Wow, what a game by Fabricio Oberto, going a perfect 11-for-11 from the field for 22 points and 10 rebounds against the Suns. He played a smart overall game, making some nice passes and being the recipient of some easy passes for layups in the paint, taking some pressure off of Tim Duncan.I was impressed by his defense against the Suns’ bigs as well, and it seems as though my prediction of a improved Oberto I made in the offseason is starting to come true. Don’t start calling me Nostradamus yet though.
An increase in playing time and having a year under his belt studying and playing in the Spurs system was partly the reason I expected Oberto to have a slightly better year, but he has also put himself in position to improve and see a stats increase by playing smart on both ends of the court.
He won’t be filling up the stat sheet in every game, but he’s capable of contributing for the Spurs as he showed with a 12 point, 9 rebound game against Toronto on Sunday, where he also shot a high percentage.
Francisco Elson should also continue to improve as he spends more time picking up the Spurs offensive and defensive schemes. So far he and Oberto are giving me reasons to be optimistic about the center position, and as I said in my season preview article on ProjectSpurs.com. I don’t see Oberto and Elson as much of a step down from Nazr Mohammed and Rasho Nesterovic.
-Michael A. De Leon
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