Barrdog back in Spurs lineup for Finals rematch

[Reality]

The Spurs are getting more good news -- Bones was back at practice Tuesday. Brent Barry went through his first full contact drills since suffering a torn calf muscle.   Barry could be ready as early as Thursday night. That's when Lebron makes his one and only visit of the year. It's an NBA Finals rematch Thursday at 7 pm at the AT&T Center. -WOAI

Which brings up the subject of the Spurs living and dying by the Three.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA011608.01E.Spurs.en.296078a.html

Through 36 games, the Spurs are shooting about nine percentage points better in victory (41.3 percent) than in defeat (32.2). The significance of those numbers is not lost on another sworn anti-stat guy, coach Gregg Popovich.  His conclusion?

"We have to make threes to be the best team in the league," Popovich said.

Barrdog is shooting a team leading 45.3 percent from the arc.

[westkoast]

That's awesome.  I think Spurs fans everywhere were worried about not being able to get to the playoffs without BarrDog.

[Lurker]

That's awesome.  I think Spurs fans everywhere were worried about not being able to get to the playoffs without BarrDog.

Most Spurs fans are worried that Barry will miss too much time during the most productive part of his season...December & January.

[WayOutWest]

That's awesome.  I think Spurs fans everywhere were worried about not being able to get to the playoffs without BarrDog.

Most Spurs fans are worried that Barry will miss too much time during the most productive part of his season...December & January.

LOL!  Seriously, not being a Spurs fan that's something I'd like to understand.  I've had Barry on my FNBA teams in the past and it does seem like he's done by the all-star break.  Does his play drop off or is it by design that he gets more minutes early on but when the Spurs start to get rolling and make their runs do they ramp down Barry and get their A team'rs more time.  Is he used to cusion the playing time of the Spurs main guns early on so they are fresh come playoff time or does Barry play cause him to lose minutes later in the season?

[Lurker]

That's awesome.  I think Spurs fans everywhere were worried about not being able to get to the playoffs without BarrDog.

Most Spurs fans are worried that Barry will miss too much time during the most productive part of his season...December & January.

LOL!  Seriously, not being a Spurs fan that's something I'd like to understand.  I've had Barry on my FNBA teams in the past and it does seem like he's done by the all-star break.  Does his play drop off or is it by design that he gets more minutes early on but when the Spurs start to get rolling and make their runs do they ramp down Barry and get their A team'rs more time.  Is he used to cusion the playing time of the Spurs main guns early on so they are fresh come playoff time or does Barry play cause him to lose minutes later in the season?

Basically everyone on the roster gets a lot of playing time early in the season.  Pop limits minutes and tries various combinations to get a better idea of who can help when the wins start to count.  Barry starts off the year strong shooting wise but his defense is average at best.  Also by season end Barry's shooting seems to drop off while Finley starts to warm up.  So between Barry's defense and the fact that Finley can give close to the same offense, Barry loses minutes.  Also Finley can play at the 3 spot where Barry can only play the 1 (Pop's 4th choice here) and 2.  Pop always tightens his rotations as the season wears down and Barry is the #5 guard on the roster...after Parker/Finley/Ginobili/Vaughn.  And with Bowen and Udoka at the 3 there isn't a lot of time for Barry as winning time approaches.

What is going to be interesting to watch is the minutes of the big men.  Fabs seems to have the inside tract because he plays smarter than the rest.  Elson brings athleticism.  Horry brings experience.  Bonner brings energy & hustle.  And if Pop goes small there are times Duncan is the only big on the floor.  So at most in the playoffs there will be about 50 minutes to split among those 4.

[WayOutWest]

What is going to be interesting to watch is the minutes of the big men.  Fabs seems to have the inside tract because he plays smarter than the rest.  Elson brings athleticism.  Horry brings experience.  Bonner brings energy & hustle.  And if Pop goes small there are times Duncan is the only big on the floor.  So at most in the playoffs there will be about 50 minutes to split among those 4.

That kind of reminds me of a thought line I had about the Spurs "big men".  Back in the 80's the Lakers, as well as other teams, would acquire certain players as a counter to their most likely playoff opponent.  For a couple of years the Lakers would pick up big bruisers to counter the Celtic big men before completely changing their game plan and going with a fast break roster.  Still, the Lakers picked up Mychal Thompson to counter McHale because the Celtic front line was so dominant.  In more recent times it seemed to me that teams would stock up on big men and their 6 fouls to counter Shaq, in particular the Spurs because they wanted to keep TD at PF to a fault.  Durring Shaq's prime with the Lakers, only TD seemed to be Shaq's equal, or as close as you could get, on BOTH ends of the floor.  Now it seems that there really isn't a true center on a contender that you have to worry about come playoff time, with the POSSIBLE exception of Yao, so a stable of big men is not really needed.  While NOBODY can argue with the way the Spurs manage thier team and on court personnel, it does seem that the Spurs are a little stuck in the past by having a pseudo-starting center on their roster.  TD can play center as well as anyone in the league right now, in fact I think he is the best center in the league period, but the Spurs still insist on keeping a starting center around.  IMO the Spurs are better served trying to land a more mobile PF to counter the likes of Dirk and Amare and allow TD to worry about the centers in the league.  IMO the only center that would challenge TD in the west is Yao, TD has every other western contender outmatched, i.e. Amare, Bynum and Boozer.