# Which Spurs player steps up in the playoffs?



## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Just curious to know who you guys think will step up for us come playoff time. By "stepping up" I mean that they come out and noticeably improve their game in the playoffs. All season long I've heard people say "Barry will step up come playoff time", so is he the choice, or will Manu/Parker take their games to an even higher level? Will it be someone like Nazr or Beno who comes out and plays great?



Vote and give your reasons why.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

I voted for Manu. He hasn't put together a streak of good play in awhile now, and I think he's ready to explode. This is the guy that has to step up for us to win a championship, one of the reasons being these season splits:




When the Spurs win: 17.2 PPG - 4.3 APG - 4.6 RPG - 51 FG% (53 games)
When the Spurs lose: 13.2 PPG - 2.8 APG - 4.1 RPG - 38 FG% (21 games)




Just in case you are confused, above is Manu's stats in wins and losses. Quite a huge difference, huh?


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## texan (Jul 10, 2003)

I think in order for us to win the Championship, TP will have to step up his play to another level. So therefore, I think Tony WILL in fact pick his game up to the next level, like he did last playoffs until Game 3 vs the Lakers. However this time, I believe he keeps up that play for the entire playoffs. I especially think he needs to pick up his shooting, and penetration/distrubting the ball. I think he will average something along the lines of 22 points and 8 assists.

Another candidate is Glenn Robinson. I don't know how much he can step up his play, but if he continues to provide us with hot midrange shooting, then he will be considered an integral part of our Championship success.


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

i think that diffrent players will step up at diffrent times

you have duncan who will be there in give you superstar stats but besides him

manu will be the key for round 1(no one to guard him)
nazi and rasho will step up in round 2(insided force vs. sonics)
brown and barry will step up in round 3(there perimeter 3 shooting)
i have parker stepping up in finals to becoming mvp(penitration inside the pistons d)

so i have choosen parker since the finals is the biggest round, but we need not to forget our big man duncan, we might take him for granted some times


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

Hopefully everyone steps up in the playoffs, but if I had to chose the who steps it up the most, I'd say Parker. He's really stepped his game up since the ASG because he feels like he got snubbed, and I think he'll take his game to another level in the playoffs because everyone will be watching him. This is a perfect time for him to make a good impression on the coaches and the fans.


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## XxMia_9xX (Oct 5, 2002)

i picked parker. i think his play and role will be important in the play-offs. he needs to step up.... however i dont think it's just parker, everyone needs to step up. not just one player, everyone at different times... 

if duncan was on there i'd pick Duncan, because the spurs really needs him. everything revolves around him. in order for that one person to just step up, duncan has to be his best for the spurs to win.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

A look at Parker's regular season/playoff splits:



01/02 Regular: 9.2 PPG - 4.3 APG - 2.5 RPG 
01/02 Playoff: 15.5 PPG - 4.0 APG - 2.9 RPG


02/03 Regular:15.5 PPG - 5.3 APG - 2.6 RPG 
02/03 Playoff: 14.7 PPG - 3.5 APG - 2.8 RPG 

03/04 Regular: 14.7 PPG - 5.5 APG - 3.2 RPG 
03/04 Playoff: 18.4 PPG - 7.0 APG - 2.1 RPG


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

KokoTheMonkey said:


> A look at Parker's regular season/playoff splits:
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> 
> ...


The one time we win, his stats go down in the playoffs. Does that means we don't want him to step up? :biggrin:


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## TiMVP2 (Jun 19, 2003)

Nazr Mohammed for sure.


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## Cloud786 (Mar 18, 2005)

ill be an oddball and go with horry


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

Cloud786 said:


> ill be an oddball and go with horry


I was considering Horry too, but he has already stepped up alot since Duncan got injured, and I don't think he has it in him to go another up another level.


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## Guth (Feb 23, 2005)

I am with you, Koko...I think Manu has been gearing up ever since he sat out those couple of games for a big run come playoff time...I think he realized that it would be most important to be healthy come playoff time, so he might have even held back a little in the regular season to make sure that he was completely healthy come the playoffs...Manu is too important and too competitive to continue to be so quiet, so I look for him to be huge, not just in the first round, but the whole playoffs...


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Mohammed and Manu stepped up for game 1......nobody else did. 




I still haven't figured out why Manu doesn't get plays run for him when he's scoring so well. We needed baskets and Manu was our best scorer, so I'm not sure why he didn't get more opportunities.


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

KokoTheMonkey said:


> Mohammed and Manu stepped up for game 1......nobody else did.
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I remember one play pop called for him after a time out...it resulted in a sweet dunk :biggrin: ...I think that was the only one though.


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## texan (Jul 10, 2003)

I'm gonna call Parker out on this thread. If only he actually saw this.... He needs to start playing like an "all-star" point guard everyone is claiming that he is, and act like he wants this to be HIS team. He was timid, and not aggressive enough. I was really disappointed w/ how he played last night.

