The Spurs worked out Derrick Dial today

[Kori Ellis]

Familiar face: The Spurs' coaches worked out free-agent guard Derrick Dial after Tuesday's practice.

Dial, 6-foot-4, was a second-round pick of the Spurs in the 1998 draft. After spending one season in Greece, he appeared in 41 games for the Spurs from 1999-2001. The team didn't re-sign him following the 2000-01 season.

Dial has since played briefly for Toronto, New Jersey and Orlando. He was most recently in Phoenix's training camp before being waived.

The Spurs have one opening on their roster they can choose to fill.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA031605.4C.BKNspurs.notebook.1404fc5b2.html

[timvp]

:wow

Interesting. I'm not sure he's an NBA player but if the Spurs want a player to hit a couple shots in the playoffs, there are worse 12th men out there.

At Rocky Mountain Revue he played some point guard for the Suns. He shot horribly there but he was still hustling and getting rebounds like he's always done.

[Duff McCartney]

What happened to Sato?

[Kori Ellis]

Weird that they would even consider bringing in another guard. Hmmm...

[Kori Ellis]

What happened to Sato?

They waived him. And obviously don't have much interest in picking him back up ... and no other NBA team has either.

[exstatic]

WTF? Double D back in da house? :lol

[milkyway21]

if we needed one, is he the best we can get? who is Dial?

hello!!!!

[mattyc]

_errick _ial!!!! :lmao

Kid can shoot from memory, and he had a bit of athleticism, but there is a reason he's not already on the roster.

We should go sign Chris Carrawell while we are at it. ;) :lol

[ShoogarBear]

Alfredrick Hughes, come home. All is forgiven.

[timvp]

I was thinking about how if the Spurs are going to workout Derrick Dial, they might as well work out Dell Demps. He was another DD with pretty much the same attributes.

I googled to find out what's up with Demps today and found this:


Jackie Butler, playing for Great Lakes Storm, is a physical presence and was discovered by Knick scout Dell Demps. Butler was averaging 18.1 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks.

So Demps is a scout for the Knicks "discovering" players in the CBA.

:lol

[TheWriter]

Why are you laughing. The man needs to work to make money. I don't see what's so funny.

[timvp]

Leave it to The Writer to miss the point. I even put the word between quotation marks. :shootme

How does an NBA scout "DISCOVER" a player in the CBA? Everyone knew about him. Everyone with an internet connection could see he was dominating the competition. Anyone who has followed the summer leagues and the draft can tell you that Butler was a well-known commodity.

The questions with him were always more mental than has ability on the court. But The Writer already knew that, of course.

Got damn.

[ducks]

this tells me the brent barry will be traded this offseason

[Solid D]

I was humored by the word Knicks prior to "discovering".

[Taco]

Derrick Dial, Martin Lawrence look a-like

http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/derrick_dial.jpg http://valdefierro.com/mrtnnpsys1.jpg

[Solid D]

Why not bring in Haston for a 6'9" scorer who can play 3-4 to back up Robert and Devin (Danny Ferry role)? You've already got two bigs for different looks (Mass and Marks) and a PG (Wilks) where one of the other PGs can swing to the 2 for a small matchup. Haston is more of a scorer than Marks.

Parker.........Udrih............Wilks
Ginobili........Barry............
Bowen........Brown...........
Duncan.......Horry...........
Nesterovic...Mohammed....Massenburg

[Taco]

Nesterovic...Mohammed....Massenburg

Maybe by the end of the season it will be Nzar - Rasho - TMass :fro

[Solid D]

Maybe Linton is doing well enough to have some promise and this is what Pop sees as the hole to fill:

Parker.........Udrih............Wilks
Ginobili........Barry............
Bowen........Brown...........Johnson III
Duncan.......Horry............Marks
Nesterovic...Mohammed....Massenburg

Pop needs somebody who can score from the outside when they hit their dry spells with zone defenses and the lane collapses. If Dial isn't the answer, Carl English is another player who can score from behind the arc.

