DTP

O’Neal Hurt, San Antonio Continues to Struggle
San Antonio Press

Despite the addictions of Peja Stojakovic and Eddie Jones the Spurs continue to struggle and sit in 4th place in the Midwest Division. This was the team many picked in the preseason to win the division and now half way into the season they’re sitting at the 4th seed in the division. And with the current injury to Shaquille O’neal who is expected to be out a few months doesn’t help either.

“We have obviously not played our best the last few weeks but it’s no time to panic. We know championships are won during the playoffs and the main goal for us now is to just find a rhythm and an identity before playoffs come.” DTP said in a recent interview. For that to happen the Spurs need more contribution from the bench and key guys like Kevin Martin. It is unclear rather Martin or Eddie Jones will start for this team but both need to provide much needed scoring and defense for this team to win games. Obviously losing Shaq will be a tough loss but this team can overcome it with the talent they have. Nick Fazekas has been playing great this season anyways and this is a time for him to gain more confidence in himself by getting more playing time and for the Spurs to see what Fazekas can really do.

A few things will have to happen if the Spurs want to turn this thing around and the #1 thing is get Duncan and Parker more involved. Duncan has been having a great season and now with O’neal hurt he’ll have to step up even more. They will need at least 20 points and 11 rebounds a night from Duncan. Parker got off to a slow start so his numbers are a little low but lately he has stepped up and he will also need to continue to do so. His scoring and assist per game is up from last season and with O’neal out he’ll need to continue to play well. The 2nd key is getting the bench more consistent. With Fazekas moving in as the start while Shaq is out they’ll lose a lot off the bench but still have Amir Johnson and Primoz Brezec along with Travis Diener and Martin or Jones. So far out of the 4 Diener has been the only one to make a consistent impact for this team but as Brezec gets more opportunities his numbers continue to increase. That third and final key is stay healthy, this team has been a little nicked up so far this season and need to try and stay healthy if they want to turn this thing around, losing O’neal is all they can afford to lose right now.

The New Addictions
The first new addictions have not played well and so far has not proved to be worth the 1st round pick they have up to get for him. Martin is only averaging 6.5ppg in 18.6mpg but has had the chance to start but just inconsistent to keep in the starting lineup. If he can just give them 10ppg in about 24 or so games that would be great for them but so far he hasn’t been able to do it. Peja Stojakovic has been alright but they will need more from him as well. So far in the 6 games he has only averaged 16.6ppg but as the season goes along and he grows more comfortable into the system that’s averaged is expected to increase. And last but not least Eddie Jones, who has probably played the best out of all of the 3 in the minutes he’s getting. Jones so far with the Spurs is averaging 9.5ppg and with him expected to get the starting job over Martin that scoring average will definitely go up. Since giving up Artest the Spurs defense has also go a little worse, now giving up 3 more points per game. The Spurs are willing to accept that as long as they get scoring and so far they have not and that’s the reason why they have struggled.

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HT San Antonio Spurs (0-0)

9 Parker
12 Wilkins
13 Palacios
21 Duncan
3 Wallace

Year 1- 47-35 Loss in WCF 1-4 to Phx
Year 2- 40-42 Loss in 1st Round 1-4 to Phx

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