# Rasho, Rasho, Rasho....



## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Did you guys see him against Houston? Boy was I impressed. Offensively he played with confidence and actually made several impressive post moves on Yao Ming, including an old-school sweeping hook shot right over Yao. Defensively he did a solid job on Yao. Anyway, this is a lot more about his overall game than just this one game. The guy actually has talent. That is what separates him from the Jerome James' of the league. Rasho has talent, he just never displays it consistently. What is always said is that Rasho does better without Tim. Think about that though, why is that? Is it because Rasho gets more touches by default? Well, partially, but my point is that why don't we assert him in the post more even with Duncan on the floor? Rasho averaged double-digits in scoring for Minny, and I think he could approach that here with this team. I really get mixed up in between figuring out who's the cause for Rasho really not maximizing his talent......Is it Pop, for not giving him chances when Duncan is in there, or is it Rasho himself, who completely shys away from the offensive end when Duncan is in there? Like I said, this isn't based on one game soley, rather it's based on several games that Duncan has missed over the course of these past two seasons, in which I've seen a Rasho that is an actual low-post scoring threat, as opposed to the garbage-scoring Rasho that plays when Duncan is on the floor. I'm not suggesting taking touches away from Duncan, rather I'm saying why not run some plays for the guy with Duncan in the game?





Oh, and by the way, after seeing Mohammed play recently, there's no need to ever mention Mohammed possibly starting over Rasho. I thought Massenburg had terrible hands, but Mohammed might have possibly topped him (In a bad way).


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## mr_french_basketball (Jul 3, 2003)

I think Pop want Rasho to be consistent in defense more than anything else.

We have enought offensive talents with Duncan, Manu, Parker to score at a very high percentage (50%), so why taking risk playing more Rasho in offensive?


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

It's not that much of a risk. 2,3 touches in the post for Rasho isn't going to hurt the team's offense.


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## LineOFire (Apr 20, 2004)

I just don't know what to think about Rasho Nesterovic. Sometimes I feel like he should be traded immediately, and sometimes I feel like he has the potential to do more.

It's ironic that you made this topic because I just read an article in the Express-News about how Rasho seems to never do enough but in reality he does all of the little things.



> There's a way to explain Rasho Nesterovic, and it goes like this. Kevin Garnett has yelled at him, fans and the media have wanted more from him and the years have gone by. At this point in his career, it should be clear by now. Nesterovic is what he is. Simple enough. But then he plays the biggest players on two of the NBA's hottest teams in 2005, and it becomes harder to explain Rasho Nesterovic.


Read the rest here: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/...A032805.1E.COL.BKNspurs.harvey.17e904d07.html

The article goes on to explain that Rasho's defensive work is only truely apparent when he defends the capable scoring centers. When he faces the role playing centers he can't really do much on defense besides crashing the boards. As we all know, there is a big lack of scoring centers so Rasho can never show us great defensive work all the time.

As for his offense, I think it's his own fault for not scoring enough. It might sound a little harsh, but I believe it's the reason. He just has never seemd confident shooting the ball and his shot looks so flat. I think running some more plays for him might increase his confidence but I don't know if we can trust Rasho with the heavier shooting load.

And yes, Mohammed does have horrible hands. He has bobbled away way too many passes and gotten it stolen from him too many times under the basket. I don't know how you practice getting "better hands" but it's time he started doing some drills. :biggrin:


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

LineOFire said:


> I just don't know what to think about Rasho Nesterovic. Sometimes I feel like he should be traded immediately, and sometimes I feel like he has the potential to do more.
> 
> It's ironic that you made this topic because I just read an article in the Express-News about how Rasho seems to never do enough but in reality he does all of the little things.
> 
> ...







Yeah, I woke up and read that article in the paper. I guess it was good timing on my part to write up this post late last night. 




