- With Barry gone, our offense is going to struggle a lot; he was perfect for our motion offense, great passer, great shooter, great IQ, and a real catalyst off the bench.
- I like the additions of Hill, Gist and Mason, but what is to expect? Is Pop going to change the way we play on offense?
Gist and Hill are athletic players, and Mason is mostly a 3 point shooter.
George Hill, unlike Jaques Vaughn, seems to be an agressive scorer
- Michael Finley: we know he is mostly a jump shooter now; he can make big big shots, but he can also have ty series (as in the 08 WCF); he lives (yes he is still alive) and dies by his outside shooting.
- Manu Ginobili: we need a 100% healthy Manu to win the le; period.
Against the Lakers in the WCF, he was like 50%, and had only one big game; and it was our only win of the series.
Manu is healthy now, but is going to play in the Olympics, and considering how Lithuania just destroyed Argentina, you expect Manu to play 200% in Beijing in order to try to get one medal.
I hope Argentina gets kicked out early from the tournament, that way he can get more rest.
I'm crossing my fingers here.
- Matt Bonner: if Horry leaves, will Pop give him more minutes? what can he bring to the Spurs beside his outside shooting? I wish I had the answer.
- Oberto: he owes us big time; he played like last season, to the point he got outrebounded by Farmar and Fisher
What-The- .
He's good at passing the ball, moving without it, and boxing it out, but what about, hum, rebounds ?????
- Kurt Thomas: no concern here; super pro, excellent defender and can knock down the mid-range J consistently.
- Tim Duncan: as long as he is healthy, he is the best player in the league; period. But he is gonna need help, he can't win it all by himself
- Popovich: because of the 2 aforementioned players (KT and TD), no more ing small ball !!!!!!!!!!!!!
And I hope your'll make some smart decisions in the playoffs, like keeping a player who is on fire on the court (Barry), and bench an ice cold shooter (Finley). It just makes sense !
The man crush for Findog has to stop.
- Tony Parker: I don't know if he can get to the next level; I don't think he will; yes, he is a perennial all-star, but that's it; yes, he was the 2007 Finals MVP, but it was against a ty defense.
I hope he has matured a bit more; during the Hornets series, he went into 1-on-1 mode against CP3, causing a lot of careless turnovers; what the was that??? During the playoffs, against a contender ?????
This is not a pickup game, what was he trying to prove ?
He made a big shot in game 7, but he could have cost us the series as well
- Clutch factor: if Horry leaves, who will make big shots for us?
Tim, Manu, and Bowen make all kind of big plays in crunch time (stops, rebounds, baskets); Finley has made some big shots for us.
It's gonna be interesting to see who stands out for us if Horry leaves.
- Bruce and Ime: Bruce is still important for us; he played amazing D in the first 2 round of the 2008 playoffs, but you could see he was tired against Kobe Bryant.
Udoka had a nice 1st season as a Spur; excellent D, and good scoring. He is comfortable in the Spurs system, and for that reason he should get more minutes during the regular season; that way, Bowen doesn't run out of gas towards the end of the playoffs.
- WGAF ???? It's 2009, and we win the le every 2 years, so
I do not know what to expect because I do not even know if manu will be heathy
I also do not know if the big three will be healthy for the playoffs
I also do not know what to expect because I do not know if they will be a trade like gasol to a power house team this year
I agree
you can expect a lot of jumping on and off the spurs bandwagon - a lot of fans calling for manu's trade by november, and pop's head by february.
and then the same fans back on towards may.
that, you can expect.
I think tp has one more level in him
his passes are better and better all the time
tp will never average the assist that nash did
also nash assist went up over 3-4 a game when suns old coach
steve's old sun coach made his numbers better then they should have been
the spurs will start out slow because tp and hill will take time to find out where the new guys want the ball
True; you can add the 200 threads that will pop every 5 minutes
basically the same thing for every team since 2006. if the spurs catch a few breaks and play their best ball at the right times - they could be standing on the pedestal when it's all said and done. (that may sound like a big 'if', but there are really only a handful of teams that can say that.)
if the breaks go against them and the team struggles at inopportune moments, we'll be ing and moaning again next offseason.
IMHO, the 2005 team was really the last one that had any real margin for error, and even that squad pulled it out by the skin of its teeth.
for as much we complain about the way last season ended, i'd still take our big 3 over the champs' big 3 any day of the week. and the role players on this team are capable of matching what theirs did.
the playoffs is about matchups
spurs got a break and got by the hornets
spurs need to win the one of the first 2 games of any series in playoffs
if they do not they ususally are in trouble
Expect a...
What break? We played a lot of games in short amount of time which didn't go well with our age. Were we fortunate to get by a youthful athletic team that hadn't been there before? Yes.
We've made some changes, but our core is still there. Our starting 5 will probably be the same that we had last year, except Mason instead of Finley. That said, it comes down to how our new additions fit in and how quickly they adjust. We did look awfully slow at times in the playoffs. Hopefully, young legs will keep our offense going instead of becoming stagnant like it did.
And I still believe in the NO conspiracy (all the hotels booked, the plane, etc....)
On a side note, I expect a premature Laker exit, followed by Steven A. Smith swallowing his tongue.
Without reading, I'm going to guess a few shots at TP and Pop while also giving Manu an injury excuse.
Damn, good guess
lefty needs to throw a changeup.
I expect a championship season. It is an odd year.
