Dirk is going to be the problem for the Spurs, duh, he's a problem for every team. If they put Bowen on him who guards Howard? The Spurs are going to be one guy short on D, the Mavs big three are Terry, Dirk and Howard. IMO one of those guys is going to get a weak defender, unless Manu can step it up and guard Howard and leave Dirk to Bowen. I think Bowen is not going to have much success on Dirk so you might as well put him on Howard, Parker will do as well as anyone on Terry and leave Dirk to be defended by commitee.
The reverse will be a problem for the Mavs, they can have their centers do an adequate job on TD, but that will leave Manu and Parker as the X factors, Parker usually doesn't get it done so Manu will have to step up big along with Findawg, they will need to keep the Mavs honest from the outside so they can't pack it in on TD. The Mavs don't have a Shaq/Amare type guy who will step it up and play TD strait up, so the outside shooting of the Spurs will determine the outcome of that series. IMO Fins is going to sink or swim for the Spurs in this years playoffs, Manu should continue to be Manu but Fins must be consistent from the outside since they can't rely solely on Manu and Parker is still unproven from the perimeter.
Yes that is the real Spurs consensus, that the front office has failed to address the athletic 3 spot. Stephen Jackson came thru in the 2003 Champs along with Maliker Rose powering around Shaq. 2005 you had Bob Horry putting in an excellent productive 27 mins per game and being Big Shot Bob when it counted. Devin Brown spelled Bob and thus the Spurs hit you with 48 minutes of athletic 3 along with a Nazr-Rasho monster for TallBall winnin formula. As I'm sure you and the Staples crowd saw WOW, as I'm sure you saw.
Main issue vs 2007 Mavs is will PopaCement play Elson or go smallball again?
Relying on Big Shot Bob to do another productive 27 at the 3 is much too risky.
All indications are Popavich will have Bowen guard either Howard or Dirk, just like last year. Either way it doesn't work out.
If Bowen could play some offense (yes not a misprint), this could cause Howard or Dirk to have to exert on D, which would at least put a dent in their O.
Bowens back appears to be much better, his shooting % the past 8 games is up to previous highs. However if Poop is going to crap can Bowen on O, its something other teams have long since adjusted to, and they simply play D to allow the ball to go to Bowen.
Finley has been shooting much better and has put together some Barrylike games.
Finley and Bowens O will indeed matter. Concur its sink or swim for the 19 million dollar man Finley this playoffs.
A dream would be for the Spurs to have Finley, Barry, and Bowen all raining 3s at the same time. It's hardly ever happened, and its old Phx Suns style strategy. I don't like. Much better to insist Finley Barry take it to the rack regularly and utilize their 90 FT%.
Manu have an MVP performance like 2005 will be nice.