Game Blog: Spurs vs. Clippers - Summer League Game 3

[ace3g]

Andrew A. McNeill ‏@drew_48moh

Danny Green making an appearance with the Spurs summer league team. Not to play, mind you, just here for support.

[timvp]

Joseph vs. Bledsoe is going to be a great test for Joseph. We'll know how real he is after tonight.

[ace3g]

Jeff McDonald ‏@JMcDonald_SAEN

Kawhi Leonard's summer league is done. Has nothing to do with sore left wrist, I'm told. Just time for him to go home.

[Sense]

Jeff McDonald ‏@JMcDonald_SAEN

Kawhi Leonard's summer league is done. Has nothing to do with sore left wrist, I'm told. Just time for him to go home.

Well Spurs lose this one.. I don't see anyone else stepping up.

[timvp]

Damn, it was fun watching Kawhi. :depressed



















Job well done. Stay healthy and keep improving for training camp :tu

[timtonymanu]

Makes sense. Kawhi showed enough. I'm excited to see his development when the season starts.

[AFBlue]

Only took Kawhi two games for the Spurs to be satisfied he reached his development goals. That's impressive.

[ace3g]

Andrew A. McNeill ‏@drew_48moh

Ime Udoka in the house chatting with Spurs coaches and front office folks.


Anyway time for CJ, Wilkerson, Dawson, either Richards or Ajinca to step up

[LakerHater]

Kawhi Leonard done in Vegas

http://cdn2.sbnation.com/profile_images/695619/funny_spurs_fan_sign_20120517_1513028536_tiny.jpg by MatthewTynan on Jul 18, 2012 8:58 PM CDT in Spurs News

(http://www.poundingtherock.com/2012/7/18/3168681/breaking-kawhi-leonard-done-in-vegas#)
It looks as though Gregg Popovich has seen enough of Kawhi Leonard in Las Vegas. The Spurs' 20-year-old swingman will not be taking part in any of the team's three remaining games. Apparently it has nothing to do with any injury, though his wrist was wrapped in ice following a 27-point performance in yesterday's 92-81 win over the Lakers. So it seems there is no injury, Leonard's just shown team brass what they needed to see. Also, after a pretty physical game yesterday it's not the end of the world for him to head back home. We want ZERO Kawhi injuries.

[timvp]

Feed is up.

[ace3g]

Starters for the Spurs: Anderson, Byars, Dawson, Joseph and Zeller.

[ElNono]

lol Zeller a lock to start

[8FOR!3]

Adam Morrison. THAT Adam Morrison? Holy shit, he still plays ball?

[DesignatedT]

Adam Morrison.. Interesting.

[DesignatedT]

Antoine Wright as well? lol

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

bledsoe should be a good test for CJ.

[ChumpDumper]

Nice unfulfilled potential lineup for the Clippers.

[DesignatedT]

CJs jumper looks a lot better this summer.

[ace3g]

Richards checking in early

[8FOR!3]

How's Zeller compare to Bonner? From what I hear he's a poor man's Bonner, but at the same time he does do a better job at getting his shot off.

[ace3g]

CJ with tough 3!!!

[ace3g]

nice steal and layup by CJ

[ace3g]

CJ jumper going early

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

damn we foul a lot

[ace3g]

Yeah our interior defense not so good

[ace3g]

Richards still can't finish around the basket

[8FOR!3]

Cory Joseph's dirty. Eric Bledsoe's a tough guard and CJ's draining jumpers. Only thing that scares me is that if there's a night shots don't fall, is he going to be able to adjust and attack the rim/make plays?

[angelbelow]

So no Evans and no Martin. Clippers front court is pretty thin again.

[ChumpDumper]

Unless he's follwing orders, Joseph is shooting too much.

[Russ]

Unless he's follwing orders, Joseph is shooting too much.

The Nuremberg defense of the pure shooter.

[ChumpDumper]

lol 10 PFs to 0

Spurs are going to end up with a single digit assist total.

[DesignatedT]

Joseph :tu

[yavozerb]

Unless he's follwing orders, Joseph is shooting too much.

