SF position - backup

[spectator]

hey all,
this is not a bandwagon thread; just because we have not clicked as a team, it does not mean that we won't be contending in may. my question is derived from our defensive struggles and lack of consistent shooting from the perimeter. bogans and rj have struggled (with consistency) on both ends and while i agree with pop playing them so they get acclimatized to our system, i am left to wonder why we don't see more minutes from hairston at backup SF/SG.

i concede that there may be something we don't see in practices that may influence my opinion, but this guy showed some great promise in d league, SL and preseason - great shooting percentage, ability to drive to the basket, good defensive effort and a humble character. given that finley is most likely retiring next year and that rmj is not guaranteed a contract (assuming spurs want to pursue ginobili first), i see no reason why we would not want to develop this guy in more minutes.

i agree that we have bigger issues to solve than allocating back-up minutes; our defense and turnovers are still haunting me at night. nevertheless, i am curious to know if anyone has an educated answer on hairston.

cheers

[Bukefal]

Im not so positive about Hairston and I dont think he'll be any good, but I would give him a shot to see how he does though.

[sananspursfan21]

ryan gomes. make that trade

[Chomag]

I'm all for giving Hairston a shot. IT might be his time, but we will never know if he is glued to the bench. At this point what is the worst that could happen?

Its pretty simple really if he stinks up the place he can allways be pulled back to the bench without any loss. Come on POP what do you have to lose.

[Spursfan 87]

backup??? we need a fucking stater RJ sucks


I think Hairston should start a couple of games, just to see what he has.

[in2deep]

I was thinking the exact same thing. Hairston is active, and is pretty much as athletic as RJ. give him RJ's minutes.

[TDMVPDPOY]

jax now

[AFBlue]

Hairston hasn't produced in limited minutes enough to justify him being on the court more when the game matters.

Think about it this way...if Blair can only get 14 minutes a night and he is quite possibly the most productive Spur per-minute outside of the big three, there's no chance Hairston gets the PT.

While the idea is nice, it's not going to happen...especially after Finley comes back.

For this season, expect to see Hairston getting 40 minutes a night....in Austin.

[the crimson blur]

You guys are funny. How Malik Hairston is playing well enough in the (little) time given to him to warrant a starting spot in the NBA, I don't know. Sometimes I wonder if people watch the same games.

We need Richard Jefferson to play well. There really isn't another option. Malik Hairston isn't the savior. For us to be better than last year, all RJ has to do is outplay Michael Finley. That can't be that hard....right?

[Chomag]

Hairston hasn't produced in limited minutes enough to justify him being on the court more when the game matters.

Think about it this way...if Blair can only get 14 minutes a night and he is quite possibly the most productive Spur per-minute outside of the big three, there's no chance Hairston gets the PT.

While the idea is nice, it's not going to happen...especially after Finley comes back.

For this season, expect to see Hairston getting 40 minutes a night....in Austin.

It's a bit hard when your thrown in a game with 44 seconds to play in a quarter and your not the option that the team is going to. And last two minutes of a blowout are not meaningfull minutes. Hard to expect a player to get into any kind of flow that way. However in these limited minutes Hairstons D looked very good.

[AFBlue]

It's a bit hard when your thrown in a game with 44 seconds to play in a quarter and your not the option that the team is going to. And last two minutes of a blowout are not meaningfull minutes. Hard to expect a player to get into any kind of flow that way. However in these limited minutes Hairstons D looked very good.

Blair seems to capitalize on any opportunity he's given. He makes himself a key component of the offense and defense.

I'm not saying that Hairston plays poorly...I'm saying that he doesn't stand out in his limited time and with so many players in front of him on the depth chart, he's not going to get the opportunity to play more minutes.

Pop will not play Hairston over Manu, Mason, Bogans or Finley. Next year three of those four may be gone and Hairston may have that opportunity...but it ain't happening this year.

[HarlemHeat37]

Hairston has played like 3 minutes in garbage time all year, what did you want him to show you?..he also NEVER gets the ball in those situations..it's usually a low-post play for Blair, a low-post play for Ratliff, or Mason chucking up a shot..

