Good and Bad, I guess.
I saw the game the same way TimVP saw it.
I was surprised at how many points we were able to score. Tony and Tim played great, at least on offense and were productive.
Until late in the game, it seemed like Tim and Tony were the only ones who were able to score or doing anything on the offensive end.
But what killed us is our lack of defensive rebounding. Kurt Thomas seemed useless out there. Bonner wasn't much better.
Defense isn't complete until you secure the defensive rebound. Due to limited bigs and the slowness of KT, we couldn't play two bigs together very often and we got killed on the boards partly as a result. Tim and 4 smalls.
In the first half, the fears about who else would score for us besides Tim and Tony were as daunting as originally thought to be, but they were joined by poor defensive rebounding.
As the game wore on, however, Mason, Finley and Udoka hit some big shots and we were able to get back into the game.
We can be encouraged by Mason's performance. He looks like he could be a real contributor to the team. Also, Finley's offense was adequate. So, with Hill back and Oberto back, our offense might be adequate. not very good. but mediocre at least.
However, going forward, we have some major issues with Tim's minutes. It is just like the bad old days when Tim sitting down meant we were going to lose 10 points in our margin. Tim can't play 40 minutes a game. If he does, he will be worn out by March or April. Plus, he will become less effective during the minutes that he does play. We probably won't make the playoffs, but if we did, he would not be effective at that time either.
We are in desperate need of a better rebounding big. If we allow that many second shot attempts, we will lose most of our games. Maybe Oberto will help some in that regard, but how much?
Third, lack of contribution from various players:
Bowen isn't a great offensive contributor. So, if he isn't a lock-down defender, then he isn't helping our team. Plus, we need points now. So, if he has lost a step or his defense has diminished, his minutes will need to be reduced too. It is too early to say, but given that points are at a premium, I would begin with the presumption that Bruce needs to play less than 20 minutes a game unless new evidence demonstrates that he is playing such good defense that it helps our team for him to play more minutes presents itself.
Bonner is not going to be very productive offensively or defensively, nor is he is a great rebounder. He can hit a wide open set 3. That is the only thing he can do. And very few points per game. When points are at a premium, his value is limited.
Finley: Michael did an adequate job scoring and shot an adequate percentage last game. We need double-digit scoring from him since Manu is gone. 11 points barely qualifies and he did shoot below 50%; however, he also shot 60% from the 3 point line which is outstanding. It would help a lot if he could give us 14 points a game until Manu is back. We desperately need his offense. Finley has had up and downs with the Spurs. We need an up year from him this year with Manu out.
Thomas: Thomas was at one time a double double guy and a solid defender. Until Oberto returns or Mahimni recovers, Thomas will be Tim's back-up. He has to defensive rebound and help protect the paint during that time. So far, he hasn't done it. He hasn't given us anything.
Farmer: Didn't do much last game. His role is to score in order to make up for Manu's absence. So, he needs to put the ball in the basket for us because we will need the points.
Vaughan: can't expect him to put a lot of points on the board, but still we will need points from everybody.
When Hill, Mahinmi, Oberto, and Tolliver return to the line-up, they will also need to be productive.
I just think that there might be too many unproductive offensive players on our team when we need to replace the scoring of one of our top 3 players.
I don't know if we will be able to keep up this kind of scoring through out the regular season until Manu gets back.
When everybody but Manu is back, I hope that we get production out of:
1. Tim Duncan 24 ppg, 10 reb
2. Tony Parker 24 ppg, 8 assists, 4 reb
3. Roger Mason 14 ppg, 4 reb
4. Michael Finley 14 ppg, 3 reb
5. Ime Udoka 7 ppg 3 reb
6. Oberto 7 ppg 4 reb
7. Ian Mahinmi 7 ppg 7 reb
8. Hill 7 ppg 3 assists
9. Farmer 4 ppg
10. Bonner 4 ppg 2 reb
11. Thomas 2 ppg 1 reb
12. Bowen 1 ppg 1 reb
13. Tolliver 1 ppg 1 reb
14. Vaughan 1 ppg 1 assist
Roger replaces Manu (in the line-up), Ime replaces Bruce (in the line-up), we go small so Michael is in and we get scoring, and Tim is the lone big [this is option 1 and we are small- similar to against the Trailblazers].
Or Tim and Oberto are in together (instead of Tim and Micheal - so we are not going small, we are normal) [option 2 - when everyone is healthy except Manu]. Then, Kurt and Mahinimi sub in for Tim or Oberto (respectively, Kurt subs in for either Tim or Oberto, when Tim or Oberto returns, then Mahinmi subs in for the other). Hill subs in for Tony Parker. Either Tony or Tim is in at all times. Roger is is the starting line up still. Michael starts. Udoka subs in for Michael Finley off the bench.
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