Mills-Bellini-Ginobili

[benfti]

I have been tossing this around, and i think others have as well, all off season but i really do think this should be the guard/wing combo in the second unit this season.

There are plenty of people still hating on Manu after the finals. His best in some respects are behind him, Pretty much every Spurs fan including myself rates CJ ahead on the depth chart than Mills, and Bellini is an unkown quantity as far as his spurs output is concerned. But for some reason the mix off all these strange parts appears to work.

I think Gino moving to a point forward role might prolong him a little bit, If Boris plays the 4 in that line up which you would assume he would, no matter who plays center Pendergraph/Ayres/Baynes it doesnt matter what you get is 2 great distributors who can create in Manu and Marco and 4 perimeter threats. Mills is offense, pure and simple, without him having to carry the ball, he becomes a weapon with his outside and midrange shooting.

Corys D is great, but how would he go in a second unit where he doesnt handle the ball?

Has to be those 3 in that order, and I cant see any other teams second unit having that much scoring power.

[iManu]

Sounds ideal for a video game. I really like Mills, too. He was the first or second leading scorer of they Olympics, but he can't buy a basket for us. It'd be neat if we finally had a point guard who could protect the ball and shoot the 3. Damn, we looked relentlessly good with TJ Ford.

[benfti]

Sounds ideal for a video game. I really like Mills, too. He was the first or second leading scorer of they Olympics, but he can't buy a basket for us. It'd be neat if we finally had a point guard who could protect the ball and shoot the 3. Damn, we looked relentlessly good with TJ Ford.

thats my point, he doesnt have to play the point.......dad joke

Mills was the top scorer at the Olympics, playing off the ball, Matt Dellavedova played the point for them. Mills would not have to in that line up I mentioned. At least get the team into offense, he gets to play off the ball as Manu and Marco would be handling the ball, its a point forward set up.

[anakha]

Against a second unit with a scoring wing, I'd wonder about the defense those three would be able to put up.

[Bruno]

I can't disagree more.

While it's likely that Spurs will have Belinelli/Ginobili at backup SG/SF, it makes Mills as backup PG even less likely. Mills main quality is his scoring and with that offensive power on the wings, it won't be needed. Joseph is just a way better fit with the Belinelli/Ginobili pair. Joseph's limited offense won't be an issue and his defense will always be welcomed.

Sorry Australia...

[Vash StampedE]

Mills is just too small and he's, based on my observation last season, still only a spot-up shooter. Perhaps if he develops a Rip Hamilton game - running w/o the ball and going through screens to create separation against his defender - then I would welcome the idea.

[benefactor]

I can't disagree more.

While it's likely that Spurs will have Belinelli/Ginobili at backup SG/SF, it makes Mills as backup PG even less likely. Mills main quality is his scoring and with that offensive power on the wings, it won't be needed. Joseph is just a way better fit with the Belinelli/Ginobili pair. Joseph's limited offense won't be an issue and his defense will always be welcomed.

Sorry Australia...
:tu

[benfti]

I can't disagree more.

While it's likely that Spurs will have Belinelli/Ginobili at backup SG/SF, it makes Mills as backup PG even less likely. Mills main quality is his scoring and with that offensive power on the wings, it won't be needed. Joseph is just a way better fit with the Belinelli/Ginobili pair. Joseph's limited offense won't be an issue and his defense will always be welcomed.

Sorry Australia...

that is a good point.

Would you still have Cory carry the ball though? and if he is not, what is his role on offense, i get it on the defensive end, that's without question.

What im saying is if you have 2 facilitators which Manu and Bel are, why would you have another who is limited offensively? Im not saying they would all be out there to feed Mills, but it would be handy having a shooter in the corner?

My point is Plenty of teams are going to be able to guard Cory when he is faciltating the offense, Manu is far better when he runs the offense, and Bell is more than handy in that role to. Who ever plays the 1 guard is surplus with those 2 on court, may as well be a shooter.

[elemento]

I think SA loses a lot defensively, but Mills is a much better 3-point shooter than Cojo and considering how little they will have to handle the ball playing with Marco and Manu, i think it might be an idea to consider. Mills is not a great defender, but he puts a lot of effort and he is quick .

Manu and Marco handling the ball with Mills as a spot up shooter (mostly 3-pointers) is not a bad idea.

[Bruno]

Would you still have Cory carry the ball though? and if he is not, what is his role on offense, i get it on the defensive end, that's without question.

What im saying is if you have 2 facilitators which Manu and Bel are, why would you have another who is limited offensively? Im not saying they would all be out there to feed Mills, but it would be handy having a shooter in the corner?

