Mahinmi thread!

[xellos88330]

I do not know about all of you, but I thought Mahinmi looked pretty solid out there last night. I know the kid can score, but I think he needs to play with a long rebounder to really have his presence felt on the defensive end. There were so many times when Ian forced a missed shot in the paint and just didn't have the other rebounder in position (i.e. Bonner). Blair is a decent rebounder on the offensive side, but he can be moved around waiting for the defensive board. I would have loved to see Mahinmi play alongside Duncan. That would be kinda scary.

Thoughts on his play?

[Cane]

He looked like the same old, same old. He gets some decent stats but they're nullified by his negative ones. He did better than Dice although thats not saying much.

[HarlemHeat37]

He's going to play for somebody next year IMO, I'd be really surprised if he doesn't..

Last night, he clearly had little aggression so he could avoid picking up the silly fouls the refs call on him, it was pretty obvious by the lack of movement and energy lacking, which isn't usually the case for Ian when he's playing actual NBA games..even with that, he still managed to pick up 2 steals in the passing lanes, block a shot, get a charge and alter another shot..his physical tools alone are enough to make him a defensive presence, I don't see any reason he couldn't be successful with consistent playing time..that's the only way a player can learn, you can't learn shit in practice(the Spurs don't even scrimmage anyways)..

He had a stupid turnover where he tried to force it into RJ instead of shooting it, which he should have, probably got scared..his dunk getting blocked wasn't his fault at all IMO, Bogans has absolutely no idea how to get any proper spacing on a fast break, which has been apparent all year..

I was impressed with him, as usual, especially for a guy that didn't play meaningful minutes for months..he shouldn't have played so much though, Duncan should have been inserted earlier, but I thought Ian was fine..

[jermaine]

He looked like the same old, same old. He gets some decent stats but they're nullified by his negative ones. He did better than Dice although thats not saying much.

I was at the game lastnight & he seems lost. I wish they ran more postup plays

[robot89]

yeah but she cant rebound...lol

[HarlemHeat37]

Of course he was lost, he's played with these guys like twice all year..

His role is a lot different than a guy like Temple..Temple just brings the ball up and finds an open spot on the floor to shoot from..a guy with Ian's role has to do a lot of things when he's the main big on the floor..

[objective]

There was a piece on True Hoop a few days ago that rang very true with Mahinmi. Just check out the following

To young players, playing time is oxygen (http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/14779/to-young-players-playing-time-is-oxygen)


...

David Thorpe has been making similar points for years. He talks all the time about "the royal jelly." Literally, that's what worker bees feed a chosen baby bee to make her the queen. But it's also, says Thorpe, what coaches and others can feed players to help them achieve their potential. A lot of it has to do with building confidence. Throughout his career, Thorpe has been accused of hyping up his players up and giving them big heads, to which he replies, jokingly, "guilty!" Thorpe is convinced that "the royal jelly" can and has fundamentally changed the careers of countless players. The gold standard of helping a player evolve, he says, starts with playing time.

"Playing time is the first part," says Thorpe. "A coach's support is another thing -- it helps you grow as a player if you know you're not going to get yanked the first time you miss a shot. That gives you the confidence to be creative and expand your game. And then the final aspect of the ideal set-up is coaching you up on the new things you're adding to your game. A great recent example of this was Trevor Ariza with the Lakers last season. In the spring, everyone was wondering why they'd let him shoot all those 3s. It wasn't productive. But they needed him to be able to do that, they let him do that, they didn't yank him for doing that, and they coached him how to do that better. And in the playoffs he was amazing at that and helped them win a championship."On a lot of teams, Ariza would have been condemned to the low-earning life of a non-shooter, but the coaching situation, and minutes, turned him into a sniper. Did that same kind of principle play a role in Collison and Thornton's seasons?

...

Mahinmi is just a whipping boy on the Spurs, to get shuttled in at the end of quarters or games or to give a chance for the coaches to work on Blair before inserting him back. If he gets on a team where he can get some of his own 'royal jelly', he'll have a nice future.

[HarlemHeat37]

It's true..

