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Dumpster of KA.
Work in progress, nothing to see here. This isn't a church for instant gratification, we worship HAM knowing the promise day will arrive.
When Kyle> kawhi. And the gates of heaven open for the true believers.
In all seriousness, another year, another loaded spurs team with limited time to play prospects.
Dumpster of KA.
Ok will probably contribute more to his church, since I am the preacher.
1st Q of the Season:
Offensively:
Kyle's offensive game from summer league has not translated, mostly because the Spurs have him playing differently. He was a go to guy in SL, and his role is complementary in the bench. There are much better post players in the bench to run stuff through, and he's still developing his body and his strength. At this point, he basically just spots up for a 3 and has shown to be reluctant to shoot. He's shooting over 40% in the corner 3, but is reluctant to let it fly. Therefore, his role is primarily defense and boards. Whatever playing time he does get, he needs to be great on defense to stay on the floor.
Offensively he's had some moments, but due to his lack of athleticism, he should not be forcing the issue and needs to learn to pick his spots. He's had a number of buzzer beaters and shots from the midrange that I could not find online, but will keep track of any of such plays int he future if he does have them, if I can.
It's noteworthy most of his offense is self generated. That doesn't mean he's a black hole offensively, it just means he's not an ideal spot up shooter and will rather do other things instead, mainly move the ball and look for a shot for someone else. Some of his shots:
He has flashed his passing skills too:
Defensively is where he's had the most impact with plays like this:
At this point, Kyle's main role seems defensive. It's ironic, because defense was not his strong suit ever before, but he's improved. Basically, despite it not necessarily being a strength of his, at this point Kyle's playing time depends on how good he is defensively. If he's good defensively he will get playing time that will allow him to be better and improve in other areas. Because he doesn't have an immediate offensive impact though, Pop has been strict with him, and he's lost playing time to J.Simmons who has emerged as an offensive presence in the bench and has improved a whole lot.
Because of Kyle's youth and his untapped potential hopefully he will continue to get better behind closed doors and make the most of his opportunities when he gets them.
Also noteworthy, Kyle played some stretch 4 instead of Boris in a couple of games (against the Suns and Memphis). He has gotten real playing time against potential playoff teams and come through helping in those games. Therefore, his current lack of playing time is a possible testament to the real nice depth of this team.
Another Kyle defensive play:
Glad I bumped this. KA put her on your ing payroll.
Having Simmons on the second team speeds up the game considerably. The combo of Mills and Simmons, with the skilled passing of Manu and Diaw creates a lot of problems. If the other team really goes small, then having Anderson play instead of West may be an option.
Simmons makes sense with the 2nd unit, as he's a nice, athletic, energy player..Patty is the only energy guy on the team, outside of Simmons, having another guy of that nature will help balance the rotation..
Anderson is a better player IMO, but more redundant with the slow pace of the rest of the team..Kyle would be a better fit than Simmons in the SL IMO..
We are probably not going to see him much like Boban, outside of rest for others or blowouts. It's a shame because both guys can play, but we are stacked.
I wonder if he will get a dleague assignment to keep up his rhythm and game conditioning. Young players have to play to develop. There is only so much you can improve upon with the coaches if you are not having real game situations. He dominated dleague and summer league, so any improvement might be marginal, plus they will have him in a different role, thus Pop may prefer to have him with the team, but as a fan I want to see him improve and he won't do it in the bench.
With Butler in the team to sub in occasionally (occasional and rare foul trouble situations and such) I think the team could afford to send him down for a few games. If Pop made up his mind he doesn't need to rely on him this season I think dleague could help him a bit with shot selection and possibly practice his 3 or shot in game situations.
Spurs are stacked with players all the way to #13 being able to make considerable contributions.
The way I see it, the Spurs will beat opponents by running their stars to the ground. That's why the high energy guys like Mills and Simmons are so important because they make the other team work on the defensive side.
Anderson doesn't provide the same. What he does provide is an advantage if ever the opponent goes really small. He can be unstoppable posting up against smaller guards.
Boban is another player that can exhaust the other team. His sheer size makes the opponent centers work extremely hard. Ideal for teams like the Rockets or Memphis.
I don't think KA is going to Austin to get any reps. Pop has confidence in him, but needs him to be more focused when he gets in the game. It's so disconcerting to see how many times Pop has pulled Anderson out of the game. It seems like Anderson is getting the Tony Parker treatment.
Perhaps not this early in the season, while there are teams we are still blowing out and he could play and benefit from Pop's coaching more than anything else. Granted its compe ion against 3rd string players, but I have seen Pop actually coach these blowouts, it's not like he's sitting back not caring.
As a sidenote: Spurs didn't have him play lead point in the dleague. He was strictly a 3 and a ballhandling stretch 4 kind of like Boris. It seemed Spurs wanted him to transition from his college ways to learn to play like a forward and learn the offense from those spots as well as practicing his postups, since his game was so different in college. He had the green light to push the ball ahead and start the offense if he grabbed a rebound, but he was not calling sets or directing an offense per se or dealing with full court pressure. That was not something they had him work on.
Now in the NBA, I have already seen him do the last two things more with Pop than I would recall him doing them for the lower league teams ever. POP has also had him practice as a PnR ballandler and do several things as a ballhandler so I tend to think Kyle is still a project that Pop is still figuring out, so he's going to play different spots (Pop said this himself very early in preseason as well). If the purpose fir him this season is to progress in general, while Pop simply observes him play different roles while he figures out in what role he would be best, then Pop will probably want him around to observe him.