I think the article does a good job of summarizing Rasho. His contributions are very similar to Bruce Bowen's. Bruce isn't a talented player in NBA terms, but he does provide a lot that doesn't show up in the stats. For Rasho, it's pretty much the same deal, but Rasho has at least shown enough offensive talent to be a decent low-post threat.


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## Matiz (Jun 5, 2003)

Rasho is simply not the type of person that would demand the ball in offense. The basketball mentality learned in ex-Yugoslavia space also consists of sharing the ball equaly, so he never had the need to demand the ball that much in europe.
...overall Rasho is a role-playing center, and is playing the role Popovich gave him in San Antonio. He could average some good numbers in some other clubs with plays set for him, but scoring a lot is not neccesarily the best for the team (something Kobe has to learn for example)... that's Rasho.


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## texan (Jul 10, 2003)

I have always consistently defended Rasho and said he should start, and he is showing why I think what I think. He CAN be a very brilliant center. Lately, he has been playing superb defense like usual, but he has also stepped up offensively as well. I think he feels that he needs to pick up the slack while TD is out, and that helps motivate him and improve his confidence. However, even when TD is playing, I think most people overlook all the things he actually does for this team. He may not show up big in the box score, but he does all the dirty work inside for this team. 

Overall, I'm happy with Rasho's play lately, and hope he will continue to play with this confidence, but scoring bunches of points is not his role on this team and he knows it. The defense, rebounds and all the other less glamorous stats are what he needs to focus on.


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## Guth (Feb 23, 2005)

I agree with everyone else's sentiment. Rasho is perfect at doing exactly what we ask him to do: that is, help side shot blocking and simply being a big body to take away some of the more punishing defensive assignments from Timmy. Yes, he could use a little more (ok, a lot) toughness, but there are a ton of players in the NBA with that problem.

Koko, as far as the idea about getting him more touches in the post even with Timmy in, I am not sure that I buy it. It is a reasonable idea because of the reasons that you listed, that he would be more confident and would be able to assert himself more, but I am not sure I would feel comfortable about that. Maybe it is just me, but whenever he gets the ball...I cringe. I don't know, but he is so stiff and uncomfortable that I start to feel that way.

It is a good idea, but when it comes down to it, he is a role player for a reason and will be most effective if he continues to play within his skin, as Pop is prone to say.


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

its a little of pops fault and rasho fault. rasho can demand the ball a lil more and pop can get him the ball a little more. not a whole lot more just mybe an extra 5 touches or something. when rasho plays with confidence he is very good just when he plays with out or with little confidence he isnt good or hes average. i think the extra few touches will bost his confidnce up... he'll play beta d and crash the boards more.


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

Guth said:


> Maybe it is just me, but whenever he gets the ball...I cringe. I don't know, but he is so stiff and uncomfortable that I start to feel that way.


It's not just you. He usually gets the job done, but they way he does it...it just makes me uncomfortable. I just don't trust him with the ball.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Normally, I do cringe. But you have to admit that when you see the guy make several impressive post moves in a row and score baskets on them, you gain a lot more confidence in him. I do, at least. 




My whole point in this thread was to say that I personally think he's better than what he shows. He's shown it enough IMO that he has very decent post moves, and all I was was saying is that we can utilize it a little more often, moreso on matchup problems than anything else. Don't get me wrong guys. I'm not saying "Let's get Rasho 15 points per game". All I'm saying is that it really wouldn't hurt to get the guy at least a couple of opportunities in the post. If he shows that he can't convert on them, scrap it.


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

I also think we should give Rasho the ball more...I'll just change the channel when he's got it :biggrin:


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

ezealen said:


> I also think we should give Rasho the ball more...I'll just change the channel when he's got it :biggrin:






That's usually how I feel with Massenburg and Bowen.


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

Me too with Bowen. I haven't really seen Massenburg play much though so I don't know about him.


