Thoughts on Game 1

[Vito Corleone]

I love the first game of the year. All the sucky teams play hard cause they don't know they suck yet and all the good teams take for granted they are good and forget to play hard. Makes fro some fun games.

With that said I was very impressed with the way Finley has been able to adapt so quickly he has filled in quite nicely. I look forward to seeing his production when only playing limited minutes.

Oberto is another great pickup, I hope every other GM is kicking themselves for not offering this guy huge contracts to come over. IMO he is going to be the real steal of free agency. He reminds me of a bigger version of the old Milik Rose, the one we loved before the big contract. He just disrupts everything.

Other than that my overall feeling about this game is that San Antonio at times looked loss or a step slow on defensive rotation they still have a problem with quick point guards who can penetrate. But when it was money time they can still put the clamps down and pull away. Their ability to do this in game 1 should be pretty scary to the rest of the league.

I like what Charles said, this team has the depth to take an injury to any member not named Duncan and still win the championship. I agree, but I don't want to have this theory proven.

Finally, my Rasho watch.

Rasho was the most aggressive I have ever seen him except when Duncan was injured a couple of years ago. He impressed the hell out of me.

[Vito Corleone]

I think Van X will figure things out, I would like to see us go to a 9 man rotation with some of the older guys like Horry getting big minutes one night and being held out the next to recover.

I really like the depth of our front court if it means that Rasho is going to come out and be aggressive like this. This level of aggressiveness with his talent will make him a hell of a player.

[GoSpurs99]

Vito,

Great call.

With the front court depth, Spurs big men can afford to be very aggressive!

[samurai32]

I'm curious what'll become of Beno. Call me crazy but I think he's more efficient than Nick the not so quick anymore. I'm hoping Pop hasn't given up on him because Beno can be a great player.

[SAScrub]

I was a little concerned that Finley had a bit of a quick trigger, which isn't a problem when he's knocking them down like he was last night. But, the more I think about it, the more I realize that we need a 2-guard who's not afraid to shoot the damn ball. He should be 6th man of the year, and Bowen and Barry will have to fight hard to be on the floor.

The defensive rotations were a little slow, especially from Nazr. He needs to get over to the strong-side block real fast or he's gonna be watching a lot of basketball this year. That dude needed training camp badly...too bad he missed most of it.

[SPUROFTHAMOMENT]

It was great!!! Anytime it's a "W" I'm happy with it. Hopefully, the team will continue to gel and Mike, Nick and Fabri get more comfortable playing in the system.

[Kirby]

Finley looked real good. He looked like Michael Finley of 2000. Very nice.

Tim also looked great. He looked incredibly mobile and active. Haven't seen that from him since 2001.

[bnwhuxley]

Originally Posted by SAScrub

I was a little concerned that Finley had a bit of a quick trigger, which isn't a problem when he's knocking them down like he was last night. But, the more I think about it, the more I realize that we need a 2-guard who's not afraid to shoot the damn ball. He should be 6th man of the year, and Bowen and Barry will have to fight hard to be on the floor.

We've tried various combinations to replace Jax. Tried Hedo, Mercer, Brent, Devin etc. Last year we lucked out because Bruce was shooting fine and Manu really elevated his outside shooting game. Still, there's that need for a good reliable outside shooter that will take the big shots.

Finley really fits that bill. Along with Brent + NVE + Manu, I don't think there is a chance that the outside shooting will ever wither away in any game with this Spurs team.

[mg06]

Originally Posted by bnwhuxley

Along with Brent + NVE + Manu, I don't think there is a chance that the outside shooting will ever wither away in any game with this Spurs team.

Yep, that's the first thing that jumped at me with the NVE & Finley signings. Don't forget Beno and Horry as well. Kind of makes you look back on the 03/04 Lakers' series and weep, doesn't it?

I thought the Spurs looked great in the 4th quarter... and I thought the Nuggets were probably thinking they were playing against the Spurs and the Dallas Mavs...

[zfo85]

I like the fact that Timmy only scored one point in the fourth quarter but we still closed them out with a 33-19 edge in the fourth. Finley's got a sweet stroke.

[bnwhuxley]

po

Originally Posted by zfo85

I like the fact that Timmy only scored one point in the fourth quarter but we still closed them out with a 33-19 edge in the fourth. Finley's got a sweet stroke.

Doesn't happen too often Tim took only one shot in the 4th quarter against the Nuggets (got fouled, made 1 of 2 FTs), but got 5 rebounds and 5 assists, plus 1 block. Silent Assasin!

[frenchfred]

Originally Posted by samurai32

I'm curious what'll become of Beno. Call me crazy but I think he's more efficient than Nick the not so quick anymore. I'm hoping Pop hasn't given up on him because Beno can be a great player.

Beno had a hard time to stay with Boykins in last year playoffs. I think that it was not a good matchup for Beno.

[TexasNate]

Originally Posted by mg06

Yep, that's the first thing that jumped at me with the NVE & Finley signings. Don't forget Beno and Horry as well. Kind of makes you look back on the 03/04 Lakers' series and weep, doesn't it?

Yep exactly. Its hard to believe the Spurs have gone from how they were in that series to being this deep with good shooters in such a short time. Even though Finley may not play every night like he did against Denver, there's a good chance that out of this group someone will have the hot hand on any given night.

On some nights, when several are hot at the same time, it is going to be one of those games you just can't quit smiling at.

[KAD]

Like they way they showed poise and put the clamps down whne it counted - that 7th game last year was huge and will go a long way to ensurimng they wein many more.