RMR Day 4: In-person impressions

[lurker23]

Final day for the Spurs at the Rocky Mountain Revue, where they played an exciting game against Atlanta. I also saw most of Dallas/Golden State. Impressions from previous days can be found here:

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101704
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101557


Spurs players:


Ian Mahinmi: Did not play today. I thought this was kind of odd considering it's their last day, but I presume it was more so that they could get a last look at the other big men such as Tolliver, rather than that Mahinmi needed rest.

George Hill: George definitely did not have one of his better games today. He started out well, but looked kind of fatigued from the second quarter onward. He was a little sloppier than usual, and his defense against Acie Law IV was far from what I've been used to seeing from Hill. Acie was able to get past him several times on the drive, and he was the first guy I think I've seen get past Hill more than once. Hill does a good job of recovering when he gets beat initially (more on that in a second).

Despite the poor game, Hill came up big in clutch time. Spurs were down one with about 20 seconds to go. True to typical Spurs form, they had Hill dribble the ball between the circles and sent everyone else off to the wings on an iso play. Hill made a good move to get into the lane, almost lost the ball for a second, but then recovered and went up strong near the hoop, drawing the foul. He hit two clutch free throws to put the Spurs up 1, 83-82. Hawks got the ball with 6.9 seconds left and, after using a timeout, ran a similar iso play for Acie Law. Hill let Law penetrate all the way to within 5 feet of the hoop, but when Acie went up for the shot, Hill got all ball and got the jump ball call with 2.0 seconds left. (Side note: Hill blocks a very good amount of shots for someone his size, especially on help defense.) On the jump ball, Acie Law didn't really seem to try for some reason; Hill did the smart thing and knocked the ball to the other side of the court, and time expired before the ball went out of bounds.

I wouldn't worry too much about Hill's performance in this game, though I guess there should be some slight concern for his inability to play well in back-to-back games. I think this is just the need for some more conditioning, as college players almost never have to play 60 minutes in 48 hours.

James Gist: Gist had another great rebounding game and was very aggressive on the boards, on offense, and on defense. He's a good shot blocker and uses his long arms to his advantage. On offense, he still needs to work on his perimeter game (especially his long jumpers), but you can definitely tell he played PF in college, as he looks comfortable down in the post and has some nice moves to get to the basket against larger defenders. We'll see what training camp brings, but based on what he did in summer league, I'd be very surprised if Gist didn't make the 15-man roster.

Malik Hairston: Hairston had his best game of the Revue and, based on what I've read, his best game of the summer. He was very aggressive on offense, and was successful both in driving to the hoop and hitting his 20-footer consistently. When he's aggressive, you can see his athleticism much more easily; he got a monster drive-and-dunk through traffic in the first two minutes of the game, and I think that fueled his confidence for a while.

As I've mentioned before, Malik has shown signs of being a very good passer. However, to be a good passer, you need two things: the physical skill of making crisp passes, and the mental skill of making good passing decisions. Hairston definitely has the former; however, he'll have to work on the latter. Passing decision-making should be a major emphasis in his development.

In all, I can definitely see a lot of potential in Malik Hairston's game, but it's going to have to be developed a bit. As a second round pick, I think he was basically guaranteed a training camp spot, but if not, he clinched one with this performance today. Personally, I think Hairston's final fate will be decided not by whether the organization thinks he's worth developing (the upside is definitely there), but rather whether they feel they can afford to use the roster space to send him down to Austin for a year.

Anthony Tolliver: Okay, so either this guy can really hit the 3-pointer, or he's just had the hottest streak of his entire life. Either way, his ability to make the long-range shot was impressive today and all summer. He was also a little better today at rebounding, banging down low on offense, and rotating a little better on defense. That being said, I don't think his defense or rebounding are on nearly high enough a level for the Spurs to use a roster spot on him. I think if the Spurs don't offer him a spot in training camp, someone else definitely will, and it will be up to him whether he wants to take that or go to Europe sooner.

Other impressions will come later; if not tonight, then definitely tomorrow.

[SPURSGOAT]

Final day for the Spurs at the Rocky Mountain Revue, where they played an exciting game against Atlanta. I also saw most of Dallas/Golden State. Impressions from previous days can be found here:

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101704
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101557


Spurs players:


Ian Mahinmi: Did not play today. I thought this was kind of odd considering it's their last day, but I presume it was more so that they could get a last look at the other big men such as Tolliver, rather than that Mahinmi needed rest.

George Hill: George definitely did not have one of his better games today. He started out well, but looked kind of fatigued from the second quarter onward. He was a little sloppier than usual, and his defense against Acie Law IV was far from what I've been used to seeing from Hill. Acie was able to get past him several times on the drive, and he was the first guy I think I've seen get past Hill more than once. Hill does a good job of recovering when he gets beat initially (more on that in a second).