[samikeyp]

Danny Ferry role? Hell, bring back Danny Ferry! :lol

[Taco]

Danny Ferry role? Hell, bring back Danny Ferry! :lol


Where have you been hiding Mikey?

[boutons]

"Pop needs somebody who can score from the outside when they hit their dry spells with zone defenses and the lane collapses"

As I've see that problem, when the Spurs are shooting cold, _ALL_ the Spurs are shooting cold, generally being taken out of their offense by a decent defense (and the Spurs are often playing crappy defense at the same time), so I don't believe you can bring in a 12th-man "dedicated, never-miss, always-hitting scorer" who's got any better chance of hitting his shots better than any other Spur in cold spells. The Spurs are "cold" when the other team shuts down the paint, and entire Spurs offense is screwed up because, very often, the Spurs defense, the basis for the Spurs offense, is the real problem. Fix the defense, find out ways to get score in that paint against a paint defense, and quit dreaming about a hired gunslinger whose gonna fix everything every time.

The Duncan Spurs are primarily a paint-scoring/penetration team with little emphasis on jump-shooting, so I don't see how one shooter is going to change that. And when the candidates for the "one shooter" are from CBA, or not playing anywhere, then GMAFB. If the shooter was any good, he wouldn't be unemployed.

The "we need a outside-shooting savior" idea is totally bogus, waste of time. It didn't work with Hedo, it hasn't worked with Brent, SJax was poor %age shooter, and the Steve Kerr's are 1-in-a-1000, and in 02/03, Steve had exactly ONE quarter (in about 100 games) where he was the game changer.

Hedo and Brent obviously felt the pressure to be the "savior jump shooter", which is really unfair, and so far completely counter-productive, since they both had plenty of other skills.

[ducks]

noel felix anyone?

[Ignite]

Are we playing the "Let's name an obscure Free Agent to look smart" game? In that case how about signing Mateen Cleaves or Joseph Forte.

[samikeyp]

Where have you been hiding Mikey?

in more places than I can count! :lol

[SPURS21]

Yes! Dude had fire in his eyes in the playoffs in 2000 when Duncan went down, he can fly too, not a bad shooter.

one of my high school teachers went to eastern michigan with him theya re still very close as far as i know

[ChumpDumper]

Sounds like Manu insurance, otherwise we'd still be looking for a forward. If it's scoring we're looking for, I'd consider Haston, Isiah Victor or David Young - even Damone Brown, but I'm sure the Spurs are much more comfortable with Dial's experience.

I wonder if Charles Smith has an opt-out for NBA contracts....

If we just want shooting, maybe Adam Harrington.

[GhostofAlfrederickHughes]

Alfredrick Hughes, come home. All is forgiven.

Sure, you say that NOW!!!!

[bigbendbruisebrother]

Weird that they would even consider bringing in another guard. Hmmm...

I agree. It seems we already have our share of hard-working, streaky guards. I wish they'd go after another small forward.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

It looks like they're making this move with an eye towards bringing in someone who already has experience with the Spurs system.

[bigbendbruisebrother]

It looks like they're making this move with an eye towards bringing in someone who already has experience with the Spurs system.

That makes sense as does Solid D's Johnson III theory.

[Brodels]

double post

[Brodels]

Manu hurt a lot worse than we suspect?

That's what I was thinking. Is it possible that he's hurt more than Pop would like us to believe? Is it possible that the coaching staff fears that he's going to break down as the season progresses?

With Parker, Manu, The Third, Bowen, Barry, Beno, and Brown in the mix, it's a curious signing.

Something may be up.

[Useruser666]

The trade deadlines passed right? Whew!!! :lol

[CHAMPS AGAIN]

Alfredrick Hughes, come home. All is forgiven.

What did he do,what do you mean all is forgiven. need info.

[ChumpDumper]

He didn't do anything, which is the point.

[spurster]

The Spurs have enough shooting guards. There is no small forward on the roster unless you count Bowen. I think LJ III is the best hope.

As for cold shooting, I thought it was cold shooting that made defenses crowd in on the paint, not the other way around.