would we still own his rights? maybe its just a one year thing to improve e ally his shot hes not ilegable for austin, spurs just dont want too lose him and know there stacked at sg
Agree, Blair and Temple have played with so much more poise.
Likely boils down to that, if you look lost when you get on the court, you shouldn't be playing on this team. Some players automatically get this, others simply don't no matter how much time they hang out in the d-league or NBA.
There it is, right there.
This is not an indictment of Pop. Facts are just facts.
Pop introduced the Spurs version of "small ball" to the world during that epic 2006 WCSF versus the Mavs. I guess coming back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the series really convinced Pop that he "small ball" really works. Those lineups, many of which featured Finley at the 4, were ones that Pop continued to tinker and experiment with. As HH has already stated, in the years that followed, Pop began to parade a succession of "smallish" wing players onto the court to surround Duncan. All the while, sacrificing the Spurs ability to defend and rebound the basketball, and placing an even greater burden on Duncan. Unfortunately, the trend has not stopped.
Is it any wonder why the Spurs have been a declining defensive team? The absence of good defensive players on this roster has been just as detrimental, as has been the retirement of Bowen and the decline of Duncan. Pop has done nothing to offset that decline. Pop talks a good game regarding defense, but it's just lip service. He no longer seems to have or want the players required to focus in that area. Instead, he continues to field smaller, offensive-minded, perimeter players, who are overmatched versus their opponents on the defensive end.
As for the frontline, despite Pop's staunch faith and support for the winner of the Robert Horry American Idol experiment, that is Matt Bonner, it has been a colossal postseason failure. Then what does Pop do? He rewards and retains Bonner and simulateneously sacrifices an athletic big man, with decent defensive skills, like Ian Mahinmi.. A move that does nothing to help Duncan.
Meanwhile, the NBA has gone the other way. Most teams in the NBA have multiple players, within their rotations, that are extremely long and athletic. While they may not defend or devote the attention to defense that the Spurs used to, they are terrors on the offensive end and cause matchup nightmares for the Spurs. (See Thunder, Fakers, Blazers, etc)
Now with them jettisoning Hairston, easily one of the team's better defenders, this is just another clear indication that Pop values offense over defense.
Hmm...I figured the Spurs favored him over Gee. Guess not
Signing Tmac seems more and more intriguing.
IDK if I wanna D Leaguer as our back up SF
I'm all for the youth movement, but having four greenhorn wings...two with a combined 38 games of NBA experience and two with none...to help carry the load behind the 40 million dollar man is a pretty shortsighted approach.
If this team is really serious bout extending the Duncan era(40 million buck says supposedly they are) should be looking for a vet with at least some experience to help on the perimeter. If they don't we will likely see more overplaying of Manu and Hill in more matchups that set him up to fail.
Nothing against Neal, if Malik wasn't going to cut it, I just wish the Spurs could've targeted a player with shooting skill, length and defensive ability.
IMO, I thought Hairston had done a pretty good job. For the most part he looked comfortable out there, to the point of directing his teammates to the right places. He had energy, wasn't afraid to take it to the basket and played some good defense. I'm guessing Malik didn't progress enough offensively to Pop's liking.
I totally called this. I wish I could remember what thread it was . . . I gotta stop smoking so much pot.
As I said, hairston was literally number one in the entire nba in isolation defense this past season, so I don't really know how people are saying that certain guys on the team have shown that they are better defensively in comparison to him..he did pretty much as well as he possibly could defensively for the pt he received..
He hasn't shown anything from an o standpoint, but he certainly has defensively and on the boards, which isn't arguable, unless you're trying to argue against numbers that are acts..
My problem isn't cutting hairston in general, its cutting him for an o minded rapist, or a past his prime veteran like bogans or whoever else is left..
The signing of Gary Neal was the death knell for Hairston like some have said. The Spurs definitely need a true sf who can defend - someone with some length. Pop allows this team to struggle with his insistence on going small or playing Matt Bonner for too many minutes at a time. Now he's slowing turning the Spurs into a softer team unless they go out and get a true perimeter defender at the wing position.
I agree. As much as I was okay with going with the youth at least until close to or at the trade deadline (in large part due to the options, or lack thereof, available), ultimately if they're serious about winning a championship, it's difficult to imagine it happening with a cadre of backup wings who are as inexperienced as the ones they have are.
Adding a competent, 3 AND D veteran makes sense. Unfortunately, there isn't one available in free agency. The best they could do is probably Bogans and Hayes and neither is anywhere near good enough.
