Saturday, November 17, 2007

Ager's run to last 5 games

Moe Ager’s run at starting shooting guard figures to last in the neighborhood of five games. Avery Johnson could have easily turned to Jason Terry or Jerry Stackhouse with Eddie Jones sidelined, but Ager keeps the bench rotation intact and allows the second-year Michigan State product the chance to show where he’s at.

“We’re at that point,” Johnson said before tip-off against Memphis. “The easy thing to do would be to start Jet or Stack and we’d probably be OK. They play a lot together anyway. This gives us a chance to see if we can get between 14 and 18 minutes out of Moe and give him some great experience.

“We just need to see what we’ve got. He could easily sink down at the end of the bench or go on the inactive list all year or maybe even go to the NBDL and play, but there’s nothing like NBA experience. We still think there’s another level for him to go to. We need to see that athleticism. He can make shots. We want him to continue to grow on defense.”

Johnson has referred to the practice of using an end-of-the-bench player as “stealing minutes.” He did the same with JJ Barea earlier this season, and has used the strategy in years past with guys like Rawle Marshall and Josh Powell.

Johnson also wants to be sure those minutes are productive ones and not have Ager out there just to fill out a spot.

“There were times even last year when we had some injuries we would put Moe in the game early in the first quarter and get some minutes there,” Johnson said. “We wanted to do it to start the game this time. We’re a pretty fast team with Howard and Ager on the wings and Devin [Harris] is pushing the ball. Or is somebody else is pushing it and Devin is running.

“We’re a pretty quick team and the game has really resorted to running right now and penetration, and we think those guys can do all of those things. I would even say steal a few minutes, but if we could get a few minutes with Moe early, and good minutes. I thought he didn’t blow anybody away, but he was solid the last game.”

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