Just after the news broke that Antonio McDyess had accepted the Spurs offer, Project Spurs reader named “Onion King” posed the question, “What does this do to the starting lineup?” At first glance I nearly ignored it as I thought it was a pretty simple answer.  But when I gave it some thought, there are a lot of intriguing lineups Coach Popovich has at his disposal.  He will have to consider not only individual talent, but the collective talent of the players, and will have to make sure that he does not make the starters great at the expense of the second unit. 

First, let’s all sit back and enjoy this dilemma. As far as dilemmas go, this is one you invite.  We have a plethora of talent this year with the drafting of DeJuan Blair, the signing of Antonio McDyess, and the trade that brought us Richard Jefferson. We easily have one of the top four rosters in the League and will be right back in the national spotlight. 

Let’s start with what to me is the most likely starting lineup: Parker, Mason, Jefferson, McDyess, and Duncan. This is likely because I think Coach Popovich will choose to bring Ginobili off the bench so he can better manage his minutes. Jefferson will give us more of a defensive presence than Finley and is a more dynamic scorer.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Jefferson, he is athletic on his drives, has a decent midrange game, and hits 40% of his threes.  It seems he took the last year off defensively, but who can blame him?  He played for the miserable Bucks.  Expect his defense to return as he joins the Spurs and actually has a reason to care about his team.  Given this starting lineup, the second unit would include Hill, Finley, Ginobili, “Big Guy X”, and Bonner. The “Big Guy X” spot will be fought for by Blair, Mahimni, and Hailsip in the coming months. For the rest of this article, I will assume Blair wins this spot because it is the most likely scenario. Regardless, you have to like that lineup.  Ginobili and Hill will create off the dribble while Bonner and Finley use the three point line to spread the floor and Blair positions for boards.

The most talented lineup the Spurs could put on the floor would involve the same starting lineup except Ginobili would replace Mason. I expect we will get to enjoy watching this lineup close out games, but not to start them. If the Spurs start Ginobili, the starting line up would be a force but at the detriment of the second unit.  And here is the next wrinkle to what could be the starting 5 — just how good do we want to make our second team?  Having a great second unit is a much underrated advantage.  When the other teams go to their second unit, it would give the Spurs the option of building a lead while the starters sit.  This is why the Spurs bring Ginobili off the bench. The team will lose very little when Duncan and Parker take their rest because Ginobili is such a presence on the court.

Now here is my favorite starting lineup: Parker, Mason, Finley, Bonner, and Duncan.  That’s right, our starting lineup from last year.  Give me a chance to explain, because I know some of you are about to go “Ron Artest” on me. Can we all first agree that the starting lineup was not an issue last year?  They played very well together.  The “wheels” came off because Ginobili succumbed to injury and the Spurs did not know what to do with the second unit.  The starters would get a lead or at least would be tied, but the Spurs lacked a second unit that could keep pace. They would lose the advantage while Parker and Duncan rested, and when they came back in, momentum was lost and you know how that story ends.  So that’s my first reason, our starters from last season played very well together.

Second, there is no reason to train a new starting lineup when there is nothing wrong with the original one. Bringing new players into the Spurs system is difficult.  Look at what happened to Drew Gooden. He played well offensively, but how many defensive lapses did he have per game?  3, 4?  I’m surprised Coach Pop still has hair.  It’s an easier transition for a player to ease them into the rotation, rather than starting them right away.  The Spurs have this luxury, since the starting 5 from last year are still intact.  And do not discount the chemistry that a starting 5 develops over a year. Teams that drastically change their starting lineup generally have a rocky first few months. It takes time for a starting 5 to gel with each other, so why go down that road if you do not have to?

My third reason, and most likely the best reason, is the second unit: Hill, Jefferson, Ginobili, Blair, and McDyess.  That’s an offensive explosion! I just got goose-bumps.  That second unit would easily be the best second unit in the League.  As I stated before, it is a huge advantage.  Hill, Jefferson, and Ginobili would all be deadly off the dribble and great on a pick and roll with Blair’s big frame.  Jefferson, Ginobili, and McDyess would open the lane for these drives as they are deadly jump shooters. And if you watched Blair at all when he played for Pitt, you know he is a beast on the boards. I guarantee this second unit would absolutely destroy any other second unit in the League.  In fact, I believe they would have a better +/- than our starters because of the weaker talent they would face each night.  This lineup would also serve to limit Duncan’s minutes during the regular season, which would be huge.  Duncan had to play more minutes than normal last season because the Spurs needed him out there.  But with this second unit, Coach Popovich would have the luxury of resting Duncan for longer periods of time.   

