The Truth About Nazr

[Phenomanul]

rasho was playing pretty well before he got hurt. are you guys forgetting how well the spurs were playing last year before people started getting dinged up? hopefully the opposite is the case this year and we can get stronger as the season goes on.

I Believe....

[Man In Black]

Kori breaks it down for you and now all we get is CRICKETS.

Chirp, chirp...Thread starter is where?

Learn what flag represents which country smart guy.

I'm definitely not from Slovenia but I've played this game and know it game well enough to recognize that if you don't produce in practice, you don't desreve time on the court.

[wildbill2u]

It doesn't come down to Nazr v. Rasho. It comes down to our front line v. their front line.

They are more athletic and physical including Rasheed and McDyess. We do not and cannot compete with them in rebounding. So we lose.

And their front line shooting is probably better overall than ours. Tim has been fluky this year at best. Forget about Bowen's 3pt. percentage. If he makes 2-2 and only scores 6 points, what does it matter if McDyess or Rasheed go off for 20?

[abelle23]

Ahm, Filipines = Slovenia???

You must be "that stupid American". (Sorry all other American friends, but what is too much is too much)

[Ginobili_20_gold_medalist]

The truth about Nazr is that he only averaged about 6 and 6 in last season's playoffs in about 28 minutes (I'm guessing) -- those numbers were relatively the same as Rasho's numbers during the regular season last year.

Actually Nazr averaged 7 points and 7 rebounds in 23 minutes in last years playoffs.

Rasho's regular season numbers were 6 points and 7 rebounds in 26 minutes a game.

In the regular season Nazr averaged 6 points and 6 rebounds in only 18 minutes a game. He got Rasho's numbers playing almost a quarter less than him. That kind of tells you something...Nazr is more active than the walking corpse.

That all being said, there are times when you need to scrap all the rules for playing time and just let a guy get a stretch on the floor and see how it goes.

That's all we're asking.

[Kori Ellis]

Like I said - I was just guessing the numbers.

In the regular season Nazr averaged 6 points and 6 rebounds in only 18 minutes a game. He got Rasho's numbers playing almost a quarter less than him.

But Nazr didn't play D and shot only 38 percent (during the reg season) -- none of that really matters.

My point was really that neither one of them are that great. And there were legitimate reasons for Nazr starting in the playoffs last year and there were legitimate reasons why Rasho has been starting this season.

Nazr definitely should have gotten some playing time last night with Rasho mismatched against the Pistons front line. Why that didn't happen, who knows. But he likely isn't proving himself in practice or else he'd be seeing more time on the floor.

That being said .. Manu needs to start.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Whoa, whoa, whoa there, Kori...

Don't start trying to bring logic to any of these arguments now.

[Spurminator]

Yeah I like Rasho starting against most teams but I think his """strengths""" (note multiple quotations) are of little use against the Pistons. Nazr's not great , but his """strengths""" fill more of our needs when we play Detroit...

[Ginobili_20_gold_medalist]

My point was really that neither one of them are that great. And there were legitimate reasons for Nazr starting in the playoffs last year and there were legitimate reasons why Rasho has been starting this season.

Nazr definitely should have gotten some playing time last night with Rasho mismatched against the Pistons front line. Why that didn't happen, who knows. But he likely isn't proving himself in practice or else he'd be seeing more time on the floor.

Neither are great but one is clearly better and more active than the other (when he gets almost equal playing time). I see no clear reason why Rasho should be getting that many more minutes. It can't be all about practice. Does anyone really think Rasho looks any better in practice than he does in actual games? It can't be all about defensive rotations either. Did you see the defense last night? Just about every player on the court were missing rotations.

[Kori Ellis]

Neither are great but one is clearly better and more active than the other

More active, yes. Better, debatable. Most people think Nazr's sucky defense doesn't make up for him getting an extra board or two.

As far as practice goes, perhaps Rasho seems to understand position D, rotations, sets, etc better than Nazr in practices. Perhaps he works harder in practice. Who knows. I am just saying that there's many logical reasons why Nazr may not be on the court and we aren't privvy to all of them.

That being said -- Rasho is far too immobile to log that many minutes against the Pistons ever again.

[Man In Black]

More active true but say if the perimeter players would've held their ground some of those boards could've gotten to a Spur. Tayshaun should be getting double-figure rebounds in a game against the Spurs.