This spot is going to be difficult to fill. This team is good enough that they could get by with a Bogans or a Hayes throughout most of the regular season and still win 50+, but when it comes time to establish a playoff rotation, I can't see a team winning a championship with either of those players in it. They need someone better. Anderson and Neal are both rookies (Neal is in the NBA) and neither is a noted defender.
They need someone ahead of them who's experienced, hopefully of ideal SF size and can shoot and defend above average and they need to acquire said player without giving up a single key veteran, which would limit them to lesser salary players and that only makes finding the proper fit more difficult. Value wise, they could throw in a 1st round pick, depending on how desperate they are and the quality of the player, but it's going to make it difficult to match salaries without giving up a veteran.
As has been pointed out a couple times in this thread (lightly scattered amongst the bickering), there are two major things this could mean for the Spurs roster:
1. The Spurs are going to sign another SF.
2. Backup SF minutes will go to Anderson and/or Gee.
If I had to venture a guess, it would be that most of the minutes would go to Anderson, with some also going to having 3 of Tony/Hill/Manu/Temple/Neal on the court at the same time. This would also mean that Gee gets sent to the D-League.
When Anderson was drafted, I felt he was much more of a SG than a SF, but given the current rotation of Spurs 2/3s, he's looking bigger all the time.
I think Gee will have a chance to win some minutes, but given what the Spurs typically want a SF to do, I think he'll have to go back to the D-League and work a little more on defense and, especially, 3-point shooting.
I don't get the sense that the Spurs didn't want Hairston, I think he just got an offer that he couldn't refuse. Probably far more lucrative than what he was going to make with the Spurs and guaranteed playing time, which he wasn't going to get with the Spurs. I think he'd have been on the fringe of the rotation and played at least semi-consistently, but that wasn't a guarantee.
lurker23, I can't see the Spurs not signing a veteran SF at this point. They were already somewhat thin (in terms of true SF's) and largely unproven at that position, so with one of the two main backup SF options gone, it's a no brainer that they bring in someone else. Looking at the players available, my guess is it's going to be Bogans or Hayes.
I thought everybody was so gung-ho about letting RJ go and letting the young guys take over? Now, all of a sudden, we are too young, inexperienced and shallow at the SF? Do you guys feel a little silly? I don't.
Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta.
They need to trade for James Posey (though his contract does kinda suck) or someone like him 'cause there's no free agent out there that can address what the Spurs need.
I'd like to hear the story behind all of this.
From what I understand the true reason Hairston didn't play in SL was due to him having real bad back spasms. Apparently they're so bad that the Spurs don't want to take on any risk so they stashed him overseas, similar with how they put Gist in the Russian league. He'll probably play there and come back after the season.
It happened way before that. He got benched in the playoffs last year for Bogans/Mason and, depending on how you interpret Pop and RC, the Spurs seemed to be higher on Gee this summer. I said a while back there was no way the Spurs would keep both Gee and Hairston and that turned out to be true. I think the Spurs have been pretty sure about Hairston for a while now and that's why they signed Gee. I'm not sure why they waited this long . . . maybe they wanted to make sure he got another job, maybe they have another deal in the works, but the writing has been on the wall for Hairston for a good amount of time. This wasn't a snap decision and it doesn't have much, if anything, to do with Neal.
It's really frustrating to see the Spurs wasting roster spots, money and time on players - that may have some NBA potential - just to let them walk with no compensation. I really thought that Hairston showed the skills to be a Ronnie Brewer/Tony Allen-type defender for the Spurs. Obviously, Hairston's lack of an established or quality offensive skillset caused the Spurs to acquire both Anderson and Neal. But, now they've pigeonholed themselves because they have not one perimeter player that specializes in defense. I'm hopeful that neither Anderson or Neal flame-out or underwhelm this up-coming season, or people really need to begin questioning the front-office and their approach.
As for people claiming that Hairston's defense is overrated, well I point to his locking down of Kevin Martin during that comeback loss in March. Martin was torching whomever was guarding him until Hairston came in and harassed into a few turnovers and giving up the ball.
RJ thread!
I don't want to go back in there anymore.
Me either...so let's agree we won't start it up again. We all have our positions and obviously no one is budging.
Very surprised to say the least..
But then again, I think they like Gee much more as an overall player.. I'd have to agree as I think Gee is a more talented from what I've seen of them both
My mistake. I thought I saw you budge a little.
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