Despite the poor game, Hill came up big in clutch time. Spurs were down one with about 20 seconds to go. True to typical Spurs form, they had Hill dribble the ball between the circles and sent everyone else off to the wings on an iso play. Hill made a good move to get into the lane, almost lost the ball for a second, but then recovered and went up strong near the hoop, drawing the foul. He hit two clutch free throws to put the Spurs up 1, 83-82. Hawks got the ball with 6.9 seconds left and, after using a timeout, ran a similar iso play for Acie Law. Hill let Law penetrate all the way to within 5 feet of the hoop, but when Acie went up for the shot, Hill got all ball and got the jump ball call with 2.0 seconds left. (Side note: Hill blocks a very good amount of shots for someone his size, especially on help defense.) On the jump ball, Acie Law didn't really seem to try for some reason; Hill did the smart thing and knocked the ball to the other side of the court, and time expired before the ball went out of bounds.

I wouldn't worry too much about Hill's performance in this game, though I guess there should be some slight concern for his inability to play well in back-to-back games. I think this is just the need for some more conditioning, as college players almost never have to play 60 minutes in 48 hours.

James Gist: Gist had another great rebounding game and was very aggressive on the boards, on offense, and on defense. He's a good shot blocker and uses his long arms to his advantage. On offense, he still needs to work on his perimeter game (especially his long jumpers), but you can definitely tell he played PF in college, as he looks comfortable down in the post and has some nice moves to get to the basket against larger defenders. We'll see what training camp brings, but based on what he did in summer league, I'd be very surprised if Gist didn't make the 15-man roster.

Malik Hairston: Hairston had his best game of the Revue and, based on what I've read, his best game of the summer. He was very aggressive on offense, and was successful both in driving to the hoop and hitting his 20-footer consistently. When he's aggressive, you can see his athleticism much more easily; he got a monster drive-and-dunk through traffic in the first two minutes of the game, and I think that fueled his confidence for a while.

As I've mentioned before, Malik has shown signs of being a very good passer. However, to be a good passer, you need two things: the physical skill of making crisp passes, and the mental skill of making good passing decisions. Hairston definitely has the former; however, he'll have to work on the latter. Passing decision-making should be a major emphasis in his development.

In all, I can definitely see a lot of potential in Malik Hairston's game, but it's going to have to be developed a bit. As a second round pick, I think he was basically guaranteed a training camp spot, but if not, he clinched one with this performance today. Personally, I think Hairston's final fate will be decided not by whether the organization thinks he's worth developing (the upside is definitely there), but rather whether they feel they can afford to use the roster space to send him down to Austin for a year.

Anthony Tolliver: Okay, so either this guy can really hit the 3-pointer, or he's just had the hottest streak of his entire life. Either way, his ability to make the long-range shot was impressive today and all summer. He was also a little better today at rebounding, banging down low on offense, and rotating a little better on defense. That being said, I don't think his defense or rebounding are on nearly high enough a level for the Spurs to use a roster spot on him. I think if the Spurs don't offer him a spot in training camp, someone else definitely will, and it will be up to him whether he wants to take that or go to Europe sooner.

Other impressions will come later; if not tonight, then definitely tomorrow.

WOOHOO!!! Lurker came through for us! Thanks man! I was actually kinda looking forward to this since we were not able to see our Spurs play again..

:tu great read as usual!

[angelbelow]

thanks again bro!

[VaSpursFan]

good stuff bro...hill is proving himself that he's a true spur on the defensive end.

[SenorSpur]

Final day for the Spurs at the Rocky Mountain Revue, where they played an exciting game against Atlanta. I also saw most of Dallas/Golden State. Impressions from previous days can be found here:

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101704
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101557


Spurs players:


Ian Mahinmi: Did not play today. I thought this was kind of odd considering it's their last day, but I presume it was more so that they could get a last look at the other big men such as Tolliver, rather than that Mahinmi needed rest.

George Hill: George definitely did not have one of his better games today. He started out well, but looked kind of fatigued from the second quarter onward. He was a little sloppier than usual, and his defense against Acie Law IV was far from what I've been used to seeing from Hill. Acie was able to get past him several times on the drive, and he was the first guy I think I've seen get past Hill more than once. Hill does a good job of recovering when he gets beat initially (more on that in a second).

