Ludden -- Good article on Malik

[SequSpur]

Watch a game.

[whottt]

What happened was the Lakers offered Rose a contract during that 2002 offseason and Rose gave the Spurs the option to match it. The Spurs matched it but from the second they matched it, they've been trying to trade him. They didn't want him going to the Lakers and winning championships next to Shaq and Kobe.

And it's a good thing they did because the Lakers probably beat the Spurs in 2003 if Rose is on the other team.

Bingo! LA wanted Malik badly, and so did a lot of their fans. How many people remember when Malik's name was being bandied about as the favorite for 6th man of the year before he got injured in 2001?

LA wanted Malik for much the same reasons we wanted Horry, they wanted to hurt us as much as they wanted to actually help themselves...because Malik defends Shaq very well...just like Horry defends Duncan very well.

The Spurs overpaid Malik to keep LA from getting him, that is the A#1 reason for Malik's struggles since signing that contract...but be glad the Spurs signed Malik. Malik and Shaq(and Malik would have started for LA with Horry coming off the bench) in the same front court would have been the most physical frontcourt in the NBA...I don't care how inconsistent Malik is...he and Shaq would have physically beat the living crap out of anyone they played.

Instead the Lakers wound up with Samake and his suck factor singlehandedly killed the dynasty.

And Malik has proven time and time again he can put up numbers when pressed into service as a starter...when hasn't he done it? He also tends to have big moments in the playoffs...not in Robert Horry's league...but good enough to be a valauble player on 2 NBA champions.

Like I said when Rasho first went down...out of Rasho, Horry and Malik, Malik is the guy capable of having the biggest game as a starter...Malik has a 20 20 game as a starter...Horry and Rasho have never even come close to that, and they've started a of a lot more games than Malik.

Still when Rasho is healthy, I like the way the rotation is the past month or so...I think Rasho should start because of his shotblocking...I think Horry is the solution to more problems than Malik because of his intelligence and consistency...Horry may not bring the hustle every night, but he hardly ever makes a stupid play. Malik is still a key piece to this team though and has more of a future than Horry...I don't like it when Pop doesn't let him get any minutes in the game, so we can see what he's got for that night...because if Malik is on...he's the only one of our rotation bigs that can do an impersonation of Duncan at his best.

[MannyIsGod]

Nice post, Whottttttttttttttt

[ducks]

lakers might have offerd money but rose never even went to la
rose was not really interestd he was trying to use them as leverage

[Useruser666]

I think the problem is that Rose just needs to play respectable for the minutes he's given. If he did that and didn't make any big mental/play mistakes he would be given 18 minutes a game and the days DNP would be no more.

[MaNuMaNiAc]

The night Malik made the mistake of putting his Jersey over his head, It wasn't only because he knew he had done wrong but because In his Heart and Mind he knew his Brother Cory was not watching him like always...

I agree with you Spurgal that Malik has been bashed way more than he deserves these past few seasons. However, don't tell me he pulled his jersey over his head because of his brother! That's just BS. Pop did the right thing taking him out of rotation, he needed to learn a lesson, hopefully he did. I do hope his brother gets well, but what he did was just INCREDIBLY STUPID!

[SpursWoman]

No...I'm pretty sure he just put the jersey over his head because he made a boneheaded mistake.

[SequSpur]

Malik and Horry are 2 total different players and bring different skills to the team. I don't understand the comparison or even the discussion.

Horry is the smarter player. Again, if Malik is capable of 20, 20 games, then why in the is he planted to a chair every night? Your take that Malik is capable of this holds no value, because in reality Malik is not very good, hence the DNPs. This isn't 2001. This is 2005.

Please, watch a game, listen to pop, Malik is not very good.

[Rick Von Braun]

Please, watch a game, listen to pop, Malik is not very good.

Did you of all people just say that?

[T Park]

Sequ doesnt understand half the time what hes saying.

Ive said from the beginning. The Spurs need Malik Rose to play well to do well.

But if hes gonna play stupid, and absolutely horribly EX Sacramento, then hes gonna get benched.

To excuse horrible play like that, and boneheaded mistakes in key situations is hypocritical.

[SequSpur]

The Spurs don't need Malik Rose, they haven't all year or last year. Get over it.

[T Park]

They do need Malik Rose to play Malik Rose circa 03.

But Malik at times this year has played like Malik of 03 04.

If Malik can just consistently bring what he brought the other night, this team is unbeatable, but Malik needs to play within himself.

Stop trying to do sooo much.

[whottt]

Again, if Malik is capable of 20, 20 games, then why in the is he planted to a chair every night? .

It's not if he's capable of 20 20 games...he did it last season when Duncan was injured.

