Official: start Tony, Manu, Bruce, Drew and Tim thread

[Austin_Toros]

I'd like to see Bruce back as a starter- it couldn't hurt the spurs

[erikuff]

Although I am also against Bowen not being played, people here have to face the fact that he's not going to play much more. Pops seems to want to score more and more every year, and that's not Bowen's forte.
I agree with playing Hill a little more, he's lost his confidence and needs to bring it back. He probably would have done a good job on Paul tonight.
Udoka needs to gtfo. He was pathetic tonight and all season really. All of his 3's were wide open.
Pop, please replace Udoka with Bowen, do not play Bonner so much, play Thomas more, Mason at point isn't very effective, & get Hill in more.

[Nathan Explosion]

Does anyone think Oberto could have helped out there tonight instead of Thomas and Bonner?

Forgot about Oberto considering he didn't play tonight. I'm not sure he would have changed the outcome, but he would have been a better option than Bonner tonight. That's for sure.

[ElNono]

Not gonna happen. We're rolling with Manu off the bench, Mason as the backup PG, and Bonner as the starting 'Center'... I can see Pop starting Thomas for Matt in certain series, but that's about it.

[024]

bowen can't guard paul, i don't think he can keep up with the quick point guards of the nba anymore. i would have put bowen in anyways after udoka bricked all those open 3's.

[Ice009]

Not gonna happen. We're rolling with Manu off the bench, Mason as the backup PG, and Bonner as the starting 'Center'... I can see Pop starting Thomas for Matt in certain series, but that's about it.

Pop is a ing stubborn ass.

[Toni61]

I dont understand Pop why Mason play PG ??? Why?? we have Hill and Vaughn...

Bruce need more minuts we need him as a stopper and Udoka mkes a lot of Fouls he is to slow in the D.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

OK, I understand why people want Bowen and ideally I would love to have the shutdown defender back, but Pop's behaviour all season has been mind blogging. At first we all thought he was saving him for the playoffs, but now that we're seeing the first glances of the playoff rotation and Bruce out of it, that doesn't bode well.

To be honest Bowen hasn't been consistent in his performances this season, but this could be due to the inconsistent minutes he gets. However,could it actually be possible that he's done? Pop made him who he is, Pop's been his biggest fan, and right now he refuses to play him even in favourable matchups for him. The only explanation if this doesn't suddenly change would be that Bruce is done. Sad, hope that's not true.

Regarding Gooden, though, I don't see the fascination here. He hasn't played too many minutes, he's going through a rough time trying to fit in and not doing a great job at it currently, yet people want him in the starting line up for the playoffs and getting a lot of minutes? How come? Where do you see the signs that he'd help when being force fed more minutes? I certainly am not impressed with him yet and unless he starts playing significantly better I'd expect him to be on the edge of the rotation come playoff time.

[Bukefal]

I would like a starting line-up of TP, Mason, Bowen, Duncan, and Thomas. Bringing Manu and Gooden off the bench is still a good combo to me. A line-up of TP, Mason, Bowen, Duncan, and Thomas would be a good mix of O and D out there.

I agree, thats a nice starting line up, and manu to start off the bench is still the best.

[SA210]

start Tony, Manu, Bruce, Drew and Tim

I'm in!

[DAF86]

I agree, thats a nice starting line up, and manu to start off the bench is still the best.

Why? He plays better when he starts and the team does better when he starts too. All the things we won with Manu coming off the bench we'd have won it anyways but we wouldn't have defeated Detroit in '05 with Manu begining the game on the bench. We all know that when we'd be close to face elimination, Pop's move would be to start Manu. So why don't we spare us some time and cut the crap?

[Cherry]

Start small. Pe ion to have Bowen actually play.

In

[DAF86]

In

Wow, that's one gay Manu pic you have in your sig.

[peskypesky]

start Tony, Manu, Bruce, Drew and Tim.

I'm in!

You put your 5 best players on the floor and let the chips fall where they may.

[MannyIsGod]

@ that lineup being the top 5 spurs. Think again.

[TMTTRIO]

I've been thinking about this and I think it's about time to start Manu. Get used to it but Manu's not going to be able to carry the 6th Man role (at least this year) like he used to. He's going to need to play more with Tim and Tony otherwise he's going to do like he normally does and try to do too much within the limited amount of time and get injured again. I hate that people think that he's going to be the answer and make all our bench problems go away each and every year that he's been here.

[Spursfan092120]

Manu is better off the bench once he's seen the flow of the game, and knows how to react to it.

[TMTTRIO]

recently though he said it's hard to get into any kind of rhythm coming off the bench or to let the game come to him knowing he has to produce right away so he's going to push it way too much when he comes in. I just think this spark off the bench thing is getting tireding and it doesn't matter.

[HarlemHeat37]

Gooden shouldn't start..

I disagree with those saying he hasn't been impressive though..his individual offense and rebounding has definitely impressed me..I think he'll be a great fit for this team when the chemistry comes..

he shouldn't start though..his D will be exploited by other teams big men..if he comes off the bench, he'll be playing against bench big men, so he won't be exploited..he can also spark our offense..

I actually would have liked to see him get more touches vs. NO..we were jacking up 3s the entire 2nd half while Duncan was being doubled..it would have been nice to see Gooden get a few touches in the post for some high % shots, instead of 3s that weren't going in at all..

Kurt Thomas should be the starter though..have him play 25 MPG..

[AussieFanKurt]

i sign onto this.

[Bukefal]

Why? He plays better when he starts and the team does better when he starts too. All the things we won with Manu coming off the bench we'd have won it anyways but we wouldn't have defeated Detroit in '05 with Manu begining the game on the bench. We all know that when we'd be close to face elimination, Pop's move would be to start Manu. So why don't we spare us some time and cut the crap?

Its better for manu to be on the bench, a coach always has to have a sixth man, who can oversee the game and inject it with new energy, when the team needs it. Manu is doing that great, the right person to do so.

[Yogurt210]

I am freaking in! signed up!!

[Flux451]

the starting line-up isn't the problem, it's the rotations and secondary line-ups that Pop rolls out with.

they go hand in hand

[Flux451]

This team has the most experience together minus Gooden. I think they should start the games off and set the example for the games.

The second team mentioned has a energy spark and they have experience playing together when manu and tony out and they did fine.
Plus Roger is a streaky shooter so with this squad he can take over if feeling it.


DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[xtremesteven33]

Parker
Mason
Bowen
Duncan
Oberto/Thomas


I wouldnt mind that at all....its just that Bowen needs to get his starting job back