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it is something to consider although i don;t see it happening until playoff time
The Spurs need to start games off with a bang instead of falling behind like they have been lately. maybe Pop should consider giving Manu his starting job again. Remember the good old days when manu would get the tipoff and drive toward the basket for two quick points?
Coaches have already figured out that when manu is in the game with 3 or 4 average players, they should double team manu to get the ball to a less threatening player. The only time manu can be very effective off the bench is if there are other scoring threats such as Duncan, Barry, Finley, and Parker.
maybe Manu starting again would rouse the Spurs out of their current lethargy.
it is something to consider although i don;t see it happening until playoff time
The bench would be total then. I also debate whether the Spurs would start out with a bang. When you have all of the big three in there, someone's shots WILL suffer, and as CoM would tell you, Manu would be that player. It's a waste to play them together too much.
There's a reason that Manu is so explosive off the bench. Most of the time, he can dominate the ball.
Until the rest of the bench gets out of their slump, I would keep him on the bench.
One of the big reasons to bring Manu off the bench is so he is in the game when Tim and Tony come out. That need is even greater now with the way everyone else is playing.
No way, he finally has a good shot at 6th MOtY.
Honestly if you're talking about starting Manu i don't think it's such a bad idea to start him in the 2nd half if nothing else. Like last night the Spurs came out flat to start the 2nd half and got off to a bad start right away. If that happens to start the game you have plenty of time to fix it but the 2nd half is where you win games and why not start the final 24 min. with your best team out on the floor?
it's definately something to consider.
-Mars
Finley and Barry aren't exactly scoring threats. Finley shoots too much and has had, recently, games of 1 of 10, 3 of 12, and 2 of 11. Barry on the other hand isn't shooting enough when he's open as he usually opts to make a bad pass instead. Starting Manu is a start atleast and if it doesn't work out, then stick him back on the bench, it wouldn't be the first time and I doubt it would bruise his ego. I've always stuck by the Spurs during their yearly struggles, but there are a few too many cracks in the damn ti ignore. Ship out Barry and or Finley and bring in some steady offense and some fresh legs. Neither are good defenders to begin with and Bruce is noticeably two steps slower on D, but he is like 37 so its understandable.
I'd be pissed if Pop went back to starting Manu. The bench right now is weak as is -- and that's with Manu coming off the bench. You start Manu and the bench becomes horrible.
There are some problems with this team but Manu coming off the bench is not one of those problems.
I'm wondering if Pop would ever consider switching up the rotations and playing Manu during that time in the 2nd quarter the Spurs seem to go cold offensively.
Why is it that the current bench cannot handle their job? Back in 2005, when Manu was a starter, the bench consisted of Horry, Barry, Rasho, Devin Brown, Beno, Massenburg, and Big Dog Robinson. Now we could have a bench of Horry, Barry, Bonner, Finley, Vaughn, Udoka, and Elson. How much of a difference is there between those two benches? You would think Finley and Udoka would be an improvement. Could it be that the only culprit is age, and that that is the reason the bench would suck if manu started?
It's something to consider. Brent Barry has been pretty good off the bench and can handle it. Plus as we know Pop usually moves Manu at this time of year anyway when things aren't working (usually to the bench but it might work the other way around)and it might catch teams off guard with the switch.
It would just deplete an already underachieving bench.
Exactly.
If you make that move, then who is supposed to replace his energy off the bench? Michael Finley? I don't think so.
If that is the reason, we should bench that kiddo wearing the #21. The main reason is the system not the bench.
I'm thinking some kind of lineup change is coming soon. Although, Pop has moved Manu before, I agree that our bench is not responding and without Manu, it would be non-existent. The problem will not be solved by moving Manu into the starting lineup.
Exactly.
I think the bigger problem is the way Bruce is messing up the offense. Lately he has been driving to the hole, taking long twos, and missing everything he puts up. Maybe Udoka should start and Bruce should be used in spots off the bench to cool down hot players?
As for Finley, he's streaky and will be back. He just has to stop shooting so much and improve his shot selection. However, adam's idea of starting Barry for Finley and seeing what happens isn't a bad one. It'd certainly get the ball moving better.
Hmm if you want a big time shakeup you could start both Udoka and Barry. I think that would really improve the offense of the starting 5. I've never actually even given it a seconds thought about benching Bruce before, but what about if Udoka can hold serve and then we can have a fresh as a daisy Bruce come in off the bench ready to check a tired starter for the other team.
A second unit of Bruce, Manu, Finley, Horry, Bonner, Vaughn sounds like a good one to me. U can surround Manu with 3 or 4 three point shooters, plus I'm sure the other team will respect Bruce and Finley's three point shots more, which could mean less double teams for Manu and more room to maneuver.
This is pretty crazy to even consider though let alone do.
I agree with this...Bruce should be a situational player now and we should develop Udoka. He won't be the stopper that Bruce is but he weighs more and can hold his own in the post. He's also a decent rebounder.
Bruce's offense isn't the problem; the fact that he is trying to create offense is the problem when talking about Bowen. He just needs to stay within himself on offense and we all know what he does on defense. Udoka is better offensively but we have enough fire power so we don't need Bowen to score a lot. I guess what i'm getting at is there is no chance Bowen gets benched and he shouldn't get benched either in my opinion.
My thoughts exactly.
Yup.
My point was that Bruce "trying to create offense" is a big part of the problem, although I think you're suggesting it could be a symptom of the lack of team offense... chicken or the egg? I'm not sure. Maybe it's a bit of both. As for "staying within himself on O", of course he should do that but lately he's not, and he's not even hitting the corner 3 any more, and that's what I'm objecting to. When Bruce can't even do the limited things he used to do on offense, no wonder everything is out of whack as our starters are basically playing 4-on-5 offense. Also, during the slump especially the last 5 games, he has looked a step slow in general.
I just think benching Bruce, but still playing him 24-30 mins a game (he's currently playing an ave of 31), would re-energise the starting offense, and allow Bruce to come in whenever Pop needs him for shorter periods of high intensity D. Udoka is a good defender, so the defensive dropoff shouldn't be huge. Worth a try?
Last edited by RuffnReadyOzStyle; 01-21-2008 at 12:47 AM.
Yeah i see what you're saying but honstly i would rather see the Spurs just keep the lineup as is and give Ime more minutes. Right now he is averaging about 12 or 13 mpg and i wouldn't be surprised it that increased. I just don't like the fact of making drastic changes in the lineup because what if you make those changes and the team doesn't improve? then what? Just keep things as they are and maybe tweak the rotation a bit but nothing drastic.
Sure, but by the same token what if you remain the same and nothing improves? See, you can't go by "what ifs", you have to determine what the problem is and make a tweak. I wonder what Pop sees as the problem?
Last year the change came when Pop replaced Beno with JV in early Feb. That made a huge difference to the backup unit. I doubt he'll bench Bruce, and maybe Barry for Finley would be a better idea, but something in the starting lineup needs to change, and inserting Manu isn't it IMHO.
@ everyone wanting Bowen to be benched
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