Corry would bring the ball up the court, initiate the offense and then plays a lot off the ball. Regardless of Belinelli and Ginobili, Joseph hasn't the level to be the primary playmaker of a NBA team. Now, it sure that if Joseph can't hit a perimeter shot and teams start to sagg of him to create more help defense, it will be an issue.

The reason why I think Spurs summer moves makes it less likely for Mills to be the backup PG is that Mills isn't that useful when he is used only as a spot up shooter. Like Neal, he has to create some shots for himself. With Belinelli and Ginobili on the court, that aspect of his game won't really be needed. If you reduce Mills as a spot up shooter, there are just better options like for example Royal Ivey who is better offensively.

[benfti]

Bump, appears to be working

[BillMc]

Bump, appears to be working

Yeah. Looks good.

Boris - Belli - Manu, that's some great passing for our second unit. Patty can therefore be more of a scorer, which is his strong suit.

[hater]

yup. Mills/Manu/Mario combo is definitely a good mix especially with Diaw playing so well. You can add Ayres who has good hands and mobility and you have a hybrid lineup that can make some noise in certain environments.

good call :tu

[hater]

also if you look closely now you can see Manu + Mario looking for each other on every play. They trying to make some Italian magic imo

:tu

Bellinelli might just save Manu's legacy and career IMO

[PlayNando]

Remember that Manu is of Italian heritage. He and Marco were made for each other.

[hater]

Remember that Manu is of Italian heritage. He and Marco were made for each other.

:tu

but also Manu got his game in the Italian league.

[look_at_g_shred]

Man can we all agree that the second unit is so fun to watch? So much energy! And the passing, oh the passing!!!

[hater]

Man can we all agree that the second unit is so fun to watch? So much energy! And the passing, oh the passing!!!

can we agree it's mostly thanks to the Marco acquisition? :D :D :D

[Dex]

can we agree it's mostly thanks to the Marco acquisition? :D :D :D

Beli is a big reason, but I also think the development of Mills and emergence of Diaw 2.0 have a lot to do with it, as well.

[DPG21920]

I have serious reservations about this Mills/Beli/Manu line up Pop is using at times. I know it's experiment time, but not a huge fan (mostly defensively). Tiago has to really play well for this to work with all the gamblers out there. They have plenty of ball handling with the line up, but man.

Patty reminds me of a more efficient Barbosa.

[Spur-Addict]

Bump, appears to be working

Great call :tu

[Darkwaters]

So far so good...

[ElNono]

det bench kept us in the game in the 1st half... well done

[BillMc]

det bench kept us in the game in the 1st half... well done

Yep. Boris, in particular is having a good year so far

[hater]

det bench kept us in the game in the 1st half... well done

imo dat lineup brought us back into the game

[TJastal]

Nice call Benfti. :clap :cheer :gospurs

I had your back on this idea way back in October, hell... even into last season. Greys always have reigned supreme at spurstalk, and this is just another example. Good to see Pop finally coming around and making the appropriate changes.

Simple fact is Mills > Cojo, and that figures especially so in the 2nd unit. Despite what the bnsf, 1st & 2nd team asshats all believe, it's just not as important to have lockdown defenders in the 2nd unit as having guys who can shoot and score from anywhere on the court. Which in turn opens things up even more for the 3 main playmakers (Manu, Bellinelli, and Diaw).

[jeebus]

det bench kept us in the game in the 1st half... well done
Yup. Except Gayres lets Favors grab 600 rebounds in that first half.

[ElNono]

Yup. Except Gayres lets Favors grab 600 rebounds in that first half.

son, Favors thought he had it all figured out until the 4th quarter, when the Spurs ran a train on him...

[DMC]

I wish we had Favors on our team. He has a lot of hustle, sucks he's on a shitty team.

[cjw]

I wish we had Favors on our team. He has a lot of hustle, sucks he's on a shitty team.

Not many teams could have had him, given where he went in the draft. Nets could have a core of Lopez-Lillard-Favors and then some, but instead are an old, slow team that has no chance of getting past Miami or Indy.

Likewise, if DWill weren't a crybaby, he might be playing around Paul George, Kawhi, Milsap and Jefferson right now (all theoreticals)

[skulls138]

Yeah. Looks good.

Boris - Belli - Manu, that's some great passing for our second unit. Patty can therefore be more of a scorer, which is his strong suit.I have changed my mind about scoring point guards vs passing point guards. If the team is a good passing team, you dont need a Nash. With team passing you never know when the good pass is coming and everyone touches the ball so are never standing around.

[Skull-1]

Bellinelli might just save Manu's legacy and career IMO

That will only happen with a title.