Say what you want about Malik, but ...

[ducks]

no kidding
but learning and then having a guy like duncan to guard your back makes a differnce

[Rick Von Braun]

Against Shaq? Look at it this way...I think he can do a better job on Shaq than ing Horry and Rasho can...and maybe even Duncan as well...Shaq has owned Duncan when Ducnan has guarded him...Malik bodies his ass and makes him work...Malik is not afraid to get physical with him.

As for Yao.... Yao. Yao is not the problem when we play the Rockets...freaking Tmac and Pop's desire to get into a defensive pissing contest with Van Gundy are the problems....

You want Yao off the court? Go uptempo and run him...Have Parker and Manu drive on him...it's not like he's going to hammer them like Shaq would.

And this trade doesn't help with Yao anyway...

#1.He's still a half a foot taller than any mofo on our team...

#2.We are slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooower and probably can't run with the guys we got now...other than Horry.


You overlook that Malik matches up better with guys like Amare and he manhandles the Mavericks.....Remember when we played Phoenix? Drob couldn't even get on the court because Amare was too quick for him...and that's freaking David Robinson we are talking about...the fastest C in NBA history....and Rasho and Mohammed are going to keep up with him? Malik played well against Amare...and he played well against Phoenix all season long.

In answer to your question...I think at best we stayed the same in our ability to guard Shaq(to be fair I have read that Mohammed plays Shaq very well...and the guys that told me that have been right about everything else with Mohammed)...but I think it's a lateral movement...I don't think we match up with Houston any better...and I think we match up with a team like the Suns much worse...


And this guys does not know our D....or our O...and he doesn't have Malik's post season experience, his hustle or his agressiveness, but he does seem to have everyone of Malik's flaws...including getting his shot blocked back into his ing face 5 times a game...and Malik didn't suck in big games or the playoffs dammit...

We had some interesting discussion with Whottt in the chat during the game. A couple of comments...

If you see Robert Horry stat line tonight, you might think he had a very good game. The main problem is that I think Rob is getting old. He looks awfully slow sometimes. Rasho and Nazr looked very slow as well, in fact even slower than Rob. Quickness and hustle was needed tonight, and I am sure Malik would have provided that better than any other big tonight.

Not so long ago, I posted a comment in a thread explicitly saying that missing Tim Duncan would not be a problem so much in offense, because there are several guys that can score. The main problem is that Duncan is completely irreplaceable on D. We have no interior presence whatsoever without him.

Today the Spurs shot absoultely horrid from the field (.384), and still got 93 pts. The problem was not offense (even having a bad night by several players, like tonight), the problem was the team allowing Foster to abuse them in the paint --thanks Tim for all the training and tips you gave him after several summers --. We got outrebounded (+12) and outhustled badly in the paint and this is unacceptable.

Without Tim in the middle, we are very soft defensively, and this is a problem because the entire defensive system is predicated on a strong post presence. Our guards now have to double team and converge in the post more often because our post is weak. That leaves perimeter players even further open. A good team like Indy exploited this to perfection... when a guard went to double team on the paint, they rotated the ball fast and always found a guy open in the perimeter. Spurs D is predicated on funneling the opponent guards to the baseline, and a shotblocker would be waiting in the paint. Well, with TimD out, we have no shotblocking ability whatsoever, so this doesn't work anymore. The Spurs now have to change a little their defensive schemes due to different personnel.

While Malik would not have helped on the shotblocking problem, he would have at least moved his feet fast on D and hustle like crazy to get rebounds. I am pretty sure Foster does not get as many rebounds as tonight if Malik is around.

Anyway, it is futil to complain about the trade now. I am very concerned about D w/o Duncan, and IMHO there is a real problem there. It is time for Rasho, Horry, Nazr and TonyM to step up their games.

The time is now.

[ducks]

spurs will have their hustle d with scola hopefully next year
however spurs have playoffs first

[CHAMPS AGAIN]

get over it people malik is gone

[MannyIsGod]

timvp, Whottt, Marcus, and Rick all have it right in this thread.

This team really pissed me off tonight, but in a way I'm glad so that Pop can reap what he sowed.

[Spurgal]

It's okay to say that Pop Is getting what he deserves!

His so called great trade Is back firing on his ass!

[exstatic]

You people act like Malik Rose is a difference maker. He's not. He's a role player who has stepped up some in the past, but even with that huge effort against Seattle in the playoffs in '02, the Spurs still lost that game.

[MannyIsGod]

He is a difference maker. Or did you our championship runs?

[Das Texan]

Nazr needs to get it through his skull that when he gets committed to playing defense, he will take off in this league big time.


Malik Rose generally would give great effort. If he made a few million less he is still a Spur.


I hope Scola brings the defensive intensity next year that we are not seeing out of Nazr right now, because thats in many ways what that whole trade was about in the long run.

[PM5K]

I see you put together his stats when he started, good job but out of curiosity what is the Spurs record when he starts for Tim Duncan?

I tend to agree with what Pop said, and that was basically that what's done is done so get the over it.

Of course I know that what we do here is post messages and it's a lot more fun to post things that will get people talking so I don't have a problem with it but even if I did feel Malik should still be here I wouldn't really get into posting it.

