Yeah, but the guys SA has built themselves around are Duncan and Parker. Parker is easily one of the premier PGs in the league, so it isn't surprising that Ward sat on the bench behind him and the other people who were already in the system and the rotation. There are a number of teams in the league that wouldn't mind having Lue or Ward bringing up the ball for them. As far as JJ goes, who cares if he was a backup for a few years before coming here? The point is that he plays hard, hustles on both ends of the court, and makes clutch shots (like the one in OT against the Clips that put the nail in the coffin). He is good enough to start for a bunch of teams in the league, why would you hold it against him that he was a backup to Peja his last two years in Sac-town?
My point with Ward was that he didn't even unseat Parker's backup, right? Wasn't that Jason Hart who went to Charlotte in the expansion draft? I'm looking much further back than the year (wasn't it just one year) in Sacramento backing up Peja- no shame in that. The facts are, though, that JJ has been on 7-8 different teams. I like him, but he is our rock when he was no one else's rock.
Good post andymoon. It's too early to get a good read on this team. I hate to keep making references to the past like I usually do. But in the 99 season when the Spurs won their first championship, they started off 6-8 and looked pretty bad, then they went on a monster tear. That team also had alot of veterans mixed w/a few young players. So U never know.
IIRC, Ward joined the Spers very late in the season while they were still making their playoff push. Not exactly an easy time to break into a new system and rotation. It may have only been one year, but IMO, JJ is playing at the level of a starter both offensively and defensively. Sure, it would be nice to trot out a lineup like Yao, Duncan, KG, McGrady, and Kidd, but in today's league that is simply not possible. JJ is a quality role player (much like Horry was during the championship runs), as are Ward and Lue. None of them are going to torch the net every night, but that is not their role.
Or 50 in the case of the season the guy is referring to. Seriously though, the guy brings up a good point. I'm not saying that we're gonna win a championship this year, but I remember going to a game in the Alamodome with my dad against the Suns that season. It was when the Spurs were still strugling and had a poor record. The Suns still had Kidd at the time, but the Spurs were clearly the superior team. However, they looked TERRIBLE. If you guys want to talk about frustrating scenarios, I can't think of anything more frustrating than having David Robinson being the player to take a 3 point shot as the buzzer goes off when your play breaks down. I'm not sure of the score, but the Spurs could have either won or tied with that three...that DAVID ROBINSON ended up taking. I mean imagine Mutombo tried to shoot at 3 at the end of a game.
I might also add that Yao is playing like two players at home and on the road. He is average over 25 ppg at home, only a little over 13 ppg on the road. The main issue for the difference is the lack of favarable calls on the road, and sometimes questionable ticky tack fouls early in the first quarter totally took him out of the game. Yao must avoid those fouls on the road. Also our PF needs to play D better on his/their man. Last night after Yao got his 5th, he went at Mo Taylor pretty hard. It was like I blocked a shot by Randolph, and he still got the offensive board. Where were you on D?
Nice post. I agree with most of the stuff.. except a couple of things. Why is it so much more likely that Sura would hit the shots that Lue and Ward missed? He's not a markedly better shooter, and you can make the argument that he's less consistent. His presence will help, of course...but if you think he's going to settle this team down and always nail the clutch shots...well we can all hope, but there's no reason to believe that'll suddenly be the case. And on Bowen--I haven't been impressed. I am the first guy to applaud (and fall in love with people's playing styles) when I see an all-out hustler, making the smart plays and going unrecognized. Bowen seems to *try* really hard, but maybe he lacks the basketball smarts? Or maybe he just doesn't have the skills or physical ability required to make a more positive impact..like a guy like Padgett or Madsen or Gadzuric. I feel like..if this were baseball...we all saw Jeter make the diving play into the stands where he got his face beat up. He's a very good player and all, but on that play he hustled and gave it up for the team. I feel like Bowen would run like hell and slide up to the wall for every foul ball...trying hard, but just dosen't "know" (Probably a bad example, but hopefully I got my thought across)
Good post Andy. I also feel good about the basics we have in place. Once Yao develops some consistency, watch out. All of the pieces will come together.
I like a lot of the things you said, Andy, but I strongly disagree about the part that many teams would be just fine with Ward or Lue bringing the ball up the floor. In terms of starting PGs, we are one of the worst in the league. Really only Atlanta and Charlotte might be envious of our starting PG.