[zeleni]

Just about every player on the court were missing rotations.

Oh yeah....? Which game were you looking at?

[texbumTHElife]

The truth about Nazr is that he only averaged about 6 and 6 in last season's playoffs in about 28 minutes (I'm guessing) -- those numbers were relatively the same as Rasho's numbers during the regular season last year. But since he dunked the ball and was more active around the rim, Spurs fans glamourized it. I've heard at least three posters in the last few days says, "He outscored and outrebounded the Wallaces COMBINED in games 1 and 2 in the Finals" which is not even close.

He knew enough basics on D to get by in the postseason and Pop wasn't going to switch back to Rasho after Rasho got healthy and disrupt the rotation. But the coaching staff fully expected that this season, Nazr would IMPROVE -- particularly on defense.

He missed the whole training camp (I'm not saying that it's his fault) where they lay down the groundwork for the year. As the season began, Rasho was actually playing decent and rightfully owned the starting job.

We aren't privvy to what goes on inside of practice, but right now if Nazr has actually caught up on D and is working hard in practice - he'd be seeing more playing time.

Rasho sucks against particular teams and I certainly would think that in a game like last night Nazr would have seen some time. I don't think there's a huge conspiracy of holding his value down or not liking him personally. I just think that he likely hasn't earned playing time in practice and he misses far too many rotations when he actually does get playing time.

That all being said, there are times when you need to scrap all the rules for playing time and just let a guy get a stretch on the floor and see how it goes. The Spurs didn't do that with Nazr. But last night was likely a big wakeup call. It will be interesting to see how the player rotations get rattled because of it.

Great post Kori.

[boutons_]

"a big wakeup call"

I hate that phrase, but WTF are the Spurs asleep in the first place. Same objective, same team, some coach as last year. Just repeat.

Nick's and Michael's arrival cannot be blamed for destroying the Spurs game.

Where's the ing problem? Why the big mystery about trying to discover how to play basketball?

[TDMGTP]

okay kori honey you are wrong.

first, Nazr yea he might not always give you a double double every game but if given AT LEAST 25min he will give you a double double 1/10 games and not just any double double more like 20-15 AND WE ALL KNOW RASH WILL NEVER DO THAT CUZ HE HASNT IN 3 YEARS. NAZR HAS MORE UPSIDE.

SKILL COMPARIONS

Rasho (geico robot, seriously should take salsa)
-good defensive positioning...lol
-never gets to the FT a + cuz he sucks at them
-umm D+ mid range shot
-no dunks
-below avg OFF REB
-cant move
-very low profile
-no creativity
-2-4pts per game



VS NAZR (dunker but slow learner)
-minor issues on D
-gets to the line, shoot TD avg
-D- mid range
-a dunker
-one of the best at OFF REB LOOK AT NUMBERS FROM 05 PLAYOFFS
-just moves enough
-stands up for teamates (manu VS seattle in playoffs)
-has creative outbursts (few time during playoffs with fake QB handoff)
-6-10pts per game


ITS SO OBVIOUS WHO IS BETTER AND HAS MORE UPSIDE. C'MON KORI, JUST ADMIT IT UR EMPHATUATED(SP?) BY RASHOS LOOKS...LOL..JK.

AGAIN ON DEFENSE:
how could you say nazr is a liability on defense when we won a championship with him as our starting center. the previous yr we lost so rasho 0, nazr 1 WHO IS THE LIABILITY?? and if we obviously won the championship that means we played the best teams, and STILL WITH NAZR DEFENSE WE WON. we won with nazr sorry defense and now we are losing with rasho's great defensive talents. my point is if we beat denver, seattle, phoenix, DETROIT with nazr in the middle why not give him minutes against atlanta, or all the other sorry ass teams so that he can develop his skills...

AND NO pop didnt leave NAZR in last yr during the playoffs just "to not disrupt the rotations and team" please he disrupted by putting manu as sixthman when he needed it during the playoffs. CASE CLOSE.

PEACE, LET NOT LOSE HOPE ON THE SPURS, THEY NEED TO GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER.
BUT NEVER UNDER ESTIMATE THE HEART OF A CHAMPION

[Kori Ellis]

-good defensive positioning...lol -minor issues on D

This is the key to your whole post. If Nazr's problems on D were minor, he'd be on the floor. Everyone knows when they come to the Spurs they have to catch on to the team D. Nazr hasn't. That's the problem.