[MI21]

You people act like Malik Rose is a difference maker. He's not. He's a role player who has stepped up some in the past, but even with that huge effort against Seattle in the playoffs in '02, the Spurs still lost that game.

Did you even read the stats timvp posted on the first page about how Malik produces when he starts?

[exstatic]

What are the win loss stats when he starts FOR TIM? I don't GAF about him starting along side of Tim for Dave. I did a little quick research for this year, and I believe that they are 1-1. They beat the bottom feeding Bobcats, but lost to the playoff Wiz, yes, even WITH St. Malik in the lineup.

He is a difference maker. Or did you our championship runs?

We'll have to disagree on this one. Steven Jackson was a difference maker in '03. Jarren Jackson was a difference maker in '99. Malik brought the lunch bucket. I'm not saying he didn't contribute, he just wasn't a game changer, taking the team on his back for critical stretches.

[MI21]

I'm not saying he didn't contribute, he just wasn't a game changer, taking the team on his back for critical stretches.

Game 2 against Phoenix, 2003.

Game 2 against Dallas, 2003.

Game 5 against New Jersey, 2003.

[whottt]

We'll have to disagree on this one. Steven Jackson was a difference maker in '03. Jarren Jackson was a difference maker in '99. Malik brought the lunch bucket. I'm not saying he didn't contribute, he just wasn't a game changer, taking the team on his back for critical stretches.

?

NBA.com


What do you call that? Among others...

That'd be Rasho's career high...


I have no doubt that this is some form of karmic payback for our headedness.

But I am pretty sure Duncan appreciated having a post partner go off for 25....since David never did it in those playoffs.

And I hope it isn't lost on you that without that monster from Malik we go down 0-2 to the Mavs on our own homecourt.


Do you feel Rasho or Mohammed are going to do that in that situation? I sure as don't.

[timvp]

How soon Malik Haters forget.

Spurs fans have been spoiled by David Robinson and Tim Duncan. They think everyone who is a power forward or center should play like one of them. They celebrate when the Spurs trade Malik Rose for a guy with the same vitals as their two blueprints.

Too bad the result has so far turned out to be ...

[leemajors]

the trade is not blowing up in pop's face. duncan spraining his ankle is what is wrong here, folks. even with malik in the lineup they woulda won maybe one of the last 3 games? malik bricking outside shots isn't gonna raise the team fg percentage. get over it, duncan is irreplacable. if they lose 3 in a row with him in the lineup, then you have cause to worry. we're not gonna miss the playoffs, and may even get a more favorable matchup not being the #1 seed in the west. these losses are tough to take, but the future isn't entirely bleak. winning out the last month or so of the season didn't do us much good last year, so let's see if this year's finish has better things in store for us later in the playoffs?

[baseline bum]

Robert Horry sucks. How did that scrub ever get Malik's place in the rotation?

[Russ]

Look at the bright side -- at least we got rid of two first round draft picks!

[ducks]

can we move on

[OM_fever]

Respect former Spurs player is great and that' s what I appreciate with Spurs fan, but please when it's over it's over. Malik would have changed nothing, you only use those losts as an argument to cry about the past. Spurs remains the best team & above all the best balanced team in the league with or without Malik. With this trade, we lost now a dynamic (big) man but we gain a better rotation inside, and that's quite harder to find than someone with the package of Malik (athletism & rebounds).

We didn't trade one of our major players, only someone who had a high salary without production expected for that amount of bucks...

Hope great futur for him but now I only say: Go Nazr, Go Spurs...

[Ishta]

This is precisely what happens when you make midseason trades based on saving the ownership some coin rather than on what is in the best interest of the team when it comes to playing the ing game. Again, I'd like to reiterate a hearty you to all of you dumb s who liked that trade because Nazr Mohammed is a couple inches taller than Malik Rose.

Lest we forget that the Spurs gave up two 1st round picks in that deal.

But it saved Holt Cat $ so that means it was good.

you.

Pretty much says it all.. I think the trade was a mistake during the middle of the season... Sure looks like it ed up chemistry to me

[boutons]

"Sure looks like it ed up chemistry to me"

and the numerous injuries have no effect? The Spurs chemsitry, expressed as toughness, hasn't been their all season. The injuries are making the softness undeniably, unavoidably evident.

[Ishta]

How soon Malik Haters forget.

Spurs fans have been spoiled by David Robinson and Tim Duncan. They think everyone who is a power forward or center should play like one of them. They celebrate when the Spurs trade Malik Rose for a guy with the same vitals as their two blueprints.

Too bad the result has so far turned out to be ...

[Ishta]

I never said the injuries didn't affect us..Of course they do a moron could figure that out. Malik was not the best player, however when you take a player out of the equation that has been there for 7 years who would come off the bench with fire coming out of his rear chemistry changes. Who else does this? I would love if someone else would. We need this kind of play right now so hopefully the Spurs will wake the up, and play the way we know they can.

[Jimcs50]

Indy was w/o its top 3 players.

All teams have injuries.

The Spurs could not beat New Orleans the way they are playing.

They lost 3 games and were down by double digits against teams that have not played very well this year. Detroit lost two straight since beating SA.