Hunger Pangs

Name something worse than losing a close game to a formerly dreadful team that is slowly but surely on the rise and in your conference. How about having to think about that game for four days until playing a team that is currently your biggest rival? How about having to listen to these brainiacs who believe the Spurs are actually a better team without Duncan and Parker? How about spending over an hour contemplating if Malik Hairston should get more playing time before realizing that if Malik Hairston is your answer, then you have bigger problems than the Oklahoma City Thunder? This sucks. 

If there’s one thing Spurs fans, bloggers, and haters all can agree on, it’s that the Spurs seemed to lack the heart that the Thunder had in their 101-98 win last week. OKC is a young, hungry, belligerent group of players who have no concern for the natural order of the NBA. They are currently 5-5, no better or worse off than the Spurs at 4-4, and while they aren’t threatening to make the playoffs just yet, they are clearly the future. Fortunately for the Spurs, there is still the present to deal with. However, Richard Jefferson taking four shots in a game, DeJuan Blair grabbing one rebound – these things don’t scream “I want to win this and I want to win it NOW!” That’s something that Popovich is going to have to address with the team, because Duncan’s window is closing and there may be only one or two more legit chances at a 5th championship. To complicate matters, the Spurs, who are 0-3 on the road so far, have only 12 home games from February 1st through April 14th, and six of those are against Oklahoma City (yet again), Phoenix, the Lakers, Cleveland, Houston (who aren’t the pushovers people thought they would be), and Orlando. The Spurs have always been known to “turn it on” when they need to, but this year they need to do it NOW.

 Going back to the OKC loss, we could easily chalk it up to Tim and Tony being rusty, but that would be called a “BS Excuse” in laymen’s terms. Those two combined for 39 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, so I really don’t think you can realistically pin the OKC loss on them being “rusty”. If anyone looked rusty out there it was Ginobili going 0-for-8 from the field and having to sit out the 4th quarter with a tightened hamstring. Despite all of that, he still managed to play better than Roger Mason, Michael Finley or Keith Bogans. Those three combined to play 38 total minutes and managed to contribute the following: 8 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal. They shot a combined 4-of-8 from the field, and 0-of-3 from downtown. Meanwhile, Ginobili, who was 0-of-8 from the field (0-of-4 from downtown), still managed the following in only 18 minutes: 7 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and was a perfect 7-of-7 from the foul line. I think the biggest problem was that we lost Ginobili for the end of the game. Still, losing Ginobili for one quarter shouldn’t do us in. To dig deeper, I think that it may be a case of “too many cooks in the kitchen” and perhaps Popovich needs to start tightening the rotation. 

It’s obvious that Roger Mason is struggling with his shot, and he only played four minutes against OKC, but I am not so sure he needs to be on the bench. Mason was a clutch shooter much of last season with several game winning shots. He shot 43% from the field, 42% from downtown, and 89% from the free throw line. He averaged 11.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists while playing in all 82 games. He played just over 30 minutes per game last season, but this season is only averaging about 18 minutes per game. Everyone is focused on his shot being off right now, but everyone knows the only way to get out of a shooting slump is to shoot your way out. Despite all of that, he is averaging 4 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 2 assists this season. Personally, I think he needs more reps, which he could probably get if the Spurs would put teams away a little sooner.

 George Hill is a definite keeper, and one could make the case that he should be the starting shooting guard. I won’t make that case, not now anyway, but it’s clear that he needs to remain in the rotation. He can score and run the offense well enough. He is not a mistake-prone player and showed against Durant that he can be a good defender. He is also averaging 1.5 steals per game this season. The only real knocks against him are that at 6′2″ he’s slightly undersized. He also has a noticable dip in shooting percentage during Away Games. Last season he shot 35% in road games compared to 45% in home games. This season he is shooting 30% in road games compared to 55% in home games. A small dip is one thing, but -10% to -25% is a little bit alarming. Still, for this season Hill is averaging 12 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.6 assists.

 Then there is Keith Bogans. He has a knack for being a nuisance to opposing scorers while still making the occasional three-pointer, so I don’t know how you cut this guy out of the rotation. I’ve already gone over how he could potentially replace Bruce Bowen, and I still think it’s possible.

 That brings me to Michael Finley. He is a veteran and a former All-Star fully capable of knocking down open shots, particularly three-pointers where he is currently 7-for-15 this season. The thing is, he isn’t a great defender by any stretch of the imagination, he may even be a liability. Check the James Harden dunk at 1:22 where Finley just kind of slides out of the way then looks around for someone to blame. The three’s are nice, but he’s a streaky shooter, and when he isn’t scoring, he isn’t doing much of anything. He is an 81% career free throw shooter, but for someone who rarely gets to the line, that doesn’t help a whole lot. Sure he averages less than a turnover per game, but he isn’t going to crash the boards, anchor down on defense, or run the offense either. This season he is averaging 5.5 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.9 assists. I’ve always liked Finley, but I just don’t see what he is offering on the court that the Spurs can’t get out of other players. I think he is the odd man out here, barring injuries of course.

 Sometimes veteran savvy isn’t enough to overcome hungry youngsters, especially when those youngsters are pretty freakin good to begin with. It may be time to sit at least one vet and try to match youth with youth.

Tags: DeJuan Blair, George Hill, James Harden, Keith Bogans, Kevin Durant, Malik Hairston, Manu Ginobili, Michael Finley, Oklahoma City Thunder, Richard Jefferson, Roger Mason, San Antonio Spurs, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker