Get Raja Bell great shooter/Defender even if to trade Jefferson

Even though Pop never appears to be too concerned about the Spurs record, it’s probably not the best time to give a lot of minutes to unproven players. It looks like Pop is trying to build a strong foundation (rotation) and will be happy to incorporate some changes later on, slowly.

If you look at the rotations Pop started with the exact same team that finished last year, incorporating the newcomers a bit, then went for strong changes (e.g. benching Bonner). Once this rotation is set and the new players (mostly McDyess and Jefferson) know their place then it will be time to give more minutes to the bench (Blair, Hairston) and finally check the end of the bench options (Mahinmi, Haislip).

Another thought about Mahinmi – not playing him this year might be the best to get him to sign a really cheap contract over the summer, since other teams won’t have a lot of cash and he’s really going to be an unproven commodity to all the other teams in the league (except the Spurs who see him in practice).

Its actually Yawn Mahinmi..lol. Marcus Haisleep did score 2 points on a dunk?

Our Blair Bear should have at least 20mpg for him to get going on his lack of D. We need more rebounds now because most of our opponents did get some offensive reb and get some 2nd chance pts.

I think Pop wants to see what the others can do now that the team appears to be gelling both on the offensive end and defensive end.

For all the flak Pop has been getting about how he plays personnel, it does appear he is doing what people are asking in time.

If the lineup with Malik and Marcus wouldn’t have given that much of the lead, they probably would have seen the full 4th quarter.

He seems to have worked on his handle and while he still doesn’t have good speed he is able to occassionally get to the rim, which is a new development. He has some off speed moves that work decently. Also his passing has improved. I still don’t think he should play PG but I’m happy with him as 3rd string PG. Also I think it’s clear he’s deserved a consistent role off the bench ahead of Finley.

Since I made the mistake, I might as well make up for it.

For all those doubters of Duncan. Since he’s come back from injury (last 6 games):

33.4 mpg
20.8 ppg
60.4 fg% (8.2 fgm/14.8 fga)
85 FT% (4.5 ftm/5.3 fta)
10.7 rpg (3 off/game)
4.8 apg
1.7 to/game
1.8 bpg

1) The team defense is getting better, especially without Duncan in. This is good for the regular season. If you take Ellis’ fantastic performance out of the mix, Warriors shot 39% (24-61) from the field

Blair looked a little bit better on his rotations. But, I still don’t trust his defense consistently if the game is tight.

2) The 2nd unit is able to maintain a lead for a long duration of time. Pop pushed his luck when he tried to do it for the full 4th quarter. But hey, Duncan and Parker still got a lot of rest.

3) Parker looks pretty good out there. In his 3 games back, he’s averaging:
18.3ppg/7 apg/4.6 rpg

His turnovers are a little high and his FG needs some work (outside of the GS game)

4) Dare I say, Mason looks like he’s finding his comfort level off the bench. Not sure who was talking to him, but now he’s driving to the basket and dumping it to the obvious open guy. Or he’s making solid jump shots.

In his last 4 games:
12.6 ppg/3 rpg/3.5 apg/1 tpg/23 mpg
56.5% fg (5.3 fgm/8.6 fga)
41.7% 3pt (1.8 3fgm/3.6 3fga)

They didn’t choke away the lead like the Mavs. I know the Warriors still put up 104 but that was because the Spurs got sloppy with the ball.
They’re D did hold off the Warriors long enough to get a 10 point lead and some breathing room. Eventually it ballooned up to a 22 point lead.

The thing Im worried about is rebounding. I want to see more BLAIR. I know Pop is doing his thing but I just don’t want to see BLAIR on the bench come playoff time just because he is a rookie, like he did with Geroge Hill.

How to we fare against championship caliber teams? Teams with post up players? Teams with bigs that protect the rim from Parker drives? Teams that cleanup the defensive boards?

We’ll find out Dec 3rd against Celtics, 5th against Nuggets, and 7th against Jazz. Can’t wait.

Happy thanksgiving to all.