Despite the poor game, Hill came up big in clutch time. Spurs were down one with about 20 seconds to go. True to typical Spurs form, they had Hill dribble the ball between the circles and sent everyone else off to the wings on an iso play. Hill made a good move to get into the lane, almost lost the ball for a second, but then recovered and went up strong near the hoop, drawing the foul. He hit two clutch free throws to put the Spurs up 1, 83-82. Hawks got the ball with 6.9 seconds left and, after using a timeout, ran a similar iso play for Acie Law. Hill let Law penetrate all the way to within 5 feet of the hoop, but when Acie went up for the shot, Hill got all ball and got the jump ball call with 2.0 seconds left. (Side note: Hill blocks a very good amount of shots for someone his size, especially on help defense.) On the jump ball, Acie Law didn't really seem to try for some reason; Hill did the smart thing and knocked the ball to the other side of the court, and time expired before the ball went out of bounds.

I wouldn't worry too much about Hill's performance in this game, though I guess there should be some slight concern for his inability to play well in back-to-back games. I think this is just the need for some more conditioning, as college players almost never have to play 60 minutes in 48 hours.

James Gist: Gist had another great rebounding game and was very aggressive on the boards, on offense, and on defense. He's a good shot blocker and uses his long arms to his advantage. On offense, he still needs to work on his perimeter game (especially his long jumpers), but you can definitely tell he played PF in college, as he looks comfortable down in the post and has some nice moves to get to the basket against larger defenders. We'll see what training camp brings, but based on what he did in summer league, I'd be very surprised if Gist didn't make the 15-man roster.

Malik Hairston: Hairston had his best game of the Revue and, based on what I've read, his best game of the summer. He was very aggressive on offense, and was successful both in driving to the hoop and hitting his 20-footer consistently. When he's aggressive, you can see his athleticism much more easily; he got a monster drive-and-dunk through traffic in the first two minutes of the game, and I think that fueled his confidence for a while.

As I've mentioned before, Malik has shown signs of being a very good passer. However, to be a good passer, you need two things: the physical skill of making crisp passes, and the mental skill of making good passing decisions. Hairston definitely has the former; however, he'll have to work on the latter. Passing decision-making should be a major emphasis in his development.

In all, I can definitely see a lot of potential in Malik Hairston's game, but it's going to have to be developed a bit. As a second round pick, I think he was basically guaranteed a training camp spot, but if not, he clinched one with this performance today. Personally, I think Hairston's final fate will be decided not by whether the organization thinks he's worth developing (the upside is definitely there), but rather whether they feel they can afford to use the roster space to send him down to Austin for a year.

Anthony Tolliver: Okay, so either this guy can really hit the 3-pointer, or he's just had the hottest streak of his entire life. Either way, his ability to make the long-range shot was impressive today and all summer. He was also a little better today at rebounding, banging down low on offense, and rotating a little better on defense. That being said, I don't think his defense or rebounding are on nearly high enough a level for the Spurs to use a roster spot on him. I think if the Spurs don't offer him a spot in training camp, someone else definitely will, and it will be up to him whether he wants to take that or go to Europe sooner.

Other impressions will come later; if not tonight, then definitely tomorrow.

Lurker, you da man! :tu

Love these summaries. Very well-chronicled.

By the way, on the comments regarding Tolliver. Is he any worse defensively than Bonner? Sounds to me that at least he is young enough to where he can improve his defense. I would think with Horry not coming back, there would be room to develop another "good-shooting" PF like him. Bonner moves up in the rotation and Tolliver could take his roster spot - even if it meant him spending time in Austin. Thoughts?

[AFBlue]

I like that Hairston is finally starting to come around. I think in the first few games he was picking his spots and letting the offense sort of come to him....which it never did. Once he decided to become assertive and look to create his own offense, he was much more effective.

Hairston is a guy with a solid skill set and someone that could develop into a scorer this team will need down the line. If the Spurs risk not signing him and he ends up blowing up in the D-League, I guarantee another team will scoop him up just like they did with Marcus Williams.

Bottom Line: Spurs made a big deal out of this draft and I think it would be a worthy investment to sign all three players they pulled out of it. Hill and Gist are no-brainers, but I think Hairston has shown enough potential to warrant consideration as well.

[lurker23]

Other impressions:

Other Spurs players:

Devin Green: This guy has some talent, but the bottom line about his game in the RMR is that he tries to do too much, and needs to let the game come to him a little bit more. He tends to over-penetrate, as well as get into the lane with no plan on what to do. This results in turnovers and bad shots. I commented to someone that he plays a little like Manu, in that he plays all-out and tries to drive where he really shouldn't. The difference is, Manu has the skill to go into an impossible situation and make a circus shot, or find the open man, or draw contact for free throws. Green hasn't shown the ability to do any of those three things, at all.