I used Ibaka as an example when we played the Thunder..their announcers talked about how raw he was to start the season..he would constantly make stupid decisions and commit really stupid fouls..

They said that when his PT started to increase, he started learning the little things about the NBA game, which in turn helped him and got him recognition with NBA refs..it sounds exactly like Ian's situation..anybody can see that the guy has raw talent and potential when he steps on the floor, his problem is that he still makes stupid decisions and commits bad fouls(most of them being phantom fouls due to lack of recognition), but he's never going to get better unless he receives PT..

I'd still be surprised if he doesn't receive a contract from an NBA team next year, maybe even the Spurs..these teams have scouts, they watch game tape..he produces when he's on the floor and he has the physical tools..there will be bad teams out there that will give him PT IMO..

The Ian situation is obviously contract related, but maybe we'll never figure out what actually happened..hopefully that isn't the case..I don't believe it's just about the mistakes though, just look at Blair..there's a very good argument to be made that Blair is the worst defensive big man in the NBA, yet he's still allowed to make all these mistakes(I'm a big Blair fan, just saying)..

[jermaine]

He looks like he's scared to mess up. But the nergy he comes with is what the team needs. He never stops running. If he played along side Duncan...... I think he would make up Duncans slowness!

[SenorSpur]

It's true..

I used Ibaka as an example when we played the Thunder..their announcers talked about how raw he was to start the season..he would constantly make stupid decisions and commit really stupid fouls..

They said that when his PT started to increase, he started learning the little things about the NBA game, which in turn helped him and got him recognition with NBA refs..it sounds exactly like Ian's situation..anybody can see that the guy has raw talent and potential when he steps on the floor, his problem is that he still makes stupid decisions and commits bad fouls(most of them being phantom fouls due to lack of recognition), but he's never going to get better unless he receives PT..

I'd still be surprised if he doesn't receive a contract from an NBA team next year, maybe even the Spurs..these teams have scouts, they watch game tape..he produces when he's on the floor and he has the physical tools..there will be bad teams out there that will give him PT IMO..

The Ian situation is obviously contract related, but maybe we'll never figure out what actually happened..hopefully that isn't the case..I don't believe it's just about the mistakes though, just look at Blair..there's a very good argument to be made that Blair is the worst defensive big man in the NBA, yet he's still allowed to make all these mistakes(I'm a big Blair fan, just saying)..

The Ibaka comparison is excellent one. I was going to make that comparison myself. I will add another like example - Luc Richard Bah A Moute - of the Milwaukee Bucks. While highly heralded rookie Joe Alexander, was all the rage in the 2008 NBA draft and became the Bucks 1st round pick, it was Bhah A Moute, drafted in the second round, who emerged as player. While he was raw, he showed promise during summer league, developed more in training camp, was given early and ample playing time and eventually became the Bucks starting small forward for the balance of last season. Now in his second season, he is still a valuable rotation player for the Bucks.

That said, I believe there is something to that "royal jelly" theory. So far this year, Ian was been given nothing but the "royal human victory cigar" treatment. I would defy anyone who claims this kid is a bust or that he can't be successful in the league. As I've stated before, if the kid wasn't working hard in practice or was a malcontent, he'd be gone by now. Because he has a set of skills that are in such short supply on this team, it would be extremely foolish if the Spurs allowed him to develop someplace else. He needs to be given more latitude and playing time for him to flourish. He will play somewhere next year. I just hope the Spurs haven't given up on him like some on this board have.

[objective]

Hell, most of the season he wasn't fed royal jelly, he was forcefed royal feces.

Like when Pop did his 'sit Duncan the first quarter vs. Toronto' routine. In all the times Mahinmi has played, I can only remember one instance when Pop made it a point to talk to him either going into or out of a timeout. No wonder the kid still looks raw.

I'm still surprised how enthusiastic he is for his teammates on the bench, unlike Haislip who had checked out on them once he realized he had no future on the team. Makes it hard to not root for Ian.

[robot89]

who thinks he will play tonight?? lmfao

[xellos88330]

who thinks he will play tonight?? lmfao

I hope he does. I really want to see what this kid is made of. I have been waiting too damn long to see this guy play. Lets see if this kid belongs.