Elson eyes playing time
Web Posted: 03/19/2007 10:52 PM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News
As Francisco Elson will tell you, it's one thing to lose an eye; it's another to actually lose it.
So when Boston's Rajon Rondo raked him in the face Saturday night, inadvertently jabbing a finger (or two) into his left eye, Elson reacted as most would. He crumbled to the court, writhed in pain and pressed his hand tightly against his eye socket.
Unable to see, Elson reached up for a towel and instead yanked on the tie of Spurs trainer Will Sevening, choking him.
"I'm thinking if (Rondo) popped my eye out, I'm going to have a fit; somebody's going down," Elson said. "After a while, I felt it was still there, so I relaxed."
The Spurs' almost-one-eyed bandit would now like to steal back some of the playing time he's lost over the past two weeks. Foul trouble and inconsistency have limited him to an average of 16 minutes in the past six games.
"The 13-game winning streak got me a little too relaxed," Elson said. "I know I have to pick it back up. I will pick it up."
Elson replaced Fabricio Oberto in the starting lineup Feb. 7 in Washington, and the Spurs proceeded to win 15 of their next 17 games. In back-to-back victories in New Jersey and Detroit, which started the team's 13-game winning streak, Elson totaled 20 points and 25 rebounds.
Of late, however, Elson has had trouble staying on the court. Less than two minutes into the second half of Thursday's loss in Milwaukee, he picked up his third foul and was replaced by Robert Horry. A week earlier in Sacramento, he collected five fouls in 12 minutes.
Depending on how Elson and the Spurs' other big men are performing, coach Gregg Popovich — as he did in the fourth quarter Saturday against Boston — will sometimes elect to play small.
"The jury's still out," Popovich said. "We're hoping (Elson) can make me keep him out there with good play. It's really up to those guys to help me make a decision based on their play.
"I don't want to make a decision on paper. I want to do it based on what I see on the court."
The Spurs have seen enough to know Elson has the potential to help.
He had 12 points and a career-high 18 rebounds in the victory over the Pistons, then provided nine points and eight boards against his former Denver teammates.
While Elson occasionally has trouble receiving passes — a problem that plagued one of last season's centers, Nazr Mohammed — his quickness has given the Spurs another option on the break.
"If I see somebody running, I'm going like a dog," Elson said. "That's my game.
"If you look at it now, everybody's sprinting. It's not just one person. I've heard in the past it was just Tony (Parker) one-on-five, but now it's not."
But after missing nearly a month because of a right shoulder injury, Elson also still sometimes looks like he's thinking rather than reacting. The Spurs' defense requires quick decisions, and if Elson is late getting across the lane to help, his mistake can yield a layup, as well as expose him to an unnecessary foul.
"Every once in a while, a play will confound him or a defensive rotation," Popovich said. "It's pretty natural for somebody who's new to the program; it takes a while to figure it out. Usually, people's second years are better than their first."
The Spurs would benefit if Elson can speed up his learning curve. After playing in Denver the first three seasons of his career, he said he's learning to adjust to his new team's expectations.
"They've won three (championships)," Elson said. "Me? I'm coming from a team that won a division. I have to prepare better and be focused at all times.
"That," Elson said, smiling and pointing to his head, "requires more working of the brain."
Elson's left eye at least seems to be functioning better. He was able to return in Saturday's game and, though his eye remains red, his blurred vision has decreased in the two days since.
"There's still a little blur when I move my eye, but I'm OK," Elson said.
"I'm Cyclops."
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We aren't going anywhere this post season without him. He's our only real hope to get Pop off of small ball.
Here's to hoping his D and especially his rebounding pick up because he has the potential to do great things for this team
damn
I'm a bit slow today guys
If 12 hours is a bit
Elson will channel Dwight Howard in the playoffs.
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