Nazr is more athletic than Rasho, he dunks more, he's more animated, he could put up marginal better stats. But bottomline is that if he isn't doing it on D, then he won't see the floor. That's how it is here. Spurs fans act like it's a new concept.

To me, they are both marginal players and can be used situationally to cover the center spot.

And as far as your "looks" comment. Let me go on record as saying Nazr is better looking than blue-lipped FrankenRasho. So I guess that doesn't come into play in my assessment.

[Kori Ellis]

And don't use "upside" in reference to either of them. They are too old to have "upside" or "potential". What you see is what you get.

[SenorSpur]

The truth about Nazr is that he only averaged about 6 and 6 in last season's playoffs in about 28 minutes (I'm guessing) -- those numbers were relatively the same as Rasho's numbers during the regular season last year. But since he dunked the ball and was more active around the rim, Spurs fans glamourized it. I've heard at least three posters in the last few days says, "He outscored and outrebounded the Wallaces COMBINED in games 1 and 2 in the Finals" which is not even close.

He knew enough basics on D to get by in the postseason and Pop wasn't going to switch back to Rasho after Rasho got healthy and disrupt the rotation. But the coaching staff fully expected that this season, Nazr would IMPROVE -- particularly on defense.

He missed the whole training camp (I'm not saying that it's his fault) where they lay down the groundwork for the year. As the season began, Rasho was actually playing decent and rightfully owned the starting job.

We aren't privvy to what goes on inside of practice, but right now if Nazr has actually caught up on D and is working hard in practice - he'd be seeing more playing time.

Rasho sucks against particular teams and I certainly would think that in a game like last night Nazr would have seen some time. I don't think there's a huge conspiracy of holding his value down or not liking him personally. I just think that he likely hasn't earned playing time in practice and he misses far too many rotations when he actually does get playing time.

That all being said, there are times when you need to scrap all the rules for playing time and just let a guy get a stretch on the floor and see how it goes. The Spurs didn't do that with Nazr. But last night was likely a big wakeup call. It will be interesting to see how the player rotations get rattled because of it.

Great stuff Kori. I agree with you and Pop had absolutely nothing to lose by inserting Nazr into that fiasco last night. I think that Nazr is more better suited against big, physical than is Rasho.

[TDMGTP]

ur call on the looks, now did we win the championship with NAZR as a starter??? YES
did we play elite teams? YES
did his defense affect us against those elite teams? apperantly NOT cuz we WON!

so if we beat the elite teams with his Defense, we should be able to beat the not-so-elite with his defense tooo. SO EN PLAY HIM POPA , thank you.

[TDMGTP]

the teams that rasho usually has problems with are usually playoff bound teams.

[TDMGTP]

But bottomline is that if he isn't doing it on D, then he won't see the floor. That's how it is here. Spurs fans act like it's a new concept.

WE WON THE CHAMPINSHIP WITH HIM LAST YEAR WITH HIS D, AND THIS YEAR WE HAVENT SEEN ENOUGH OF HIM CONSITANTLY TO SAY HE ISNT DOING IT.

[angel_luv]

And as far as your "looks" comment. Let me go on record as saying Nazr is better looking than blue-lipped FrankenRasho. So I guess that doesn't come into play in my assessment.

Kori!

How about this: Your (incorrect!!) point made without wounding me.

And as far as your "looks" comment. Let me go on record as saying Nazr is better looking than Rasho. So I guess that doesn't come into play in my assessment.

[T Park]

WE WON THE CHAMPINSHIP WITH HIM LAST YEAR WITH HIS D

we wont he championship with Robert Horry playing the majority of the minutes in the second half.

BUt yes, I think its prob time to give Nazr more consistent minutes and see what hes got.

Maybe give Oberto a shot.

Rasho aint cuttin it no more.

[sprrs]

The way I saw it during the summer was that we keep Rasho because Nazr can't handle Shaq. But the way things are going Detroit has all but guaranteed their spot in the finals this year, and since Nazr is obviously better suited against physical players like the Wallaces, I think he should be getting more playing time, for when we do need him.

[exstatic]

The minute that Nazr came into the game last night, Detroit stopped shooting jumpers and attacked the rim for a couple of layups and a dunk. Who cares if he's a better rebounder if Detroit is getting shots that have a 90% effective rate? Damn few rebounds even available.