This said, I wouldn't mind Green coming to training camp. However, there are three types of guys I feel you should invite to camp: 1.) Guys you think could make the team, 2.) Guys you want to take another look at, and 3.) Guys who fit neither of the previous two, but might make good practice guys for some of your everyday players to go up against. I'm really not sure Devin Green fits any of these criteria. I think 1 and 2 are out the window, and as for 3, if summer league guys have no problem dealing with him on defense, how much easier would that be for any of our players?

Brian Morrison: Pretty decent point guard who showed the ability to hit open jumpers throughout the RMR. I don't think he'll be invited to Spurs training camp (see #3 above: he's not the kind of point guard Hill needs to learn to guard), but he might get an invite somewhere. Either way, he should be able to stay in the game by going overseas.

Roger Powell Jr.: Another guy who could potentially get invited to camp. At 6-6, 220, Spurs might take a look at him if they want to look at a variety of swingmen. He didn't show too much in the Revue, but he had flashes of very athletic play. He was on the roster of the Utah Jazz for half a year, so he definitely has border-line NBA talent.


Atlanta Hawks players:

Acie Law IV: Law played well in this game; early on he played neck-and-neck with George Hill, but Law eventually outplayed Hill through the 3rd and 4th quarter (despite Hill outplaying him in the final 20 seconds). As I said before, Law was the only guy in this tournament capable of blowing past Hill more than once. Aside from fatigue, the other thing that I attribute this to is that Law doesn't solely rely on quickness to get into the lane, but he also has a few nice moves to get defenders off balance. (I think Hill is already adept at guarding fast guards; now he needs to learn how to guard skillful penetrating guards.) Acie showed a good ability to get into the lane, and then finish at the rim. He needs to work on his mid-to-long range jumper, as it was very inconsistent.

Luke Jackson: Showed today that if his jumper isn't falling, his game is decent at best. Didn't do much as far as defense or rebounding, and showed poor footwork at times. No doubt this guy can shoot, but he'll have to develop other skills to be a long-term NBA player.

Mario West: Showed a great deal of athleticism today, despite having what looked like a rib or back injury (had that area wrapped early in the game). Good slashing abilities, able to both get to the rim and pass out if necessary. My major concern for him is that at his size (listed at 6-5, 210...probably a bit shorter than that), he can only play the 2 and not the 3, so his defense might be limited in the NBA.

Dallas Mavericks players:

This is the only team that I saw 4 times other than the Spurs, so I don't have much new to say about them. Will keep it brief.

Gerald Green: Looked fatigued today, and didn't have the normal aggressiveness that has been his trademark. Every game he proves he can dunk, though (in case you haven't seen the last two Slam Dunk competitions).

Aaron Miles: Had probably his best game of the RMR. Was able to hit long jumpers, and was very good at getting into the lane and finishing at the rim. His defense was also stellar, and he was active in getting his hand on the ball. If he plays like this more often, he's definitely capable of making somebody's 15-man roster in the NBA.

Reyshawn Terry: Not much new to say about him, except that Phila_Chamberlain was absolutely right. This guy has serious hops, especially when going for rebounds.

Have to run for a bit, but will have thoughts on Warriors players Anthony Randolph and Anthony Morrow in the future.

[DPG21920]

I am really excited about Hill. I wanted to see more out of Ian and I still think he has the most upside, but he has some hard work to do to reach that upside.

[AFBlue]

Based on everything I've read of Hill, he seems like he has the talent to be a role player for the Spurs at some point...but at this point he still looks like a project.

I expect him to start the year in Austin and barring injury, I expect him to stay there for the majority of the season.

[duncan228]

I really appreciate your thoughts lurker23. Thanks for putting the time and effort in to share with us. Nicely done, as all of them have been. :tu

[AFBlue]

Ian's performance in the SL has been a mixed bag, and he certainly has alot of room to improve...but the Spurs will need his youth and athleticism on the front line...it's sink or swim time for Ian Mahinmi.

[DPG21920]

Based on everything I've read of Hill, he seems like he has the talent to be a role player for the Spurs at some point...but at this point he still looks like a project.

I expect him to start the year in Austin and barring injury, I expect him to stay there for the majority of the season.

I don't think that is possible. Spurs always carry 3 point guards. That would leave the Spurs with only Tony and Vaughn. Unless they get another pg, I think Hill is in.

[AFBlue]

I don't think that is possible. Spurs always carry 3 point guards. That would leave the Spurs with only Tony and Vaughn. Unless they get another pg, I think Hill is in.

Spurs don't ALWAYS carry three PGs on the active roster...Stoudamire didn't suit up hardly at all during the playoffs.