I believe that Kyle's ultimate, optimal position will be a sort of Point-4. Our own Bobo is the most comparable player (and just about the only one) that comes to my mind. The way Bobo is playing, I would not rule out his playing another 2 or 3 years. Hopefully, LMA will be here for much longer. If Timmy and West depart after this season, the pressure on Kyle to improve will increase dramatically. But, in addition to improving his skills, he will have to improve his strength and add some bulk/muscle. If Tim returns and continues to perform well, Kyle will have a little more time to find his niche and become a reliable rotation piece. Things get a little muddier if PATFO brings West back. Also what will Boban do this post-season? Then there is Cady to think about. Basically, next season the Spurs' 4/5 position could be anything from sparse to overcrowded, and Kyle's fate with the team will depend to a some extent on the number of guys that return after this season.
IMHO, LMA and Boris will be back. I think there is a good chance Boban returns (especially if Tim retires). I think there is a decent chance Tim returns, but that depends largely on his health and whether we win a 'ship this season. Health and (especially) the championship will have a strong bearing on whether West returns, too. I hope we return all of our bigs except West. Tim's minutes would diminish even more, with Boban and Kyle picking up the difference along with West's minutes. Cady would then be available for the garbage time/occasional d-league assignment like Kyle last year and Boban this season. In any event, IMO Kyle will either be a rotation player next season or he will be playing elsewhere. It will be time for us to either fish or cut bait with Kyle.
Just to complicate matters a little more, if Manu retires we will have some issues at the 3 where Kyle could see some spot duty against opponents with a pure (read: slow) spot-up shooter that Kyle could defend. That would give him some additional minutes/utility in the short run, but that would only be a transitional phase since Kyle won't make money in the NBA playing at the 3 IMHO. Personally, I hope Manu returns for one more year to play Simmons' current minutes while Simmons proves himself capable of playing DG to Manu's current minutes. I also expect Davis Bertans to become a new piece next season. I assume that Bonner and Rasual will be gone, possibly along with Ray.
I'm still a huge Kyle supporter. I don't get what people want from him. He's very good defensively, and he's shooting decently. He's not a great fit with Manu, but he's in no way a bad player.
Very interesting points concerning next season.
The future of the team is really unknown having so many old players. Realistically speaking, any season now could be the last for the legend HoF players and even if they return you can't take for granted their performance. At one point it could really fall off. They seem ageless, but it will end sometime. When they are gone we will simply be a different team.
I don't know or assume anything concerning West' s fate. I think if Tim and Manu come back I think he does too, but if the vets are gone it is questionable. And then again he likes a leadership role and we would have a potential assortment of young bigs to train, so he will be appreciated and probably wanted and needed even more. He affords additional time to develop Cady or Bertans or Kyle to develop into a true stretch 4 at least for the bench. If not West you would need someone else.
Hard to say for me, what to make if Kyle at this point and I am a fan. I think Kyle has a body type with a light frame that won't ever let him look all buffed up, but look at Porzinguis with his light frame. Even Timmy has looked slim lately. He just has to keep working on his game. He was unguardable when matched up against smaller guys bc he could shoot with guys all over him. He didn't need to blow by someone when he could make plays around and over guys. He has to eventually learn to dominate his matchup, he won't do that for now, nor do we need him to.
In a future like that (without the vets) it is swim or sink for Kyle for sure, Boban, Cady, whoever. It would not be unrealistic to think Spurs might even need to make a trade to fill up holes and Kyle and possibly other guys too, other than our franchise players could be a trade chip.
Ah, the rare Porzingod-Anderson comparison.
Hopefully Pop sticks with him in the rotation over Simmons, tbh..I expect him to continue giving each guy a shot, though, at least until February..
who cares about a block on some chucker who went 1v5?
another Black player for tholdren to hate, tbh..
oh, I thought he was white. Ill be sure to hate on him more now, thanks!
KA can just flat play ball. Nice game tonight.
This was a great game for Kyle, and he performed today against the Timberwolves probably the best I've ever seen him play. Playing safe, making good, quick passes, and surprisingly playing fantastic defense-both on-man and off-ball, reaching in. Drive and kick, catch and pass, dribble handoff, it all looks like it's coming together for him. When he came in with the bench, the Spurs looked much better as a unit. Almost every time he took a shot, it went in, and he bailed the Spurs out of a lot of shot clock situations with a couple crossovers and smooth shots. He looked aggressive, and if anything I felt like he could have shot more. Great game for Anderson; got maybe 15 minutes before garbage time, and played near flawlessly during those minutes barring a few mistakes jumping/passing the ball crooked. Didn't even look slow like he's known for! Also in a night where the refs decided they wanted to call phantom fouls/violations, Kyle had no fouls. Good stuff.
Anderson looks like he's developing quite nicely, I haven't been watching many of the games lately, but hopefully games like today are the usual now. Not that the Timberwolves are world-beaters or anything.
lol the re church grows.... For one night.
where is SAGirl when you need here
PS: probably typing dat essay as we speak..
where is SAGirl when you need here
PS: probably typing dat essay as we speak..
Over or under 500 words?
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