SAN ANTONIO (78)

                          fg    ft    rb             
                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp
B Bowen             32  2-11   0-0   0-6   2   3    5
M Rose              41  6-14  8-10  9-22   1   5   20
R Nesterovic        32  5-10   0-0   3-7   0   2   10
J Hart              35   3-8   1-2   1-5   1   3    7
E Ginobili          37  6-16   4-4   0-1   7   2   17
R Horry             24  3-12   1-2   1-4   2   1    7
H Turkoglu          21   1-7   5-6   1-2   1   1    7
S Heal              12   1-4   0-0   0-0   1   0    3
D Brown              6   0-1   2-2   1-2   0   1    2
K Willis           DNP  - COACH'S DECISION                               
T Duncan           DNP  - SPRAINED LEFT ANKLE                            
T Parker           DNP  - SPRAINED LEFT ANKLE

My question to you is: IF Malik sucks so bad then how did we win an NBA le with him being our primary back up big?

HOW did we go 6-1 on that monster road trip in 03 without David Robinson? Remember? We went and bumped off Portland, LA and Sac in a row?

REMEMBER that game against Milwaukee where he filled in for Drob and scored 32 points?

Rasho and Horry have never come close to pulling down 22 boards in a game and Rasho has never come close to scoring 32 points in a game...and they have made a lot more starts than Malik.

Malik has started a grand total of 40 games in his career...his best rebounding game is better than Rasho and Horry and his best scoring game is better than Rasho.


THE reason you don't see him getting those opportunities now is because Pop has other options now, Pop can afford to be prickish right off the bat because he's got Horry.

Horry is damn good option...more often that not Horry is the answer..More often than not Malik is not going to get those opportunities on a team with Horry...but it's stupid to say he is garbage and it's stupid to not give him any chance whatsoever to impact a game...look at this LA game for example...

The addition of Horry has hurt Malik's game...but were you happy with Horry's play against Shaq and the Lakers? Horry is not always the answer.

Just don't forget what Malik has done when this team has needed him, he was a big reason we won that le in 03..and there's not a lot of guys running around the NBA that have a 20 20 game.

Oh yeah, he averaged 10 and 6 as a bench player that le season...better than any season Horry has had off the bench and better numbers than Rasho put up last season.

[ChumpDumper]

Then why was Malik able to play so well when he was a regular part of the rotation?

Then why have old farts beaten him out?

That's not because of his contract; you can't make that excuse.

His contract at the time was fair, we thought he would play at least 20-25 mpg -- , we even thought he would start. So what? He's not playing that now. His being beaten out of his minutes have nothing to do with the contract -- only message board ing has anything to do with that. Sure the Spurs have been looking to trade him -- why wouldn't they? You simply don't pay a guy $7 million a year to play 16 minutes per game. You can get on your high horse all you like and pontificate about "ignorant" Spur fans, but that weak take can never compete with common sense. I completely agree that Malik has qualities this team needs, but I won't pretend that he is unique or above criticism because of what he has done in the past. He has every opportunity to win back his spot in the rotation, to put Massenburg and Horry back in their originally planned roles, to play 20+ minutes per game -- in short: to be worth his contract.

When I say play him or trade him, there is no equivocation; Malik should either play the minutes and role he was originally signed to perform or he should be gone. That's it.

[SPARKY]

Sorry, but that article pretty much vindicates what I and a few others here have been saying for some time. Nice try though.

[ChumpDumper]

What does it validate?

Play him or trade him.

What part of that do you not understand?

You want him to play. Fine.

[Spurgal]

The Spurs don't need Malik Rose, they haven't all year or last year. Get over it.

I am starting to wonder If AHF and SequSpur are the same person...They both seem to always be making such bitter comments about Malik...

[Mark in Austin]

The article only says

Popovich told Rose during last season's exit interview the team probably would continue to explore trade opportunities involving him. The Spurs' stance hasn't changed. With Tony Parker's salary set to increase by almost $7 million next season and Duncan, Nesterovic, Manu Ginobili, Brent Barry and Bruce Bowen also holding long-term contracts, the franchise eventually will need to trim payroll.

Malik is the one on the block because his performance doesn't equal his contract amount. If he was playing the way he played the year before he got his contract, and the way the Spurs expected him to play - as a perennial 6th man of the year candidate, for instance - the team would be trying to figure out other options to trim payroll. I agree with CD. If he earns his minutes, he stays and plays. This is the same round and round bull we went though with the [FREE STEPHEN JACKSON crap a few seasons ago. Like Jack, nobody is denying Malik's talent. But if you want to get minutes playing for Pop, you have to know your role, generally play within the parameters of the offensive system, and most importantly, play Spurs defense. Once Jack learned that and did that, he freed himself. Malik is fully capable of doing the same.

Marcus, you're argument on this issue is pretty counter-intuitive. You say that the Spurs want to trade Malik to get rid of his contract. If that is the case, then why bury him at the end of the bench? You can't trade a guy that makes Malik's money if the league percieves him as a 10th or 12th man.

If there was some sinister plan on the Spurs part to trade him regardless of his play, they would be making absolutely sure Malik would get enough consistent playing time to ensure that he has value in other team's eyes.

If you have an asset you want to spotlight in order to build up trade interest from other teams in that asset, you don't banish him to the end of the bench and never play him. That makes it less likely he'll be traded, not more so. To think the Spurs have reduced his role and his minutes in order to facilitate a trade is just plain stupid. That is the fundamental flaw in your arguement.