As you can see, the Spurs are in a great spot. They have a plethora of options in terms of lineups, and that is a fantastic sign. Currently, the team has 9 proven players that all will require playing time; that is 8 more than Minnesota has.  Think about that.  And it’s cold in Minnesota.  Really, Minnesota sucks in general.  So be glad that you are a Spurs fan and be proud of what the organization did this summer. They made it clear they are going to maximize Duncan’s championship window and go for broke.  I love the strategy and think they really can’t go wrong with whatever starting lineup is chosen.  What a great time to be a Spurs fan.

H: 6’6”
W: 214
Position: SG

Antonio Anderson had a nice career at Memphis, playing significant minutes all four years and helping the Tigers make the NCAA Championship two seasons ago. However, nice players don’t make NBA rosters too often. Anderson fits the mold of a player who will bounce around the D-League and foreign leagues for most of his career.

Positives: Anderson has good size for a shooting guard and displays above average athleticism. With those two characteristics combined, Anderson has potential to become a defensive stopper on the perimeter and usually guarded the opponents top player while at Memphis. He also shows good passing ability and decision making with a career A/TO ratio over 2, which is very good for a shooting guard.

Negatives: For a shooting guard he shoots rather poorly. He had his best shooting year at 45% last year but hovered around 40% for his first three years. He also showed no three point range and struggled at the free throw line, shooting 57% from there his junior year. At times he appears out of control with the ball, an effect of still learning how to use his athleticism. Really, the biggest drawback with Anderson is his inability to shoot the ball well.

Overall Outlook: The Spurs always like perimeter players who defend well but they have to possess an outside shoot. Think of Bruce Bowen. Anderson has a shot at sticking around with the Austin Toros since he has good size, athleticism and can play point guard at times with his decision making. However, I don’t see Anderson as an NBA player and he is probably better off going overseas and making a very respectable living there.

H: 6’9”

W: 235

Position: Power Forward

Eric Dawson has played with the Austin Toros for the last two years, so the Spurs are familiar with what he brings to the table. He injured his bicep two seasons ago, limiting him to five games. Last year he appeared in 31 games with the Toros and started in 23 of them.

Positives: After playing with the Toros Dawson knows the Spurs system, which is always a plus. He also shoots well, making 58.5% of his shots last season. Dawson was a decent rebounder, grabbing 6.6 boards in 24.5 mpg.

Negatives: While the Spurs have been in need of another big man, Dawson’s name has never come up. This isn’t a good sign for him. He has been overshadowed in Austin by Ian Mahinmi and has not had as much of a chance to perform. He posted good numbers for the D-League (10.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, 1 steal in 25 min), but good is not good enough when we are talking about making the jump to the NBA.

Overall Outlook: Dawson’s best shot at making money while playing basketball comes from overseas. He has not made it past the Toros after two seasons and with Mahinmi, Gist, Duncan, Bonner, Haislip and McDyess all ahead of him it doesn’t look like he will soon.

The Spurs on Wednesday landed free agent power forward-center
Antonio McDyess, a 6-foot-9 Olympic gold medal winner and veteran of 14
seasons who remains one of the NBA’s premier post players.

Spurs general manager R.C. Buford confirmed the agreement.

Sources close to McDyess said he will sign a three-year contract
with the Spurs, starting at the full, mid-level exception to the NBA’s
salary cap restrictions, $5.845 million.

The third season is believed to be partially guaranteed. McDyess has expressed his desire to play only two more seasons.

Click HERE for entire story.

Everyone enjoys Manu Ginobili’s game.  He has one of the most entertaining offensive packages in the league.  He can slash into the paint and throw down a monster dunk, hit the contested three, thread the needle with a no-look pass, and has an impressive mid-range game.  But what his entertainment value overshadows are his contributions to winning.