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## Camaro_870 (Mar 12, 2005)

i personally think rasho can be really good, i really hate when Stephen A Smith from espn puts him down... as long as rasho does what he does we're in good hands.... plus he has a pretty good little hook that could be used a couple of more times in a game


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## DaBobZ (Sep 22, 2003)

KokoTheMonkey said:


> Oh, and by the way, after seeing Mohammed play recently, there's no need to ever mention Mohammed possibly starting over Rasho. I thought Massenburg had terrible hands, but Mohammed might have possibly topped him (In a bad way).


I'm just pointing that from your post Koko but the rest was just a great contribution from yours, got to agree with it at 100%
It's nice to have people in here that know the game, I've always enjoyed defensive game and time made me figure out Spurs fans know bball...
Mainly because Pop knows what defensive job means and that he does everything so that the whole organisation - including fans - gets to know what the letter D stands for.
Rasho's great and eventough I loved and still live the Rose Nazr trade I have to admit this Nazr guy ain't got no great hands... that's a major dissapointment from his so far but you got to reckon his rebounding is sweet.


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## LineOFire (Apr 20, 2004)

His rebounding is sweet but everytime he brings the ball back down it gets stripped out of his hands. :laugh:


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Mohammed is tough, so that's been the positive. The thing holding him back IMO is that he's playing like he has something to prove. It seems like he's going out there playing like he's afraid of losing his job, but in reality there's no one else that can be effective as he can as the backup center.


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## SpursFan16 (Mar 29, 2005)

I love him, one of my Fav players TD and Manu he has potential but he doesn't often use it. Played well on Yao though and it was a awesome hook shot


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

SpursFan16 said:


> I love him, one of my Fav players TD and Manu he has potential but he doesn't often use it. Played well on Yao though and it was a awesome hook shot


Wow...the way that was written I'd expect it to come from Terd. lol no offense :biggrin: 

Does that guy go on the boards anymore? That one day he made all those threads...I never laughed harder.


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

ezealen said:


> Wow...the way that was written I'd expect it to come from Terd. lol no offense :biggrin:
> 
> Does that guy go on the boards anymore? That one day he made all those threads...I never laughed harder.


LOL i had a couple of good laughs to


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Let's just say Terd got flushed.


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

Damn. I was looking forward to some more of his posts. I'm thining about putting one of his posts in my avatar lol


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## SpursFan16 (Mar 29, 2005)

ezealen said:


> Wow...the way that was written I'd expect it to come from Terd. lol no offense :biggrin:
> 
> Does that guy go on the boards anymore? That one day he made all those threads...I never laughed harder.


Thats was what i was aiming for 

Seemed to work. Probably should've added a smily to the end of it, it sounded a bit like i meant it.

i remember reading that guys post omg what a funny dickhead.


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## ballstorm (Nov 30, 2003)

There are not so much players in the league that can still be effective without getting the ball in their hands. Nesterovic and Bowen are both of them . Offensive talent is one thing , defensive talent is another one , less hyped for sure , but extremely reliable. I'm sure that Nesterovic could score 10 pts a game if there was some plays set for him . For the memory , he averaged 11.2 pts in Minnesota in the 2002-2003 season . I do not try to imply that he is a great offensive player that chose not to score for whatever reason . Let's rather say that he is a laborious offensive player whose defense has always been his major asset and who does not mind to have pitiful offensives figures . Even when he was in Europe (in a team which won the Euroleague , no coincidence  ) he was not a dominant offensive player . It was the glorious era of the "virtus bologna" ...


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

i th0ught that rasho was pretty good yesterday. he had 4 pt play and was pretty nice on d..i give props to hiim... people want him to fail and he aint. rasho is vidal for our success and many people dont relize this but with out rasho we would have a longer and harder time to win this ring.... he does so many thing unnoticed


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

SpursFan16 said:


> Thats was what i was aiming for
> 
> Seemed to work. Probably should've added a smily to the end of it, it sounded a bit like i meant it.
> 
> i remember reading that guys post omg what a funny dickhead.


You're being sarcastic rite? There is no way you did that on purpose.

Now to get back on the topic...um...yay Rasho! :biggrin:


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