Also, if Mason can show that he runs the point a little, they'll make him or Manu the third-string.

Besides all that....Hill NEEDS to learn how to play PG and he's not going to do that by sitting at the end of the bench and getting garbage minutes. If he had shown a little more aptitude and consistency during the SL, I think you might have been right.

But at this point he's got to be considered a project, and projects don't make active rosters on championship-contending teams.

[tp2021]

I think they want to try and limit Manu's playing time this season, after the way we ended last season and because of Manu playing for the National Team. I seriously doubt that they will give Manu any frequent PT as the 3rd string PG.

[Budkin]

Awesome thread... thanks!

[ShoogarBear]

Thanks for the reports.

[VaSpursFan]

Spurs don't ALWAYS carry three PGs on the active roster...Stoudamire didn't suit up hardly at all during the playoffs.

Also, if Mason can show that he runs the point a little, they'll make him or Manu the third-string.

Besides all that....Hill NEEDS to learn how to play PG and he's not going to do that by sitting at the end of the bench and getting garbage minutes. If he had shown a little more aptitude and consistency during the SL, I think you might have been right.

But at this point he's got to be considered a project, and projects don't make active rosters on championship-contending teams.

i disagree simply because Pop said the kid will have an immediate impact which conveys to me that Pop fully intends on this guy being on the active roster and getting key minutes at the back-up PG. i fully expect g.hill to be thrown into the mix and being allowed to work through his mistakes. if he isn't allowed to do that, i will be shocked given Pop's statement.

[ducks]

hill needs to be on the active roster at the beginning of the season because pop needs to see what he can do and if need be trade for a backup point by trading deadline

[SequSpur]

hill needs to be on the active roster at the beginning of the season because pop needs to see what he can do and if need be trade for a backup point by trading deadline

are you serious?

[ducks]

dude he is backing up tp
tp sits maybe 10 minutes a game
he can not be worse then what the spurs had last year
except when manu did it
spurs do not have barry anymore

[knee-knee-3]

hill needs to be on the active roster at the beginning of the season because pop needs to see what he can do and if need be trade for a backup point by trading deadline

:tu

[SPURSGOAT]

Hill will probably start off the season behind Vaughn, but I believe that by the All-Star break he will be backing up Tony. Pop is crazy about Hill and will give him a chance especially after how he boasted about him. He started off the SL in vegas kinda rocky, but in the RMR he has been playing really well; even in his last game even though he only scored 6 points. He played like a first round pick in a few of the games too. I think Hill wil be fine. I like Gist too; he showed enough in most of his games to hopefully make the roster; guess we will see what he does in pre-season. Ian will be given a chance since we need help at the 4/5; if he doesn't show more than he has been in SL then he might be sent back to the Toros. I sure hope they give Tolliver a chance too; his lack of D doesn't concern me as much since Finley, Barry, and Horry really played no D and they were fine. Tolliver can shoot lights out from beyond the arch; we will need that badly next season.

[T Park]

Hill will start off the season backing up Parker.

Pop is gonna throw him in the fire, gauranteed.

Good to hear about hairston developing, I really like his potential, hes got the NBA shooting guard body and seems to have a great shooting touch.

The legend of James Gist continues and I think its a forgone conclusion this guy is gonna be the 12th man, emergency energy rebounder, small ball 4 defender guy.

Could the Dirk stopper been found?

We shall see.

[ducks]

is dirk done crying in germany yet?

[Blackjack]

is dirk done crying in germany yet?

Hard to say....

I'm guessing 7-foot Germans have more tears than most. :lol

[DPG21920]

Hill will start off the season backing up Parker.

Pop is gonna throw him in the fire, gauranteed.

Good to hear about hairston developing, I really like his potential, hes got the NBA shooting guard body and seems to have a great shooting touch.

The legend of James Gist continues and I think its a forgone conclusion this guy is gonna be the 12th man, emergency energy rebounder, small ball 4 defender guy.

Could the Dirk stopper been found?

We shall see.

Man, when I mentioned Hairston after game 1 of the SL I got ripped on this website. Buncha fucking amateurs (says my pic).

[SPURSGOAT]

I still see Hairston spending some time with the Toros unless he really shows more in training camp and pre-season...

[DPG21920]

He probably will spend time with the toros, but people on here threw him under the proverbial bus after SL. I said he definitely looks like he has NBA tools and they gave me the usual jack-ass, fruit-less remarks.

[homer]

Final day for the Spurs at the Rocky Mountain Revue, where they played an exciting game against Atlanta. I also saw most of Dallas/Golden State. Impressions from previous days can be found here:

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101704
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101557


Spurs players:


Ian Mahinmi: Did not play today. I thought this was kind of odd considering it's their last day, but I presume it was more so that they could get a last look at the other big men such as Tolliver, rather than that Mahinmi needed rest.