The basic questions are:
1. Will Manu be healthy?
2. Can Tony still improve like he has every season before this one?
3. If Manu is healthy and Tony continues to improve, will Tim's presence be more supplemental than years past? If true, we'll be in good shape.
Otherwise, we'll need to depend on Tim because Tony can't create plays like he needs to and Manu will be often MIA due to his health. If that's the case, we obviously would be in a deep hole.
You gussed right because it's the truth.Damn, good guess
lefty needs to throw a changeup.
You are trying to be cynical but you really suck at it.
I guessed right because you've thrown the same pitch for the last six months.
If Manu, Tim and Tony are healthy, the Spurs have a good shot at the le, as always.
But their depth is a huge question mark. If you assume Thomas, Tim, Bruce, Manu and Tony are the starting five, the rest of the team is sketchy.
Bigs
Oberto - We know what he can and can't do.
Mahinmi - Who knows if he'll be able to even log minutes against NBA compe ion without getting into fast foul trouble.
Bonner - Could be traded.
3/4's
Tolliver - Partially guaranteed contract. Could just be a summer league phenom and be cut by the end of training camp.
Gist - might not even make the team
Wings
Mason - Did he have a fluke shooting year last year, or did he actually improve?
Udoka - Extremely inconsistent. Wouldn't be surprised to see him traded.
Finley/Whoever - Probably won't see many minutes
Points
Hill - Didn't show any ability to finish in summer league, which is scary. Probably will be a decent shooter. Don't even know if he's good enough to beat out Vaughn.
Vaughn - Like Oberto, you know what he can do and can't do.
I just wish there were two guys on the bunch that were consistent and reliable. I don't think that the Spurs have that (yet). However, there are definitely a lot of "hopefuls."
Hill showed some hints of offense, but he did show consistent defense and he did show the ability to get other players involved. He'll be fine - I think everyone forgets that Vaughan was limited to that above. Hill will be a better scorer - not an issue.
Tolliver is a question mark, but he is long and if his outside shooting continues to improve like it has he'll definitely be an asset. You can't teach length, but as some players that have come to the Spurs you can teach defense.
Gist has too much athletic talent to not make the team. He runs the floor well and his ability to jump quickly is rare and valuable.
Ian will be fine if he's given a chance. Everyone knows that he has raw athleticism, but no one's ever seen him play with players like Duncan, Tony and Manu. My point is that if you put him in a scenario where he's a mop-up type of player (offense and defense) I think he'll show his worth.
Udoka will be better - he showed improvement during the last half of the season even though he sputtered in the playoffs. I give him a pass, since that seems to be common with most players that join the Spurs.
Mason is unknown, but he obviously impressed our FO enough to make such a quick move to snatch him up after we knew we wouldn't get CM. He just needs to be adequate on D and hit open shots. If he gets 10 ppg with us, then he will be a success.
Our bench was pretty mediocre last year and getting some effort, speed and athleticism out it this year will be an obvious improvement over last year. I think that you would have a tough argument (at this point) that our FO didn't address those weaknesses. There's probably one more move to make (Finley or another FA,) but I think our roster has improved.
I think the team rests more or on Tony Parker than people think.
If he has another level to give, which i think he does, he could get us over the hump. As of right now i consider him the slightest of notches below Deron and CP3 and on par with guys like Nash, Baron and a select few others.
Of course having the big 3 100% healthy is the most important thing, but even then i dont think you can consider this team to be the strongest. Alot will depend on the unknown such as Mason, Mahinmi and Hill stepping up, which is worrisome.
I cant wait.
And I will do it for the next 6 months
I think we can all be comfortable with Hill's shooting ability given his numbers over his college career. Alot of his minutes will be played alongside Manu in the second unit, where Manu will be the primary ball handler and play maker. As long as he can get us into the set and knock down the open jumpers he will make the team better on offense. On defense, as everyone has who has witnessed him play has said, hes already NBA ready in that regard. He has a massive wingspan and quick feet and should be a ball hawk on that end. Rajon Rondo caused all sorts of havoc in the Finals using his speed and length.
what to expect? hmmm.....so far the only player that has any kind of real nba experience is roger mason........kurt should be a bit better(cos of time but is to short),duncan lost a step i dont expect it back, so has bowen and manu, tony as you said still can take his game another level....and fab imo wouldnt be here if manu wasnt around....we are still a great team and on any other yr. i would say 'said set up another trophy spot"....but then i look at LA and NO and i think............we are gonna get killed in the paint again, those teams are gonna get better, they have played together long enough now and still are young(like our spurs used tobe when tony,manu and duncan started playing)......we on the other hand are imo, not good enough yet to win a 7 game series against either of them(unless maybe we win HCA)......unless we make some serious changes before or during the season, next season will be like the last, expect pop to slow the game down, hack a whoever cant shoot free-throws, and (i hate saying this, but i saw alot of it last season) giving up...look at it this way, if your LA you already know you can beat SA and it dont take 7 games, if your NO you already helped yourself(by signing posey) and that should help whip SA by 20 something more then once this coming season....for those of yall who depend on other players getting hurt, yall better start hoping soon......i love my spurs, but i type what i see
Yet if there is no solid bench to limit the regular season minutes of these three, why should we think another 82 game regular season will not injure/gas out one or more of these three?
I don't get the FO and Lord Poppy s plan (plan?) to keep all three of these healthy before and during the playoffs.
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