So if Finley is soon to return . . . do we all agree that he will be playing?
So who loses out?
Hill, Mason and Manu of course are largely playing well now. I sure don't want to see Hill lose any minutes, if anything he should play more.
Jefferson gets paid too much to lose minutes.
Bogans gets minutes because Jefferson can't defend anyone. Can't see Finley taking any minutes from the guy who gets them because of his defense.
Do the minutes come from McDyess or Blair/Bonner? Will there be small-ball mania from Pop?
Have to wait and see if Pop's man-crush on Finley has been replaced by the case that the Spurs are playing better without him. With that said, If Finley goes back to getting major minutes, I'll be pissed. Especially if it becomes detrimental to the Spurs performance on the court.
I think it'll depend on the situation.
If we don't need a stopper out there and Bogans is on another 1-7 shooting night I can see Finley getting some of his minutes.
If Pop is wanting to get Ginobli some rest on b2b nights I can see Finley getting those minutes.
I don't see Finley getting any of Hill's minutes simply because of Parkers PF.
Mason's been playing pretty good lately so I can't tell there.
I don't see him getting major minutes anymore. 15 tops, unless injury, someone resting on a b2b, or foul trouble.
If anybody, it would have to be Mason..... but the way Mason has played, I would rather see finley on the bench....
Mason for tall ball, Blair/Dice for small ball... I see him playing circa 15 minutes a night
Hopefully he takes the minutes of Hairston and Haislip..
I think we will see a continuation of Pop's (new?) pragmatic approach to minutes. If someone isn't hitting Pop will give someone else a shot. Similar to the reduction of RMJ and increase of Hill against OKC.
If Finley comes in and hits shots, Spurs fans don't have grounds to . Same goes for Bonners return.
Man, I'd love to see alot more of Haislip especially during gametime & not just trash time!
This is a good topic. I wanted to start a thread like this but figured there'd be too much Finley talk and then would transform into Bonner and be really annoying. Thanks for bringing this up and encouraging a look at the inevitable reality of a rotation adjustment.
First off, I have to address this. At no point in time will/should "Jefferson gets paid too much to lose minutes" ever be a legitimate factor when it comes to rotation. Whoever is playing well or whoever matches up well will play. I don't even think that Finley's skill set will ever be more valuable than Jefferson's, or more accurately that Finley's skill set will replace Jefferson's, but we just can't pretend that Gregg Popovich would ever create a rotation influenced by salary. ...and we really shouldn't ever discuss Jefferson's contract until the season is over and it's time to evaluate the roster. Seriously, his contract is a moot point when discussing rotations and how Michael Finley fits.
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Moving on...I actually thought Finley was going to eventually get a few inactives while Hairston or maybe Ian was the 12th man.
First of all, Pop will slowly allow him to get his legs back so it will be a few weeks before we see how Finley fits in the rotation. And if Finley comes back before Bonner you might see Finley playing 10-15 mpg probably at small forward when Jefferson plays power forward. I'm not convinced it will work but if Pop deems it necessary to play Jefferson at 4 instead of bringing Ratliff, Haislip, or Ian in then I'd like to see what Finley can do instead of Bogans or Mason playing small forward. I think I saw a few stretches where instead of Manu playing the 3 we had Bogans and Mason(actually I know it was happening last night, but think I saw it previously as well). Unless we're playing the Knicks or the Warriors that lineup is way too vulnerable on defense.
I don't actually think we'll see that small of a small-ball lineup again, especially because I believe Bonner will get thrown at the 4 with Blair or McDyess at 5 when Duncan's resting.
I definitely see Pop throwing Finley in during situations where there's one play left in the quarter. For example:
0:17 left in 2nd quarter, Spurs call time out and inbound at half court; lineup is Finley on the in-bounds, Hill, Mason, Manu, and Bonner on the perimeter. Manu gets the ball and sets up and isolation, he drives and either takes it strong or kicks it out to any one of our high percentage 3 point shooters. After the play Finley goes back to bench.
Again, my guess is that we won't be able to immediately tell what Finley's role is. I imagine Pop will go easy on him until he gets back in shape. And now that the team has fit more into certain roles it will be a few weeks before Pop decides how long and with whom he likes Finley on the court.
Duncan McDyess Mahinmi Ratliff
Bonner Blair Haislip
Jefferson Manu Finley
Bogans Mason Hairston
Parker Hill
Bold on the I/R, rotate out when we rest Duncan/Ginobili. Hairston with the Toros. I put Bonner starting (when he returns) because supposedly that works well with Duncan, and I just like seeing Blair and Manu play together.
Should we rest Parker at all to try to get rid of his plantar fasciitus? There's a brief stretch after the All-Star break where the opposition isn't so bad; I wonder if Parker could heal with two weeks off? He could miss @Indiana, @Philadelphia, @Detroit and vs. Oklahoma. That would give him two weeks, if it would do any good (most treatments I've read include a boot for 3 weeks or more).
Hill, Manu and Mason could play point for a week. I just hate the thought of going into the playoffs with a hobbled Parker, especially when it looks like we could actually do some damage this year if we're healthy.
i hope finley gets the ratliff treatment. it's too late in the season for finley to be part of the rotation. he should only be getting minutes when the game is a blowout. maybe like a 5-7 minute man.
I just hope Finley takes over the old Steve Kerr role. Situational shooter and the like.
whoa i just saw lebron get injured!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Perhaps Finley will take Mike Miller's or Nick Young's minutes.
Gotta keep the dream alive.
Looked like he hurt his left ankle but hobbled off his right!
After the timout the hop was gone, he missed his 2nd free throw got his own board & hit a three!!
He'll be the Steve Smith of this team.
I hope pop just brings him in to shoot which he apparently cant do as well either. He's borderline useless. His minutes should be in practice offering veteran knowledge to the young guns.
the 2 oxymorons better go out there earn their minutes...
He can have Ian's or Hairston's minutes.
He should get Hairston and Haislips minutes.
He'll get traded for a backup point guard who can play center and block shots.
He'll play less than 10 mins a game from now on. Pops can't be that idiotic. The team is playing great right now.
honestly, I hope he doesn't even take anyone's minutes during practice!
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