Here are his stats from last nights game:

12 points
6 assists
5 turnovers
5 fouls
6-17 FG 
0-1 3 PT FG

This last stat is the one I'm most disappointed by, suprisingly. Yeah, he isn't a very good 3 point shooter, but when he has wide open looks, of which he had at least 5 I remember last night, I trust him to make a good percentage of them. I want him to be aggressive and charge the lane as much as possible, but he needs to learn to trust his shot when he is wide open.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

texan said:


> I'm gonna call Parker out on this thread. If only he actually saw this.... He needs to start playing like an "all-star" point guard everyone is claiming that he is, and act like he wants this to be HIS team. He was timid, and not aggressive enough. I was really disappointed w/ how he played last night.
> 
> Here are his stats from last nights game:
> 
> ...





Damn, 5 TO's, 6/17 from the field? I honestly didn't even look at the boxscore from this game since I was so disgusted, so I wasn't aware he 5 TO's and had that miserable of a night from the field.



But yeah, you're right texan. Inconsistent Parker is back. The guy needs to find a middle ground somewhere so he can be a contributor every night. There's not room for anymore 5 TO 6/17 FG's for Parker. Another thing is that Miller owned us. What did he have, 31 points? Parker got dominated, and we aren't going anywhere if we're giving up that kind of production to the opposing team's PG.


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

KokoTheMonkey said:


> Mohammed and Manu stepped up for game 1......nobody else did.
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i thought narz stepped up but manu? he could of played better to me, not so much pts but he made some mentle mistakes.... we all just came to THE gm to watch not to play, we better play alot better


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

TheRoc5 said:


> i thought narz stepped up but manu? he could of played better to me, not so much pts but he made some mentle mistakes.... we all just came to THE gm to watch not to play, we better play alot better





Aside from Mohammed and Manu, everyone else played sub-par. Manu didn't finish the game strong (Nobody on the Spurs did), but he played pretty darn well overall. Without Manu, we would have lost by 20 points.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Through 4 games, it's unquestionably been Manu so far. This guy has played at a higher level thus far, and I'm getting the impression that Denver will focus on Manu as much as they focus on Duncan in game 5.


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## texan (Jul 10, 2003)

Having a thread like this without Robert Horry's name written all over it is a bit ludacris. I know Manu stepped up as well, but Horry's rise in play was probably the most suprising thing of the series. He shot lights out, played good defense, and rebounded well. He did all the little things we need him to do and was a major reason we won so easily. If he continues to play like this, then our road to the championship will be alot easier.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

texan said:


> Having a thread like this without Robert Horry's name written all over it is a bit ludacris. I know Manu stepped up as well, but Horry's rise in play was probably the most suprising thing of the series. He shot lights out, played good defense, and rebounded well. He did all the little things we need him to do and was a major reason we won so easily. If he continues to play like this, then our road to the championship will be alot easier.






Robert Horry was absolutely huge in this series. There isn't words to describe how well he played in this series.




Horry shows what the combination of confidence and experience can do for one in the playoffs.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

21.8 PPG - 5.8 RPG - 4.3 AST - 51 FG% - 46 3PT% - 78 FT%- 32.5 MPG





That's Superstar numbers in role player minutes. How many guys are this efficient scoring? 22 points per game on 13 shots per game? He's been a beast this post season, and he's most definitely the answer to the question in this thread.


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

yes horry is great and manu steps up in wich ever role he needs to fill that night, duncan is doing fantastic and all of the bench is just great. i would like to comment on parker. i think he had a great serious, not a exellent one but he only had one bad one all the rest he was sparkn the team, penitrating, putting up pts in the clutch. he was great give props to tony in this series, yes he probaly could of done better but this guy just turend 23 and had a 29 pt gm and a 21pt gm and 2 18pt gm with a resonable amount of assits and not to many tos, also woredown nash at the end.
props to all the spurs..... whats up with rasho though


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

TheRoc5 said:


> yes horry is great and manu steps up in wich ever role he needs to fill that night, duncan is doing fantastic and all of the bench is just great. i would like to comment on parker. i think he had a great serious, not a exellent one but he only had one bad one all the rest he was sparkn the team, penitrating, putting up pts in the clutch. he was great give props to tony in this series, yes he probaly could of done better but this guy just turend 23 and had a 29 pt gm and a 21pt gm and 2 18pt gm with a resonable amount of assits and not to many tos, also woredown nash at the end.
> props to all the spurs..... whats up with rasho though






Who's minutes do you take away to give to Rasho? Duncan? Horry? Nazr? The answer is none of the above. If we play Miami in the Finals, Rasho will get minutes by default. Other than that, he really doesn't deserve minutes with the way our bigs are playing.


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## TiMVP2 (Jun 19, 2003)

TiMVP2 said:


> Nazr Mohammed for sure.



So far so good FOO :banana:


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

Uhm...Nazr hasn't really done much more than he's been doing.

I say anyone who chose Brent Barry, Robert Horry, or Manu Ginobilli were rite.


