I haven't had the chance to watch more than a couple Spurs games this year. How good is your bench this season so far? Obviously any bench anchored by Ginobili will be a good one, but how would you rank it compared to last season's? To other benches in the league?
The Suns generally field an 8- or 9-man rotation, with the Morris brothers and Gerald Green at the 4, 3, and 2. Having two dynamic combo guards in Bledsoe and Dragic, Coach Hornacek will always have one of those two players on the floor. Dragic usually goes to the bench about 8 minutes in and Bledsoe takes over the point duties with the bench up until early in the 2nd quarter. You might see an Archie Goodwin appearance sometime in the 2nd quarter. He's an extremely athletic 19-year-old rookie with an unbelievable motor.
We have good individual bench players when they mix in with the starters but when its only bench players on the floor they flat out suck. Sure, they beat up on other scrub benches but when they face decent or above average benches they get their **** pushed in.
I think on a PPG basis our bench is rank 1 in the league, but other than that I'm not sure. I think the X-factor of our bench is patty mills. He can get hot in a hurry and he's great at pestering opposing point guards full court.
What u mean by bench? All scrub lineup= Mills/Green/Beli/Ayers/Diaw is not so good.
The "right"lineup Manu/Beli/Kawhi(Mills)/Diaw/Splitter is pretty good
Spurs bench has been very dynamic this year, and is better than last year's imo. There have been several games so far where the bench have pulled the starting unit out of double-digit holes.
Last year's bench was rated 10th in scoring at 36.1. This year's bench, so far, is rated 2nd at 46.1 PPG. They are also currently 1st in Efficiency and 2nd in Efficiency Difference.
-Manu is playing well with averages similar to last year on much more efficient shooting (.563 up from .480)
-Patty Mills has secured the backup PG role and has played aggressively, shooting at a hot clip (.479 from the field, .451 from deep) and using constant backcourt pressure to average a career high in steals (1.0 SPG, up from 0.1)
-Belinelli instead of Neal gives the bench a better defender, playmaker, and all-around scoring threat (9.6 points and 2 assists per game)
-Diaw has been hyper aggressive on offense this year (thus earning the moniker Diaw 2.0), and looks much more like the player he was in Phoenix and early-Charlotte days. He has nearly doubled his FGA (from 4.4 to 7.8) and scoring (from 5.8 to 9.8 PPG) from last season.
-Also worth noting is that Ginobili, Belinelli, and Diaw all play very well together with their combined passing and scoring abilities. Marco and Manu in particular seem to have ESP with one-another.
-The final bench spot has typically been manned by either Jeff Ayers (formerly Pendergraph) or Aron Baynes. Baynes has been a banger in the post and done good work on the glass, but injury troubles have kept him from keeping a solid role. Despite a few brief flashes, Ayers has looked lost so far. I'm hoping he will get it together as he gets more familiar with the system, but he looks pretty bad right now.
-No Blair and less Matt Bonner is addition by subtraction. Pop is finally playing Bonner the way he needs to be played: sparingly for 3-pt shooting and when he can't be completely bullied in the post.
Last edited by Dex; 12-18-2013 at 02:08 PM.
solid review Dex
/thread
Solid post. Except i don't quite agree with this. I was upset last game when Pop went with Bonner to cover Jordan! I was really pissed. I wanted Pop to throw in Baynes, even though he might not be quick enough, he's definitely strong enough. I really wish Baynes can solidify that 4th big spot.
Suns should be afraid of a named Jeff Ayres, tbh, watch out for him tonight..he's the Spurs secret bench weapon..
Ayreshe couldn't defend the post against 2013 Barkley
It's the best bench in the NBA when that scrub Ayres isn't playing, tbh.
When we don't play Errors, and give Boozer solid minutes, we have the best bench
thanks for the goods tbh
When did we sign Carlos Boozer, tbh?
over the summer remember? we almost traded him but tybg we didn't
I am done talking about that bum, some had the nerve to call him a solid pickup too just a few weeks back... He sucks. He is what he is.Ayres
After last night, I guess the answer is 'Very good.'
ing Spurs, man. Just let our young fellas beat you once or twice.
That was I
Its so mixed, they have some of the best bench players in the NBA and then they have some of the worst
Good stuff!
