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Hasn't Mason played worse as a starter?
Starters: TP and Maze
Subs: Hill and Manu
TP and Mason have developer a ggod chemistry as this young season went.
Hill and Manu would be the energy guys.
The reason why I personally prefer Maze over Manu in the starting lineup is that I don't think Mason would be as efficient coming off the bench as Manu.
Plus, Manu is the best 6th man in the League.
JV and Finley: toilet bowl
Hasn't Mason played worse as a starter?
Mason has definitely played worse as a starter, but he benefits a lot from having Tony on the floor..Roger isn't a guy that can consistently score on his own..he's a role player, not a star of course..Tony spreads the floor out and penetrates as good as anybody, so Roger will play more consistently with Tony on the floor..
I love the energy that we'll get with a Hill-Manu combination..
if Finley keeps showing some life, we'll have the best backcourt in the NBA when our guys come back..
Indeed. Tony/TD will attract most of the attention on the offensive end. Roger should have a lot of pressure off of him and I expect he will be more efficient. Finley will probably be ok. Once we get healthy I see his minutes being regulated on a night by night basis. One can usually tell what kind of game Finley is going to bring the first 5 minutes he plays. He will play more if he is aggressive and his shot is falling...and less if he is missing and letting his man run past him.
I'd add to this the possibility of the occasional line-up (especially against smallball teams) of Tony/Hill/ Manu or Hill/Mason/Manu, which would be an amazing backcourt both offensively and defensively. If Mahinmi can give anything at all, the Spurs will be very dangerous.
Yeah..Pop is doing that a little bit now when he plays Hill/Mason/Finley at the same time and it seems to help on the offensive end. It will be even more effective when everyone gets healthy and he can use them with the lineups you suggested.
I definitely wouldn't oppose to Manu starting..we have energy playmakers like Hill and Mason now, which is something we haven't had in a while..we might not need Manu coming off the bench..
we're still a team that relies on our 3 guys more than anybody..it's like the 90's Bulls..Phil Jackson said he always needed 2 of the 3 guys on the floor, and I think we should be the same way..
if Mahinmi pans out, we'll have a very solid second unit... in Hill, Ginobili, Udoka, Tolliver/Bonner, and Mahinmi
played worse when trying to play point
If everyone is healthy the Spurs should have flexibility. Bowen, Udoka, Mason, Ginobili, Finley and Hill gives them a lot of choice at the SF/SG spot. If Hill blows up and plays really well, I could see him getting 10-12 mpg subbing Parker, and also another 8-10 minutes as a SG with either Udoka, Bowen or even Ginobili at the SF.
Duncan
Oberto
Ginobili/Udoka
Hill
Parker
You might say that lineup is weak defensively, but Hill can defend smaller SF's, as can Udoka.
In other words, maybe Hill can be both a backup PG, and also take some of Finley's minutes.
True but lets give Roger sometime, before we call him a starter or not. Its still to early to determine that. I will agree that Roger is a role player because he cant create. But he can play without a doubt. And once he learns the system and is comfortable with it. He will easily outshine Brent,Mike and anyone we've had in some years. The same goes with Hill. Things are starting to fit into place. But none of this would have happened without injuries to Manu and TP. Sometimes a player needs some luck as well to show what he has. The best part is so far our division hasnt taken off yet.
That's the most reasoned, positive and well thought out post you've ever made. Well done.
I like the combination of TP/Mason & Hill/Manu. I think both newbies benefit from having a star guard with them on the floor. Having Mason/Hill playing together takes away from each of them from having the benefit of the defenses focusing on the Spurs star(s). With defenses focusing on duncan and TP, mason will flourish. When Hill and Manu come in, I think hill will also make more of an impact because other defenses focusing on Manu.
I also like the Parker/Mason and Ginobili/Hill backcourt. One positive with this rotation is that with Mason or Hill always in the lineup, you don't need Bowen playing to have a defensive stopper. Bowen can play when needed, but there will always be at least Mason or Hill out there anyway. Actually, with Bowen or Udoka rotating, there will always be at least 2 of the following-Bowen, Udoka, Mason, Hill. That takes defensive pressure off of Manu and Parker, leaving them more energy to score.
Parker/Mason and Hill/Ginobili will work out very well for a lot of reasons. We already saw how well Parker and Mason played together. TP is good at finding shooters and Mason is good at converting open jumpers. Plus with Mason able to handle the ball like a PG, it allows the Spurs to run some plays with Parker at SG.
On the other hand, Ginobili is best when he has the ball a lot and Hill can be a spot three-point shooter when Ginobili creates. Also, if Hill ever gets passive offensively, Manu will negate that because he's almost always aggressive. On the other end of the court, Hill's defensive abilities will help keep the pressure off of Manu, especially as Manu comes back following his surgery. If the Spurs face a team that has a bigger threat at SG, I could see Pop putting Hill on that player and Ginobili on the PG.
On paper, it works out perfectly. Pop will better limit Manu's minutes if he's coming off the bench and Manu will really help the development of Hill. We just have to hope that foursome can stay healthy because it has the potential to be the best foursome of guards in Spurs history.
The question I have is whether the lineup of Parker, Mason and Ginobili can have success defensively. Offensively that is a very good threesome but I'm not sure about defense. Guarding bigger small forwards will be tough. But there's no way Pop can avoid using that lineup, especially at the end of games.
It's also important to realize how much pressure Mason and hill will take away from TP and Manu.
They know Hill and Maze will contribute when Pop give them a breather
And a player without pressure is an even better player !!!!
Very astute analysis.
Damn. You're good too.
If Pop wants to get small, we could go Parker/Mason/Manu/Finley/Duncan. This could work against teams with limited depth at PF/C and could potentially give Tim tons of space to work the interior game.
Hill has showed great promises but he has played only 12 NBA games, it would be great if he could hold his own against the best sub PG like Farmar, Brooks.
I like your take on things but I might add the pressure will also be taken off of Bowen to always guard the best player on the floor, including PG's and SG's. Hill and Mason , but especially Hill, have shown a damn good ability to guard those guys that Bowen usually draws. On the other hand, I don't see Hill or Mason defending against Kobe or LeBron. Bowen is still the man for that. I think Hill has done a decent job of guarding everyone else so far.
Judging from before Tony got injured, Mason seemed to have great chemistry with Parker on the court with him. He was shooting a ridiculously high percentage.
Bump
I don't like Manu starting with TP and Timmy, but it puts some nice pressure on Hill and Mason to not rely on the stars. I'd still rather see Mason start, though. Pop has brainswashed me into DREADING Manu not coming off the bench. And I want Manu to repeat on the 6th Man Award.
LolI don't like Manu starting with TP and Timmy, but it puts some nice pressure on Hill and Mason to not rely on the stars. I'd still rather see Mason start, though. Pop has brainswashed me into DREADING Manu not coming off the bench. And I want Manu to repeat on the 6th Man Award.
But seriously, it's important that Mason starts instead of Manu; when Mason starts, he puts up the same numbers he had as a Wizard
And Manu can shine as a 6th man, unlike Maze
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