Do you think the guy really cares whether you call him a 2 or a 3? He left toronto because Vince was the main man who got to lead the offense, not because he took the title of "shooting guard".
Actually, in Toronto - specifically his last season there - McGrady played the Guard spot. For the last half of the season, McGrady started at the 2, Doug was at the 1, and VC was at the 3.
the main point about tracy being a 3 instead of a 2 is that when you look at the depth chart with MPG, it makes a lot more sence: yao (36) - deke (12) JH (30) - mo (18) tracy (40) - boki (8) jj (30) - sura (18) ward (24) - lue (24) with tmac at the 3 sura gets more minutes. its hard to show a rotation on paper. moving tmac makes it easier to understand.
But in the end, it really doesn't matter. A SG and SF has become more of a label than a unique position. You can play T-Mac 40 some odd minutes at the 2 and 3...move get Sura in and Boki in when either Tracy or Jimmy needs a breather.
I don't remember exactly what he said but I got the impression that there will be another move. I'm thinking maybe Mo, around the trade deadline.
did you guys actually see Ward play for the Spurs last year, unless he has had a full body transplant there is now way he can manage 20 minutes a game, let alone start
I just know TMac is going to be the guarding the SG or SF who is the biggest threat. That would be Shawn Marion, Ray Allen, Ginobli, Sprewell, Posey, Kobe, etc. I would put TMac on Dirk Nowitzki too since only TMac can stay in front of Dirk.
I agree with SmeggySmeg. Ward can't be as productive as he used to be. I would like to see him as a backup to Sura and Lue. I doubt if he can contribute for more than 8-10 minutes a game.
I have a different opinion, although Ward will and cannot be productive as he was out of college, he still knows how to play. He can shoot a jumper well, doesn't turn the ball over, and although he doesn't play man to man well anymore, he is a great team defender. He is the anti Steve. not that i have a problem with Steve, but *@*# him and moochie killed me with their dribble exhibition then a crossover... jumper... sometimes all net, most BRICK. I think this team is built for good passing, slashing and dishing by Tmac and Sura who are both excellent athletic slashers to an open jump shooter (jj, boki, lue, ward, padgett) or my favorite is to pass the ball into Yao let him decide what to do with the ball once he gets double teamed. Plus we'll be able to run the pick'n roll much better this year with T-mac. so instead of just 3 options from last year, (pick'n roll, throw it into Yao or Motay, or that iso crap with Steve) now we have 4 Our offensive on paper seems to have improved IMO and I know our defense did. Our second team improved sharply, and our defensive will remain in the first tier of the NBA. We will go to the playoffs this year... I say 2 round we lose to San Antonio or Minnesota.
No, that's the just the way he is. During the season he only praises/compliments other teams players and publicly berades his own; He also lacks a personality during the season and is grumpy/gloomy I guess cause he is so focused; however in the offseason he seems to actually have a soul and lighter side to himself almost as if he a completly different person.
Ward was out of shape and not into the game last season. He's in an offense he knows, with a coach he knows, and he'll have had all of summer and training camp to prepare. He's not THAT old guys..he'll be a solid starter for this team for 20-25 mins, depending on how the others are doing. I can't wait for the season to start. (Also, Nachbar should be playing 15-18 mins if he's doing decently...they're gonna develop him, not play him 6 or 7 mins and let him do nothing.)
If Lue and Ward get more minutes than Sura we're probably in trouble. Although Sura isn't a pure PG, if he plays like how he played in Atlanta he's a much better player than Lue and Ward. We'll find him minutes.
Sura can put up the same numbers Francis put up last season. But that's not what we want. Thankfully, we have two other efficient players at the spot, and Sura is tall enough to play SG/SF. I think JJ needs to cut his minutes down, and Boki will need to be spectacular to get into the rotation. This is not how I'd LIKE it to be, but I'd be a fool if I thought JVG would make it any different: Yao(34)/Mutombo(14) JH(25)/MoT(20)/Mutombo(3) JJ(36)/T-Mac(12) T-Mac(28)/Sura(20) Ward(21)/Lue(21)/Sura(6) Seriously, judging by JVG's career, he always goes with a short rotation, he doesn't care about the difference between SG and SF, he plays HIS players before others, and he milks as many minutes as he can out of his best player(s). Again, I don't want it to look like this, but I'm pretty damn sure it will be. Even Boki himself said that getting Sura would spell his doom.
Pops wouldn't put Ward on the court, for whatever reason. He also played for the Knicks last year, started part of the time, and averaged 23 minutes per game. He didn't get injured in between playing for the Knicks and the Spurs, AFAIK, so there is no reason to think he couldn't have continued his production if given the chance. The Spurs already had Parker playing 35 minutes a game, so he couldn't really play much more than the 12 minutes he got. He was still hitting 37% from beyond the arc. Unless he had some drastic deterioration in the offseason, there is no reason to think he CAN'T start or play 20 minutes per game.