??http://www.poundingtherock.com/2013/...int-efficiency
For a player long known for being a competent but inefficient scorer, is there any bigger surprise this year than San Antonio's Marco Belinelli leading the league in accuracy from behind the arc?
Fifty-three per cent.
That's the level of Marco Belinelli's unconscious, prolific shooting from behind the three-point line.
In his first year in the Alamo City, the Italian journeyman has made the most of his 22 minutes per game. By the numbers, Belinelli has been unmatched for his perimeter marksmanship, providing the Spurs with a much-needed backcourt scoring punch in a reserve role.
The seventh-year international guard is hoisting 2.9 long balls per contest, and is converting a jaw-dropping 61.3% of his 3FGA on San Antonio's home floor. What's more, Belinelli's play alongside Manu Ginobili (as a crafty bench tandem) has been insane. The pair have generated an OffRtg of 118.5, the second best of Spurs' duos that have featured in at least 15 games.* This has been achieved on the heels of a 65.0% True Shooting percentage, the top mark out of all of the team's two-man units. Individually, the data to support Belinelli's across-the-board offensive improvement is just as impressive.
Recently, NBA.com's John Schuhmann detailed the differential in the 27 year-old's performance between 2012-13 and the current campaign, including some handy notes on how a change in system and transitioning to the Spurs' offensive scheme have benefited Belinelli. Perhaps most importantly, Schuhmann outlined his 17.6% boost in effective field goal percentage (eFG%) -- a league-leading status for players with min. 500 FGA's -- from 46.0% to 63.6%. This is a tribute to the Italian's efforts, but to be sure it's not merely cir stantial, let's consider some of the available SportsVU tracking data.
To date, Belinelli is netting 61.4% of his shots in catch-and-shoot situations, placing him at #1 in the NBA of players who've recorded 20 GP and average at least 3.5 catch-and-shoot FGA per outing. Moreover, his eFG% in the same conditions is currently 80.7%, creating a cavernous six per cent gap between him and the second-most efficient "no dribble" shooter in the league. It's not difficult to decipher the sharpshooter's juicy recipe; 48.1% of all of his points have come from beyond the arc, a whopping 94.6% of which were directly assisted. Conscientious floor spacing and the patented pick-and-roll game have helped to open looks for the veteran guard, who is excelling in his move from the league's 23rd ranked offense of last season to these Spurs**.
With Ginobili on the court, Belinelli has laced 19 of his 28 launches from 20-24 feet. But this number plummets to 5 of 22 without Manu. There's an interesting contrast to be made between this fruitful pairing, and how Belinelli has shot when playing with Tony Parker. Parker and Belinelli have shared 213 total minutes of court time together. In this window of time, the Frenchman has set up 10 Belinelli field goals, as many as Boris Diaw, and fewer than Patty Mills and Ginobili.
The imbalance of the Parker-Belinelli twosome relative the rest of the team's perimeter options is likely an outcome of Parker's hefty usage rate, and the reality that whenever the two do hit the hardwood together, Belinelli is relegated to the Spurs' 3rd or 4th offensive option (at best). Nevertheless, San Antonio would be wise to continue to source bench offense and production from the bountiful well that is the Manu & Marco combination.
Broadly speaking, Belinelli has carved out a role as a high efficiency/low usage reserve scorer. He is willingly capitalizing on the Spurs' carefully managed offense, and is doing so while averaging just 33.0 touches per game. With 100% of his corner threes and 93% of his above the break trebles directly assisted, and a career-low usage rate of 16.9%, it's clear that his place on the team is defined. Furthermore, these conditions have allowed him to generate a PER 16.18 -- also on pace for a career-best mark, and the first time he has been above league-average.
*To put this into perspective, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have amassed an Offensive Rating of 106.2 in 18 games together this season. Additionally, their TS% is 60.2%. Both measures are vastly inferior to the Belinelli-Ginobili combination.
**courtesy of basketball-reference.com
Last edited by MeloHype; 12-19-2013 at 01:08 PM.
Why isn't Bonner on that list?
A line-up consisting of: Mills, Bellinelli, Manu, Boris and Baynes probably ends with the 3rd seed in the Eastern conference.
No offense to you for saying that but I think he is a bad player. Did you change your mind any now?
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