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

ezealen said:


> I was considering Horry too, but he has already stepped up alot since Duncan got injured, and I don't think he has it in him to go another up another level.


I ate my words, huh?


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## TiMVP2 (Jun 19, 2003)

ezealen said:


> Uhm...Nazr hasn't really done much more than he's been doing.



Actualy hes been pretty consistent and grabbing many boards,in fact I was watching WOAI and Pop said we would not be this far without Nazr.

FOOOOOOOO


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

TiMVP2 said:


> Actualy hes been pretty consistent and grabbing many boards,in fact I was watching WOAI and Pop said we would not be this far without Nazr.
> 
> FOOOOOOOO


I know he's been doing good, but he hasn't stepped it up. He's been playing just as good as he was before the playoffs started, which was already pretty damn good. It's just that he hasn't really stepped it up. That's why in one of my last post I said whoever chose Brent Barry, Robert Horry, or Manu Ginobilli were rite, because they've really picked up thier game since the playoffs started. Understand what I mean now?


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Horry has stepped up.



He's shooting at a better percentage from the field and beyond the 3PT line, and according to his per 48 minute stats, he's scoring more, rebounding more, and dishing a little more assists. It's not just that he's getting more minutes, he's producing more in the playoffs than he did in the regular season.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

KokoTheMonkey said:


> I voted for Manu. He hasn't put together a streak of good play in awhile now, and I think he's ready to explode. This is the guy that has to step up for us to win a championship, one of the reasons being these season splits:
> 
> 
> 
> ...






[pats himself on the back]




It was Manu, no doubt about it. 


Regular season: 29.6 MPG - 16.0 PPG - 4.4 RPG - 3.9 APG 
Playoffs: 33.6 MPG - 20.8 PPG - 5.8 RPG - 4.2 APG




Amazing. I was expecting him to step it up, but not like this. What's not shown in the stats above is his 50.7 FG% and his 43.8 3PT%.


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## Nikos (Jun 5, 2002)

Not to mention he upped his +/- stats this playoffs. Remember he was #1 in the 2003 playoffs too, that did not change in 2005.

Look at the difference between him and most players in the playoffs, and even on his team. Shows that probably Duncan and Ginobili being on the floor was killer, and when Manu was not on the floor in the playoffs, even Duncan didn't always lift them to dominance (makes some sense considering his injury, and the fact he played more minutes than Manu).

http://www.82games.com/playoffs/045PSAS.HTM


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Nikos said:


> Not to mention he upped his +/- stats this playoffs. Remember he was #1 in the 2003 playoffs too, that did not change in 2005.
> 
> Look at the difference between him and most players in the playoffs, and even on his team. Shows that probably Duncan and Ginobili being on the floor was killer, and when Manu was not on the floor in the playoffs, even Duncan didn't always lift them to dominance (makes some sense considering his injury, and the fact he played more minutes than Manu).
> 
> http://www.82games.com/playoffs/045PSAS.HTM




Yeah, I saw those stats as well. Pretty awesome stuff. Manu is such a competitor that he steps up in situations like this. 


Speaking of Manu, I think he's only one of three players to have ever won a gold medal and the NBA championship in the same year.


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## Long John Silver (Jun 14, 2005)

KokoTheMonkey said:


> Speaking of Manu, I think he's only one of three players to have ever won a gold medal and the NBA championship in the same year.


Yeah, him, Jordan and Pippen (twice).


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## Nikos (Jun 5, 2002)

Speaking of players who stepped up.....

If there is anyone else who really stepped up from the regular season, it was Robert Horry. His numbers across the board were better. He was very efficient in his scoring and his passing.

Ginobili and Horry definitely stepped up the most of all Spurs relative to their regular season performances. Nazr might be third on the list, but he didn't get an entire season in with the team, so of course he was going to naturally look better statistically and physically on the floor.

*Horry*
9.3PPG 5.4rpg 2.0apg .91spg .87bpg in 27mpg and 45% from three with about half his shots being three. Those are quality numbers for a role player, especially considering his intagibles aren't really completely covered in the stats.

Those numbers are basically better than what he did in Houston in the 1995 playoffs, which is considered his 'prime'. If you ask me Horry played his best playoffs this season in his history. Per minute he was better than ever. That is really all that matters being that he is a role player. Play efficient in limited minutes.

Huge props to Robert. And of course Manu for stepping up their games the most.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Nikos said:


> Speaking of players who stepped up.....
> 
> If there is anyone else who really stepped up from the regular season, it was Robert Horry. His numbers across the board were better. He was very efficient in his scoring and his passing.
> 
> ...





Oh yeah. Robert Horry was the 4th leading scorer, and was just absolutely huge in these playoffs, namely against the Pistons. Boy am I glad we brought him back. It's a good thing that the Spurs front office doesn't listen to the fans, because we all wanted him out of here after last season.


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## SpursFan16 (Mar 29, 2005)

Horry.


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

SpursFan16 said:


> Horry.


lol, well yeah, it's easy to vote now that the playoffs are over.


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