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RJ needs to start, if you're going to start Manu you bench Mason IMO
San Antonio Spurs
Tim Duncan at center. Antonio McDyess at one forward spot and Manu Ginobili at the other. Roger Mason and Tony Parker at the guard spots. Richard Jefferson as sixth man of the year. With "Walk TPG" still intact and (hopefully) healthy, Pop can experiment with McDyess at power forward (moving Duncan to center on occasion might be a smart move on the back end of his career) and run Mason at the 2 as Ginobili and Jefferson share minutes and scoring. Off the bench, Jefferson (canceled wedding and all) can be more dangerous scoring 15 points per game than he was in Jersey or Milwaukee putting up 20 ppg, and he's a great insurance policy in case Ginobili goes down again. Almost more important, Matt Bonner. If he continues to play well and can spell minutes for Duncan and McDyess, the Lakers will have trouble in the West.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...7&sportCat=nba
Not sure about RJ coming off the bench, but who knows...I know Scoop can be full of sometimes, but I thought it'd be interesting to post.
RJ needs to start, if you're going to start Manu you bench Mason IMO
Interesting idea. It could definitely work but I'm not sure I'm a fan of playing Ginobili at the 3 right off the bat. It also leaves us without a great defensive player on the wing at the outset of the game (granted, we didn't have that with Finley last year either, but Jefferson is a considerable upgrade over Manu on defense). I think it is of considerable value to try and keep opposing team's lead perimeter players cool from the beginning rather than having to play fire extinguisher later.
manu at sf?? ah.....no thanks. RJ WILL start. we've had a hole at sf since sean retired and you're telling me that the answer has been manu all this time?
prefer ginoboli to come off the bench with GHILL + BLAIR, we need scoring from the 2nd unit....if ghill cant handle the ball, gino will bring it up
Good point. One of the reasons you can play George Hill as a PG is because you have Ginobili backing him up in the second unit. I wouldn't want to break that duo up if I could help it. Whenever Hill is on the floor it would be best to have Gino there also.
I don't like that as a starting lineup, but RJ's got to rest some time. So it's still a good 5 man lineup to use sometime during the game.
2nd unit must have at leasts 2 veterans on the court...ginoboli + and a big to play alongside blair or mahinmi...this case mcdyness is either start or bench
I was thinking about that a bit after I made my "Minutes" thread a few days ago (and after Hairston's solid SL play continued). I think you need to keep a little bit of size on the court at the 3 at all times for defensive reasons. Hairston seems worthy of a few minutes in the rotation and as Jefferson's primary reserve it could work out beautifully.
RJ will likely play around 35 minutes a game and Hairston could chip in 10-12 when hes out. Then you round out the wings rotation with Manu/Mason and a handful for spare minutes (6-8) for Hill at the 2. That leaves Finley out but...who cares.
However, if RJ comes off the bench I am NOT a fan of starting Hairston.
Um, Bowen?
Didn't GHill put up more assists / points when he was duo'd with Mason at the beginning of last year?
"Walk TPG"
Gino=G
RJ=F/G
RJ needs to start.
I admire Scoop Jackson's ability to continue to receive a paycheck for the product he puts out.
The problem i see with the Spurs lineup is not one of offense, it's one of defense.
Manu is an erratic defensive player and this sometimes leaves him out of position. But this also leads to him defleting a lot of passes and getting his fair share of steals...he simply has a knack for that type of thing. It's sometimes hit-or-miss with manu, but he always hustles and challenges jump shots...so i would never consider him a defensive liabilty. Keep in mind, this is with him at the 2-Guard spot. At the SF position he wouldn't have the length or the strength to hang with a lot of the better SF's. Guys like Carmelo and LeBron would be way too much for Manu to handle. I would definitely consider him a defensive liabilty when playing small forward.
Roger Mason, on the other hand, hustles and challenges shots, but he doesn't have the athletic ablity or the same craftiness on the defensive end as Manu. He's somewhat of a liablity.
Taking a 6'9, athletic guy like RJ out of the lineup would definitely hurt defensively. It would pretty much leave two big holes where the opposing team's top scorers are going to be playing. If RJ comes in with the right at ude, i don't see any reason why he won't be a solid defensive player...he's definitely equipped with the right tools.
The majority of the lineup options should not have a problem putting points on the board. So the Spurs need to focus on fielding lineups that are strong defensively. The Spurs will not advance past teams like Dallas, Portland and LA if their strategy is to turn games into an offensive chess match.
Blair will kill if he gets to play with Manu. THis will be the best bench in the NBA with those two, if they are healthy.
I'm tired of all this "Manu needs to come off the bench" crap. He needs to start.
Why?I'm tired of all this "Manu needs to come off the bench" crap. He needs to start.
I don't know if I like the idea of Manu coming off the bench with a bunch of rookies and a sophmore. If we want him to survive until June I think maybe he should start with Tim, Tony, and RJ in the spot of Mason. After so many years of coming off the bench he's not the same Sixth Man that everybody wants him to always be.
I think Pop stated his intentions to use RJ as their primary perimeter defender, the role that Bruce had for so many years.
That will be a tough act to follow, particularly consecutive games played. Only Paul Pierce's hand chop in Bruce's first season (23 games) and then Chris Paul's antics (1 game suspension) kept Bruce from going longer.
I'm not a big fan of this as a common line-up. But a value of our roster right now is an ability to put out gadget squads like that.
'Cause he's 32 now. The spark of the bench crap doesn't apply any more.
I say let's do what 99% of all the other teams do and start our best 5 players: Tony-Manu-RJ-Dice-Tim and bring Hill-Mason-Blair-Mahinmi off the bench.
And stick with that, don't change it every two games, give the guys some time to get comfortable in their roles.
Manu isn't a forward and shouldn't play forward when you have the very capable Richard Jefferson on your team. Manu is a guard...period. Small ball could allow something but I'd put Mason at the forward instead of Manu and that idea is not one I like at all. Let the Spurs coaches pcik the line up these ESPN/media guys will say anything trying to pretend unbias ways for the Spurs to beat their favored team, any team that does have black n sliver and some media starlet to clamor over. Spurs got this...keep your day job Scoop until they pull your plug as well. (Stephen A anyone?)
They both can start, bring Mason off the bench.
You waste a lot of Manu's value starting him. You have enough offense in the starting squad, enough shooters, enough slashers, enough facilitators.
Sliding him to the 2nd squad, like usual, ramps up his productivity and value, and creates a huge headache for opposing coaches. I agree these young players aren't as seasoned as we'd like, but they are dynamic, hungry, and learning.
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