George Hill: George definitely did not have one of his better games today. He started out well, but looked kind of fatigued from the second quarter onward. He was a little sloppier than usual, and his defense against Acie Law IV was far from what I've been used to seeing from Hill. Acie was able to get past him several times on the drive, and he was the first guy I think I've seen get past Hill more than once. Hill does a good job of recovering when he gets beat initially (more on that in a second).

Despite the poor game, Hill came up big in clutch time. Spurs were down one with about 20 seconds to go. True to typical Spurs form, they had Hill dribble the ball between the circles and sent everyone else off to the wings on an iso play. Hill made a good move to get into the lane, almost lost the ball for a second, but then recovered and went up strong near the hoop, drawing the foul. He hit two clutch free throws to put the Spurs up 1, 83-82. Hawks got the ball with 6.9 seconds left and, after using a timeout, ran a similar iso play for Acie Law. Hill let Law penetrate all the way to within 5 feet of the hoop, but when Acie went up for the shot, Hill got all ball and got the jump ball call with 2.0 seconds left. (Side note: Hill blocks a very good amount of shots for someone his size, especially on help defense.) On the jump ball, Acie Law didn't really seem to try for some reason; Hill did the smart thing and knocked the ball to the other side of the court, and time expired before the ball went out of bounds.

I wouldn't worry too much about Hill's performance in this game, though I guess there should be some slight concern for his inability to play well in back-to-back games. I think this is just the need for some more conditioning, as college players almost never have to play 60 minutes in 48 hours.

James Gist: Gist had another great rebounding game and was very aggressive on the boards, on offense, and on defense. He's a good shot blocker and uses his long arms to his advantage. On offense, he still needs to work on his perimeter game (especially his long jumpers), but you can definitely tell he played PF in college, as he looks comfortable down in the post and has some nice moves to get to the basket against larger defenders. We'll see what training camp brings, but based on what he did in summer league, I'd be very surprised if Gist didn't make the 15-man roster.

Malik Hairston: Hairston had his best game of the Revue and, based on what I've read, his best game of the summer. He was very aggressive on offense, and was successful both in driving to the hoop and hitting his 20-footer consistently. When he's aggressive, you can see his athleticism much more easily; he got a monster drive-and-dunk through traffic in the first two minutes of the game, and I think that fueled his confidence for a while.

As I've mentioned before, Malik has shown signs of being a very good passer. However, to be a good passer, you need two things: the physical skill of making crisp passes, and the mental skill of making good passing decisions. Hairston definitely has the former; however, he'll have to work on the latter. Passing decision-making should be a major emphasis in his development.

In all, I can definitely see a lot of potential in Malik Hairston's game, but it's going to have to be developed a bit. As a second round pick, I think he was basically guaranteed a training camp spot, but if not, he clinched one with this performance today. Personally, I think Hairston's final fate will be decided not by whether the organization thinks he's worth developing (the upside is definitely there), but rather whether they feel they can afford to use the roster space to send him down to Austin for a year.

Anthony Tolliver: Okay, so either this guy can really hit the 3-pointer, or he's just had the hottest streak of his entire life. Either way, his ability to make the long-range shot was impressive today and all summer. He was also a little better today at rebounding, banging down low on offense, and rotating a little better on defense. That being said, I don't think his defense or rebounding are on nearly high enough a level for the Spurs to use a roster spot on him. I think if the Spurs don't offer him a spot in training camp, someone else definitely will, and it will be up to him whether he wants to take that or go to Europe sooner.

Other impressions will come later; if not tonight, then definitely tomorrow.

Thanx Lurker, for all the great reviews and a hearty welcome to ST. I love your assement of Hill and agree totally. I'm also glad to see that someone else on this board has recognized Hills performance in Back to backs verses games after rest. When rested, most of his games, if not all(some of you stat people check, please, and report back), were pretty damn good on both ends of the floor. On b to b's he pretty much shit the bed offensively. I really would like to see those stats side by side. ANYBODY, PLEASE.:p:

[lurker23]

Lurker, you da man! :tu

Love these summaries. Very well-chronicled.

By the way, on the comments regarding Tolliver. Is he any worse defensively than Bonner? Sounds to me that at least he is young enough to where he can improve his defense. I would think with Horry not coming back, there would be room to develop another "good-shooting" PF like him. Bonner moves up in the rotation and Tolliver could take his roster spot - even if it meant him spending time in Austin. Thoughts?

