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loving that partthe Spurs' bench ranks second in the league in scoring (43 points per game) and first in rebounding (19.3 per game) and assists (9.5 per game).
Spurs enjoying bench boost
Jeff McDonald
The most intense basketball battles in San Antonio this season haven't always occurred at the AT&T Center. Some of them haven't been in front of any fans at all.
Some of the toughest, grittiest, winner-take-all-basketball has been played in an unmarked gym on the city's Northwest side, away from the prying eyes of the public and with pride as the only spoils.
Those scrimmages between the Spurs' first and second units can get pretty chippy, say those who have seen them.
“We'd toss it up in a scrimmage, and it was almost like a game atmosphere,” guard Keith Bogans said. “One team would win one day, the other team would win the next.”
Eleven games into the season, that dynamic has often transferred to actual games played in front of actual crowds. Squint your eyes just right, at the court or at the box score, and it can be difficult to tell the Spurs' starters from the reserves.
Heading into tonight's game against Golden State, the Spurs' reserves can lay legitimate argument to the le “Best Bench in the NBA.”
Anchored by ascending point guard George Hill, the Spurs' bench ranks second in the league in scoring (43 points per game) and first in rebounding (19.3 per game) and assists (9.5 per game). It hasn't missed a beat with Manu Ginobili, a former NBA Sixth Man of the Year, sidelined with a groin strain.
“We're a deep team,” guard Roger Mason Jr. said. “It's everybody's responsibility to bring it. If you're coming off the bench, you have to bring it quicker.”
When Spurs coach Gregg Popovich looks down his bench, he sees perhaps the deepest team he's ever coached. He also sees a puzzle still in need of piecing together.
“The way our team sits right now, there is a lot of flexibility,” Popovich said. “That's a good thing, as long as at some point in the season, that flexibility is not just flexibility but is turned into a little bit more of a solid, consistent set of choices.”
Any discussion of the Spurs' bench begins with the question of who, exactly, is on it. Leading up to Monday's 112-98 victory over Milwaukee, Popovich had used a different starting lineup in five consecutive games.
“Right now, it's just sort of interesting and creative and fun to see how combinations are going to work together,” Popovich said. “We're learning from them as much as they're learning from us.”
The combinations Popovich used against Milwaukee seemed to work wonders.
For long stretches, the Spurs' second unit outplayed their first. Matt Bonner ended with 23 points, including six 3-pointers. Hill scored 14. Mason had 11. In all, the Spurs' bench produced 59 points, six more than the Spurs' starters.
“We want to be a complete basketball team,” Hill said. “We have a lot of guys who can step in and make plays. Our bench is doing a great job of giving us a spark.”
Only one bench in the NBA has outscored the Spurs' on a per-game basis. The Warriors' reserves average 44.3 points, but that number doesn't apply to the injury-riddled team that will limp into the AT&T Center tonight.
The Warriors are likely to suit up only the minimum eight players. They won't even have their coach, Don Nelson, who skipped the road trip while fighting pneumonia.
“They've had injuries and illness, but they'll come in firing the pill,” Popovich said. “In this league, when you take somebody for granted, you have problems.”
Nobody is taking the Spurs' second unit for granted. Especially not the Spurs' first unit.
“That's what we need,” Tim Duncan said. “On nights when the energy isn't there, if somebody isn't playing well, we need somebody to step up. That's a big part of becoming a team.”
loving that partthe Spurs' bench ranks second in the league in scoring (43 points per game) and first in rebounding (19.3 per game) and assists (9.5 per game).
Keep it up, bench.
w00t!
nice to know that about our bench
So the Lakers are a 5 man Juggernaut... how about their bench? where do they rank?
Doesn't really matter. Phil Jackson is not afraid of playing his starters for as long as needed.
this doesn't mean anything. pop's "starters" are just that - players that start the game. minutes for pop's starters are not implied to be huge, unlike the NBA standard.
anyone have stats for this? starters time vs bench time ingame for all teams?
It might matter. Especially in a seven game series.
The NBA has totally since the days of the Knicks team of the 70's. Red Holzman had Phil Jackson, Mike Roirdan and a backup center as his only subs. Otherwise the starters did all the heavy lifting. Today's game requires a good second unit to save wear and tear on the stars. The Spurs are in a great position not to overuse their players.
It didn't last season. Don't know why you think it would be any different this season.
“That's what we need,” Tim Duncan said. “On nights when the energy isn't there, if somebody isn't playing well, we need somebody to step up. That's a big part of becoming a team.”
Translation: "Sometimes we take too many plays off, and now if we do we will sit on the bench."
Surprisingly Matt Bonner has been one of the biggest producers off the bench ever since he got pulled from that starting lineup. He's actually rebounding more, which to me is just as much help as his 3pt shooting.
Bonner is a free to be Bonner. Starting, put him in a role that he is not suited for. Bonner is actually a pretty tough guy with a gunslinger mentality when not starting. When starting he always defers to the main players and usually has to play against more athletic players.
Having a good 2nd unit usually minimizes the risks of "down" games and injuries by starters throughout the regular season, and allow the team to get the best regular season record possible while keeping everybody fresh.
Another +ve is that it allows for different match ups, and can give the opposition nightmares to prepare for you.
The playoffs are a little different, as the best 5 players should be on the court as much as possible. The format is best of 7, so your team can have a couple of off nights and still win the series. Your team's strengths and weaknesses are also being studied more carefully by the opposition, and element of surprise by throwing in a different lineup is minimized.
In other words, a strong bench is great for the regular season, but in the playoffs, it's still advantageous to the best 5 on the floor.
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