McDonald: Doing The Lineup Shuffle

[duncan228]

Jeff McDonald: Doing the Lineup Shuffle

This much we know: The Spurs will trot out a new starting lineup for tonight's game against the Pistons. How do we know? Because Gregg Popovich said so after this morning's shootaround.

What Popovich won't reveal, are the specifics.

"I want you guys to stay on your toes," a slyly smiling Popovich told the gathered media.

The Spurs started their seventh different lineup in Friday's loss to the Rockets -- Tony Parker and Roger Mason at the guards, Michaeil Finley at small forward, Tim Duncan at power forward and Fabricio Oberto at center. It appears they are poised to start their eighth against Detroit.

Jokingly, Popovich says he's open for lineup suggestions from the notebook-and-camera weilding set.

"I like to see what you guys come up with," he said. "Tonight, you guys can hit me up with your thoughts, and we'll have a consensus here."

Probably, all this means is that Manu Ginobili is returning to the starting lineup, but we figure we can be a little more creative than that. Why not go tiny -- Parker and George Hill in the backcourt, Maun Ginobili and Roger Mason at the forwards, Michael Finley at center?

Or go giant -- Duncan at the point, Matt Bonner at shooting guard, Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto at forwards, and Ian Mahinmi at center? (On a semi-related note, don't be surprised to see Mahinmi on or near the Spurs bench tonight).

We're thinking of floating these ideas by Pop before the game tonight. We're also thinking Pop will never ask for our help again.

[FromWayDowntown]

I take two tidbits from that:

1. Mahinmi.

2. I have figured that Pop's resolution of the guard situation was to play Parker and Mason together to start games, Hill and Ginobili off the bench, and to mix-and-match with heavy doses of Parker and Ginobili to close -- perhaps with Mason playing on the wing as well. I think those combinations make a lot of sense for a lot of reasons. If Pop's going to go to Parker/Ginobili and Hill/Mason, I'll admit to being a bit confused about the reason for doing that.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Lineup should be

Oberto
Duncan
Finley
Parker
Ginobili

[Spurs Brazil]

I think it'll be just Bowen for Finley

[Fermixalot]

On a semi-related note, don't be surprised to see Mahinmi on or near the Spurs bench tonight

From Chump's Toros updates it doesn't seem that Ian is close to ready, but I guess being near the the bench doesn't exactly mean anything.

[benefactor]

I think it'll be just Bowen for Finley

Agreed.

[lurker23]

My prediction:

Parker
Mason
Bowen
Duncan
Thomas

[duncan228]

Player Watch: Spurs healthy again
By Art Garcia, NBA.com

Is there something in the river water down in San Antonio?

In a span of five days, two All-Stars came back to the Spurs miles ahead of schedule. First, Manu Ginobili beat an estimated mid-December return date by hitting the court Nov. 24.

Tony Parker followed his lead Friday against Memphis, only three weeks after spraining his left ankle. The initial diagnosis had the French point guard missing at least four weeks.

Watching his backcourt mate suit up early must have inspired Parker to do the same. He actually wanted to play Wednesday, but was overruled by San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich.

"He wanted me to take my time coming back because I was expected to miss four weeks," Parker said. "I waited and worked on my strength conditioning to be ready to play."

The rest of the Spurs, not just Tim Duncan, more than picked up the slack during the absence of Ginobili and Parker. Rebounding from a 2-5 start, San Antonio climbed above .500 in Ginobili's first game back.

The prudent course, at least from the outside looking in, would seem to be keeping Parker off his ankle a little longer. No sense in rushing him back and risk another injury with the team on an upswing.

Parker wasn't worried.

"Honestly, I felt like I was ready to play," he said. "The team has done a great job during my absence. I just didn't feel the need to rest more. I love the game of basketball and I couldn't wait to get back out on the court."

Parker hasn't missed a step. He's tallied 15 points and seven assists each of his two games since returning, and his minutes went from 17 to 27. Parker is playing his game again -- setting up the offense and attacking the basket without hesitation.

"He's back," Popovich said.

Not favoring the ankle is crucial since the injury occurred on a driving layup attempt against Miami on Nov. 7.

"It feels great," he said. "When you're out for three weeks, all you can think about is getting back on the court and trying to have fun while helping your team win."

The Spurs (9-7) are 1-1 since Parker's comeback going into Tuesday's game with Detroit. Even though the roster is finally whole, San Antonio still has some kinks to work out.

