| San Antonio Spurs 2008-2009 Preview |
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| Written by Ben Weixlmann | |
| Saturday, 23 August 2008 | |
 PG: Tony Parker SG: Michael Finley SF: Bruce Bowen PF: Tim Duncan C: Kurt Thomas Obviously, Parker and Duncan are the headliners of this starting five, but Bruce Bowen is arguably the best defender in the NBA, and has a very underrated spot-up three-point jumper. Michael Finley has made a long career in the Association with his patented beautiful deep ball, but he is getting old, and may see his playing time decreases even more. Kurt Thomas, the veteran big man, isn’t wonderful, but he can play some fantastic defense and can contribute with 5 ppg on the offensive end of things. Now to the “Big Three”. Along with Parker and Duncan, the Spurs have a dynamic slasher in Argentinean Manu Ginobili. Ginobili, the leading scorer for the Spurs last year at over 19 ppg, won the Sixth Man of the Year award and is one of the best players in the league, but coach Gregg Popovich prefers to bring him in as a spark off the bench. Parker is an All-Star caliber point guard who runs the pick-and-roll with the best of them. He can really dribble-drive and penetrate, and has worked on his outside jumper over the past couple of years. Parker has made several assists over the years by simply dishing the ball to Bowen in the corner for what has seemed to be an automatic 3. Duncan is definitely the best player on this team, despite his age. The eleven-year veteran of the NBA has put up some of the best numbers in the game’s history. Duncan has become known as the “Big Fundamental” for his incredible talents, while not providing much flash. His most well-known move remains a 20-foot bank shot over smaller defenders, which he has become almost automatic at. I wasn’t overly happy with the Spurs draft selection of George Hill, an undersized guard out of IUPUI, but I am very intrigued with the second round pick of Maryland big man James Gist. Gist possesses an insane vertical leap, and will block almost anything within reach. Despite this team getting old, I still have faith in the Spurs to get things done in the Western Conference to see the NBA Finals again. A lot of people seem to forget that Duncan still puts up 22 points, 11 rebounds almost every night, despite his age. Overall, don’t be surprised to see the Spurs back in Finals with a legitimate chance to win the NBA championship.         Set as favorite Bookmark Comments
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