Bench Scoring

[CyberBob]

I think it's obvious that Barry will provide scoring off the bench. But who else will contribute? If Malik can get on the floor (that's a big if), he'll score. I'm not betting that he'll even be a Spur for the entire season. Anybody want to guess who'll step up?

[Nikos]

Beno and Devin will have to score in spots.

Horry is more of a intangibles type of guy who can give you a bit of everything, and still be a factor in the clutch. But as a whole is not a 'scorer'.

Malik is going to have to play a very important role off the bench. He has to be a scorer and rebounder in 22-26mpg.

The team will be in great shape if Rose, Barry, Beno, and Devin are all contributing off the bench (Beno and Devin to a lesser extent early on).

It would be nice if Beno could be a Speedy type backup. This could give a potential 3 quality bench scorers/contributors over the course of a regular season. And of course Horry who will be a stablizer.

Right now the only guy who will likely provide a lot off the bench is Brent Barry. Malik can also provice a lot, but will Pop allow him? Will Malik allow himself?

Lot of questions about the bench -- but the pieces are there.

[Kori Ellis]

Barry, Malik and Devin will need to get points off the bench. If Malik doesn't get minutes, I guess that will fall to Horry/Marks. But I really hope Malik gets minutes.

I hope Beno is healthy and gets 10 minutes per night too. But if he doesn't, then Barrry can easily fill in that time at the point.

[ducks]

it is about time rose is in shape

[Solid D]

It's always better to have a balance of guys who can create their own shots and guys who can knock down shots from 15 feet and out. The Spurs didn't have enough of the latter last season, whereas, that balance was definitely there with the 2002-03 championship team (Claxton, Gino, Kerr, Ferry). The nice thing about Claxton was he could hit mid-range jumpers and it paid off in the clincher versus the Nets. If Beno can do that, the bench of Devin, Barry, & Beno can provide scoring especially if Rose is in there hustling for extra chances like in seasons of old (pre 2003-04). Horry's outside shooting will just be gravy, then, and not so disappointingly critical.

[Nikos]

At some point this team just has to become better on offense then they were last season. Although it is nearly impossible for them to really be any better statisically than they were last season on defense, they should remain dominant in this area.

It starts with the main three Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili. They must be a bit more efficient last year in terms of scoring and also in terms of ast/to's with the backcourt. Overall efficiency on offense must improve for them.

The bench can also make a difference here. Last season it was pretty much only Ginobili in terms of offense (unless Malik actually played). The rest of the bench was just defense/intagilbles.

Overall I am looking for a few things that have to get better for the offense to be fundamentally good. Duncan and TP need to hit their FTs, Ginobili needs to cut down on turnovers, and the bench needs to do some scoring to makeup for Bowen and Rasho's offensive inefficencies over the course of the season. Although Rasho shoots a reasonable %, he NEVER gets to the line. And thats a main reason he hasn't lived up to Drob. A big part of that is lack of aggressiveness around the hoop offensively.

I don't expect Bowen or Rasho to improve much on offense. Maybe Bowen can if he ONLY TAKES and MAKES threes. But Rasho should be about the same as always -- just hope he gets to the line more and works to become more aggressive on D.

In general I hope TP and Manu can improve at their own reasonable rate (if they have it left in them). But if they don't get MUCH better this season, I at least hope TP's shoots his FT's better, gets to the line more, hits his threes better -- while Manu cuts down on his turnovers and improves his scoring efficiency AND consistency on potentially more shot attempts. In other words make his open threes more and chippy layups that he shouldn't be missing.