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Oh yes, they said, depth was a luxury. Oh yes, they said, only 4 were needed. Oh yes, they said, the owner's purse is much more important.
And the beat goes on.
Enjoy it, Spurs fans. You got what you wanted.
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
BOSTON — In the final minutes of the Spurs' victory in Charlotte on Wednesday night, Nick Van Exel stood on the sideline, writing down one of the team's sets as assistant coach Don Newman watched.
Though the game was nearly over, Van Exel's lesson continued.
"There are times where I was in the wrong place on a couple of plays," Van Exel said. "So I still have to get familiar with it and learn to just relax out on the court and not be in such a hurry."
Van Exel isn't alone in his haste. Through their first five games, the Spurs (4-1) have averaged 18 turnovers, a noticeable jump from last season's average of 13.7.
While some mistakes can be attributed to new players trying to learn the offense, some veterans also plead guilty to playing with too much exuberance.
"I think we go too fast some times to try to make stuff happen," point guard Tony Parker said. "We just have to let the game come to us, me or Manu (Ginobili) — every guard. We have to wait. We can't play too fast.
"And we can't forget we have Timmy (Duncan)."
The Spurs weathered 22 turnovers against Charlotte, 15 of which came in the first half. Coach Gregg Popovich lit into the team at halftime, only to watch the Bobcats bat away passes from Duncan and Parker early in the third quarter.
"We understood they were a team that got into the lanes and got their hands on a lot of balls," Duncan said, "and we still kind of fell into that trap."
The Spurs should expect more of the same tonight. While the Bobcats lead the NBA with 12.2 steals per game, Boston ranks second with 11.8.
Wednesday, the Spurs steadied themselves by leaning on Duncan in the third quarter. Fifteen of his 29 points came during a seven-minute stretch when the team expanded its lead to double digits.
"When Timmy gets the ball," Parker said, "we play with a better pace and more control."
Duncan and Parker each had five turnovers against the Bobcats, though some were the result of teammates not being prepared to receive a pass or not being in the proper place on the court. With a bruised right thigh robbing him of much of his explosiveness, Ginobili also hasn't played with his usual efficiency.
Not that he's the only one hurting. Brent Barry, whose back continues to improve, isn't expected to play tonight or Saturday in Washington. Michael Finley's groin injury doesn't appear serious, but the Spurs didn't practice Thursday, so team officials won't know if he'll be available to play against the Celtics until he gets on the court this morning.
If any good figures to come from the Spurs' recent string of injuries, it's that Van Exel will likely have more minutes playing with Duncan. This is Van Exel's first chance to team with a dominant big man since he left Shaquille O'Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers eight years ago.
With Barry and Finley sidelined Wednesday, Popovich started Van Exel next to Parker. While that may not hold true tonight — the Celtics have a bigger and more athletic backcourt than the Bobcats — Van Exel knows that any time on the court these days is time well spent.
"Tim's a guy who demands a lot of attention, so when me and him run pick-and-rolls, if I can figure out what he's doing, it makes my job a lot easier," he said. "(Wednesday), I hit him in a couple spots where he was already at, so I felt comfortable with that."
Oh yes, they said, depth was a luxury. Oh yes, they said, only 4 were needed. Oh yes, they said, the owner's purse is much more important.
And the beat goes on.
Enjoy it, Spurs fans. You got what you wanted.
you did not want nve or finely?
you knew both were getting up their with age
and barry has played more games then stephen jackson
for us to win the game tonite, good execution of plays, and duncan to carry this team, dominate and get to the line alot as possible.
The Green ballas are probably feelin damn good after nipping the superior Grizz at the buzzer.
Spurs needs to bring them back to earth with a thud.
The resident .
doesn't bashing the owner ever get old? I mean yes I feel the sme way you do, the Spurs should hav ea little more financial flexibility, but you bash on them EVERY SINGLE CHANCE you get. I think we all know where you stand on the issue.
What? Spurs always play like this...
SPURS have always had sloppy stretches but they are 4-1 and all but two teams in the NBA would change places right now.
No worries.
Dear Lord. Give it a rest already.
Why do we have to see a gaggle of girls express their unabashed love for Radoslav in every ing thread?
I apologize for trying to steer the discussion to something of greater significance and alarm.
Another swingman? Ok.You got what you wanted.
the only one who is getting what they wanted is your ass MB, and that is another excuse to act like a . It's not that the rest of us WANTED 4 swings, it's just what we ended up with. Why do you have to keep pushing this issue?? we signed Sanders, your asshole should have unpuckered by now.
true
This not only applies to MB, but a few others too.
Get over it and move on.
Wow. The Spurs signed a rookie to a nonguaranteed deal after they lost 2 of their 4 swingmen.
Get over what? Ownership is ing up and you guys want to pretend it isn't happening. that.
It's the same thing but at least they're supporting their cause, while you're just bashing the ownership.
That made no sense.
That's not one even I get ....Why do we have to see a gaggle of girls express their unabashed love for Radoslav in every ing thread?
That's not one even I get ....
Same here
We should all know by now that every mistake the Spurs make, every time they have a bad game, and every time a Spurs player gets injured that its the ownership's fault.
Signed
Marcus
LOL, this post reminds me of Rodney Stinson. You go Marcus.
Perhaps I missed it in the other half a million posts where you were bashing ownership, but who else can we sign again? And how much that would cost?
Did you run a model with confidence intervals of how likely 4 solid swingman is not enough on a team?
The selection has somewhat narrowed since the offseason. But you still have guys like GRobinson and GLynch available.
Probably 1 year at the vet's min for a player with 10+ yrs of experience. So $1 mil or so, prorated for the number of games left in the season, plus whatever foregone lux tax distributions there would be. The league also picks up a portion of that minimum salary, so the Spurs wouldn't pay the full salary.And how much that would cost?
Yeah, at 90% and 95% confidence levels. Anyways, it shouldn't be that hard to see that if you have a swingman rotation with 3 of the 4 guys you were carrying were older and some of them had injury problems before that you might need a little more depth.Did you run a model with confidence intervals of how likely 4 solid swingman is not enough on a team?
I don't see how some of you think this is something extravagant or something the Spurs have not done before. They carried 6 swingmen last season.
Now they are starting NVE at the 2, playing TP 40+ minutes and instead of letting a hurt Manu rest they are forced to play him. This is ridiculous, especially when you consider the cost of having what had been standard swingman depth in SA.
But whatever, go ahead and stick your heads in the sand and chatter about really important , like how cute Radoslav is or how Manu cut his hair or whatever.
Liar...That's not one even I get ....
Liar...
Is Rasho embalmbed?
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