Who else is going to shoot it?

[ChumpDumper]

Who else is going to shoot it? Guess you haven't seen any games yet....Seen them both, thank you.

[8FOR!3]

Cory Joseph putting the team on his back. He's looking promising in many ways. Not happy with a couple of things he's been doing but that's me being nitpicky.

[SpursRulez4eVeR]

Richards :td

[ivanfromwestwood]

Ajinca tip in

[8FOR!3]

Yeah Ryan Richards is looking pretty awful right about now. And Alexis Ajinca is fucking huge.

[ivanfromwestwood]

Without KL team sucks

[ChumpDumper]

lol Ajinca

[8FOR!3]

Ajinca just blocked the shit out of a ball. And he's giving decent effort, he's been falling all over the place half the game.

[Seventyniner]

Zeller is the Bonner of Summer League. FML

[Seventyniner]

Ajinca just blocked the shit out of a ball. And he's giving decent effort, he's been falling all over the place half the game.

Is that like when Mahimni blocked a shot to halfcourt in a preseason game for the Spurs? That showed his (lack of) BBIQ right there for me, and I wasn't too sad to see him go.

[ChumpDumper]

Ajinca just blocked the shit out of a ball. And he's giving decent effort, he's been falling all over the place half the game.Not NBA level tbh.


Zeller is the Bonner of Summer League. FMLNew drinking game.

[ChumpDumper]

Buycks is definitely going to be in some team's training camp.

lol Zeller outplaying Richards and Ajinca

No Wilkerson?

[ace3g]

Buycks is definitely going to be in some team's training camp.

lol Zeller outplaying Richards and Ajinca

No Wilkerson?

I was wondering the same thing, maybe he has shown enough as well (I might consider him over Blair if other moves are made).

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

why does sam mitchell talk like corey joseph is 27 years old

[ChumpDumper]

Are they still using Joseph's college picture in those stat comparisons?

[8FOR!3]

"This is an important summer for Eric Bledsoe, we know what Cory Joseph can do." LOL wut?

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

"This is an important summer for Eric Bledsoe, we know what Cory Joseph can do." LOL wut?

exactly! bledsoe has been in the league longer than CJ and has played more games than him. theyre talking like CJ is an established vet.

[ace3g]

well I guess I shouldn't start summer league game blogs anymore...

[ChumpDumper]

Dawson active. Good double team.

[8FOR!3]

Ammo's looked good all game. Surely he gets an invite somewhere if he keeps it up. If I was Charlotte I'd give him another chance. It's not like they can get any worse.

[LakerHater]

first July loss since 2009

[ace3g]

Zeller going Bonner on the Clippers

[DPG21920]

JA with a silky 3.

[8FOR!3]

That three point ball Anderson made was smooth. I'm not saying he's an NBA level player at this point, but he didn't shoot the open ball like that last year.

Adam Morrison with the Dirk Nowitzki step back one foot jumper :lol

He's honestly dominating and out hustling the competition.

[ace3g]

jeez how many TOs is Green trying to accrue during Summer League, take your time when you make moves in the post...

[ChumpDumper]

Green with a nice game. Still too small but good to see him show up tonight.

Aside from the TOs mentioned, of course.

Nevermind, just saw the foul total, too.

[ace3g]

nice finish by CJ

[8FOR!3]

Nice to see CJ being physical, getting the ball to the basket, and finishing.

[ChumpDumper]

CJ back to taking good shots.

Nice Buycks look to Dawson.

[ace3g]

that was actually a nice pass by Richards

[ChumpDumper]

that was actually a nice pass by RichardsYeah, just enough to tantalize again.

[ace3g]

nice dunk by JA

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

comeback time!

[Libri]

It might be my stream but Anderson looks like he's lost weight.

[ace3g]

big miss by CJ there, 4 point swing

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

never mind

[ace3g]

damn you Zeller...

[ace3g]

team is still fighting

[ace3g]

and 1 for Denmon

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

the comeback is back on!

