Walker and Posey have a lot more lateral quickness than Duncan, particularly the plantar faciitis version of Duncan. And you may have missed the part where they switched Bowen to cover Howard and had Finley on Dirk.
The thing about Posey, Walker and Haslem is they are all very good rebounders for their size. You put one of them on Dirk and not only can they keep up with him, they also can keep him off the boards. Finley and Bowen are both bad rebounders for their size so it just doesn't work.
Not having anyone to guard Dirk and rebounding were the two main flaws last year.
And I'm still waiting for the Spurs to address either matter. , ,
Bingo!! Give that man a prize.
You couldn't be more wrong about that,
SA series vs. Mia Series:
FG% 52% vs. 39%
PPG 27.1 vs. 22.8
RPG 13.3 vs. 10.8
Pretty big differences there
The only unmovables are Tim-Manu-TP-Bowen. Depending on the scenario, everyone else is expendable -- including Finley.
Not to accuse you of revisionism or anything, but I could have sworn that the day after the season you went on and on about how we would have owned the Mavs if we had only played our centers. So the Spurs go out and get some centers that they have more confidence in, and now center wasn't the real problem at all?
WTF?
More Confidence??
"Spurs officials acknowledge Elson and Butler might not provide the same level of production as Mohammed and Rasho Nesterovic..."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/s...n.1585d2f.html
So in your opinion the Spurs signed the centers they did to kill minutes in the regular season and keep Finley fresh for when he takes over as the starting PF again in next year's playoffs?
That is the opinion of the Spurs themselves-- Elson and Butler are not as good as Rasho and Nazr- just cheaper
If Horry pulls his head out, they are place holders and minute-eaters for him. That, to me, has always been a big part of the irony. People already liked Rob because of his 2005 heroics and they don't seem to want to pin blame on him, but he is the guy who sucked so much against Dallas. That series was SUPPOSED to be for him. So many claim the Spurs went small because Pop lost faith in Nazr and Rasho- when actually it had much more to do with having no faith in Rob. No one in their right mind expected Rasho to match up against Dallas- but surely, Horry was supposed to and he played awful. Pop played Finley instead of Rob- even in the clutch.
Elson and Butler will do just as well as Nazr and Rasho.
Yoo do realize that the #5 big man from last season- Oberto- actually has a chance to start on opening night? People still don't want to believe me. No way the Spurs put any pressure on Butler and depending on whom the Spurs play- if Tim is at center, Oberto is at PF. Wait and see.
Why would the Spurs not put pressure on Butler if he's capable? I can see Oberto's starting because he knows the system better, but if Butler has a strong training camp, who knows?
I see Rasho's has reemerged.
Butler has the ability to be one of the best center's in the league, and after a season next to Tim, don't be surprised if hes well on his way there.
Butler definitely has a lot of upside. As a Spurs fan you have to hope he realizes some of it before Duncan passes his prime in a couple of years.
Not "provid[ing] the same level of production" is not the same thing as being less effective in the playoffs. Even if their PERs are lower, if they can provide us productive minutes in the playoffs, that will be quite a step up from this past season.
Playing our centers would have helped. Strategically speaking, I feel it would have. The discussion on our (non) use of our centers focused on what we had available for use in that series. Not playing them was a strategic and personnel mistake. It's kind of pointless to complain about not having a long SF in that situation, because that's along the same lines as saying if we had Wade on our team we could have won.
What's the point? You don't talk about players you wish you had to use, you talk about about the ones you had sitting on the pine pulling splinters out of their rear ends while the Mavs waltzed in for layup after layup.
Since then, it appears that the Twin Towers concept is basically dead, based off the moves of the front office so far this summer. Not because it should, but based off the actions of Pop and RC they feel it is.
My comment about us needing a long three is because that was the penultimate personnel problem heading into the summer for this team, and it's still there three months later. X's and O's talk for the Mavs series has been beaten to death and shouldn't side track this thread about roster moves.
Fair enough -- put in that context, I don't really disagree with you, except to say that I think their hope is that they can get good playoff minutes out of both Elson and Butler. And I agree -- getting younger and more athletic depth on the wing was our number two priority this offseason. They've added some interesting pieces inside, but haven't addressed the perimeter rotation yet (except for a third point).
I'm still hopeful that they are planning on addressing that area through a trade -- the have several potential pieces to trade, and things may open up more after August 21 when we can include Williams in a package. The other thing to remember is that, as an expiring contract, Williams' value will continue to grow from now until February. Even if we start the season with the roster we have in place, there are likely to be opportunities to trade up after some of the front offices realize that their teams suck and look to cut salary.
Correct. He did start some games for the NYK, yes?
Teams don't usually shoot 75% like Dallas did in one half. The Mavs are good shooters, but not that good. I don't know of a team in the league that could have stopped them on that roll in that one particular game.
happens.
Spurs tried to do a trade with them last year I think, offering Rasho plus???
They probably needed a center, but wouldn't take Rasho.
Horry has had a fortunate career. He's made some big shots at crucial times--and everyone remembers those. I don't know it that's his luck, but how many shots did he miss that we remember.
Throughout his career, he's also had a reputation, fully earned, of disappearing into the wallpaper at times when he's really needed.
Since coming into the league, he has had all the physical assets to become a league superstar, but he's never even been a reliable star on his various teams. I warned everyone when he came to the Spurs that he'd give you some occasional thrills, but would break your heart in the end.
He didn't do much of anything against the Mavs and I don't forecast much improvement next year as his legs get another year older.
Yeah, I could have sworn in was closer than that. However it's the difference between shooting jump shots and taking layups. The free throws brought the points per game up and the lack of centers allowed him to pull in boards. My statement was completely wrong, though.
That's not fair. Horry has never been quick, a good defender or a good shot blocker. That's what the Spurs asked him to do.
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