Ginobili spent most of last season playing through injuries or succumbing to them.  In fact, he only played in 44 of the 82 regular season games.  Despite this, the Spurs finished the regular season as the third seed in the West, while so many overlooked the impact an injured Ginobili had on the team.  Many have assumed that even with a healthy Manu, the Spurs would have fallen well short of winning their fifth championship.  After all, they did lose in the first round to the Mavs in only five games.  Even today, Jason Terry continued to mouth off on the Colin Cowherd Show once again claiming not only are the Mavs better than the Spurs, but the Hornets are too.  Hopefully this post will prove statistically just how good the Spurs were last year, and how much better they will be this year with a (hopefully) healthy Manu.

Including the playoffs, the Spurs were 32-12 when Manu played and 23-20 when he sat.  This means they won 73% of the time with Manu, and only 53% without him.  If you extend this to an 82 game season, which would be an estimate of the Spurs’ record if he never missed a game, the Spurs would have gone 60-22.  If he missed the entire season, 44-38, which is the difference between getting the second seed in the West and missing the playoffs altogether (Phoenix finished 46-36).  Doubters will point out that this estimate includes a lot of ‘ifs.’  This is true, however 44 games is not a small sample size.  It’s not a fluke that with Ginobili, the Spurs were 32-12 and without him they were basically a .500 ball club.

Let’s take a deeper look at exactly why Manu is so vital to the Spurs.  Coming off the bench, Ginobili carries the offense until Tony and Tim are inserted back into the game.  Without Ginobili, we all know what happens — Spurs have no offense.  This nearly always happens when Popovich rests Tim and Tony without the option of inserting Manu.  It’s painful, I know. Without a healthy Manu, the ball handling responsibilities and offensive load fell to Roger Mason Jr., who is not a point guard or a playmaker.  The Spurs signed him to make 40% of his wide-open threes, which were supposed to be created by the “Big Three”.  The plan was not for Kurt Thomas to set four high screens on the three point line and have Mason fire a contested three off the dribble.  This is why he struggled so much in the latter half of the season.  We were not utilizing his strengths, we were emphasizing his weaknesses.

In games Manu played, the Spurs averaged 99.5 ppg.  When he sat, 93.7.  The Spurs record when scoring over 98 ppg last season was 35-3.  35-3!  Are you serious? Now that, my friends, is “The Ginobili Effect”.  If you want to poke holes in this, you will most likely point out that 99.5 is simply an average.  And since the Spurs were 32-12 with Manu and not something closer to 35-3, obviously when the Spurs won, they put up a ton of points and it skewed the data northward.  Give me a second to explain why this happened. Ginobili was playing hurt and shaking off rust the entire year.  He was nowhere close to 100%, however the nights he was feeling well the Spurs blew out their opponents.  In the games that he struggled, the Spurs still scored more than when he was not playing at all.  Need a few more stats to
swallow this final pill?  The Spurs scored more than 109 points nine times last season.  Manu played in seven of these, averaging 20.8ppg and 5.3apg, which are much higher than his season averages of 15.5ppg and 3.6 apg.

Now sit back and dream that we have a healthy Manu this season.  Add an athletic 6-7 slashing shooting forward that makes 40% of his threes and I think you see where I’m going with this.  60+ wins next season is completely feasible if Manu can remain healthy, so get ready for a great season.  You know I’ll be.

Fred Silva used data from www.basketball-reference.com

The San Antonio Spurs have signed former first-round pick Marcus Haislip.

The 6-10 forward spent the past two seasons in Spain after being drafted 13th overall by Milwaukee in 2002. The former Tennessee star also played for Indiana in 2004-05 before going overseas to improve his game.

Haislip could provide needed size and depth to the Spurs frontcourt after San Antonio lost Fabricio Oberto(notes) and Kurt Thomas(notes) last month in a trade for swingman Richard Jefferson(notes).

Terms of the deal announced Wednesday were not disclosed.

The Spurs also brought back forward Malik Hairston(notes), who played 15 games with the Spurs last season and spent much of the year in the NBA development league.

Click HERE for article.

The Spurs always seem to find a way to turn a little into a lot. They turned three aging players past their primes into Richard Jefferson — an athletic forward at the peak of his game. And even without a first-round pick in this year’s draft, they were still able to come away with some terrific players in the second round. Specifically, Pittsburgh’s DeJuan Blair, who was the best rebounder in college basketball and is a beast in the paint. If his knees stay sturdy, he’ll go down as the steal of the draft.

Now it sounds like the Spurs also have the inside track on signing free agent Antonio McDyess. But even if they don’t land him, they have dramatically improved their team and are, once again, serious contenders for an NBA title.