[LakerHater]

Damn

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

god dammit

[Libri]

Was that Dawson who got burned? lol

[DesignatedT]

Zeller has a pretty decent stroke but man he is horrible defensively.

[8FOR!3]

Team had a lot of fight making it a 3 point game within the last minute.

[ace3g]

wow Zeller nice job trying cut off the angle there on the sideline...

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

damn refs screwing CJ outta 2 FT's.

[Libri]

Morrison with a game high?! Seriously?!

[Chase_the_Bass]

wow Zeller nice job trying cut off the angle there on the sideline...

Yeah that was sad.

[ChumpDumper]

Defense sloppy late. Liked the last minute plays for Joseph. Only 1 TO for him.

[underdawg]

Joseph can hit a jumper and the occasional drive, but it seems like he struggles to guard a player if that player has any speed at all. I don’t see the promise in him at all – he looks average at best even with the improvement over last year.

As everyone has said, Richards has athleticism but is extremely raw. But I think it goes beyond that – he lacks fundamentals in most aspects of his game. I don’t know all of his history and how he’s learned the game, but he lacks basic fundamentals on defense and in his post play – what I mean is that he’s not raw in the sense that he knows what to do but doesn’t know how to do it. I don’t believe he knows what to do period. If the Spurs feel they can train him effectively in a short amount of time – it’s worth the effort to have him on the Austin squad while he’s getting some individual coaching.

Granted Ajinca’s not very impressive – but I still think he’s worth taking a look at. Yes, he’s awkward and he’s slow to react, but he’s still extemely long and has enough coordination to cause trouble in the paint. As a 5th/6th big, I don’t think the Spurs are deep enough to not give it some thought and especially if they move Bonner or Blair.

I thought Williams was fearless although raw on the few drives he had, but as a final roster spot he could be someone that is willing to consistently drive the lane and that has to be considered. Until Blair and or Bonner are moved the idea of adding a big seems pointless - although the Spurs could do worse than Dawson.

All said – it’s fun to watch these guys hustle and try to make something for themselves.

Even though it has nothing to do with the Summer League (other than looking at possible defensive minded prospects), I give you this iron clad statement:

The Spurs will never win another championship without being a defense first team again. It has nothing to do with the big 3 being old. It has everything to do with the Spurs most likely never having the firepower to beat other teams mostly by outscoring them. I doubt the Spurs ever see a path to the finals like they did in ’07. Without another fortunate lottery pick like Robinson or Duncan, the Spurs have proven that they neither have the money or the attraction to land a high scoring caliber player much less 2.

The only way the Spurs win another championship is if they have a deep and talented enough team (10 to 12 players) to consistently score throughout the game. This has to be paired with a defense first philosophy to overcome periods of offensive droughts that will be likely when a team has mostly average or above average players.

[DesignatedT]

It has nothing to do with the big 3 being old.

It has everything to do with the big3 getting old.

[ace3g]

http://www.nba.com/spurs/video/120718_zeller

http://www.nba.com/spurs/video/120718_denmon

http://www.nba.com/spurs/video/120718_vaughn

http://www.nba.com/spurs/video/120718_green

photo gallery: http://www.nba.com/spurs/photos/120718

[ElNono]

Even though it was only $5, I feel ripped off now that Kawhi won't be playing anymore...

[Obstructed_View]

After that dunk, I'm beginning to think James Anderson reads these forums. Maybe he'll bank in a free throw in the next game...

[siraulo23]

Even though it was only $5, I feel ripped off now that Kawhi won't be playing anymore...

[Russ]

Joseph can hit a jumper and the occasional drive, but it seems like he struggles to guard a player if that player has any speed at all. I don’t see the promise in him at all – he looks average at best even with the improvement over last year.

I tend to agree. You should be able to say (even with a young player), he may be raw but he does "X" really well. Unfortunately, CJ doesn't seem to have an "X."

[Redshadows]

lol @timvp

No leonard, no game grade.

[dylankerouac]

lol @timvp

No leonard, no game grade.

Back to work for me then : (.

[ChumpDumper]

He probably DVRed the game tbh.