Reply With Quote
He needs a bodyguard ?
Damn you're as old as me to know this
Don’t know, but Paul Simon suggests that you call him just that.
He needs a bodyguard ?
Damn you're as old as me to know this
I like the cerebral players. I'm pulling for Mamu to be on the final roster.
Is there much doubt he will be? We're so thin with bigs and he provides things Pop really loves.
He was the only signee this summer that only got one year, and I'd bet it's unguaranteed. I think he does bring things that the team likes, but he's no sure thing to be on the final 15.
I mean, who cares how long his contract is for? Does it say "won't be playing" on it? Fact is there are few bigs on the team and half of them are injury prone. I seriously doubt the hangers-on the Spurs picked up for draft assets this summer get ahead of him. They're all ancient and they're perimeter players.
The length of a contract and it's level of guarantee actually shows a lot about how the team values a player. He didn't even get a 1+1. I'm not saying they're going to cut him, but if they do, I wouldn't be shocked. Cedi is 28 and Payne 29. Not on our timeline, but hardly ancient.
Mamu just had a very good first half against my German team. 12 points keeping Georgia in the game. I am NOT amused
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/et%20al.
Cant stop a lawyer from throwing Latin out at every opportunity.
I’m also a lawyer, in France, and didn’t see that coming
Everybody is a lawyer on Spurstalk tbh.I’m also a lawyer, in France, and didn’t see that coming
Clever fans
Guilty
Paywalled... ugh!
Thanks but I’m not subscribed to San Antonio Express News
Cliff notes, please.
After busy summer, Mamu searches for place on the Wembanyama Spurs
Armed with a new contract and propelled by a starring turn at the FIBA World Cup, the Spurs’ Sandro Mamukelashvili is eager for what comes next in San Antonio
Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, Sep. 20, 2023.
For the record, Spurs forward Sandro Mamukelashvili did not know the horror he was about to unleash on teammate Jeremy Sochan when he took him to the top of the Tower of the Americas earlier this month.
A tourist at heart, Mamukelashvili was just hoping to experience a run-of-the-mill trip to the San Antonio landmark, 750 feet above the city’s skyline.
It turns out his traveling companion was not merely scared of heights.
“He’s very scared of heights,” Mamukelashvili said.
This being 2023, video of Sochan’s white-knuckle terror as Mamukelashvili coaxed him toward the tower’s observation deck went viral. When it comes for Sochan’s inevitable attempt at payback, Mamukelashvili has a few phobias of his own to exploit.
High speeds and confined spaces give Mamukelashvili the heebie-jeebies.
One thing Mamukelashvili is not afraid of, however, is heights.
After a summer spent starring for the national team in his native Georgia, and armed with a new Spurs contract, Mamukelashvili enters his third NBA season hoping to take his career to new ones.
“It’s a great spot to be,” Mamukelashvili said.
The 24-year-old Mamukelashvili came to the Spurs in March, days after being waived by Milwaukee.
Times have changed in San Antonio in the six months since Mamukelashvili arrived.
The Spurs of last spring were playing out the string on a fourth consecutive losing season, and were willing to give young, developing players like Mamukelashvili both a chance to play and a longer leash.
Mamukelashvili averaged 10.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in 19 mostly low-pressure games. With his combination of size, hard play and heady passing ability, “Mamu” became something of a fan favorite in the process.
“It was hard with Milwaukee to find my spot and to gel,” said Mamukelashvili, the 54th pick in the 2021 NBA draft. “We had a lot of older guys who took me under their wing like a little brother, but here (in San Antonio) everything is more my age. We’re all in the same situation.”
With the touchdown of No. 1 overall draft pick Victor Wembanyama this summer, the rebuilding process hit fast forward in San Antonio.
Which means so too did the development process for players such as Mamukelashvili.
The 6-foot-11 former Seton Hall standout is ready for a chance to draft in the wake of Wembymania.