I have to admit, I'm not the most unbiased when it comes to Bonner. I think Bonner is better defensively than Tolliver. However, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of Tolliver coming to camp and him and Bonner going head-to-head for a rotation spot. I'd fully expect Bonner to beat him out. However, if he didn't, then Bonner isn't the player I thought he was, or I've massively underrated Tolliver. Either way, let them go at it and see what happens.


I'm not sure how much people really care about other players at the RMR, but I figured I'd finish up my thoughts from earlier.

Golden State Warriors players:

Anthony Randolph: To put it simply, this guy is very raw. Purely basketball skills-wise he shouldn't have come out of college after one year. However, if an NBA team is going to take you with the 14th overall pick and pay you for them to develop you, why not come out early? No doubt he has a tremendous upside and could become a phenomenal player, but that's down the road. I said in a previous thread that he needs at least one year in the D-League. Re-evaluating, Randolph was born on July 15, 1989...and I'd be surprised if he's NBA-ready before he's able to drink alcohol legally in the United States.


Anthony Morrow: In a previous thread SenorSpur asked me if there were any "bubble players" that I'd like the Spurs to invite to training camp. After seeing this guy twice, he would definitely be my pick. Undrafted out of Georgia Tech, he is a 6'5, 210 SG. Despite scouting reports to the contrary (on some of these points) he appeared to me to be very athletic, has a nice shooting touch, is a good slasher, and played good defense in the RMR so far.

Unfortunately, according to DraftExpress, "Morrow surprisingly already signed a contract to play all the way out in the Ukraine, leading many disappointed high-level European teams here wondering what exactly his rush was to sign in a league like that."

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Anthony-Morrow-1003/

I'm not entirely sure why he's playing in American summer leagues, unless he has some kind of generous NBA opt-out clause. (Though I doubt this to be the case.)

I suppose those are all my thoughts for now. I'm probably unlikely to attend the final two days of the Revue on Thursday and Friday, but the Spurs aren't playing then anyway. As always, feel free to ask me questions about some of these guys.

I'm not entirely sure how much I'll post from here on out. For the sake of my free time (and sometimes my sanity) I've resisted posting in the past, but this has been an enjoyable experience, and everyone's been so complimentary that it might have just sucked me into posting every once in a while.

[bobbybob0]

Thanks a lot Lurker for the great read !

[Obstructed_View]

Final day for the Spurs at the Rocky Mountain Revue, where they played an exciting game against Atlanta. I also saw most of Dallas/Golden State. Impressions from previous days can be found here:

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101704
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101557


Spurs players:


Ian Mahinmi: Did not play today. I thought this was kind of odd considering it's their last day, but I presume it was more so that they could get a last look at the other big men such as Tolliver, rather than that Mahinmi needed rest.

George Hill: George definitely did not have one of his better games today. He started out well, but looked kind of fatigued from the second quarter onward. He was a little sloppier than usual, and his defense against Acie Law IV was far from what I've been used to seeing from Hill. Acie was able to get past him several times on the drive, and he was the first guy I think I've seen get past Hill more than once. Hill does a good job of recovering when he gets beat initially (more on that in a second).

Despite the poor game, Hill came up big in clutch time. Spurs were down one with about 20 seconds to go. True to typical Spurs form, they had Hill dribble the ball between the circles and sent everyone else off to the wings on an iso play. Hill made a good move to get into the lane, almost lost the ball for a second, but then recovered and went up strong near the hoop, drawing the foul. He hit two clutch free throws to put the Spurs up 1, 83-82. Hawks got the ball with 6.9 seconds left and, after using a timeout, ran a similar iso play for Acie Law. Hill let Law penetrate all the way to within 5 feet of the hoop, but when Acie went up for the shot, Hill got all ball and got the jump ball call with 2.0 seconds left. (Side note: Hill blocks a very good amount of shots for someone his size, especially on help defense.) On the jump ball, Acie Law didn't really seem to try for some reason; Hill did the smart thing and knocked the ball to the other side of the court, and time expired before the ball went out of bounds.

I wouldn't worry too much about Hill's performance in this game, though I guess there should be some slight concern for his inability to play well in back-to-back games. I think this is just the need for some more conditioning, as college players almost never have to play 60 minutes in 48 hours.

James Gist: Gist had another great rebounding game and was very aggressive on the boards, on offense, and on defense. He's a good shot blocker and uses his long arms to his advantage. On offense, he still needs to work on his perimeter game (especially his long jumpers), but you can definitely tell he played PF in college, as he looks comfortable down in the post and has some nice moves to get to the basket against larger defenders. We'll see what training camp brings, but based on what he did in summer league, I'd be very surprised if Gist didn't make the 15-man roster.