"It's going to take some time especially with Manu getting back into his rhythm," Parker said. "When Manu is healthy we will start calling more plays for him and right now we aren't doing that.

"Once our team gets healthy we can focus on working together. I think this team will be fine with players like George Hill and Roger Mason Jr. stepping up."

[Bruno]

Toros next game is tomorrow at 11am.
If Mahinmi spend the evening behind Spurs' bench, I quite doubt he will play that game with Toros and that isn't a good news.

[ManuTastic]

Starting backcourt: Parker, Mason
2nd unit from : Manu, Hill.

Jacque Vaughan: may only play if all of the above are sucking.

[Manufan909]

From Chump's Toros updates it doesn't seem that Ian is close to ready, but I guess being near the the bench doesn't exactly mean anything.

I guess he'll just be there to learn, but idk. That 's confusing. And Hopefully Thomas or Bonner start at C, cuz Fab has been the worst active big so far. I'd rather have Ian continue his rehab as a starter in SA than let Fab start another game til he can prove he deserves it.

[timvp]

Hmmm ... it's tough to figure out which way Pop is leaning. I'm guessing the small forward position is the one that is going to change. Although Pop may also be considering taking Oberto out of the starting lineup or inserting Ginobili into the starting lineup.

Personally, I like this lineup:

PG Parker
SG Mason
SF Bowen
PF Bonner
C Duncan

It's somewhat smallish but it fits well together. Duncan would have tons of room to operate down low and it'd be hard for other teams to send help when TP drives. Going with Bowen instead of Finley helps the Spurs to get off to a better start defensively and should also help the shot selection on the other end.

If Oberto lost his spot in the starting lineup, I can't imagine that Thomas will get the job. Like I've been saying even before the trade, Duncan and Thomas is just too slow of a combination. Thomas is by far more useful when Duncan is off the court. That leaves Bonner as the only other alternative and with as well as he's been playing, it wouldn't be too much of a shock to see him starting.

An exciting starting lineup would be:

PG Parker
SG Ginobili
SF Mason
PF Duncan
C Oberto

Since it's small in the backcourt, Bonner would make the lineup too small overall so Oberto would keep his starting spot. Although exciting, I don't think this lineup is too practical because any team with a big small forward would start the game by sending that player to the low block repeatedly.

Other lineup possibilities include:

PG Parker
SG Ginobili
SF Finley
PF Duncan
C Oberto

PG Parker
SG Mason
SF Finley
PF Bonner
C Duncan

PG Parker
SG Mason
SF Udoka
PF Bonner
C Duncan

Pop obviously at one point in the season thought Udoka should start ... but Udoka had three straight horrible games in a row to lose the starting gig. Perhaps if he wants to start Bonner, he'll also start Udoka to help in the rebounding department.

Should be interesting tonight

[Galileo]

Duncan, Mahimni, Manu, Hill, Parker

5 all-stars.

[024]

Or go giant -- Duncan at the point, Matt Bonner at shooting guard, Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto at forwards, and Ian Mahinmi at center?

i like this one except thomas at SG, duncan at center, and Bonner at Pg. that breakaway dunk on scola really gave me ideas.

[Blackjack]

I wonder if Pop might want to let Tony and Manu acclimate back by starting them together for familiarity purposes, and then let Mason and Hill come off the bench to keep some of the continuity/chemistry they built in Tony and Manu's absence.

[Manufan909]

Hmmm ... it's tough to figure out which way Pop is leaning. I'm guessing the small forward position is the one that is going to change. Although Pop may also be considering taking Oberto out of the starting lineup or inserting Ginobili into the starting lineup.

Personally, I like this lineup:

PG Parker
SG Mason
SF Bowen
PF Bonner
C Duncan

It's somewhat smallish but it fits well together. Duncan would have tons of room to operate down low and it'd be hard for other teams to send help when TP drives. Going with Bowen instead of Finley helps the Spurs to get off to a better start defensively and should also help the shot selection on the other end.

If Oberto lost his spot in the starting lineup, I can't imagine that Thomas will get the job. Like I've been saying even before the trade, Duncan and Thomas is just too slow of a combination. Thomas is by far more useful when Duncan is off the court. That leaves Bonner as the only other alternative and with as well as he's been playing, it wouldn't be too much of a shock to see him starting.

