way. I remember thinking to myself, 'there's simply NOT enough of Bowen's defensive wizardry to go around'. At times he had to guard his man and help out on others.I like having Elson on the floor against Dirk even if it's only because then Bowen won't have to switch off between Dirk and Howard. Josh Howard is very, very good and Bowen is going to keep his full concentration on preparing for and playing against Howard. Last season, they kept switching Bowen off onto Dirk/Howard and then the other one would get hot. Elson gives them an option by at least being able to be tall with Dirk
All the more reason the FO shouldn't have waited yet another year to address the backup SF position.
After watching the WCSF series, I was more convinced than ever they would address the diminished perimieter defense this past summer. What was I thinking?
Last edited by SenorSpur; 03-04-2007 at 12:52 AM.
His +/- numbers aren't anything to write home about. He has the 8th best +/- total and the 7th best +/- per minute.
Where you can see improvement in his numbers is defensively. Over the last ten games, he's starting to become a pretty good defensive player.
Points Against Per 48 Minutes Over The Last Ten Games
Horry - 76.9
Elson - 82.1
Oberto - 93.1
While he's not quite at a Robert Horry level, he has started to separate himself from Oberto on that end of the court.
, the apocolypse had to come before the playoffs.Over the last ten games, he's starting to become a pretty good defensive player.
Bas s.
It should also be noted that Elson will provide not only some much needed support against Dallas, but Phoenix as well.
I like the idea of
Parker - Nash
Barry/Finley/Gino - Bell
Bowen - Marion
Duncan - Thomas
Elson - Amare
No, Elson won't shut down Amare, but he very well might limit him, same as Dirk.
Really, aside from Nash, we match up very very well against the Suns, even better than previous squads. And Parker will always torch the Canadian anyway.
Elson disrupts everything for the other team offensively when he's on the floor...and he did a great job when he was matched up on McGrady tonight...pretty sure TMac came away scoreless everytime he was matched up on Elson.
I personally am thrilled with him...he does a little of everything that the Spurs want...he's probably not as good at anyone thing as Rasho and Nazr were at their specialities...but his all around game is better than theirs.
I think some people *ahem* are getting a little to worried about individual performance and need to take a look at how the team is performing of late...we're blowing teams out by 20 ppg, D is there, shooting is there, passing is there...exactly how many points is career 10ppg scorer Barry supposed to be scoring? Ditto Elson's rebounding.
Team is playing well and that trumps any individual stat lines.
Barry makes our offense better because he stretches the D of the opposing team...he has done this since the day he stepped on the court for the Spurs.
Elson does stuff just by being 7 feet tall, fast and athletic...he erases a lot of mistakes and breakdowns just by moving.
I still don't think Elson is going to be the answer against a bruiser like Shaq or the physical frontline of the Jazz...
But he can definitely steal some minutes on SF's playing at the PF slot in small ball lineups...he proved that to me tonight. If he can hang with TMac better than anyone on our team outside of Bowen he can definitely grab some minutes on Amare, Marion and Kirilenko types...
Uh, he switched off onto TMac twice, maybe thrice. And the first time, Elson committed the cardinal sin of Spurs defense -- let McGrady go middle.
About 5 times, with TMac driving just about every time from the perimeter and either being forced to pass, or blowing point blank layups...and he bothered TMac when he was on him.
Say what you want but you evidentally haven't watched what TMac does to everyone else on the Spurs that guards him...cept for maybe Manu, on occasion.
It's usually a no contest... it's a no contest with Bowen on him.
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