Mamukelashvili entered the summer as a free agent, unsure of what his future held. On the first full day of his first NBA free agency period in July, Mamukelashvili was working out in a high school gym in San Antonio, since unsigned players are disallowed by league rule to use team facilities.
READ MORE: How often will Spurs' Victor Wembanyama play? A lot more than you might think.
It was there he took a stress-reducing phone call from coach Gregg Popovich, welcoming him back to the fold.
Mamukelashvili agreed to a one-year deal worth a fully guaranteed $2.1 million to return to the Spurs, a team he had loved growing up in the central Georgian city of Tbilisi.
“It was a great call,” Mamukelashvili said. “Not only me, but the whole country of Georgia is excited.”
Indeed, before Mamukelashvili could return to full-time duty with the Spurs, he had some business to cover overseas. In August, Mamukelashvili helped lead Georgia to its first-ever top 16 finish at the FIBA World Cup tournament in Japan.
It was a modest but impressive accomplishment for the small eastern European country of 3.7 million people.
Georgia clocked victories over Cape Verde and Venezuela, went toe-to-toe with a Luka Doncic-led Slovenian squad and was eventually dispatched by losses to World Cup champion Germany and perennial power Australia.
Mamukelashvili was the star of the show for Georgia, averaging 11 points and six rebounds while shooting 56 percent. If Mamukelashvili has his way, Georgia’s World Cup run will set the stage for next summer’s Olympic qualifying matches.
“That’s another big step for our country,” Mamukelashvili said. “We’re going to go against the world again. I want to elevate Georgia basketball and make it one of the best teams in Europe.”
In the meantime, Mamukelashvili believes the confidence gained during Georgia’s World Cup run will pay off as he returns to a less weighty role with the Spurs.
When training camp kicks off in early October, it should mark the start of what could be a pivotal season in Mamukelashvili’s fledgling NBA career.
He will be a free agent again next summer, and would like to prove to the Spurs he can be a long-term asset in the team they are constructing around Wembanyama.
In Milwaukee, Mamukelashvili played alongside another human marvel in Giannis Antetokounmpo. He views Wembanyama in the same vein as the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player – with one key difference.
Wembanyama, at age 19, already has a jump shot more reliable than that of Antetokounmpo.
“That already gives him an advantage of being an inside and outside threat,” Mamukelashvili said of his new rookie teammate. “I don’t know what he can develop to, because that’s not my job. But he’s definitely an alien.”
Mamukelashvili is determined to make himself a part of whatever comes next for Wembanyama and the Spurs.
Which is why mere days after finishing work with the Georgian national team in Japan, Mamukelashvili was on a flight back to his new adopted hometown of San Antonio.
“I came straight here, didn’t go home,” Mamukelashvili said. “I wanted to come back early and be with the guys. I’m happy to be back in the gym. You just want to gel and find your spot again.”
It is too soon to predict how far Mamukelashvili might rise in the Spurs’ pecking order.
This much is certain, however. As he contemplates the next step in his NBA career, it is a good thing Mamukelashvili is not afraid of heights.
Thanks for the post. Sochan afraid of heights is funny. I thought that dude is not scared of anything. But it’s cool.
Mamu has a great at ude. Sonehow this group of young guys have, already gelling together. We might have snother coffee gang, and it’s testament to Spurs culture, Pop’s dinners with the players, social awareness outside of basketball. I can’t wait to see what they all worked on this Summer.
The video is hilarious:
Hoping his impact last night didn't go unnoticed by the coaching staff.
MAMUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Mamu was what the team needed. Not great individually but kept the team together. Super fun player. His passing was helpful as well. The funny thing is for power forwards who are getting trained to play as point guards, he's actually much better suited to the role. He can be our backup point guard. Joking?
I’m not going to lie I’m not the biggest fan of Mamu, but I loved his energy last game. Hopefully he gets more minutes and keeps playing how he did.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
