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Slovenian Seven Footer Resurrected in SA

Last season he was the forgotten man in San Antonio. This season he is a key contributor and one of the key reasons for the Spurs success. Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome back Rasho Nesterovic. The Slovenian seven footer got the starting job and helped the Spurs to their best start in franchise history, approaching December with a 12-2 record. This probably came as a surprise to most of the 500,000 fans that a few months ago waved at Nazr, Rasho and the rest of the Spurs as they strolled down the Riverwalk as NBA Champs.

It was right there, black on white for everybody to see, just like the Spurs logo itself: Mohammed, Duncan, Bowen, Parker and Ginobili were on all the posters for 2005. Perhaps Coach Greg Popovich just took time to make up his mind. In 2006, after their annual Rodeo road trip and 52 games into the season, Nazr again became the starter.

With Nesterovic on the floor, San Antonio on average gains almost two points on the opponent while they break even with Mohammed in his place. San Antonio is one of the best defensive teams in the NBA -- keeping opponents to the league-low 88 points per game.