He's played 2 stints with the rotation this year(Dallas, Utah) and he sparked the team in both..he's only taken 3 shots in rotation minutes and made 2..he's played very good D whenever he was in..

With that being said, I've given up on him playing this year..Hairston will play when he loses his athleticism, which is usually the only way you can be a Spur(Hill plays by default since he made Pop eat crow in the Dallas series + not having a backup PG other than him)..

[SenorSpur]

Hairston has played like 3 minutes in garbage time all year, what did you want him to show you?..he also NEVER gets the ball in those situations..it's usually a low-post play for Blair, a low-post play for Ratliff, or Mason chucking up a shot..

He's played 2 stints with the rotation this year(Dallas, Utah) and he sparked the team in both..he's only taken 3 shots in rotation minutes and made 2..he's played very good D whenever he was in..

With that being said, I've given up on him playing this year..Hairston will play when he loses his athleticism, which is usually the only way you can be a Spur(Hill plays by default since he made Pop eat crow in the Dallas series + not having a backup PG other than him)..

:lol

It's the same reason why they didn't bring back SJAX - he's not hit the 35 year-old mark yet. Spurs will reacquire him when he gets to be that age. :lol

[in2deep]

You guys are funny. How Malik Hairston is playing well enough in the (little) time given to him to warrant a starting spot in the NBA, I don't know. Sometimes I wonder if people watch the same games.


How Richard jefferson is playing well enough in the (lot of) time given to him to warrant a starting spot in the NBA, I don't know.

[HarlemHeat37]

We've been asking for Hairston since preseason, we're not just randomly asking for a guy we haven't seen..he was significantly better than Finley, Mason and Bogans in preseason, he also played better than Jefferson..he also played great with Hill and Blair..

He also produced very well last season in the 5 games where he played over 20 MPG..

Obviously we aren't asking for a guy based on the 1 minute where we see him in garbage time..

[the crimson blur]

How Richard jefferson is playing well enough in the (lot of) time given to him to warrant a starting spot in the NBA, I don't know.

[/URL][URL="http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200912130LAC.html"]17 pts, 4 rebs, 3 ast, 1 blk, 6-11 in 26 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200912130LAC.html)
17 pts, 1 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 6-10 in 24 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200912110SAS.html)
23 pts, 8 reb, 3 ast, 11-18 in 48 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200912090SAS.html)
29 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk, 11-23 in 40 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200911110SAS.html)
24 pts, 8 reb, 7 ast, 9-16 in 37 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200911090SAS.html)
19 pts, 5 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk, 7-13 in 36 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200911060POR.html)
21 pts, 2 reb, 1 stl, 7-8 in 26 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200910310SAS.html)

Thats how. And Malik Hairston couldn't give us close to those numbers no matter how hard he tried. We know for a fact that RJ is good enough, as long as he plays to his potential.

Malik Hairston isn't a starting player on a playoff team guys, let alone a championship contender. He has to become much, much better in order to be even close to that level.

[Chomag]

17 pts, 4 rebs, 3 ast, 1 blk, 6-11 in 26 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200912130LAC.html)
17 pts, 1 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 6-10 in 24 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200912110SAS.html)
23 pts, 8 reb, 3 ast, 11-18 in 48 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200912090SAS.html)
29 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk, 11-23 in 40 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200911110SAS.html)
24 pts, 8 reb, 7 ast, 9-16 in 37 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200911090SAS.html)
19 pts, 5 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk, 7-13 in 36 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200911060POR.html)
21 pts, 2 reb, 1 stl, 7-8 in 26 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200910310SAS.html)

Thats how. And Malik Hairston couldn't give us close to those numbers no matter how hard he tried. We know for a fact that RJ is good enough, as long as he plays to his potential.

Malik Hairston isn't a starting player on a playoff team guys, let alone a championship contender. He has to become much, much better in order to be even close to that level.