Malik Hairston: Hairston had his best game of the Revue and, based on what I've read, his best game of the summer. He was very aggressive on offense, and was successful both in driving to the hoop and hitting his 20-footer consistently. When he's aggressive, you can see his athleticism much more easily; he got a monster drive-and-dunk through traffic in the first two minutes of the game, and I think that fueled his confidence for a while.

As I've mentioned before, Malik has shown signs of being a very good passer. However, to be a good passer, you need two things: the physical skill of making crisp passes, and the mental skill of making good passing decisions. Hairston definitely has the former; however, he'll have to work on the latter. Passing decision-making should be a major emphasis in his development.

In all, I can definitely see a lot of potential in Malik Hairston's game, but it's going to have to be developed a bit. As a second round pick, I think he was basically guaranteed a training camp spot, but if not, he clinched one with this performance today. Personally, I think Hairston's final fate will be decided not by whether the organization thinks he's worth developing (the upside is definitely there), but rather whether they feel they can afford to use the roster space to send him down to Austin for a year.

Anthony Tolliver: Okay, so either this guy can really hit the 3-pointer, or he's just had the hottest streak of his entire life. Either way, his ability to make the long-range shot was impressive today and all summer. He was also a little better today at rebounding, banging down low on offense, and rotating a little better on defense. That being said, I don't think his defense or rebounding are on nearly high enough a level for the Spurs to use a roster spot on him. I think if the Spurs don't offer him a spot in training camp, someone else definitely will, and it will be up to him whether he wants to take that or go to Europe sooner.

Other impressions will come later; if not tonight, then definitely tomorrow.

Good stuff.

PS: Suck it Sequ. :lol

[urunobili]

this guy deserves a Spur... :tu

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Thanks.

It's pretty clear that Hill will be on the active roster and Gist should either be 12th or 13th man, but Hairston still has a long way to go if he wants a roster spot.

[Manufan909]

dude he is backing up tp
tp sits maybe 10 minutes a game
he can not be worse then what the spurs had last year
except when manu did it
spurs do not have barry anymore

Somehow, every single ducks post seems to have a Manu burn. I might as well try that, so I can see what being an ass consistently feels like. And I'd like Hill and Ian to be put in the fire early, and Gist as well, if it's possible. If the Spurs are up by 15+ put in the rookies, see what they have.

Parker's a ball hog.
:downspin:


EDIT: Thanks Lurker, great stuff. Soon we'll be starting you over Timvp, cuz he's getting old. JK, TIMVP!!! Your summaries are the bees knees.
:toast

[lurker23]

EDIT: Thanks Lurker, great stuff. Soon we'll be starting you over Timvp, cuz he's getting old. JK, TIMVP!!! Your summaries are the bees knees.
:toast


lurker is a better poster just lacks experence. It won't be long until he surpasses TIMVP as a top poster. Bet on it.

:lol You guys give me way too much credit. timvp is the man, and I certainly doubt my posts will ever compete with the popularity of his Game Thoughts, especially considering 1.) I don't usually get league pass, partially because I see 20+ Spurs games a year anyway with national coverage and 2.) to get these impressions on ALL the players (and not just focus on 3-4), timvp watches the games 2-3 times. I don't think I could do that, especially on the losses.

[AFBlue]

i disagree simply because Pop said the kid will have an immediate impact which conveys to me that Pop fully intends on this guy being on the active roster and getting key minutes at the back-up PG. i fully expect g.hill to be thrown into the mix and being allowed to work through his mistakes. if he isn't allowed to do that, i will be shocked given Pop's statement.

Pop said that immediately following the draft and before Hill set foot on the court. What followed was a very inconsistent showing in both Vegas and Salt Lake City.

I think he has the defense and attitude to contribute right now, but he clearly has a LONG way to go offensively. And if all he's going to bring is hustle and defense, I think Pop would rather go with the guy who brings the same thing and knows how to play within himself.

Who knows, you may be right...but at this point I don't see a reason why his development should be rushed. Time in Austin learning how to be a PG on the court for 30 minutes a night could really benefit him.

[timvp]

Great job lurker23. You came to the rescue when the rest of Spurs fandom couldn't see the games. :tu

lurker23 > timvp

[lurker23]

Great job lurker23. You came to the rescue when the rest of Spurs fandom couldn't see the games. :tu

lurker23 > timvp

What can I say? Thank you for the compliment. :toast

(I reserve the right to quote the above post as a "get out of jail free" card if I say something extremely stupid in the future. :smokin )

[sabar]

Hope you keep posting throughout the season!

[Bruno]

Thanks for all your games thoughts. I have greatly appreciate reading them.