An exciting starting lineup would be:

PG Parker
SG Ginobili
SF Mason
PF Duncan
C Oberto

Since it's small in the backcourt, Bonner would make the lineup too small overall so Oberto would keep his starting spot. Although exciting, I don't think this lineup is too practical because any team with a big small forward would start the game by sending that player to the low block repeatedly.

Other lineup possibilities include:

PG Parker
SG Ginobili
SF Finley
PF Duncan
C Oberto

PG Parker
SG Mason
SF Finley
PF Bonner
C Duncan

PG Parker
SG Mason
SF Udoka
PF Bonner
C Duncan

Pop obviously at one point in the season thought Udoka should start ... but Udoka had three straight horrible games in a row to lose the starting gig. Perhaps if he wants to start Bonner, he'll also start Udoka to help in the rebounding department.

Should be interesting tonight

I like the first lineup you had the most, but I have one question; why when you compare Fab, Bonner, and KT, Bonner is seemingly the smallest? On nba.com/spurs, Fab and Bonner are 6-10, and KT is 6-9. But to me KT is the biggest, followed by Fab and then Bonner. Are the measurements off, or do they play to whatever their height seems to be? If so, KT plays bigger than he is.

[Rick Von Braun]

Based on some small tidbits from the players, I would bet on the following lineup converging at some point during the season:

TP - Hill
Manu - Mason
Bowen - Finley
Duncan - Bonner
Oberto - Thomas

sporadic minutes for Udoka and Tolliver/Mahinmi, unless Ian explodes and he takes over some of the minutes from Bonner/Thomas/Oberto.

It'll be interesting to see not only how the lineup but also the minutes and rotation evolve as the season progresses.

[Indazone]

dayum Spurs are gonna be very very good again with Mahinmi coming in.

[mystargtr34]

I wouldnt mind seeing Bonner starting, hes rebounded better than Oberto. I still think it will simply be Bowen for Fin.

Parker
Mason
Bowen
Duncan
Oberto

Maybe Manu starts to get more out of Fab.

[duncan228]

Mike Monroe: Manu starts vs. Pistons

The emergence of Roger Mason Jr. as a legitimate scoring threat has returned Manu Ginobili to the Spurs' starting lineup.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he wants Ginobili to start the game with the other members of the Spurs Big Three, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan.

In fact, Popovich promised that Ginobili, the NBA's reigning Sixth Man Award winner, will be a starter "in perpetuity."

"It is time for Manu to be on the court when the game starts," Popovich said before tipoff of the Spurs' game against the Pistons at AT&T Center Tuesday night. "This is the way I'd like to do it in perpetuity."

Popovich expects to get the same scoring spark off the bench from Mason that he had come to expect from Ginobili. Mason is second in the NBA in 3-point field goal percentage, at 52.4 percent, and is averaging 14.8 points per game.

[mystargtr34]

Interesting, im not sure if i like it, but Oberto does become a different player when hes on the court with Manu. Mason was pretty damn effective with TP, and im not sure if we need all 3 guys who can create best for themselves on the court at the same time.

I guess we can always go back if the bench doesnt work out.

[timvp]

Other lineup possibilities include:

PG Parker
SG Ginobili
SF Finley
PF Duncan
C Oberto

So I guess this is what Pop is going with. Not sure I like it but we'll see how it works. If Pop is going to start Parker and Ginobili at the same time, I think Bowen works much better at SF than Finley. Even Udoka makes more sense than Finley starting next to that duo.

[mystargtr34]

So I guess this is what Pop is going with. Not sure I like it but we'll see how it works. If Pop is going to start Parker and Ginobili at the same time, I think Bowen works much better at SF than Finley. Even Udoka makes more sense than Finley starting next to that duo.

For sure. Pistons have 3 guys who score the basketball at the 1, 2 and 3 spot - yet we dont have anyone there who i would call a good one-on-one defender.

I think Bowen spaces the floor better with Manu and Parker on the floor being that he likes the corners, where as Finley sits up top.

The other reason i see is that Pop realises the team needs more out of Oberto, and he wasnt yet ready to start Thomas or Bonner, so he thought he couldnt bring Fab off the bench.

See how it goes, he can always go back.

[Solid D]

Pop also just said on the pre-game show that "starting tonight, we're going to try to put a starting 5 out there that we can keep for a while and give them an opportunity to learn how to play together."

[Solid D]

Pop also said he expects "absolutely nothing" out of Mahinmi. "His ankle...and now he's hurt his other ankle so, we just brought him up so we could be right on top of his rehab and work with him, but he's not going to play at all."