Monday, November 9th, 2009...10:00 am
The Silver Lining On Parker’s Ankle
In a phrase: increased playing time for George Hill.
George Hill has played well this season, but still looks like a player trying to find his game. The Spurs’ next three games are at home, and this would seem an ideal opportunity to find 35 minutes a game for Hill.
Parker’s ankle injury is not serious, and he may not need a week to heal. But despite their 2-3 record, the Spurs are wise to take a cautious approach with Parker. Giving him 3 games rest would not seem unreasonable. He has a history of ankle sprains, and the Spurs are more than aware of all the extra minutes he logged over the summer.
Having said this, Parker is a competitor and he wants back on the court Wednesday night against Dallas. We’ll see.
This happened last season, as well. Parker went down early and George Hill was asked to take the controls. As a starter, Hill averaged nearly 10 points and 3 assists in 27 minutes last season. One would expect all of his numbers to improve this time around.
But more importantly, Hill is starting to understand his options as a pick and roll point guard. The Spurs should be able to run their offense without worry while Parker is on the mend.
Setting aside the question of Hill’s anticipated performance, the more interesting curiosity going into tonight’s contest against the Raptors is whom Parker will replace on the inactive list. The Spurs have an opportunity to experiment with their rotation tonight, and I’m curious if they’ll approach this game in that way.
Assuming Hill plays 30-35 minutes, Mason Jr. and Ginobili should see time at point guard. Does Pop give Bogans another opportunity to earn his way into the rotation, extend the minutes of his regulars (Finley, Ginobili and Mason Jr.) or try Malik Hairston?If Popovich doesn’t activate Hairston, could Haislip or Mahinmi get into the game?
The Spurs’ early struggles have left the door open for someone on their deep bench to break into the rotation. It’s simply a matter of seizing opportunities as they arise.
We know for sure that George Hill has an opportunity to make a statement, but will someone else?
8 Comments
November 9th, 2009 at 10:56 am
MySA is saying Hairston is off the IL on the game notes. They have been very accurate with the starting lineups and IL’s so far this season.
It also says our starters will be Hill, Finley, RJ, Duncan, and Bonner. I thought Manu or Bogans might start with Hill, but I guess not.
Link:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Monday_Raptors_3-3_at_Spurs_2-3.html
November 9th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
If that’s an accurate report, I think it’s disappointing. I would have loved to see Pop really experiment with the rotation rather than just move Hill in and keep everything else the same.
Also, I think Blair needs to be given a shot at starting next to Duncan. According to the 5 man unit data Tim V. provided earlier, they have played very little together (about 10 minutes or less). Why not give the rookie a shot with the first unit? Especially tonight against the soft interior of the Raptors…
November 9th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
lets hope pop gives hairston some quality minutes. i’d never thought i would say this, but i am getting frustrated with pop’s stubborness towards giving minutes to young players. we are going to ride the thirtysomething train to hell if he doesn’t
November 9th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
[...] Screen and Roll. "So this is what Kobe Bryant(notes) in decline looks like?" Yikes.6th: 48 Minutes Of Hell. The silver lining on TP’s ankle: increased playing time for George Hill(notes).7th: NBA [...]
November 9th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
This is not a negative commentary on Hairston, but he has no business being activated for this game. Just because Parker is a guard and Hairston is a guard (or a swing man) doesn’t mean he should be active.
Haislip should be. Here’s why: theoretically he could match-up with either Bosh or Turkoglu. These are exactly the types of guys (presumably) the Spurs brought him in to play against and he has a guaranteed contract because of this, so if he can’t even be activated in situations like this, then why exactly was he signed in the first place?
I have no illusions about him being a stopper or the next Horry or anything like that, but he is relatively long, very athletic and has good lateral quickness. All things that lend itself to matching up with Bosh. As per usual at the start of the season, Bosh is playing out of his mind right now and will likely destroy Bonner and probably McDyess as well.
November 9th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
I absolutely agree with you, rj.
There’s no reason why Pop can’t give Malik Hairston meaningful minutes tonight. The season is barely underway and now is as good a time as any to see what our young players can bring.
What’s the worse that could happen, if Pop gave Hairston the lion-share of Finley/Mason’s minutes tonight? Another loss? Oh no, that’d be terrible because then there’s no way the Spurs could make that up in the next SEVENTY-SIX games.
C’mon, Pop; get with it!
November 10th, 2009 at 1:23 am
all you “knowledgable fans” need to stop trying to tell our 4 time champion, 1st ballot Hall of Fame Head Coach how to do his job. I promise he knows more than you.
November 10th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
What’s great about our line-up is that even with the injuries we still have lots of offensive power not like last year. RJ is really what the doctor ordered for us.
I’m thinking, Pop is taking his own sweet time in integrating players into the rotation so we might as well have lots of patience.
Still if he doesn’t use those bench players, we might as well trade Hairston, Haislip, Finley + another guy for an All-Star. How about Capt. Jax?
DSL
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