Always thought that Cojo had NBA potential. Blair just sucks at his position.
decolo is wetting the bed though. cojo is gonna have his work cut out for him if decolo grows le pair.
The ? I've been on the CJ bandwagon since summer league. In the "Electing the Backup Point Guard" thread, I said this:
If anything, I'm biased in CJ's favor because I've thought the whole season that he's the best man for the job. He convinced me in summer league that he's an NBA caliber player. As his skillset has evolved, he now fits even better than he did previously.
tbh.....
How would you define a "real Point Guard" then, timvp?
Ginobili has been back for a while now and Neal hasn't gone back to backup PG yet. Not sure where you're steering that ship, tbh.
In the playoffs last year, Neal got shredded by Eric Bledsoe and couldn't even hang with the corpse of Derek Fisher.
On a whole, the bench sucked last year in the playoffs ... and the backup point guard issues played a huge part in that, IMO.
Bledsoe and Westbrook are about as far off from a "real point guard" as Blair is from a "real center". They're both shooting guards, tbh.
Gotta agree. Cory impressed me tonight, mainly just with how comfortable he looked out there. Haven't really seen that much out of De Colo or Mills for long stretches. Could the main silver lining that comes out of Tony's injury be that CoJo gets a chance, and earns the back up pg spot? Having a solid defender as the back up pg sure could help in the playoffs.
With TP out, the starting PG spot will hopefully stay as CoJo's until he does something bad enough to lose it. If he can actually keep playing at today's level, he will definitely earn himself a rotation spot. Considering how deep into the season we are in, he's going to need as many minutes (and starts) as he can get in order to gain Pop's trust in the playoffs. I mean, I doubt we will see CoJo in 4th quarters of big games (Tony, Manu, Green, Neal) but he can definitely make an impact in the middle quarters as TP is getting his rest
I don't really see where you're going with these posts. If Tony is on the bench, who is going to defend Bledsoe? Who is going to defend Westbrook? Manu isn't quick enough anymore to deal with guys like this, so its either going to be Neal, Nando, Mills, or CoJo. CoJo is clearly the best fit to defend these guys, which are guys we will have to contend with come playoff time
Timvp has always been one of those that criticizes Nando, Neal and Mills for not being "true point guards" without defining what a "true point guard" really is. I'm curious to know what his definition of a point guard is.
He then says that Neal got "shredded" by Bledsoe in the playoffs last season. Almost everyone on here can agree that Bledsoe isn't a true point guard. If OKC are able to get by without a true point guard (they use Westbrook and Bledsoe), then I don't see why we need to constantly dismiss Neal, Mills and Nando from the backup pg spot, even if they play well, just because they aren't "true point guards".
I agree that Cojo's by far our best defender, but if he does become our backup for the playoffs, he'll be defending a SG that so happens to be playing the PG.
Well Cory has always played defense, which is why I wanted him having a legit chance to earn minutes. I always want defense first, and players with good defensive potential always get a chance with me.
If Blair started out playing solid defense and built his game around that, while adding his offensive game to the mix, he'd still be in the rotation.
Their defense sucks and they can't run the offense. What more do you need to know?
Even if Westbrook and Bledsoe aren't great at running offenses, they can play defense and score a lot. Mills and Neal can score, but that is about it. They're not really good at anything else.
I think Nando is a "true point guard" or at least close to it. I think his definition of a point guard is somebody who can comfortably bring the ball up the court, get us into our sets, run the offense, and run pick and rolls effectively. Mills and Neal are more like undersized shooting guards than point guards. Neal is notorious for "killing the offense" with his shots, but I'm still a fan of him and the whole "neal with it" campaign. Nando runs the offense decently, but he's too turnover prone for a backup gig. If your starter is explosive but turns it over a la prime wade, its fine, but a backup should be careful and focus on "not screwing up." Nando needs another offseason or even d-league time tbh. Cory fits the mold awesomely, at least from what we've seen in limited stints. He just looks natural out there. Nando often looks like he's forcing things, and scoring doesn't come second nature to him
Agreed, tbh... only Manu is better than CoJo at running the point...
On a more serious note, I really liked what he did on defense. The question mark is if it's sustainable. Also, I thought the team didn't respect him early on and everyone was trying to do their thing without letting him run the offense. It was better in the second half, but the team needs to trust him and let him manage the reins...
Will be interesting to see how CoJo goes against semi-decent opponents
i still think it's small sample, Timvp already ranking CoJo above TP after 1 game...
Next few games CoJo will be defending:
Nate Robinson
Damian Lillard (!)
Russell Westbrook (!!)
Ricky Rubio
Darren Collison
CoJo's time with the Toros definitely helped him sharpened his skills and developed his leadership. It's the consistency of playing major minutes every night with the Toro's instead of sporadic garbage time with the Spurs that helped him. I think they should do the same for Nando to get the same nightly experience. Nando have already shown traits of great passing skills, of shooting jumpers and attacking the basket. But he needs to learn to do it every night, plus sticking his nose on defense. And Neal would be much better if allowed to play his natural position of being a SG, catch and shoot on a screen, likewise Patty with his instant offense with the 2nd unit and not having to be forced to create for others. Keep it up. I see bright futures for the Spurs next guards.
Now with Splitter, Baynes and possibly Richards for the bigs...
He played a very good game tonight, but it's going to take more than two games to see what he's made of. I sure do hope he turns out as good as some of the credit he's already getting suggest.
I hear the mavs call Darren Collison DaCo, similar to our own CoJo.
I've said since the summer league that he should be our backup. This kid has skill and knows where to pick his spots on offense.
There were a ton of haters his first year or two. It was unbelievable. I've been a fan since we drafted him and I'm so happy to seem him living up to his potential thus far.
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