Your missing the point I think. How about give Hairston those minutes and see if Hairston can't give us RJ numbers. Especialy since RJ hasnt set the level very high. lol

[SenorSpur]

No one is suggesting that Hairston start, however with Finley out of action, for Pop to not give this guy more than end-of-game, garbage minutes is unacceptable.

[Spursfan 87]

17 pts, 4 rebs, 3 ast, 1 blk, 6-11 in 26 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200912130LAC.html)
17 pts, 1 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 6-10 in 24 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200912110SAS.html)
23 pts, 8 reb, 3 ast, 11-18 in 48 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200912090SAS.html)
29 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk, 11-23 in 40 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200911110SAS.html)
24 pts, 8 reb, 7 ast, 9-16 in 37 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200911090SAS.html)
19 pts, 5 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk, 7-13 in 36 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200911060POR.html)
21 pts, 2 reb, 1 stl, 7-8 in 26 min (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200910310SAS.html)





Against who?????? only two good teams Dallas and Portland (we lost) 7 games out of 22.

he's not paid 14M to pad the stats against crappy teams

give hairston a chance to start. Bring RJ off the bench maybe that's what he needs

[the crimson blur]

No one is suggesting that Hairston start, however with Finley out of action, for Pop to not give this guy more than end-of-game, garbage minutes is unacceptable.

As you can see by the post above mine, yes, some people are asking for Hairston to start.

As far as garbage time goes, sure, but I think Pop is experimenting with plays and lineups for our core bench guys (Blair, Hill, Mason, etc.) during that time. Expect Hairston to get more burn in the late season blowouts. Pop would rather spend the time figuring out what works with who for now.


Your missing the point I think. How about give Hairston those minutes and see if Hairston can't give us RJ numbers. Especialy since RJ hasnt set the level very high. lol

My point is that Hairston can't give us RJ's numbers because he simply isn't good enough.

[BatManu]

If nothing else maybe starting Hairston over RJ for a game or two will piss him off enough to bring it each game... this four point game crap is ridiculous

[Chomag]

If nothing else maybe starting Hairston over RJ for a game or two will piss him off enough to bring it each game... this four point game crap is ridiculous

I like this idea. If nothing else but to motivate RJ to play harder. It can be surprising how much a little competition can make someone play harder.

[SpurCharger]

Im Ready to See A shake up of the Lineup..... Hell, Bring Marcus Haislip and Hairston In... they Will Hustle and Fight for every loose ball, and play there hearts out.... They have something to play for.... Jefferson and Bogans Do not....

[HarlemHeat37]

Starting Hairston is a ridiculously stupid suggestion, so don't get too extreme..

As Senor said, it's just disappointing that he hasn't gotten a chance to play with Finley's injury..this team is constantly outhustled by random athletic wings, it's been this way for years..now that we have a young wing that looks like he can play, the team is waiting to use him for the future, opting to play old guys instead, as usual..

Playing hungry players is a good risk IMO..they have a lot to prove on the court AND they want to make $ for the future..playing old timers that have already seen their time go by and won't give it their all in the reg. season is a waste IMO..

[SenorSpur]

this team is constantly outhustled by random athletic wings, it's been this way for years..now that we have a young wing that looks like he can play, the team is waiting to use him for the future, opting to play old guys instead, as usual..

This is the most frustrating part of all. It's almost as though us fans see the disparity in energy, athleticism and talent at that position, yet Pop refuses to acknowledge it. Sure the FO took steps to try and shore up the position, but with RJ, in his 9th season, having yet to get untracked offensively and showing little desire on the defensive end, those same problems persist.

The wing position is where you find the NBA's most talented and athletic players. The Spurs are seemingly exposed and overmatched at that position, against almost every opponent. It's increasingly frustrating to watch this glaring weakness year after year - and on back-to-back nights - as this deficiency fails to get properly addressed.

Is it too much to ask this franchise to invest in 1 or 2 younger players, at that SF aspot, and give them court time needed to match the talent on opposing teams? I had long hoped that there would have been a player ready to go when Bowen retired. However, we know how that turned out.