Finley, Ginobli, Duncan, Oh My!

Categorized as: Fantasy Basketball, Free Agency, San Antonio Spurs
Posted on: August 31st, 2005

And it only took about 5 hours from the time I saw it on NBA.com to get to the Blogosphere. The aptly-named NBA Source gets the square.

First, the Meeting Minutes from last time:

Manu played 30/game. Bowen played 32. That leaves 34 for Barry and Finley to split. Barry had (emphasis on the HAD) 21.5 minutes last season. I’d expect with the lineup the way it is now that Duncan would spend more time at Center. Not that he’s going to necessarily play more than the 34 or so he did previously (apologies to everyone with him as their top keeper… also known as: Me). But with Captain Boring in the middle, the Spurs can probably get away with Manu at the point, Bowen at SG, Finley at SF, and Horry at PF.

Shows what I know about coaching a basketball team.

No matter how the cookie crumbles, nor how delicious the cookie is, Finley won’t be playing as much as last year. There’s just not 37 minutes there to give him. Which is probably fine by him since he’s 32, and I’m sure The Pop made it clear that he’d be filling a reserve role on the team.

Given that, Finley will certainly not be holding down the spot at number 45 again in this years fantasy drafts. His percent owned number is also likely to drop from the 96% he achieved in the double-0 5. Per 48, the dude’s only giving you 20, 5.3, and 3.4. If you cut that in half (or even in 2/3), it will clearly affect his chances to be a major part of anyone’s fantasy team. He’ll still probably hit about 2 three-pointers a game, which is good for something, but alongside 14, 4, 2 … it’s not hot like the summer in San Antonio. FT% will remain strong, so if you need some good free-throw shooting and a few extra three’s throw Finley a bone. Otherwise, I say look for someone a little meatier.

*Editor’s Note: This is one of those predictions that I don’t feel very strongly about. It’s more just a hunch than a real opinion that I’m willing to certify. That said, I don’t see how Finley could get enough time to produce more than what I’m aiming for here. But then again, maybe that’s the idea.

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